Chapter 187 - Hardeon (19)
Flanders Province, in Hardeon's southwest.
Here stood a famous mountain called Malk.
The entire mountain was composed of giant bizarre rock formations, boasting a quite spectacular view, and its terrain was dreadfully rugged, inspiring a spirit of challenge in many explorers.
'Should I have brought Ah-yeon?'
I heard hiking was her hobby, and leaving her behind to guard the two fools from the Gwangun Sword Family bothered a little.
"Excuse ! You shouldn't go that way!"
An old man called out to from a fork in the mountain path.
Of course, I knew the reason.
This path, which the signpost forbade, led to a strange place called the Demon's Throat.
"Thank you for your concern, but you know how it is. The more you're told not to go, the more you want to."
"Hoh-hoh! You're not a child! You're really going to get yourself into serious trouble!"
The old man said that dozens of people went missing this way every year.
And not a single person had ever returned after seeing the end of this path.
He added that one could survive if they turned back quickly at the entrance, but once they entered the Demon's Mist, they would never return alive.
"I'll be careful."
"Hoh-hoh! Look at this fellow! Even after I've told you, you're still determined to go?"
I answered with a smile instead of words.
"It's no use regretting it!"
I bowed slightly to the old man and turned my steps towards the place called the Demon's Throat.
From afar, I could hear the old man's grumbling to himself.
"What a disobedient child."
Even if it wasn't about today's events, I admitted to having a disobedient streak.
That's why I could enter the Red Dragon's lair.
If I hadn't been rebellious, I would still be living the life of a king in Kalia.
Of course, I had never once regretted my choice.
Even if I were to go back to that very mont just before my reincarnation, I would probably make the sa choice.
'And I'd probably die by a dragon again.'
The mory of that day resurfaced, and I let out a self-deprecating laugh.
After the fork in the road, I quickened my pace.
A silent mountain path where nothing could be felt.
After a little more ti had passed, the hazy world that people called the Demon's Mist truly began to unfold.
The change in scenery was abrupt.
At so point, the hazy mist obstructed visibility in all directions, and my sense of sight alone could not discern the path forward.
Of course, I knew it wasn't a natural phenonon.
'Fascinating.'
Even though the entire mountain had looked clear when viewed from the entrance, such a strange place existed.
Indeed, the harmony woven by magic was astonishing.
'Did he say to find the path by relying on touch?'
Delkhan the blacksmith had spoken only vaguely, but upon arriving, I imdiately understood the aning of his words.
A device, like braille, laid out on the ground, guided .
If one walked without consciousness, they might lose the path at so point, but as long as I concentrated, there was no fear of getting lost.
However, anyone who ca here unaware would inevitably wander endlessly in the dense mist.
Moreover, besides the mist, another device designed to disrupt human senses was hidden here.
'It feels like the sa place is repeating, no matter how much I walk.'
Even though I knew what to expect, I almost felt as if it genuinely wasn't.
But this was a ticulously constructed magical device.
It manipulated the sa topographical features to repeat themselves within the heavily draped mist.
This gloomy, misty path already created a dreamlike atmosphere, and the continuous occurrence of such peculiar events was a sufficient chanism to instill fear and despair.
My friend! This is astonishingly exquisite! If you had co unaware, even you might have been completely deceived!
"It would have been a bit of trouble, but not that much. What do you take for?"
The sa topographical features were repeating for the twelfth ti.
But I continued to walk without hesitation, following the braille-like sensations on the soles of my feet.
Until a small castle appeared on this rocky mountain that seed to hold nothing.
"Amazing."
Even though it was a small structure, I couldn't help but marvel once more at the magical power that could hide sothing like this deep within the mountains.
Moreover, it had never been discovered by ordinary people for hundreds of years.
'By the way, what could be inside?'
Delkhan had only said I would know when I went there, so my curiosity only grew.
I expanded my senses before opening the castle gates, but felt nothing.
Not even an ant existed; it was an abandoned space.
It wasn't a dungeon, but a real physical space, and I couldn't readily think of any elents that would threaten within it.
Delkhan had clearly said I might not co out of here alive.
CREAK—
Of course, this was a curiosity that would be resolved once I opened the castle gates and went inside.
As soon as I stepped forward, the castle gates closed by themselves, and pitch-black darkness enveloped .
The only light source was a thin beam of light entering through a small hole in the ceiling.
Through this, the interior of the castle appeared to be a space of complete emptiness.
I walked a few more steps inward.
Then, geotric patterns drawn on the floor gradually began to reveal themselves.
I recognized it as a magic circle at once.
