Episode 276: The Demon (2)
“Oh, this is impressive.”
Bahhel paused in his energy generation, letting out a whistle of admiration.
Dorgo, clearly irritated, snapped back, “What nonsense are you spouting this time to stop working?”
“One of the demons we sent to them is about to be sent back to hell.”
Dorgo couldn’t help but be taken aback. There was only one reason a demon would be reverse-summoned: severe injury during battle.
“That’s impossible. The Five Saints are strong, but they can’t take down a count-level demon this quickly.”
Even if the demon couldn’t use its full power due to possession, a count-level demon was no pushover. Dorgo was certain even the Five Saints would struggle.
“Ah, you’re mistaken. It’s not the Five Saints… it’s someone else.”
A smile crept onto Bahhel’s face. “Oh… maybe they’ll come our way.”
“What? How are you handling things that this could happen…?”
Bahhel wiggled his fingers, and a black sphere floating in the air flew into his hand. As he gripped it, the energy flowing from Bahhel was absorbed into the sphere.
“It’s done. Here, take it.”
Bahhel tossed the sphere to Dorgo, who caught it and immediately fumed. “Why did you drag this out if you could finish it so quickly?”
“I wanted to enjoy the air up here a little longer,” Bahhel winked, and Dorgo grimaced in disgust.
“Now that you’ve got what you wanted, would you mind leaving? I’d like to entertain my guests alone.”
Bahhel stretched, but Dorgo remained skeptical. “Leave someone as dangerous as you alone? Not a chance.”
“Haha, you say that after you rigged the summoning circle to self-destruct after a while. What are you worried about?”
Dorgo’s expression hardened slightly. As Bahhel said, Dorgo had set the summoning circle to destroy itself after a certain time, just in case. Demons were never to be underestimated.
“Besides, I’m just a projection, not my true form. You know there’s a limit to what I can do.”
”…”
“Come on, let me have this. It’s not every day I get to make memories up here.”
After a long pause, Dorgo called out to Iota. “Iota, open the gate. We’re leaving.”
-Understood!
Following Dorgo’s command, Iota opened a dimensional gate. As Dorgo and Iota were about to step through, Bahhel called out.
“Oh, take this too.”
Bahhel tossed a half-key towards Dorgo. It was the very item used to possess the count-level demons.
“Are you insane? You’re giving this to me?”
Dorgo asked incredulously. The key held immense value for demons. Even Bahhel, a duke-level demon, had been summoned thanks to it.
“I think you’ll make better use of it than I would.”
“Me?”
“You have the other half, don’t you?”
Dorgo’s body tensed at Bahhel’s words.
“That’s nonsense…”
“Don’t bother denying it. I know.”
Bahhel shook his head. “When we fled to hell, the king defended the gate to the end. In the end, he was killed by your rescue squad, and the gate was destroyed.”
Bahhel continued, “At that time, the key split in two—one half remained in hell, the other on earth. Who else could have it but you?”
Dorgo said nothing, as if Bahhel’s guess was spot on.
“I have no intention of using this key.”
“Haha, you never know. Life rarely goes as planned.”
Dorgo squinted his eyes. “What exactly do you know?”
“Who knows.”
Dorgo silently glared at Bahhel, then picked up the key from the ground. He decided it was safer with him than with someone as dangerous as Bahhel.
“See you around.”
“Don’t count on it.”
Dorgo and Iota stepped through the dimensional gate. As it closed, Bahhel murmured softly.
“Dorgo, you can’t see it, having shed your physical form, but fate has taken a drastic turn.”
Demons possessed numerous powers. A duke-level demon could even glimpse the flow of fate to some extent.
“From now on, no one knows what will happen. But one thing’s for sure—the key’s fate is tied to you.”
Bahhel stretched and turned around. “Now, let’s prepare to welcome our guests.”
As soon as he finished speaking, the air tore open. From the rift emerged a human man and a battered Resorbe.
“I did say to bring a man, but not like this.”
Bahhel addressed the two.
“Bahhel.”
