[Hyeong?]
Mamon frowned.
He never heard about the Demon King having a little brother.
No, he didn't even know if the word ‘family’ meant anything to him.
[Puhihi. If you live for long enough, you truly get to see weird things.]
To think there was someone who called himself the Demon King's little brother.
'Also…'
On top of that, it was a human.
[Hihihi. Human, I'm not in the mood for fighting. How about you move?]
Mamon laughed out loud.
Although he was laughing as if he were having fun, in reality, he was quite annoyed.
'How annoying.'
A strong pain was still left in his body.
Even with the Demon King’s strength sealed, a battle against him wasn't easy.
Especially that last attack. If he didn't react fast enough, his entire body would've been frozen.
Although he'd been able to dodge it, half of his body had frozen and been torn apart, so there was no way he could just shrug it off.
'Annoying, annoying.'
He anxiously bit his lips.
He hadn't fully healed yet. No, he wouldn't be able to recover by natural means.
Even if he got lucky and was able to be healed, there was a chance he might never be able to fully recover his strength.
That was how severe the Demon King’s last attack was.
[Puhi! How annoying… really… annoying.]
He narrowed his eyes.
He had to steal the Sea of Demonic Energy from the Demon King as soon as possible, but a lowly human was trying to bother him.
[Hihi, move, human.]
FWOOSH-!
Flames poured out.
A road of flames appeared in the land frozen by the Demon King’s attack.
A sticky fire that was more akin to lava targeted Kim ShiHoon.
"Haa…"
He raised his sword.
The hot air washed over his skin, but he had no time to envelop himself in Qi for protection.
'Damn.'
The demon in front of him was completely different from the ones he'd faced until that point.
FWOOSH-!
"Ugh."
The flames hit him.
His body was pushed back, and he rolled on the ground.
"Cough! Cough! Cough!"
He vomited black fog, and burns appeared on his skin.
It was an overwhelming strength.
It was so strong that it was weird to call him a living being.
Although he'd received only one attack, half of the El Quero Blade was melted down.
'What is this?'
It was different.
The demons he'd faced until then weren't beings like that.
Even if they were strong, they weren't as strong as that demon.
Making a comparison was impossible.
'Damn.'
His body trembled, and fear started to spread through him.
His face paled, and he was starting to have trouble breathing.
A familiar voice went through his head.
-I'm sorry…
That voice had been etched within his brain.
That voice seemed to be saying, “This is your limit.”
That voice was the chain holding Kim ShiHoon back.
"Shut… up!" he said to the voice.
He clenched his teeth and stood up.
It wasn't the time to be affected by such a voice.
He grabbed the half-melted sword.
[Hng?]
Mamon frowned.
It'd been a long time since he’d seen a human receive such severe burns still standing.
[Hihihi.]
Annoyed laughter left his mouth.
Tap. He bounced his finger.
Rays of yellow flame spread from his body like a net around Kim ShiHoon.
"Ugh!"
He gulped.
Gripping his sword with both hands, he raised it to his forehead.
The Blue Dragon 1st Form he realized when he faced Halphas…
He remembered the sensation he'd felt back then and saw a blue light in the air.
He followed that light and swung his sword down.
SLASH-!!
The attack that had overpowered Halphas’s attack cut through the net.
He stomped and ran through the broken net.
Mamon looked at him with great interest.
[Woah.]
To think that a human would be able to counter his attack.
"Hap!"
Kim ShiHoon ran toward Mamon and shouted.
Giant rays of flames targeted him from both sides.
He quickly dodged the attacks.
Tss. His skin was burned, and smoke rose.
"Damn,” he cursed.
Speed was an issue, but the biggest problem was the strength of the flames.
'Crazy.'
He couldn't find any other word to describe it.
He felt as if he'd fallen to Hell.
He dodged the rays of flames and moved.
[Puhihi.]
Mamon laughed and raised both hands.
Crack. The floor split, and magma that shone with a yellow light seeped out and poured over Kim ShiHoon.
“Hya!”
* * *
He expanded his Qi and created a sword shield, a wall as strong as steel, but it was meaningless.
Steel had no meaning in front of Mamon's flames.
"Ugh!!"
TSSS!!
His skin was burned, and his bleach-white bones became visible
ShiHoon’s hand holding the El Quero Blade melted down.
"Ugh, ahh."
Clang.
The sword fell to the ground, and he curled up into the fetal position while holding his melted hand.
A pain he'd never felt before spread through his body.
[Hihihi. That's why I told you to leave.]
Mamon laughed. He began walking toward KangWoo, who had been locked away by 'Greed.'
He extended his hand toward the delicious meal.
Tap-
[Huh…?]
Something grabbed his leg.
He lowered his head.
"I said… don't touch him."
He grabbed the half-melted El Quero Blade with his good hand and gathered blue sword Qi around it.
