Chapter 147: Storm of Retribution

The lightning was merciless.

The demons preparing their retreat met death with every bolt that struck.

Gergona, staring blankly at his subordinates dying one by one, couldn’t help but recoil in horror at the sudden realization that struck him.

What the hell is this……!

Now that he thought about it, something was off.

Not a single bolt fell in vain.

Every one of them struck a valid target.

And that meant only one thing.

Someone was controlling all of them.

Which made it all the more unbelievable.

Gergona himself could manipulate a few.

If he went all out, even more than ten was possible.

But to control dozens—no, hundreds—like this?

Impossible.

It was right then.

Gergona turned at the energy his senses detected.

A human with jet-black hair was approaching.

The moment he saw the figure, Gergona knew the man’s identity.

It had to be Gaon, the one wreaking havoc on the demon forces lately.

And as the distance between them closed.

Gergona couldn’t help but be stunned.

The reason for his shock was the power emanating from the human.

Th-this is…….

To be precise, it wasn’t just the sheer strength.

It was the unique quality of it.

The same as Lord Mirdaon’s…….

It matched the quality felt from Mirdaon, the strongest demon king in the demon world, acknowledged by all demon kings.

Right then, their eyes met.

And Gergona realized.

Why he hadn’t been able to divine good or ill fortune.

So that’s why…….!

And one more thing.

Gergona immediately turned and began fleeing.

He didn’t grab his luggage.

But that didn’t matter.

Right now, trivial baggage wasn’t important.

To even slightly increase his chances of survival, he had to run—now.

But the unfolding situation forced Gergona to halt his escape.

Whoosh!

A curtain of flames erupted in front of him.

Not ordinary fire.

It was a powerful blaze that carried such intense heat it could melt anything just by proximity, without even touching it.

Even Gergona’s sturdy body couldn’t simply charge through it.

The problem was, he couldn’t turn back either.

The wall of fire was too vast.

Moreover, would Gaon just stand idly by while he tried to flee?

The odds of that were next to zero.

Gergona turned around.

And he saw Gaon, now close enough to be right in front of him.

“Damn it.”

Gergona spat the curse as he glared at Gaon.

Then, he unleashed his demonic energy in a frenzy to reinforce his body.

Power surged through his entire frame.

But Gergona’s expression remained grim.

Because even with this surge, he doubted the situation would change.

Still, the reason he rampaged his demonic energy was simple: he couldn’t just die without a fight.

Gergona charged at Gaon with everything he had.

Originally, Gergona wasn’t a physical fighter.

Magic was his specialty.

But after witnessing Gaon’s magic, he had realized something.

That magic could never touch Gaon.

So he had strengthened his body.

To settle it in close combat.

And right then, Gaon swung his hand.

Scraaaape!

At the same moment, an immense pressure crushed down on Gergona.

His speed, as he rushed toward Gaon, plummeted rapidly.

And when the distance shrank to about 5 meters, Gergona could no longer move.

Eyes bulging, Gergona glared at Gaon.

Then, Gaon smirked and said,

“I’m curious how long you can endure Bone-Crushing Agony.”

Surprisingly, it was in fluent demon tongue.

‘But what’s Bone-Crushing Agony?’

Gaon watched Gergona tremble violently and swung his hand again.

At that, Gergona split in half.

Gaon swung his hand once more.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Three demon stones burst out from Gergona’s heart, navel, and right thigh.

The amount of demonic energy in each varied, but even the smallest was an 8-star demon stone.

‘If only I had a dragon heart…….’

Gaon thought of the elixir as he pocketed the demon stones.

Then, gazing at Gergona’s rapidly cooling corpse, he reflected.

‘Demon king descent, huh…….’

Through interrogating Gergona, Gaon had learned much.

The power structure among the demons, why they had invaded the demon world, and other things he hadn’t known.

‘I never imagined the demon kings would submit to anyone.’

Just as the continent had numerous nations and kings, the demon world had multiple demon kings.

And those demon kings were beings of immense power and pride.

They would die before bowing to anyone.

That was what Gaon had believed until now.

But according to Gergona, the demon world had been unified under a tyrant demon king named Mirdaon.

‘Well, with perfection in hand, it’s understandable…….’

It made sense.

Mirdaon was a demon king who, like Gaon, had obtained perfection.

The other demon kings, without perfection, wouldn’t have stood a chance.

Swish.

Gaon pulled the cube from his pocket.

The cube’s true nature was a sacred relic called Aklasiko.

And the fragment of perfection contained within Aklasiko was none other than Mirdaon’s.

‘Why would he do something like this?’

Gaon could separate perfection too.

But he had no intention of doing so.

Because it would cause problems with perfection.

Of course, that problem only arose when perfections clashed.

Mirdaon had likely separated his perfection assuming no other being possessed it.

Frankly, Gaon hadn’t expected another to hold perfection either.

‘Anyway, this works out well.’

With a satisfied expression, Gaon pocketed the cube once more.

