Chapter 406 (1/2)
The Bull Demon King lightly dusted his hands as he said his piece.
The battle that went on for one full day left several small injuries to appear on his body. For instance, his waist had been torn, while his forearm had been burned rather deeply. Even then, the Bull Demon King remained utterly composed. A part of that was down to the victor’s mental leeway, but it was also because he had plenty of leeway during the battle itself.
Fafnir slowly opened its mouth to speak, “I see. So you are the one called the Great Sage who Pacifies Heaven.”
The Great Sage who Pacifies Heaven…
This name was surprisingly well-known. Among the gods and Predators capable of interfering with the matters of other dimensions, the Bull Demon King was known as a candidate to become one of the Five Godly Sages in the future.
As such, even Fafnir got to hear about the Bull Demon King.
“And so, what brings someone as amazing as the Great Sage who Pacifies Heaven to a small planet in the outskirts?”
“Well, a little brother of mine stays this side, you see.”
“A little brother, you say?”
“You see, this little brother of mine…he had to live twice.”
Fafnir’s brows rose high at that.
Lived twice, he said; Fafnir could easily figure out what that claim meant.
The Bull Demon King stared into Fafnir’s eyes and said, “And it seems the same applies to you, too.”
“You are actually in a sibling relationship…with that man?”
“That’s correct.”
“You aren’t even from the same species, never mind from the same realm, yet brothers? Now that’s a laughable notion. Even a passing stray would mock this whole idea,” Fafnir replied snarkily as its lips distorted in a sneer.
As for the Bull Demon King, he chuckled affably at that. “Ah, is that so? Are you saying something like, we don’t even share a drop of blood, so being brothers is as nonsensical as dogs eating grass for life?”
“Of course that is—”
CRAAACK—!
Kwa-booooom—!
The Bull Demon King’s palm powerfully smacked Fafnir’s head. The dragon head deeply crashed into the ground, causing the earth to explode and overturn.
However, the Bull Demon King was still smiling away. Even his eyes were smiling, too.
He no longer enjoyed the fluctuations of emotions and had forgotten how to get angry. Only his head was “aware” of the emotion.
He was aware that he shouldn’t just let anyone off the hook when they dared to slander his brothers and ridiculed their relationship.
“I have accepted him as my little brother, and he acknowledged me as his older brother. So, what do things like species or realms even matter in such a case?” The Bull Demon King said that out matter-of-factly, only to go, “Oh, shoot!” and immediately asked Fafnir, “Goodness me. Are you still alive? You mustn’t die here, you see.”
“If you really wish to save your brother’s life, you should have killed me in this place.”
Fafnir was still alive. Even though its entire body was left in tatters, an attack without any killing intent would never kill it.
And the Bull Demon King never planned to kill Fafnir in the first place.
“Didn’t I already say it? I’m not the one who will kill you.”
“Your foolishness will be the demise of your little brother. And also…”
Drip, tumble…
“I shall definitely devour you one day, too.”
Grrrr—
Fafnir pulled out its head buried underground, stood back up, and then glared murderously at the Bull Demon King. Although the Predator staggered unsteadily as if it would collapse at any time now, it still forced itself to stand up straight again. Doing so was the last vestige of Fafnir’s pride.
Step, step…
Soon after that, Fafnir turned around and headed to the other side of the empty plain, leaving the Bull Demon King behind.
The latter also wasn’t planning to continue to fight, so he simply watched the dragon-headed Predator leave.
Jiiii-iiing—
Fafnir stepped inside a magic circle that appeared before its eyes. This teleportation circle would take it to a completely different destination from Earth.
The Bull Demon King confirmed that Fafnir was indeed going to a location different from its original plan and also turned around to leave.
“Well, then. Been a while, so…” He chose to head to another place, which was different from where Fafnir was heading to. “Should I go and say hello?”
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Giiii-iiing—
The purple-colored dungeon faintly vibrated, and then, Su-hyeun stepped outside.
Although he was literally coated in blood, none of that belonged to him.
After exiting, he looked up at the skies above. The heavens were still blue and pristine. Seeing that there was no change, he couldn’t help but wonder why he couldn’t figure it out much sooner.
“I knew it. He didn’t come.”
Fafnir didn’t come to Earth.
The appearance of countless dungeons and the subsequent outbreaks, followed by the entrance of the purple-colored dungeon, meant that Fafnir was trying to come to Earth but, in the end, failed. The blue sky above was proof of that.
Buzzz—
Su-hyeun’s phone buzzed noisily inside his pocket, so he dug around in there to find it.
The battle had been fought for quite a long while, resulting in his phone’s screen cracking. This device had been constructed out of high-grade Ether stones, as well as a variety of special materials, so it cracking like this served as a reminder of how ferocious the ripples of the battle were.
He answered the call, “Hello?”
“What were you even doing until now that we couldn’t even contact you?”
It seemed that the other party had tried to get in touch lots of times while he was absent from Earth.
Su-hyeun slightly distanced his ear from the phone’s speaker where the frantic voice was coming from and replied, “Just, you know, popping in and out of a dungeon for a bit.”
“A dungeon? What dungeon are you talking about?”
“Yes, a dungeon. A purple-colored one still remained, you see.”
“Wait, what? A purple?! Is it the dungeon where that monster called Fafnir comes out of?!” the voice of the caller, Lee Ju-ho, grew shrill in an instant.
Such a reaction was understandable since the monster that Su-hyeun of the previous timeline failed to win against and somehow ended up traveling back in time with was supposed to come out of a purple-colored dungeon. Therefore, Lee Ju-ho not panicking would have been even weirder, actually.
“Yes, that one. But Fafnir wasn’t there.”
“Not there?”
“Yes. He was quite literally not there. I ran into plenty of other small fries, sure, but it seems that Fafnir didn’t come to Earth in the first place. I don’t know the reason, but—”
“Is that why?”
“What do you mean?”
“The sky. It hasn’t changed yet. You said that when Fafnir showed up, the sky turned pitch-black, right? And that monster showed up with countless dungeons back then, just like how things were unfolding this time.”