Shadows rose from the ground. It was ironic that shadows existed in the dark underground.

The shadows filled the underground s.p.a.ce.

They seemed to get closer.

Soon all the shadows started to gradually change. They appeared to look like me.

‘Doppelganger?’

I tilted my head to the side. It was the first time I had seen such creatures. I had never heard of a creature that looked like a shadow and turned into the opponent like a doppelganger.

I opened Mind’s Eye.

Uniqueness: A shadow that turns into the opponent. Created by Pandemonium, the abilities when transformed will depend on the opponent. They are specialized creatures. There is a strong desire to destroy the target they had changed into. On the contrary, the opponent will be helpless.

Skill: Imitation (Ex Epic)

A designated task.

In other words, a creature that specialized in a.s.sa.s.sination.

They were like a curse designed to kill one target.

‘Pandemonium made something interesting.’

I couldn’t see their stats. It meant there was a large variation in their stats.

But they couldn’t copy my capabilities. If that was possible, Pandemonium would have already won the game.

After a while, there were only a dozen creatures that resembled me.

It was a pretty funny situation.

My mouth opened.

“I am familiar with fighting myself.”

I didn’t feel panicked. I had already fought against myself many times due to the Tree of Origin. There was no need to be nervous about things that were merely imitations.

There were many of them but I just shrugged it off.

‘Pandemonium. He intends to catch me.’

A formidable person. In this situation, he had prepared a.s.sa.s.sins.

The only thing...

It wouldn’t be easy but it was worth a try.

The shadow hunters that looked exactly like me moved their hands. It seemed like not only could they copy my appearance, but they could also use my weapons. I was curious to see who would win in the confrontation between the real one and the imitations.

The shadow hunters’ moves were good. But they were also different from me. The difference in depth was too much. I was in the transcendent realm so they couldn’t perfectly imitate me.

It seemed like the shadow hunters couldn’t enter the realm of transcendence.

‘But there are a lot of them.’

Chaeng!

Our swords clashed.

Jjejeong!

There was a crack in the Emperor’s Sword that the shadow hunter was holding.

Naturally it couldn’t win against the original. Originally the Emperor’s Sword couldn’t break but the copy was smashed.

The limits of imitation. There was no depth. It was nothing more than replicating the outside. The skills they used were similar, but that was it. This...I couldn’t help laughing while looking at them.

However, there were as many as 10,000 creatures. They were equivalent to advanced 1Lv creatures! It would be a little bit arduous.

They weren’t low, but advanced grade creatures. They wouldn’t die with one strike. I needed to apply my strength when dealing with each one.

It was enough to contend with a transcendent being. If this was possible then the angels would have defeated the demons in my previous life. The seraphim Camael. He was like a small planet.

‘Tsk.’

I clicked my tongue.

I had consumed a lot of magic power dealing with Upa’s demons on the battlefield. It would be strange to kill three demons in a short amount of time without taking any damage. Now I needed to fight in this state.

Should I call reinforcements?

They would be of some use. Yihi could pa.s.s my instructions onto them. However, I shook my head. It was possible that my creatures wouldn’t be able to escape the explosion in time if I called them. My life was important, but I also needed to look at the bigger picture.

This was a trap prepared by Pandemonium.

Perhaps it wasn’t the only one...

I felt a thrill at the thought of crus.h.i.+ng his plans alone.

'I will try it.’

Hwaruruk!

Pride’s flames started burning everywhere. An unquenchable flame swallowed up the dark shadows.

Hwaruk!

The shadow hunters used Pride’s flames but they couldn’t beat the original. Pride was one of the Seven Sins. It was a fire that no one could imitate.

Kururung!

Lightning G.o.d came out. It swept the area with a huge roar.

I freely released Lightning G.o.d. I couldn’t pay attention to every move.

‘I hope that Power of Domination is invoked.’

I had one more great weapon.

The Power of Domination!

It was a skill with a very low probability to subdue the opponent.

I wondered if it would work on the shadows, but there was no reason for it not to. 

If it worked then I would be able to fight alone against so many creatures.

Even without it, I alone might be enough.

“Dark Sword.”

Yiing!

Wrath and the Emperor’s Sword were surrounded by darkness.

At the same time, the shadow hunters tinged their swords with a red aura.

Hope had finished being installed. Now it was time to quickly retreat. Their chances of survival would increase if they got as far as possible.

But...Yoo Eun-hye abruptly stopped.

"Noona?”

Edward asked with confusion. The only members left of the team carrying Hope were Yoo Eun-hye, Edward, Kim Yura and Kim Min-ji.

Yoo Eun-hye spoke with difficulty.

“I’m going back.”

“Where? Perhaps...”

“Yes. I need to confirm it with both eyes.”

“Are you crazy? Why are you going back there? Noona can’t do anything. I don’t know about later but right now...”

Edward swallowed his final words.

That’s right. With Yoo Eun-hye’s abilities, she wouldn’t be able to do anything. It might be possible after a few years or a few decades. However, going right now would just cause her death.

"Does he really have no feelings? When he was in Devil Hunters, he was cold but I clearly saw some moments of warmth. Really...I need to make sure that he is really a demon. For the future of humanity.”

If he was the last hope, Yoo Eun-hye felt obliged to discover his true face. If Randalph Brigsiel was similar to other demons then it might be the worst choice.

However, Edward showed extreme opposition.

“Noona. You can’t go. That man, no that demon used us.”

