Chapter 219
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 219
Chapter Title: Severing the Bonds
Pajijijijik!
The gate took just two seconds to open and close.
In that fleeting moment, Yong-un was hurled out.
"Supreme One!!!"
As the gate sealed shut, the familiar sight of the Soul-Exterminating Ghost Manor filled his vision.
And then.
Swish.
A clear handprint marred his ankle.
'It tried to grab me even in that split second.'
Thud.
But it seemed to have succeeded, at least partially.
In the nick of time, his drawn sword had sliced clean through what appeared to be Descuna's wrist, averting disaster.
And that very wrist had just dropped right beside him.
Yong-un landed lightly and glanced at Cheon-il, Barum, and Seong-min, who stared in astonishment at the twitching, severed wrist.
'They've been waiting here the whole time.'
Their tensed muscles told the story plainly.
They hadn't budged an inch, holding position without fail.
Yong-un picked up Descuna's limp hand and extended it to Cheon-il.
"It's yours."
"Uh... yeah?"
Cheon-il blinked in confusion.
No wonder—after vanishing and reappearing out of nowhere, now this sudden gift of a severed wrist.
But the bewilderment lasted only a moment. Recognizing it as a gift from the Supreme One, he accepted the wrist, and his eyes widened in shock.
"Th-this is..."
"As I thought, you recognize it."
How could he not?
It was the hand of the monster from those nightmares that had haunted him night after night—not so long ago.
The beast imprisoned behind massive iron bars.
Impossible to forget.
"Urgh..."
The instant realization dawned, Cheon-il clutched his head in agony, dropping the wrist.
A dull grayish glow flickered over his shoulders.
Any Demon Cry would know what that light meant.
The mark of a contract—proof that demon power was being drawn, whether through demonization or the bonded demon's strength.
It emanated from the tattoos etched across his body.
"Hold on."
Tattoos were standard for all Demon Cries.
Yong-un had seen his own countless times, and those of countless others.
But a sudden hunch prompted him to tear away Cheon-il's long sleeve and inspect the tattoo closely.
What he saw left him utterly deflated.
Whoosh.
The tattoo blazed with brilliant light.
Especially the pattern glowing on his shoulder.
It was none other than the Demon King rune for Descuna, seared into his mind by Demikrasha.
"Ha..."
Unbelievable.
The answer he'd sought was right under his nose all along.
Having absorbed all of Sheik's memories, Yong-un could now decipher every Demon King rune.
Thus, he understood the runes woven into Cheon-il's tattoos.
And among them, that utterly unfamiliar glyph could only represent Descuna.
"Incredible. But no matter—it's fine."
The path had been circuitous, but he'd achieved his goal.
"Supreme One...?"
Barum and Seong-min exchanged puzzled glances at his abrupt actions.
Yong-un chuckled softly and rose to his feet.
Then, addressing the Demon Cries of the Soul-Exterminating Ghost Manor—Cheon-il, Barum, and Seong-min—he declared:
"By tonight, I'll sever every contract binding you."
"I-is that even possible?"
Barum, born a demon, knew better than anyone how arduous, how impossible it truly was.
Yet Yong-un met their eyes and nodded confidently.
"I'll show you. Sit in meditation pose. It might take a while."
Boom!!
The two Dukes guarding the Demon King.
Second-in-commands of the demon realm, dubbed the apex predators of dimensions.
One punch from that power could crack even Demikrasha's reinforced sub-space—the other second-ranked Duke.
Boom!! Crackle!
In its already fractured state, like now, it could shatter in a single blow.
With the sub-space utterly destroyed, they returned to the gates of the Demon King's castle.
Whoosh.
Descuna, seething with rage, glared at Demikrasha.
"You... you bastard..."
True to demon nature, Descuna's words weren't mere rhetoric.
The fist that had demolished the sub-space now swung toward Demikrasha.
Pajijijik.
But as the other second-in-command, Demikrasha was no pushover.
"Whew~ Scary stuff."
As Demikrasha's eyes flickered wildly, the cracks in the transparent barrier Descuna had shattered mended themselves.
"What are you playing at? Surely not rebelling against the Demon King..."
"Rebelling?"
Demikrasha's perpetual playful smirk twisted into something demonic at the word.
And in that instant, as her shifting, colorful pupils locked into a deep crimson square—
Bang!!
Descuna's body rocketed backward.
Screeech.
Mid-flight, he slammed both feet into the ground, carving two deep furrows before skidding to a halt. He fixed Demikrasha with a venomous stare.
Demikrasha bellowed at him, voice dripping with killing intent:
"Do you have any idea how much I adore the Demon King?! I don't want to lose him... I can't lose my king! That's why I did it!!!"
She had defied the Demon King's command to send Yong-un back.
But why this outburst from Demikrasha?
And why did fury twist into ambiguity on Descuna's face?
