abcnovels
Chapter 404:
Chapter 404:
Chapter 404:
The fight did not last long.
In fact, it was not even a fight, but a one-sided massacre that ended in less than five minutes with Yu-hyun’s victory.
The ones who had challenged Yu-hyun in the first place were nothing but weak remnants who could not even be called transcendents, and no matter how many of them gathered, they had no chance against Yu-hyun.
“Ugh! Who, who are you? How can a human have such power…”
When all his subordinates were killed and he was left alone, the captain of the Heavenly Army of Hell Realm, a subordinate faction of Mara Papiyas, asked with blood on his lips.
He had looked down on him as a mere human who appeared with the Alliance, but his power exceeded his imagination and he was too shocked.
“Shut up and answer my question.”
“What, what?”
“Not long ago, a white-haired woman came here, right?”
“…!”The captain’s eyes widened at the mention of the white-haired woman. His gaze was filled with surprise, horror, and fear as he looked at Yu-hyun.
“I see. Where is she now?”
“Y-you, don’t tell me you know that witch?”
“Just answer the question.”
“Heh! I see. So that’s how it was.”
The captain laughed crazily while bleeding.
As Yu-hyun narrowed his eyes and prepared to inflict pain on him, he hurriedly opened his mouth.
“That witch disappeared somewhere after chasing our vanished king.”
“Where? Where is that location?”
“I don’t know that either. Who would be crazy enough to monitor someone who can perform such monstrous feats? No, I didn’t even have the courage to follow such a person.”
The captain still could not forget that monster.
She came alone and turned the territory of Hell Realm into a wasteland, sweeping away all kinds of transcendents and even destroying half of the palace where Mara Papiyas resided.
Hell Realm was, in fact, no different from being destroyed.
And that was by a single human.
“Hmm. So, you’re saying that you don’t know much as a surviving remnant.”
“Heh. But don’t worry. You’ll meet her soon in hell. When our king returns, you and she will both fall to the depths of the Murim World together.”
Yu-hyun was speechless at the captain’s confident threat.
“What?”
“You don’t know how terrifying our king is yet. Just because you humans defeated some of his subordinates, you’re getting cocky. If he unleashes his true power, you won’t be able to withstand even a moment…”
“No, I don’t understand why you’re so confident. After all… your king ran away.”
Yu-hyun knew what happened to Mara Papiyas on his way to the Alliance’s territory.
He ran away after fighting Seosumin, and no one knew where he went.
There were no witnesses afterwards, so he could not tell the exact situation, but he must have suffered a lot since he abandoned his ruined territory.
But the subordinate said that his king would return, which sounded ridiculous from his perspective.
“No! The king just retreated strategically…!”
“Yeah. Believe what you want.”
“Ugh!”
Yu-hyun realized that there was no more information to get from this captain and twisted his neck with force.
“W-wait!”
The captain begged for mercy with a pale face, but Yu-hyun showed no mercy. He never intended to spare him in the first place.
Crack!
The captain’s neck broke.
Yu-hyun had a debt to pay to Mara Papiyas.
He was the one who made Kang Hye-rim like that, so he had to kill him with his own hands if he had to.
The same went for Mara Papiyas’s subordinates.
“I’ll kill you all without leaving anyone behind.”
Yu-hyun left behind the fallen corpse and headed deeper into Hell Realm’s territory.
Hell Realm, the territory ruled by Mara Papiyas, the first Demon King, was marked with the horrors of war.
The cursed black land that should have been ominous was not even half as imposing as it used to be because everything was destroyed and broken.
Yu-hyun walked through the cracks in the rocks.
When he looked up, he saw a huge cliff on both ends like a canyon. It was an artificial terrain created by a massive attack.
‘It must have been a fierce battle.’
It was the territory of that Demon King.
How many powerful beings were loyal to Mara Papiyas? They were beyond transcendents and close to lords in level.
There must have been at least dozens of them, but Seosumin faced them alone.
And she won.
‘How strong has Seosumin become?’
She was estimated to be at least equal to Cho Do-yoon in the Alliance.
Considering that Cho Do-yoon was an Executor, and that he could beat a second-generation Divine Spirit in terms of level… Seosumin’s power must have been at least comparable to him or more.
It was a good thing that Seosumin became stronger, but the important thing was where she was now.
Yu-hyun decided to look for traces first.
‘I don’t know if this will work, but it’s better than doing nothing.’
Yu-hyun immediately raised his golden pupils. The Hwaan Geumjeong, which he received from Son Oh-gong, unfolded and began to penetrate the essence of the surrounding scenery.
The wind blowing through the cracks in the rocks and the collapsed cliffs.
Everything that was visible and invisible turned into text and flowed in.
‘It’s different from Laplace’s Eye.’
If Laplace read the information and predicted the future branches, then the rapid painting through Hwaan Geumjeong was reading all the history and traces engraved on the material.
It was similar to the fragment of Codex that read other people’s books.
Only, it extended from living things to inanimate objects.
‘I see it.’
Letters that should not have been visible to the eye began to swirl in the air and took on a faint shape.
Soon, they became clear enough to be seen by the eye, and Yu-hyun could tell what had happened here.
‘There was a fierce fight here. It wasn’t one-sided. Even if Seosumin was strong, it must have been hard for her to face this many enemies alone.’
