I'm the Only One With a Different Genre - Chapter 185

Chapter 185

Home Run!

“Why?”

The Outsider opened his eyes, feeling a strange sense of doubt. As soon as his eyes opened, a heavy pressure descended upon the Demon King’s Castle.

In various places, weaker demons and monsters foamed at the mouth and fainted. It was the aftermath of ‘His’ return.

Just as a person who has just woken up might leave their disheveled pajamas as they are, he too made no effort to retract the aura that lightly spilled out. The sound of people gasping for breath echoed and then dispersed throughout the castle.

As everyone held their breath in fear, an eerie silence fell over the Demon King’s Castle. Like a human walking down a path without worrying about stepping on ants, he continued his thoughts without paying any attention to the surrounding situation.

“Why did I sleep for so long?”

He had paid the price of causality to separate the soul from the human body that had crossed over from another dimension and to place the Outsider into the empty shell. He had expected to wake up in a few days, a week at most, but instead, several months had passed before he regained consciousness.

His ‘prediction’ was no different from a ‘prophecy,’ so it was only natural for him to question it.

He—no, it—began to look down upon the Demon King’s Castle.

Rumble…!

Just by showing a slight hint of his aura while looking down at the castle, the ground shook lightly as if an earthquake had occurred.

“Where is it?”

He noticed that the shell of ‘Lian,’ which had been stored in the castle before he fell asleep, was nowhere to be seen, and a subtle sense of doubt began to rise. He was not yet an omnipotent god, so he couldn’t see everything in the world.

If he were to draw upon the full power of his true form, it wouldn’t be impossible, but there was a risk that the dimension could collapse or the world could be destroyed, so it wasn’t a good option.

However, he couldn’t leave the unknown variable unchecked. He looked down at the unstable lifeform that would likely know what had happened while he was asleep.

“Hic, hic…”

The one called the ‘Demon King’ had collapsed to the floor, pale-faced, clutching his throat with both hands. It looked as if he were trying to strangle himself, or perhaps he was suffocating in agony.

The Outsider mercifully withdrew his aura, allowing the Demon King to breathe again.

“Gah… haah, haah!”

Though the oppressive weight had lifted, the Demon King’s body trembled even more violently than before. The form and concept of ‘Him’ that had been hidden by the pressure began to seep into his mind.

It—it was a tree. Branches, grown like tentacles, filled the sky, with living worlds hanging at their ends. No, that wasn’t right. Upon closer inspection, dead worlds were impaled at the tips of the branches like skewers. And upon even closer inspection, those weren’t branches—they were hands, arms, faces, bodies, insect larvae, and animal intestines.

Humans instinctively try to understand what they see. It’s a part of their nature, something they cannot control. Because of this, the Demon King endlessly thought, and thought, and thought—until he could think no more—in an effort to understand ‘Him.’

His eyes felt like they were going to burst, and his tongue seemed as if it had been cut off and was rolling on the floor. It was as if branches, arms, hands, faces, bodies, and animal intestines were growing inside his throat.

Just by recognizing ‘Him,’ the Demon King felt a horrifying ecstasy, as if his mind was being ground down.

The Demon King was still a tool that couldn’t be broken yet, so the Existence lightly kneaded his mind, preventing him from going mad. The Demon King was left in a bizarre state, teetering on the edge of insanity but not quite falling into it. It was both mercy and disaster.

The Existence looked down at the Demon King and asked,

“Where is that ‘body’?”

Boom!

A deafening explosion echoed through the air, rudely interrupting the suffocating pressure that had been so overwhelming that even a groan could not escape without the Existence’s permission.

The Existence’s gaze shifted away from the Demon King, turning toward the direction of the sound.

Through the cloud of dust raised by the explosion, a human with black hair and black eyes, along with a beastkin with red hair, could be seen running swiftly.

The Existence stared at the soul within the human’s body.

It could sense that the soul, though slightly stronger than the weakest of the Outsiders that followed him, was surrounded by a power that circled around it like a knight protecting its charge.

“It hasn’t perished?”

As the Existence expressed its doubt, Lian, who had been scanning his surroundings, suddenly looked up and stared directly at him.

“Ah?! We’ve been spotted!”

The voice, as if treating the Existence—who had made even the Demon King kneel—as nothing more than a mere guard, irritated the Existence.

“How dangerous.”

Even the one called ‘Demon King’ was driven to the brink of madness just by facing the Existence, yet this human dared to drag him down to the same level and offend his ‘mood.’

It was no different from pulling a lofty god down to the ground. The Existence felt a sense of crisis at the sight of Lian, who used such miracles and curses as easily as breathing.

“He must be destroyed immediately.”

