Chapter 284

They say leaving home is tough, and that couldn’t be more true. The man once called the Demon King forced his unmoving body to move and returned to his home.

But where his home once stood, only a massive crater remained. The Demon King stared blankly into the deep, dark abyss. It was so deep that even he couldn’t see the bottom.

The Polaris Fortress had vanished without a trace, melted away without a single shard of ice left. Though Bimoa was nowhere to be seen, the Demon King could guess the outcome. Releasing that much energy to create such a crater in the Arctic, using his own body as a cannon, there was no way Bimoa could have survived…

“One dragon.”

His gaze turned to the dragon that had crashed onto the ice. It wasn’t dead, but it was charred black, smoke rising from its body. It seemed unconscious, with no signs of waking up.

It was probably a good thing that, being a Black Dragon, its appearance hadn’t changed much despite being burned. The Demon King casually approached it, staring at the dragon that was dozens of times larger than himself.

“One half-dragon.”

In the distance, Yanid lay battered and unconscious on the ground. Even at their full strength, they wouldn’t have been a match for him. Now, charred and unconscious, he could end their lives with a single gesture. He could take their lives and offer them to Bimoa’s memorial.

“And then there’s you.”

But he didn’t. Instead, he shifted his gaze. Despite her body being far less resilient than the dragon’s, the girl hadn’t passed out when the dragon did.

Her legs trembled as she leaned on the Resonance Sword like a cane, barely standing, but she had endured Bimoa’s light beam.

She had survived a beam that cost her life to unleash.

It was undoubtedly a remarkable feat.

But even so, she was no match for him.

“Grimudo…”

Even at full strength, and especially now. The power of Bimoa’s light beam, unleashed at the cost of its life, was undoubtedly immense, but he could have easily blocked it. He had at least eight ways to do so.

The little wolf probably knew that too, but instead of defeat, determination burned in its eyes. The wolf slowly drew its sword, pointing it at him, but its trembling legs betrayed it. Just deflecting the beam had already pushed it to its limits.

“One person is missing. Where did he go?”

But the Demon King’s response was merely to fold his arms behind his back, exuding calm. He looked around for the one person he had originally sought but couldn’t find him. Judging by the little wolf’s pale face staring into the crater, he must have fallen in.

“Could it be down there?”

A glance toward the crater was enough. He didn’t need an answer. The little wolf wasn’t good at lying, its face pale as it stared at him.

If someone fell into a place like that, they wouldn’t survive. Their body would be crushed. But he couldn’t be sure of anything until he saw it with his own eyes.

As he turned to enter the crater, the Demon King suddenly froze. His vision was gone. The world had suddenly turned dark. His optic nerves had stopped working…

It wasn’t due to magic or any kind of technique. The little wolf didn’t even have the energy to approach, barely standing, and the dragon was completely unconscious.

The Evil God Oberta, nowhere to be seen? Perhaps she had hidden and cast a curse, but even now, with his body unresponsive, he wasn’t afraid of such a curse. He was confident he could shatter it by compressing and releasing his magical power.

In the end, his time was running out. He had fought against time with all his might, but time had already brought him to one knee. The remaining time was steadily dwindling.

“Perhaps that will be my grave.”

Knowing that if he went down now, he might never return and be buried there, he didn’t hesitate and leaped in. Instead of his lost vision, magical power surged in his eyes, forming a magical lens.

This was also a legacy left by some ancient race, but even they probably couldn’t use the technique of the magical lens as well as Grimudo.

Faster than a fired arrow, he descended into the deep, dark abyss. The speed was unbelievable even to the eye. Even with his body unresponsive, it was so. The wolf bit its lip hard, hard enough to draw blood, as it watched the Demon King’s figure disappear into the darkness.

It was the only way to keep from crying. The reason she didn’t go in to find Kyle—no, the reason she couldn’t—was, first, because she was completely exhausted.

Only because she was a Master did her magical power automatically recover, allowing her to stand. Just moments ago, she didn’t even have the strength to crawl.

And second, even if her eyes couldn’t see it, her nose could. The smell of blood. A thick, bloody scent wafted up from the deep crater. If that much blood had been lost, there was no way a person could still be alive. Even she, with her incomparable stamina, couldn’t survive that level of blood loss.

Even if she tried not to cry, her eyes swelled up. If what she feared had truly happened…

She no longer had a reason to live.

‘Bloodstains. Bloodstains. And more bloodstains. If this much blood was lost, it’s only natural that he’s already dead.’

Spreading her energy sense to survey the surroundings wasn’t a privilege exclusive to Masters; even Experts could use it depending on their skill. But Grimudo’s magical lens was on a completely different level. It could see the colors of objects that normal energy sense couldn’t, as clearly as real eyes.

