NOVPUB
Chapter 239
Survival was a battle. It was a fight to stave off death, a struggle to cling to life.
This was the essence of existence, and it was the nature of the hell where the demons lived.
Yet for some, occupying such a hell was a privilege. The Residents of the Rift, who had not yet been truly born, saw survival as a gift—a blessing reserved for the living.
As a result, they screeched and wailed in desperation, yearning like tormented ghosts for a chance at life.
To achieve it, they consumed living and dead souls alike, devouring anything they could get their hands on. They were weeds in the true sense of the word, taking root and thriving wherever they found ground.
“With the King of Demons gone, the weeds have multiplied,” Antares said, tutting.
Never in all of time had there been such an infestation of weeds in the Sea of the Afterlife. The Residents of the Rift were everywhere, seemingly endless in number.
Though they were technically “weeds,” some had been nourished to the point of growing immense, towering like ancient, gnarled trees.
“But even if they are just weeds... there are enough of them that one may actually become the next king,” Antares continued.
He was right. The demon realm under Esil’s rule was facing an unrelenting assault.
“Don’t let them push us back! Fight for our survival!” Esil shouted.
Under her command, all demons had united to fend off the onslaught of the Residents of the Rift.
It was a war between those struggling to survive and those fighting to be born. It was brutal and utterly chaotic.
“However...”
A sly smile formed on Antares’ face as he thought of Esil. She was the last demon noble, yet she seemed too weak and clumsy to be fit for the throne.
“She’s lucky in more ways than one. For the weak, latching onto a stronger ally early is the wisest choice.”
Indeed, she is incredibly fortunate.
He reiterated the thought as he watched the battle. The Residents of the Rift, who should have been attacking Esil from all sides, were being annihilated from behind her instead.
“Kieeeek! Fight, glorious army of the young monarch!” Beru screeched.
Antares gazed at the unfolding spectacle in silence.
Beru was leading at the front, but not by fighting. His role was to cheer on the soldiers.
Meanwhile, the thousands of shadow soldiers in Suho’s army moved as an unstoppable force, and no one could stand in their path.
[Demon of the Rift has been defeated.]
[Demon of the Rift has been defeated.]
[Demon of the Rift has been defeated.]
[...]
[Level up!]
[Level up!]
“Kiek! That’s the spirit!” Beru shouted gleefully. “Keep pushing them back! We shall grant glorious destruction to all the fools who stand in our path!”
Antares narrowed his eyes, irritated.
Wait a second... You don’t get to say that.
“That’s the exact wording I used when I fought against you.”
Wrinkles creased the lizard’s brow as he heaved a sigh, but he soon relaxed after another long exhale. He had long known that today’s enemies could become tomorrow’s allies.
But who could have expected this?
He still found it difficult to believe that he—the Monarch of Destruction who had fought the shadow army to the very end—had ended up on the same side as the Monarch of Shadows.
In addition, he had willingly chosen Jinwoo’s son to inherit his legacy. Such an outcome had never crossed his mind once in his eternal existence.
Still, because of his experience, Antares couldn’t help but pity the Residents of the Rift fighting the shadow army now.
They’re truly hopeless.
He knew better than anyone else just how exasperating it was to face an undying army.
In terms of numbers, the Residents of the Rift were, at a glance, at least ten times as numerous as Suho’s army. Their demonic fury was also fiercer than that of the shadow soldiers.
However, they were terribly unlucky. Antares could not help but feel a pang of pity for them.
“Of all opponents, they had to meet Suho,” he muttered.
The power of the shadows was more specialized for war than any other ability. As the enemy diminished in number as they died, they would directly contribute to the growth of the shadow army.
For Suho’s allies, it was an incomparable asset—and for his enemies, nothing could have been more infuriating.
But in addition to the Monarchs, there was one race that was immune to the deadly and annoying shadow ability: demons.
“Demons were always the one true counter to the shadow army,” Antares said. “They could not be acquired by the Monarch of Shadows even after death.”
He looked on at the bodies Suho’s army had created, recalling the countless strategies involving demons that he had once come up with.
