Chapter 10

How much time has passed? I don’t have a clock, so I can’t tell.

I’ve thrown up blood several times in between, so my consciousness is starting to fade.

Biiii─ A ringing sound echoed in my ears.

What is this, is Baal up to something? When I touched my ear, a sticky liquid came off on my hand.

“Fu, keol-leok, ck.”

Blood is pouring out of every hole in my body. At this rate, I’m perfectly poised to die from excessive bleeding before Baal kills me.

It seems like Lucian is shouting something, but I can’t hear him. I thought about trying to read his lips, but not only do I not know how, my vision is already blurry. Still, I feel like I should at least scold him for being noisy.

《You possess a power you cannot handle.》

Wow, fucking hell. Why can I hear Baal’s voice so clearly?

When I punched my ears, I could faintly see Lucian panicking beyond my blood-red vision.

I should reassure him that it’s just that demon bastard pulling some weird shit. But what came out of my mouth was something completely different.

“Ah, I should have just run away.”

I should have just abandoned both Lucian and Laurel, hoped they would buy me as much time as possible, and run away blindly. Did my intelligence drop due to fear?

Along with the clear blood, a faint, empty laugh escaped.

“I’m not really going to die, am I?”

As I muttered softly, a bitter taste filled my mouth.

I chewed on the inside of my cheek to somehow hold onto my consciousness, but now I couldn’t even feel the pain.

Would it be better if I bit my tongue? No, I might actually die if I do that.

“Ah, this is really dangerous.”

I couldn’t see anything in front of me anymore. Meanwhile, the feeling of Baal’s gaze watching me leisurely while bound in chains was incredibly annoying.

Death was fast approaching.

Ah, this is the end.

In that case─ with a trembling hand, I give Baal the middle finger.

“Eat shit and die, you dog-like demon bastard.”

I should at least curse him one last time.

《If you can─》

The demon’s laughter, as if to shake the world, is faint.

The strength drains from my body, and just like that, the world went dark.

* * *

The king of demons, Baal.

The demon known as the terror of all demons had no interest in the existence known as the Hero.

Even the newly emerged Hero could not stir any wind in his heart. Just a chick that hasn’t even properly awakened its power?

To Baal, whose own interests were always paramount, the appearance of the master of the Holy Sword was not very important.

In that case… was there a need to wait until the Hero grew?

It would be enough to kill him before he properly awakened his power.

Disregarding all sorts of restrictions, he had personally made the trip.

Now, it was enough to exterminate the insect-like human, come outside, and thoroughly crush the sprout.

He would have done so if the insect hadn’t suddenly disappeared. Surely the insect, like Baal, should have been blocked by the barrier, yet it went outside without a trace. It was a strange thing, but not something to be concerned about.

When he broke through the barrier blocking the way and finally set foot in the human world, there was another insect next to the young Hero.

Was that the one that let the other insect escape? Because the Hero, in exchange for receiving the spirit’s blessing, cannot use high-level magic.

Well, this too is not very important. Let’s just crush the sprout along with the insect and go back─

When he tried to move his giant body, a small chain bound his body.

It was a very thin chain.

But it became a powerful restraint, holding his steps.

《A peculiar power.》

His long-held predator’s instinct whispered.

That this was a dangerous power. At the same time, it was a unique and interesting thing that no one had ever possessed before.

Yet the human who was its master was swayed and shaken by his own power.

《You possess a power you cannot handle.》

If not tamed, he would collapse under that power.

Such a thing is worse than having nothing at all. Judging by his unusually weak aura, he would soon die by his own power. In a way, was it pitiful?

What bloomed faintly in his heart was a faint interest. Though a demon did not have a heart, it felt as if his heart was beating wildly.

The human, who had been precariously spewing blood for a while, raised a hand with only the middle finger extended. He didn’t know the meaning, but it was not a very welcome gesture.

“Eat shit and die, you demon bastard.”

《If you can─》

If, at this moment, that human survives. And if he continues to grow… perhaps, with a thread-like probability, he might be able to kill me.

How long has it been since he felt such interest?

Baal smiled pleasantly and reached out his hand towards the human.

* * *

Baal reached out his hand towards Theo.

Lucian quickly pulled Theo into his arms and moved back. The tightly held body had nothing that could be called body heat. If it weren’t for the faint, shallow breaths he could feel, one could believe it was a corpse.

“Theo?”

He urgently called his name and shook his body, but there was not even a slight movement.

“Uwaaaah! No!”

He was the first friend he had ever made.

Not a cursed, ominous child, nor the heir of the Hero who pulled the Holy Sword, but the first friend who saw him for who he was.

