Ch.13Ep.13 Towards the Demon Prison

“Ha, hahahaha! Hahahahahahaha!!”

A mad woman’s laughter echoes through a deep, deep mountain valley.

“Hahahaha! Hahahahahaha–“

The laughter that seemed endless suddenly cut off.

An immense killing intent surged from the woman.

“This… can’t be right..? Why are you alive! Whyyyyy!!”

The woman’s identity was none other than Serena Tolos.

She was frantically scratching her left arm like a madwoman.

“Don’t fuck with me! I killed him! I sliced his heart open myself!! Why are you still alive after three years?!”

BOOM!!!

Unable to contain herself any longer, Serena struck out with her fist, causing the mountainside to explode like a firecracker.

Such a rampage would normally bring punishment from the approaching apostles of chaos, but.

Who cares.

It wasn’t just anyone, but Radios Magnum himself—the man she had killed with her own hands—had returned.

His face, strength, and voice. Everything about him had changed.

But Serena could tell from his back as he conversed with Arsia.

She knew he was the captain, Radios Magnum.

This wasn’t a guess. It was instinct.

There was zero chance he wasn’t Radios Magnum.

She would bet everything that he was indeed Radios Magnum.

He had returned. He had truly returned to Kadinant.

Which meant…

“Aaaaaaaaahhh!!”

The blood collected from the prison must have been Radios’s.

Radios had already confronted her.

Yet he had restrained himself and postponed his revenge for Arsia’s prison break.

“That’s impossible..! The captain can’t be alive!! No!! Nooooooo!!”

Serena clutched her head in agony.

One corner of her mind still held memories of the time they had spent together.

They came flooding back whenever she closed her eyes.

[Hey, are you sleeping? Are you crying?]

Serena had glared at Radios with wide eyes at his mockery.

[I’m not cry– Huh?]

[Don’t cry… Everyone’s sad, not just you. So… don’t cry.]

The captain’s eyes, which she thought were mocking her, were filled with tears of blood.

Evidence that he was haunted by the comrades who had died.

“No… it can’t be… I killed him… I killed him…”

As her anger subsided, all that remained was bitter denial.

Tears poured down like a waterfall as Serena repeated that it couldn’t be true.

Yet nothing changed.

She was a traitor, and Radios would eventually come to judge her.

When that time came, how should she react?

Should she say she was sorry for betraying him and ask for forgiveness?

Or blame him for not giving her the confidence to win?

No matter how much she thought about it, no matter how much she racked her brain.

If she imagined Radios appearing before her.

Her knees would weaken and her body would tremble uncontrollably.

“Right… I just have to kill him… before he comes to kill me… right?”

There was no need to overthink it.

Why was he alive? No need to wonder about that.

Kill him when we meet. Kill him when we meet. Kill him when we meet. Kill him when we meet. Kill him when we meet. Kill him when we meet. Kill him when we meet. Kill him when we meet. Kill him when we meet. Kill him when we meet. Kill him when we meet. Kill him when we meet. Kill him when we meet. Kill him when we meet. Kill him when we meet. Kill him when we meet. Kill him when we meet. Kill him when we meet. Kill him when we meet. Kill him when we meet. Kill him when we meet. Kill him when we meet. Kill him when we meet. Kill him when we meet.

“Phew… right, it’s no big deal, is it? I just have to kill him and that’s it.”

After muttering “kill him when we meet” like a mantra, almost brainwashing herself, Serena quickly regained her composure.

So what if she saw him? So what if he’s alive?

It’s not like she would say “I’m sorry I betrayed you and ruined everything. I’ll die right here” if Radios appeared before her.

When she came to her senses, she found her surroundings had turned into a complete mess.

The result of her temporary madness upon learning Radios was alive.

Now for the next problem…

Whether to hand over the blood collected from the prison to the otherworlders.

‘I absolutely can’t let that happen. If I do, the fact that Radios is alive will be revealed, won’t it?’

Radios must die by her hand alone.

Until then, no one should know he’s alive.

Of course, nothing would be revealed even if she handed it over, but Serena didn’t know that.

Just as she was sorting through her emotions, an unwelcome visitor arrived.

It was Mir, one of the archbishops of the Order of Boundary Dwellers.

“Traitor. The Apostle summons you.”

“I told you I’d rip your mouth if you called me that again.”

“Try it if you can. I’m not the Mir you knew before.”

A provocative tone, challenging her to fight if she dared.

Normally, Serena would have responded with words.

Unfortunately, the current Serena had no intention of controlling her emotions.

“Mir. Big sister is in a very, very bad mood right now. So don’t pick a fight and get lost. I’ll come on my own.”

BOOM.

With those words, she unleashed her magical power at full force.

Mir, whose only goal had been to provoke her, was taken aback for two reasons.

First, Serena was genuinely growling and ready to pounce at such provocation.

Second, the gap in their abilities, which he thought had narrowed, had actually widened.

As a result, Mir had no choice but to back down.

Now that he knew Serena was in a bad mood, he would follow the Apostle’s orders rather than indulge his personal feelings.

“The Apostle wishes to discuss Arsia’s prison break.”

“…”

“Follow me. It seems you’ll be given a new mission.”

Mir delivered only the necessary message before turning to leave.

That’s why he couldn’t see.

