The Healing Solaris Cleric-Chapter 385: Here I Come (1)

The inside of the massive ice mansion was even colder than the outside. Kai could manage thanks to his high magic resistance, but Yoo Ha-Rin couldn’t.

“Is it really that cold?”

“J-j-just a little.”

Yoo Ha-Rin tightly hugged the ogre leather draped over her shoulders, looking especially pitiful.

Kai turned and asked Kazura, “Doesn’t this place have any heating?”

“Heating? What’s that?”

“... Nevermind.”

There was no way such a thing existed in the Demon Realm.

Shaking his head, Kai silently supported Yoo Ha-Rin and followed Kazura.

After walking through a mansion as large as any castle for about thirty minutes, they reached two massive doors.

“They’ll be waiting beyond these doors, so go on in.”

“What about you?”

“I can’t go in, and it would be better for that human with you to not enter either.”

Yoo Ha-Rin, whom Kazura pointed at, wiped her nose and asked, “Sniff, why not me?”

“It’s several times colder inside than the hallway. I can’t endure it either.”

“Oh...” Yoo Ha-Rin turned her head with an expression that said she couldn’t manage it either. “Sorry, I think this is as far as I go.”

“Then do you want to go wait outside instead? Don’t stay somewhere so cold.”

“Can I do that...?”

“Of course.”

After thinking it over, Yoo Ha-Rin slowly nodded. “Okay. I’ll wait outside then.”

Leaving Kazura and Yoo Ha-Rin behind, Kai opened the doors and stepped inside.

Another set of doors?

About five meters ahead stood two more massive doors.

I see. This is like...

It looked exactly like a boss room.

Come to think of it, this whole mansion is like that. The layout is just like a dungeon.

If he had come here alone with Yoo Ha-Rin without Kazura's guidance, they would have run into all kinds of traps or monsters. After all, this was a dungeon of an archduke.

Creak.

As the door opened and Kai stepped inside, a huge square room, roughly 200 pyeong in size, came into view. Frost rapidly formed on his clothes, but he ignored it and kept his eyes forward. At the far end was a demon, seated cross-legged on an lavishly carved ice chair.

That must be Serphine.

Her pale sky-blue hair had grown long, and her eyelashes were unusually long. Normally, long lashes would soften the eyes, but her gaze remained sharp.

Watching Kai with those sharp eyes, Serphine slowly said, “Whoa. Are you really a human?”

Kai shrugged and replied, “As you can see.”

“Not bad. Even most upper-ranked demons can’t roam freely in my mansion.”

“That’s because I’m not on the level of most upper-ranked demons.”

The frozen floor cracked under Kai’s every step.

Watching this, Serphine let out a quiet exclamation, “So you’re the one who killed Kinessa, huh?”

“And?”

“Well. If you're walking around proud just because you managed to kill Kinessa, you should be careful not to get smacked and end up crying,” Serphine flashed a sweet smile with her beautiful face as she threw out venomous words.

Of course, Kai was not the type to be shaken by such a warning.

“You’re right. Killing Kinessa alone isn’t something to be proud of.”

What Kai always believed in was his own skill. Who he defeated or who he brought down—those were nothing more than hollow comparisons. Someone with absolute confidence in their own ability never relied on such illusions.

“Let’s skip the small talk. I heard you wanted to see me. Why is that?”

“I’ve seen humans in the Middle Realm, but never one wandering the Demon Realm.” Still seated cross-legged, Serphine wiggled her toes as she continued, “So I was curious what kind of human would kill an archduke, and what they were thinking when they did that.”

“Not much. I just didn’t want to die, so I killed him first. That’s it.”

“Oh, tough guy.” Serphine smirked and said, “I heard you healed the demons in Elision. Why did you do that?”

Kai furrowed his brows as he was faced with another question.

“This feels strange. I thought this was where I would be thanked, but why does it feel like I’m being interrogated?”

“Is that so? I guess I was too eager. I’m sorry if that’s how it felt.” Serphine casually raised one hand and apologized. “I was just genuinely curious. You’re human. Most humans either feel fear or terror toward demons. If not that, they just see us as something to wipe out.”

“Hm.”

Kai raised a hand and lit a Sacred Flare above it.

“That energy... Is that holy power?”

“You got it.”

“Believe it or not, I studied abroad in the Middle Realm a long time ago.”

Ignoring Serphine’s oddly proud look, Kai continued his explanation, “The god I serve is Helik. The one who represents light, goodness, and mercy. I only healed them as her envoy.”

“So you’re a devout believer, I see.” Serphine nodded in understanding. “Well, alright. That clears up my curiosity about you. Now shall we talk business?”

“Business?”

“You didn’t hear from Kazura? I called you to discuss the unification of the southern front.”

“Oh, that. I heard about it. I just haven’t agreed to it yet.”

“Hmm?” When Kai hinted that he might not lend a hand depending on the situation, Serphine let out a puff of air through her nose. “What an arrogant human. Wow! I’ve really mellowed out. The old me would’ve killed you twice already before even starting.”

“That’s what you think.” Kai dismissed her words and said, “Before we talk about business, there’s some things I want to ask.”

“Whew. Be patient, Serphine. You’ve mellowed out a lot. Good girl.” Muttering to herself, Serphine smirked and asked as if dissatisfied, “What is it?”

