Chapter 223: Episode 42 – Asmodeus (3)
I told her to take me to the Gilobat Industrial Complex and Aileen replied,
“No matter how fast you are, it will take at least two days to reach the Gilobat Industrial Complex. Perhaps if there is help from a transcendental existence...”
“The delegation must be a transportation vehicle. Is it unreasonable?”
“I said two days assuming that you use it.”
Two days... even two hours was too long for me. No matter how I got there, I had to arrive within an hour or I would find Yoo Jonghyuk’s torn body. I was thinking hard, “The help of a transcendent presence...”
The first one to come to mind was ‘Hermes.’ If I had this constellation’s help, I could cover a distance that took two days within a few minutes. The problem was that he belonged to Olympus.
“...Going to hell is going to hell. I can’t borrow his hands.”
“Huh?”
I waved my hand at the startled Aileen. “I’m just talking to myself.”
Of course, I was purposely talking to myself. The reason—
[The constellation ‘Prisoner of the Golden Headband’ is wondering what is going on.]
[The constellation who likes to change sex is wondering what happened.]
[Some constellations are curious about the information you have hidden.]
It was in order to induce this response. I deliberately ignored their messages and spoke towards Aileen. “Is there another way? A warp portal or something like that...”
“This is the 73rd Demon Realm. It is also the outskirts of the 73rd Demon World. We don’t have such advanced transportation devices.”
“...I see.”
“What the hell is going on?”
“Someone is about to die.”
“Who?”
“It is the master of this industrial complex.”
As expected, my message log exploded.
[The constellation ‘Prisoner of the Golden Headband’ is asking what you mean.]
[The constellation who likes to change sex is listening to your story.]
...The explosion was still small but it couldn’t be helped since there weren’t many constellations in the channel. By the way, when did the person who liked to change sex come here?
“Prisoner of the Golden Headband. Can you help me?”
I spoke directly to the constellation and the people in the treatment room were astonished. I
decided to be more brazen.
“If you don’t mind, I’d like to borrow your Nimbus Cloud.”
It was one of the Great Sage the Equal of Heaven’s star relics, the Nimbus Cloud. If I could borrow it, I could reach the Gilobat Industrial Complex in the shortest time. The problem was whether the tricky the Great Sage the Equal of Heaven would lend me his star relic. He had already wasted probability once because of me...
[The constellation ‘Prisoner of the Golden Headband’ is asking why you need the ‘Nimbus Cloud.’]
I struggled for a moment before opening my mouth. I had to speak well here. “I pretended to be Yoo Jonghyuk. Then Yoo Jonghyuk impersonated me... it caused a scenario error and there is a problem...”
[The constellation ‘Prisoner of the Golden Headband’ is annoyed.]
[The constellation ‘Prisoner of the Golden Headband’ hates complicated things.]
I decided to summarize the situation according to the Great Sage the Equal of Heaven’s patience. “Due to this, Yoo Jonghyuk is going to die.”
I wanted to know if he would help but the response from the Great Sage the Equal of Heaven was unexpected.
[The constellation ‘Prisoner of the Golden Headband’ is pulling out a handful of his hair from the stress.]
“Wait a minute.”
[The constellation ‘Prisoner of the Golden Headband’ is leaving to find a hair comb.]
“Excuse me?”
There was no response from the Great Sage the Equal of Heaven who disappeared.
[A constellations who likes to change sex is enjoying the situation.]
[100 coins have been sponsored.]
I was looking up at the air when Aileen asked me, “I don’t know who he is but the new owner of this industrial complex is in a crisis?”
“...That’s right.”
“Why?”
“He is going to meet a demon king.”
“A demon king isn’t necessarily an evil existence. If you are lucky, you can survive.”
“I guess but...”
The problem was the demon king was ‘Asmodeus.’ In the novel, Asmodeus was one of the greatest adversaries whenever Yoo Jonghyuk regressed. Yoo Jonghyuk had already died against Asmodeus in the past. Could Yoo Jonghyuk be safe from him? No good images popped up no matter how hard I thought.
