The Returner Chapter 214

Rather than a snake, though, it was more like an ‘Imoogi’.
The black Mana flew out like wingless Dragons and swallowed up all the tanks surrounding Delkaran.
"Aaaaaah…."
The crewmen inside the tanks saw the black Mana fly at them and swallowed back their despair-laden gasps.
Wuduk!! Wududuk!!
The armour plating of the tanks were torn off like scraps of paper and Mana poured in like black tides into the vehicles. And as the soldiers watched on with despairing eyes, the black magical energy pounced on them.
"Aaaahk!!"
Those who managed to scream were the lucky ones; most of the tank crewmen were disintegrated in an instant without being able to squeak out anything.
KA-BOOOOM!!
Tanks and APCs began blowing up, one by one.
Michael Douglas watched this spectacle and gnashed his teeth. They had committed so much firepower but failed to scratch it once, so just what were they supposed to do in order to kill that monster?!
"….God d*mn it." (Michael Douglas)
There was only one answer remaining. And that would be to retreat as quickly as possible and try to preserve the remaining forces, and then, find a new way to damage the monster and recommence with their attack. That was it.
However, doing that left a bad taste in his mouth. Because, there were still plenty of citizens yet to evacuate right behind the defensive line.
Telling a soldier to abandon all those people and retreat?
"Commander!"
Michael ignored the call coming from behind him. He already knew what that guy wanted to say. He too knew that, logically speaking, he needed to retreat.
However, that idea should not even be entertained right now.
As long as he was a soldier, as long as he chose to walk the path of a soldier, the choice of abandoning regular citizens did not exist in his mind.
"We fight till the end!!" (Michael Douglas)
"But, commander!"
"There are citizens who haven’t evacuated yet! If we retreat now, what do you think will happen to them?" (Michael Douglas)
"….Even if we don’t retreat in time, they will still die, sir. And lots of other people will die, as well."
"You….!" (Michael Douglas)
Michael gritted his teeth.
He also knew that his adjutant wasn’t wrong here. But, which soldier worth his salt would give out a command to retreat in a situation like this one?
As he spiralled ever deeper into a dilemma that wasn’t a dilemma, tanks continuously blew up in front of his eyes.
BOOM!!
KA-BOOM!!
One hit would bring about one explosion. It wasn’t as if Delkaran could only destroy tanks this way. No, it was more like a cat toying with a rat driven into a corner. The demon king nonchalantly extended its snake-like Mana tentacle and destroyed tanks one at a time.
Many tank crewmen succumbed to their fear and began abandoning their vehicles to escape. Delkaran watched them flee, its eyes gleaming brightly.
"Ahh, so they aren’t that stupid." (Delkaran)
It seemed that their primal survival instincts were still active within these humans.
Lifeforms living in large groups tended to sacrifice themselves for the greater good of the group. For instance, ants would fight against invading enemies to protect their eggs, even though they were clearly outmatched.
Insects that would avoid danger in any other normal circumstances would forget about their own lives and attack their enemies if they sensed a threat to their group.
So, what about humans, then?
‘They are double-sided, I see.’ (Delkaran)
The demon king could see that there were some soldiers standing their ground even though they were cognisant of being in the same range of destruction as with their fleeing comrades.
This thing of displaying different types of responses when facing same situations could be seen as a unique trait to human beings.
Out of all the similar types of intelligent creatures, humans were the most peculiar.
Among all the intelligent creatures, Dragons perhaps possessed the strongest individualistic personalities. In the name of their common race, Dragons might get together every once in a while, but they seriously lacked any tangible bond or fellowship among themselves, to such an extent that one could easily assume each individual being its own tribe.
As for the Elves, they were ostensibly intelligent creatures but lived their whole lives as a part of their colony. They even displayed characteristics akin to ants, too. Elves didn’t think too much about sacrificing themselves if it was for the greater good of their kind.
And in the middle of these two extremes were mankind.
Humans were intelligent creatures as well as being a part of one single race, but then, there were many, many different types among them.
While there were those noble few who’d readily sacrifice themselves for the sake of humanity, there were also those narcissistic ones that wouldn’t bat an eyelid when sacrificing the entire human race just for his or her desires.
