127. Face off with Berdan

Many days before the Gate was formed, Berdan worked in secret to hide the magical energy near the Gate that would connect to Earth.

Soon, humans from Earth with vast amounts of magical energy would be arriving.

However, the magical energy of the demonic realm was already saturated to its maximum.

Berdan wouldn't be the only one to notice additional magical energies entering the demonic realm.

From the demon king Jamon to Ladin. Anyone decently strong would be able to recognize the change as well.

Of course, the demon king had commanded to gather greater amounts of magical energies in order to increase the territory of the monsters.

However, this was a path of revival for the demons that were withering away due to infighting.

However, if the demon king realized the magical energies that were being brought included Min-Cheol and Jong Ho, with more to come, he would see that Berdan would obtain magical energies surpa.s.sing his, and would stop him.

It was then.

Berdan sensed that two humans with ma.s.sive amounts of magical energies had entered into his veil.

He was all smiles now.

He could feel each of their steps, getting closer by the second.

Even now, he wanted to rush outside and obtain their mana.

However, he could not do so.

Despite covering up the magical energy around the Gate, it wasn't possible to hide his own magical energy.

If Berdan, who had been guarding his castle this entire time suddenly moved, it could cause alarm.

Out of habit, Berdan touched his horn.

Salivating, he spoke again.

"Kuhu. Kuhaha! Finally, they're here!"

Right now, he had gathered the top 1% ranking monsters in his territory to his castle.

It was to gather as quickly and as much magical energy as possible.

In his sights lay the humans that arrived here, the monsters of his territory, and the monsters of Ladin's territory.

After that, he planned to travel to Earth and take the magical energies of the remaining Awakened.

There was a possibility that the demon king Jamon might follow him to Earth, but unlike Berdan who did not require any magical energies to travel through dimensions due to his Authority, the demon king would have to expend a ma.s.sive amount of it in order to travel.

That meant that even if the demon king did follow, he would not have enough magical energies to defeat him.

"Come! Hurry! To the new demon king!"

We entered the demonic realm.

The moment our feet touched the ground, the feeling of doom and gloom of the demonic realm washed over us.

The ground was desolate and barren, almost as if it was a field for farming that had undergone a severely long period of drought.

We couldn't help but get gooseb.u.mps at the sight.

On top of that, there were monsters all over the place.

This place didn't look that different from the dreams I had of this place before.

No, perhaps the place I saw in my dreams were miniature in comparison to this place.

Almost as if to wet the dry ground, the monsters in the distance ripped one another apart, spilling blood everywhere.

It was absolute chaos.

It really was the demonic realm. Looking around made me realize that again.

It felt like we had gone through a portal or a dungeon.

Just from looking around, the number and types of monsters were beyond one's imagination.

It felt as if dungeons from all levels had been put together into a single place.

"Whew….. We really did arrive…."

"Keruk. This is the demonic realm."

"Oh. You're Karin?"

Jong Ho, who hadn't been able to see Karin until now, spoke as if he was glad to see him.

At his question, Karin put his hands at his hips and spoke with his nose raised up.

"Kel kel. That's right. Humans, follow me."

"Karin, are we going to Berdan immediately?"

"That's right. He should not be angered."

"Ok….. Lead the way. We'll follow."

"Keruk. Alright."

"Hyung-nim, just do as you have been practicing. No matter what, do not let your s.h.i.+eld spell fall off."

"Of course. You have no idea how much I've been practicing in order to get used to it."

"Until we arrive at Berdan's castle, I'll be dealing an inconsequential amount of damage to you in order for you to gather mana, since you'll need to save up that mana for combat."

"Yeah. If you just control the output of your damage well, I should be able to cast s.h.i.+elds without using up any mana. This skill is kind of perverted in the sense that you need to get hit while using the defensive skill in order for me to obtain mana."

"Yes. And you have the ring with you, right?"

"Yes, I'm wearing it."

"Good. Let's go."

Karin moved through the demonic realm as if he was a fish back in water.

Surprisingly, the monsters lowered their tails and fled when we got close to them.

These monsters only thought about killing.

Looking at their fleeing forms, I remembered that they had the ability to sense magical energy, at least according to Karin.

It seemed that no matter the type of monster they were or what amount of intelligence they had, all of them could sense both their own magical energy and of others.

That's why it made sense for them to run at the sight of us two overflowing with magical energies.

I even considered that we didn't need the s.h.i.+eld spells for now.

With Karin at the lead, we walked for a long time.

His stumbling walk was too funny to watch.

Perhaps he was going as fast as he could, because he was panting heavily.

Thinking that this would take all day, I looked towards the sky.

However, this place did not have a sun or moon.

Everything was bathed in a light similar to the bluish hue before dawn.

It really fit the image of the demonic realm.

"Kehhehru. Keheck. We're almost here."

"I don't see anything though?"

"Kehhek. It's over there. Sir Berdan's castle."

"What do you mean. I only see a mountain…. Wait, that's a castle?"

"That's right. We just need to go a little further."

I thought it was a mountain where Karin pointed.

It was so huge that it'd be easy to make that mistake.

However, Karin was saying that it was Berdan's castle.

To be fair, I had thought that the cliff I saw in my dream was actually his sword, so imagine how big his body would be.

