The Demon Goes to Work Today As Well - Chapter 175

Chapter 175: A Hopeless Fight (4)

Before the explosion occurred.

“There has been a change in schedule, so instead of heading to the cathedral, we will be moving to the accommodations first.”

The Cardinal, in order to guide the candidate heroes to their accommodations, began moving towards the city.

“As you can see by looking around, the Holy Empire is a very peaceful place.”

And just as he was volunteering to act as a guide, showing them around,

“Puhihihit! Puhalllatkkeuheuk!”

A bizarre sound of laughter could be heard from behind.
Th i s w a s co p i ed f r o m k i n g m t l .o r g

“Hmm?”

At the vulgar sound of laughter, the Cardinal frowned and turned his head back.

“Kkirik, kkirik, kkirik!”

He could see the old man, who had joined the line of candidate heroes, clutching his stomach and bursting into laughter.

“…”

The Cardinal, sensing an unknown ominous feeling, approached the old man and spoke to him.

“What’s the matter?”

“Puhihihit!”

However, the old man didn’t answer, merely continuing to laugh while clutching his stomach.

“Candidate hero-nim…?”

As the Cardinal grabbed the old man’s shoulder and shook him,

“Old man, I’m sorry. I promised to never draw this sword again…”

The old man gave a bitter smile and muttered to himself while looking at the sky.

“…For revenge, I can’t keep that promise.”

He then uttered a meaningful phrase.

“Cry, Netherworld Devil Sword!”

Seo―geok!

He drew the sword from his waist, slicing off the hand that the Cardinal had placed on his shoulder.

Pu―hwak!

A sudden surprise attack.

“…Uh, uh?”

Excruciating pain surged through him as his wrist was severed.

“Why… why?”

The Cardinal, enduring the pain, expressed his confusion at the old man’s sudden attack.

“You want to know why I attacked you?”

At the old man’s question, the Cardinal nodded slightly.

“It’s to return the pain that we suffered from persecution.”

He explained the reason for the surprise attack.

“Could it be…?”

The Cardinal looked at the old man with a look of disbelief.

“That’s right, I’m a non-believer who has suffered all sorts of persecution for not having a religion.”

The old man revealed himself to be a survivor.

“Surely, it was carried out thoroughly…?”

The reason for conducting inspections and searches was not only to filter out subordinates but also to filter out non-believers who harbored resentment.

Yet, the fact that a non-believer had passed through the inspections and searches and was here was unbelievable.

“…How did you get through? It should have been perfect?”

“Words change their meaning depending on how they are spoken.”

The old man scoffed at the Cardinal’s question.

In other words, there was a loophole in the inspections and searches that they had thought were perfect.

“I thought the probability would be low because it was a challenge close to an adventure, but I didn’t expect to get through like this.”

“…”

As the Cardinal wore a disappointed expression,

“You too will soon feel the pain we experienced.”

The old man, seemingly enjoying the situation, laughed with his shoulders shaking.

“Stop this meaningless revenge.”

The Cardinal tried to persuade the old man to stop the situation, but

“No, this revenge is meaningful to me.”

The old man’s will was not only stubborn but also firm, so the Cardinal’s persuasion failed.

“Your dead families won’t come back even if you do this, so don’t waste your energy and surrender quietly. If you surrender now, you won’t be held accountable.”

He then gave up persuading and tried threatening, but

T h i s wa s c o pi e d fr om k i n g m t l . o r g
“My dead family won’t come back… But, I can take you with me as companions!”

As if a sensitive spot had been touched, the old man erupted with a ferocious aura.

“Kill that old man!”

The moment the Cardinal ordered the Paladins to kill the old man,

“That won’t do.”

The old man adjusted his posture.
Th i s w a s co pied f ro m k i n g m tl. o r g

“Wail, Netherworld Devil Sword!”

Seo―――――geok!

He swung his sword, severing the necks of the approaching Paladins.

“He’s highly skilled. Don’t let your guard down!”

At the Cardinal’s following shout, the 100 Paladins nearby rushed towards the old man with hardened expressions.

“Such healthy young men are attacking an old man so earnestly.”

Thi s w a s c op ied fr om k i n g m t l. o rg
The old man clicked his tongue, looking at the Paladins.

“Why don’t you young people join the fight too?”

He looked at the candidate heroes and urged them to join the fight.

“””Understood.”””

T h is w a s c o p i e d f r o m k i ngmt l. o rg
Then, almost half of the candidate heroes drew their weapons.

“Never persecute us again for being non-believers!”

“Pay the price!”

“We have the right to choose our religion based on our own will!”

They started joining the fight.

“…What?”

The Cardinal’s face was filled with bewilderment at the considerable number.

“Half of them were non-believers…?”

The Cardinal was shocked by the revelation that a third of them were non-believers, as if he had been hit hard on the back of the head.

‘I have to inform the Hero-nim of this quickly…!’

Realizing the gravity of the situation, the Cardinal tried to move towards the cathedral, avoiding the old man’s eyes.

“That won’t do.”

He was discovered by the old man and his path was blocked.

“…Ugh!”

The Cardinal quickly dashed away from the old man, but

“Sob, Netherworld Devil Sword!”

Seo―geok!

Because his skill level was low, he couldn’t even take a few steps before his neck was sliced by the old man’s sword, ending his life.

Degururu―

The old man stared at the Cardinal’s head rolling on the floor for a long time.

“Blame yourself for living as a dog of the pigeons.”

Ujik―

He crushed the head under his foot, then turned away.

And as he turned his gaze to the non-believers,

“To finish it already, you’re fast.”

The group of non-believers were standing still, as if they had finished cleaning up.

“Then, let’s move to the center of the city.”

