First of All, I’m Drinking - Chapter 108

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 108

“That thing….”

The beastfolk looked up at Lucifer with obvious confusion and panic.

Lucifer gazed at them briefly with the look of someone observing insects.

Swoosh.

Lucifer raised his arm.

“Take cover!”

I shouted instinctively.

At the same time, a storm of demonic energy shattered the earth.

Kwaaaaaaaaa-!

“Aaaaaaahhh!”

A black whirlwind tore the ground to pieces.

The beastfolk who heard my warning and hurriedly dodged avoided disaster.

But those who couldn’t were caught in the demonic energy and turned to minced flesh.

“Damn it!”

A rough curse burst from Genta’s mouth.

“Survivors! Are all the survivors safe!”

Fortunately, the beastfolk who escaped the storm were all unharmed without injury or disability.

“We’re fine!”

“We’re all right!”

Either completely unharmed, or dead as minced meat.

It was one or the other. There was no middle ground.

“Damn….”

The Emperor growled low.

His eyes never left Lucifer floating arrogantly in the air.

“What is that monster. I don’t see any way we can win against it.”

The Emperor seemed to have already assessed the battle prospects against Lucifer in his mind.

The result was certain defeat.

It was impossible for a mere mortal to oppose a deity.

At least not in our current state.

“It’s Lucifer.”

Even if victory seemed impossible, I had to inform the Emperor about that being’s identity.

“Lucifer?”

“Yes. It matches exactly with the description of Lucifer I learned in liberal arts classes at school.”

Though I’d never actually learned about his physical appearance.

“Lucifer, is that really true, Prince Asel?”

Genta, who had overheard our conversation, hurriedly approached.

“There’s no doubt. He’s definitely manifested in the Mortal Realm for a short time using a proxy’s body.”

“If it’s Lucifer… Isn’t he one of the Demon Lords! How can we mortals possibly face a deity….”

“Of course we can’t win.”

I glanced at Lucifer.

He was leisurely looking around various parts of the Mortal Realm.

[The sky here is always beautiful. Thousands of years have passed, but its charm hasn’t faded at all.]

He wasn’t paying any attention to us at all.

He probably regarded us as insects he could sweep away at any time.

Now that his attention had turned away from us was our only opportunity.

“We need to run.”

“Run? You’re telling me, the king, to run away with that bastard who massacred our people right before our eyes?”

“Running away is how we win. He can’t maintain his manifestation for long anyway.”

He had manifested at the cost of his proxy’s life.

Not only would there be permanent loss of power, but he would have suffered additional damage as well.

Even so, the time limit for manifesting in the Mortal Realm would be very short.

‘What a waste. Such a waste. If only my achievements were just a little higher…!’

The manifested Lucifer was in a significantly weakened state compared to when in the Demon Realm.

The realm of the 9th tier, called demigod.

If Duke Ifrit or the leader of the Western Alliance had been here, they might have been able to defeat Lucifer’s main body.

But the Emperor was an 8th tier who hadn’t crossed the wall.

The 8th and 9th tiers were on different levels.

With just the people gathered here, we couldn’t oppose Lucifer.

No matter how weakened he might be.

“….”

Merry, Kise, and Diago.

I also signaled the three of them with my eyes.

Though we didn’t speak, they would have caught what I was trying to convey.

To take the opportunity and escape by teleport.

“Grr…”

The Emperor ground his teeth in frustration.

Then, as if coming to his senses, he began busily directing the beastfolk.

“Everyone get away from here. However, if Lucifer tries to approach Mantangkar City, risk your lives to stop him. Understood?”

“Yes! Understood!”

“We receive your command!”

The beastfolk immediately scattered and fled.

Kise also finished preparing to cast teleport while chanting his spell.

[Where do you think you’re going.]

Kwarrr-!

The demonic energy Lucifer threw surrounded a wide area in a circle.

A wall of demonic energy that shot up toward the sky like flames.

We were trapped inside, unable to move.

[If you had stayed still, you could have lived a few more minutes, yet you hasten your death.]

Lucifer looked down arrogantly at us surrounded by the wall of demonic energy like animals in a cage.

[The crime of daring to harm my proxy without knowing your place, plus the additional crime of disturbing my long-awaited appreciation of the Mortal Realm.]

A massive spear appeared in Lucifer’s hand.

The Dark Spear Krenil.

The holy relic returned to its original owner had grown several times larger than when Adora wielded it, matching Lucifer’s size.

Woooong-!

Demonic energy gathered at the spear tip.

[Disappear.]

Kwaaaaaaaaa-!

A black beam of light cut across the night sky.

As if he truly intended to annihilate us all in one strike, it contained tremendous energy.

Step.

The Emperor suddenly blocked everyone’s path.

He wrapped his entire body in aura and extended both arms forward with palms spread.

Flash-!

Bursting light and heat.

The Emperor’s arms trembled as they blocked the demonic beam.

“Haaaaaaaaa!”

The demonic energy split in two around the Emperor’s body.

Tremendous demonic energy swept past both sides of the Emperor, but we behind him were fortunately safe.

He was protecting all of his companions by himself.

His broad back and flowing mane made him more worthy of being called a ‘king’ than anyone else.

I felt like I would never forget that sight for the rest of my life.

Whoooosh-

When the attacks finally ceased, the exhausted Emperor dropped to his knees with a thud.

“Your Majesty!”

“Are you alright?”

Genta and the beastman knight checked on the Emperor’s condition.

His majestic fur was charred black, and his pupils were on the verge of losing their strength.

“I’m tired…”

A metallic voice flowed out.

