To be honest, I wondered if anyone else my age had ever gotten this deeply involved with demon kings.
At sixteen, the Iron-Blooded Lord had been too busy beating up church members and probably hadn't gotten to meet a demon king in person.
At this rate, I could write an entire textbook on demon kings. Maybe even publish a book titled How to Meet Four Demon Kings and Survive . It would be an unprecedented bestseller. From the cold, clear insight of the future great author Luan Badniker, the undisputed authority on demon king studies, there was no need to overcomplicate these evil transcendents.
Excluding Hadenaihar, I had encountered three demon kings. If I also set aside Senior Brother He Lou, whose identity as one of my master's disciples outweighed that of a demon king, that left only two. Tantata and Ahop had powerful, distinct personalities, which really just meant they were simple enough to describe with a single word.
Tantata, that green pig, generally treated humans as playthings. He dressed it up with words like partners , probably without realizing it himself. Then there was Ahop. His cold indifference was so complete that he'd casually crush even his own priests. It felt like he truly saw humans as nothing more than insects.
It sounded absurd, but these two demon kings, who were crueler than anyone else, probably held no real malice toward humans.
So what about Hadenaihar?
I thought about it as I glanced at the pile of dolls around me. Maybe he saw humans as toys. I meant that literally, not as mockery.
The way he sees me is likely... a limited-edition toy or something like that.
The blood moon's tone was surprisingly clumsy. In some ways, it seemed mentally much younger than Tantata.
If one tried to snatch a toy from a child by force, they'd either wail their eyes out or throw a furious tantrum. Either way, reasoning with an emotional kid was a waste of time.
Are there still cards left to play?
Though the demon king hadn't fully descended, I sensed this was far from over. He was still hiding something. Before Seren made her real move, I wanted him to reveal it. That was why I pushed my provocation, even if it felt excessive.
At that moment, an eerie cracking sound echoed.
Was it a sign that the building was about to collapse? No, this was different. The sound was far too loud.
The sky?
It was the blood moon. Its twisted face cracked—literally cracked, not figuratively.
Is he so angry that he tore his facial muscles? Before I could dismiss the thought as absurd, countless dots appeared beyond the window.
Looking closely, they weren't dots.
"What the hell is that now?"
Fierce fragments of the moon were falling like meteors, trailing fiery tails.
I barely kept my composure. Even I, usually unshaken, was mesmerized for a moment.
From one perspective, the sky filled with crimson meteor-like fragments could be called breathtaking. If only those damned fragments weren't falling toward us.
"Everybody, get down!" I shouted, but my words never reached anyone.
A deafening explosion swallowed everything.
***
Research Building 13 was a structure that wasn't supposed to exist, a ghost story come to life.
The blood-red moon had unleashed a rain of fragments, and with that, Building 13 faded once more into legend. No, into nonexistence.
I forced myself upright, pushing off the debris that had crushed my shoulders. My body throbbed in several places, bruised in at least four. I had wrapped myself in concentrated internal energy to shield against the blast, but the damage was still severe. I counted myself lucky that no bones were broken.
"Is everyone still alive?"
At that moment, a sharp click rang out as a swarm of Deathberry copies crawled from beneath the rubble.
"I wasn't talking to you, fuck."
I slammed my fist into the one with its mouth wide open. It felt dry and hollow, like punching a wooden doll. If it were truly alive, its neck would have snapped and its movements would've stopped. Yet these dolls kept moving, even with shattered heads and bodies cleaved in two. Not even ghouls resurrected by necromancy showed such tenacity.
One bit into my shoulder. I clicked my tongue and crushed its face in my grip.
The building's collapse worked against us. When you're outnumbered, a confined space was your ally. It's the same reason one would draw enemies into alleys when overwhelmed.
However, this place was open. If I got surrounded, it would be over. I had no choice but to keep moving, though the constant motion drained my stamina rapidly.
A prickling sensation spread across the back of my neck. It wasn't Deathberry. The eyes of the blood moon in the sky had fixated on me the entire time. Our plan to draw attention had worked far better than I imagined. The problem was I had no idea what happened to Seren after the bombardment. The worst-case scenario was that she was dead. Even if she wasn't, she could be unconscious.
For now, I chose to believe she was still alive, but I had to prepare for the worst.
"Ouch!" Just then, a voice rang out beneath the rubble—casual, even careless. An unexpected figure emerged from under the rubble.
"Evan?"
Honestly, he'd been the likeliest to die. He had been completely unconscious when the blast hit.
Lucky bastard. Perhaps it was pure luck—he didn't have a scratch on him.
Evan looked at me with wide eyes. "Luan?"
I didn't answer. I hurled the Seven Sins Sword straight past him. A Deathberry creeping up behind him dropped to the ground, skewered by the blade.
I turned away from Evan and asked, "Did you sleep well?"
"Hell no. Worst way to wake up ever! I'm going to borrow this!" Evan said, grabbing the Seven Sins Sword.
I hesitated since this weapon was unlike an ordinary sword, but there was no time to explain. Something else gnawed at me. Is it just a coincidence that Evan is unharmed?
He had been unconscious, his entire body defenseless. Yet, he emerged from that indiscriminate bombardment without a single scratch.
What if the attack I thought was random was actually aimed solely at me?
That would mean the distance between the moon in the sky and me was far less than it appeared. After all, the accuracy of long-range attacks depended heavily on distance. If the bombardment had locked onto a single target inside a building—me—then that moon had to be much closer than it seemed.
Hadn't Alderson said from the beginning that the moon was descending toward the ground?
Though it's possible this wasn't a targeted strike. Maybe he attacked me with the power of a demon king or whatever. When one was up against an unknown enemy, overthinking was inevitable. Still, I pushed the thought aside for now.
