Chapter 84
Chapter 84
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 84
Chapter Title: Aftermath of the Historic Moment
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If a historic moment was like a war, there were always casualties.
"Ahh..."
It wasn't for nothing that the upper tier of Gates was called Demonus.
The Sword Tiger and Myung-su, who had always proven their strength, were being carried out in Yong-un's arms, both unconscious.
The Minister covered her mouth with both hands in shock.
Rushing over to Yong-un, she cried out in a worried voice.
"I told you not to go!"
"Why?"
Seeing no flicker of emotion in Yong-un despite his subordinates' defeat, the Minister snapped in anger.
"People who trusted and followed you are dead! And you show no sorrow? You really are heartless!"
Even as the Minister shouted, Yong-un showed no particular emotion.
His subordinates seemed just as stone-faced; the dancer standing at the back burst into laughter.
"You're laughing!? Right now!?"
As the dancer struggled to compose herself, Yong-un looked down at the Minister and said,
"Don't make a fuss. They're not dead."
Not dead?
The Minister's face hardened.
But only for a moment.
Pointing at the limp Sword Tiger and Myung-su, she yelled,
"Then what's all this blood and these wounds? No one survives injuries like..."
"Quiet."
Annoyed by the Minister's nagging, Yong-un wrinkled his nose and dug into his ear with his pinky finger.
The Minister, head of the agency managing Korea's Hunters, was about to scold him.
She took a deep breath to speak.
At that moment, the limp Myung-su's head lifted, and he looked at the Minister.
"We're not dead. Treating us as casualties would be unfair."
"Wha...!?"
The Minister's face went blank.
Wounds on his back, blood dripping steadily.
His arms and legs hung slack—anyone would think he was a corpse.
Yet Myung-su boldly lifted his head, leaving the Minister speechless.
"Who's dead? We just don't have the strength to lift our arms."
Like Myung-su, the Sword Tiger raised his head fine and spoke.
Being carried limp in Yong-un's arms, the Sword Tiger and Myung-su lifted their heads to talk.
The sight was so ridiculous that the dancer couldn't hold back her laughter again.
"Pfft."
Yong-un glanced at his stone-faced subordinates and ordered,
"We're heading back."
"Yes, Supreme One."
Leaving the dazed Minister, Captain Kim Hyun, and the troops behind, Yong-un and his group departed the Demonus barricade.
A long silence followed.
Bloodstains on the ground and charred, corroded scraps of clothing drew everyone's eyes.
Following those bloodstains led their gazes to Demonus itself, bathed in sunlight.
"Was there always sunlight in Demonus?"
They could only tilt their heads at the peculiar sight of sunlight shining on the enigmatic Demonus, unclear if it was cleared or not.
"I don't know. But it's so quiet now... maybe it's cleared?"
Growing bored in the prolonged silence, the troops glanced at the barricade showing slight changes and the blank faces of the Minister and Captain Kim Hyun.
C-Rank Demonus.
As Jumak-dong was cleared, a small groan escaped from among the black-hooded figures.
"Ugh..."
"B-Bafer!"
Bafer, with a dark red gem embedded in his forehead, clutched his eyes in pain.
The surrounding black-hooded figures crowded around him in alarm.
"Don't make a scene."
The pain was brief.
Bafer snapped at the approaching ones.
Raising his bowed head, his right eye turned black, then traced a blue circle.
"The... demonic eye..."
The demonic eye appeared and vanished.
Sandra, a comrade among these black-hooded beings.
His demonic eye had returned to Bafer.
Everyone knew what that meant, so no one spoke further.
"Sandra's been taken down?"
As no one dared address the sensitive topic to Bafer, a figure seated atop a massive statue behind the black-hooded ones brought it up.
Bafer's eyes both blackened, drawing multicolored circles and emitting light.
Bzzz!
With a small vibration, the statue where the speaker sat cracked and shattered.
But the target landed on the ground unfazed and looked at Bafer.
"Sorry..."
"Can't be helped. He was the one you cherished enough to give one of your five demonic eyes to."
The figure who effortlessly dodged Bafer's inexplicable attack shrugged it off.
Among all present, the only one on equal footing with their leader, Bafer.
Placing a hand on Bafer's shoulder, he said,
"You saw through Sandra's demonic eye. What do you think..."
Crack.
The speaker's fingers twisted and snapped on their own, then sharp blue claws extended with a snikt.
Releasing killing intent so intense it made all the black-hooded figures tremble, he continued,
"Is that the one I'm looking for?"
His left eye returned to its usual dark red glow.
But his right eye held Sandra's blue circle.
A voice approached amid thick killing intent.
Smirk.
Bafer's downturned lips, seemingly sunk in grief, curled up.
In a position no one could see.
The smile vanished instantly, twisting back into sorrowful lips.
Bafer's voice turned to the figure.
"Looks like... it is him."
Crack.
The extended blue claws grew even longer.
Ten blades of blue longswords gleamed with sharp edge.
Then, tangible killing intent slashed the ground around, blue-black flames flickering as eyes turned to Bafer.
"Where?"
"A fine tour."
Only Yong-un would call Demonus a tour.
At his words, the bandage-wrapped Demon Dragon Corps and Soul-Exterminating Ghost Slayers held their tongues.
"It wasn't complete, but I believe it was good experience."
Could it be called good experience?
They poured out all their strength and survived on the brink of death.
Exhausting themselves to that degree was indeed valuable experience.
But the process demanded immense mental fortitude and the terror of death they'd never want to relive.
"Still, I saw something good. I witnessed your resolve to protect your Demon Dragon Corps and Soul-Exterminating Ghost Slayers, to follow my orders, even staking your lives. I'm satisfied."
