Chapter 193 – Fragment of the Demonic God (1)

[Goo, goo-goo-goo-goo-goo-ga-ga-ga.]

“I think it is still learning how to talk.”

Artpe told a small joke, but no one laughed. Their eyes were focused on the monster that was pushing through the gates of hell.

[Koo-goo-goo-goo-goo, gee-gee-gee-ga-ga-ga-gahk.]

The first thing to come out was an enormous black hand. The hand was covered with bumpy calluses, and its radius was 10 meters. Seven fingers moved tirelessly as Demonic energy emanated out towards all directions. The toxicity of the Demonic energy was greater than the Demon King.

“First, let’s destroy that door! We have to somehow stop ourselves from being exposed to more Demonic energy ······!”

“No, Silpennon.”

Artpe stopped him. Silpennon’s judgment would normally be absolutely correct, but that was also the reason why Artpe had to hold back Silpennon.

“There hadn’t been any falsehood in the Demon King’s words. The son of a bitch was always annoying, but he rarely said anything false. In that aspect, he wasn’t like a Demon.”

“Artpe······.”

Everyone was looking towards Artpe. They inevitably realized it when they fought against the Demon King. Artpe and the Demon King knew each other too well. If he was simply a young man that grew up in the countryside as a hero, there was no way this could be true.

However, they didn’t press for an answer.

They loved Artpe too much to doubt him, and they relied on him. They believed Artpe would reveal all if they needed to know the information. They trusted him implicitly.

Artpe decided to reward them for their trust in him.

“I’ll tell you guys my story later. Anyways, let’s leave it alone for now. Let it come out.”

“I’m pretty sure you aren’t trying get us all killed.”

It was unexpected. The first one to follow Artpe’s words was Silpennon. He injected Mana into his daggers as he slowly retreated backwards. He stood ready as he asked Artpe a question.

“I think I know what you are trying to do. You really are a mad lad.”

“It seems you aren’t a king in name only.”

On the other hand, the other members of his party looked frightened by the large hand. Artpe was keeping an eye on them. At this point, the hand had come through, and the wrist was starting to come out. Artpe looked at the hand with his Read All Creation ability as he gave an explanation.

“Since we killed the Demon King, you probably felt your level go up. Right?”

“My head still hurts.”

Leseti admitted it. Leseti and Deyus had fallen behind in terms of level compared to the others in the party. They hadn’t been able to participate in the battle against the Demon King, but the whole party was tethered together by Maetel’s ability. The fact that they had helped manifest Maetel’s Record Master skill was enough for them to experience an overwhelming increase in level.

They developed in many ways after overcoming an overwhelming obstacle called the Demon King. There was no need to dwell on this topic. Artpe nodded his head as he spoke.

“However, the Demon King said we won’t be able to win against the previous Demon King. We…. I have to learn about the Demonic god. That is what he recommended me to do.”

“Didn’t he summon that thing, because he wanted to kill us!?”

“We will merely face a portion of the Demonic god.”

Artpe was sure of it.

“We have to grow by defeating that thing. The previous Demon King might call forth the power of the Demonic god. The current Demon King thought this will give us a winning chance against such power. I’m of the same mind. If we defeat it, we’ll be able to grow substantially.”

“Once a chef, always a chef….. Still, he was an asshole until the end.”

“So you want us to suck on our thumbs until that thing comes out fully!?”

Elrick asked in fright. Artpe shook his head from side to side.

“I said we’ll face only part of the Demonic god. Even if we leave this spell alone, it’ll terminate on its own. I have two piece of information that might give us hope…..”

First, they won’t have to fight the whole Demonic god. Secondly, they would be defeating a ‘part of the Demonic god’ right now. Even if the past Demon King made a play for using the Demonic god’s power, Artpe’s party would be fighting a reduced version of it.

“You call that positive news…. Ha-ah.”

“Mr Silpennon, get a hold of yourself!”

“We really have to fight that thing? Really?”

Artpe was taking a hard-line, so the party had to grin and bear it. Up until now, Artpe had never made the wrong decision. He was probably right about this too.

They were already tired from fighting the Demon King, yet they had to fight a monster that was summoned through the death of the Demon King!

They felt frustrated, but no one complained. They couldn’t do it. They knew who they will have to fight in the future.

This was the hero’s path. They chose to walk besides the hero, so they just had to endure it until the end.

“W….wrist. I…it’s wrist is coming out.”

“The Demonic energy…. Artpe, are you able to block it?”

He looked down at the magic tome in his hand. It was letting out a faint light. He had activated it before the battle with Demon King started, so he was reaching the limit on how much Mana he possessed.

However, he had no plans on backing down now. It also didn’t mean that he was going to use the Magic Stones and Artifacts he confiscated from the merchant companies and all the nations.

“I’ll regenerate the Demonic energy into Mana, and I’ll let the magic tome consume it as soon as it become available.”

For a brief moment, his party had no idea what he was talking about. Despite being in a desperate situation, they froze in place. However, they started to comprehend what he was talking about. They started to jump up and down in order.

“That item is invincible!? If it is capable of doing that, why did you bring the Magic Stones and Artifacts?”

“I need materials to purify the Demon realm. I need it for the Reclamation magic where I’ll turn this world back into its original form. If I consume the Mana of this world in the process, this world will be turned into a place of death.”