As I was walking without much care, Jong Ho poked at my sides and spoke.

"I'm not saying this because I'm afraid or anything, but because I'm a bit nervous….."

"What's up?"

"Just how big is he? How big does he have to be in order to use a castle that big?"

"Dunno. I haven't see him in person. To be fair, just because someone is big, doesn't mean that they fight well."

"That…. That's right. That's right, but I don't know why I'm sweating so much from my hands."

"It'll be quick. Ah! You remember that we have to continuously check each other's positions, right?"

"Of course. I don't want to get hit by your meteor and die."

"Okay. I will also keep in mind where you are positioning. And until your ring of revival gets consumed, I'll be purely focusing on combat."

"Right. I'll do my best to let you focus only on fighting against Berdan. I hope that there won't be a need for this ring to be consumed."

"Yes. Please do not overexert yourself. Retreating or running away is a tactic in itself. And do not let your thoughts become consumed by panic. Safety first."

"Alright."

It didn't take long for us to arrive at Berdan's castle, and the castle door that was big as a house opened.

"Kururu."

"Kuhu….. Kuwuh!"

"s.h.i.+t. Even from the entrance, it's quite tense."

"Keruru."

"Hey, Karin. Is it normal for these monsters to gather inside the castle?"

"Kel kel. No. However, these monsters carry the top 1% magical energies of the demonic realm."

"Looks like he's quite afraid, bringing all his minions here."

"Kehhehhehhek! Human, you are too funny. They are just food to him. They're like chunks of meat that will charge him with magical energies! After obtaining both of your magical energies, they are going to be his desert."

"….."

"Funny. One h.e.l.l of a grand dream he has."

"Keruru."

"But, you know, I think us, who are the main dish, is going to make him choke…."

To each of our sides, countless monsters were letting out their killing intent.

However, they also did not just charge in.

Was it because they could sense the difference in magical energies? Or it could be that Berdan had commanded them not to.

Jong Ho and I covered our bodies with s.h.i.+eld spells and headed forward.

This was the first time that so many red marks were revealed before me by Eye of Insight.

The countless monsters that filled this place up to its brim were only matched by the amount of red marks my skill showed me.

Eye of Insight was showing me all their weak points.

Unlike the others, there was a target mark at the end of the castle's central hallway that appeared different from the rest..

Red dots covered the entire giant form of the creature.

That must be Berdan.

But to think that his entire body was the weak spot. It was strange.

It didn't take long for him to appear in our sights.

Karin ran forward with haste.

"Great sir Berdan! I have brought the humans as asked! Kelkeru."

"Kuhuhu! Yes, you have done well, Karin."

"Kehrurururu."

"You're the one?"

"Kek?"

"The piece of s.h.i.+t called Berdan?"

"Kehhek!"

"Kuhaha! Looking at your magical energy, you must have moved through your world with quite the power."

"….."

"However, after taking down such a weakling like Zekill, you dare think that you can fight against me! Kuhaha! Fools. Hurry and surrender before me. Give me your magical energies without struggle."

Ignoring his words, I stomped on the ground.

The force from my strong body was delivered directly into the ground.

It resulted in the entire castle shaking, the sheer force of the ground quaking spreading throughout.

Frowning, I spoke to Berdan.

"Hey, is this castle st.u.r.dy?"

"What do you mean?"

"I'm asking if it's st.u.r.dy. Aren't we going to fight here? You went through the trouble of preparing an arena for us, so we have to at least return the courtesy by giving you a show."

"So you wish to realize how powerless you are with your own body."

"Since you aren't saying much, I guess it's quite st.u.r.dy."

"Amusing."

At my taunt, two monsters behind him stood up.

They must be similar to the underlings the radical faction had, kind of like how Ghost and Joker was.

They only amounted to his right and left hand.

Berdan raise his giant hand to stop them from making a move.

Then he spoke.

"It's been quite awhile since I've seen a decent concentration of magical energies. I guess it'll be okay to use this as a warm up exercise."

"Aren't you going to send them away?"

I pointed at the countless monsters behind us and spoke.

In the fight to come, they would amount to nothing more than lumbering obstacles.

"Slaughter them to your pleasure, if you wish. Obtain as much magical energies as you wish. The magical energies you two will take will merely return back to me when I'm through."

"You're pretty smart. Then let the rest be, but have Karin leave."

"Did you become attached to him? Kuha! Amusing. Fine. Karin!"

"Keru. Your orders, sir Berdan!"

"Guard the outside of the castle. It'll be finished soon, but I do not want the one who had the biggest part in this mission become injured."

"Keruru. Understood."

"Now, are you done?"

"Okay. Got our food storage evacuated. Now we can go all out."

"Kuhaha."

"Hyungnim, please take care of the two monsters behind him."

"What about the rest of the monsters?"

"They probably won't move without his command. It seems that the only three monsters with intelligence are those three."

"Okay, I got it!"

"s.h.i.+elds. Checking each other's positioning. Keeping proper distance. Do not forget."

"Yep!"

Observing the two of us talk in silence, Berdan finally spoke.

"It seems that you're plotting quite the grand strategy."

"Hey, you're making me blush. It's nothing much, just…. You can think of it as a plan to kill you."

"Good….. Come! Insignificant humans called the Awakened. I shall show you the true might of the demonic race!"

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