novelraw Chapter 216 : Chapter 216
Chapter 216 : Chapter 216
Chapter 216: Wish (1)
‘…Where am I?’
Harang looked around with a puzzled expression.
It was dark. Not completely pitch-black, but a space tinged with a mysterious purple glow.
What on earth had happened?
Clearly, he had been talking with the Lord of Calamity, Austin. He had been enraged by his words, hating his very existence, and was about to unleash a full-powered strike.
But no matter how much he heightened his senses to scan the surroundings, the Lord of Calamity was nowhere to be felt. The same went for the Village’s General Manager.
‘No, not just them….’
There was nothing.
Emptiness.
Looking at the endless black plain and the purple sky, Harang realized that the demon’s necklace had transported him to an entirely different realm.
‘What should I do now?’
Harang’s expression hardened.
He was bewildered. Even for someone like him, who had been through countless trials, this was a first, making it hard to grasp what to do.
But then, he sensed an unfamiliar energy from far away.
Wooooong……
Something indescribable.
The moment he felt as if something massive, far beyond a mere human, was calling him, Harang moved toward it without hesitation. There wasn’t exactly another option.
‘Maybe there’s something there when I arrive.’
His heart grew impatient.
Normally, he would have moved at a steady pace, but this wasn’t the time for that. The thought that the Holy Kingdom’s pressure or Calamity’s threat could reach his connections in Marzen even as he lingered quickened his steps.
In the end, he moved at full speed, using aura to race forward.
After running for hours, something finally came into view.
‘What’s that?’
It was a long procession.
But the appearances of those in line were peculiar.
Some had large horns on their foreheads, resembling demons.
Others looked like corpses with horrific injuries that wouldn’t be surprising if they collapsed dead on the spot.
There were beings resembling beastmen, thought to be extinct, and other races with appearances he had never seen, lined up endlessly to enter somewhere.
The moment he saw this, Harang instinctively knew this wasn’t the human world.
Another dimension.
Realizing a world he had never experienced was unfolding before him, he hesitated briefly before approaching the last being in line.
“Excuse me.”
What if they didn’t understand him?
With that thought, Harang spoke to a blue-skinned being with wings and horns.
Fortunately, that didn’t happen.
Rather than using the same language, it felt like an unknown force intervened to convey their intentions precisely.
The being turned around and said.
“What is it?”
“Where is this place?”
“What? You came here without knowing… Oh, a human? Must’ve come after dying. Then you might not know.”
“What do you mean…?”
“Perfect timing, I was getting bored. Let me explain. Everyone gathered here is here to audience the Demon Archduke of the demon world, Berkis.”
“…Hmm.”
A shocking story.
Yet, Harang’s expression remained relatively calm. He had somewhat expected it.
Hadn’t he already suspected that the being who gave him the necklace was something like a demon? Thinking about it, it wasn’t surprising that the necklace led him to a demon’s lair.
‘But I didn’t expect to reach a being powerful enough to be called an Archduke in the demon world….’
Harang didn’t have deep knowledge about demons.
But from what he had heard, he knew. The demons that descended to the human world in the past were actually not very powerful in the demon world.
What would happen if an Archduke-level demon descended to the human world?
Such a massive being couldn’t pass through the narrow dimensional rift, but if even a part of their body appeared, the world might end.
That was the kind of power the title of Archduke held. A being almost on par with the god the Holy Kingdom worshipped.
‘Why am I in a place with such a being… Could it be an invitation?’
His mind grew complicated.
But he couldn’t dwell on it deeply.
The being he spoke to continued its explanation.
“Haha, you look tense. Don’t worry. Coming this far means your resentment, hatred, and anger are that great. You’re qualified.”
“Qualified? And I didn’t come here on purpose…”
“You might think that. But for a human soul to reach here means you harbored tremendous resentment when you died. A desire you’d give everything to achieve… like revenge, for instance. That feeling naturally led you to His Grace the Archduke’s abode.”
“…….”
“Of course, the Archduke doesn’t grant audiences to just anyone. Even mighty demons are like worms to him… For a human like you to be summoned here means the resentment you held at death was incredibly deep and potent. That’s what I meant by you being qualified.”
The demon explained more.
Those gathered here were souls who died with deep resentment from various dimensions or residents of the demon world.
They were all here to offer a proper price to the Archduke and make a wish.
If you left the line, you’d be exposed to attacks from void monsters, so stay alert.
Finally, it would take at least 100 years to reach the end of this long procession and audience the Archduke.
Hearing this, Harang’s expression grew serious.
‘100 years, that’s too long.’
Meeting the Demon Archduke was fine.
Whether the opponent was a god or demon didn’t matter much. What mattered was that they had the power to grant his wish, and the price could be negotiated during the talk.
But 100 years was a big problem.
Though other dimensions had different flows of time, if that wasn’t the case, wouldn’t it mean he’d never see his Marzen connections again?
Yet, there wasn’t a sharp alternative.
Even the demon in front of him wasn’t weaker than Harang. If that demon warned about void monsters, leaving the line probably wasn’t a good idea.
‘…Then what should I do?’
In the end, Harang, unable to move forward or back, waited as the line slowly shortened.
But shortly after.
From far away, a being approached with slow steps yet crossed space at tremendous speed, catching his eye.
Harang didn’t know who it was.
But the demon beside him did.
