Infinite Evolution Hunter - Chapter 189
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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189
“The Demon Realm’s air is refreshing, isn’t it? Earth has its charm, but there’s no place like home.”
At Gaff’s excited voice, I turned my head—but Gaff was no longer in the form of a child.
Multiple massive horns, each more than a span long, sprouted chaotically from his head. His bare upper body revealed the form of a powerfully built demon unlike anything I had ever witnessed.
Gaff sat upon a throne that looked jagged and uncomfortable, his expression languid.
“…Is that your true form?”
“This is my true form.”
“What about that enormous shape I saw before?”
When I had claimed the soul of Franklin, the dark sorcerer of Tellus, Gaff had appeared as a colossal demon.
“That? Appearance matters, doesn’t it? Humans fear such majestic forms and obey far more readily.”
Though his form had changed, his casual manner of speech remained unchanged.
“Speech matters too. If I spoke like this, it would lack dignity, wouldn’t it? You know my true power anyway, so it’s fine. Hahahaha.”
Gaff laughed heartily, having read my thoughts.
I was already seething with rage from the malevolent intent embedded in the demonic energy, and as Gaff’s frivolous laughter echoed, suppressing my anger became nearly impossible.
I wanted to snap those horns off.
…The demonic energy had clearly burrowed into my very mind. I closed my eyes and took a moment to calm myself.
“So what do I need to do?”
I managed to shake off the malevolent intent and asked.
“You’re impatient. Won’t you even tour the Demon Realm?”
“I don’t have time.”
“You should stay longer. Simply being exposed to demonic energy in the Demon Realm will allow you to defend against that Manager’s attacks.”
“Gaff, are you an enemy of the Manager?”
“Enemy… that’s quite a grand term. But it’s certain that he wastes far too many souls needlessly. They’re our sustenance, after all.”
“Why don’t you kill him directly? For someone who manipulates souls, it should be easy.”
“The adult world is far more complicated than you imagine.”
“If you don’t intend to answer, never mind. So what do I need to do?”
“Quite prickly, aren’t you.”
Gaff rose from his throne.
“Contractor Lee Ji-seok, fulfill your contract with me, Demon King Gaff. In exchange for your liberation from the shackles of the soul, complete the thirteen trials I, the Demon King, bestow upon you. Then you shall return to your original world.”
His voice dropped low, no longer casual but resonating with authority and majesty.
“Thirteen? You’re going to demand that much just for waking me up?”
“You have no conscience. Your price warrants this. You know what would happen to Earth without you, don’t you? By awakening you, I’ve essentially saved countless human lives.”
“Even so, thirteen is too many. And I don’t have time.”
“Time flows differently here. Ten years in this realm equals one month there. And this isn’t some neighborhood fish market—don’t try to haggle over a Demon King’s trials. It’s unbecoming.”
Gaff tossed something that resembled a black candy.
“First, you’ll need to consume this since your current form will make it difficult to operate in the Demon Realm.”
“…What is it?”
“A potion that converts human flesh into demon flesh. Only the appearance changes, though.”
I stared quietly at the orb I had caught. Could I simply accept and consume something given by a Demon King?
“It’s not permanent, so just eat it. If you keep resisting like this, I won’t give you the trials. Do you want to live in the Demon Realm forever?”
I trusted Eres’s words over Gaff’s and placed the orb in my mouth, swallowing it.
The moment the medicine took effect, my bones shifted and my flesh tore apart.
The pain was irritating, but Gaff’s smirking face was even more unbearable—I clenched my teeth and fought to suppress any groans.
“Ooh, it suits you perfectly?”
Looking down at my hands, my skin had darkened like Gaff’s. My body had grown larger, and my clothes tore from the strain, leaving me shirtless like Gaff.
Two curved horns sprouted above my forehead, and two more grew from my temples.
“Aren’t these inconvenient?”
I touched one of the pointed horns with my finger. It was firmly attached to my skull.
“Ignorant of the aesthetics of horns, how human of you. Horns are the symbol of a demon’s power. That much makes you roughly Second Tier. Impressive for a mere human.”
“The same rank as the Angelic Forces, then. They seemed to despise rankings.”
“That’s precisely why we use them. Now, your first task! Demon Bepar! Eliminate the monster wreaking havoc in the Demon Realm from the Outer Region!”
Gaff spoke again with an air of grandeur, his demonic energy radiating outward.
When I stared back indifferently, his energy deflated—my lack of enthusiasm had disappointed him.
“Atmosphere is everything, atmosphere. You’re no fun.”
“Bepar? That’s my alias?”
“Indeed. From now on, that’s what you’ll be called, so respond properly. I’ll assign you a subordinate—complete your first task and return. Then I’ll give you the next one. Razgas!”
At Gaff’s call, a succubus entered, wearing barely enough to cover what was necessary. Despite her sensual figure, her expression was remarkably businesslike.
“…A succubus, really?”
“Are you being sexist? She’s an excellent subordinate.”
…
“Follow me, please.”
I followed Razgas as she led the way out.
Her front was somewhat covered, but her back was essentially exposed, making it awkward to know where to look. Being half-naked myself only made it more embarrassing.
“There are no demons in the Demon Realm who feel shame. Keep your gaze confident.”
Razgas spoke after noticing I kept my eyes on the ceiling or floor.
“Ahem… My apologies.”
“Don’t apologize or use formal speech. You must present yourself according to your rank.”
This was going to be harder than I thought.
“Oh, and you mentioned using life force as power—you cannot do that in the Demon Realm.”
