Chapter 256. The Last Barrier Pt. 6

“The only way the Demon King can die?” Arthur asked in a questioning voice. “Are you saying that the Demon King’s plan is to die?”

They couldn’t understand.

Not any of this entire chaos.

Not any of what was going on.

“He did all of this just because he wanted to die?”

Heimdall nodded slowly. “However, Jun-Kyeong isn’t strong enough yet.”

There were no signs of deceit in Heimdall’s voice, only a solid and strong conviction. It was one that contained only truth.

“Everything depends on that brat. Only if he can win over…”

“Are you talking about Baldur?” Zeus asked.

The hurdle that Lee Jun-Kyeong had to overcome and the opponent that Lee Jun-Kyeong was facing now.

“That’s right,” Heimdall answered.

“Jun-Kyeong has to defeat Baldur. Only then can he get closer to the Demon King’s level.”

“Then there’s nothing to worry about,” Zeus said with a relaxed face. “The Underdog, Lee Jun-Kyeong, is strong. Since you left for Seoul, he has grown unbelievably. Stronger than all of us, stronger than even you. A nobody like Baldur, no matter how much he could have been strengthened by the Demon King, would have already been defeated and left behind.”

Zeus’ voice was full of confidence.

“No.” However, Heimdall had a subtle hint of doubt in his voice. “It’s going to be difficult.”

ROAR!!!

At that moment, a pillar of fire erupted from the Association building again, even bigger than before. The heat emitted by it was more than enough to reach this place.

“That bastard is the greatest masterpiece the Demon King has ever created. Even for Jun-Kyeong, he won’t be someone easily defeated. That’s why we can only approach the Demon King after defeating Baldur.”

Zeus, who was looking at the pillar of fire, asked Heimdall another question, “So, you’re saying…”

He believed in Lee Jun-Kyeong. Even though it would be difficult, Lee Jun-Kyeong would overcome it.

“The Demon King’s only purpose is to die? Then you bastards—are you saying that you, Odin, and the others who had sided with the Demon King to create this division between us only did so to help someone who wanted to commit suicide?”

Heimdall shook his head, his tone bitter, “No.”

The Demon King’s purpose was more than that.

“His purpose is the same as yours.”

“Same as us?”

What could he have meant by that? That the Demon King wanted to handle this situation and bring peace to Earth? In that case, he could just stop everything right now and surrender. But if that wasn’t the case…

“To kill all of the Sponsors. That is the Demon King’s purpose, and…” Heimdall spoke with a gaze that seemed to hide numerous secrets. “Only then can the Demon King die.”

***

“That’s impossible…”

All of the mana in the vicinity had been incinerated. Moreover, as if that wasn’t enough, it had been burned over and over again so that it would never regenerate. Lee Jun-Kyeong had bolstered the flames to the point where he had used up all of the strength he had been saving for the fierce battle with the Demon King.

“Isn’t it amazing? I found it fascinating too…”

Nevertheless, Baldur was fine.

“I tried everything. Anything you can imagine,” Baldur said, his face full of shadows. “However, nothing worked. That was when I made the decision.”

The sincerity in his voice was evident. He had been exhausted by life, but now, he was showing his eagerness.

“After he made me into this, he told me to kill you. So, I’ll kill you first, and then…”

Baldur smiled. It was a sincere one, not that bitter facsimile he had before. “I’ll deal with those bastards that made me like this.”

He would take down Odin and the Demon King.

“Odin is dead.” However, Lee Jun-Kyeong just responded in a calm tone. “He was killed by Fenrir.”

“...”

𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Baldur’s expression froze, and after a while, a roar echoed through the air. “Hahahahaha!”

Bang!

At the same time, a ray of light reached Lee Jun-Kyeong’s ribs. Although he twisted himself in a split second’s notice and allowed the light to flow right by him, he still felt the pain of the blow.

“...”

“Dead? He’s dead?” Baldur shouted. “Who the hell are you to kill him?! No, wait, it wasn’t even you…but by that damned wolfling?”

Dozens of emotions flashed across his face.

‘He’s gone completely mad.’

Baldur covered his face with one hand and his stomach with the other. “Fine… fine…”

Shing!

As he was about to open his mouth once more as if he had thought of something, Lee Jun-Kyeong summoned Muspel’s Spear before he could react. No, Lee Jun-Kyeong held up Surtr. It pierced through space as if it was eviscerating it.

“You did good. Because you did good, I’ll have to give you a reward.”

However, Lee Jun-Kyeong’s spear couldn’t reach Baldur as the Hunter disappeared along with a flash of light.

BANG!

Lee Jun-Kyeong turned around as he felt a sharp pain in his back.

‘He’s fast.’

Baldur was faster than anyone he’s ever faced.

‘Baldur’s abilities…’

The Hunter’s abilities used light as a base, allowing him to move at the same speed. However, now, it seemed as though those very abilities had been multiplied by a level, or even several levels. If Lee Jun-Kyeong had been able to sense his presence to avoid the coming blow, it would have already been too late.

BANG!

He would have to avoid it before he could even sense it.

“This is sorta fun, isn’t it?”

Baldur's voice lingered in his ears as Lee Jun-Kyeong quickly stabbed toward the place he heard it come from.

“I’ll just kill you. You can die, right? So I’ll just kill you.”

