Chapter 139

Boom! A magic bolt hit the King of Curses directly. His scythe-wielding right arm was sent flying.

“Oooooh, Demon King-nim……!”

“Nah, that one’s still intact.”

Grrrr. Soon the right arm regenerated. The grotesquely outstretched arm grabbed the scythe again, spinning in the air with its fingers.

【Grrrrrrr … are you the Demon King Asmodeus?】

The King of Curses muttered in a hideous voice and looked at Ash. Red eyes gleamed through the gaps in the bandages covering his face.

“……Yeah.”

“The incarnation of the Abyss, bearing a share of His power. I am the Demon who brings twilight to the world.”

“Wooow!” At Ash’s calm declaration, the members of the Demon King Cult <Twilight> cheered in a way that did not suit the current atmosphere. The leader even had tears in his eyes.

“This is not the time…….” Ash sighed thinly and looked at the gap. Damn. This body only has a small amount of usable mana. Thankfully, he has a little saved up from his steady diet of Kwon Rieul’s coffee.

He wondered if he could make two, hopefully three attacks.

The circular hall has passageways in all directions. A single attack would buy him a few seconds at most. In the meantime, push those foolish humans back into the passageways and strike a second attack. Save the last one for a backup and run.

【 Keuhoho, keuhahahahaha! Grrrr …. hahahahaha! 】

The King of Curses, stained with malice, suddenly burst out laughing at Ash’s confirmation. As if it was so funny that he couldn’t stand it, he bent his back and took a deep breath. Then, he turned his red eyes towards Ash and said sneered.

【You’re the incarnation of the Abyss? That’s not even a funny joke.】

“…….”

【You are a replica.】

【An imperfect body imitating the Primordial Chaos. Defective product. It’s a mess, a very mess. Kuhahaha!】

“How dare of you to say such a thing …. I am the only incarnation of the Abyss.”

【Grrrrrrr …. are you trying to deny it? With that weak body?】

【If you were truly the Demon King of the Abyss, you would have killed me in an instant. Don’t you know yourself the best? That you are nothing but a defective product.】

“Tsk….”

He couldn’t deny it. A small and weak body, barely maintained with insufficient mana. Since it was completely disconnected from the main body, it was always in an unstable state.

At this moment, he resented himself for being so imperfect.

He had tried his best to help Kwon Rieul in his own way, but in the end, that’s it. He could do nothing with this weak human body.

【Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr…..】

The King of Curses levitated into the air and swung the scythe in his hand wildly.

Swiish- tatatatatatas!

A huge swarm of butterflies flew out of nowhere. A flock of golden butterflies with wings the size of a human body rushed at Ash. Gold dust scattered from their mottled wings. The moment it touched his body, his limbs stiffened as if frozen. It seemed to be a paralysing poison.

【Rest assured, imitation of the Demon King. I will soon return your helpless body to the bottom of the Abyss.】

“Ugh…….”

Is this the end?

It would have been nice if he could at least see Kwon Rieul’s face one last time before he vanishes. As Ash swallowed his sigh, the members of the Demon King Cult <Twilight> came forward again.

“No! Everyone, gather round! We must protect the Demon King!”

“Don’t worry, Demon King-nim….!”

“This … you stupid humans! Didn’t you hear me tell you to run away quicky?!”

The number of butterflies grew larger and larger. He couldn’t see straight anymore. The giant golden butterflies were about to tear apart the humans who stood in his way.

【Kuhuh?!】

Flinch. Sensing something amiss, the King of Curses took a step back. He was about to scatter the butterflies, but it was too late.

Swoosh. A translucent thread of light appeared in the air. The thread soon became a giant net, trapping the butterflies inside.

And then it ruthlessly ripped them apart.

“Keeeeeeeeeek!” The butterfly screamed and flapped its wings. However, the dense web of light only imprisoned them further.

It didn’t take long for the butterflies to dissolve into dust.

Flustered, the King of Curses shouted into the air, 【Who is it!】

Thud. Landing on the ground with a light gesture, Ki Yoohyun looked around.

There was a boss monster, several good people who enjoyed volunteering, and a part-timer who wanted to protect them.

“…Haha.” Ki Yoohyun smiled slightly, “Looks like I showed up just in time.”

With the arrival of one more person, the situation changed drastically.

At the center of the huge hall, Ki Yoohyun stood upright, unwavering. His black pupils emotionlessly held the King of Curses in their gaze.

It was a relaxed attitude. As if to prove his relaxed demeanour, he lightly put pressure on the King of Curses. A shroud of light bound his foe’s body, and a massive scythe flew in a merciless attack.

To roughly classify it, it is an ability similar to magic. Because of that, many people thought that ‘Muwon’’s ability was magic.

But in reality, these powers touch a deeper part of the world; the law of Causality. A particle of light breaks the world down and builds it up again.

“It’s been a while since I’ve used my powers in earnest like this. I’ve been hiding in the background for so long that I don’t really have to use my full strength.”

