Chapter 177: Showdown (4)
-Aaaahhhh…
Meanwhile, in the forest where Zetto and Murka were battling, a small, ball-sized eyeball was stealthily flapping its wings.
It was a low-level dark spirit of some kind.
Its owner was a red-horned demon named Keraf, one of the soldiers under the Chief of Staff.
He had previously stood by Murka’s side as he dealt with those who served the Nameless Ones in the Demon Lands.
Hiding in the bushes and flapping his wings, the dark spirit now looked at Murka, whose chest had been cut deeply by Zetto’s blow.
It was a mortal wound, even by his standards.
However, in Keraf’s eyes, Murka didn’t seem to be in any danger.
-Aaah…
Murka, who was crouching beside Albed on the ground, seemed to be mesmerized, and his eyes were filled with an unidentifiable…
-Crunch…
…chewing on something hard.
Keraf gasped at the shocking sight.
‘He ate… A fellow… a fellow… a fellow…’
Preying on its own kind was a taboo among the demons.
Having cut off Albed’s head, Murka immediately consumed Albed’s magick and the horns that harbored the life force of the slain.
Devouring the horns, Murka sucked the last of the life out of Albed’s body into his horns, and Albed’s corpse shriveled.
“…Hmm.”
Murka lifted his head in admiration.
He looked ecstatic, drunk with his newfound power.
For a moment Murka suddenly grabs the ground and cries out in pain.
“Ouch… Aaaah….Arghhhh!!!!!!!”
His screams are accompanied by the unpleasant sound of crunching bones and tearing flesh.
-Crunch…
-Crackle…
Soon, a huge, jet-black thing sprouted from Murka’s back and soon, the membrane surrounding Murka’s body spread out, revealing what appeared to be ‘wings’.
‘…Wings…’
Was it natural if a Black Horn consumed another Black Horn, or was Murka already on the verge of breakthrough?
Even Keraf had no way of knowing, but what mattered now was…
Just in time, a blind man emerges from the bushes and spots Murka.
Murka turns his head to look at him.
The wound on his chest has already healed, and new, flawless flesh has sprouted.
‘All that matters now is that the blind man can no longer survive…’
Closing his eyes tightly, Keraf shook his head.
Despite being a demon, he was rooting for Zetto, not Murka.
It wasn’t that he held a grudge against Murka.
It was simply that the power he had seen in Zetto bore an uncanny resemblance to the power of the being he considered his ‘ideal’.
Keraf had learned quite a bit about the Nameless One during his research at the behest of the Chief of Staff.
It was said that all records of him had been erased under the punishment of record annihilation for other lesser demons, but his records remained.
But he didn’t know everything, especially not his name.
Here’s what Keraf could find out about the Nameless One so far.
He was a male black-haired demon that wielded the power of the dark elementals, most notably the Shade, a shadow elemental.
In addition to his power over spirits, he was said to be extremely skilled in swordsmanship…His swordsmanship is rare among swordsmen, as he holds his sword in reverse.
He didn’t know what his unique technique is…but from the information he gleaned so far, the blind was quite similar to him.
The difference being that he was blind and that he was human…Perhaps it was the blind man who should truly be called the second coming of the Nameless One.
Keraf cautiously entertained the thought.
As much as he liked the ideals of the Nameless One and what he stood for, he was worried.
He wondered if the blind man was going to die.
In the first place, demons with wings possess powers far beyond those of ordinary demons.
Most demons would never see the High One, and would die chasing black horns for nothing more than a fleeting moment, but there was a sky above them.
Keraf had seen another demon with wings before.
This was due to the fact that Keraf was, surprisingly, a very talented individual that the Chief of Staff was quite fond of.
‘I don’t think he’s in that league…I hope not.’
The Legionnaire’s young right-hand man had only just sprouted wings.
But even so…
Murka, raising his hand slyly toward Zetto, exclaims.
“…Spirals.”
