Chapter 177. Evidence of h.e.l.l (2)
"Certainly…. It was the right approach to have thought that the evidence was among the high level demons!"
Although it took extra bothersome efforts by launching the surprise attack on Al Farum, the approach wasn"t a bad one as it produced good results.
Vulcan made tight fists as he nodded.
Now that the evidence of the true h.e.l.l, the demon world of the demon worlds, was found, all that was needed was to solve it with that in mind.
However, as he was thinking carefully, Vulcan came to realize that the issue wasn"t as easy as he thought it to be.
First, by decoding what the demon king has said, it was clear that the other demons did not know about the "true h.e.l.l".
He did say that they had not experienced the true h.e.l.l which implied that Athildhu was the only one who has gone there and come back.
Then after preventing the demon king from losing, the information must be extracted out of him.
But then was that really possible?
Being a 1,407 level, King Athildhu was stronger than Rock Seager who had pushed him into the pit of despair.
The probability of extracting information by keeping such b.a.s.t.a.r.d alive….
"Is there such a possibility?"
He was very pessimistic.
At the same time, he couldn"t just sit and watch the demon king get crushed.
An A level quest was an easy ordinary quest that could be cleared some day, even if it wasn"t cleared at this time.
However, the hidden quest was different.
It was a rare precious opportunity that was given to him for the first time in several hundred years.
"Ah, I"m going insane, d.a.m.n it."
Ultimately, Vulcan squeezed his head in frustration, unable to do anything.
Kwakwakwww.a.n.g!
Shoook.
Aaaaaahk.
All the while, fighting continued fiercely.
When King Athildhu let out a thundering cry, it appeared the battle was leaning in favor of him, but with La.s.sium"s methodical leaders.h.i.+p, the key members reorganized, and once again they began to apply pressure.
As a result, credit to the half demon kings alliance"s saw teeth like team work, and providing protection to each other, the demon king was becoming weaker and unable to even take anyone"s life.
The incredible mult.i.tasking and the fine tuned controlled magic which he used to confuse the opponents" key members were losing its finesse, and its power has also been diminished.
It was a proof that the demon energy which did not seem to have a limit was getting exhausted.
Of course, the key members, the opponents who were fighting him, were also tired, but they were in better condition, however small it might have been.
And the very small opening that was created by that difference.
Taking advantage of that opening, one of the duke demons" subtle attack has succeeded.
Kwaaang!
“Krrruggh!”
While all the dukes were preoccupied with defending against Ahildhu"s h.e.l.l freeze attack, one of the dukes took extra risk and executed a flame type magic.
Although unable to cause big damage, it did cause him to temporarily lose balance, but that was sufficient.
Not letting that chance go by, La.s.sium, with hawkish eyes, penetratingly rushed towards Athildhu in that brief moment.
And the two, who were watching, thought exactly the same thing at the same time.
"No!"
"No!"
It was the first moment in which Vulcan and King Athildhu shared the same thought, and it was also the first time Vulcan was to engage in the battle field.
Pazzzzz!
“Krrr… What is this!”
A single jolt of lightning that fell towards him.
La.s.sium was momentarily surprised as he was met with an attack that was completely different kind than from what he has been antic.i.p.ating.
And that was not the end of it.
Pazzzz!
Kooong!
Pazzzzzzz!
La.s.sium, who was approaching the demon king, angrily retreated due to the lightning rod that was falling as it appeared to be precisely aimed at him, and having regrouped, King Athildhu immediately swung his staff and made a freeze zone around La.s.sium.
He didn"t know whose magic the supporting lightning belonged to, but he thought that he wanted to work with it, first.
His response was quite agile and accurate that La.s.sium had no choice, but to retreat back, taking hits.
For the first time since the fight began, he spewed out vulgarity, unable to maintain his calm.
“b.a.s.t.a.r.d, you really had a hidden trick!”
The remark was meant for the one who attacked Al Farum in secret.
Of course, King Athildhu did not know what he was talking about at all, and hence ignoring those comments as a dog barking, the fight ensued again.
Vulcan let out a sigh of relief as he was watching all of it.
He hasn"t been able to decide what to do next, but he felt that the demon king could not die there.