'Am I supposed to go on top of this?'
Although Delkhan hadn't told this, I instinctively knew.
Sothing was about to happen.
STEP.
STEP.
The mont I stepped into the circle of the magic array, the change ca imdiately.
Light began to swirl around the geotric patterns, and the pitch-black interior of the castle revealed its original form.
But even more astonishing was the imnse surge of mana that began to circulate.
The Holy Sword Bastian imdiately resonated.
My friend! It is dangerous!
I, too, felt my nerves sharpen from a sense of danger I hadn't felt in a long ti.
If it were rely the appearance of monsters, I wouldn't feel such a sensation.
A type of energy I had never felt before.
Bastian's subsequent words were also ominous.
Do you know that the Holy Sword reacts most strongly to demonic energy?
I nodded.
I also rembered hearing that Bastian was created for the purpose of defeating the Demon King.
"So this energy now is demonic energy?"
Probably!
CRASH!
At that mont, a massive upward current of mana erupted from beneath the magic circle I was standing on.
Simple magical devices could never produce such an effect.
This was not a matter of the quantity of mana, but a completely different level of mana's quality.
In the castle's ceiling, the rising mana energies began to gather like clouds.
My friend! This is, perhaps!
I understood why Delkhan had warned .
A quality of power vaguely comparable to a dragon.
I couldn't believe it.
If a being possessed such a quality, its identity could only be one.
My friend! This is the Demon King!
'The Demon King actually exists?'
The Demon King was only a legend in Kalia.
Even Bastian had never actually seen the Demon King.
However, both of us had no choice but to be certain that this being before our eyes was the Demon King.
My friend! What will you do!
Since I had co here, the answer was set.
I had to break through head-on.
My heart began to pound.
Of course, it wasn't out of fear.
The thrill of confronting the legendary Demon King.
I curled my lips slightly.
The mana energy, gathering like clouds, gradually began to take on a clearer form.
A face.
It was very different from a human's, but this form was definitely a face.
My friend! Fortunately, it seems the Demon King has not fully manifested!
I also thought the sa.
Compared to its high quality, the amount of mana was not surprisingly large.
Soon, the Demon King's mouth began to move.
『Could it be that you are smiling even after seeing ? Human!』
At that mont, I t the Demon King's gaze.
Though it was not the Demon King's true body, I felt the potent quality of demonic energy.
I looked at it once more and smiled.
"Why ask what you've clearly seen?"
At my reply, the Demon King's face montarily blurred, and only an unpleasant laugh echoed.
『A most amusing human!』
"It's just a bit regrettable. It would have been better if you had properly manifested here."
This was not bluffing, but genuine.
『You even know who I am!』
"Because no other entity ca to mind."
『You are quite different from the human who sought out recently! That one rely trembled, crushed by my aura.』
This must be referring to K from the Gwangun Sword Family.
Now that I thought about it, that guy also exited this place after confronting this Demon King.
『For you, not a mage, to seek out, is it to prove your qualifications to the mages!』
"Sothing like that. Because I was told to bring a token from here."
『Then I shall ask one thing! Do you earnestly wish to build my Empire! Look straight into my eyes and answer!』
I was already staring intently.
My friend! That is the Demon King's Mind's Eye!
The Demon King was now seeing through my thoughts.
Bastian warned .
Saying that as long as I looked directly into the Demon King's eyes, I would be compelled to speak only the truth.
"The Demon King's Empire, huh..."
『What do you say! To destroy the world and then create my world!』
Suddenly, a thought flashed through my mind.
"Then is that thod perhaps zombies?"
『Indeed, it seems you know more than that fellow did!』
It felt like a clue was unraveling.
The authority to create zombies. This was clearly a power granted by the Demon King.
Revenge against gladiators! The mages must have made a deal with the Demon King for that reason!
I shared Bastian's thought.
The mages had clearly received this power by following the Demon King's will to destroy the world.
『I am most curious about your answer!』
"Why?"
『Because you are far more interesting than those dull mages!』
"I wonder what answer that fellow who ca here before gave."
『Ah! That one? That one also told a quite interesting story! Saying that he was not a being of this world.』
"...Not a being of this world? And then?"
『We made a very interesting deal! I can tell you no more, so now it is your turn to answer!』
With this, the biggest questions were answered.
The reason the Gwangun Sword Family tried to bring zombies to Earth.
I didn't know what the deal was, but it was revealed that a transaction had occurred with the Demon King.
Now, the remaining curiosities would be resolved by going to the Gwangun Sword Family directly.
Along with due retribution.
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