149. b.u.t.terfly Effect
It had almost been a month since we"ve been hunting while being chased down by the Demon King and Ladin.
As the days went on, their chase became fiercer, and our methods of escape improved.
The hide and seek to increase Belkoseu"s magical energy continued.
Perhaps due to the finite amount of magical energies present in the demonic realm, we could not increase Belkoseu"s magical energy as quickly as we had hoped.
It might be because I had absorbed Berdan and Zekill"s magical energies already.
I basically had at least 20% of the magical energy in the demonic realm.
This meant that no matter how many monsters with the magical energy pool worthy of a possible future demon king he took, if he did not obtain the magical energy of Ladin, then he could never face up against the Demon King Jamon.
Noticing that, the two of them stayed together at all times, moving together to hunt us down.
In order to take down Ladin, we had to separate him from the Demon King.
We had thought that all we had to do was to focus on Belkoseu"s growth, but it was no longer the case.
To summarize our plan, it went something like this.
First, I needed to grow strong enough to be able to keep the Demon King occupied on my own.
Second, make sure that Jong Ho becomes strong enough to be able to face off against Ladin without me.
Third, have Belkoseu obtain Ladin"s magical energy and have him defeat the Demon King.
Fourth, use Eternal Rest to defeat Belkoseu.
Fifth, return back to Earth.
The way to accomplish our goal was that we all had to grow stronger.
Belkoseu, who experienced first hand the results of our hunting, must realize this as well.
At the rate we were going, before he could grow strong enough, he would be captured by the Demon King and Ladin.
While we were returning to base camp, I spoke to Belkoseu.
"You know, our growth rate is too slow as far as I can tell."
"Kuhuum….. It seems that the flow of magical energy is far more concentrated in the demonic realm than I had originally thought."
It seemed that he was thinking along the same lines as I.
Stopping his walk, he spoke as he stared intensely at me.
I think I knew what his intense gaze meant.
"I guess one of those sources include me, right?"
"That is correct. That magical energy that you cannot even use… If we could find a way to transfer it over to me….."
"You already know, but life isn"t so convenient like that. I guess there isn"t a way to transfer it."
"Kuhuut. Aren"t you the one who knows that fact best? That there isn"t a way to take it without killing the target."
"With how things turned out, you have to obtain Ladin"s magical energy…. But to do that, we need to separate the Demon King from him."
"It sounds like you"re hinting at me to teach you a way to grow stronger quickly."
"You catch on fast enough to scare me, you know? You"re really good at reading the mood. That"s right. A method to get us stronger. We need one that is a surefire way. I think you know why that"s the case, right?"
"That"s right. And one of our conditions for our alliance was that too."
"So you"ll honor your word? That"s a welcome surprise for me."
"Does that mean that I need to hand over the monsters with ma.s.sive pools of magical energy instead of killing them myself?"
"They won"t drop that many artifacts. You know how picky are with that stuff, right? What we want is a monster that is one of the strongest of the demonic realm. Someone like you, for example."
"Kuhu….. Kuhahat. To think that we, who have formed an alliance, want each other"s life…. How ironic."
"Even if you help us become stronger as I have requested, there won"t be any downsides for you, right?"
"Well….. You cannot kill me. But when I become stronger than you….."
"No matter the outcome, I lose out."
"You"re good with words. I shall search for monsters that drop a lot of artifacts as you have requested."
"Now we"re getting somewhere. But do you have a way to do so?"
"I guess this is information that you haven"t heard from even the likes of Karin."
As if surprised, he looked towards Karin while speaking.
There"s information that even Karin, our informant in the demonic realm, doesn"t know about?
Under Berdan, Karin was a monster that has obtained a vast amount of knowledge regarding the demonic realm.
For Jong Ho and I, his words were nearly equivalent to the demonic realm"s law.
Karin seemed quite surprised as well.
"Keruuu?"
"Do you really not know? Existences similar to the Chimera, that is….."
"Kerut? Aren"t those types of creatures only able to be summoned by the demon king?"
"That is correct. However, he isn"t the only one who fulfills the role of guardian in the demonic realm."
"Kehel….."
"Karin, even you aren"t aware of this?"
"That"s right. I knew of the Chimera"s existence….. However, what he"s saying right now, I have not even heard rumors of before."
"Is that so. Isn"t this getting interesting? Hurry up and tell us. I don"t think you understand just how curious I am about their existences."
"Kuhut. I guess you won"t have any reason to regret our alliance."
"Ha. Look at you, really throwing a nice sales pitch. I knew that you were anything but ordinary."
"Kuhat. Then….."
"Demon King. Thankfully, it seems that Belkoseu"s magical energy hasn"t grown that much."
"Yes. However, what I am worried about is the growth of the two humans. As long as you aren"t done in by Belkoseu, he cannot obtain the power he needs to take over the demonic realm. However, if the two humans grow in strength and a.s.sist Belkoseu in striking you down…."
"……."
In an instant, Ladin"s expression became serious.
There weren"t any falsehoods in what the Demon King said.
However, unlike his expression, Ladin wasn"t that worried.
If his magical energy was to be obtained by Belkoseu, who would be the next target?
