Ch.234234. Regression and Growth

As I faced the Great Demon, various emotions began to surge within me.

Yet amid these emotions, my thoughts remained coldly rational.

I questioned myself why I was so angry at Learic, this demon.

I asked myself.

“Keu.”

Though I hadn’t yet found a proper answer to my emotions, Learic wouldn’t stay still.

A hand desperately reached out.

At the same time, the interior of the general store began to shake. As if gravity had changed direction, the floor I had been standing on flipped to become the ceiling, and I fell upside down.

Screech!

A wide-open purple door appeared above me as I fell.

His intention was to expel me by changing the door’s position from the outside, just as Aria had experienced before.

Probably right now, the store’s door would be dangling from the ceiling outside.

But

Crack! Crack!

The spider legs protruding from my back stepped on the edge of the door, securing me so I wouldn’t fly outside.

I had already been aware of what to watch out for when fighting inside the general store, thanks to Aria.

“This is ridiculous.”

Learic, who had somehow spread his wings behind his back and was now floating, glared at me.

I tried to move one spider leg to close the door and stand on it, but.

Just before the door closed.

[Hey! Don’t leave without me!]

The Dark Spiritmaster slipped inside while grumbling. It seems she had trouble keeping up when I suddenly fell vertically from the rooftop to the basement.

[It would be easier to fight 2 against 1, right?]

Seeing the Dark Spiritmaster wanting to fight alongside me, Learic let out a self-deprecating chuckle.

“I’ve become quite a laughingstock.”

After all, he had been caught by the souls of humans he considered mere tools and collectibles, bringing about the greatest crisis in his life as a demon.

“All the Great Demons I’ve encountered so far exert excessive power in specific situations.”

The Great Demon of Gluttony, Magan, became explosively stronger in his specific place, his dining table, and when he recognized his opponent as food.

The Great Demon of Pride, Dune, could exert power beyond his original capabilities when engaged in a head-on battle where beliefs were at stake.

The Great Demon of Deformity, Vellica, could provide powerful assistance despite being a soul because she was with me, an outsider and deformed being.

Thus, Great Demons don’t simply exert strong power unconditionally, but in specific situations or under certain conditions.

The opposite is also possible.

Just as I was able to defeat Magan the moment he stopped perceiving me as food.

The same applies now.

“Do you have any cards left?”

Learic, the Great Demon of Deception.

Always deceiving others, treating them like toys, a magician who tricks everyone on a kind of stage.

“……”

Having tangled with Learic multiple times, I could clearly tell.

The look of anger he shot at me with tightly sealed lips was by no means false.

And since that was tantamount to admitting defeat.

“Well, if you have no more tricks to show.”

Regrettably.

“Step down from the stage.”

Vellica in my right hand lets out a strange cry, signaling that the end has come.

Even if he struggled here, he would only die shamefully in the end.

“Are you really going to end it like this?”

Learic asked me with an expression that had grown even paler than before.

It was a desperate question tinged with a kind of mockery.

“Fine. I’ve lost. Having lived my entire life walking a tightrope, if I fall off, I should die.”

He seemed to accept his defeat more lightly than expected.

Considering that demons live for their own pleasure, this moment when there was no way to escape or deceive might already feel no different from death.

“But do you really intend to kill me?”

Yet the reason he continued to speak to me didn’t feel like a simple plea for his life.

“You must know. I can help you in many ways.”

“……”

“Vellica? She merely lends you power to fight better. In fact, you would be fine without her.”

[That bastard.]

“Did I say something wrong? Even without you, Vellica, he would surely have reached the same result. Can you deny that?”

[…..]

Though silent, Vellica couldn’t hastily respond.

Learic then turned his gaze to the Dark Spiritmaster.

“Did you learn necromancy from that woman? Surely that helped you. But now? Her necromancy and yours stand at opposite points.”

[W-what do you know about me to speak like that!]

Though the Dark Spiritmaster burst out in anger, Learic just displayed a sinister smile and glanced at me.

He was subtly asking if I knew about the Dark Spiritmaster from the Mongma War.

“Compared to them, I? I was the one who created Lemegeton, known as the Stone of Necromancy!”

Learic declared proudly, spreading his arms wide.

“I was also the one who created the Mongma War you experienced, and I was the one who made you realize what you desire as Shinwoo Kim, not Deus Verdi!”

At those words, the Dark Spiritmaster began to anxiously glance at me, and Vellica in my right hand started to tremble slightly.

“If you don’t believe I’m a Great Demon, cut off that right hand right now! Ah! Shinwoo Kim! I admire you!”

“……”

“Having learned the truth of the continent and fighting against gods, I want to witness your path with my own eyes!”

Learic must know about my defeat of Romuleus.

He nodded vigorously and continued.

“Don’t you believe me? Can’t you trust me, the Great Demon of Deception?”

Then Learic immediately knelt down and took out a sphere containing the souls he had collected.

