Second Life of a Dragon Raising Hunter

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Chapter 401

“Alright, Gongson-bin. Are you ready for a showdown with the Heavenly Demon?”

“…Even I find that a bit troubling?”

Gongson-bin replied with a distressed expression as Yeon-woo nonchalantly tossed aside the decapitated Jinma’s head in horror.

Was a hero trying to escape? That’s what I thought, but it seemed more like he wanted time to treat the injury inflicted by Jinma.

From Gongson-bin’s body, blue mana swirled up. Blue flames ignited over his wounds, and at the same time, healing began to take effect. Yeon-woo quickly intervened, urging him.

“Hey, hey, don’t waste mana like that. I’ll cast Divine Art, so just let it work.”

“Ha ha, thanks.”

The divine essence sprinkled by Yeon-woo enveloped Gongson-bin’s body. Thus, his injuries began to heal, albeit at a slower pace than using mana.

To be fair, even just visibly regenerating was impressive. It seemed Gongson-bin’s mana exceeded human understanding.

“Well, then just wait until your wounds heal.”

“Ugh!”

Yeon-woo bound Gongson-bin as he lay on the ground gasping for breath, then casually tossed him away.

The reason was simple. The Heavenly Demon had approached, wearing a displeased expression at Jinma’s death.

Seeing that, Jin Baek-cheon and the Poison King hurriedly got up, but Yeon-woo gestured for them to stay down.

This was their time to recover stamina and deal with the invading evil spirits within them.

If they had ample mana and time, he could clear the evil spirits from their bodies too, but there was no way to afford that luxury while fighting the Heavenly Demon.

In other words, until the three remaining Omaga fell and Gongson-bin and the other injured recovered their stamina, it meant Yeon-woo would have to face the Heavenly Demon alone.

‘It’s not a big deal.’

Now, stalling for time against the Demon King was nothing. Hadn’t he faced such battles countless times already?

As long as he didn’t die, he would win. That reckless confidence was needed in this moment.

‘Shaar, I’ll leave the elders to you.’

[Leave it to me…!! Dad, you have to be safe!!]

[Good luck, big sister! I’ll protect Dad!!]

In response to Yeon-woo’s resolute words, Shaar returned the promise. Who did he think he was? He had no intention of breaking that promise with them.

With firm resolve, Yeon-woo spun the Heavenly Blade and White in his grasp. He advanced towards the Heavenly Demon without hesitation, step by step.

[Wasn’t that worth looking forward to after all? Well, good! I am a being who pities even the death of trash. It’s the destruction of this world.]

The displeasure that had just clouded his face vanished as the Heavenly Demon curled his lips into a smile.

It wasn’t a forced grin. Did the Heavenly Demon even care about such things?

As the Heavenly Demon took a deep breath, the evil spirits lingering around Jinma’s body were forcefully extracted, like pulling out a soul.

No, it might actually have been a soul. Because a tremendous scream echoed from the direction of Jinma’s decapitated head flown far away.

“…He wasn’t alive?”

[What if he was alive, and what if he’s dead? Shouldn’t you rejoice at having become a part of me?]

“Oh, now you’re showing some proper Demon King behavior.”

Yeon-woo chuckled at the excessively arrogant demeanor. For him, it was even a bit refreshing.

Had he known Jinma was alive, he might have been taken by surprise and faced a dire situation at some point.

But seriously, how is he alive after being beheaded by an Aura Blade? Is that how he earns the title of a true Demon King?

It was a bit infuriating how easily he slipped away. But it wasn’t Jinma’s fault; it was just that he was too strong and had a poor matchup against Gongson-bin.

In fact, Omaga were not weak. The Poison King or Jinma might have been outmatched in compatibility, but the Sword King, Color King, and Soolma were still holding their ground.

Especially impressive was the performance of the Color King. Though he was being pushed against the Sword Saint and the Four Blades, he was still fighting, wasn’t he?

‘Actually, it seems more fitting for the Sword King to be fighting the Sword Saint… Namgung Seong must have decided to challenge the Sword King.’

But that’s where my concern for others ends. There was no way to consider that while facing the Heavenly Demon.

As Yeon-woo twisted his neck, a loud crack echoed from his bones. There was no point in warming up now. He had to get loose while fighting.

Boom!!

The moment the grip of the Heavenly Demon met Yeon-woo’s blade, a shockwave exploded outward. The greed laced in the tips of his fingers sent chills through Yeon-woo.

Lately, too many people were eyeing me. Unfortunately, I had no intention of falling into the hands of the Demon King.

Slash!!

The thick evil aura enveloping the Heavenly Demon’s arm was swiftly sliced away by dozens of strikes.

However, the Heavenly Demon did not relent. Even with a situation where his arm could be completely severed, he pushed through, the massive evil energy swirling and even tainting the Aura Blade.

Yeon-woo drew the Heavenly Blade while twisting the grip of White halfway. The pure white blade stood like a wall in front of him, deterring the vile intentions trying to engulf him.

As he drew the Heavenly Blade, it was immediately gripped in a stabbing motion directed at the Heavenly Demon.

The colossal mass of concentrated evil spirits pierced through the Heavenly Blade, and the Heavenly Demon seized the blade’s edge.

