VOLUME 14: CHAPTER 21

VOLUME 14: CHAPTER 21

[Demon Realm]

After confirming that the Fire Elemental Lord Candela had already left the area, the tormentors from the Red Tower scoured through the rubbles of what used to be the demon capital in search of any flesh belonging to the Demon Lord Barkuvara.

“Strange,” muttered Chief Researcher Muuka. “We can’t find any flesh from the Immortal Demon no matter how long we’ve been searching.”

After failing to secure any samples from the Immortal Demon, Muuka himself left the Red Tower and joined the tormentors to lead the search.

But to their dismay, this didn’t improve the progress of their search.

“Did it melt together with everything else? No. This is the Immortal Demon we’re talking about.”

Although Candela was powerful, it shouldn’t be capable of completely obliterating the flesh of the Demon Lord Barkuvara.

A horn, a hand, a finger, or even clumps of dried blood.

The Red Tower would be satisfied already if they could get their hands on any of these samples from the Immortal Demon.

“Hmm… strange, indeed.”

Weeks passed and turned into months.

As Muuka led the tormentors to search for any remnant flesh from the Demon Lord Barkuvara, sudden realization struck him.

“Wait… could it be?”

The old tormentor’s pupils shrank, and he shook in utter rage.

“Lord Plagas! I see! It’s because of you, huh?!”

The Lord of Parasitic Demons had fled and hid himself long ago, right after the fight between the Demon Lord Barkuvara and the Fire Elemental Lord Candela had concluded.

Back then, Muuka and Elrenar didn’t really think much of Plagas’ sudden disappearance. He was a known coward; strong against the weak, and weak against the strong. They felt it was only natural for someone like him to escape without any notice in order to avoid being dragged into the war.

But now, Muuka realized that the reason they couldn’t find any flesh belonging to the Demon Lord Barkuvara was because of Plagas.

“Now that I think of it, he kept voicing out his disagreement regarding our plans, saying that it’s blasphemous to even try to take the flesh of the Demon Lord.”

Muuka groaned.

They should have noticed it sooner.

They shouldn’t have trusted that coward.

Muuka roared, “Tormentors! Look for any traces of the parasitic nest! Find it at all cost!”

Plagas must have secretly instructed the surviving parasitic nest to hide the flesh of the Immortal Demon. For someone like him, who was connected to all of the parasitic demons in this realm, commanding the nest all the way from the Red Tower should be as easy as breathing.

Following Muuka’s commands, the tormentors redirected their search to finding any traces of the parasitic nest.

And after several days, they found it.

The tormentors guided Muuka and they entered the pathway where the nest had escaped. Using the artifact in his hands, Muuka searched for any mana signatures belonging to the Demon Lord Barkuvara.

“…This!”

And to his fury, Muuka found traces of the Demon Lord Barkuvara’s mana in the place where the nest had disappeared.

It confirmed his suspicions that Plagas had taken the flesh away, preventing it from being obtained by the Red Tower.

“Lord Plagas!”

If looks could kill, Muuka would have slaughtered the Lord of Parasitic Demons several times by now.

Although they could still proceed with his master’s assimilation plan, everything would be smoother if they also had the sample of the Demon Lord’s flesh.

If only that bastard hadn’t betrayed them, they would have obtained the flesh samples of the two strongest entities in this realm by now.

***

While the tormentors of the Red Tower were scouring what used to be the demon capital, two figures watched everything from above.

Using rift magic, they hid from everyone’s eyes.

The first was the Lord of Parasitic Demons, Plagas.

And the second was the Demon Lord Barkuvara.

“As you can see, Absolute One, those bastards from the Red Tower orchestrated everything!” spat Plagas.

Through the parasitic nest, Plagas managed to find the location of the injured Demon Lord Barkuvara.

Back then, the state of the Immortal Demon was so severe that it wouldn’t have been surprising if he died at that moment. But with the help of Plagas, the Immortal Demon quickly regained his strength.

