Chapter 37
Rain poured like a deluge down the back alleys of the city.
Demon Kedelak was running.
He pressed his body against the shelter of the buildings’ forest and panted.
“Hu—hu—what a crazy bitch,” he muttered.
He had been chased by the hunter day and night for dozens of hours.
That crazy bitch never tired.
Whether he hid in the walls of a building, concealed himself in the trees, or changed his appearance and melted into the crowd, that monster somehow found him and tightened its grip on his throat.
Kurung!
At that moment a flash of light streaked through the air and thunder cracked.
The thunder made Kedelak flinch and tremble.
Now even the sound of thunder made his body shake reflexively.
The fact alone made Kedelak scowl violently and become angry.
“Me—feeling fear of some brat who couldn’t even reach my chest?”
He could not bring himself to admit it.
A demon was a predator.
A true predator that stood a tier above humans, who occupied the top of the food chain.
And he was a demon who ranked among the upper echelons of such beings.
Even if he did not enjoy the same favor of the lord as Berid, he still served the same lord.
For him to feel fear—his pride as a demon would not allow it.
“If she chases me again, I will kill her.”
He had even used his ace in the hole—molting—to escape her.
Leaning against the building wall, the one who had been hit by the Devil Knight drew a short breath.
The abdomen the Devil Knight had struck still throbbed.
The unpleasant qi of that martial art was preventing him from recovering.
If only that strike hadn’t been allowed.
He wouldn’t have had to run from that damned bitch.
Kedelak cursed the Devil Knight in his head, the one who had pushed him into his current plight.
“How dare that soon-to-be puppet—”
Within Pandemonium, the Devil Knight’s reputation was the worst.
The only one favored by the aloof, solitary Heavenly Demon.
The one promised the largest reward, the chosen vessel.
But in truth he was nothing more than a hound with a noose and a deadline.
Kedelak disliked that guy who received every privilege and favor simply because he was the vessel of a great being.
Surely the qi contained in that strike had been deliberately applied by him.
“If you weren’t the vessel of a great being, you’d be nothing but a worthless creature—”
“Worthless creature? Is that how you refer to me?”
A voice that should not have been heard came from somewhere.
The sound sent a chill through Kedelak; he looked around frantically.
But there was nothing visible around him.
And that was not normal.
He was definitely in the middle of the city.
The passersby had somehow vanished.
“What the—”
Kedelak’s heightened demonic instincts sounded an alarm.
Cold sweat ran down his spine.
Clang.
A metallic sound hit his ears as he kept scanning the area.
“Who’s there!”
In an instant, Kedelak transformed his body into a monstrous form and swung a massive hand toward where the sound had come from.
With his gesture, the outer wall of a building was sliced off like tofu.
‘No one.’
But there was nobody there.
Kedelak felt as if he had been possessed by a ghost.
Kurrrung.
A light flashed in the void and thunder struck again.
But Kedelak’s attention was no longer on the thunder and lightning.
A more dangerous qi than when that crazy one had chased him was now pricking his survival instincts.
And precisely because of that, Kedelak should have been even more wary of the sky.
A black streak that struck like a bolt of lightning from the heavens pierced Kedelak’s throat.
Puk!
He tried to scream at the terrible pain, but whatever had pierced his neck prevented him from speaking.
“Kuek, keok, kuek!”
He felt the thing that had penetrated his neck grasp him.
It was a blade as black as pitch that had impaled him.
Hwaruk.
Crimson flames spewed from the sword.
With agonizing burning pain and the feeling of countless insects gnawing at his flesh, Kedelak writhed.
The flames devoured his body as if they were a living organism.
Kedelak recognized the qi in the devouring blaze.
‘This fire was not ordinary. And this qi—!’
Immediately he guessed who had attacked him.
He thrashed violently.
‘Devil Knight!’
He could not understand this situation.
Why would his comrade attack him?
Especially when he had contributed greatly to their shared cause!
‘You did it because you thought I might betray you to the heroes and be captured, didn’t you!’
He wanted to ask that, but the flames were already burning his vocal cords.
The Devil Knight, who had approached without his notice, drove a huge spear into Kedelak’s shoulder.
The spear that pierced his shoulder planted into the ground and pinned him in place.
“Krek, kek!”
He could only let out painful groans as his body shook.
Puk.
With a sound of flesh being pierced, a spear plunged into his opposite shoulder.
Puk, puk, puk.
Spears were driven into his limbs like a giant insect specimen.
His whole body burned in the Flames of Gehenna, a sword protruded from his throat, and spears pierced his arms and legs.
Unable to move properly, he convulsed in the terrible burning pain.
Even though it felt like death was imminent, the demon’s robust body would not allow him to die.
No—the Devil Knight had carefully controlled where to drive the spears so Kedelak would not actually die.
“Ta—speak! Speak!”
Why on earth had the Devil Knight done such a thing.
With reddened eyes I tried to grasp the Devil Knight’s intentions, but I couldn’t understand.