His point was apparent even now.
[Shadow Extraction is not possible due to the absence of a soul.]
[Shadow Extraction is not possible due to the absence of a soul.]
[...]
A being of Antares’ level could also see the system messages crowding Suho’s vision.
The messages over the bodies of the Demons of the Rift indicated that they had no souls to begin with. No matter how many were killed, none of them could be extracted.
In fact, the stolen demon souls within the Residents of the Rift spilled out as the creatures died, but those could not be turned into soldiers either.
[Mana is contaminated and cannot be extracted.]
[Mana is contaminated and cannot be extracted.]
[...]
This situation revealed an unsettling truth: Demons, along with the Residents of the Rift who had the potential to become demons, could serve as a formidable counter to the shadow army if their numbers were sufficient.
Of course, they had already been trampled by the Monarch of Shadows long ago, but Suho was nowhere near as powerful as his father.
“Yes... They might have been able to fight him effectively if they had come a few days ago,” Antares said.
But things were different now.
“He now has my heart.”
Well, talk about bad luck.
Even now, the power from the Heart of the King of Dragons boiled like lava within the right side of Suho’s chest. The destructive mana it produced coursed through his shadow soldiers, and the results were terrifying.
“No mere weeds can withstand my flames of destruction,” Antares declared.
The shadow soldiers, whose forms were usually cloaked in dark, rippling shadows resembling black flames, now burned with real fire as well.
Suho, wielding the combined powers of the Monarch of Shadows and the Monarch of Destruction, commanded an army with staggering destructive force. The Residents of the Rift, though overwhelming in numbers, were being incinerated in moments.
“Hahaha! Burn! Burn! You lowly monsters!”
Sita, who had been a proponent of elitism even while alive, hadn’t changed after becoming a shadow soldier. Now that he even had justification on his side, he was completely in his element, targeting the largest of the Residents of the Rift.
“Graaaah!”
The massive and solid tree-like monster gave a desperate howl before collapsing into ash.
The battle raged on. Suho’s forces were still outnumbered, but given their ruthlessness, it was getting difficult to tell who was on the side of good.
In these circumstances, the most terrified person present was the relatively ordinary—but still S-rank—Seo Jiwoo.
“M-my god...”
Jiwoo’s face was pale, and she was trembling as if she was about to faint. Until that morning, she couldn’t have imagined she would be seeing something so incredible with her own eyes.
“Is this supposed to be... the power of an S-rank hunter?”
Her mind was blank, overwhelmed by the sight.
A faint voice had been echoing in her head for a while now, repeating the words she had said to Suho when she first saw him.
“What were those just now? Wow! I’d heard you were an S-rank summoner, but seeing them in person...”
Oh... Oh my god...
Jiwoo clutched her face in her hands.
Why on earth did I say that? Why?!
Tears welled in her eyes from the embarrassment. She wished she could travel back in time and slap herself in the face for thinking the tiny summons were “cute.”
At least she had one thing going for her. Nobody present was interested in what she was feeling at the moment... except for Harmakan.
“Are you crying?” he asked somewhat gruffly.
Please pretend you didn’t see... Please! Jiwoo thought in panic.
Harmakan was speaking to her like a kindly old man, and she found his attention extremely uncomfortable.
The demonic spirit was able to read the emotions of souls.
“Your soul... I sense clamoring. Have you developed a rotten sense of inferiority after seeing what my master is capable of?”
It wasn’t that he was being kind—he was simply peering into how she really felt.
He whispered softly into her ear, “Would you be willing to give into that inferiority and become a villain? The Evil Spirit Armor works well for souls who were not always evil, but rather became that way.”
Demons be damned. He’s the worst of them all, Jiwoo thought.
“Hmm. That aside, I believe my master’s hunt draws to an end,” Harmakan said, rubbing his chin and looking around him.
Their surroundings had noticeably cleared up. The battlefield, still scorched with heat, was littered with corpses, and black smoke wafted upward in thick clouds.
