Chapter 894
Episode 224: The Venomous Demon’s Humiliation (Part 1)

“I don’t quite understand… Are you saying I made the prisoners disappear?”

“Don’t play dumb, you bastard! If it wasn’t you, then who else? Only you, me, Gero, and the guards knew there were Runkandel in the lowest prison level. And there’s no way Gero, me, or these guards lying here would have set them free, right?”

“Why not? There’s no such thing as ‘never’ in this world. I used to think the same way—until my son took my place because of that complacency.”

Kelliak spoke calmly. Ragall took a deep breath, trying to steady the rage twisting his insides.

“Hoo… I almost killed you, you little bloodsucker. Fine, since this mess is already made, there’s no turning back. Choose—do you want to go quietly to the torture chamber, or do you want to die screaming first?”

“I think you’re wasting your energy yelling at me. You should be out there with your men, hunting down the prisoners who escaped—if you really need them.”

“More lies? If I rush out to find the prisoners, you’re just going to run away, aren’t you?”

Kelliak chuckled softly.

“Why would I run? I swore loyalty to Lord Jito myself to become part of the True Demon Realm. There’s no place for me here in Inse. So why would I run? And why would I free the prisoners? You really need to start thinking before you speak.”

Each word only fueled Ragall’s fury. He forced himself to hold onto reason with extreme patience.

“No… I can’t kill him. That would cause serious problems. Lord Jito entrusted me with this task for a reason. I don’t know exactly why, but since this man is connected to the witch, even Lord Jito had no choice but to accept him. So I must not kill him. Stay calm, Ragall…!”

But unfortunately, Kelliak had no intention of easing Ragall’s mind.

“Afraid of me? Thought you’d run? Well, Ragall, you’re not much of a threat to me. Don’t waste your strength—go find your prisoners.”

Tick.

The fragile thread of Ragall’s reason snapped. His eyes, filled with murderous intent, locked onto Kelliak.

“I was going to torture you a bit before finishing you off… but now, you’re going to die. I’ll take care of what comes after.”

Fssssss!

As soon as Ragall finished speaking, a poisonous mist suddenly filled the underground prison. It spread instantly, but that was only the visible part.

Ragall’s venomous aura already permeated the entire extreme poison zone. The mist seemed alive, mercilessly melting anything that wasn’t his subordinate.

Screams echoed throughout the city as demons from other regions stumbled into the toxic zone. Friends and lovers, merchants, even passersby—all were meeting death.

Yet, standing right in front of Ragall, facing the most intense poison, Kelliak still smiled.

“Poison… I hear you threatened my ancestor, said to be the strongest ever. But unlike my ancestor, I have nothing to protect.”

Kelliak’s staff ignited in flames. The poisonous mist swirled, drawn into the staff.

“Now, it’s you who must protect something. You’ve waited a long time to become the Demon King and earn the title of Mara… You can’t just let everything turn to ashes overnight.”

Shhhhk!

Flames burst from the staff, collapsing the underground prison in an instant. Ragall was thrown back, hitting the wall. When he opened his eyes, Kelliak had already broken through the ceiling and flown outside the fortress.

Two fiery wings spread from his back.

The demons in the city were momentarily thrown into confusion. The artificial sun was supposed to be off, but suddenly the sky brightened—they mistook Kelliak for the artificial sun.

But the sky was filled not with the pale light of the artificial sun, but with raging crimson flames.

Ragall’s poison couldn’t penetrate that heat. Kelliak looked down at Ragall and everything he held with a relaxed expression.

Without chanting a spell, he began unleashing magic that symbolized himself.

Spatial explosions—magic that detonated everything in sight with sheer willpower.

The top floors of the Venomous Demon Fortress were the first to explode. Guards and generals who rushed out didn’t even realize their deaths before it was over.

With every boom, someone died or something collapsed. Ragall, stunned by the unexpected turn, unleashed a torrent of poison.

“You bastard…! How dare you look down on me, Ragall? Let’s see how long you can keep that up. You’ll writhe in pain beyond your worst nightmares!”

Spreading his wings, Ragall soared into the sky, clutching concentrated poison to stab into Kelliak’s heart.

But barely ten meters up, a spatial explosion tore one wing apart.

Though it quickly regenerated, the same happened again. No matter how high he flew, he was shot down immediately.

Long-range attacks fared no better. All the poison in the extreme zone fueled Ragall’s power, but Kelliak’s fiery barrier was stronger.

