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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Ruby
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On the mountain, Bell, who had just blown off the head of another 1st-rank demon, was holding her sword limply.
She looked at the aurora-like phenomenon stretching across the dark sky.
It was the aftermath of the Black Disaster that had touched Yuma’s hand and was shot back once more, becoming a disaster again.
It was the remnants of the sky visible due to the segmented atmosphere.
“…Yuma.”
Bell didn’t need to visually confirm who had killed the giant demon beast that had stretched out thousands of tentacles with a single attack.
She was certain.
Brigitte looked at the sky where countless enemies that had been flying in the air were annihilated at once.
It was a sight that far exceeded common sense, to the point where it seemed impossible for a human to have done it.
People’s gazes turned to the demon beasts and demons that had been brought down by that mighty power.
Yuma rode the griffin Ethan towards the Demon King Bephalon, who was embedded in the ground.
He immediately raised his hand and tore at Bephalon’s charred body.
He was aiming to acquire the Demon King’s heart.
The entire body had been burned to a crisp, without a single drop of blood remaining.
In this situation, the only place blood could be extracted from was the heart.
‘Fortunately.’
It wouldn’t have been strange if it had been shattered completely. However, perhaps due to the survival instinct trying to preserve the heart somehow if there was a remaining body, the heart, though stopped, was intact between the bones.
The heart in the form of a red jewel, also called a life stone.
‘Damn it.’
As expected, it couldn’t be done with the Demon King’s Blood.
The cautionary note, which seemed to desperately appeal to prevent his body from bursting if he consumed the wrong combination, caught his eye.
In the end, to break free from being an ordinary person, he had to head to the demon realm.
Even in Loop Blood, the Great Demon Kings were set to be unable to leave the demon realm.
Looking at the history books of the Astes Empire, there were no cases of Great Demon Kings descending to the middle realm.
Yuma first put the heart of Demon King Bephalon into his spatial pocket.
It was unknown what results it might bring if a human, not even a different race, were to eat it.
Yuma looked at the sky.
More precisely, he looked at the gate to the demon realm visible beyond the layers of dark clouds.
In the end, he had to go beyond there, to the demon realm.
He needed to acquire the blood of a Great Demon King to break free from being an ordinary person.
‘Anyway.’
Anyway, not just for that breakthrough alone, but because there were other things to do, he had to cross over to the demon realm.
‘Before they close the gate.’
He had to find an opening and enter.
Before that, the key was to sweep away the remaining forces trying to invade the continent.
Yuma turned his head towards the gaze boring into him from behind. There stood the golden-eyed mage girl, Cloney.
Cloney stared intently at Yuma’s back, her golden eyes sparkling.
She was obviously aware that Yuma was strong.
However, the moment of that clash she had faced while riding the griffin Ethan with him – even though it had just happened, recalling it sent chills down her spine.
An attack capable of destroying the world had come, and Yuma had countered it with an equally powerful attack.
And at this point, he had completely annihilated all the demons that had come out of the demon realm’s gate.
Except for one.
In front of Yuma was a single demon who had lost all will to fight due to his attack and was kneeling quietly.
Yuma walked towards that single demon.
It was a demon with a typical devil appearance – red all over and with a horn on its forehead.
Yuma looked at the demon prostrating before him as if worshipping him.
Shiver shiver…!!
Marcom’s mind was filled with terrible fear.
‘I’m going to die. I’m going to die. I’m going to die…’
Marcom looked at Yuma with violently trembling pupils.
At this moment, Marcom was expressing with his whole body the will to simply live.
Yuma looked at Marcom like this.
The cautionary note caught his eye. It was something he had already anticipated.
“Listen, strategist of the demon realm.”
Yuma opened his mouth while looking down at Marcom.
“It seems you’ve used all the forces you had planned for today, but you must have some forces left.”
Yuma’s words flowed through Marcom’s ears and reached the strategists sitting in the demon realm.
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Yuma’s words continued.
“Stop for today. I’m tired.”
Celiel, one of the two demon realm strategists in charge of this war, widened his silver eyes among his blonde hair.
“…Tired?”
Celiel examined Yuma’s appearance through the gaze shared with the 2nd-rank demon Marcom.
He saw the black coat Yuma was wearing.
That coat, the white cloth worn underneath, and the black pants – none of them showed any signs of damage or tears.
A state without even the slightest wound.
And there wasn’t even any blood on his clothes.
He looked far from tired, very far indeed.
“And you have forces prepared, and as a race, you have your desires, so you can’t easily stop the invasion. But stop attacking the Astes Empire. This is my land too. So if forces continue to head towards the empire, I’ll have no choice but to deal with them.”
“…Is he insane?”
The other strategist, Great Devil Fraud, spoke.
Is this something to say to demons who have invaded the middle realm?
Of course not.
That guy was completely mad. But…
*Gulp*
Fraud and Celiel simultaneously swallowed dry saliva.
It was also true that they were thoroughly frightened by that madman.
They had been completely overwhelmed.
By the incomprehensible level of attack that had just completely annihilated the demons, including the Demon King and his subordinate.
The vampire Celiel trembled.