"Well, let me think little bit more. It is too early to decide…. What!"
Vulcan was hoping the fight would remain more even.
But, unlike his thinking, King Athildhu was now pressing forward against the half demon king alliance force.
They were fairly evenly matched, but due to the psychological aspect, King Athildhu had been pushed back.
From such a situation, the demon king felt more at ease, believing that an ally has appeared, but on the other hand, all the half demon kings alliance members couldn"t help, but think about the unknown demon that had attacked Al Farum, hence the tide of the fight has turned.
“Krrrraaahk!”
And at last, after placing a curse on one of the two loyal underlings that were fighting against the golem, the demon king killed him with the follow up magic attack.
The evenly matched 6 vs. 1 balance has now been completely shattered, and the flow has turned in favor of the demon king.
“Krrrraaah! Look at you, dying without even draining all my energy! It makes me laugh! You, five, too will die, will get torn up by my hands!”
Kwaaang!
However, the situation has, again, puzzlingly turned.
The three spheres of fire fell towards the demon king.
Although did not know what they were made out of, it was a terrible magic that caused horrifying impact due to their incredible weight, spin, and speed.
He would ordinarily defend it easily although there might have been some hesitation, but he was, after all, preoccupied with trying to defeat the five demons.
The three awesomely timed magic attacks caused great damage to the demon king, and the expressions on the faces of La.s.sium, the great duke, and the other demons were turning brighter.
“Now! Everyone attack!”
La.s.sium, too, was not someone who was incompetent to let a great opportunity pa.s.s him by, and he commanded all the key members to attack without any consideration for their own safety.
However, the initiated magic did not stop there.
Pazzzzz.
Pazzzzz.
Pazzz!
As if to be protecting the demon king, the series of lightning trickily fell down.
It was already too much to ignore the freezing h.e.l.l and golem that haven"t been cancelled yet, so the La.s.sium side felt that it would be too dangerous to take the lightning magic in addition to that which caused them to lose their best timing. Then they cursed at the demon king"s loyal underling who was using the lightning magic while hiding his whereabouts.
“Be cursed by the demon G.o.d, you b.a.s.t.a.r.d!”
“You dirty b.a.s.t.a.r.d, fall to Asgard!”
“No better than a beast, you b.a.s.t.a.r.d!”
It wasn"t just the La.s.sium"s side that was furious.
The demon king, too, spewed out vulgarity at the half demon kings alliance"s hidden ally which he thought had attacked At Farum.
“You play such tricks that revolting wasn"t enough, you no better than c.o.c.kroach b.a.s.t.a.r.d! No better than the mud dog, b.a.s.t.a.r.ds!”
And Vulcan, again, let out a sigh of relief while being on the receiving end of all those vulgar language.
Vulcan unconsciously interjected himself in series because he didn"t want the demon king to annihilate the La.s.sium"s side without taking any damages, but at the same time, he didn"t want the opposite situation to occur, either.
It was when he was having concerns that his location might be revealed since he has been attacking like h.e.l.l without thinking about the next moves.
However, they were only too busy letting out their criticisms about the recent confusion, and did not appear to have located Vulcan.
Furthermore, rather than continuing to fight, they seemed to have entered a calm phase, and Vulcan was quite happy with that situation.
"Okay, just stay calm like that for a little longer. So, I can organize my thoughts."
Vulcan kept his head spinning in the middle of the unsettled demon crowd.
And not able to sense Vulcan"s tricks even if it was in their dreams, both sides spewed out new and creative vulgar language in endlessly criticizing each other.
“@#!”
It has been about five minutes since they have been cursing with the language that no one would ever want to repeat.
Yet, nothing has changed.
Their enemy was still alive, and the secret card that each held, too, didn"t reveal himself while continuing to watch the situation develop.
Ultimately, the situation was that neither side could surely guarantee a victory.
And from the demon king Athildhu"s perspective, such a situation was just unbelievable.
Who was he.
He was the demon king who stood at the top of the great demon world of Nurhark dimension.
He wasn"t just an ordinary demon king, but as the greatest demon king of all time who had the strongest power ever.
