Chapter 189: The Tyrant’s Judgment

Of course, it was a rift a Demon King could cross, but it was still unstable for Gaon to use.

However, Gaon knew a way to pass through safely.

It was not a permanent method.

It was temporary.

Swish.

Gaon took a gem from his pouch.

It was the gem left behind by Astrex, the wraith of the Velterik Kingdom.

The gem contained rank.

If he used that rank?

The passage would become extremely stable.

To be precise, the passage itself would not become stable.

He would simply be able to cross safely even through an unstable passage.

And doing so would greatly damage the gem’s rank.

Gaon knew the rank would be damaged, yet he still planned to cross into the demon world.

He intended to deal with the demons there—those with a very high chance of invading the middle world again in the future.

Naturally, this included the tyrant Myrdaon.

Honestly, Myrdaon was the biggest reason.

Only after dealing with Myrdaon, who had obtained rank, would Gaon be able to rest easy.

Anyway, I kept it for a moment like this.

Gaon put the gem back into his pouch.

Then he looked at the demonic rift.

At this size, no one can cross over.

The demonic rift had shrunk to almost nothing.

No one could cross through a rift this small.

Not even the weakest demonic beast in the demon world.

Gaon lost interest in the demonic rift and resumed moving while continuing the cleanup.

“……”

Adela could not say a word.

She simply stared blankly at the Eye of God.

Originally, the Eye of God could not be activated without continuously infusing holy power when two Demon Kings had descended.

But right now, Adela was not infusing any holy power at all.

Nevertheless, the Eye of God was operating perfectly on its own.

The reason it worked was that the demonic energy it had to handle had fallen below the baseline.

He really killed them?

A little while ago, contact had come from Gardion Tower.

Gaon had annihilated one Demon King, and the other Demon King had fled back to the demon world through the demonic rift.

Tarun, the demons’ sanctuary, had been completely cleaned up.

At first she thought it was a joke.

But now she knew it was not.

She had confirmed everything through the Eye of God.

The two Demon Kings were gone, and the demonic energy in Tarun—which had been denser than anywhere else—had become thinner than in the Coexistence Zone.

It was already a mana-dominant area and was estimated to become a perfect mana-dominant area soon.

……How in such a short time?

All of this was Gaon’s doing.

And not with anyone’s help—Gaon had done it alone.

It had not taken a long time; he had accomplished all this in such a short time?

It was incredibly impressive and terrifying.

If someone like Gaon set his mind to something else?

It would be impossible to stop him.

He would become an even greater threat than the demons.

No.

Adela steadied her heart.

She had met Gaon in person.

She had even spoken with him.

The worry she was having now was unnecessary.

Gaon would never set his mind to something else.

As long as we don’t touch his nerves.

Even so, she could not let her guard down completely.

Gaon not setting his mind to something else was only when his nerves were not touched.

If they did touch his nerves?

The great danger she had imagined earlier could come.

No, it would come.

Swish.

Adela turned her gaze away from the Eye of God and looked toward the entrance.

Just then, Pope Basus was entering.

Having returned to the demon world, Catulon gritted his teeth.

His body was damaged in various places.

And the loss of demonic energy was enormous.

It would take a considerable amount of time to recover his strength.

But that was not the only problem.

Swish.

Catulon raised his head and looked ahead.

Ahead of him were three beings with puzzled expressions.

The Demon King of Bitter Cold, Askalon.

The Demon King of Lust, Rekal.

The Demon King of Gluttony, Babub.

“What is it?”

The Demon King of Bitter Cold, Askalon, asked.

“Why did you come back?”

“Something went wrong.”

Catulon answered the question while focusing his senses.

Honestly, the three Demon Kings were not important.

What mattered right now was the being who was not present.

The tyrant Myrdaon.

Phew, he’s not here.

Was it fortunate?

For now, he could not sense Myrdaon’s energy.

But he could not relax.

His current senses were not normal.

Myrdaon could be nearby yet undetectable.

“What’s the problem?”

“Don’t tell me Dormanimonu betrayed us or something?”

“That makes sense, seeing how weakened you are.”

Starting with Askalon, the other two Demon Kings chimed in one by one.

At the three Demon Kings’ words, Catulon pondered for a moment.

How should I answer?

He had already said something went wrong.

Should he tell the truth?

That Dormanimonu had been killed by a human.

And that he had fled because of it.

Could he tell the truth?

Will they even believe it?

The problem was that even if he told the truth, the three Demon Kings would not believe him.

Even Catulon would not have believed it if he had not experienced it himself.

He would have suspected some kind of trick instead.

“Why aren’t you saying anything?”

When Catulon remained silent, Askalon asked in a voice full of irritation.

After much thought, Catulon opened his mouth.

“Dormanimonu is dead.”

He decided to tell the truth.

It was something everyone would find out anyway.

There was no reason to lie.

Lying would only lead to bigger problems later.

“What?”

“That guy is dead?”

“How?”

Surprise appeared on the three Demon Kings’ faces.

“……He was killed by a human.”

“……?”

“……?”

“……?”

At Catulon’s words, the three Demon Kings flinched as if on cue and made puzzled expressions.

A brief silence fell.

