Chapter 277
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 277
Chapter Title: Lesson 54. What You Shouldn't Touch – 2
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The group finished their meal without any further incidents after that.
Kron remained passed out the whole time, so Shati summoned a maid to have him carried to a bedroom.
"Princess, you sure know how to stir things up the moment you return after so long."
"That wasn't me."
"Sure, sure. Sir Kron just happened to slam his head into the table and knock himself out all on his own."
True to form for the demon realm, even the maids were no ordinary folk.
The maid hoisting the hefty Kron without so much as a grunt paused on her way out and turned back to Shati.
"The Demon King is truly overjoyed. He says it's no longer a pipe dream to conquer the higher dimensions now that you've awakened the power of the First Demon King."
"That's exactly why I hate that bastard. Don't drag me into his bloated ambitions."
"Even if you say that, we all know your heart, Princess. Now that you've gained power befitting your station, you can finally unleash your will without restraint!"
"Hah... Fine, whatever."
Shati cut the conversation short, waving the maid off with an expression that screamed, This is exactly why I didn't want to come back here.
"Alright, let's go. I told him to show off his power, so we should at least watch."
"Your family dynamics are ridiculously complicated, Senior."
"What, Planning Director? Finally taking an interest in me? If you wanna butt into our family drama, you'd better steel yourself— Ah, Mira! I was kidding!"
Kuwoong— Whether a clash had already erupted or not, a distant rumble echoed from afar.
Ban Yu-won pulled apart a minor scuffle breaking out right there on the spot and led the group outside.
Or rather, just before that.
"Aire."
"Yes."
She responded calmly, as if she'd been expecting her name to be called. Ban Yu-won extended a hand to her.
"A gift for you."
"A gift? Like last time... Oh?"
Clearly caught off guard this time.
Her usually expressionless eyes widened in surprise, and he placed a gleaming blue, crystal-clear ice crystal into her palm—one brimming with immense glacial magic power.
Everyone could guess where it came from.
"Who knew our junior had the talents of a master thief. Fooling even the Demon King? Impressive."
"I didn't fool or steal anything. I just restored what had already vanished and took it. My recent training in manifesting the tangible from the intangible really paid off. Here, Aire. Take it."
"...Incredible."
The Demon King's ice shield had been a shield forged from an ancient mystery. Ban Yu-won had successfully extracted only the pure concept of that mystery from its shattered, dispersing fragments and reshaped it into crystal form.
Easier said than done. Without his recent practice creating goblins in the tower, he never would've pulled it off.
Back then, he might've slapped the concept onto one of his artifacts in a pinch, but delivering just the essence like this to Aire? Impossible.
"Even more impressive than that shield from before..."
"Of course. That shield was a weakened, sealed version of an uncontrollable power. Concepts don't just add up for more power. Sometimes stripping away the unnecessary deepens it instead."
"I don't get it, but I do know you're giving a gift to some other girl instead of me."
Mira jutted out her lips, clearly miffed despite being the main focus of this trip.
Aire blinked her sky-blue eyes—clear as an autumn sky—a couple times at Mira's words, then silently tilted her bangs forward to highlight the ice crystal hairpin Ban Yu-won had given her before.
A vein bulged on Mira's forehead.
"Hey, you. Come up to the top of the Demon King's castle with me."
"Calm down, Mira! The castle's already half-collapsed—there's no 'top' left!"
"So how long are we sticking around here, anyway?"
Fortunately, the battlefield wasn't far.
The Human Empire side seemed dead set on ending it today, marching right across the border with even the Emperor's elite Imperial Guard—the cream of the Empire's crop that Shati had mentioned.
From their perspective, it made sense: Shati suddenly appears from another dimension, sweeps through their forces with overwhelming power, heads straight to the demon realm, and the Demon King's castle crumbles. Naturally, they'd assume she was gunning to topple the demon realm from the start.
And all of them—
"Kuhahaha! Heavenly Demon, he left me a grand gift!"
—were getting utterly demolished by a single Demon King rampaging at the frontlines, greatsword in hand.
By his own account, he'd somehow grown even stronger after that shattering blow earlier.
Ban Yu-won had heard about Mu-myeong lending a hand with his blood magic control before leaving, but he hadn't expected it to boost the Demon King's power like this.
"Come on, more! You humans want to kill this Demon King so bad, so where's your Emperor hiding—what's he doing?!"
The Demon King bellowed, swinging his greatsword. Blood-red magic trailed its arc, shredding the humans it engulfed.
A sinister glow emanated from the marking on the back of his hand. The fallen humans' corpses rose as blood-red evil spirits.
They pounced, spawning more bodies. Feeding on human deaths, the Demon King's authority endlessly summoned stronger fiends.
Those hunted tougher prey, bulked up further via his authority, and now swarmed the Empire's elite Imperial Guard, ripping into weapons, armor, and limbs.
Brutally cruel, horrifically powerful.
Impossible to believe this was the same Demon King who'd been pummeled into the dirt by Mu-myeong nonstop.
"His one talent for wielding authority is..."
Shati grimaced at the Demon King's display, which utterly disregarded any notion of dignity inherent to all beings.
Meanwhile, Mira's eyes were fixed not on the rampaging Demon King, but on the black-clad group charging alongside him in support.
"That's the Black Demonic Legion?"
"Ah, yeah."