The telekinesis magic was directed at Zetto’s bandaged left arm.
The range wasn’t as wide as before but it was too fast for him to react.
-Boom!
…He had a new level of power.
***
“Huh… Huh…”
Zetto, hiding behind an old tree, could barely exhale the breath that had filled his chin.
Things were not looking good since he hadn’t expected Murka to eat his friend, Albed.
‘I should have…I should have stopped him then.’
This was something that even Zetto, who was confident that he knew Murka quite well, hadn’t expected.
Zetto’s Chapter 3 was a disappointment, but it was his influence that led Murka to make that choice.
His actions spread rumors of the return of the Nameless One, and even Murka, who had no interest in the matter, was forced to learn more about the would-be demon who broke the taboo of eating his own kind.
In a desperate attempt to save his own life, Murka decides to eat his own kind.
The Nameless One, who devours his enemies in order to save his own life and break the cycle of evil that is the original sin of the demons.
Murka, who ate his ‘companions’ simply to continue his lineage, to gain strength, to create change, to win the battle at hand, was a different story altogether.
In any case, wings sprouted from Murka’s back.
Zetto knew of demons with wings.
They were a foe to be reckoned with, at least at this time but they only appeared later in the ‘story’ he knew.
Zetto was powerless against Murka, who had grown many times stronger with his wings.
Murka’s strength was one reason, but more than anything…
“Ugh…”
Zetto held his breath, barely able to keep the groan from escaping his mouth.
…He lost his left arm.
The pain was excruciating, and his left arm was torn to shreds.
His center of gravity was disturbed, and he was unable to exert his power.
The situation was so bad that he was lucky he hadn’t lost his right arm, which controlled his sword.
What should I do?
I can’t do it this time.
I have to kill Murka.
At that moment, Zetto was thinking about it.
“Keryung…!”
Suddenly, Sheddie, who was at Zetto’s feet, called out.
Zetto looked at her.
She had a very serious look in her eyes and was staring at his left arm.
It was a sealing technique, but Zetto understood its meaning because he was its master.
Sheddie was offering to replace his severed left arm.
‘You can actually do that…?’
As I read Sheddie’s thoughts, I realized that this was a manifestation. It was the act of making the spirit ‘real’.
“There.”
Murka’s voice came from the other side.
-Quang!!!!!!
There was an immediate crash and the old tree Zetto was hiding behind shattered.
He didn’t even give Zetto a moment to think.
Rolling to the ground and narrowly escaping Murka’s telekinesis, Zetto thought.
‘The seal has long since been shattered by lightning… Aizel must be running here.’
If the frantic Aizel ran into the winged Murka, there would be nothing more to see.
‘I lost my arm…’
Sheddie could fix that, but it would take a physical toll.
I rolled and rolled on the floor.
‘It’s just…’ Zetto thought as he lay on his back, staring at the sky.
‘I should just…Die.’
Zetto didn’t think of death easily either.
He had tried to live his life in his own way, but…He could only go so far.
With that decision, Zetto reached out to Sheddie.
-Tsk, tsk…
As if waiting for him, Sheddie attached itself to his body, then settled on his left arm in the empty space, and the black liquid began to wriggle and form an arm.
-Aaah…
Zetto now had a blackened left arm that was no longer human, but a hideous, grotesque shape.
Unlike the fluffy and cute Sheddie, it was quite a gruesome sight, and Zetto’s eyes narrowed for a moment.
“Ugh…!”
Zetto, whose life force had been drained by Sheddie, spat out a mouthful of blood.
Zetto coughed up a large amount of blood, enough to make it difficult for him to live.
He staggers back and grabs a nearby wooden beam to steady himself.
He wiped the corner of his mouth nonchalantly and looked over at Sheddie, who had become his left arm, before asking the question.
‘I wonder if my arm will regenerate when I resurrect…Well, if not, so be it.’
Dismissing the lighthearted question, Zetto raised his left hand, and at his touch, the already dark forest was plunged into pitch-black shadow.