He swung the sword and hit Mamon’s foot without hesitation.
Stab-!
The blade enveloped in sword energy stabbed Mamon's foot.
[Hi, hihihi!!]
Mamon let out a burst of craze-filled laughter.
There wasn't huge damage, but it was enough to make him feel annoyed.
Mamon raised his injured foot.
Paf-!!
"Cough!"
[You’re only a human, but you’re more annoying than I thought you would be.]
He kicked Kim ShiHoon and followed after his rolling body.
Kim ShiHoon doing his best stimulated Mamon.
Tap-
Mamon stepped on ShiHoon good hand and slowly leaned his massive weight onto it.
Crack-!
"AAGGHH!!!"
ShiHoon let out a desperate cry.
His arms were crushed, his skin was torn because of the intensely hot air, and a yellowish discharge leaked from his burns.
His muscles turned into ash, and his blood evaporated in the hot air.
A horrible pain spread through Kim ShiHoon's body.
[Hihihi, you won't be able to hold a sword anymore.]
All his nerve endings had been burned away, and one of his hands was completely missing.
There was no way to recover from the wounds unless it was with the Authority of Regeneration.
No, even with the Authority of Regeneration, it would take him a while to be able to hold a sword again.
[That's why you should have just fucked off when I gave you the chance.]
He made fun of him and turned around.
With that, it really was all over.
He could taste the Sea of Demonic Energy without any interference.
Then…
Crack-
[…]
Kim ShiHoon crawled up to him with his messed-up arms and bit Mamon.
Mamon looked at him in disbelief.
ShiHoon was glaring at him while his teeth were closed around Mamon’s foot.
It wasn't that he wasn't afraid…
His eyes were full of fear, and his body was trembling.
"You… shall not… pass…"
Still, he didn't retreat or give up.
If his right hand was useless, he'd do it with his left arm. If both his arms disappeared, he would bite him.
It didn't matter if it was pathetic, and it didn't matter if it was lame or dumb.
"You motherfucker, you won't touch Hyeong."
[Hi, hihi…]
Mamon's smile deepened, and his eyes started to shine with madness.
[PUHIHIHI!!!]
Yellow flames exploded out.
Mamon raised his hand with a distorted expression on his face.
[Hihihi!! You just wanted to die! Why didn't you say so from the beginning?!]
He had never seen such a persistent human.
He couldn't ignore him anymore.
His arm burst into flames, and he swung it at ShiHoon.
Crack-
FWOOSH-!
He heard something cracking at that moment.
The yellow sphere was destroyed, and an arm stretched out and grabbed Mamon's head.
[Huh…?] he mumbled in a confused voice.
The arm grabbing Mamon’s head pulled his body back.
[Wh-what?!]
His eyes were full of astonishment.
An incredible strength dragged his giant body away.
He looked at the arm that had emerged from 'Greed.' Mamon's mouth fell open.
[Y-you destroyed a piece of Hell's Equipment?!]
It was something that should’ve been impossible.
It was a piece of equipment that materialized after demonic energy from the Hell of Nine Skies gathered for hundreds of thousands of years.
It represented the strength of an archduke. It was a weapon strong enough to tear down dimensional walls and distort time.
The weapon that couldn't be destroyed had been torn into pieces.
Crack-
The fissure that the arm had torn through ‘Greed’ widened.
"Mamon…"
KangWoo pulled Mamon's head closer.
"Why did you do that?" he muttered in a low voice.
KangWoo pulled Mamon to him until they were staring at each other face-to-face.
"Tell me… Why did you do that?"
[Y-you crazy monster…!]
"I can understand it from someone else. Baek KangHyun? Kim JaeHyun? Yulia? It's okay. After all, they don't know anything."
[L-let me go!!]
Mamon poured out flames, and KangWoo’s arm took the full brunt of the fire…
But he didn't let his head go.
"But you don’t have that excuse."
KangWoo spoke as if he couldn't understand why Mamon had made such a stupid decision.
"You know who I am…"
The whites of his eyes turned black.
"You know what I'm capable of."
His eyes turned yellow.
"Then…"
His yellow eyes tore horizontally, and black pupils appeared.
"Why did you do that?"
KangWoo placed his other hand over his chest where the Ten Thousand Demon Core was while he continue to hold Mamon’s head.
WHOOM-!!
The entire mountain shook.
The ground twisted, and a thunder-like sound spread everywhere.
"Why did you do that?"
There was no answer.
Mamon looked at him with a pale expression.
He was trembling like a kid that had been caught doing something wrong by their parents, like prey staring at a predator.
"Hmm? Answer me."
A deep smile appeared on KangWoo’s face. He twisted the hand that was placed over the Ten Thousand Demon Core.
Ten Thousand Demon Core.
Second Door, Open.
"Why did you fight against me?"