Uniform in weapons and gear, they wore full-body black armor, wielding spiked shields. They perfectly blocked every incoming attack on the Demon King while brutishly smashing aside anything in their path. Ferocious.
Red blood magic linked them all, forming a mobile barrier—and it seemed to pack offensive punch too.
"Rare among Evil Ones, they've got abilities specialized for protection. Less blood magic rampage issues, and since we basically have to fight while guarding the fairies anyway, that's why I wanted them."
"Protection abilities, huh..."
If preemptively wiping out threats to allies counts as protection, Mira figured they made fine guardians.
Ban Yu-won nodded, agreeing Shati's recruitment drive all the way to Diabolo had been worth dragging everyone along. The Black Demonic Legion could stand toe-to-toe with the Empire's elites alongside the Demon King—solid against higher dimensions too.
"Kyahaha! And now they're all mine! Am I starting to impress you a bit?"
"Eh, if they actually obey you, sure."
"..."
Shati wasn't one to miss Ban Yu-won's implication.
She narrowed her eyes and shot him a glare.
"This battlefield's got nothing to do with me. You expect me to go butcher those humans just 'cause some Evil One's drunk on blood magic?"
"If you wanna wield the Demon King's castle heir authority over the Black Demonic Legion, then yeah, obviously. And the Human Empire? You've been slaughtering them since stepping into this dimension. What's with the sudden purity act?"
"Wow, you really don't cut a guy any slack unless he's your girl."
"Obviously."
Shati nodded despite glaring daggers back at his snort.
"I know, I know. I just hate that prick's guts. I brought friends after ages away—couldn't he just take a few hits gracefully...?"
Indeed, she was still sore about the Demon King showing killing intent toward Ban Yu-won's group.
She ruffled her hair in frustration with one hand, then let out a deep sigh and floated into the air.
Her advanced magic, Annihilation Magic, synced with her horns and wings, steadily amplifying her presence.
"I'll be back. I'll make sure they obey only me, no matter where they are."
"Have fun."
Shati shook her head at Ban Yu-won's lazy wave, then shot straight to the heart of the battlefield.
Ignoring the Demon King's wide-eyed shock, she soared over the wavering Black Demonic Legion to the frontlines. She thrust forward the hand gripping her king's scepter, unleashing her authority at full throttle.
"All of you, explode! Kyahaha!"
Blood magic had never bent to Shati's will her entire life.
Partly innate, partly her hatred for it.
But now, astonishingly, the ambient blood magic surged toward her Annihilation Magic authority.
Perhaps the First Demon King's power naturally commanded the later generations' blood magic.
—Kwaang! Kwarung!
Her Annihilation Magic authority, embodied through horns, wings, and scepter, endlessly boosted its destructive force. Reacting blood magic exponentially expanded its range.
The result? A grander chain of explosions than against the Empire's border forces earlier.
A chunk of the Imperial Guard—composed solely of the Empire's strongest knights—vanished in the blast. Overwhelming.
"Gaaah! The witch didn't betray her father after all!"
"Should've known when the Demon King showed up unscathed. Damn it!"
"M-Magic... The ambient magic's vanishing. Does she have even greater control than the Demon King?!"
"Kill her! Prioritize the witch!"
Powerful authority and magic aside, exposing herself mid-battlefield in plain view smacked of arrogance beyond confidence.
Of course, she was prepared for incoming attacks.
—Uraraaaah!
Arrows laced with dense auras and sniper spells targeted her as top priority. Just before impact, a bizarre roar heralded a monster materializing in midair.
It was the Bronze Devil Shati had summoned during her authority experiments with Ban Yu-won.
Having sworn loyalty in exchange for not being obliterated, it had shockingly evolved under Annihilation Magic—its body now deep black laced with glowing gold.
—Nothing can destroy the Black Gold Devil!
"Lame name..."
Ban Yu-won shuddered at the name he couldn't let slide. Instantly, every arrow and spell veered off course, slamming into the monster.
But it absorbed them flawlessly, silently converting to Annihilation Magic and firing from its fingertip like laser beams, slicing through targets.
—All blocked! Not a single one got through!
"Good job. Keep it up."
Flinging itself into harm's way to prove loyalty, lest Shati obliterate it. She smiled in satisfaction, gathering more Annihilation Magic, while it bought her time to unleash authority unmolested.
Even Shati hadn't foreseen her chance familiar proving so useful...
"Hm?"
The Black Demonic Legion and Demon King alike took it all in.
"Authority as expected, but a familiar too now. Hah, not bad."
He hadn't grasped why she'd held back only to suddenly annihilate the Empire, or why she hadn't fought at all before.
No need to. All that mattered: his daughter, proving her heir status through raw power, led the Demon King's army at the vanguard!
"Behold! That woman will be your master one day!"
"We see her, Your Majesty!"
"Then what are you waiting for? Charge after Shati! Today, we sever the Human Empire's lifeline! Kahahat!"
Cocky enough to deploy the Imperial Guard, yet the Emperor hid safe in his palace. The Demon King's bold goal of toppling the Empire that day fell short.
But with the Guard—sans reserves—wiped out, the Emperor perished in ensuing internal strife. Other royals followed.
The Human Empire lost its core and floundered. The Demon King's forces nibbled away bit by bit, until it fully crumbled.
Thus ended Dimension A-4's long, grueling struggle for dominance.