Chapter 33

Beyond the highest mountain range,


the immortal Demon King, stepping into the polar region of extreme cold, finally reached the Polaris Fortress, venting her irritation along the way.


Even for someone who had trained as hard as she had, the journey to the Arctic was no easy feat.

“Grimudo. The oldest one. What in the world are you doing in this icy wasteland?!”

Standing before the ice-made Polaris Fortress, Harmail shouted as if roaring.


Her voice bore a faint resemblance to the Dragon’s Roar unleashed by her distant ancestor, the fallen white dragon, long ago. It was only a slight resemblance, but it was enough to reach Grimudo’s ears.

Dark clouds covered the sky, erasing both the midnight sun and the aurora,


leaving only a deep, eternal night shrouded in darkness.

From within that darkness, a shadow darker than the abyss itself emerged. A Demon King whose face could not be seen, always cloaked in terrifying magical power.


The Primal Demon King, feared and revered by all demons, revealed himself.

“Grimudo is no more. What stands here is but a despairing scholar. Just Gelié.”


“More of your nonsense? Whether you’re Gelié or Grimudo, rather than crouching here, help me! If we join forces, the demon race can conquer the continent and establish a millennium-long empire!”

In every era, there is a Demon King. The Demon Kings of this age feared Grimudo, who had existed even before their race was born. They revered him as the Primal Demon King, but Gelié no longer considered himself a Demon King.

With beautiful white hair and captivating red eyes,


Harmail, the Demon Emperor, was stunningly beautiful to anyone who saw her. Yet, Gelié, whose heart had long died, felt nothing upon seeing her. He was a hopeless sage.

“All demons have united under me. I will soon stand above all Demon Kings and become the first Emperor in demon history. Primal Demon King. You alone refuse to submit to me. Why? I can give you anything. I’ll even offer you half the world I conquer!”


“Haha.”

Naturally, Gelié was unmoved by Harmail’s offer. Grimudo laughed. Gelié laughed.


As both a Demon King and a scholar, he found Harmail amusing.

“Haha.”

But his laughter held no mockery.


It was a pure laugh, like that of a child who didn’t know better.


Amused, the Demon King chuckled and flicked his finger.

“Little one.”

The glacier tilted. The earth convulsed.


A deafening noise filled the ground, threatening to collapse it, and reached the sky. Harmail’s Roar sounded like a chirping sparrow compared to this cacophony.

“Do you think you’re so great?”

Pale-faced, Harmail leaped from the trembling ice field and hovered in the air, watching the chaotic earth. Ice surged, and blizzards raged. Something massive was breaking through the ground to greet the world. Soon, her eyes met its enormous gaze.

“Your ambitions might seem grand to you.”

A 90-meter-wide eye, armored and floating in the air, stared at her. Behind it, a tail-like structure extended.


Grimudo’s words didn’t even reach her ears. The presence of this eye monster was overwhelming.

“But in reality, they mean nothing.”

Whoosh.


The giant eye shifted its gaze from Harmail to a distant ice cliff.


It began to glow intensely. The beam monster, Bimoa. One of Grimudo’s monster army.

The giant eye itself acted as a biological lens, emitting a high-output bio-laser.


Grimudo’s monster army was a byproduct of his research on the Primal Body. Unlike normal species that evolve through reproduction, these monsters couldn’t reproduce or evolve on their own. They were mindless, like the Primal Body.

Yet, their lifespans were nearly eternal. His monster army wasn’t created in an instant.


They were made bit by bit, and since they didn’t die, their numbers grew.

“Bimoa. Show her.”

Grimudo pointed at the cliff, ordering the monster to clear it from view.


The giant eye monster obeyed Grimudo’s mental command, gathering energy in its pupil. Its lens acted as a biological lens, gradually heating up.

Ping.

A 10,000-degree Celsius energy beam pierced the extreme cold and struck the ice cliff. The eternal ice melted for the first time, boiled briefly, and then evaporated. The Arctic, in that spot, became hotter than a desert. Hot and cold winds collided, creating a mist.

The sizzling sound of boiling, melting, and wind filled Harmail’s ears, but she heard nothing.


The sight was too shocking. A natural wall, larger than any man-made fortress, vanished without a trace under the relentless beam.

Her fortress, or any fortress made by humans or demons,


would crumble like a mirage before this beam. If the walls were like this, what of the people? A million-strong army? Don’t make me laugh.

If human flesh were even slightly exposed to this wide-range beam,


they’d either die or be severely burned, rendered combat ineffective. And this was the Arctic! The place where heat struggles the most, yet it took a while for the temperature to return to normal.

Kugugugung!

Bimoa returned to the depths of the ice to replenish its energy, to the surface of the Primal Body.


Bimoa, like the absent Hydra, was created from Grimudo’s research on the Primal Body’s cells. The Primal Body, a massive organism, had genes capable of emitting beams and metabolizing nuclear material, allowing such monsters to exist.

The Primal Body absorbs radioactive material from deep within the Earth’s crust to sustain itself. Bimoa merely siphons a bit of that energy from its source.


Of course, this was possible because the Primal Body considered Bimoa, made from its cells, as part of itself.

