I Never Run Out of Mana

137. Despite Having Met Before, Is This How It Is?

“What’s that next to you?”

“Keheh! Why…. For what reason are the two of them together!”

“So what is that.”

“The Immortal Knight Belkoseu! Min-Cheol, I think it’s best that we run away quickly! Hurry!”

Karin shouted urgently as if he was meeting with the demon king.

Pointing at the Lich King and Belkoseu, he was stomping down his feet with impatience.

I had already met with the Lich King in a dungeon back on Earth.

The armor I had worn previously and the current helmet I was wearing both had dropped from him.

Each piece boasted the incredible stat bonus of 20% damage reduction as defensive equipments.

If I didn’t obtain this new armor that gave double that stat from taking down Joker, I was positive that I’d still be using that old armor.

Karin continued to pull on my trousers in an attempt to convince me to flee.

There was a chance that the monsters on Earth and the monsters on the demonic realm were different.

This meant that despite facing the Lich King again, I had no idea just how powerful the one that lived here was.

I had no idea if he was going to cast magic or come at me in hand to hand combat.

However, I had no intention of losing to him.

Staring down the two that came in my vision, I spoke to Karin.

“Have you forgotten? I’ve even defeated Berdan. What chance do they stand!”

“It might be better to face Ladin!”

“He’s that strong?”

“Kel! That’s what I said!”

“Is this Belkoseu the only one of its kind in the demonic realm?”

“Keheh? That’s… That’s right.”

“So what you’re saying is that he’s quite the unique monster… Almost enough to call it a hidden boss or something.”

“I’m not sure about the Lich King next to him, but he’s intelligent! He’s not someone you can underestimate!”

“Either way, they must be weaker than Ladin or the demon king. That’s why they didn’t become one of the leaders of the demonic realm, right? What’s so scary about them that it causes you to tremble like that?”

“Immortal! Just as his name implies, he’s a monster that cannot die! He rises back up each time he’s nearing death…..He rises back up when you think he’s finished! He’s not someone you can face!”

”What? He doesn’t die?”

“Keheh… That’s right! He’s infamous in the demonic realm! Even the demon king avoids fighting with Belkoseu. Since he could lose his magical energy during the fight, he avoids such risks! It’s probably because even if he fought with all his might, there is no guarantee that he could win against Belkoseu.”

“Amusing.”

“Hurry! Let’s leave!”

“Karin, do you know the difference between humans and monsters?”

“Keh?”

“The humans do not use magical energy to attack their foes. They fight using skills fueled by mana, their strength, and artifacts that boost the strength of those factors! Of course, that skullhead is a special case.”

“So what you’re saying is that, attacks from humans will work on him? That’s too risky. We don’t even know if it will actually work. Keruu….. I wish we’d just hurry up and flee.”

“Do you really plan to take down trash mobs for 100 years? At this rate, I won’t be able to fight Ladin, and forget even trying against the demon king. You said it yourself, so you must know well how it is!”

“Really…. Are you going to fight them?”

“I’ll explain it logically. The reasons why I have to fight them that is. First, they are weaker than the demon king and Ladin.”

“True!”

“Secondly, I cannot ignore the artifacts they can drop. I wasn’t able to obtain anything from Berdan and Zekill, but it looks like they have something at the least? If Berdan and Zekill are born with a golden spoon in their mouths, then those two seem as though they rolled their way from the bottom up? I feel as though they’ll drop something amazing.”

“That’s just a speculation……”

“Thirdly? I don’t like the look in their eyes. No matter how strong you are, you should watch yourself in front of me!”

“Min-Cheol…. Are you really trying to be logical here? Where is the logic in all this.”

“I’ll use Mass Stealth Jutsu on you. Just get as far away from here as possible. The feast of meat will begin after I take them down, so you can look forward to it.”

“Kehel…. I guess it’s decided then…..”

As soon as I finished talking, Belkoseu came closer.

The obnoxiously loud noise of his cape dragging across the ground ceased as he stopped near us.

I wondered just how heavy that cape was, as it was dragging across the ground as if a tractor was trying to till the soil.

Behind him came the Lich King.

His form wasn’t that different from what I had seen on the dungeon of Earth.

The one big difference was just how much smaller he was compared to what I had seen before.

Clad in pitch black armor, a crown rested on his skull.

Even the flaming glow of his eyes were the same.

One could tell the ranking of the Lich King by the color of the flaming eyes.

The difference between the ranking were clear, starting from the lowest ranking of purple, to the highest ranking color of red.

However, this one was giving off a deeper shade of red than the highest ranking Lich King with the red glowing eyes I had fought before.

Curiously, the previous one was able to use all the skills an Awakened could obtain.

On top of that, he had poured out skills beyond ranking as well.

I wasn’t sure how strong this one would be in this realm, but I knew that I could not let down my guard for even a second.

Both of them arrived near me.

Belkoseu looked at me before speaking.

“You’re not a monster…… You must be a different race. But for some reason, you have magical energy far surpassing the average monster…. Just who are you?”

“Have you heard of humans before?”

“Humans…… Hm? Berdan! Are you the one took down Berdan? I do not know of humans. However, I can sense the magical energies of Berdan and Zekill within you.”

“Yep. And I’ll soon be the guy to take you down. On top of that, other monsters will be able to sense you magical energy within me.”