“They killed the imps of the Volcanic Region and angered Candela! They were the ones behind it! Everything is to make the two of you fight!”

Plagas continued, explaining that the Red Tower did this in order to obtain the flesh of both the Fire Elemental Lord and the Immortal Demon. He even heard the Chief Researcher and Elrenar talking about how the flesh of Candela would enable him to assimilate with the head of an Arzomos.

Those demons were too ambitious. Their plans encompassed not only the Demon Realm, but also the land of humans.

When Plagas escaped from the Red Tower, he initially planned on going to the farthest end of the continent in order to evade the eyes of the vision crystal.

But fate had different plans.

Right after escaping the Red Tower, the parasitic nest saw the unconscious body of the Demon Lord Barkuvara buried underneath the rubble.

The parasitic nest immediately transmitted what it saw to its master. And Plagas, upon learning about the Demon Lord’s current state, quickly grabbed the opportunity to make the Demon Lord indebted to him.

Throwing all thoughts of running away, he went to the capital and carefully hid the injured Demon Lord.

Plagas used everything at his disposal to nurse the Demon Lord back to health while stealthily avoiding the eyes of the tormentors and the vision crystal.

Now, months had passed and the Demon Lord had regained some of his strength.

Plagas no longer feared anything.

Even if the Red Tower rallied all of their forces, he believed the Immortal Demon – although still injured – could easily slaughter them.

While Plagas was telling himself this, he saw several demons coming in their direction.

“Eh, w-wait! Some of them are coming over here! H-Haha… Absolute One, they wouldn’t be able to see our location, right?”

Although he believed the Immortal Demon was capable of slaughtering all of those tormentors, Plagas still wanted to avoid fighting them if possible.

The Immortal Demon simply stared at the tormentors passing below them, confident that no one aside from Candela could see through his rift magic.

Plagas sighed in relief.

The tormentors didn’t even notice that they were right above them.

“Phew. That scared me,” mumbled Plagas. “A-Absolute One? What should we do next? D-Do you want to take revenge on the Red Tower?”

Just like before, the Immortal Demon remained silent, not answering any of Plagas’ questions.

After some time, the Immortal Demon placed his hands on Plagas’ shoulders.

Plagas flinched, freezing in utter terror.

“A-Absolute One?”

The Demon Lord Barkuvara calmly said, “You seem afraid of dying. As a token of gratitude for what you did, I shall help you create a remnant soul. It shall serve as your extra life in this world.”

From the Demon Lord’s hands, mana coursed through Plagas’ body. The Demon Lord grabbed hold of the mana within Plagas’ body and forcefully suppressed them with a will, exposing the soul hidden within.

And without warning, the Demon Lord grabbed the soul and started ripping a portion of it.

The pain was excruciating.

“AAARRRGHHHHHHH! PLEASEEE STOP! AB-ABSOLUTE ONEEEE!”

Plagas felt as though his entire being was being torn apart. The pain he felt as his soul was forcefully torn by an external power made him nearly lose his mind.

Plagas squirmed, and his mouth frothed. Only his will to stay alive no matter what prevented him from losing consciousness. He felt that if he lost consciousness here, he would die before the process was over.

After a few minutes that seemed like an eternity, the pain vanished completely.

Plagas looked bewilderedly at the faint white ball floating at the palm of the Demon Lord. He could feel a strong connection to that orb.

Even without the Demon Lord explaining it to him, Plagas realized it was a part of his soul.

“T-That is….”

“This is my reward for you. Another life. As long as this soul doesn’t get destroyed, even if the main body dies, you’ll be able to restore your original body with enough time.”

For Plagas, who feared dying more than anyone else, this was the greatest reward he could ask for.

Indeed, choosing the side of the Demon Lord Barkuvara was the correct decision.

Plagas humbly accepted the split soul. He knelt on one knee and uttered with fervor, “This servant is unworthy of your grace! I shall never forget this debt, Absolute One!”

“Plagas.”