“What?”
“What demon uses life force in the Demon Realm? Solve it through sheer determination.”
“…As long as I don’t directly release my life force, it should be fine, right?”
“Yes, as long as it’s not visible, it doesn’t matter.”
There were plenty of methods. I had evolved countless times until now. Because aura was most efficient, I had wrapped it around my body or released it outward, but I could also manipulate heat and cold. Since acquiring the Divine Body skill, I had achieved unity between spirit and flesh, making my body even more resilient. However, my movements in this unified state still weren’t as fast as I’d like—I needed more training.
I followed Razgas across the demon city.
Apart from the air being saturated with demonic energy and the architectural aesthetics being completely different, it wasn’t much different from where humans lived.
The demons, who seemed like they should be killing each other, lived ordinary lives working, no different from humans.
“Damage has been occurring in the Outer Region. We’re almost there now.”
Passing through the city and villages, we reached a Mountain Range where demons were scarce.
“Is that it? It certainly looks repulsive.”
It was a worm-shaped monster. Its body was as thick as a bus, and its length exceeded several dozen meters.
As it crawled forward, the wrinkles along its body folded and unfolded, spraying demonic gas and viscous fluids that dispersed into the air and stained the ground.
Since I couldn’t release my aura, I had to deal with it directly. The moment I gathered strength in my legs and launched myself forward, Razgas grabbed me and held me back.
“You mustn’t!”
Essentially naked, she pressed her body against mine, so I quickly pushed her away.
“What are you doing?”
My heart was racing. Not from excitement over Razgas, but from fear that Bae Na-young might find out. When I’m with Bae Na-young, I lower my mental barrier, so she could read these memories. But if I suddenly raised it, she’d definitely grow suspicious.
Moreover, the demonic energy contained lustful thoughts, so my eyes kept drifting to Razgas’s body, and it was difficult to control my emotions.
“How could you think of killing such a cute child?!”
“Huh?”
“How could you do that to something so adorable…”
“… You think that’s cute?”
“Isn’t it cute?”
Looking again, repulsive demonic energy was still oozing from the wrinkles.
“…So what am I supposed to catch?”
“We must go further.”
I quietly followed Razgas.
“…Blegh!!!”
Nearly at our destination, Razgas retched and pointed with her finger at what I was supposed to kill.
“You want me to kill that?”
What she was pointing at was a rooster. And not even a particularly large one—just an ordinary rooster.
“That… that disgusting thing… right now… Ugh!”
Though she was judging by appearance, the fact that she herself proudly displayed her beautiful form suggested her aesthetic sense regarding appearance wasn’t fundamentally different from others.
It was simply a matter of whether something emitted demonic energy and how delicious its soul was. This rooster was radiating sacred energy from its entire body, burning away the demonic energy around it, making it a repugnant existence in the Demon Realm where demonic energy was the source of all things.
“It doesn’t seem to be doing anything particularly wrong. Do we really have to kill it?”
“The very existence of that creature is evil! If it continues burning away demonic energy like that, it will have a severe impact on the health of the nearby demon tribes!”
It was amusing that demons cared about health, but…
“Fine, whatever.”
Since light wasn’t particularly harmful to me, I approached quickly.
Though it was an empty wasteland, the demon tribes watching from afar, eager to see the rooster killed, were observing, so I couldn’t use my life force.
“I’m sorry!”
Since it was a small rooster, I drew a blade from the back of my hand to aim for its neck and end it without pain.
Where my blade passed, the rooster was gone.
“Kyaaaaaaack!! Get away! Ple… please spare me!!”
The rooster had somehow leaped onto Razgas’s back. Her white skin was sizzling and burning.
I rushed forward and kicked at the rooster on Razgas’s back, but this time too, the rooster swiftly dodged. However, this time I could see its movements.
The rooster was running through empty air in a way similar to how I moved by kicking through space, but its speed was even faster than I had been at that time.
“… Are you trying to play tag? Razgas, fall back.”
Razgas retreated, wincing in pain from her burned back.
The rooster examined the ground here and there, then sat down with its rear end against a hole where demonic energy was seeping up.
For a mere chicken, its expression was arrogant—as if it believed it could actually capture me.
“Dinner is chicken.”
I charged forward with all my strength to catch the bird.
The cocky creature fled the moment I drew close, and its speed was undeniably faster than mine. Still, having observed its movements twice, I could at least discern its trajectory.
I pursued relentlessly, dragging this into a battle of endurance.
Using only my physical abilities without Union would actually be faster, but I combined this chase with Union training. Having a concrete goal made the practice far more effective.
My movements grew swifter as I maintained Union, and the chicken’s rest intervals—taken to mock me—grew progressively shorter.
“Cooooock!!!”
Just as I was about to seize it, the chicken cried out loudly, and light erupted outward in a spherical wave from its body.
The radiance spread in all directions, burning away the demonic energy and purifying the Demon Realm’s soil, while the demons writhed in agony and fled.
Yet the light penetrated my body as well, incinerating even the demonic energy that had been burdening me. My mind felt refreshed as a result.
Since I suffered no harm, this was an opportunity. I exhaled a wave of freezing cold while the chicken was still crying out.
The chicken, unable to dodge in time, froze mid-cry, and the light it had unleashed vanished.
Before Razgas could arrive, I pulled a box from my pocket.
It was the miniature version of the Infinite Box that Jae-in had prepared for me. I swiftly—faster than Razgas or any other demon could perceive—placed the frozen chicken into the Infinite Box.
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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