Not long after, another figure emerged from the rubble. It was Charon. Honestly, he looked worse for wear.
How much blood had he lost? His entire body was soaked red as he cut down enemies. He looked barely conscious. He probably felt half-unconscious.
At least, he was alive.
Since Charon made it out, the odds of Seren surviving have risen dramatically. So why hasn't she appeared yet? Is she waiting for the right moment?
It was a smart move. There was no need to reveal herself prematurely. The most effective strike came as a surprise attack. A dagger posed the greatest threat when it stayed hidden.
The problem was that even I couldn't pinpoint Seren's hiding place. I couldn't risk using Fiery Golden Eyes, but I needed to know where she was. Only then could I lure the main body toward her. I already knew where the main body was. It had positioned itself at the farthest point from me.
As expected, the demon king was wary of me. Then why hadn't he moved the main body somewhere completely safe?
This was just speculation, but I suspected the main body controlled the dolls around it. It acted like a receiver, relaying the commands of the moon in the sky. If the main body moved beyond a certain range, the dolls rushing at me would stop in their tracks.
Should I just keep walking around like this? If I wandered long enough, Seren would eventually show herself. It was not a bad plan, but I doubted my stamina would last that long. Maybe Evan and Charon would collapse first.
As I was pondering, hundreds of flowers suddenly bloomed beneath the rubble of the building.
What is it with these flowers? For a moment, I thought I had lost my mind due to the ridiculous phenomenon. Then I caught their scent and realized this was no hallucination. This wasn't the demon king's doing.
Was it a blessing? Judging by the energy, it was highly likely.
It was a blessing that made flowers grow. I forced back a laugh. It wasn't unusual. I'd heard of blessings commonly considered useless.
Whose blessing is it? I glanced at Evan and Charon. Upon seeing their flustered expressions, this didn't seem to be the case. Then there was only one person left. So she's alive after all.
Of course, the demon king wouldn't know this was Seren's blessing, which meant that this was her message to me.
I looked around. Roses bloomed in every direction, pale lavender in color, reminding me too much of the Badnikers' eyes. Personally, I hated the scent. It made my head spin.
I felt my mind slipping as I sniffed the scent I loathed amid the chaos. Then I barely spotted something: a single daisy nestled among the roses.
So childish. It was childish, but I understood the meaning. The daisy was the Goodspring family's symbol.
My body had already heated from battle. I drew a deep breath, filling my chest, and my vision whitened. I slipped easily into the White Flame state and harnessed my surging internal energy.
Then I pressed down on my knees, while lightning sparked from my eyes. These were the precursors of my Thunder Stomp Footwork. I kicked off the ground, and the field of roses exploded around me, petals flying in all directions.
The shockwave of my destructive technique flung away the persistent group of Deathberry copies clinging to me. That was exactly what I intended. I had infused the move with excess internal energy on purpose.
I shot forward like a streak of lightning and closed the distance to the Deathberry main body in an instant. I grabbed the horns jutting from its temples with both hands and tightened my grip with all my strength.
I wanted to rip them out, but they didn't budge. Still holding tight, I hoisted the main body and hurled it toward the daisy's location.
At the same time, icy tendrils burst from beneath the ruins and coiled around the doll, binding its entire body.
It wasn't just the main body that turned its gaze; for the first time, the blood moon's fixed stare in the sky disappeared from me.
Seren emerged from under the rubble. Her white hair was stained with blood from a head wound, her eyes sunken, and she was holding Amon's Scissors in her hand.
Cracks reappeared across the moon's face, and black fragments dotted the sky once more.
Was the demon king preparing a second shower of fragments? It was too late. The scissors had already reached Deathberry.
The interlocking blades closed around Deathberry's thread, but Seren's expression stiffened. Something was wrong.
She missed? The location should've been precise. I focused my inner energy on my eyes. Huh?
The thread attached to the cervical spine had moved to the top of the head.Worse, it moved constantly in real time, as if it were alive.
This is really ridiculous. I gritted my teeth at the last-minute scramble, but it was clear now that even the demon king felt threatened.
The real issue was Seren. Her eyesight wasn't sharp enough to track the thread.
I made a quick decision. I jabbed my fingers into the bite on my shoulder. The pain made me want to curse, but I swallowed it, yanked my hand free, and stared at my blood-soaked fingers. Then I launched forward with Thunder Stomp Footwork, closing the distance to Deathberry again.
What I needed now wasn't Fire Qi. I drew Lightning Qi up from my legs and pushed it through my torso. My body screamed, tingling as if struck by real lightning. This backlash came from channeling a type of energy that my body hadn't fully adapted to.
It didn't matter, though. This was why I'd trained my body to its limits.
I punched forward, lightning coursing through my fist.
It was my Lightning Fist. I'd only used this technique once before, and back then, my opponent had also been a demon king.
I drove my punch into Deathberry's abdomen, and its body convulsed. The tremor wasn't from the lightning paralyzing it. This thing was just a doll.
What I aimed for was disruption. If the thread carried commands from the Blood Moon Demon King to this puppet, I would have to jam that connection. Fire Qi couldn't burn the thread, so I struck it with Lightning Qi instead. It was a split-second choice, but it paid off.
Next, I hurled the blood from my left hand toward the top of Deathberry's head.
This wasn't an attack. The blood misted into droplets that clung to the invisible thread linking the doll to the demon king. That way, Seren could track it. Even if the thread remained hidden, she would know its exact location.
Seren's eyes lit up.
I thought, Honestly, this is enough. I've practically spoon-fed you everything I can.
At last, Amon's Scissors sliced through the demon king's thread.