## Chapter 1326 – Demon

ㅡKugugugugugu!!

Blades surged forth with the force of a collision.

The space trembled, but the fortress remained unshaken. The Demon King contained the explosive power within his blade as he swung it.

ㅡPachichichik!

My body, braced and firm, slid backward. As if skiing, I was pushed back.

“Oh.”

Even Superhuman Cheonma Kim Kat, who had reached transcendence, was being pushed back?

This was quite a feat. To contain the explosive power within a blade? Reducing unnecessary waste and concentrating destructive force on a single point.

It was similar to how I incorporated the essence of a Zealot into my Cheonma Pacheonjang.

But mine was a piercing, straight thrust like a javelin. It compressed explosive power into a long, spear-like form. A typical explosion spreads in a circle, but mine compressed it into a straight line.

ㅡKwaaaaaaaang!!

But the Demon King’s attack…

Wasn’t even a straight line.
He simply focused the power on the blade itself.

“I acknowledge you as a great warrior, but…”

ㅡKwang!
ㅡTukwakakakakang!!

It could truly be called transcendence. I unleashed my sword aura and swung Vugar to deflect the onslaught of his attacks. Yes, deflect, not destroy.

His silver aura could withstand my sword aura.

The techniques themselves were evenly matched.

In mere seconds, I accurately gauged his swordsmanship.

“In the end, you are just a human with filthy blood, whom I must defeat.”
“Why do you hate humans so much?”

He loathed humans too much.

Was it because of his defeat in the Idol War? If you stewed over a defeat in another world for hundreds of years, it wouldn’t be strange to develop hatred. Losers were like that. Hating the victors.

“Humans are merely slaves of the gods. Don’t you think that’s a justifiable hatred?”
“Slaves of the gods…”

That was true.

“That’s true enough.”

The humans of this era. They didn’t know who the gods were, yet they pledged their loyalty. They were slaves without awareness. I acknowledged that.

“You know?”

The Demon King showed a moment of surprise, but…

That was all.

ㅡHwirik!

Transcendental speed. The Demon King, who had been unleashing hundreds, thousands of strikes, suddenly spun his body. Was he trying to add rotational force to his attack?

That wasn’t a good idea.

ㅡPaaat!

I seized the opportunity and launched a counterattack. The time it took for him to spin wasn’t long. It was a fraction of a fraction of a second, but…

To the eyes of this Cheonma Kim Kat, everything was visible.

ㅡHwareureureuk!

Condensing my surging sword aura, I thrust it towards his neck. I thought I was faster than his spin, but…

ㅡKwaaaaaaaang!

The Demon King’s blade, rising vertically, deflected my strike upwards. At the same time, the corner of his mouth twisted. It was an explosively fast reaction. Yes! He wouldn’t be a Demon King if he couldn’t block that much!

Just as I was about to envelop my sword in aura…

ㅡTsupat!

The Demon King’s silver sword took shape!

A translucent, gigantic greatsword was overlaid on his blade, emitting a silver glow! And that wasn’t all! Black magic unfolded with it. A torrent of black lightning struck the greatsword, turning it black.

All of this happened in an instant.

ㅡSwaeeeeeeeeeeek!!!

The greatsword fell vertically towards me like an executioner’s blade.

“Holy shit.”

This was intense!

ㅡPichichichik!

Focusing my senses, I read its speed. It wasn’t an unblockable speed! But the immense power within was definitely strong.

ㅡPaaat!

Following an instinctual judgment, I kicked off with my left foot and shot my body diagonally to the right, evading the strike.

Block and counterattack? No. Only unskilled scrubs would take such a crude attack head-on.

Big techniques don’t matter if they don’t hit.

ㅡKwaaaaaaaang!!

The greatsword struck the floor of the audience chamber, carving a groove several meters deep. That was all? Not splitting the fortress in half? But I knew. He had withdrawn his power the moment the attack failed.

It was an astonishing display of judgment and power control.

“So the Demon King is a Demon King after all.”

He dared to challenge me.

ㅡKwang!

I immediately slammed my right foot into the ground, slightly twisting my body and launching myself towards him. ㅡHwaak! The Demon King’s eyes widened. He tried to swing the embedded greatsword horizontally to sever my waist, but…

The blade sweeping in horizontally.

ㅡKwang!!!

I accurately pierced it with the tip of Vugar, deflecting the attack.

“What!!”

The Demon King exclaimed, seemingly caught off guard. ㅡPachik! His sword was deflected backward, while mine continued to advance.

Just as I was about to pierce his neck.

ㅡKukung!

The Demon King’s uppercut landed. He abandoned his sword and raised his fist, striking the underside of Vugar’s blade. This deflected my sword upwards again.

“You reacted to that?”

His reflexes were truly amazing.

Of course.

You weren’t the only one who could drop a sword.

The moment he threw the uppercut, I released my sword. Vugar would soar upwards, but it didn’t matter. ㅡHwareureureuk! In that fleeting moment, I had already unleashed the Cheonma Shin’gong.

“Cheonma Pacheonjang.”
“…!”

Just like that.

I shot my fist towards his unguarded face.

ㅡKugugugugugugugu!!

The Cheonma Pacheonjang, fired at point-blank range, shattered the space as it advanced. The power was perfect. It should at least shatter his skull. I judged and unleashed my fist. A Demon King who hadn’t reached transcendence was no match for me!

ㅡPaaat!

Time seemed to split for a moment. The Demon King, eyes wide, evaded my Cheonma Pacheonjang slightly faster than my attack speed by twisting his shoulder and neck. At the same time, his other hand grabbed my neck. His eyes blazed. The Demon King, seizing the opportunity, unleashed his killing intent.

“This is the end, hero.”
“Bullshit.”

