Chapter 135
I could see something like a thread connecting him and Wol-ah.
Still mistaking me for the Demon of the End, the bastard continued speaking.
“Do not think this ends merely because this body is destroyed, O End. My true body still exists within the lofty heavens.”
Hearing that, my face twisted in irritation.
So after using Wol-ah like a puppet this entire time, now that her usefulness had ended, he planned to abandon her body and return to Heaven.
Absolutely shameless.
Sticky black energy began flowing from the black sword.
The experience of the Demon of the End taking over my body was still vivid.
The way he handled demonic energy, and the way he fused Authorities together.
Even when the Demon of the End seized my body, my physical condition had already been no better than a rag.
Even my mana had been completely exhausted.
Yet despite that, he still overwhelmed Sandalphon.
Of course, Sandalphon had only drawn upon a fragment of his true body’s power as well, but the important thing was this—
The bastard used my own powers better than I did.
I recalled the sensation of how he controlled the Demonic Authority.
Until now, I had only been using a fraction of my power.
Because from the very beginning, I had never truly understood the skill Lamb.
The SS-rank skill Lamb wasn’t merely an ability that lent me demonic power and transformed me into a Demon.
Lamb’s true nature was a prison sealing away the Demon of the End—
And an ocean containing his power.
The reason I could use demonic energy without making a contract with a Demon was because all the demonic energy I used came from the Demon of the End sleeping inside Lamb.
I thought about the difference between his strength and mine.
The Demon of the End consumed no mana when drawing upon demonic energy.
And even the quality of the demonic energy itself was different.
If the demonic energy I pulled from Lamb was like purified water, then the energy he used was closer to pristine, untouched spring water.
Of course, it was impossible for me to instantly use demonic energy as pure as the Demon of the End’s.
But the remnants of the pure demonic energy he had used still remained within me.
“Stop spouting bullshit and get out of Wol-ah’s body.”
The black sword overflowing with dense demonic energy sliced through the thread connecting Sandalphon and Wol-ah.
Slash.
At the same time, light exploded from Wol-ah’s body, and an enormous pillar of light burst forth with a deafening crack.
Sandalphon’s consciousness was returning to his true body.
Should I just let him go like that?
As if.
He was the one who possessed Wol-ah’s body and tried to kill me in order to destroy the Demon of the End.
I drew upon the abyssal mana left behind by the Demon of the End.
The energy was several times denser than ordinary demonic energy, and a strange exhilaration surged through me.
The black sword became imbued with a completely different kind of power.
Authority, Sky Cleaving.
A gigantic invisible slash tore through the pillar of light.
The beam ascending toward the sky was severed.
Did it work?
I couldn’t be certain, but the beam rapidly began fading.
I immediately turned my attention back toward Wol-ah.
Her matured body had reverted to that of a young child again.
I carefully reached down to pick her up.
No—
I tried to, but failed.
“This is insane…….”
Wol-ah’s body was unbelievably hot.
And her breathing was so faint it seemed like it could stop at any moment.
Damn it.
Her body couldn’t withstand the backlash from accepting too much of Sandalphon’s power.
I wanted to use the Power of Restoration.
But to an Angel like Wol-ah, demonic power was practically poison.
Even being touched by the light emitted by Angels caused stinging pain, so there was no way demonic power would work on her no matter how restorative it was.
What am I supposed to do?
If I didn’t do something immediately, Wol-ah’s breathing would stop.
This was exactly why I’d tried to regain control from the Demon of the End as quickly as possible.
If I hadn’t been controlled by the Demon of the End in the first place—
BOOM!
There was no time to drown in guilt.
I slammed my fist into the ground.
At that moment, my eyes caught sight of the Halo floating above Wol-ah’s head.
This is……?
It was the object that allowed Wol-ah’s body to withstand Sandalphon’s power.
I thought it had been destroyed during the exchange of final attacks with Sandalphon.
Because of that thing, Sandalphon had been able to unleash even greater power.
Maybe because traces of the Demon of the End’s energy still remained within me—
I could clearly understand the structure of the Halo in a way I normally never could.
Originally, the power should have poured directly into the body, but the Halo seemed to act as a filter that slowed the burden down.
Could I use this somehow?
What if I used the Halo to extract the remaining power still left inside Wol-ah’s body?
Handling an Angel’s divine power with a body closer to a Demon was madness—
But it was still worth trying.
I reached out and grabbed Wol-ah’s Halo.
Sssssss—!
An agonizing pain shot through my hand.
I immediately regretted my decision.
Even so, I didn’t let go of the Halo.
Using the Halo as a filter, I began extracting the remnants of Sandalphon’s power from Wol-ah’s body.
The remaining divine power started condensing into the Halo.
“Gghhhh……!”
As expected, the pain caused by divine power far surpassed ordinary suffering.
Divine power naturally attacked demonic energy, so merely touching it felt like being poisoned.
And this wasn’t the power of some ordinary Angel—
It belonged to the Archangel Sandalphon.
I had already nearly died and come back alive, and my body was practically in tatters already.
Once I healed Wol-ah, I’d probably need several weeks of recovery.
The Halo began emitting enough energy to look ready to explode at any second.
The divine power trying to invade my body like deadly poison intensified the agony.
But I couldn’t stop.
I could see Wol-ah’s body slowly stabilizing.
The Halo, now gathering the last remnants of Sandalphon’s power, became engulfed in radiance.