So the frozen bloodstains scattered throughout the ice cave immediately caught her eye. Amidst the pure white and blue-tinted glaciers, they stood out, impossible to miss. The Demon King, who had descended rapidly through the bloodstained passage, narrowed his eyes.

‘The core.’

The core of the Primal Body, which had been pulsating just moments ago. A part of that massive entity was exposed at the deepest part of the cave. Just a corner of the iceberg, a fraction of its surface area. Even conservatively estimated, the core’s size was comparable to an entire city.

‘And that…’

Compared to the core, it was ridiculously small. A crystal small enough to fit in one hand. Something that seemed insignificantly weak compared to the massive Primal Body was embedded in the core’s surface.

But despite its size, the power it contained was absurdly strong. The Thorn had nearly exhausted all its power cooling the Primal Body. But even the remaining energy was enough to make his body shiver. This was no ordinary cold.

“Did you bring this from the North Pole? A place even I couldn’t set foot in…”

Before he could even speak of immense magical power, his current state was no different from a leper. Like Ardein at her most critical, he couldn’t feel cold or heat. His body no longer felt pain, which was a very bad sign.

He couldn’t even feel anything touching his fingers. His body was gradually crumbling. But ignoring his own condition, he looked at the hands holding the Thorn. Though the light had faded from his eyes, he saw someone whose posture hadn’t faltered.

“Dead? Like this? Haha, in the end, even that god thought of you as nothing more than a tool. After all that fervent faith, this is the result you get.”

Kneeling, holding the Thorn reverently with both hands,

he saw someone who had driven the Thorn into the ground.

Frozen to the bone, he had no hope of ever coming back to life. Though he wanted to close his eyes, they were already closed, so there was nothing more he could do.

His expression looked truly peaceful. The Demon King was somewhat disappointed. This wasn’t what he had come here to see.

Feeling hollow, he turned to leave but suddenly stopped. He felt something strange and turned his head again.

“But how is this possible? It shouldn’t be. It shouldn’t be possible…”

Judging by the bloodstains scattered along the way, this guy hadn’t flown and landed here. He had fallen. And he had rolled and tumbled, crashing into things along the way.

He should have died instantly, his body crushed on impact. No, he should have died even before hitting the ground. How had he managed to come here and drive the Thorn into the core? Moreover, there were no visible wounds on his body now.

“Did the corpse come back to life and move…?”

After a moment of contemplation, he finally made a decision. Uncharacteristically for a Demon King, he decided to do a good deed for the first time in a long while.

Though, having lost eternity, he was no longer worthy of being called a Demon King, just a walking corpse.

Speaking of corpses, if the goal was to continue living, there was still a way. Like the Underground Castle and its necromancers, he could become a true corpse and gain life. With his magical skills, he could easily become a lich.

But… was it worth clinging to life so desperately? Everything he had cherished was already lost to the depths of time, and all that remained was this body, paying the price for eternal life.

Wasn’t this enough? What glory was there in living longer? This old man no longer had the desire to do so.

“This doesn’t mean I’ve been moved by you. It’s just… well, this place is too cold to be the grave of a hero who saved the world. I’ll send you back to where you belong.”

Hoisting the cold corpse onto his back, he kicked off the ground and soared into the air. However, even as a Demon King, he didn’t have eyes on the back of his head, so he didn’t see the faint smile that appeared on Kyle’s lips as he carried him.

A greater being had briefly visited this place, and the truth had been right behind him, but this man, unaware, focused only on moving forward.

Even so, the god smiled and granted his wish. Though he did nothing, he willingly granted what was desired. True miracles don’t appear in supernatural forms. People live within miracles without realizing it.

The countless lives that emerge, grow, observe their surroundings, build civilizations, and thrive are the result of astonishing coincidences. Breaking through impossibly low probabilities repeatedly, life emerges from non-life, and sentient beings from life. Was that truly possible by their own power alone? Not at all. There was always someone behind them, opening the door to possibility.

He appeared on the stage for just a moment and disappeared just as quickly. The Demon King didn’t know what was happening on his back. The god, who accomplishes everything without direct action, had made him the beneficiary without his knowledge.

-The God of Hope was born from faith and optimism for tomorrow, not because He uses the name of hope. He doesn’t claim hope because He draws power from such faith. Because He exists, humans can have hope, and so He appears in the form of hope.

The dark night sky spoke. Roka didn’t hear it, and the Demon King didn’t either. The voice merely brushed past them, unworthy of their attention.

-Apostle. Chosen one. The time has come for you to truly fulfill your purpose.