The Strongest in Our Neighborhood - Chapter 46

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

The Strongest in Our Neighborhood (46)
“Aaaaargh…….”
Jakpuri’s right arm, pulverized entirely from shoulder to fingertips, sent him stumbling backward with a scream.
‘My arm! This—this can’t be happening! My strength is equal to Svalvain’s, isn’t it?’
Even Svalvain had lost an arm fighting this man, but it hadn’t shattered into fragments too dispersed to gather, the way his own had.
Sssssk.
Barely managing to regain his footing as he retreated, a bone-chilling sound reached his ears.
Looking toward the source, the human who’d been sent flying into the air showed no sign of impact—he was already manifesting that flower again, the same one he’d unleashed moments before.
‘How—how can he be so unharmed? My arm flew clean off at the shoulder!’
Now he didn’t dare attempt to meet that flower head-on.
He dodged desperately to one side as the flower plummeted, only for it to absurdly shift direction and barrel straight at his face.
‘Agh!’
If his face took the blow, his head itself would vanish—and knowing his remaining hand would be crushed, he had no choice but to use it.
He swatted the flower with his last hand, and another explosion erupted.
Boom-crash-bang!
“Aaaaargh…….”
With the blast came the loss of his other arm, his left ear shredding, a crack splitting his horn, and his wings tattered to ribbons.
‘At this rate, I’m dead.’
The realization hit Jakpuri like a hammer—he twisted hard and bolted toward the Gate entrance.
Since he’d been guarding the Gate entrance from the start, he reached it in mere strides and threw himself through.
“Stop right there!”
“You think I’d listen, you fool?”
The Gate’s entrance had the form of a door, but it was no ordinary door one could open or close by hand—it was a threshold between spaces, and passing through meant instantaneous transition to another realm.
Wheeeee…….
As the transition swept him along, the world warped and his vision spiraled dizzily; closing his eyes felt mercifully easier.
‘What?’
While his eyes stayed shut, expecting to arrive in the Demon Realm any moment, he sensed another presence stepping into the Gate behind him.
‘That madman followed me in to finish me! Idiot! No matter how strong you are, in the Demon Realm you’re nothing but a fly!’
The vertigo faded as the world stabilized, and when he opened his eyes, the gray-brooding sky and the intoxicating Demonic Energy brushed against his nostrils.
Through his clearing vision, the longed-for expanse of the Demon Realm sprawled before him, and sensing the Gate’s presence, Demonic Creatures and Magical Beasts were already beginning to converge slowly from the distant horizon.
‘I need to hide and recover before he arrives!’
The high concentration of Demonic Energy would let him heal quickly, but regenerating both arms would still take days.
As he kicked off the ground and ran, he sensed the human’s presence crossing the Gate behind him in pursuit.
‘Damn this bloodsucking bastard!’
He bolted toward the direction where the densest swarm of Magical Beasts was gathering.
With both arms gone and his wings torn, he couldn’t fly, but fluttering them still helped his running considerably.
‘Is this really the Demon Realm?’
Jang Gain, who had crossed the Gate in pursuit of the Demon, stood momentarily stunned by the alien landscape before him.
The world had seemed to spin for barely ten seconds, yet now it was completely transformed.
Thick storm clouds blanketed the entire sky, shrouding everything in gloom, and the concentration of Demonic Energy in the air felt several times denser than it had been before crossing the Gate.
Spotting the Demon, he saw it far ahead, wings tattered like a sick bird’s, fluttering desperately as it fled.
To pursue it, he summoned the Wind Spell.
Whoooosh…….
The sudden gust that rose was almost typhoon-strength, rough enough to catch him slightly off-guard.
‘What’s this? Is the Demonic Energy concentration higher here? This wind is no joke.’
With this much force, he felt he could overtake the fleeing Demon in no time.
‘What are those—Magical Beasts? They look like giant lizards, but with horns on their heads. That one’s shaped like an eagle, but with three fox-like tails, and that one’s like a frog…….’
As he rode the wind in pursuit of the Demon, he spotted fascinating creatures and bizarre trees along the way.
Screeeech!
After traveling roughly a hundred meters, the earth suddenly rippled and heaved, and an enormous worm with a cavernous maw surged forth.
“What! Since when are worms this huge!”
The creature’s mouth bristled with dozens of blade-like teeth.
