Book 2: Chapter 86

Jurk.

Blood spilled from every orifice on Gullard’s hideous face. The bright red liquid poured from his eyes, nose, ears, and mouth.

Covering his nose and mouth with his sleeve, Kran took several steps backward.

There were many Demons whose blood was extremely toxic. But Gullard’s seemed to be even stronger than the ones he’d encountered before.

“…long live… the Demon King.”

Bang!

After muttering those words again, Gullard’s entire body exploded.

Kran retreated instinctively as he remembered the destructive force Gullard had displayed earlier, but the strength of this explosion wasn’t that large.

Moreover, Lukas erected a barrier around Gullard’s body, which contained the explosion.

Realising that he wasn’t in danger, Kran emerged from his hasty cover. Then, he looked over to where Gullarrd had been.

Now, all that was left of him was a pile of burnt, bloody flesh that oozed a very disgusting smell.

“…is he dead?”

“Almost.”

“What?”

Kran turned to look at Lukas, not quite understanding what he meant.

Lukas didn’t elaborate any further. Instead, he simply sat on the ground with a complicated expression before covering his face with both hands.

‘…I used Endtongue.’

And against a scapegoat.

This was, without a doubt, Lukas’ fault. He’d allowed his emotions to take control. In all honesty, he still hadn’t calmed down. His head still felt dizzy.

There were few events that could shock Lukas, who had become an Absolute, to this extent.

As he tried to clear his thoughts, Kran, who had been observing him for a while, asked again.

“What do you mean by ‘almost’?”

“Did you forget his ability?”

Kran’s eyebrows furrowed.

“…division. I see. Was that just a decoy?”

“A decoy that was stronger than his true body. He left 90% of his power in an alter ego before escaping with the other 10%.”

“He assigned most of his power to an alter ego? I didn’t think he would do something like that.”

“Generally, it is probably not something that he would do.”

Lukas had a rough idea of what Gullard was up to.

He’d avoided fighting him head-on.

When he saw Lukas annihilating the hybrids in quick succession, he’d probably realised that he couldn’t defeat him on his own.

‘…no. Perhaps…’

He might have heard about him from Kasajin.

Gullard knew about him. He didn’t know about Lukas, the God of Magic of this world. Instead, he knew about Lukas Trowman, the Great Mage, who fought against the Demigods a long time ago.

Looking up at the statue of him, Lukas couldn’t help but wonder.

Now that he looked at it closely, he realised that the statue’s appearance had a few minor differences from his true appearance. This was probably because it was created based on Kasajin’s memories. Or maybe there was another reason.

Once again, he looked down at what was left of Gullard’s body, or, to be precise, the body of the alter ego.

In terms of efficiency, putting 90% of his power into a single alter ego was the worst choice he could make. The alter ego, which received more power than the main body, would be unable to fully utilise it, which meant that it would be easier to defeat than if he were to use the power himself.

The main body, which only had 10% of its power left, would also be in danger. After all, losing most of his power meant that Gullard was slowly dying.

He never would have expected a being like Gullard to try to escape at the expense of his life. It was even clearer now that he had a mentality that differed greatly from other demons.

Why was he so bent on self-preservation?

The answer was obvious.

He probably wanted to announce Lukas’ existence.

“…”

He still couldn’t believe it.

No, he wouldn’t believe it until he saw it with his own eyes.

Lukas looked up at the statues once again.

Five statues, each one with a familiar appearance. They were faces that filled Lukas with nostalgia but also sorrow.

Standing between the Black Witch, the Great Sage, the Sword King, and the Great Mage was a person who no longer had the appearance of a human being.

The Magic Warrior King.

No, the Demon King.

A huge physique, gray skin, sharp, protruding fangs, and large red horns on both temples.

Indeed, this was a being who suited the title Demon King, but there was no denying that he looked like Kasajin.

‘Kasajin.’

Why did he create these statues?

Why did he give their last names to Demons?

Was he really the Demon King? And if he was, did that mean he was willing to kill the humans in this universe? To treat them like bugs?

‘…what the hell are you doing?’

What could he possibly have been thinking?

