abcnovels
Chapter 253 - Ancient Demonic Monster (2)
Chapter 253 - Ancient Demonic Monster (2)
Chapter 253
He saw a pitch-black darkness that didn’t reflect any light.
‘It’s sinking.’
He could feel himself sinking into the bottomless darkness.
‘Here.’
He narrowed his eyes.
The first thought that crossed his mind was that he was in the deepest part of the Ten Thousand Demon Core—the world that was full of demonic energy from the Abyss.
“…”
He remained silent and shook his head.
‘No.’
It wasn’t a grandiose world like that—it was a simple dream.
‘Is it a lucid dream…?’
He wasn’t sure. He often had short dreams when he slept, but for some reason, that dream felt quite real.
‘Ah…’
Something became visible amidst the darkness.
—A memory of the past.
The memories of what he’d gone through in Hell passed through his mind.
Squeak-
He heard something dripping in mucus move.
‘What?’
He turned his head.
Something moved within the darkness and surrounded his body.
‘Ugh.’
He tried to resist and pull his demonic energy from within to use an Authority, but…
‘Cough!’
It wasn’t the real world. It was simply a dream.
There was no demonic energy or Authority.
The place was really just a pure ‘dream’.
Squish-
Something with a viscous texture was surrounding his body.
‘This…’
It was a familiar texture—something that had created trauma in him.
‘Why’s this…?’
The tentacles slithered into his through his orifices as if they were trying to cut his consciousness.
It was a horrible nightmare—a fragment of the past he didn’t want to remember.
Squeak-
The darkness split, and 18 red eyes appeared in the darkness.
An woman’s evil laugh could be heard.
‘Ugh, ah.’
He extended his arm, but it was useless.
He fell toward the darkness into a nightmare from which he couldn’t free himself.
Deeper and deeper he went.
‘Ah, aah.’
He struggled and desperately flailed his limbs.
He screamed, but no sound came from his mouth.
The light vanished within the darkness.
Crack.
Something broke.
“AAAHHH!!!”
He threw aside the blanket and stood up.
His entire body was covered in sweat, and the clothing sticking to his skin felt unpleasant.
“Haa, Haa.”
He breathed heavily, raised his head, and looked around.
He saw a familiar room.
“Wh-what happened?” KangWoo mumbled while cleaning up the sweat.
It was a crazily realistic dream.
He remembered his times in Hell—something he’d almost forgotten after he became used to life on Earth.
‘Damn it.’
He closed his eyes and tried to erase the bad memory from his head.
“Haa…”
He couldn’t help but sigh.
For some reason, he really wanted to see Han Seol-ah.
‘If only in Hell…’
If only there was a woman like her.
No, if Lilith appeared like how people imagined a succubus…
‘It would have been a bit better.’
Appearance was important.
It wasn’t a matter of being beautiful or not.
At least, one shouldn’t have 18 eyes and a body covered by tentacles that oozed pus.
Most humans and demons relied primarily on sight.
‘If there was at least one beautiful woman, maybe life in Hell wouldn’t have been that bad.’
He laughed in disbelief at the thought that crossed his mind.
To be honest, it was a disgusting and lowly thought, even to him.
But what could he do?
Although it was a lowly thought, he needed something to ease his mind at the time.
‘Only those that don’t have any porn saved may cast judgment upon me.’
Craving someone of the opposite gender was normal. It was in one’s nature, after all.
He wasn’t thinking of denying that.
“Well… Hell isn’t a place like that in the first place.”
He wasn’t thinking of blaming Lilith.
All demons in Hell looked like that, so there was nothing she could’ve done about it.
‘It’s also something that’s already in the past.’
Still, remembering the times in Hell made him tremble as if he were about to have a seizure.
KangWoo shook his head and raised his blanket.
“Fufufu.”
As he raised it… he saw something there.
“You’re going to hunt Halcyon today, right? I came secretly at night to give strength to the Demon King.”
Hehe.
Lilith put out her tongue and gave a cute smile. nine of the eighteen eyes winked at him.
Green tentacles had covered his body within his dream.
“Ah, aah.”
KangWoo lowered his head while covering his eyes with his two hands.
A desperate cry leaked from his mouth.
The nightmare…
Wasn’t over yet.
* * *
[Demon King, you seem tired.]
“Shut up…”
KangWoo replied to Balrog while making an annoyed expression.
Thanks to the terrible thing he suffered until early in the morning, he had almost no mental strength left.
“Are you ready?” he said while shaking his head as if trying to brush off the nightmare.
Balrog smiled.
[Is there any preparation I need to make?]
Balrog flexed his arm as if he were bragging about his muscles.
‘It’s being regulated well,’ he said with a smirk on his face.
The gate that was located in the USA, Florida…
Thanks to Lilith, nobody else was visible around the gate.
[Halcyon…]
Balrog’s expression hardened while he thought about what was beyond the gate.
A sense of nervousness was flowing out from his body.
“What, does it being an ancient demonic monster make you nervous?”
KangWoo tilted his head while looking at the nervous Balrog.
Although they’d never fought against an ancient demonic m, seeing Balrog so nervous was rare.
[Haa.]
Balrog sighed.
[It’s because of Halcyon’s horrible appearance… I’m not afraid of fighting it, but I’m scared of seeing that disgusting face again.]
