I Picked up the Demon King - Chapter 139

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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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Chapter 139

 

Mental parasite Simone. No, Dahan.

 

This demon, a variant of the Doppelganger, was a peculiar entity even in the Demon Realm where all sorts of bizarre demons gathered.

 

It has no physical body. It has no soul either.

 

It exists merely as information, maintaining its identity by eroding the minds of others. In fact, the only thing different from the original is the characteristic information contained in its head.

 

Naturally, it cannot help but be greatly influenced by the original in terms of abilities as well.

 

“I thought you already knew.”

 

Greatly influenced, but not absolute. Even when parasitizing a lowly insect, communication is possible. Needless to say when the target is a human. By demon standards, it might be an unremarkable ability, but there’s no reason to consider it incompetent.

 

“I had sufficiently guessed that you had other schemes.”

 

A demon trusting humans and being betrayed. That’s absurd. It’s much more rational to assume he deliberately disobeyed the Demon Lord’s orders.

 

Yes. The collapse of the Black Moon Trading Company and the loss of the assets the Demon Lord entrusted were entirely intentional.

 

“I was the one who was surprised. To think you would advance the resurrection I thought would take hundreds of years by so much. The King’s abilities seem to have no limits. How could I not be in awe?”

 

Dahan, who had been prostrating himself in reverence, slightly raised his head.

 

“Thanks to that, I had to advance my plans too much.”

 

Unlike his voice, his face was revealed to be utterly indifferent. He slowly rose to his feet. He approached and met his eyes.

 

Though Jude’s body had grown considerably, he still looked down from a higher vantage point.

 

The Demon Lord didn’t get angry but let out a chuckle.

 

“So. Did you wish to ascend to the throne of a king?”

 

Instead, he leisurely sat on the bed. The cheap bed without even a backrest looked more valuable than any throne at this moment.

 

Dahan’s eyes wavered as he stared at that figure. A faint sigh escaped.

 

“Are you not angry?”

 

This was the betrayal of a trusted subordinate.

 

For the king who had lost everything, it was a more fatal dagger than anything else. It wouldn’t have been strange if he had screamed to punish this disloyal one immediately.

 

But the Demon Lord was far too calm.

 

“Do you think this is the first time?”

 

The Demon Lord asked, crossing his legs and resting his chin on his hand. Dahan didn’t answer. He couldn’t answer.

 

A thousand years ago. When the Demon Lord was defeated by the Hero.

 

The Demon Realm was destroyed once. High-ranking demons perished, the land became barren, and the few surviving demons either fled or were sealed away.

 

It wasn’t everyone.

 

“There were those who sought to gain power through the King’s remains.”

 

Beyond monsters, Dark Mages, and demons, there were even corrupt priests. Even so, the Demon Lord survived. Beyond somehow surviving, he rebuilt the ruined Demon Realm.

 

That process was noble, but never beautiful.

 

“Compared to that, this kind of betrayal is nothing. It’s not even amusing. Moreover…”

 

Dahan gritted his teeth. Frustrated emotions burst forth.

 

He had expected anger. He had expected him to pour out intense emotions and deliver punishment. But his always perfect king showed not even the slightest disturbance.

 

“Thanks to that, didn’t things flow quite interestingly?”

 

Instead, he burst into laughter. As if this current situation was truly enjoyable.

 

“Ha, haha…!”

 

Dahan, who had been looking down at him, staggered and laughed. The Demon Lord, who had been laughing for a while, looked down at Dahan who had completely collapsed and asked.

 

“So. Is that all you have to say?”

 

Dahan, who had been looking up at the king with empty eyes, lowered his body. He bowed his head as he had at first.

 

“The flow has already left my hands. Please be well. My beloved, beautiful king.”

 

And he kissed his feet. The Demon Lord kicked his face away and only muttered with an indifferent face as if his mood had been ruined.

 

“Disgusting. Get lost.”

 

Dahan’s figure disappeared. The Demon Lord leaned back and muttered.

 

“I can feel it. Soon, the six divinities will gather in this place.”

 

* * *

 

The Dark Mages trembled in tremendous fear.

 

As the subjugation force drew closer, they ceased external activities and holed up in the Black Tower. They devoted themselves to reading magic books and building knowledge and skills.

 

Fortunately, dark magic was originally a difficult and challenging discipline to learn. Those talented enough to master it and enter the Black Tower were already guaranteed to have ability. Thanks to the generously provided magical materials, safe places to practice magic, and added obsession, their skills rapidly improved.

 

Even so, it wasn’t enough to face half the Continent.

 

No tower, not even the three Magic Towers combined, would be sufficient for such a task. Common Soldiers and Knights might be manageable, but the Hero was absolutely unbeatable.

 

“Ugh, urgh…!”

 

“Kugh…”

 

Several Dark Mages whose mana had gone berserk collapsed simultaneously. Those who had rushed to support them stopped in their tracks. Anyone with keen senses could feel it.

 

A dangerous aura gradually approaching from the distance. It was a storm of mana perhaps even more violent than magic power.

 

Most of the Dark Mages had felt this aura once before. Just a few months ago. The battle between the Black Tower Master and the Hero. Among them, it was the aura of the Mage who was the Hero’s companion.

 

“What is this…?”

 

In that short time, the aura had grown several times stronger.

 

Even more than the Dark Mages’ power had grown, the Hero and his Companions had become stronger.

 

“Hmm. Didn’t you say they wouldn’t get much stronger?”

 

“This level is still manageable. Don’t you remember your own growth rate?”

 

“…True.”

 

Shrugging her shoulders, the Black Tower Master Kaela Rowan activated the Magic Circle she had prepared.

