Everyone is Young Except for Me Chapter 299

At the sacred nest, west of the Vulcan volcanic zone...

The surroundings were full of lava. It was a change only caused by Phoenix Ignur's anger. The crimson-colored phoenix's wings turned everything around him into ashes. His golden tail swung as if he wouldn't forgive the remaining ashes while he attacked the enemy in front of him.

[Die! Corrupted constellation!]

The phoenix Ignur pulled out all his energy and flew into the air. Hundreds of fireballs poured down on the enemy below. The catastrophic rain of fire flooded toward the Apostle of Sloth. The thick smoke covered the Apostle of Sloth, but he was unshakable. He also had the power of the demon king, Belphegor. His power that surpassed the heat wave and became jade fire was now comparable to a god.

In the first place, fire was meeting fire so the compatibility was different. Who had the stronger fire? This was what would determine winning or losing.

“Chain of Jade Fire.”

One of the spells that Belphegor developed while travelling through hell, a chain of jade fire, wrapped around Ignur's body. Ignur was tied up by a chain of green fire and let out a burst of anger. [This...!]

Ignur struggled fiercely to break the chain of jade fire. The Apostle of Sloth prepared another magical flame like he couldn't tolerate it.

“Binding Jade Fire.”

[Ugh!]

Green flames burst from his outstretched hand and turned into a huge ring that tied up Ignur's wings. Ignur repressed his resentful gaze and glared at the Apostle of Sloth. [Foolish man intoxicated with death, what are you trying to do by breaking the taboo?!]

“Hahahaha! It is truly the spirit of the constellation of the four seasons protecting the west. You really fit the nickname of 'Summer Balancer.' Uhahaha.”

The Apostle of Sloth's shoulders shook as he laughed. Belphegor's power that could beat the phoenix, known to be the strongest of the fire system, made the Apostle of Sloth very satisfied.

[The henchmen of a corrupted constellation dares to laugh at me?!]

“Hoh. Isn't it ridiculous that you are being beaten by the henchman of that corrupted constellation?”

[You would already be dead if it wasn't for Pandora's power!] Ignur yelled again.

In fact, Ignur wasn't a constellation who was so easily suppressed. However, the power in front of him was that of a corrupted constellation. Now it wasn't just the power of a demon king, but also Pandora's power, which was a symbol of death and darkness, and the disaster of Ragnarok. The one wing that was pierced in the beginning was still painful. Recovery was difficult even with the power of the phoenix, which had the flames of regeneration.

[The demon king, 'Belphegor,' is showing his teeth as he laughs wildly.]

Blue flames fluttered in the air like a demon laughing.

Ignur was furious. One of the 12 Zodiacs who had to protect the human world and the celestial palace, the taurus zodiac, Aldebaran, became a demon king.

“Huhu. Don't try too hard. We are just following Pluto's will. Pandora's power will once again turn the world to death. Ohuhu. Doesn't it feel good just thinking about it? You can just die gently.”

The Apostle of Sloth held his two axes and prepared for the final strike. It was the strongest magic called Jade Fire Calamity. A lotus shaped jade flower formed at Ignur's feet as the Apostle of Sloth concentrated the power of the jade fire there. The jade flower grew from eating the jade flames and started to blossom the last petals.

Ignur felt death in his mind. 'I'd rather do this...!'

[Let's die together!]

“......!”

Ignur sacrificed himself in the final attack. In any case, he would be reborn because he gained the power of immortality from the original god, Gaia. A massive explosion engulfed the Apostle of Sloth.

“Huup!”

The Apostle of Sloth was caught in a firestorm and disappeared. There was a huge storm and after a while, a small groan was heard from among the flying ash. 

“Ugh…” The Apostle of Sloth was able to survive by wrapping the jade flames all over his body, but he was severely burned. He looked up and saw the remnants of Ignur who had become ashes. The final attack was worthy of being the strongest of the fire constellations, but in the end, he was the winner.

“Ohuhuhu...” The moment the Apostle of Sloth let out a low laugh, there was a small earthquake like the balance of the world was going to be broken. The Apostle of Sloth smiled as he realized he had completed his task. At the same time, his entire body started to become demonized. It was demon king Belphegor descending.

“Come, Lord Belphegor! Uhahaha.”

The moment the storm of demonic energy swallowed him, a small space opened and dozens of demons and demonic beasts started to cross into the human world. In the meantime, Ignur's egg, lying in the ashes, carefully floated into the air and disappeared.

***

At the western port of the perished Parta Principality...

The tip of Yeouicho that I threw touched the ground and there was an explosion of light. The light was so dazzling and hot that no one dared to look at it. Even I had to close my eyes for a moment. The explosion was a mixture of sun and clouds.

A mushroom cloud soared into the sky and the clouds that spread at the same time as the explosion relentlessly bound the enemy, making it impossible to move. Meanwhile, the allies were covered with a protective cloud shield to survive Solar's subsequent explosion. A vast storm spread out and swallowed up the surrounding undead.

“Kyaaaaak!”

