Chapter 41: Shut Up, You Demon
The demons were easily dispatched.
The Demons of Corruption, who specialize in infiltration in the first place, have low combat capabilities. Add to that their inability to flee outside of the Divine Flame, and you have a one-sided hunt.
‘Still, it’s a huge number. If this many saboteurs were working from within…….’
Koo Dae-Sung realized that this quest itself had a ridiculous difficulty level.
With this many demons lurking inside, would they be able to deal with them even if an A-rank raiding party came?
Koo Dae-Sung didn’t think so.
“Of course…….”
Leon Dragonia Lionheart was a king from another world with a completely different common sense than modern Earth, a misguided royalty who has no intention of adapting to Earth, but rather forcing it to adapt to him.
But this man’s methods always get results.
What choice do we, the common folk, have but to trust this man, or better yet, bet on him?
This was something that even the Hunters themselves admitted, let alone the ancients.
After all, they had grown to the point where they were able to fight against a demonic army when they were only D-ranks. But──
“Team Leader Kim, isn’t that a little… wrong?”
“……Hmm.”
The Hunters shook their heads as they watched the tragedy unfold in the square.
* * * *
The demons inside the castle have been decimated but the citizens are in shock. They were horrified that there were Fallen among them, and terrified that someone next to them might be one.
Most of all, they feared the demons clad in human flesh.
“Pull them out!”
Leon felt the need to dilute their fears and as all the citizens watched, he hung one of the captured demons in the center of the square.
“Fear not, citizens of the Spero Kingdom. For as long as the Lionheart King exists, these demons cannot transgress against you.”
The citizens stared at the hanging demon but their gazes were still filled with more fear.
The hanging demon basked in the fear directed at him and let out a ghastly laugh.
“Hahahahaha… Don’t think this is the end. You will be doomed. The powers of corruption will turn you into──”
“Shut up, you demon!”
Leon’s blade slammed into the demon’s skull, crushing it.
Its skull collapsed, one of its eyeballs popped out, and its chin dropped to the ground, making it look ugly.
“Look at this ugly beast! These depraved powers are responsible for tempting you and causing you to fear! It is their fault that you are hungry, that you are sick, that there is discord in your family, that you fell this morning, that you are unable to marry, that you have lost money gambling!”
“Why is it my fault──?”
“Shut up, you demon!”
“Aaahhhhh!”
This time, the right ear was ripped out as the demon screamed and the citizens watched and questioned the appearance of such a demon.
-What, that demon is to blame for my mom’s illness?
-Is he to blame for my failed confession to Marilda?
-Was that asshole responsible for me losing money at the gambling house yesterday?!
“You bastard! Why is that my fault──?”
“Shut up, you demon!”
“Citizens striving for justice, demons are the ones who bring bad luck to your lives, for they are responsible for every misfortune in your lives, and your lack of knowledge of the right faith is also due to their interference.”
Ignorance is blamed on the demons. The demons were guilty, but they had no defense. If he opened his mouth, Leon’s violence would be unrelenting.
“But you have nothing to fear. For your sake, Petos, the god of war and flame, has sent down his sacred flame.”
Leon grasped the wood that was burning the plaza but the blazing flames didn’t scorch his skin in the slightest.
“There you are.”
“I, you mean me?”
“Yes, come out here.”
The young man is forced to step forward as Leon points at him and Leon hands him a piece of burning wood.
“Hold it.”
“Yes?”
“I won’t tell you twice.”
The young man hesitated, but remembered walking through these flames didn’t hurt unless you were a demon. Having experienced it once, he grasped the burning wood.
“Wow…….”
And as expected, the flames did not hurt the young man.
“Punish this demon with this. Until this demon meets the punishment he deserves.”
“Uh… that, that’s…….”
“You’re going to show mercy, are you actually sympathizing with the demon?”
“Oh, no, I’m saying that my father was killed by these demons too!”
“Then unleash your wrath, for the God of War delights in righteous indignation, and you have a duty to purge this vile beast!”
Gulping, the young man gripped the wood and stared at the demon. His legs trembled as the demon’s fierce eyes bore into him.
All you have to do is touch me with that thing. I’ll chase you to the ends of hell and kill you──!
Will you be a good boy and open your eyes!”
“What?!”
The demon’s teeth are knocked out by Leon’s fist, his skull is crushed, his eyeballs gouged out, his ears ripped off, and his teeth knocked out…it was almost comical.
“Hear me citizens! You have a right to punish this vile beast! Punish it! Make it suffer! Burn him alive!”
The burning wood was piled up; its sanctity was paled, but it would torment the demon all the more.
The young man beat the demon with burning wood and the demon bound by the ‘sacred wire’ was unable to resist.
“Kill the demon!”
“Kill the demon!”
The cheers of the citizens terrified the demon.
“You, you madmen, the curse of corruption is upon you──”
“Shut up, you demon!”
The demon tongue was ripped out of his mouth for his protest but the demon did not know that he was the luckiest demon alive because he was beaten to death by the citizens.
* * * *
In the dank, damp basement of the castle, demons were imprisoned.
Beltas, the demon of pleasure and depravity, shuddered at the screams echoing from the dank dungeons.
He had tortured and corrupted countless humans in his 34 years as a demon, but he never thought he would be in this position.