A large, black, dome-shaped nexus settles over the forest but only Zetto and Murka are inside.
As Murka approaches the opening, he sees Zetto standing in the forest with a hideous left arm growing out of his body.
“…”
Murka tilted his head and spoke as he approached Zetto.
“…You can’t possibly be human after all you’ve done.”
Zetto responded with a faint smile.
“Human. You mean…I look like a demon, right?”
And so began the final battle to defy fate.
***
‘What the hell is going on in here…’
What’s going on?
Suddenly, a jet-black circle enveloped the entire forest and I leaned my head against it.
It must have been created by demons as I could feel the ominous aura that usually comes from demons.
On this day they were the only demons in my immediate vicinity.
I hadn’t seen anything like this since the regression, but at least it’s certain that Murka is inside.
So… who is in here dealing with Murka?
Had they been chasing me and come face to face with a mysterious powerhouse?
Over and over again, I ran these thoughts through my mind, but I couldn’t get rid of the uneasy feeling I was getting.
A sense of foreboding that felt somehow familiar.
It can’t be.
It must be my mood.
Zetto.
Why am I thinking of Zetto?
It doesn’t make sense.
I pushed him with my own hands, and I saw it with my own eyes how he fell in the chasm.
And yet, this absurd thought, that somehow Zetto could be inside this dome…this absurd thought kept invading my mind.
I became anxious since I was with Zetto on the way here.
It was another day, and I must have gotten anxious because I remembered the previous episode.
I was with him again.
There was no attack like last time, but…
It wasn’t Zetto’s doing.
That’s what I believed.
Of course, I couldn’t be sure.
Zetto is a man of many secrets so it wouldn’t be surprising if he had some kind of power.
But not now.
-Boom!
I struck the dome and I even tried using my spear to unleash a blast of magic, but to no avail.
The corners of my mouth lifted as I stared at the unmoving dome.
I thought to myself.
‘Couldn’t there have been an ally who stopped their attack?’
There was an ally I didn’t know about.
That ally used the saint to kill Zagoras, and now…and now he’s fighting Murka on my behalf.
-Boom!
-Boom!!!
I wanted to deny the nightmare that was now playing in my head.
“That can’t be…”
Finally, my legs gave out and I slumped to the ground.
The day was slowly dawning and the first rays of sunlight were creeping through the trees and leaves.
It’s the same as it was then.
No, no.
Not yet.
I haven’t even fought them.
I hadn’t killed Murka yet.
The nightmare was coming back.
I hung my head and denied reality.
How much time had passed?
The dome, which had remained unscathed by my attacks, suddenly began to ooze like liquid.
-Aaah!
Soon, the dome completely exploded.
-Aaah…
An unidentifiable black rain pours out of the dome as the situation inside the circle is now clear, and the forest is revealed.
The fierce battle had shattered the trees around them, making it clear who was where and what they were doing.
The first thing I see Albed’s severed head lying on the ground as I continued to make my way through the forest.
“…”
The back of a white, long-haired, black-horned demon I recognized as Murka came into view.
It had a pair of strange “wings” on its back, which I had never seen before.
“Ugh…”
Suddenly, Murka’s neck tilted and his severed head fell to the ground, then before long, his body collapsed.
Only then does Aizel realize that a man is standing in front of her.
“Ah…Aah…”
For some reason, no words come out of her mouth.
She had a throbbing headache and had forgotten how to speak.
“Aaahhh…!”
You.
You’re not supposed to be here.
My head was pounding.
My breathing slowed.
My chest was tight.
I couldn’t hold on any longer.
It was Zetto.
The one who should be in the demon chasm.
The blind bird that should be in a cage.
Why was he here?
I didn’t know why, but it didn’t matter.
I stared at the staggering Zetto with a puzzled expression on my face.
He was mangled, his left arm missing, and had a gaping hole in his abdomen.
I didn’t have to get close to see that he was dying.