The Lord of Parasitic Demons slowly looked up. And to his utter surprise, he saw a soft smile forming on the face of the Immortal Demon.

“Everything that happened… maybe it’s for the best,” said the Immortal Demon. “I’ve repaid my debt to you. Now, it’s time for me to leave.”

Plagas was confused when he heard this.

Leave? To where?

It sounded as though the Demon Lord Barkuvara planned on leaving this realm forever.

“Although they unsealed me from my slumber,” said the Immortal Demon, “this realm no longer needs my presence. Just like that man, I shall start anew and live my life as I please.”

Whether they usurp the throne or make all of the demons bow in submission, the Demon Lord Barkuvara no longer cared.

He never wished for the throne in the first place.

“A-Absolute One?”

“In the tundra, there exists a place where you can safely store your remnant soul. The leader of the Frost Giants knows its location. Find it. Live well, Plagas.”

Leaving behind those words, Demon Lord Barkuvara left the rift, revealing himself to the tormentors present in this place.

“T-The Demon Lord!”

“A-Absolute One!”

“How?!”

The tormentors were utterly terrified upon seeing the Demon Lord come out of his hiding. When Chief Researcher Muuka saw this, he immediately ordered his pet metallic snake to swallow him and dig deep underground.

If his premonition was correct, nothing good would come out of staying in this place any longer.

“He should be gravely injured! How did he recover from his injuries so quickly!” said Muuka in a panic.

Inside the belly of his pet metallic snake, Muuka quickly escaped the capital.

From above, Muuka felt absurd amounts of mana flow freely like the ocean. The ground rumbled, and an invisible blade pierced through the earth, severing the metallic snake’s body in half.

“Hissss!”

The metallic snake hissed in pain.

“Arboa!”

Fortunately, the metallic snake didn’t die even after its body had been cut in half. With a single-minded focus, it dug deeper into the ground and fled the area.

“…The tormentors.”

Although he couldn’t hear their screams, Muuka was certain that the Demon Lord Barkuvara had just annihilated all of the tormentors they’d sent from the Red Tower.

Muuka nervously swallowed.

“Faster, Arboa!”

They needed to return to the Red Tower sooner, in case the Demon Lord Barkuvara decided to attack it in a fit of anger.

Even if the Demon Lord didn’t know they orchestrated everything, just the mere fact that they’d been searching for his flesh would be enough justification for him to annihilate the Red Tower.

The Demon Lord was unpredictable and whimsical.

Even Muuka couldn’t predict the next move of the Demon Lord Barkuvara.

“We still have over a dozen chimeras guarding the Red Tower. Even if it’s the Demon Lord….”

Carrying the old tormentor inside it, the metallic snake continued escaping underground, toward the direction of the Red Tower.

***

The once lively demon capital had become barren land.

The Demon Lord Barkuvara stared at the corpses of the tormentors he’d just slaughtered.

How dull.

Honestly, he felt nothing at all even after learning of the Red Tower’s betrayal.

The strong would naturally prey on the weak, and even he, the Immortal Demon, was no exception to this. The idea of revenge didn’t even cross his mind for he felt no anger or sadness, only indifference.

It was akin to how ants schemed to take down an elephant, only to fail and scatter in fear at the end.

“Candela.”

The Demon Lord revisited the last battle in his mind.

Although Candela was gravely injured after their fight, the Demon Lord Barkuvara never denied the fact that he’d lost against the Fire Elemental Lord.

Was it because he’d just lost his clone in the Human Realm?

Was he missing that crucial piece to deliver the finishing blow in their fight?

No, the Primordial Fire was simply too powerful.

The black flames ate anything it touched, including the blades and rifts created by the Demon Lord Barkuvara.

It was no wonder even the previous Demon Lords never touched the Volcanic Region, afraid of provoking Candela.

Still, although he’d lost the battle and he’d been betrayed by his people, the Demon Lord Barkuvara didn’t feel disheartened at all. On the contrary, he felt refreshed, as the shackles of being called the strongest had finally been broken after he lost in that battle.