Just as this question seemed to fill his entire mind, Lukas suddenly raised his head. He felt something.

Something that only an Absolute could feel.

The ‘universe’ was creaking.

He knew what this phenomenon meant. It was something that only occurred when someone exerted more force than the universe was able to withstand. In other words, when an Absolute decided to release their true power.

At first, Lukas thought that it was because of him. After all, his Endtongue was a power that far surpassed the limits of this world.

But it wasn’t him.

The start of the ‘wave’ hadn’t come from Africa.

Instead, it was from Northern Ireland.

The place that Sedi had claimed as her territory.

Lukas realised that a fight between Absolutes was happening there.

‘She broke the agreement.’

In the first place, it was only a weak agreement that had no penalties even if it was broken immediately.

Nevertheless, it had to be noted that they had met each other only a few hours ago. And yet, within such a short time, she broke the agreement…

This meant that it was a truly dire situation. And in this case, it could only mean that her life had been threatened.

‘Nodiesop or Letip.’

He could only think of two beings that could possibly threaten Sedi’s life. The other Absolutes who had entered this universe.

However, Lukas’ eyes were unconsciously drawn to Kasajin’s Demon statue.

Sss…

The universe, which had started to creak, suddenly calmed down once again.

The meaning behind this was tremendous.

It meant that the match between the fighting Absolutes had already been decided.

* * *

“I am Lukas.”

This is what he said to Kran, who asked about his identity.

But Kran frowned at those words.

“I wasn’t asking for your name.”

It seemed he hadn’t let down his guard around Lukas yet.

“You said you were the Great Mage. Is that true?”

“It is.”

Lukas didn’t have any reason to hide it, so he simply nodded.

After a moment of silence, Kran spoke in a conflicted voice.

“A being who advised Wizards stuck at a certain level and unable to progress… I always thought it was a legend that the Wizards spread to make themselves sound more impressive.”

The Top Three.

It was a bit strange for Kran, who was something of a legend for most hunters, to say.

“Why have I never heard of you before?”

Kran was genuinely curious when he asked this question.

If this man had decided to act, the Top Three wouldn’t have been called the Top Three. This guy was just as strong as himself, the Black Witch, and the Saint of Salvation.

No, he was many times stronger than them.

At least for Kran, this man standing in front of him was stronger than any Wizard he’d ever seen before.

“What was that power that you just used? Was it magic?”

He was talking about the power Lukas had used to force Gullard into the ground. Even if it had only been an alter ego, it was clear to Kran that it was a power strong enough to overpower most Dukes.

And yet, such a being had been forced to the ground without a way to resist.

He didn’t think that it was a powerful spell because the casting time was much too short for something so powerful. More importantly, he hadn’t felt any mana fluctuations, something that foreshadowed every spell.

Gullard didn’t even have a chance to realise what was happening before his body had been crushed to the ground.

Lukas turned to look at Kran.

‘3rd-generation hybrid.’

There was a high probability that this was the man’s true identity.

He supposedly had the clue to deceiving the laws of this world.

But Lukas could not see anything despite meeting him in person.

Kran was a being who had been artificially created through biological experiments. Nevertheless, he couldn’t be considered to have been created from nothing like the Golems Lukas knew about.

This man had a soul.

He was a being who was created by mixing two different species, Demons and humans, together.

In a way… he was similar to ‘Frey Blake’, whose body Lukas had occupied in the past. Just like his body had been able to hold both mana and divine power at the same time, Kran’s body was able to contain ki and demonic energy.

However, he couldn’t see more than that. This was the same even if he used Clairvoyance.

Of course, Kran was strong. He’d managed to reach a level of strength that was rare for mortals to achieve. If he had to compare, Lukas would say that he was as strong if not stronger than he was before he was imprisoned in the Abyss.

However, what did that have to do with the ‘clue’?

“…”

Lukas couldn’t tell, and he felt that he couldn’t figure it out even if he continued to mull over the problem in his head.

Lukas decided to put that aside for now.

At least, there was one thing that he could be certain of…

“The Strongest, Kran.”

“What is it?”

“Would you like to defeat the Demons with me?”

For the time being, he would have to work with this man.