Chapter 170 - A Man’s Contract (3)
“If you answer my questions, you will no longer be in pain.”
[!!!!]
Petra wriggled his body in a vertical movent. He vigorously expressed his opinion through this thod. He looked like a Wisp trying to express its emotion. It was quite funny, so Artpe laughed as he slightly loosened the cocoon.
[Fuck off······ Koohk!?]
When he regained so control over his Mana, he tried to freeze Artpe with his cold energy. However, the cocoon ignited. It started to burn, and it caused trendous pain to Petra.
“Our party’s greatest strength is that we share our Mana and attributes. Isn’t it aweso?”
[Ggoo-ahhhhhhhhhh!]
It wasn’t a simple fla. It was the fla of the Phoenix that was infused within the longsword. Moreover, Sienna’s magical energy had been added too, and it had transford into sothing that could be called a holy fla. This fla had manifested all along the cocoon! It was so painful that tears of blue blood started to pour out of Petra’s eyes.
[Ggoo-ooh, ggoo-hooooooooo······.]
The fla over the entire cocoon extinguished itself in short order, but a fla continued to burn at the tail end of the cocoon. Moreover, Artpe still had a full reservoir of Mana. If he received help from his staff, he could easily create another fla. It would be much bigger than the one from before. Hurray for the Materialization magic.
“You probably know this, but there won’t be a second chance.”
Artpe wasn’t being stingy. It ant that Petra would die if he was hit with an attack similar to the one from before.
[I’m a Four Heavenly King······ Do you really think I’ll cooperate with a hero? Foolish hero, you will lose against the power of the Demon realm....]
“I see. You do not serve the Demon King. Right? You said the Demon realm instead of the Demon King.”
[······!]
Arte spoke as he touched his neck. If he had a shackle, it would have been located exactly at that region. Of course, Petra knew what Artpe was referring to.
[You bastard. How much.... Koohk. How much do you know······!]
“I told you what I know earlier. I know the Demon King keeps the Demon race in check using his Innate ability. This is how he normally controls the Demons. However, I also know that the previous Demon King’s forces aren’t fettered by the Demon King’s shackles. This group is secretly working behind the scene. That is all I know. You should be fettered by the Demon King’s shackle, yet you are free from it right now.”
[You are rely a hero, so how...!?]
“How I found out about it isn’t important. Well, let’s continue our conversation. You probably didn’t like your current situation, right? You finally reached a position that was directly beneath the Demon King, yet soone suddenly showed up to steal your spot. Moreover, the Absolute Control of the Demon King beca untenable by this new group.”
[······.]
Artpe was making an educated guess to a certain extent. He had no proof that the previous Demon King’s faction had interfered with the current Demon King. However, Artpe had killed a Demon in the ruin just now, and the Demon possessed more magical energy than Petra. This was why Artpe knew that Petra’s original position had been threatened. He was able to deduce all this.
“Moreover, if I had to make a guess right now.... Did sothing happen to the current Demon King?”
[······!]
When Artpe saw Petra’s eyes widen, he ca to the conclusion that sothing disastrous had happened to the current Demon King. There was no way that monster would be pushed around by a level 400 Demon. What the hell happened!
Artpe sighed in lant when he realized the whole situation had gone awry. Why did the previous Demon King’s faction do nothing in his past life? Why only in this current life.....
“Wait mont.”
At this point, he rembered the words of the previous hero Nanarai Bodra. His sunbae had always been obsessed with boasting about himself. He loved listing his accomplishnts. In all his boastings, did he explicitly write down the words, ‘I killed the Demon King’?
······he never did.
“Whoa. Wait a mont.”
Shit. Why was he having such thoughts now? Artpe couldn’t understand it himself, yet the idea had blossod. It filled the space within his head.
He glanced at his comrades. They were looking at him with worried eyes. He glared at Petra, who was dancing the twist within the cocoon. He asked Petra a question.
“Is the previous Demon King still alive?”
[······.]
Artpe was greeted by a long silence. Petra studied them, and in the end, he ca up with an answer that would cause the most strife to Artpe’s party. He put on a sincere sneer as he replied to Artpe’s question.
[······what will you do if I said he’s still alive?]
“My god.”
Petra hadn’t even thought about hiding his emotion. Artpe’s head spun.
He had first co up with the idea as a joke. Since there were two heroes, it wouldn’t have been strange if there were two Demon Kings. However, the vague idea had suddenly turned into sothing concrete. In the end, it had beco reality.
He didn’t know what happened to the current Demon King. At the very least, it was clear that the previous Demon King was at large on this world. Moreover, the previous Demon King was clearly stronger than the current Demon King! In the end, the arrogant sunbae-nim had been unable to kill the Demon King of his era!
He had wondered why that sunbae bastard had prepared so many things for the future heroes. He had also talked about researching for a way to turn the Demons into humans, but in the end, the previous hero had been unable to properly finish the job! On top of it all, why was the previous Demon King attacking after all this ti had passed?!
‘Wait a mont. The dream I had in the past.... It was probably Maetel’s mory from her past life. What did Regina say? There was sothing more horrible than the Demon King, and didn’t she say that it had been released?’