“…It was power on par with the Great Demon Kings. That power just now was certainly…”
The five Great Demon Kings with power equal to the 1st-rank gods.
If a Great Demon King could descend to the middle realm, they might be able to tear that guy apart.
But Great Demon Kings were beings that couldn’t leave the demon realm.
*Grind*
Fraud gritted his teeth.
Humans, whom they had considered the easiest prey according to history and the natural order.
They never dreamed there would come a moment when they would be so troubled by humans.
Fraud let out a deep sigh.
“For now, we’ll exclude the Astes Empire from tomorrow’s invasion. We’ll hunt humans or other races in lands as far away from this cursed empire as possible.”
“Y-Yes.”
Celiel had no choice but to agree with Fraud’s judgment.
Originally, the plan for this war was to conquer the Astes Empire, the most powerful nation built by humans, first, and then fill this land with demons, but that plan had become impossible to even dream of.
‘Total annihilation.’
Celiel recalled the white light he had seen through the gaze of the demon who had just died, Demon King Bephalon, King of All Demon Beasts.
The result seemed obvious even if they poured thousands or tens of thousands of demons into the Astes Empire.
They would be completely annihilated by that madman.
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Someone appeared beside Yuma after he had finished speaking.
“Yuma.”
It was Bell.
“One left?”
And she cast her gaze towards the red demon, Marcom, who was begging with all his might, crushed by fear.
“Shall I kill it?”
Yuma nodded.
“Yes.”
He had thought to talk if conversation was possible.
But it seemed those using this guy’s gaze to look at him could only share sight and hearing.
*Slash!*
At Yuma’s words, Bell beheaded the demon without hesitation.
There was not the slightest feeling of pity for the demon.
The number of imperial soldiers lying dead on that mountain was far from small, too many to harbor such emotions.
Knights and mages.
All the imperial citizens on the ground were looking at Yuma.
At the being who had annihilated in one go the 2,000 demons and demon beasts that had been pouring down like rain to invade the empire from atop the giant black mountain goat, Barphone, which had been Bephalon’s subordinate.
Various sword energies were still blooming on the swords held by the knights, mercenaries, and men of the White Night Clan.
They still couldn’t let go of their tension.
Thanks to those numerous lights, Yuma’s figure standing straight was clearly visible to them.
Yuma swept his gaze over those sending him passionate looks.
“Everyone, release your sword energy and rest. There probably won’t be any more invasions today.”
Even the demons who had lost their fear should have understood that advice sufficiently.
The white-haired empress, Brigitte, standing next to Yuma, nodded.
“Set up guard forces in shifts. The rest should rest.”
Only then did the sword energies flickering like numerous lights go out.
Darkness arrived.
“Waaaaaah!!”
And in the darkness, the shout of one knight rang out.
A cheer filled with the joy of victory, ill-fitting with the darkness.
Other knights and mages followed that knight’s cheer and shouted in succession.
The imperial palace was covered in cheers for a long time.
Yuma looked at Cloney behind him.
“You held on tight. I’m sorry. You must have been scared.”
Yuma stroked Cloney’s black hair.
This was because Cloney had also been riding the griffin at the moment when Yuma parried the Black Disaster.
It was true that he had exposed her to the danger of potentially being swept away by Demon King Bephalon’s Black Disaster that had been aimed at him.
Of course, Cloney didn’t think that way at all.
Rather, she thought she had just been baggage for Yuma in the back seat.
Cloney’s lips slowly parted.
“…I wasn’t scared at all, Yuma-nim.”
Cloney’s golden eyes sparkled.
“That’s good.”
This time, Yuma looked at Brigitte.
“I’ll go in and rest a bit.”
Brigitte nodded hurriedly.
“Yes, rest well, Yuma.”
Yuma slowly walked towards the annex of the imperial palace.
The gazes of all the imperial soldiers were directed at Yuma as he entered the annex, his black coat fluttering.
For so long that those gazes felt uncomfortable, until Yuma’s figure faded far beyond the shadow of the door.
Ermel, the former saint who had been watching this scene, muttered absentmindedly.
“Faith… is gathering.”
Yuma was not a god.
Even if faith gathered, nothing special would happen.
Nevertheless, Ermel thought that the reverence and worship contained in those gazes were not much different from religious faith.
Hestia nodded at Ermel’s muttering.
“Yuma, Yuma… hurrah!”
Haven, next to Bell, let out a deep sigh.
It was a sigh tinged with admiration.
“Whew…! I knew he was strong, but I didn’t know it was to this extent. Yuma-nim. It seems like a level that can’t possibly be reached.”
Bell’s fine brow furrowed.
“You will surely become a greater swordsman than me.”
No matter how much she pondered those words, she couldn’t understand them.
‘…I’ll have to try.’
Nevertheless, she had no intention of giving up on reaching that level.
“You did very well, Bell.”
That person had passed down his swordsmanship to her in order to make those words a reality.
“As long as you don’t give up.”
She couldn’t betray that faith.
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Interesting implications that the MC will be faced with faith based shenanigans. If the author is being spicy, then an entirely new god will be born modeled after but separate from the MC … and he will have to engage with his child’s/doppleganger’s/stalker’s tomfoolery.