The Devil Knight who had driven a spear through my back finally stood before Kedelak.
Full plate armor soaked in jet-black, horns sprouting from its surface.
Between the devil-like helmet’s visor, golden eyes glinted and stared straight at him.
The moment he saw those eyes, Kedelak felt as if he were being devoured by that golden gaze.
He bowed his head by instinct.
His posture was like a retainer kneeling before a king.
Kedelak no longer begged for his life in a pitiful manner.
The Devil Knight did not seem inclined to spare him anyway.
He merely waited for a merciful death to be granted.
Sereok.
The Devil Knight drew a new sword from the shadows and cut Kedelak’s throat.
The neck that looked as if it had been stitched together from all kinds of monsters rolled across the floor.
The Devil Knight placed his boot on the rolling head.
“I did not give you an easy death out of consideration. There’s a creditor who’s been desperately awaiting your death.”
No sooner had he finished speaking than the creature’s body—seeming like a mash of every monster—began reverting to an ordinary human form.
An old, frail, grotesquely wrinkled body.
That was Kedelak’s true form.
The demon that had lent him power was reclaiming every last ounce of that power.
And at the same time, even the soul that was the price of the contract.
From the spacetime that governed cause and effect, a black hand burrowed into the motionless body and pulled Kedelak’s soul out.
Kedelak’s soul, seized by the black hand, screamed with agony louder than ever.
Only after confirming that Kedelak’s soul had been subordinated to the demon did Yoo Sung-woo turn his head.
And there was someone watching from a distance.
White hair whipped in the harsh wind, crackling with pure white lightning.
With a rumble, someone appeared before my eyes.
Yoo Iseo, hair stained white.
Blue lightning flashed in her eyes.
“Is this our first meeting since the Artifact Museum?”
“…….”
Her cold gaze pierced me.
Yoo Iseo did not look well, even if I tried to see it kindly.
Her body bore small wounds as if she had been fighting until just moments ago, and the bloodshot clarity of her eyes was blurred.
She was half out of her mind.
But her ferocity alone was enough to devour this space.
Killing intent spread out in every direction.
There was no mistaking that she was a demon.
A lunatic emitting that much killing intent could easily have been a mid-boss.
“Something felt off. Even for a high-ranked demon, Da-hee wouldn’t have fallen so easily.”
“What are you trying to say?”
“The hole in Da-hee’s chest. You did that.”
Her blue eyes met mine.
Kurung.
Lightning flashed repeatedly through the dark clouds.
“…….”
The sensation from when I had thrust my hand into her chest still remained vivid.
The heartbeat that had been pulsing, and the violent turbulence I had felt between beats.
I spoke slowly.
“Yes. I stopped her breath with these hands.”
And I had left a mark purposely so you could recognize the trace.
“……Aaaah!”
With her furious cry, the dark sky brightened.
Thunder gathered inside the stormclouds, swelling until a lightning of unprecedented size fell toward me.
A bolt of lightning fierce as if it were the embodiment of her rage.
That force rivaled the power I had emitted when I had been consumed by the Heart of the Demon.
And it was the very strike I had been waiting for.
I put my hand to my chest and drew out the Homunculus’s Heart I had absorbed.
I asked Lia one last time.
“Are you really sure?”
[It’s all for the groom.]
Hearing her resolute voice, I raised the Homunculus’s Heart toward the falling bolt.
Kwa-rrrung!
The lightning—like a massive hammer with physical force—pierced through me and struck the ground, rippling and smashing the asphalt around us like waves.
Yet I took little damage, thanks to the magic circle on the Homunculus’s Heart.
A massive magic circle wrapped the Homunculus’s Heart.
The vision magic of the Frankenstein count family.
Absorption.
Her full-strength strike was absorbed into the Homunculus’s Heart.
Lia let out a scream of pain.
[Kyaaah!]
At the same time, darkness fell over the neon-lit city.
Her blow had caused a power outage.
Just before pitch-black darkness settled, Yoo Iseo, having poured out all her strength, looked at me with an expression of emptiness.
I did not waste the opening.
I stomped the ground and lunged into her embrace.
Yoo Iseo, regaining consciousness, tried to dodge, but I was faster.
My fist struck violently at her solar plexus.
“Urk!”
At that moment I whispered softly into her ear.
“Remember what I said before. Trust no one.”
I could not be certain whether she would hear these words.
Still, I whispered them because I knew what was to come.
Her body collapsed limply.
She would not get up again.
She had already reached her limit before facing me.
Having unleashed that massive attack in that condition, there was no way her body would survive.
I took the Homunculus Core—the Homunculus’s Heart containing her strength—and left the scene.
Frankenstein, the novel.
There, Doctor Frankenstein revived corpses through electrical devices.
That metaphorical core, the Homunculus’s Heart.
The moment I filled this artifact with the most powerful electricity in this world, it would transform into a relic capable of resurrecting the dead.
Preparation was complete.
It was finally time to resurrect Seo Da-hee.