157 – Nymphs and the Demon King’s Hero! #7
“Do you know why this island is also called Hell? There is another ‘side’ that exists on this island!”
Woo-oo-oo-oo-oo-oo.
The rings on all of Demon King Jun’s fingers began to emit light.
Then the atmosphere strangely shook, and soon crackling sounds followed as lightning shot like sparks, causing the air to ripple.
I was familiar with this sensation.
“An anomalous rift…!?”
The hairs all over my body stood on end.
This was a sign that the anomalous rift was about to open.
Woo-oo-oo, crackle-sizzle-!
With a loud noise, an oval-shaped door opened behind Demon King Jun.
“Is someone really opening a rift individually?”
Lee Jin-A seemed quite agitated.
Lee Jin-A had once tried to reopen the rift where her mother was trapped and, with the help of many people, miraculously managed to open the rift entrance.
It must have been surprising to see Demon King Jun achieving something like that all by himself.
“Take care! You idiots! This island is going to explode soon!”
Demon King Jun entered the rift and took something out of the inner pocket of his chest, shaking it toward me with a clinking sound.
It was an object I recognized quite well.
“That’s the remote detonation device for the explosive packets, isn’t it?”
The explosive packets were made by Ban Dong-Joo, who, like Gi Seung-Jae, was skilled with his hands and held a special position.
He loved to either rework explosives or set them off, always muttering, “Art is an explosion!” and had a twisted personality that enjoyed breaking things.
So why did Demon King Jun have that control device?
Does that mean Demon King Jun also has the explosives made by Ban Dong-Joo?
Of course, there was something to suspect.
One of the people who suppressed the civil unrest caused by Ban Dong-Joo in Gangneung a few years ago was indeed Demon King Jun.
“There are bombs hidden all over this Hell! Soon it will explode and take everything with it! Haildo, you know the power of it well, right? If you want to stop me, then come in alone! Into my rift!”
Clink-clink—
Demon King Jun shook the bomb control device before finally fully pushing himself into the rift.
The entrance of the anomalous rift crackled with light.
As I watched, Lee Jin-A spoke.
“It’s obviously a trap! Haildo, if you go in alone, you’ll be in big trouble!”
“But if the story about the bombs and control device is real, we don’t know what will happen to this island. We need to go in and steal the control device and somehow stop the detonation!”
Most people had already evacuated from this island.
But there were still thugs, me, Jin-A, and others we had not yet accounted for, along with Nymphs.
I could not leave them to be caught in an explosion.
“Lee Jin-A, take care of them!”
I decided to leave Kkungkkungi, Ahn Ahn, Kalilnoi, Bang Bang, and Mi-Yong with Jin-A.
And without a moment to delay, I also pushed myself into the rift where Demon King Jun had disappeared.
Woo-oo-oo.
A bizarre sensation seemed to shake my body up and down.
Feeling as though I were penetrating thin plastic, I flailed my arms and legs forward, and the air touching my face finally shifted into a sensation like a roaring wind.
“Where is this…?”
Before me stretched a world with a red sky.
It was full of old, decaying buildings, and on the ground, snow was piled high like fallout.
“Is this Elysium?”
Though the sight was filled with collapsed buildings and debris, there were aspects that resembled the Elysium I had just seen.
If there were a version of Elysium that had perished in an ice age, it would look just like this.
The icicles dangling from the eaves appeared powerful, like the fangs of a terrifying demon.
However, there was no time to indulge in thoughts of beauty. I scanned the surroundings, looking for Demon King Jun, who was somewhere in this rift. Thanks to the footprints in the thick snow, the chase was considerably easier.
“Come out!”
I entered the hotel, where it appeared that Demon King Jun had fled.
The hotel’s interior was frozen solid and old, but interestingly, several vending machines still shone with lights.
Inside those machines were items I had never seen before.
“Beam Sabers?”
A vending machine filled with Beam Sabers, similar to the one I carried at my waist.
Just as I was struck by curiosity, I felt a heat source approaching from behind.
Swoosh-!
Hastily turning my head, I saw a long, flame-like serpent aiming for my nape.
“Gah!”
I ducked.
However, the fiery serpent turned toward me like a living being, lunging at my body.
Whoosh-!
“Oh no, d*mn it!”
I strained every muscle and launched myself away.
Bang-!
After rolling on the ground, the fiery serpent crashed into the floor, exploding with intense heat.
“Combining telekinesis with ignition ability allows for such delicate control. Haildo, this is probably the first time you’ve seen something like this. Such an idiot. You actually came alone when I told you to.”
Swoosh-.
As I regained my posture and stood up, Demon King Jun revealed himself from the upper floor of the hotel.
He slowly descended the stopped escalator, speaking.
“This is a killing space, isn’t it? It’s an anomalous rift opened by generating a strong magical wave. I’ve named this space ‘Hell’ just like Elysium. This is likely the future of the island.”
“Future? This ice age-like sight is the future?”
“Yes, the space of the rift mixes past and future! People like you, ancient Awakened ones, wouldn’t understand. You don’t need to know either. Because you’ll collapse here!”
Whoosh-!
The blade of flames ignited in Demon King Jun’s hand.
It looked as though he was simultaneously enhancing his telekinesis, ignition ability, and physical abilities, while also boosting sensory aspects.
Bang-!
As he kicked the ground, the surrounding snow, ice, and icicles melted due to the recoil. Demon King Jun, closing the distance between us, raised his sword high.
