Episode 447
Baek Myeong-woo, who had been observing the city for a while as if he had been nailed to the ground, let out a soft sigh after a while.
It is a sigh that is full of relief.
Baek Myeong-woo took off his glasses and muttered while pressing his eyes tightly.
“There’s no noticeable change. It looks like the device is malfunctioning.”
“… … .”
“This kind of thing happens sometimes. I was surprised that the crack level was so high-.”
“I don’t think it’s an error?”
“what?”
I stood still and looked at the city.
The city I had seen dozens of times during my stay here now felt a bit different.
I muttered, pretending to sniff.
“… There’s a familiar stench. It’s a smell that shouldn’t exist in this world.”
Baek Myeong-woo, who seemed to be sniffing after me for a moment, shook his head.
“I don’t know. I don’t smell anything.”
“You’re crazy. That’s what I mean. Are you smelling it again?”
“Then why is your nose flaring?”
“production?”
“… … .”
“Anyway, to put it bluntly, I feel a feeble instrument in this land.”
“musical instrument.”
Baek Myeong-woo’s expression became very serious.
I said, pointing to the moon in the sky with my finger.
“From now on, try not to look at the moon. It might cause madness.”
“If it’s the moon, then-.”
“Bloody Moon. Since you’re talking about destruction and all that, do you know who it is?”
“…Haden Aihar.”
“that’s right.”
I looked at the city with an uncomfortable gaze.
“But I don’t really have a feel for how things will unfold from now on.”
“What does it mean?”
“In my world, the instrument emitted directly by the Demon King was the source of disaster. I had established my own countermeasures and had enough talents with resistance, but it was still like that. If the Demon King appeared, the area would be controlled and inaccessible. The oldest lands could not be purified for hundreds of years.”
Baek Myeong-woo blinked his eyes, as if he didn’t understand what I was trying to say.
He used to be a smart guy, but is he stubborn?
I tilted my head and continued my explanation.
“So, look at your world. Is there anyone here who has knowledge of demon hunting? A person who has received blessings? Or at least someone who possesses a holy relic?”
“… … .”
“The world is not ready yet. So… I can relate to what you mean by disaster.”
For example, if a low-level demon were to fall into the middle of a city… … .
In my world, there may be some significant damage, but it won’t be enough to be called a disaster.
It’s not for nothing that Heros’ branches are spread across the continent. Even in the isolated and sparsely populated North, there were Corrupted.
In addition, since there are devil followers hiding in various places in life, the sense of alertness is also different.
This world is not like that.
Those who have no knowledge or fear of demons. What would happen if the Demon King, who is not even the lowest level of demon, descended into such a place?
‘I don’t know if a few countries will perish.’
Baek Myeong-woo also looked at me with a stiff face, as if he had finally realized the seriousness of the situation.
“Then what should I do?”
“What should I do?”
“I need your judgment. When it comes to demon hunting, there is no one in the world who is more expert than you.”
“hmm.”
It was a little embarrassing, but it was true.
At least in this world, I was currently the strongest demon hunter.
Well, there are only two people who have hunted demons, Seren and I… … .
I opened my mouth after thinking it over carefully.
“It’s common for some signs to appear before the Demon King’s descent… … but I don’t know if that rule applies to this world.”
“hmm.”
“Still, a being as powerful as the Demon King wouldn’t have just fallen without any conditions. Even if he had, his power would have been greatly limited.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means it’s a fight against time. First, we need to figure out the situation. Find out what condition the Demon King is in, and if it’s an uncertain summoning, now is the best time.”
I said, looking down at the city.
“I need to check something. I’ll be back in a bit.”
“for a moment.”
Baek Myeong-woo grabbed me, disappeared back into the room, and threw something at me.
It was an earplug that looked like a bean sprout.
“What is this?”
“It’s a small communicator. Let’s use it to communicate with each other.”
“Why contact me.”
