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Book 1 Chapter 212: The Black Witch (3)

Morgid, King of Hitume Ikar, couldn’t help but feel as though a great storm had just passed.

As the tension that filled his body slowly faded, his legs began to feel weak.

“Yo-, Your Majesty!”

“Are you alright?”

The Samurai rushed forward to support the staggering Morgid.

He turned to look at them.

Most of the Samurai had embarrassed expressions on their faces. This was natural. After all, they’d failed to properly fulfill their roles as the King’s guards.

If Frey had wanted it, Morgid’s head would have already fallen to the floor.

However, Morgid didn’t intend to hold him at fault for that. His strength was like that of a natural disaster, and a natural disaster was given that name because there was nothing humans could do to stop it.

“…I’m… okay.”

As he said that, Morgid gestured for the Samurai to let go of him. He couldn’t show such a pathetic appearance before his subordinates.

‘No. Haven’t they seen it already?’

Recalling his unsightly appearance in front of Frey, he felt embarrassed.

Morgid walked staggeringly to his throne before sitting down heavily. Then, he let out a deep sigh that seemed to come from his heart.

“…I.”

He’d always thought he made the best choices. From a king’s perspective, from the people’s perspective, and from the nation’s perspective.

It was the same this time, too.

Demigods.

There were at least dozens of these ridiculously powerful beings who could all destroy a country single-handedly.

To fight against God’s race?

How was that any different from telling them to kill themselves?

‘Reared? He’s mistaken.’ (Note: Frey mentioned being ‘reared like animals’)

Morgid bit his lip.

This was just him keeping his head low. To protect his country and to save his own life.

He wasn’t wrong.

After all, this was a judgement he made for his entire nation.

But he was afraid.

He felt as though a disturbing wind was blowing around the country.

“What will happen to Hitume Ikar now?”

He murmured this without expecting an answer.

[It will be destroyed.]

“…!”

Morgid’s face, which was just beginning to regain its complexion, became pale once again.

Juk.

It was a skeleton that appeared. Sinister green light seemed to wrap around its entire body, and ominous purple energy poured out from its mouth endlessly.

This was not a human. And it was definitely dangerous.

Realising this, the Samurai acted almost simultaneously.

Taht.

Just like before, their response was swift.

Although they were exhausted, their senses were much sharper following the incident with Frey.

The Royal Guard, made up of dozens of elite Samurai, surrounded this unknown being and launched their attacks.

“S-, stop!”

Morgid’s cry was a step too late. No, the results would have been the same even if he’d managed to yell in time.

The sinister aura brushed past their skin.

Rattle…

Despite seeing it with his own eyes, it was still an unbelievable sight. The green light that surrounded the skeleton flowed through the bodies of the dozens of charging Samurai, causing them to become skeletons.

It was as if they were aging at an extremely high rate.

Crack.

A skeleton stiffly turned its head. It was clear that the Samurai didn’t understand what had happened to them.

And that was his last movement.

The Samurai all collapsed to the floor like broken dolls.

“A-, ahh…”

This being was different from Frey. Morbid was able to recognise that fact immediately.

It was only then when he truly understood. Frey didn’t really have any intention of exterminating them.

Between Frey and the skeleton in front of him, Morgid wasn’t sure who was stronger. But one thing was clear.

Transcendent beings were incredibly terrifying.

“G-, God’s race…”

This being was a Demigod. He was certain of that.

Morgid hurriedly got down on his knees.

The Demigod, Nozdog, looked down at him.

[You?]

“I, I am the King of Hitume Ikar, Morgid.”

[That’s not what I’m asking.]

“H-, huh?”

[Why are you still alive?]

A strange fire burned in Nozdog’s eyes. He walked over to Morgid.

“H-, huk…”

Morgid remained kneeling. He couldn’t move at all as it felt like a mountain sat on his shoulders.

A boney finger swept across his neck.

[This… I see. The Great Medium did a pretty good job. Is this a minimised defensive spell? Well. You are still a king. You would need to have at least this much.]

“G-, God’s… race…”

[But it’s just a minor annoyance.]

The sinister wind blew again.

“Kuaack!”

Morgid screamed.

It was an unbelievable sight even though he was seeing it with his own eyes. The flesh on the tips of his toes fell, allowing him to see his toe bones sticking out of the mess of flesh and blood.

“H-, hu-. Huhaha!”

It was a nightmare. It was most certainly a nightmare.

Morgid almost went crazy. The most terrible pain he’d ever experienced in his life dug into his brain.

[Is the spell causing it to work from the bottom? How interesting.]

Nozdog’s cold voice brought Morgid’s reason back. He looked up to Nozdog with a broken gaze.

There was no emotion in the flames burning in the skeleton’s eye sockets.

As soon as he saw this, Morgid couldn’t help but remember Frey’s words.

‘Reared.’

It was a word that he hadn’t understood back then. But now, he understood it a little.

He understood what Frey was worried about. And why he used such an extreme term like ‘rearing’.

‘Thing like this… could happen at any time.’

For the Demigods, their deaths meant nothing.

Regardless of whether it was one, dozens, hundreds, or even thousands. To them, humans were like worms who could be killed as they pleased.

They were like livestock being reared, completely different from dying during conquest or domination.

Morgid also realised that he knew nothing about the Demigods.

“Hu-, huhaha!”

Morgid burst into laughter that was filled with madness.

He thought he’d never made the wrong choice for himself since becoming king. The same was true with the Demigods.

He was convinced that he’d made the best and most reasonable choice.

But that wasn’t the case.

Morgid shed hot tears of resentment.

The most miserable thing was that although his death loomed near, he still didn’t know the reason for it.

