Episode 651. Demon King’s Attack (2)

Since the gates of Hell appeared in the Pacific Ocean.

Humanity has been facing the monsters of Hell every single day.

However, those who had faced demons among them were an extreme minority, and even then, the finishing blows were all delivered by Lee Hoyeon.

Humanity still hasn’t properly grasped the power of demons.

The reaction from America, the first to face demons, was proof of that.

[Wait, the demon that appeared in America currently is Carkus. He’s the demon subjugated by the wizard Lee Hoyeon in America not long ago. Researchers’ speculation that demons exist as a single entity is wrong…]

[A subjugation team formed by the American Hunter Association and Wizard Association has encountered Carkus and other monsters from Hell. The battle is being broadcast live…]

The news anchor is saying there are multiple Carkuses, but that’s wrong.

Carkus has been resurrected.

Watching the news amidst the sudden situation, Lee Hoyeon couldn’t hide his bewilderment.

“That bug-like bastard you killed, wasn’t it?”

“… Yeah.”

Lee Hoyeon stroked the hair of Liliana, held tightly in his arms, and focused on the news.

Carkus.

The demon Lee Hoyeon himself had subjugated was confronting America’s hunters.

How had that bastard resurrected?

The reason didn’t even need asking.

‘The only one who can create variables is the Demon King.’

In the original work, he didn’t have such an ability, but the current Demon King is the god of this world.

It wouldn’t be strange for him to possess powers Lee Hoyeon didn’t know about.

Chwaak- Ka-aang-!

Each time Carkus’s body disappeared, the hunters seen on the video feed were dropping like flies.

There was no way other hunters could perceive a speed that couldn’t be read even by Lee Hoyeon’s awakened eyes.

‘He didn’t just come back to life. He got much stronger.’

I can tell because I faced him directly.

The resurrected Carkus’s speed became even faster, and his destructive power also increased.

It’s probably because the Demon King appeared.

They said the magical power from the Demon King’s castle was beyond imagination.

Still, America’s hunters weren’t idiots.

Somehow, they managed to maintain the front line by offsetting the damage and receiving heals.

‘It seems possible to hold out…’

Since I haven’t seen it directly, I can’t calculate exact figures, but Carkus has become much stronger compared to when I first saw him.

If Amon and Malpis had been this strong from the beginning, even the subjugation team wouldn’t have been able to hold out.

There are many familiar faces in America.

Association President Arthur or Guild Leader Angela.

They were all Lee Hoyeon’s connections.

I wanted to go support America immediately, but below the news, subtitles announcing breaking news kept scrolling.

[Breaking News. A monstrous bird that appeared at the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France, is hunting civilians.]

[Breaking News. A mysterious legion of flies has appeared in Brazil.]

[Breaking News. A mysterious ghost ship appeared in the sea off Incheon, Korea…]

Ttiring-

The alarm sound that only rings when contacted by the heroines.

Lee Hoyeon kept his eyes fixed on the news and raised his smartwatch.

• Alice: I’m returning to France with my sister because of Iris Guild business. I’m sorry I couldn’t see you before leaving.

America, being the closest to the darkness of the Pacific, was just the first; attacks occurred simultaneously worldwide.

During the Demon Cult subjugation operation, the subjugation team composed of Korea’s aces barely held their ground against two demons.

Even if the demons who attacked alongside the monsters became stronger, since most countries know how to deal with other monsters, they might be able to hold on.

But that wasn’t the end.

[Simultaneously with the worldwide attacks, appearing from the darkness, a massive legion is heading towards Asia. Among the creatures presumed to be demons, one individual is judged to be the leader of the demons. It’s presumed the horde is heading towards Japan, but its exact destination hasn’t yet been calculated…]

The massive legion was advancing.

Lee Hoyeon glared at the advancing figure leading dozens of demons.

At first glance, similar to a human, but over 3 meters tall with a massive build.

Burning with an intensely mystical light, crimson eyes and sharp, angular facial features.

