[Ha… hahaha! D-do you think anything will change?!] Baek KangHyun shouted while trying to look calm.
But he couldn't hide his surprise behind laughs.
'What a crazy bastard.'
It wasn't easy to cut off someone’s arm.
To destroy the hard bones, you had to use the sword as if it were a hammer.
To cut the muscles, you had to cut it as if it were chewy meat.
You had to be out of your mind to cut off your own arm.
But that guy had done exactly that… without even screaming.
'But still, nothing will change!'
It was true that he was overwhelmed by the sight.
But rationally thinking, he didn't have a reason to be afraid.
It was true that the Authority of Seals wasn't active anymore, but KangWoo had lost an arm.
Considering how damaging losing your limbs was for a warrior, he was the one who still had an overwhelming advantage.
"Well. I guess we’ll see soon enough."
KangWoo grabbed his severed left arm.
He could use demonic energy again, but just like Baek KangHyun said, nothing had changed. No, he was at an even bigger disadvantage.
The duration of the Kraken's Rage was up, and he'd lost an arm.
Not only that, but because he'd used three different Authorities simultaneously, he didn't have enough demonic energy.
KangWoo let out a sigh.
He couldn't escape anymore.
He had wanted to avoid using ‘it’ due to the huge risk involved, but there was no other option.
[Hng, what can you do with a body like that?]
Baek KangHyun threw Echidna.
Because KangWoo had recovered demonic energy, she'd regained her strength and used her magic to land safely.
"I'll protect KangWoo."
Echidna blocked KangWoo.
KangWoo grabbed her slender shoulders.
"From here onwards, I'll do it."
"KangWoo?"
"Stay still."
KangWoo forced Echidna to remain still.
—It was an order that a summoned monster couldn't refuse.
She looked at KangWoo while biting her lips with an expression that indicated that she was about to cry.
KangWoo ignored her and kept walking.
"Well, I always thought that I’d end up using it one day anyway."
He placed his right arm over his chest.
He often used the Authority of the Blade, Speed, Dark Spear, and others that were simple and effective.
—But those weren’t the Authorities that best suited him.
There was only one Authority that suited him more than any other…
"The Authority of Predation."
He closed his eyes and focused.
A blurry image became clear.
'Ten Thousand Demon Core.'
The giant sea became visible.
—A sea made of demonic energy.
In that sea, there were three doors.
KangWoo got closer to the smallest one.
He grabbed the doorknob—his hands were shaking a bit.
He felt that the waves behind him were going to devour him.
He doubted for a moment…
He gripped the doorknob even tighter.
The door opened, and a sea of demonic energy came out through it.
Ten Thousand Demon Core…
He opened the first door.
The blood that was coming out from his left arm that had been cut turned black.
Black blood with a sticky consistency dripped down to the ground.
The skin melted.
His entire body melted down from the chest, neck, shoulders, arms, and legs, replaced by a black liquid.
[What the…]
Baek KangHyun's expression hardened at the grotesque scene.
He felt an ominous sensation on the back of his neck. He couldn't help but think that something had gone wrong.
'What's that?'
KangWoo had turned into a huge black slime.
He looked more horrifying than him, who had turned into a demon.
'I don't know what happened…'
He just had to do one thing…
Baek KangHyun clenched his fist, took a deep breath, and concentrated the demonic energy on his fist.
A new gauntlet was created around his fist.
The preparations were ready.
He stomped on the ground.
His giant body which was over three meters tall surged forward.
[Ha-ab!]
He punched KangWoo's slime body.
The slimy body bounced in all directions, and a hole appeared in KangWoo's body.
Baek KangHyun laughed.
* * *
[Hahaha! I was wondering what you were doing! But did you just turn into a slime?! Your body just exploded!]
Half of KangWoo’s body was blown away from a single hit.
He thought he was easier to fight against than when holding the dark red spear.
[Huh?! Offer some resistance, at least!]
It was as if he'd completely forgotten about the uneasiness.
"K-KangWoo…!"
As half of KangWoo's body exploded, Echidna turned pale and tried to approach him.
But his order didn't let her move.
Echidna anxiously bit her lips.
But that only lasted for a moment…
[Huh…?]
Krrr-
Something happened.
KangWoo's body began returning to normal. The sticky slime crawled up Baek KangHyun's fist.
Something appeared from the black slime.
"Mouth…?"
A mouth that had sharp teeth appeared.
It wasn't one or two…
Hundreds of mouths appeared simultaneously.
[What the…?]
Crack-!
[AARRGGHH!!]
A painful scream came out of his mouth.
The mouths that appeared on the slime began tearing down his skin.
In total, each mouth could devour about two fingers worth of flesh.
Considering his huge body, it was nothing.
But if there were hundreds of mouths devouring his skin… the story changed.
Crack-! Crunch! Crunch!
[Haaabb!]
He clenched his fist tight and exploded the demonic energy.
As if a huge explosion had happened, pieces of rock scattered, and a nearby car bounced away as if it were a marble ball.
But…
[Ah, ah…]
He couldn't free himself from the black mucus.
No. Rather than moving away, it was devouring the demonic energy he'd used, and it was getting bigger.
The black mucus that had gotten bigger covered his entire body. Baek KangHyun's face turned pale.
[N-no…]
Crunch! Crunch!
Thousands of mouths were using their sharp teeth to devour his body.
There was nothing he could do.
It was as if he were trying to shake off the water while fully submerged.
His entire body had been fully devoured.
It was as if he'd been thrown into a lake full of piranhas.
- What's happening?
He heard a low-pitched voice inside his head.
—It was the voice of the demon he'd summoned inside his body.
[H-help me.]
- Help you…? What's happ—
He synchronized his conscience with the demon.
If he did that, there was a chance that the demon would overtake his body, but there was nothing else he could do at the moment.
- AAGGHH!!
But the result was the same.
The demon that had synchronized his consciousness with Baek KangHyun screamed in pain.
After realizing the situation through Baek KangHyun's eyes, the demon shouted in desperation.
- Wh-why?! Why did you pick a fight against this monster?!!
[Monster?]
- Ah, you idiot! You fool! Rather than him, fight against the archdukes! Fight against Baal, or even Satan!
It was a desperate cry.
Baek KangHyun was surprised after seeing that the demon was trembling in fear.
[Wh-what are you talking about? Is that guy at the level of the top seven demons?]
- Top seven demons? Top seven demons! Wake up, human!
The demon's desperate cry continued.
- There aren't seven demons anymore! They were all devoured by that monster!!
[What does that…]
- That's the demon of demons, the predator of predators! Why don't you know that, you stupid human?!
He felt the fear through the synchronized consciousness.
- That monster is the Demon King!
It was a cry that came from the soul.
[…]
Baek KangHyun couldn't understand the demon's words.
The Demon King?
The peak of demons who rules over the Hell of Nine Skies…
Why was someone like that there?
'There's no way.'
It was impossible.
It was something that shouldn't happen.
Sensation gradually disappeared.
He couldn't feel pain anymore.
The only thing he had left was a bit of his body, and his consciousness was getting blurry.
The black mucus that had scattered away gathered in front of him again.
Something appeared from within it.
—A giant mouth big enough to devour Baek KangHyun's giant body.
The mouth opened up fully.
Sharp teeth ripped apart what was left of his body.
Crunch-
With a chilling sound, his body fell into the giant mouth.
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