ALL NOVEL Chapter 443
Chapter 444
[So, is the story all wrapped up? I waited out of courtesy, but I almost died from boredom!]
A voice rang out from the fully opened hall. It felt like a calm voice was teasing my ears. Yeon-woo’s face twisted in displeasure.
‘Is this what it means to have the qualities of a born ruler?’
There’s no need to mention the importance of speeches in running a nation.
A soft yet powerful voice. Yeon-woo could easily picture the man standing before countless others expressing his thoughts.
He must be a royal talent, that much was clear. Just by his appearance and voice, one could sense how outstanding a ruler he could be.
Yet, instead of ruling, this guy chose to gobble things up.
My insides were boiling. If that bastard had just kept his weird thoughts to himself and ruled the country properly, the world would’ve been at least twice as peaceful.
His choice had taken the world one step further into unhappiness.
[I see many unfamiliar faces, but there are also some welcoming ones. I wondered why you were playing with the little ones, and it turns out you were planning to betray?]
“You really thought I would genuinely follow you? That’s ridiculous.”
[Ha ha, no way! I was just watching to see how long you could hold out. Isn’t that a fun spectacle?]
Moryo smiled widely. The sound of Kai grinding his teeth was audible.
You could almost feel he had a knack for inciting others’ anger with that nonchalant demeanor.
[How has Ilucia been doing all this time?]
[Ugh, ugh…]
Ilucia, referred to as the Sun God, hid behind Kai. Despite having been imprisoned for a long time, I thought she appeared calmer than expected, but it seemed tough to stay composed in front of the one who had confined her.
With a personality like that, going toe-to-toe with Moryo wouldn’t be an easy fight.
[You may be unfamiliar to me, but I know all about you. The hero of this world, Choi Yeon-woo, and his merry band of friends, right? Haha.]
At those words, the three began to look at Yeon-woo with odd eyes.
“Wait, that’s a misunderstanding! I never lumped you all together as ‘merry friends’ even once.”
He always kindly introduced himself, but the media had carelessly grouped them as ‘merry friends.’
I don’t see why that should make me so mad, though.
[Indeed, quite the entertaining circus troupe.]
Yeon-woo shot a fierce glare at the smiling Moryo.
Moryo was the only one in this hall who maintained his human form. His dazzling golden hair and neat features felt like they symbolized the descendants of the sun.
Ironically, among all the shadows and sources of evil, only Moryo, the Demon King, had broken free from the curse that forced him to live only as a silhouette of a human.
‘Anyway, demon kings are all so lenient with themselves.’
Thinking that, Yeon-woo swung the sword he had drawn. The nearly invisible veil of shadow that had been obstructing the way between Moryo and Ilucia was sliced apart.
[Oh, it seems my child has made a friend, huh?]
Moryo smiled cheerfully. Yeon-woo felt Tae-oh, who was hiding inside, shudder.
‘Shar, calm Tae-oh down for me.’
[Got it! Just leave it to me!]
And so, the battle began. Yeon-woo felt no anxiety. He was only thinking about how he could finally kill Moryo with his own hands.
*
“Damn, what a hassle…!!”
Namgung Seong shouted. Just as he was about to take off into the spacious hall, he found himself blocked in mid-air and had to turn back.
He needed to take the high ground first, but Moryo’s interference was preventing him from doing so.
What was blocking Namgung Seong was the very thing Yeon-woo had sliced just before the battle began.
At a glance, it looked like a curtain, but in reality, it was closer to a huge net woven from sharp threads.
Not to mention weapons, it was too tough to cut through with a human body. If he misjudged and passed through too quickly, he’d end up as cube steak.
Each moment, the net occupied the wide space of the hall, preventing the group from advancing recklessly.
The only solution they had was Lime, who had come along with Baek In-hwa. Lime stepped forward first, swallowing the threads, which was the most effective method at that point.
[Kugh, haha!! Shuyo, what in the world happened to you? One of the demon kings raised by humans, Fenyo would laugh at this!]
[You look happy, so I feel good too. It’s not as bad as I thought! Wanna give it a try?]
[Me? With a person? Don’t be ridiculous; I’d choke!]
[No, it’s surprisingly easy. Just be quiet and let me gobble you up!]
It seemed that it wasn’t so bad, but teasing like that was bound to annoy anyone.
Shuyo slowly moved toward Moryo. Of course, his trademark slow pace wasn’t exactly speedy.
Meanwhile, Kim Yoo-min and Yeon-woo were sticking close to Ilucia and Kai. It seemed Moryo was intent on targeting Ilucia, as he kept aiming for her. This meant they had to fend off the shadows extending from all directions.
