๐๐ก๐๐ฉ๐ญ๐๐ซ ๐๐๐: ๐๐๐ข๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ญ ๐๐จ๐๐ซ๐ 1
Kraken’s eyes glowed red.
A human appeared out of nowhere.
A feeble-looking man with a fragile physique and a strange-looking outfit that didn’t seem to offer any protection.
And to top it off, he was smoking a long pipe in the middle of the battlefield.
He was even wearing a strange hat.
“You little shit, your eyes are awfully bloodshot.”
Jin Do-wa, dressed in a light blue robe, exhaled a thin stream of smoke as he glared at his opponent.
No, rather than glaring, it would be more accurate to say that he was looking down on him as if he were nothing.
Although Kraken was twice as tall as Jin Do-wa, the latter seemed to have the upper hand.
“How dare you look down on me!!”
The golden cudgel swung through the moonlight, aimed at his opponent.
A heavy, solid blow.
However, Jin Do-wa calmly watched the attack, then replaced his pipe with a brush and inkstone.
His right hand danced across the inkstone, and a dragon was drawn on the paper.
[Illusionist Jeonu-ch: Strange and Vivid Painting]
A long, fierce-looking oriental dragon emerged from the ink-soaked paper.
The pitch-black dragon swallowed the Kraken whole and soared into the sky.
“Kuaaaaaaaaaaah!!”
Kraken, filled with rage, repeatedly struck the dragon’s head with his mace, making a loud thud.
As it rose high into the air, the dragon’s body, which had been repeatedly attacked by Kraken, burst apart and turned into ink.
Koooooooong!
The Kraken’s massive body crashed to the ground.
He had fallen from such a great height, but was not injured in the slightest.
Kraken snorted and exhaled a breath of icy air, scattering sharp icicles as he stomped toward the spot where he had been standing.
Hans, Kidd, and Choi Dae-soo, who had been blown away by his attack, were all gathered in one place.
“You’re all going to die with that dragon.”
Kraken growled and gripped his golden cudgel tightly.
Even though they were just facing each other, the overwhelming demonic energy emanating from him felt like it was piercing their skin.
“Wow. You’re a tough one, aren’t you? Why didn’t you just die?”
“I’ll crush your head first.”
“Hey. I’m a human being, too. Why should I die like an animal? Right, Choi Dae-soo?”
“Why are you asking me?”
Choi Dae-soo glared at Jin Do-wa.
“I guess that’s all you have to say. Die.”
Kraken’s body lunged forward like a thunderbolt.
Choi Dae-soo and Kid hurriedly tried to use their skills.
That’s when it happened.
“You should suck on your mother’s milk a little longer.”
Jin Do-wa smirked and slammed the inkstone into his palm.
Kraken, which had been right in front of him, felt as if something was pulling on his back.
Then, its vision spun and colorful geometric fractals began to swirl.
Teleportation mixed with illusion.
When the dragon had first swallowed his body, Jin Do-wa had attached a talisman to Kraken’s back.
Kraken was sucked into the distorted space, and darkness descended on the battlefield.
The suffocating silence settled.
Kid and Choi Dae-soo looked around the battlefield.
“What the. . . did you blow him away?”
When his mana detection couldn’t find any trace of Kraken, Kid asked Jin Do-wa, relieved.
“Whew, I sent him really far away, so you can take a break.”
“You came at just the right time, Jin Do-wa.”
Choi Dae-soo said as he lifted Hans up.
“Well, I had to do what my client asked me to do. What can I say?”
Jin Do-wa, who was now smoking a pipe, smiled faintly and looked around.
“Anyway, let’s get out of here quickly. There’s no guarantee that he won’t come back.”
“I agree. If we’ve kept him this long, the others must have done their part.”
“Hey, Yaksha.”
Just then, Kid approached Choi Dae-soo.
“What is it, Kid?”
“I just want to ask you one thing. Do you think you could kill the Kraken if you gave it your all?”
“. . . .”
Choi Dae-soo remained silent for a moment after being asked the question.
