Chapter 227
Chapter 227
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 227
Chapter Title: Ambush at Princess Isabel Park
The various questions and plans swirling chaotically in his mind began to sort themselves out neatly once he learned that his subordinates had obtained the Crimson Heavenly Demonic Energy.
The reason was simple. Many things he'd deemed impossible, thinking he had to handle everything alone, suddenly became feasible.
Originally, he'd planned to wage a solitary war without informing his subordinates or family, deeming the risks far too great.
But with his subordinates acquiring the Crimson Heavenly Demonic Energy, they now had a chance to survive even death.
After gathering and conversing with the leaders of his faction, Yong-un realized that a lonely war might not be the only answer.
It wasn't just because they were qualified.
During their late-evening discussion with the faction leaders, he discovered the depth of respect and gratitude his subordinates held for him—far greater than he'd imagined.
Yong-un realized he'd been gravely mistaken all this time.
Neglecting them under the guise of safety wasn't the right path.
And the moment this dawned on him...
Yong-un summoned his faction's top strategist—the brilliant general Jin-cheol, leader of the Phantom Shadow Assassins—who had orchestrated so many of their successes.
Together, they restructured the tangled mess of thoughts and plans.
And...
It instilled in Yong-un a confidence he'd lacked for the vague war ahead.
'If the Heavenly Demon Cult's subordinates saw this, they'd laugh their heads off.'
A lord drawing courage from his men.
The Sword Demon Yong-un of old would have felt shame, but the current Yong-un was simply grateful.
His subordinates, who could have basked in happiness after gaining everything, had instead risked their lives to repay his grace by plunging into war. To Yong-un, this was immense courage.
Thud.
The note that arrived directed him to the fountain in Princess Isabel Park at Belém Square in Brazil.
His smile faded gradually as he realized Sergio's trap might be lying in wait. Yong-un drew the Demon-Slaying Sword from his waist.
And then...
Whoosh!
He unleashed the supreme aura he'd kept bottled within.
Like a stone tossed into a pond, violet waves of supreme aura radiated outward in perfect circles from Yong-un's body.
'One, two, three, four...'
He began sensing the presences of the Demon Cries, one by one.
And their number totaled a staggering twenty-two.
"Looks like they came prepared."
Trap or not, it didn't matter.
At the very least, this place was undeniably connected to Sergio.
Step. Step. Step.
Having detected the supreme aura Yong-un released, the presences of the twenty-two Demon Cries drew closer.
Then, one who seemed to be their leader landed lightly beside Yong-un and placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Who are you?"
"Sergio called me here."
Turning his head, Yong-un met the eyes of a curly-haired Black man, who furrowed his brow.
"Sergio... I've never seen anyone like you address him so casually..."
"That makes sense. I'm not one of his lackeys."
"...?!"
The Black Demon Cry tried to rapidly initiate demonization.
But faster still, Yong-un's aura-clad hand pressed onto the man's head.
Thud!
The air grew heavy in an instant.
His breathing turned labored, as if gravity itself had intensified under the supreme aura. The Black Demon Cry grimaced fiercely.
Crack!
Yong-un altered the form of the aura on the man's head, deploying the Soul Subjugation Technique.
The sound of compressed air suddenly releasing echoed through.
"He's the enemy!"
Realizing something was wrong, the surrounding Demon Cries began demonizing simultaneously.
Gray-black light spread in all directions as the twenty-one Demon Cries charged at Yong-un.
They flew at him with blinding speed.
Yet Yong-un merely watched them approach, Demon-Slaying Sword lowered, making no move to swing it.
"Don't kill him! We need him alive!"
"Our lord will decide!"
In a flash, the Demon Cries closed in, claws sharpened razor-edge.
They unleashed demonic energy as if to shred Yong-un's body to pieces, swinging their talons.
"Capture..."
Crunch!
It was then.
One Demon Cry crumpled with a snapped neck, right in Yong-un's line of sight as he silently observed their claw illusions.
And with that as the trigger...
Crunch. Crunch.
"Gah!"
"K-Kuaaagh!!"
