The Returner Chapter 212

"Delkaran’s here?!" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
Yi Ji-Hyuk’s expression crumpled unsightly.
"You sure about this?" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
"Yes." (?)
Yi Ji-Hyuk heard the High Elf’s resolute, firm answer and spat out a heavy groan. It wasn’t to the extent of Dragons, but still, Elves rarely lied. So much so that, while living in Berafe, he sometimes even wondered if the tendency to lie was a trait unique to humans or not.
Besides, there was no reason for this woman to cross dimensions to get here just to lie about Delkaran entering this world.
"We’re screwed." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
Yi Ji-Hyuk grasped his head.
They had barely managed to kill one demon king, yet another one came over already?
Just what the hell is going on with this world??
The advent of a demon king is a HUGE event that may or may not happen once every one thousand years in Berafe, you know!
In Planet Earth terms, it’s like the Biblical great flood!
Every time a demon king shows up, a civilisation would be reset. The defender of diversity in culture is none other than demon kings, cuz they make sure to revert everything back to zero, back to the beginning!
But then, why the heck are these demon kings popping up here in what feels like every fourth day of the week as if they were going shopping for groceries at the local supermarket?? (Yi Ji-Hyuk’s inner monologue)
"Are we coated in honey or something?! These b*stards….. Seriously, man!" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
Yi Ji-Hyuk yelled out as figurative flames erupted from his mouth.
Even if the world is different, aren’t the treatments way too different?!
It’s like, Berafe is the in-law’s place and the demon kings don’t wanna go there if they can help it! But, is Earth where your family lives? Is that why?!
You come here and make a mess of things whenever you feel bored, so what the hell do you want from me now?!
Not only that…. (Yi Ji-Hyuk’s inner monologue)
"Why did it have to be that b*stard?!" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
Yi Ji-Hyuk spat out a long sigh.
Delkaran.
A pretty rare being among the ranks of demon kings.
Out of all the demons and monstrous creatures that number dozens and dozens of times bigger than that of humanity, there had only ever been 100 beings that earned the title of ‘demon king’.
So, one could imagine how supreme an existence that was.
However, it was also quite true that there being nearly one hundred demon ‘kings’ was a rather awkward thing to address.
In the common logic of Earth, there should only ever be one demon king in a generation, destined to be defeated by a brave hero at the end of the fairy tale.
Even Yi Ji-Hyuk was also taken greatly by surprise when he heard that there were almost 100 demon kings, too.
Getting back to the story - out of all the many demon kings, Delkaran had left behind a strong impression in Yi Ji-Hyuk’s mind.
First of all, that guy was super-famous even back in Berafe. And when he finally met the guy in person, he was dumbfounded by what he saw, wondering if someone like that could really even exist.
Delkaran Yi Ji-Hyuk knew was a demon king with a single-track mindset, recklessly rash, and that guy’s actions were beyond comprehension, too.
Did that mean this particular demon king was a dumba*s?
No, not at all.
No demon king should be underestimated. In order to get to that level, being intelligent to some degree was a must, after all.
If one were to talk purely about IQ numbers, then out of all the demon kings, the dumbest moron of the lot would have to be Yi Ji-Hyuk, no doubt about that.
He didn’t want to admit to such a painful truth, but unfortunately, reality wasn’t so kind.
Existences with the title of demon king were smarter than humans in terms of pure intellect. Even then, this guy was singularly focused on one thing, and also reckless, to boot.
Now typically, smart creatures would start modifying their end goals if they realised that achieving their initial goal would be more difficult than their expectations.
However, Delkaran was the type to use its smart head to cook up all sorts of schemes and methods to break through that difficulty. If that didn’t work, then it’d cause some other serious incidents in order to introduce variables to the mix.
What did all this mean?
It meant that the b*stard would resort to all sorts of c**p and when that didn’t work out, it’d start throwing tantrums!!
There was no answering that!
Yi Ji-Hyuk had learnt that being intelligent didn’t necessarily equal to being wise through Delkaran’s example. But now, such a demon king was on Earth?
Shudder….
Yi Ji-Hyuk’s body began to tremble greatly.
"Wowsers. This is a huge problem." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
Indeed, it was such a gigantic problem that he felt momentarily dizzy just now!
What am I supposed to do now?!
"Are you really sure about this?" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
"Yes." (?)
"How did you even find this out, in the first place?" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
"Of course, it’s not possible even for us to find out about such things." (?)
"Okay, so?" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
The High Elf stared at Yi Ji-Hyuk, her expression asking, "Why are you asking me something so obvious?"
"The Order has informed us." (?)