He was simply glad his body wasn’t obliterated by the Primordial Fire. Otherwise, he would need to wait at least a hundred years again before he could successfully reconstruct a shell.

A hundred years was a fleeting moment for demons like Barkuvara, but for humans, it was a lifetime. It would have been a shame if his clone’s battle against Evander would be the first and the last.

“It’s time to live freely,” muttered the Demon Lord. “Just like him.”

Through the manipulation of rifts, the Demon Lord moved and crossed great distances, eventually arriving at the Great Cavern.

He easily went past the security without being noticed. And using his very own mana, which hadn’t fully recovered yet after that battle, he manipulated the portal, connecting it to the mana well below.

The Immortal Demon had lived for so long, but he’d never fully experienced what the Human Realm was like.

“It’ll be nice if I run into him.”

With an optimistic mind, the Demon Lord Barkuvara activated the portal and entered.

The space around him twisted.

And he found himself at the Cattlewood Plains.

Without much thought, the Demon Lord touched the portal behind him, preventing it from fully opening, then quickly closed it.

He heard the clamor from the soldiers of the nearby garrison.

The humans would arrive here soon.

He didn’t know much about this world, so he decided to find that woman who’d told him about the continental rankings before. That woman had left a good impression on him, and the Demon Lord believed that sparing her life back then was the correct decision.

The Headmaster of the Maiaka Magic Academy – the ‘Duchess of Mana’ Ephiane Avira.

The Demon Lord Barkuvara expanded his senses.

He looked toward the South.

It was faint, but he could feel traces of that woman’s mana.

“She must be nearby.”

The Demon Lord stepped forward.

A gust of wind blew, and he disappeared from sight.

***

While Lark was leading his group toward the location of the Dragon Vein, he felt the mana fluctuations above. He halted in his tracks. The mana fluctuations were so faint that even Lady Alice failed to notice them.

“Master?” said George.

Lark frowned. He quickly flew outside through the hole created by Blackie before and hovered in the sky.

“Is it just my imagination?”

It was strange.

Lark definitely felt mana fluctuations before. It was the same sensation he always felt whenever a portal opened or closed.

But after observing the sky for several minutes, he realized that there were no lingering traces of mana that could be attributed to the opening of portals.

It felt as though the portal had been opened for a few seconds at most, before closing completely afterward.

Ordinary demons shouldn’t be capable of this. 

Out of everyone he knew, both in this life and the previous, there were only three people capable of doing this. The first was him, Evander Alaester – and he needed the assistance of artifacts, like the Sword of Morpheus, to pull it off. The second would be the Demon Lord Barkuvara, and the third would be the leader of the Black Mages of the Magic Empire.

The leader of the Black Mages, one of Evander Alaester’s teachers, should be long dead. Then, that left him with only two choices.

“Did the Demon Lord enter the Human Realm?”

But it did not make sense.

Why did the Demon Lord quickly close the portal afterward?

“Or is it a different phenomenon? The one that caused the mana fluctuations.”

It was puzzling.

Without enough data or evidence, even Lark couldn’t surmise what caused the mana fluctuations.

Knowing that he wouldn’t be able to do anything even if he dwelled on this matter, Lark flew back to the place where he left his disciples.

Upon reaching the place where the Dragon Vein was located, he led his group down. Like a kid itching to brag about his toys, he demonstrated the bottomless stomach of the Sword of Morpheus.

Lark spent that day replenishing the mana reserves of the Sword of Morpheus.

And their group spent half a month carefully harvesting the elven oaks and transporting them to Daxton City.

After the harvested elven oaks were rid of excess soil and other impurities, it was finally time to transport them to the Dwarven Kingdom with the help of Arcturus and Blackie.

Due to the sheer size of each tree, Blackie and Arcturus could transport only one elven oak each. They needed to go back and forth in order to deliver all of the elven oaks.

It would be a tiring process, but both of them – especially Blackie – were willing to do it.