“I think… this is as far as I go. I leave the rest to you…”

The way he said that made it sound like he was about to die.

“I’m sorry, but you can’t collapse just yet.”

I forcibly supported the Emperor’s shoulder as he was about to fall and helped him stand.

“If Your Majesty collapses, we’ll all die. Complete annihilation.”

“Kuhehe… If we make it back alive, I’ll need to correct your manners first…”

“I know you’re not going to die. It seems you’re just exhausted from using too much power at once, but you’ll be fine after resting a bit.”

Think.

I have to think of something.

Lucifer doesn’t seem to have any intention of letting us go peacefully.

How can we survive this situation?

We don’t need to win.

We just need to hold out until his manifestation ends.

‘I already died once to those Demon Lords, and if I die to another Demon Lord again, I won’t be able to live my next life because of the trauma.’

It was at that moment when I was contemplating an escape route.

“Your Majesty.”

Merry approached. Kise and Diago were with her too.

More importantly, didn’t she just say “Your Majesty”?

The Emperor naturally thought she was addressing him and struggled to lift his head to look at Merry.

“We’ll hold off Lucifer until his manifestation ends. Please escape in the meantime.”

“What… did you say?”

To others, it looked like Merry and the Emperor were having a conversation.

But those words were definitely meant for me.

“Your Majesty is our hope. We cannot let you die in a place like this.”

The Emperor looked at them with confusion.

The time they’d spent together was extremely short, yet he couldn’t understand their attitude of calling him their hope and trying to sacrifice themselves.

But to me, their earnest sincerity came through clearly.

That’s why.

“Indeed, with the strength of you three, you might be able to hold him off until the manifestation ends.”

I.

“But if you do that, you’ll definitely die. You know that, right?”

I couldn’t let them die here.

Kise and Diago showed sad smiles.

As if they truly had no more attachment to life.

“We’ve lived long enough anyway.”

“If we die fighting the Demon Lord Lucifer, it would be perfect for a grave.”

I shook my head firmly.

“No.”

I cannot allow it.

These guys need to live.

For enduring 13 years of desperate hardship remaining in a sect without a deity.

They need to live and be happy.

“No one dies here today.”

I made the same promise I had made to the children in the Void Tundra.

“I’ll make sure no one dies.”

Ultimately, I had failed to keep that promise in the Void Tundra.

But today will be different.

I’ll make sure everyone here lives to see tomorrow’s sun.

“Your Majesty.”

I called to the Emperor.

“From the moment I saved Muramad, Suinuk became my eternal ally, correct?”

The Emperor blinked a couple of times.

“…I don’t know your intention for bringing that up suddenly, but as you said, Suinuk is your eternal ally.”

“Then you could keep everything that’s about to happen a secret, right?”

The Emperor glanced at Genta’s face, then looked at the knights lined up behind him.

Suinuk’s strongest royal guard.

They were second to none in their loyalty to the Emperor.

“…I promise on my name. Whatever happens, whatever we see, we will definitely keep it secret.”

With the Emperor’s guarantee, there was no possibility of what happened here leaking through the knights.

Having obtained confirmation, I acted quickly.

I opened subspace and took out the spirit pills the Emperor had bestowed upon me.

Excluding the one I had already taken, there were four spirit pills remaining.

I gulped them all down in one mouthful.

“!!”

The knights were shocked.

“Those spirit pills!”

“Even in Suinuk, they must be consumed with the utmost care!”

“To take four at once…!”

The aftermath came immediately.

“Urgh!”

I clutched my chest and let out rough breaths.

Even taking one had caused me agony due to its violent nature during absorption.

Taking four at once brought an unbearable backlash.

“Damn it…!”

I stirred up demonic energy in my stomach.

I forcibly slammed demonic energy into the spirit pills’ energy that was rampaging wildly.

The spirit pills’ energy, which had been raging like mad dogs, became surprisingly docile when it met something even more intense.

In that state, I circulated aura and absorbed the spirit pills throughout my body.

“Huff… Ha…”

I opened my eyes.

Blue breath escaped due to the sudden increase in aura concentration within my body.

I gripped Gradnir, the Destruction Spear that was Lucifer’s sacred artifact stolen from Adora, as if it would burst.

Incomparably powerful aura flowed along Gradnir’s spear blade.

‘7-star.’

Following 6-star, now 7-star.

My achievement had risen two levels in just one day.

From 7-star onwards is the rank of Sword Master.

A case of reaching Sword Master at the age of 17 probably doesn’t exist in history.

Kwarrrrrrr-!

The aura’s momentum subsided, and demonic energy took its place.

Upon reaching 7-star, vast and boundless demonic energy was unlocked like throwing off sandbags.

Though it still fell far short compared to my previous life.

Now, I felt I could block at least once the strike that past Pluton had unleashed with his soul.

“Asel… You right now…!”

The Emperor was shocked witnessing the demonic energy I had unleashed.

Genta and the other beastman knights as well.

Even the trio from the Pluton Sect wore dumbfounded expressions, as if they never expected I would reveal my demonic energy.

Most surprised was Lucifer, who had been watching the situation with interest.

[That… demonic energy is!]

No trace of composure could be found on his face anymore.

Like prey meeting a predator.

His entire face trembled like a madman recalling forgotten terror.

Whoooosh-!

A technique that was like Pluton’s very symbol.

Crimson hellfire that devoured space engulfed my surroundings.

[Who are you! How can you wield ‘his’ demonic energy!]

“Me?”

I aimed Gradnir at Lucifer.

A specter of the past now dead and gone.

“My name is Asel.”

Yet I pronounced that name which still lived and breathed in this place.

“I am Pluton’s agent.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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