Chapter 197: Grand Duke (4)
Bamut — is known to be the worst prison in the Demon Realm. This was a place where no one could regenerate after getting injured.
In the Yongchun Group’s vice chairman’s office:
The wall on every side was encased with ice, traces of Chun Yeowun’s freezing the entire building that was about to collapse.
Hu Bong looked at the walls and sighed,
“Ugh.”
“Stop it. I’ll hit you off.”
Baekgi, who was sitting on the sofa, yelled at the sighs. Frustrated, Hu Bong yelled back,
“Aren"t you worried?”
“How can I not be? He"s somewhere we’ve never even heard of.”
There was no way he couldn’t worry for his Lord. Hu bong mumbled in response,
“The Lord was probably worried for us, but I just want him to trust us a little more.”
He knew how strong the enemies were and that a crisis would follow the invasion.
However, the feeling of not being able to fulfill his duty as a subordinate kept tormenting him.
“Huh. I guess all the Chun Ma’s are like this.”
The Golden Gumiho in human form spoke out suddenly.
She was used to this behavior, as the first Chun Ma was also like this in the past.
‘When I see this happening, the scent around him gets stronger.’
She wanted to see the past Chun Ma more. Baekgi, who was still seated, listened to Hu Bong and said,
“If you’re just going to keep sighing, you should go and do some work instead.”
“Work?”
“Yes.”
“Lord didn’t say anything—”
“If he doesn’t give us any orders, are you just going to sit still?”
“I-I’m not sitting still.”
“Either way, the Lord was looking for information about MS Group and we need to look into them.”
“You two.”
Mun Ran-yeong interrupted their conversation. With pitiful eyes, she asked,
“How do you even plan to help when neither of you knows how to use a smartphone, let alone a computer?”
“W-wife.”
“G-great Elder.”
“If you want to be helpful, learn more about the time period we’re in. Don’t do something dumb and end up hurting Chun Ma.”
Hearing her words, the two pulled out their smartphones.
Although both the smartphones and cla.s.ses were paid for and brought by Bi Mak-heon, neither Hu Bong nor Baekgi were in the mood to look into them.
“Whatever. Ugh, men. Tsk tsk.”
Mun Ran-yeong clicked her tongue after talking to them. Seeing her, the Golden Gumiho gave her a thumbs up to show her approval.
Then:
“Sire.”
Shakena, who was keeping watch over the demons, approached Marquis Cawl, who was tied with a rope imbued with Yokai energy.
“How dare you, a traitor of the clan, talk to me?”
Marquis Cawl turned his head in displeasure. It seemed like he felt that Shakena had turned sides and was the cause of everything happening. Explaining herself, Shakera said,
“I didn’t betray anyone. I will always obey the orders of the King. But… those weren"t the King’s orders.”
“Duke Ludwig and the others represent the King.”
“Then I am just as right in my position.”
“You b.i.t.c.h!”
Grab!
Marquis Cawl tried to get up, but the rope around him began to tighten.
“Kuak!”
“Idiot.”
Seeing him in pain, the Golden Gumiho laughed. Shakena used his chin to lift his head.
“W-what are you doing?”
As she lifted his face, he was full of shock and surprise as Shakena kept looking him in the eyes and said,
“I was skeptical because the demonic power seemed weak, but I was right.”
The Golden Gumiho and Mun Ran-yeong, who didn’t understand, went closer to her.
“What do you mean?”
Shakena then pointed to Marquis Cawl’s eyes.
“I was being watched through the eyes of the Marquis.”
“Through the eyes?”
“I remember hearing about it: one of the Demon King’s closest aides, Duke Edhuy, could look through others’ eyes and see their world.”
“Through others" eyes?”
“Through other people’s eyes? Do you mean that he can monitor others by watching with their eyes?”
Shakena nodded in response. Marquis Cawl, whose face displayed that he had been caught, spoke,
“You’re too late. They must already know the situation here. Kuakuk!”
“Such an annoying laugh.”
The Golden Gumiho didn’t like his laugh. Enjoying the reaction, Marquis Cawl spoke,
“Your leader, that human Chun Mu-seong, will never come back alive to this place—”
Puk!
“Kuak!”
Before he could finish speaking, two of the Gumiho’s fingers dug into Marquis Cawl’s eyes.
She kept pushing her fingers in as if digging into a holes until his eyes popped out.
“Ahhhhh! My eyes! My eyes!”
Even a demon felt pain when its eyes were pierced. However, the screams didn’t last for too long.
The Golden Gumiho grabbed the eyeb.a.l.l.s in her palm and crushed them. Worried, Shakera said,
“He’s probably fine, but Master might be in danger.”