The sight of the figure clad in ornate black armor leading the demons as he advanced seemed to evoke fear just by looking at it for a moment.

He had a different appearance than the Demon King in the original work, but seeing ‘Agares’ attending him, his identity seemed certain.

The final episode.

The Demon King’s attack had begun.

*

It took only a day for the entire world to declare a state of emergency.

Pooling the strength of each nation, they were somehow holding the line, but the damage was beyond estimation.

The demons were cunning.

They are a race born for battle.

While they don’t shy away from fights, if they put their minds to it, they can certainly fight efficiently.

To such beings, the Demon King’s command was given.

The demons, aiming to grind down humans with maximum efficiency, left the hunters with no choice but to be victims.

It wasn’t just the demons that were the problem.

From the darkness of the Pacific, an enormous number of Hell’s monsters poured out.

Due to the Demon King’s appearance, the monsters could exert their full power even without the black pillars.

The methods Lee Hoyeon taught still worked, but the monsters’ sheer size had changed.

In the end, humanity suffered even greater damage than when Hell’s monsters first appeared.

It had only been two days since the demons began their assault.

Hunters were dying in Korea too.

Due to the massive damage sustained from the Demon Cult crackdown, the Korean Hunter Association couldn’t even form subjugation teams to face the demons.

They were too busy defending against Hell’s monsters in each region.

However, Korea had the genius wizard Lee Hoyeon.

A mysterious ghost ship had appeared in the sea off Incheon.

On board, a single human was rampaging.

Keureureuk-

The demon Melves, who ruled the seas of Hell, looked down from his ghost ship.

Ever since first arriving on Earth, he had wanted to sail the Earth’s seas.

The seas here, unlike the scorching lava of Hell, were blue and beautiful.

With his ghost ship and the souls gathered from Hell, the Earth’s seas could easily be swallowed.

No, he thought they would.

“How can such an absurd being even exist?”

Melves stared at the human who had boarded his ghost ship, unable to close his jaw.

Even demons from Hell wouldn’t dare board Melves’ ghost ship for a fight.

Because the thousands upon thousands of souls on the ghost ship fought alongside Melves.

• Keuaaaaaaak!

• Keuo-ooooo!

But Melves’ pride, his souls, were being purified in real-time.

A phenomenon caused by a single human.

The human who fearlessly boarded his ghost ship alone, without even looking around, came straight onto the deck.

On the ghost ship’s deck, Melves’ gathered souls resided.

Even demons avoided the center of the ghost ship.

That human, without a shred of hesitation, began slaughtering the souls.

Anyone on the ghost ship should have first been suspicious and investigated the identity, but that human showed no hesitation.

Kwaaaaaang-!

At that moment, another batch of souls was purified.

While Melves watched the human in disbelief, his own power was diminishing.

“Human…!”

“As expected, when you slaughter enough souls, you show yourself directly?”

Lee Hoyeon destroyed the souls before him and turned around.

The ghost ship’s demon, Melves.

Following Carkus, Amon, and Malpis, he was the fourth demon encountered.

Unlike the other demons whose individual strength was immense, Melves on the ghost ship fought using the souls he had hunted.

‘This guy’s the easiest for me to handle.’

Finally, a demon with abilities he could overwhelm had appeared.

Since that bastard appeared in Incheon, I had no choice but to come immediately.

“Grrr. I will never forgive you!”

Melves, revealing his true form, manipulated Hell’s magic and souls.

He had never before now let anyone who invaded his ghost ship leave alive.

Kkudeuk- Kkudeudeuk-

The hundreds of souls on the deck coalesced into a single mass.

Then, emitting light, they split into hundreds of beams.

Soul Explosion.

It was a powerful magic that gathered the grudges of souls wishing for release and detonated them all at once.

Although I didn’t like sacrificing souls, its power was undeniable.

Shyu-wook-

The hundreds of beams charged towards the human.

This attack could absolutely not be dodged.

Ku-woong-!

However, Melves frowned again.

