Chapter 176 – A New Phase (6)
‘…Takilas will undoubtedly accept this challenge. That is the essence of that girl. But she will not win.’
Seoul was in chaos. O Insun, having stealthily appeared among the crowd, lifted her hat and surveyed the mess she had created.
It was a direct confrontation with Takilas, a kind of challenge. Takilas was certainly known as the strongest, single-handedly taking down even SSS-grade monsters and withstanding nuclear blasts, making her a tough opponent with seemingly no limits to her power.
Yet, O Insun felt confident. She believed she had seen and learned much from her encounters with Takilas.
‘You’re a bundle of contradictions.’
O Insun claimed to see through Takilas with surprising accuracy.
On the surface, Takilas was armed with the typical demon realm philosophy of survival of the fittest and strength over weakness, but here she wasn’t a true demon. A half-baked existence caught between demon, human, and magical girl.
‘She’s nothing more than a child acting as she pleases. Just because she has power.’
Most people cling to logic. Logic is justification and legitimacy. However, Takilas did not lead with logic first. She created results with strength, and only then did logic follow.
Even the demon king could not escape from the illogical.
In a realm where the demon king is law, Takilas had to employ logic to rule her demon subordinates. To her, activities as a magical girl on Earth were a sanctuary where she could ignore logic and do as she pleased.
If she wants to save, she saves. If she wants to kill, she kills. If she doesn’t want to do something, she won’t, and if she wants to, she just does it.
It didn’t matter if she was acting like a demon king or a human. Even if it didn’t make sense, she ignored it. She could simply act honestly according to her desires. That was the essence of Magical Girl Takilas.
‘That can’t happen now. Choose.’
More than anything, O Insun found that unacceptable. She hoped that the capricious Takilas would reveal her true feelings and fulfill her “heart.”
Would she comply with O Insun’s threats and become a true magical girl, or would she reject them and remain a true villain?
“Execute the operation. I won’t give you time to think.”
Turning her body, O Insun moved the legion soldiers she commanded. Starting now, she planned to indiscriminately and simultaneously attack the girls aged 12 to 15 across this city.
Even the great Takilas couldn’t cover all of Seoul by herself. Most of the high-ranked magical girls who could interfere were now part of the Allied Forces.
If Takilas couldn’t make a decision, there would definitely be sacrifices.
*
“Has he gone completely mad…?”
O Insun’s plan had landed perfectly. Takilas was now quivering with wrath.
“No! The children…!”
“Terror incident at the academy district! The work of the monster Razak!”
“Seon-Young!!”
With heightened senses, Takilas heard urgent cries ringing from all directions. The screams, cries, and wails of those beginning to suffer from O Insun’s terror.
Her blazing red eyes gleamed.
“I hear from other mascots that it seems they’re intent on just threatening or injuring without killing. What’s the intention behind it?”
“They’re trying to pressure me. They laid a bet with Lee Ji-sun, but what they really want is for me to reveal my true identity.”
Takilas smirked at the question from the mascot Ren. Of course, her smile was twisted at the corners, but her half-open eyes revealed a chilling false grin.
“Shouldn’t you do something?”
“If I act! That means I’ve lost!”
However, after Ren’s following words, her laughter disappeared entirely. She scowled, crunching up her face and hissing.
“Right now, no matter what I do, I can’t stop the entirety of Seoul. No matter how much I run and fly, I’ll ultimately just be wasting my efforts as they wish.”
“So you intend to just watch? If that’s the case…”
“I’ll still lose. Whether I step in to protect or ignore, I end up losing either way.”
Realizing the opponent’s scheme, she clicked her tongue.
Although O Insun had a decent understanding of Takilas, she had devised a meticulous plan, one where no matter the option chosen, she would emerge victorious in the end.
Even pulling all her power together, Takilas found no way to escape this trap.
‘I lose? Me?’
Her red pupils narrowed threateningly. Defeat was absolutely intolerable for a demon king.
“So what will you do? There’s no method. No way!”
“…A magical girl Takilas might lose.”
