132. The Demon King

“KUHUK!”

“I asked if you are human.”

“KUHUH!”

“Such an obvious weakness. Due to this single organ, you are in this much pain and on the brink of death.”

“KUHACK!”

Jong Ho’s eyes and face was turning red like blood.

Due to the severe pain he was feeling, he could not breathe in or out.

A fresh stream of blood was pouring out from his mouth.

As Jong Ho had tried to enter the Warp, Jamon had closed the distance between the two of them.

He didn’t even have the time to think about avoiding the demon king’s attack.

Not only was Jong Ho unable to see the attack, but he didn’t even feel the demon king’s presence.

Jamon’s hand had pierced the left side of Jong Ho’s chest.

A flawless singular strike.

Despite not having any interactions with humans before, it was a fierce attack that seemed to aim straight for the heart, a weak spot of the human body.

Due to never having received such a severe injury, Jong Ho’s consciousness began to fade.

The demon king did not stop there, as he lifted up Jong Ho while his body was still pierced by his hand.

Blood spilled down his arm that was smooth like pottery.

In his grasp was Jong Ho’s heart, beating madly to stay alive.

Almost as if enjoying this, he slowly increased the pressure of his grip, observing Jong Ho’s face that was twisted in pain.

Despite Jong Ho not having enough time to react to put up his shield spells, he had massive amounts of stamina points due to his armor.

However, before the demon king’s strength, those stats seemed like pointless numbers.

A flood of emotions overwhelmed Jong Ho.

‘This is the strength of the demon king, who rules all of the demonic realm? I’m going to die. There’s not even a chance that I could defeat him. To think that he literally holds my life in his grasp. It’s so pathetic that I can’t help but find it funny.’

“……. here?”

‘If Min-Cheol returns here right now, it’ll be a huge problem. He won’t be able avoid a dog’s death. Please…. Don’t come back. Please…..’

“……. is here?”

‘I can’t even feel the pain anymore. My body feels warm, and I feel drowsy. Is this what death is like……’

The demon king kept talking, but Jong Ho could no longer hear anything.

Instead, he was silently accepting his death.

His senses slowly dulled, and he could no longer feel the pain that was driving him mad.

Before him, the demon king was still asking questions.

“How can such a weak race stand to face demonkind…. How disappointing, seeing that he has already arrived near death’s door.”

“…..”

Suddenly, Jamon lessened his grip.

The heart that was in his grasp began to beat weakly once more.

The demon king’s face hardened, seeming as though he had lost interest, and then he tossed Jong Ho to the floor.

“Kuwu….. Kuhuh! Huhuh……. Huhuh…..”

“…….”

“Kuhuhuh! Kuwu…..”

Sprawled out on the floor, Jong Ho began to breathe once more, his breath labored.

This meant that he was on the path to recovery instead of death.

Since he had an insane amount of stamina stat points, that meant that his recovery speed was incredibly high as well.

After all, despite the hole in his chest and the vessels near his heart being severely damaged, he regained consciousness, and his wounds were sealing back up.

No longer interested in Jong Ho, the demon king had turned his attention on the Warp.

“A Gate that the humans made….. Does this lead to the place that Zekill headed for, the dimension called Earth.”

The demon king moved his hand into the Warp.

However, since the caster was Jong Ho and not the demon king, it denied him completely.

When Jamon’s blood coated hand touched the Warp, it began to tremble fiercely, similar to rough waves.

“Amusing. So you’re saying that you have an owner. I am the demon king. I can take anything I want as mine.”

The demon king hurled his fist without a single change in his expression.

His movement stopped, followed by the Warp quaking before a massive shockwave from the resulting blow.

It was difficult to believe in the speed and force behind the attack.

However, the Warp still did not dissipate and did not allow the demon king entry.

Instead of getting angry, the demon king smiled and shook his head.

“Incredible stubbornness. Ha ha ha. Amusing. Amusing.”

“Ha……. Ha……..”

“Oho? Quite the resilience. Just moments ago, your life was flickering as if it’d be extinguished any second.”

“Hhuuu… “

Covering his bleeding wound with his hands, Jong Ho was in deep thought.

Over there.

He could survive as long as he went through that Warp.

Despite the hellish pain, Jong Ho did not let his gaze wander away from the demon king.

He looked at the very same demon king that could not enter through the Warp that he had spawned.

However, was it possible to do so?

It was true that Jong Ho was outmatched in both speed and destructive force by far.

The fight was already impossible with his opponent being the demon king.

On top of that, there was another monster that was guarding the demon king to boot.

Jong Ho could guess that the other monster next to the demon king was Ladin.

It happened as Jong Ho finally began to get his breathing under control.

“Humans are actually quite amazing.”

“……..”

“I’ll ask again. Do not count on being spared a second time.”

“Kuwuu…..”

“Why did a pathetic human like you come to the demonic realm?”

“Nothing that important.”

“Hm?”

“What do you think the reason is? It’s to kill some demon king or something.”

