bullyxtreme Chapter 299 : Demon King (7)
Chapter 299 : Demon King (7)
Whoosh—
The Dark Sword Shuten swung sliced through the front of the Demon King's clothes.
He didn’t succeed in dealing any physical damage.
Because the Demon King’s body had sensed the anomaly and reacted before his mind could, the trajectory of the swinging blade barely grazed the Demon King’s territory, but that was all.
Leaning back at an angle nearly ninety degrees, the Demon King forcibly released U-jin’s hand and retreated a step.
It was a shame that no meaningful damage had been dealt.
However, the panicked expression on the Demon King's face was quite a sight to behold.
“How did you do it…?”
The reason for his surprise was simple.
The method the Demon King had used to suppress Shuten was deploying his authority,
The vertical and absolute hierarchy of the Demon King's Army was by no means built on things like trust or prestige.
It was based on a dominance so powerful that no one could resist it.
In the case of titled demons in particular, they had the ‘Darkwing,’ the symbol of the Demon King, engraved on their forearms as a sign of their obedience.
As long as that mark was pulsing, no matter how powerful a demon was, they could not escape the Demon King's restraint.
Specifically, if the authority was applied from a distance, it was possible to resist mentally to the extent of creating a slight time lag, but resisting while facing him directly like this was impossible even for a Duke-level demon.
So, it was only natural for the Demon King to be flustered.
He couldn't understand how Shuten could move of his own free will, breaking free from his domination.
Snicker—
Perhaps finding that sight quite pleasing, Shuten curled the corners of his mouth upward.
“I had a bit of a hard time, Demon King.”
“……”
“Things got twisted from the moment I crawled under you just to receive that trait.”
Well, it went without saying, but as Shuten mentioned, that Darkwing crest didn’t just grant ‘domination.’
If it had, who would have stood still and waited for that mark to be engraved?
Many would have resisted at all costs, or even chosen death over living like that.
The reason they didn't was because, as Shuten said, they obtained a weapon called a ‘Unique Trait’ through that Darkwing.
…Anyway.
The reason Shuten was able to break free from the Demon King's domination at this moment was simple.
『…It seems there’s a misunderstanding. I’m not saying let’s fight; I’m saying I’ll clean up after you.』
『…….』
『Weren’t you being tailed by Einstein? For a guy with a head the size of a mountain, your heart is as small as a bean.』
The advanced technology of the Floating Territory.
With it, the Demon King’s authority had been neutralized.
Of course, no matter how advanced the technology was, it was difficult to fundamentally restrict the transcendent power of the Demon King, which was great enough to maintain his massive forces.
However, it was somehow possible to tinker with Shuten’s ‘Darkwing.’
A horizontal scar cutting the crest in half proved it.
U-jin murmured as he watched Shuten approach his side, pointing his Dark Sword toward the Demon King.
“I almost cut you both down, thinking you were joining forces with the Demon King, brat.”
“…You didn’t tell me your crest was deactivated either. We’re even.”
“I suppose we are.”
Snicker—
“Are those hideous Outer Gods from beyond the boundaries you mentioned, the Primordial Demons?”
At Shuten’s question, U-jin nodded.
“Yeah. To be precise, it’s a bit different. But for now, yes.”
“…He’s a more wicked bastard than I thought.”
Outer Gods.
The space outside the vast universe that included the Lower-Dimensional Plane and the Upper Plane.
Transcendent beings floating in the absolute abyss of the Outer Universe.
That was the true identity of those hideous monsters that had brought the continent to ruin in ancient times and were trying to cause destruction again in this era.
The bizarre regenerative powers and traits of the Primordial Demons, which defied description, as well as the ‘sense of dread’ they evoked, were because they were Outer Gods floating in the abyss.
Because they were beings that were never supposed to exist in this world in the first place.
‘…….’
In fact, there were currently only two people in the entire Upper Plane who knew about this.
U-jin and the Demon King.
Other than them, no one else even knew the term ‘Outer God.’
Of course, the Guardian Cross Order and the continent recognized the existence of those hideous beings, calling them ‘Primordial Demons.’
But even that name, ‘Primordial Demon,’ was only passed down through records left by the Messiah in ancient times.
Where they came from, what kind of beings they were.
And what they wanted.
No one could explain the details.
“…You know much more than I expected.”
The Demon King's voice had grown low.
It was from the moment U-jin brought up the term ‘Outer God.’
It had to be.
From the Demon King’s perspective, this was an incomparably more important issue than something like Shuten escaping his authority.
In the first place, the fact that the Primordial Demons and the Demon King were related was something that had only recently been revealed during this ‘Southern Invasion.’
From the Order’s perspective, since there was a significant gap between the appearance of the ‘Demon King’s Army’ and the ‘sealing of the Primordial Demons,’ there was no reason to link the two, and even in terms of form, the Primordial Demons and the Demon King’s Army showed completely different characteristics.
