Chapter 225: Episode 70. An Explosion (3)
My ears were ringing. My senses became dull. My vision was blurred, and my whole body was tingly. The aftermath of the explosion was taking its toll on me.
“My mana has evaporated,” I noticed.
I shook my head. I had barely recovered my mana. Now only 2% was remaining. I hardly managed to keep my body only with this. This was proof that enormous mana had been used to protect my body. Well, I didn’t have much mana left after the attacks. I looked around.
There were craters all over the place. They were deep and shallow holes. The whole land was a mess. The sky was clear.
Monsters around me had been wiped out. Not a single bone was left. Corpses vanished as well. There used to be some highest-grade monsters here, but they were all gone now.
“How great…”
I clicked my tongue. It was a stronger destructive power than I had imagined. The terrain in this area had changed, and I alone had survived.
Shortly after, I shook my head. It was an amazing power, but it would not be enough to kill the archdukes. It only managed to kill their monsters and subordinate demons. The demons higher than dukes had probably kept their bodies, if they were in a good physical condition before the explosion.
I started climbing up from a crater where I was in. I was at the bottom of the steepest cliff. The melted ground was still hot, but I managed to hold on.
“Hmm… My magic pouch is not working.”
I reached for the magic pouch to take some useful items, but it did not work. It seemed that the explosion had caused magic items to be jammed for a while. There was nothing I could do with this. I just shook my head and started climbing.
Sizzle. Sizzle.
As I climbed, the ground made a sizzling sound. The ground was melting.
Slash!
When I almost reached the top of the crater, I heard the sound of something being cut.
Rumble!
Soon, someone’s head fell into the crater. I knew whose head it was. It was Archduke Ufa Blennon’s.
He was gone…headless and gone. As I came out of the crater, I could see the one who killed Ufa Blennon.
“Bastard!”
Someone was kicking the ground and cursing. As I expected, it was Ariel Diablo. Around her, there were hundreds of corpses of demons and monsters. It seemed like she killed all the strong ones that had survived from Hope’s explosion.
She did not use her mana while fighting. She managed to eliminate these monsters only with her physical strength. She was indeed a weapon master. She could use all types of weapons.
“Randalf Bruciel… Do you have business with me?”
Ariel Diablo looked awful. About one-third of her proud horn was cut off. She had a deep wound on her shoulder. Someone must have penetrated it. One spear was stabbed in her side.
She was obviously at her limits. If I attacked Ariel Diablo now with my sword, I could kill her. She knew it, too. I wasn’t in a good state, but she was worse.
“You could finish me without much difficulty now. But I assure you…I won’t make it easy for you… What are you waiting for? You better strike me now before my demons arrive.”
I shrugged. “I won’t touch an injured beast.”
Although there was a high possibility of defeating her, I didn’t have much mana at the moment. When it came to swordsmanship, she was ahead of me. Besides, in my current condition, I wouldn’t suffer any more injuries. I might not be able to survive.
Of course, Ariel Diablo would weaken over time. She had too many wounds to heal naturally. I could just sit back and watch her until she fell and then kill her.
But her demons would arrive faster than that. She was the first one to show up at the observatory, but her demons and monsters arrived later than her, one by one.
It looked like she had not brought all of them at once to prepare for an emergency. That was very wise.
“I guess you are more coward than I thought,” Ariel mocked.
“Give it time, Ariel. The day will come when we will face each other, fully recovered. I just don’t want to rush things that I’m not sure about.”
“That is just a coward’s excuse.”
She was provoking me. She was a demon. Demons didn’t like being provoked. No matter how noble she was, she could not turn away from her nature. I smirked and stared at Ariel Diablo’s eyes.
“What happened in Devildom?” I asked.
I needed to know the reason why archdukes had gathered. I didn’t have the chance to hear about it because of the invasion of the angels.
Ariel furrowed her brows and suddenly smiled, as if she realized something. “You…You didn’t receive the special quest, did you?”
“Something like that…”
Ariel laughed faintly. “This is unexpected. Well, alright. I will let you know. Apparently, a bastard is roaming around in Devildom.”
“Is this someone strong enough to threaten the archdukes?”
“I heard that half of my forces were eaten by him. Ufa, Pandemonium as well… The remaining forces of Oculus in Devildom completely disappeared.”
What? I could not answer for a moment. I was in disbelief. I frowned, trying to figure out things.
“If there are forces that strong in Devildom, there is no way I won’t know about them,” I answered, puzzled.
Originally, Devildom was divided into four areas. Ariel, Ufa, Pandemonium, and Oculus divided it as the archdukes.
