Chapter 218
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 218
Chapter Title: Reunion with the Grand Duchess
"Didn't I say we'd meet again? Human."
Demikrashia flashed a brilliant smile.
But her size was far beyond what Yong-un had imagined.
The memory of her descending into young Yeong-il's body had been so vivid that he figured she'd be around his own height at most, no matter how big she got.
And yet...
"But you're way smaller than I thought."
Demikrashia—the owner of the 108 Demonic Eyes and one of the two Grand Dukes guarding the Demon King.
She was a colossal giant, towering well over four meters tall.
But what was truly shocking was the thing behind her.
'If that thing crossed over to Earth, it'd be game over.'
He instantly understood why the Demon Realm, ruled by demons, was called the apex predator of all dimensions.
A massive turtle shuddered as if sensing Demikrashia's touch.
It was about the size of a decent-sized building, and just its height had to be over twelve meters.
Yong-un's height was above average even among men in the real world.
Yet compared to the demons around Demikrashia, he looked like a literal dwarf here.
Grip.
He tossed aside his shattered demon sword and cloaked a new one he'd grabbed in his extreme aura.
She might be acting friendly, but this was the heart of the Demon Realm—the lair of the dimension's top predators.
If he let his guard down among enemies whose skills he didn't know, he'd be the one dying.
Whoosh!
Purple extreme aura enveloped the demon sword, making it tremble.
If he swung it in the supreme strike of the Extreme Heaven Sword right now, he could take out at least half these demons. He'd gathered that much aura.
Then he stared straight at Demikrashia and asked.
"Why did you call me here?"
His hostility and killing intent rippled through the air around them.
In response, Demikrashia raised both hands to show she had no intention of fighting.
"Don't glare at me like that. If I wanted to fight, I wouldn't have taken the risk to bring you all the way here."
Taken the risk?
She'd just sent Viscount Furkin to drag him here.
Was there even such a risk?
He was about to dismiss it as nonsense when—
Boom! Boom!
Demikrashia's personal purple space suddenly shook violently, emitting impact sounds.
"Looks pretty pissed off, huh? Whew~"
This was her own domain.
Yet something outside—not inside—was directly attacking it.
"That's the risk I mentioned. I have something to tell you."
Boom! Boom!
Demikrashia's pupils rapidly changed colors and shapes.
Each time, the shaking ground beneath Yong-un's feet eased slightly.
"You felt it too. Now every demon knows you're here."
Her words made Yong-un's eyes flicker faintly.
It was all true.
From the moment he'd fallen here due to the Demon King's scheme, demons had swarmed him relentlessly. He'd sensed it immediately.
The Demon Realm was a space where countless dimensions merged, several times larger than reality.
Yet this many demons converging on him alone?
"The Demon King's doing?"
"Bingo. More precisely, the Demon King ordered me to monitor you and broadcast your location to every demon."
Even as she spoke, her pupils kept shifting rapidly.
So she really did oversee the entire Demon Realm as a Grand Duke.
No exaggeration there.
"Then why bring me here?"
"To let you go."
"What?"
Yong-un's brow twitched at the unexpected answer.
"Exactly what I said. I'm letting you go."
"Is this... no, the Demon King's order?"
"Nope. The Demon King actually wants me to keep you from leaving."
"Why help me betray your master? What do you want from me?"
"Betrayal? Could be. Or maybe not."
"What do you mean?"
Boom! Boom!
The impacts hammering the space grew stronger.
Demikrashia glanced around, then smiled brightly.
"As you can see, the guy's trying to break in isn't ordinary. And he's got a grudge against you."
"Defying orders isn't betrayal? What are you talking about?"
Unlike Demikrashia, Yong-un had zero interest in whatever was pounding the space.
"Is the one hitting the space now another Grand Duke like you?"
His mind was solely on understanding the Demon Realm, how to invade reality where his family was, and the identity of the demon contracted with his subordinate Cheon-il.
"Planning to make a killing while you're here? Judging by all the questions."
Veteran monsters were on another level.
Demikrashia saw through Yong-un's intentions instantly but kept smiling instead of glaring.
"What if I refuse to answer and force you back?"
No matter how impressive Demikrashia was, Yong-un wasn't to be underestimated.
He pulled his pristine demon sword back low, lowering into stance.
With preparations for the Extreme Heaven Sword complete, he declared firmly.
"I'll cut down everything here and find out myself."
"You serious?"
Demikrashia's eyes turned icy.
Her smile vanished as a massive aura—the kind befitting one who guarded the Demon King—spread from her entire body.
The Demikrashia he'd faced through Yeong-il's body had been less than one percent of her true power. Now it felt real.
Just releasing her aura made the air heavy, like someone was squeezing his heart.
But the more she pressured him, the lower Yong-un sank into his stance, readying the Extreme Heaven Sword even further.
Grrr...
The surrounding demons and massive turtle reacted to her hostility, slowly rising.
All of them exuded killing intent like they were about to devour him, stepping closer one by one.
"Come on!"
