Chapter 198 - Final Chapter (1)
They had no idea where previous Demon King and the leader of his forces were located at.
However, they had the trail left behind by Jeriet, who had been one of the Four Heavenly Kings. When one looked at the organization he had worked with, it wasn"t far fetched to a.s.sume that the previous Demon King was trying to pull something off in the human realm.
“We are trying to activate our spell within the Demon realm. Maybe, they are doing the same thing. They are probably carrying out a plan to turn the human realm into a Demon realm.”
“If the two magic clashes, it"ll cause a big headache.”
Artpe had learned that the previous Demon King"s forces were the products of the Demonification experiment. When he became aware of this fact, he had been watching out for their moves. Arpte had gathered all the Artifacts and Magic Stones for the purpose of purifying the Demon realm. At the same time, it had been a move to impede the progress of the previous Demon King"s plan.
“Of course, we might have been too late, but….. The current Demon King ran amok. For better or worse, everyone"s plans were reset to zero.”
Whether it was activities carried out by Artpe"s party in stealth or the plan being carried out by the previous Demon King, it all fell apart when the current Demon King went on his rampage. As a result, a fragment of the Demonic G.o.d was called into this world. It didn"t matter what preparations the previous Demon King had made. The previous Demon King"s forces would have to come back to the Demon realm.
“We have to be smart about this. We have to a.s.sume that we"ll fight them directly when we initiate the Reclamation spell.”
“Life really doesn"t go as planned.”
However, Artpe was pretty confident in his party. The current Demon King"s recipe had given them the means to contend with the previous Demon King. He had the Declaration of Demonic Extermination. It was stored away, and it would be used when the right opportunity presented itself. On top of that, he had the hand of destruction. It still was maintaining its form. All these factors gave him confidence.
“We"ll go to the Demon King"s castle.”
“That place no longer exists.”
They no longer needed the Steel Horse. They were close to the site of the Demon King"s castle, so couple Blinks was all that was needed. The biggest problem was the fact that there were too many Demons gathered there. It didn"t matter which location they chose.
“The number of Demons increased while we rested.”
“I"m sorry, Aria. You"ll have to overwork yourself for a little bit longer.”
“I"ve grown a lot . No one will be able to find us unless they are above level 500.”
Aria spoke with confidence. She was unpretentious, and she told the truth. For a brief moment, Artpe wondered if Aria would become a much better holy priestess than Vadinet. It was as if Vadinet had somehow caught wind of his thoughts. She whipped her head around towards him. He was sure of it now. Maetel"s ability of being able to read his thoughts was being shared between the girls.
“We"ve arrived.”
“This is quite the sight.”
Since the Demon King had died, the Demons were no longer subject to the Absolute Control. The absence of the Demon King had caused confusion, and the Demons started a meticulous search operation where they searched for the being that had killed the Demon King.
“They have this much loyalty towards the Demon King…..?”
“No. It isn"t loyalty. They are just afraid of culprit that had killed the Demon King. They are afraid of being killed if they are on their own, so they are traveling in groups. If their joint efforts isn"t enough to defeat their foe, they"ll quickly lower their heads.”
“They really are acting like extras.”
These were beings that hadn"t been able to live their own lives. Rhere had always been a restriction on what they could do. They had lived under the rule of the Demon King for their whole lives. From their perspective, they valued their lives the most. It was the only commodity that they could call their own.
However, that would change soon. Battle, blood and death had always been the final destination of a Demon"s life, but that would have to change now. In the beginning, Artpe had only wanted to turn Etna into a human. However, Artpe had reached this point, and he wondered if this might have been his goal all along.
Yes, Vadinet was right. Artpe was the first Demon to be turned back into a human. At the same time, he was a pioneer that will lead other Demons down the road to humanification.
“I"ll be using the spell soon. There will be Demons that"ll try to stop the process. Even if they"ll soon be turned into humans, we can"t hesitate. We have to kill them.”
It was unknown as to how many of these Demons were affiliated with the previous Demon King"s forces.
An argument could be made that they should go easy on the Demons since they were going to be turned back into humans. However, one would fail miserably if one held such pitiful sentiments.
Artpe"s words didn"t allow his party members to feel any sentimental emotions. Everyone nodded their heads as they hardened their resolve.
“Alright. Let"s start.”
Artpe briefly took a deep breath, and he opened his magic tome. His staff and magic tome resonated with each other as they rose into the sky. This was obvious, but Aria had reached the limit of her a.s.similation ability. This was why the party was revealed, while floating in the air.
[Humans!]
[T...the energy is digging into my skin…. Holy power! He has holy power!]
It wasn"t simple holy power. Artpe let out an evil smile as he earnestly unleashed his magic.
The Reclamation magic didn"t discriminate between Demons and Demonic energy. It was a spell that restored everything that was twisted and out of place! Artpe used his staff to boost his Mana, and his Mana flowed into the magic tome. It spread into the twisted world called the Demon realm.
In a flash, he took out an Artifact from his Dimensional Pouch, and it was consumed. It took mere seconds to change Demons into humans in the nearby region.
[What······!]
[S...stop. That human b.a.s.t.a.r.d is trying to…...]
[What the h.e.l.l? Why are the humans…...?]
A high number of Demons had no idea what was going on. However, some Demons realized that they were being turned into humans. This was being done by the hero"s party. Some Demons had a dim idea as to what the implications was for this new development.
[Don"t panic! We cannot win against them in the first place. Moreover, they are making us into humans! Humans! We are becoming humans!]
[I can sense my existence being twisted. For some reason….. Somehow, I feel my emotions calming down.]
[s.h.i.t. Retreat! Retreat! We"ll just die if we fight them! They aren"t attacking us, but they are turning us into humans!]