"If it happens again!! I'd make the same choice. Even if it costs everything from you and me!"
Demikrasha whipped around.
The horde of demons and the massive turtle that had stood protectively now averted their trembling gazes from Descuna.
"We're leaving."
After her impassioned tirade—like she might break into sobs—Demikrasha strode away.
Crackkkle.
A massive gate to her personal domain yawned open.
Her subordinates vanished into it one by one.
"Fucking bitch..."
Descuna yanked his deeply embedded feet free, his face contorting in rage.
"Duke..."
The twin colossal demons guarding the gates—witnesses to the spectacle—gazed down at him anxiously.
"Mata, Bata."
"Yes, Duke."
"The Demon King will summon that human again. When he does..."
Descuna's voice dropped to a whisper, barely audible.
Yet it rang clear in the giants' ears.
"Understood."
"Understood."
The twin demon giants bowed deeply to Descuna.
Having relayed his message, Descuna glanced in the direction Demikrasha had vanished, then kicked off the ground and disappeared.
All demon contracts are forged through Demon King runes.
In other words, just as Demon Cries draw on their contracted demons' power, the runes themselves draw on the Demon King's might.
Master them well, and one could wield power rivaling the Demon King's!
'Right now, I...'
He had unlocked them all.
All but one.
'Everything except the rune for the Demon King himself.'
He added a Demon King rune to Cheon-il's tattoo as he sat in meditation.
Specifically, beneath Descuna's glyph, he inscribed the rune for "severance."
Sheik's memories—obsessed solely with these runes even in death—proved invaluable.
Twitch!
"Gah!"
With the severance rune perfectly etched, every contract rune on Cheon-il's body—even without demonization—flared to life.
All hidden bonds laid bare.
Cheon-il grimaced as his link to Descuna's power severed momentarily.
To ease the pain, Yong-un swiftly modified the contract.
Specifically.
Scritch. Scritch-scritch.
The core clause:
[If excessive power is used, the contracted demon seizes the body.]
He erased it entirely.
"Gaaahhhh!!"
As he removed the severance rune, Cheon-il screamed, writhing in torment.
But Yong-un had anticipated this agony.
Modifying a contract meant forging a new one—reviving the original pain in full.
"Barum, ready?"
"Yes, ready."
Perhaps unnerved by Cheon-il's suffering, Barum's expression tensed.
Yet his resolve burned fierce; he made no move to flee.
"You hated the demon realm that much?"
"No one awaits me there. It's more hellish than I imagined."
"Hellish is right. The wars here are child's play by comparison."
"Pardon?"
Barum blinked at Yong-un's words, spoken like one who'd wandered its depths.
But he soon clenched his jaw.
Yong-un had completed the severance rune atop Barum's body.
Grind.
No scream escaped him.
The torments of the demon realm dwarfed this.
As Barum gritted his teeth, his contract runes surfaced across his skin.
Unlike Cheon-il's, Barum's bore a different rune.
'Barum's descent is complete, unlike Cheon-il's.'
Scritch. Scritch-scritch.
He finalized all runes, save the finishing stroke.
Then asked Barum:
"You want that even if this descended body dies, you won't return to the demon realm. Right?"
"Yes. Dead or alive, I want to spend my last moments by Cheon-il... and the Supreme One who cared for us at the manor."
"Then that's what you'll get."
Yong-un placed the final stroke.
One rune among the many on Barum's body glowed brightly.
[Upon completion of descent via contract, the contracted demon brings its full essence into the contractor's body.]
"Nngh..."
Even Barum couldn't stifle a faint groan amid the recrafting pain.
But his would be far worse than Cheon-il's.
Infusing a demon of eons into a human vessel was no simple feat.
"This night will be long."
With Barum done, Yong-un stood.
Seong-min swallowed dryly, worry etching his face as he looked up.
"Supreme One... what about me..."
"You don't need it."
Seong-min hadn't contracted a demon.
He'd merely been toyed with by the Demon King "Man."
"I called you to assist them if needed. Take good care of these guys here."
"Understood, Supreme One..."
Leaving them behind, Yong-un quietly closed the door and stepped out.
A massive weight lifted from his heart—the safety of his burdensome yet cherished subordinates secured at last.
But in the process, a new curiosity clawed at his instincts.
'Why send me back, defying the Demon King's order...'
Recalling Demikrasha's final expression and tone, Yong-un gazed at the full moon beyond the window.
'This night will drag on.'
Now it was clear: those words weren't for his subordinates.
They were for himself.
As he stared out the window, his finger absentmindedly traced the character "Man" on the glass.
"Even the Demon King lives a complicated life. If descended demons just infuse this 'Man' rune with mana as a Demon King rune, they could descend personally. Tsk tsk..."
He chuckled, shaking his head in wry amusement.
But Yong-un didn't know.
That very method he described...
Was being wielded by human royalty—the Royal Class—not demons.