When Thanatos threw a punch, the same terrifying energy that had earlier punched a hole in the fortress wall surged forth again at a frightening speed.
But before that intangible force could even reach the wall, it seemed to collide with something and ricocheted off in a different direction.
More precisely, it was deflected by a gesture from Kim Su-hyun, who had just withdrawn his hand from his left pocket.
‘So he really is something, huh?’
Though the scrutinizing gaze was somewhat irritating, the effortless way he deflected the blow deserved praise.
In fact, Kim Su-hyun’s expression showed no sign of strain, and seeing that, a small smile crept onto Thanatos’s lips.
And that was all Thanatos could perceive.
Smack!
Suddenly, the sharp sound of wet leather being struck echoed through the area.
In an instant, Thanatos’s vision was forcibly pulled to the left.
She only realized this when her body began to tilt unsteadily.
“What…?”
Trying to maintain her balance, Thanatos couldn’t stop her mouth from falling open.
Reflexively, she turned to look in the direction she’d been hit—and her face went blank.
Because before her stood Kim Su-hyun, having slipped in from the left, now face-to-face at close range.
“What the…!”
Looking back up at the fortress wall, shock flashed across Thanatos’s face.
Because Kim Su-hyun was standing there.
In the exact same spot he had been before, still with both hands in his pockets.
Then—
Smack!
Before she could even process what was happening, another crisp sound rang out.
This time, Thanatos’s body and vision sharply tilted to the right.
Her mind spun in confusion.
How could this be?
She hadn’t taken her eyes off him for a moment.
When?
How?
Smack! Smack!
Two more slaps landed in quick succession.
Already staggering as if about to collapse, Thanatos finally lost her footing and sank to the ground.
Only then did a burning sensation rise within her, causing her body to tremble uncontrollably.
It had all happened in an incredibly short span.
The confident Thanatos was reduced to a stunned wreck in less than a moment.
Granted, as a god of death, she had managed to catch even one of Kim Su-hyun’s initial moves—but an ordinary user wouldn’t have even realized what had happened.
Kim Su-hyun stood still in place; Thanatos had simply fallen on her own.
Everyone watching blinked in disbelief.
“Hoh.”
Kim Su-hyun, who had kept his hands in his pockets the entire time, let out a low whistle.
Then, folding his arms, he gave a small nod.
“I struck with all my sincerity, intending to kill… and you endured four hits. I commend you.”
His tone was genuinely impressed.
“Wha…?! Ugh! Ughhh…!”
Thanatos, about to retort, suddenly gagged and bent over.
Dark smoke poured from her mouth as she gasped for breath.
She’d only been slapped four times.
Yet, the majority of the life fragments she had carefully stored inside her body were damaged.
If she’d taken one more hit, she might have truly ceased to exist.
In this absurd situation, Thanatos sat frozen, unable to move.
Though she thought she had to get up, do something, her mind had completely shut down.
No, a mysterious warning gripped her entire body: if she moved even a little, she would surely die.
In the end, she could only tremble helplessly, as if lost.
It was around this time that Lucifer appeared, having received the report that Thanatos had moved on her own.
An overwhelming army of demons surged forward, and the fortress walls erupted into chaos once more.
But at the same time, Lucifer’s presence was a noisy distraction.
There stood a user unfamiliar to them, calmly positioned on the wall.
Thanatos, defeated and nearly resigned, slumped with a face drained of will.
Black smoke curled slowly from her entire body.
Lucifer’s sharp mind pieced together the situation from these clues alone.
The strongest secret weapon of the demon faction had been broken.
Saliva dripped from Lucifer’s mouth.
The worst-case scenario he had feared was becoming reality, but he refused to give up and kept thinking.
“Oh ho. Lilith, Baal as well…”
Kim Su-hyun’s expression remained unchanged.
Even though the demons had brought their entire army, he calmly and steadily observed them.
“…Hmm?”
His brow furrowed as he spotted the female demon leading the vanguard.
Sensing his gaze, Lucifer hastily dropped to one knee.
“I humbly greet your esteemed presence.”
Gasps echoed from all around.
Not only from the Northern Continent’s forces but also from the assembled demons behind them.
The proud Seven Great Demons were the first to show respect?
Under normal circumstances, that would never happen.
Even Kim Su-hyun seemed surprised and fell silent.
“You are…?”
After a brief pause, he asked quietly.
“I am Lucifer, who holds the position of the Left Seat among the Seven Great Demons.”
When the other bowed and revealed his identity, Kim Su-hyun wore a look of disbelief.
“Lucifer… Lucifer?”
“Also called Lucifer,” he replied.
Kim Su-hyun let out a soft sigh and pressed a hand to his forehead.
“Ha… What is this world…”
Though muttering to himself, he didn’t miss the phrase ‘this world,’ which he said with full focus.
Watching Kim Su-hyun shake his head, Lucifer cautiously spoke.
“If I may be so bold… esteemed one, are you perhaps from another world?”
“And if so?”
Kim Su-hyun brushed back his hair and answered in a low voice.
Though half his face was hidden by his hand, when Lucifer met the left eye peeking through his fingers, a chill ran down his spine.
Lucifer had some knowledge of the multiverse.
The man on the wall was likely the counterpart of the Kim Su-yeon standing beside him.
But fundamentally, they were different.
His eyes, tinged faintly with red, looked cruel yet radiated absolute confidence.
No doubt he had endured unimaginable carnage.
The thought that these counterparts were demons made Lucifer swallow hard, imagining horrors beyond measure.
“Pardon my impertinence, but… do you intend to return to your original world?”