It was like drinking the bitterest, most toxic liquor in a nightmare.
Liquor you'd never touch again, but that one drink had bonded them all.
As if to prove it, the Soul-Exterminating Ghost Slayers and Demon Dragon Corps exchanged glances and chuckled.
Yong-un smiled and clapped his hands.
As all eyes focused, he commanded the Demon Dragon Corps and Soul-Exterminating Ghost Slayers with a serious expression.
"Now that you've reached a satisfactory stage, build on your Demonus experience to grow stronger. Strong enough to overcome them again."
The nightmare-swimming faces of the Demon Dragon Corps and Soul-Exterminating Ghost Slayers changed.
Their eyes sparked with life, strength surging.
Faint auras of fighting spirit, mana, demonic energy, poison qi, and spiritual energy flowed, expressing their fierce will.
"I didn't make you mine to save you."
Grip.
Everyone would remember Yong-un's face pulling them from the nightmare.
Seen differently from each angle, but the same emotion: relief.
But for these subordinates and disciples, that relief felt like humiliation.
They pledged loyalty to Yong-un for their own reasons, offering their hearts.
And in those hearts burned the same vow.
To protect their Supreme One and master with their lives.
"Grow strong enough for me to entrust my back to you. Become steadfast swords so you can guard me, so I can trust you."
Yong-un's command, small but laden with power, fell upon the Demon Dragon Corps and Soul-Exterminating Ghost Slayers.
The same as always, yet after Demonus, it hit differently.
Deeper, stronger.
"Yes! Supreme One!"
All subordinates shouted as one.
That power reached Yong-un, drawing a smile to his lips.
"Good."
He was genuinely satisfied.
The Heavenly Demon Cult's Demon Dragon Corps and Soul-Exterminating Ghost Slayers, who had stood back-to-back in war, seemed reborn in reality.
"Very good."
Yong-un poured out his utmost approval.
To let them forge their resolve, he rose quietly and left their side.
Exiting the Soul-Exterminating Ghost Slayers' house, Yong-un looked at the darkened night sky and smirked.
'Hearts and wills are set. Now just hone the skills.'
How long would it take?
Unlike the Sword Demon from Heavenly Demon Cult days, Yong-un had grown strong enough to defeat the Blade Demon. No matter their growth, they wouldn't reach back-to-back level.
But Yong-un didn't seek that.
At least the level of the Heavenly Demon Cult's Demon Dragon Corps and Soul-Exterminating Ghost Slayers.
That would suffice.
'At least a few years.'
Recalling the Demonus foes, Yong-un walked slowly in the moonlight.
Anticipating their growth, he headed home with light steps.
"Maybe train Myung-un so he doesn't get beat up everywhere?"
While they grew.
Thinking of something that could be fortune or hell for Myung-un, Yong-un kicked off lightly.
Changes came to the Demon Dragon Corps and Soul-Exterminating Ghost Slayers.
After Demonus, they cleared only minimal Gates, devoting the rest to far harsher training.
No more leisurely self-reflection.
The desperation of Unwoo Guild's former Demon Horse Squad fighting limits to become Demon Shadow Ghost Slayers infused their once-complacent training.
To overcome nightmare impotence, they drove themselves into the abyss of limits.
"Hard to see their faces these days."
That was why.
Seeing the Demon Dragon Corps and Soul-Exterminating Ghost Slayers had grown difficult.
But a good change; Yong-un smiled, sinking into the sofa.
"But... Supreme One, don't you have nothing to do now?"
After over a week like this.
Jin-cheol asked awkwardly as Yong-un entered the Unwoo Guild office daily like clockwork.
"Am I not a guild member of Unwoo Guild too? What's wrong with me coming to work?"
"W-Well, that's true, but..."
It suddenly felt surreal.
Yong-un as a guild member.
Supreme One as member, his subordinate as guild master—this upside-down hierarchy made Jin-cheol sweat coldly.
Before, it wouldn't matter, but now Yong-un was beyond Unwoo Guild's reach.
No guild member or staff could ignore it; for a week, no one worked normally.
Imagine a company chairman haunting the lowest staff area daily.
Terrifying just to think.
Yet it was reality in Unwoo Guild office.
Dreadful days slipping by in awkward glances.
"Ah, is it because of me?"
Noticing the staff's odd stares late, Yong-un looked around.
They smiled, but every guild member and staff face was stiff.
Like dolls forcing grins.
"Well..."
Jin-cheol scratched his head, unable to say it outright.
Yong-un rose from the sofa, shaking his head.
"That position again."
Such stares and situations weren't new.
When he became a Demon Commander and a recognized master in Heavenly Demon Cult, the Demon Shadow Ghost Slayers had acted this way.
Then, he'd felt a pang, but understanding their plight revealed the suffocation.
Feeling that pang again, Yong-un pushed aside regret and stood.
Casually muttering,
"Should I really train Myung-un?"
He'd neglected his only brother too much.
As fellow martial artists, shouldn't he ensure the kid didn't get thrashed everywhere?
"No work anyway. Yeah."
With Demon Dragon Corps and Soul-Exterminating Ghost Slayers in near-seclusion training, time freed up.
Yong-un planned to turn Myung-un into a monster during it.
"By next Demonus, make him a golden pig."
Using modern slang aptly, Yong-un murmured.
He moved to leave the office.
Then his phone rang.
"Speak of the tiger..."
"Minister Baek Myung-hee" flashed on the screen.
Answering and pressing to his ear.
At the Minister's words, Yong-un's smile faded as he replied softly,
"On my way now."