19. First Impressions and First Greetings (2)
It was when all the high-ranking demons returned to their respective territories that the prophecy began.
“Kyaaaaah!”
Callarice’s hands trembled. A handmaiden who was serving Callarice had to hold her up.
“Dark rain is falling! Such evil darkness…!”
“Pardon?”
The handmaiden looked at her in surprise.
“The mana of Demon King Hallas has disappeared! Giganter Castle…has come to the dark…Keaaaargh!”
“Lady Callarice!”
“A…great cataclysm…!”
Callarice passed out, unable to overcome the horrifying sight. It was the first time in her long demonic life such a thing had occurred. Hallas was called the Demon King of Domination or the Demon King of Blood. Although he lacked a bit in force to be called a proper Demon King, he possessed great mana, observational power close to senses.
His business sense was excellent, and he was the richest man in the world. The process of accumulating his wealth was cruel, but he was a Demon King. Twilight Castle Giganter was where he and his followers were stationed. He built a great castle as if he had become an Emperor.
He was the demon most suited to be the Emperor himself! Or at least Hallas thought so. The construction technology of the demons couldn’t build such a huge and beautiful castle. Even if it could be built, it would cost too much labor. However, he had some dwarves who were lured into slavery by sweet talk to assist. They were refugees, but he used them as slaves because of their craftsmanship and physical strength.
‘Bigger and more gorgeous…’
He built a castle in front of the mountain range where the Emperor of Greed had stayed before, and now he was making a huge city within the peaks. Although the short-sighted dwarves said the ground was weak and dangerous, he judged that the ground could endure it with his senses. Since the dwarves dared to offend him, they had to work more fervently after that.
Most of his money was invested in the inner city. He declared to the Demon Kings and demons that he had overcome the fear of the Emperor by dominating the place where the Emperor of Greed stayed, the one that caused the greatest damage. Of course, he would tell the Emperor of Gold all about it.
He received large investments from several surrounding estates. There were also other Demon Kings supporting him with his grand plan.
The Demon Kings.
‘They live in the old days…the Demon Kings are nothing.’
Hallas said so. Those times when the Demon Kings fought over the dominance of the Demon Realm disappeared after the time of the Emperor of Greed and Emperor of Vanity. The power of the Emperor, their capital, far surpassed the Demon Kings to rule the Demon Realm.
But now, he had that level of money. Now all that was left was…
“Unify the Demon Realm and become an Emperor.”
That was his grand plan. If the Emperor of Gold came to the Demon Realm, he was willing to go under him. This was because he was the Emperor who defeated the Emperor of Greed, the most powerful among the Emperors. He could do anything as long as he guaranteed him the dominion of the Demon Realm.
“Your Majesty! The situation is suffering because of Callarice’s prophecy.”
A high-ranking demon who was assisting him spoke cautiously, but he just laughed. The Demon Realm was noisy because of the Emperor of Gold, yet he trusted in his hunch. With this sense, he became a Demon King from his position as a low-level demon. It wasn’t unreasonable to describe it as super-sensitivity.
His gut told him that the Emperor of Gold wasn’t that dangerous.
‘Callarice’s Prophecy…how can such a thing sway the Demon Realm…?’
It was so pathetic. The guards rushed in.
“My Demon King! The dwarves have rebelled.”
“Rebellion? Those cowards?”
“Yes, well…it seems they have been holding the prophecy since some time ago.”
Hallas smiled and shook his head.
“Leave only the good ones and kill them in moderation.”
“Yes!”
“No, umm…”
“Yes?”
Hallas’s smile grew bigger.
“Capture them all and lock them outside the castle. I want to watch them starve to death.”
“U-Understood.”
After all, the city was on the verge of completion. All the slaves had already been taken out of the castle and starved to death. It was just right for people like dwarves to starve. He walked leisurely and gracefully to the highest castle tower to overlook the scenery of the Demon Realm.
A space that only the ruler could climb! It was only allowed to him.
‘Arina…If I could sweet-talk and win over her…’
He fell in love with Arina’s beauty and tried to keep her as his concubine, but she rejected the thought immediately. He hadn’t touched her for fear that the Emperor of Greed would awaken again, and now that he came to think of it, his guts had saved him. He almost did a great disrespect to the Emperor of Gold.
Selling a very good estate to Arina cheaply all to build a good relationship with the Emperor of Gold. Some Demon Kings and high-ranking demons did the same, but he was outspoken and invested the most. It was Hallas that provided artifacts and technicians who could make the best videos.
