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Chapter 273: Omen of Destruction (3)
Hectar, Bishop of Destruction
Hectar was a loyal subordinate of Amon, and one of the few Apostles of Destruction personally granted the “Ember” by Amon himself.
Even within Gehenna City, he was treated like a general or noble — a high-ranking demon.
With most of the other factions annihilated, except for the Archbishops of Destruction, his power and influence had grown significantly.
But still—
‘And all I’m doing is kidnapping brats?’
Hectar strolled through the damp, humid jungle, his expression twisted with irritation.
The war against the heroes was right around the corner.
All the other Apostles who had received embers were fervently preparing for the upcoming bloodshed.
And yet here he was.
‘Tch.’
Even if it was a direct order from his revered master Amon, this menial, humiliating chore was far beneath him.
‘Was I really so untrustworthy?’
He sighed briefly, recalling Amon’s unusual warning to be cautious of just one cadet — not even a professor.
As he pushed through the dense foliage with his subordinates and continued deeper into the demon-infested lands—
“Hm?"
A faint scent of blood tickled his nose.
Hectar's heart began pounding.
As a demon branded with the Stigma of the Demon God, the smell of human blood excited him instinctively.
‘Found them.’
Eyes gleaming, Hectar rushed toward the source of the scent.
As expected, when he arrived, a lone cadet stood there.
With ash-gray hair, like embers left after a fire.
‘Is this the cadet Lord Amon mentioned?’
That hair color wasn’t common.
The odds were good that this was the one.
‘Perfect.’
Hectar raised a black flame in his hand, staring down the gray-haired cadet.
But just then, a strange thought crossed his mind.
‘Why aren’t there any wounds?’
The scent of blood had been strong enough to lure him here — not something that comes from just a few drops.
Yet all he could see was scattered ash in the air.
And there wasn’t a single wound on the cadet’s body that could explain the smell.
‘Well... whatever.’
Wounded or not, his task remained unchanged.
“…A demon?”
The cadet’s eyes widened slightly as he made eye contact with Hectar.
Naturally.
A cadet, encountering a demon deep within the demonlands — no one would stay calm—
“Wow. A demon? Didn’t think I’d meet one here.”
“…?”
Huh?
“Well, better a demon than a monster, I guess.”
What the hell?
What’s with this guy’s reaction?
* * *
He’d followed the scent, expecting it to be a monster.
But a demon?
‘Honestly, a demon’s better if I want to test the true power of Maurice Jin.’
Still, what was a demon doing here?
‘And not just any demon — one of the Apostles of Destruction.’
The black flame burning in the demon’s hand was the signature power of the Apostles of Destruction — just like those he’d seen back in the imperial palace.
‘Doesn’t seem quite as strong as those guys back then, though.’
The Apostles he’d faced before had powers nearly on par with Archbishops.
This group didn’t quite measure up to that level.
‘That Hectar guy seems somewhat capable… the others are just average.’
Stronger than your run-of-the-mill demons, sure. But far below the Apostles from the palace.
‘Anyway, thoughts later.’
Right now, he had to deal with the demons in front of him.
“Yuren!”
He called out briefly, and soon after, light footsteps approached from afar.
“What’s wrong, Dale?”
Yuren arrived in a flash.
“…Those are…”
He frowned at the sight of three hooded demons.
“Demons? What are demons doing here…”
“Let’s worry about that later.”
“…Alright.”
Yuren nodded and unsheathed his sword.
Before the rest of the party arrived, Dale had something to say.
“Oh, Yuren.”
“Yeah?”
“Don’t finish this too quickly.”
“I want to see what Maurice is capable of.”
“…Ah, got it. I’ll go easy.”
Yuren nodded again.
“What…?”
The demons narrowed their eyes at the two cadets chatting so casually.
No fear.
No panic.
Just talking about pacing themselves and going easy?
“Mr. Dale! What’s going on?”
“Lady Saint, please stay back!”
“Haah, haah! Jeez, why’s Yuren so fast?”
Iris, Camilla, and Maurice arrived late — and their expressions stiffened when they saw the demons.
But they quickly snapped into action.
“Everyone, prepare for battle,”
Yuren said calmly.
With that, their expressions sharpened.
Iris cast blessings without hesitation. Camilla raised her greatsword and formed up, while Maurice began chanting spells.
"Quick."
Especially Maurice — likely because of his past as a mercenary — was even faster to react.
“Ha. These little brats…”
“What cheeky little punks!”
Two demons shouted and charged in.
CRACK! BOOM!
The battle began.
The party formed a formation around Yuren, pushing back the charging demons.
“Aaagh!”
“Wh-What the hell?! What are these kids?!”
