Chapter 241 – Chapter 241. Clash, Demon King vs. Hero
Warrior.
Who in the world knows more about him than he does?
Of course, there may be warriors in this era, but even so, they are just newbies who have just become adults.
Unlike himself, who has already been completed as a hero, it is clear that he still has little experience and his skills are inferior.
“You, too.”
But Mikhail could feel it.
The wave of power I had felt before definitely came from the woman in front of me.
“You too… A lot of things must have happened.”
Yes, even though he may not have grown much, the spirit he felt in the eyes glaring at him was definitely that of a warrior.
On a mission to save the world.
To rise above the countless tragedies that stemmed from it, to hold on to the broken body and mind tenaciously, to move on, and to live the rest of your life holding onto the ashes that were burned at the end…
Such were the words of the warrior that Mikhail had met.
“… A lot of work?”
And the woman in front of me said that she had already gone through such a period for a long time…
Is it an illusion that I feel such a sense of kinship in my eyes that have become the Demon Lord?
“Oh well, there were a lot. It was a dream.”
“… Dream?”
“But do we need a long explanation between us? We’re going to fight anyway.”
No, it’s a good thing for now.
It was not only you, but also the other person’s thoughts as well.
“Are you very itchy right now?”
-Kududeuk, deukdeuk.
Of the monstrous mass that exists under the armor.
The moment when the sound of blood and flesh interlocking and crumpling echoes like metal.
“I know, because I’ve already seen someone like you for years. No matter how much I try, I won’t be able to stand it. Since you have already moved, you will want to see the end.”
– Damn it, that shit.
Responding to the voice, the movement of the body accelerated, and eventually blood began to flow through the gaps in the armor surrounding the body.
The moment the sword poured from him gathered at his fingertips, made a skeleton, and made a sword by sprouting flesh here and there.
“… It looks like her men didn’t bring it.”
The woman who looked at her hideous preparations with her cold eyes, she did not surprise her with the present reprieve, she only glanced around her.
To check whether the worms other than him were following the crimson cloud that was driven by the mighty magic possessed by the demon lord.
“Hey, what can the little puppies do when the demon king doesn’t even expect to move like this?”
Those who panicked and tried to stop them turned to blood, and the rest would have just stood by or tried to run away from the demon king as much as possible.
Likewise, since he himself abandoned all of his comrades, it would be safe to say that no one would interfere with the current fight.
How ironic isn’t it?
Even though he knew that everything he went through was a dream, all of those experiences had a meaning in creating the current situation.
“But looking at it like this, you smell like Dave to the point of mortification.”
But one, only one…
“Yeah, if you look closely, you can smell Dave’s smell.”
Because she is lying that the lover she fell in love with wasn’t the Demon King.
Even if I felt a sense of deja vu from the unidentified being in front of me, if that aura made me mistake the demon king I was facing at the time as my lover.
“… But not Dave.”
If the tragedy he saw at the time was really just an illusion, he would have no reason to lay down his sword either.
“Yeah, it’s not Dave…”
Realizing that, Celica corrected her hesitant steps.
She prepared to step out her toes confidently into Mikhail’s presence.
“I don’t know if you’re Dave’s father, hidden brother, or ancestor, but if you’re not Dave, that’s a good thing.”
I can’t see a single tremble.
He fixed his sharp, sharp gaze on him.
“The important thing is that you are the demon king of this era.”
She held the sword in her hand straight with him, pointing the tip at him.
“Because I am the hero of this era.”
For the first time in my tragic life.
I try to calm my mind by memorizing my own identity, which I have never properly spoken about.
Just like Michael did in the past.
‘What am I for?’
Yes, Mikhail too.
Apparently, like the woman in front of me in the old days, she clutched the sword in my hand, aiming only to kill the demon king.
After all the tragedies she has suffered in her own life, she just has her mission to save the world behind her.
She, who came to this place after walking through the same process as her own, should have respect for her as her senior who walked the same path before her.
‘Why are you holding a sword against my heir?’
Still, he doesn’t back down.
It wasn’t because of the compulsive force that came from being a demon king, or because of the instinct that she only wanted to destroy the world.
Even if she didn’t have that instinct in the first place, she would have chosen to fight her.
It is said that since he has already made a choice, he cannot turn back, but it was clearly his own choice at the beginning.
‘Yes, I… I wanted to create a world without tragedy.’
A goal that can only be achieved by becoming the Demon King.
To achieve a purpose that the hero would never achieve.
‘A world in which neither the beings who bring destruction to the world nor those who claim to be saviors suffer tragedy because of them… A world where everyone pursues equal happiness…’
Demon King Mikhail.
