Second Life of a Dragon Raising Hunter

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Chapter 402

The Heavenly Demon’s gaze sharpened as he stared in disbelief at the blood that erupted from his forearm.

The result was somewhat different from what Yeon-woo had anticipated, but he also saw it as a possibility.

No one wants to waste their life. Even the Heavenly Demon, who treated Jinma’s life like trash and claimed it as his own, was no different.

When faced with the real possibility of death, anyone can react differently than usual.

Some are scared and try to run away, while others fight back to survive.

It seemed the Heavenly Demon was the latter, acting all tough and trained in martial arts.

‘No matter; it’s all the same.’

Before being a Heavenly Demon, he’s human. Before being human, he’s trash. And before being trash, he’s something that didn’t even exist in this world—that’s the goal Yeon-woo had right now.

Of course, achieving that alone was impossible. Without the help of those present, it couldn’t be done. But still, some groundwork needed to be laid.

If a hasty move leads to a deadly outcome, inevitably neither side would rashly show their hands. That’s how it was according to Yeon-woo’s predictions.

He would have played it that way—avoiding rash moves and gauging the situation.

But the Heavenly Demon didn’t do that. Perhaps it was due to his pride as one with the Heavenly Demon name. Or maybe he was just a sex-driven fool who merely had learned some martial arts.

“That’s…!!”

A panicked voice came from behind. It was Jin Baek-cheon.

There was only one thing that man could say in such a shaking tone.

The Heavenly Demon’s martial arts. The power that symbolizes the destruction of martial arts and annihilation of the world.

A massive amount of mana began swirling between the Heavenly Demon’s hands. The mana flowing along the blood vessels awakened within Yeon-woo’s eyes.

Yeon-woo’s enhanced perception could even glimpse the core of the mana.

Even if it were murky muddy water, there’s bound to be a flow. Even the convoluted and seemingly unreadable currents of mana became interpretable under Yeon-woo’s sharp gaze.

This was different from the Imperial Monarch. If that had been an overwhelming mana crushing the space, this was about sucking the space in.

The consequences of such an act were all too clear.

‘If I get swept away, I’ll be turned into a noodle.’

Thoughts raced. This wasn’t a type of martial art that could be countered.

To put it simply, it was like a gigantic vacuum cleaner. A vacuum capable of sucking the entire dimension in.

Approaching something like that would only result in being sucked in too.

A line had to be drawn. Suddenly realizing that, Yeon-woo lifted his sword. Coincidentally, he had an inkling of what was needed for such a form.

A line that nothing could invade. The very boundary that Sister Claire had used—one that wouldn’t even permit the interference of foreign gods.

Though Yeon-woo couldn’t replicate it, he could reference it.

“For example, like this…”

The flame contained in the Heavenly Demon called to Yeon-woo. Perhaps it was Yeon-woo who conjured the flame himself. In any case, a result was being drawn out.

Just like tearing through a thin membrane, the Heavenly Demon split the air. A delicate line, yet it was not the wound made to connect to any particular space this time.

Pulling on the Heavenly Demon and extracting it, he inserted White in its place. In an instant, White transformed into its third form and began to blaze with the Aura Blade.

It’s difficult to slice space from the beginning, but it’s easy to stick a blade into a wound that’s already there.

[Heavenly Demon Fusion.]

Everything gets sucked into the Heavenly Demon. All creatures and forms belong to the Heavenly Demon, or rather, the Heavenly Demon itself, an arrogant martial art that indiscriminately wreaks havoc on the world.

Preventing the artificially generated massive storm was akin to dealing with something similar.

The moment space was destroyed, the world hastened to restore it by recklessly pulling in whatever was nearby.

For the world cannot allow even a moment of vacancy in a single spot.

Thus, if space is wounded and left open, it’s just like a balloon with a hole in it—everything within the world gets indiscriminately pulled in.

People refer to that as a dimensional gate.

In that moment, the dimensional gate Yeon-woo had opened with his sword began to recklessly draw in the surroundings.

It was a kind of counter-operation. The space created by mana and the dimensional gate began to suck each other in.

[That’s ridiculous!!]

The sight drove the Heavenly Demon to a furious cry. Yeon-woo clicked his tongue at the sight.

The most significant difference between the localized dimensional gate created by Yeon-woo and the vacuum was that he couldn’t control the dimensional gate.

On the other hand, as if drawn by the Heavenly Demon’s fury, the mana in the area started gathering toward the vacuum.

The dimensional gate was somehow holding out, but since it hadn’t been intended to remain open for an extended period, it was gradually losing output.

‘But I can’t open another one either.’

No matter how one thinks about it, the consumption of mental power and mana is too great. He managed to open one with the help of the Dragon Heart somehow.

