emperor of steel
As Crown drew closer with his footsteps, Luke frowned.
It was because the energy from the demon was a lot stronger even from the distance.
His skin was turning numb to even lift his limbs, and his will to move was crumbled, yet the only thing that seemed to obey his mind was his mouth, which he used.
“I am Luke de Rakan, King of Symphonia Kingdom! I am the representative of the alliance of the fairies and human troops. The one who has been summoned, what is your name and identity?”
At Luke’s question, Crown narrowed his eyes.
The same guy who had attacked him when he came out of the subspace a while back was talking to him!
Crown stared at the opponent who seemed to have forgotten what he had done.
An ordinary human would have died after staying a few moments near Crown. However, this man in front of him was speaking calmly with his head held high.
‘Look at him? He must have a lot of guts.’
It wasn’t just guts, the man seemed quite stilled. It was a surprise attack, but he still managed to scratch Crown’s body.
It had been a thousand years since Crown had seen a strong human.
Crown liked the ones who were strong and decided to listen to what his opponent had to say.
“Kuek, you are asking about me? I am Crown, the Tuma King. I may have been forgotten in the memory of trivial humans, but I was one of the seven monarchs who ruled the Devildom once.”
‘Tuma King Crown!’
The words of Crown only made Luke more nervous.
When it came to Crown, it was because when he went to Devildom as Saymon, he had heard rumors about him.
The most insane demon in the Devildom and he was the most skilled when it came to combat, better than most Demon Kings.
He heard about the Demon King engaging in numerous battles, and eventually being thrown off the throne by his own son and confined in a remote place.
‘This is the worst! Why is this guy here?!’
Maybe with the other Demon Kings, Luke had a chance, but the one in front of him made winning seem impossible.
Still, he couldn’t just give up.
Crown glanced down at Luke with a thin smile.
“Your expression has turned stiff. Have you heard about me?”
He tried not to let it show, but it seemed like Luke’s body had failed him.
Getting his confident face back, Luke opened his lips.
“I have signed a master-slave contract with a lower demon.”
“You mean that vampire whose head is on the ground? If you are a strong man, it is strange for you to enslave such a trivial one.”
Crown’s gaze briefly looked at Belfair, who was still on the ground.
“Right, so did that one tell you about my story?”
“Not him. I knew about you before that. That you were the Demon King of the Demon Kings, the most notorious in the world.”
“Hahahaha! You really know about me! Truly an extraordinary human!”
When Luke praised him, Crown laughed.
As his laughter roared through the island, it made the expeditionary troops step back.
Still, Gregory and Karen were able to handle it.
“The Demon King of Demon Kings, you are the best one in the Devildom. I would like to bet.”
“Bet?”
“Exactly. If you attack and I stop you, go back to Devildom.”
At Luke’s words, Crown narrowed his eyes. His eyes turned bloody.
“And what if you can’t stop me?”
“If that happens, then I will give you my life and all the humans and fairies in here to you.”
If Luke failed to stop the attack, there was no way the humans and other fairies could stop Crown.
They would get wiped out, so Luke decided to risk their lives too.
He decided to take a risk because of the rumors he heard about Crown.
It was said that the Tuma King Crown liked to bet and fight, and he loved battles to the death.
‘If Tuma King accepts the bet and I stop his attack…’
There would be no more reason for Luke to struggle.
Crown would return to Devildom, and Arsene’s conspiracy and ambition would come to an end.
“Kuakauk, cheeky guy, you are.”
Luke’s intentions were obvious, but Crown liked it.
Maybe it was because Luke had blocked his attack a while back.
“You are cheeky and stupid. Did you think that the last attack had drained my power?”
“It could be or couldn’t be. But are you going to accept the challenge? Isn’t it joyful to win in an unlikely battle?”
“Kukuku, this is fun. You seem like you know how to fight!”
Crown was not a king from birth.
As time passed, he had forgotten it, but he had risen in the ranks from being a childish demon.
He had met so many overwhelming opponents in the process, and he defeated all of them.
Yet, the pleasure was amazing winning over those who were stronger than himself.
A strong man he met after 10,000 years.
He thought that humans had a world to protect and that the humans might punish him and yell a lot at him too.
Yet, Crown liked him.
“Okay, I will accept the bet!”
When Crown accepted Luke’s offer, Arsene was extremely shocked.
He had no doubts when Crown came over. He was certain that Luke would be defeated.
But, Luke’s speech held some power in it, and Crown was simply accepting the suggestion!
Losing Crown would be a huge let down for Arsene.
He had given up his soul for Crown, and his ambition would end in vain.
Arsene, who thought that the bet shouldn’t happen, walked out to Crown.
“De-demon King! He. Is. Cunning. Don’t. Be. Fooled! Humans. Lie. Even. A. King. Lies!”
Crown looked over at Arsene who was crying out.
With eyes brighter than before, he spoke to Arsene, “Go!”
A roaring shout burst out of Crown’s mouth.
Arsene, who was already weak, had fallen back, and his skull broke down to a side with the wave and scattered all over the place.
“Lich bastard! You think I can’t beat a human being?”
“Ugh! No, not. That…”
Arsene’s skull, which was shattered, got pieced back together.
“Shut up! You are saying that I am not skilled, isn’t that it? Until you can stand my attack, don’t bother talking to me!”
Crown raised his fist and tried to blow away Arsene.
Bargosa stood up to stop it.
“Majesty! Arsene is worried that His Majesty’s prestige might fall, so forgive him for it.”
“Huh, dog shit! If you use that mouth of yours one more time, you are done. Before I take down that human, I’ll boil that thing in the horrors of hell!”
As if his words weren’t scary enough, fierce flames soared in front of Arsene and Bargosa.
With a sigh, Bargosa shook his head toward Arsene, asking him to not take up the issue.
Even in Devildom, there were demons who were killed after hurting the pride of Crown.
Arsene didn’t know that, yet he was overtaken by the fearsome Crown.
“I. went. Mad. For. A moment! Please. Do. As. The Demon. King. Sees. Right!”
Eventually, Arsene stepped back, and the bet between Luke and Crown was confirmed, and the fate of Middle-earth was struck on one battle.