## Chapter 1318 – The Mazoku

The prediction was spot on.

“Shit.”

And in a considerably bad way.

“Is it Independence Day or something?”

Looking up at the sky, that was the only thing I could say. The capital’s turn. Yes, it was the capital’s turn. In a single moment, Mazoku aerial fortresses and airships warped into existence above the capital.

I felt the tearing of space and rushed outside, but it was already too late.

ㅡSwoosh.

The aerial fortresses and airships were all aiming their cannons at the ground. My plan to immediately crush them as soon as they appeared had failed.

“Fuck!!! Fucking disaster!!! Kat-nim, fucking disaster!!! It’s a disaster!!!”

Hilde, who had followed me out, jumped up and down, pointing her finger at the sky.

I made a decision at the same time. If those things started bombing all at once? I could protect my women. But the capital would be utterly destroyed. Kadia? I knew her location. I had to bring her here immediately. I couldn’t cover her if she was separated.

“Hilde, go inside. Go next to Risha.”
“B, but!!”
“Go next to Risha.”
“Yes!!!”

Then, I told the other women who were trying to come out to go inside and stay with Risha.

ㅡBOOM!

At the same time, I kicked off the ground. Risha’s magic would be able to protect them all. So, I had to bring Kadia.

As I sprinted, I thought quickly.

“So… these bastards.”

It seemed the Mazoku bastards had brains too. For all of them to warp to one place in an instant like this. It wasn’t difficult to destroy all of those things. That fucking aerial fortress? It would be crushed to pieces if it fell into my hands.

But I couldn’t destroy all of them at the same time.
Then the capital would be finished.

That was the Mazoku’s aim.

Instead of being defeated piecemeal, they used the collected information to strike all at once. That collected information was that I was staying in the capital. Well, there was nothing I could do about that.

Anyway, right now, they were.

“Holding the capital hostage.”

They were holding the capital hostage.

The reason I thought they were hostages was simple. They had rushed in like a surprise attack, but they were only waiting to bombard. They didn’t immediately put it into action.

So, it was definitely a hostage situation.

They were doing that because they had something they wanted from me.

Instead of just bombing, they were surrounding it first. It was because they wanted to negotiate with me. They clearly thought they had the capital as a hostage. And it had actually worked. Right now, I couldn’t rashly attack those things.

Holding hostages meant they wanted something from me, but.

What could they want?

“…”

Anyway, this was a somewhat dangerous situation.

Holding a capital hostage… that itself didn’t matter much. It was something that couldn’t be helped. I was confident in protecting my women.

This Kim Kat was strong because he had a lot to protect.

But at this moment. Could I ignore all the people living in the capital and attack? No. I wouldn’t. The Fusion-Confucian Demonic Cult Master Kim Kat wouldn’t do that.

ㅡFor now, I’ll postpone the attack.

I didn’t know their demands.
Until then, I would refrain from attacking.

But if there was no other way.

I would have no choice but to attack.

“P, Paladin!”

Anyway, I rushed to Kadia’s residence and immediately carried her over my shoulder like a sack and returned the way I came.

“Explanations later.”
“…!”

It had only been about a minute since those things had appeared. It was a matter of time. Once they started demanding something, I wouldn’t be able to move rashly.

ㅡBOOM!

And so, I took Kadia to the basement of our house.

Everyone was already gathered inside.

“Kat-nim is here! Ah! To bring Kadia-nim!!!”
“I had to bring Kadia. Risha, you know the situation, right?”
“…I know. Hilde explained it to me.”
“Bombardment might be carried out.”
“Just trust this lady.”
“Yeah. Of course, I trust Risha.”

The defensive preparations were all in place.

As I was about to go outside again, they shouted.

“Hey, wait a minute!”
“Kat!”

There was no time to explain.

“Stay here for now!”

ㅡBOOM!

That was the moment I came outside again.

“That bastard?”

The aerial fortress floating in the sky above the capital. And the airships parked around it as if they were guarding it. In the middle of that air,

“Is that a UFO?”

ㅡWhoosh!

A faint beam of light poured down.

It was a flash of light unrelated to an attack, and in the center of it were five Mazoku dressed in fancy clothes, their silver hair fluttering. They slowly descended on the beam of light, like aliens coming down from a UFO.

They really looked like aliens.

“Stop, Ancient Warrior.”

The Mazoku, who had descended to some extent, accurately located me and said that to me. The voice was a kind of telepathy. I could hear the voice around me.

“Dare you order me around?”

That bastard seemed to be a kind of diplomat who came out to talk to me. I strode towards his location.

“…”

He didn’t say anything in particular, and soon.

ㅡSwoosh.

He landed in the plaza with his subordinates.

I went near him and stood there.

ㅡ…
ㅡ…
ㅡ…

I could feel gazes from all directions. Not all the people of the capital had evacuated. The nobles and royals were in shelters, but most people were living in their homes or basements.

The capital was quiet now, but it was full of people.

All these countless people were trembling within the Mazoku’s range.

ㅡClick.

Knowing that, the Mazoku diplomat snapped his fingers.

“Let’s make a place like this.”

At the same time, a circular shield-like thing spread around me and covered the plaza. It seemed to be a kind of energy barrier.

“So the sound doesn’t leak out?”
“Wouldn’t it be easier to talk that way?”

It was a kind of barrier.

“First, I’d like to take some time to introduce each other, what do you think, Ancient Warrior?”

The man was a Mazoku with long black hair down to his waist, wearing a black uniform. He made a gentle but artificial smile and extended his hand, making such a suggestion.

“Our Mazoku acknowledge you. Aren’t you an existence who fought in the same era?”

Where did this little punk learn to talk back?