The demons who had charged in so confidently were now bleeding and driven back.
“What is this…”
Hectar stared at the battle unfolding before him, eyes narrowing in disbelief.
‘They’re not cadets.’
This was a party of elites — the kind you’d find among top-ranked active heroes.
“Ghh…”
Hectar bit his lip and summoned his power.
Still, cadets were cadets.
No matter how skilled they were, they shouldn’t have much real battle experience.
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‘If I hit the backline—!’
WHOOSH!
Black flames erupted from his hand, aiming straight at Iris.
“Lady Saint!”
Camilla hastily raised her sword to block the black flames.
“Urgh…!”
But she was still swept away by the fire and thrown backwards.
‘This is getting dangerous.’
Just as he furrowed his brow and was about to rush toward Iris—
“Grow!”
CRACK!
Thick roots shot up from the ground and blocked the path of the black flames.
“Leave this to me!”
Maurice shouted, holding a wand as thick as his forearm.
‘Hoh.’
He wouldn’t have been surprised if it was some no-name lackey, but that demon called Hectar had formidable power.
‘To block that attack so easily…’
And he hadn’t merely defended.
Maurice summoned thick roots to intercept the flames, then immediately cast another spell, launching a counterattack at Hectar.
“Gah! Damn it…!”
Hectar staggered back, vines surging from the ground and entangling his body.
‘What the hell are these people?!’
Hectar scowled in disbelief.
There was no way this was the level of mere candidates.
“Shit!”
He cursed and tried to summon more of his “Ember” power—
“Hmm. That’s enough.”
The gray-haired candidate—Dale—nodded in satisfaction.
“Thanks. That cleared up something I’d been wondering about.”
“What….”
Dale slowly walked toward him.
And then—
FWOOSH!
A fierce, ash-gray flame erupted.
“Ah.”
That was the last thing Hectar ever saw.
* * *
“Hah… hah…”
Maurice collapsed to the floor, gasping for breath.
Someone approached and handed him a canteen.
“Good work.”
“…Thanks.”
Maurice took it, looking up at me with trembling eyes.
“Dale… you’ve been hiding your strength all this time?”
“Didn’t you do the same?”
“Ugh.”
Maurice’s shoulders flinched.
“Judging by your magic, you're practically at Master level… why hide it?”
“…Because of my father.”
“Your father?”
“I told you before… I’m not his real son.”
“Yeah, I remember.”
“He feels… guilty about my real dad.”
Guilty?
“He blames himself for not being strong enough… thinks that's why my dad died. Even though mercenaries dying during a job isn’t exactly rare.”
“And that has to do with hiding your power… how?”
“If he knew I was nearly a Master at my age… he’d never let me become a mercenary.”
Fair enough.
What father would want their child to take up such a dangerous life?
Especially someone who knew that danger better than anyone.
“But then, why did you keep up second place in the class rankings?”
If he was trying to hide his talent, he could’ve just scored low and kept a low profile.
“If I bombed on purpose and landed in dead last….”
“That… that’s not okay!”
Maurice shook his head frantically.
“It’s just… being last place… how should I say it… it’s just—”
Haaah.
He sighed deeply.
“It’s just too damn pathetic.”
“….”
What the hell, dude.
“I didn’t want to disappoint my dad… but I didn’t want to make him expect too much, either.”
So second place was his perfect compromise.
“Anyway, that was back then… Now, even if I went all out, I probably still couldn’t surpass Yuren.”
Maurice glanced toward Yuren and shook his head.
And he was right.
Even though both Maurice and Yuren were close to Master-level, Yuren did have the edge.
‘The fact that they’re even close is insane in itself.’
Anyway.
The goal of checking Maurice’s real skill—accomplished.
‘Now let’s find out why these bastards are here.’
He turned to the demons lying nearby.
All three were a wreck, sprawled out on the ground, but not dead—kept alive for interrogation.
“Iris, can you get them conscious?”
“Yes, but… their injuries are severe. I’ll have to heal them first.”
It felt a bit ironic—having to heal demons.
But what could he do?
They needed to be in shape to talk.
“Please do.”
“Understood, Mr. Dale.”
Iris walked toward the fallen demons.
That’s when—
FWOOSH!
Black flames suddenly erupted around Hectar’s body.
“Iris!”
“Kyaa!”
He yanked her back by the shoulder just in time.
The fierce flames roared upward.
A chilling sense of dread crawled down his spine.
Staggering, swaying—
Hectar rose to his feet.
‘No.’
That wasn’t Hectar anymore.
His entire body wreathed in black fire…
“…Amon.”
The Archpriest of Destruction—Amon—had taken his place.
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