[What an unpleasant sensation. It feels like part of me is trying to escape. Is this what they mean when they say one can’t live by committing sins?]
Moryo was quite the talker. Like how darkness speaks to a person hiding in the dark, Moryo couldn’t keep quiet either.
He continued to speak, even to himself. Perhaps this was a side effect unique to Moryo.
Having swallowed a whole world’s worth of people, he could be subconsciously affected by that.
While others were no longer in a state to be called human, he was the only one getting stuck in a loop of self-talk, which seemed unfair.
[If you returned it quietly, such feelings wouldn’t arise, would they?]
[That can’t happen. If a master appears, why return it calmly? Why steal it in the first place? Why lock you up?]
Ilucia seemed to have adapted to some extent as she engaged in a back-and-forth with Moryo. It even felt somewhat peaceful at a glance, but it wasn’t really.
An overwhelming divine power filled the hall. One could hardly believe that a god in a weakened and imprisoned state could handle such an immense amount.
Still, Ilucia was achieving results beyond mere control in her struggle with Moryo.
Gradually, the flow of divine energy began to gently flow toward Ilucia. Yeon-woo could discern this, having a close relationship with gods.
However, it wasn’t yet time for Tae-oh to emerge. Moryo needed to weaken a bit more before Tae-oh could step in.
Until then, it would likely remain in a state of relative calm.
“Ugh, damn!!”
Of course, saying that was difficult due to Moryo’s attacks being quite savage. Countless shadows stretched toward Ilucia from all directions.
Each individual strike had considerable destructive power, and they came flying in swarms, dozens at a time.
Baek In-hwa, coming forward with Lime, adeptly dodged the shadow attacks. Regardless of the power, perhaps because of some similarity to the Doppleganger, protecting others felt a bit harder.
“How long do we have to hold this off!?”
At Kim Yoo-min’s scream, Yeon-woo shook his head. How would he know? He was just holding on.
That’s life in the world. Even in the darkest moments that seem endless, there will always be an end.
*
Boom!!
Charging in like a bumper car was a massive beast, resembling a cow and standing at the height of two hefty adult men. The Behemoth had revealed its true form.
However, that didn’t significantly change the situation. The Behemoth’s full-force charge merely pushed Hwayo back.
‘Is this for real?’
The difference in strength was evident. However, that encompassed a comprehensive notion of strength; in pure physicality, he believed he shouldn’t be outmatched.
Indeed, that was true. But that was as far as it went.
A sudden surge of blood gushed from its thick neck. It began to heal instantly, but the fact that it endured an injury didn’t disappear in that moment.
Moreover, it hadn’t yet fully adapted to its speed and strength. If it reached full adaptation, the instant of colliding could mean the end of its life.
“Sis, is this for real?”
[You’re not dying from that!!]
“Seriously, this is too much!!”
The Behemoth turned back to see Leviathan in a rage.
Among the two siblings, the Behemoth, who had the most striking appearance, was finally showing hints of her cutesy little sister persona after being sealed due to her looks.
Watching her, Jiz began to chuckle as he soared high into the sky, swinging his front paw towards Hwayo.
The winds wrapped around Jiz’s body. It would serve to protect him while slicing through the enemies with blades of wind.
With a swift strike, like a hawk seizing its prey, Jiz attacked Hwayo and swiftly ascended into the sky.
As if dropping a bomb, the air mass settled to the ground, exploding in the process. Swish swoosh!! Blades were swirling everywhere.
In the midst of it all, Hwayo was merely standing still. Blood sprayed all around, and only when the wind had dyed red in blood did it finally stop.
Thud thud, Hwayo’s body was sliced apart into chunks. Not just limbs, but his torso and head rolled away gruesomely on the ground.
Yet, Hwayo wasn’t dead. Like nothing had happened, he stood upright on two feet the next moment, arms hanging low.
The body that had been shredded into dozens of pieces, including the head, remained right there on his shoulders.
Moreover, even his clothes returned to their original state, leaving the question of whose blood and shredded bits lay on the ground.
“What the hell is this….”
[Keep biting and attacking!]
Jiz pondered what to call this emotion.
Despite being born free and having wandered the world for so long, it was a feeling he had never experienced.
It stemmed from being born as the mightiest beast ruling the skies from the moment he was born.
Feelings of defeat, inferiority, loss… call them whatever you want. The three strongest beasts representing a world were beginning to grasp such feelings.
Even though the enemy wasn’t even executing a proper attack.
(Continued in the next episode)