I Became the Successor of the Martial God
Chapter 82.
The battle outside was still ongoing.
Demons swarmed to protect their commander.
Lee Jun-woo and the swordsmen desperately held the door, fighting with everything they had.
―We must save Lord Mephisto!
―Move aside! Out of the way, you damned humans!
“Hold the line like your life depends on it .”
Lee Jun-woo’s entire body was drenched in blood—not his own, but the enemy’s.
The other swordsmen were in similar states.
“Huff, hoo!”
Hundreds of corpses already lay piled before them. The hands of the swordsmen gripping their blades trembled violently.
How long had they been fighting? How much longer would they have to fight?
Just as Lee Jun-woo’s sword began to feel unbearably heavy—
Kwaaaang!
“Gasp!”
The door behind them burst open with a deafening roar.
The battle came to an abrupt halt as everyone turned to look. Emerging from the door was Yoo Baek-jun, carrying what looked like a lump of flesh slung over his shoulder.
“What, you’re still fighting?”
“Young Master!”
―That bastard! Kill…!
Just as the demon lunged forward with a cry for blood, it caught sight of what Yoo Baek-jun was carrying.
The demons froze in their tracks.
―M-Mephisto… Lord…
The demons were utterly stunned.
What had been the point of throwing their lives away to break through the humans’ defenses?
It had all been to save their commander.
But that commander was already dead. Well, technically still alive, but to the demons who didn’t know the details, he might as well have been.
―Ugh, uuugh…
Suddenly, the demons lost all will to fight.
Their Supreme commander had been defeated.
And the ones who had brought him down were none other than these two humans.
They couldn’t win.
―Waaaah!
Before anyone could wonder why they were acting like this, the demons began screaming and fleeing in terror.
“What the hell? How anticlimactic.”
He had expected them to attack in rage upon seeing their commander dead, but instead, they had completely lost their will to fight and fled.
“Young Master, you’ve worked hard.”
“No, you’re the ones who worked hard. What’s the situation outside?”
“Lady Yoo min is still fighting the enemies near the entrance. There are too many of them…”
“Then we should go help.”
Yoo Baek-jun led the swordsmen outside the temple.
As Lee Jun-woo had said, Yoo min was engaged in battle against countless demons near the entrance.
Her fighting was nothing short of spectacular.
―How dare a mere human! You’re nothing but blood bags to me!
“…What the hell is he even saying?”
―Kyaaaak!
Swords flew through the air as if they had wills of their own, weaving freely through the battlefield.
Grimoire was completely toyed with by the flying blades. Yoo min used that distraction to slay the surrounding demons.
Han Seong-ah was doing much the same.
―Whoosh!
She bound the demons’ feet with dark magic and finished them off with her ghost sword techniques.
Thanks to relentless training, her combos were seamless—and deadly.
The other swordsmen also fought valiantly.
―Face me, you damned humans!
Grimoire roared in fury.
Yoo min strictly adhered to Yoo Baek-jun’s instructions.
She didn’t recklessly engage the enemy.
She avoided the Legion Commanders entirely, focusing only on the lesser demons.
‘It’s not like I couldn’t fight him if I had to.’
But it would take too much time and energy.
Better to keep Grimoire pinned down while picking off the approaching demons.
Her judgment was spot-on, and Grimoire could only watch in frustration as his underlings were slaughtered.
‘Still, we can’t keep this up forever.’
If Yoo Baek-jun took longer than expected, she might have to reconsider her approach.
Just as she was weighing her options, Yoo Baek-jun emerged from the temple entrance.
“Huh?”
Grimoire hadn’t noticed him yet, but Yoo min had.
She saw the lump of flesh slung over his shoulder.
Their eyes met—
Thud!
He hurled the body forward without hesitation.
It landed perfectly between Yoo min and Grimoire.
Grimoire’s eyes bulged in shock.
―M-Mephisto… Lord?
Grimoire turned his head.
Toward Yoo Baek-jun.
