Chapter 286: Decisive Battle (2)

My head was pounding.

Was it from seeing so much blood? I felt nauseous.

‘Maybe if I get a bit of fresh air, it’ll pass.’

I half-opened my eyes. A dark blue liquid covered the ground, leaving no place to step. It was the blood of centaurs, of demons.

I turned my gaze from the mountain of corpses and lifted my head toward the sky.

Wispy clouds floated overhead. Between them, the sky peeked through.

Blue. But different from Earth’s. The sky was clear and clean. The ground, by contrast, was sticky and damp.

Whoosh.

A gentle breeze brushed my nape, cooling the drops of sweat mixed with blood. As I stared silently at the sky, the sounds around me grew clearer and clearer.

I let out a short exhale. My brief break was over.

I lowered my gaze again. Around me, the centaurs’ bodies formed a wall of flesh.

It wasn’t intentional, but thanks to it, the demons were having a hard time getting close.

Frustrated, they ended up incinerating the horse corpses with fire magic. The smell of charred meat hit my nose.

Fwoosh.

The bodies burst into flame instantly. The overflowing blood turned into a blue vapor and evaporated with a hiss.

My skin stung, and the stench became overwhelming. I covered my mouth with my fist and coughed.

Cough, cough.

It felt like bruises were forming inside my lungs. In this world without cigarettes, I still had pink lungs, but those bastards were drying out my throat and chest.

“Goddamn bastards. Don’t they know secondhand smoke is bad too?”

I huffed and spat on the ground. Bluish saliva splattered on the floor. Seemed I’d swallowed blood without realizing.

“No wonder it tasted metallic.”

I gave a bitter smile and flicked the sashimi blade. The edge, once slick with blood and fat, gleamed cleanly in an instant.

Crrrch.

A rough sound accompanied the blade’s vibration. Some kind of residue had lodged between its chipped teeth. I frowned slightly.

“The blade’s a bit damaged.”

Still, not bad. After all, I had just butchered about a hundred in less than thirty seconds.

The demons’ magical defenses were tougher than expected, so the Fear technique didn’t work. I had to cut through them all by hand.

“There was no other way…”

This battlefield is full of filth. At the very least, I had to keep a positive mindset.

But my five senses—sight, touch, taste, smell, hearing—disagreed. Each protested individually.

That attempt at optimism quickly turned into annoyance. My body and mind were on different pages.

So I talked to myself.

‘Guys, calm down.’

If they kept acting up, I’d have to get violent! I already had the sashimi in hand. It was the perfect size.

“Guess I’ve finally lost it?”

I laughed bitterly, talking to myself in the middle of this war zone.

This world’s crazy. You can’t live in it without going a little mad. I just adapted. It’s not like I was born insane.

That’s when the demons finally breached the wall of flesh.

They advanced. Their eyes gleamed like starving beasts, but they carefully measured the distance. A mix of savagery and caution.

But they were unstable. You could tell just by looking at the crooked circle they tried to form around me.

They wanted to surround me, but it was sloppy.

Look at that. Uneven edges, messy spacing. Nothing like the clean formations of the heroes.

“They should take notes.”

I rotated my wrist. Thanks to the [Blessing of Insensitivity to Pain], the pain was tolerable. Dammit, it hurt, but I could handle it. That was a win.

I gripped the hilt lightly. The demons stepped back slightly and assumed defensive stances, thumb and middle finger pressed together.

“Wait for the signal. Attack all at once.”

Dozens of pointy-eared bastards encircled me. The moment one moved, spells from every element would rain down.

The formation was messy, but had no glaring blind spots. To escape, I couldn’t dodge—I had to carve a way out.

Meanwhile, the sun hid halfway behind the floating clouds. Half of the pointed ears were cloaked in shadow, just like me.

The area was pure chaos. The cries of heroes fighting tooth and nail echoed loudly.

The heroes’ weapons were their instruments. With metallic tones, they played out their despair.

I jumped in place. Silent. Only dust rose with each bounce.

And then it happened.

Everyone froze. They turned to me. A sudden silence blanketed the field.

Everyone, demons included, felt something off.

When my feet hit the ground the third time—or just before—a blue spark crackled between my soles and the earth.

In an instant.

My position swapped with the closest pointy-ear. We ended up back to back. Yellow sparks flickered behind my heels.

“Ugh, ughhh…”

The pointy-ear now facing away from me, and the ones flanking him, spasmed as they blinked.

At the same time, they scratched their necks with their right hands and grabbed their bellies or groins with their left. From their gaping mouths came groans like pigs being slaughtered.

“Kuh… urrgh… ggggeurghh…”

The hands on their necks were drenched in blood. Crisscrossing slashes wrapped around their bodies like ropes.

I flicked the sashimi blade in a horizontal motion. Drops of blood slid off the edge.

When the first drops hit the ground…

Three pointed ears fell simultaneously.

The rest was predictable.

Their dismembered bodies rolled like slabs of meat.

