Returnee's S-Rank Management Guide

Chapter 134 : White Death Ardan (2)

White Death Ardan (2)

Demons existed from the lowest to the highest ranks, and beginning from the intermediate-rank, they qualified to hold a 'title'.

From the rank of baronet up to duke.

Among them, the count sat in the middle of the hierarchy of titles but was by no means someone to be ignored.

To begin with, top-rank demons themselves were monsters, of which only twenty existed in the demon realm.

"It's quite a rare thing to see one loved by mana. In this long life, this is only the second time."

The demon who introduced himself as Ardan said this as he looked at Soo-ah.

'Mana? Does he mean magic power?'

It might be a term used by demons.

All Soo-ah could tell was that this demon possessed immense strength.

'Is this the demon Kang Gi-hun talked about?'

Soo-ah turned her gaze to Kang Gi-hun, whom she had been clutching by the throat.

He looked to have fainted, either from the shock of the demon's appearance or failing to withstand Soo-ah's killing intent.

"Was it you?"

Soo-ah asked.

Are you the one who harmed Jung-woo?

KWAANG!!

Before Ardan could answer the question, Soo-ah dashed toward the demon in one motion.

'There's no need to hear the answer anyway.'

After all, the opponent was a demon.

According to Jung-woo, they were beings who brought harm to humans.

From the magic spread around this area to the strange phenomenon that had just occurred, hadn't it all been the work of demons?

'Calm down.'

Though she felt her reason slipping away in fury, Soo-ah forced herself to take deep breaths.

With her breathing, blue flames danced at the edge of her lips.

Judging by the force she had just felt, the opponent's strength was by no means weak.

It was more important not to give the initiative than to wait for her opponent to attack.

All the more so if that demon was the one who had harmed Jung-woo.

KWAAANG!!!

Blue flames trailed along the sword's path.

As the sword raced forward, burning magic power and air alike, Ardan calmly swung his sword to meet it.

"... Flame, huh? Not a bad match for me."

"!!"

Swords collided, releasing a shower of sparks.

At the same time, a biting chill tickled Soo-ah's nose.

'Ice.'

Contrasting Soo-ah's blue flames, white ice wrapped around Ardan's sword.

White ice trying to freeze Soo-ah's sword and blue flames trying to burn everything waged a tug-of-war, releasing hazy steam.

Ka-gak! Kakakakang!!

The swords clashed repeatedly in a back-and-forth assault.

Ardan's swordsmanship was in no way inferior to Soo-ah's, and his breathing remained steady and relaxed.

Even Soo-ah's flames that could burn everything failed to pierce the white chill emanating from Ardan's body.

'Something's off.'

Staring at Ardan as he fought her, Soo-ah felt something odd.

Because he was using ice and blocking her sword so easily?

No.

That was not the reason.

Had that been the case, Soo-ah's instincts would have hungrily driven her to overcome it, just as when she faced Baek Hojun.

"What are you?"

"Hmm?"

"Why don't you have any killing intent?"

Ardan's attacks were extremely defensive.

Though the swords clashed and blows were traded, she felt no intent to harm her from her opponent.

If he had truly attacked in earnest, Soo-ah would not have enjoyed this much leeway.

By all appearances, his strength was a tier above her own.

"Hah."

At Soo-ah's words, Ardan chuckled softly, parrying her sword.

"It's because I don't want to be hated."

"... What?"

"I'm not foolish enough to lay hands on what belongs to the king."

At the strange words from his lips, Soo-ah's eyes shook.

The king's possession?

"The king? That Demon King of yours?"

"Right. Or, is it a little different right now? Since he hasn't inherited the throne yet, maybe it's a bit different."

The king Ardan spoke of—based on what Yeon-ji had told her—was certainly the demon called 'Damian'.

The Demon King's son, and as he said, not yet having inherited the throne.

But, something felt off.

It felt as if the "king" he mentioned was an entirely different being.

If so, then what he meant by "the king's possession" would become contradictory.

From the start, the only one who fit those conditions that Soo-ah could think of was just one person.

"The one you're imagining is correct."

As if reading Soo-ah's mind, Ardan spoke.

In a flat, calm tone.

"Have you truly never wondered? How he came to possess such immense power?"

She had never thought about it deeply.

Jung-woo had never told her much about himself, and from the scattered pieces of information she had gathered, all she knew was that he was the one who had defeated the Demon King and returned.

"Despite that power, why doesn't he step forward to fight himself?"

Just as he said, Jung-woo was reluctant to use his own strength.

Even as a manager, there had been plenty of chances to use his power.

But Jung-woo did not use it unless it was truly a special case.

"I'm sure you've heard it as well. When demons die, they leave behind a 'core'. The heart of a demon."

Ardan's black eyes took in the confusion on Soo-ah's face as he twisted his lips into a crooked smile.

"Then where do you think the Demon King's heart went? Why isn't there a Demon King among the demons now? Why do you think there hasn't been one, even after a full 300 years?"

At Ardan's whispered words, Soo-ah's pupils trembled.

Come to think of it, the power Jung-woo possessed was almost unnaturally strong.

The power he demonstrated in America just recently wasn't enough to be described as simply overwhelming.

He had been totally fine after wielding enough force to steal all the electricity in America for three seconds.

"Since when were you so talkative, Ardan?"

Just then, a familiar voice came from behind Soo-ah.

She turned, briefly forgetting Ardan was in front of her.

There stood Jung-woo, using a black hood to hide his identity as much as possible.

"I'm merely curious as to why the Great Duke of Winter is here."