A being who chose to become a ruler rather than a savior to save the world.
-Quaaaaa!!
The rumination of that purpose, far from suppressing his instincts, incited them further, and began to spread the magical power leaking out of his body more thickly.
And the thrill of the world that begins with him.
The ground shuddered from the place where the Demon King was standing, and even the clouds in the sky began to change their movements from time to time like waves crashing.
“Ka-ha…”
A moan erupted from the mouth that opened at the end.
On the face that melted away because it could not withstand the mighty power, all that was left was only bones, joints, and blood clots that connected them.
-Kyaaaaa!!
As it unfolded, the grief of the dead shook the ground, and the sword containing that will began to swing forward.
The mighty power of the demon lord, a swing with all one’s might.
-Kwachang!!
That mighty blow was mercilessly shattered by a sword strike from the front.
A single sword rushed across the gap, striking Mikhail in the face and pushing his body backwards.
-Kudangtang!
The moment when the body that was pushed as it was was useless and collapsed on the floor.
Eventually, cracks in the armor and skinny limbs dripping with blood gradually began to emerge under the drooping cloak.
A body like that of a corpse that was so ugly that it was impossible to think of an existence with mighty power.
-Kuddeuk, deukdeuk.
Of course, it cannot be said that the damage is large.
On the whole, it’s not at all a bad level.
Even if the face is crushed and the whole body is broken, with the demon lord’s regenerative power, a few seconds are enough for it to recover.
‘Just, what happened…’
Even so, I couldn’t stand up right away.
It was simply because he couldn’t accept the results of the previous workshop for a while.
‘It’s blocked, everything…?’
Yes, it is blocked
He was born with the fate of being a hero, and at the end accepted the power of the demon king into this body…
It was shocking that he, who had a power unprecedented in the history of this world, was pushed away from the first attack.
“… Stand up.”
However, the other person seems to like that kind of thing no matter what.
With only the sword in his hand pointed at Mikhail, he did not rush at himself, but spoke quietly.
“It’s the Demon King of fame, but it can’t end like this, can’t it?”
It was a very light voice.
As if he regarded himself as if he were a stone he encountered while passing by. Just like it’s something that needs to be taken lightly.
-Kududeuk, deukdeuk.
While feeling his nerves being scratched, the instinct to fight with the hero forced the body to stand up and gather mana again.
‘I am…’
However, only the operation of that power came from my own will.
‘I am the Demon King.’
It shouldn’t be broken in a place like this.
The moment when that desperate and earnest wish made the body rise again.
‘The hero who decided to become the Demon King.’
-Jureuk, jureuk.
The clot of blood rising from the crack repaired the damage, and the size of the knife in my hand began to increase.
Condensing more blood.
In order to go further and create a vessel that can hold more mana.
‘I, who saved the world, why… Didn’t he choose to become the Demon King?’
Just by gathering power like that, the surrounding space starts to distort, and the gravity of the area starts to get heavier rapidly.
The surroundings are gradually becoming distorted.
Even so, as if there were no limitations, he displayed the momentum to gather his strength whenever he could afford it.
‘Tragedy. To avert a tragedy…’
However, those who claim to be a hero are only watching it.
Is the mana quietly governed by the dangling sword an act that she is preparing for a future attack like herself?
‘To prevent further sacrifices like them.’
No, it’s just fine.
If it was an attack where what she could only see was her all, then she wouldn’t be able to withstand her own blows by gathering her strength without considering her limits.
‘… Melia.’
I don’t feel pity either.
Because what has already passed cannot be undone. Because she can’t go back, she should focus only on making things right in the future.
‘Adal.’
Otherwise, like my teacher, a person who feels the limits of his talent and dies of self-destruction while greeding for more power will appear.
‘Herestia.’
Otherwise, another person who is swayed by the insults of the heretics who are jealous of the shrine maiden and is not rewarded for her sublimity and undergoes a witch hunt will appear again in this world.
‘Swallow…’
If not, she would not even give her a chance to rehabilitate a woman who had no choice but to live in the shadows from her birth, and her dignity and body would be trampled on and brutally murdered again.
And if not…
‘And the unknown soldiers.’
The number of miserable fire moths who simply leave everything to the savior and give up their lives using only that faith as a painkiller will increase in number in this world.
Only the one who has to go through such a sacrifice will take the glory, but in the end, the miserable memories will be repeated again without being immersed in it…
‘Are you curious about what this is?’
Such order will continue in the future.
Because I realized so desperately that such tragedies are endlessly repeated in this world.