Han Myungoh looked at me nervously and opened his mouth. “Now what are you going to do?”
It was a big problem. Even if I managed to get there in time, there was no guarantee I could overcome Asmodeus by joining forces with Yoo Jonghyuk. However—
“I won’t know without trying.”
“Huh, I didn’t know you were so passionate. In the company, you never...”
“If I don’t work hard, I will die. It is different from not becoming a full-time employee if I didn’t work hard.”
“...Ahem.”
The situation was bad but I decided to think as positively as possible. There was something I didn’t know. Perhaps things would turn out well even if I didn’t go there. A miracle could happen that caused Yoo Jonghyuk to experience a great awakening or Asmodeus might suddenly become a good guy.
...Damn, that was impossible. I opened the revised Ways of Survival on my smartphone again. I couldn’t come up with something so I had to read this to find the answer.
“What is this all of a sudden?”
“Shhh, be quiet. This is what I do best.”
I quickly scrolled through the contents of Ways of Survival. Then one sentence in the 12th regression caught my eyes.
「 Yoo Jonghyuk thought there were many reasons for his failure in the third round. This was the most important reason.」
My heart suddenly sank. No, hurry up and think about it. The moment I read the next sentence, my mind became blank and I almost went crazy.
「 ‘At that time, we shouldn’t have pretended to support the Demon King Asmodeus.’」
***
There was a little girl with dark eyes. She had a small body and appeared to be around eight or nine years old. The chubby cheeks and vivid expressions were reminiscent of a child actor. There wasn’t any apparent threat on the surface.
‘...His taste is the same.’
However, Yoo Jonghyuk knew very well that the gigantic presence in that body wasn’t the main character of a children’s drama. This girl was the peak of the 72 existences scattered across the Demon Realm and the owner of the ’32nd Demon Realm’, someone even narrative-grade constellations were reluctant to face. Demon King of Rage and Lust, Asmodeus.
Asmodeus smiled with the girl’s face.
[Oh, there is no need to be so tense. I just came to talk.]
The utterance of his true voice brought pain to the incarnations in the area. All incarnations in the industrial complex were probably bleeding. In front of this fearsome pressure, Yoo Jonghyuk held his breath and raised all his magic power.
The feeling of pressure wrapped around his skin gradually decreased. This presence was so strong that even the transcendent Yoo Jonghyuk found it hard to bear. As expected, the status of a demon king itself was different. Whether or not he knew Yoo Jonghyuk’s heart, Asmodeus approached Yin with gentle footsteps.
[Interesting. The last time we met was when I saw you through my subordinate’s eyes at the Syswitz Industrial Complex...]
The steps were obviously light but in Yoo Jonghyuk’s eyes, they were the heaviest things in the world. The grip on the Heaven Shaking Sword become stronger and the veins of his neck bulged.
[You moved to Gilobat and defeated the duke in such a short time... your skills are great, Demon King of Salvation.]
Demon King of Salvation... It was obvious who this was referring to.
‘Damn Kim Dokja.’
Everything happened in the wrong place. In a short time, Yoo Jonghyuk had dozens of thoughts.
‘This guy is in an incomplete incarnation body. Can I win?’
‘No, it is impossible.’
‘It might be an incarnation body but this is the Demon World.’
‘Then can I run away?’
‘It is too unreasonable.’
‘There is no way to get rid of the demon king, who has the mind and heart of an incarnation.’
Originally, the demon kings couldn’t exist in this scenario. Based on the visible sparks, a huge amount of probability was being consumed in real time. Yoo Jonghyuk couldn’t escape from somehow who showed up with this determination.
‘There is only one way that will possibly work.’
‘Buy time to waste his probability.’
He might be a demon king but he couldn’t take over the body of an incarnation in the scenario for long. He would be forced to return as long as Yoo Jonghyuk could buy some time. The problem was that it shouldn’t be a ‘fight.’ In the end, Yoo Jonghyuk had to bend his pride a bit.
“Yes, I am the Demon King of Salvation. Who are you?”
[...It is a bit strange? Were you originally this handsome? The face I saw last time...]
“You came here because you have something to say. Then tell me.”