BOOM!
Light exploded outward and swallowed my entire body.
My body, already pushed beyond its limits after barely surviving death, couldn’t withstand the impact.
And just like that, my consciousness faded away.
---
Cheonji of Mount Baekdu.
Space distorted, and a black vortex formed into a portal.
A figure stepped out from within.
It was the Heavenly Demon, who had threatened Malphas and hurried back to her residence.
Behind the portal appeared Malphas, the crow-headed Demon.
“Please do not worry. Heavenly Demon-nim, the Devil Knight is safe.”
The Heavenly Demon’s gaze turned toward Malphas.
Just moments ago, she had reduced Pandemonium’s sanctuary to utter ruin, and even now an ominous Aura poured from her body.
Dense killing intent filled her eyes.
“There had better not be even the slightest lie in those words. Otherwise, I will rip off that beak and shove it straight through your skull.”
“…….”
Receiving her killing intent head-on, Malphas swallowed hard.
Malphas possessed almost no combat ability, but he was still a high-ranking Demon.
And yet even he felt fear before her.
‘Is she really even human?’
Malphas had witnessed everything the Heavenly Demon did inside Pandemonium’s sanctuary.
Even though their master had weakened, the Heavenly Demon still confronted his power head-on.
In fact, hadn’t the leader of Pandemonium avoided clashing directly against her?
That was why Malphas considered it fortunate the Heavenly Demon knew nothing about Yoo Sung-woo’s destiny.
If she ever learned Yoo Sung-woo was both the sacrifice and vessel meant to resurrect the Demon of the End—
He couldn’t even imagine what kind of chaos she would unleash by storming Pandemonium’s sanctuary using her power.
‘Though I must admit, it does make me curious. If it didn’t involve Pandemonium, I would’ve enjoyed watching from the sidelines.’
Thinking that, Malphas disappeared back through the portal.
The Heavenly Demon did not stop him.
Immense mana erupted from her as her Aura perception spread endlessly outward.
Before long, Yoo Sung-woo and Wol-ah entered her senses.
They were at Cheonji atop Mount Baekdu.
An old memory suddenly surfaced in her mind.
The memory of retrieving Wol-ah under the orders of Pandemonium’s leader.
That bizarre dimension filled with gigantic Guardians, countless soldiers, and even divine beasts—
A troublesome place.
A question arose in her mind.
‘Why would my disciple and Wol-ah go there?’
Though puzzled, she had no time to dwell on it.
With a violent sonic boom, her figure vanished.
The Heavenly Demon instantly arrived where Yoo Sung-woo and Wol-ah were.
The state of Cheonji was catastrophic.
It looked as though dozens of gigantic bombs had detonated there, completely unlike the Cheonji she remembered.
Her gaze found Wol-ah and Yoo Sung-woo.
Neither of them moved at all, as though dead.
Seeing that, the Heavenly Demon’s pupils shook violently.
For a moment, it felt as though her heart had dropped.
How long had it been since she felt emotions this intense?
With trembling hands, she touched Wol-ah and Yoo Sung-woo.
Thankfully, both were still breathing.
A sigh of relief escaped her lips.
But neither of them was in good condition.
Seeing their state, her expression twisted.
Originally, she intended not to involve herself in Pandemonium’s affairs.
Yet because of that, her disciple had nearly died.
‘Now that I think about it, both the leader and that crow Demon looked as though they knew something.’
Of course, she couldn’t rough them up like before.
She had lost control because she thought her disciple had died, but she still needed Pandemonium’s help if she wished to return to her homeland.
Which meant she should target weaker and more manageable prey instead.
The faces of Pandemonium’s High-ranking Executives flashed through her mind.
‘Originally, I accepted that title merely to avoid troublesome matters. Yet now the time has come to make use of it.’
It was the moment the Heavenly Demon decided to directly interfere in Pandemonium’s affairs.
---
When I opened my eyes after being struck by the exploding Halo’s light, I found myself inside a completely white space.
Feels like every time I faint and wake up, I end up somewhere different.
Earlier, it was the abyss-like world of Lamb.
And now this pure white space covered in light.
What, is there an Angel sealed in here too?
Thinking that, I looked around.
Of course, there was nothing to see.
Only pure white in every direction.
It felt as though I was the only thing in this place possessing any color besides white itself.
Come to think of it…… doesn’t this place resemble the barrier created by The Reader—no, the Guardian’s Sword?
At that moment, a voice suddenly came from behind me.
“Correct.”
The sudden whisper directly beside my ear made me flinch violently.
I immediately threw myself forward and turned toward the one who whispered to me.
A handsome man dressed in a white suit.
The man wore a playful smile and somehow looked strangely familiar.
The Hero statue I saw back at the Academy…… didn’t it look exactly like him?
“You’re Baek Hyun-joong……?”
“That answer is also correct.”
Why was that person standing in front of me?
My mind couldn’t keep up with the sudden situation.
Just as I was about to question him, he raised a finger to his lips.
“I cannot answer your questions. At least, not here. Come to the ‘Gate’ together with the Child of the Star. Then all your questions shall be answered.”
The moment he finished speaking, my consciousness was thrown away once more.
No, what kind of nonsense is this? You call me here, say what you want, and kick me out immediately?!
He waved his hand at me as if telling me goodbye—
And at the same time, I awoke.