He understood now that the previous Demon King had been freed in his past life. However, why did that event extend into his current life?! It felt as if the answer was at the tip of his tongue, but he could no longer think deeper on the subject. The current situation was already making his head hurt as is.
[I won’t tell you anything beyond this. I acknowledge that you guys are stronger than . However, it is as I’ve said before. You won’t be able to overco the Demon realm. In the end, everything will happen according to his will. The human realm will turn into the Demon realm soon. The designation of humans and Demons will beco aningless.
Now that you know this you can kill . The only thing I regret is the fact that I cannot deliver the inevitable despair you will feel with my own hands.]
“Then Etna....”
Artpe couldn’t hold back his frustration, so he spat out his words. Petra, who had been readying for his own death, froze. His body stiffened.
“What happened to Etna? Where is she right now? Is she safe?”
[You······?]
Artpe would never admit his feelings, but in that mont, Petra saw the emotion within Artpe’s eyes. It was similar to the emotion he felt towards Etna.
Aside from the sword planted in his neck, it was clear that there was a connection between Etna and Artpe. When Petra confird Artpe’s feeling towards Etna, he forgot about his current situation. He let out words of derision.
[Are you crazy?]
He was in pain, yet he cackled. He laughed at Artpe with all his heart.
[It is true that Etna isn’t like other Demons in that she cares about the other races. She is a foolish woman, but.... She isn’t foolish enough to ignore her true nature. She is undeniably a Demon. When the ti cos, she won’t hesitate to burn you alive. This won’t be the fault of the Absolute Control of the Demon King. It is the fate between the Demon race and the human race. You are the so called hero, yet you....]
“Stop spouting such nonsense. I asked you about her whereabout.”
Artpe had completely ignored his words. This made Petra grind his teeth, and he laughed more heartily.
[There is only one thing you’ll be able to do when you et Etna. You will do what you are doing to . You will kill Etna. Since you have that magician by your side, it’ll be easy for you to kill her. That is why I won’t tell you her location. I love her. Even if she doesn’t want , I want her to live on. I want her to be part of the new Demon realm.]
It seed Petra planned on saying nothing. In truth, Artpe had used the experience of his past life and his Read All Creation ability to fluster Petra. It had barely been enough to make Petra him talk. Now Petra clearly had an idea as to what Artpe wanted to know through Artpe’s own words. The possibility of getting an answer to his question was close to nil.
He now knew that the previous Demon King was still alive. He also learned that the current Demon King’s position had been threatened. He might even be dead. Artpe would have to be satisfied with what he had learned. He would have to back off now.
“Artpe, you said it’ll be too dangerous to linger here. Those were your words.”
“······yes, I did say that. Let’s go.”
Artpe lifted a finger. If he raised his finger a little bit more, his Materialization magic would activate once again. It would tighten the Mana Strings, and Petra would be burned to death by the holy fla.
Before he did that....
“You call that love? You are rely a stalker.”
[!?!?]
He couldn’t hold back the words he had always wanted to say to Petra. It was sothing he had pushed down in his past life. He had transitioned from being a Four Heavenly King into being a hero, and he was finally able to speak his mind.
“You never asked about what Etna wanted. Isn’t that right? You probably have no idea what her thoughts are. She will act a certain way, because she is a Demon? It doesn’t matter if one is born as a human or a Demon. We all want the sa thing in life, dumbass. Etna hates fighting as much as she hates the endless fire that burns within her. Did you know that, you fucking idiot? For your information, she realllllllllllly hates you. You should take a hint at so point. I guess it is understandable, since you don’t care what Etna thinks. You just pushed your unwanted feelings onto her. You probably don’t know how much she hates you.”
[······.]
Each point brought up by Artpe couldn’t be denied. Petra couldn’t speak a single word at the bombardnt of truth. Of course, this was the sa for the mbers of Artpe’s party. From their perspective, the hero sounded as if he knew the Four Heavenly King on a personal level! Amongst them, Maetel’s eyes shone unusually bright.
“I see. Artpe knows Etna really well······.”
“Unni!? The battle has ended, so why are you raising your sword!? Unni!?”
Fortunately, Maetel’s anger didn’t have the chance to be directed at Artpe. Petra had opened his mouth before that could happen.
[Do you really think you will be able to understand Etna? What will change for her even if you understood her? Will your position against her change? Will her position against you change?]
“It can be changed. You have no idea.”
[······.]
In a flash, Petra beca filled with anger when he saw the certainty in Artpe’s eyes. They loved the sa woman. As a male competing for the sa woman, he wanted to break Artpe in half. Petra realized that his love couldn’t be realized, so he wanted to see this man despair in front of Etna. That was the only way he’ll feel better.
[Hero.]
His death was imminent. In that mont, his pride as a man leapfrogged any ideology as a Demon.
[Give a Soul Contract. I will bring you in front of her at all cost. Let’s see if you can speak those exact words to her!]
For the first ti in his life, Petra Dealeto Tekotooth deviate from the plan.
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