He had received a similar offer from the Lightning God. But the Demon God’s proposal was more specific— more insulting. The Lightning God had offered for Lukas to become a Ruler. But the Demon King was different.
He knew what he meant by the word puppet. There was an example of it right in front of him.
“Are you saying you want me to take Sedi’s role? Does that mean you’ll let her go instead?”
“I didn’t say that. That interpretation is too much.”
“Just because you didn’t mention it doesn’t mean the meaning isn’t there.”
“The intent is different. Don’t tell me you can’t tell the difference.
That wasn’t a joke.
Lukas paused for a moment before speaking.
“You won’t threaten to use Sedi as a hostage. Is that what you’re claiming?”
“…”
The Demon God remained silent and Lukas’ expression became bleak. He quickly united his mind and entered the minimal time zone, but he couldn’t find any threatening attacks in the changed scenery.
He didn’t show any killing intent.
This being had caused Lukas to feel a sense of crisis simply by changing his temperament.
“…you, have a knack for making me feel uncomfortable. It was like this in the past too.”
Of course, even a fool could tell that wasn’t a compliment.
“I won’t repeat my question. I won’t ask twice. What I ask is my proposal and what I want is an answer. Any other conversation between us is unnecessary.”
—He hadn’t changed.
Rulers didn’t change. They wouldn’t.
But what had he expected, what did he hope for? Lukas chuckled.
It was impossible from the start.
“Then I’ll also make a proposal.”
“…”
The prickling sensation on his skin intensified.
If there was a line that shouldn’t be crossed for the Demon God, the Lukas’ remarks had definitely crossed it. Because making a reverse proposal could also be included in the ‘unnecessary conversation’.
Keeping his eye on his every move, Lukas continued.
“Make me submit. With your thorns.”
“You will die.”
“It won’t be that easy.”
The Demon King let out a sigh.
—Then.
Lukas’ last battle in this life began.
* * *
Black, Thorn, Demon God.
It could be said that the being in front of him was represented by those three identities. Those words were probably closer to his essence than ‘Ruler’.
But Lukas was convinced that among them, the word ‘thorn’ was the most important.
—.
There were no thorns in his sight. This was true even after entering the minimal time zone. Lukas leapt through space to widen the distance between them. He still couldn’t see anything, and the Demon God was still standing still.
But Lukas still felt as if something was threatening him.
Piht.
He constantly leapt through space, but at some point, his calf muscles split. This had been caused by an invisible attack.
Lukas swallowed a murmur.
It was an attack that he couldn’t see even in the minimal time zone… In that case, did that mean it was undetectable even in this space? Was there another ‘higher level space’ beyond this one?
No, that wasn’t it.
Lukas now existed in the same world as the Rulers. Although there was still a clear gap in level, it was clear to him that they could at least see the same scenery.
So he changed his thoughts.
If he couldn’t think of an answer after thinking hard, then it was better to simplify his perspective.
Lukas closed his eyes for a moment. Then, after calmly analysing the situation, he reached the answer that was closest to the truth.
“…Clairvoyance.”
It was the power of one of the Demigods, which made it possible to raise his vision to a level that couldn’t be reached with the normal naked eye.
Eyes white, Lukas glanced behind him and was able to grasp the truth.
‘It’s thin.’
It was an extremely thin, slender thorn. It was so small that it was impossible to see it with the naked eye. It had to be thousands of times thinner than a hair. There were tens of thousands of such thorns.
And the power of one thin thorn was enough to pierce through Lukas’ void and make his body a simple one of flesh and blood.
‘It’ll be dangerous to miss even a few of their movements.’
A smile crept across Lukas’ lips. It felt like he was walking on thin ice, but this gave him a thrilling feeling to an extent.
Was this his own feeling, or was it the influence of the other ‘Lukases’?
He didn’t have the time to think about it.
“Howling Tempest.”
A strong wind swept through the area. Nevertheless, the thorns didn’t scatter. Despite the heavy winds, they remained firm as they shot towards Lukas.
This level of wind was far from enough. Even though they were thin objects, they were as sturdy as solid spears.
In that case, he’d have to use a different tactic.
