Novel - Site
Chapter 341: The Descent of the Demon King (2)
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
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Chapter 341: The Descent of the Demon King (2)
The overwhelming presence of the Demon King spilled forth.
The Tower Master and Helia felt as though their breaths were stolen away.
Had they not instinctively gathered their wits, they might have lost consciousness altogether.
Ketal stepped forward, shielding the two from the oppressive force as he spoke.
"Run. Warn the others outside. Make them return to the surface immediately."
"...What about you?"
"If I retreat from here, what do you think will happen?"
Helia fell silent at his words.
The answer wasn’t difficult to deduce.
Everyone would die.
Heroes or superhumans, it wouldn’t matter; they would all meet meaningless deaths.
Ketal gripped his axe firmly.
"I will do what I must. You do what you must."
[Leave it to me.]
"...Apologies, and thank you."
Recognizing their lack of utility in this fight, the Tower Master and Helia quickly make their way out of the fortress.
As they exited, they shouted toward those approaching the Demon King's castle.
"Everyone, stay back!"
[Run away!]
The oppressive sound of cracking space resonated through the air.
At that moment, a hand rended the fabric of space, expanding the fissure.
The sense of presence grew even stronger.
[...Ahhh.]
A voice resounded—a light, shallow sound, like that of a person catching their breath atop a mountain.
Yet the entire Hell quaked in response.
"Aaahhhhhh!"
"Urgh!"
Merely hearing the voice shattered the minds of those present.
Those who hadn’t reached the upper echelons of superhuman ability found their consciousness disintegrating.
Those lacking sufficient strength fell like puppets with their strings cut.
These weren’t ordinary people—they were renowned warriors, heroes who had carved their names into the annals of the surface world.
[Curse this!]
The Tower Master spit curses as he casted a spell, desperately attempting to send as many as possible back to the surface.
Crack. Craaack.
The rift in space grew wider, large enough for a person to pass through.
Correspondingly, the sense of presence became ever more overwhelming.
Ketal let out a dry laugh.
"More than I imagined."
Finally, the space shattered with a thunderous roar.
From within the rift emerged a figure—a man with jet-black hair and eyes.
Dressed lightly, he stepped slowly into the Hell.
And with just that step, the Hell reacted.
Like beasts welcoming their master, it stirred in fervent upheaval.
The demonic energy of the earth itself surged toward the man as if to embrace him.
"Hoo."
Ketal utters an involuntary exclamation.
The Hell itself was rejoicing at its master’s return.
"Ah, ahhh, ahhh..."
The dying Materia let out a moan of ecstasy, her glittering eyes fixed on the man.
"Demon King... Demon King..."
The man glanced at her briefly before continuing forward, demonic energy trailing behind him like loyal vassals.
Ketal silently observed.
Reaching Materia, the man placed a hand gently on her head.
[You’ve done well.]
His voice carried the tender warmth of a parent.
"Ahh..."
With a smile of utmost satisfaction, as though her very being was fulfilled, Materia passed away.
The man looked at her for a moment before speaking again.
[Thank you for not interfering.]
"I have no interest in disrupting someone’s final moments,"
Ketal replied with a faint smile.
"Nice to meet you, Demon King. The master of all evil."
The Demon King.
He stood before them.
Ketal’s first impression was that the Demon King seemed immense.
Though humanoid in form, his physique was extraordinary—muscular, rivaling Ketal’s own.
Around that powerful body, demonic energy writhed and clung like living shadows.
The Demon King straightened, his voice resonating.
[Ketal, is it? I’ve been watching you.]
"You could see?"
[My children are my eyes. Even while imprisoned, I observed everything.]
The Demon King’s black eyes focused on Ketal.
[You, especially.]
"Quite the attention. So, what’s your impression?"
Ketal responded with a wry grin.
[You are an existence that should not be in this world.]
"That stings. Is it because of my connection to the Forbidden Lands? For what it’s worth, I’ve been rather accommodating."
Ketal, a being of the Forbidden Lands, had always been rejected by the gods.
He assumed the Demon King’s words carried a similar sentiment.
But the Demon King denied it.
[That may be intolerable, but you are unique even among such beings. You do not belong to ‘this place.’]
His somber eyes bore into Ketal.
The gaze alone was enough to strip life from any mortal creature.
[An anomaly. A foreign substance.]
[...A true Demon King, aren’t you? To notice it immediately.]
The abomination muttered as though impressed.
In its voice lay a rare note of caution—something even the lords of Hell never elicited from it.
Ketal, too, felt it.
A chill ran through him.
His senses screamed in warning.
The being before him could kill him.
The Demon King raised his head, gazing skyward.
[The situation is dire. My children sacrificed themselves to summon me. It must have been difficult.]
The summoning had consumed lords, high-ranking demons, and a third of the Hell itself.
It was near annihilation.
[But my task is simple.]
For he was the Demon King.
The one who would drown this world in evil.
[As the first step, I must rid our land of this foreign entity.]
The Demon King raised his hand, pointing a finger at Ketal.
From the tip of that finger, black light radiated.
A chill.
Death loomed.
Ketal instinctively twisted his neck—a brilliant decision.
Had he not, the black light would have pierced his throat.
Boom!
The black light shot through the Demon King’s castle, extending skyward.
The world split apart in its wake.
Those caught in the trajectory perished, unaware of what had struck them.
Sizzle.
The fine hairs on Ketal’s neck singed away.
The Demon King swiped his finger through the air, the black light following the motion.
Ketal’s eyes widened.
‘That level of power… isn’t just a one-time attack?’
Crack. Crack!
The black light carved through the world, racing toward Ketal.
Ketal raised his axe, unleashing an aura to intercept the light.
Crash!