“…”
KangWoo narrowed his eyes at what Balrog said.
“Did you face Halcyon before?”
If that weren’t the case, Balrog saying he was afraid of seeing it ‘again’ made no sense.
[Yes…]
Balrog nodded while making a heavy expression.
[Yes… It was about 900 years ago. I went out to investigate with my subordinates and entered a Halcyon’s territory. At that moment… I was able to see it.]
“Wait, 900 years ago?”
If it was 900 years ago, it was when he’d started ordering Balrog around.
He didn’t remember hearing a report saying Balrog had met a Halcyon.
“Why didn’t you report?”
[Ah…] he mumbled in a low voice.
Reporting to your higher-up was one of the musts as a subordinate; not reporting something delicate on purpose could even lead someone to be executed.
[I… I’m sorry, Demon King!]
Balrog noticed he’d made a mistake and lowered his head.
KangWoo scratched his head while looking at him.
“No, I wasn’t trying to blame you. I just wanted to know why.”
Although not reporting was something serious, it was something that had happened 900 years ago.
There was no need to punish him at that point.
‘But why did he do it?’
There was probably a reason why he hadn’t made a report.
Considering his personality, there was a chance it was quite an important reason.
[That…]
Balrog sighed and kept talking.
[That’s because of how disgusting Halcyon looked.]
“…”
[You were really busy, so I didn’t want to distract you with that disgusting being…]
KangWoo frowned.
It was too weak of an excuse.
‘Well, I guess it makes sense considering the situation back then.’
If it was 900 years ago, it was when the conflict against the archdukes was just starting.
Ancient demonic monsters didn’t leave their nest, so there was no need to be cautious or think about them.
‘This just makes me wonder more.’
Just how disgusting did Halcyon look for Balrog to say something like that?
KangWoo looked at the gate with great interest.
“Let’s go.”
[I… I’ll pay for the crime with my life.]
“Don’t say nonsense.”
He gave Balrog a kick and began walking.
As he crossed the gate, an immense forest appeared before him.
“…”
The thick scent of blood wafted into his nose.
“It seems like it’s been going on a rampage.”
He saw the corpses of monsters throughout the forest.
‘Oh well.’
The opponent was an ancient demonic monster.
It was a monster that could even face an archduke, so, for monsters, it was as if a catastrophe had appeared.
Because of the characteristics of a demonic monster, there was a chance it had killed all the monsters around to create a base.
[Demon King…]
“I know.”
KangWoo readied his demonic energy.
He prepared the Ten Thousand Demon Core so that he could use an Authority at any moment.
Balrog also raised his fists and readied his demonic energy.
Clack-
Armor formed around his fist—it was like a gauntlet that knights in the middle ages used.
That was the new power called ‘Overlord’s Armor’ Balrog had obtained.
“Now that I think about it, aren’t you going to use the whip?”
[It doesn’t suit the Overlord’s Armor very well, so I’ve been mostly using my fists recently.]
“Hmm.”
KangWoo nodded.
It was true that Balrog’s main weapon was the whip, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t good at using his fists.
‘I guess he’s going to do whatever’s the best for him.’
Just like he couldn’t give martial arts advice to Kim ShiHoon, the same thing applied to Balrog.
He was an already complete warrior.
If he’d thrown away his main weapon, the whip, his choice was probably correct.
– Sniff…
At that moment, he heard the sound of someone crying in the forest.
KangWoo created a sword with the Authority of Blades.
“It’s over there.”
He felt an intense amount of demonic energy from the crying voice.
He slowly began walking.
‘Halcyon…’
The demon that looked so disgusting that it made even demons scared…
He couldn’t help but wonder how it looked.
‘It doesn’t matter.’
It didn’t matter how disgusting it looked.
There was no romance in Hell.
He’d already seen the worst in Hell in terms of horrifying things.
Even if it looked like it had been made by attaching many different corpses, he was sure he could eat it with the Authority of Predation while smiling.
‘Come on…’
‘Show yourself.’
KangWoo cut the vines that were blocking their path with his longsword.
There…
“…”
[Ugh! You still look disgusting!]
Balrog clenched his fists while frowning.
“Sniff, sniff.”
A white-haired woman was crying, there were bat wings on her back, two horns on her forehead, and a long tail came out of her ass area, and…
She had an impressive…
Chilling…
Beautiful appearance.
“Hey, Balrog…”
His body trembled.
Halcyon’s appearance was so beautiful that it made one feel a thrill.
To be honest, Han Seol-ah, or Echidna, couldn’t be a match for her.
If he had to make a comparison…
She looked like how people would often imagine a ‘succubus queen.’
“Fuck.”
All those years he’d spent in Hell passed through his mind.
Not only had he been unable to see a woman, but he also couldn’t see even a person.
The wife he got was Lilith.
He cried every night after being harassed by tentacles.
It was an empty and dry place where he didn’t have any form of entertainment.
He’d been supporting all of that; he’d been resisting, but…
But…
“Ah, aah.”
He grabbed his head.
– Have you seen a Halcyon before?
– Yes.
“Ugh, ah.”
– Why didn’t you report?
“Hey, you…”
– Because Halcyon I saw was too disgusting.
“You motherfucker!!!!!”
Tears dripped down KangWoo’s cheeks.
“Why didn’t you report it, you motherfucker?!!!!”