"The Order? Of Latrel?" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
"That’s correct. The Order of Latrel informed us that Delkaran had descended to the world where you were residing now." (?)
"Mm??" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
It wasn’t so strange to see a High Elf personally making a trip regardless of which world it was, as long as something like Delkaran had descended on it. No, he should be rather thankful that she didn’t drag along a massive Elf army with her, instead.
To put it bluntly, Delkaran and Elves were sworn enemies, that was why.
Even before Yi Ji-Hyuk had the chance to cross dimensions, Delkaran entered Berafe first and proceeded to destroy about half of the existing civilisation. Out of all the victims, the ones at the most horrendous receiving end was the Elf race.
It was unknown whether their disposition was a bad match-up, or maybe the demon king just didn’t like them, or even worse, maybe the Elves happened to be in the creature’s way…. In any case, the race of Elves were pushed to the brink of extinction by Delkaran’s attacks, and they just barely managed to defeat and send back the demon king’s living embodiment in Berafe to the demon world. It took them hundreds of years of rebuilding to recover from those wounds.
Now that he thought about it, the term ‘Delkaran’ was pretty much the strongest curse word in the Elven vocabulary, wasn’t it?
So, one could excuse a High Elf for crossing over in order to hunt down Delkaran, but….
"….How did Latrel know about this?" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
Now this one was the real problem. This world was completely different from Berafe.
Sure, she might be a god on that side, but that didn’t mean she could interfere with the matters of Earth. If gods could interfere in the matters of other dimensions, then pretty much all living worlds would have become battlegrounds of various gods by now.
However, how did Latrel find out something that even Yi Ji-Hyuk living on Earth didn’t know? How did she find it out and even deigned to hand out an oracle, to boot?
"I have already told you." (?)
"Eh?" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
"This world and Berafe have been connected in some way now. Although faint, a pathway has been established." (?)
"How?" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
"As I’ve said before…." (?)
The High Elf became extra-patient as she continued with her explanation.
"It’s because of the ‘Eye of Latrel’." (?)
"Eye of Latrel?" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
"With you activating the Eye of Latrel to come here, a crack has formed between the worlds. Although minute, it definitely exists. This crack connects Berafe to this world. And that allows the power of divinity to work here, and that also allows her divine will to enter this world." (?)
"M-mm…."
Yi Ji-Hyuk roughly scratched his head.
Hang on. I was wondering why the heck those crossing over here could use divinity so easily, but I guess that was the reason, huh.
I figured that Roabell would keel over from exhaustion after pouring out all of the divinity in her body, but she’d been enduring unexpectedly well so far. So, that was the reason, wasn’t it? (Yi Ji-Hyuk’s inner monologue)
"In that case, why isn’t Mana crossing over?" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
"It’s because Mana and divinity are two different things. The energy filling this world rejects the influence of Mana." (?)
"Hmm…."
So, like, this world’s foundation is with Ether, so Mana can’t cross over, but since there’s a void with divinity, it’s pretty much a fair game and Berafe’s divinity can come as much as it pleases, is that right?
So, which means…. (Yi Ji-Hyuk’s inner monologue)
"Why the hell is it so complicated?! D*mn it!" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
Yi Ji-Hyuk suddenly flew into rage, causing the eyes of the High Elf watching on to tremble unsteadily.
‘But then again….’ (?)
She already knew that he was a man like this, to begin with.
As a matter of fact, he’d have his monster army attack or fill the skies with black magic spells just because the story got too long and his thoughts got too complicated as a result. But now, seeing him only lash out with his mouth…. For sure, he had softened by a great deal.
"Okay, so. Let me summarise this whole thing…. There’s a hole connecting Berafe and this world, and Latrel used that hole to see Delkaran descending here. Is that right?" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
"Yes." (?)
"And then, she sent an oracle to her Order and they informed you. Is that the gist of it?" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
"That’s correct." (?)
"H-mm…." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
Yi Ji-Hyuk nodded his head before asking the High Elf.
"Okay, so what’s your plan?" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
"I beg your pardon?" (?)
"What can you possibly contribute by yourself? You people haven’t forgotten who you are dealing with, I hope?" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
"Of course, we haven’t. It is that detestable Delkaran, after all." (?)
"Regardless of what, that guy is still a demon king. More importantly, he’s not any ol’ regular demon king, but fresh off the produce aisle, if you get my drift." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
Yup, that guy’s right at the top of his game.
Overflowing with energy, overflowing with eagerness, and a demon king that just fits the description perfectly.
