From Today, I'm a Player

Chapter 212: Two Serpents Pt. 7

Lee Jun-Kyeong looked at Set and said, “Looks like you managed to survive.”

That day had been like an awakening. For the first time, he had experienced Multiple Sponsorship, and it was also the day that Set had disappeared alongside the sudden appearance of a massive crater in Egypt.

“Well, I just about died back then, but…”

Lee Jun-Kyeong could feel it emanating from Set as the Hunter stared back at him. It was a power that had reached such an extent that Lee Jun-Kyeong didn’t know how he could have been hiding such a huge aura until now.

“You see, I received help from that being.”

“As I expected…” Lee Jun-Kyeong nodded.

He had searched the place where Set had disappeared countless times, and the only thing he had found was a piece of cloth.

Lee Jun-Kyeong looked back at Set and commented, “The Demon King had saved you.”

“The Demon King? Are you all referring to that being as the Demon King?” Set responded, the corners of his mouth curling up as if he was interested. While Set spoke, Lee Jun-Kyeong signaled at Heracles and Odysseus with his eyes.

‘Go.’

Even now, as they were speaking to Set, the ceremony was still going on. It would be impossible for Heracles or Odysseus to stop Set.

‘Yashin should be vulnerable while the ceremony takes place. Hurry.’

Thus, the best course of action was for Lee Jun-Kyeong to hold Set back himself and send Heracles and the rest of the party to the origin of the ceremony.

“So the Demon King… I’m sure that being said something along those lines as well.”

“...!”

Lee Jun-Kyeong’s eyes widened. One of his assumptions had just been confirmed by Set’s words.

‘The Demon King remembers the future.’

He wasn’t the only one who had returned from the future. The Demon King also remembered the events in history and knew that he was the Demon King. Confirming that was huge.

“However, that being shouldn’t be given the title Demon King,” Set firmly said as he looked over at Lee Jun-Kyeong.

“No, he is a Demon God. He could never be belittled with just the title of a King.”[1]

Lee Jun-Kyeong gripped his spear and said to Set, “It’s a pity. If it’s the Devil…unfortunately, that title should belong to me.”

Thud!

Lee Jun-Kyeong kicked off the ground and soared high into the sky above Set, who had been standing on even ground with him.

“Now!” Lee Jun-Kyeong shouted, brandishing Muspel’s Spear from well above Set’s gaze. The burning spear blazed as his Dragon’s Breath moved to dominate the battlefield once more.

ROAR!

“Understood!”

“We’ll leave it to you!”

Fortunately, Heracles’ party had recognized Lee Jun-Kyeong’s signal and started to run. Although the Jackals quickly began to pounce toward them, indignant at being underestimated, Heracles began to exude a fearsome aura.

“Looks like you idiots really seem to think I’m some easy punching bag or something!”

His gauntlets started to shake as if they were about to burst. Without hesitation, Heracles slammed the ground with a fist.

“Get lost!”

His gauntlet exploded and sent fragments of earth everywhere. However, Heracles wasn’t done with just that.

“I am Heracles!”

He shouted his name and struck the air with the other hand he hadn’t used yet.

Boom!

The fragments that had hit the ground and shot out everywhere suddenly changed directions, flying toward the mana that was bursting through the air.

Clang, clang, clang, clang!

The sound of metal clashing repeated dozens of times over.

“Ugh…”

The groans of the oppressed Jackals echoed through the space. They were trained elite Hunters and were the most elite of Heroes. However, Heracles’ attack had been enough to overwhelm them.

Still, their strength wasn’t something to be laughed at. Although the Jackals had all been wounded, none of them had died. However, that was all Heracles had been aiming for, anyway.

“That’s more than enough in the first place!”

As Heracles and Odysseus ran away, Odysseus withdrew a bow from his inventory for the first time.

“It’s been a while since I’ve used this.”

It was a longbow that looked unusual, even at a glance. Odysseus nocked an arrow without any hesitation and shot it high into the sky.

Swish!

The singular arrow suddenly split while in the sky into dozens of arrows, raining down on the Jackals almost as if they had honed onto their bodies. The Jackals were quickly forced to raise their khopeshes and ready themselves for the arrows.

“We’ll leave it to you, then!”

“Mr. Underdog!”

There was a gap, and finally, Heracles and Odysseus had escaped the battlefield.

“Jackals.” The sound of Set's voice echoed throughout the battlefield. “Catch and kill your prey.”

“Understood!”

The Jackals, having blocked the arrows, quickly nodded and disappeared. The situation had unfolded just as Lee Jun-Kyeong wanted. However, his expression was still not good.

“Now, it looks like the picture you had wanted is complete, Underdog.”

It was because Set’s expression was so relaxed, and it was completely unable to be read.

‘Does he think that the ceremony won’t be stopped?’

Or could it be something else?

“Do you want the ceremony to fail?” Lee Jun-Kyeong asked. Looking at his indecipherable expression, he then readied himself for battle.

Boom!

The sound of explosions rocked the air from behind them from Hyeon-Mu and Hel’s battle, while Heracles and Odysseus had already gone ahead.

“Answer me, please.”

Now it was his turn.

Slam!

Lee Jun-Kyeong raised his foot and slammed it down on the ground.

Crack!!!

The road split in front of him. From within the crack, flames raged and soon began to erupt.

Flicker!

As if forming a magic circle, the erupting flames quickly surrounded and engulfed Set and Lee Jun-Kyeong. As if feeling the heat encroach over him, Set began to spread his hands and move.

Then, he finally gave the answer that Lee Jun-Kyeong had wanted, “It’s because the ceremony has already been completed.”

