Although he had been dealing with the hybrids, Lukas’ attention remained on Kran and Gullard.
At first glance, it seemed that they were both fighting a fierce battle, but Lukas could tell that they were both still hiding trump cards.
Kran was definitely strong.
Lukas had the vague impression that he might be a hybrid, but something about him was different when compared to the other hybrids he’d just exterminated.
Perhaps Kran was truly an important clue to how he could trick the world’s laws.
As he had that thought, Kran disappeared.
‘His wings.’
At the last moment, Gullard’s wings had flapped with a strange sound. Then, he moved at a speed that even Lukas had not been able to react to before disappearing with Kran.
Lukas didn’t panic when this happened. Instead, he just looked for any traces that Gullard left behind.
They were faint, but traces of his demonic energy were still there.
And Lukas concluded that it was enough to track him down.
* * *
“Kuk…”
Kran staggered to his feet. His entire body felt sore at that moment.
It was strange. His condition hadn’t been that bad just a moment ago.
‘We traveled to a really distant place.’
He had been brought there by Gullard’s mysterious [teleportation].
It was a dark, humid room, which made it feel like a giant cave.
Suddenly, Kran felt someone behind him. Drawing his sword, he quickly spun around.
“…huh?”
There were huge statues. If it wasn’t for his excellent night vision, the low lighting would have caused him to mistake them for giants simply because of the pressure that each of them exerted.
There were a total of five statues. However, despite their enormous size, each of them was delicately and elaborately sculpted.
Every detail made him feel like the best artists of the century collaborated to make these masterpieces.
Their clothing was unique. They looked like they came from the middle ages or like they were heroes from a fantasy novel.
It was only then when Kran, who had been transfixed by the statues, realised something strange.
“Worship them.”
Gullard emerged from the dark.
* * *
Toronto, Ontario, Canada, North America.
Canada’s largest city and economical hub was now in ruins. The buildings had collapsed, acrid smoke polluting the air.
The streets were filled with overturned vehicles and corpses.
For the Canadians, who had been living peacefully for a long time, this was a horrifying sight, but for the Rose Duke, this scene was as familiar as the air she breathed. (TL: I wished to not call her the Rose Duke, but I have no other alternatives…)
She sipped on scarlet whiskey while calmly looking down at the ruined city.
With her glass in hand, she enjoyed the feast of slaughter that was progressing beneath her. The more clearly she remembered the original appearance of this place, the more stimulating this destruction was.
Just thinking about it made a shiver of pleasure roll down her spine.
“You really are like cockroaches, aren’t you?”
She wasn’t talking to herself.
As she glanced back, her eyes fell upon a young boy who was completely bound and shivering slightly.
Leo Freeman remained completely silent, showing no reaction to Rose’s alluring voice.
Pursing her lips slightly, Rose walked over to Leo, her high heels clicking softly on the ground.
“Is my analogy too outdated? I heard that humans described persistent opponents as cockroaches.”
That wasn’t the case. The expression was very much still in use.
However, the ‘cockroaches’ whom this Demon was talking about were the humans in the city who had been desperately trying to survive.
Leo would never agree to those words.
“Why… Why won’t you kill me?”
Leo bit his lip as he said those words.
He cursed inwardly as he tried to stop his shivering. This was because the massacre that she had unleashed was clearly inscribed in his mind.
This woman, this Demon Duke who suddenly appeared in Toronto, had wiped out almost everyone in the area as soon as she appeared. Blood red vines erupted from the ground and quickly drained the blood from anyone who had been unlucky enough to be near them.
The victims also included the person who was meant to be Leo’s teacher. He was an outstanding Master who would not have been at a disadvantage when compared to those famed Warriors from the East. Unfortunately, his opponent was a Duke.
With her transcendent powers, she simply wrapped a vine around the man’s body before bursting him like a water balloon.
In less than a second, the strongest hunter in the entire city had become a puddle of blood.
This woman was probably one of the Five Dukes.
Leo instinctively realised this fact. He’d only ever heard of them from rumours. Beings who could be called Grand Dukes. Beings who were a level higher than Dukes.
He hadn’t thought they truly existed, but every cell in his body screamed the moment he saw this woman.
This woman was one of the Five Dukes.
In a short period, she annihilated every hunter in the Canadian Branch before subsequently wiping out every other person in the city.
Except for one person.
Leo was the only one left.
‘Pathetic.’
He thought he’d changed.
After meeting his Master, meeting Min Ha-rin, and defeating Gerard.
But Leo knew what he’d done when Rose began her slaughter.
He’d frozen, just like every other time in the past, and had only managed to move his body at the end.
Even now, Rose had not released any kind of intimidating aura or pressure.
And yet, Leo knew that he would faint if he relaxed for even a moment.
However, in a way, this was natural.
After all, this was Leo Freeman, someone who froze even if his opponent was a Demon Beast. And the one who stood before him now was someone who stood at the peak of the Demons in this world.
He hadn’t fainted instantly. That was a great improvement.
Of course, this knowledge did nothing to comfort Leo.
“…why the hell are you doing this? Do you know just how many people you killed?”
Leo’s voice shook slightly as he spoke.
Rose tilted her head to the side at his question, as though she was unsure what he meant.
“What are you talking about? I didn’t kill that many. At best, I only killed a few hunters here.”
Those words made Leo speechless for a moment.
What did she mean by not many?
Leo had personally witnessed hundreds of people dying to the vines. And if he counted those he hadn’t seen, he knew there would be at least a few thousand.
Toronto was a densely populated city whose residents were unfamiliar with evacuation measures to take in case of emergencies.
This was a sad sight for Leo, who had spent most of his life in Europe.
They had enjoyed peace for far too long.
When Rose appeared, fear was not the greatest emotion that appeared in the eyes of the people in the city. Instead, the disbelief in their eyes was greater.
Their expressions said the same thing, concurrently.
‘Why was a Demon here?’
“Then why haven’t you killed me yet?”
“Because there is something I want to ask you.”
“…what is it?”
“You.”
Rose’s eyes shined with a bloody light.
“Where did you learn the Warrior King Fist?”