It did not take long for Gaon to reach his next destination — the Demon King’s castle of Askaron, the Demon King of Bitter Cold. The moment he arrived, he focused his senses.
He quickly located what appeared to be the treasure warehouse.
Gaon moved there immediately.
What he saw was a massive building made of opaque ice.
In the center stood an equally enormous door, also made of ice.
Naturally, it was no ordinary ice.
It contained extreme cold.
The chill was so intense that most people would freeze solid just by approaching.
Of course, it had no effect on Gaon, who was far beyond such categories.
Gaon waved his hand.
The ice door melted away smoothly, revealing a new entrance.
Gaon stepped through the opening he had created and entered the warehouse.
The moment he stepped inside, he saw countless colorful lights.
Rubies, sapphires, emeralds — they were all gemstones.
Gaon was slightly taken aback.
…It’s only gems?
Indeed, there were nothing but genuine gemstones in sight.
Not even common weapons or artifacts could be seen.
It was completely different from Myrdaon’s warehouse.
Hmm….
Gaon let out a soft internal hum and opened his pocket.
The gemstones floated up and began pouring into the pocket.
As he watched the steadily decreasing pile of gems, Gaon thought,
I wonder if the others will be similar……?
The warehouse of Norma, the Demon King of White Night.
The last ruby was sucked into Gaon’s pocket.
I’ve taken everything worth taking.
Norma’s warehouse had been the final one.
He had checked the warehouses of every Demon King’s castle.
Of course, he had not bothered checking the warehouses of demon nobles such as dukes or marquises.
But he had no intention of going that far anyway.
It would have taken far too much time.
Time to go.
Gaon left the Demon King’s castle and began moving.
It was time to return to the middle world.
Before long, Gaon arrived at the city of Asfal.
He headed straight for the location of the rift.
Upon reaching the rift, Gaon examined the array around it.
Several demon and demonic beast corpses lay scattered around the array.
The fortunate thing was that the array itself had not been breached.
Gaon first dismantled the array.
Then he took out Astrex’s Gem and created a protective barrier.
Step. Step. Step.
Wrapped in the barrier, Gaon strode confidently toward the rift while thinking,
I wonder how well things are going?
Before leaving for the demon world, he had given Graxios several orders.
By now, most matters should have been settled. He was curious whether the outcome had been favorable or if any problems had arisen.
Lost in thought, Gaon passed through the rift.
At that moment, an enormous suction force began pulling him in.
It was a force he had already experienced once before.
Gaon remained completely calm and let the suction carry him along the passage.
He observed the outside just like last time.
The view was the same.
Countless stars filled the space.
Perhaps because time had passed?
They were not the same stars he had seen before.
Gaon gazed at the new stars until he soon reached the end of the passage.
He was finally able to exit the rift.
The moment he emerged, the suction force disappeared.
Gaon dispelled the barrier, sealed the gem, and stored it back in his pocket. He then focused his senses.
He’s nearby.
Ferbeng was not far away.
He had clearly been waiting for Gaon’s return.
Gaon lightly released some of his energy to signal Ferbeng.
After that, he looked back at the demon world rift he had just exited.
I can close it now.
He had finished cleaning up the demon world.
There was no longer any reason to leave the rift open.
If he ever needed to go to the demon world again later?
He could simply open it then.
Gaon waved his hand.
The demon world rift crumpled and shrank before vanishing completely.
Then Gaon turned his head toward where Ferbeng was.
Ferbeng had already arrived.
“I have returned safely, Master.”
Gaon greeted him with a bright smile.
Ferbeng replied with visible relief.
“I’m glad. You worked hard.”
Ferbeng had known that nothing serious would happen to Gaon.
Who could possibly stand in Gaon’s way?
Still, once Gaon had left, he could not help but worry.
What if the Demon Kings were stronger than expected?
What if Myrdaon was far more powerful than anticipated?
He had kept worrying about unexpected situations.
But the moment he saw Gaon return safely, all his worries melted away.
With a much more relaxed expression, Ferbeng asked,
“Did everything go well?”
Ferbeng knew exactly why Gaon had gone to the demon world.
It was to kill Myrdaon and the other Demon Kings.
Judging by his expression, it seemed he had achieved his goal.
Still, one could never be too sure.
He might have only completed half of it.
After all, the demon world was vast.
If the Demon Kings had been determined to hide, finding them would have been difficult.
“Yes, it went very well.”
Gaon answered with a smile.
“I killed every single Demon King without missing one. I also killed quite a few who had the potential to become Demon Kings.”
“Ohh.”
Ferbeng let out a sound of admiration as Gaon continued.
“For the time being, there is no need to worry about the demon world.”
Even if new Demon Kings appeared, they would be too busy fighting among themselves.
In other words, there was no need to worry about an invasion of the middle world.
At least not for several hundred years — no, several thousand years.
“Then what do you plan to do now?”
Ferbeng asked.
All the problems had been resolved.
There was nothing left for Gaon to deal with.
So he was curious what Gaon intended to do moving forward.
“I plan to see the end.”
Gaon answered with a smile.
Originally, Gaon’s goal had been to reach the 9th Circle.
He had already achieved that.
No — he had gone far beyond it.
He had even entered the 10th Circle.
And now he was in a position where he could enter the 11th Circle as well.
From now on, Gaon intended to devote himself fully to reaching the 11th Circle.
It would not take long.
It might even be possible immediately.
What he lacked for the 11th Circle was the absolute quantity of Pacheonki.
And Gaon had obtained many things in the demon world.