Currently, Demonic energy was being summoned from a different world. In order to eliminate that energy, he was going to consume it, and it would cause no harm to this world.

Above all else, it was an energy that couldn’t be controlled even by that thing of evil. There was no downside in stealing that energy. It didn’t even have to be him…..

“Pipi, I’ll leave it to you.”

Soon, something happened that blew the mind of the party. Artpe had let go of the staff after lightly gripping it, then he let go of the magic tome. The staff started to revolve around the magic tome, and the Reclamation magic continued to work.

“It is sucking in the terrifying bastard’s Demonic energy, and it is being changed into Mana…..”

“The spell is being maintained by the Mana……”

“It is being done by the staff!”

“Versatile Pipi.”

“Why is Regina being so proud of it······?”

At this point, everyone was dumbfounded that words were hard to come by. It meant Artpe had hidden this power even as he faced the horrifying Demon King!

In other words, he had a backup plan against the Demon King’s trump card. He had instructed Silpennon to borrow Aria’s power, and Silpennon was put on standby. It seemed there had been another plan aside from that. His party members couldn’t hold back their exclamation at Artpe’s meticulous planning.

“The door is decreasing in size!”

[Koo-goo-goo-goo-goo-goo-goohk, koo-ga-ga-ga-ga-ga-ga-gah!]

The staff and the magic tome became the core of the Reclamation magic, and they slowly moved to a safer location. As they did so, the door to hell kept shrinking. It was as Artpe had said.

[Kee-heeeeek! Kuh-hoo-ooh-hoo-koo-koo-ga-ga-gahk!]

A truly large black arm had been slowly emerging from the door, and the door was closing in the middle of its emergence. It was unknown as to where the sound had originated, but a horrible scream could be heard. The arm and the hand started to twist and turn. Artpe coldly watched it with his Read All Creation ability, and he spoke in a firm manner.

“Etna, Sienna and Maetel will move to the front. Regina will defend.”

It meant he wanted everyone else to back out. Silpennon had delivered the critical blow to the Demon King, yet Artpe wanted him to stay out of this fight!

“In the end, you are going to do that.”

“Hoo-ooh. Everyone gather up! Hurry!”

However, no one in the party complained including Silpennon. Artpe had already explained such a scenario to the party members beforehand. This wasn’t a simple smokescreen.

“Maetel… If possible, I want you to stay back…. However, this will be impossible without you. Are you able to control the skill and fight at the same time?”

“You shouldn’t ask something so obvious, Artpe.”

Maetel gripped her bastard sword harder as she slightly turned towards Artpe. She let out a light laughter. Her eyes were filled with love, and it was all focused on Artpe. It almost made one’s skin crawl.

“If it is for Artpe, I’m willing to do anything you want. Anything.”

“It would have been better if you said you were fighting for peace or camaraderie…. However, I’ll have to be satisfied with that answer for now.”

After the party members leveled up after killing the Demon King, Maetel had paused the Record Master skill. She started it up once again. Artpe didn’t give any orders, yet everyone gathered up in one place. They sat down as if they had promised to do this. Regina was the only one standing. She stepped in front of the group as she raised her staff.

Despite what Pipi and the magic tome was doing, the Demonic energy wasn’t fully purified. This was why Regina created a barrier of cold air, and the Demonic energy couldn’t encroach into it. Regina’s role was to defend her party members.

So why not just move them farther out?

It all made sense when one saw Maetel and Sienna borrow magical energy, stamina and strength from her party members through the Record Master. Artpe spoke quietly.

“Final battle mode.”

“Mmm. That name is embarrassing.”

All for one, one for all. It was a common phrase that everyone strived for, but it was something impossible to achieve. However, it was possible through Maetel’s skill.

She had a skill called Record Master that could manipulate Records of others. This was embarrassing to voice out loud, but the members of Artpe’s party had strong trust in each other. This allowed Maetel to move strength, stamina and other physical abilities to the other members of her party.

Until now, she hadn’t really used this ability in a real battle. Even when she used it once or twice, it had been on the spur of the moment. However, Artpe thought this ability would be crucial when dealing with a stronger opponent. If the person she was borrowing the power was also strong, he surmised that the benefit would be that much greater.

Artpe’s party members had grown so much that they were considered to be the pinnacle of the human race. They were all sitting in one place, and they were lending their power to Maetel and Sienna.

[Koo-goo-ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!]

“It is coming.”

Fortunately, the arm started to move when the party had safely made all their preparations. The door to hell was forcefully closed. As a result, the arm was severed before the shoulder joint. An enormous amount of blood was pouring out, yet the arm started to slowly advance.

It was letting out Demonic energy that was eating away at the cave’s floor and the air. Despite its speed not being fast, the Demonic energy was too powerful. The cave continued be destroyed as the arm’s zone of influence expanded.

“Nyaaaaaaaah.”

Roa let out a cry. She hadn’t been able to do much in the fight against the Demon King. She let out a cry of joy when she saw the enormous arm. It seemed the sight had whetted her appetite.

“Yes, you are here too. If we win against it, I’ll let you eat all of it. I’ll leave it to you, Roa.”

“Nyaa. I love you, master. Nyaa-ah-ah.”

[Koo-ga-ga-ahhhhhhhhhh!]

Roa’s three tails swayed as her fighting spirit peaked. It was still unknown as to where the sound was coming from, but the Demonic god’s arm let out a roar as it charged forward.

The battle commenced.