Ch.16455. Flame Master Lee Min-su (3)

I met Soso’s eyes.

In that moment, Soso couldn’t say anything. But her body soon began to tremble.

And with an expression that looked like she might cry, she bowed her head deeply.

“I… no… this one… is fine…”

Soso seemed to be trying to say something, but she choked up and couldn’t continue.

Her MCI, displayed in my earpiece, was fluctuating wildly around the threshold.

‘Soso is very shaken right now.’

From the rooftop of this building, the massive transmission tower is visible. And someone who appears to be human has been reported on the rooftop of a nearby building.

Undoubtedly, it’s the Soul-Stealing Demon Seo Mun-yeom. He is the greatest nemesis who has fought against Soso’s father, Heavenly Demon Yeon Se-hwi, for supremacy in the Martial Nation.

And Seo Mun-yeom is the lord of the underworld, more cruel than any other villain.

‘This doesn’t look good. Seo Mun-yeom.’

Having both the Phoenix Flame and the Sacred Fire of Parma, I’m much more sensitive to the opponent’s demonic energy.

The demonic energy rushing toward the transmission tower is being absorbed by that Seo Mun-yeom.

In that moment, I realized. Seo Mun-yeom wasn’t summoning a great demon separately.

Right now, Seo Mun-yeom was trying to become one with the great demon.

‘Dangerous.’

But now is the time to shift my attention away from Seo Mun-yeom for a moment. Because Soso is trembling.

“Are you okay? Will you look at me for a second?”

I took a step toward her.

Soso seemed to be excessively afraid of something. Beyond her, Seo Mun-yeom was transforming into something inhuman.

Given her connection to Seo Mun-yeom, Soso could certainly fear the lord of villains. Especially when her MCI is unstable like now, she would be more susceptible to demonic energy’s influence.

But when I took another step toward Soso, I realized that assumption was wrong.

Soso trembled and instinctively moved away from me. She was looking at me, not Seo Mun-yeom, with fear.

‘Is she seeing hallucinations caused by demonic energy?’

But that couldn’t be possible. Soso is now an SS-rank hunter. If she feared hallucinations, she would have already cut me in half with her Soul Shadow Sword.

As I stood facing Soso in silence, I finally realized why she was avoiding me.

‘She’s been avoiding me ever since returning from Seth Nomura.’

From the information I received from Team Leader Seo Du-ho of Flame, I heard that Soso had been acting wildly.

But when I actually joined them in Tokyo, I couldn’t find any trace of the Blood Demon in Soso. And she kept avoiding me like this.

She had avoided me after our first night together, but now was clearly different from then.

And I, who had been friends with Soso since Eins, knew when she showed such reactions.

‘She feels terribly guilty toward me.’

Then there’s only one answer. Right before I returned, Arini had personally stepped in to stop the rampaging Soso.

Arini must have told Soso about my physical condition.

Arini, who received Ayel’s blessing, seemed to have known all along that I was terminally ill.

I moved closer to Soso. She stepped back further, but with the rooftop railing so close, she had nowhere else to retreat.

I embraced Soso. And whispered in her ear.

“You don’t need to be afraid. I’m fine. It’s not your fault.”

At those words, Soso’s trembling stopped. She couldn’t respond to my words for a moment.

But soon, unable to hold back any longer, she burst into tears.

“That’s… not true… it’s all… all my fault! Because of me… you… your life… why not me… why do you have to suffer such pain… and yet… and yet I selfishly only thought of myself…”

Once the tears started flowing, Soso seemed unable to control her emotions.

I patted the back of the woman who was burrowing into my arms.

“I don’t blame you. If anything, I was the one who hurt you.”

I want to talk more with Soso. And I want to undo the tangled mess of our past since the tragedy of Eins.

I want to return the feelings to Soso who loves me. But words alone cannot convey all sincerity.

Whoosh—

So I created the Sacred Fire of Parma.

