Chapter 248 – Savior (1)

“Hmph, so that was it.”

Marbas muttered something incomprehensible and began to laugh.

Dantalian watched Marbas’s sudden reaction.

“Indeed, you’re quite something. The moniker ‘Duplicity’ certainly suits you.”

“I can’t follow this conversation. What are you talking about?”

At Dantalian’s words, Marbas ground his teeth as if in disgust.

“Yes, just as you said, we might go to war with the West, so I intended to bring everything that could serve as a potential asset under my influence. Even a lowly Demon King like you. But you resort to such dirty tricks, unbecoming of your station.”

A brilliant golden light began to radiate from Marbas’s body.

“I was going to end this by simply procuring food for the great Eastern Demon King’s army. Yes, instead of driving them all to extinction, my plan was to have you manage this dimension as a farm. But now you’ve gone and flipped the board yourself.”

Marbas growled as if he would kill Dantalian on the spot.

His demonic energy began to explode, and soon the surrounding furniture started to shake and collapse.

“Gasp, hngh…!”

Olivier, who had been serving tea, struggled to breathe, tormented by the overwhelming demonic energy of the high-ranking Demon King.

Just then, Dantalian placed the teacup he was holding down on the table.

*Clink!*

In that instant, the space Marbas had created vanished as if it were a lie.

Only then could Olivier breathe again, letting out a low cough.

“I believe I told you to make some sense.”

“Just now, you… How…!”

Marbas couldn’t believe it.

With the trivial demonic energy of a mere low-ranking Demon King, he had completely dispelled his own.

For that to be possible, one would need to possess several times more demonic energy than himself.

“If you insist on making a scene, I won’t stand for it either, Marbas.”

From Dantalian’s body, the aura of a Demon King began to stir and rise.

It was, in essence, a declaration of war.

‘What is this…!’

Marbas broke out in a cold sweat.

Dantalian was composed, while Marbas, the second-ranked Demon King of the East, felt anxious.

A tense battle of wills between the two. It was Marbas who backed down.

“I’ve committed a discourtesy.”

Saying so, Marbas pressed his fedora onto his head.

“You are forgiven.”

“Yes, seeing that reaction, it seems you truly don’t know.”

Murmuring this, Marbas hurriedly prepared to leave.

He communicated silently with his subordinates for a moment. Then, looking at Dantalian, he spoke in a low voice.

“You’d better hope so.”

With those words, Marbas promised a next time and disappeared through a dimensional gate.

After the high-ranking Demon King vanished, Olivier let out a quiet sigh.

He had defied Marbas, a high-ranking Demon King.

She had been trembling with anxiety that her lord, Dantalian, might die. It was a relief.

“Olivier.”

“Yes, Representative.”

She didn’t think it was possible, but she had a bad feeling.

“Contact the Hero.”

“The Hero? All of a sudden?”

Olivier, bewildered by Im Jae-joon’s sudden order, asked again. But he remained silent.

In that instant, Olivier realized the meaning behind his words and sent a communication to the Hero.

“…”

The communication with the Hero did not connect.

“……”

She tried several times, but the Hero did not answer.

In the end, Olivier sent a communication to Katrinne.

“Representative… It can’t be, right?”

Olivier spoke, her voice laced with anxiety.

Im Jae-joon said nothing. He simply rested his forehead on his clasped hands.

Just as Marbas had said, high-ranking demons required sustenance, just like humans.

Therefore, a vast food farm was necessary.

In other words, sacrifices would continue to be made, but they could be minimized.

Sacrifice the few for the sake of the many.

Im Jae-joon had chosen that path.

“This foolish bastard…”

Im Jae-joon ground his teeth at the Hero’s actions—his inability to forsake either the many or the few.

-Annihilation Progress: 54.7 / 100%

-The Crown of Sin begins the summoning ritual.

***

“Ajeossi!”

After receiving Olivier’s communication, Katrinne burst into Ajeossi’s room.

But Ajeossi wasn’t there.

“Ajeossi!”

She also checked the training grounds Ajeossi usually used.

But he was nowhere to be seen.

Katrinne’s heart pounded with anxiety.

Fearing something like this might happen, she had decided not to inform Ajeossi of the current situation.

“Find Ajeossi—no, the Hero, immediately. Search this entire castle, the entire city…!”

Katrinne dispatched the knights and soldiers.

Knowing it would likely be pointless, Katrinne combed through the castle and city as if praying to something.

And as expected, there was no trace of the Hero.

“Ajeossi…!”

Katrinne sat on the edge of Hyunbin’s bed, murmuring blankly.

The modern world was in chaos due to the invasion of the Eastern Demon Kings.

“I’m here…”

She knew he had grown attached to his team members. But Ajeossi didn’t need to be responsible for every single one of their lives.

“All he had to do was stay here with me…”

Katrinne murmured, dazed.

She had kept a constant watch on Ajeossi, fearing this would happen. But surprisingly, he had seemed perfectly fine.

Like someone who had completely forgotten about that other world.

Because of that, Katrinne had let her guard down a little.

“This can’t be happening, it really can’t…”

Due to the data obtained through the regressor, the future vision had been updated.

Hyunbin’s death was caused by the ‘Demon King Alliance.’

But she had twisted that fate of his, making it so he could do nothing.

She had been certain that the future had changed.

“This can’t be…”

His death had changed.

Katrinne snapped back to her senses. This was no time to be sitting around.

Her future self in the modern world. She had to inform the regressor about this.

To ask her to stop Ajeossi, no matter what.

Just then, a piece of paper sticking out from under the pillow caught Katrinne’s eye.

