novelraw Chapter 136 : The One Who Opens the Gate (2)
Chapter 136 : The One Who Opens the Gate (2)
The One Who Opens the Gate (2)
The Demon King's Heart.
At the story that began from there, Shin Ah-yeon, Lee Soo-ah, and Alencia all wore extremely complicated expressions.
It was probably because they had just heard a story they had never even imagined.
"There really isn't any side effect or anything like that, right?"
"If you call it a side effect... I suppose just... coughing up blood?"
"That's not a small thing at all!"
But really, it was nothing more than coughing up blood, so it truly wasn't much of an issue.
I guessed that the blood generated from the heart reacted that way because of the demon blood and the Demon King's core implanted in the body rejecting each other.
Sometimes, if I used the power excessively, pain would follow, but normally there was no serious problem.
"... Now I finally understand what that demon said. Is that also why you avoid fighting as much as possible?"
Lee Soo-ah asked, recalling what Ardan had once said.
If the reason he did not step forward to fight was the Demon's Heart, it made sense.
"More than that... I mentioned it to Shin Ah-yeon before, but the demons' goal is to terraform this world into the 'Demon Realm'."
Both dungeons and gates were all part of that.
Of course, demons only triggered the 'phenomenon', and could not control everything.
At least Damian could interfere to some extent, but without the 'Demon King's Heart', he couldn't fully wield that power.
"And what does that have to do with you avoiding combat?"
"If you draw power from the Demon King's Heart, the speed of that terraforming inevitably increases."
Whether it was an increase in dungeon occurrences or gates appearing more frequently, those phenomena would accelerate.
So, whenever possible, Park Jung-woo used this power in quick and brief bursts.
"What actually happens if that terraforming is completed, manager-nim?"
"At that point, it will not just be a 'gate' opening, but a complete fusion with the Demon Realm. Naturally, demons of any rank would invade this world en masse. And..."
"And...?"
"All of humanity who do not become Awakener will die."
At Park Jung-woo's final words, everyone froze.
'Over there' was a world that had originally possessed magic power, yet when it was demonized, half of humanity perished.
Because of that, elf-like races and dwarves, who were similar to humans, began to thrive, while the remaining humans were ruled by demons but maintained their own societies.
'Whereas on Earth, it hasn't even been 100 years since the appearance of magic power.'
What if such an Earth were to become 'demonized' and people were exposed to a vast amount of demonic energy?
At that time, ninety percent of ordinary people would undoubtedly die en masse.
Currently, the number of Awakener on Earth amounted to only 10%.
'If the terraforming happened slowly, maybe it would be okay....'
But that was only an assumption.
No matter how long it was drawn out, it was inevitable that those who could not become Awakener would die.
'The best thing would be to stop it as it is now.'
A state where magic power and Earth's humans could coexist.
Of course, even if the demons withdrew, gates and dungeons would not disappear completely.
That was a phenomenon that occurred wherever magic power existed, connecting to the Demon Realm.
However, the mass artificial creation of dungeons and gates, and thus the demonization of Earth by the demons, would not continue as it was now.
'For that to happen...'
The priority was to deal with the demons invading this world, and with those who had joined hands with them.
The fact that Damian had declared war against him meant he must already have a significant force behind him.
And, generally, such people tended to be in positions of power.
'It was the same over there as well.'
***
Beijing, China.
Once the most important city in China, it had now become a Demonic Zone and was a land inaccessible to humans.
Demonic Zone 'Black Sea (黑海)'.
It was the largest and oldest Demonic Zone currently existing on Earth.
The King of the Demonic Zone was also an SS-rank monster.
Even hunters dared not think of invading that place, and yet, a man with ashen hair was strolling about there.
"... So it wasn't here either."
Ardan Bello let out a light sigh and looked up at the giant monster before him. The huge, one-horned wolf eyed Ardan Bello warily and lowered its head.
"I am no longer one to whom you should bow your head."
The King of the Black Sea. The black wolf with a single horn actually possessed greater strength than Ardan's current self.
Yet, sensing the 'aura' coming from Ardan's body, it was the first to bow its head.
"So, it wasn't you either."