“Chun Ma, in danger? As if! He’s such a monster.”
“He would be fine if they were in the dark about what was happening, but what if they had been observing Master’s power and responded accordingly?”
This was what Shakena was most concerned about.
What kind of power could they prepare if the Grand Dukes decided to strike first to take down the one human who was a threat?
Meanwhile, in Grand Duke Kaliaf’s castle:
The demon"s reactions were full of confusion and absurdity.
‘What a cheeky b.a.s.t.a.r.d!’
‘How can a human be put in the Demon King’s position!’
No one expected Chun Yeowun’s mouth to even mention the position of Demon King. They found it an insult for a mere human being to talk about the Demon King position so lightly.
However, none of the demons were able to express their anger because they had witnessed Chun Yeowun’s power with their own eyes.
“The position of Demon King?”
Grand Duke Kaliaf, whose expression hardened for a moment, asked.
Chun Yeowun answered without hesitation,
“I think that would be asking enough for the bet.”
Hearing his arrogant words, Grand Duke’s body trembled in anger.
All the demons looked at him with tense eyes; they too must have been angry but they feared the anger of Grand Duke Kaliaf, who was officially aiming for the position of Demon King. Then, something unexpected happened.
“Kuahahaha!”
Grand Duke Kaliaf laughed out loud. It seemed more like a sneer than a laugh. After laughing, he said,
“You really are an interesting one. You’re the first human being to utter such absurd words in front of me.”
“Absurd…?”
“Well, it’s rather bold of you and I like it.”
Chun Yeowun was puzzled that the Grand Duke considered his personality to be bold.
Chun Yeowun thought that if the Grand Duke was provoked to this extent, he would be unable to control his emotions and burst out into anger, but this demon seemed to have enjoyed n.o.bility and maintained control over himself from birth.
“Unfortunately, the position of the Demon King isn’t a position that I can give if I wanted to. If it was a position I could obtain that easily, I would have taken it by now.”
Hearing the Grand Duke’s words, Chun Yeowun was taken aback. When he heard about the Grand Duke from Shakena and Duke Bevman, he a.s.sumed that the demon just coveted position and its power.
However, he realized that this man was more than that and seemed capable of ruling over others.
“Fine. I am not the Demon King but I’ll make an offer that might interest you. If you win against me, then the Grand Duke, which is I, will become your servant according to the law of the clan.”
“Your Highness!”
“How can you!”
The demons, who had kept their mouths shut until then, were shocked. They had served Grand Duke Kaliaf as their lord for a very long time.
They all thought that he was destined to become the next Demon King, so they found it absurd for him to claim that he would give up the position if he lost to a mere human.
In response to their reactions, Grand Duke Kaliaf spoke in a seemingly unpleasant voice.
“Does this mean you all don’t believe in the Grand Duke?”
“N-No it isn’t—’
“Then keep watching. I’ll show the power that someone willing to become a King should possess.”
Tak! Tak!
Grand Duke Kaliaf removed the cloak from his shoulders; it looked like he was going for a clear fight and not just entertainment. Seeing this, Marquis Becken, one of the demons under his command, loudly raised the morale of the other demons.
“Your Majesty is showing his greatness! Do you not believe in our Highness?”
The demons who were concerned moments earlier, suddenly changed their att.i.tudes.
Thud!
They slammed their weapons into the floor and shouted,
“No!!!”
“This is the duty of us subordinates to boost the morale of His Highness. Victory to the Grand Duke!”
“Victory to the Grand Duke!!! Woooh!!!”
A shout which enclosed the entire army.
The demons, who were more barbaric than humans, naturally had strong fighting ability, but they had even more power when they were united.
They were the epitome of an army.
“Grand Duke! Grand Duke! Grand Duke!!!”
Grand Duke raised his hand as if he enjoyed the support. In an instant, the castle had become a battleground.
“Now move.”
In response to the Grand Duke’s command, the demons retreated to the back as if forming a stage, knowing the aftermath from Grand Duke used his powers would destroy his surroundings.
The Grand Duke swung his spear and stepped forward with a warrior’s stance.
“Let’s have an interesting match.”
Seeing the Grand Duke’s enthusiasm and seriousness, Chun Yeowun smiled and said,
“I like this.”
“I can tell. I am also a warrior of the demon clan. You are a swordsman, right?”
Shh!
The Grand Duke grabbed his spear and aimed it. While all he did was grab it, the heavy energy that his body was radiating coalesced at the tip of the spear.
His expression was full of confidence from knowing how to properly handle the spear beyond just using it as a weapon.
Chun Yeowun said to him,
“I will give you a chance.”
“A chance?”
“Don’t try to play around. Stop wasting your energy and start with your Awakening.”
“What?”