He wasn’t the type of person to prepare something like this.

With trembling hands, Katrinne pulled out the letter from under the pillow.

After reading the short, impactful message, tears streamed endlessly from Katrinne’s eyes.

“Why on earth…!”

***

“Dammit, how long has it been since we struggled with that 6-star boss…!”

The Hunter Alliance, led by Danny MacGuire, was fighting against the Demon King’s army that had appeared in England.

With overwhelming giant soldiers charging like tanks and specters launching surprise attacks with all sorts of curses, it was a maddening situation for the Hunters.

Still, the most hopeless part was the one-horned Demon King, who was sipping wine while watching the bloody battle.

He was watching the blood-soaked battlefield while drinking a blood-red wine.

As if it were some enjoyable amusement.

“These were lives that should have ended three months ago anyway.”

Danny spoke.

When they fought the 6-star boss monster, they might have been annihilated without Hyunbin’s help.

“No matter what, I’m killing that one-horned bastard.”

Hearing Danny’s words, Henri and the other Alliance Hunters’ eyes hardened with resolve.

They were already living on borrowed time.

The Alliance Hunters prepared for a final charge to take down the Demon King that had appeared in England.

But there was no way the great Demon King would be unaware of their final resistance.

This might be the first large-scale battle for the humans here, but for him, a Demon King, it was a daily occurrence.

He had already conquered several dimensions and possessed overwhelming power as a ruler gained from them.

A few insects like them clinging to him wouldn’t change a thing.

Just then, the relaxed Demon King’s expression hardened.

He questioned several times whether the directive he had received was correct.

“…!”

The European Union Hunters were all steeling themselves for a desperate advance.

Just then, an unbelievable situation was unfolding.

“Huh…?”

The Demon King’s army was retreating.

“What is this…!”

The Demon King’s army had been toying with the humans, tightening their encirclement.

But now, they were suddenly retreating in perfect order, rushing back to the gate.

In this utterly baffling situation, the European Union Hunters watched, momentarily stunned.

“Attack all the fleeing bastards!”

He didn’t know what was happening. But it was a clear opportunity.

Danny MacGuire relayed the order to the European Hunters, and they launched a one-sided attack on the retreating monsters.

*BOOM! KRAKOOM!*

*Shhlick, thwack!*

Even with swords slashing at them from behind, the monsters just kept fleeing blindly toward the gate.

Having given up all resistance.

“Yaaaaaaaah!”

Having achieved an incomprehensible victory, the European Hunters cheered at the sight of the Demon King’s army retreating.

But Danny and Henri thought of one person at this suspicious movement.

‘Hyunbin…?’

It wasn’t just the battle with the Demon King’s army in England.

The Demon Kings that had appeared all over the world began to retreat. As if they were being chased by something.

And as if by a lie, the doomsday counter, which had been steadily counting down, stopped.

‘Fuck, does this even make any sense?’

The Demon King Balam, who had been enjoying his amusement in England, received a baffling directive.

-The Gate is being conquered. All Demon King forces are to return immediately and confront the ‘enemy’.

The Gate was like a hometown to all the Eastern demons.

The Eastern Alliance itself was a blood pact centered around the birthplace of this region’s demons and Demon Kings.

The homeland was literally the identity of the Demon Kings, as well as the source of their power.

The only ones who could attack such a place were the West, who were currently preparing for war.

‘Are those crazy bastards launching a surprise attack?’

The balance of power between the East and West had been tense lately, so he had thought a clash might come someday, but he never expected a surprise attack like this.

Demon King Balam, though disappointed, ended his amusement and arrived at the Gate.

Upon seeing the Demon King return to the main base, the honorable elite legion paid their respects to him.

“…?”

The state of the elite Demon King’s army was disastrous.

Every single one of them was battered and bruised, and their morale was shattered.

“Where are all the legion commanders responsible for the army?”

Seeing no legion commanders, Demon King Balam expressed his anger in a stern voice.

The soldiers, feeling the Demon King’s demonic aura, began to tremble.

“Why is there no answer?”

At the Demon King’s furious voice, a soldier finally spoke up.

“Th-they were killed in action just a moment ago.”

“Dead?”

Demon King Balam couldn’t believe the soldier’s report.

The legion commanders who led tens of thousands of the Demon King’s forces were dead.

They were the most powerful beings in this world after the Demon Kings.

They were beings who lived for eternity, susceptible only to artificial death. For them to have died meant something major had occurred.

“Where is the enemy? I, Demon King Balam, will lead you into battle myself.”

“The enemy is…”

The soldiers looked beyond the fortress.

Indeed, the sounds of battle could be heard from outside the castle walls. But the noise was strange for a war.

Demon King Balam looked outside.

“…?”

And then he doubted his eyes.

Thousands of soldiers were fighting while retreating.

No, ‘fleeing’ was a more accurate description.

The one forcing thousands of the Demon King’s army to retreat was a single man.

He held a black-hued sword and looked toward where Demon King Balam stood.

In that instant, he spurred his charge even faster.

The surprised Demon King, seeing the muscular man who seemed to fly as he beheaded soldiers, trampled over their corpses, and scaled the castle wall, struck down with a cursed thunderbolt.

*KRAKOOOOM-! KABOOM!*

A yellow lightning bolt resembling a snake’s tongue struck down toward the muscular man.

But the man casually deflected it and kicked off the wall, leaping up.

“That’s one.”

The muscular man muttered, and his sword flashed.

*Shhhlick-!*

Demon King Balam’s head fell, facing its own body as it plummeted.