Chapter 312: The Man Who Became a God (3)

The Korean sushi spot headquartered at the Academy always had an endless line of customers.

However, following the will of the former owner Kang Geom-Ma, the current managers, Chloe and Knox Auditore, didn’t accept reservations.

“Before the sashimi knife, all customers are equal!”

“A customer who oversteps isn’t a customer! Just another ingredient!”

“If they cross the line, stab them with the knife! It’s easier to ask for forgiveness than permission!”

Everyone —except for one person— had to wait their turn at the place.
That day, two very special clients arrived.

“Welcome~!”

Knox Auditore greeted them with his usual sunny smile.

But his face quickly darkened.

“…What are you two doing here?”

It was Ryozo and Abel. Everyone present turned their eyes toward them.

“We came to eat sushi, what else?”

“You were supposed to have dinner with Kang Geom-Ma… Ugh, whatever. Head to the private room.”

“Thanks~”

Ryozo and Abel ignored the curious stares and went straight into the SSS private room.

Knock, knock.

Shortly after, Knox appeared with a large tray of fresh fish, a cutting board, and freshly steamed rice.

“The usual?”

“Yup.”

“I’ll have the same.”

“Pff…”

Knox began preparing the sushi with skillful, precise movements.

“After ten years doing this, how are you still getting better?”

Ryozo rested her chin on one hand, impressed.

“Why not quit killing and focus on sushi? You’ve made enough money already. Thanks to you and Chloe, the Auditore clan is secured for ten generations.”

“If you came just to spout nonsense, eat and leave. If you’ve got something to say, say it now.”

“Always so serious.” Ryozo picked up her chopsticks.

“The nobles have been moving suspiciously lately.”

“I know. They say the British Empire is conspiring.”

“Conspiring is putting it mildly.”

Abel elegantly brushed her hair back and added.

“There are reports they’ve been meeting in secret with demons dissatisfied with Joaquin Academy.”

The hand pressing the fish paused for a moment.

“With demons? Are they insane?”

“They say ‘the enemy of my enemy is my friend.’ Since they can’t act freely, they’re forming an alliance to take down the Academy—and him.”

“Idiots.”

Knox let out a crooked smile.

“Don’t they know that even if they attacked with all their might, they wouldn’t manage to wound Heavenly Sword?”

“They know. But they’re doing it anyway.”

Ryozo spoke without emotion, barely moving her lips.

“Mom might be many things, but there are lines she doesn’t cross. And that’s exactly why they’re doing this.”

“What do you mean?”

“That those damned nobles have taken their own children enrolled at the Academy as hostages.”

“Rotten. As rotten as spoiled fish.”

Knox pressed his lips tightly.

After a deep exhale, he spoke in a calm voice.

“What do you want me to do?”

“The demons are under Kang Geom-Ma and Leon’s watch. You monitor the nobles’ movements.”

“Understood.”

Knox continued preparing sushi.
Once all the food was served, he stood up, and Ryozo asked him a question from behind.

“By the way, what’s been up with Chloe lately? She hasn’t shown up.”

“…”

The lips marked by his teeth trembled slightly before opening with difficulty.

“…She’s taking wife lessons.”

“What kind of lessons!?”

“…She said she didn’t mind being the third…”

Knox left the room without saying more.

Ryozo and Abel’s chopsticks hung in mid-air above the sushi.

Knox’s bright eyes
remained etched in their minds.

***

Demons, by nature, have a violent temperament.

“Everyone ready!?”

“I, Snugal, am always ready!”

“Revolution! Revolution!”

Raised in hostile environments, demons had aggressive, savage personalities.

Only the dragons were calmer, less influenced by their surroundings.

And these very demons lived under suppression.

Their instinct was to submit before overwhelming power.

But the fact that such power was human dealt a deep blow to their pride.

Heavenly Sword.

Kang Geom-Ma.

The current Dragon Lord, Valerion, watched them from a hill.

‘If only he ruled the Demon Realm, there would be order…’

But…

‘I refuse.’

Kang Geom-Ma flatly refused.

— But if your body originates from the Demon Realm… weren’t you nothing less than a descen—

‘Then I’d have to explain everything from the beginning, and I’m not up for that. I have a family in the human world, and no one around me knows who I really am. I’m not planning to tell them either. Got it, Lord?’

— …Yes, understood.

Kang Geom-Ma made it clear that his identity was human. The power of a god, the body of a demon, and the will of a human.

Of those three, he chose the weakest—the human will.

‘Well, if that’s your decision…’

Valerion respected that choice.

Until a successor was found, he would temporarily lead Gehenna.

Temporarily.

Not as a rightful ruler.

Dragons, by nature neutral, didn’t seek power out of ambition.

Thus, Gehenna lost even its most basic structure.

It became quite literally a lawless land.

Valerion murmured to himself.

‘It’s the only thing keeping everything from blowing up.’

That’s why demons, unable to contain their impulses, rebelled nearly every day.

“How long will we live under the oppression of humans, brothers!? We are demons! Humans are just food!”

“Waaaah! Tasty human meat!”

The main agitators were races less affected by the Second Great Human-Demon War.

Especially younger demons born after the war.

“Yes! The law of the strongest is the law of the universe! Enough holding back! Ten years is enough!”

The more intelligent demons—like medusas or dark elves—also reacted when provoked.

“Roook-Taaar!”

“Oooro-Garr!”

The less intelligent but physically imposing ones—like orcs, ogres, and trolls—roared in unison.

Meanwhile, the high-elves observed from a corner with grim expressions.