 

With a thunderous roar that seemed to shatter the world, thousands of Attack Magic spells simultaneously headed toward the subjugation force. Overwhelming firepower that seemed capable of making even a great army stretching to the horizon disappear in an instant. It was an attack the Dark Mages of the Black Tower had meticulously prepared for months.

 

But it had no effect whatsoever.

 

“Really.”

 

Black Mist spread out.

 

The Black Mist that covered the sky absorbed all the countless spells directly. The attacks disappeared into endless Darkness. The assault that had consumed enormous time and resources returned meaninglessly.

 

“Our Senior seems to have a bad memory. Forgetting what he said himself.”

 

Mage Shtidy swept his hair back with one hand.

 

“Ha, what the hell.”

 

Kaella, who had been watching this scene, let out a hollow laugh.

 

“Don’t tell me you copied it? My Magic.”

 

Black Mist. It was Kaella’s secret technique that had absorbed Shtidy’s magical attacks several months ago. The Black Mist that imitated an ancient God’s Divine Authority absorbed all attacks and sent them into the void.

 

And Shtidy had used it.

 

“It wasn’t difficult. The Magic structure was too simple. I even made some improvements. How is it?”

 

At the annoying provocation, Kaella suppressed her excitement.

 

She didn’t think he had simply copied what he’d seen a few times. She had thoroughly concealed the Magic Circle’s form. Reverse-engineering the structure from just seeing the activated Magic was impossible even for Kaella herself.

 

What he had referenced was the original.

 

When the Great Demon had occupied the Holy Nation Capital, Shtidy was one of those who had observed and analyzed it from the closest position. Based on that, imitating the Divine Authority was difficult work, but… Kaella herself had accomplished it. That meant Shtidy could do it too.

 

“More importantly. About what I said earlier.”

 

A fierce smile crossed Shtidy’s lips.

 

“The part about Magic not being good just because you pour it out mindlessly. Don’t you remember?”

 

“…”

 

As Kaela Rowan closed her mouth, Shtidy spoke cheekily.

 

“Let’s see. Was it done like this?”

 

The moment he tilted his head, wind swept through. Clouds gathered in the clear sky. The temperature dropped rapidly, and raindrops began to fall.

 

Shtidy’s hand pointed precisely toward Kaella, toward the Magic Tower.

 

“You have to utilize attributes. Attributes.”

 

The moment he snapped his fingers, Lightning struck from the sky. One bolt, two bolts. Lightning fell continuously without stopping.

 

Kaella, who had spread Black Mist from the moment she sensed the crisis, successfully blocked the attack, but her mind began racing relentlessly.

 

“This is ridiculous growth.”

 

Her eyes were moving frantically, piercing through the distorting space.

 

“The Mana is the same. He didn’t convert it to magic power. To show this kind of power with Mana, and repeatedly at that, massive consumption is inevitable. That guy from a few months ago didn’t have the ability to handle that.”

 

The Hero and his Companions grow stronger every time they face a Trial. Even so, this was too much. It wasn’t just a few times stronger. The difference in skill was so overwhelming that she couldn’t think of him as the same person as before.

 

“This is…”

 

Her eye movements stopped. She had found the answer.

 

“Haha, hahaha…!”

 

Kaella burst into mad laughter.

 

Mana is inherently difficult to handle. Only the chosen ones can sense Mana, and among them, only an extreme few can gather it to learn Magic or handle Aura.

 

That was the story until recently.

 

“Could it be that bringing those humans here was….”

 

The World Tree grew in the Great Forest, and everyone’s life force was strengthened. The Dragon awakened, its heart cracked, and the atmospheric mana surged explosively. The Great Demon died, improving spiritual power.

 

Now on the Continent, those who couldn’t sense mana were few. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers could all handle mana to some degree.

 

All that mana was gathering at one point.

 

“Crazy. That’s crazy.”

 

Kaela Rowan said so. She shouted with a bright smile.

 

“That’s why I like it…! Our junior has grown up so properly!”

 

Against High-rank Dark Mages. No, against opponents above a certain level, no matter how many common soldiers there were, it would be useless.

 

Shtidy, that cute junior, had chosen a different method.

 

Kaella’s eyes didn’t miss the subtle mana cutting across the battlefield. She couldn’t miss it even if she tried. No matter how subtle, with that amount, it was bound to show.

 

Using all those countless soldiers as a means for mana recovery.

 

No matter how little each contributed, the number wasn’t in the hundreds but hundreds of thousands. Like droplets of water gathering to form a river, the amount of mana now rushing toward Shtidy was endlessly vast.

 

Enhancing her vision, she could see the magic circles carved into the soldiers’ armor. She could see the sweat drops flowing down their faces. Because they had just finished marching, or because they were tense from the sudden magical bombardment. But look at those faces distorting in real time.

 

“Hey, junior. Won’t you join our Black Tower? I think we’d get along well.”

 

Forcibly stealing mana certainly placed tremendous strain on the body. As time passed, some might collapse. If their life force hadn’t been enhanced, most of them would have already lost consciousness.

 

Though she hadn’t used magic power, it was clearly the domain of dark magic.

 

“Shut up.”

 

It was the moment when Shtidy, who hadn’t missed those words even from afar, was about to shout something.

 

“Go play somewhere else over there.”

 

The Demon Lord, letting out a yawn, casually pointed to one side and spoke. Kaella, annoyed at being interrupted, frowned and asked.

 

“Why?”

 

The Demon Lord shrugged.

 

“Well, it’s only natural.”

 

With an utterly peaceful expression, the Demon Lord watching the Hero approaching from afar said.

 

“Since we made a contract, I must keep it.”

 

To defeat the Hero.

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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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