The Existence began to forcibly draw upon its power to annihilate Lian, who was fleeing slower than a grub. Though the expenditure of causality began to take its toll, destroying Lian here and now was far more important, so it used its strength without hesitation.

The Demon King, who had been trembling with his head bowed, staggered to his feet. Although the Existence’s gaze was fixed on Lian, the pressure from using its power was so intense that the Demon King’s head felt like it would explode, and his entire body was crushed under the weight.

The Demon King staggered to his feet and muttered,

“No… don’t…”

Because he had been forcibly contracted with the Existence, the Demon King could vaguely sense what it was trying to do.

Blood-tears dripped down his cheeks, but the Demon King continued to move.

“That person… at least…”

As he staggered forward and placed his hand on the wall, the dark energy flowing from him tore the wall apart. His bloodshot eyes gleamed fiercely.

“I won’t let you take anything else from me.”

As he took one step forward, his body gradually grew lighter. The chilling determination cut through the incomprehensible thoughts that had been clouding his mind.

His slow steps quickly turned into a brisk walk, and then into a sprint.

Thus began the suffocating chase between the Outsider, the Demon King, and Lian.

***

“Gyahhh!!”

One of the characteristics of a gag-world chase:

You can always run just a little bit faster than the thing chasing you.

“Master, you’re so fast!”

Jess, clinging to Lian’s back, wagged her tail with a bright smile, thrilled by the incredible speed at which they were moving. Lian, running so fast that Jess had no choice but to hitch a ride, ignored the soft yet heavy sensation pressing against the back of his head and focused only on running forward.

Boom! Crash!

The terrifying sounds of destruction followed them down the long corridor, with broken debris and demons or monsters flying at them like obstacles, but Lian easily dodged them.

Whether it was due to the power of the Existence, the scene unfolding before them seemed straight out of a running game, with one ridiculous situation after another.

Occasionally, debris or monsters would fly straight at Lian’s face, but Jess quickly swatted them away.

With a single swipe, like a tiger clawing through paper, the creatures and debris were sent flying helplessly into the walls, crashing through them and disappearing.

Whirrr!

“Huh?”

At that moment, Lian felt something slimy and unpleasant above his head. Instinctively, he grabbed a decorative sword that had fallen to the floor. It seemed to have fallen from where it had been mounted on the wall.

Swoosh, screeech!

As he spun around, holding the sword like a baseball bat, something imbued with a sinister energy came flying toward him.

Clang!

“Home run!”

After swatting away the Existence’s power with a mere wooden sword, Lian grinned in satisfaction.

Rumble!

The ground shook violently, and a ripping scream echoed through the air, as if the Existence had been struck by its own power.

The Existence howled. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the strongest.

“Let’s go again!”

Lian turned around and began running like mad once more.

“What the hell just happened?”

Though Lian had effortlessly deflected the Existence’s power, he was still bewildered.

“It didn’t feel this easy before?”

When he first encountered the Existence through the ominous flames, or when his soul had been forcibly separated from his body, the Existence’s presence had been so overwhelming that even its power couldn’t function properly.

“Compared to the enemies I’ve faced so far, it does feel dangerous, but…”

It was only that—dangerous. It didn’t feel ‘overwhelming.’

“I’ve felt something like this before…”

As a strange sense of déjà vu crept in, Lian tried to recall his memories.

“Oh, it’s back again.”

The heavy gaze that had briefly left them returned once more.

“Jess, are you okay?”

“Yeah! I’m… fine!”

Though her voice trembled, it seemed Jess was also feeling the Existence’s gaze. Thanks to the power protecting her, she only shivered slightly without any other significant reactions.

“But… I am a little scared…”

“Ah…!”

Jess whispered softly, hugging Lian’s shoulders even tighter. For a moment, Lian’s legs almost gave out, and he nearly tumbled forward. Barely managing to steady himself, Lian stammered, then shut his mouth.

“Training really does work. Gargandoa, I’m sorry for not trusting you…”

Even though the warm sensation pressing against the back of his head made his face and neck flush red, his nose didn’t bleed. Lian silently apologized to the magic sword that had always insisted on the importance of training.

Rumble!

“…!”

Just then, the sky rumbled as if lightning were about to strike. Lian instinctively realized what was happening.

“He’s really pissed!”

The Existence’s fury, palpable enough to be felt, was directed at him. It was clear that the Existence had never imagined being attacked by a mere human. Feeling as though lightning could strike him at any moment, Lian spun around like before.

Screeech!

“If I just knock back any attack again—”

But as his vision filled with hundreds of incoming attacks, Lian immediately turned back around and ran like mad.

His reaction was faster than lightning.

End of Chapter