And in that moment when time seemed to freeze, a faint shudder passed through everything.

The blood on the sashimi glowed bluish.

The heroes bloomed with scarlet joy like roses. The demons’ faces turned deathly pale.

“Th-this… can’t be…”

The puffy clouds fully swallowed the sun. From white they turned charcoal gray, as if stained.

The shadows from those clouds shielded the heroes. But to the demons, they pressed down like a slab of stone.

The dark clouds tangled, tearing at each other.

The sky’s roar shook the land. Lightning ripped through the air, leaving glowing scars.

As if someone’s will had been etched into the laws of nature.

CRACK–BOOM!

A violent wind whipped across the battlefield.
With each flash, demons vanished like torches snuffed out in a cave.

They fled, stumbling.

But light is the fastest thing in existence. No matter how quick you are, you can’t outrun it. That’s a universal law. It applies to all.

There’s a saying, “like a bolt from the blue.” But it’s just a phrase. A dry sky can’t spark a flame.

To summon lightning, there must first be shadow.

Light and darkness are two sides of the same coin. Though they seem parallel, they are not. Light is born of darkness, and shadow is light’s reflection. This truth aligns with my life.

The sword, to me, is the goal the light.

In both my past and present life, it’s been the light guiding me through the dark.

And it was the abyss that led me to wield it. A home like a sewer, a life of oppression, a destiny clouded with storms.

Thanks to that darkness, I never let go of the sword. I couldn’t.

Whether by choice or fate, my life has always straddled light and shadow.

A man always standing between two worlds—that’s who I am.

That’s why they call me Kang Geom-Ma, the Demon of the Sword.

***

Ruler of the Demon Realm.

Master of you all. Absolute Sovereign of Gehenna.

The Emperor of Thunder, Lycan, has arrived.

Bow down and tremble before the true Demon.

***

Kuarne rose from his position.
Slowly, he straightened his body and floated into the air.

“You’ve fulfilled two of the three requirements.”

Kuarne’s eyes turned cold. He turned around. Leon and Herya were walking through the air.

Thanks to Kuarne’s magic, which had created an air barrier in the atmosphere, they could stay aloft. That’s why they were safe from the lightning.

“Herya.”

“Yes, lord.”

“We still need more blood.”

Kuarne’s tone was soft and respectful. Depending on his mood, he switched between formal and informal speech. Using the formal tone meant he was in an exceptionally good mood.

“Go down and stir the demons. Understand? We need more ‘offerings.’”

“Yes.”

Herya nodded, giving special attention to those last words.

‘More offerings.’

That implied no distinction between allies and enemies. To Kuarne, demons were just pawns to be sacrificed for his grand plan.

She erased all emotion from her face and descended immediately, dodging the lightning bolts erupting all around her as best as she could.

‘Ugh.’

She couldn’t avoid all of them; her skin was scorched. Despite the pain, she managed to blend into the demon ranks.

“Nephew, it’s time for you to act as well.”

“Nephew, it’s about time you acted too.”

Kuarne smiled faintly.

“Before that, let me ask you something, Kuarne. Why did you decide to invade the human world now? Our agreement was set for two years from now.”

“Originally, we planned to execute the grand plan in two years. We were going to allow some bloodshed within the Demon Realm. But things took a little turn.”

Kuarne shrugged with a mocking expression.

“What else could we do? If we missed the exact moment, everything would’ve been for nothing. And if that happened, I wouldn’t be the only one losing out, would I? Your plans would be ruined too.”

“……”

“I’m not doing this just for myself. Our goals align. Leon, you want revenge on the false gods, but you can’t. Because you’re a hero.”

“……”

“Hate me if you want, nephew. Blame me all you like. I’m the one who betrayed Metatron—your father and my kin. But you know the truth. It was only a matter of time before they found him.”

Leon clenched his lips tightly. Metatron’s downfall had been Kuarne’s doing.

“The gods were close to resurrection and wanted to know what their servants were doing. If they’d gotten involved, they would’ve found out easily. If they’d found Metatron themselves, he’d have been executed on the spot. But thanks to me turning him in, he’s at least still alive—though tortured by them.”

And it was true. That’s why Leon had decided to cooperate with Kuarne.

“My point is, sooner or later, they would’ve found out. Turning a blind eye solves nothing. You have to attack the root of the problem. Metatron knew that. That’s why he asked help from his own brother—the one who wanted to kill him—to protect his son.”

To reach the root of it all, Leon had no choice but to rely on this damn bastard.

“So go and perform your miracle, hero. Your mission isn’t just to save humanity. It’s to save the entire world. Don’t look at it on a micro level—look at the big picture. The universe is too vast for such a narrow view.”

Leon slowly lowered his gaze after hearing that long speech.
At the edge of his vision stood the black-haired boy.

“The one who will kill the gods…”

He murmured in a hoarse voice. His ocean-deep blue eyes radiated murderous intent.

“…The Demon King.”

And his body launched forcefully toward the surface.