“That’s obvious.”
Lucifer lifted his head sharply.
A glimmer of hope in an otherwise desperate situation.
“Then is there really any need for us to oppose each other?”
“?”
“Though you have descended here, this is clearly a different world.”
“Hmm…”
Not wrong.
If it were exactly the same, maybe it would be different.
It wasn’t just about gender.
There were too many differences between Kim Su-hyun’s original world and this one.
“I don’t know what circumstances brought you from your original world—”
Seeing the other’s willingness to listen, Lucifer felt a faint hope and continued.
“If I may say, the multiverse has its own unique flow in each world.”
“Indeed.”
“Rather than forcibly interfering and twisting that flow, wouldn’t it be better to let it proceed naturally, as it should?”
“I agree.”
Kim Su-hyun immediately nodded.
“Even putting your situation aside, forced interference would surely harm the world.”
Lucifer’s face brightened as Kim Su-hyun softened his stance.
“Then!”
“So.”
Kim Su-hyun smiled faintly and cut in.
“I have a proposal.”
“I’m listening.”
“It’s simple. From now on, you all lay down your weapons and withdraw from here. Furthermore, return to the great world you originally belong to.”
“That’s…”
An impossible demand.
The demons had come all this way to block Atlanta’s entry into the Northern Continent.
To give that up was absurd, let alone to return to their original world.
Since they had to obtain the Zero Code by any means, refusal was inevitable.
“…That’s difficult. I would like to hear your objections.”
A phrase leaving room for negotiation.
Clearly signaling the need to find another way.
“There are no objections.”
But Kim Su-hyun cut off any chance of debate in one stroke.
Lucifer bit his lip in secret.
Though the demand was unreasonable, reality was harsh.
Submit and retreat to preserve strength?
Or risk everything and fight to the death?
Either choice was a losing hand.
How much time passed?
During the long silence, someone rustled.
Lilith stepped past Lucifer and came forward.
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
Kim Su-hyun’s eyes hardened.
“Lilith!”
Lucifer shouted in shock but quickly fell silent.
He had read the desperate resolve on Lilith’s face.
“B-But…”
In truth, Lucifer had sensed it too.
A certain message conveyed the moment he met the man’s eyes.
No matter what choice he made, that man would never let go easily.
“We won’t touch you, so why don’t you just quietly return to your original world? Don’t come to someone else’s world and cause trouble.”
“Should I take that as a refusal?”
“Yes, it’s a refusal. Why should we obey your orders? What right do you have?”
Heh.
Kim Su-hyun let out a short laugh.
He stared at Lilith for a moment, then suddenly extended his hand to the side.
And said,
“Sword.”
Suddenly, a hand reached out, and Kim Su-yeon, who had been staring blankly, jumped in surprise.
“Uh, uh?”
But the man said nothing more.
He simply stood there, eyes fixed downward, motionless.
Then, a cool, biting wind swept through.
“…”
As the breeze tousled his bangs, Kim Su-hyun closed his eyes gently.
How had it come to this again?
He had thought he’d changed, especially after returning to the modern world.
Maybe when he struck down Asmodeus in one blow, something he’d been holding back all this time had finally cracked open.
But now, he didn’t really care anymore.
His hatred for demons hadn’t changed, then or now.
In the end, one thing was clear: whether here or elsewhere, demons were the enemy.
Yes.
Demons were the enemy.
That alone was enough.
With that conclusion, Kim Su-hyun stopped his pointless thoughts.
Hesitantly, Kim Su-yeon slowly extended the sword.
The hilt crumbled almost as if it were fragile in Kim Su-hyun’s grasp.
Moments later,
His eyes snapped open, blazing with fierce light.
A deep, resonant hum filled the air.
In that instant, the atmosphere around them suddenly grew heavy, oppressive.
A pain like his eyeballs might burst surged through him, cold sweat beading and trickling down his spine.
He had only taken up the sword.
That was all.
Yet the man’s presence swelled like a river breaking through a dam, growing deeper and wider by the second.
The world seemed to hold its breath.
As if time itself had stopped.
It was like being thrown naked into a blood-red sea teeming with sharks.
In truth, Lilith was struggling to bear the overwhelming pressure, unable even to lift her head.
She wanted to retreat immediately, but even a step backward was forbidden.
She had expected this ever since Thanatos had fallen so easily, but the force was beyond imagination.
It shattered any desperate resolve like a fragile house of cards.
And from afar, Kim Su-yeon watched Kim Su-hyun’s back, lost in thought.
Why was that?
He was holding nothing more than a sword.
His plain white T-shirt and pants still looked almost laughable.
Yet somehow, she could see him draped in jet-black armor and a crimson cloak.
He took a slow step forward.
“Qualification…”
His voice was faint.
But carried on the wind, it echoed far and wide.
The power of a ruler commanding the obedience of all: “Lord, give the order.”
Kim Su-hyun.
The one who had led every battlefield to victory.
The user who had never once been defeated.
Across continents, against demons, angels—
Even gods had bowed before him, an unprecedented user.
And so,
Five years ago,
The legend of the war god who claimed the pinnacle as an undefeated myth
was now reborn in this other world.
---------------------------= Author’s Note =---------------------------
Reading the comments from the previous chapter left me uneasy.
The abrupt ending…
Putting myself in the readers’ shoes, I can understand how frustrating it must have been, and I feel guilty.
The serialization schedule is one chapter every two days, but the chapters aren’t even that long…
From now on, I’ll avoid ending chapters with “at that moment” or similar phrases.
I’m sorry. (__)