So, what are you planning to do to such a guy by showing up all alone with a little puppy in tow? (Yi Ji-Hyuk’s inner monologue)
"I’m well aware that I can not be of any help to your cause. However, we decided that we simply couldn’t stay back and do nothing when Delkaran has made a move." (?)
"So, what you’re saying is…. I’ll be the one to deal with that guy, while you show up to the party just to say that you did come in order to ‘console’ me that way?" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
"It is quite embarrassing, but you are correct." (?)
Most regular folks would either deny or get angry when called out like this as that would be the norm, but a High Elf was a High Elf at the end of the day.
She simply admitted to it.
"Groan…."
He didn’t like this response one bit.
If only she tried to deny it or something, Yi Ji-Hyuk would have been able to start his verbal assaults, but now that she came out and readily admitted to it, continuing on would only make him look like he was grasping at straws.
"Okay, fine! Where is Delkaran?" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
"Even we don’t know that." (?)
"Groan…."
Yi Ji-Hyuk began tearing his hair out as he squatted down on the ground.
"God d*mn it! These demon kings, crossing over whenever they feel bored or something!!" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
Since a bona fide demon king-level b*stard had crossed over, he had no choice but to fight it now. If a demon king decided to rampage around for real, then it’d not even take a month for Earth to be destroyed for good.
This problem had surpassed the level of being irritating and straight into the realm of a life and death struggle, so Yi Ji-Hyuk could no longer laze around and suck on his thumbs anymore.
‘Is that demon punk the source of the problem?’ (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
There was no way that demon kings could easily cross dimensions like this, so it had to be someone summoning them to this world, whether it be a demon or something else. He had to eliminate the source first, otherwise even if he managed to stop Delkaran this time around, another problem would rear its ugly head in the near future.
"Well, that’s a problem to consider later….." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
"Pardon?" (?)
"Quite frankly, I’ve got no answers here." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
"………"
Sure, a demon king had been stopped before.
Beltreche.
Everyone went through hell, but nevertheless, they did manage to stop that b*stard, didn’t they?
The thing was, though, Beltreche and Delkaran were two different types of demon kings.
If it weren’t for Beltreche underestimating Yi Ji-Hyuk, and crucially, the 13th demon king intervening at the last second, he wouldn’t have been able to stop that creature. But, Delkaran was a far more cumbersome adversary compared to Beltreche.
"Groan…."
Yi Ji-Hyuk continued to groan.
"Mister Choi Jung-Hoon?" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
"Yes!" (Choi Jung-Hoon)
Choi Jung-Hoon quickly ran over to Yi Ji-Hyuk’s side.
"For the time being, summon every available agent." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
"….Understood." (Choi Jung-Hoon)
"Not just the NDF, but everyone that can fight. Summon them all. And call America, or everywhere else you can call, and tell them to be on high alert!" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
"Yes!" (Choi Jung-Hoon)
"Colonel Jeong In-Soo." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
"Yes!" (Jeong In-Soo)
"Please, you also need to mobilise the entire defence force. Although I don’t think the threat will appear in our small country, it’ll still be a prudent thing to prepare for the worst potential situation." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
"Mobilise the whole army?!" (Jeong In-Soo)
"You just have to get them on standby 24 hours a day so they can react and focus their fighting power regardless of where the enemy appears." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
"That is doable." (Jeong In-Soo)
Yi Ji-Hyuk nonchalantly issued a command that, if the soldiers throughout the country heard him, they would start vomiting blood from the unfairness of it all. He got up from the ground in one go and glared at the High Elf.
"And you, Elf woman!" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
"Reah."
"Eh?" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
"Have you forgotten? I’m Reah."
What do you mean, forgotten?
I was never interested, to begin with. (Yi Ji-Hyuk’s inner monologue)
"Who cares if you’re Reah or whatever. Anyway, there’s a reason why you showed up with that puppy, right?" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
Yi Ji-Hyuk looked down, and the Behemoth whimpered before hiding behind Reah’s legs.
"Of course. He will help you track down the enemy." (Reah)
"Hmm…."
Did this mean he’d be more proactive this time? That would be a hundred times more preferable than waiting around forever for a situation to break out somewhere first.
"Looks like I’ll be saying hello first, then." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
You stinking demon king b*stard!
I’m gonna…. (Yi Ji-Hyuk’s inner monologue)
"Mister Yi Ji-Hyuk!!!" (Choi Jung-Hoon)
It was then, Choi Jung-Hoon hurriedly ran towards him while answering the phone. Yi Ji-Hyuk saw this scene and could only sigh under his breath.
Yup, I knew it.
With my luck, what a fat joke it is, wanting to get a preemptive strike.
Eh-whew!!
Fin.