That Serena’s pupils were trembling as if hit by an earthquake.

***

“Aren’t you cold dressed like that?”

“I’m from Noslet, so I’m resistant to cold… and I’m keeping warm by circulating my magical power.”

“If there’s one thing I envy, it’s your resistance to cold.”

Radios closed his mouth as soon as he finished speaking and tightened his coat.

As for Arsia’s outfit.

She wore only her signature clothes with a brown hood draped over them.

To dress like that in Noslet where temperatures drop below -10°C…

One could only call it remarkable.

“So you still haven’t changed your mind? About going to the Demonic Prison.”

“You know we’ve already entered the Demonic Prison’s territory. The demonic beasts aren’t showing up either.”

If one concentrated briefly, they could faintly sense the magical power of the Demonic Prison.

This meant they had entered the Demonic Prison’s territory.

Shouldn’t the Demonic Prison’s beasts be appearing then?

Of course not.

This was the Demonic Prison’s territory, but not the Demonic Prison itself.

To explain simply… well.

If the Demonic Prison is the land territory, then the Demonic Prison’s domain is like the sea between territorial waters and land.

And the Demonic Prison’s beasts have no ships to go from land to territorial waters.

Still don’t understand?

Let’s just move on.

To put it simply, where Radios is now is a place that seems like the Demonic Prison but isn’t quite the Demonic Prison.

There’s no need to be tense about Demonic Prison beasts attacking, nor any need to keep watch for raids.

Since the otherworlders had suffered a major defeat in the Demonic Prison…

They would never pursue anyone who fled here.

By now, they probably wouldn’t care much that Arsia had escaped.

After all, Kadinant would be revolving around them.

They probably believed they could subdue any remaining Guardian Spirits causing trouble.

“It’s been two weeks, but your magical power still hasn’t recovered?”

“No. I don’t know why… but I’m much weaker than before.”

“This is a bit of a variable, since I’m still at the second seal release stage.”

He thought the third seal might be released after killing Kim Aram, but it seems it’s still too early.

Then again, if killing someone was enough to restore his power, the seal would be meaningless.

Hearing Radios’s words, Arsia opened her mouth with an incredulous expression.

“If you think this is a variable, why don’t we stop going now?”

They were moving very slowly, preparing for whatever might happen in the Demonic Prison.

They needed to conserve their strength.

But Arsia was questioning why they were going to the Demonic Prison if he was going to complain like this.

In a way, she had a point, but how should he explain it?

“You know my intuition. I just feel like we need to go to the Demonic Prison now.”

“Did you really leave something there… then..!”

Just as Arsia was about to shake her head.

She and Radios simultaneously sensed some magical power and assumed battle positions.

“Talk about bad timing..! We’re not even in the Demonic Prison yet, why is this happening?!”

“How would I know? Stay alert!”

There was no need to hide their abilities from the Demonic Prison’s beasts.

Radios was even considering using the Sword of Judgment if necessary.

It wouldn’t matter if they arrived at the outskirts of the Demonic Prison a day late.

Fortunately, the demonic beasts that appeared with a loud noise weren’t at a level requiring the Sword of Judgment.

“Dark Skeleton Knights. Arsia, cover me.”

“Roger!”

Radios charged toward the dozens of Dark Skeleton Knights rushing at them in a pack.

They seemed to have already targeted Radios, as they clacked their bones when he charged at them.

CLANG!

“KRAAAARGH!”

“One down, next!”

The jade flame sword—a magic sword infused with the properties of jade flame.

Even though Dark Skeleton Knights were rumored to have bodies harder than steel.

The sharpness of the jade flame sword easily pierced their skin.

Perhaps because they saw their comrade cut down with a single blow.

The knights, who had been charging recklessly, began to form a formation.

“Moonlight Slash.”

SWOOSH!!

Arsia’s magic, which had been waiting for this moment, struck.

The Dark Skeleton Knights knew the magic was coming toward them.

But they had gathered together, exposing themselves to the range of the Moonlight Slash.

And on top of that.

“Jade Flame Tsunami.”

WHOOSH!!

Radios’s Jade Flame Tsunami poured down on the stragglers trying to escape.

Having rolled countless times on battlefields, Radios and Arsia understood each other’s intentions without speaking.

After that perfect coordination ended, all that remained were a few trembling Dark Skeleton Knights.

After finishing them off as well, Arsia and Radios wore displeased expressions.

“It seems…”

“Right?”

Despite being in the Demonic Prison’s territory, beasts from the Demonic Prison had rushed out.

Something that had never happened since the creation of the Demonic Prison had occurred.

Radios pondered deeply about this.

‘The Demonic Prison has changed. What if the Demonic Prison’s beasts escape from it?’

That would be dangerous.

They already had enough trouble fighting the otherworlders, and now the Demonic Prison’s beasts were causing chaos too?

“Captain.”

But just before he could sink into contemplation, Arsia called out to Radios.

She was pointing in a certain direction.

“We’re… in big trouble, no, we’re totally screwed, aren’t we?”

“…Indeed.”

Though its form was still only faintly visible.

Its magical power was as mighty as Radios in his prime.

Its identity was.

“A dokkaebi…”

One of the strongest predator clans of the Demonic Prison, the dokkaebi clan.

It seems the cover illustration schedule will be delayed…