Nozdog’s aura completely covered his body, and before long, the King of Hitume Ikar became a pale white skeleton.

Nozdog looked away from his corpse.

He’d just killed the king of a country, but it didn’t mean anything to him. Whether it was an ant or an ant queen, in the end, it was still an ant.

‘The Great Medium isn’t here.’

Before arriving there, he’d stopped at the Great Medium’s residence on Lesha, but she wasn’t there.

Nozdog had used space-time movement to follow her traces, which was why he ended up in the castle of Hitume Ikar.

He had no reason for killing Morgid and the Samurai. He truly didn’t.

In other words, it was nothing more than swatting a fly after he saw it.

[Where is the Great Medium?]

It was said that she could feel the presence of every living being on the island of Hitume Ikar. If that was really the case, then she should have been able to help him find the man called Dro.

So first of all, he had to find her.

* * *

[You came back sooner than I expected.]

Frey blinked when he heard Lord’s words.

Then he realised he had already left the Abyss and returned to Hell.

He turned around.

One thing was different from before he left.

Lord was the only Demigod present.

[Did you come to a conclusion?]

“Right.”

Frey paused for a moment before continuing.

“I will cooperate with you.”

[Hmm. I see.]

Lord nodded as though he expected such an outcome or as though it wasn’t too big of a deal.

Seeing his attitude, Frey couldn’t help but feel a bit strange.

He would have found it strange if Lord was happy to receive his help. Nevertheless, Lord’s current attitude was a bit too dry.

‘What is he thinking?’

Frey narrowed his eyes as he tried to guess Lord’s intentions, but it was useless. He wasn’t certain if he would have been able to do so if Lord had features, much less when he didn’t.

Therefore, his top priority was to not lose the initiative.

“However, there are conditions.”

[Tell me.]

“After defeating Lucifer, you will not try to dominate the mortals on the Continent.”

[Sure.]

“…and release Iris.”

[Understood.]

“…”

Frey’s feeling of incongruity became stronger. No matter how he thought about it, this response felt much too innocent.

Was he lying?

[Do you not believe me?]

“…should I?”

Lord shrugged.

[Hmm. I ‘swear’ I will not rule over the mortals after returning to the continent, and Iris Phisfounder will also be released. Without a scratch.]

Frey snorted.

“Do you expect me to believe a verbal oath? One that has no binding whatsoever?”

[I’ve never broken an oath. When Riki died, I could have killed you, but I didn’t. That was because Iris and I had an oath. She ‘asked’ me not to, and I agreed.]

“…”

[But if you still can’t believe it, then I have nothing more to say.]

Frey forcibly swallowed his words.

Lord was right. At that time, the anger and hostility he had towards him were beyond imagination. It could even be said that Riki’s death had driven him half mad.

Yet even in that state, Lord kept his oath.

This was also part of the reason why he couldn’t understand Lord’s current attitude.

‘No. I don’t need to understand.’

He quickly put aside his judgement, deciding to not care about it as much as he was able.

Frey was also aware of just how loose their alliance was.

It was correct to say that he had formally joined forces with Lord. However, he had no intention of helping Lord kill Lucifer.

‘I’ll step in before the battle is truly over.’

It would be correct to say that Lord’s and Lucifer’s powers were a half step higher than Frey’s. So if he fought them one-on-one, his chances of winning wouldn’t exceed 70%.

On the other hand, Lord and Lucifer were almost equal. So unless they actually fought, there was no way to determine who would win or lose.

That was why he decided to watch their battle from the closest spot. And, if possible, control the flow of the battle. Conserving his own strength while creating situations in which their strength was reduced equally.

And if it became possible for him to overwhelm them on his own, he would kill them immediately.

Lord and Lucifer were just too dangerous. If left alive, they would almost certainly harm the mortals.

Frey was sure of this.

Of course, there was only one reason why Frey decided to join Lord instead of openly claiming neutrality. That was because they might become uncomfortable with Frey’s existence and make a temporary alliance in order to get rid of him first.

‘…however.’

It was a flimsy idea. It was so simple and shallow that anyone would be able to think of it if one simply pondered for a moment.

This was the comment that Frey had about his plan after he thought about it. Therefore, he put forward those conditions in order to slightly reduce his suspicion.

However, would Lord really be unable to see through such a simple trick?

Would the leader of the Demigods, one of the strongest beings in the world, be any less smart than he was?

…He was uneasy.

‘One move.’

He was certain that Lord had a trump card. And he had absolute confidence in this ‘one move’.

Otherwise, the carefree attitude he showed so far wouldn’t have made sense.

‘Lucifer hasn’t shown all of his cards, either.’

Frey felt that he also needed to get more cards. In order to be on par with them.

[Is there anything else you want to ask?]

“…no.”

[Then you should go now.]

“Aren’t we supposed to stick together? We don’t know when Lucifer will make his move.”

Lord let out some air from his mouth.

It took him a while to realise what it was, but it sounded similar to a laugh.

[Don’t you have other business in Hell? I’m sure you didn’t just come here to see me. Do what you want. I won’t interfere.]

“…”

[And Lucifer won’t make a move right away. It looks like he has some business on the Continent.]

Frey naturally had things to do in Hell. So he would have looked for a chance to leave Lord’s side to do the things he wanted.

However, Frey couldn’t help but get a complicated feeling when Lord read his intentions and gave him permission beforehand.

‘…but I can’t deny it.’

Frey felt a bit displeased that he would be acting just as Lord expected, but he didn’t show it.

Instead, he just turned to ask Lord something before he left as though he just remembered.

“By the way, where did the other Demigods go?”

[…ah. You mean them?]

Lord let out a laugh as his mouth appeared on his face, smiling brightly.

[They went back.]