“””Understood.”””

Just like that, the old man led the non-believers to the pond in the center of the city.

“Now we can finally carry out the revenge we’ve dreamed of. Shall we begin right away?”
T h i s wa s c o p i e d fr om k in g m t l .or g

They decided to carry out the final operation they had planned.

“Let’s meet on the road to the afterlife.”

Boo――ung.

The old man’s body swelled up exponentially.

Boo――ung.

Following him, the bodies of the 999 non-believers began to swell up.

The operation they chose was to destroy the city through self-destruction.

Since their skill level was quite high, they would be able to inflict considerable damage with their self-destruction.

T h i s w a s c o p i e d f r o m k i ng m t l . or g
“I’ll go first!!!”

The moment the old man’s body swelled up to its limit.

Kwa―――――――――ang!

With a tremendous explosion, his body burst.

Kwa―――――――――ang!

Kwa―――――――――ang!

Kwa―――――――――ang!
Thi s w a s co p i e d fr o m ki n g m t l . o r g

Kwa―――――――――ang!

Kwa―――――――――ang!

As the bodies of the other non-believers exploded one after another,

Kwa――――――――――――――――――ang!

A giant mushroom cloud rose in the center of the city.

⊱ ஓ๑๑ஓ ⊰

Jung Minwoo, upon hearing the news of the self-destruction incident,

‘Non-believers self-destructed within the Holy Empire?’

He was already happy with the situation flowing smoothly even without his intervention.

‘The situation has unintentionally turned out for the better.’

He was already satisfied with the great achievement of infiltrating brainwashed higher beings into the Holy Empire, but for this to happen on top of that?

‘The energy of the universe is helping me.’

This was definitely a sign from the universe to invade Groa planet.

‘Now that they’ve suffered a major internal blow, should I use this opportunity to push forward?’

It was a golden opportunity to inflict further damage since the protective barrier around the Holy Empire had disappeared due to the self-destruction.

‘If I attack the Holy Empire, they won’t be able to send reinforcements elsewhere, so my leaders can invade comfortably.’

If there was nothing to be wary of, they could act aggressively, and the invasion speed would increase exponentially.

‘It might be possible to seize the victory during this time.’

If things went well, he could seize the victory and control everything to his liking.

‘Then, let’s save the candidate hero rebellion, which I was originally going to carry out, for later. For now, I should deploy the suicide squad.’

Although the fact that the Hero was stationed within the Holy Empire was a bit of a concern,

‘Since there’s no protective barrier, even with the Hero, they should be able to inflict significant damage.’

Even with his tremendous skills that defeated the Demon Lord, he wouldn’t be able to protect the Holy Empire alone.

‘If we proceed like this, will it take the Holy Empire about 50 years to recover from the damage?’

If the suicide squad succeeded in inflicting heavy damage, it could even take up to 100 years.

‘By the time the Holy Empire’s recovery is complete, 9 out of 10 of the invasions will be finished.’

Once 9 out of 10 invasions were completed, his restrictions would be significantly lifted, so even if the Seven Demon Generals fought the Hero, they wouldn’t be easily defeated.

‘If things go according to plan, I should be able to finish invading Groa planet after about 200 years.’

Of course, the time it took to invade could change depending on Raphael’s response, but

‘Whatever the time, as long as I invade within 1,000 years, that’s all that matters.’

One thing was for sure: Groa planet would fall into his hands.

‘Good, then shall we proceed right away?’

Afterward, Jung Minwoo decided to execute his newly devised plan and sent a telepathic message to the suicide squad through ‘Mind’s Eye’.

⊱ ஓ๑๑ஓ ⊰

Meanwhile, the Hero,

“…What is this?”

He was feeling bewildered by the scenery unfolding before him.

“…Why did this happen?”

It was only natural, as the buildings surrounding the cathedral had turned into a black, ash-gray color.

Th i s w a s c opi e d f r o m k i n g mt l . o rg
The places further away seemed fine, as if the aftereffects hadn’t reached them, but

“No, what in the world happened while I was at the cathedral!!”

It was a tremendous loss, with a whole city gone, so his stomach couldn’t help but churn.

Kwa―ang!

The Hero kicked the ground in frustration, but

“Damn it…!”

That didn’t change the grim reality.

“…Haah, what really happened?”

He had truly believed that a bright future awaited him when he entered the cathedral, but in the short time he had been away, the worst possible situation, one he hadn’t even imagined, had arrived.

“What have I been working so hard for all this time?”

He felt like all his efforts so far had been denied.

His spirit, which he had regained 5 years ago, felt like it was about to collapse.

A despair that felt like he was drowning and struggling in the abyss.

“Can we really stand against the invaders…?”

As the Hero felt a deep sense of frustration and sat down on the ground with a dejected expression,

― …What is this?

A clear woman’s voice echoed in his head.

Unlike the clear voice, it was filled with anger.

“…”

The desire to ask what she had been doing until now rose to his throat, but

“Raphael-nim’s servant greets you.”

The Hero suppressed those words and greeted Raphael.

― No, I’m asking what happened!

However, Raphael didn’t seem to be in the mood to accept his greeting and raised her voice right away.

“…I also just came out of the cathedral, so I haven’t grasped the situation yet.”

When the Hero answered that he didn’t know anything either,

T h i s w a s c o p i e d fr o m k ing m t l . o rg
― There’s a limit to being incompetent, do you think it makes sense that the Hero hasn’t grasped the situation?!

Raphael got angry and criticized the Hero’s competence.

“Haah…”

Finally, the Hero, reaching his limit of patience, let out a deep sigh.

“Hey, is this my fault?”

He confronted Raphael with a contorted face.