Treasures that would allow him to rapidly increase the absolute volume of Pacheonki.
He would be able to reach it much faster than he had initially thought.
“Ah, and.”
A thought suddenly occurred to Gaon and he opened his pocket.
He reached inside.
When he pulled his hand out, he was holding a single book.
Naturally, it was no ordinary book.
It was the book from Myrdaon.
The one filled with information about rank.
The one that had given even Gaon significant enlightenment.
Of course, Ferbeng had not yet obtained rank.
Nevertheless, the reason Gaon handed the book to Ferbeng was because it would be of tremendous help to him.
“……?”
Ferbeng looked puzzled.
Why a book all of a sudden?
“It will be of great help to you.”
Gaon said as he offered the book.
“What kind of book is it?”
Ferbeng asked as he accepted it.
“You’ll understand when you read it.”
At Gaon’s reply, Ferbeng opened the book.
Ferbeng could also read the demonic language.
Naturally, he could read the book. The moment he saw the first page, his face filled with astonishment.
He then looked up at Gaon.
“This is…….”
“Myrdaon had it.”
Ferbeng trailed off, and Gaon answered.
“I’ve already read it all, so feel free to read it slowly and comfortably.”
“Thank you.”
“If you have any questions, feel free to ask me anytime.”
“Are you planning to train here?”
“……No.”
Gaon thought for a moment and shook his head.
He already had a place in mind.
A place he had decided to stay once everything was settled.
The Grand Banquet Hall of the Varta Empire.
Currently, the grand banquet hall was filled with many people enjoying the celebration.
It was a banquet to celebrate successfully repelling the demon world invasion.
Of course, that was only the public reason.
In reality, it was a gathering to discuss the future political situation of the continent.
Secret conversations were taking place in various corners.
Kerhen, who had been watching the situation from the second-floor terrace, turned around.
He spoke to Spelten, who was just approaching after finishing his conversation.
“I should get going now.”
“Eh? You’re leaving already?”
Spelten asked in a surprised voice.
“Yeah, I don’t think there’s anything more for me to say here. These kinds of events are tiring anyway.”
Kerhen had never liked such gatherings to begin with.
The reason he had attended was to lend strength to the Varta Empire.
“Then let us go together! I was also thinking of returning to my family around now.”
“It’s fine.”
Kerhen shook his head at Spelten’s suggestion.
“I plan to stop by and see my brother first.”
Kerhen had no intention of returning straight to his workshop.
He planned to meet Gaon before going back to the workshop.
He had already contacted Gaon in advance.
He had told him he would stop by after the banquet.
“Ah, I see.”
Spelten nodded in understanding.
“Then I will see you later.”
“See you later.”
After bidding farewell to Spelten and exchanging greetings with a few more people, Kerhen left the banquet hall.
Once outside, Kerhen headed straight for the Lost Mountain Range.
I wonder how much it has changed.
The Lost Mountain Range had changed dramatically during the demon world invasion.
The demons had designated it as a holy site, so it had undergone particularly significant changes compared to other areas.
And Gaon had said he would reshape it to his liking.
Kerhen was very much looking forward to seeing how the Lost Mountain Range had transformed.
After quite some time, Kerhen arrived at the Lost Mountain Range.
As he headed toward the center where Gaon was located—
Swoooooosh!
An intense energy surged the moment he arrived.
Kerhen looked toward the source of the energy.
It was coming from the center.
A massive pillar of light soared high into the sky from the center.
Then the pillar of light soon disappeared.
Kerhen, who had momentarily stopped, began rushing toward the center with all his strength.
He was worried that something might have happened to Gaon.
When he finally reached the destination a short while later, Kerhen saw two figures — or rather, one person and one dragon.
“Greetings, Lord Ferbeng.”
Kerhen approached and greeted Ferbeng.
However, Ferbeng did not respond to the greeting.
He did not even glance at him.
Ferbeng paid Kerhen no attention whatsoever.
To be precise, he could not pay attention.
He could only stare blankly at Gaon.
The reason Ferbeng was in such a dazed state was, naturally, because of Gaon.
A moment ago, Gaon had melted away the final wall of the Pacheon Mind Method.
And he had undergone hwan-gol-tal-tae.
Just as expected, space had opened up inside his body.
Enough space for him to enter the 12th Circle.
It was then.
“You came?”
Gaon approached and greeted him.
Kerhen looked at Gaon.
He tilted his head and said,
“You seem to have changed again?”
“Yeah, I gained some very good enlightenment.”
Gaon answered with a wide grin.
After exchanging light pleasantries for a while, Kerhen asked with a face full of curiosity,
“Brother, what do you plan to do from now on?”
“What do you mean, what do I plan to do?”
At Kerhen’s question, Gaon answered with a gentle smile.
“Just…….”
Trailing off, Gaon turned his head to look at the waterfall.
Watching the cool streams of water pouring down, Gaon continued,
“I’ll just keep training leisurely like this. Until I reach the 12th Circle. And even after that.”
It was not certain.
But he had a strong feeling that once he reached the 12th Circle, an entirely new path would reveal itself.
And Gaon intended to keep moving forward.
“I see…….”
Kerhen nodded.
There was no need to do anything specific.
Enjoying a leisurely life of training like this seemed perfectly fine too.
Swish.
Then Kerhen turned his head to look at the waterfall Gaon had been watching.
The cool, pouring streams of water.
The small lake created by the waterfall.
And the dense thicket surrounding the lake.
It was so beautiful that anyone would call it a scenic masterpiece.
Kerhen smiled and said to Gaon,
“Keep up the good work from here on out too.”