A massive wave of heat swept over Liya’s body, rapidly evaporating the moisture on her skin.
But immediately afterward, Liya found herself wrapped in the embrace of a relatively cool being.
The heroic magic flowing in from outside instantly enveloped her whole body, shielding her from the flames’ damage.
‘This damn sense of security.’
Liya’s face flushed slightly.
She didn’t need to look up to know that Joen had protected her.
Barely a blink had passed since she crushed the “Jelly Heart.”
‘If he moved this fast playing poker, his nerves wouldn’t even have time to react before he won. Speaking of which, does this count as another kind of sense-blocking play?’
‘Pfft, pfft! What am I daydreaming about again? Damn, that broken mark isn’t low on energy again, is it?’
The flames that had exploded across the entire underground palace finally dissipated.
Joen released Liya and slowly straightened his sturdy frame.
He turned to face the Flame Demon Emperor, leaving Liya with a broad back of steel-forged muscle.
Pfft!
Liya’s cheeks suddenly puffed up as she struggled to suppress her laughter.
Because the clothes on Joen’s back had burned away, revealing two plump, well-defined buttocks.
While Liya marveled at how good the Hero’s physique was, the more she looked, the funnier it seemed.
On the topic of “Why combatant magic armor must consider fire resistance” .jpg
Fortunately, Joen was an experienced man.
Noticing his undignified appearance, he vanished in a flash.
In the blink of an eye, he had changed into an elegant and expensive set of noble attire.
Meanwhile, the gang boss Lage stood naked by the altar, his face blank with confusion.
“Hm? Another insect?”
The Flame Demon Emperor made a quite human “ear-scratching” motion, even though he had no ears.
Someone must have taught him that.
As a Flame Demon, a race born for battle, he showed little interest in fighting.
He even yawned.
“Human.”
The Flame Demon Emperor casually waved at Lage.
“Hurry up and deal with them. I hate water mana. Don’t let water mana defile any of my altars.”
“Yes, my master.”
Lage scrambled to his feet from the ground and sneered at Joen.
“You despicable coward! You used a stealing technique to take my equipment. But you’ll soon realize that a few pieces of gear can’t make up for the gap between us!”
Joen ignored the trash talk.
He stared at Lage and asked with extreme seriousness:
“Old man, you’re human. Why do you serve a demon?”
“Hahaha!”
Lage grinned.
“The Lord Demon can help me become the underground ruler of the Empire Capital. He can help me climb from a mere commoner to a position everyone looks up to. Why wouldn’t I serve him? What reason do I have not to serve him? When did the Empire ever give us commoners a chance?”
“Again, just wealth and power?”
Joen sighed deeply.
Enough.
It was truly enough.
He had heard this excuse far too many times.
His ears were sick of it, and he could no longer muster any sympathy.
He even wondered—had this become some kind of universal trait?
The Demon Lord was dead, but demons still existed.
Joen pointed a finger at the Flame Demon Emperor watching through the Sacrificial Gate, his gaze resolute.
“You evil beings who plague the world—I will drive every last one of you out!”
The Flame Demon Emperor applauded Joen, his fire-formed mouth splitting into a long slit.
“Excellent! Full of spirit! I like you! Hahahaha!”
Black flames began to gather around Lage’s body.
He stared at Joen as if looking at some ridiculous joke, his eyes carrying nine parts of pity.
“Heh. Another wretch brainwashed by the Divine Commandments.”
The Black Flame King danced around Lage’s right hand.
He slightly raised his head, looking down as if from on high.
Sooner or later, young man, you’ll realize that the Divine Commandments are hollow and hypocritical.
But the power, status, and strength that the Demon Gods promise us—those are real.
“Does the Goddess truly love us? No. She loves the nobles, the Church, those hypocritical clergy who inherit power and knowledge by birthright…”
“The Demon Gods, on the other hand, are fair. They mock and toy with all beings equally.”
“Maybe you’re right.”
Joen spoke calmly and frankly.
“But what you’re doing—how is it any different from the people you hate with all that burning rage?”
Lage was stunned for a moment, then chuckled dryly.
“Fair point. That’s the truth. But as everyone knows, I hate this kind of unpleasant truth.”
His expression abruptly twisted into something savage and brutal.
“Hahahaha! So die!”
The pent-up Black Flame surged toward Joen in a torrent.
Joen didn’t move an inch.
Only when the Black Flame was about to singe his hair did he suddenly plant his feet, open his mouth, and inhale sharply.
It was as if a hole had been punched in the sky.
