Chapter 109. The Lawless City (10)
“Hehehe─.”
Humming a tune while meticulously grooming his black hair, a boy broke into a wide smile.
“Oh dear, it failed. I thought it had a high chance of success….”
“I am sorry.”
“It’s okay. There seems to have been someone much stronger than I anticipated.”
“We shall send more people at once….”
“No need. Leave it as it is.”
The enchanting lady nodded in understanding as she bowed.
“Hmm, still, it’s a bit disappointing. Hahaha….”
With those final words, the boy once again poured all his focus into arranging his hair. Suddenly, he felt something stir before him and let out a bitter laugh.
“Don’t rush too much. You’ve already gobbled up so much… What? Not enough? You’ve got quite the appetite. Do beings like you also need to feed? Ah, you think you’re something special? Hmm.”
Scratching his cheek as if troubled, the boy mused.
“But look. Because you’ve eaten everything, the only ones left are me and those under my care.”
Turning his head while seated, it was as if he was telling it to behold the disaster it had created.
“Look. A mountain of corpses, don’t you think…?”
It was quite literally a mountain of bodies. Hundreds, perhaps even thousands of corpses were piled up in a corner, all in various states of mutilation as if partly devoured by something. The boy clicked his tongue in annoyance, as if scolding a picky child for not eating cleanly.
“I don’t know. I provided exactly the amount of food promised, didn’t I?”
It seemed his words had an effect. The boy reached out his hand as if to praise the now calm being.
“Haha. Good job. Of course, I have no intention of keeping you starved forever. I’m finally ready…….”
Boom───!!
“I did well to hurry up with the preparations, didn’t I?”
After carefully examining his reflection in the mirror one last time, the boy stood up.
“That’s it.”
With a guileless smile on his face, the boy turned around and addressed the hero he had met once again.
“We meet again.”
“…….”
“You don’t seem too happy to see me. That’s rather sad.”
“What a headache.”
The hero, with a voice low and smooth, scrunched his face in frustration and burst out, “What do you think you’re doing? Augrabes.”
***
As he entered the central district, Khan followed the overpowering presence that seemed to welcome him, eventually arriving at the oldest building in the area.
Waiting for him was an unsettling scene: mountains of corpses, clearly devoured by something, and a suspicious, odorous altar in front of which Shae… no, a demon that had consumed Shae’s body, was muttering to himself.
“Augrabes.”
It was indeed a demon, not Shae.
“Did Aecharis send you? Did he tell you to come and claim his power?”
Augrabes. A lieutenant in the Archdemon Aecharis’ legion, and destined to be at the vanguard, devouring the humans of the continent upon Aecharis’s eventual descent.
“Ha… What are you talking about? I am Shae…”
“You damn liar. At least choose your lies based on who you’re talking to.”
Though the face smiling innocently was unmistakably Shae’s, Khan knew better.
“You would’ve been satisfied with just a soul, but you had to consume the human too, chewing them up before spitting them out. It’s in your nature, isn’t it?”
Hearing this, Augrabes possessing Shae stopped pretending and dropped his smile, replacing it with the distinctive malice of a demon.
“You couldn’t possibly.”
『To think you’d see through my guise so easily. Did that wretched goddess of justice tip you off?』
Khan hadn’t dismissed the possibility of encountering a demon. The reason being the pulsing presence of the Vessel of Greed, signaling its existence loudly.
The Archdemon Aecharis. His power would be an unparalleled treasure to other demons, something they would undoubtedly aim to possess if given the chance.
‘Especially Augrabes.’
It was an expected, yet strategic selection. Before another demon could claim a fragment of his master’s power, he planned to reclaim it himself.
Naturally, it wasn’t like he had allowed his full self to descend onto Midland as Aecharis had done in the future.
‘He must’ve grafted his consciousness into a contractor’s body, making an indirect descent.’
It’s unknown how Shae had managed to forge a contract with a demon. To begin with, demons do not haphazardly choose their contractors. They establish contracts with demon worshippers who satisfy their tastes, or with mortals they’ve corrupted.
Yet, one thing was clear—it had to be because of her own doing. To make someone kill the person who had saved them with their own hands. Isn’t it a scenario that perfectly fits the twisted hobbies of demons?
‘Damn bastards…’
『Are you enraged? That the poor child you saved is now dancing in the palm of my hand? Yes, it must be unbearable for you! That this ugly hypocrite chose such a person!』
Though he had the appearance of Shae, not a trace of the boy he had encountered in Haegum remained. It was an expected outcome. After all, a mere mortal cannot overcome the consciousness of a transcendent.
『Khkhkh. However, there might still be a chance. Oh loyal hound of justice. The fragment of the god’s power that you possess. Hand it over. If you do… I might just set this child’s soul free.』
The demon, Augrabes, seemed utterly confident that his trick would work.