―You bastard… Graaaah!
Grimoire, his eyes burning crimson with rage, charged at Yoo Baek-jun.
Without hesitation, he shouted:
“Yoo-min! Han Seong-ah!”
The two moved simultaneously.
Grimoire, driven mad with fury, lunged forward—only for Han Seong-ah’s ghost sword to bind his legs, while Yoo min’s blades pierced his limbs.
Finally, Lee Jun-woo blocked his attack—
Squelch!
―Gyaaaaah!
A Thunder spear pierced Grimoire’s skull.
The lightning erupting from the spear’s tip instantly incinerated his entire body.
Yoo Baek-jun drew his sword and severed his head.
“Burn it.”
Whoosh!
Flames engulfed Grimoire.
He was a vampire.
Even if his head was cut off, it could regenerate as long as he had blood.
That’s why divine power or fire was needed to ensure it stayed dead.
―Kiiieee…
He let out a sound like a dying insect.
As Yoo Baek-jun watched Grimoire burn, he looked at the remaining demons.
―This can’t be…
―C-Commander… Grimoire, too…
The demons had lost all will to fight.
Mephisto, who they had believed invincible, had been defeated and reduced to such a pitiful state.
And then there was the terror of Yoo Baek-jun, who had defeated both Mephisto and Grimoire with such ease.
―Ugh, uuugh…
One by one, the demons dropped their weapons. They had lost the will to fight and were ready to surrender.
But,
“Kill them all.”
Yoo Baek-jun did not accept their surrender.
His order was absolute. The demons’ eyes widened in horror.
―We surrender! We surrender!
―We don’t want to fight anymore!
“That’s your problem.”
The demon numbers had to be reduced as much as possible.
Their kind had a strong sense of camaraderie—if spared, they would inevitably seek revenge.
And through such events, so-called ‘Demon Lords‘ would emerge, triggering further catastrophes.
‘I can’t kill every demon on the surface. But at the very least, I can wipe out every last one in this land.’
Only by drastically reducing their numbers could the fallout from those events be minimized.
“Not a single demon is to be left alive. Kill them all.”
“Yes, Young Master.”
Though the enemy still outnumbered them, their morale had completely shattered.
Finishing them off wouldn’t be too difficult.
Lee Jun-woo and the other swordsmen obeyed Yoo Baek-jun’s command without question.
―Why, why?!
―What did we even do?!
The demons’ screams echoed.
Yoo Baek-jun scoffed upon hearing them.
“Don’t you even realize what you’ve done? Truly a wretched race.”
The invaders were now playing the victims.
Yoo Baek-jun picked up his weapon and joined the slaughter.
* * *
The battle on the surface raged until dawn.
Though the outnumbered demons were quickly dwindling, the allied forces had also suffered heavy losses.
“Ugh, gasp…”
“S-Seong-min!”
A significant number of hunters and soldiers had been wounded or killed.
Countless golems had been destroyed, and a large portion of the prepared defenses lay in ruins.
“Th-the enemy is regrouping!”
“The walls are about to collapse!”
“The Peng family will send reinforcements! Hold this line at all costs!”
The reserve forces collaborated with the hunters, forming a defensive line and holding their ground.
The soldiers used heavy firepower to deal with the lower-tier demons, while the hunters handled the mid-tier and stronger ones that conventional weapons couldn’t stop.
Countless lives were staked on the belief that this line must not break.
“Ahaha! You insects, you damned insects! Taste the might of my Iron Fist!”
“Utterly disgraceful…”
Among them, the most outstanding performances came from the rankers Yoo Baek-jun had recruited.
Iron Fist Choi Ji-yeon and Spear master Park Cheong-woon.
The two fought at the very frontlines.
Taaang!
“……”
Sharpshooter Han Chang-gyu, the Sniper with Demon Eyes, tirelessly sniped high-value targets like demon mages.
Wraith, Min Yi-jae, also joined in.