“Hopefully, before the fortress is completely destroyed, you’ll face reality. Don’t resist so fiercely—unlike before, it’s hard for me to control my power.”

Another spatial explosion crumbled the left side of the fortress. While Ragall briefly looked over the damage, the city center closest to the fortress exploded, flames spreading.

“L-Lord Ragall! Please save us…!”

“Lord Ragall!”

Injured demons throughout the fortress cried out. Even high-ranking generals sounded as desperate as common soldiers, their wounds refusing to heal.

The flames burned flesh and bone faster than their rapid regeneration.

Ragall realized even the smallest ember clinging to him hadn’t been extinguished.

“Even my rapid regeneration as Demon King can’t overcome Kelliak’s fire.”

‘I’m tired from the fight with Elona, but this… this is beyond reason. It’s even worse than that man…!’

Changsung, or the Ultimate Demon.

Though the names differ between the True Demon Realm and Inse, the limits mortals can reach are the same. Ragall had fought Elona before but never felt so utterly overwhelmed.

“You probably feel stronger than my ancestor. I don’t know why, Ragall. But one thing’s clear—without hostages, you wouldn’t have even touched a hair on my ancestor’s head. Don’t underestimate Jiple. Even the strongest man I know never did.”

The pleas of his subordinates continued. Ragall, sweating profusely, tried to attack again, but each time a spatial explosion tore through his body.

He had no choice but to gather all the poison from the extreme zone into himself for one last desperate move.

But just as he was about to unleash the venom he’d collected, Kelliak descended to the ground and pierced Ragall’s neck with his staff.

“You’re nothing but a bug compared to that man.”

Thunk.

The staff drove into the ground like a stake, pinning Ragall’s neck. He knelt, his upper body arching back in a grotesque posture. All he could see wasn’t Kelliak, but the burning Venomous Demon Fortress behind him.

“Ugh… ugh!”

“Demons are convenient creatures. Even with your neck pierced and face down in the dirt, you’re still breathing. So, how about it? Ready to end your life like this?”

“N-No…!”

“Think carefully. I’m giving you a chance. Depending on your answer, Ragall Pun and the extreme poison zone will either vanish from the True Demon Realm today… or gain even greater power than before.”

“Grrr… aaargh!”

Kelliak twisted the staff, and Ragall screamed, writhing like his subordinates. Blood and tears poured from his eyes, and his whole body trembled in searing pain.

“Ah, with this, you won’t be able to speak. Like I said, controlling my power is hard—I’m still getting used to it. I’ll give you ten seconds. If you don’t blink once in that time, I’ll take it as a sign you want to live. But if you blink even once, you’ll turn to ash.”

You crazy bastard! How can you expect me not to blink when I’m in this much pain…!

Ragall wanted to shout, but no sound came out. He had to endure those ten seconds to survive.

Those ten seconds were, without a doubt, the longest ten seconds in Ragall Pun’s long life.

“Keh-ehk!”

When Kelliak withdrew his staff, Ragall bent forward, clutching his neck with both hands. Blood, saliva, and tears streamed from every hole in his face.

“Well done. And now you’re in the perfect position to face me.”

Unnaturally, Ragall knelt, bowing his head.

There was no time or strength left to argue or resist. Lagal barely lifted his head to look up at Keliak. The man who had seemed like nothing more than a strange figure entrusted to him by Zito just moments ago now wore a face as fearsome as Zito’s own.

“Why… are you doing this to me…?”

“That’s a strange question. I had intended to stay quiet, Lagal. But you were the one who stirred up this pointless fight after I warned you.”

“You planned this from the start… didn’t you? Now that you’ve broken me, you want to take my place and become the master of Dokmasong.”

“Do you think I, who once ruled Ziphl, would want some shabby underground fortress? Besides, I may have become a True Demon Lord, but I’m not one of the demon tribe, so becoming the Demon King would be absurd.”

“Hah, the strangest thing here is your behavior right now…”

“Get up. It seems few of your men have witnessed your pitiful state clearly, so you’d better heal your wounds quickly. Don’t worry—the witnesses won’t live much longer.”

The desperate cries of Lagal’s subordinates begging for mercy grew fainter and then fell silent.

As Keliak waved his staff, the embers clinging to Lagal’s body began to smolder out. Only after the flames were completely extinguished could Lagal start to recover.

“For now, let’s say I’ve won this fight. We can finish the rest of this conversation back at the castle.”