Chapter 61

Retribution

“-Haaa-”

Rad let out a deep sigh as he looked at Aiden, who had dragged him out.

In a way, it looked like he was trying to suppress his anger.

There were more than a few things he needed to ask, but there was something he had to do first.

“……!”

Seeing the black demonic energy surge from Rad’s body as he grabbed his collar, Aiden grimaced and let go of his hand.

“……How did you know I was here?”

“You’re the Empire’s best knight, and the Second Princess of the Holy Crown Kingdom is using most of her power to monitor the area. Trying to sneak out without getting caught—now that’s just shameless.”

Rad’s face contorted further at the voice filled with sarcasm, completely devoid of even a shred of respect.

Of course, it wasn’t just because the other side had rubbed him the wrong way. He could feel it in the atmosphere.

At least before, there had been some pretense of respecting his ‘role’ as Minister of Administration. But now, it was clear he didn’t even intend to do that anymore.

Of course.

“So, what are you going to do about it?”

Rad raised that familiar smile he always wore on his face.

If anything, it gave him plenty to do.

It meant he no longer had to keep pretending to wear the skin of the Minister of Administration. Black demonic energy poured out of his body all at once.

No doubt, this wasn’t going to be a situation where either side would back down easily……

“I thought I told you last time to stay low and keep your head down.”

But despite that, Aiden brushed his hair back in irritation and responded.

“What you’ve been pulling lately is so petty, I don’t even know where to start. What the hell do you think you’re doing, trying to ruin someone else’s fiancé’s reputation?”

“……Hmph.”

Rad scoffed and began to swirl his demonic energy.

At the same time, the black aura spreading nearby gradually began to forge itself into weapons.

“Well, I’m not too fond of those childish games either. But our dear prince keeps going on about how he wishes everything would end peacefully, and doesn’t want to resort to extreme measures.”

His next words, laced with an overt sneer, followed immediately.

“Thanks to you, though, I think I can finally stop playing nice.”

“……”

“You just called me a puppeteer, didn’t you?”

He had clearly and precisely named it.

“I did.”

“……How much do you know?”

He had hinted once before that he knew who Rad truly was, but to name it this ‘precisely’—even Rad hadn’t expected that.

“How did you know that name? And how did you figure out it was me? I’ve got quite a few questions for you.”

“Yeah?”

“Yes. Normally, we do our best to respect the contractor’s wishes… That’s a rule of our ‘species,’ after all.”

The usual smile faded slowly from Rad’s face.

And what clearly surfaced in the gaze he fixed on Aiden was a calm, yet piercing hostility.

“At the very least, I need an answer to that. Otherwise, the unease is going to drive me crazy.”

At this point, it was clear this went far beyond being a mere threatening variable.

He had to find out exactly how much this man knew, where he had gotten such information, and expose every last detail—

“What’s a demon doing feeling uneasy?”

“……”

“You’re mental parasites. You wouldn’t even be capable of understanding sensations.”

To Rad, whose expression had hardened, Aiden once again sneered.

“You lot can’t even maintain your physical forms properly in the material realm ever since your god got sealed. And now you’re pretending to be human? Know your place.”

Rad let out a hollow laugh.

“…I didn’t think there were still humans in this era who knew about us.”

The word that most often came before the name of their species, demonkind, was “forgotten.”

Forgotten demons. Ever since Wornil, the God of Devouring, was sealed away as an outsider in the Pantheon, hundreds of years had passed—long enough for their existence to fade from memory.

And yet.

This man was speaking of their existence with such ease.

Their disgrace, their very way of being.

Perhaps even their true objective.

“……”

Reaching that thought, alarm bells went off in Rad’s head.

This went far beyond merely having his identity exposed—this human could become the greatest obstacle to his species’ long-cherished ambition.

In other words—

‘This man…’

Must be eliminated here.

No, not just eliminated.

“I’m going to have to take a peek inside that brain of yours.”

Rad stated this calmly as he began to walk slowly toward Aiden.

The prince with whom he had formed a contract had demanded the safety of “all subjects of the Empire,” and that included Aiden. Directly harming him would place a tremendous burden on Rad himself.

For beings with demonic attributes, contracts held far greater meaning than simple promises.

But even if it meant bearing that weight, this man was worth eliminating right now.

The demonic energy pouring from his body was now far thicker than before.

“It’s a relief you’re arrogant.”

Despite having monsters like the Lionhearted and Deathwish at his disposal, Aiden had come alone.

And if it was one-on-one, subduing him wouldn’t be all that difficult.

“I think I can throw that line right back at you.”

Yet even facing Rad in that state, Aiden replied with a bored tone.

“What makes you so sure you can beat me alone?”

At last—

From his coat, a revolver was drawn like lightning, imbued with supernatural power.

A triple imbuement. A single, terrifying shot with enough firepower to shatter even Katya and the Pontiff’s bodies into pieces.