After a brief contemplation, he muttered his answer.
“No.”
๐ธ๐ธ๐ธ๐ธ๐ธ๐ธ
A black hand emerged from the magic circle created by Pre and devoured the hearts of Solaso and Hikatan.
ใ๐๐ก, ๐ก๐จ๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐จ๐ฐ๐๐ซ๐๐ฎ๐ฅ! ๐ ๐๐ฆ ๐ ๐ซ๐จ๐ฐ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ซ๐จ๐ง๐ ๐๐ซ!ใ
“Did you eat well?”
Pre, who had absorbed the pure demonic energy, fluttered around Siwoo, reveling in his newfound strength.
ใ๐ ๐๐ญ๐ ๐ฏ๐๐ซ๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ! ๐๐ก๐ ๐๐๐ฆ๐จ๐ง๐ข๐ ๐๐ง๐๐ซ๐ ๐ฒ ๐จ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ก๐ข๐ ๐ก๐๐ซ-๐ซ๐๐ง๐ค๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐๐ฆ๐จ๐ง๐ฌ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ข๐ง๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ฑ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐๐ง๐ญ!ใ
“Is that so? Now that you’ve eaten, it’s time to work.”
Siwoo said with a hardened expression.
ใ๐-๐๐ก๐๐ญ ๐๐จ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ฆ๐๐๐ง?ใ
“What do you mean what do I mean? Go and kill the escaped demons.”
ใ๐๐จ! ๐๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ค๐ข๐ง๐ ๐จ๐ ๐๐ข๐ซ๐ญ๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐ค ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ง๐จ๐ญ ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐ฆ๐, ๐๐ฎ๐ญ ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ, ๐ฆ๐ฒ ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐๐จ๐ซ๐๐ข๐ง๐๐ญ๐! ๐ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐๐๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐ซ๐๐๐ญ ๐๐๐ฆ๐จ๐ง ๐๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ข๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ญ๐ฎ๐ซ๐โ ๐๐ฎ๐๐ก! ๐๐ฎ๐๐ก!!ใ
Pre flapped his wings and shed tears as Siwoo grabbed what he assumed was Pre’s cheek.
“You say you’re stronger, but what are you going to do with that power if you don’t use it? Hurry up and use it.”
ใ๐๐จ. . . ๐๐จ๐ฎ ๐๐ซ๐ ๐ญ๐จ๐จ ๐ฏ๐ข๐จ๐ฅ๐๐ง๐ญ. ๐๐ก๐๐ง ๐ ๐๐ฏ๐๐ง๐ญ๐ฎ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ฅ๐๐๐ฏ๐ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐๐จ๐๐ฒ, ๐ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐๐๐๐ข๐ง๐ข๐ญ๐๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ ๐๐ญ ๐ฆ๐ฒ ๐ซ๐๐ฏ๐๐ง๐ ๐.ใ
“Yeah, yeah. Please do. But don’t forget to do today’s work before that.”
Pre pouted and muttered to himself before mixing his mana with Siwoo’s demonic energy to cast a spell.
Blue and black auras mixed like paint in the air, and a magic circle the size of a house unfolded on the ground.
Crackle, crackle, crackle!!
Hundreds of sharp, black spears appeared.
ใ๐๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ!ใ
At Pre’s command, the spears scattered in all directions at once.
Bang! Thud! Crash! Bang!!
ใ๐๐ญ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ ๐ญ๐ซ๐๐๐ค๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฌ๐ค๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐๐๐ญ๐๐๐ญ๐ฌ ๐๐๐ฆ๐จ๐ง๐ข๐ ๐๐ง๐๐ซ๐ ๐ฒ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ฉ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐๐ฌ ๐ข๐ญ. ๐๐ญ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ข๐ฆ๐ฉ๐จ๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ข๐๐ฅ๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐ฌ๐๐๐ฉ๐.ใ
“Oh. . . . There’s no distance limit?”
ใ๐๐จ, ๐จ๐ง๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ซ๐๐ง๐ ๐ ๐จ๐ ๐ฆ๐ฒ ๐ฆ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐๐ญ๐๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง.ใ
“Then can’t you just escape if you get out of that range?”