The Demon Cries began collapsing one by one, screaming in agony.
However, even as they fell, their swift assault allowed one final Demon Cry to launch an attack.
His razor-sharp claw stretched toward Yong-un's exposed arm.
Just ten centimeters from contact.
Clang!!!
A sharp metallic ring reverberated, and the culprit behind this scene revealed himself.
"Wh-What...? N-No presence at all..."
The Demon Cry's claw halted right before Yong-un's arm.
Beneath it lay a black dagger forged from a mana stone.
The leader of Ghost Killer Soul Annihilation, shrouded in blood mist that billowed like smoke from the Crimson Heavenly Demonic Energy—Il-gwi-hon Master Myung-su—glared at the Demon Cry with scarlet eyes.
"My lord."
Myung-su's voice awaited orders.
Swish.
Yong-un withdrew his hand from the Black Demon Cry's head.
Thump.
The man collapsed like a vegetable.
Having extracted all information from the Black Demon Cry, Yong-un turned and declared,
"Kill them."
"As my lord commands..."
"U-Uwaaaah!!..."
Myung-su's dagger became a streak of light, severing the last Demon Cry's neck. ◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Before the blood-soaked fountain.
Yong-un silently held the Demon-Slaying Sword and picked up a coin from the fountain's edge.
Without hesitation, he gripped it tight and cleaved the fountain vertically in two, coin and all.
The bisected coin's remnants washed away with the gushing water from the split fountain.
Just as the pooled water reached Yong-un's shoes...
Boom!!
From where he'd rested the Demon-Slaying Sword at his side, a massive impact rang out, and black smoke materialized.
Its owner wore a black mask and hood, concealing everything but his eyes.
The Third Royal Class, Light of Darkness.
"Frederick."
Sizzle.
The Demon-Slaying Sword, touched by the black smoke, emitted a corroding hiss.
But the Demon-Slaying Sword was a demonic blade beyond ordinary swords.
It expelled the black smoke by emitting its own blood mist, then gleamed with violet aura along its blade.
"Just as Sergio said, you're different from the other Royal Classes."
The taciturn Frederick spoke first.
Yong-un glanced at him before shifting his gaze to the fountain.
There, beneath the cleaved basin, a hole caught his eye.
Wee-oo, wee-oo, wee-oo.
Perhaps due to the commotion.
Some citizen must have called it in.
As Frederick and Yong-un faced off, five Brazilian police cars arrived.
They drew pistols, grimaced at the surrounding corpses, and shouted,
"Hands u—!"
The Brazilian officer was about to yell "up!"
But a colleague clamped his mouth shut and pointed at Frederick.
"Sorry for the trouble."
What followed left Yong-un dumbfounded.
There were clearly twenty-two Demon Cry corpses strewn about.
Yet the police holstered their guns, got back in their cars, and canceled the report simply because Frederick was there.
"Brazilian?"
As far as Yong-un knew, Frederick wasn't Brazilian.
So how did even regular Brazilian cops recognize him?
Though asked out of curiosity, the stoic Frederick offered no reply, silently heading toward the fountain hole.
He picked up a remnant of the bisected coin from the ground and glared at Yong-un.
"A memory-reading skill?"
"Where's Sergio? Why are you alone?"
"You'll know soon enough."
Frederick tossed the coin aside, his expression tinged with anger, and grasped at empty air.
As he mimed drawing something, a long, massive scythe with a blue glow emerged from the floating black smoke.
Yong-un recognized it instantly.
It was Frederick's sacred weapon.
Thud!
Brandishing the sacred weapon, Frederick lightly embedded the 'giyeok'-shaped blade into the ground.
Then, he vanished into the swirling black smoke, his eyes flashing deep blue before disappearing entirely.
Whoosh.
Not truly gone.
Merely blended into the surroundings, like Void Fusion Assassination Technique.
But from the unseen spatial rift, attacks rained down on Yong-un.
Clang!!!
The Demon-Slaying Sword clashed with his sacred weapon, sparking fiercely.
The recoil shook Yong-un's body.
And a smile crept across his face.
Sizzle!
Frederick reappeared from where he'd vanished.