This had continued for hundreds and thousands of years. I could not believe their forces had taken a hit in only a few years that they were not there. It was nonsense. It was impossible.
“No,” Ariel corrected. “Not the force. He is a one-man corps.”
“One? Is he a god or something?”
“He tried to be one a long time ago.”
Ariel was calm. She spoke as if this was not a strange thing. When I didn’t respond, she smirked and went on, “Randalf Bruciel, have you heard about the Shadow Emperor?”
The Shadow Emperor…the Hell Lord. He was called with different names, but I didn’t expect to hear this from Ariel. Ariel looked frustrated.
“I don’t know about the exact details. That was just what was written in the contents of the quest. But I know a little bit about the Shadow Emperor. If the Shadow Emperor is truly in Devildom, getting rid of him will be a pain.”
It seemed like Ariel and the other archdukes knew about the Shadow Emperor. They hurriedly came to the observatory because they knew how scary he was. Otherwise, there was no way they would come that quick.
“So that was the reason…,” I realized.
I recalled the dark elf Higher Shila. She was Krithli’s mother, but she had turned into a statue and was sold at the Auction of Devildom. She was enclosed in ice, and I could feel a powerful curse from it. Even Oswen could not find a way to melt that ice yet.
I learned that the mana from the statue was similar to mine. To be exact, it was very close to the mana of the Shadow Emperor. That time, I thought he might be in Devildom, but I eventually scrapped that idea. How would the dead exist in Devildom?
But now, Ariel confirmed that he was in Devildom. According to her, the Hell Lord was eating up the forces of the archdukes there and was increasing his power. It wasn’t easy to believe.
“The Shadow Emperor… I had never seen him, but I believe Pandemonium might have,” Ariel revealed. “Well, I never saw anyone who lived longer than him in Devildom. Pandemonium said once that the strongest one among the mortals would be the Shadow Emperor. He said, even though all the archdukes attack him, it would be a tough fight. It was nonsense. We didn’t really pay attention to what Pandemonium told us because, well, he was referring to a ‘mortal’. This mortal could be killed by gods. But that was what Pandemonium had said. It was the first time Pandemonium had recognized someone like that.”
“It still doesn’t make sense. Even if he has returned, how can he singlehandedly take over Devildom?”
I took over the Underworld where the Hell Lord had prepared for the future. His treasure warehouse was still intact. How did he manage to take over Devildom by himself? Even if he was a god, it would not make sense.
“The special quest stated that he will occupy Devildom in one year. We have been participating in the game, so we didn’t know about the situation in Devildom. The quest stated that only you have the key to solving this problem.”
“Me? The key to solving the problem? Does it mean I am the key to returning to Devildom?”
No, that wasn’t possible. If that was the case, the quest would instruct them to go to Devildom after defeating me.
“Anyway, it is all done. I lost my main force. Ufa is dead. I don’t know what happened to Pandemonium. Even if he is still alive, he might not join to stop the Shadow Emperor. I can’t stop him alone. In that case, it will be better to increase my strength here on Earth than to return to Devildom.”
I understood what she meant. It seemed like Ariel Diablo had already made up her mind. If she brought all the archdukes with her in Devildom, they might have a chance to win against the Shadow Emperor. But it was too late. She judged that there was no way to defeat the Shadow Emperor.
“If you don’t kill me now, then you will be very annoyed later,” Ariel warned me.
“Pandemonium is the more annoying one,” I replied.
I touched my chin and looked around. Pandemonium was nowhere to be found. He was probably still alive. It seemed like he had escaped. I regretted that I missed him in this battle. I wanted to stab his face with a knife. I had no choice but to wait for the next opportunity.
“That is true,” Ariel Diablo agreed with me.
She knew no matter how annoying she could be, Pandemonium was more annoying. He was more bothersome than Ufa. He was an old dog.
I turned my body. Ariel was unlikely to die here. I had to escape before her demons arrived, or Pandemonium would do something again.
‘Pandemonium will move as fast as he can once he finds out that Ufa is dead,’ I thought.
It was a fight against time from now. I had already taken some of Ufa’s dungeons, but it would be annoying if Pandemonium started moving, too. I needed to act now.
“The Hell Lord…the Shadow Emperor…”
While walking, I thought about the Hell Lord who was currently at Devildom.
I thought he was dead. His heart was inside me. Even now, my heart was beating fast. This was his heart no matter who said what.
“Is he a real Hell Lord? Or is somebody just pretending to be one?”
The special quest said there would be a year left. If I became the Dark Lord and returned to Devildom, then I would face him.
Or he might come here… I needed to think about all the possibilities.
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