Chaotic.
From the perspective of other races, humanity was the chaos personified.
"That’s why it’s so amusing." (Delkaran)
Because humans lived so chaotically and as they pleased, the ‘energy’ that oozed out from them was truly, incomprehensibly powerful.
The reason for not just the demons but other, strange creatures being so avaricious towards humans was simple - the energy possessed by humans were incomparably larger than any other races. That was why.
Even though they lived shorter lives than the others, they were much more passionate and proactive. And most importantly, more chaotic than anyone else.
So, how could anyone not be fascinated by this race now?
"Well, our interests diverge from the others, though." (Delkaran)
Demons were interested in humans because the negative energy.
That was basically the power that allowed demons to live.
That was basically the foundation of the demon world itself.
And when a human was about to die, he or she released the most amount of negative energy.
It was obvious what Delkaran had to do in this world, then. Kill more and destroy even more.
Some demons opined that more humans should be kept alive in order to secure a steady supply of negative energy, but to Delkaran, it didn’t matter either way. Well, this demon king wasn’t doing this annoying little thing for the sake of negative energy, anyway.
Its reason was pretty simple, actually. Why should it go around seeking that man out?
By starting things out in a flashy manner like this, that man would come searching for Delkaran. Because, he’d not want to see the world he was living in get reduced to ashes.
"Fufufu."
Delkaran scanned his surroundings.
The only thing remaining right now was indeed, ash. All the buildings humans managed to construct, all the other structures with unknown purposes… all of them were destroyed and emitted black smoke and burnt dust. And in between, the broken and wrecked green-coloured large hunks of metal burning in flames.
"Nothing’s changed." (Delkaran)
The world might be different, but the sight immediately after the destruction remained the same.
Besides, Delkaran wasn’t planning to stop only at this.
As long as Yi Ji-Hyuk didn’t show up here, the demon king was not planning to stop its path of destruction.
If Yi Ji-Hyuk decided not to show up even until the end, then this world would become a dead planet where not even an ant lived.
"Fufufu…."
An ominous, hushed cackle leaked out Delkaran as it slowly advanced forward.
This being was a demon.
By nature, it felt ecstasy from destroying and murdering things. This whole venture might have started off as a necessity, but as the destruction continued on, something deep within the demon king began boiling over.
It was this urge to destroy everything its eyes could see. This was the primal instinct to destroy, something that all beings living in the demon world must contend with.
"Fuu-wuu…."
Delkaran took a deep breath and suppressed its destructive urges.
A measly little city like this…
…The demon king would be able to destroy it in seconds just by getting a little bit more serious. The sole reason for doing this inefficient thing was for the sake of all the negative energy to be harvested later on.
"It’s a bit irritating, but still." (Delkaran)
"You ain’t the only one getting irritated." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
"Hm?" (Delkaran)
Hearing that voice coming from behind, Delkaran smiled to itself and turned its head back. There was a familiar face looking back.
"Should I say it’s been a long time?" (Delkaran)
"That’s too brief, ain’t it?" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
"Kekekeke." (Delkaran)
Delkaran shuddered from joy as Yi Ji-Hyuk stood before its very eyes.
Yi Ji-Hyuk.
The 99th demon king.
A human who came to the demon world and obtained the title of the demon king. The man who made other demon kings tremble in fear through his sheer cruelty and decisiveness.
And that Yi Ji-Hyuk was standing right before Delkaran’s eyes.
"I missed you. Really missed you. Perhaps these words don’t suit the situation, but I really wanted to meet you again." (Delkaran)
"I’m not into guys." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
"Kekeke. You’re still the same as always, I see." (Delkaran)
"H-mm…." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
Yi Ji-Hyuk roughly scratched his head.
It was like, all these demon kings tried to come across as his buddies or something. These guys didn’t even occupy all that big of a head space in Yi Ji-Hyuk’s memories, yet with them all addressing him as if they were long-lost best pals, he felt really confused right now.
