Chapter 958
Episode 236: The Fire of Ruin, a Cruel Past (Part 1)
The Demon Realm, Solar Path.
Bassett truly was Ridolos’s master. Despite the overwhelming difference in strength and skill, he held his ground against Ridolos for a long time.
“Do whatever it takes to protect Silkia, Tilias. If there’s absolutely no other way… then take Silkia and escape with Misol.”
Before facing Ridolos, Bassett had given this urgent order. But Tilias and Misol refused to abandon him and flee.
They simply couldn’t bring themselves to do it. Both Bassett and Silkia were indispensable to Biseps, and above all, they believed that defeating Zito required the combined strength of both of them.
Even if it meant losing every other ordinary member, Bassett and Silkia had to survive. Only then could there be hope to kill Zito and reclaim the Demon Realm.
But they lost.
Bassett collapsed against the ruins, both arms severed, gasping for breath. Tilias and Misol barely managed to stand on trembling legs.
Ridolos, on the other hand, showed only slight signs of fatigue. If he wished, he could have wiped out all the Biseps within five minutes.
Yet Ridolos had been staring blankly at the sky, his mind seemingly elsewhere.
“The sun… the sun of this land…”
It was fading.
No one here had expected Zito to summon the core of the artificial sun through the abyss—and then destroy it without hesitation.
Ridolos had even been slaying his old comrades to protect the artificial sun. He was certain that Biseps would never lose to him, so the sun was safe.
“What… what is happening…?”
Darkness was rapidly clouding Ridolos’s vision.
Like a believer who had lost their god, tears welled up endlessly. Without the sun, the Demon Realm would become a mercilessly barren wasteland.
A cursed land where no life could survive.
“Jin Runcandel was the one who cut down Zito, Ridolos.”
Tilias spoke. Ridolos didn’t respond for a long moment, his vacant gaze fixed on the sky.
“Didn’t you see the golden light that briefly bathed this place? That light surely reached beyond the horizon, perhaps illuminating the entire Demon Realm for a moment. That was the power of Jin Runcandel…”
“…So you’re saying Zito summoned the core of the artificial sun in a last desperate act and destroyed it?”
Even Paelito in his prime hadn’t been able to land a single blow on Zito.
They had thought it impossible for Jin to kill Zito without the artificial sun’s aid. Yet everyone here could clearly feel Zito’s death. Even if they hadn’t witnessed it firsthand, they knew.
“That must be it.”
“Impossible. It can’t be…!”
“We’ve been wasting our efforts all this time. Jin Runcandel defeated Zito without our Biseps or the artificial sun’s help. But at least Biseps finally achieved the goal of Zito’s death. And you? After betraying us, your comrades who fought alongside you for so long, what do you have left?”
Ridolos couldn’t hide the overwhelming despair rising within him.
He had betrayed Biseps for only one reason: to prevent the Demon Realm from falling into darkness after losing the artificial sun.
Keliak had promised him such a future. More than that, a promise to restore the Demon Realm to its former beauty, before Zito’s reign.
“The artificial sun you tried to stop by killing us is gone. Keliak failed to keep his promise to you. No mortal can survive without the sun? Ridolos, nonsense. We will live without light. We ourselves will become the light and rebuild the Demon Realm. No matter how long it takes!”
Thud!
Ridolos clutched his head and sank to his knees. Tilias’s words sounded like empty hope to him.
“Without the sun, the Demon Realm is finished, Tilias. Don’t you understand…? Look! Look beneath your feet. Can’t you see the ground starting to boil?”
Just as Jin and Elona had experienced at Zito’s lair, the ground of the Solar Path was bubbling and boiling.
“Tilias, not just here, but the entire Demon Realm must be boiling. Because of Zito’s death and the destroyed artificial sun, the Demon Realm has become uninhabitable for humans…”
“We’ll find a place that’s not boiling and build a home there. If there isn’t one, we’ll build tall pillars and live on top of them. If there’s no light, we’ll light candles and live by them. Over time, we’ll rise again.”
“How is that any different from destruction?”
“The difference is hope. Ridolos, it’s not too late. Keliak is only using you. Come back to Biseps now. The Demon Realm needs someone with your ability to endure this boiling land and build a new home.”
Tilias truly believed this.
Though Ridolos had betrayed them and slaughtered many ordinary members, the Demon Realm needed someone like him to rise again.
But Ridolos shook his head.
“I… can’t accept it. It’s better to take the surface from humans now. How are we supposed to live in this hell?”