‘The Emperor of Gold has a great hobby to use Arina, a pure-blooded high-ranking demon, for such a purpose.’
Arina, born with pure blood, was learning seductive dances from a hybrid Succubus. Even the Elf Queen was forced to sing songs of praise for him all her life.
‘I admire you.’
He was the image of a great Emperor. Hallas thought there were so many similarities between him and the Emperor of Gold.
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It was the moment he looked down at the castle with such a smile…
Bang!
He could see the wall collapsing.
“W-what?”
It was the wall made with the dwarves’ bodies and skills. It was the strongest wall in the Demon Realm, and he paid a lot of money to add additional defense techniques. Yet, such a wall was broken easily.
“Gasp!”
Hallas eventually noticed him. There was a being standing alone as if the earth had been made for him.
Hallas was astonished. An aurora of darkness so terrifying enveloped his existence and stretched out into the sky, turning day into night. The Demon World couldn’t bear his existence. The demon energy, the earth, and the sky screamed, and the demons guarding the castle fell into despair.
The same was true of him. Everything was just black; nothing was visible. His senses told him it was dangerous. It was telling him to come down to the wall and run away.
“T-the Emperor…! N-no, that’s…!”
Rumble!
The being surrounded by the dark aurora was the Emperor of Gold. No, he was the spirit of evil itself. The Emperor slowly raised his hand.
It was an evil gesture that seemed to herald the end of the world.
Hallas had a hunch that today was the end of his brilliant life. His hunch was always accurate.
“Ah, aaahh…”
Gooooooooo!
A huge meteorite streaked through the sky. No ordinary stone could leave a mark on the castle as the protection formula was engraved around the castle as well. However, the defense technique to protect the castle was broken too lightly. It was beyond belief.
Did that meteorite contain such a high concentration of mana?
‘I-I must run away…!’
He hurriedly tried to pull himself away, but the meteorite had already reached right in front of the tower. He spread his hand and raised his mana to activate the defense magic he was proud of.
“Gasp!”
But the results were disappointing.
Bang!
The castle tower broke along with the meteorite and landed on the mountain. The mountain began to collapse, sinking the huge city just under the surface.
“Ku, kuuugh”
Still, he barely survived because he was the Demon King. He had committed all kinds of cruelty to the point he was called the Demon King of Domination, or even the Demon King of Blood.
Hallas tried to create an explosive spell by squeezing out mana to break through the wreckage. It was one of the dark magics he possessed that had killed many demons.
It was then…
Whoosh!
The meteorite shattered, and Magic Crystals poured out. It was as if the meteorite itself was made of a mass of Magic Crystals. The huge, high-purity mana that spewed out from the Magic Crystals permeated into his explosion magic.
“Ah…”
Bang!
Hallas’s body was thrown high into the sky. What should be said about it?
Jin-woo stood there blankly for a moment. As the mountain collapsed, he could see the ash rising like from a volcanic eruption. Unexpectedly, a huge meteorite was dropped upon his first greeting.
‘Still, I’m glad it ended just like that.’
The castle tower was blown up, and the mountain collapsed, but there seemed to be no casualties. It may be a little difficult, but let’s talk well about it. Jin-woo thought so, and he took a step forward. Looking at the castle tower with astonished and dazed expressions, the demon soldiers turned to look at Jin-woo with trembling eyes.
Jin-woo opened his mouth with the thought of calming them down.
[I’m sorry. I didn’t mean…hmm?]
His voice was strangely transformed by the dark aurora. It was a phenomenon similar to the time of the Emperor of Vanity. It may sound normal to an Emperor-level being, but not to those below. All kinds of techniques began to work in the dark aurora.
The Emperor of Gold, which was always working, also became abnormal. Jin-woo’s job, the Incarnation of Evil, was receiving a strong correction. It was a terrible, evil, hellish voice incomparable with the Emperor of Vanity. It was a voice that heralded the end of the world.
It was amazing even for Jin-woo to hear.
“Uh, huuh…”
“Gasp!”
Rumble!
Far from calming down, the demons were even more frightened.
Bang!
Suddenly there was an explosion in the mountain. An earthquake shook the castle.
“We are all going to d-die!”
“R-run!”
“Uaargh!”
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The demon soldiers abandoned their weapons and began to run away. The same was true of those living in the castle. Demons in colorful costumes came out of the castle and ran away at a breakneck speed. Jin-woo would like to say it was a misunderstanding, but he couldn’t speak.