“I need data. This kind of thing might happen more frequently in the future. And there might be situations that you can’t even imagine.”
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“hmm.”
It’s not a wrong answer, I just roughly inserted the communicator into my ear hole.
“Is this okay? Something feels stiff.”
“You put it in the wrong way. It should be on the right.”
aha.
I said, shoving the bean sprouts into my ear holes again.
“Just in case, you shouldn’t wander around aimlessly and just stay home.”
“Okay.”
There was no time to leisurely use the elevator.
This time, I threw myself off the roof of the building and was sucked into the darkness of the city.
* * *
I know that in this world, night is not such a dark or gloomy time of day.
Even in the middle of the night, if not quite dawn, it is still a very lively time.
At least that’s what the city looked like in my memories.
‘It’s only nine o’clock.’
The street where people should have been present was strangely quiet.
It feels like everything is the same in a space where only people are missing.
I looked at the blinking lights and tapped the communicator, asking.
“Hey. Can you check if there are people around or something?”
[… … .]
“Excuse me? Mr. Baek Myeong-woo?”
But this guy didn’t respond as if he was distracted by something.
No, that’s not it.
“… This just doesn’t seem to work?”
I took out the bean sprouts and checked again.
There’s a little light flashing, but it’s red, not green.
Is this evidence that communication is not smooth?
I’m not sure when this started.
Anyway, rather than saying that Baek Myeong-woo gave me a defective product, I felt like this area itself had become special.
If the Demon King was really summoned, it wouldn’t be strange.
But I didn’t know when it would work again, so the moment I put the communicator back in my ear… … .
A boy in school uniform appeared with a sudden scream.
“Ahhhhhhhhhh… …!”
Are you in a state of panic?
I quickly grabbed the scruff of the neck of the student who was running away while ignoring me, drooling profusely.
“Whoa! Sa, save me! Please save me… … .”
He seemed very confused, but fortunately I knew how to wake up a person who was in a state of panic.
He slapped my cheek with moderate force.
Crack!
“100 million……!”
Crack!
“evil!”
Crack!
“Ugh… … !”
“Are you coming to your senses?”
“Ugh… … .”
He looks at me with a blank expression.
Are three not enough?
When I raised my hand again, the student with red cheeks spoke hurriedly.
“I’m back to my senses! I’m okay now!”
“Really? That’s fortunate.”
“Ahh… … . My mouth feels cold. It feels like my cheek is torn… … .”
“Don’t joke around. It’s just noisy, it barely hurts.”
“I’m bleeding.”
“Wasn’t it originally injured?”
“No… … .”
I looked at the mumbling student for a moment and then changed the subject.
“So what’s going on?”
“That, that… After school, I was walking home with my friends-.”
The student spoke nonsense.
To summarize, it was like this.
On my way home, at some point the atmosphere around me changed strangely.
I wandered through the alleys for a very long time, completely free from the noise typical of the city.
“Strangely, no matter how much I wandered down the alleyways, I couldn’t get away from the abandoned house… … .”
“Abandoned house?”
“yes.”
“Where are you? Should I just go in the direction you came from?”
“Well, that’s true, but are you really going to go?”
“I have to go.”
“You should stop! I honestly don’t know how I managed to escape… and there was something strange in the abandoned garden.”
“Something strange?”
“He was an incredibly tall and slender man! Although it was a bit blurry, his face was exactly like an egg, with no facial features… … .”
“hmm.”
I crossed my arms and hesitated, then spoke again.
“Let’s go. Guide me.”
“Why, why am I the one guiding you… … .”
“Stop talking and hurry up. We need to save our friends. And you’ll be safer if you stay with me.”
“All right…….”
The student nodded and then walked hesitantly down the alley.
There were no lights on this road.
After walking along the dark road with a strange chill for a while, a student pointed ahead.
“It’s, it’s my house.”
“… … .”
Why is there such a place in the middle of a civilized city?