‘It’s a circus.’

At least, their discipline level resembled an army.

Any dragon seeing them would feel their heart stir with energy.

Yes, that rage was part of their age.

It wasn’t that they had major stakes involved.

They were simply prisoners of their own desire to kill.

But what could they do?

‘That’s their nature.’

One could more or less understand it.

“Haven’t seen this in a while.”

At that moment, someone beside him spoke.

“They’re more aggressive than usual today—and more violent. Fools…”

An elderly dark elf approached. Valerion glanced at him and murmured.

“You also used to have a difficult temperament.”

“That’s in the past now.”

“The past? Wasn’t it your attempt to eat human flesh that almost drove the entire dark elf race to extinction?”

“…”

The old elf said nothing, staring silently ahead. The memories of that violence, etched deeper than his corneas, resurfaced vividly.

That elder had survived from Balor Joaquin’s era until now. He had seen countless battlefields. That’s why he was alive, why he was here.

And still—

There was a moment he truly believed he’d die. Just once.

‘When I challenged that man.’

A chill ran down his spine. It was like a spectral cold gripped his human-shaped heart.

‘Kang Geom-Ma…’

Just picturing his black hair and dark eyes made his teeth chatter like castanets.

“Aren’t you shaking a bit too much? You’re an elder, for God’s sake.”

“Y-You wouldn’t understand, Lord. You were never on bad terms with him from the start…”

The old man’s face turned pale.

The dark elves, by someone’s order, had been forced to stop consuming flesh.

Their dark skin had lightened since. Their faces now resembled poorly drawn paper puppets with ink stains.

“…And why the hell did you challenge him?”

“That’s exactly what those brats are doing now!”

The elder pointed his bony finger at the younger ones.

“That man… that man is coming…! Ahhh!”

“You mention his name and go mad. You used to be a pretty sharp guy…”

Valerion shook his head.

The elder was scratching under his eyes so hard blood began to trickle.

“Hm?”

Footsteps were heard.

When they turned, they saw two figures who looked completely out of place in the Demon Realm—or three, if you counted the squirrel on Leon’s shoulder.

“Well, they say word travels fast… and boy, does it.”

“Long time no see, old man.”

Leon greeted politely.

“No need for such formality between us. And you…”

“This is my first time seeing him, Lord.”

“Didn’t think you’d come in person.”

Valerion frowned. The leader of the angels, Metatron, had come directly.

To the very heart of the Demon Realm, no less.

“Well, I am a refugee in Gehenna. Thought I should see things with my own eyes.”

“You came at a good time. Though as temporary leader, this puts me in a bad light…”

“I understand how you feel. I’ve been there.”

Metatron turned his gaze toward the riotous crowd.

It reminded him of the Grigori rebellion he had crushed alone.

Perhaps that’s why the scene disgusted him so much.

“Ka-Kang Geom-Ma… He… He’s coming!”

In a corner, the old elf shriveled up like an insect, trembling uncontrollably.

Leon looked at him and asked.

“What’s with the old man?”

“He just heard the name ‘Heavenly Sword.’”

“If he’s like this now, what’ll happen when the man really shows up…?”

It happened in an instant.

BOOOOM!

RRRRRRRRRRUMBLE!

CRAAAASH!

The clear sky roared in fury.

The fighting spirit of the young demons was blown away by the thunder.

Everyone looked up at once. Demons, angels, and nephilim all turned toward the same point.

Terror gripped the demons at the sky’s wrath.

Even the wild beasts with abnormal fangs fled in terror.

The black clouds swirled. The black sun, seemingly afraid, hid behind the curtain.

RRRRRRRRRUMBLE!

A massive gap opened in the clouds.

At the center, a tiny figure was descending.

The old elf’s empty eyes filled with tears.

He murmured.

“At last… at last…”

A human-shaped shadow.

A man with black hair and black eyes.

A demon with sashimi in hand.

FWOOSH!

Kang Geom-Ma descended with hands in his pockets.

The wind swirled around him like velvet.

Then—

BOOM!

He landed on one knee, both feet planted firmly in the center of the rebels.

From the cloud of dust, his voice thundered across all of Gehenna.

“Are you afraid?”

“…”

Pores shut tight.

Brains cooled as if icy water coursed through their grooves.

The air thickened like fog.

Fear.

Despair.

Terror.

Negative emotions rose like steam.

CRACK!

A snap was heard.

A medusa, about to speak, accidentally stepped on a twig.

“Those who are afraid…”

“…”

“…”

“…”

“Why do things that deserve a beating?”

He pulled a hand from his pocket and raised it.

Then, he yanked the air.

Beyond the black clouds, a hole opened in the sky as if pierced by a divine needle.

Each of those holes carried the will of a storm.

Thousands of sashimi knives descended upon the world.

Each blade gleamed. Like grains of sunlit sand on a beach.

They weren’t mere knives.

Each carried lightning.

Blades of cold light. Thunderous light.

“A sword that surpasses ego.”

He recited.

“Heavenly Thunder.”

And they fell.

SHREEEEEEEEK!

The roar of thunder and crashing tore through the air.

Screams and the sound of flesh being shredded mixed together.

Sword flashes streaked through the sky.

The ground was soaked in blood.

Crimson puddles spread.

Metatron, witnessing that sashimi-lightning cleansing the Demon Realm, was stunned.

He let out a hollow laugh.

“He really… became a god…”

— You’re wrong, Metatron.

Lycan’s cheeks puffed with pride.

— That man… is a sword that kills gods.