Chapter 96
Chapter 96
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 96
Chapter Title: Hell Is Not Far Away
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Hell is not far away.
It's always close by, always waiting for a chance to drag you back down to the filthy depths of that cesspool.
Compared to that, this place was paradise.
They had escaped from imperfect safety amid death, finally reclaiming complete safety where they no longer had to think about dying.
"Never..."
They would never go back.
The red gem embedded in Vaper's forehead emitted a black glow.
"I'll never return to the demon realm."
No matter what it took, they would never leave this place.
Somehow, with the five stolen demon eyes.
"Let's go."
He had prepared a trap for the Ghost Soul Annihilation Squad, which seemed ready to charge in at any moment, but the appearance of another demon eye had rendered the trap useless.
Vaper made a bold decision.
He would mobilize the entire Demoncry force to completely eliminate the first threat that had come their way.
"Yes, Vaper."
I am the strongest.
Vaper could confidently claim it now that he possessed five demon eyes.
In this paradise, he was certain he could reign as king, just like the kings in hell.
"Pathetic humans..."
At Vaper's command, the Demoncry headquarters mobilized.
"I'll kill them all. And redeem them."
Redeemed wraiths who could die in hell at any moment without it being strange.
Leading over twenty Demoncry members, he crossed into enemy territory for the first time.
All under a twisted sense of justice that could never be forgiven.
The shield blocking the threat heading toward Jinhe Valley had shattered.
A long trail of blood mixed with explosive blasts echoed all the way to the main house of Jinhe Valley, where Myung-un and Yong-un were.
It announced that a battle was raging here between those defending and those seeking to destroy.
"Jeongwon!"
Though over ten Demoncry members had appeared, the Demon Dragon Squad was different from when they faced the Demon Aces.
The half-baked Demon Dragon Squad that had struggled desperately against a single demon with incomplete martial arts was gone.
In its place...
Slash!
...stood a Demon Dragon Squad that cornered demons with black lightning they couldn't even wield in the martial world.
As Yong-un swung his sword, drawing out maximum clashes of energy to create a strike infused with the demonic qi from the manual Yong-un had bestowed.
The spectacle of three streaks of sword-blue lightning instantly reduced two approaching demons to ash.
"Damn, there sure are a filthy lot of them."
The destructive power of the new manual was incomparably stronger than before.
Before them, who once struggled against a single demon, the ashes of over three demons already swirled in the air.
"Grrr..."
Yet even as their comrades turned to ash before their eyes, the Demoncry's killing intent did not waver in the slightest.
"They're humans contracted with demons, right? Doesn't look like it to me!"
Sword Tiger gritted his teeth at their appearance, which differed slightly from what he had expected.
It felt exactly like fighting perfect demons, a sensation that clung to Sword Tiger.
"At this rate, we'll die of exhaustion."
Jeongwon let out a groan.
Their bodies were already drenched in sweat.
Holding their own against ten Demoncry members was proof enough of their growth.
But numerically, the difficulty had skyrocketed compared to the Demon Aces.
"Don't talk like that. They're listening."
Jong-hyun frowned and shot Jeongwon a warning glance at his morale-crushing words.
"Damn."
Realizing his mistake, Jeongwon bit his lip.
They were already on the verge of collapse, and if his thoughtless words wasted the brief respite they had earned, he'd feel unjust enough to cry.
So Jeongwon thought.
"Come at us!"
Maybe do the opposite.
Wouldn't they get scared and run away?
"Sigh."
Jeongwon's thoughtless action reminded him of someone.
What was the point of provoking them in this situation?
Worried that Jeongwon might do something even more reckless if he spoke up, Jong-hyun clamped his mouth shut.
"Is it working?"
But right then.
Something unbelievable happened right before Jong-hyun, who at least knew how to use his head.
After Jeongwon's shout, fear began to appear on the Demoncry's faces.
'No way... is it really working?'
He couldn't believe it.
These were Demoncry who fought on with killing intent even as comrades died.
And they were afraid of Jeongwon's shout, of all people?
"Kill..."
But soon, Jong-hyun realized it wasn't because of Jeongwon.
The Demoncry heads turned slowly, as if on cue.
Following their gaze, Jong-hyun's eyes caught sight of a new being utterly unlike the regular Demoncry.
Demonic qi unique to demons, thick enough to see with the naked eye.
