145. Tom and Jerry

“KUHAHAK!”

“Belkoseu, it’s your turn.”

“Kuhut. Well done, human.”

We focused on killing monsters that with the magical energy pools that had the potential of becoming demon kings.

Leaving behind the monster that was barely alive, we passed the finishing touches to Belkoseu.

With a wicked smile, he landed the finishing blow and moved on.

My eyes met with Karin, and I spoke.

“Oh. Our incredibly loyal goblin Karin!”

“Keheh? Min-Cheol, did I do something wrong?”

“What do you mean you did something wrong. I heard you talking with Belkoseu before dawn.”

“Kehk! Did you wake up because of me being too loud? Sorry……”

“You don’t have to worry about it. And also, you seemed to hold your own pretty well against Belkoseu?”

“What? Something like that happened? Rin’s quite amazing, don’t you think?”

Jong Ho, who was next to me, began to call him Rin as a nickname.

Karin was overjoyed like a child.

You could tell how happy he was from the way his shoulders were outstretched and his belly was protruding outwards.

With his chin raised, he spoke.

“Kerururu. I already know that we face danger at least once a day if I travel with you two.”

“……”

“I was quite scared of him for awhile, but not anymore. Keruruk. Dying one way or another, it’s still death.”

“Pfft. Why do you conclude on death? We all need to make it out alive. Either way, good work.”

“Kel kel. It would have been better if I could’ve learned more…… Kehheck!”

“Hm? Are they coming here?”

Karin’s expression and shock meant the obvious.

It meant that someone incredibly strong was nearby.

After all, the expression he was making was the same as when he had first sensed the magical energies of the Demon King, Ladin, and Belkoseu.

Belkoseu, who had finished absorbing the magical energies, seemed to have noticed as well.

There weren’t many that would take them by surprise.

Jamon and Ladin must be nearing our location.

Belkoseu spoke with a frown on his face.

“Tsk! Human.”

“…….”

“Due to being absorbed in the task of draining magical energies, I have let down my guard. They’re rushing here…….”

“By they….. You mean the Demon King and Ladin are coming here together?”

“Keruuk! That’s right, Min-Cheol. We need to run away.”

“How long till they’re here?”

“I estimated 5 minutes. It’s unfortunate, but it seems that today’s hunting stops here.”

“5 minutes….. Hyung-nim.”

“Hm?”

“Let’s meet up at Berdan’s castle. Use your Warp skill.”

“Okay. What about you?”

“I have to escape with Karin. 5 minutes should be possible.”

“Kehel.”

“I will buy time by stopping those two.”

“Alright. I guess those two do not approve of our alliance.”

“Kuhut. They hunt with fire in their eyes. Weaklings. They fear my growth.”

“Belkoseu, we’ll group up and then find you. Stop them until you cannot detect our magical energies anymore.”

“Do not worry. Hurry and go.”

“……”

Jong Ho immediately casted Warp and went to a location near Berdan’s castle.

Holding Karin in my arms, I began to run as fast as I could.

We needed to make enough distance to make sure that they could no longer detect our magical energies.

Thanks to the Demon King’s pursuit, we found ourselves making a run for it far more often than before.

On Earth, I have never fled before.

There had been cases of my enemies fleeing due to fear of my strength before though.

That was expected, since I have not met an opponent I had to flee from until now.

My pride was a bit hurt, but that didn’t matter.

I was far from being ready to face him, and preparations weren’t finished.

It was because I had underestimated the Demon King.

I ran until Karin let out a sigh of relief.

Since I could not read magical energies myself, I had to rely on Karin to do so.

And finally…

“Keruu……. It seems that Belkoseu is doing a good job holding back the Demon King and Ladin.”

“That’s a relief.”

“Min-Cheol. Aren’t you tired?”

“I’m healing myself constantly as I run, so I’m not fatigued at all.”

“Keruk. Then let’s hurry and get to where Jong Ho is.”

“Right. Guess it’ll take about an hour to get to the castle?”

“That’s right. Once we reach there, I’ll try to detect the exact location of the Demon King.”

“Ok.”

****

“You’re here?”

“Yes. Guess you cleared the area around the Gate?”

“Yep. There wasn’t anything else to do. I did notice how good Full Heal is though?”

“I’m using it whenever I have the time. Since the summons are now receiving infinite healing, they should be able to defeat any regular monsters with ease.”

“I agree. These summons that were struggling with just handling the fights are now gathering jewels in their spare time, you know?”

“Pfft! Devil Avatar…. I’ve taught them once to gather jewels. I think it was in the Unknown Dungeon.”

“Since the summons were called forth by a human, the enemies killed drop artifacts. Thinking of using them was an amazing idea.”

“So cute of them. We’ll use the jewels later.”

“What about Belkoseu?”

“No idea. Since he won’t die no matter what, we don’t have to worry. We have other things to worry about.”

“You mean the Demon King’s movements?”

“Yes. They are trying to find us in earnest. The fact that we’re making Belkoseu stronger must have caught their attention.”

“That’s to be expected, since they do not have a way to take down Belkoseu. It’s the same with us, though.”

“Since they’re seriously searching for us now, we need to be on a higher level of alertness.”

“Hm….. Karin.”

“Keruru. What is it, Jong Ho?”