It was literally brief.

The one who broke the silence was the Demon King of Gluttony, Babub.

“What kind of bullshit is that?”

Babub asked with an utterly serious face and voice.

“Dormanimonu was killed by a human?”

At first he thought it was a joke.

But the atmosphere was not one for jokes, and Catulon’s demeanor did not look like he was joking.

That was why he asked even more seriously.

What kind of nonsense this was.

“It’s the truth. I barely managed to escape.”

If he had been even a little slower, he would have been caught.

And he would have met the same end as Dormanimonu, only with a different process.

At Catulon’s serious words, Askalon said,

“The heavenly realm has been thoroughly shattered, so there’s no way he was taken down by the heavenly realm’s lackeys.”

They had completely destroyed the heavenly realm.

There was no being in the middle world that could intervene.

Even if they had, it would not have been at a level that would cause problems.

“Don’t tell me the traitorous humans betrayed us again?”

“No.”

“If that’s not it, then……”

Askalon trailed off and looked at Catulon with suspicious eyes.

Catulon frowned and answered.

“Then would I have any reason to come here like this?”

“That’s true.”

Askalon nodded as if he understood.

Then Babub muttered with a face full of disbelief.

“He really died to a human?”

To Babub’s mutter, Catulon replied.

“For your information, it wasn’t by multiple people. He was taken down by a single human.”

“……”

“……”

Silence fell once more.

Catulon understood the three Demon Kings’ silence.

Even he would have reacted the same way.

How could they believe he was taken down by a single human?

Once again, the first to break the silence was Babub.

“Don’t tell me he was taken down while not in perfect condition?”

“No, he had recovered all his strength. The environment wasn’t bad either. The battle took place in the area adjacent to Tarun.”

“……”

“……”

“……”

At Catulon’s words, the three Demon Kings could only fall silent.

No matter how they thought about it, the story made no sense.

It was hard to believe.

No, to be precise, they did not want to believe it.

The reason was that if Catulon’s words were all true, a very shocking conclusion would follow.

Doesn’t that mean he’s stronger than Myrdaon?

“……A human stronger than Myrdaon?”

“He doesn’t seem to be lying……”

The three Demon Kings fell into thought.

And it was at that exact moment.

All of them looked at the demonic rift.

Grrrrrrr!

At the same time, the demonic rift began to shrink.

The problem had not occurred here.

It had occurred in the middle world.

And the three Demon Kings had no choice but to believe Catulon’s words were true.

Catulon turned his head and scanned the three Demon Kings.

“It’s not certain, but……”

Then he spoke cautiously.

“It seems he’s stronger than Myrdaon……”

It was then.

The three Demon Kings flinched.

And they turned their heads.

Catulon was puzzled.

Why were they suddenly reacting like that?

But that lasted only a moment.

“……!”

Catulon realized why the three Demon Kings had flinched.

Swish.

Catulon turned his head to look where the three Demon Kings’ gazes were directed.

And he saw it.

A being approaching with an intrigued expression, gently swaying a huge tail.

Myrdaon……

The identity of the being was none other than Myrdaon.

Catulon swallowed hard as he looked at Myrdaon.

Soon Myrdaon arrived and asked Catulon.

“Stronger than me?”

“That’s……”

At Myrdaon’s question, Catulon trailed off.

What Catulon had been about to say was that Gaon was stronger than Myrdaon.

Because the situation was exactly like that.

Naturally, he had intended to tell Myrdaon as well.

It was a fact Myrdaon needed to know too.

But when it came to actually saying it in front of Myrdaon, the words would not come out.

What kind of reaction would Myrdaon show?

Would he show curiosity like ‘Oh, there’s a human like that?’

If it was curiosity, that would be fortunate, but if not?

If he showed anger?

Could he endure Myrdaon’s anger in the current situation?

No, he could not.

He had already suffered too much damage just returning to the demon world.

“Why aren’t you saying anything?”

When Catulon remained silent, Myrdaon asked again.

His voice had grown slightly colder.

“First of all, why did you come back? What happened to the rift?”

Myrdaon continued with another question.

The more the questions came, the colder his voice became.

Before it grew any colder, Catulon quickly began to answer.

“Dormanimonu was killed by a human named Gaon……”

Catulon continued the explanation while carefully watching Myrdaon’s reaction.

He spoke in more detail than he had with the three Demon Kings.

Soon Catulon’s story ended, and Myrdaon spoke.

“Did you see it yourself? That Dormanimonu was killed by a single human?”

“No, but the situation……”

“So you didn’t see it yourself.”

“……”

Catulon could not say anything.

Myrdaon was right—he had not seen it himself.

“Then it means you got scared and ran away.”

At Myrdaon’s next words, Catulon fell into despair.

He could clearly see what Myrdaon was thinking.

“You should have died there instead.”

Having finished speaking, Myrdaon disappeared.

The place he reappeared was right in front of Catulon’s face.

Stab!

A piercing sound followed.

Catulon lowered his head.

Myrdaon’s tail had pierced straight through his chest.

Catulon raised his head again and looked at Myrdaon.

Myrdaon wore an utterly indifferent expression.

Catulon looked at him and thought.

You fucking bastard.