Air rushed frantically into his mouth, forming a vortex like a small typhoon.
The rapid temperature drop even caused ice to form around his lips.
The Black Flame immediately faltered, then broke free of Lage’s control and flew straight into Joen’s mouth.
Joen closed his mouth.
The frozen ice crystals fell to the ground and shattered with a crash.
He chewed a few times, then gave a serious evaluation:
“Your fire… just average. Not spicy enough.”
Lage stared blankly at Joen for a long time, like a man who had lost his soul.
Then he shook himself and snapped back to reality.
He muttered to himself:
“Illusion. It must be an illusion… That brat swallowed my meticulously cultivated demonic flames. How could something so absurd happen?”
“Fire Phoenix Bla—”
Before he could cast a second spell, an unimaginable pain exploded in his lower abdomen.
Joen withdrew his heavy fist, buried three inches deep in Lage’s stomach, and patted him twice on the shoulder.
Lage collapsed with his face ashen.
“I’ll spare you for now. Still have questions to ask you later.”
Leaving those words, Joen walked straight toward the Sacrificial Gate.
“Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant!”
The Flame Demon Emperor was still clapping with his wide mouth open, completely unaware of what was about to happen.
Joen said nothing.
He simply tried to pass through the Sacrificial Gate.
If he still harbored any thoughts of persuading humans to do good, toward demons—especially the muscle-brained warmongers like Flame Demons and Terrormaws—he had only one firm conviction.
Beat them first.
If they didn’t submit, keep beating!
However, just as Joen extended half a little finger through the Sacrificial Gate, the gate began to flicker and crackle violently.
A Sacrificial Gate that should have been capable of bearing the descent of a Chosen Great Demon began to collapse rapidly.
“Hm? Not enough offerings?”
The Flame Demon Emperor looked curiously at the spatial gate on the verge of collapse.
He didn’t think too deeply, assuming that with Lage dead, the gate had lost its controller.
He laughed heartily.
“Finally breaking.”
Insect, being able to defeat the vermin I personally nurtured makes you a dragon or phoenix among humans in the Empire.
“I’ll give you a gift. Enjoy it!”
A string of deep blue flames shot swiftly through the Sacrificial Gate and descended onto Lage.
He convulsed in agony.
His eyes were instantly scorched by the high heat, then replaced by blue fire.
He staggered to his feet.
His skin began to crack like molten metal.
The Sacrificial Gate collapsed faster and faster.
Joen knew he had no time.
There was no way for his whole body to cross over.
But he had only extended half an index finger.
What could half an index finger do?
Then a flash of inspiration struck.
Joen suddenly thought of something and laughed as well.
“Little fire man, I’ll give you a gift too.”
“What did you just call me?”
The Flame Demon Emperor’s smile froze.
“Little fire man.”
Joen repeated.
“You’re asking for death!”
The Flame Demon Emperor couldn’t hold back any longer.
He desperately tried to shove his face through the unstable spatial gate.
But at that moment, Joen’s index finger began to glow with Sacred Light.
Accompanied by his irreverent prayer:
“Oh blind Goddess, this little fire man just called you hypocritical. Give him a taste of your power!”
He unleashed the only divine art he had ever learned after joining the Church, under Haran’s guidance.
[Holy Rain]
A very common blessing and healing divine art.
Upon activation, it briefly causes a light rain imbued with Light’s power to fall on the surroundings, restoring energy, healing minor wounds, and nourishing the earth.
Against ordinary demons, this divine art was basically useless.
But now—
His opponent was a Flame Demon.
And a Flame Demon soaking in a pool of lava.
Soaking in a hot spring?
Try soaking in stone instead!
The light at Joen’s fingertip suddenly blazed.
That was the sign that the divine art had been constructed and successfully activated—even Joen himself hadn’t expected the Goddess of Light to be so accommodating.
But what happened next stunned Joen.
On the other side, in a rock cavern buried deep underground, for no apparent reason, dark clouds began to drift in through the Sacrificial Gate.
More and more clouds gathered, thicker and thicker.
Crackle, crackle.
A low, rumbling thunder brewed within them.
“Uh…”
‘Something’s not right here, is it?’
Other people’s Holy Rain was a drizzle of light.
What he had summoned was almost as massive as the rain disaster in the Dry River Territory a few days ago.
“Insect, what have you done?”
Even the Flame Demon Emperor was baffled.
But in the next second—
A hailstone of light, the size of a fist, smashed into the Flame Demon Emperor.
He writhed on the ground in agony, howling in pain.