The aura clashed with the black light, and Ketal was overwhelmed.
Unable to withstand the force, his body was violently pushed back.
“This is...!”
It felt like trying to stop a charging war chariot with his bare hands—a force of unfathomable density.
Boom!
Ketal swung his arm wildly, barely managing to deflect the light.
“Hah!”
He exhaled sharply.
His entire body trembled from the impact.
His arm throbbed.
Strong.
And the authority of the Abomination could not extinguish the black light.
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
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It was pushed back by an overwhelming density.
Rumble!
A trajectory was drawn as part of Hell was carved away.
Ketal let out a hollow laugh.
"Calling yourself the master of Hell, yet you're so rough with your own belongings."
[That's because killing you is more important.]
The Demon King spoke indifferently.
[The Abomination… It's within you. You could indeed manage it. Killing you won't be easy.]
To the Demon King, the presence of the Abomination was worth no more than that simple observation.
The Demon King raised an arm.
Woooooom!
Above it, demonic energy condensed into a massive sphere.
The Demon King flung the gathered energy.
Ketal swiftly planted his feet and moved.
Boom!
The sphere of demonic energy collided with the ground, exploding and creating a massive crater that erased the surrounding area.
Ketal barely managed to escape its range, but the shockwave alone crushed part of his body.
Crunch.
The Demon King stepped forward, arriving before Ketal in a leap and clenching his fist.
Ketal raised his axe to shield himself.
The fist met the axe.
With a thunderous sound, Ketal's body was flung away.
He flew at a speed too fast for the naked eye to track, only stopping after slamming his axe into the ground.
Shraaaaaak!
His momentum left a scar several kilometers long in the earth before finally halting.
“…Just blocking that was enough to cause this,”
Ketal muttered incredulously.
"Feels like it’s stronger than you."
[...]
The Abomination remained silent as though its pride was wounded but did not deny it.
[That is the King of Demons. Born to be such, like a mechanism. Among the young, it is the strongest being.]
So strong, even the oldest beings would struggle to defeat it.
[Fine. I'll cooperate. Kill that thing.]
With those words, the Abomination stirred.
The untamed mystery seeped into Ketal’s body of its own accord.
Crack.
At that moment, the approaching Demon King clenched a fist and struck down toward Ketal.
There was no way to dodge.
But blocking it outright was an unwise approach.
So he let it flow.
Ketal raised his axe.
At the moment the descending fist touched, he let go of the force and redirected it.
The Demon King's fist struck the ground.
Boooom!
A massive crater formed in the earth, revealing the mantle below.
Ketal used the redirected momentum to swing his axe at the Demon King.
The Demon King extended a hand to catch the axe blade, but Ketal adjusted the axe's trajectory to slash at his body.
The Demon King moved a leg, sweeping upward.
The kick struck the axe with such force that Ketal nearly lost his grip on it.
The Demon King threw another punch.
Ketal preemptively pulled back, avoiding the blow.
Boom!
But he couldn’t fully escape.
The force of the punch alone shook his body.
The Demon King raised a finger.
Whiiiiine!
Black light, tracing a path, shot toward Ketal.
Ketal raised his axe to defend.
Kaboom!
The ground shook violently.
A chasm dividing the surface and underground was carved out in an instant.
Ketal looked at his shoulder.
Sizzle.
He hadn’t completely blocked it.
A fragment of the light had grazed his shoulder, burning it.
The black light had pierced through the mystical protection and inflicted a wound on his body.
Just a small portion had done that much.
"What monstrous power,"
Ketal muttered, shaking his head.
There was no time to dwell on it.
High in the sky, the Demon King clasped his hands together and struck downward.
Boom!
Demonic energy crushed the ground.
Hell was collapsing.
Remaining still would have buried him in the depths of the stars.
Ketal quickly leapt aside and swung his axe at the Demon King.
Clang!
The Demon King raised an arm to block.
Then, he threw a punch.
Ketal deflected it with his axe.
The punch tore through empty space, creating a gaping hole in its wake.
Rumble!
As the battle continued, Ketal’s thoughts raced.
‘The power is simpler than I thought.’
It was closer to mindlessly wielding a grotesque density of demonic energy.
But overwhelming strength could crush skill.
No matter how refined one's technique was, it couldn’t deflect the mass of an entire planet.
The Demon King's power was equivalent to that.
With this much strength…
‘Stronger than the Elders.’
The three Elders dwelling within the white snowfield.
Compared to each, the Demon King was slightly superior.
The difference wasn’t vast, but enough to matter.
If the Demon King fought one of the Elders, it was impossible to predict who would win. Nôv(el)B\\jnn
Yet, the Demon King was still the strongest being Ketal had encountered in this world.
A twisted grin spread across Ketal’s face.
“…Ha! Hahaha! Hahahahaha!”
Ketal burst out laughing.
The Demon King momentarily hesitated, as if caught off guard.
[Why are you laughing?]
"How can I not laugh!"
Behold!
Damnable snowfield!
You are not so great after all!
You were defeated, were you not?
What is truly remarkable lies outside!
‘Those cursed Elders!’
Ketal recalled the words of one of them.
[Why do you yearn for such a feeble world? It is worthless, pathetic, and utterly wretched. Your desire will never come to pass.]
The Elder had mocked him for hoping for the outside, calling it hollow, futile, and weak.
He had ridiculed Ketal, saying his desire would never be fulfilled.
But look at this.
Something stronger than those Elders has appeared.
"Let’s keep going!"
Ketal gripped his axe tightly.
Aura enveloped it, thicker and more intense than ever before.
He drew a diagonal slash.
Hell split apart.
The Demon King wielded demonic energy to block.
The aftermath shook the world.
Their battle continued, tearing the world asunder.
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
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