Ardan shook his head as he looked at the 'Demon's Heart' embedded in the black wolf's forehead.
Generally, to create an 'Erosive-type Dungeon', the heart of at least an advanced-rank demon was required, and the greater the demon's heart, the stronger the erosive-type dungeon created.
Especially, to reach the rank of 'Demonic Zone', normally the heart of a top-rank demon was used.
But among all the Demonic Zones Ardan had checked so far, there was no sign that his daughter's heart had been used.
At present, there was only one Demonic Zone in this world that had been conquered.
But upon looking into it, that too had not used his daughter's heart.
If the 'king' had truly used his daughter's heart, he would not have been able to use the power of 'fire' at all.
"... Then, do you still possess it, Damian?"
He recalled a black-haired man he did not particularly wish to see.
The son of the Demon King, and the one who had dug up his daughter's grave.
"In the end, it seems I have no choice but to meet him."
He did not wish to see him if possible, but it could not be helped.
The only reason Ardan had come to this world was to find that.
***
"Are you saying he escaped from the Demonic Zone?"
「Yes, his trail disappeared at the last Demonic Zone he entered, the 'Black Sea'.」
A few days had passed since the accident at the Relic Fiesta.
A report came in that Ardan Bello had gotten away.
Since these were hunters monitored at Song Hyunseung's request, it couldn't have been a simple mistake.
'He'd stayed still all this time, and then suddenly...?'
Ardan had wandered around as if to prove that he had nothing to hide, unbothered by surveillance.
The places he had traveled up to now were the Five Great Demonic Zones—no, since one had been conquered, it would now be the Four Great Demonic Zones—searching them thoroughly.
Of course, the hunters tracking Ardan did not dare to enter the Demonic Zones and could only wait nearby for him to come out.
「Until now, he always returned to the place he entered... But it seems we were too complacent this time. My apologies.」
"No, it's all right. You can end the assignment here."
In any case, if Ardan wanted to shake off surveillance, he could do so any time.
Even if he had left from his entry point as usual, they probably couldn't have followed him.
'If there's anywhere he would go after evading surveillance...'
The most probable thing was to meet Damian.
'So his daughter's heart wasn't found among the Demonic Zones.'
His comment about his daughter's heart, combined with the fact that he'd toured all the Demonic Zones in the world so far, left only one conclusion. In other words, Ardan went searching because he thought maybe the 'Demon's Heart' used to make a Demonic Zone was his daughter's.
Great Duke of Winter. If it was Ardan's daughter, she was surely a top-rank demon.
Since it wasn't found among any of the existing Demonic Zones, it had to be with Damian.
'But to pull such a thing against Ardan Bello...'
To take the core that Ardan's daughter once possessed.
Did he kill her to get it?
Or did he take it from the corpse of Ardan Bello's already dead child?
Either way, it was insane.
'No wonder, from the moment I saw him I had a bad feeling—completely, elegantly insane.'
Like father, like son.
A man I absolutely wanted nothing to do with.
"Anyway... Good. I guess this about wraps things up."
The place I was in now was my workshop in my family's house.
Since I'd obtained the dragonbone, I came to try making something proper with it.
"Certainly, the material is good, so the look is different from the start."
Smiling with satisfaction, I carefully inspected the constructed black gauntlet from top to bottom.
Dragonbone is, by nature, the best material for absorbing energies like demonic energy or magic power.
Moreover, it had been used as a key to open the 'Demon Realm's Gate,' imbued with massive demonic energy and the life force of the humans who'd gathered, greatly enhancing its essence.
'... Honestly, if someone else touched this, they'd probably get cursed.'
If I'd made it into a sword, perhaps it would have turned into a magic sword.
Anyway, now that it was reinforced in various ways, its hardness was at least at orichalcum level, and its mana absorption for magic power and demonic energy was amplified several times.
'If I had gotten something like this back there, I'd have stood a better chance against the Demon King.'
That was how satisfied I was.
I'd never really coveted equipment before, but now that I had built it, I couldn't believe how good it was.
"... I wonder when Ardan Bello will come at me."
Now that I had new equipment, I wanted to test it, but lacked a suitable opponent.
