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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
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Chapter 343: The Descent of the Demon King (4)
The God of Strength was flung away, struggling to rise but too shaken to do so quickly.
Another god rapidly unleashed their power.
A black veil rose, aiming to engulf the Demon King.
It was the power of Sealing — a force that isolated all things from existence, banishing them into an empty void.
The Demon King raised a finger, a black light emanating from its tip.
Kiieeeng!
The light shattered the seal and charged toward the God of Sealing, who invoked their power to shield their body.
Ketal had succeeded in defending against the black light.
But the god did not.
The sealing power twisted and shattered in an instant, piercing their chest.
The God of Sealing staggered, groaning in pain.
Rumble!
Malice erupted, and power exploded.
As the Demon King pressed upon the earth, everything burst apart, shaking the bodies of the gods.
The Demon King stretched out a hand, grabbing one god by the head.
[Die.]
With a cold, detached command, the Demon King tightened their grip, moments away from crushing the god's skull.
Crash!
A single sword flew through the air, embedding itself in the Demon King's chest, forcing their body to recoil.
The god barely escaped the grip and quickly retreated.
Clang!
The Demon King reached out, grasping the sword embedded in their chest, and shattering it.
[Sword God, Elia.]
It was Elia, the Sword God, who had intervened, rushing in from beside Ketal, who had been observing the battle.
[...You’re as formidable as ever.]
Elia’s eyes, locked onto the Demon King, held a quiet sense of shock.
They had misunderstood.
Because Ketal alone had been holding back the Demon King, they assumed the Demon King’s strength had diminished.
It was inconceivable for a single being to face the Demon King at their prime, and this belief clouded their judgment.
But they were wrong.
The Demon King possessed the same overwhelming power as in the past.
The Demon King ignored the flustered gods and fixed their gaze on Ketal.
[Why aren’t you attacking him?]
The sudden question made Elia blink in confusion.
[Do you mean Ketal? Why should we attack him? He’s on our side and opposes you.]
[...So that’s the approach you’re taking. Foolish. You’ll regret this.]
[That would be our regret, not yours.]
[Indeed. Your regret will be that only five of you came before me.]
The Demon King clasped their hands together, a horrifying amount of demonic energy condensing within.
[Come. I failed to kill you last time. This time, I won’t make the same mistake.]
The five gods leapt into action simultaneously.
They were celestial beings — not avatars or incarnations, but their true forms.
Their power was beyond earthly comprehension or acceptance.
All five attacked the Demon King at once.
Logically, the Demon King should have been unable to withstand their assault.
But reality was different.
Crack!
The Demon King, wrapped in demonic energy, moved freely.
Elia’s sword shattered like a rotting plank.
The power of sealing disintegrated into fragments.
Even as the five gods coordinated their attacks perfectly, they failed to inflict any significant damage.
On the contrary, they were being pushed back.
Boom!
[Ugh!]
Elia barely blocked the Demon King’s attack but was sent flying by the force.
Someone caught her mid-flight.
[…Thank you.]
“No need to mention it.”
It was Ketal who caught her, speaking lightly.
“You don’t look well. Can you handle this?”
[…Probably not.]
Elia admitted it without hesitation.
The Demon King was the embodiment of all concepts of darkness and malice.
Five gods alone were not enough to defeat jim.
“Where are the other gods?”
[There aren’t any. Only those capable of descending came urgently to stop him.]
“So, you didn’t come here intending to kill the Demon King.”
The gods had descended not to defeat the Demon King but to buy time for the heavens and earth to prepare.
“What exactly are you here to do?”
[…To seal him.]
Elia answered.
[The Demon King’s seal. It won’t last long, but it will buy time for other gods to descend.]
“So that’s why the God of Sealing came along.”
Ketal nodded in understanding.
“Fine. I’ll help you.”
[…Thank you.]
“No, I’m the one who should thank you.”
Ketal smiled faintly.
Outwardly calm, his heart trembled with excitement.
‘To fight alongside gods.’
What stirring words!
Ketal tightened his grip on his axe.
Rumble!
The Demon King unleashed his power violently, shattering the gods’ defenses.
Finally—
Crunch.
One god’s chest was crushed.
Though their anatomy differed from humans, it was no trivial injury.
The Demon King raised a foot to stomp down and finish them off.
[Hmph.]
The Demon King’s expression changed as he abruptly swung an arm to deflect a flying axe.
Boom!
The Demon King was pushed back.
Ketal, also forced back, grinned as he adjusted his axe.
“As expected, you’re strong!”
[…You aberration.]
The Demon King frowned.
[You’re siding with the gods to oppose me?]
“That’s how it turned out.”
[Why?]
The Demon King’s voice carried genuine bewilderment.
It was a valid question.
Ketal was an outsider.
Logically, he had no reason to align with either side.
But Ketal answered casually.
“There are people I care about. Unfortunately, none of them are demons.”
And there was one more important reason.
“Above all, this side seems like it’ll be more fun.”
At that response, the Demon King's gaze darkened.
[Mad being.]
"If you’re upset, you should have met me first!"
Ketal laughed boisterously and stepped forward, closing the distance to the Demon King at a speed so great even the gods could not properly react.
The Demon King immediately countered, bringing his fist down.
Boom!
The ground shattered.
Hell began to lose its original form.
The Demon King and Ketal clashed.