Tears began to fall, drop by drop, from Lucian’s eyes.

“Theo, wait a minute.”

Theo was not dead yet.

I’ll deal with the demon and return to the Academy as quickly as possible. Professor Artemia’s healing magic is the best in the Empire, so she will definitely save him.

“Yes, as long as he doesn’t die, she’ll save him.”

I can’t let him die like this.

Lucian gripped the Holy Sword tightly and slowly faced the demon.

《Do you think you can?》

He did not answer the demon’s question.

He just stared at the demon with bloodshot eyes.

In an instant, Baal swung his hand as if to swat away a bug.

Lucian reflexively twisted his body and barely dodged, but even the graze of a fingertip tore his skin. The shockwave caused the ground to crack and rock fragments to fly in all directions.

“……!”

As a few rock fragments headed towards Theo, Lucian quickly embraced Theo’s body and rolled on the floor.

“Keo-heok!”

As he rolled on the floor, a sharp pain shot through his back, as if a rock had lodged itself there.

Panting heavily, Lucian checked Theo’s body. Theo, who was letting out faint breaths, seemed to be unharmed, thankfully.

After taking a few breaths, Lucian gripped the Holy Sword and charged towards the demon. A holy light swirled at the tip of the sword, but it was so faint it seemed like it would go out at any moment.

The sword strike extended sharply towards the demon’s arm, but only a dull sound, as if hitting a lump of iron, rang out.

The demon’s skin was as hard as rock. Rather, the demon did not miss the opening and swung its fist.

“Kkeuk, Aaaaaaaack!!!!!!!!”

As he was sent flying and rolled on the ground, a scream echoed through the abandoned mine.

An excruciating pain washed over him as rock fragments embedded themselves all over his body.

《Boring.》

I had hoped he would last longer.

Baal took a step forward. It was time to really end it.

He tried to stomp on him with his giant foot, but Lucian gritted his teeth and threw his body to barely dodge.

However, Baal’s speed was too fast. The moment he dodged the foot, he couldn’t properly avoid the right hand and was crushed by it.

“!!!!!!!”

Lucian felt his vision blur from the suffocating, scream-inducing pain.

In the pain that made him want to let go of his consciousness, Lucian could only gasp for breath.

He tried to get up using the Holy Sword in his left hand as a support, but only after his body lost strength and fell several times did he finally manage to stand.

“Hoo, hoo-ook─”

Panting heavily, Lucian met the gaze that was watching him.

A smile was spread across the demon’s lips.

‘Endure! Hold on!’

I can’t die like this.

At least, at least until Theo is rescued, I have to hold on.

Erasing the pain from his mind, Lucian righted the Holy Sword.

But the tip of the sword was already trembling. Like an aspen tree in the face of a gale.

It was that moment.

The gaze that had been on Lucian turned elsewhere.

It was where Theo was.

Lucian aimed the Holy Sword at the demon, but eventually, the strength drained from his hand and the Holy Sword clattered to the floor.

“No─”

A groan-like word escaped, but mere words could not stop the demon.

I have to stop him. But his legs were frozen and wouldn’t move.

Am I going to lose my friend like this, unable to do anything? Theo, I─

“Which bastard does the demon dare to covet.”

A cold mutter echoed clearly in the dark abandoned mine.

With a jjeong─ sound of light shattering, the darkness disappeared, and a light so bright it was blinding filled the space.

In a moment of carelessness, the demon’s body swayed greatly from the sudden attack.

“How dare…!”

Evan swallowed the curse that rose to his throat.

A son covered in blood and unconscious, and the heir of the Hero, a mess with no part of him left unscathed.

Letting out an annoyed breath, Evan swung his staff wide.

Once again, a flash of light erupted, and the demon’s body swayed.

“Why? Are you flustered, demon?”

That magic derived from mana, not the holy power of a god, could deal a critical blow to you?

Evan let out a sneer and used magic once more.

Under the successive attacks, the demon couldn’t even put up a proper resistance and was pushed back helplessly.

“A piece of trash that won’t even burn away.”

Curses flowed freely from Evan’s mouth.

As the attacks continued, Evan’s eyes grew colder. But in contrast, his lips were filled with a venomous smile. The feeling of being on cloud nine for days after his son woke up was instantly thrown into the mud.

“Did you think we would crawl under a piece of trash like you forever?”

Evan’s spirit was exactly the same as Theo’s, who had confidently shown the middle finger to the demon.

“I’ll make you regret that a mere demon dared to set foot in the human world.”

No, it was much more refined than his son’s, but it was cruel and cold.

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