"Ahh, so. Is that why you went ahead and caused this much ruckus?" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
"I was being considerate. I’m sure you know this already." (Delkaran)
"Yup, I’m so thankful that I might cry now, you snake b*stard." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
"Fufufu." (Delkaran)
Yi Ji-Hyuk furrowed his brows as he watched Delkaran cackling ominously like that.
All these demon kings were insidious and treacherous, every single one of the lot. Of course, one wouldn’t be able to survive in the perilous demon world without being wicked and stuff, and more importantly, one wouldn’t be able to climb up to the seat of a demon king without being treacherous and all that.
"What are you expecting to gain by showing up here, anyway?" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
"Are you asking me because you don’t know?" (Delkaran)
"You think I’ll ask you if I know? I thought you were smart, but I guess you are just as dumb as a brick." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
Delkaran’s red eyes wavered around.
"Oh, the 99th demon king…. No. Oh, human Yi Ji-Hyuk." (Delkaran)
"Speak." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
"I advise you to watch your mouth. The Mana that used to guard you is now incomparably weak, while the army of monsters protecting you are not in this world. You are just a mere human, one who no longer deserve to be called a demon king." (Delkaran)
Yi Ji-Hyuk dug his ear canal nonchalantly and blew away the resulting matter before making his reply.
"Ah, ah. Right, there was another dude saying something similar to that before kicking the bucket, wasn’t there? What was his name again? Bell? Belt….?" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
"Beltreche." (Delkaran)
"Aaah, right. It was Beltreche. Shouldn’t you also watch yourself? I mean, it’s fine for that first guy to get killed to come up with excuses of underestimating me or making a mistake somewhere, blah, blah. But, you won’t be able to make such excuses, you know?" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
"Are you comparing me to Beltreche now?" (Delkaran)
"Kekeke." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
Yi Ji-Hyuk ended up breaking out into a cackle of his own.
"Doesn’t matter whether you’re a human, a demon king, a demon…. Everyone of you say the exact same thing. Those with nothing special about them always say they are different from all the others. In my eyes, you or that other guy look pretty much the same, you know?" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
"Is that what you think?" (Delkaran)
"That’s right. That’s what I think. What’s the matter? You now planning to show me how different you are?" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
Delkaran shook its head.
"If that’s what you think, then I’m sure it is." (Delkaran)
"Ohh? Why are you so courteous?" (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
Delkaran chuckled as a response.
The Yi Ji-Hyuk standing before the demon king was just a human. With a single thought, Delkaran was confident of turning him into a mince meat in a second.
However, he was still an existence worthy of respect.
It was already incredible that he had managed to climb up to the position of the demon king even though he was just a weak human. But then, he even climbed to the highest peak within the demon kings and eventually, reached the godhood, too.
Other demon kings would find it hard to revolt against the wills of the gods yet he directly rebelled against it anyway and in the end, managed to accomplish his goal.
On that point alone, Delkaran respected him.
Although it couldn’t openly display this respect due to the one it served, was it not obvious to respect a person who had achieved so much in the past?
"Once upon a time, just seeing you made me shudder in indignation." (Delkaran)
"What do you mean, once upon a time? You should be doing the same thing right now, too." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
Delkaran’s eyes narrowed down to a slit.
"I now respect you. And that is why I shall grant you everything that I am capable of." (Delkaran)
"H-mm…."
Yi Ji-Hyuk finally finished with his ear-canal-drilling quest before using his head’s sideways movement to provoke his enemy. Well, it was quite obvious what a demon king would say, anyway.
"A perfect death. That will be my gift to you." (Delkaran)
"Ohh, sure." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
Yi Ji-Hyuk roughly scratched his head again.
"Yeah, well, stop spewing the exact same c**p as every other third-rate villain, okay? It’s getting really boring. In the end, you wanna fight me, right? So, stop beating around the bush and come at me. You tangle with me once, and you’ll soon know it yourself." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
"I’ll know soon?" (Delkaran)
Yi Ji-Hyuk smirked provocatively.
"Back then or now… Something like you will never be my opponent, that’s what. Come, now. I shall make you feel that indignation again." (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
Black Mana began rumbling out of Yi Ji-Hyuk’s body.
Fin.