“Cut the crap.”
Kran glared at Gullard.
“Why are we here? Is this the place you chose to be your grave?”
“Hahaha. As expected. Even when you’re in a situation like this one, you won’t shut that mouth of yours. I wonder if you’ll go quiet if I pull out your tongue.”
Gullard spoke in a cheerful voice. He even put his wings away.
“Is it a hobby of yours to stand here and admire these crappy statues? You really are a pitiful man.”
It was a rough response, but this time, he got a response.
“Take that back.”
Gullard’s expression had become solemn.
There was no way that Kran would stop after seeing this. Instead, his lips twisted into the most irritating smile he was able to form.
The statues. It seemed that he had some kind of connection to them.
‘And maybe they are the key to his anger…’
Kran drew a pistol and twirled it around his finger for a moment.
Bang!
A Demon Slaying Bullet pierced one of the statues. The statue that stood in the middle.
This was intentional. After all, it was this statue in the middle that gave him the strangest feeling.
“Uh-, ah-, ah…”
It was truly possible to get so angry that your mind went blank and you forgot how to speak.
Gullard’s twisted face was proof of that.
“Y-, you…! Dare…! You trash who doesn’t know anything…! You dare to damage the King’s statue!”
His twisted expression slowly morphed into something that was distinctly inhuman.
The impression of a proper, middle-aged gentleman slowly disappeared, turning into a terrible visage that was a mixture between a human and a bat.
No, in the first place, he had never been human. This was his true appearance.
“I will tear you to shreds…! I will kill you in the worst ways imaginable…! I will rip you apart and feed you to my bats!”
“Are you saying you want to eat me, Batman?”(TL: I legitimately snorted)
Kran’s sarcastic and completely unapologetic voice raised Gullard’s anger to even greater heights.
Gullard no longer tried to converse with him. Instead, he rushed towards Kran with a roar.
And shortly after, his entire body collapsed to the ground.
Crack!
“…?!”
In an instant, Gullard was half buried into the ground with a bewildered expression on his face. Then, he realised that he couldn’t move.
“Don’t move a muscle.”
“…!”
Kran turned his head to this sudden voice.
On the shoulder of one of the statues, a man stood calmly.
Lukas.
At that moment, he had a strange feeling.
‘What the hell…’
The gray-haired man and the statue had completely different features and characteristics.
But somehow, they felt similar. No, they weren’t similar.
—It was like they were the same person.
“Roar!”
Gullard screamed and struggled. But he couldn’t shake the pressure that held his entire body down.
Then Lukas came down.
Suspicion appeared in Kran’s eyes.
‘What’s going on?’
What the hell was the power that man was using now?
It was not magic.
“You… What the hell did you do to…”
Kran closed his mouth mid-sentence. This was because he felt power from Lukas that he hadn’t felt before.
Ignoring Kran, Lukas walked up to Gullard and stepped on his back.
“Kuk!”
“I want to ask. That statue in the middle, is that your King?”
Lukas spoke in a cold voice.
Kran looked on from the side with a tense expression. He’d thought that this man was someone who didn’t show his emotions easily. He believed it. After all, in all the time that he’d known him, he’d never seen his expression change even once.
And yet, it was the same man who was practically oozing with emotion now.
He looked calm, but Kran could tell. This man was already on the brink of exploding.
Then he pointed at a statue.
Was it because it was the statue that Kran had just put a bullet into?
‘There is only one [Demon Statue].’
It was true.
Of the five statues that stood there, only the one in the center was a Demon while the other four were humans.
“Ku-, Kuh…!”
“Tell me.”
Lukas applied more strength to his foot.
Gullard screamed.
“Ahhh!”
“Tell me.”
Kran grabbed Lukas’ shoulder.
“Aren’t you trying to extract information from him?”
“…”
“He’s dying.”
Those words seemed to get through to him.
Lukas stopped applying pressure, and Gullard, who was in pain, couldn’t help but look at him with a blank expression.
“This, this power… As expected… I couldn’t defeat you. Right. That woman called you Lukas. You’re not really ‘Lukas Trowman’… Are you?”
Trowman.
Lukas had never revealed his last name in this world.
In order to know that…
Lukas nodded silently.
“I am the Great Mage.”
“…!”
Gullard’s eyes widened, and Kran also stared deeply at Lukas’ back.
‘This guy is the Great Mage?’
He’d heard it from Ringo.
About the divine being, the God of Magic, or the Great Mage, or whatever. He’d thought that it was just a rumour among the Wizards, but not only was he apparently real; he was standing right in front of him.
