Chapter 220 ·Great Devil (1)

Great ‍​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌‌‌​​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌‌‌​‍‍​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​​​​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌‌​​​‌‌​​​​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌​​‌​​​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​​‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌​​​​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​​​​‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌​​​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​​​‌​​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌‌​​​​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌‌‌​​​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌​​​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌‌​​​‌‌​​​​​‌​​‌​​‌​​‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​​​​‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌​​​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​‌​​​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‌‌​​​​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​‌​​​‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​​​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​​‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​​​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌‌​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌​​​‌​​‌‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​​​​‌​‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​​​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​‌​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​‌​​​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌​‌‌‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌‌‌​‌‍Devil (1)

"How did this happen?"

The Great Devil Hartmon was floating absentmindedly in the sky, unable to comprehend what was going on.

He was certain he had been killed by the boy—the host of the Chaos Dragon—and had lost his body.

It was impossible that he was now standing here, perfectly alive, breathing.

"Don't look at me."

Likewise, Goramon, who must have died and yet was resurrected, felt the same way.

The rest of the Great Devils were also blankly floating in the sky just like them.

"Huh? Why am I here?"

"Huh... My body... back to normal..."

"Where is this?"

"Wait, what the—?"

The Great Devils turned their heads in bewilderment and soon faced each other.

"What the—?"

At the same time, they all made the same surprised expression and let out the same voice.

"Eramon, why are you here? Didn't you give up your body and pass your power to some nobody demonkin?"

Duramon asked Eramon, who looked completely unscathed.

"Then what about you? Why are you here when you lost your body?"

Eramon threw the question back at Duramon.

"For sure, I died too... But more importantly, Eramon, what gives you the right to just talk to us so nonchalantly? When we were working our bones to the core, you ran away on your own."

"What did you say, jerk?"

"Am I wrong? While we were struggling to regain our original strength, you handed all your power to some unknown girl demonkin and just bolted!"

Duramon yelled at Eramon, who had returned to her original form.

When the other Great Devils were researching to regain their power as they adapted to this world, Eramon kept grumbling that it was all pointless and disappeared.

"So, did you regain your original strength doing it your way? What did you even get out of commanding dark magic cultists and chasing after the successor of the Blood Sword Technique?"

"There he goes again..."

"It was all for nothing. Why didn't you just dump your body and wait, like me? So much easier."

In short, Eramon abandoned the important project among the Great Devils simply because she found it bothersome, dumping her duties onto an unknown demonkin and vanishing.

"Eramon... you really...!"

"Anyway, wasn't there that girl who was more than enough to replace me? She even had a kid, right? Didn't she help a lot?"

She really was helpful.

She even created a medicine that removed the torture stigma of the 7th Legion—an incredible feat.

"Yeah, she was helpful. But what about you? Don't tell me you're trying to get a share now that everything's done?"

"All done? Are you saying this situation is all set and done?"

Eramon looked around at her resurrected colleagues.

Seeing that even the ones who had died were revived, it seemed as if something good had happened.

"We've all come back to life. What do you think this is?"

"Hm... so your plan finally succeeded?"

All the Great Devils who had died until now had come back to life.

Unless under extremely special circumstances, a dead Great Devil's body was never restored.

"Don't tell me... did the Blood Sword Technique...?"

Restoration only occurred if the ritual of the Blood Sword Technique succeeded.

That all of them had come back to life meant that the ritual had succeeded.

"If that's the case... let me try...!"

Eramon gazed at the 'moon' that seemed even farther than the sky.

She reached her hand toward it and swung her arm as though pulling on an invisible rope.

In that instant, the moon drew closer.

"It works! It works!! Hahahaha!!"

As she waved her hand wildly, the moon moved along with her motions.

Just like a child playing with a ball, the moon moved in a way unbefitting its size.

"It succeeded! Everyone, thank you from the bottom of my heart!"

"You little—trying to get in on the spoils after all this!"

Thwack!!—

Duramon punched Eramon's face with a clenched fist.

It was just a light punch to a friend he disliked, but the impact split the 'moon' in half.

"Ow! Did you just hit me?"

"Wouldn't you be mad? We busted our butts setting the stage, so of course we deserve the spotlight. Why is someone who did nothing trying to steal our thunder?!"

Thwack!!—

"You little sh*t, and you hit me twice?"

Thwack!!—

"This f***ing b*tch!!"

Thwack!!—

Thwack!!—

Thwack!!—

Eramon and Duramon broke out into a fistfight.

Every time their fists collided, it shook the atmosphere, and some of the stars floating in space lost their standing as a result.

"You b****! I'm going to kill you with my own hands!!"

"Bring it on, then!!"

As their fight grew more intense, the other Great Devils had to break them up.

"Stop. Is this really the time for us to be fighting? Don't you think we should figure out how this all happened?"

"Besides, if we keep this up, the stars won't survive. We're not here to 'destroy' this place."

At Hartmon and Goramon's words, Duramon and Eramon stopped fighting.

But it was only a ceasefire; the two glared at each other as if they would kill at any moment.

"Wait, wasn't this all your doing?"

At that moment, Eramon frowned in doubt.

If their plan to regain their power had succeeded, surely these guys would know what was going on.

"Believe it or not... We don't know either. Nothing at all..."

"Yeah... It's an incomprehensible... situation."

Palmon and Wigmon stammered.

"You guys still talk like that."

"Couldn't... fix the habit."

"Changing... is hard."

Wigmon stretched out both hands, and branches sprouted from his palms and struck into the air.

As if putting down roots in space itself, he used the branch to sense the flow of the atmosphere and quickly figured out what was happening.

"It's the Blood Sword Technique. The Blood Sword Technique was perfectly performed here on the West Continent."