He decided to receive the core of magical power given to him by the suspicious demon, accept it into his body, and walk the path as a demon king.
‘This is the core possessed by the demons called the Ancients. What is an ancient tribe… Well, to put it simply, it is a demonic tribe that has been fortunate enough to survive for thousands of years. I enjoyed everything I could enjoy because I was born with such great power and desire, but even that has been repeated for thousands of years, so I’m a being who has been exhausted?’
Born with so much power, I get sick of just being alive.
Being disillusioned with such a life, even dying on its own is annoying, so most of the time is spent in isolation…
I didn’t know if she had the core of an existence that was so indolent and empty, yet so powerful.
The reason why he transferred that power to someone else instead of using it himself is because even now, after accepting that power and becoming the demon king, he still thinks it’s okay.
‘Yes, as you think, their existence is a good thing. What’s important is… Because the existence of the Demon King, who appears every generation, becomes one of the demons who are endowed with such mighty powers.’
Instead of being chosen by the heavens like a hero, a person with power becomes the demon king by declaring himself.
In other words, if you accept the power of the existence of the ancient family, you can ascend to the position of the demon king with just what you want.
‘Once it starts, you won’t be able to go against the fate of the demon king. Would you still accept it?’
And she doesn’t force herself.
Whatever happens after that is just the beginning.
At the beginning, he just wants to leave that choice to himself.
‘… I want to see a world without tragedy.’
Yes, only the beginning was her own will.
Saving a world full of tragedies will only lead to countless tragedies.
So, I will not stop at just seeking, but will change the basis.
‘So if I could put everything in the world under me…’
That’s why he longed for more power in order to fulfill his destiny that a mere hero couldn’t accomplish.
While being able to exert such a powerful influence that can put everything in this world under him.
‘If it is possible to sustain itself even with such overwhelming power… !!’
Certainly, if he had endured all the tragedies to complete his mission as a hero.
Even after accepting the power of the demon lord he had defeated, he firmly believed that he would be able to maintain his self.
– Kurleung!
That’s right, so the power I’m exerting right now is definitely due to my own will.
Mikhail himself thought so.
The way to create a world without tragedy is to put everything under you…
‘No, that’s not enough.’
Not even realizing that his purpose had gone against his instincts as a demon lord, more and more power began to gather in the sword in his hand.
Even though the young sword with the power condensed to the limit grew larger than my own body.
“From this root, this rotten world must be destroyed… !!”
His blade, which had grown into a sword with the momentum to destroy the world by itself.
Soon, with the urge of instinct, it began to stretch forward to release its power.
-Kurreung, Kwaaaaa!
One stroke.
That alone diverges everything that exists on the trajectory.
The moment when the ground and the air above it are temporarily distorted, and the air is sucked in.
-Kwaaaaang!!
As the compressed air expands and expands again, everything in its path is caught in an explosion and begins to slaughter in an instant.
A series of crushing of the earth. A storm caused by the collision of turbulent air currents sweeping over it.
The moment when a disaster spread across the entire plain itself, and everything was terribly crushed by the aftermath.
– Wedge jaw!
Even that, the warrior’s blade, which had been split with a single sword, rushed across the swung sword and stabbed him in the eye.
And Quaang! Mikhail’s body was pushed away by the violent explosion that resonated the moment his head collided with the sword.
Scary to withstand the force and fly across the plain, the afterimage that flew over him swung around and slammed his body into the ground.
With such power that his whole body could be crumbled in that single blow.
“This…”
Of course, a short recovery is enough.
– Jjaeok!
But the attack is faster than that.
At a speed beyond his consciousness and even beyond his instincts, he split the body into dozens of pieces, causing blood fountains to roar.
The fact that his head was pulled out of his body at the end happened before the blood that poured from him even reached the ground…
“What the heck, go…”
The moment he came to his senses, Mikhail, floating in the air, tried to understand the situation by rolling only his eyes.
The limbs were severed, and the sword was stuck in the center of the remaining body, fixing it to the ground.
A warrior holding only his severed head in his hand.
Sitting on my wriggling body, I began to meet myself at eye level.
“Is this your power?”
There was no fear.
Resignation and guilt.
I don’t see any loneliness or remorse at all.
Eyes that could never be imagined that his life was marked by tragedy, never thought that a hero facing the demon king would reveal them.
“Really?”
A sense of liberation.
That was the emotion expressed by the woman who claimed to be her champion at this moment, foreseeing her own victory.
Even though I went through the same tragedy as myself.
As if he had the conviction that he could be freed from him unlike himself.
