Chapter 1165: Scorched World.

In a corner of the forest where darkness had settled dimly.

The smell of burning wafted thickly there.

Chi-i-i-ik.

When the foul smell of roasted skin pierced my nose, pushing aside the sound of burning.

“Ptooey.”

Spitting, I waved my hand slightly. As my power moved slightly, the foul smell immediately subsided.

Stirring the wind, I looked ahead.

“…….”

A figure whose breath had already ended. Someone who was originally the Fire Demon was burnt pitch-black.

“Hmm.”

Looking at him, I lightly stamped my foot.

Pasasok.

As I lightly stomped on it with my foot, the body crumbled and disappeared.

“Did I overdo it?”

This was the first time I was trying torture after my power grew stronger. Perhaps because of that, I couldn’t control it as I wanted.

“I guess I need to practice this too.”

It was time to re-learn strength control. If I messed up, I’d end up killing the person before hearing anything, you see.

‘Like just now.’

Filled with disappointment, I narrowed my eyes. There was more I could have heard, but I couldn’t. Because the Fire Demon died without holding on for long.

‘If it was going to be like this, it would have been better to just perform a demonic transformation, you know.’

‘Yeah, I should have just turned him into a demon-man and gotten the information instead. I ended up doing something useless by saying I’d try some torture.’

“Tsk.”

Clicking my tongue, I brushed my hands. Still, it wasn’t a complete loss.

‘Because I did hear the reason why this guy was here.’

The Fire Demon.

He was one of the Four Demonic Lords, a martial artist famous for his extremely bloodthirsty personality.

To be precise, he was a martial artist like that.

‘Because he was already dead back in my time.’

Even the Four Demonic Lords are former Four Demonic Lords.

As far as I know, the human called the Fire Demon…

‘Is known to have been chased by the Alliance on the front lines and eventually died.’

After raping the daughter of a famous merchant guild leader.

He hid himself on the front lines, but was discovered by the Martial League and met his death.

It was a sordid and utterly disgraceful death, a story everyone knew.

I had always thought of him as a total idiot.

‘What the…’

Meeting him in person made me curious.

‘It doesn’t seem like it was just for that reason?’

It seemed like he didn’t just come to hide on the front lines.

‘Yes, did you come looking for that too……!? Could it be that you’re the contact person……?’

The Fire Demon came to the front lines to obtain something. Although he also intended to hide his body, it seemed like he had to obtain something here.

‘What could it be?’

What on earth did he want to obtain?

And.

‘Where did he hear such information?’

Something smells fishy.

‘There’s something going on.’

I had a feeling something was up with this series of events.

‘Besides, there’s a contact person.’

Which means the Fire Demon was supposed to meet someone here.

“Hmm.”

I rolled my eyes. At the same time, I waved my hand slightly.

Hwa-reu-reu-reuk–!!!

Flames erupted, setting fire to the corpses on the ground. I cleared away the bodies of the humans the Fire Demon had killed.

And at the same time, I sat down on a rock.

‘If it’s like this, then there’s only one thing to do.’

Regardless of what it is, the contact person was supposed to come. Now that I heard that, there was only one thing to do.

‘Should I wait?’

Let’s wait a bit, even if not for long.

With that thought, I decided to pass the time for now.

---

Sitting on the rock, time passed.

It wasn’t long. Maybe a little less than half an hour? It was still night, and the moon was clearly visible in the sky.

Starting to feel bored, I was contemplating just leaving when…

‘Hmm?’

I sensed something in the ki-sense I had spread out.

‘Someone is coming.’

It’s a person. Not the presence of a monster.

‘Oh, how fortunate?’

They don’t seem like someone from the Alliance. I thought it might be the contact person the Fire Demon mentioned.

Just then.

U-u-ung.

I focused my energy into my core. Then.

U-deu-deu-deuk-!!!

My joints trembled on their own as my body began to change. Not long after, my appearance changed into that of the Fire Demon.

“Aah-“

I checked my voice too. It had changed, but it wasn’t perfect. The body was the same. This was just an imitation of the face and appearance.

‘This much is enough.’

Imitating the appearance was enough. Even if the voice wasn’t perfect, it was similar enough, so this would suffice.

Thinking so, I waited for the opponent.

“Are you the Fire Demon?”

The opponent appeared.

“That’s right.”

As I spoke, I looked at the opponent. He was wearing a veil, so his face wasn’t clearly visible. The only thing I could tell was that he was a man.

‘If I heighten my ki-sense, I could probably see inside the veil.’

But it’s not easy because I’m using the Body Mimicry Technique. Since it’s an unfamiliar body form, it’s difficult to channel more ki into it.

‘Hmm.’

So, I felt I needed to get more information.

“Nice to meet you. As expected, you look like a strong person.”

“I often hear that. So, I’d like to ask why you wanted to see me.”

“……Hmm?”

At my words, the opponent’s reaction became strange.

Oops. This doesn’t seem right.

‘Did they want to see me?’

A moment passed while I was racking my brain. I missed the moment to answer.

Just then.

“You already know the reason.”