[Huhu, yes. But before we talk, there is something that is bothering me.]
“What?”
Asmodeus’s small fingers snapped. Formidable sparks appeared and a little doll with half of one arm torn appeared in the air.
[As expected.]
Yoo Jonghyuk bit his lips. He was dealing with a demon king. It was a mistake to think that the Recluse’s Cloak wouldn’t be noticed.
[Why is the symbolic body of an archangel here?]
“I don’t know.”
[Is that so? Is this true?]
Intense sparks flashed and Uriel made a pained expression.
[I can tell who you are based on this symbolic body.]
[The constellation ‘Demon-like Judge of Fire’ is looking at Asmodeus.]
[Archangel Uriel. Is your brother Raphael well? I want you to tell him that I haven’t forgotten the debt.]
[The constellation ‘Demon-like Judge of Fire’ is roaring with anger!]
[Of course, you can only tell him if you return safely.]
Yoo Jonghyuk’s expression darkened. This was the Demon World. No matter how strong Uriel was, she couldn’t expose the demon king’s incarnation body with a symbolic body. Yoo Jonghyuk didn’t hesitate to raise his energy.
“Stop.”
It would be difficult if he lost Uriel’s symbolic body here. He would become lost from the scenario if he lost Uriel here. Asmodeus looked impressed by the pressure of the boiling magic power coming from Yoo Jonghyuk.
[Hrmm? This energy... it is tough. But...]
The next moment, Asmodeus was in front of Yoo Jonghyuk.
[A mere mortal is imitating a star.]
The small arm stretched out and grabbed Yoo Jonghyuk’s jaw.
“Kuek...!”
[Indeed, you aren’t the Demon King of Salvation. Isn’t that right?]
Yoo Jonghyuk hurriedly swung the Heaven Shaking Sword. Surprisingly, it was easily caught by Asmodeus’ hand.
[If I’d known you could make such a pretty face, I wouldn’t have let you go in the beginning.]
Then the Heaven Shaking Sword was broken in half.
[You are afraid of me. Cute child.]
“Kuoock...”
[If you resist so much, I will lose the desire to talk to you.]
Dark shadows flocked behind Asmodeus. The darkness gathered in the air and formed a monster with huge horns.
[I want to trample on you.]
Blood started to flow from Yoo Jonghyuk’s nose. The mighty story was weighing down on his transcendence. In front of the vast presence, Yoo Jonghyuk quietly prepared to open ‘transcendence stage 1.’
There were no odds but Yoo Jonghyuk didn’t give up. If he could just create a gap for one moment, he might have enough time to return to the Earth scenario. As Yoo Jonghyuk was thinking this, he allowed one attack and felt the shock of his entire body being broken.
His left arm and right leg were broken and even the magic power in his stomach was lost. By the time he came to his senses, he was crumpled on the ground. Asmodeus raised this Yoo Jonghyuk and touched Yoo Jonghyuk’s forehead softly.
[I can’t believe it. A mere human has such sublime despair.]
“Dog... bas...tard.”
[Persephone said that ‘Kim Dokja’ must be the best story. Huhu.]
Asmodeus licked his lips. Yoo Jonghyuk stared at Asmodeus before closing his eyes.
‘I’m sorry Kim Dokja.’
There was no other way. He was forced to look towards the next regression. He closed his eyes and Yoo Jonghyuk’s clock prepared to go back. The second hand, the minute hand, the hour hand. The moment that the giant hands were going to move in the opposite direction—
「 That’s why you should’ve thought about me earlier. 」
All of a sudden, Yoo Jonghyuk’s clock stopped.
***
[The exclusive skill, ‘Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint’ stage 3 has been activated!]
Huge sparks appeared around Yoo Jonghyuk and the startled Asmodeus moved back. Something blinked inside Yoo Jonghyuk’s eyes while something else woke up. Of course, it was me.
[You...]
[The constellation ‘Demon King of Salvation’ is looking at the ‘Demon King of Rage and Lust’.]
I stared at Asmodeus with bright eyes. Then I said, [Don’t touch my incarnation, Asmodeus.]