ใ. . . ๐’๐ฆ ๐ง๐จ๐ญ ๐ญ๐๐ฅ๐ค๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ!ใ
Pre turned his head away from Siwoo, his cheeks puffed out.
‘๐๐ฆ’๐ด ๐ด๐ถ๐ญ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ.’
Siwoo chuckled at Pre’s appearance.
Pre may have explained it as if it were a minor ability, but in reality, this technique had an incredibly high potential.
The ability to detect and attack demonic energy.
‘๐๐ต ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด๐ถ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ข ๐ฃ๐ช๐ต ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ๐ข, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ.’
Siwoo pondered how to use the technique that Pre had shown him on the battlefield or in battles against upper-level demons.
The last words of the remaining demons could be heard from afar.
ใ๐๐ญ ๐ฌ๐๐๐ฆ๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ ๐ก๐๐ฏ๐ ๐ค๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ๐๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ฆ ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ.ใ
“Don’t you have to eat those?”
ใ๐๐ ๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ฌ๐ ๐ง๐จ๐ญ. ๐๐ก๐ ๐๐๐ฆ๐จ๐ง๐ข๐ ๐๐ง๐๐ซ๐ ๐ฒ ๐จ๐ ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐๐ก ๐๐ซ๐๐๐ญ๐ฎ๐ซ๐๐ฌ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ง๐จ๐ญ ๐๐ฏ๐๐ง ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐ญ๐ก ๐ญ๐๐ฌ๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐ .ใ
“Alright, then let’s move.”
Siwoo infused mana into the artifact and brought Pumairmir back to its original size.
โNeigh!
“Shall we take a run for a change?”
ใ๐๐๐ค! ๐๐ฎ๐ฆ๐๐ข๐ซ๐ฆ๐ข๐ซ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฆ๐ฒ ๐ฉ๐๐ญ! ๐๐จ๐ฎ ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐๐ฌ๐ค ๐ฆ๐ฒ ๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐๐ข๐ซ๐ฌ๐ญ!ใ
Pre protested by flapping his wings and hitting Siwoo’s forehead.
๐ธ๐ธ๐ธ๐ธ๐ธ๐ธ
Tatar let out a sigh of relief.
He had faced Siwoo directly on a whim, but the result was the same.
Rather, he felt a sense of despair as he realized the significant difference in their abilities.
“Damn bastard. . . . Hehehe. Hikatan and Solaso may be idiots, but they’re the best at assassination, so it won’t be easy.”
He sighed, got up from his seat, and went to find the healer of his unit.
Although he hadn’t been hit by Siwoo’s attacks, his whole body felt like it had been beaten to a pulp.
If he had activated the artifact even 10 seconds later, Tatar would have died instead of just being injured.
He was so strong that it was like a monster. Not only was revenge impossible, but he had barely managed to activate the artifact.
‘๐๐ข๐ฎ๐ฏ ๐ช๐ต, ๐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ๐ต ๐ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐จ๐ฐ๐ต๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ๐ณ. . . . ๐ ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ๐ต ๐’๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ง๐ข๐ณ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ.’
He winced as he swallowed the potion.
His wounded pride hurt more than his wounds.
‘๐๐ง ๐ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด, ๐ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ๐ฏ’๐ต ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฐ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ช๐ณ๐ด๐ต ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ข๐ค๐ฆ.’
The gap in their abilities had not narrowed, but had actually widened.
More than anything, he was worried about whether Hikatan and Solaso would be able to handle it properly.
‘๐๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ง๐ข๐ต๐ต๐บ’๐ด ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ช๐ด๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐๐ฐ๐ญ๐ข๐ด๐ฐ’๐ด [๐๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ด๐ฐ๐ณ๐บ ๐๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ช๐ท๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ] ๐ต๐ฆ๐ค๐ฉ๐ฏ๐ช๐ฒ๐ถ๐ฆ, ๐ข๐ด๐ด๐ข๐ด๐ด๐ช๐ฏ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ช๐ด ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ช๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ด๐ด๐ช๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ. ๐๐ถ๐ต ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ช๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ’๐ด ๐ข ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ข ๐ฎ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ. . . .’