“Pfft. Is that so? You’ve come to the demonic realm to kill me? However, even if you take my life, there is nothing you’d gain from doing so. Guess you don’t really have much a reason to do so.”

“…….”

“Then….. Where is the other one.”

“…….”

“I do not sense the magical energies of Zekill and Berdan from you. This means that another human has killed them.”

“……..”

“This will be the last question I ask of you. If you want to taste hell again, I shall gladly oblige.”

“My motto is safety first.”

“……”

“But do you really think that I’d sell out my own sibling? Don’t you think so? You’re just balding!” 1

“It seems that humans take their lives lightly. As you wish.”

“…….”

“Ah! That’s right, Ladin.”

“Yes, great demon king.”

“You should try out your newly obtained magical energies.”

“But…….”

“You haven’t met any worth opponents to test out your newfound strength yet, right?”

“It is as you said, great demon king.”

“Kuhu…. Perfect. Rip apart this so called human. Tear out his organs and feel the difference between our temperatures. Bathe in his crimson blood, a color vastly different from ours. I shall allow you to have the magical energy that he possesses.”

“B…… But…….”

“Do not hesitate. Zekill and Berdan are dead. Out of the 4 demonic race leaders, two have perished. Your growth is for the demonic realm and demonic race.”

“I am touched by your words.”

“Toss his corpse into that Gate. It’ll be a gift to whoever is left on the other side of the Gate. Kuhuha.”

“Yes, almighty demon king.”

While the two of them conversed, Jong Ho looked for an opening.

He was looking for a chance to enter through the Warp and escape.

Exerting as much force as possible, Jong Ho kicked the ground and shot out toward the Warp like a bullet.

However, as if he had expected this, Ladin acted accordingly.

Despite being behind him moments ago, Ladin was blocking the path towards the Warp in a split second.

His attack came immediately after.

“Ku…… uu…..”

Jong Ho’s body went limp.

His heart beat no more, and the air he took in no longer served a purpose.

He had breathed his last from a single attack by Ladin.

Ignoring Jong Ho’s corpse, the demon king gave an amused smile as he turned his gaze towards Ladin.

He then opened his mouth.

“Hm?”

“……”

“Strange. He definitely lost his life. The magical energy he possessed should naturally be absorbed by you……”

“Is it perhaps because humans cannot use magical energy?”

“So they can take, but cannot be taken from……”

“Looking at our current situation, that can be the only conclusion……”

“Tsk! I was hopeful for no reason.”

“…….”

“This means that we won’t be able to obtain the massive amount of magical energy that human who is still left in the demonic realm.”

“Yes……”

“My mood has turned sour.”

“Demon king, what of the goblin who is hiding here……”

“Leave him be. He is a weak existence that pleaded for his life with the humans. It won’t take long before he will lose his life to the natural cycle of the demonic realm.”

****

I had used the Warp near Ladin’s castle.

I had arrived back to the starting point.

Warp only allowed a one way travel.

To get back to where Jong Ho and Karin was, I’d have to be diligent and keep moving.

The area around the Gate wasn’t that bad.

I did see a few monsters scattered about, but the number had definitely shrunk.

4 summoned creatures still guarded the Gate.

Just from their appearances, I could tell that the fight was brutal.

Their bodies were covered in wounds without exception.

“KURUUH!”

“My, my. Good job holding on. You’ve done well.”

“KUWUH!”

“However, since the cooldowns are quite long….. I know it’s difficult, but I need you all to hold out a little longer.”

“KWUH! KWUH!”

The Avatars seemed confident, beating their chests with their weapons and letting out a Fear roar skill.

King Suwoo was in the same condition.

The elegant armor had become ragged.

It would be nice if I could cast recovery spells on them, but that was impossible.

Recovery skills only worked on the Awakened, and normal civilians, monsters, and summoned creatures were not affected by them.

However, King Suwoo was acting strange.

His sword that was big as a house glowed blue, and he pulled in that sword with both hands in a meditative pose.

“What are you doing?”

“……..”

“KUWUHUNG!”

“KUWUH!”

“Jackpot?”

His movements were for the purpose of recovery.

Not only did it heal him, but he had healed the summoned creatures around him.

And he had did this without me commanding him so, on his own will.

The exhausted summoned creatures became lively once more.

Since this was the case, it seemed that I didn’t need to return here each time Warp went off cooldown.

My amazement at my summoned creatures didn’t last long.

I saw that a Warp had formed near in my field of vision.

Jong Ho must have casted it.

Other than him, there probably wasn’t anyone else who would be capable of using Warp.

“That’s strange? I said that there was no need for him to come….”

Stranger still was that despite the Warp forming here, I did not see Jong Ho.

There was a possibility that he had used it earlier than when he planned to enter in order to start the cooldown timer.

Without much concern, I shifted my focus solely on taking care of the monsters nearby.

Due to the number of monsters being reduced already, it didn’t take long for me to finish the job.

With the situation taken care of, it happened as I prepared myself to return back to Ladin’s castle.

“Hyung-nim, you’ve arrived?”