First of All, I’m Drinking - Chapter 33

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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 33

Hwaaaaaaaaaa-!

A heterogeneous form of flame mixed with black and red.

Even from this distant location, the terrifying destructive power of that flame is transmitted in its entirety.

The intruders flinched and trembled in panic.

“Damn, has that old man lost his mind! This is the Imperial Capital! Using Hell Fire in the Imperial Capital?”

“He must want to catch us, no, catch the Prince that badly. Damn it.”

A resigned expression as if feeling helpless.

They probably know it too.

They’re skilled enough to infiltrate by breaking through the Imperial Capital’s security magic circles.

The other two must surely possess skills not much different from Merry’s.

But that level isn’t enough to block the attacks of a 9th Circle Grand Mage who’s determined to press forward.

Hwaaaaaaaaaa!

The flame rapidly expanded its size by absorbing the surrounding oxygen.

It didn’t take long for the house-sized fireball to swell like a mountain range.

And I had already figured out the identity of that flame.

‘He said he summons flames from another world.’

The other world connected beyond Hell Fire’s black magic circle was precisely the Demon Realm.

The identity of that flame is hellfire that burns eternally in the depths of the Demon Realm.

A vicious flame that burns the entire body of low-ranking demons and demon races just by touching it.

Moreover, it wasn’t transferred with its original power intact.

It was hellfire with performance further enhanced by a 9th Circle mage’s mana.

‘What should I do?’

Damn it.

I’ve encountered the final boss right from the start.

With my current martial power, it’s difficult to completely block even Flame Baptism, let alone Hell Fire.

In this truly critical situation.

My brain spun furiously.

Isn’t there any way to block that?

Not even one?

‘Stellar Creation is impossible.’

The firepower is insufficient.

Mugan, the only technique that could compete, was used in the previous battle with Lipton.

‘Some method…’

Then a voice echoed in my head.

[You seem to be quite cornered.]

A voice of indeterminate gender, neither clearly male nor female.

As he said, the situation was cornered, no, desperate.

Who would have thought that damn voice would feel so welcome.

‘Gabriel…!’

Did my expression reach him too?

Though I couldn’t see his face, he seemed to be mocking my state.

[You’ve stirred up a hornet’s nest.]

‘What?’

[Over there.]

Following Gabriel’s voice, I turned my head to see the Count casting Hell Fire.

[That one is simply a monster. He’s someone who made it to 4th place among the Top 10 Strongest of the Continent.]

‘Top 10 Strongest of the Continent? What’s that?’

[It’s a title for the 10 strongest humans on this continent. Flame Emperor Ifrit. Seeing him directly, he’s even more impressive.]

Damn.

Flame Emperor or whatever, how does that help in this situation…

‘Wait, 4th place?’

[That’s right.]

‘That crazy bastard is 4th, not 1st or 2nd? I definitely heard there are only two humans who achieved the 9th rank?’

[For reference, the other one, Dezad Queisa, head of the Western Alliance, is 3rd place.]

‘Cra…zy.’

Duke Ifrit, who could duel with lower-ranking Demon Lords given sufficient casting time, is 4th place.

A Grand Sword Master who achieved an equal level is 3rd place?

I couldn’t even imagine what kind of insane monsters the 1st and 2nd places above them would be.

[Now you understand how much you underestimated the Mortal Realm. This place is also a world that properly handles one axis of the Great Realms alongside the Heavenly Realm and Demon Realm.]

‘…If you’re not bluffing.’

Hwaaaaaaaaak-!

Hell Fire continued to grow in size even at this moment.

The three kidnappers, no, the two excluding Merry, now seemed resigned and were exchanging farewells.

“It’s been fun.”

“Me too.”

“Damn, if I knew life would end like this, I should have traveled to the Great Forest earlier.”

It was so absurd I couldn’t bear to listen anymore.

‘Gabriel, lend me your power. I’ll pay the price.’

