Returnee's S-Rank Management Guide

Chapter 270 : Decisive Battle (3)

Decisive Battle (3)

"Huff, haah."

To Sebin, Damian was everything.

The Demon King's only son.

The sole hope to revive the fallen demon realm.

'It has to be now.'

Kang Min-gi was currently holding off Alencia.

And now, only now—after having shaken off Ji Yeon-hwa, who was blocking him—did he have the opportunity to save Damian.

'What the hell was that technique? Was that Yuria's ability?'

The moment he tried to pierce through Yeon-ji's body, something transparent like a mirror formed, perfectly reflecting Sebin's strength. Because of that, he himself was pierced in one shoulder, but using that recoil, he was able to cause a powerful explosion.

'I have to hurry.'

Before Ji Yeon-hwa could catch up.

He had to save Damian and get out of here.

Then, he would go to the Dark Star, and accelerate terraforming.

'Jin Su-hyuk, what the hell are you doing?'

Terraforming had already begun.

But its speed was strangely slow.

According to the original plan, everything should have been over within 12 hours.

Yet, oddly, the density of magic power rising in the surroundings wasn't high, and the Demon God was born first.

'The Demon God's birth should have coincided with terraforming reaching a certain level, shouldn't it?'

What was supposed to be fast was slow, and what should have been slow, was fast.

If something was wrong, only Damian could set it right.

Currently, only Jin Su-hyuk and Damian could operate the Dark Star.

'Ardan is suppressing another top-rank demon, so he won't be able to come here.'

As he approached right in front of the Unique's building, he sensed a familiar demonic energy.

There, he also felt the presence of other Awakeners and people.

'A broadcast.'

For a moment, he wavered over whether he should try to stop it.

Since the Demon God had already been born, there was no need to further use the broadcast to gather prayers.

After all, terraforming would proceed through the 'heart', so no more prayers were needed.

"Where do you think you're going!!"

The moment Sebin's gaze turned toward Unique, black chains wrapped around his body.

Before he could throw them off, Yeon-ji, clutching the chains, slammed Sebin into the ground.

"Sorry, but I absolutely can't let you go, you know?"

"Ji Yeon-hwa, you think you're...!"

"Sorry."

Yeon-ji—or rather, Yeon-hwa—glared fiercely at Sebin.

"I never told you to address me by name, did I?"

She pulled the chains. Sebin tried to resist, but Yeon-ji's strength was several times stronger.

This shouldn't have been possible.

No matter how much Yeon-hwa had become one with Yuria, she was still only half-demon; Sebin was a top-rank demon.

Among them, he was one who stood near the top.

And yet, to be so thoroughly overpowered in strength!

"Damn it!!"

Still, he couldn't just submit like this.

Black magic power flared up from every part of Sebin's body like flames, dissolving the black chains.

Yeon-hwa, realizing this too late, tried to reinforce the chains, but Sebin broke them faster.

Bang! Crash!!

"Grr!"

As the chain broke and Sebin tumbled aside, he reached out to the ground and formed a wall of black flame.

His physical prowess might be slightly lacking, but Sebin was a master of dark magic.

The speed with which he could cast spells was even faster than Yeon-hwa.

Of course, that didn't mean Yeon-hwa would stop chasing him.

Fortunately, the power Yeon-hwa possessed was related to frost.

A mere wall of black flame was something he could easily penetrate.

'Where is he?'

Sensing Yeon-ji closing in, Sebin rushed into the Unique building.

Awakeners inside tried to stop him, but he brushed past them and ran.

Thanks to his reckless charge, his wounds increased, but he didn't care.

As long as he could save Damian, somehow—

Running away afterward would be easy enough...

KBOOM!!

"Lord Damian!!"

He felt Damian's presence from the basement.

As he smashed the door and entered, he called out, the sound bouncing off the walls, echoing with a buzzing noise.

Where? Where was he?

He quickly scanned the dark basement.

"You're late."

At that moment, as if someone had been waiting, a voice rang out.

The moment he heard that voice, Sebin's pupils widened.

Because the voice wasn't Damian's.

"... Who are you?"

"Oh, what's this? Didn't we just see each other not long ago?"

A glint of blond hair emerged from the darkness.

A young-looking man, considering his voice.

Ivan Hunt.

The man called humanity's worst mage stood there, holding the unconscious Damian by the neck.

"Ivan Hunt, you— why are you here...!!"

"Don't be so loud. I'm old, my heart's weak."

Ivan Hunt, as if warning Sebin not to come closer, pressed his palm to the unconscious Damian's chest.

As if to say, 'do anything funny and I'll kill him.'

'If only Lord Damian were in his normal state!'

Right now, Damian was connected to the Demon God's heart, and he had given all his strength to Jin Su-hyuk.

On top of that, the wounds he'd received from Jung-woo hadn't healed, so he probably couldn't offer proper resistance to Ivan Hunt.

"Are you insane? If you do that...!"

"The surface of Earth would be scorched by a torrent of demonic energy."

"You know that, and yet why!"

Ivan looked at Sebin, who cried out in distress, and laughed.

Even in this situation, Sebin thinking of Damian's safety made her the very definition of loyalty.

"Is this another order from that self-righteous 'Goddess' of yours?"

"The Goddess's voice is gone now. This is a purely personal promise."

The voice of the Goddess had disappeared.

From the moment the Demon God was born, nothing bound Ivan any longer.

