Chapter 9. The Descent of the Demon King and the Ultimate Secret Technique (Beauty Trap)
Chapter 9. The Descent of the Demon King and the Ultimate Secret Technique (Beauty Trap)
Chapter 9. The Descent of the Demon King and the Ultimate Secret Technique (Beauty Trap)
Tak, tak, tadak.
Inside the quiet classroom, only the sound of the professor's chalk scratching against the blackboard echoed.
Written on the blackboard was the grand title, 'Ecology of Gates and the Crisis of Humanity.'
"Now, everyone pay attention. Today's lecture is about the essence of the Gate, which is the most fundamental aspect of being a Hunter."
The middle-aged female professor pushed up her glasses and scanned the students.
"A Gate is a passage that leads to a dimension other than Earth. The exact conditions for their appearance have not yet been discovered. However, there is one certain commonality. It is that all beings crossing over from beyond the Gate are 'female'."
Murmurs erupted here and there in the classroom.
The professor continued with a stern expression.
"They prioritize 'kidnapping males' over destruction and slaughter. Academia presumes that there are no males in the dimension beyond the Gate, and they are hunting Earth's males for the maintenance and reproduction of their species. Especially...."
The professor's gaze drifted away from the blackboard and rested on me, sitting by the window.
"The younger and more beautiful the male, the more fanatical their obsession becomes. This is also proof that monsters possess preferences similar to intelligent beings."
In an instant, the gazes of all the female students filling the classroom were fixed on me.
Under normal circumstances, I would have wanted to hide in a mouse hole from the pressure, but I calmly organized my notes.
Having been suffering from the deep skinship of 'human-type ultimate weapons' like Kim Sia and So-hee-nunna lately, this level of attention felt like nothing more than warm sunlight.
'They're all trying to eat me with their eyes. Well, I suppose that's only natural in this worldview.'
I let out a sigh mixed with lamentation and corrected the professor's explanation in my head.
The truth that only I, who possesses knowledge of the original work, know.
Beyond the Gate is not simply a world without men.
It is a hell ruled by the Demon King of lust and rage, Asmodeus.
Right now, only low-level monsters like goblins or orcs are coming out, but as time passes, high-intelligence beings like dark elves or demons will appear and trample the Earth.
Above all, the twisted sexual ethics of this world—this insane atmosphere where women treat men as if they are prey—was actually the result of the Demon King's corrupted Demonic Energy flowing through the Gates and slowly eroding the world.
'Right now, it ends with just having my lips stolen, but if the influence grows, an era will truly come where men are raped on the streets. How terrifying.'
I rested my chin on my hand and thought about the practical Gate training scheduled for the afternoon.
According to the original work, today is when the first rift occurs here.
An episode where 'Shadow Monsters' imbued with the power of Asmodeus pop out, turning the academy into a mess, and Sia awakens her abilities after a hard-fought battle.
'Sia has become so strong now that I don't even know if she'll struggle. Well, I'll just watch from a distance and go home.'
Normally, I should have been racking my brain for a plan to minimize the damage, but I brushed it off lightly, thinking of how much stronger Sia had become compared to the original work.
However, my optimistic thoughts were shattered exactly three hours later.
"......W-what is this?!"
Kiiiiiing—!
At the moment the practical Gate was supposed to open, I couldn't help but let out a scream.
The dimension itself was screaming.
It wasn't a simple rift.
And it wasn't the same rift shown in the original work, either.
With a bizarre noise as if the skin of the world was being forcibly peeled away, the sky began to crack like a glass window.
What poured out through the gaps was Demonic Energy that looked like dark red liquid, and the moment it touched the ground, gravity twisted, causing the debris of nearby buildings to soar into the air.
It was an overwhelming and terrifying omen of a descent, as if witnessing the reverse of the creation of the world.
"W-what is this?! This isn't a practical Gate!"
"The dimension... the dimension is tearing apart!"
The high-level Hunters dispatched for the training screamed, but they too were overcome with fear and fell to their knees.
And through that torn space, 'that existence' finally revealed its form.
Fiery red hair wrapped around the atmosphere, and ruby-like, vivid red eyes looked down at the living beings on the ground as if they were insects.
A body with bursting, voluptuous breasts and unrealistic curves.
An atmosphere that stirred up sexual desire regardless of gender.
The final boss of the original work, whose very existence made the dimension scream.
It was the Demon King, Asmodeus.
'Why is she here at this time of all times...?!'
Surprisingly, she was stepping on this land right now, maintaining 100% of her power.
"Sia-ya!"
I shouted, but Sia had already thrown her body toward the Demon King.
"I will protect Haneul! How dare you show your face here!"
Right now, she doesn't know what kind of 'existence' the being in front of her is.
Sia exploded with golden mana and unleashed a strike of annihilation.
Her attack, possessing power on the level of the middle of the original work, was powerful enough to cleave the earth and distort space.
However, Asmodeus just smiled with a sneer and lightly waved her hand.
Kwaaang—!
"Kyaa!"
With just a single gesture.
Sia's golden sword energy scattered like dust, and her figure was pushed by invisible pressure, flying dozens of meters away and slamming into a wall.
"Haa, haa......."
Sia coughed up blood and stood up again.
The [Obsession] dwelling in her eyes burned fanatically.
But I know.
That with the current Sia, there isn't even a shred of hope.......
She leaped once more, squeezing out her mana as if carving away her own soul.
Thousands of mana arrows struck the Demon King, but Asmodeus merely blinked her red eyes once.
Pajik!
The space itself froze, and Sia's arrows shattered in mid-air.
Asmodeus moved in an instant to right in front of Sia and grabbed her by the neck.