The Demons were confused, and they couldn"t rashly attack Artpe"s party. In fact, a fight broke out between the Demons that picked up on the situation and the Demons that were too slow to realize what was going on.
Tens of thousands of Demons were gathered at the site of the Demon King"s castle. While an absolute pandemonium broke out between the Demons, Artpe"s party was successful in perfecting the magic circle.
“Artpe, you have to speed it up!”
“It is easy for you to say!”
However, it really was that easy for him. Artpe didn"t hesitate to use the Artifacts and Magic Stones he had prepared in his Dimensional Pouch. He scattered them all over the place. As soon as the items were released into the air, they perished. All the Mana was sucked into the magic tome.
The site of the Demon King"s castle was colored in gray and red. It had been filled with death and blood. In the next moment, the place regained its natural colors. As if breathing, the Demonic energy within this s.p.a.ce was being pushed out.
“The land······ My G.o.d······.”
“This really is its original form. Look over there. The red clouds are dissipating.”
“It is too beautiful. I never expected to see such a sight within the Demon realm…..”
At the same time, it was an extremely sad sight. The ones that were still Demons looked at the Demons that had shed their Demonhood. In the end, a fight broke out. Then there was the land of the Demon realm, and land that was reverted back to its original form. They started to adversely affect each other as they started to become diseased.
“Why are they fighting?”
“They aren"t aware of our presence….. No, they are refusing to acknowledge our presence. They gave up on understanding our actions, and they aren"t trying to stop us. This also means that they need an outlet for their frustration.”
“It"s the worst.”
Artpe opened up another Dimensional Pouch. At once, he expanded the range of his Reclamation magic. Everything within his sight turned back into the natural world. It was the same for the Demons within it.
“Good. They have no reason to fight any more.”
“This isn"t merely a problem between the Demons and the humans, Artpe-nim. This might sound evil, but…. If I"m being truthful, this is quite entertaining.”
The Demon race had no real reason to fight. They fought and killed, because they were alive. They killed others, because they were ordered to kill others. They had lost their ruler, who had given them orders. Now they were losing their Demonhood. They were confused. They fought against each other, but they were lost. In the end, they sat on the ground.
There was a good amount of blood shed, and some were trying to run away. If they kept their distance, Artpe"s party left them alone.
“Shall we move to a different location?”
“No. When the ones that we really have to worry about shows up, these people will become a wall for us.”
“I had no idea where Artpe-nim"s cheapness comes from. It isn"t a character trait of a hero. It seems it arose from the experience you had in your past life! As expected, you are awesome!”
“Hey. That sounded like an insult.”
“It isn"t!”
He kept expanding his spell. It really was unbelievable that the Demon King"s castle had existed here. The dense Demonic energy was transformed into Mana, and it helped Artpe"s party regain their full power.
“It doesn"t matter what happens after this. We"ve already weakened the Demon race with this.”
“······Artpe, I can feel them coming. I can feel it. Soon!”
At that moment, Maetel gathered all the purified Mana at the tip of her sword, and she shot it into her surrounding. She didn"t give any consideration to the Demons that were turned into humans. The violent attack blew up the entire region.
Afterwards, a clearly different group of Demons had appeared. They possessed a different type of aggressive Demonic energy. They numbered in the several hundreds, and each of them looked extremely p.i.s.sed. It was as if Artpe had spit on the food they had been eating.
“Kill them all!”
“Understood!”
As expected of a former Four Heavenly King, Artpe immediately ordered an attack whenever a a stranger was located. The party quickly attacked the stranger! There was no mercy when one was determined to be their enemy!
Maetel and the other party members reacted immediately as they attacked the Demons that were over level 300. Half the Demons lost their lives instantly, and the rest froze in place. They were taken aback by the might of the hero"s party. While they were frozen in place, they were turned back into humans through the Reclamation magic.
[We have to stop them! We are about to attain our long cherished desire, and they are trying to interfere with us!]
[He have to stop them until our master can get here. The magic······!]
“No, you won"t!”
The Reclamation magic couldn"t be stopped unless the previous Demon King took the matter into his own hands. This was the first time Artpe was using this magic at this scale, and he had a hard time initiating it. However, it became easier once he safely manifested the magic. He just had to be the source that provided the spell with continuous Mana. It allowed the influence of the spell to grow as its Record grew.
The Reclamation magic, which had been manifested by Artpe, was going through that process. A Reclamation magic of this magnitude had never existed in the past. If one wanted to stop it, one had to kill Artpe, or the magic tome had to be destroyed. Those were the only two options.
“Soon, they"ll attack me. It might be one of them, the previous Demon King or…...”
[Die.]
Before Artpe could end his words, someone had come straight for his heart. Sienna"s reaction speed was too fast. The attack couldn"t get past her. The attack was stopped in the middle.
[I never expected you humans to start this before us…. Moreover, it was done by someone who used to be a Demon.]
The one, who had attacked Artpe, revealed himself. A spear made out of black metal had failed to pierce through Sienna"s shield. It was stuck in the middle of the shield. A level 401 Demon appeared a beat later, and he was holding onto the spear. He was a Demon that Artpe hadn"t seen in his past life.
[It is time. Everything our master wants has been gathered here. We"ll take everything you have, and we will greet our master with it.]
“This guy isn"t that high level! Just focus your attacks on him. Kill him!”
“Yes!”
[What······ Kuh-huhk!?]
The Demon had overlooked one thing. Artpe"s party didn"t know everything about the previous Demon King"s plan, but at the same time, the previous Demon King"s faction didn"t know about the rapid growth of Artpe"s party.
The price for such a mistake was his death.
Artpe"s party didn"t know this, but this was the moment when the last Four Heavenly King in the previous Demon King"s force perished.