『What say you to this offer? If you don’t trust my words, we can form a proper contract…』
Augrabes’ whispering voice was such a temptation that any human would inevitably fall for it. The demonic charm contained in the demon’s voice naturally corrupted the will of mortals.
But it would not work on Khan.
“Bullshit.”
『What did you say?』
“You think I don’t know that you’ve already devoured and digested Shae’s soul?”
And who the hell negotiates with a demon? Khan scoffed as he stomped the ground.
『Leap』
Shae’s body, unable to respond to Khan’s sword strike, was bisected at incredible speed. Yet, shae did not die. A human’s form was merely a shell.
『This madman!』
Without even looking up, Khan raised his axe as the voice echoed from above.
Clang!
A jolt of impact sent vibrations through the double-edged axe, so severe it made his hands tingle. Despite having greatly strengthened his muscles by clearing the demonic realm, the resistance felt was extraordinarily fierce.
『Ah, so the warrior chosen by the Goddess of Justice would abandon this poor soul! Such a choice befitting a hypocrite’s minion!』
Whether it was fury or mockery, Augrabes’ voice seemed to ring out from all directions. Khan determined Augrabes’ location with his combat foresight and spun around to strike at him.
However, the figure of the one who had just been behind me vanished without a trace. Even though I immediately used search skills and heightened senses, Khan furrowed his brow, unable to locate his position.
‘Damn annoying.’
He was well aware of Augrabes’ characteristics.
‘This entire space is already his domain.’
Search skills were of little significance. There’s a saying that even a mongrel dog is half-fed in front of its own house. In Augrabes’ case, it was more than that.
The moment he parried an incoming hand strike with his axe, he deflected a kick aimed at his head with his magic sword. It was a series of attacks that would be considered impossible under normal circumstances, but Augrabes’ power made it possible.
『Space Devouring』
A special pattern allowing unlimited spatial transfers within a certain area. Moreover, while the area is maintained, significant bonuses are applied to other stats, making it a technique of considerable difficulty in games.
Unfortunately, the reality is not any better.
‘In fact, it’s even worse…!’
Blocking attacks coming from all directions is the best one can do. Dreaming of exploiting a brief moment of weakness for a counterattack was out of the question, due to the enemy quickly changing positions through spatial transfers.
From this perspective, Augrabes would seem invincible within its territory, and indeed, it wasn’t much different in reality. Matching its speed with ordinary means was impossible.
However, Khan was a possessor.
“I’ve caught this thing over dozens of times in the game.”
Moreover, it was not even its true physical body that had descended but only its consciousness into its contractor. Its boasted Space Devouring technique couldn’t perform even half as well as the original, and the physical limits of Shae’s body also hindered it.
Above all, the demon was not particularly talented in combat using a human’s body.
“Stop buzzing around and come down─!”
In an instant, Khan released the weapons held in both hands and grabbed the legs sprouting from the ground. Incredible demonic strength tried to shake off his grip but-.
『Strength: 66』 +1
Now, unless they bring an actual ogre, escaping from his determined effort was impossible.
Swoosh.
Eventually, shae, who had hidden in the crevices of space, was completely pulled out. Even as he attempted another spatial shift to escape, Khan was not one to merely wait.
Bang───!!!
Khan slammed Shae’s legs on the ground, closing his eyes as if erasing the vanished figure of Shae from existence. Addressing the one splitting on their own and watching everything unfold, he said-
“Stop hiding in your shell, come out and face it.”
Augrabes.
『How dare a mere mortal not know his place.』
Screams of mortals suffering in hell echoed across the entire area consumed by Augrabes’ spatial devouring. And then, the demon revealed its true form.
A long reptilian head resembling Eastern dragons. Sharp, massive horns that no armor could defend against, and a voluminous upper body covered in scales contrasted by disproportionately short arms and legs, reminiscent of a newly born infant.
But another mouth located on the abdomen proved the creature was a demon.
『You will regret not accepting my merciful offer for the rest of your life! You will not be able to die even in death, constantly suffering in the horrors of hell, begging for my mercy─!』
It stomped its short legs. Merely that action heavily disturbed the area maintained by Space Devouring. It was a response to its master’s rage.
『In my name…! Not just you, but everything related to you, I will chew and swallow! One of the five lords of hell, the demon that devours worlds. The second knight of my master, Aecharis. In the name of Augrabes─!』
The will of the transcendent became a curse that overwhelmed Khan. No matter how exceptional a mortal might be, their soul would be eroded, and their mind corrupted in the face of such overwhelming power.
“That’s the problem with you demons.”
‘Your introductions are way too long.’
The ashen figure leapt across space.