Even seeing it with his own eyes, Damian couldn’t believe it. There was no king in hell, so duke-level demons effectively ruled it. A duke-level demon was as good as a king in hell.
Their power was immense. Summoning one meant risking the destruction of the world.
To summon a duke-level demon, the scale needed to be three times larger than this.
“How is a duke-level demon here?”
“Oh, you recognized me right away? Impressive.”
Bahhel laughed, clearly amused.
“I knew you were no ordinary human when you blocked my beam. You’re fascinating.”
Bahhel’s eyes sparkled with childlike excitement, eager to toy with Damian.
“Hah.”
Damian let out a dry laugh. From the moment he was attacked with the beam, he felt the demon was blatantly underestimating him. It was infuriating.
“I don’t know why a duke-level demon is here, but…”
Damian gathered his magic.
“You’ll pay for underestimating me.”
Damian vanished, reappearing at Bahhel’s side, swinging his sword, Dawn. But the blade didn’t reach Bahhel’s neck. It was stopped by an invisible wall.
Dawn struck the wall, which shook but didn’t break.
“Fascinating, isn’t it? This is my power, Isolation.”
Bahhel kindly explained his ability.
“It’s simple. I create a box that traps a certain area. Curious if it can be broken? It probably can, but I’ve never seen it happen.”
Damian’s lips twisted. He’d never been so blatantly disregarded.
“And see that?”
Bahhel pointed behind him, where a cube sat. It was opaque, hiding its contents.
“Inside are the paladins sent by the Holy Order. They’re strong, so I trapped them for now.”
“You talk too much.”
“Cut me some slack. It’s been boring working here…”
Damian launched himself off the ground, appearing behind Bahhel. But again, he was blocked by Bahhel’s wall. Bahhel smiled.
“You’re pretty fast. But can you dodge this?”
Bahhel raised his hand, and countless pillars materialized in the air, thick as if pulled from a building.
“You won’t block these, so dodge if you can.”
Bahhel lowered his hand, and the pillars shot towards Damian. They grew larger as they flew, aiming to impale him.
Damian moved swiftly, dodging the pillars. Each time they struck the ground, they left massive craters.
He could feel it. Even a graze would be fatal.
“Oh, you’re good at dodging.”
Bahhel conjured more pillars, sending them in rapid succession. Damian read their trajectories, evading them all.
“Impressive! You’re as interesting as I thought!”
Bahhel was delighted by Damian’s performance.
“How about this?”
Bahhel raised his other hand, and pillars appeared around Damian, blocking all escape routes, even above. Bahhel’s face was alight with curiosity.
“Can you dodge this?”
The pillars descended simultaneously, leaving no room to escape.
“Tri-Ring.”
Damian murmured softly, amplifying the resonance. He swung Dawn at the incoming pillars. Each time Dawn brushed a pillar, its trajectory shifted, sending it skyward or into the ground instead of towards Damian.
“Oh?”
Bahhel’s mouth formed a surprised ‘O’. At that moment, Damian launched himself forward, reaching Bahhel in a straight line, swinging Dawn at him.
“You got faster? Impressive.”
A wall appeared in front of Bahhel. But then, Damian vanished again.
”…What?”
Bahhel’s face went blank, having lost track of Damian’s movement. In the next instant, Damian appeared behind Bahhel.
Startled by Demian’s presence, Vahel spun around, but it was already too late to erect any defenses.
Demian’s sword, Dawn, was already at Vahel’s throat.
The aura blade shimmering on Dawn’s edge aimed to slice through Vahel’s neck. Yet, all that echoed was the chilling sound of metal grinding against something unyielding, leaving Vahel unharmed.
His body was simply that resilient.
“Wow… Impressive. I didn’t think you’d actually manage to touch me with a blade.”
Demian withdrew Dawn, spinning gracefully to reset his stance.
Gripping the hilt with both hands, he pointed the tip directly at Vahel.
With a swift step forward, he thrust the blade, channeling the power of the Azure Flame.
Annihilation Strike.
The blow, capable of shattering anything in its path, slammed into Vahel’s chest.