DMHS 83

“Tsk, this is unfortunate. I knew you were the one who pressured Asaad until he confessed. I was willing to overlook your crime of hiding like a rat during the festival, just to settle our debts properly…”

“There seems to be some misunderstanding. Lord Lucien and I came here with the chieftain’s formal invitation.”

“Don’t play dumb. I know you came to confirm whether we were involved in yesterday’s incident.”

Kian openly tested his opponent.

“Do you know what happened in the Kingdom yesterday?”

“Pretending ignorance won’t help. Signs of the Descent must have appeared in all the scriptures!”

Pearl Asif took the bait far too easily.

“My point is, how do you know that? The Delian tribe uses different scriptures than the Kingdom, so no anomalies occurred here. And you, who despise the Kingdom, surely haven’t exchanged letters with its citizens.”

Only then did Pearl Asif seem to realize he’d been led into a trap. He covered his mouth and chuckled.

“Kingdom folk are different, aren’t they? You’ve mastered the art of beating around the bush. But I am a Delian. Since the Divine watches over us, I have no shame when I look to the heavens.”

“So, were you the one who caused the ominous phrase to appear in the scripture?”

“Not me. But it was one who shares my purpose. Our name is ‘Heart of Dawn’, prophets awaiting the rebirth that follows this world’s destruction.”

‘What did he do to deserve such arrogance?’

As Kian, utterly flabbergasted, searched for words, Malan whispered from behind him.

“It’s almost done. Just buy us a little more time.”

Kian looked at the chieftain laid upon the summoning circle.

“How did you retrieve the chieftain’s body?”

“We replaced it with a doll. Ah, are you upset that we used the chieftain’s body for this ritual? But understand this, it’s for the greater good. The chieftain sacrificed himself in place of the entire Jemar tribe.”

Pearl Asif arched his back and chuckled.

“Summoning a high-ranking demon requires many lives. That’s why I resolved to exterminate the entire Jemar clan tonight. Our losses will be heavy, but it cannot be helped. To achieve the greater cause, minor sacrifices must be endured.”

“……”

“But the Chieftain’s passing has simplified matters. The goddess isn’t the only one who loves the pure. Demons also covet the souls of the holy and noble. Now, the Chieftain alone serves as the sacrifice in place of dozens of lives. If he knew, wouldn’t he be overjoyed?”

Kian clenched his fist, then released it.

‘So that’s what it was.’

The cause of the chieftain’s death, which had remained a mystery until the very end, was finally revealed.

Ultimately, the chieftain had made a choice to save Bashim and the Jemar clan members. Even knowing that the soul used in the summoning would become the demon’s possession forever…

‘We must stop the demon from being summoned.’

A resolute light hardened in Kian’s eyes. Pearl Asif feigned sudden terror.

“Oh my, how frightening! Should we flee?”

“……”

“But what now? The summoning circle has already succeeded.”

Pearl Asif jumped from the podium, dramatically spreading his arms wide.

“Now then, you have waited long enough. Answer our call, Archfiend Agares…”

A sinister crimson aura erupted from the summoning circle. The patterns etched into the floor blurred as droplets of blood rose into the air. Chieftain Salman was nearly swallowed by the black shadows surrounding him.

A familiar symbol appeared on the cave ceiling. It was the seal of the demon Agares.

It was at that very moment.

“Now! Stand back!”

Malan shouted. Kian and Pearl Asif’s gazes instantly fixed on the Cardinal.

Malan’s entire body now glowed brilliant white, radiating overflowing divine power.

His brown hair had turned white, his eyebrows likewise. Even his once-blue [unauthorized copy]eyes had shifted to gold, making him appear less human and more like dazzling light itself.

Kian’s back grew damp with panic.

‘Damn it.’

Kian sensed what Malan intended to do. As Yan, the hero who had once vanquished demons alongside the heroes, he knew exactly what was happening.

‘He’s going to unleash his divine power to capture the demon.’

With the demon Agares unable to establish a foothold on the earth, overwhelming it with divine power greater than the force summoning it would cancel the summoning. It was indeed an excellent choice to stop Pearl Asif…

‘But that level of divine power would wipe me out too!’

This was far from welcome news to Kian, the other demon present.

A warning light flashed in Kian’s mind.

‘No!’

If he stayed like this, his human form would melt away completely. His scattered soul would return to the demon realm as a shadow.