“Defeat and begging, truly an exhilarating sensation.”

He held it out to me like a tribute to a king.

“I’ve already lost anyway. So take it. It’s structured similarly to Lemegeton.”

I could tell the moment I saw it.

How he had created Lemegeton and why so many souls had responded to it.

It felt like seeing an uncomfortable truth.

Even after I took the sphere, Learic remained kneeling, smiling faintly.

“It’s not enough, is it?”

Knowing that I wouldn’t forgive him just for this, he offered his neck.

“Kill me.”

“……”

“Having learned that this continent is riddled with deception and lies, not being able to explore it further is no different from death.”

He was smoothly declaring that if he couldn’t gain all my knowledge and experience, he wouldn’t have much to regret even in death.

“So kill me, and treat me as a soul, just like Vellica and the Dark Spiritmaster.”

[Insane…!]

[D-Deus! Don’t be deceived!]

A Great Demon offering to put on his own leash.

Certainly, if he died here and his soul followed me, the risk would be greatly reduced while the benefits would be enormous.

Right away, Lemegeton and the Mongma War.

These two would be quite meaningful research materials for the path I’m about to walk.

If the Dark Spiritmaster was my teacher in necromancy.

Learic would be a capable assistant with numerous specimens.

“In the end, I lost to you and couldn’t gain memories and experiences. I couldn’t reach the truth.”

Therefore.

“Kill me. Then at least let me watch you walk the path I couldn’t walk from your side.”

How like a Great Demon.

His seductive tone and the value he offered were like the serpent tempting Eve to eat the forbidden fruit.

Truly sweet and tempting, but.

Grip!

My left hand had grabbed his neck.

“Not needed.”

A truly unfortunate result for him.

It was a once-in-a-lifetime deal where he even bet his life, but it failed.

I won’t deny it was tempting, but that was all it was.

It wasn’t necessary enough to be essential to me.

Blue mana rises from my left hand gripping Learic’s neck. Though it was like holding a cold sword to his neck, Learic gave a hollow smile.

“I don’t think you made this choice simply out of emotion.”

“……”

“Tell me one last thing. You thought the value of killing me was greater than the benefits I offered, didn’t you?”

Even knowing he was about to die.

Even knowing his soul would vanish in complete annihilation rather than finding peace.

Learic was looking at me with anticipation.

“What is it? Lemegeton, the Mongma War, a Great Demon’s soul. What did you value more than all of that?!”

It was beyond absurd, to the point of being insufferable, but.

Before giving my answer, I glanced at the Dark Spiritmaster.

Only after seeing her did I understand why I had been so angry and emotional toward Learic.

I had saved many souls.

The 20,000 souls he had captured would soon be liberated.

And as promised, I would save Ophelia’s daughter who had been killing people with cold love.

But still.

“I haven’t fulfilled my promise to Hanso and Jenny.”

For the sake of my promise to those two splendid friends I met in the Mongma War.

Just for that alone.

I will annihilate Learic.

[M-me?]

Beside me, the Dark Spiritmaster looked surprised but also quite dissatisfied with the mention of her name.

Learic, on the other hand, looked at me with a shocked expression.

“You mean… the connections from the Mongma War?”

Until he confirmed he had heard correctly.

When I nodded slightly, he finally realized the reality like a death row inmate and cried out in indignation.

“Are you joking! They were just, just beings in an illusion! Mere fakes created by fragments of memory!”

“……”

“For the sake of such beings, you’re throwing away the soul of a Great Demon who holds countless secrets and could provide immeasurable help for your future! Do you think that makes any sense?!”

“You value yourself more highly than I do.”

Unlike me.

At my added remark, Learic gritted his teeth in anger. Not at me, but at those around me.

“Where is the cold-hearted you! Where is the you who pursued practical benefits and ran toward your goals?!”

“……”

“Regression! Ah! Aaaaah! You’ve regressed! You’ve devolved! You’ve been tainted! You’ve become ignorant! How can you make such a truly foolish choice so confidently!”

It might seem that way.

It could be called foolish to give up the enormous benefit right in front of me for the sake of Jenny and Hanso, who could be considered false existences.

Regression?

Devolution?

It could be called that.

But.

“We’ve had very different views from the beginning.”

Looking at my true desire.

We each expressed different impressions.

A path of hardship and a journey.

Though we saw the same thing, we spoke of different things.

It’s the same now.

“Does it look like devolution to you?”

If so, think that way and close your eyes.

Those who live like Great Demons, in stimulating emotions like pleasure and entertainment, might not understand.

The friendship that came to me like sweet rain when I was emotionless.

The satisfaction I feel toward myself for experiencing it.

I will not let this be called devolution.

“To me, it’s growth.”

And so, Learic, the Great Demon of Deception, began to burn away—body and soul, everything—engulfed in blue flames.

Still.

With an expression that couldn’t understand.