But for an attacker, he was emitting white smoke as if corroded by acid.
"......"
Frederick turned his gaze there.
He discovered what had melted his black smoke.
It was the poison aura of the Crimson Heavenly Demonic Energy, spread by the Three Ghost Souls Poison Witch.
Already a vicious poison in its own right, the poison witch's toxin had fused with the Crimson Heavenly Demonic Energy, becoming lethally potent enough to dissolve even Frederick's black smoke.
Swish. Swish swish.
Ghost Killer Soul Annihilation assassins materialized around the slightly startled Frederick.
Scanning them, he turned back to Yong-un.
"That space is mine alone. How are your subordinates there?"
"Spatial rifts aren't exclusive to you. Void Fusion Assassination is Ghost Killer Soul Annihilation's domain too."
He glanced over the Ghost Killer Soul Annihilation ghost souls.
After absorbing the Crimson Heavenly Demonic Energy, their appearances had transformed completely.
Expressionless, they exuded cold killing intent amid dark-red blood mist.
Among them were Cheon-il and Barum, emitting Crimson Heavenly Demonic Energy even in demonized Demon Cry form.
"Didn't expect me to have this much firepower, did you? Your 'lord'?"
Yong-un kicked off the ground toward the rigid Frederick.
Frederick's elongated sacred weapon rose vertically, clashing with Yong-un's Demon-Slaying Sword.
Sizzle.
Frederick slid back far, Yong-un now inches from his face.
Whoosh!
Yong-un placed his aura-clad hand on Frederick's head.
The moment he tried to use Soul Subjugation...
Thud!
Frederick kicked Yong-un's abdomen.
'Faster?'
But his foot struck only empty air.
Yong-un had leaped airborne. He furrowed his brow at Frederick's enhanced physical prowess.
But only for a moment.
Crack. Crack crack.
An unbelievable sight unfolded before Yong-un's eyes.
"So that's why they say the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Royal Classes are different." ◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ At that moment.
Sophia, who had been resting, opened her eyes.
Rising, she confirmed her body was bound tight.
"Wh-What...?"
She struggled roughly to loosen the ropes wrapping her snugly.
But the more she did, the tighter they constricted, forcing a grimace.
"Don't struggle so much. They're mana stone ropes enchanted with magic—the harder you fight, the worse it gets for you."
Sophia whipped her head toward the voice.
There sat Ignito, legs propped up on the desk.
"What is this, Ignito?"
"I don't know either. Just following orders. Don't hate me for it."
He yawned lazily.
Sophia, unfamiliar with the situation, snapped sharply,
"Untie me now!"
"Can't do that. You're under suspicion right now."
"Me...?"
"They say you're not you or something."
Sophia's brow twitched.
"Who said that?"
"Someone did. Just wait a bit. They'll untie you soon enough. No harm will come. Hang tight till the suspicion clears."
Sophia's eyes darted rapidly.
She scanned the room.
Only she and Ignito were there.
No one else to help.
"Yaaawn."
Yet Sophia suddenly smiled, leaning back comfortably into the chair.
"Fine, I'll wait. But... can you really stay here?"
"Huh?"
"Aren't you going after Sergio? Barely managed with four, can three pull it off?"
"Nah, don't worry. Seemed plenty."
"...What?"
Sophia's brow furrowed.
Ignito continued,
"The Dancer, right?"
Swish.
The Dancer emerged from the room's shadows.
"Yeah."
"How's the situation?"
"Not bad. The Supreme One sends word: Be careful, Ignito."
"Huh? What’s that mean?"
"He uncovered the secret of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Royal Classes."
Sophia's eyes widened.
Ignito, lounging casually, sat up curiously.
"What is it?"
"Unlike other Royal Classes, the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd can demonize."
"Oho..."
Ignito nodded as if hearing an intriguing tale.
Then he eyed Sophia.
"You too?"
"......"
Sophia wore a grave, silent expression.
Ignito smirked.
"Things just got interesting. I wanna see Sergio's face—going from attacker to defender."
Snorting derisively, he glanced at Sophia before stretching out and reclining again.