“How is that pos-”
“Tell me who that is.”
This time, Gullard doesn’t hesitate to answer. Instead, he does so in a low voice.
“He is… our King.”
“Nonsense. That guy can’t be your king.”
“Ku, kuku… Are you trying to insult me before I die?”
Gullard chuckles, his vision beginning to fade.
“King. He is our King… The one and only ruler of the Demon World… who will never stop training even when he runs out of rivals…”
Those words reverberated in Lukas’ head, but they were followed by someone’s name.
No. It couldn’t. It couldn’t be true.
He was dead.
However…
Lukas stumbled backward, unable to withstand the shock.
All the questions and suspicions he’d had in this universe seemed to converge together in his head before the answer revealed himself.
Someone who never gave up on their training even when they no longer had any rivals.
A man who liked the word King more than anyone else.
That’s why he called himself the Warrior King and claimed that his martial art was the best amongst all martial arts.
‘There is someone from your homeworld in this universe.’
Just as Lukas remembered God’s words, Gullard spat out a mouthful of blood.
“Long live… the Demon King Kasajin…”
* * *
At the same time.
Back in Northern Ireland, Sedi felt ill at ease.
“Come out.”
As soon as she spoke with a frown, a pale person appeared in front of her.
Sedi immediately felt the obnoxiously strong demonic energy circling his body.
“Who the hell are you?”
“You killed the Demons and Demon Beasts in this place.”
“So?”
“This is the end for you.”
“You want to kill me? Hmm. It would be impossible for you alone.”
The man laughed at those words.
“Of course, I’m no match for you. I can tell the difference between us.”
Suddenly, the man bowed politely.
Then, another being appeared.
“…!”
No.
He had been standing there from the start. It was just that he’d only ‘revealed his presence’ now.
In other words, Sedi hadn’t realised he was there until he revealed himself.
Despite her overwhelming fighting spirit, and unyielding personality, Sedi was left speechless for a moment.
“You…”
[Sedi Glaston.]
“How do you know my name…?”
[You will die today.]
Paak!
“Kuh, huk?!”
Her heart was destroyed.
It was funny. This was the first thing that Sedi realised instead of the fact that she was sent flying, her blood splattering in every direction.
She released her full power. This universe would not be able to handle the strength contained within her body, but she didn’t care.
Her deal with Lukas? That wasn’t as important as her life.
Sedi gasped and raised her head.
‘You will die, Sedi Glaston.’
“Dammit.”
That annoying voice sounded in her head once again.
Did Letip predict this?
Sedi got to her feet, stumbling slightly. Then, she took out her soul weapon and pointed it at the giant being, who was almost as tall as a building.
“Demon King.”
Right. This being was probably the Demon King.
This was what her instincts were telling her.
…Demon King.
It had pretentiously taken on such a name.
She couldn’t understand.
Wiping the blood from her lips, Sedi murmured.
“I understand now that I’ve seen you for myself. You’re one of his men.”
[…]
Him, The Black Horned Demon God.
Sedi was referring to the Ruler she followed.
Moreover, he was a higher rank than she was.
A Lord?
No… he felt different from any Lord she’d ever met. But he was certainly not a Ruler.
Right. She could see now why Gullard hadn’t submitted to her before. In the first place, he served someone who was a ‘higher rank’ than she was.
‘But is he really a Demon?’
She had many questions to which she could not find the answers.
But there was one that stood above all of the others.
“You… are also his subordinate… So why do you dare to claim the title, Demon King? You are too arrogant.”
[Are those your last words?]
“Hahaha…! Do you really think that you can kill Sedi Glaston this easily?”
[Of course I do.]
Demon King Kasajin clenched his fist.
[Because I am currently the strongest being in this universe.]
* * *
“Hahaha!”
Letip let out a cheerful laugh.
He could feel the aura of transcendent beings releasing their power all over the world at the same time. Nodiesop could probably feel it too.
“Right. It was impossible from the start.”
Putting a large number of transcendent beings into a universe and expecting them to not unleash their power?
That was impossible.
It was like putting several predators in a small cage.
Lukas and Sedi’s agreement was pointless from the start.
Well, poor, vulnerable Sedi would die tonight anyway.
“I’m looking forward to it.”
How would Lukas react when he learned the truth?
How would Nodiesop respond?
What would the Demon King do next?
Letip shivered in excitement.
“Finally… It finally begins…!”
The Great Game, the prelude to the final battle.