The assembled hunter rankers shone brilliantly as they cut down the demons.
“You damned mosquito bastards!”
―Cursed light! To think I’d see trash who worship false gods even here!
“How dare you insult the gods!”
Ryu Il-woo, uncharacteristically crude, executed the demons blocking his path.
Yet, the situation remained deadlocked.
Even the fighters began to wonder—when would this battle end? Would it ever end?
Just as that unease began to set in—
“What’s happening?”
―Ugh, graaaah!
The demons began behaving strangely.
Some screamed as if terrified, others lost their will to fight and fled.
The onlookers were stunned.
“Huh?”
“Wh-what do we do? Just let them go?”
“No, that’s…”
The hunters and soldiers exchanged uncertain glances.
―Damn it, Lord Mephisto…!
The demons had begun fleeing because news from the demon realm had finally reached the surface.
Mephisto had been defeated. The demon realm had fallen into enemy hands. Their kin were being slaughtered.
Carousel bit her lip upon hearing the news.
―Commander Carousel, what should we—?
―Follow me. We retreat.
―Huh?
―I said we’re running!
Judging the battle as lost, Carousel fled.
―Carousel! That damned coward!
Shahanat tried to fight to the end, but with so many demons already deserting,
They were quickly overwhelmed.
―Guh, uuugh…
It didn’t take long before they fell.
With the last Legion Commander dead, the demons completely lost their cohesion, devolving into a disorganized mob.
“Gasp, huuuuh!”
And then, at dawn the next day—
As the first light of morning rose, the last demon that had besieged Seoul fell to a hunter’s blade.
―Th-this can’t be…
As if unable to believe their defeat, the demon’s eyes widened in shock as it died.
The hunter who beheaded it roared:
“Waaaaaah!”
A triumphant cry.
The surrounding hunters joined in.
“We survived! We’re alive!”
“Fuck yeah, we did it…! Waaaaaah!”
Cheers of victory.
The deafening roar was loud enough to reach Yoo Baek-jun, who stood atop the floating earth.
“It’s over.”
The moment marked the end of the Great Invasion.
Yoo Baek-jun glanced over the surface.
‘That old man… He’s probably…’
He called for his swordsmen.
* * *
The Great Invasion had ended.
But Seoul, having endured both the first and second waves in succession, was in ruins.
Buildings had collapsed, roads were destroyed. Though casualties had been minimized, the numbers were still far from insignificant.
The financial damage had already reached trillions.
“……”
“……”
At first, people had been elated at having repelled the invasion, but reality soon set in.
Victory had come at a cost.
Rebuilding would require an astronomical sum and an immense amount of time.
“Haah…”
“Oh no, my house! Noooo!”
“Yoon-soo! Sob, Yoon-soo!”
The lamentations of those who had lost family, friends, or property filled the air.
And among them, some could only despair.
“A-ah, ahh…”
Kang Byeong-jo, Chairman of the Hunter Association.
He stood inside an exclusive shelter for the Association’s upper echelons, staring at the devastation outside.
The ruined city of Seoul.
“Th-this is…”
A memory flashed through his mind—the proposals made by Chae Jeong-jun and his department, and his own refusal to even consider them.
And how he had ignored the words of the heir to the Sword Saint’s family, not even bothering to relay them to the president.
‘My position… No, my life…’
This was dangerous.
He had gravely miscalculated.
Kang Byeong-jo felt a crushing sense of crisis and immediately decided he had to escape Seoul.
Staying put was far too risky.
“Gasp!”
But as soon as he stepped outside, he found himself face-to-face with armed guards— sent by the Blue House.
“Where are you off to in such a hurry?”
“Wh-what? No, I just had some business at the Association…”
“Is that so? That’ll have to wait.”
“Wh-what do you mean?”
“The President wants to see you.”
“……!”
Kang Byeong-jo’s entire body trembled.
His vision darkened, as though he stood at the edge of a cliff with nothing but an abyss below.
And that abyss signified his impending doom.