“d*e, you b*stard!”
An intensely hot blade swung down from above my head.
I reached for the object at my waist, and immediately, as I pulled the pin, I closed my eyes.
Click, Bang-!
With a blinding flash, the ‘Mana Flare’ exploded.
“━──!”
As a ringing sound echoed in my ears, I scowled, seeing Demon King Jun, who shielded his face, shouting something.
I seized the opportunity to grab his arm and slammed him down onto the floor.
“━Gack─!”
As Demon King Jun hit the hard floor, gasping for breath as if expelling all the air from his lungs, I quickly straddled him.
The first thing to do was remove the rings from his fingers, and while he was still dazed, I managed to take all of his rings.
“Now you can’t mess around. Is the detonation device in your inner pocket?”
Clink-.
Having acquired the bomb control device, I pressed the red button to stop the bomb from operating, just as I had been taught.
But it was peculiar.
“9:59”
“9:58”
“9:57”
…
The time displayed on the switch didn’t stop decreasing.
Soon, Demon King Jun let out a sinister chuckle.
“I specially modified it. Once activated, it cannot be stopped by any means. You and I may survive the rift, but the island outside will truly be turned upside down.”
“Are you really insane?”
“No. I’m not insane; I’m just coldly assessing the situation. There are many things on this island that shouldn’t be revealed. So it’s better to blow it all up.”
“No matter what, are you saying you’d blow everything away just to hide your wrongs? You psycho!”
“Ah—. Why are you saying that? This is a world where only the two of us exist. Don’t be so pretentious. In that sense, Haildo, you must have a lot of coins. Let’s join hands. Then I’ll let you stop the bomb.”
To stop a bomb that can’t be stopped by any means, he offers me a way to stop it?
I had no clue if he was lying or telling the truth.
Demon King Jun added.
“There are many such rifts in the world. Rifts where coins can be used. Coordinates for opening those rifts are fixed. The reason I chose Elysium was precisely for that. You have a lot of coins, right?”
“Coins?”
“Coins obtained by Nymphs. Don’t pretend you don’t know. If you have those, you can use the vending machines. And with the power gained from that, the rules become meaningless.”
“……”
“Moreover, we could even define the rules ourselves! We’d become the pinnacle! Haildo, what do you say? You qualify for it! Now, why not be honest? No one will judge you!”
Demon King Jun’s words slithered into my heart like a serpent.
Of course, it was a conversation not worth listening to.
“Demon King Jun, if I team up with a criminal like you, I’ll get a ton of hate online! Every post with my name will be filled with dislikes! So, no thanks!”
“…What? What nonsense are you spouting now? I told you, it won’t matter what other people think!”
Demon King Jun frowned, as if he couldn’t comprehend my words.
Our feelings were so utterly different.
What’s the point of living if you don’t need to care about others?
I actually find it most enjoyable when others pay attention to me!
I thought it would be more important to subdue Demon King Jun than to continue this futile conversation, so I tightly choked him by the neck.
“Gah, Gack!”
Demon King Jun, who had been struggling for a while, suddenly went limp.
“So you’re an A-rank and a gangster, but your hand-to-hand combat is pretty pathetic. Relying on mysterious items without training leads to this. In the end, the only thing one can trust in a crisis is one’s own body.”
Leaving him there, I turned toward the entrance of the rift, poked my head out, and shouted.
“The bomb might explode! Quickly come in here! Hurry! Everyone, let’s evacuate into the rift!”
# # #
“……”
Thud thud thud thud thud—.
Only the sound of helicopter propellers resonated in the chaotic situation.
The strike team from Elysium had received a communication from agents already on site.
“There are reports that bombs are placed everywhere. It’s said that because of the mana operating methods, it’s difficult to deactivate, and there’s only about 7 minutes left! What should we do?”
The leader of the strike team was S-rank Awakened, Cha Yura.
Feeling the gazes directed at her, she coolly assessed the reported situation.
‘Is it right to take the helicopter to an island that’s about to explode and is tipped upside down?’
Just then, an agent wearing black sunglasses leaned in to inform Cha Yura.
“Haildo has been evacuating everyone into the anomalous rift. About 90% is done, and in 3 minutes, everyone will be safely inside it.”
“Oh?”
Cha Yura thought that things had become easier.
Thud thud thud—.
Finally, the helicopter landed on the island.
An eerie atmosphere was pretty ominous.
“How much time is left?”
“5 minutes.”
“Then Team Leader Kim and all the agents should also evacuate into the rift. I’ll handle the bomb. Good job, Il-Ji. You cleared out the place.”
At Cha Yura’s order, the strike team ran towards the coordinates where the anomalous rift had opened.
Finally hearing that the evacuation had been completed, Cha Yura bit down on the honey candy from the Nymphs she had been holding in her mouth and stretched her arms wide.
“Absolute zero.”
Ch crackle, crackle—.
There were rumors that S-rank Awakened could change the climate and influence the scenery simply by their presence.
Some might say this was an exaggeration, but after witnessing this scene, it would undoubtedly be said that the rumors were understated.
As Cha Yura’s eyes glowed blue, a fierce snowstorm whipped up in the sky before finally freezing the nearby sea, mountains, hotel, and all buildings entirely.
Similarly, the cursed bombs placed somewhere on the island also froze solid.
“Clear.”
Hu-.
Cha Yura exhaled a breath filled with cold air and yawned.
“It’s easy.”