“Your ability to read magical energies and finding the location of those you are searching for, is it a common ability amongst Puppet Goblins?”

“Kerururu. No. All monsters can read the flow of magical energies around them, but my ability isn’t common. You can say that it’s a very rare ability in the demonic realm.”

“”Hm…… Min-Cheol. The reason that they headed for the location that we were at was…..”

“We can think of 3 possibilities. They could’ve have near us by chance. The Demon King, Ladin, or someone else with them has the Authority to search for targets via magical energy signatures. The last one is that they’re flipping through the entire demonic realm in search for us. I think that about sums it up.”

“I’m hoping that they don’t have anyone who can search via magical energy signatures…….”

“I’m absolutely positive that the Demon King and Ladin do not have such capabilities. It’s been many days since we started hunting, but they’ve just found us now. The problem is that someone with such an Authority has lent them his or her assistance……. The truth behind that would be revealed to us soon in due time.”

“I guess we’ll find out if we camp and wait patiently near where Belkoseu is waiting for us.”

“That’s right. No matter which one out of the three possibilities I’ve stated, we’re in a dangerous situation.”

“Hm……”

“On days where we have to run due to the appearance of the Demon King, let’s halt hunting for that day.”

“Don’t you think that’s a bit too much?”

“It’s due to the cooldown of Warp. When we run from them, there are no other skills as surefire as that.”

“If the worst case scenario is true, and they can now detect us via searching for magical energy signatures…….”

“Then we have to hunt while risking our lives. Hopefully it doesn’t come down to that.”

“……”

“Let’s check on the Gate once more before we go to where Belkoseu is.”

“Let’s do so. Karin, can you search for Belkoseu’s location?”

“Kerut. Understood. But what if he’s still fighting with the Demon King?”

“Don’t worry about that. I’m sure that the Demon King tired himself out and has given up.”

“Keruru. Then…..”

Karin used his ability to find out where Belkoseu was.

It was a location that wasn’t far from where we had ran away from.

He was waiting for us there.

“Damn, we’re running all day because of the Demon King. Let’s go!”

****

The chase from the Demon King and Ladin continued.

However, the frequency of running into them weren’t that often.

It seemed that they did not have any monsters that had the same ability as Karin had.

That’s to be expected, since a monster with both intelligence and the ability to search for magical energy signatures must be incredibly rare.

Karin’s case was incredibly lucky.

For a Puppet Goblin, who is in the lowest in the ranks of the demonic realm, these abilities were far beyond what was fitting for his rank.

However, when they found us, the hunting ended for the day as Jong Ho had said.

It was because safety came first.

Belkoseu understood that as well.

He knew that without us, his growth would be halted as well.

However, this only meant that hunting for Belkoseu’s growth had stopped.

This had no effect on our growth.

Belkoseu kept calling in high ranking monsters like the Lich King to one spot.

Like how the smell of steak can lure in Karin, monsters were called and came endlessly.

This was an incredible benefit for us.

Instead of focusing on hunting that prioritized Belkoseu’s growth, which took the majority of the day, we could focus on our growth.

Even today’s hunting was purely for our benefit.

It was because the moment we started hunting for Belkoseu today, we had to lose the Demon King’s chase.

Our last resort method to escape, Warp, had more than 11 hours before the skill would be off cooldown.

We couldn’t move recklessly right now.

Regrouping with Belkoseu, I spoke.

“Sorry it turned out this way.”

“Kuhu. The demon king’s pursuit intensifies.”

“Well, it’s good for us. Not sure about how you feel about this.”

“Doesn’t matter. I have been waiting for hundreds of years. Do you think I’d be disappointed in waiting a few more days?”

“You have a good mindset. Then I’ll be counting on you today as well. Bring us some decent ones please.”

“Kuhut. Will do.”

Belkoseu lifted up both his arms up to the height of his shoulders.

At first, I had thought that he merely commanded monsters weaker than him, but now I had the suspicion that it was one of his Authorities.

There was a possibility that he had the Authority to read the magical energies nearby and choose monsters to be brought over at will.

It happened when 3 monsters had been brought here at his will.

At his command, the monsters stood still without any resistance.

“Giving up their lives as if it was nothing…… The demonic realm is an interesting place.”

“Kuhaha. Go ahead and reap as you wish.”

“I’ll accept your offer and do so.”

They all stood in a line.

I swung the Butcher’s Sword at the monster’s weaknesses, revealed to me by Eye of Insight.

Perhaps they did not have any physical resistances, because they fell bleeding with a single strike.

An incredible amount of artifacts poured out.

Seeing that, Karin automatically moved.

It was because he knew that we couldn’t touch the drops carelessly.

Perhaps because this wasn’t the first few times he did this, he quickly organized them into clean neat piles.

Looking at that, Belkoseu spoke with a surprised expression.

“Oho. Perhaps today is your lucky day, human.”

“……”

“A monsters strong enough that you’d be satisfied by is coming.”

“KURURU! KUNG!”

“Oho….. Kelvecore? But I could see a monster at that level pretty easily on Earth though?”

“Kuhat. I wonder if you can say the same thing after confirming just how strong he is. With his level of power, that is the strongest monster I can gather. That means that I can’t suppress that monster.”

“Then I’ll have to show you the dignity of humans after surviving the hellish Earth your monsters turned it to be as it is now.”