Clearly, the attack itself possessed firepower no human could withstand.

But that human’s movements were on a divine level.

Suddenly, his eyes glowed golden, and as if he knew exactly where the attacks would land, he moved his body.

Even though hundreds of beams were chasing him, leaving openings was inevitable no matter how well he dodged, at that moment, the magic orb floating behind him unleashed magic.

At the movements, unbelievable for a human, Melves’ eyes trembled.

“Wh-what the hell…! I never thought I’d have to use this on a human.”

Melves summoned all his souls back to the ghost ship.

Simultaneously, ominous darkness erupted from the center of the deck.

Melves had hunted souls since the depths of Hell.

Souls trapped on the ghost ship for a long time became imbued with the aura of death.

“That human is the target! Rampage to your heart’s content!”

Kwagwagwagwang-!

Thousands of souls emerging from the deck’s darkness charged at Lee Hoyeon.

Each soul, possessing a potent aura of death, could crush a human body merely by touching it.

But they still hadn’t touched the human.

‘There’s so much to dodge?’

Lee Hoyeon accelerated through space, using future sight to find the next path.

Melves’ soul attacks are strong, but they have limits.

There’s a reason he doesn’t normally use so many souls.

“Kuhh…!”

As Melves clutched his chest, the souls’ movements noticeably slowed.

Even for a demon, controlling so many souls at once is impossible.

He tried to pull the souls back in, but Lee Hoyeon had no intention of letting him.

Hu-woong-

A black sun covered the ghost ship’s deck.

Filled with potent magic, the Eclipse engulfed the ghost ship’s deck.

“Kk, Kuaaaak!”

As Melves’ trusted souls were swallowed by Lee Hoyeon’s magic, the ghost ship’s presence gradually weakened.

This was why Lee Hoyeon had jumped onto Melves’ ghost ship alone.

What made him troublesome was that even one hit from the thousands of souls would be fatal.

That meant both the souls and Melves’ main body had low durability.

With Lee Hoyeon’s future sight identifying safe spots in this space, and multi-casting from his Arc reducing the souls, it was an opponent he couldn’t possibly lose to.

“Y-you human…!”

The heavy magic enveloping the surroundings.

Melves felt his body tremble uncontrollably, against his will.

The human’s invisible magic was constricting his body.

Melves, closest to death, could tell.

He was heading towards death.

“‘I can’t die like this…!”

As a demon born for battle, he understood the danger of the current situation.

Melves, seeing the black sun approaching him, began searching for an escape route.

But Melves’ body, having lost an immense number of souls in such a short time, was not normal.

He couldn’t break through Lee Hoyeon’s Sky-Piercing Palace and Rune Barrier.

“Why, why does a human like you exist?!”

Melves cried out in rage, unable to contain his anger.

This ship held his life, the castle he had built over a lifetime.

Those souls shouldn’t have vanished so meaninglessly.

Pa-aang-

Melves wildly swung his hands, firing souls indiscriminately.

But Melves’ attacks didn’t reach Lee Hoyeon.

Pa-aang-!

The storm of wind created by Lee Hoyeon’s hand sucked in the souls, and simultaneously, the magic circle drawn on his back’s Arc burned the remaining ones.

Melves closed his eyes, feeling the souls leaving his body.

His ghost ship had been defeated.

He, a powerhouse of Hell, could not believe he was defeated by a single person.

“I usually prefer to capture targets alive and extract information… but you wouldn’t have any information about the Demon King either, would you?”

“How dare a human speak the name of Hell’s Demon King with such disrespect…!”

Souls burst from Melves’ body, but they couldn’t even reach Lee Hoyeon before evaporating.

Lee Hoyeon gathered magic into his hand and thrust it towards Melves.

Kwadeudeuk-

The unpleasant sound of life ending.

Lee Hoyeon brushed off his hand and exited the slowly collapsing ghost ship.

“Next, I guess I should head towards France.”

After the Demon King appeared, it was humanity’s first victory.