There was nothing to be done now. Attacking the Heavenly Demon wouldn’t make the vacuum disappear. It was a structure maintained not by the Heavenly Demon’s concentration anymore.

‘Killing him might work, but that seems too difficult.’

If he had learned sealing-type divine arts or protective techniques, it might have been useful, but circumstances had left no time for such training.

As he thought this, Yeon-woo subtly glanced behind him. Wouldn’t the talented Jeonggak couple come to take out Soolma? Hurry up and eliminate Soolma so they could help!

At that moment, he felt someone approaching. In this situation, it was easy to predict who could come to help at this timing.

“Looks like you had a good rest, huh? The fact that you can come close even after seeing that.”

“Haha, whether it’s me or not, who’s afraid of dying? There’s no reason to fear a strong herbivore.”

Gongson-bin laughed, his robe fluttering. It was true; a mere wave of the Heavenly Demon’s hand could kill a person.

But even thinking that way was impressive.

“Alright, show me what you can do, Gongson-bin…!!”

“It feels like being a monster in a pocket. I like it.”

Calmly nodding, Gongson-bin fluttered his robe and charged at the Heavenly Demon. In an instant, he closed in on the Heavenly Demon and swung his arm.

It was something the Heavenly Demon must have found incomprehensible. How could such a small fry approach and attack him?

The Heavenly Demon squinted at the scene, swatting his hand as if brushing away dust.

Boom!!

A purple explosion occurred. It was so overwhelming that even Yeon-woo gasped—a blast that seemed to strike directly at Gongson-bin.

Yet, Gongson-bin did not die. No, he didn’t even suffer a scratch.

With his unique evasion ability, along with the mana enveloping him, he was blocking the invasion of the mana.

Or perhaps it would be more appropriate to say he was melting the mana like a strong acid.

‘The mana isn’t being pushed back by the mana; instead, it’s melting the mana…?’

He understood the mana of the stars had a special nature, but this was somewhat astonishing.

He had thought mana possessed a corrupting quality indifferent to all other mana, yet it was straightforwardly negating and melting it instead.

Of course, Yeon-woo couldn’t just stand by and watch Gongson-bin fight, so he charged towards the Heavenly Demon.

While it would be relatively easy to protect himself from the Heavenly Demon Fusion, it would undoubtedly lead to collateral damage. Time was pressing.

*

[───!!!!]

From a most secret corner of the world, a painful scream echoed.

Indiscernible, yet unmistakably a cry borne from suffering.

Because the body that couldn’t be seen was being torn apart in all directions. The one responsible for tearing that body apart muttered while gazing into the void.

[Impressive, Il-yo. Though you’re holding it, it feels invisible, without touch or weight. How could that be?]

[──…!!]

What was called Il-yo, the Demon King of Fire, let out an anguished cry.

By voicing, what should have been an evident presence felt entirely absent.

A contradiction. An inexplicable phenomenon beyond contradiction. Even the Demon King of Fire had never encountered such a being.

[So, it wasn’t just a mere Great Warrior you sent out? Perhaps you were there yourself in that place too.]

Well, that Great Warrior had become a corpse now, but Hwayo muttered as he looked down at the body rolling in the corner of his view.

A vaguely translucent body rolled around.

[Don’t worry; it’s not your fault. You did nothing wrong. I just wanted to kill all of you.]

Hwayo smiled sweetly. However, the thought of whether he was really here lingered because the opponent didn’t even feel present.

It was a truly bothersome opponent. One could hardly even tell whether they were being listened to or if they were here.

Thinking that way, Hwayo punched the void.

With a popping sound, something plopped down, likely blood or flesh, or something like that. Even the fact that something had fallen would become blurry after a few seconds.

The massive ongoing disappearance incidents, a calm Sunday.

The bizarre happenings that got lost on anyone who did not receive help from the green section of the Magic Tower hadn’t even been noticed; these disasters had been eerily wrapped up by the hands of the Demon King.

[Oh, if I don’t want to kill anymore, I guess it’s dead.]

Changing not only himself but also what he swallowed into something that had never existed in the world, the most secret and nameless Demon King was killed by mere malice.

With a refreshed look, the Demon King of Fire grasped the void and stepped out of space. With a whoosh, something was torn out.

The animal skin reflected on the opposite side. The Demon King’s skin stripped away, Hwayo donned it over his body.

[Where should I go next? I heard Shuyo is concocting something fun; shall I meddle a bit?]

“I’ll follow you wherever.”

Before the boy, a mere symbol of conflict, strife, and violence, the Violence Cult bowed down.

Only he could lead them.

(To be continued in the next chapter)