He had to continue with the battle with only 50/50 chance, not even an 80/20 chance?
That could never happen.
That couldn"t be allowed by his standard and pride!
"Must have the help from the crown."
He finally decided resolutely.
Although using a great magic technique meant losing much of the demon energy that he has been working so hard to acc.u.mulate, but nothing would be a greater tragedy than losing his life in an attempt to conserve them.
And if he could finish those that were present there, Al Farum, who was hiding would not be an issue at all, later.
"Dispersing demon energy can be gathered again. OK, I should have used it much sooner. I could have lost much more should I act with too much greed. I can no longer take any more risks!"
Having finished his thoughts, King Athildhu elevated his demon energy.
His black bones, which s.h.i.+ned, clattered as an ominous sign, and in response to that, the half demon kings alliance also prepared to engage.
And without hesitation, they rushed towards the demon king.
They wanted a quick victory before any magic spewed out of the demon king"s staff.
However, it wasn"t the staff where the demon king"s energy has been gathered.
It was the golden crown that was placed on his skull head.
The demon energy was instantly sucked into the green gemstone that was placed at the center, and then it spread back out in the same fluid motion.
Whirrrrrl.
And after that, none of the demons, including the great duke La.s.sium, could move their bodies.
It was the strongest secret weapon that could only be used by consuming 30 percent of the demon energy through his treasure number 1, the "crown of the true demon".
The king of ten thousand demons.
It was the grand authority, only available to the citizen of the true h.e.l.l, which forces every weaker demon to kneel.
What was happening to the half demon king"s side could only be described as simply a tragedy, very unfavorable, and the worst scenario.
With a furious expression, the great duke La.s.sium knelt down before King Athildhu without even understanding what the heck was going on, at all.
La.s.sium lowered his head and spat out some words as he looked humiliated.
“What the… What the heck happened….”
“Curious? Kk, it is an authority that you little b.a.s.t.a.r.d would never know in all your life. This forces all the lower demons than me to kneel down… Should I say this is on a completely different plain than your mere flame explosion magic.”
“…. That"s not possible, Kruk!”
King Athildhu swung his staff and struck down on La.s.sium"s head.
He then slowly changed his direction to the other key members who were s.h.i.+vering and grinding their teeth while kneeling down.
And raising his staff slowly, he swung it down hard.
TuuKwaang!
Puaaahk!
As if a bamboo sword was used to strike down on a watermelon, debris scattered all around.
“No!”
La.s.sium, having the character that was unlike any demon in the demon world, truly cared for his underlings, and he was in pain, and angry as if his heart has been shredded.
However, the demon king did not intend to stop, and one by one, La.s.sium"s underlings were killed by losing their heads.
Soon, the demon king Athildhu came and stood in front of La.s.sium.
Clicking his tongue, he spoke silently after a joyous laughter.
“Any last words?”
He did not have any, of course.
No matter what kind of curse words were to be said to him, the demon king would simply laugh it off, and ridicule him, so it was best to keep silent and accept his fate.
He closed his eyes, letting everything go like that.
Unhappy with that demeanor, King Athildhu continually swung the staff at La.s.sium in order to draw his reaction.
He didn"t care what the reaction was.
Embarra.s.sment, anger, dejection, pain.
Anything was acceptable as long as La.s.sium was going to react as he wanted.
However, La.s.sium did not change at all.
King Athildhu shook his head widely watching La.s.sium who seemed to be showing off his steel like self, like that of a ma.s.sive unmovable boulder.
“Still, you were best of among all the trash b.a.s.t.a.r.ds.”
He raised his staff high.
They were as if they were standing before the guillotine, with La.s.sium who was soon to be executed, and King Athildhu as the executioner.
However, his execution could not come to fruition.
Pazzzz.
There came one ent.i.ty who rushed very quickly while making spark noises loud enough to even hurt one"s ears.
The explosive force of energy of flame and lightning that jumped out of his sword extended out, targeting King Athildhu"s waist.
Even with the exhaustion and the sense of loss over the demon energy, King Athildhu was feeling elated, believing that he has safely suppressed the revolt.
He turned his head quickly, and he felt something incredibly bright flying in to his direction.
Flas.h.!.+