Episode 470: Return to the Demon Realm
The girl stood atop the hill, her gaze fixed on the distant black fortress, unfazed by the biting wind that seemed sharp enough to cut through flesh.
Despite the bone-chilling cold, she remained still, her expression serene, as if the thin armor she wore was enough to shield her from the elements. In fact, her eyes held a glimmer of anticipation as she looked at the fortress.
“Can you see it?”
“I can.”
She answered her own question.
“This is your achievement.”
“I couldn’t have done it alone. Without your help, it would have been impossible.”
“When I regain my physical form, I will reward you greatly.”
“Thank you.”
The girl was none other than Jonya.
She gazed at the towering black spire with a face full of emotion. The spire of the fortress reached so high into the sky that it disappeared into the clouds, and wyverns circled lazily around it.
Suddenly, a thought struck Jonya, and she spoke up.
“But… we haven’t confirmed his death. Is that okay?”
She was referring to the Black Ghost.
During their fall from the cliff, Jonya had been separated from him. Without confirming his death, she had come straight here.
“He probably didn’t die. He’s made a pact with the dark god. He won’t go down easily.”
“Then…”
“It doesn’t matter. Sooner or later, he’ll fall into the hands of our demon kin. What concerns me is…”
“Is it Sabikang?”
“Yes. I can’t fathom how he knows about the demon realm. This needs to be reported to the Demon King.”
“I see.”
Jonya nodded and then spoke decisively.
“Let’s go.”
In an instant, Jonya vanished from the hilltop, reappearing in the middle of a clearing outside the fortress gates, where tents were set up.
Her appearance was so seamless that the soldiers loitering nearby didn’t notice her at first. These soldiers weren’t humans or demons but monsters like goblins.
Summoned en masse from the lands surrounding the Demon King’s fortress, they served as its guards.
“Who, who goes there?”
“Human! It’s a human!”
The goblins, finally noticing Jonya, brandished their spears.
“Step aside, inferior creatures.”
Jonya’s cold gaze swept over the goblins, and one who seemed to be their leader stepped forward, shouting.
“How dare you…!”
Thud!
The goblin leader couldn’t finish his sentence, collapsing with a sword embedded in his head.
One of the goblins shrieked in surprise.
“My, my sword…!”
The sword had flown from his waist and impaled the leader’s forehead.
Clang!
The goblins surrounded Jonya, weapons drawn, their blades brimming with murderous intent.
Jonya frowned, looking annoyed, when a deep voice interrupted.
“Stand down.”
The goblins flinched and turned to see a man in black armor astride a massive black horse.
“Sir Glaide!”
The goblins quickly retreated, bowing deeply to the black knight.
Glaide, his eyes sharp and piercing, approached Jonya and frowned slightly.
“Who are you?”
Jonya looked at Glaide and smirked.
“It’s been a while, Glaide.”
”…!”
Glaide’s brow furrowed, his blue eyes glowing intensely.
He was surprised to hear someone speaking the language of the demon realm. Of course, it was possible here, but this wasn’t the demon realm, was it?
Moreover, the voice addressing him was familiar, as if from someone who knew him well.
A memory flashed through his mind, and his eyes widened.
“Could it be… Marquis Baritan…?”
“Finally recognized me, have you? Your instincts have dulled. But then, it has been a long time.”
Jonya’s mocking words made Glaide flinch. He dismounted and bowed his head.
“My apologies for not recognizing you.”
The goblins, caught off guard, knelt and bowed their heads to the ground.
Jonya smiled, amused.
“Just three hundred years ago, you were the captain of the Demon King’s guard… and now you’re a knight commander?”
“I’m in charge of the Tamons Knights.”
“Impressive. You’ve grown.”
Glaide gave a wry smile.
“Three hundred years is a long time. It’s even longer here than in the demon realm. Much has happened to me.”
“Heh. When you’re trapped somewhere, feeling the passage of eternal time, a little longer or shorter doesn’t seem to matter.”
”…”
“Who’s in the fortress?”
“Duke Aranius is there.”
Jonya nodded, a hint of dissatisfaction on her face. The Demon King had yet to descend, but it was only a matter of time. The energy the Demon King possessed was so intense that it would take a while.
Regardless, having come this far, Jonya would have to meet Duke Aranius, one of the ‘Five Stars’ of the Demon King’s fortress. However, he was known to despise Jonya for her past rebellion.
‘But that was over a hundred years ago…’
Who knows what his stance would be now? Sooner or later, they would have to confront each other.
Jonya nodded and spoke.
“Lead the way.”
“Follow me.”
Glaide turned and led the way.
**
Splat!
Thick leather tore, and green blood splattered.
“Aaargh!”
A lizardman with a long snout screamed and fell.
“Huff, huff, huff…!”
Churyang, wielding a mana sword and shield, panted heavily, scanning his surroundings.
The battle seemed endless. The pursuit should have tired and given up by now, but they clung on like glue.
“This is getting ridiculous.”
Churyang wiped the sweat from his brow with his sleeve, gritting his teeth.
Skirmishes erupted everywhere, life and death often decided by chance. For every enemy slain, another warrior fell.
Since last night, the demonic beasts had relentlessly attacked the Justice Alliance, giving them no respite until sunset. The alliance was holding on through retreat and combat, but it was only a matter of time before they collapsed.
The lizardmen surrounding Churyang growled.