Fortunately, it seemed they did indeed want to see me.

“I know the reason, but I wanted to hear it once more.”

“……As I heard, you seem to have a thorough nature.”

I managed to get past it somehow. The fact that my expressions aren’t easily formed due to the Body Mimicry Technique was helping.

“The reward for the request is the same as before.”

Rustle. The man took out a letter from his pocket.

“…I wish for you to take me to the Bigo inside the forest. In return, I will grant you freedom.”

“…….”

Bigo?

At those words, I perked up my ears.

‘There’s a Bigo?’

I had never heard talk of a Bigo being inside the front lines. Is there such a thing here?

“Freedom…? How so?”

Before asking about the Bigo, I wanted to hear information that could entice the Fire Demon first. This was to quell unnecessary doubts.

“By faking your death and creating a new identity, the Fire Demon will be resolved by dying here. Your corpse, killed by a monster, will be handled by the Martial League. In that process, they will pass the information that the Fire Demon was vanquished to our league.”

“…….”

“After that, I will bestow upon you the identity prepared in advance. This way, you won’t be chased by the Martial League anymore. What do you say?”

‘Huh.’

Hearing the words, I chuckled inwardly.

‘……If it becomes like this.’

The Fire Demon’s backstory-that he died to monsters and the Alliance on the front lines-could potentially change?

‘In fact, there might even be a possibility he returned alive.’

If he faked his death to change his identity, just like that guy said. He could have faked his death and disappeared, rather than dying as recorded.

“…Hmm. Not bad?”

I answered, nodding my head.

What should I do now? Should I capture that guy and interrogate him?

After thinking for a moment.

“Fine.”

I answered him.

“Let’s do that.”

For now, I decided to observe the situation.

---

After talking, I moved with the man. Since I didn’t know the location anyway, I started following the path.

‘Who could it be.’

While walking, I pondered the question. Who on earth was that guy? Who was he to commission something like this to the Fire Demon, one of the Four Demonic Lords?

Moreover.

‘Is there really something like a Bigo?’

If there really is something like that inside the front lines.

‘Why didn’t I know?’

Why didn’t I know? The front lines are a place carefully managed by the Alliance, but strictly speaking, it was also subject to the state’s management.

‘……I don’t know everything, but…’

Perhaps my father knew? That there was a Bigo on the front lines?

‘Who knows.’

In the first place, the very information about the Bigo could be fake, so I can’t easily believe anything.

What’s important now is one thing.

‘Something is happening on the front lines.’

The instruction to confirm the anomaly, and… Something is unfolding on the front lines right now.

I continued walking, slowly looking around.

“This way.”

“Mm.”

I kept walking, following the man’s guidance. Monsters appeared intermittently, but dealing with them wasn’t difficult. They were just the green and blue types, you see.

Other than that.

‘That martial artists appeared frequently.’

There were several martial artists from righteous sects patrolling nearby. Even if it wasn’t them.

‘There were scoundrels from unorthodox sects too.’

Strictly speaking, the front lines were a lawless zone. And in this era, unorthodox sects ran even more rampant than in my time. Therefore, unorthodox sects sometimes existed even within the front lines themselves, but.

‘There were more than I expected.’

Their numbers were greater than I thought.

‘Moreover.’

They seemed to have been constantly fighting monsters and martial artists, radiating killing intent and fighting spirit.

“Dieeee-!”

“Aaargh-!”

I roughly dealt with the ones approaching. I killed the unorthodox ones and merely incapacitated the righteous ones. I had some trouble trying not to draw attention.

‘What a pain.’

It’s different from the front lines I knew. Normally, this is a place where humans shouldn’t be able to move around so freely.

‘It’s disorganized.’

Whether it’s the guys from the Alliance or the Peng family guys helping them. Their activities, including patrols, were far from systematic. It reached the point where even someone like me, who lives life carelessly, wondered if they could get away with such disorganization.

‘It’s a damn mess.’

Holding back a sigh, we moved little by little like that.

“We’ve arrived.”

Finally, I reached the destination with the man, but.

‘Hmm?’

Something felt off.

‘Who is it?’

The place we arrived at was a small clearing in the front lines. Two more figures were visible there. One was a woman. And the other was an old man…

“What is this?”

I had to check their condition and ask the man about them.

‘Look at that killing intent.’

The killing intent radiating from the two people was formidable. Their cultivation level was definitely not weak either.

At my words, the man moved towards the figures and then…

“Fire Demon.”

“Yes.”

“You were the one who approached me about the location of the Bigo. You said you’d show me the way because you knew. Instead, you asked for help faking your death and changing your identity.”

“…….”

“But why did you ask me for the way?”

Ah.

Hearing the words, I froze.

I see…

“I made a mistake.”

It was a mistake from the start. This is why acting is so difficult, you know.

“Who are you? You’re not the Fire Demon.”

The man asked. I smiled awkwardly at his words and said.

“Who knows.”

As soon as I spoke, the experts flanking the man rushed at me.

“Try and guess.”

I lightly stamped my foot and summoned black flames into my hand.