Judging by the oath with Ardan Bello, no matter how long he delayed, he would show up within a week.
"I hope he'll let himself be dealt with quietly then..."
If not, I'd have to fight.
Although his strength had waned compared to before, it was best that I face him myself just in case.
Recently, I'd had to use 'strength' fairly often, so it'd be good to keep the fight as brief as possible.
Now that I had new equipment, there shouldn't be any problem.
Bzzzzzz!
As I was thinking this, my phone suddenly vibrated.
'Shin Ah-yeon.'
As soon as I saw her name, I was reminded of today's overlooked schedule.
Ah, come to think of it, the movie premiere was tomorrow, and we were supposed to meet.
To think that I'd forgotten, even though I'd been absorbed in crafting the gauntlet—failure as a manager.
"Ah, sorry. I was just about to call you anyway. You're calling because of the movie premiere tomorrow, right?"
『Huh? Ah, ahh. Yes, that was it too.』
That?
She sounded as if she had completely forgotten about the movie premiere.
She'd been growing more anxious as the premiere drew near, and yet she forgot the date?
"Is something wrong?"
『Th-that's, um, could you come to my mansion right away!』
"To your mansion? Tell me more. Did something happen?"
Had a demon attacked Shin Ah-yeon's mansion?
After all the fuss at the Relic Fiesta, with attention focused on her, were they going to target her again?
'Rumors about demons are already spreading as it is...'
The reason I hadn't made the existence of 'demons' public was to mitigate the fallout.
But after the incident in America, and among the continuous demon-related incidents, talk of 'demons' was gradually seeping out.
Naturally, song Hyunseung and Enoch had made arrangements for the idea of 'demons' to seep naturally into the world, but demons would not welcome exposure like this.
『That's not it, Yeon-ji is acting weird.』
"What?"
『She's sleeping constantly, and her body's getting colder. Isn't this really serious?!』
It was rare for Shin Ah-yeon to sound so flustered over the phone.
It seemed something had happened to Hwang Yeon-ji.
"Hang on. I'll be right there."
I thought I'd better bring an extra helper, just in case.
***
"Uh... That's just the process of a demon reaching adulthood."
The frightened man stammered as he glanced nervously at us.
"H-how long has it been since the horns grew?"
"It's been not quite a month yet."
Shin Ah-yeon answered quickly at the man's words.
Normally, they bickered, but now that Hwang Yeon-ji was unconscious, she couldn't help but worry.
"Oh, then you don't need to worry. That's just right. About a month after horns grow in, a demon's abilities start to manifest. If her skin is cold as ice... there's a high probability her powers are related to ice."
"But Yeon-ji originally handled shadows well, though?"
Manipulating shadows could be done by dark magic, but among them, Hwang Yeon-ji also had unique innate abilities.
For example, the black chains were a power unique to Hwang Yeon-ji.
"Well, demons have parents, don't they? One ability usually manifests at birth, and... after the coming-of-age ritual, the other awakens."
"So... there's no problem then?"
"Yes, probably when she wakes up she'll be able to use her powers."
At the man's words, I calmly looked over the quietly sleeping Hwang Yeon-ji's face.
Her skin was dark, but perhaps because of her white hair, she looked pale.
'Come to think of it, was Yeon-ji always white-haired? Is that related to ice abilities?'
The 'magic stone' embedded in her forehead seemed to be emanating a faint chill.
Seeing that reminded me of the ashen-haired demon I had recently met.
Now his hair was muddy gray, but back in the past, it was white as snow.
'... No way.'
There couldn't be such a coincidence, could there?
"By the way, where did you pick up this demon?"
Realizing that Hwang Yeon-ji would be fine, Shin Ah-yeon let out a breath of relief and turned her attention to the terrified demon. He was an intermediate-rank demon, yet completely wilted.
"Ah, I picked him up at the Relic Fiesta last time. He was the demon maintaining the magic array at the time. We met underground."
"So, he's a real bastard."
So saying, Shin Ah-yeon glared fiercely at the demon.
Under her gaze, he could do nothing but tremble and hang his head.
-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=
Yep, only Ardan's confirmation is missing now.
【ദ്ദി(⩌ᴗ⩌)】