Chapter 95: The Price of Power

Reph began to run again. Despite the short distance, his fatigue seemed to have already reached its limit, likely due to his strenuous pace.

Yeowon gently stroked Reph’s scruff, offering silent encouragement. As much as it pained him, he couldn’t afford to let Reph rest now.

A low rumble echoed.

A deafening roar followed.

Upon reaching the scene, a figure hovered in the air. The attire was familiar, as was the ominous aura.

Yeowon bit down hard on the inside of his cheek. The metallic taste of blood jolted his senses, bringing a semblance of clarity.

Grasping the axe from his back, Yeowon mounted Reph. Reph’s mane moved as if on cue, coiling around Yeowon’s ankles and waist, securing him firmly.

Yeowon had always treated Reph strictly as a pet. Yet, Reph was a born predator, a fighter, and, above all, remarkably intelligent.

He knew precisely what was expected of him. The magical creature, with its sleek muscles, transformed into a streak of black lightning, scaling the crumbling outer wall of the building.

By the time the demon realized their presence, its head had already been split open. The lifeless body plummeted, unable to even scream.

The other demons who belatedly noticed Yeowon met the same fate.

CRACK!

CRUNCH!

Each time Reph swept past, Yeowon precisely brought his axe down on a head. In an instant, the three demons guarding the exterior were dead.

Only five remained, lurking within.

Among them, Yeowon’s eyes twitched slightly as he sensed a familiar presence.

Reph rumbled, expressing his confusion. Yeowon hesitated for a moment, caught in a dilemma.

Sagyeol had only just entered the city. Even with Rephtha, it would take a few minutes for him to arrive, but the demons were already deep underground.

If they opened a gate and returned from there, everything would be over. Kratus would surely use Illeis Regiatus’s corpse to compensate for the lack of gate stones and cross over to this place.

His deliberation was brief. Yeowon, lowering his hand, prepared for the first time in ages.

For the first time in a truly long while, he unleashed his power.

A pitch-black void, like a drilling machine, instantly pierced through the floor, creating a path to the underground. It was the shortest route, dropping directly above the demons’ heads.

Reph, without a hint of hesitation, plunged into the darkness-filled abyss.

CRUNCH!

CRACKLE!

After descending a certain distance, Reph’s mane spread out, digging into the walls. His speed decreased amidst a shower of stone dust.

Upon reaching the bottom, Rephtha slammed his front paws down. The thin layer crumbled, dropping them into a smooth passage.

CRACKLE. SPUTTER.

A flickering fluorescent light, spitting sparks, faintly illuminated the surroundings. The floor was soaked with water from a burst pipe.

Blood, having flowed from fallen hunters, mingled with the water, indicating a prior battle. Yeowon dismounted Reph.

*SPLASH.* His footsteps in the water echoed unusually loudly. Five figures stood like shadows in the passage.

Though Yeowon feigned composure, cold sweat beaded on his nape. Illeis Regiatus’s corpse lay in the secret room just behind them.

It was truly a matter of mere seconds.

“Long time no see.”

One of the demons stepped forward, speaking. “So you were here after all.”

As he pushed back his hood, a familiar face was revealed. Despite knowing, seeing him directly still sent a small shock through Yeowon.

Yeowon frowned, speaking. “Shadow.”

Shadow raised an eyebrow, as if genuinely surprised by what he’d heard. “My, my, you actually speak?”

“……”

“Well, to live here, you’d have to. Still, it’s quite unexpected. To find your voice again after everything you’ve been through, and in just a few years.”

“……”

“Even so, please try not to speak to me if possible. In the past, perhaps. But now, even I, Shadow, cannot guarantee my safety if I associate with you.”

Shadow shrugged lightly. His eyes, however, were dark and hollow.

In those eyes, far more ravaged than when they last parted, Yeowon caught a glimpse of Kratus’s atrocities. Fear churned in his stomach.

He swallowed hard, along with a great deal of unspoken words. “I needn’t explain how the King reacted when he learned your death was a fabrication, and in truth, an escape.”

“You’re the one whose words have grown unnecessarily long. Are you trying to buy time?”

“What strange things you say. Isn’t that rather Lord Yenis’s specialty?”

The ancient name stung his ears.

Just as an old song can transport one back to the moment it was first heard, the sensations from the time he was called by that name enveloped Yeowon like a vast, coarse shroud.

He clenched both fists tightly. It was to hide the trembling at his fingertips.

This was not good.

Shadow flicked his fingers. The demons, who had been standing like mannequins, began to move.

They lunged at Yeowon in unison. As four hooded cloaks billowed, the narrow corridor became utterly packed.

“Reph, fall back!”

Reph leaped upwards, retreating through the hole he’d entered. While undeniably strong, his power was measured only by the standards of magical beasts.

He was no match for demons, especially not the elite Shadow of the Demon King. Reph was intelligent; he knew his presence would only hinder Yeowon.