Lukas created a space in front of the thorns shooting towards him. After being sucked into the space, the thorns shot out of the exit Lukas provided.
This resulted in the thorns colliding.
Boom!
He felt like he heard that sound.
As tens of thousands of thorns collided with each other, a formidable shockwave spread in every direction. And after the black air current covered the surroundings, there was nothing left.
It was mutual annihilation.
‘The power contained in each thorn is exactly the same.’
Such a terrifying guy. The power of every single one of those thousands of thorns was exactly the same.
Of course, Lukas had grasped the exact number of thin thorns. The number of thorns Lukas had just received was 37,132, exactly half of the total.
It might have been his luck that the total wasn’t an odd number.
‘However, this isn’t his full power.’
On the contrary, the power he’d revealed was only a small fraction.
His pride was scratched.
…He wanted him to go all out against him. He knew it was an impulsive feeling, but Lukas decided to not be patient.
His body shot into the air. For some reason, the Demon God didn’t send out any more thorns, he just watched on blankly.
After reaching almost to the ceiling of the cave, Lukas looked down at the Demon God.
“The difference in level is obvious. So there’s no need to waste any more time… I will now use the most powerful spell I can.”
“Your most powerful spell?”
“This.”
Lukas cast his strongest spell.
A single Magic Missile.
“…”
The Demon King was still expressionless. He simply stared at the Magic Missile without saying a word.
Then Lukas chuckled.
“Of course, even if I sent trillions of spells at you, they wouldn’t leave even a single scratch. However.”
Rumble-
The entirety of Demonsio shook. This was because what was happening transcended the density of space. Lukas created several ‘spaces’ in front of him.
Jurk.
Blood flowed from his eyes, nose and mouth at the same time. This was because his current actions far surpassed the limits of his mental power.
“Lord’s power of space. In a way, what I’ve created are Personal Spaces… the spaces before me are no different from small universes.”
“…”
“I put magic circles in these universes. They’re only for an insignificant amplification spell, but the amount of amplification will be enormous.”
Woowoong-
The magic circles in the space he created overlapped. It was like a planet surrounded by a ring.
“The main spell doesn’t need to be outstanding. In fact, if it’s too strong, the calculation might become complicated, so the simpler it is, the better…”
A single Magic Missile. It was enough.
“…”
“I will now throw a Magic Missile into the space in front of me. Inside of my small universes are countless amplification spells that couldn’t be applied in the normal world. Every time it passes through a space, it will become several dozen times stronger. Not addition, it will multiply, and multiply, and multiply, and multiply… until it passes through all of the spaces.
“The universes must have the power to not break into pieces.”
Lukas smiled mischievously, cold sweat dripping down his chin.
“I put everything I have into this attack. If you can stop it, it’ll be your win.”
“I see.”
The Demon God nodded candidly and spoke.
“Come.”
Then he launched the Magic Missile.
As soon as it passed through the first space.
Crash!
It no longer had the shape of a Magic Missile. Lukas’ prediction had been incorrect. The amount of amplification the Magic Missile gained far exceeded several dozens of times. With just that single amplification, he could feel the territory, Demonsio, begin to creak.
But that was just the beginning.
When it passed through the second space, the residual force that leaked out of the spell pulverised Demonsio’s castle.
When it passed through the third space, the surroundings became white. The energy being released was enough to distort space itself.
Then it passed through the fourth, fifth, sixth…
It multiplied and multiplied.
Stronger and stronger.
Eventually, after passing through all of the spaces Lukas had prepared, the spell had already escaped his control.
“…”
From the Demon God’s perspective, it was like he was watching a warhead filled with destructive power falling steadily towards him. It was no different from watching the scene before the end.
Nevertheless, his expression remained unchanged. While watching the scene unfolding before his eyes, the Demon God muttered indifferently.
“Now that I think about it, you said ‘If you stop it, it’ll be your win’.”
Strangely enough, in this world where sound could barely be heard.
“If I followed your rules, I wouldn’t call it my win. I won’t just stop it.”
Lukas felt like he could hear his voice most clearly.
“Look closely. What you will see now is just the tip.” (TL: *insert childish comment*)
Then, a black thorn shot out.
—.
It felt like he heard the sound.