[Understood.]

‘What? This easily?’

[Also, there’s no need to pay a price.]

I looked up at the sky in bewilderment.

Is the world ending tomorrow?

What did I just hear?

[I heard a prayer. For you to return safely, that is.]

‘What does that mean…’

[Unlike you, that child is one I cherish. This is a special service just this once.]

Gooooooo-

Suddenly, power surged throughout my entire body.

Gabriel had bestowed a blessing.

I clenched my fist and let out a cry of triumph.

There are various types of blessings.

Among all those many blessings, Gabriel had bestowed exactly the type of blessing I needed.

[It’s a blessing of physical enhancement. Handle the rest yourself.]

With those words, the connection with Gabriel was severed.

He had returned to the Heavenly Realm.

‘That guy knew I couldn’t exert my full power due to physical limitations.’

Though he doesn’t seem to know yet that I’ve weakened to a fraction of my prime.

‘I’ll keep this as a debt.’

Kwaaaaaaaak-!

Black energy also blazed from my hands.

While I’ve seen it hundreds of millions of times so it’s nothing surprising, the three beside me might be seeing the energy called ‘demonic energy’ for the first time.

Especially a human using it.

“Indeed…!”

“Ohhh! As expected of a child chosen by the Demon Lords!”

Geohan admiring calmly and the mage making a fuss.

Even in this situation, Merry only widened her eyes slightly without saying anything particular.

‘A child chosen by the Demon Lords?’

Instead of being surprised or frightened, they’re actually cheering.

Even if I have to leave the Imperial Capital, is it really right to obediently follow these people like this?

For now, anything will do.

Thanks to Gabriel, I can finally unleash my trademark technique after so long.

‘Pluton-style demonic energy application.’

Ultimate technique.

Calamity Fire Annihilation.

Kwaaaaaaaaa-!

The Hell Fire that finished casting rushes toward us.

I matched it by expanding the size of my calamity fire and collided it directly with the hellfire.

Flame clashed with flame in midair.

Kwaaaaaang!

The two energies that emitted suffocating heat as if tearing heaven and earth entangled with each other and roared.

Sharp winds began to scratch the surroundings as if a typhoon had struck.

Heat waves rippled from the energy fluctuations, and even space seemed to be distorted.

“Kruuuuk!”

“Kr, kruheoooooo!”

“Kruk!”

The three intruders struggled desperately to defend against the storm.

Geohan and Merry wrapped themselves in aura to protect their bodies, while the mage quickly deployed a barrier.

Even so, as if unable to believe it, he muttered in a trembling voice.

“Insane… it’s not even a direct hit from the attack, and the aftershock is at this level?”

Merry was also frowning.

Even though this was clearly a battlefield where lives were at stake, I felt a strange sense of achievement from breaking her expressionless face.

Kwarururururuk!

The result of the collision that seemed evenly matched at first glance was soon apparent.

The calamity fire I unleashed was greedily devouring Count Afrit’s Hell Fire.

Crack. Creak. Crack.

As the Hell Fire lost its power, I also gradually lowered the output of my demonic energy.

The size of the two energies, massive as mountain ranges, gradually diminished and then completely vanished.

The battlefield entered a brief lull.

With hundreds of meters of space between us, I could see the Count’s face, mouth agape.

[This is… impossible.]

He seemed quite shocked that his annihilation magic had been blocked.

“How much further to the warp point?”

I spoke to Geohan, who was spacing out.

“Huh? Oh, not much left. We’ll be there soon.”

“I see. Then let’s keep going.”

“Yes… yes. Let’s do that.”

He seemed momentarily flustered by my nonchalant attitude in giving orders, but soon came to his senses and started running again.

The other two were the same.

We picked up speed.

The walls of the Imperial Capital were right in front of us.

“…”

I looked back.

Count Afrit was floating motionlessly in the air.

He probably wouldn’t chase us.