He watched the battle, restless with worry. Yeowon drew the axe from his back and extended his hand forward.

He had already used his power. His chest had been burning as if scorched since earlier.

The faint contract grew stronger, and the master who held his soul beyond dimensions acknowledged his presence. Gritting his teeth, he ignored the pain.

Spherical voids materialized in the air, seizing the bodies of the hooded figures. However, only one was truly caught.

Yeowon focused on severing the waist of that one demon, killing it, then confronted the remaining three who had charged directly at him.

With each swing of his axe, black crescents clawed at the walls. The void infused in the blade foretold a fatal wound.

Even a graze would likely render them incapacitated. Shadow, observing from behind, clicked his tongue in disapproval.

“Aside from him, you are probably the strongest in the Demon World. I’ve never seen such combat specialization.

Your power is worthy of a Legion Commander, yet you’re a mere ‘flower in the hand’ due to the King’s favor. Frankly, it’s a pity.”

‘Bullshit,’ Yeowon thought.

“Were you always so talkative?”

“Only with you was I less so. I knew what terrible fate awaited me if I dared to answer by mistake.”

“For someone so cautious, you’re quite chatty now. I thought you said you were afraid earlier.”

“Naturally, that was a lie. Simply capturing you and presenting you would grant me absolution, so why wouldn’t I?”

CRUNCH!

A silent dagger flew, aiming for his temple. As expected of the demon’s subordinates, the hooded figures’ attacks were covert and chilling.

If one’s attention was diverted by the dazzling attacks from the front, a blade aimed at the spine would suddenly appear from behind.

For the first time in a long while, Yeowon was lost in old memories. The sensation of a battlefield, where countless deaths lay scattered like worthless debris, older even than his encounter with Kratus, poured over him like a baptism from the crown of his head.

CRUNCH!

“Ugh!”

The faint remnants of his hesitation vanished. Yeowon’s movements grew savage.

The massive axe slashed wildly through the narrow corridor as if it were a mere dagger. The confined, exposed space was disadvantageous to the hooded demons.

They attempted to conceal this disadvantage with a relentless coordinated attack and exploit their numerical superiority, but once Yeowon began to crush them with overwhelming force, they scattered like rabbits under a wolf’s assault, only to desperately charge again.

CRACKLE!

Just then, Sagyeol appeared, his timing impeccable. Though, he arrived a little later than Yeowon had anticipated.

“I got pretty lost. You didn’t happen to make this hole, did you?”

Yeowon merely nodded, his focus unwavering on the opponent before him. Sagyeol launched ice at the opponent, a lazy smile playing on his lips.

“I always think this, but my lover really is incredibly capable.”

The answer, however, came from Shadow. “You had a lover?”

Though his blood had only just begun to boil from the fight, Yeowon’s usually calm heart now pounded wildly. Yeowon instinctively denied it.

“No.”

“…No?”

Sagyeol narrowed his eyes and glanced back at Yeowon. That was all. He simply gestured for an explanation later, without a single unnecessary word.

“Hmm. Well, if you say so. I’ll just report that there was an annoying fellow nearby.”

There was no need to mention who the report was for. Yeowon revised his objective from ‘approach deterrence’ to something more proactive.

“Sagyeol.”

“Hm?”

“No matter what, we have to kill that bastard.”

“Wait. Did you just curse?”

Sagyeol, his eyes wide, slammed the opposing hooded figure against the wall with a chunk of ice, then rushed to Yeowon’s side. Standing next to him, he whispered with a flushed expression.

“Insane. So damn sexy! Tell me again when we’re alone later.”

“……”

Yeowon, with a look that spoke volumes, covered his face with the hand not holding the axe. His head throbbed. Shadow let out a clear laugh.

“It was a lie after all, wasn’t it?”

“The dead tell no tales.”

Yeowon, gripping his axe, glared and charged. Sagyeol leaped down, unleashing ice. The hooded figures rushing towards Yeowon froze, becoming one with the corridor wall.

CRUNCH!

SMASH!

Unlike magical creatures, simply freezing them wasn’t enough to defeat them, but it was sufficient to momentarily halt their movement. Yeowon, who had surged forward towards Shadow, lightly swung his axe.

The axe, brushing past them as lightly as a dagger, half-severed the necks of the immobilized demons. Blood erupted like a fountain.

Only one survived, having broken free from the ice a step ahead of his comrades. Sagyeol’s ice blades, conjured in the air, flew at him relentlessly.

Meanwhile, Yeowon, who had arrived directly in front of Shadow, attacked with the void in one hand and his axe in the other. Shadow, cloaked in darkness and shadows beneath his mantle, met Yeowon’s assault.

The void devoured the darkness, and the darkness was reborn each time. Shadow formed chakrams from his own shadows and wielded them. Black sparks flew with every clash of axe and chakram.

Yeowon held the advantage.

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