With all preparations done, Yong-un tensed his body, ready to charge into battle.
It consumed a ton of extreme aura, but he planned to wipe out as many as possible in one strike.
Just as battle loomed—
"Everyone, fall back!"
Demikrashia suddenly bellowed at her subordinates itching for a fight.
Whoosh!
The hostility and killing intent pouring from her body dissipated in an instant.
The pressure on Yong-un vanished too.
Demikrashia sighed deeply, flashing a playful grin like it was all a joke.
"You win. I'll tell you everything. Ask three questions. But! Once you hear the answers, turn around and leave without looking back."
Demikrashia stood at the pinnacle of all dimensions.
Yet for some reason, she snapped her fingers, opening a gate behind Yong-un leading back to the reality with his family.
His doubts were brief.
He couldn't squander the hard-earned chance, so he slowly straightened from his stance and asked.
"What's your plan after this?"
"Be specific. Vague questions mean you won't get the answers you want."
"Three anomalies have appeared in my reality. I think the Demon King is trying to descend. Is that true?"
"Oh, that? Yeah, it's true. It's our final method to absorb a dimension. We keep opening gates to match the densities between here and there. Then I make a huge gate big enough for the Demon King to move through, and whoosh! He takes over the dimension for the Demon Realm. Easy, right?"
Yong-un's brow furrowed involuntarily.
She'd said she'd tell the truth, but he hadn't expected this level of detail.
And to say it outright to him, a being from the very dimension they wanted to absorb?
"Hurry up. If that breaks, you might not get back."
Demikrashia pointed at the ceiling.
A crack had appeared in the purple sky without him noticing.
"He's way more pissed than I thought. If he gets in and sees this, first thing he'll do is slam that gate shut."
Yong-un scowled briefly, then fired off his next question.
"You contracted with a kid named Yeong-il. So which one contracted with my subordinate Cheon-il?"
"Deshkuna. The other of the two Grand Dukes guarding the Demon King, and the idiot up there fuming right now."
Up there?
Now her words clicked.
No wonder he held a grudge.
Yong-un had forcibly dispelled Deshkuna's descent through Cheon-il using the Demon King's rune script. Must've enraged him.
Crackle! Crackle!
As he looked up, the growing crack soon reached the ground where he stood.
At this rate, Demikrashia's space would shatter soon.
"You got less than a minute by your time! Ask quick!"
Biting his lip, Yong-un shifted his gaze from the sky to Demikrashia.
Urgency filled her eyes.
Figuring this was his only shot, he asked something they'd never reveal otherwise.
None other than—
"Last question's simple. Demikrashia, you and Deshkuna up there. And finally, the Demon King. Tell me the three Demon King rune scripts."
"......"
Her urgent eyes froze cold.
As expected, it was a secret she couldn't just hand over.
The last surviving demon of the Shadow Clan—who knew all Demon King runes and had faced the King himself.
Even scouring Sheik's memories yielded nothing on these three.
"You're insane?"
Demons below the Demon King couldn't defy the sacred Demon King runes. Just using one doomed any demon, across dimensions or not.
Crackle! Crackle!
"Better tell me quick. The moment I hear it, I'll leave as you said. That's a promise."
"...... Damn it... You got me good. Didn't think you'd deduce that far."
Demikrashia's face crumpled without mercy.
Her trembling pupils brimmed with agonizing choices.
And then the situation forced her hand.
Crackle! Crackle! Snap!
"Demikrashia!!!!!!"
A rage-filled shout echoed from the cracked space.
Yong-un and Demikrashia looked up simultaneously, spotting a different demon's face through the fractured dimensional shards.
The being stretched an arm, desperately trying to force its body through the crack.
'That's... the Grand Duke contracted with Cheon-il?'
Staring straight at the furious Deshkuna—distinct from Demikrashia—he burned the face into his mind.
Then Demikrashia's shout came.
"I'll tell you! But once I do, you leave without looking back!"
"You have my word."
Snap!
She said she'd reveal the Demon King runes, then suddenly snapped her fingers.
Sensing something off, Yong-un swung to draw his demon sword.
But had he trusted her too much?
Wobble!
Before he could even extend it, Demikrashia's skill made his body lurch.
"What are you—"
Snapping back to focus, Yong-un gripped his sword tight to swing.
"Go back. I already told you."
Then he understood her words.
Demikrashia and Deshkuna popped into his head like he'd always known them.
And finally, the Demon King—along with a rune script he'd never seen before, surfacing naturally in his mind.
"Hurry and go!"
"Human!!!!!!!!"
Crash!
With Demikrashia's cry, the crack shattered completely.
Deshkuna's massive roar hurtled toward Yong-un at tremendous speed.
Without hesitation, Yong-un leaped toward the gate to reality, not looking back.
'Finally found it!'
And with that thought—
'Demikrashia betrayed the Demon King to send me back, but why's Deshkuna so mad?'
'Why reveal even their unique Demon King runes just to send me away?'
—he etched Demikrashia's fading smile and Deshkuna's rage into his eyes before closing them.