Hearing Chun Yeowun’s words about starting with Advanced Awakening, the Grand Duke was fl.u.s.tered.
They hadn’t even fought yet but the human was already asking him to fight with his best. Although the Grand Duke knew that Chun Yeowun was a bold human, hearing his words displeased him a lot.
“You seem to be confident in your skills, but if I do use my Awakening, you won’t stand a chance.”
Chun Yeowun responded with a smile,
“It"ll be the other way around.”
“Other way?”
“If you don’t use Advanced Awakening, this will end soon.”
At Chun Yeowun’s arrogant-sounding words, anger rose not just in the Grand Duke but also in the rest of the demons who were watching the fight.
“His Highness has done him such a favor!”
“Arrogant human b.a.s.t.a.r.d!”
As the noise rose, the Grand Duke raised his head, causing the rest of the demons to become silent at once. With a stiff expression, the Grand Duke spoke again, holding his spear,
“You are the first human to show such arrogance in front of me. I expect you have skills worthy of said arrogance.”
“You’ll regret it.”
“You talk too much.”
Grand Duke Kaliaf stretched his spear forward. Although it seemed to be a simple stance, the moment the spear was pointed ahead, it radiated a powerful force and a whirlwind formed.
Kwakwakw.a.n.g!
It was a spear attack that used demonic power. The spear caused the tornado to fly off, seemingly eager to swallow Chun Yeowun.
It was a terrifying attack, but Chun Yeowun just closed the gap and drew his sword, slicing the tornado from the top to the bottom.
Chak!
At that moment, the tornado split in half. The Grand Duke then swung his spear through the pierced tornado to block an approaching Invisible Sword.
Clang!
Feeling the power behind the Invisible Sword, the Grand Duke smiled with pleasure.
“Hahaha! This is what I’m talking about!”
“It’s too early for you to enjoy this.”
Shhh!
Chun Yeowun appeared right in front of him, causing the Grand Duke to try to create a wind pressure by rotating his spear.
“Your spear technique is rather dull compared to the strength you have.”
“What?”
Woong!
Chun Yeowun’s hand shone with five colors as he condensed the energy around him to form an Invisible Sword imbued with the energy of the Five Spirit Beasts.
Chachachang!
Sparks went flying as Arisha’s spear collided with Chun Yeowun’s sword of five attributes.
However, after exchanging a few swings, the Grand Duke couldn’t help but be surprised by Chun Yeowun’s swordsmanship.
‘What kind of sword is this?’
Compared to his spear, Chun Yeowun’s sword felt dizzying.
How many times had the Grand Duke blocked its slashes? Chun Yeowun’s five attribute sword then skillfully pierced through a gap in the Grand Duke’s spear and pierced his heart.
Swoosh!
“Huha!”
The Grand Duke hurriedly moved back., but the sword that had already stabbed him once continued to aim for his chest.
A pure white light suddenly shone from the Grand Duke’s eyes.
Whoong!
At that moment, the s.p.a.ce in front of him shook. Chun Yeowun’s sword, which was aiming for his chest, moved away in response.
“Did you think you would win?”
As the Grand Duke prepared the strike to strike back, something unexpected occurred.
Puck!
Something pierced through his shoulder.
“Kuak!”
Shocked that something hit him, the Grand Duke looked at his shoulder to find another sword with five attributes stuck in it.
‘The one in his hand isn’t all he has?’
Grand Duke, who hadn’t thought that hard, was overwhelmed by the two swords with the same natures that pierced both of his shoulders, causing him to fall to his knees.
Thud!
The demons who had been cheering for him suddenly became still out of shock.
“H-His Highness is on his knees?”
Grand Duke Kaliaf was considered to be the strongest of the three Grand Dukes. Even if he didn’t use his Advance Awakening, he was still someone who could consider the other demons as bugs. However, even he knelt down?
“Ha!”
Chun Yeowun looked down arrogantly at the Grand Duke and said,
“I definitely gave you a chance.”
“Y… yes… right. I’ve made a mistake.”
The Grand Duke admitted his mistake, realizing that his opponent was someone whom he had to do his best against. The energies of the two swords pressing down on his shoulders weren’t just any energies.
“Good. Do it right from now on.”
Prrr!
Grand Duke Kaliaf struggled to withstand the force from the two swords pressing down on his shoulders and raised his palms to cover his face.
At that moment, a sharp sense pa.s.sed through his wrist.
Slash!
“Euk!”
The arm of the Grand Duke, which he was trying to lift, was cut off. The Grand Duke, who was about to awaken, looked at Chun Yeowun with a face of confusion.
Chun Yeowun sarcastically said,
“I told you to transform before fighting. What are you, stupid?”