But Seosumin won in the end.
Mara Papiyas, who resided in his palace, chose to flee rather than confront her. There was no sign of them clashing properly, so that must have been the case.
Why? Even if Seosumin was very strong, Mara Papiyas was also a first-generation Divine Spirit who would not be intimidated anywhere. It was strange that he ran away from Seosumin.
‘Anyway, Mara Papiyas avoided Seosumin and ran away. The direction is north.’
Seosumin also headed north to catch Mara Papiyas.
The fact that there was no news after that meant that Seosumin was still chasing Mara Papiyas, and Mara Papiyas had gone far away from Seosumin’s reach.
Yu-hyun deactivated Hwaan Geumjeong and moved north right away.
As I continued to walk, the traces of the intense fight became fainter. By the time I reached the end of Hell Realm’s northern territory, I could not find any traces at all.
Mara Papiyas had escaped successfully, and Seosumin had lost him.
‘Does that mean I have to keep moving north?’
Hell Realm belonged to the territory of the Thirty-Six Heavens of the Great Sage Army, but it was nothing but a remote piece of land on the outskirts.
The Great Sage Army had reluctantly handed over the territory, but they could not afford to leave Hell Realm deep in their territory.
‘It was like saying, eat and live on this land.’
As a result, Hell Realm inevitably bordered several other territories.
The territory north of Hell Realm was where Mabinogion, a member of the Great Sage Army, belonged.
‘Hmm.’
I stood at the border and pondered for a moment. If I went straight in, I would naturally invade Mabinogion’s territory. The edge of Hell Realm where I stood was a barren land, but beyond that was a lush forest.
Should I hide my identity and sneak in? The Great Sage Army’s territory was vast. There was not much risk of being caught if I moved stealthily.
But I felt that I should not do that. It was very inefficient to hide my identity and look for Seosumin. The chances of being caught were high.
Rather, it was more reasonable to ask for help from those who belonged to Mabinogion.
‘Let’s go in for now.’
It was not an action based on the uncertainty that I might meet someone if I went inside.
My eyes had already confirmed that there was someone beyond that.
As soon as I set foot in Mabinogion’s territory, the other person moved as well.
“Stop there. Who are you?”
A beautiful knight in armor appeared.
He was a blond man in a silver armor that looked like he came out of a fairy tale, but his speech and behavior were not very knightly.
And he had been patrolling the border area since a while ago.
He asked me without even drawing his sword.
“Just a passerby.”
“Don’t make me laugh. What kind of passerby comes from that Demon King’s territory?”
“Who are you then?”
“Can’t you tell? I’m obviously a knight.”
“Does wearing armor make you a knight? Your words and actions are not knightly at all. Are you a bandit?”
“What do you know about knights…”
The blond knight was about to say something, but he looked at me and narrowed his eyes.
“What? Are you a knight too?”
“Pardon?”
“No. You have a story of a knight.”
The blond knight pointed at me with his finger.
“You have such a dignified story of a knight, you can’t not know.”
I was slightly taken aback by his words. It was true that I had a story of a knight. The last story of a knight that I inherited from Don Quixote was always with me.
But normally, stories could not be recognized by others unless they were revealed. Only those who dealt with rapid painting or those who read the information of others with the power of fragments could know.
The knight in front of me saw through me having a story of a knight.
I had noticed it, but he was not an ordinary knight after all.
“Well, there’s no point in hiding it now that I’ve come this far. My name is Kang Yu-hyun.”
“I’m Kay.”
“Kay?”
There was one thing that came to my mind at the name Kay.
“By any chance, are you Kay of the Knights of the Round Table?”
“Yeah, that’s right. You know? I hold three seats in the Round Table.”
Not just three seats.
If it was Kay, he was the half-brother of King Arthur, the greatest among the Knights of the Round Table.
Of course, his influence and power in the Round Table were obvious, and his level was also among the top in Mabinogion.
There were not many legends known about Kay, but I never thought he would have such a personality.
“Hmm. More importantly, Kang Yu-hyun… I’ve heard that name somewhere before. Ah! That’s right. You’re the one Gareth talked about. Wow, I didn’t expect to meet him here.”
“…I see.”
“So what brings you to our Mabinogion?”
“I’m looking for someone.”
“Someone?”
“Did a white-haired woman come here by any chance?”
“A white-haired woman?”
Kay scratched his chin and slapped his palm as if he remembered something.
“Oh. I think I’ve heard of her. There was a big fight in that Demon King’s territory a while ago, and she was one of them. Don’t tell me you know her?”
“Yes. I followed her trail and it led me here. She must have passed through Mabinogion…”
“That’s right. I’m patrolling this area because of that.”
Even a knight like Kay was looking for intruders here for one reason.
Not long ago, Mara Papiyas and the woman who chased him crossed into Mabinogion’s territory without permission from across the border.
Of course, Mabinogion was on alert. Even if they were the Great Sage Army, it was enough to be wary of the sudden intruders who were the first Demon King and the one who even made him run away.
“What happened to them?”
“The Demon King ran away desperately, and the white-haired woman is still in our territory looking for his trail.”
“Do you know where she went?”
“Where and what.”
Kay said calmly.
“She’s staying in our Camelot Castle as a guest.”
“What?”