Soo-ah, who had been about to rush over and check on Jung-woo's condition upon seeing him unharmed, faltered at those words.

'Great Duke?'

Ardan had definitely introduced himself as a 'count'.

Given that demon strength increased with title, "grand duke" was far too high.

Having just crossed swords with him, Soo-ah could feel it.

Ardan was strong, but he was by no means fit for the rank of Great Duke.

***

As soon as the Demon Realm's gate opened, I ran straight to the place where I suspected a top-rank demon had appeared.

Finding Soo-ah facing off against a demon there was within the scope of my prediction.

The problem, however, was that the demon who emerged from the gate was 'Ardan Bello'.

The Great Duke of the Demon Realm whom I had met once, 300 years ago.

Even in the demon realm—and in that other world as well—he was the ruler of the land of absolute cold: the Lord of Winter.

Except for the Demon King, there was only one demon I could be sure could defeat him.

That's how powerful he was—a demon with overwhelming strength who would never have been summoned through a "gate to the demon realm" forced open with insufficient life force.

"Great Duke, huh? An ancient title for me. Unfortunately, now my title is merely count. And even that's just a nominal count, without any land."

"... Count? You?"

Back when he was a Great Duke, even I hadn't been able to see him easily.

The shock I'd felt seeing him standing before Soo-ah...

Even when I defeated the Demon King in the past, I avoided fighting this guy because I judged that I wouldn't be able to preserve my strength if we fought.

'What should I do?'

Of course, my first thought had been to kill the summoned demon.

But there were too many things holding me back.

For one, he didn't seem likely to die easily. And if I killed him, I'd have to use the heart's power once again.

"There's no need to worry."

"What?"

"About whether or not to kill me, I mean."

What the hell, is he telling me to just kill him already?

I stared at him in bewilderment, but he just smiled faintly and shook his head.

"I only came to this world seeking something. Once I find it... or even if I don't, I'll come back to you."

At Ardan's words, I let out a hollow laugh.

He's asking to be spared for now?

"You want me to believe that? That you came to find something in this world?"

"I do."

He smiled at my words.

Back when I ran into him before, he was a cold one who wouldn't even show the trace of a smile, but now he seemed strangely quick to smile.

"My daughter's heart."

"... What?"

"That's all I can say. Even if the king orders it, I can't tell you more."

Somehow, the way he dropped the last part almost sounded sarcastic, but I ignored it.

I was no Demon King or anything like that.

I was just a human, with a little foreign matter mixed in.

If I weren't, I wouldn't cough up blood every time I used my power.

'Soo-ah must have heard everything.'

It wasn't a story I wanted to tell, but it seemed Ardan had already let her know roughly, so I would probably have to explain it to her later.

Well, considering we'd be facing demons in the future, it would make no sense to keep it a secret forever.

"I swear. Give me two weeks' time. Then, I'll come to you again. Wouldn't that be better for you than fighting here?"

"...."

I had no idea what was going through Ardan's head.

His daughter's heart?

'Could it be...'

A possibility suddenly struck me, so I quietly studied him for a moment.

His appearance hadn't changed much, but compared to his prime, he was absurdly weak.

"... If you make a demon's oath, I'll give you a chance."

"As much as you wish."

If a demon swore an oath and then violated it, their heart would be destroyed and they would die.

Normally, I would have just killed him without bothering with an oath—but Ardan's attitude bothered me.

If his daughter was dead, it would most certainly be related to me, yet he had not shown any hostility and was acting oddly.

'I'll let him go for now, but keep a close eye on what he does.'

If I loaded the oath with enough constraints in my favor, he wouldn't be able to act rashly anyway.

"Then, since the oath is finished, I'll see you in two weeks."

Despite making him recite an oath packed with every restriction I could think of, he hadn't hesitated in the slightest.

And as soon as the oath was over, he vanished in an instant, as if he had no more business here.

'At this rate, it's almost like...'

As if he had just been waiting to meet me.

"... Manager-nim. Is it really okay to let him go like that?"

Soo-ah, unsettled about letting Ardan leave, asked me so.

"I'm going to assign someone to watch him. It's part of the oath, so he can't stop it."

I pulled off the hood I'd gone to the trouble of wearing and looked in the direction Ardan disappeared.

If he did anything reckless, the oath would kill him; I would also have someone keep tabs on him, so he wouldn't be able to do much.

"That's a relief, then... Are you all right? I mean, I heard something strange just now..."

Soo-ah still looked worried about my condition, glancing here and there at me as she spoke.

Come to think of it, I'd felt Soo-ah's intense fury from far away on my way here.

She must have realized something happened to me.

"Soo-ah-ssi."

"Yes?"

"Let's go back for now. I'm sure you have a lot of questions."

At that, Soo-ah's eyes widened.

She hadn't expected that I would bring this up first.

"A-ah... it's fine for me..."

"No, I think it's better if I explain things, at least to some extent."

There was no need to go into tedious detail.

If we were going to be facing demons in the future, Soo-ah and the others should know a little of the truth. Besides, it wasn't like any of them would go around blabbing what I said.

"Oh, right."

I looked around the event hall, now in complete disarray.

Especially at Javelin Guild leader Kang Gi-hun, who was lying unconscious, and his hired thugs.

"We should at least clean up this mess before we go."

We couldn't just leave these guys here.

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

So he has the Demon King's heart.

Also, there's a chance that Hwang Yeon-ji's demon heart is from Ardan's daughter, and Ardan joins unique. Hmm.

【ദ്ദി(⩌ᴗ⩌)】