“How was Bimoa’s beam? If this beam scorched inhabited lands, would your words still hold meaning?”

Harmail finally understood why Grimudo had mocked her.


But her pride wouldn’t allow surrender. She shouted defiantly.

“Even so, it’s just a big, slow monster. It might work against armies, but I could easily defeat it.”


“Is that so?”

A smile flickered across Grimudo’s shadowed face.

“Then I’ll show you one more.”

For a moment, Harmail’s world stopped.


Her vision flickered, and all her senses died. Smell, hearing—everything seemed to cut off.


Were her senses paralyzed? No. Her body itself seemed frozen.

“Grr…”

But her magical power remained. Power Techniques, taking the form of a fallen white dragon, surged from within her. A single grunt escaped her stiff lips, and Dragon Form Technique, resembling Ardein’s, erupted in a sinister white light.

“I am… Harmail! You can’t defeat me with tricks like this!”

With a sound like cracking eggshells, stone fragments scattered. Harmail’s senses and vision returned. She looked around and realized what had happened.

‘Petrification…!’


“Petrification Monster, Cockatrice.”

Grimudo admitted with a laugh.

“Someone of your caliber wouldn’t be petrified forever, but how many like you exist in this world? Do you still think your ambitions are grand?”

Turning around, Harmail faced a giant lizard with a chicken’s head. Its sinister eyes stared at her, making her shudder.

Compared to Bimoa, it was small, only about ten meters tall. But it breathed deadly poison and shot petrifying beams from its eyes.

Overall, it was more terrifying to strong individuals like Harmail than Bimoa.


It was fast and agile, unlike the sluggish Bimoa. It was a threat to both the weak and the strong, with no clear weaknesses. Its strategic value was undeniable.

‘If Grimudo wanted me dead, I’d already be gone…’

Even someone like Harmail had been petrified, if only briefly.


If Grimudo had attacked during that moment, she’d be dead. Harmail realized her body was trembling.

‘Trembling? Me? No, that’s…’

Just seeing two monsters had shaken her to the core.


What else did he have? How much more?

Harmail involuntarily shrank back. One thing was clear:


He could do things she couldn’t even dream of with a flick of his finger.

“Why…?”

Deep down, she had wanted to overthrow Grimudo and become the top Demon King.


But she realized she might never achieve that. Harmail grew somber.

“Why, with such power and influence, do you crouch here in this place?”


“Because I know nothing holds meaning.”

Grimudo answered.

“Like the elves of Elvenheim who went mad. Knowing too much does that. I no longer find value in anything in this world.”

Still, it gets lonely here alone. The reason he showed Harmail two monsters was simply out of boredom.


As the Cockatrice approached, Grimudo patted its crest and smiled.

“Now go. If you want to stay and play more, feel free.”


“…I have one request. Do you know about the Hero?”


“Of course. They were guests here before you.”

To him, they weren’t even worth calling enemies.


They just caused a bit of trouble and then fled.

“They came here? Why did you let them live?”


“I didn’t let them live. They survived.”

He still remembered the miracle the priest used to block him.


All the stars in the night sky connected, forming a galaxy-filled axe that struck him down.

Miracle, Galaxy-Blooming Night. He didn’t know what the priest sacrificed to use it,


but it must have been a significant price. It wasn’t something humans could use. And even with a great sacrifice, it couldn’t be granted unless the giver was of high standing.

“If you’re asking about them, I’ll say this: without that priest, they couldn’t have stood before me.”

They weren’t necessarily strong, but they were different. When their power clashed with his, theirs took precedence, regardless of strength. It was an unfamiliar experience even for Grimudo.


He had fought seriously, yet they managed to escape.

“Priest…?”


“I don’t know if that priest is still with them. If he is, I’d like to have a chat this time.”

Which one was he talking about? Saint Araidel? Or Archbishop Reinhaim?


Harmail didn’t even know Kyle’s name. She had heard reports but had no reason to care. Well, it didn’t matter to her which one Grimudo wanted to meet.

“Then will you come with me? I’ve located the Hero Party.”


“I’ll gladly join. It’s been a while since I’ve ventured out.”

She had only suggested it casually, but his immediate agreement surprised even her.


The Primal Demon King, whether sincere or not, disappeared into the dark clouds and tossed her a bead. Harmail’s expression stiffened as she carefully caught it.

As a distant descendant of dragons, she could sense the high-level magic within the bead.


But of course. The demon race’s ancestors learned magic from dragons, a gift without cost, a benevolence.

Grimudo, however, exchanged knowledge with dragon magic through trade. Naturally, the dragons taught him far more.


Charity could give freely, but trade required equal exchange.

“If you find them, crush this bead. I’ll come to you.”


‘If he helps, it’s not a bad deal…’

Whether it was that priest or not, as long as he was spared, the rest could die.


If Grimudo helped, Harmail stood to gain without loss.

‘My pride is hurt.’

But she had gained something, and she bit her lip in humiliation.


Yet, she couldn’t even think of venting her frustration. She had vividly experienced Grimudo’s overwhelming power in that short moment.

Between the top-ranked Demon King and herself,


there was a gap she couldn’t even dream of bridging.