The holy fire containing Ayel’s grace. That fire enveloped both Soso and me. And I poured all my emotions into that fire burning with divine holiness.

Soso’s crying stopped. And her MCI began to stabilize.

I lightly kissed her forehead and said,

“When things in Tokyo are over, I’ll tell you all the truth. In front of all of you.”

The truth about my remaining lifespan and the world. Me, the possessed one.

To prevent the world’s destruction, it was time to speak that truth before them, the Sages of the East.

I ended the embrace and stepped back from Soso. Then I looked at Seo Mun-yeom again.

Woooong—

The demonic energy had already grown massive enough to resonate with the huge transmission tower.

Soon, Yuri and Arini joined the two of us.

***

The battle in Sumida Ward was intensifying.

With the help of Flame’s elite members, the remaining hunters had joined forces in Sumida Ward. In the process, casualties reduced their numbers from 4,000 to 3,500, but.

Instead, the remaining hunters were maintaining their formation in squads as they faced the Red Lake’s army, the enemy.

“Everyone hold on! The Saint is with us here! And both daughters of the Heavenly Demon and Grand Duke Andrei are here too! If we just take down Seo Mun-yeom, victory is ours!”

“The Flame Master is also still standing! Then we can definitely defeat Seo Mun-yeom!”

And the guild leaders and commanders leading the Hunter Guild encouraged their hunters.

As they said, the hunters were fighting valiantly even in Sumida Ward.

“The Saint’s blessing is coming down!”

A hunter shouted. With those words, a massive emerald light spread like a flare throughout the area.

The morale of the hunters who received the blessing of that divine spell rose even higher.

“Be careful! In front!!”

Boom boom boom boom—

Huge debris flew toward the van carrying Seo Du-ho and his companions. Jang Dong-hyuk shouted.

“This much is fine!”

The mana shield he created protected the van. Seo Du-ho, who had barely regained his senses, was checking the situation in Sumida Ward.

“The rate of demonic energy increase is slowing down!”

“That’s good news! Team Leader Seo!”

Jang Dong-hyuk replied while sharply turning the steering wheel. Seo Du-ho, whose body lurched, barely regained his senses and checked the terminal again.

“The villains who were massacring civilians are heading to Sumida Ward. The massacres have stopped. And it seems the amplified demonic energy has reached a critical point. It seems they can’t produce enough demonic energy with just civilian sacrifices.”

“I see. Does that mean there’s a limit to the ritual without using awakened ones as sacrifices?”

“Yes. Since the civilian sacrifices can’t use mana, there must be a clear difference in the amount of demonic energy generated.”

“Then… Min-su’s thoughts were all correct.”

Gathering the hunters in Sumida Ward was Lee Min-su’s strategy.

Because of that, all the villains’ plans were thwarted.

In the chaos filled with massive rituals and demonic energy everywhere, they wanted the hunters to self-destruct from fear.

‘And then they planned to strengthen their ritual by using those hunters as sacrifices.’

But the battle situation Seo Du-ho was confirming now was surprising.

Sumida Ward. This place was like the epicenter where demonic energy was concentrated, but the hunters were fighting well without their MCI rising further.

‘Thanks to following Team Leader Lee Min-su’s instructions and gathering all the hunters here.’

The gathered hunters were fighting well. Even in a desperate situation, they were raising morale by pushing back against the villains.

And at the forefront were the Flame Guild and their elite members.

Not just himself from the information team, but also Executive Director Maria, Father Stefano, and even Pyo Sung-hoon from the Busan branch.

All of them were encouraging the hunters and resisting the villains and monsters that filled Sumida Ward.

‘Because of Flame, 3,500 hunters have started a counterattack!’

At the same time, reports kept coming through his earpiece.

“Presumed SS-rank villain! Killed again!”

Thus, the flame of hope was reigniting in Tokyo. But Seo Du-ho soon bit his lip.