Then, staring north, he fell into thought.

‘What to do.’

Currently, the demons were preparing to open a massive demonic rift sturdy enough for even demon kings to pass through.

At the current pace of pushing them back, the demon kings would likely cross over.

In other words, to prevent the demon kings’ descent, he needed to accelerate the expulsion.

……For now, let’s head back and sort things out.

He had come here right after finishing the cleanup of the demons attacking Ronen.

Meaning, he hadn’t tidied up afterward.

It would be best to return, handle the aftermath, and think it over.

Having decided, Gaon closed his eyes.

And cast teleport toward Ronen.

Ronen’s central square.

In the square, people had gathered in small groups, chatting.

“Honestly, I thought most of us would die…….”

“Yeah, but zero casualties? This is just…….”

Incredibly, there had been zero combat casualties in this battle.

Not a single death.

To be precise, zero battle-related deaths—but not zero deaths overall.

For instance, there was Hazab, who died after slandering Gaon, and others executed for breaking the law amid the chaos.

But no one mourned their passing.

They had it coming.

“But…….”

One man trailed off, glancing warily at those around him.

Then, cautiously, he continued.

“What do you think Seionia will do?”

At the man’s question, not only his conversation partners but even those nearby flinched.

Hazab had held a very high position in Seionia.

He may have deserved death, but would Seionia just accept it?

Or would they hold Gaon accountable?

“They might…… just let it slide?”

A man with a long scar across his cheek replied tentatively.

At the scarred man’s words, several countered.

“Just let it slide?”

“Isn’t that unlikely?”

“Not war, but still…….”

To the various retorts, the scarred man continued.

“I was there.”

The scarred man had witnessed Hazab’s death with his own eyes.

Even having seen it firsthand, it was hard to believe.

It was such a shocking death that he still wondered if it had been an illusion.

And the scarred man was certain.

“Anyone who saw Lord Gaon’s power then would think the same as me.”

Everyone who had been there would share his thoughts.

The Grand Auditorium of the Holy Empire’s Papal Court.

Currently, the auditorium was filled with Seionia’s key figures, including Pope Basus and First Saintess Adela.

The reason for their gathering was the death of Hazab, captain of the Golden Eagle Knight Order and vice commander of the Seventh Holy Order.

Hazab had been killed by Gaon.

Gaon was a blasphemer against the divine.

For a core figure like Hazab to die at the hands of a blasphemer?

On the surface, it demanded immediate execution of the blasphemer.

But the blasphemer was Gaon, and that was the problem.

From past to present, Gaon had been an existence Seionia couldn’t touch.

Not just his power, but the immense forces under him made it so.

Of course, they could try to kill him.

But it would come at tremendous cost.

And even then, success wasn’t guaranteed.

Everyone present knew this full well.

So perhaps that was why.

“It’s tragic that Sir Hazab died, but…….”

“If I were under such suspicion, I might have done the same as Gaon…….”

“I feel the same.”

No one suggested holding Gaon accountable.

“In fact, given that Gaon issued a warning…….”

“Wouldn’t it be too much for us to apologize?”

“But if we don’t apologize….”

“If Sir Hazab truly went down without a fight, a martyr…….”

Far from assigning blame, the talk centered on apology.

Basus said nothing.

He simply watched the discussion with a bitter smile inwardly.

‘I didn’t expect it to go this far.’

Basus knew Gaon’s power well.

Better than anyone else here.

So when he learned of Hazab’s death, he had hoped the key figures wouldn’t express hostility toward Gaon.

If everyone wanted war with Gaon, even he would struggle to oppose it.

But was this a relief?

The desired outcome had come to pass.

The issue was, it wasn’t mere lack of hostility—they were practically tucking tail.

……I can’t watch anymore.

Ending his silence, Basus spoke up.

“Everyone…….”

And as Basus opened his mouth, as if on cue, all fell quiet.

“You all seem to share the same view. Does anyone hold a different opinion?”

Finishing, Basus scanned the room.

……

……

……

No one spoke.

It was right then.

Creak—

The door opened.

With the timing of the silence, the sound echoed through the entire auditorium, drawing all eyes to the entrance.

Through the open door entered Rai, the head of the Intelligence Agency and high priest, who had briefly stepped out.

Rai’s face was flushed with excitement.

Then, in an excited voice, Rai shouted,

“The demonic energy in the north of the 18th Coexistence Zone has completely vanished!”

……!

Everyone was shocked by Rai’s words.

The north of the 18th Coexistence Zone was where the demon marquis was stationed.

And now, the demonic energy there had vanished entirely?

That implied two possibilities.

First, the demon marquis had withdrawn.

Second, the demon marquis was dead.

And in the current situation, death was more likely.

After all, the report of Hazab’s death had come alongside word that Gaon had headed north.

In other words, Gaon had killed the demon marquis.

“Understood.”

Basus replied to Rai, then continued,

“For now, it might be best to send an envoy to Gardion Tower. Does anyone wish to volunteer?”