◈ Chapter 61. Self-proclaimed Demon King (2)
A demonic item for the ritual sacrifice.
I had purchased it in advance.
It was no trouble to get it.
The speed at which the Yusra Kingdom was being rebuilt was beyond my imagination.
An auction house had opened, along with a basic store.
An auction house that ran on the Arcana system.
Besides, isn’t this an exorcism ritual prepared for the Demon King?
‘Good thing I’ve been saving up.
A few demonic items.
I can’t even make a dent in my bank account balance.
I realize something new.
I don’t know about Grandfell, but I’m definitely a slave to capitalism.
I continue to take out demonic items.
The more offerings, the stronger the effect of the ritual.
[The ‘noblewoman’s jewelry box’ was chosen as an offering].
[The ‘Strangling Tie’ has been chosen as the sacrifice].
The items were added to the ritual’s offerings.
And so the ritual began.
I immediately manifested my magic.
By myself─
Searching for ash floating in the air.
Utilized the [Aesthetics] stat to interfere.
I created an aesthetically pleasing flame.
Hmph!
“Shut that ugly mouth of yours, self-proclaimed Demon King.”
An excellent Aesthetics.
Grandfel could not help but hate
In that sense, Decarabia would be hard to watch.
It was the sort of thing you’d see in a horror movie, a gore movie.
But I didn’t look away.
“The opponent is a demon king.”
Considering the level of the Demon Corps Leader.
He’s at least level 600.
Even compared to the great evil, Seven Sins Greed, he might have an advantage.
Why, the Seven Sins Greed was not in a normal state.
No wonder he couldn’t be distracted.
Besides.
Hah!
A resident of Frost had been devoured by it.
Aesthetically pleasing flames, burning sublimely.
Within the burning flesh, they were there.
The last of them.
His pride could not turn away.
Decarabia wriggled in the flames and screamed.
“……You, you!!!”
Me?
What the hell.
I didn’t answer.
I refrained from unnecessary conversation with my prey.
My cold response.
As if the flames weren’t enough, I was now on fire.
He shook off the flames and spoke.
“…… Okay, I get it. I’m in the ‘consciousness’.”
Indeed, the King of Demons. It was a demon.
He recognized the old ritual.
I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised.
The words of an Akshan demon hunter come to mind.
-Not many demon hunters have faced a demon king and survived.
Demon hunters’ worst enemy.
He’s never been a friendly foe to the Demon King.
Chijijijik─
The charred flesh of the Decarabia began to regenerate.
The creature chuckled hysterically.
“Arrogant, human. To invite a demon, this body, to a ritual.”
Decarabia shuddered with emotion.
“These senses aren’t bad, are they? Yes, I’ll be your guest.”
Truly, not like the demons who had fallen victim to the old ritual.
Like a king, Decarabia was not agitated.
He was even relaxed.
As the Akshan demon hunters had said.
I suppose it’s not a stretch to say that a demon of his stature could eat his natural enemies, the demon hunters.
But I do.
“Know your place.”
『Maybe it’s not Grandfell’s class of demon hunter that demons should be most wary of, but Grandfell himself, the man himself.』
Even if he is a demon.
They can’t even scratch Grandfell’s exalted consciousness.
A battle of wills in the mind of a demon?
The winner is Grandfell in the first place,
I am the winner.
In other words.
“I have no intention of socializing with those who are inferior to me.”
Seeking, interfering, manifesting.
I rushed the Decarabia.
There was no hesitation.
What’s the use of not being able to manifest a stone pillar?
It’s just a spell that conserves magic rather than destructive power.
It’s an effort to eat raw with minimal cost.
Since entering the Frost, I’ve never been able to manifest a more powerful spell.
I had never manifested it before……!
What it meant was simple.
“I have enough.”
I have enough magic to spare.
Naturally, I had no intention of wasting it.
Activate [Natural Enemy].
My magic power had increased, but it was due to my low level.
My absolute magic power was terrible.
‘The important thing is the price-performance ratio.
As always.
My own style.
With or without.
I have no choice but to use it all.
Bam!
Two very different concepts.
Magic and science.
The inspiration that Marcelo gave me was manifested in advanced magic.
“That’s a lot of talk.”
It’s only elementary science.
But I have seen its effectiveness.
It allows me to manifest magic continuously for long periods of time.
without the need for additional mana.
‘That is regardless of the power of the magic manifested……!
A storm of flames that shows no signs of subsiding.
The flame storm burned even louder, devouring the infernal flames of Frost.
There was a sense of aesthetics added to the interference process.
Only to judge the Demon.
Like flames descending from heaven.