‘But Seo Mun-yeom and the demonic energy gathering at that transmission tower… it’s at least one of the single-digit ranked great demons among the 72 demons of the King of Wisdom. Then…’

Even the Five Great Celestial Stars couldn’t confidently claim victory against a single-digit ranked great demon.

Even in his prime, the Madness Subduer Jeon Tae-hyun was driven to the brink of death while fighting the 5th-ranked great demon.

And now that great demon is with the Soul-Stealing Demon Seo Mun-yeom. No, seeing the demonic energy concentrating on what appears to be Seo Mun-yeom’s body.

Perhaps Seo Mun-yeom is directly summoning the great demon into his own body.

‘With all three of the Five Great Celestial Stars absent now… how can we deal with that Seo Mun-yeom…’

But if they can’t defeat Seo Mun-yeom, all the thousands of hunters here, no, even the over ten million civilians will be annihilated.

The Allied Forces Headquarters said they would send reinforcements, but with the demonic energy already reaching critical levels, they’ve already passed the deadline.

“We have no choice but to place all our hopes on those four.”

At that moment, Jang Dong-hyuk said. Seo Du-ho nodded at those words. He checked the screen of his terminal.

“The hunters have finally opened a path to the transmission tower! And Guild Leader Yuri is also heading to the transmission tower with Sister Sung Arin…”

And after 10 more minutes passed, the awaited radio message finally came. He hurriedly spoke to Deputy Director Han in the back seat.

“A radio message has come in from Team Leader Lee Min-su. All four have joined forces! They will strike at Seo Mun-yeom directly, and ask the rest to be left to the hunters!”

At those words, Deputy Director Han from Manseong relayed the message to everyone through the earpiece channel.

“Make sure the villains and monsters don’t interfere with Flame’s elite members heading toward Seo Mun-yeom, fight harder! Manseong’s hunters, please go near the transmission tower and escort them!”

All hunters began moving toward the transmission tower area.

***

Finally, the group had all gathered.

Yuri and Soso. And even Arini. All the Sages of the East stood alongside me.

Woooooong—

Like a typhoon blowing, a terrible gale swept over the building rooftop. Not a naturally created wind, but a storm of demonic energy occurring when a great demon is summoned to earth.

“That Seo Mun-yeom is becoming one with the great demon.”

Yuri said quietly. As she said, the center of the great demon’s summoning was Seo Mun-yeom’s body.

An elderly man with a snow-white beard. The body of that man wearing traditional Martial Nation attire was grotesquely transforming.

And his voice echoed around.

“A new era of gods will open! In place of the already dead Arel and this Earth’s false god Ayel, the true evil god will come to earth!”

It was a bizarre voice that couldn’t possibly be considered human. It was an eerie voice as if dozens of people’s voices were overlapping.

“The great demon… Amon has become one with Seo Mun-yeom.”

Arini explained about Amon.

The 72 demons of the King of Wisdom. And among them, the 5th-ranked great demon is Amon.

Behind Seo Mun-yeom, who had risen into the air in front of the transmission tower, huge bat-like wings grew.

And six arms sprouted, creating jet-black flames around those arms.

The terrible demonic energy emitted by Seo Mun-yeom, no, Amon, was enough to make even my body tremble for a moment.

‘Amon. The enemy that Siwoo faced at the end in the original work…’

In the original work, Red Lake’s base was in New York City, USA. This is Tokyo. And there was no mention that the enemy Siwoo faced right before the end of the world was Amon, but.

The villain described in the novel and the appearance of Amon before my eyes were identical. I sensed that fact.

If so, then I and the three gathered here.

Have reached that point right before the end of the world, in place of Siwoo and Justice from the original work.

‘If we deal with that Amon, we can now move beyond the original work toward the ending.’

I don’t know what ending the original author RedLake wanted, but it was certain that we had to overcome this Amon to reach a new conclusion.

Graaaah—

And Amon began to move. The jet-black fire flickering around him engulfed our group.

“Everyone be careful!”

A massive explosion sound covered the building rooftop.