Tatar tapped his fingers on the table and pondered for a moment.
Just then, a demon soldier entered the infirmary where he was.
“Tatar-nim! The human hunters who came with Min Siwoo are still running wild. What are your orders?”
“Human hunters? ‘Misteltein’?”
“No, sir. They seem to be just Australian hunters.”
“You can handle that much on your own. I’m busy.”
“Yes. . . Understood!”
As the soldier left the infirmary, Tatar jumped up from his seat.
“Hmm. If it seems like Hikatan and Solaso are going to lose, I can just bring some reinforcements.”
He boarded the portal installed in the infirmary and returned to the Demon Realm.
๐ธ๐ธ๐ธ๐ธ๐ธ๐ธ
“Hey, Bablehner.”
Tatar, who had arrived in the Demon Realm, went to Bablehner’s quarters.
Bablehner was sitting in his usual dark room, staring blankly into space.
“Hey! When someone comes in, at least pretend to notice.”
“Pretend tooo notiiiiice. . . .”
Bablehner replied slowly to Tatar’s words.
“Oh, man, just looking at you makes me want to puke. Are you still carrying out your mission as planned?”
“Mission. . . . Yes. . . .?”
“Hey, don’t repeat the end of my sentences. I’m asking if you’re doing what you’re supposed to do.”
“. . . .I’m doooing iiiit.”
Bablehner, who looked like a young boy, answered while sitting in a chair and bouncing his legs.
If you just looked at him, he looked like a harmless little prankster.
Tatar leaned his shoulder against the wall and stared at Bablehner.
A young lad who had suddenly appeared one day and risen to the position of retainer at the speed of a comet.
He was known to be outstanding in other abilities, and the 4th realm Demon King himself had him by his side. . . .
The problem was that no one had ever seen his abilities up close.
Although the retainers did not reveal anything to each other, they were at least aware of each other’s abilities to some extent.
There were times when they carried out missions with their subordinates, and in such cases, their abilities would be relayed through their subordinates.
However, Bablehner was different.
He only carried out missions alone, had no subordinates in his vicinity, and his communication was so taciturn that it was impossible to have a conversation.
Because of this, everything about his true strength and abilities was unknown.
‘๐ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ฆ’๐ด ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ข ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฃ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐บ๐ฑ๐ฆ. ๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ด๐ฌ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฃ๐ช๐ญ๐ช๐ต๐ช๐ฆ๐ด ๐ง๐ฐ๐ญ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ข๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ข๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ. ๐๐ฆ๐ต๐ฆ๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ-๐ต๐บ๐ฑ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ณ. . . ๐ด๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต-๐ต๐บ๐ฑ๐ฆ, ๐ ๐จ๐ถ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด.’
Tatar guessed his opponent’s abilities based on the rumors he had heard, his own experience, and Bablehner’s personality that he had observed from the sidelines.
“If you’re free right now, come with me.”
“Come with yoooou. . .?”
“Hikatan and Solaso are currently fighting a hunter named Min Siwoo. You know Min Siwoo, right? The human who the retainers were ordered to take care of.”
“Huuuman huuuunter. . . .”
Bablehner stared at Tatar without blinking.
“But if Hikatan and Solaso kill him, won’t our positions be compromised?”
“They won’t beee compromised. . . .?”
“So let’s go and take care of Min Siwoo. If anything happens, we can take care of Hikatan and Solaso one by one, and we can pretend that we killed Min Siwoo. They can just report that Min Siwoo killed them.”
Now, the stage was set.
Everything would move according to his plan.
‘๐’๐ญ๐ญ ๐ธ๐ข๐ต๐ค๐ฉ ๐๐ข๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ง๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ด๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ฆ’๐ด ๐ฐ๐ฏ. ๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅโ๐’๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฌ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ.’
Tatar waited for his opponent’s answer with a smirk.
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