"The Blood Sword Technique? But why?"

"That, I don't know."

If the ritual truly took place, it explains why they were revived like this.

But why was it invoked?

It's not like the humans would gain anything from activating the ritual.

"Was there even an official successor of the Blood Sword Technique in this continent to begin with?"

"I don't know. But I don't think that's what matters right now."

Hartmon was looking at the strength flowing in his hand with satisfaction.

Their power had returned to its original state.

So there was only one thing left to do.

"Yes, just like Hartmon said... There's only one thing we need to do right now!"

The Great Devils looked at their strength restored to its peak and couldn't help but grin.

Their faces were full of evil energy as if they were eager to devour everything before them.

"Those damn...."

Then, the first to throw a punch was Duramon.

"... Bastard!!"

Straight at Goramon's face.

Thwack!!—

"You bastard! Of all days, I'm glad I met you today!"

"What's wrong with you all of a sudden!"

"You don't remember? Back then, I sent a lingering thought entity asking for help, but why didn't you come?!"

Of all the Great Devils living on this continent, Duramon had faced the most risk to his life.

Great Devils had started wars to find the Blood Sword Technique and had once won over the king of Woodrock for that purpose.

In the tragedy of war, humanity could only grow stronger.

But the first ritual for the Blood Sword Technique failed, so Duramon tried to possess a human and in person conduct the ceremony himself.

"Don't you remember I suffered the most? You of all people should know, bastard! There's a reason I came to be called 'Demon King' by the people of the West Continent."

Decades ago, Duramon was none other than the main instigator of the demonkin war in the West Continent.

Duramon had stolen the body of someone carrying the blood of the Blood Sword Technique, but the body was incompatible and he rampaged, becoming known as the Demon King.

"Back then, I fought like hell with the continent's strongest, and even at the very end, just before getting killed, I sent a signal to you, Goramon, to help me... Why didn't you come?"

As a result, Duramon was killed and survived by possessing the body of the Swordmaster who killed him.

"If you guys had just come to help a little, maybe our plan could have succeeded back then!"

Since the land was stained with blood during the demonkin war, it would have been a perfect opportunity to perform the ritual.

But Duramon wanted to master the Blood Sword Technique to perfection after fighting the continent's heroes before conducting the full ceremony.

"Haaa... Even if I wanted to help, I couldn't, Duramon, you know this. Our bodies were tied to the other dimension, so we couldn't exercise our powers in the present world."

To fully exercise their power, the dark magic cultists had to open the gate for them.

In fact, Palmon once descended to the real world thanks to that, but died.

"Yes, you're right—we couldn't act from the other side. But did you know? Back then, my entire Demon King's army was made up of dark magic cultists... You think they'd sit idle?"

Of course, the dark magic cultists had opened a gate calling Goramon.

But even then, Goramon did not go to help Duramon.

"Yes, the gate was open. Enough for me to actually act."

"So why didn't you come?!"

"The gate was unstable. If I'd passed through, my strength would have dropped to less than half. If I'd helped you in that state, I'd have been wiped out too."

Just at the worst possible time, the preparations for opening the gate hadn't been completed due to reincarnation.

Palmon, who had once passed through the gate, nodded in agreement.

"Even so, you should have come for me."

Even after hearing all this, Duramon couldn't let go of his anger.

"You should have risked your life with me!!"

"Are you nuts? If I did that..."

"Do you have no sense of romance?!"

Did this bastard eat something bad?

What sense of romance for Great Devils...

"And it wasn't just Goramon. You guys used my corpse to amuse yourselves, didn't you?"

There was a time when Goramon became a corpse.

After being defeated at the academy, he was captured by the Holy Nation and became an ingredient for the 'elixir of immortality.'

Some Great Devils manifested as lingering thought entities, obtained that elixir, and played around with it.

"You doodled on the bottle, tied a ribbon to it... Eramon, Hartmon, Goramon... You think I didn't know?"

"You found out?"

"Of course! It was my body!!"

Fuming, Duramon began swinging his fists at Goramon, Eramon, and Hartmon.

"Wait, I was a victim too...!"

Wigmon was just as angry.

"You... saved my corpse but used it as a decoration! As a winter tree ornament!!"

Like Duramon, Wigmon had died at the academy and ended up turned into a piece of wood.

"You should have revived me, but you made me a damn decoration!!"

"Ugh! Why hit me... I'm not even involved...!!"

"Sorry, Palmon. It was a blunder... oof!"

Although he had nothing to do with it, Palmon, hit by accident, lashed back, face boiling with anger.

"You traitors!! How can you call yourselves comrades!!"

"Yeah, who told you to die anyway?"

"Palmon, you spread disparaging whispers about me too!!"

"Shut up! Since when does it matter what I say!"

As the brawl among the Great Devils grew more heated, Hartmon raised his voice loudly.

"Stop fighting already!"

"What do you mean Hartmon? You could use a beating too!"

"You bastards, I said enough!!"

But even Hartmon, who tried to break up the brawl, got caught up in the chaos.

The Great Devils, resurrected and back to full strength, were now embroiled in a tangled mess of their past deeds.

"Die!! No, die one more time!!"

"Shut up!! You die instead!!"

"Let's go as far as we can!!"

"Today, you die and I die!!"

"We just got resurrected, why die now? If someone's dying, let it be you guys!"

"F***!! I said, stop it!!"

In the end, they were tangled together, choking each other, locking each other in armbars, and pulling each other's hair.

"Excuse me."

That's when it happened.

"Hey, you."

As a voice came from the side, the Great Devils turned, faces twitching with irritation.

"What the hell are you all doing?"

There, floating in midair, was a boy who looked strangely familiar.

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