The storm of flames came to life and began to move.
“Wait, the way is open?”
The way cleared for those preparing to attack.
“……Dare!”
Decarabia’s movement was blocked by a single finger.
“Wow, that’s huge!”
A mage of mages.
Even Jesse, the so-called apprentice of the Archmage, tipped his hat in admiration.
But it was too soon to be surprised.
My struggle has only just begun.
By myself–
I summoned up my powers.
“I’m not Jesse, I can’t just throw around magic like that.”
This time, not just any magic, but the right kind.
Not stats.
The right kind of magic, rooted in the manifester’s life and past.
“……whatever it is, good is good.
Even if the source of that right magic is a double sickness.
It was me who did not rot the talent of black magic recognized by Matisse, the founder of black magic.
I manifested the Black Crown, an intermediate level of black magic.
Its effect is to rob the enemy of their senses.
“……!”
The first thing I took away was his mouth.
[Demon, Decaravia is inflicted with ‘Silence’].
But the mouth was only the beginning.
Black magic is magic.
The black crown also had a lasting effect.
Yes, precisely, every time it was stirred by fear.
One by one, his senses would shut down.
It meant that it would disappear into the deep, deep darkness beyond.
I looked at the frozen Decarabia and opened my mouth.
“Self-proclaimed demon king.”
It returned my words.
“How does it feel to have your arrogance crushed to the ground?”
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……Demon hunter!
I see it now.
How dare he be so arrogant on a human matter.
Decarabia remained unmoved.
“……Yes, I see. I’m in the ‘consciousness’.”
Demon hunters?
Aren’t they the ones who terribly killed in the Holy War?
It’s been quite a while, but if you think about it again, they were truly like moths on fire.
“The most foolish of humans.”
How dare he invite a demon into his consciousness.
Decarabia thought for a moment.
He made a judgment.
“An excellent body, except for its presumptuous ego.
In his mind.
After defeating Ho-Yeol in a battle of minds.
I will take Ho-Yeol’s body.
Why, there was so much I could do with that body.
‘You don’t have to push yourself.’
After all, even for him, fighting a large number of people was a burden.
I’m not running away like a fool.
Like the fall of Frost.
Just waiting for the right time.
“Sure, I’ll hang out with you.”
But the plan was thwarted.
“What the hell?
Sure enough, it had entered his consciousness.
A demon, the king of demons.
The one whose mere presence struck fear into his heart.
Just by entering his consciousness.
Most demon hunters would have gone insane.
But Ho Yeol was sane.
No, beyond sane, he was overwhelming himself.
Hmph-!
“!”
The flames soared.
A swirl of flames connected with the sky.
Decarabia chided herself.
“This isn’t real.”
It’s just an exaggeration created by him.
Even realizing that, he couldn’t help but question it.
A mere mortal being.
How can he overwhelm me, a demon king, with his mental power?
“How dare you ask me to know the subject……?
Decarabia did not give in.
The flames were nothing more than mineral transmutation.
Frost, there were enough stones and minerals in this city.
Or so he thought.
“……?!”
The tongue didn’t move.
No voice came out.
I knew in my gut.
He’d done a trick……!
“Magic? No, it’s not just magic…….’
But even if I had known that.
It didn’t extend to the current situation.
Decarabia hesitated for a moment.
Something flew through the flames.
Shush-shush!
It was an arrow.
Pow!
Decarabia was furious as the arrow pierced his flesh.
“……How dare you humans!
If it weren’t for the firestorm blocking his view, he would have been able to see……!
But the baptism of arrows was only the beginning.
This time, magic and rain came from all directions.
Some of the blows were deadly.
Decarabia could not hide her bewilderment.
“I……?
The descent was as perfect as the countless offerings.
But why.
Am I this helplessly……?
No, no.
Not yet.
Decarabia screamed with all her might.
“……!”
Demon King Army, what are you doing with the demon corps leader!
I, your king, am under attack!
Give your lives for me!
But then he realized.
“……!”
There was no more Demon Corp Leader, no more Demon Army.
Even the survivors had been consumed by him as sacrifices.
As he realized this, Ho Yeol’s cold voice spoke up.
-The self-proclaimed Demon King.
So it is.
There was no one to call him king anymore.
It was then.
Peeeeeeee─
His ears went deaf.
……he could hear nothing.
Not even the sound of his own shouting.
Decarabia glared at Ho Yeol.
“……This can’t end like this.”
Demon hunters.
He knew of their existence, and he knew of their danger.
The moment you die at their hands.
That he could never be resurrected again.
A flash.
Thousands of pupils sprouted from Decarabia’s flesh.