Suddenly, Baldur was speaking to himself from a distance away.

“I… I guess I was deluding myself,” Lee Jun-Kyeong said as he finally prepared himself. To even consider saving his strength so he could deal with the Demon King—that in the first place was a sign of his arrogance.

Thrum.

Red-hot, blood-like flames swirled from Lee Jun-Kyeong. “I’ll start taking this seriously.”

Baldur was strong. He wasn’t an opponent that could be beaten if Lee Jun-Kyeong tried to conserve his power. He would have to do his best to take him down.

“Oooh, how clever~” Baldur said to Lee Jun-Kyeong from where he had landed. “You enveloped your entire body in flames…then…”

BANG!

“Did you think I wouldn’t be able to get to you or something?”

A fist grazed Lee Jun-Kyeong’s cheek, and for a split second, Lee Jun-Kyeong saw it. Baldur had thrust his fist through the wall of flames. Although the ultra-high heat melted Baldur’s durable body, his regenerative power exceeded the rate of melting. Lee Jun-Kyeong stomped the ground and shifted his stance as Baldur’s fist disappeared.

“Then, is it that you can’t feel pain?”

He had asked that as Baldur would attack indiscriminately, ignoring the pain as his body melted.

However, Baldur just responded nonchalantly and stretched out a fist again, “Of course I can.”

***

“What do you mean that the Demon King can only die if he kills the Sponsors?” Merlin asked if she had finally understood something.

However, Heimdall didn’t answer.

“It looks like you don’t have a good grasp of the situation,” Zeus said.

Crackle.

“Ugh!!”

An electric current passed through the water tank as Heimdall trembled from being electrocuted.

“That’s not any regular water. It’s Merlin’s own concoction, which transmits electricity much better than normal water,” he continued as he sent a constant stream of electricity into the water. “Besides, we have no intention of engaging in trivial talk with you.”

Zeus' voice was heard clearly in Heimdall's trembling ears. “We’re of the mind to seriously force information out of you to the point where torture isn’t off the table anymore.

“Gasp…gasp…”

As Zeus stemmed the electric current, the atmosphere, which had relaxed slightly, suddenly became cold.

However, Heimdall responded clearly, even through his pain, “I can’t tell you.”

Zeus winked at Arthur, motioning for him to push the sword that was touching Heimdall’s chest a little further.

“At least not yet.”

This made Arthur stop in his tracks, understanding what Heimdall was hinting at. He wasn’t someone who would lie and also had already intended to fully cooperate with them. But, even with that intention, he still couldn’t explain it.

“Is it a restriction?”

It was clear that the Demon King had done something to him. Heimdall’s continued silence was a response in and of itself.

“Then when can we talk?” Zeus asked.

“When Jun-Kyeong defeats Baldur. Then I can tell you everything.”

“Baldur…is he strong?”

Only then did the party begin to take an interest in Baldur.

It wasn’t that they didn’t know that he would be strong, it was just that they never thought that he could be on par with Lee Jun-Kyeong. Lee Jun-Kyeong was someone whose strength had been cultivated to take on the Demon King. They were confident that he wouldn’t lose to Baldur or the like.

“He’s strong.” However, even though he knew that fact, Heimdall’s answer stayed the same. “Moreover…he will be more persistent than anyone else.”

“Persistent?”

Heimdall’s gaze shifted over to Zeus, who was sitting on the container. “What do you know about True Immortality?”

“...”

“Not the same Immortality that Jeong In-Chang has. It’s also different from the super regeneration that you all have.”

Immortality.

Zeus said flatly, “There’s no way something like that exists.”

It was already an impossibly terrifying Authority, let alone True Immortality, something that didn’t exist.

‘He had definitely said that one of them had died, too.’

Lee Jun-Kyeong had said that there had been a Sponsor who had died because of him—something about his Sponsor doing so? That meant that Sponsors could kill each other, meaning that True Immortality was something impossible for even Sponsors.

“There’s no such thing.”

“No, it exists,” Heimdall said firmly. “Didn’t I tell you?”

“There’s no way…”

Merlin seemed to have understood something and fell silent with a shocked expression. Her companions looked over at her as she shook her head and slowly opened her mouth, “The Demon King…”

“The Demon King?”

“Heimdall said that the reason the Demon King was doing all of this was to die.”

The others agreed, having heard the same.

“He also said that the Demon King could only die if all of the Sponsors were dead.”

Heimdall’s face was calm as if Merlin’s words were correct.

“So, what about that, Merlin?” Arthur said, impatient.

“Then it’s the Demon King.”

“And??”

“The Demon King is one very such True Immortal! An immortal whose condition for death is impossible: “Kill all of the Sponsors!”

“...!”

Only then did everyone understand.

“If the conditions can never be met, then isn’t that True Immortality?”

“What on earth are you thinking…?” Zeus said as he glared in response to Heimdall’s words.

“How are we supposed to beat a bastard like that?! I thought that the Demon King wanted to die! Lee Jun-Kyeong. Isn’t that brat supposed to win? All fighting an immortal like that would do is drain him of his strength!”

He was angry, angry at the horrid plan that existed from the very beginning.

However, Heimdall answered succinctly, “That’s the reason why. Only if Lee Jun-Kyeong can kill that tenacious Baldur in the state that he is in now would he be able to kill the Demon King, who has even more difficult conditions for death.”