"Hmm, I visited personally because I felt mana contaminated on Earth in addition to my own Demonic Energy. I'm disappointed that it's just a half-baked little brat."
The shocking truth made the back of my head ache.
'I wondered why she appeared at this time, but it was all because of me....'
The [Obsession] that changed because of my existence from the holy power of [Wish].
To think that as Sia's power corrupted, it would attract the Demon King's interest.......
Kuung—!
The Demon King slammed Sia into the floor.
The sound of the ground collapsing and Sia's bones breaking reached my ears.
Ah, no!
Because of me, Sia... the protagonist of this world!
Sia, battered and broken, reached out toward me with trembling hands.
"R-run away... Haneul-ah... please......."
Her eyes, worrying only for my safety even while bleeding from her mouth.
At that moment, this world that felt like an 'animation' completely shattered in my head.
Have I ever truly accepted this world until now?
Wasn't I just a bystander who only accepted it as a story beyond the screen?
"No! I can't let that happen!"
I unleashed my [High-Speed Recovery] ability, which I had been hiding by pretending to be a mediocre healer for the sake of my own safety.
The blinding white light erupting from my fingertips enveloped Sia's entire body.
The torn wounds closed in an instant, and the broken bones found their place.
"Huh? W-what is happening......?!"
"The ability of student Park Haneul, registered with the Hunter Association, was supposed to be a simple recovery ability......?"
"With that level of ability, it's the same as the strongest healer, the Saintess......."
The sounds of astonishment coming from all around.
Yes, I know too.
That from this moment on, my grand plan to just enjoy wealth and glory under Sia's shadow has been ruined.
But.
"Sia-ya, are you okay?"
"I-I'm sorry, because of me, your ability has been revealed, Haneul-ah......."
If it's for Sia, who worries about my well-being more than her own life, then I'll throw that kind of plan to the dogs!
But at that moment, I felt a strange sensation.
'Uh...?'
I clearly only intended to heal her wounds, but wherever my mana touched, the dark red Demonic Energy of the Demon King that was strangling Sia was screaming and being washed away.
Not only did her bizarrely broken bones knit back together, but even the golden [Obsession] mana that was rampaging and gnawing at Sia's mind calmed down obediently as soon as it received my light.
"Ho-oh?"
Asmodeus's eyes narrowed.
She looked down at me as if she found it interesting.
"To think that a human with the ability to purify my Demonic Energy would be such a young and beautiful man. I went through the trouble of twisting the dimension, and I was disappointed because there were only half-baked little brats, but looking at you now. You are the 'real deal'."
Her eyes glinted with greedy lust.
Just as she said, my ability wasn't simple healing.
Wherever my light touched, the dark Demonic Energy Asmodeus had scattered was disappearing like smoke.
'Purification of the Demon King's Demonic Energy', something even the strongest Hunter in the United States, called the Saintess, could not do.
I looked at my mana with trembling hands.
'The Demon King's Demonic Energy was really purified. The Saintess... even that Saintess who appeared in the original work couldn't purify the Demon King's contaminated Demonic Energy. She could only suppress it at best. But I....'
It wasn't just fixing the body.
My ability had a singularity that pulled out the devil's contamination by the root and even calmed the rampaging [Obsession] of Sia.
The reason I could move normally even in front of this overwhelming pressure from the Demon King was also because my mana was protecting me on its own and 'purifying' the surroundings.
'My ability... is a higher-tier version of the Saintess's?'
The surprise was short-lived, and I desperately pulled out knowledge of the original work while looking at the Demon King in front of me.
'Forget the new function of my ability. Why was the Demon King able to visit in person already?'
In the original work, Asmodeus appearing in the very late stages wasn't just because she was waiting for the protagonist to get stronger.
There is a huge penalty for a transcendental being of the Demon King level to cross dimensions in person.
That is why she opened small Gates all over the Earth and consistently exposed her Demonic Energy to slowly 'Demonize' the Earth.
Because the penalty decreases as the land becomes contaminated.
But now, it's the early stages.
The progress of Earth's Demonization is close to 0%.
'As the Demon King said, this is a "stretch". That woman is currently staying in this dimension by forcibly carving away her own soul. If so....'
I examined the Demon King's eyes.
She is emitting 100% of her power, but the distortion of space was trembling minutely around her.
'If I stall for just a little longer, the Demon King will have no choice but to return due to the dimensional backlash.'
However, Sia was already at her limit.
Even though I purified her, the difference in combat power was too overwhelming, so I couldn't make her fight again.
I hardened my resolve, hid Sia behind my back, and walked confidently toward the Demon King.
"H-Haneul-ah?! No!"
"Ho-oh, a man who doesn't back down in front of me but instead steps forward confidently. You are as bold as you are beautiful."
Asmodeus threw a sticky gaze as if she were even more amused.
Whew, okay.
If I stall for just a little longer, the Demon King will return due to the dimensional backlash.
And I am the only one in this world who has the ability to purify the Demon King's Demonic Energy.
I walked right up to her face, and with all my pride of 20 years and the memories of my past life, I mobilized all the knowledge of the original work to unleash my own ultimate secret technique (Beauty Trap).
"Aing~ Demon King-nunna♡ Please go easy on me just this once. Ppuing-ppuing~♡"
"......?"
Asmodeus's expression stiffened in an instant.
The Demonic Energy of the Demon King that was shaking the heavens and earth cut off momentarily.
Sia, who was looking at me while battered and broken, the Hunters who were on the verge of fainting, and even the demons watching from beyond the torn dimension seemed to freeze as if time had stopped.
Secret technique, Beauty Trap!
......No, honestly, purification isn't even a combat ability, and there's no other answer but this~!!!