“Kuhahat! Alright…… Go ahead and try. A Puppet Goblin and a human. An amusing combination.”

“……..”

“Oho….. Now that I take a closer look, you were once a servant of Berdan. This has become far more amusing. However, it seems that the goblin hasn’t told you one thing.”

“……”

“He forgot to tell you that when you meet me in the demonic realm, you are supposed to run away as fast as you can. Kuhaha!”

“You’re quite good at talking, aren’t you? But I think your combination is quite something too. An Immortal Knight and a Lich King.”

“Kuhu. Are you talking about him? I only take him along whenever I get hungry for magical energy.”

“Oho? Seems it’s a similar case with m…..”

“Kel?”

“Anyways! So I can ignore him?”

“Oho. Do you wish to fight him? Even in the demonic realm, he is rather infamous. However, for someone like you, who has a massive amount of magical energy, there is no way that the Lich King can be your opponent.”

“Actually, you should see for yourself. I’m going to try fighting using a different method that doesn’t require any magical energy. It’s going to be a method that you’ve never seen before.”

“Glad to meet such an amusing character in the middle of being bored out of my mind. Alright then, show me your ways. Show me this different method you speak of.”

“Karin, get away from here. And focus. The demon king is nearby. If he ambushes us in the middle of the fight, we don’t have any methods of dealing with him.”

“Keru! Understood.”

“If you sense him moving, then tell me right away. Also, don’t get too close to me. You could possibly die if you do, so don’t, okay?”

“I’ll do so. I’ll shout really loudly!”

“Kwuhuh….. Kwuhuh…..”

“I think this side is ready to go. What of you?”

“Command that bonehead to come fight me, will you. And tell him I’ll be making some rich stock from his bones.”

“Pffft. Then, shall we……”

****

“Ladin.”

“Yes, demon king.”

Jamon wasn’t the only one at the demon king’s castle.

Ladin was with him as well.

Half of the 4 clans of demons had been wiped out by two humans.

The only ones left were Jamon, Ladin, and their respective subjects.

That was why they couldn’t act rashly and move on their own.

The demon king continued to speak.

“You felt it too, right?”

“Are you speaking of the magical energy within the human that we killed before?”

“That’s right. I definitely made sure that he drew his last breath.”

“Yes. You did so without a doubt.”

“Right. I myself had checked it as well. However, what is that magical energy that flaunts itself boldy in the demonic realm currently. I have a bad feeling about this.”

The two of them were talking about the resurrection of Jong Ho.

They had made sure that the human had perished before them.

However, they sensed that he was alive and well, almost as if denying the fact that they had killed him.

Not only that, but it was increasing the magical energy within him bit by bit.

Ladin responded to the demon king’s serious expression.

“I feel the same way, oh great demon king.”

“Do you know why I suggested the peace treaty between our clans?”

“……”

“Do you know why I made such a risky decision…… A decision risky enough for me to lose my place as the demon king at that.”

“That’s….. I believed that it was to make preparations for war against them.”

“That’s right. But now, look at the current situation. Instead of the demonic races becoming stronger, we’ve only become weaker instead.”

“It’s my carelessness.”

“No, it’s my naivety. What do you think we should do? Speak your mind.”

“The human…… Perhaps he didn’t completely die from our assault. That’s why the magical energy didn’t transfer over to me when I finished him off.”

“Go on.”

“That means that if we are to kill those humans completely, then the magical energy will come back to us. This means that the two that has infiltrated our realm….. They must be eliminated at all costs. It’s so that we can reclaim the magical energies of our realm. Our reward for doing so would be the additional magical energies they had claimed while they lived on Earth.”

“Hm….. I agree as well.”

“However, demon king, it looks like there’s no need for us to rush.”

“Hm? What’s your reasoning.”

“As you have observed as well, these lesser beings known as humans do not know how to wield magical energies.”

“……”

“This means that no matter how much they grow stronger, they will be nothing before us. Even if all the monsters in the demonic realm gets wiped out by them, they will still be kneeling before you.”

“So I must just watch them go on a rampage like this?”

“Think of it as using them, my lord.”

“Using them?”

“Yes. You won’t be needing those lesser monsters in the war to come. Most of those lesser monsters will only serve as distractions and meatshields.”

“That’s true.”

“But it’s not like we have time to spare killing all the monsters in the demonic realm. That’s why we should let them gather the magical energies for us instead.”

“Ohho…. Not a bad plan.”

“We merely need to wait patiently while pretending to not have noticed what they are up to.”

“Good, Ladin. I shall put faith in your plan.”

“Yes, oh great demon king.”

It was then.

Both of their expressions changed to that of shock.

“Hm?”

“Huh!”

“Ladin….. This is…….”

“Belkoseu….. I’m positive that the magical energies of the humans are clashing with that of Belkoseu’s magical energy.”

“This wasn’t expected. If Belkoseu obtains the magical energies of those two humans, it’ll be a catastrophe!”

“I shall go there at once.”

“No, we go together. Hide as much of your magical energy as possible. We’ll keep them under surveillance until the right opportunity presents itself.”

“Yes, Great demon king!”

****

“I guess the title of archmage lives up to its name?”

“Kwuhuh….. Kwuhuh……”

“I’ll decline the armor drops. Instead, I’ll be looking forward to something else as my reward!”