Not only linking the two, which had been seen as entirely different threats, but also knowing the ultimate truth behind them was something the Demon King could never overlook.
It was the moment U-jin transformed from what he thought was just one of the outstanding Heroes from the Order into a ‘mysterious person of unknown identity.’
『Then you shouldn’t have brought in those hideous Outer Gods from beyond the boundaries.』
U-jin’s words sounded as if the Demon King had brought the ‘Primordial Demons’ into this Upper Plane, but that wasn't true.
If that had been the case, the being the Messiah sealed in ancient times would have been the Demon King, not the Primordial Demons.
However, the reason U-jin said the Demon King ‘brought in the Outer Gods’ was because the person who broke the seal the Messiah had left and unleashed them upon the world today was the ‘Demon King’ himself.
“Necronomicon.”
The Demon King’s eyes widened at the short word U-jin uttered.
It had to be.
Because that was the name of the ancient grimoire that no one should know about except for the Demon King himself.
“Bad luck for you. If I had found it instead of you, I would have just burned it.”
It was a book no one knew, a single volume that didn’t even exist in the Order’s archives.
But the influence that one book had on this Upper Plane was immense.
No, it was impossible to describe the ‘Necronomicon’ simply by saying its ‘influence was great.’
It was that book that allowed the ‘Demon King,’ who was nothing more than a hybrid magical beast living on the fringes, to unite numerous magical beast races, form a massive force that rivaled the Church Allied Forces and the continent, and ultimately become the being that would destroy the Upper Plane.
It was no exaggeration.
By his own power, the Demon King was, as he said, just a lowly, rootless magical beast, and the only reason he could achieve such feats was thanks to that grimoire called the ‘Necronomicon.’
“…What is that?”
Shuten asked in a low voice about the contents of a conversation he didn't understand at all, and U-jin briefly summarized the significance of the book in his own way.
“Well… it’s a subversive book. It teaches a kid how to make others obey him and tempts him to resurrect it.”
“……!”
They were two playful sentences, but the meaning they contained was profound.
It meant that the authority of ‘Domination’ that allowed the Demon King to unite the numerous magical beast races and the resurrection of the Primordial Demons depended entirely on that book.
Yes.
The essence of the ‘Demon King’ didn't lie in the being himself, but in the book called the ‘Necronomicon.’
Perhaps, even if it weren't this being in front of him, someone would have been destined to play the role of the Demon King in some form.
As long as that book existed.
When U-jin got that far, the Demon King murmured quietly.
“…It’s you.”
He was referring to the ‘Resurrected One’ that the Messiah had spoken of.
U-jin didn't answer.
Instead.
Click—
He slid a bullet he had prepared in his right hand into the Dragun and aimed the barrel.
Bang—!
It was an item he had obtained from the Floating Territory, improved by Jang Yeong-sil.
A dot was marked above the character for Water engraved on the barrel, transforming it into the character for Ice.
Creeeeak—
In an instant, the mana overflowing from the barrel created an ultra-low temperature, swallowing the Demon King’s body in front of him and dropping the temperature in an instant to an extreme cold that could be called absolute zero.
“Shuten, you bastard…!”
The Demon King had already anticipated U-jin’s attack, but even though he was given enough time during the process of firing the gun, he couldn't dodge the attack.
The reason, of course, was Shuten.
Because almost at the same time U-jin drew his gun, Shuten had lunged at the Demon King and grabbed his body.
The entangled bodies of Shuten and the Demon King froze entirely, becoming a massive block of ice.
Click—
U-jin’s attack didn't end there.
Bang!
Loading the gun in his other hand, U-jin fired once more.
Compared to the previous one, the fire-attribute bullet was fired with a much smaller sound, embedded itself in the frozen Demon King’s chest, and melted the ice in that localized area.
And the moment his chest was clearly exposed.
U-jin was already leaning his body forward, rushing toward the Demon King.
The Demon King’s body possessed unparalleled magic resistance.
The reason U-jin used the Dragun to unleash a binding attack rather than powerful firepower was for the same reason.
To deal meaningful damage to the Demon King, a ‘physical’ attack was necessary.
Of course, U-jin had no weapon to speak of.
Since he had left the Demonic Sword Cheong in Shim Cheong’s hands and the Xuanyuan Sword in Valencia’s hands.
Instead.
Grab—
There was Shuten’s ‘Dark Sword.’
Before he was frozen by the bullet U-jin fired, Shuten had thrown the Dark Sword into the air. U-jin grabbed it before it could hit the ground, leaped, and charged toward the Demon King.
Stab—
And he plunged the sword accurately into the Demon King’s exposed chest, right over his heart.
…Just like that.
“Ugh—”
The ‘Demon King’s’ plan was achieved.
“…You are foolish beyond measure, Resurrected One.”