“How old are you?”
“Are you curious about my age? I think saying we fought in the same era would be an answer.”

Was he active then?

“Have you been living continuously since then?”
“That.”

The man paused for a moment.

“I will not answer.”

He said that.

What was it? So how old was he… Ah. Could it be that? The Mazoku General Dordo was also sealed underground and transcended time. Perhaps these Mazoku also… went through such a process.

“But I can say something else. I am the Mazoku’s envoy, who can be called a diplomat among you humans. Keshion Palagram. That is my name.”
“Okay. I heard the introduction well.”

I didn’t come here to joke around with a guy like this.

“Just tell me the demands.”
“I like that you’re getting straight to the point.”

Keshion stroked his chin as if satisfied.

“I know that this place is the capital of your human kingdom.”
“So?”
“Originally, our goal was to quickly subdue the land and then use the capital of this human kingdom as a base for our activities.”

So that’s why these bastards didn’t attack the capital? Well… yeah. The capital of the Karga Kingdom was quite good. It’s not like they could live in aerial fortresses and airships for thousands of years. To invade, they would definitely need a ground base.

“I fucked up that plan.”
“That’s right, Ancient Warrior.”

The man nodded.

“You’re surprisingly honest.”
“Didn’t I say? That we need to talk.”

Talk.

“Unfortunately, our fleet is no match for you. We know that.”
“A guy who knows that. Shows up in front of me now?”

I created a moderately intimidating atmosphere and looked at him. But the man smiled without paying any attention to my gaze.

“You seem to be thinking of protecting the capital. Or not.”
“Not.”
“You’re good at joking. You probably are.”

Was this bastard daring to hit my weak spot?

“If you didn’t have any attachment to the capital, there would be no reason to respond to this conversation.”
“Hehehe, so. What are you going to do?”

The man was confident, but he was no match for me anyway.

“It’s good to wag your tongue in front of me. You’re holding the capital hostage, so disarm? I think it’s better to fight with the fate of the capital at stake than to do that.”

I immediately walked slowly towards the man.

“…”

The man stared at me, but didn’t move separately. The guards he brought were the same. He had considerable courage.

“If you really want to talk.”
“…”

I stopped right in front of him and said.

“Even if I kill you, you’ll send the next guy.”
“…”
“I don’t like your attitude, so I want to talk to someone else.”

ㅡThud.

The moment I put my hand on his shoulder.

“W, wait.”

The man said, grabbing my wrist. I could feel his heart rate slowly increasing. The relaxed attitude from before had disappeared from him.

“To me. You’re telling me to wait?”
“Our Mazoku’s demands are only one!”

Was he trying to change the subject for now?

“Only one? Tell me. I’ll consider it if I like it.”
“…”

Unfortunately, I was the boss now.

Even if they were holding hostages.

If it was something that couldn’t be helped, I would gladly attack.

“I, in this land of humans now… If you exclude the Ancient Warrior, there is no one who can be our opponent, that has been proven. Even the era when dragons have disappeared. The demons of Pandemonium don’t seem to be the same as before.”
“You found out that much?”
“That’s right.”

It would be a simple task.

For a guy who even transcends dimensions.

But had they grasped the current power of Pandemonium? After that crazy guardian demon kicked me out with super-admin privileges, I hadn’t heard anything since.

Anyway, they were well aware that I was the only enemy.

“Don’t change the subject. What do you want?”

When I asked that.

“…To the fortress. Come up.”

The man said, looking into my eyes as if chewing on the words… Seriously.

“Heh.”

Laughter.

“Hahahahahahaha!”

Burst out.

“Now you’re thinking of buying me off!!!”

These bastards dared to do such a thing to me!!

“You fucking Mazoku bastards! Do you think I’ll listen to such a demand!!! Go and tell them! The only thing I’ll do with you is war! To think you could buy me offㅡ”
“That’s not it.”
“What? Not it?”

The man continued, watching my reaction.

“Our Mazoku only act for the sake of other Mazoku. Our comrades, our race, and our compatriots are only Mazoku. We acknowledge that you are transcendent, but that doesn’t mean we have any intention of accepting you as one of us.”

What.

It wasn’t a bribe.

“Then?”
“Our Mazoku King.”

Mazoku King.

“Wants to see you.”
“Ah. That Pellerzer you’re talking about.”
“…”

That guy wanted to see me.
Of course, he would.

“So. What happens if that Mazoku King sees me?”
“He’ll just see you.”

The man smiled faintly, as if he had regained confidence in my words.

“It ends with that.”
“Is the Mazoku King going to face me directly?”
“Don’t you think that’s the most reasonable thing to do?”

He was planning to call me out and have the Mazoku King finish me off directly.

And if I didn’t respond, he would turn the capital into a sea of fire?
These bastards didn’t come from the Demon World, they came from the North.

“Hehehe, are you going to offer your king as a sacrifice. To ask for forgiveness from me? That’s quite sincere. Good job, Mazoku.”
“Don’t misunderstand.”

The man showed anger for a moment.

“Our Mazoku King is. Strong.”
“Not as strong as me, though.”
“Your arrogance is piercing the sky.”
“The same goes for what you’re saying, you bastard.”
“Ack! Aack!”

I reached out and pulled on the man’s long ear.

“Aaaaack! Let go!”
“Does this hurt?”

I had heard everything I needed to hear anyway. The man resisted, but it was useless. I just gently pulled on his ear or pressed it hard to rupture it, giving him a little pain.

“It’s a pretty good offer, but.”
“Aaaaack!”
“Do I have to go up there? You bastards. You guys have to come down. Don’t you still understand the situation?”
“Aaaaack!”