I was a man who always considered failure when attacking.

As the launched Cheonma Pacheonjang failed, I opened my palm.

“What…!”
“Cheonma Myeolsalok.”

I condensed the immense power of the Cheonma Pacheonjang into a spherical form. Something like this was simple. And then, I detonated the Myeolsalok.

ㅡKwaaaaaaaaaaaaang!!

A flash of light erupted. The Demon King released my neck and retreated. He judged that the damage would be severe if the Cheonma Myeolsalok exploded right next to his head? Good judgment. That was probably true.

ㅡSwaeeeeeek!

I pursued the Demon King, who had retreated outside the blast radius. ㅡKwang! I jumped and grabbed the handle of Vugar, which was embedded in the ceiling, and kicked off the ceiling, launching myself towards the Demon King. Unfortunately, he also retreated and grabbed his sword, but now I had seized the offensive!

ㅡKwang!

Blades collided. Everything else was similar, but I had the upper hand in strength. As I seized the offensive and unleashed a flurry of attacks, the Demon King retreated.

“Hehehe! Is that all you’ve got, Demon King!”

His defense was excellent. Flawless. But in the end, if the skills were similar, the one on the offensive had the advantage.

He was literally being pushed around by me.

“You use interesting tricks! To manipulate power in such a way. It’s interesting. I’ve learned something.”
“Good! Take what you learned from me and carry it to your grave!”

This bastard couldn’t beat me!

“Dejaaaaaaaaat!”
“Heup!”

I deflected the Demon King’s blade as he tried to launch a counterattack by exploding his power!

ㅡKwang!

Before his deflected sword could find its place, I kicked off the ground and pushed my body forward, trying to push him away with my blade.

ㅡJiiiiiiiiing!!

A black magic circle suddenly unfolded in front of the Demon King.

“What can you do with such a barrier!”

ㅡKwang!!

Of course, I shattered it instantly. What I saw when I broke through the barrier was the Demon King’s smiling face.

“Shall we end the light playing around here?”
“What, you bastard?”

Was this bastard bluffing at a time like this? Ignoring him, I was about to slash his shoulder with my blade.

ㅡHwaaaaaak!

A silver radiance erupted from his body. He was setting off a flashbang here, that mannerless bastard! My vision was blinded, but my senses were still intact!

ㅡKwang!

At the same time, my blade touched his shoulder. But the moment it touched, I had no choice but to pull it back. No, I tried to pull it back.

ㅡGoooo.

What appeared as the flash faded was…

“…”

The Demon King, armored in silver. A silver armor that perfectly defended his entire body. My blade had touched the shoulder part of it, but…

ㅡKkwak.

There was no damage.

More than that, the Demon King was now gripping Vugar’s blade tightly with his gauntlet-covered hand.

“Oh, this bastard. That silverfish fashion is sick.”
“Hmm, is that all? I’ve roughly grasped it. Your power.”
“You’re just grasping it now?”

ㅡKwaduk!

I twisted the handle and pulled.
He had no choice but to release my sword.

“Then now, despair as you realize the gap and face defeat.”
“…”

I had aimed to destroy the gauntlet as I pulled the sword out, but it was unscathed. This bastard was wearing some seriously good gear. It wasn’t common for armor to withstand my sword aura. Well, a guy who had a floating fortress wouldn’t be without some awesome armor.

Everyone except me had gear, those damn bastards.

But right now, his gear wasn’t the important thing.

“This bastard. His power is amplifying.”
“You can feel it?”

The Demon King’s power was amplifying even more than before.

Was it the effect of the armor?
Or was this the Demon King’s true power?

“You dared to hide your power in front of me?”

Hiding his power against this Kim Kat.
It was a great insult.

Anger began to surge. I had promised not to show a furious side in front of Risha, but the promise clearly included a clause that I could show it if it was unavoidable.

So it was okay to be angry…!

“Kyahahahahaha!”

The Demon King burst out laughing at my words.
He continued, his laughter still lingering.

“I simply thought you were an opponent I could handle even if I hid my power. Foolish transcendent.”
“Heo. This bastard. So you’ve been hiding your mom all along?”
“…What does that mean?”
“You don’t have a mom, so you’ve been pretending to hide her all your life. You pretended to hide your mom to hide the fact that you don’t have one.”
“…You’re spouting ridiculous nonsense.”
“I understand the desire to deny it.”
“…”

The smile vanished from his face at my words.

“I think it’s best to stop these boring insults.”
“Hehehe, you’re angry because I hit a nerve.”

ㅡGoooo.

I sneered and measured his power. From the moment his armor was deployed, his power began to rise rapidly. His power, which was slightly inferior to mine, was now. Equal to or even greater than mine.

Such a difference.

“Huh? Pelssi. Are you angry?”

At the same time, a fire was lit in my heart. An even greater fighting spirit blazed. Honestly, I thought he was a bit underwhelming for a Demon King. I was disappointed. That he wasn’t stronger.

But now.

As his power amplified, my anticipation and fighting spirit swelled. What would this bastard show me… What level of combat power would he display? What was the power of a Demon King who had been around for hundreds of years! Would he become the being that would make me grow even more!

“In the end, you’re just a scrub who relies on equipment! Demon King! You’ve become arrogant just because you brought out your armor! But you can’t beat me!!!”

Intensifying emotions…! A fighting spirit boiling like lava filled my throat! Alright! Get stronger! I’ll make you realize that there’s always a sky above the sky!

“…”

The Demon King’s amplifying aura was refined.
At the same time, it became even sharper.

He suppressed the amplifying power and made it perfect.

“Certainly. I can’t deny that. As you said, this armor. It can be said to be equipment that increases my power.”

I liked his attitude of admitting his gear.