“Ugh… Uh, why can’t I get any strength in my hands?”
Beltas struggled to untie the ‘wires’ that bound his hands, but he could not move them.
-Oh!
The sound of iron legs pounding the stone floor grew closer.
-Crackle
The camera’s eyes stared at Beltas.
Although the minimalist size could be considered cute at first glance, Beltas knew better because the tiny little mechanical spider had slaughtered their kind.
“What, what!”
How does one corrupt a machine? It was a question Beltas could not answer for now.
Yappy said.
-Provide information.
“Ha! You think I’m going to listen to a mimic!”
He tried to sound amused, but the cold machine’s gaze only bore into him. Unnervingly so.
-No. 14. Uncooperative.
With those words, Yappy knocks on the iron gate, and armed soldiers open it and enter.
“Ha! Kill me if you must, for I will surely resurrect…what is that?”
Beltas face turned a deep shade of blue as he sensed an unusual aura coming from the water cistern the soldiers had brought with them.
The cistern was filled with diluted holy water from the Holy Grail.
-See Big Data. Reasonable conclusion.
Beltas swallowed the question that fluttered in his throat.
-The water knows the answer.
“What?”
In an instant, a wire was wrapped around Beltas neck. Yappy’s mechanical arm pulls on the coiled wire, and the demon’s face is plunged into the trough.
“Krrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!”
Beltas screams in horror as his flesh melts away but rising bubbles replace his screams.
“Puhhh!”
Beltas face lifted as the wire around his neck gave way but his face melted into a hideous mess.
“You, you bastard, I am Beltas, the demon of pleasure and depravity, and you’ve done this to me-”
-Uncooperative.
“Uffu! Uffu! Ehhhhhhh!”
The bucket of diluted holy water was not enough to extinguish the demon. But the pain was certain.
“Kuheh!”
-Cooperative. A request to provide useful information under objective judgment.
“Now, wait.”
-Uncooperative.
“Help me.”
-Uncooperative.
-Crrrrrrrrrr!
“I’ll tell you, I’ll tell you anything, so please, no more holy water…!”
Only then did Yappy release his grip on the wire.
“That, but what should I say, I don’t know anything──”
-Uncooperative.
“Wait, I’ll talk. I’ll tell you whatever you want, whatever you want…… Stop, stop, please…….”
Beltas confessed everything he knew. How to corrupt humans, where, when, and how many mid-level demons were in place… everything he knew.
Yappy, who had been recording Beltas words without missing a single one, let out a cold mechanical sound.
-Prisoner number 14. Information text 30,564 characters. 9,104 characters short of the average text of prisoners one through thirteen, 39,667 characters.
“What? What’s that…….
-You could have divulged more information.
What the fuck?! You said average! And you know how much I said with text numbers!
-Calls into serious question the need for life support for prisoners.
“What do you want me to say?”
* * * * *
-Over. Synthesis of 32 informational texts. More than 89% similarity. Derived as reasonable truth.
Yappy’s report was indeed accurate and reasonable.
He tortured demons to get them to say anything, and then he found the information that matches each other.
The higher the match, the more accurate the information, which is then reported to Leon.
“Hmm, good to know. Good work, Lord Spinner.”
-Yup!
Leon was ready to use the organized information to kill the demons. He slaughtered hundreds of demons in the plaza, but those lesser demons won’t be enough for a divinity to descend.
He needs to kill at least five high-level demons before he can bring Goddess Fle down.
“Lord Spinner, what did you do with the demons once you had all the information?”
-Disposed of. Held at 127 decibels for 14 seconds. Very successful.
Yappy didn’t bother to mention that screams of agony resounded in the prison. He merely fulfilled the order, “Let them die in agony.”
-Square firing squad confirmed death. Peak 155 decibels. Citizens’ cheers 189 decibels.
Yappy played the demons’ screams.
-Keeeeeeeeeeeee!!!
-Keeeeeeeeeeeee!!!
“Hmm, the sound of justice done is always sweet to hear.”
With that, Leon entered the bedroom. Armed with this information, he would begin hunting the demons tomorrow morning.
For the past two hundred years, Leon has been on the trail of demons, hunting them down as they fled. He was a specialist in demon hunting.
None will escape the Lionheart King’s slaying.
‘My heart is racing.’
Leon lay in bed with his heart pounding. As he sniffed his pillow, he envisioned tomorrow’s brutal hunt for demons.
“Hmm…….”
His chest tightens, he can’t sleep and his hands and feet are shaking. It’s strange.
His heart is pounding, his head is boiling, and he feels like it’s about to explode.
‘Even while this king is asleep, the demons are breathing their foul breath on the world, aren’t they?’
At the thought of it, his anger soared.
-Your Majesty. Heart rate spiking. Dizzy spells. Chest pain. Difficulty breathing.
“Ugh…!”
Leon jerked to his feet. He couldn’t get back to sleep.
“Lord Spinner, I cannot bear the thought of these creatures living and breathing in the same world as me. What can I do about it?”
-Rapid Elimination.
“That’s a good idea, we should go out for the night!”
Leon feels no fatigue. The living demigod has infinite vitality, so he never tires, even after repeated battles.
It was the same with machines so Leon rushed out of the castle with Yappy.
It was the start of a brutal night for the demons.
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