Just as this guy said, it was a place that looked like an abandoned house.
A nearly half-broken wall and a tattered gate. The small garden is covered with rotten and decaying grass.
I could feel the instrument.
I climbed over the fence and opened the door to the house.
“Okay, just a moment… … .”
A confused student chased after him, but he ignored him.
I walked through the abandoned house, my feet creaking on the floorboards.
Bam.
“… … !”
And then I found a group of students huddled together in the largest room.
There were five people in total.
Torn clothes, scratches, disheveled hair. She looks like she’s been wandering for days, not just hours.
It occurred to me that perhaps, as in the North, the flow of time within a particular space might be distinct.
“Uh uh… … ?”
“A, a person?”
Even in the eyes looking at me, I could see fear and caution.
At that moment, the student who came running out of breath was startled when he saw the guys in the room.
“Ah… …! I’m safe-.”
At that moment, I hit the face of the student who had guided me with the back of my hand.
“… … ?!”
In an instant, the student whose jaw was shattered fell to the ground on his butt.
His chin dropped and his abnormally long tongue was revealed. It extended down to his forehead as if it were some kind of tie.
“Whoa!”
As the screams erupted, the guy’s face bulged and took on the appearance of a demon resembling a goat.
Even though he looked like that, he didn’t seem to be in pain and just looked at me with questioning eyes.
“Uh. Uh huh… … ?”
“No. It’s too obvious.”
Actually, from the moment I first met him, I suspected that he might be the devil.
The decisive moment was when the student was seen inside the abandoned house.
I pointed to the next room with my eyes wide open.
“There’s a boy hiding in that room over there, right? You copied his face.”
“… … !”
“Looking at you, it seems like the other students were tempted one by one in the same way and then dragged all the way to this house… … You were the one who resorted to such annoying methods. You little devil.”
“Keeeeeeeeeek!”
At that moment, the student whose eyes had changed completely transformed into that of a demon and ran towards me.
Without looking any further, I just pierced the burning body of this bastard.
Phew!
The moment the first bite of the Baekilsik struck the demon’s abdomen, its body exploded magnificently.
I quickly deployed my inner energy to form a barrier to block the debris from flying towards the students.
“…what?”
I was taken aback by the strange power, but soon realized why.
Phagec… … .
I felt a faint electric current flowing through my hand. Somehow, my five senses, including my fist, felt tingly.
I wondered why the aftershock was so loud, but it seems like this result came about because of the nature of the background that the president instilled in me.
‘My body just exploded.’
It felt a bit thrilling to think that this was the end I would have to endure if I hadn’t written down my history.
“I, I… … .”
“wait for a sec.”
I frowned, ignoring the student who spoke to me cautiously.
Is it because the realm was destroyed by defeating one demon?
My five senses, which had been stuffy and blocked, opened up, and I could hear instruments in the distance more clearly.
The presence of demons writhing everywhere.
But there are two things that are most notable.
‘One is… the death penalty?’
The presence of the devil we are dealing with is somewhat familiar.
It was a little less oppressive than I remember, but the owner of this instrument was probably the Demon King Harden Aihar.
It’s not completely gone.
It seems to be an incomplete summoning as I expected, but if so, the death penalty alone should be able to handle it.
According to Baek Myeong-woo’s words, it may be impossible to kill them completely, but it may be possible to buy time by somehow confronting them.
The problem is the other side.
I feel a deep instrument that can compete with Haden Eihar.
Of course, it doesn’t mean that one more Demon King has descended… It means that a number of demons have appeared that are comparable to the Demon King who was summoned relatively incompletely.
At least I know of only one such being.
I am reminded of the bizarrely dressed demon I saw in the North.
An entity that has driven countless heroes, including S-class hero Feed, to their deaths.
The disaster in the North at that time was not Kingarodtus, who ultimately failed to descend, but that gnome.
‘Demon Legion Commander.’
The demon commander has appeared on this land.