‘This…is a big deal.’
It was likely to lead to more misunderstandings if he couldn’t properly control the dark mana. The mountain collapsed, causing a landslide that threatened to sweep away the fleeing innocent demons.
Since it was his fault, Jin-woo had to save them first. That way, wouldn’t it be possible to dream of a harmonious future while making sincere apologies and compensating them?
‘Even now…’
Preventing landslides would normally be impossible as there was a clear limit to his mana. But now he had the dark mana. Jin-woo exuded his mana. Then the ground cracked, and black air burst out explosively. The great dark aurora felt like an extension of his body. It was now understood that the Emperor of Vanity had shown a tremendous appearance in the original novel.
It was very different from the golden mana, but this much would work out somehow. If the usual mana was water, the dark mana was like a thick starchy syrup. It felt odd to use.
Whoosh!
He filled his sword with dark mana and swung it towards the collapsing mountain. A huge amount of dark mana spewed out to the extent that even Jin-woo was startled. Combined with the power of the Storm Sword, it created a huge air current. The rocks that were about to hit the city were pushed aside. Part of the collapsed mountain was also pushed back, bursting it neatly. He could see all the demons coming out of the city. Had it been a little late, the landslide would have caused quite a lot of casualties.
‘That’s a relief.’
It was indeed a relief. It seemed to have somehow been settled for now. However, if there was one thing Jin-woo forgot for a moment, it was that the Incarnation of Evil was correcting the Emperor of Gold. He miraculously prevented the landslide, but the thick dark mana remained there. It was engulfed in the air current created by the Storm Sword and swirled around the mountain.
“T-the black rain…”
“Run away!”
“W-we’ll die if we touch it!”
The dark mana mixed with dust and rained down. It wouldn’t do any harm to the demons, but it looked very evil.
‘That’s insane…’
The Emperor of Gold was very excited. It took an enormous amount of technique to sprinkle it on the abundant dark mana. The big city was emptied in an instant.
There was only silence as Jin-woo stood there for a while.
[The city-owned by Hallas, Giganter, has been occupied.]
[Recorded as a new legend in the Golden Temple.]
“Hallas?”
Hallas and Giganter were names that Jin-woo knew. If he had to choose a decent villain when the Demon Realm arc started, it must be Hallas. Although there were many controversies, he showed his strategy. And although it was still frustrating, he showed a pretty good direction and development.
He was cruel and killed as easily as others ate, but he was more popular than the main character because he did so coolly. He visited the character whose life was spared by the main character after he forgave him and killed him instead. Then, he absorbed his power.
It was a pattern when the main character weakened the Demon King, and then Hallas appeared and absorbed them. This pattern was repeated for three volumes. Eventually, Hallas became the final boss of the Demon Realm.
“Umm…”
The splendid and gigantic castle Giganter was the background of the last duel between the main character and Hallas. It was built on the space devoured by the Emperor of Greed, so it collapsed deep into the ground with Hallas. There were many references from somewhere, but anyway, it was a wonderful ending suiting the final boss of the Demon Realm.
‘I thought their writing skills were still improving.’
Jin-woo thought so at the time. There were about two compliments in the comments.
“First…”
Jin-woo entered the castle intending to make an apology if Hallas were there. The castle was splendid, as described in the original story. There was no one; Hallas seemed to have been evacuated, too.
Jin-woo was agonizing over it and decided to leave an apology. It was enough even if someone other than Hallas found it and could inform him of the cause.
‘I think this is enough.’
Although it felt a bit authoritative, he wrote about the compensation process and said he was sorry that the meeting took place in this way. He signed it with his energy so that they could be sure it was real.
‘Let’s go back to the Sanctuary for now.’
If he stayed there any longer, it could lead to another misunderstanding. Hallas was a villain, but he was a good character. The first plan was to meet all the Demon Kings based on his connections.
‘Really, it’s not going as I wished…’
He always doubted whether he was lucky or unlucky. As Jin-woo thought so, he returned to the Sanctuary. He hoped Hallas or someone else saw the apology and corrected the misunderstanding.
Could he possibly wish for that?
* * *
It was shortly after Jin-woo returned to the Sanctuary.
Hallas, who had been buried in the rubble, managed to pull himself up. He crawled on the ground and barely turned over his body. He couldn’t stand because his limbs were broken.
‘W-why is this happening…?’
It seemed that his dream city had become a wasteland.