“Crook! He’s using demon realm weapons! Crook! How is that possible?”
“Crook! How should I know? Crook!”
“Did he steal them from those stupid goblins? Crook!”
“Probably!”
Churyang couldn’t understand a word of the lizardmen’s conversation. All he heard were their strange, hiccup-like sounds.
The lizardmen spoke the language of the demon realm, completely different from the common tongue of the Central Plains.
‘What are these lizard-like creatures saying?’
No matter how many times he encountered it, he couldn’t get used to the idea of monsters communicating.
“Crook! It doesn’t matter! Crook! Whoever kills him gets the weapon! Crook!”
“Crook! Obviously! But I’ll be the one to own it!”
“Hmph! We’ll see about that! Crooook!”
One of the lizardmen, breathing heavily, charged at Churyang.
“Come on, then! You lizard bastards!”
Churyang didn’t back down, meeting the charge head-on. There was nowhere to retreat. He was surrounded by lizards, wolves, and boars.
The demonic beasts were determined to wipe out the remaining five hundred warriors of the alliance.
Fear had long given way to anger.
Clang!
Mana sword clashed with the lizardman’s blade, sparks flying. Despite channeling his inner energy into the mana sword, his arm tingled from the impact.
The demonic beasts indeed possessed some degree of mana within them.
“Raaagh!”
Another lizardman lunged from behind, and Churyang quickly raised his mana shield to block.
Thud!
“Ugh!”
The impact was enough to rattle his brain.
Crack!
As his inner energy wavered, the mana shield flickered, appearing to crack before stabilizing again.
“Damn it, just die already!”
Churyang spat out a curse, thrusting his mana sword forward.
Squelch!
“Urgh!”
His desperate strike found its mark, piercing the lizardman’s abdomen.
At that moment, seven lizardmen surrounding him charged simultaneously.
“Crook! Now’s the time!”
“Kill him!”
“Crook crook!”
In that split second, Churyang sensed his impending death.
‘Damn, to die here at the hands of some nameless monster. What a tragic life I’ve led!’
Under normal circumstances, he wouldn’t have been caught off guard like this. But he was exhausted. How many days had it been since he last slept, fighting all the while?
A whirlwind of sorrowful thoughts raced through his mind, but then, as if by some miracle, a surge of energy welled up within him.
Instinctively, Churyang channeled this newfound strength, letting out a powerful battle cry.
“Haahhh!”
In that instant,
Crack…!
Boom!
The mana sword he wielded shattered into countless fragments, exploding outward in all directions.
It was the Destruction Blade, a technique he had mastered as a last resort.
The shards of the mana sword scattered like a storm, turning the lizardmen into pincushions.
Thud, thud, thud!
“Aaaargh!”
“Graaaah!”
With cries of agony, the lizardmen toppled over, writhing in pain.
“Thank you… Banmyo,” Churyang murmured, just as he staggered, about to collapse. At that moment, Banmyo leapt from his arms.
With a roar, Banmyo transformed into a massive creature.
“Banmyo! Over here!” came a shout from Nengsoso, who was calling from beyond a nearby hill.
The warriors of the alliance, who had been fighting in the basin, were now climbing the hill in unison, following Sabigang’s strategic orders.
Meanwhile, reinforcements of goblins and lizardmen surged forward like a relentless tide.
Barely managing to cling to Banmyo’s back, Churyang held on as the creature dashed forward with lightning speed.
**
“We can’t avoid annihilation at this rate.”
Sabigang’s heavy voice cast a shadow over the faces of those gathered.
“But isn’t there a way?” Yeomjaryang asked, his face weary.
It was truly exhausting.
Fight, retreat, fight, retreat.
An endless chase.
Their numbers dwindled with each relentless pursuit by the enemy.
“We need a decisive blow.”
“But Master, you’ve already used too many potions. At this rate, your body won’t hold up,” Churyang said, his face filled with concern.
Indeed, Sabigang had been pushing himself to the limit. The number of mana potions he had consumed was beyond counting.
For an ordinary person, their heart would have cracked like a parched field by now.
To an outsider, it might seem like they could just keep drinking mana potions and unleash high-circle magic indefinitely.
But that’s not possible.
Magic is the domain of dragons. When humans overextend themselves using it, their bodies inevitably suffer.
The heart is the first to falter.
To avoid such side effects, one could resort to a near-curse-like ritual to remove and preserve the heart separately.
That’s the path of the undead sorcerer, the Lich.
But doing so means giving up a normal human life.
It’s like a martial artist having a million elixirs but being unable to use their skills endlessly.
Mana potions are simpler and easier to consume, but the age-old truth remains: too much of anything is harmful.
Sabigang, having reached the pinnacle of his abilities, had managed to endure this long.
Yet, what he said next was unexpected.
“True, I’m nearing my limit. But who do you think I am?”
“What do you mean, suddenly…?” Churyang asked, puzzled.
Sabigang looked around at Churyang, Yeonwugyeong, Seoktan-gang, and the others.
“I’m your instructor. Even if I’ve reached my limit, you’ve learned much from me. I taught you well enough that you can handle those monsters, even if not as well as I can.”
Then, Maenggasuk slammed his spear into the ground and said, “Let’s hear the plan! We’ll do whatever it takes!”
The others nodded in agreement.
Sabigang’s gaze turned to Nengsoso.
“In this operation, you’re the key.”
His eyes, as he looked at her, were filled with depth and intensity.