Rip!!

The sound of space itself tearing rang out. Before anyone realized it, Muspel’s Spear was touching the base of Set’s throat.

***

Muspel's Spear was held at the base of Set’s throat, and even though Lee Jun-Kyeong was able to pierce through his throat at any moment, he didn’t.

“What’s the Demon King’s goal?”

There was too little information. The information he had obtained from history or the book written by the Demon King was useless by this point as Lee Jun-Kyeong didn’t know the purpose of the Demon King with the world that the man had changed.

Set was definitely the Demon King’s subordinate.

“Did you really think I would say something?”

However, Set was relaxed, even as Muspel’s Spear was held on his throat. Lee Jun-Kyeong, as if expressing that his threat was no simple bluff, pushed forward the spear blade slightly.

Squelch.

A drop of blood seeped onto the tip of the blazing spear point and fizzled.

“Actually, I think I’ll be the one to ask.”

Even with Lee Jun-Kyeong’s driving move, Set’s expression didn’t change.

“It’s not too late now, so why don’t you join hands with us?"

Ssss.

Set disappeared from before him even though Lee Jun-Kyeong hadn’t sensed any signs of him making a move.

Clang!

Then, Set, who had disappeared from before his eyes, swung his khopesh. Lee Jun-Kyeong quickly reacted, raising his spear to block the blow.

“I know that the world that you desire is a world where ordinary people and Hunters live in harmony,” Set said as he took a step backward. “We can create that world.”

“Is that the Demon King’s purpose?” Lee Jun-Kyeong asked.

“No, his will is far greater than that.”

Set’s face finally had a readable expression: Ecstasy. It was the feeling of having achieved something huge, something to aspire for.

“He will be the god of this world,” Set said, declaring his final intentions. “He will force all to their knees and stand on top of all existence.”

“Hasn’t the world already been ruined, though?” Lee Jun-Kyeong asked.

“It is as he desires,” Set retorted, shutting Lee Jun-Kyeong’s mouth. “He desires to purify this polluted world. To turn it all into nothing and start anew, reforming a pristine world.”

Set stretched out both hands, the two khopeshes he dual-wielded soaring high into the sky.

“He will become the God of a new world, and everything will be according to his will… He desires to create a fair world without conflict or irrationality. What do you think? Is this not the world you desire, Underdog?”

Set seemed to truly follow the Demon King and support his will.

“Let us join hands. The Demon King also desires you. Moreover, I don’t hate you either, so…”

Set was talking to Lee Jun-Kyeong with a faint smile, but then he suddenly stopped speaking. As his eyes slowly descended, he saw that Lee Jun-Kyeong had given up on their polite conversation somewhere along the line.

"So that's the purpose of the Demon King?” Lee Jun-Kyeong said in a cool tone. Muspel’s Spear stuck out of Set’s chest.

“...”

Set stood, unable to respond. Lee Jun-Kyeong didn’t think that Set would die just from having his chest pierced.

“It will be difficult for you to survive this time.”

Shing!!

Muspel’s Spear resonated with his intent. The spear in Lee Jun-Kyeong’s hand began to glow red, emitting pure heat.

Hiss.

An intense heat erupted from the spear, causing the air to tremble as Set’s blood vaporized into smoke as it flowed down the spear's body.

“Well, that grand plan, unfortunately, will fail.”

Roar!

Flames erupted from the cracked ground, rushing toward Set and beginning to coalesce. A ball of flame circled around Set, trapping the Hunter in a blaze.

“I will stop it.”

Squelch!

Lee Jun-Kyeong pulled Muspel’s Spear out of Set’s torso and stepped back. Set struggled to escape the flames, but the flames that clung to his body seemed unwilling to let the Hunter go. The extremely condensed and oppressive inferno spewed over itself, radiating a sweltering heat as if it could melt anything it touched.

The very space it existed in collapsed as the void tore itself apart as the oppressive inferno created by Lee Jun-Kyeong incinerated everything. There was no way that Set would be able to survive while within it, or at least that was what Lee Jun-Kyeong assumed.

‘But, why am I still so anxious?’

That was why he couldn't leave. The orb of flame slowly consumed its strength and faded. In the space where the sphere of flame had dissipated, everything had returned to nothingness and become ashes.

Lee Jun-Kyeong approached the place where nothing should have existed.

Flicker.

The heat from whatever flames had still remained was enough to burn his clothes. Then, in disbelief, Lee Jun-Kyeong knelt down and picked up the remnants on the ground, letting them sift through his fingers.

Shhhh.

It was evident from what was flowing through his fingers.

“Sand…”

‘Set has run away once again.’

Lee Jun-Kyeong looked back.

Boom!!

A raging tempest washed over Lee Jun-Kyeong, and the gale contained a sticky and unpleasant aura.

“The ceremony…!”

He could tell at a glance where the wind was coming from, from the pillar of darkness that had already pierced through the sky. Heracles and Odysseus had been sent first, but they had failed to stop the ceremony. The pillar of darkness that pierced the sky slowly closed in and shrunk. In the center of the pillar that was growing smaller, an ear-piercing howl erupted.

For some reason, that grotesque and sullen howl that reverberated in his ears sounded like a newborn baby crying for the first time as it entered the world. He could feel an incredible aura coming from the source of the howl.

“It’s a real monster…”

From it, he could feel a monster that couldn’t be compared to anything he had seen before had been born in Tokyo, emerging from the pillar of darkness with pale white hair waving in the wind.

1. Demon God is the literal translation of the term Devil from the chapter where Lee Jun-Kyeong states he wants to be a Devil and not a Demon King. ????