Sword-blue eyes brimming with killing intent.
And long claws emitting a blue glow bright enough to illuminate all of Jinhe Valley.
"S-Sword Tiger..."
The mere sight of this new existence sent chills racing across Jong-hyun's skin, leaving him stammering.
"I see it too. Damn..."
He wasn't the only one feeling fear.
The tip of Sword Tiger's gripped sword trembled faintly.
This was on another level from any Demoncry—no, even any demon—he'd seen before.
"If we had just a bit more time... damn it."
Sword Tiger felt he could never win against this with his current power.
The being called Barum standing before them embodied fear itself.
But that fear wasn't limited to the Demon Dragon Squad.
"R-Retreat..."
Slash!
Barum's blue claws sliced through a Demoncry along with his true essence.
"What?!"
Wasn't he an ally?
Barum's blue claws rent the Demoncry who had tried to order a retreat into five pieces.
And that was just the beginning.
"Kwaaaagh!"
He began mercilessly slaughtering the remaining seven Demoncry they had gritted their teeth to handle.
"I-It’s Barum! Run!"
No one could escape in his presence.
His blue claws hunted down the scattered Demoncry one by one, tearing them apart.
"Guh!"
Finally, the blue claws withdrew from the chest of the seventh and last Demoncry.
"Kill..."
Barum's eyes turned toward the Demon Dragon Squad.
The Supreme One was humanity's strongest, in Myung-su's eyes.
Yet even the Supreme One, with all that power, couldn't shatter everything by force against the world's systems.
Because then the entire world would view him as an enemy.
And that would harm the family he cherished so deeply.
"What is it?"
Whenever faced with impossible situations beyond brute force, the Supreme One chose methods like this.
"Unwoo Guild Master."
He utilized the capable talents within the forces he had built, those who trusted and followed him, to shift the tide.
Turning impossible situations unresolvable by his power into feasible ones he could handle.
"I need help."
Jin-cheol sensed the gravity from Myung-su, who had brought the entire Ghost Soul Annihilation Squad, and shouted to those around.
"From this moment, no one approaches the guild master's office!"
"Yes, Guild Master!"
"Ghost Killer escort unit, seal off the perimeter!"
Jin-cheol's authority, bolstered by Yong-un's arrangements to rival the four great guilds in size, no longer confined to the neighborhood.
At his single command, a long line formed stretching to the expanded guild master's office.
"From your expression, it looks urgent. Follow me."
Jin-cheol walked along that line as if it were natural.
And behind him followed the Ghost Soul Annihilation Squad.
'A master strategist.'
The Supreme One had once called him that.
Unwoo Guild Master Jin-cheol was a master strategist.
If there was an intractable issue, seek his counsel anytime.
An answer would emerge.
The moment they entered the guild master's office, Myung-su asked Jin-cheol.
"Can you help?"
Jin-cheol smiled at Myung-su's words.
"We who serve the same Supreme One are one. Speak. What's the matter?"
At Jin-cheol's words, Myung-su relayed everything that had happened.
"The situation isn't good."
The war with Demoncry.
The Supreme One's absence, unable to move.
And finally, the grim future seen through Mu-hee's precognitive eyes.
Myung-su conveyed all the information to Jin-cheol in short order.
Jin-cheol listened without a single question, then fell deep into thought.
As he remained silent for a long while, the Ghost Soul Annihilation Squad's ghosts stamped their feet in anxiety.
'Even a master strategist can't do anything?'
As the grim future loomed closer, Myung-su finally stood.
"No time. We'll join the Demon Dragon Squad first."
Mu-hee opened her mouth as if to speak.
Seemingly wanting to say it was one of the grim futures she had foreseen.
But with no other choice, Myung-su wanted to protect the Supreme One first, no matter what.
Even if everyone else died, the Supreme One had to survive without fail.
"Let me know if you find an answer."
He rushed to the guild master's office door.
The Ghost Soul Annihilation Squad ghosts followed with darkened expressions.
And just as he reached for the doorknob...
"I found it."
Jin-cheol's voice turned the Ghost Soul Annihilation Squad's darkness into brilliant light.
"Sorry. When I'm deep in thought, I don't notice what's happening around me..."
His previously somber voice brightened.
That alone brought faint smiles to the Ghost Soul Annihilation Squad's lips.
"What is it? What do we do?"
"Th-That thing's a monster all on its own."