Of course, he was still the Goddess's servant.

He simply could make personal judgments now.

"A promise, you say?"

"Yes, it was a promise with Representative Jin Su-hyuk. There was no choice. For the birth of the Goddess, you see."

The condition proposed by Jin Su-hyuk was, in Ivan's judgment, far more efficient.

Now, the "Demon God" had been born, but had not gained power worthy of the name 'God'.

Neither the Demon God, nor Shin Ah-yeon.

"A trial was needed for the birth of a god."

Certainly, the current situation was enough to be called a crisis.

But the crisis Ivan envisioned wasn't something lukewarm like this.

Only when humanity saw destruction imminent with their own eyes, would they truly seek out a god.

It was uncertain whether their prayers would be directed toward the Demon God or to Shin Ah-yeon.

What was clear was that an extreme situation was necessary.

Jin Su-hyuk's proposition aligned with Ivan's own thoughts.

"If you kill Lord Damian, there won't even be room for that possibility."

"Who said anything about killing him? I'm just planning to borrow him for a bit."

Ivan said this as he channeled magic power into his hand gripping Damian's neck.

On his hand, Sebin recognized a very familiar glove.

The glove he had given Ivan as a reward during the Jeju Island incident.

An artifact that could control another's psychology.

Ivan had used it before to shatter someone's mind by triggering their trauma, but this time was different.

"Now then, Damian. Raise the Dark Star in the sky."

Through his hand, the artifact activated its power.

Normally, this would have been impossible.

No matter how powerful the artifact, it should have been impossible to control the psyche of the Demon King's son, Damian.

Especially since it had already once been broken after using it on Ah-yeon.

With such an incomplete object, even if he tried it on Damian...

"This is just an aid."

As if reading Sebin's mind, Ivan said with a faint smile.

With this artifact alone, he could not move Damian.

Then, what else was needed?

Sebin happened to know of one possible method.

"Ivan Hunt, don't tell me—!"

"As someone who's watched divine arts all this time, surely you don't think I couldn't use them myself."

A miracle powered by burning up one's life.

By amplifying the power of the artifact using divine arts, Ivan's magic power and life force began to drain rapidly.

His once-young face began to wither quickly, but Ivan didn't care.

"The star will rise, and fall as a meteor."

His life and lifespan no longer mattered.

Ivan just wanted to witness it.

What would be born from this: a true god.

And a miracle.

***

The man sitting on the throne quietly looked at me.

One who had once fought me, risking everything.

Jet black hair and red eyes,

A hardened body and long horns sprouting from his head.

On the hand resting on the throne were sharp claws that proved he was not human.

How many humans had died by those claws?

"Demon King."

Few called him by name.

Everyone called him the Demon King.

Some out of fear.

Some out of awe.

Passing through the doors, I finally reached the throne where he sat.

I realized this as I walked the path he had once trodden, saw the world he had seen.

Had I been alone, there was no way I could have defeated him.

"Interesting."

The Demon King, who had been quietly gazing at me, spoke.

"You've always been so. You chose battles you didn't need to fight and in the end saved other worlds."

There was no hint of hostility in his gaze.

Even though I had destroyed the kingdom he'd ruled for centuries and taken his life, still.

"This time is no different. Do you truly need to fight? This has nothing to do with you. Even if this world burns with demonic energy, you won't die, and even if it turns into the demon realm, you won't be harmed. No, it might even be a good thing for you."

He tapped his throne with his finger.

As if to say, look at this.

"If your world becomes the demon realm, you could even become the Demon King. Having my heart, no demon could defy you."

The demon realm was a world ruled by the strong.

And the one who made it that way was the Demon King before me—the only one to be revered and feared by all demons.

The Demon King's heart was for demons the royal seal and crown.

Proof of the king and the blade of the ruler.

"And besides, Shin Ah-yeon is not a Saintess, so she won't die by the realm's transformation. And Estella would be able to be with you forever. Maybe not everything could be in your grasp, but what matters most would remain in your hand."

If Ah-yeon had been a pure Saintess, she might have died from the world's transformation.

But as she was not a Saintess, that wouldn't happen.

Alencia was different, but Ah-yeon was, in a way, a purely human being.

Calmly, I opened my mouth to the Demon King, who was waiting for my reply.

"Sometimes I thought about it."

I approached him and reached out my hand.

Toward the one content to sit and watch me approach on his throne.

"How could I have defeated you?"

In sheer might, of course, the Demon King was far stronger.

It wasn't just the Demon King; the demon race as a whole was vastly powerful.

"But listening to you now, I understand."

Why I could defeat the Demon King.

I didn't bother to say it outright, but the Demon King sent me a questioning look, as if to say he didn't understand.

Did he really not get the meaning?

"Do you want to know?"

"......"

"Then hand it over."

I placed my outstretched hand on his heart.

Of course, his heart did not beat.

The Demon King quietly looked at me.

The look in his eyes seemed to ask, "Can you handle it?"

I couldn't help but give a slight smile.

"Did you forget who killed you?"

"Well, that's true."

He said, looking at my hand on his chest.

Then, he reached out and gripped my wrist.

"Rather than hearing the answer directly, perhaps this is faster."

What the Demon King said was not a question to me.

All those questions were aimed at himself.

Though he was stronger, though he had more, why had he lost?

Now, I was about to give him that answer.

-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=

11 chapters left.

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