Jang Gain hurled his spear, cleaving the worm’s head in two, and continued his pursuit of the Demon.
During the chase, besides the giant worm, he was attacked by wolves five times the size of ordinary wolves and by fire-breathing birds.
Of course, he simply dispatched all such Magical Beasts and Demonic Creatures with sweeps of his spear.
After killing roughly twenty Demonic Creatures, he finally caught up to the fleeing Demon.
“Finally got you. Ten thousand Gold!”
* * *
Vice-Captain Mactor Darwin and several of his knights stood speechless as they watched the Demon flee through the Gate, and Jang Gain pursue it through after.
Since the Demon Realm was the Demons’ world, it was rare to chase after a fleeing Demon—most would not have bothered.
Killing Demons was ideal, but driving them back as they’d just done was a solid victory in itself. And with fewer than ten dead, one could even say they’d been blessed by fortune.
As the Demon fled, the skeletal soldiers lost cohesion and collapsed in a heap, while the knights and soldiers erupted in cheers of triumph.
“Vice-Commander. What exactly did we just witness?”
At one knight’s question, Mactor Darwin gazed at two craters, each roughly three meters across and more than a meter deep.
Those pits had been gouged out by the shockwave of Jang Gain tearing off both the Demon’s arms.
“My spear couldn’t pierce the thick hide of a Demon wrapped in Demonic Energy, yet… Jang Gain’s strike tore through an arm and still had enough force left to carve trenches like that.”
“Truly devastating power. If Jang Gain had wielded such force when fighting us, we’d all be dead.”
“Probably so. We’re alive because he showed mercy.”
And Mactor found himself thinking that without Jang Gain, none of them would have survived the Demon’s onslaught.
“I’d believed Master-class knights and high-ranking Demons possessed comparable strength, but today proved otherwise. Master-class knights are far superior.”
“That’s why empires and kingdoms that possess Master-class knights boast so proudly.”
“Now we just need the priests to arrive and cleanse the area, and we can seal the Gate.”
While the knights discussed this and set soldiers to cleaning the hall, Laila approached, still burning the skeletal remains with fire magic.
“I don’t see Jang Gain anywhere. Did he chase the Demon through the Gate?”
“Yes.”
“But why? If the Demon flees through the Gate, we simply destroy it afterward. Why pursue it into the Demon Realm?”
“I wasn’t paying full attention in the chaos, but I believe Jang Gain shouted something about ‘ten thousand Gold’ as he gave chase.”
At Mactor’s words, Laila’s expression turned bewildered.
“Ten thousand Gold? Hah! No matter how money-hungry one is, chasing a Demon through the Gate? The other side is the Demon Realm itself!”
Did Jang Gain not understand how perilous the Demon Realm was? Perhaps that was exactly why he’d given chase without thinking.
Seeing Laila’s concern, Mactor Darwin asked carefully.
“Laila, you know as well as I do—we’re supposed to destroy the Gate so the fleeing Demon can’t return with reinforcements. We shouldn’t hesitate, should we?”
“Of course not. However many Demons and Magical Beasts infest the Demon Realm, Jang Gain should be able to handle himself.”
…….
“And even if danger does arise, Jang Gain is more than capable of escaping.”
“Then I’ll prepare the area around the Gate and stand ready to destroy it whenever you give the word.”
“Good.”
After watching the knights and soldiers disperse, Laila began using magic to locate the focal points that comprised the Gate’s structure.
“Laila.”
As she marked several focal points, the spirit-summoner Bolgard arrived with three priests, five priestesses, and roughly twenty holy knights.
“Bolgard.”
“What’s happened here? Surely you haven’t already slain the Demon?”
“The Demon escaped through the Gate into the Demon Realm.”
The moment she spoke, Bolgard and the priests, priestesses, and holy knights all stared in surprise.
“The Demon escaped? It must have been a weak one to open a Gate.”
“No. It was high-ranking, but it lost both arms to Jang Gain and fled.”
“What! Jang Gain is that strong? Where is he now?”
“Jang Gain is pursuing the Demon…….”
* * *
‘Crolly and Saxen are Magical Beasts stronger than ogres, yet they can’t withstand a single thrust of that spear!’
As Jakpuri fled toward the deep recesses of the Demon Realm, he watched the human chasing him cut down Magical Beast after Demonic Creature with each swing, and he clicked his tongue in disbelief.