At Ren’s frustrated shout, Takilas suddenly calmed down and mumbled absentmindedly. The rapid atmosphere shift startled Ren.
“What do you mean by that?”
“But the demon king Takilas cannot lose. I must not lose. I am the king, the order of the demon realm, the representative of the demon realm.”
“You…”
“There is no such thing as impossibility for a demon king. I am the demon king. One who covets everything and desires to conquer the world. There is nothing a demon king could not have or achieve.”
Power. A tremendous force is stirring.
It was a somewhat absurd situation. One of the rules she had meticulously upheld was shattered merely by O Insun’s provocations.
However, when you think about it, all this effort had only managed to create a single ‘stimulation.’
And those few who had glimpsed yet a fraction of her essence through this provocation would never dare to provoke the demon king again.
[Six factions, seventy-two legions, soldiers of the demon world that will destroy the world… This is war. The enemies of the demon king who dared to challenge the king are here.]
“U-ugh…”
A gust of fierce darkness filled with black magic swirled around Takilas, coloring the blue sky.
In the face of such overwhelming sight, Ren was left dazed as she felt herself pressing tightly against Takilas. Meanwhile, dozens of dimension gates began to open, revealing countless demons with glinting eyes.
A legion capable of destroying an entire world that even the celestial realm feared.
[We claim the blood and flesh of our enemies for our desires. Attack. Leave not a single one behind.]
Takilas didn’t step forward. She merely pointed her finger towards the ground where her enemies lay.
“Your will has already been accomplished.”
The demon horde of the demon realm poured down, sweeping across the ground.
As a massive dragon stretching hundreds of meters passed by, the butler Robert approached Takilas, smiling faintly.
“What I worry about most is what the celestial realm will do in response to this. I’ve heard that some of the angels in the celestial realm want to break the treaty and start a fight.”
“Of course, the celestial realm won’t stay silent. But no one thought this peace you’ve built would last forever, my king.”
“…”
“Peace ultimately comes from strength. That is the essence of peace. And I trust in the demonic power that you have honed all this time.”
Robert answered leisurely, adjusting his glasses. Takilas’ establishment of peace treaties and efforts towards the integration and development of the demon realm weren’t just for the sake of a developed demon world.
Rather, it was to prepare for an inevitable clash that would occur someday.
“That’s fate and reason. We experience war and then evolve. That is our destiny.”
“Fate… huh.”
Takilas scowled slightly. Although she didn’t refute Robert’s words, she couldn’t hide her discomfort.
“So until that time, please enjoy your leisure and festivities. This time, to honor you, who will stand at the forefront of the upcoming great war, we shall kill your enemies.”
Robert grinned as he looked down.
With the demon army sweeping by, was there anyone who could dare to stand against it?
The legion soldiers under Razak, along with O Insun, who had hidden among the people, were quickly revealed and captured, dragged before Takilas.
[Did you really think that by hiding among humans, you could evade the dragon’s eye, the incarnation of magic?]
“To dare challenge the demon king with a few cute monsters is truly admirable.”
“And to use humans as bait to escape in the meantime? I’ll give you credit for your cleverness.”
The enormous dragon laughed mockingly, the demon queen smirked, and the orc general pointed a finger.
Unable to comprehend the unimaginable scene, O Insun gazed blankly at Takilas, who stood among the demon commanders, arms crossed, realizing the futility of her predicament that there existed an end beyond the end.
“I must say, your brain worked well.”
“Who exactly are you…?”
“That’s what you’re asking now? Was that all for your last words?”
Though there were many things to say, ultimately, all O Insun could muster was that one line. However, Takilas had no intention of answering. She simply smirked and unleashed her magic, splitting O Insun in half.
“His soul is trying to flee.”
“Do you think dying is the end of it?”
It didn’t end there. Even the soul that she usually wouldn’t touch was seized by the demon queen and sealed within her grasp.
“I will make good use of this soul, my king.”
“Now everyone, retreat. I’ll handle the finishing touches myself.”
Waving her hand, Takilas opened another dimension gate. In less than an hour, an exceedingly short time had passed, but she had already taken everything she needed.
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