"Do you really think so? Originally I was so hopeless that I was cleaning toilets. I was just like a frail child before death. Heaven's Will has suffered and Korea was almost destroyed many times. But what was the end result?”

“Noona! Why is Noona like this? I heard it. He wanted us to become stronger so that we would someday strike at the demons’ necks! He just saw our potential. If Noona didn’t have any potential then do you think he would have saved us?”

“He knew it from the beginning. The danger that humanity would face! So he needed to gather people like us. If he is like other demons then why did he move at all? Didn’t he become the Saviour to help us? Why did he collect the scattered people to summon the girin?”

"So now he is a good demon? No. He killed the other team members in the blink of an eye. He needed no reason to use his sword!”

“...A cultural difference. Haven’t we suffered thanks to other demons? They are cruel and vicious. Still, he feels different from the other demons. Clearly...I can’t express it well...”

“Hoo.”

Edward sighed deeply.

It was severe. Nothing he said would work.

Yoo Eun-hye’s remarks were just sophistry that she wanted to believe in. The result wouldn’t be good if he allowed it. He needed to draw a clear line.

Edward pulled out his greatsword. It was time to use force to protect his beloved Noona. If she went back then she would clearly die.

"If you want to go then step on me. I won’t send you to that place to die.”

"Edward.”

"I don't want to do this. But...Hope has already left our hands. We can discuss him later after Hope gets rid of other demons. If Noona dies then humanity will suffer a great loss.”

Edward was logical. He wasn’t a young child.

But there was a complex expression on Yoo Eun-hye’s face. Even so, she was stubborn.

Suuuk.

Yoo Eun-hye quietly pulled out her sword. A gleaming sword was soon revealed.

The two of them had similar capabilities. So far, Yoo Eun-hye still had the advantage. However, Yoo Eun-hye’s mental state wasn’t normal right now so no one knew what would happen.

Kim Yura and Kim Min-ji were just watching the confrontation with dark expressions. However, they couldn’t tell them the truth.

All they could do was pray that this fight would end safely.

"Hmm..."

I shook my head. The flow of magic power started to reverse. I was dizzy for a moment. It felt like my entire body was empty because I had used too much magic power.

'It is still a success.’

A one on one confrontation!

I had broken the trap prepared by Pandemonium.

Thanks to that, my body reached the limit but it wasn’t enough to make me fall.

The shadow hunters disappeared as soon as they died. There was nothing left in the surroundings.

‘I am glad for the Conqueror’s Ring.’

It was an item that helped speed up the recovery of my magic power.

Even now, magic power was quickly being restored.

If I was given a day and a half then a significant portion of it would be recovered.

I wasn’t in a big hurry.

I had suffered like this despite not facing strong creatures due to my greed.

In order to capture Gustarte and attack Upa’s dungeons, I brought only a minimum of troops with me.

Of course, I was stubborn about facing the shadow hunters alone but...

There was no regret. I had achieved a good result. I was very invigorated.

Swiii.  Swiiiii. 

But after some time, I scowled. I noticed that the sound of the wind flowing through the underground pa.s.sage changed subtly.

"I know that I’m not alone.”

How did they find me?

'Pandemonium knows about this place. He was just pretending not to know.'

I thought bitterly.

It seemed like I had underestimated Pandemonium too much.

He was the one who mastered the essence of demonic magic. He pierced through the magic of the h.e.l.l Monarch. However, he probably pretended not to know. He had been waiting until I came here alone.

'It is too demanding.’

Although I could get through this wall, it might not be possible if Pandemonium knew about this place.

It was because Hope was here. There was a chance that Pandemonium knew about the exact usage of this place. I could only pray that he was ignorant about Hope.

Hope was too good to give up. I also had to consider the possibility of Hope entering Pandemonium’s hands.

'It can't be helped.'

Soon puppet demons emerged. There were 12 of them. Originally, they were Okullos’ va.s.sals but they lost themselves and became Pandemonium’s limbs.

Suruk. Sururuk.

Approximately 1,000 shadow hunters joined.

'Demons...’

I shook my head.

This seemed to be a tricky fight.

There was dense smoke. Yoo Eun-hye saw that there were already many changes when arriving back at Greenwich Observatory.

Bodies were scattered all over the place, with traces of fire.

‘Where?’

Yoo Eun-hye didn’t stop walking. She was only looking for one thing. The person who raised her and led the group in the past! He called himself a demon, but it was still unbelievable.

She had thought this while walking through the battlefield.

It was formidable. Demons and angels were fighting each other in one place. The creatures were also fighting amongst themselves. One wrong move meant not even a bone would remain.

'Not here.’

Still, Yoo Eun-hye didn’t give up. She looked around the battlefield as much as possible and was sure that he wasn’t here. Then where was he?

She infiltrated Greenwich Observatory. Maybe he was preparing for Hope to explode. She wasn’t far from the place where Hope was installed.

There were a few dangerous situations, but she fortunately managed to enter the underground area.

A rotten smell soon seeped into her nose.

‘What is this smell?’

The smell became worse as she continued walking. Yoo Eun-hye grabbed her nose without knowing it.

Soon, she was forced to stop.

The underground area was half destroyed.

'Something obviously happened!’

It had been fine when she came here before. Something had happened in the meantime.

It wasn’t completely collapsed so she could enter.

Right away, she was able to find the corpses of demons.

‘Other demons...!’

There were signs of a battle.

Yoo Eun-hye kept on moving.

And after a while.

Yoo Eun-hye’s eyes widened as she discovered something.

“Ah...!”