“Everyone, lower your heads!”

At Mido's scream and David's shout, everyone lowered their head to prepare for the subsequent second explosion. The disturbance passed and I looked in the direction of that guy. The undead in the area had long since disappeared. Fenrir and the wooden dragon seemed to be swept away by the powerful attack. Only ashes were left in the large space.

Was he dead...? I moved the wind to disperse the smoke to check.

“......!”

However, once I moved the wind to remove the ash and smoke, I saw someone standing there. It wasn't one person, but two. They used magic to make the unconscious troublemaker float in the air and put something like a shield around him. One of them, a blond man laughed. “Pretty good. You have the power of weather as Pluto said.”

Pluto? He knew about the power of the weather. Who was it? Just then, there was a brief earthquake.

“Um, the Apostle of Sloth succeeded.”

The blond man laughed when he felt the earthquake and I asked, “Who are you?”

The blond man looked at the ground before turning to me again. His eyes were a pale blue.

“We are followers of Pandora.”

“Followers of Pandora?”

“Let's say it is a group that embraces Pluto's will. Our real purpose is to color the world with death. Additionally...” An indescribable demonic energy gathered around the blond man. At the same time, the surrounding land started to turn purple and a huge number of demons appeared in the torn space. “I am the servant of Lucifer, the demon king of Pride.”

Black smoke swallowed him up and once he reappeared, he was a lion standing on two feet with a black mane. The roar of the black lion terrified the battlefield. The player shuddered and hesitated as they felt the horror of the enemies in front of them.

[The power of pride suppresses the surroundings.]

[You have fallen into the 'fear' state.]

[The enemy can't be hit by a target who feels fear]

However, I couldn't close my mouth. “Regulus...?”

The lion zodiac, Regulus—the lion in front of me was definitely Regulus, one of the seven betrayers, and the one who used to be the leader of the Zodiacs. The scary thing was that he was a 'god killer.' In other words, he had the power to kill a god.

Jupiter thought that the gods might betray him and gave Regular, the leader of the 12 Zodiacs, the power of a 'god killer.' This was why no god could mistreat Jupiter. Regulus was Jupiter's sword.

[Hoh. It is interesting that you know me. Regulus... I definitely had such a name.]

“......”

I couldn't say anything else. Regulus, who had a golden mane was nowhere to be found. The black lion was definitely a demon king. I was filled with tension. My party and I were surrounded by demons and could be annihilated in an instant. Nobody opened their mouths due to nervousness.

[Ahh, we also had another name. But now I prefer the name Ashtar?]

[I don't like it.] 

Two heads in one body. A being with two legs and four arms was next to the black lion. It was so ugly that I slightly frowned. Yet the faces remained clearly in my memory.

“Castor and Pollux...”

[What? You know us?]

The two heads answered simultaneously with surprise. How could I forget? Another twin constellation along with Romelana and Remus. They were the former gemini zodiac of Zodiacs.

...This was worrisome.

I remembered that Castor was good at magic, while Pollux was good at boxing and weapons. However, the two of them came together. Should I call them demon king Ashtar now? My head hurt.

[You are a funny human being.]

[I want that human's head.]

Ashtar was holding two swords and two staffs. It was a combination of swordsmanship and magic. The appearance was very intimidating.

[Stop.]

[......?]

Ashtar was about to rush forward when he was stopped by the black lion, Lucifer. The clear thing was that Lucifer was stronger than Ashtar. Otherwise, that aggressive man wouldn't be still. He truly was the former leader of the 12 Zodiacs.

[...Leave.]

“......?”

[I am happy that a human being recognizes us so I am willing to let you go. However, keep this in mind. This is a warning to all humanity. I will give you 10 days. If all of humanity doesn't kneel to us by then, they will see a spectacle full of destruction and slaughter.]

The arrogant Lucifer's laughter echoed throughout the battlefield. Then the laughter of the demons around him burst out. The laughter itself contained demonic energy and made me feel numb. I gritted my teeth and spoke in a low voice, “Everybody, retreat.”

***

5 minutes later.

I was resting on Jinny's clouds with Mido and the other members of Icarus. For David and the others, I summoned Punghee and applied magic to increase movement speed. If Jinny had regained its strength, then it would've been to carry all of them. However, now only this amount of people could be carried.

“Wow, so fast! You are really the best. Jinny?” Mido praised the cute Jinny who was smiling from below.

Jinny laughed like it felt good. “Thank you, reum! You are also pretty, reum!”

...This thing must be a man as well. Both Solar and Jinny were the same.

“Puuuung~”

“Hehe—!”

Solar and Punghee were flying through the clouds while playing tag. It was a very peaceful sight, but the Icarus Guild members were exhausted like they couldn't shake off the shock of what happened before.

“......”

There was nothing I could say to them. There was no way except for them to overcome it alone.

“...Hrmm.”

I sighed as I gazed at the surroundings. We were moving fast and the background passed quickly. It happened at this time...

“Hmm?”

What was that? Suddenly, there was something flying here.

Chapter end