“Did you know something? This smoke is not the ordinary kind. It is made up of the souls of the demons the weeds devoured,” Harmakan explained.
Jiwoo gasped and instinctively held her breath, covering her nose and mouth with both hands.
“Tsk. Why do you seem so shocked? Don’t worry. Exposure to the smoke will not turn you into a demon. What really matters is where the smoke wishes to go.”
“Harmakan! Beru!”
Suho, who had been directing his soldiers, reached the same line of thought and turned around.
“Track where these souls are going!” he shouted.
“Understood!” Beru said, his sharp eyes gleaming as he expanded his senses.
Not to be outdone, Harmakan opened his palms, conjuring magic circles.
Amid the countless intertwining breaches in the void, the drifting souls of the deceased demons revealed their trajectory. They were flocking somewhere specific.
“That way, Master!”
“No, Young Monarch! It is this way!”
“They’re going both ways?” Suho asked.
Harmakan and Beru were pointing in opposite directions on either side of him.
Antares looked at Suho and said, “Both are likely correct. In the end, there’s really only one place where these souls can return.”
These souls were going to the demon realm, instinctively returning to the place ruled by Esil.
“But today... they have another option available to them,” the Monarch added, his gaze fixed on Suho with a faint smile. “The power of destruction I gave you is extremely powerful, enough to annihilate souls entirely. And at its most potent, destruction is not so different from purification.”
“Purification?” Suho repeated, surprised.
Antares’ grin grew broader, apparently pleased with the response. “Yes. The demon souls who have been burned and made pure with my mana can return to the Sea of the Afterlife.”
The moment Suho grasped his meaning, he quickly scanned his surroundings. Among the thousands of system messages that filled his vision, he was able to pick out a few noticeable ones.
[Mana is contaminated and cannot be extracted.]
[Target is eligible for shadow extraction.]
[Mana is contaminated and cannot be extracted.]
[Target is eligible for shadow extraction.]
[...]
“There! I see demon souls that can be extracted!” he exclaimed.
The purified souls, touched by Antares’ destructive power, drifted aimlessly as though unsure of their destination. Gradually, they began to cluster together, moving as a group in a single direction. As the shadow soldiers continued to trample and burn the Demons of the Rift, the resulting smoke joined the group of wandering souls.
Beru pointed in their direction and screeched, “Kieeeek! I was right!”
His antennae shot up in victory, while Harmakan’s gaze fell glumly as he sensed defeat.
Not all of the souls, however, had been purified.
The entities that Suho’s army had fought were not real demons in the first place, but Residents of the Rift. Most of the true demon souls they had devoured were indeed flowing in the direction Harmakan had pointed. Those were the ones returning to the demon realm ruled by Esil Radiru, the sole remaining candidate to claim the throne of their king.
A system message appeared.
[Quest: “Trial of the Demon King” has been completed.]
“Oh,” Suho murmured, realizing the significance.
Esil’s trial was over. Suho had wiped out the Residents of the Rift who were invading her territory from his end, allowing her to safely endure the onslaught.
“She really is quite fortunate,” Antares said with an incredulous laugh.
Esil Radiru, the sole demon noble to once surrender to Jinwoo during the war, seemed to be blessed by the entire universe at this moment.
[You have received rewards for completing the quest.]
[Would you like to accept the rewards?] (Y/N)
“Accept rewards,” Suho said immediately.
[Item: “Baran’s Horn” has been obtained.]
“Baran’s Horn?” he muttered as a long demon horn materialized in his hand.
The moment he tightened his grip, a sudden chill swept through him. It felt as if someone’s eyes were locked onto him—a sensation he was used to.
[Baran, the King of Demons and the Monarch of White Flames, watches you.]
“Look out for Baran—”
Antares began speaking from Suho’s shoulder, but another notification abruptly cut him off.
[Passive Skill: “(Unknown)” has been activated.]
Suho’s shadow began to spread rapidly, engulfing the world around them. 𝓃𝓸𝓋𝓅𝓾𝒷.𝒸ℴ𝓂
In that instant, time froze.