Most of his vast wealth was placed in deep warehouses in the city. The magic core that allowed him to gather his mana was smashed so that he couldn’t gather anymore. With the remaining mana, he managed to recover his legs and approached Giganter. There was an advanced healing remedy in Giganter. There would be aftereffects, but he would be able to restore his magic core with that.
It was when he reached the front of the wall…
“What the…?”
Kwoong-kwoong!
There was a roar and the sound of something collapsing from the side of the mountain. The city built in the mountain range collapsed due to a meteorite that suddenly fell and touched the ground. The explosion caused by Hallas also played a part in it.
The Magic Crystals from the meteorite dug into the weak ground flowed into the space eaten by the Emperor of Greed. It was originally a place where magma, which consisted of demon energy, flowed. It was an active earthquake zone that affected the entire Demon Realm after the Emperor of Greed ate it up and went to rest. The Dark Ego tried so hard to restore it, but it was in vain as there was no pure mana left.
Guuurrgggggg!
Magma began to flow again when the Magic Crystals supplied mana. It became more and more intense as it spread throughout the Demon Realm.
[The Dark Ego is touched by his mercy.]
Hallas had no idea of such a situation.
Gwaarrrrgggg!
The ground collapsed, and Giganter disappeared beneath the ground. Hallas’s jaw dropped. Giganter, where he kept all he owned, disappeared in an instant. Hallas knelt and looked at the sight like a madman. His body shook in the wind.
It was then a shadow covered his body.
“It’s Hallas!”
“Hallas is here!”
Hallas slowly turned his head. He could see the faces right in front of him. It was about the same height as Hallas as he sat down. They were the dwarves who he worked to death, who Hallas had locked up outside the castle to starve to death.
They were carrying the weapons that the soldiers had abandoned. Hallas tried to gather his mana to force them back, but he was left too weak. He broke out in a cold sweat.
“Oh…there…there were misunderstandings until now…”
Pugh!
A dwarf hit Hallas in the head with a sledgehammer. The last thing Hallas saw before he lost consciousness was a book written in letters he had never seen before. Did it flow through the cracks in the dimension?
It probably meant ‘Prophecy.’
“Uwaaaaaa!”
“Freedom!”
The dwarves hit Hallas hard and tied his body up. At that time, there was cataclysmic upheaval occurring everywhere in the Demon Realm.
* * *
After finishing her work, Arina returned to her estate. The land was developing rapidly. There was a lot of support coming in from all over, so she enjoyed working. When she entered the manor, a maid appeared to greet her.
“Is Master coming here?”
“He has not yet come.”
“Huh? He left a while ago…”
Arina was lost in thought for a moment. There must have been something wrong with the portal. Arina tilted her head when there was no news, even after waiting for a long time.
Then came a demonic communication. It was from the Demon King Gallord. The kind figure of Demon King Gallord was visible through the crystal ball. He wasn’t a friend, but now he was like a colleague.
[Oh, Lady Arina. Sorry for calling you this late.]
“Yes, Lord Gallord. What’s going on?”
[Well…he came today, right?]
“Yes! He hasn’t come to my estate yet, but it must have been a while since he arrived. Oh! And Master sent a present; it must have fallen somewhere in the Demon Realm.”
Gallord’s face turned pale blue. Arina tilted her head at his reaction.
[Are you saying that the p-present fell into the D-Demon Realm?]
“It seems that you got it, huh?”
[Oh…not me…that, um…Hallas…is the one who got it…cough, that’s what I know.]
“Well, I see. Sorry for not giving it to you. I wanted to give it to you, Gallord…”
When Arina said so, Gallord trembled and coughed violently.
[I-I’ll support you an a-a lot from now on!]
“Ah yes. Thank you.”
Arina nodded her head. Gallord was also a friendly demon. She didn’t like Hallas much because he was an insidious man, but she thought he would behave well even if he were such a man because Master had shown him mercy.
“It is the mercy of Master. Please spread the word!”
[Oh, I see. I’m so sorry that I’ve only been able to do that much until now. I’ll call you later, then.]
“Yes! Please! Ah, right…”
[Yes, yes! Ju-just tell me. I will listen.]
“Take care of your health. It is best to live a long and healthy life.”
[Yes! I’ll keep that in mind!]
The communication cut off.
“He looks very tired.”
Gallord’s estate was in quite a difficult situation, so she guessed that he might be suffering from overwork. In any case, the ceiling incident had been completely settled with this.
Arina nodded with a proud smile.