Now that he knew I possessed mysterious power enough to block his Hell Fire.

Mages are originally that type of people.

From now on, he’ll be much more cautious about pursuit.

‘Seria…’

What weighed on my mind was still Seria.

I didn’t know the details, but it seemed Seria had a significant influence on these people taking me and escaping.

Not just Seria.

Ilmbo Maek too.

Even little Kal.

Even Killian.

They all lingered in my consciousness like thorns embedded in my hand.

But I could no longer stay in the Imperial Capital.

My leaving with these people now was the only choice that would allow everyone to be happy.

‘Well… someday we’ll meet again.’

They’ll all grow up well.

They’re none other than the Empire’s princess and princes.

I believe that.

Whiiiiing-

I entrusted my body to the blowing wind.

The brilliance of Taeyang Palace, sparkling under the moonlight, grew distant behind me.

* * *

The gates of the Imperial Capital are naturally guarded by guards working in 24-hour shifts.

So we escaped outside by climbing over the walls instead of using the gates.

“We’re almost there. Just a little more.”

If we had officially exited through the gates, the wide streets of the Imperial Capital would have greeted us, but because we escaped through the outskirts, all we could see ahead were grass and trees.

It’s a forest where royalty and high nobles occasionally hunt.

A forest with no dangerous monsters or carnivorous animals at all, inhabited only by gentle herbivores like deer and rabbits.

This is because soldiers periodically clean the forest.

We ran through the forest filled with green.

“We’ve arrived!”

The mage quietly shouted while clenching his fist.

As he said, in front of us was a circular magic circle made up of various symbols and runic characters.

The warp point lay hidden among the grass blades, having lost its light.

Now, if we just channel magic power to activate it, we’ll be able to leave the Imperial City and go to their base.

Of course, there was something I needed to know before that.

Swoosh-!

Demonic energy shaped like a fist shot from my fingertips.

The mage, who was preparing warp magic while reciting incantations, was caught off guard and hit by the demonic energy.

“Ugh, uaaak!”

Thud!

The mage flew and crashed into a tree on the opposite side.

The tree shook greatly and rustling leaves fell with a patter.

This should be warning enough.

“W-wait a moment, Prince! What are you doing?”

“Please calm down.”

Geohan and Merry tried to restrain me.

Thick beads of sweat were flowing down their foreheads.

Expressions full of tension.

‘The blessing is still maintained.’

Until the blessing of physical enhancement ended.

I could freely use an amount of demonic energy that would normally be unthinkable.

“Ugh, uuuk.”

The mage groaned and got up.

I had planned to knock him unconscious for a few minutes to prevent him from activating the warp magic.

‘He managed to surround himself with a protective barrier in that brief moment to minimize the impact.’

For a mage who’s supposedly holed up in a cramped room doing research, his reaction speed is abnormally fast.

It’s the kind of instinct you’d expect to see from warriors who make combat their main profession.

This guy, just like Gregory van Ifrit, is a Battle Mage who roams the battlefields rather than research labs.

I observed the mage’s reaction and spoke up.

“Tell me your identities and objectives. Where you belong, what reason you had for kidnapping me—everything without leaving out a single detail.”

“Understood. First, please calm down.”

Geohan held up both palms toward me, trying to restrain me.

“That depends on your attitude. Stop wasting time and speak quickly. What the hell are you bastards? Are you Vergil’s underlings?”

“Excuse me? Vergil… are you referring to the first throne of the Demon Realm?”

Geohan blinked in confusion.

“Well, is there another Vergil besides that bastard? So is that a yes or no?”

“No! We are not people who serve Vergil.”

“Then?”

He took a breath and dropped a bombshell statement.

“We serve the Demon Lord Pluton, who holds the eighth throne.”

The moment I heard those words.

My mind went blank and I couldn’t think of anything.

I could only stare blankly at Geohan’s open mouth.

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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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