At the front of Jinhe Valley.
Sword Tiger, leader of the Demon Dragon Squad, and his squad members heaved ragged breaths.
It was a being that had slaughtered seven Demoncry—ones the full-powered Demon Dragon Squad could barely block three of.
It should have died long ago.
But fortunately, not a single Demon Dragon Squad member had fallen.
"You okay...?"
The reason staggered beside Sword Tiger.
It was Ho-gun, Yong-un's other subordinate, distinct from both Ghost Soul Annihilation and Demon Dragon Squad, who had come as reinforcements.
"Do I look okay?"
Yet the situation hadn't improved at all.
Sword Tiger's lifelong companion sword was snapped in half on the ground, blood dripped steadily from Jong-hyun's chest, and even the last standing Jeong-won barely clung to consciousness with his sword stabbed into the earth.
He bit his lip at the utterly hopeless surroundings.
"Is holding it off at our limit now?"
Surviving this long was a miracle in itself.
Without Ho-gun, the Demon Dragon Squad would have been annihilated already.
Of course, if the battle resumed, death was inevitable this time.
"Go guard the Supreme One."
Sword Tiger raised his broken sword.
"Planning to die?"
Ho-gun frowned, gripping Sword Tiger's shoulder with his bloodied hand.
"Have you gone mad? We've finally found a way to break through the wall and grow stronger. Can't die now."
Sword Tiger grinned.
Then he channeled the enemy demonic qi he harbored within into his sword with all his might.
Black demonic qi glowed as sword energy cloaked Sword Tiger's blade.
"It won't work on that monster. Better to fight together..."
Standing beside Sword Tiger, who steeled his resolve, Ho-gun also drew up his demonic qi.
Sword Tiger glared and shouted at him.
"Go now! I said guard the Supreme One!"
"What good is me guarding him if you die? Better to hold out here together as long as we can."
"What?"
Sword Tiger's eyes, filled with power, returned to normal.
For a moment, he wondered if Ho-gun's respect for the Supreme One was lacking.
But seeing Ho-gun's resolute expression beside him, that thought vanished instantly.
He wasn't certain, but from his eyes, he could tell.
'This guy too...'
Intended to lay down his life here for the Supreme One.
Sword Tiger felt it strongly in his chest: the desire to reduce the speed of danger heading toward the Supreme One by burning his own life.
Ho-gun felt the same...
'He's thinking the exact same thing as me.'
Grip.
Sword Tiger tightened his grasp.
"You mad bastard."
But he no longer forced Ho-gun to protect the Supreme One.
Instead...
"Right. Let's go together."
He acknowledged Ho-gun as his companion on this path to defeat.
"Kill!"
The death with blue claws kicked off the ground.
A speed faster than any enemy they'd faced before became wind that grazed past Sword Tiger and Ho-gun.
"Come on!"
"Urraaaah!"
But in their hearts burned not fear, but a reverence deeper than death itself.
The master and Supreme One who had shown and let them feel a new world.
Only the desperate resolve to protect him remained.
Kuuuung!
Ho-gun and Sword Tiger's demonic qi, granted by Yong-un, clashed against Barum's blue claws.
Kwaduk.
Demoncry's terror, nullifying all, cloaked in blue light, shredded Ho-gun's demonic qi and burrowed into Sword Tiger's sword body.
'The end?'
Sword Tiger and Ho-gun simultaneously sensed the finish.
If the sword holding them back was severed, they would die too.
The moment they sensed death, guilt replaced fear and terror in their hearts.
What they feared most right now wasn't death.
'Supreme One...'
Only self-reproach and guilt for failing to protect the Supreme One remained.
Kwaduduk!
As the sword body was more than half severed and lost its strength, both Sword Tiger and Ho-gun closed their eyes.
But right then...
Bang!!!!!
"Snap out of it!"
Before them, who had forsaken all and awaited death, an explosion rang out with a familiar voice.
Ho-gun and Sword Tiger snapped their eyes open wide.
There, blocking what seemed an unstoppable blue claw assault, stood two daggers, one sword, and sword-blue poison qi.
"Snap out of it! What are you doing?!"
Myung-su of the Ghost Soul Annihilation Squad.
He had awakened Sword Tiger and Ho-gun's spirits.
"Ghost Soul Annihilation..."
In the midst of everything ending.
The Ghost Soul Annihilation Squad had joined the fray.