He ran with all his might on two legs, but he couldn’t outpace an opponent who flew upon the wind.
‘Damn it, I thought I’d be safe once I reached the Demon Realm. But I can’t die like this either.’
Even as he fled, Jakpuri concentrated all his Demonic Energy into his three horns for one final attack.
Crackle-crackle-crackle…….
As the density of Demonic Energy intensified, black lightning began arcing between the three horns, and after about ten seconds it had grown as thick as a man’s forearm.
Jakpuri stopped his flight, turned toward the human, and aimed his three horns directly at him.
Flash.
In an instant, black lightning erupted from his horns and shot toward the human.
―Spear Heaven Blood Extreme.
But the human’s Aura surged upward as he swung his spear, and impossibly, the Aura was black.
‘What? That… that’s Demonic Energy? How is a human’s Aura infused with Demonic Energy?’
As a Demon, Jakpuri could instantly recognize the nature of the energy emanating from the human’s weapon.
BOOM-ROAR…….
The two forces collided in a massive explosion, scattering dozens of lightning bolts in all directions.
Jakpuri was caught in the blast and sent flying backward some thirty meters, tumbling across the ground.
Thud.
“Hack!”
Before he could even regain his senses, he felt something pierce his back and pierce straight through his heart.
As his tumble came to a stop and he turned his head, the human who’d thrown the spear through his heart was already drawing a sword and flying toward him.
Jakpuri had no strength left to attempt anything else, so he asked the human in a vacant tone.
“Why would you attack me, a fellow Demon, if you yourself are Demon-kind?”
“Huh? What are you talking about? Me, a Demon?”
“You wear the skin of a human, but I clearly saw you wielding Demonic Energy.”
“Ah! I thought you said something else. I’ve mastered Demonic Martial Art, so naturally I can use Demonic Energy.”
“Demonic Martial Art? What is that?”
“It’s martial technique that uses Demonic Energy.”
“A human who isn’t Demon-kind can use Demonic Energy? But wouldn’t one lose their mind if they wielded it?”
“There’s a secret method that lets you remain reasonably sane. But I see no reason to explain all that to you.”
…….
“That said, it’s strange. How can you survive with your heart destroyed?”
“I’m dying as we speak.”
“Perhaps I need to sever your neck to finish you?”
“I’m dying, I told you.”
Slash.
In one fluid motion, the human drew his blade and severed the Demon’s neck.
“Gaaahhh…… Even if I am dying, there was no need to cut my head off, was there?”
Remarkably, the severed head that had fallen to the ground continued to shriek and speak.
“Wow! Your head’s been cut off, yet you still talk? Doesn’t sound come from air leaving the lungs through the vocal cords?”
Jang Gain tilted his head in bewilderment as he examined the severed surface of the Demon’s neck.
“To think I would die at the hands of a mere human! How utterly infuriating……”
When the Demon spoke, Jang Gain blocked the severed opening of the vocal cords with his finger. Immediately, the creature’s voice cut off.
“Ah! So air enters there, which is how it can speak again!”
As the Demon continued to gape its mouth, Jang Gain repeatedly blocked and unblocked the vocal opening.
“A-are you toying with me!”
“Truly fascinating. How can a living creature survive with its heart destroyed and its neck severed? No wonder mages pay such a high price for Demons.”
“I… that I would suffer such humiliation at the hands of a human! What is your name, human?”
“And what would you gain from knowing my name? Besides, normally when a neck is cut, blood should geyser up like a fountain…… Ah! Of course—since the heart is destroyed, that can’t happen.”
Since Jang Gain had caught this Demon to sell it to a mage, he hoisted its head in one hand while grasping its wing joint with the other and dragged it toward the Gate.
“I am Baron Jakpuri, retainer of Adrammelech. Tell me your name!”
“You’re awfully loud. I have no intention of telling you my name, so be quiet.”
Jang Gain found a small stone and used it to block the Demon’s vocal opening, silencing it completely.
Thump-thump-thump-thump-thump……
As he dragged the Demon toward the Gate, the Demons and Demonic Creatures that had been heading toward it abruptly changed direction and rushed toward Jang Gain instead.
“What? Why the sudden change? What trick did this Demon pull?”
Jang Gain set the Demon down and began wielding his spear, starting with the Magical Beast that had drawn closest.

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