【Grrrrrrr … for a mere human, such power…….】

“I’m sorry. I’m on my way to find my companion, so I won’t be able to deal with you for long.”

A veil of light sealed off the King of Curses. As he stared at the figure, Ash suddenly asked, “Why are you helping me?”

Ki Yoohyun’s eyes shifted slightly to glance down at Ash.

“The same reason you’re helping those people.”

“That’s ……. I just don’t want to get scolded.”

It wasn’t hard to guess what was left out. Instead of asking, ‘by whom?’, Ki Yoohyun replied, “Then let’s say it’s for the same reason. If you got hurt, she will be sad.”

A particle of light formed in Ki Yoohyun’s hand, calling for the annihilation of the enemy. The King of Curses, in a panic, threw up his hands and said.

【Now, wait a minute…..! I was the master of the world that was extinguished. Aren’t you curious? Why did the world disappear? Soon, this world will also be annihilated by ██……!】

“I have no intention of negotiating with the enemy, and not really, I’m not curious.”

It was a static force. No roar, no explosion. No flashy weapons were wielded.

And yet the particles of white light that scattered across the space unmistakably reshaped the world. To bring certain annihilation to the King of the Curses.

With a calm glow in the wielder’s eyes.

Suddenly, Ash recognised the strangeness.

That one was someone who was once the master of a world. No matter how powerful this man is, he’s a human being. How could a mere mortal defeat the King of Curses so easily?

‘If a mere mortal wielding the power of Causality, then…….’

Ash uttered the horrifying realisation.

“You. You will die if you keep using it.”

***

“Huh?”

Choi Yichan was startled and stopped in his tracks.

Halt! The body that was running wildly came to a halt just before it hit the wall.

It was only a few dozen minutes ago that he had fallen alone in this dungeon that looked like something out of a sci-fi film. The panic didn’t last long. Jun run a lap and he’s confident he could find Kwon Rieul.

The place is a dungeon. Traps and monsters appeared endlessly, but…….

“Hya!”

With agile movements and animal instincts, he managed to defeat them and kept running.

The voice in his head interfered at the right time.

【Trap ahead in 20 metres. Left at the next crossroads.】

“OK!”

【↑↓→ → + Attack】

“Hyaah!”

【↗ → →↓ + Dodge + ↘ ← ← + Attack + ↑↗↓↑】

“Hey, no matter how good I am, do you think I can move like that?”

【Sorry ……. I’ve been into action games lately.】

“…….”

He was so confident that he could guide me, so Choi Yichan followed him for a long time, until he came to a dead end.

Oops. Should I have turned right there? Should I go back?

【No, you got it right.】

“It’s a dead end. More than that, didn’t you hear that I had to find Kwonri?”

【Before that.】

Pop! The light suddenly turned on.

Kukkukk-! What he thought was a wall was actually a door. The door opened with the heavy sound of metal scraping the floor.

“Huh! No way, this is……?”

Choi Yichan looked around in surprise. In the middle of a large room was a small altar.

And a dagger placed on the top of it.

He’d seen this place before. When he had first made his contract with the voice, it had shown him fragments of visions of the future. In one, a giant dragon flew around, and in another, skeletal soldiers fought a war.

He quickly forgot about most of them because they didn’t interest me, but…….

【I showed it to the best of my ability, but you were too much.】

There was only one scene that remained clearly in his memory. It was a serene altar and a beautiful dagger. However, it was said that it was sealed so no one could easily enter…..

The black pendant he always wore around his neck heated up.

【Yes, the time has come. Take the dagger, warrior.】

***

I spoke to my companions.

“Shall we stop here for a short rest?”

“Sure!”

HingHungHong, who was tired from walking while carrying his friend on his back, was the first to agree. Lee Yoomi, who was a mage and had a low stamina stat, was also in the mood to rest.

“Hmph, it can’t be helped if everyone is tired!” As the two agreed, Jijon nodded reluctantly.

Luckily, there was a reasonably large space with no monsters or traps. We sat down there.

It’s been quite some time since we wandered around this dungeon. We’ve had a few monster encounters so far. Fortunately, none of them were as threatening as the first giant butterfly swarm, so they weren’t hard to defeat.

The problem is that no matter the direction you go, the only thing that appears is a corridor.

Lee Yoomi, who continued to use detection magic to find other people, shook her head, “Hah … there’s no one. I detected it in the maximum range, but nothing appeared, no people nor gates.”

“Let’s take a break. We’ll find it as we progress.”

“I guess so.” At my words, Lee Yoomi retracted her detection magic.

Brak! HingHungHong, who violently put his friend down on the floor, grumbled and took out a potion from his inventory. He shoved it into his friend’s mouth, who was still unable to control his body properly.

Gulp, gulp … the potion flowed into his mouth.

“Puuuuuuuuh! It tastes awful! It’s so tasteless!”

With a wrinkled face, his friend woke up.

Translator’s Corner:

The part where Ash answered Ki Yoohyun that he didn’t want to get scolded is so cute asdfghjaslkfahfdsdsjh