Just because it was a Sage’s item didn’t mean it was immune to corruption from evil mana. Yeon-woo swiftly turned his body and lifted his leg. The powerful kick, enhanced with White, struck the Heavenly Demon’s body with great force.

Blam!!

Along with White, the Heavenly Demon’s body was pushed back. Naturally, the Heavenly Demon seized White.

Yeon-woo would not allow that to happen. The Doppelganger had already coiled around White’s hilt like a long rope. Pulling it back, White was returned to Yeon-woo’s hand as if sucked in.

Both Heavenly Blade and White were in perfect condition. Confirming that, Yeon-woo threw himself aside at an ominous sensation.

A small mass of evil spirits had suddenly appeared right in front of him and was swelling up, attempting to engulf him.

A massive explosion erupted around the Heavenly Demon, who stood still, managing the evil spirits with both hands.

A magic meant to disturb vision and concentration. The speed of a magic focused solely on enhancing disturbances had an overwhelming advantage.

The Demon Kings he had faced until now had been overly strong, rendering the magic Yeon-woo used nearly meaningless. But the Heavenly Demon was different.

Thanks to Shaar’s mana and adjustments, if it were simply about cutting down evil spirits, this was the most efficient method. There was nothing better than magic to interfere with the Heavenly Demon’s actions.

Of course, considering that, the magnitude of the Heavenly Demon’s evil spirits meant that the damage would still be minimal.

With a spiral motion, Yeon-woo charged toward the Heavenly Demon. His sight was obscured, and he believed this action would be meaningless.

Every martial artist, through their intuition, could discern their opponent’s actions.

But that wasn’t the case this time. The Heavenly Demon couldn’t do that. In this space, the mana was literally uprooted, and more importantly, his essence was not that of a martial artist, which made it even more difficult.

The mana bursting in the air came to a halt. Panicking, Yeon-woo dashed forward in a direct line toward the Heavenly Demon.

Through the dust cloud blocking his view, the figure of the Heavenly Demon emerged with a distorted expression.

A fleeting moment showed a tiny opening. The dragon’s eyes began to pierce through the gaps of his heart. The blade and mana clashed, and an incredibly brief standoff occurred.

Reading the emotions or past of the Demon King held no meaning. Despite that, it suddenly felt like a rather ridiculous backstory.

“This is just laughable.”

Yeon-woo scoffed. It was impossible not to laugh.

A monster bent on tainting the world in its color was born for such a trivial reason? How could this not be funny?

“So you became that way just because you disliked the dark cave? Puhah, phew…!!”

[…You.]

The Heavenly Demon’s face twisted at Yeon-woo’s mockery.

Though it had contorted several times until now, this latest contortion was somehow different from the previous ones. It was as if he had been caught exposing his flaws, an embarrassing look.

It wasn’t an air of tragic heroism at all. I had thought it might be some story of abuse.

Well, abuse had likely occurred. Which group claiming the name of a Demon Cult wouldn’t have some child abuse going on?

They must have shoved children into caves to make them kill each other, to foster loneliness.

It must have hurt. The pain of seeing those believed to be friends perish must have been tormenting. Surely.

I had no intention of denying the Heavenly Demon’s suffering. It was precisely because such suffering existed that the wretchedness coloring the world before me was born.

Even that monster once had a past of being human.

“For that reason, you kill people indiscriminately?”

Yeon-woo’s icy, sharp voice quietly reverberated. Even the Heavenly Demon slightly flinched at the coldness and clarity of that voice.

“Then you should die. Only then will you know.”

Yeon-woo’s frigid rage flowed forth like a wave.

In a battle of masters, losing composure due to excitement was to be avoided at all costs.

Nonetheless, Yeon-woo surged forward with anger without hesitation. He understood that no matter how furious he became, his reason would remain intact.

From that moment on, the Heavenly Demon was no longer the Demon King bent on destroying the world. What stood before Yeon-woo was simply a mass murderer without any famed status.

From an evil that must be dealt with, he had become a maggot bereft of any value.

Time had already been bought to a certain extent. From here on, Yeon-woo could act however he pleased, and no one would blame him. More aggressively, without looking back.

The Heavenly Demon regained his senses and extended an arm. A swirling gust of evil spirits grazed Yeon-woo’s side.

The movements, entirely different from an earlier safety-seeking demeanor, even startled the Heavenly Demon.

Reducing evasion and defense, he invested that time into his attack. The extended hand met the Heavenly Blade. The sound of flesh tearing echoed as blood gushed from the Heavenly Demon’s arm.

It had been nearly an hour since the battle against the Heavenly Demon began. In that time, it was the first moment the Heavenly Demon sustained a wound.

[…Huh?]

With an expression of surprise that suggested he hadn’t expected such a thing, flames burst forth before the Heavenly Demon.

The greatest weakness of the Heavenly Demon lay not in the aftermath of an attack, but rather at the moment he was about to strike. Given that he relied on pulling the mana from his body, the mana of the body parts would inevitably thin.

Assuming he could take damage and simultaneously deliver a counter, with the Heavenly Blade, it was not difficult to break through that defense.

If one was willing to risk a sliver of their life, it was certainly a viable tactic.

(To be continued in the next chapter)