Chapter 147: Summoning circle III
"Are you the one... That summoned me?"
The harsh and evil voice of the demon lord echoed as he looked directly at Ha Joon.
'The demon lord of vanity... Barbatos. So this is him?'
Ha Joon couldn't help but grin, his lips parting as he got ready to give a decent response.
_Strrr_
Three wizards appeared beside the demon lord, their heads bowed low.
"Demon lord Barbatos, it's an honour to have you here." They voiced out at the same time.
"We summoned you."
"Yes we did."
"Summon..."
"We did the summoning."
They spoke yet again.
Barbatos moved his gaze from Ha Joon, and looked at the wizards around him.
"Ah, you three were the ones that summoned me?"
"Yes, we only d-"
_sleech~!_
Suddendly the head of one of the wizards came rolling to the ground, along with a huge cut on the ground after Barbados had moved his hand in a slashing manner.
The body of the wizard dropped to the ground.
Blood spreading on the ground.
"Oh?" Ha Joon was surprised.
Did the summoned demon lord really just kill one of his own?
The remaining two wizards around Barbatos remained low. They wouldn't dare raise their heads when one of their own just died.
But it was expected.
Barbatos was known to be cold hearted and blood thirsty, and worst of all, very unpredictable.
No matter how many of them died in the process, as long as Barbatos was summoned, it was all that mattered.
"How long has it been? 100 years? Or perhaps longer. I want to assume it has been considering you were foolish enough to appear before me and not lower your head completely to the ground."
One of the wizards immediately went lower, pressing his forehead on the ground.
The other... that didn't react immediately -
_pulp~_
His head rolled on the floor, just like the one before him.
Ha Joon had already sat down on a rock, observing everything that was happening.
"You're a wise man, bowing your head just saved your life. If you were the one that summoned me, I am utterly disappointed. You are not much to look at, oweing you a favour seems like a waste of time."
Barbatos stared down at the man, his red eerily eyes locking directly into his soul...
"You understand how useless you are, do you not?"
The wizard flinched... "I..."
"As much as I enjoy whatever is happening right now, I can't wait to send you back to the circle you crawled out of. Demon lord of Vanity... Barbatos."
Ha Joon slowly stood up from the rock he was seated on, walking towards the demon with a neutral smile on his face.
Barbatos turned his attention towards him, "interesting."
Barbatos was almost taken a back. There was someone dumb enough to interrupt him while he was talking?
His interest peaked.
"Pardon me if you're upset, but my people await my presence, I would like to finish this as soon as possible."
Ha Joon stopped, standing a few feets away from the demon lord.
"So how do you wanna do this? Return to your hole? Or do I send you back?"
Barbatos pointed at Ha Joon.
_Ha hahahaha!_
He laughed.
"Are you stupid or something? I ... The demon lord of Vanity appeared in your city' and you didn't think to gather your forces to stop me, instead you come to confront me, alone, did the world miss its evolution?"
'He was able to determine I was the king of Camelot? Hnm~...' Ha Joon smiled, acknowledging the power of the demon.
He raised his hand up, "I guess you can say that, either way, I'm sending you back to where you came from".
Barbatos frowned, "So you wish to fight me then. I knew it. You're a dumb one. I had hoped to murder up the women and children as a celebration for my arrival, but I would seem I should feast on you first."
Ha Joon massaged his arms. This wasn't like any fight he had been into.
He didn't have the upper hand of using (Knowledge of the gods.)
Neither did he have any knowledge on the abilities the demon lord possessed.
All he had, was the faith in himself.
The demon lord didn't seem to happy about the fact a human dared to challenge him.
He had expected the entire place to be in panic in ruins upon his summon. Instead the whole place was empty with only a single human before him. Even the barrier around the place was present.
"You amaze me human. I would like to see how long that can last."
Barbatos's energy blast surged towards Ha Joon with deadly speed, but the calmness on Ha Joon's face remained unshaken.
Just as the blast was about to strike, the air around them rippled, and Ha Joon's voice echoed softly, but with authority:
"Reality Marble: Domain of Void."
The atmosphere itself shifted.
The ground beneath them seemed to dissolve as an invisible force surrounded both Ha Joon and Barbatos.
The red energy attack that had been racing toward Ha Joon simply disappeared—swallowed into the surrounding void as if it never existed.
Barbatos's expression changed slightly, a mix of intrigue and frustration.
"What is this?" he demanded, his deep voice echoing unnaturally in the vast emptiness that now surrounded them.
The familiar landscape of Telver city vanished, replaced by a pocket dimension of pure nothingness—an endless expanse of white and grey. There was no horizon, no light source, yet everything was illuminated.
Ha Joon stood casually in the center, his hands at his sides, as if the shift in reality didn't bother him in the slightest.
"You like it?" he asked with a smirk. "This is my domain, the 'Void of Limitless Paths.' In here, the concept of space and time are... negotiable."
Barbatos growled, his eyes narrowing, not used to being outmaneuvered so easily. "A clever trick, but you underestimate me if you think this will save you." The demon lord's fingers flexed, and dark tendrils of mana began to snake from his body, swirling around him. "Your little 'marble' won't hold me for long."