“…I refuse.”
My answer to his proposal was a rejection.
At those firm words, the creature spoke, “Why…?”
The one who had maintained politeness until now spoke informally for the first time.
Just because he had removed his emotions and personality didn’t mean he couldn’t be surprised.
It simply meant he wasn’t easily shaken, but when faced with an unexpected situation like this, he was bound to be disturbed.
“You speak of coexistence, but the Demon Clan and humans cannot coexist.”
“If you are referring to instinct, I can control it as much as—”
“Impossible. You cannot go against the natural order. If you forcibly defy it, trouble will inevitably follow.”
Altain claimed he would become a fence to control the Demon Clan.
Of course, it might be possible for the time being.
His power and influence were great enough to encompass all of the Demon Clan.
But that was an act of defying the natural order.
Let’s take a simple example.
It was like a tiger keeping a pig by its side without eating it.
For now, because its belly was full and its back was warm, it wouldn’t eat the pig.
However, a day would come when it was hungry, or Altain’s influence would wane, and a disaster would occur.
A tiger eating a pig.
The Demon Clan eating humans.
That was the natural order.
The only ones who could reject this order were—
‘Only those who have reached the unknown realm.’
The ones who created this order and these laws.
Unless he was one of them, no matter how great Altain’s power was, he could not defy the order.
What was meant to happen would happen.
“The Demon Clan and humans are incompatible. No matter how powerful you are, your strength is not enough to suppress that truth.”
“Are you also… talking about the unknown? Those who built the Tower and imposed order upon this world.”
Altain was Nepas’s creation.
Even if he didn’t know the deepest secrets, he must have known about the desire his creator held.
He knew that it was to reach the realm of order, a place filled with the unknown.
“Of course, even that cannot be guaranteed. Even if one enters the unknown realm, we would have to wait and see if the order could be redefined.”
Therefore, I had no choice but to refuse his ambition and his proposal.
Especially now, when I didn’t have much of my life left, I couldn’t leave behind a threat like the Demon Clan.
That was the wish I had to fulfill before I died.
Since his ambition and mine were in conflict, one of the two had to be disregarded.
“…Even if you die here?”
Unlike the beginning when he was somewhat favorable, he now radiated blatant hostility.
“You look just like him…”
Looking at that appearance, one person came to mind.
Someone who used any means necessary for his goals.
Someone who struggled for life while even discarding his own emotions and personality… the past me.
‘After all.’
There were many similarities.
Not only were his emotions and personality removed by Nepas, but he was also a twisted being.
And he would do anything for his own survival.
The past me, who hadn’t realized it yet.
It was as if—
‘Is it karma?’
The karma I had committed appeared in the form of my past self, manifesting as Altain.
That was why I couldn’t accept his proposal even more.
In order to correct an existence and an act that had been twisted from the start, it was necessary to cut it off.
“I thought that you, someone who suffered the same fate as me, would be able to understand me.”
“I can say this with certainty because I walked the same path as you. You should not exist in this world.”
Just as the past me shouldn’t have.
He, and the past me, were nothing more than twisted beings who were of no help to the world.
“I see. I understand clearly now.”
Until a moment ago, the aura he was blatantly emitting vanished.
Did he give up?
No, rather, he had firmly decided on his course.
He said, “We can never coexist. Whether you perish or I perish, one of us must walk that path.”
“Do you not intend to take action right now?”
I had entered the tiger’s den.
Therefore, it was only natural to deal with it now.
However, listening to Altain’s words, it seemed he wouldn’t lift a finger against me immediately.
“Cutting down a messenger is an act against etiquette.”
Surprisingly, that was true.
Altain knew the etiquette regarding messengers and tried to uphold it.
He was clearly a demon, but having absorbed various complex memories, he had become closer to a human.
“I understand clearly as well.”
And there was something I realized.
“If I leave you alone, you will gradually turn into an even more dangerous opponent.”
Altain had absorbed Nepas’s Time Travel Authority.
That ability didn’t bring about a massive improvement in power immediately, but in the long run, it was an extremely dangerous ability.
An incomplete existence was gradually becoming perfect by absorbing the powerhouses of time.
If I let him go today, we would face an even more powerful disaster in the future.
Therefore, there was only one answer I could choose.
“Unlike you… I think I’ll have to end this today.”
I would finish it here before he grew any further.
I could no longer stand by and watch someone becoming a seed of disaster like Nepas did.
***
Altain stared at me.
“…Where does this confidence come from?”
His question was natural.
As I said before, this was the tiger’s den—no, it was a place that could be called a dragon’s lair.
It was crawling with demons who had undergone evolution, and there was even Altain, who had grown significantly through time travel.
In comparison, I was all alone.
If a fight broke out here, everyone would have no choice but to expect my miserable end.
But.
“Is that so?”
Just as Altain was constantly developing, I hadn’t been idle either.
“Today… all of you will die.”
Until now, I had stood by and watched their actions.