His body, already weakened after being killed once by Asaad’d hand this very evening, would undoubtedly take a long time to recover.

‘I have to escape from here.’

Kian turned on his heel. Mana instinctively surged into his legs. Without looking back, he ran toward the connecting passageway.

But it was already too late.

Malan’s lips, pale as death, parted slowly.

「Light of Judgment」

A blindingly intense light erupted from Mallen’s body.

――!

As Kian raced through the passageway connecting to the Temple of Destruction, he realized things had gone awry. No matter how fast he was, he could never outrun light itself.

He felt the immense divine power spreading behind him as he fled.

“…..!”

His back, touched by the divine power, burned as if set alight. At this rate, the agony of his entire body melting away alive would soon come.

Kian squeezed his eyes shut. Though he had lived countless years, this was the first time he would completely shed his human form and return to the demon realm.

In the moment when he, who lived immortal, came closest to death, this thought crossed his mind:

‘If I disappear, he will worry.’

He who had waited by Lucien’s side only for the moment to die and vanish… What a laughably futile concern.

Yet Kian’s worry proved unfounded.

Thump.

Kian opened his eyes, feeling a sudden lightness near his chest. The white rabbit he’d carried in his embrace all along had hopped up and leapt free from his arms.

Only Kian, a demon, suffered harm from divine power. For creatures born of the goddess’s will, divine power acted like a restorative elixir, clearing the mind and soothing fatigue.

Even so, Kian froze in panic. He couldn’t let the rabbit slip away like this.

As Kian reached forward, the rabbit’s body twisted grotesquely, then puffed up like dough.

The transformed form resembled an eagle, yet also a mountain goat. It bore the likeness of a cat or an elephant, a fox or a crocodile, or even a turtle.

Simultaneously, it resembled all these animals combined into one, yet paradoxically, it seemed like none of them. It was an enigmatic, transcendent being.

But there was no time to marvel at the rabbit’s transformation. Kian rolled across the floor, desperately trying to extinguish the divine power burning like fire upon his back.

After rolling once and rising,

“Ah…”

Kian found himself standing outside the cave, in the middle of the desert.

As if waiting for him, a dazzling light erupted from the distant cave.

Whoosh!

The brilliant divine power pierced through the cave and shot straight up toward the distant sky.

Despite the night, clouds in the vicinity visibly dispersed, clearing the sky.

The sacred light blanketing the heavens finally fell toward the earth, sparkling like shooting stars. To the uninitiated, it would have been a sight of pure beauty.

Kian lowered his gaze from the sky to the ground and felt his chest. Where the rabbit had been, only warm body heat remained, nothing solid to grasp.

‘What was that just now?’

One thing was certain.

‘It moved me out of the cave.’

It had saved Kian’s life.

“Haa…”

Kian exhaled in relief and collapsed onto the sand.

It had been ages since he’d felt such mortal danger. His entire body was drenched in sweat from the sheer tension.

Kian brushed his damp bangs aside and gazed up at the sky.

Perhaps it was the desert. The stars embroidering the pitch-black night sky seemed unusually vivid.

‘Let’s go back.’

Kian rose from the sand and brushed it off. The divine power just unleashed had been potent enough to melt and obliterate a manifested demon. The demon that had been about to be summoned into the human world had surely vanished before it could even form a physical body.

Arriving at the cave entrance with slightly quickened steps, Kian encountered [stolen content]people holding torches.

Among them, a familiar face approached Kian, feigning recognition.

“What brings you here, my lord?”

It was Bashim. Kian voiced the excuse he had prepared beforehand.

“While resting in my chamber, I witnessed a wondrous light rising. Believing it to be the goddess’s blessing, I hurried here.”

Bashim’s eyes softened into a gentle curve.

“So you saw the light too. I too came here, following it while preparing for the funeral.”

“Then might I enter as well?”

“Hmm… This is the Temple of Destruction. Those unfamiliar stolen contentwith Lord Yahdreir may find it somewhat unsettling.”

It was a polite refusal. Kian recalled what Bashim had said earlier that day.

“You mentioned that the two gods are twin siblings, born from a single source. I believe the very fact that the light of creation surged forth from the Temple of Destruction is proof of that belief. I too wish to draw closer to the truth concerning the goddess.”

Bashim was deeply moved by Kian’s declaration of faith.

“Let the flame of creation illuminate your heart…”

Bashim made the holy sign and addressed those around him.

“Let us enter together, my mate.”