I Escaped the Exile Story Only To Find It Was a Regret Trope

63 – 13# Demon Hunting (2)

‘It won’t regenerate. What kind of trickery is this?’

Mephisto frowned. To him, the human form was merely a disguise for appearances. In other words, even if his limbs were severed.

Even if his head was cut off.

Mephisto’s true form would remain unscathed. Yet, he laughed at the futile efforts of the humans who were trying so hard for nothing.

But now, for some reason, the form that was supposed to be just a disguise was not regenerating. Even though it had initially regenerated in an instant.

However, Mephisto did not think deeply about it. Humans surpassing his expectations was always a possibility. It was just pointless, that was all.

“Futile struggle.”

Mephisto, as if he were a conductor, waved his empty fingers around. Then, in time with his rhythm, countless flies took flight.

These were not ordinary flies.

They tore human flesh.

And drank their blood, the flies of hell.

Originally, they were tools prepared to make sinners repent. But as the ruler of hell, Mephisto could summon and use them at will.

In fact, it wasn’t even an abuse.

Those who opposed him were sinners all the same. The countless flies flew towards Yushin without hesitation. And Yushin responded immediately.

“Hup!!”

With a slash wielded with all his might, he cut down all the flies of hell in an instant. To think that he had the power to easily defeat even the flies of hell.

Mephisto judged that he would be more useful than the Eldritch, which was created for experimentation and revenge. But first, he had to subdue him.

‘For the sake of my grand plan.’

“Let me ask you one thing.”

“Do you have a question in this situation?”

“I’m really curious.”

“Ask away.”

Mephisto readily allowed the question. After all, with little time left, shouldn’t the path to the end be free of any doubts?

“Didn’t you say you wanted to rule the world?”

“That’s right.”

“But now you want to just accept God? The being above your head?”

“Going against a well-designed truth is a foolish choice.”

The reason rebellion can succeed is because the system is already at its end. No matter what you do, it will eventually collapse. Rebellion is just a trigger.

On the other hand, a system without a single flaw is nearly impossible to overthrow. Especially if the target is not a human, but a transcendent being like God.

“Of course, I was shocked too. When I heard that from the sage, I thought everything I had done so far was meaningless.”

But looking back, I wondered if this was really a problem. Yes, there is a being called God. And if such a being rules the world.

Why can he, the great demon, move freely?

In the end, nothing changes. No, rather, this was not a bad opportunity for Mephisto. A chance to directly take over the world through a deal with God.

“In all the near-eternal life I’ve lived, God has never interfered with me. So it’s almost as if He doesn’t exist.”

“So, you decided to just ignore it?”

“Of course. No matter how powerful I am, knowing that God exists, I don’t want to increase my enemies.”

In the end, Mephisto meant that he conformed to the current system and chose to focus. Even if he acknowledged the existence of God, nothing would change much.

“And who knows? If I stop you, God might acknowledge me.”

“You chose a completely different path from the sage.”

“There’s no need to suffer unnecessarily. I’m a different being from you.”

Well then. Shall we end this enjoyable Q&A session here?

Mephisto reached out again to end this time that was not entirely pleasant. He was the great demon and the lord of all hell.

The monsters he created were just one of the powers of hell. But at the moment Mephisto tried to use his power, his movements suddenly stopped.

White chains that sprang from the ground bound Mephisto’s two arms. In the sudden ambush, Mephisto slowly turned his gaze back.

“You’re quite relaxed. Thanks to that, I could join easily.”

“Brother!!”

“…I see, it was a stalling tactic?”

“You weren’t the only one conserving strength.”

In the very moment Mephisto was bound.

As if waiting, Yushin’s sword beheaded Mephisto.

* * *

At the moment Mephisto was beheaded.

From the severed neck of Mephisto, who could no longer maintain his form, darkness suddenly surged like waves and engulfed the surroundings. Yushin looked up.

I thought it felt similar to teleportation. When I came to my senses, I had indeed moved to a different place. There was no need to figure it out.

Because it wasn’t hard to realize that this place was hell. The scent of burning sulfur continuously pricked Yushin’s nose.

No, it wasn’t just the sulfur.

The stench of burning flesh was mixed in.

Fortunately, Yushin’s comrades didn’t seem to have fallen into the hellfire. Beris, Athena, Yuri, and Hayoung immediately ran towards Yushin.

“What the hell is going on?!”

“It seems Mephisto made a last-ditch effort.”

“This place, surely, it’s not the one I know, right?”

“Everyone, be careful. I can feel a strong magic power.”

As Hayoung said, a strong magic power was flickering before their eyes. But there was nothing visible in front of them. Yushin sighed and said.

“It seems this place looks like what is commonly called hell.”

“Hell?! I haven’t done anything to deserve falling into hell?!”

“Put your hand on your conscience and think about it.”

“I did, but I still don’t get it!!”

Leaving this idiot aside for now. As Yushin was looking around for the most urgent target to deal with in this situation, a voice was heard.

[What are you so desperately looking for?]

“I’m looking for you.”

[Are you talking about me, right in front of you?]

“…….”

Only then did Yushin realize where Mephisto was. He hadn’t hidden anywhere. He had just been standing right in front of them from the beginning.

From the darkness, it finally revealed itself. Taking the form of a massive dragon, towering up to the sky. That must be its true form.

“Is that Mephisto’s true form?”

“Crazy.”

Yuri and Hayoung, who lacked experience in this area, were greatly overwhelmed in front of Mephisto. On the other hand, Athena and Beris spoke nonchalantly.

“It’s been a while since we’ve encountered a giant type.”

“Yeah, we haven’t met one in a long time.”

“Hero, shall we start right away?”

For them, fighting such gigantic enemies was a daily routine. Knowing this, Yushin could draw his sword without hesitation this time as well.

‘I didn’t come this far alone.’

Looking back, it was because he had trustworthy comrades. Yushin could come this far with everyone. And he would move forward with his comrades.

[Hope sparkles and shines in the darkness, unaware that it is merely a candle that will soon be extinguished.]

Mephisto, who had been hiding in the darkness, opened his jaws and spewed out scorching flames. It was none other than Hayoung’s magic that blocked it.

“I can somehow block this much.”

It wasn’t just Mephisto who chose and focused. Hayoung also chose and focused. No matter how hard she tried from now on, she couldn’t gain power equivalent to Yushin or Athena.

In other words, she couldn’t obtain offensive power.

But having offensive power wasn’t the only way to help the team. Defense and buffs that were just as good could also be of great help to the team.

Defensive magic is much simpler than offensive magic. It’s literally a technique of pouring magic power to create a shield. And Hayoung’s magic power was like the sea.

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In other words, she could block all of the opponent’s attacks using that immense magic power. However, the opponent was Mephisto, the lord of hell. No matter how much magic power Hayoung had.

She couldn’t keep blocking Mephisto’s scorching flames. Perhaps it was because she sensed Yushin’s hesitation, knowing that fact. Beris sighed and said.

“Go, hero. I’ll take responsibility here.”

“Beris?”

“As long as I’m here, you won’t die even if you want to. You know that, right?”

“Yes, I do.”

No matter how much Beris messed around and trolled, the reason she wasn’t kicked out of the party was because her abilities were that powerful.

If it was the time when she had grown enough to fight the Demon King directly, it might have been different.

At least before she grew, thanks to Beris, everyone could save their lives. They kept recovering and fighting back without dying, and barely won.

Knowing that fact.

Yushin could charge at Mephisto with Athena.