But now that their purpose was clear, and now that they were using humans as fodder for evolution, I had no intention of tolerating their behavior.
-Goooooo.
An aura quietly emanated from me.
It wasn’t rough like a storm or a wave; it was like mist rising over a lake.
But.
“Hup?!”
Startled by that aura, Altain stepped back.
He was one thing, but as for some of the other demons around him—
“Thud, flop!”
They fell unconscious on the spot.
“W-What is this?!”
Altain was aghast.
It was only natural.
The energy I was emitting now was not an ordinary energy.
It was one thing I had realized in the despair of my inner self collapsing and slowly falling into ruin.
[Innate Origin Qi]
It was the conversion of life force into energy.
What I was emitting now was an aura based on such life force.
Converting what every living being possessed into qi was not something just anyone could do.
If I hadn’t had that realization, I would never have reached that realm.
“In the past, during a crisis of death, a certain general said this.”
‘He who is willing to die shall live. He who seeks only to survive through luck shall die.’
My will was already prepared for death.
Therefore, I was not intimidated at all by the numerous demons around me or the existence called Altain.
Because I had made up my mind to clean up all these people here.
Even if it meant sacrificing my life.
“I have put my life on the line to deal with you all. Now, what can you all stake?”
“…”
“…”
But neither Altain nor the surrounding demons could say anything to my words.
With this, the momentum was mine.
To have seized the initiative didn’t just refer to the momentum.
“Kwaaaaaa!”
The quiet aura suddenly turned into a storm and a tidal wave, sweeping in all directions.
Riding that flow—
-Wung, wung, wung!
I created a sword of the heart.
A Sword of Will created without the help of the artifact known as Anus.
The mind sword, reacting to my bloodlust, was turning red.
A deep blood-red, as if foretelling the mass slaughter that was about to occur.
“How dare you!”
“Die!”
High-ranking demons loyal to Altain.
Those who had undergone evolution after evolution pushed in roughly.
They acted with pride in their evolution and the certainty that this was their territory, but the result was completely different from what they expected.
-Slash.
Only a single streak of sword light bloomed.
There was no great momentum or bloodlust.
It was just the trajectory of a sword being drawn but that trajectory produced results beyond imagination.
“Thud, flop!”
Dozens of high-ranking demons had rushed in.
But with a single stroke, they were all cut in half and collapsed.
Cut in half?
The bodies, which had been slashed tens, hundreds, thousands, and tens of thousands of times, scattered as dust.
“W-What?!”
Those who could only read a single trajectory were horrified.
“It’s not… a sword technique. It’s pure ultra-high-speed movement.”
Among them, only Altain saw my sword properly.
This was not a sword technique with any form.
It was merely the act of swinging a sword quickly.
However, the will and energy embedded within that slash surpassed everything from the past.
But that power.
“Do you truly wish to see the end here?” Altain asked.
It was because he had perceived the fact that my life force was embedded in this sword technique.
“I told you. None of you will leave this place alive today.”
For movements like this, for that transcendent slash, my life force was required.
Every time I swung the sword, my life force was shaved away.
My inner self was already collapsing as it was.
If I used my life force on top of that, my death would be brought forward much sooner.
But it didn’t matter.
‘I’ve planted the seeds for the future.’
Normally, I would have focused more on teaching Leon, but there was no need for that anymore.
Even if I fell here, the future would be opened by Leon and those I had taught.
Now was the time for the remnants of the past to withdraw.
But even if I withdrew, I wouldn’t just leave quietly.
I would fulfill my role and duty by breaking the enemy’s future.
-Slash.
According to my will, my body and sword moved automatically.
My life force burned fiercely, emitting an intense amount of energy.
Because I converted the energy blooming there into movement, there was no one in the area who could block my simple slash.
Nevertheless, they were rushing in like moths to a flame.
But.
“…Retreat.” A low voice echoed through the area.
“You are no match for him.”
At the same time, Altain approached.
“Thud!”
With every step he took, that heavy karma weighed down the atmosphere and the earth.
‘Certainly…’
He was strong.
I hadn’t known his depth until he showed his true colors, but only now could I accurately grasp it.
He was strong.
Perhaps even more so than Nepas.
Therefore, there was no room for carelessness.
I had already consumed a considerable amount of life force and was approaching death, so I intended to annihilate him and the Demon Clan situated in Ireland.
“It won’t go according to your wishes.”
With that.
-Cr-crack, crackle
His physical body began to change.
Horns grew from his head, his build became massive, and his skin became like scales.
-Flap!
He transformed into a bizarre form where various species were mixed, such as wings.
‘This is the species closest to a perfect species. The True Demon Race.’
Surprisingly, that form was Altain’s true self and full power.
Before I knew it, he had approached a perfect species.
The True Demon Race, which had undergone evolution after evolution, and was perhaps the closest answer to what Nepas wanted.
“Kwaaaaaa!”
Due to the appearance of that being, the area was forced to sink heavily under the weight of the presence he emitted.