Recognizing the figure, it muttered in shock.
“No, why is the greatest sword protecting the Archduke here?”
“What? Sir Malein is here?”
“No way! Wait, it’s true?”
“What’s going on?”
It wasn’t just him who was shocked.
Every horned being in the long line looked at the demon knight with astonished eyes, freezing stiffly as he approached, careful even with their breathing.
Then, Malein, the Archduke’s first knight, approached Harang at the end of the line and said.
“Take my hand.”
“What? Don’t I have to wait in line…?”
“The Archduke has invited you. So don’t talk back and take my hand quickly.”
“……!”
“……!”
“……!”
Harang and the demons watching Malein wore shocked expressions.
Inevitably so.
For Malein, a powerhouse even high-ranking demon nobles couldn’t treat lightly, to offer his hand to a mere human?
And for the Demon Archduke to personally invite a human to the audience chamber?
It was unthinkable.
It was surely a rare event in the tens of thousands of years of demon world history.
‘Who the hell is this guy?’
“No, now that I look, it’s not a soul? It’s a human with his own body.”
“How, how is a living human in the demon world… And how is he enduring it?”
Countless question marks floated in the demons’ minds. If possible, they wanted to join the conversation and ask questions, so extraordinary was the situation.
Of course, that wasn’t possible.
When the human nodded briefly and took Malein’s hand, the two moved to the front of the procession at terrifying speed, as if they were never there.
‘I’m nothing.’
Observing Malein’s movements, Harang thought quietly.
It was fascinating. Despite his leisurely steps, like a tipsy elder, the speed was incredibly fast, yet his presence was near zero while using such near-miraculous skills.
‘It must be because the gap is so vast.’
Thinking this, his anticipation for the Demon Archduke, Malein’s master, soared to the heavens.
A being presumed to possess near-divine power.
What wish should he make when standing before such a being?
Fwooooosh-!
The moment his thoughts reached there, an uncontrollable, intense flame blazed in Harang’s heart.
It was only natural.
He had lived his entire life trapped in the hell of the village, steeped in bloodshed.
Even when he believed he was freed, it was merely deception by the opponent. He had never once escaped their surveillance. He had just been deluded into thinking he gained freedom while flying in a slightly larger cage.
And that wasn’t the end.
The precious connections that had colored his dull, worthless life in vibrant hues.
Eddy, Pale, Glen, the Fist Brothers, Daereon, Sheratiya, Philip Portville, Ransel Grantz, Hagio, Gael, the orphanage children, and others…
Thinking he might lose all of them, an unbearable rage toward Calamity threatened to burst from his throat.
It was then.
Swoosh-
Realizing the space around him had changed, Harang lifted his head to look forward and upward.
A being sitting on a massive throne, looking down at him.
It was the Demon Archduke, Berkis.
“…….”
Harang, releasing Malein’s hand, looked at him.
It was a bold gaze, but Berkis, rather than disliking it, smiled faintly.
Various thoughts swirled in Harang’s mind.
‘Should I tell him everything?’
The thought crossed his mind briefly but soon vanished.
After all, the opponent was a being he could never match in his current capacity.
Realizing there was no way to stop him if he meant harm, Harang felt oddly at ease.
Then it was better to voice all his curiosities.
Nodding, Harang slowly opened his mouth.
“Do you grant wishes?”
“……Yes. That’s why I called you.”
“May I ask why you invited me?”
“Because it’s interesting.”
“Interesting?”
“Yes. Your exceptional talent for a human, your thoughts, your actions—all interesting. So I had my subordinate deliver the necklace on my behalf. To watch your every move.”
“So that’s what it was for.”
“Yes. Also a ticket to summon you here at the right time.”
“The right time being…?”
“When you’d make the most interesting wish. Which is… right now.”
At this point, Demon Archduke Berkis, with an expression of barely contained excitement, continued.
“So, enough chatter, state your wish. The price has already been paid. Watching your actions so far has been entertaining enough, so I won’t demand more. You can freely tell me what you desire.”
“Without a price, you’ll grant what I want?”
Harang asked in surprise, and Berkis nodded.
“Yes. Whatever you want doesn’t matter. For example… I could crush the Holy Kingdom or throw Calamity’s members into eternal hellfire. If that doesn’t satisfy you, say something harsher. I’m curious. They say human imagination sometimes surpasses demons… I’m really curious what choice you’ll make.”
Demon Archduke Berkis, drooling from his large mouth as if awaiting delicious food.
Harang looked at him for a while, then closed his eyes gently.
Fwooooosh-!
Red aura rose from Harang’s body.
It wasn’t the warm, cozy campfire of before. It was lava that would burn the world, a wildfire. It was intense hatred that could melt anything.
Swaaaaa……
Blue aura overlaid it.
As cold and chilling as Heitz’s, or even more so. It held terrifying anger that could freeze the world.
Crackle, crackle-!
Finally, yellow aura.
Lightning born from extreme stress and anxiety sparked across Harang’s body. It soon mixed with the red and blue auras, reborn as black energy, and seeing this, Berkis and Malein nodded simultaneously.
They were excited.
Very excited.
What wish would this human, who awakened dark energy with a human body, make?
With expectant eyes, they waited for Harang to organize his thoughts, and soon the time came.
Flash
Harang, finally opening his closed eyes.
From his mouth came a wish slightly different from his thoughts.