The moment he pulled the trigger, the bullet flew at supersonic speed and pierced through Rad’s head. His body snapped backward in an instant.

But—

“Ah, I know. A multi-ability user. When you imbue a weapon, the power multiplies. Correct?”

—The words flowed out as if nothing had happened.

Rad approached with a sneer. Even with his head blown off, he didn’t stop moving, as if it were nothing.

Typically, when supernatural power is imbued into a weapon, it’s safe to assume the firepower roughly doubles.

But in Aiden’s case, he was a multi-ability user who could wield several powers at once.

2x2x2 is 8. That’s eight times the power of a standard ability. Which is why, even with a small-caliber revolver, his shots had enough force to shock the Lionhearted.

Even so—

Even after taking a hit like that—

“…Did you really think a demon would be subdued that easily? Even the youngest among us has lived for centuries.”

As Rad finished speaking, with his head still shattered, demonic energy surged endlessly around him. Like a tidal wave.

The writhing black energy began to fully take shape.

Like hardened tar clumping together, like soot stuck to the bottom of a sewer drain—

Grotesque, revolting, nauseating to look at, the supernatural power began to take the form of jet-black spikes darker than even the night sky.

“I already know that was your maximum output. You might as well prepare to die quietly—”

“Are you stupid?”

“…?”

“Why do you think I brought up something I didn’t even have to? Talking about demons, when all it’ll do is put you more on guard?”

“What are you saying?”

It was simple.

He brought it up because he was confident.

“You asked earlier how much I knew. Let me answer that. I know two things for sure.”

The first: that simply dealing physical damage to demons, who are essentially mental parasites, is meaningless. Their ‘true body’ isn’t even here to begin with.

And the second—

“That when someone like you reveals their ‘true body’ like you just did, the story changes.”

Of course, the Puppeteer was a particularly devious one among demons, likely possessing multiple disguises like this. But even so—

As long as he could strike the true body with overwhelming power, using everything he had, he could deliver a meaningful blow.

“…Which means.”

Rad gave a hollow laugh as he replied.

“You provoked me on purpose just so you could deal a meaningful blow?”

It was an absurd boast.

Rad had just witnessed with his own eyes how easily this man’s so-called trump card had been brushed off.

Even with various limitations, demonkind—long-lived as they were—were inherently powerful beings.

This man was clearly disconnected from reality—

“You really are an idiot.”

Aiden tilted his head to the side.

“Your updates are ridiculously outdated.”

With those words—

A different set of supernatural powers burst forth from Aiden’s body in an instant.

“Humans can do something called adaptation, you know.”

Once again, abilities were imbued into the revolver. The attack seemed the same as the one he had just fired at Rad.

However, the types of abilities being imbued this time were different.

The first: Guardian’s Flame, a fusion of Pure white qi and The First Vow.

The second: Brilliant Radiance, created by mixing The Savior’s Vow with Pure white qi.

The third: The Purifier, a combination of The First Vow and The Savior’s Vow.

Simple arithmetic.

When three abilities of the same type are combined, the power is 2x2x2.

That’s 8 times the normal strength.

But when you mix three already enhanced abilities, each from a blend of two different types—

A rough estimate: 4x4x4.

Which equals—

64 times the standard supernatural power.

“……”

The color drained from Rad’s face. Even to his eyes, the abilities now being infused into Aiden’s revolver were forming something—

Something...

Something absurd was being born from that weapon.

Rad’s movements grew frantic. He immediately gathered all the demonic energy he had pooled and constructed a barrier before him.

“……You damned—!”

No matter how fast a demon is, he can’t outrun a supersonic bullet. Better to defend and wait for another opening.

At that power level, if fortune was on his side, he might survive somehow. The odds were slim to none, but it was worth the gamble—!

“That’s why I asked you earlier, remember?”

But right then, Aiden added another card that shattered even those near-impossible odds.

-System Message

▶ Activating ‘Skill: Holy Flame Operation - Detonation.’

A skill that, once per day, instantly doubles the power of Holy Flame abilities.

Aiden himself didn’t know exactly how it worked.

But at the very least—it doubled the power.

That meant his already 64x enhanced attack was now doubled.

Which meant—

-128 times the power of a standard supernatural ability.

“……”

The power accumulating in the revolver looked like it could burn your eyes out just from a glance. It hadn’t even been fired yet, but the radiant light bursting from it hammered against Rad’s barrier of demonic energy.

The shot hadn’t even been fired.

Yet the aftershock of the energy alone was ripping through his demonic barrier.

“……”

Rad’s expression went blank.

Beyond thought, instinct was screaming the truth.

He—

Would never defeat this man, not even in another lifetime.

Only one word came to mind.

“…Freaking monster…”

“Sleep it off until Act I’s over. Stop being a pain.”

And then—

A blinding flash that seemed to erase the entire night sky became the last image Rad’s consciousness ever registered.