I must find a way out.
The rapidly rolling eyeballs stopped in unison.
“……Yes.
More sacrifices.
More blood and flesh was needed.
The decarabia sought easier prey.
“Did you think I didn’t know you were hiding?
The inhabitants of Frost hiding in the buildings.
His reason for keeping them alive was simple.
The fear of the living fueled her own power.
But that was enough.
“Be still and become flesh and blood.”
The Great Star of Decarabia began to spin.
The buildings of Frost were made of minerals.
With his knowledge of all minerals, it would be a simple matter to make them collapse.
Behold.
Just like now.
He couldn’t hear the collapse because he’d lost his hearing.
But I saw it clearly.
A building collapsing, dust rising.
And then…….
‘Why again this time?’
There was no blood and flesh where there should have been.
Then, with a thud-something touched the flesh of the Decarabian.
It was a small piece of stone flying through the air.
Shapes glimpsed through the flames.
It was the people of Frost.
“?!!”
Emaciated humans and their young.
They should have been hiding in the shadows.
Throwing stones at him.
Decarabia’s eyes bore into those faces.
“……How?
There was no more fear in those weak, weak humans.
There was no more fear in them.
Those eyes never let go of their weapons as they lay dying.
Yes, they were just like the Frost soldiers.
The Decarabian’s flesh twitched.
I couldn’t understand it.
Not just the Ho’Yeol, but the human race.
The Decarabian were evil.
It killed them all!
Killed mothers trying to protect their children!
Killed their children in front of their mothers!
And yet they do not give in.
And yet you do not recognize the horror.
Are humans so stupid that they don’t even know fear?
Decarabian is confused.
It was completely immobilized in the flames.
In the end, the last gasp of life was gone.
There was nothing he could do.
The flames began to consume his flesh.
In his burning vision.
Decarabian looked at Ho-Yeol.
“The others may not hear, but you can.”
This was his consciousness.
Decarabian asked.
“Why, why do humans not give in?
Why do you get up when you’re knocked down?
Even when you know you can’t handle it.
Why do we run in fear?
He had no more dignity as a Demon King with that question.
Decarabia screamed.
“……Please! I beg you! I beg you! Tell me!
But no answer came.
Ho-Yeol’s mouth was firmly closed.
Like a hunter who doesn’t engage in unnecessary conversation with his prey.
“Please, please, please!
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“Die questioning, that is your punishment.”
You’re dead.
That simple fact.
There was no way the Decarabian could know that.
I stared at the dying flame.
As if it would never go out.
A flame that burned intensely.
Flicker-
Frost’s survivors dropped to the ground.
“…… It’s over.”
“Ughhhhhh.”
“Father, mother……. Hmph.”
And they began to sob.
As if mourning for those who had gone before.
The flames burned the Decarabian.
Those who were devoured by it.
It burned sublimely, leaving not a single piece behind.
It started to fade only after the cremation was finished.
Soon, a message flashed before my eyes.
[You have leveled up.]
[You have leveled up.]
[You have leveled up.]…….
An insistent level-up message.
[You’ve met the requirements].
[Your reward is coming].
[You’ve captured Frost].
[You’ve entered the northern city of Frost.]…….
And other messages that are hard to read at a glance.
Through a vision crowded with messages.
Something pure white began to flutter.
Harkon spoke, his voice cracking.
“My lord. Did you know that the Frosts call snow a gift from the heavens? There is a myth that those who refuse this gift will be punished by the heavens. It’s a very snowy north, so I’m sure they’re just making up stories to get us to clear the piles.”
He said bitterly.
“But for today, I’ll take this snow as a gift from the heavens.”
I looked up, too.
Snow from Hokkaido was pouring down on Frost.
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[Conditions have been met].
You have fulfilled the requirements for the quest [Recapture Frost].
There was no shouting over who was first.
The players checked their contributions.
─Current contribution: 3,210p
─Current contribution: 2,940p
─Current contribution: 1,570p…….
“……, how many contributions do you have?”
“Well, let’s start with you.”
“Nimsun, do you have more than 2,000?”
Over or under expectations.
But this moment.
The thoughts of most players must be the same.
How much contribution did Lee Ho-yeol earn?
What kind of reward will he receive for his contribution?
At the same time, the players’ gazes turn toward Ho-yeol.
“Do you think it’s about ten thousand……?”
“Whatever. It’s just over 10,000.”
“But what’s with the expression on his face? Is it lower than I thought? Is it not even 10,000?!”
But even if you look into his face.
“But Lee Ho-yeol always looks like that.”
I couldn’t even guess.
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I checked the contributions.