Lukas didn’t know, and he didn’t get a chance to analyse it closely.
However, he was still able to interpret the scene in front of his eyes.
The spell, which had been enhanced an astronomical number of times, simply disappeared. It was pierced through and lost its shape. It hung in the air for a moment before vanishing like a lamp in the wind.
Following that, all of the spaces in front of Lukas were smashed. As mentioned before, although small, each one of them could be classified as a ‘universe’.
In other words, not only had the Demon God destroyed Lukas’ strongest spell in a single blow, he also destroyed several worlds.
They shattered. The pieces of the broken spaces fell like shards of glass.
And as Lukas blankly stared at this scene.
Puk.
His body was also pierced.
“…!”
The thorn pierced through the ceiling of Demonsio and continued out to the outside world.
An indescribable pain coursed through his entire body. Lukas couldn’t even make a sound. He could only exhale sharply with his mouth open. The pain was impossible to suppress or endure.
He couldn’t even use void. As soon as his body was pierced, he could no longer take any action, so it was no different from directly dying. In fact, if it wasn’t Lukas but someone else, they probably wouldn’t have been able to have such coherent thoughts.
They would have already collapsed under the agonising pain.
Thud.
He fell, hollowly, to the ground.
Coincidentally, the spot he landed was close to the Demon God.
“I’ve changed my mind. You’ve already learned too much about this world. You wouldn’t be a suitable puppet.”
The Demon God walked over slowly.
“It’s very fortunate. That I can just kill you here.”
“…that thorn.”
“Hoh.”
Lukas coughed.
“You’re still conscious after being stabbed by the [Thorn of Pain]? That’s amazing. When it comes to mental power, you definitely are close to our level.”
“That was your true essence…”
“Know that with honour. It’s been hundreds of millions of years since I last used that thorn.”
Lukas could feel the gradual approach of death.
It was a clean defeat with no excuses. But he had gained a lot. He had a clue about the Demon God’s power. Perhaps if they fought again, his chances of winning would be tens of times higher.
“Haha.”
“Why are you laughing?”
There were two reasons. Finally, at the moment of his death, he thought about his ‘next life’. But he hadn’t fought the Demon God under the assumption that he would definitely return.
He just had a feeling. If he accepted the Demon God’s proposal, he would experience a fate worse than death.
That was why he fought.
To calculate his chances of victory, to obtain information, to preserve his dignity.
Most of all, he wanted to take a shot against the Demon God, a Ruler.
However, it was impossible. It was too much for Lukas.
For ‘Lukas’.
“You called it the Thorn of Pain. It’s an amazing power. It destroyed the several spaces I made, pierced my body and even smashed the ceiling of Demonsio.”
“What are you trying to say?”
Lukas’ lips twisted.
“That power was a bit excessive. It was like an awl sticking out of the Demon God’s pocket.”
“…”
“I didn’t fight to die. I ended up dying, but… I had only considered this ending. Nevertheless, the thought of just dying peacefully makes my stomach twist.”
Lukas smiled brightly.
“So I decided to call an expert.”
“Expert?”
Just as the Demon God asked this question.
A being appeared through the sky.
To be precise, they broke through the ceiling, but when looking up from the city, it was no different from them breaking the sky.
It was different from before. The fragments of the cave ceiling, which had already been cracked, began to fall like rain.
The Demon God ignored the huge stones falling like heavy rain.
At that moment, he was no longer looking at Lukas. Lukas didn’t even know that he was witnessing a rare sight. The sight of a Ruler panicking.
The being that the Demon God’s eyes had locked onto fell faster than the stones. And landed gently between Lukas and the Demon God.
Their blue hair could be seen through the scattered dust.
…He figured that she wouldn’t be too far away. That she wouldn’t have left completely. She was probably even close by.
So this move could be called Lukas’ second gamble.
“Kuku…”
A laugh escaped his lips.
His expression was relaxed, nonchalant. As he looked at the unchanging expression of the Ruler in front of him, he was no longer offended, and instead felt amused.
“You…”
“Hmph.”
The blue haired woman snorted as she stretched out her hand. A blue sword rose up from the ground before settling in her hand.
Then, Pale smiled brightly and said.
“Hello.”
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