It would be the Demon King.
Ladin knew well that to prevent such a thing from happening, the Demon King would protect him well.
As Ladin had expected, the words that he wanted to hear began to come out from the Demon King"s mouth.
"However, what you are worrying about won"t happen. I shall stop it from happening. Ladin, it has been a month since we have dropped everything to hunt down these humans."
"……"
"But what have we obtained during this entire month!"
"That"s……"
"We weren"t able to focus on the war we had planned and prepared for at all."
"You are right as rain. We must take them down as soon as possible….."
"You have seen it yourself. Their crafty trickery…… Using strange magic, they have escaped us time and time again. On top of that, they have allied themselves with a monster to detect our magical energy ahead of time. We have no way of catching them at all."
The Demon King was talking about how Min-Cheol and Jong Ho were using Warp to escape his grasp.
For the demonic race that had no information regarding the Awakened and their skills, it was no surprise that the only way they could refer to them as strange magics.
"It is as you say."
"We carry enough strength to upheave this entire realm yet we cannot catch them."
"I apologize for my inept.i.tude."
"But you are still against releasing the seal on the Chimera….."
"Demon King, anything but that….."
While Ladin spoke with the Demon King, his gaze was only pointed at the floor.
However, at the mention of the single word “Chimera” by the Demon King, Ladin stared at him while looking as if he was going to convulse at any given moment.
It was unsettling for the Demon King to see Ladin like this.
"I cannot understand why. The release window on the Chimera isn"t that long. You know of this as well."
"I am aware. However……"
"Are you afraid of its ruthlessness? Are you afraid that you and I will be done in by it?"
"……"
"Speak."
"Demon King, are you aware of how I rose to the throne of Demon King before?"
"Hm? Even I am not aware of that. But why do you ask all of a sudden? Well, you aren"t the type to waste time taking a trip down memory lane…. Continue."
"Then…. I shall proceed with the information that you are not aware of how I rose to the seat of Demon King."
"That is correct."
"Before a lowly one such as myself rose to the throne of the Demon King, the demonic realm was dominated by the one named Seu Reol."
"Hm….. I think I have heard of this through rumors."
"Is that so? The demonic realm in the past was quite different from the current one. Six leaders, each with their own demonic tribe, were present before, unlike now, where a single ruler rules with absolute power, such as yourself, oh great Demon King Jamon."
"….."
"The war to take the throne of Demon King continued, and the t.i.tle of Demon King changed hands dozens of times every single day. A single victory from battle could determine who the next Demon King was…… But even during all these battles, there was one thing that the leaders forbade doing. Despite how heated the battle was, they still refused."
"Hm……"
"That was the act of unsealing the Chimera. Even if it meant losing the seat of Demon King, they refused to use their Authority to unseal the beast."
"This is making me uncomfortable. So what are you trying to say?"
"The one I spoke of before, Seu Reol, broke that taboo. The moment that he obtained the t.i.tle of Demon King, he immediately unsealed the Chimera. He did so to obliterate the other leaders….."
"Get to the point."
"All the leaders perished."
"What…..? Is that the truth?"
"That is so. The 5 leaders, as well as the Demon King Seu Reol. None of them survived, dying to the Chimera. The Chimera"s instinct is to search and destroy anyone with a high amount of magical energy. The range and accuracy of its ability to search out its targets cannot even be compared to that of any other monsters."
"Kuhmm……."
Jamon was unable to hide his surprise, and at the same time, felt greatly insulted.
Ladin was comparing him to the weak demon race of the past.
However, barely pushing down his boiling anger, the Demon King waited for Ladin to finish his story.
"Just like that, all those with ma.s.sive amounts of magical energy in the demonic realm perished, returning the demonic realm to a state similar to ancient times. The newly born demonic races began to compete for the seat of Demon King instead. During that time, I was the one to rise to the seat of Demon King."
"Is the Chimera"s strength…… Is it really that powerful?"
"That is the case. That is why I still caution you of this idea. So Demon King, please consider this once more."
"However, you said that the six were evenly matched, right?"
"……"
"Look at me now. I am the Demon King Jamon! I have nearly half the magical energy of this realm. You say that even I will die to it?"
"I cannot be sure of….."
"You! Such insolence!"
The Demon King finally blew up with fury.
He was upset that Ladin did not acknowledge his strength.
He stared down Ladin and spoke.
"……."
"It is the Authority and right of the Demon King to be able to release the Chimera! It is one of the many Authorities the Demon King carries. Thus, the monster is nothing more than a slave, serving me at my whim!"
"D…. Demon King. Please calm yourself."
"However, you say that I, Demon King, will be done in by a mere slave? Tsk! You speak like a fool, Ladin!"
"……."
"10 days from now! If we"re unable to capture them till then, I shall release the Chimera."
"Demon King……"
"Silence! This is a command, Ladin. If you wish to disobey, then you shall pay with your life!"
"…… Understood, Demon King."
At last, Ladin bowed down to the will of his Demon King.
However, the Demon King had no idea of how much chaos and destruction the words he spoke and the choice he made would cause.
For the humans…. And even to his kind.