“Do you know about the gods of the Celestial Realm?”

“The gods?” Serphine’s eyes widened as if that was an unexpected question. “Well, it’s not like I don’t know... but why do you ask?”

“I’ve heard that in the Demon Realm there’s one Demon King and four archdukes... no, now it’s three.”

“And?”

“Could you, the other archdukes, or even the Demon King kill a god?”

“Hmmm.” Serphine rested her chin on her hand and fell into serious thought. “I can’t... and neither can the others... As for her... tsk, can she? Can she not? Ah, I don’t know.”

After a moment of pondering, Serphine scratched her head and leaned back in her chair. “No idea. They would have to actually fight to find out. How would I know?”

“Then what about you?”

“Me? I can’t do it.” The proud Serphine, who seemed like she ruled above all else, shut his question down without hesitation. “You, you really did kill Kinessa, right?”

“Why are you bringing that up again?”

“No, I just wondered why someone with your level of skill doesn’t know about rank.”

“Rank?”

Kai’s brows furrowed at the mention of a familiar word.

Come to think of it...

Suddenly, Dr. Jim’s words flashed through his mind.

In MID Online, only a being of equal rank can kill a god.

Found it.

Having found a clue, Kai asked while suppressing his excitement, “What exactly are ranks?”

“Just like humans understand it. Dignity, level, class.” Serphine began to explain while twirling her hair, “No matter how powerful a person is, they can’t fight someone who holds the position of a god. It’s like... right, let’s use humans as an example. Can a village beggar challenge a king? No, right? That’s what it’s like.”

“So you’re saying I just need to raise my rank?”

“Hello? Did you even listen to what I just said? Do you think a beggar can become a king just by trying? Wake up.”

“That won’t do.” Kai shook his head. “There’s a god I have to take down no matter what.”

“Okay. You’re definitely not normal either.” Serphine put on a relaxed smile like someone who had just come to a realization, but that didn’t last long.

“Hm. Even an archduke doesn’t know... then maybe I should ask the Demon King,” Kai mumbled to himself.

At that, Serphine sighed. “Hey, human boy.”

When he looked at her with a face that asked why she was calling him, she tapped her temple with her finger. “Are you okay up here? I mean, the Demon King. You’ll be dead before you can ask anything.”

“Me? Or the Demon King?”

“Obviously you!” Serphine yelled in frustration and finally stood up. “Looks like you’re not getting the situation even though I’m explaining it nicely. The Demon King is on a whole different level from me.”

“Exactly. That’s why I want to ask. If they're on a different level, they might know more.”

“Ha, this guy is seriously testing my patience...” The smile completely vanished from Serphine’s face. “Fine, let’s see if your arrogant mouth matches your actual skills.”

As Serphine stepped down from the ice throne and lightly stomped, the temperature instantly dropped. At the same time, waves of ice spread across the floor and rushed toward Kai.

Watching the white breath escape his mouth, Kai muttered, “Absolute Zero.”

An eye for an eye, frost for frost. The already freezing room dropped several degrees lower. The wave of ice that had been rushing toward Kai froze in place. The room could no longer be called a room as it was completely filled with spreading blossoms of ice.

“Hah...”

A flicker of surprise appeared in Serphine’s eyes, then quickly vanished as if she hadn’t imagined that her attack would also be blocked by ice.

“I didn’t think you’d actually block that. I was going to freeze your lower half and then teach you a lesson...”

“Like you are now?”

“Hmm?”

When Kai motioned with his chin, Serphine instinctively looked down. What she saw were her ankles completely frozen in ice.

“Ugh, what the?!”

Startled, Serphine lifted her foot and shattered the ice.

After swallowing once, she slowly made an excuse as she looked at the human before her, “This is... I just like the cold. Sometimes I freeze my own feet on purpose.”

“You sure looked surprised for someone who says so.”

“That’s... ugh.”

Perhaps she realized she looked ridiculous, she scratched the back of her head and slumped into the ice throne, flipping both middle fingers.

“Good for you! This is exactly why humans are the worst!”

“So you’re not going to stop me now?”

“Stop you from what?!”

“Going to meet the Demon King.”

“I’m not your mother. I’ve got no reason to stop you. If it looked like you were heading for a stupid death, I was planning to rough you up a bit to stop you, but...” Serphine brushed off the thin frost near her feet again and gave a sly grin. “You don’t look like someone who goes around getting beat up, so I’ll just stay put.”

“You’re more open-minded than I thought.”

“I am the Enlightened Archduke, Serphine.”

“Wow. You’ve got a great personality. That’s perfect.”

“Huh? Perfect for what?”

Serphine looked at Kai’s wide smile and felt an unexplained sense of unease. Regardless of that, Kai was already looking at the archduke before him like prey.

I can’t let this golden opportunity go to waste.

President Marco had placed the Blessing of Pegasus on both him and Yoo Ha-Rin. Depending on how it was used, it wasn’t a shackle but a blessing in itself.

I can train by going up against high-level archdukes and the Demon King multiple times with no penalty.

Even Kai wouldn’t have considered meeting the Demon King directly if it weren’t for that buff. But now, things were different.

Luckily, the buff lasts...

Until the moment Kai left the Demon Realm.