“Nonsense! There’s Jin Runcandel, who killed Zito without the artificial sun’s power. And that’s not all. Even if all the forces of hell unite, conquering a small island in Inse will be difficult.”
“Keliak Jiple will prepare a land for us to live on. Good. We’ll live in Inse, feeling the brilliant light of the real sun, not the artificial one.”
“You’ve lost your mind, Ridolos.”
“Haha, how else can I endure this reality without going mad? I have to meet Keliak Jiple…”
Ridolos glanced around.
He sensed a massive flow of power heading somewhere. The remnants of Zito and the artificial sun were flowing toward Dokmasong.
Ridolos instinctively knew Keliak Jiple would claim that power.
It was time to go ask him—did Keliak know this would happen to the artificial sun? Could he offer the demon race a place to live in Inse?
Tilias watched Ridolos tensely.
Fortunately, Ridolos didn’t kill the Biseps but turned away immediately. With the artificial sun gone, the lives of the Biseps no longer mattered to him.
“Ugh…!”
“Brother!”
“Sir Bassett!”
At Bassett’s groan, Tilias and Misol rushed to him. Bassett coughed up blood, his breath rattling like metal.
Around that time, Silkia, who had led the ordinary members outside the battlefield, approached.
“Zito is dead. What happened to Ridolos, Sir Bassett…?”
Silkia panicked at the sight of Bassett and tried to help him recover, but Bassett shook his head again.
“Don’t waste your strength on me, Silkia.”
“But—”
“I won’t survive anyway. Silkia, from now on, evacuate the members to our headquarters… The headquarters should hold for a while, even on this boiling land.”
Silkia opened her mouth to say something but closed her eyes tightly. Following Bassett’s orders was the right choice. With her power, she could evacuate the remaining eight hundred thousand ordinary members in an instant.
“Tilias.”
“Yes, brother?”
“Take me and pursue Ridolos… Jin Runcandel. He and his forces are surely heading to Keliak Jiple. Though he’s not in full strength after fighting Zito, Keliak won’t let him wield this power unchecked. We must see for ourselves what Keliak plans to do with the remaining power of Zito and the artificial sun.”
“…Understood.”
Bassett accepted death.
He intended to burn his last flame for the Demon Realm and meet his end. Whatever Keliak Jiple did from now on would not be for the Demon Realm’s sake.
“Silkia.”
“Yes, Sir Bassett.”
“You are now the commander of Biseps. Take good care of those who remain. Remember, you are someone who can become a god. Misol, if Tilias and I don’t return, you must support Silkia well.”
Silkia and Misol nodded solemnly.
“Let’s go, Tilias.”
Tilias hoisted Bassett onto his back and started running. They never looked back at Silkia or Misol.
Instead, on their way, they watched countless demons whose minds had just begun to clear from Zito’s control.
Until moments ago, they had been killing each other for no reason under Zito’s mental domination.
Now, they wept uncontrollably, kneeling before the corpses of comrades, family, friends, and lovers they had slain. They were trapped among the horribly torn and shattered bodies, unable to escape.
The Demon Realm, freed from Zito’s control, had truly become hell, just as Inse called it. The screams of those who had been brainwashed into horrific slaughter echoed throughout the entire hell.
“We have all become sinners, Tilias. But since we were all innocent, those who can still live must survive.”
“Of course, brother.”
“Jin Runcandel… I haven’t seen him myself, but he’s certainly not someone who would use the Demon Realm like a pawn and then discard it. From now on, Biseps must shamelessly reach out to him again.”
“Meeting Jin Runcandel and forming an alliance with the Balmur Confederation feels nothing short of a miracle.”
“I only hope I can be of some help to him, even if just a little, before it’s too late.”
They ran, enduring the scorching, sticky earth beneath their feet. The maddened Ridolos left a trail without pause, and the two of them often followed through the dimensional gates he opened. Ridolos paid no mind to their pursuit.
After passing through five such gates, they finally reached Dokmas Castle.
The first thing that caught Tilius and Bassett’s eyes was Ridolos, writhing in midair, his chest pierced by Keliak’s fiery spear.
“Keliak! You promised me—you swore you’d restore the True Demon Realm to its rightful state!”
“Ridolos, if you had something to say, you should have come on a different day. Right now, I have more important guests to attend to. Don’t ruin this moment with your noise.”
“Graaah!”
The fiery spear exploded, engulfing Ridolos. Without sparing a glance at Ridolos’s demise or the Bassett brothers, Keliak turned his gaze to the two newcomers who had just arrived at Dokmas Castle.
“Welcome. Jin Runcandel. And Sir Elona Ziphl.”