The gods cooperated in the fight, lending their power to Ketal.
‘Ooooooooh!’
In the face of such a grand spectacle, Ketal trembled with exhilaration.
He felt a deep sense of fulfillment from within.
[To think I must fight alongside such immature beings. How insulting.]
The Abomination was visibly displeased but did not resist Ketal's command.
Crack-crack-crack!
Ketal and the Demon King collided again, and the gods sought opportunities in the gaps.
Ketal was initially outmatched by the Demon King, but the difference wasn’t overwhelming.
With the support of the gods, the balance evened out to some degree.
As the battle continued, the God of Sealing, who had been lying in wait, finally made their move.
Crash.
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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
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The Demon King’s fist pierced the God of Sealing’s abdomen.
Yet, the God of Sealing didn’t retreat.
Instead, they clung tightly to the Demon King.
The Demon King’s expression shifted.
[You.]
[Let’s go together, Demon King. Let’s have some fun for the next few days.]
Rumble!
With those words, the space around them distorted.
A void, an empty realm where nothing existed, swallowed them both.
The Demon King muttered with irritation.
[A petty trick.]
Snap.
With that final remark, the void sealed shut.
The Demon King and the God of Sealing vanished from Hell.
Elia sheathed the sword she had drawn.
[It is done.]
"Did they sacrifice themselves?"
[Without doing so, it would have been impossible to temporarily trap a being like the Demon King.]
The God of Sealing had sacrificed themselves to imprison the Demon King.
Their presence in this world was now gone.
Perhaps they had intended this all along, as the other gods showed no particular reaction.
Instead, they seemed relieved.
[To be honest, I thought we would fail. What a relief.]
[We owe you our thanks, Ketal. Without you, we wouldn’t have achieved our goal.]
"I enjoyed myself, so that’s fine. What do we do now?"
[We must return to the surface.]
Though the Demon King was sealed, the imprisonment wouldn’t last long.
At most, it would buy them a week.
During that time, preparations had to be made.
The gods needed to descend fully to the mortal realm to surround and kill the Demon King.
Elia spoke up.
[Let us return to the surface.]
Ketal nodded.
The gods and Ketal returned to the surface.
The mortals who encountered the true forms of the gods held their breath.
If the gods had not suppressed their divine presence, most of the mortals would have gone mad on the spot.
They wept and bowed their heads in reverence.
The gods addressed them:
The Demon King had descended upon this world.
Though they had temporarily sealed him, the seal would soon break, and he would reappear.
Preparations had to be made.
The surface world was thrown into chaos.
The records of the Great Demons and God's War still haunted them.
The Demon King had singlehandedly killed countless gods and burned half of the mortal realm.
Those records could very well become reality once more.
Mortals began desperate preparations.
Worshippers prayed fervently and offered sacrifices.
From the heavens, gods began descending one by one.
Among them was a god Ketal recognized.
[It’s my first time seeing your true form.]
"So it seems. It’s good to see you, Kalosia."
Ketal sat face-to-face with Kalosia, the God of Deception and Lies.
Ketal studied Kalosia with a curious expression.
"So this is your true form?"
It was impossible to discern whether Kalosia was a child, an adult, an elder, male, or female.
Their appearance was peculiarly indistinct, a mixture of contradictions.
"Strange."
[You’re no different. This is the first time I’ve seen your true form… how bizarre. So alien.]
Kalosia murmured in fascination.
[It’s truly curious how something like you has taken on the form of a human.]
Ketal shrugged silently. Leaning back in his chair, he spoke.
"What do you think will happen next?"
[The gods will continue descending one by one.]
The mortal realm’s power alone wasn’t enough to face the Demon King.
The gods needed to intervene directly, just as they had during the Demons and God's War.
[The Demon King’s descent has broken the balance, allowing us to descend as well. It will likely take a week for the seal to break. By then, about half of the gods should have descended.]
"Will that be enough?"
[No.]
Kalosia answered without hesitation.
[It won’t be.]
During the Demons and God's War, all the gods had descended to the mortal realm.
Even then, they failed to stop the Demon King outright.
Only after countless gods had perished and half the world had burned were they able to seal him.
The current situation was far worse than back then.
[Of course, your existence is a difference from the past.]
Ketal alone could stand against the Demon King.
Such a being hadn’t existed during the Demons and God's War.
What they had lost in numbers of gods, they had gained in Ketal.
Which side held the advantage was difficult to judge.
Ketal was a being who defied easy comparison, tipping scales drastically.
One thing was certain, however.
[Victory will not come easily. Even if we win, the cost will be immense.]
The Demon King would fight both Ketal and the gods.
In the process, countless gods would die.
As in the past, half the mortal realm could burn.
Ketal stroked his chin thoughtfully.
"That doesn’t sound very appealing."
[That’s why I’ve been pondering how we might change the outcome.]
How could they achieve victory?
How could they minimize the damage?
[The other gods are prepared to risk their lives, but… if there’s a more rational approach, it’s better to take that path. And I’ve come up with one possibility.]
"Oh? What’s that?"
[It’s a method I can’t achieve on my own. Your cooperation is essential.]
"My cooperation?"
Ketal looked puzzled.
Kalosia, their form a swirling enigma, betrayed no clear expression.
Yet Ketal could sense their smile.
[Ketal, have you ever considered becoming a hero?]
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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
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