Yoo Eun-hye looked at the white flash from a distance.
âHis Majesty will be safe.â
Oswen was next to her.
The two of them were travelling on White. They had moved for half a day and barely escaped the scope of the explosion.
âI donât have a good feeling. AgainâŠcanât we go back?â
âHis Majesty wanted me to take you to the original location. I have to follow that order.â
Oswen spoke gently.
Although he now had the terrible appearance of a creature, he was originally a human. He was a skillful blacksmith who dealt with iron. It was unfortunate that the Hell Monarch noticed him, but he didnât completely forget his human mind.
âBy the way, you are really a stupid woman. Why did you come back? Thank you for bringing His Majesty back, but arenât you human?â
âHe said something. He is our hope. I came back to verify if he is that hope.â
Yoo Eun-hye replied without any hesitation.
She had gone over that answer in her mind several times.
Oswen closed his mouth. Then he opened it again.
âIs he your hope?â
âYes. I guess so. HeâŠis humanityâs last hope. Nobody else knows it.â
âHuh, a human still thinks that despite knowing His Majestyâs true nature? Then what will you do next?â
âI donât know. Everything is confusing. However, I feel sorry for him knowing that he is surrounded by enemies.â
Yoo Eun-hye sympathized with the man. She didnât know why. She just felt sorry for him.
Oswen was dumbfounded. He thought that this woman was crazy.
âThen what about staying by His Majestyâs side?â
âHuh?â
âThe seal of a slave. Then His Majesty will give you some credit.â
Oswen threw out those words.
In fact, Oswen knew that His Majesty, or Randalph Brigsiel as she knew him, tended to open up a little more when there was a contract.
It was because he was sure that person would stay at his side.
ââŠI understand. Iâll do it.â
âYou will regret it.â
âIt is fine as long as it will benefit the world. Getting closer to him will help out a lot.â
âHa! A totally genius idea. It is so bizarre that it is genius.â
Oswen was filled with admiration.
Yoo Eun-hye gave him a pained smile.
âWill he be okay?â
âBelieve in him.â
Oswen replied concisely.
A heavy silence returned.
Soon the explosion stopped and the white light faded.
My eyes were ringing. My senses felt shallow. My vision was blurred and my whole body was stinging.
It was the aftermath of the explosion.
âMy magic power has evaporated.â
I shook my head. Of my restored magic power, only 2% was remaining. This was just enough to sustain my flesh.
It was a testament to the enormous magic power that went into protecting my body. Of course, I didnât have that much magic power remaining beforeâŠI turned and searched the surroundings.
There were craters all over the place. The holes were deep. The clouds in the sky were cleared.
The creatures around me had evaporated. I couldnât see even one bone. All the corpses were gone. There werenât even the remnants of high class creatures left behind.
âHow great.â
I clicked my tongue.
It was more destructive than I imagined.
The terrain in this area had changed and I alone had survived.
However, I soon shook my head. It had great destructive power, but it wasnât enough to kill a grand duke. At best, it would only destroy the demons and creatures. The grand dukes would be able to keep their flesh.
Of course, that was assuming that their original state was fine.
I climbed up from a crater. My body was at the bottom of the steepest cliff. The melted ground was still hot but I managed to hold on.
âMy magic bag is messed up.â
I wanted to get some useful items from my magic bag but it didnât listen to me. It seemed like the explosion had caused the items in the magic bag to be jammed.
I shook my head and kept moving.
Chiik. Chiiik.
It felt like the ground was melting with every step. The earth was burning and melting like it was lava.
Chwaaaak!
It happened when I almost reached the top of the crater.
A sharp sound entered my ears.
Degururu!
A personâs head fell into the crater. I was familiar with it.
It was the head of Grand Duke Upa Bullenon.
His head had been cut off.
As I climbed out of the crater, I looked at the person who killed Upa Bullenon.
âYou son of a bitch.â
Someone was cursing while vomiting. As I expected, it was Ariel Diablo. Her surroundings were filled with hundreds of corpses of demons and creatures. She had killed all the strong opponents that survived Hope.
It was a pure physical achievement, with little help from her magic power. She truly was a weapons master. She could use all types of weapons.
âRandalph Brigsiel. Do you have business with me?â
Ariel Diablo glared at me. A third of her proud horns were cut off and she had deep cuts on her shoulders. Spears were stabbed in her sides.
Anyone could see that she was at her limits. If I attacked Ariel Diablo now with my sword then it was highly likely I could kill her.
She knew it as well. I wasnât in my normal state, but she was in an even more serious condition.
âYou could finish me off now without much difficulty. You can do it butâŠit should be finished before the other demons under my command arrive here.â
I shrugged.
âI wonât touch an injured beast.â
The possibilities were high but I had lost almost all of my magic power. Besides, in terms of pure swordsmanship, she was ahead of me. There was no guarantee that I wouldnât be gravely injured.
Of course, Ariel Diablo would weaken over time. She had far tor many injuries for them to heal naturally. It wouldnât be too late to kill her if I just sat and watched.
ButâŠI needed to be faster than her troops. She was the first person to enter Greenwich Observatory, but her demons and creatures arrived very slowly. It felt like they were coming one at a time. It was a very wise decision.
âHuhu, I guess you are more of a coward than I thought.â
âA day will come when we will meet in a normal environment. There is no need to hurry.â
âThat is just a cowardâs excuse.â
She was provoking me. She was a demon who didnât like being weak. No matter how noble her lineage, she couldnât help her instincts.
I smiled and stared into Ariel Diabloâs eyes.
âWhat is happening in the Demon World?â
I needed to know this. It was the original reason why the grand dukes assembled. I had wanted to hear the story but the invasion of the angels caused a battle.
Ariel frowned. Then she smiled like she realized something.
âYou, did you not receive the special quest?â
âLetâs say it is something similar.â
âHaha! CoughâŠ! You donât know. No, I will tell you. Right now, there is someone running around the Demon World.â
âSomeone strong enough to threaten a grand duke?â
âHalf of my forces were eaten by him. Upa, PandemoniumâŠOkullosâ forces in the Demon World have completely collapsed.â
What?
I didnât answer for a moment.
I put my thoughts together.
âWho would have that type of power in the Demon World?â
I asked incredulously.
The Demon World was originally divided into four equal parts. Ariel, Upa, Pandemonium and Okullos had divided the Demon World precisely between the four of them.
This had continued for hundreds of years.
Yet that was blown away in a few years?
It was nonsense. It was an impossible task.
âThere wasnât even an army. He is the only one.â
âOne? Is he a god?â
âHe is someone who tried to be a god in the past.â
Ariel was calm. She didnât seem surprised that something like this had happened. While I was frowning, Ariel asked me.
âRandalph Brigsiel, do you know about the Shadow Emperor?â
Shadow Emperor.
Hell Monarch.
He had many titles, but I never imagined that name would pop out of Arielâs mouth.
Ariel scowled with frustration.
âI donât know the exact details. That was just what was written in the contents of the quest. But I know a little bit about the Shadow Emperor. If the Shadow Emperor is truly in the Demon World then it will be a hassle.â
Not only Ariel, but the other grand dukes seemed to know about the Shadow Emperor. They felt fear and hurried after hearing his name. If not, they wouldnât have gathered so quickly like this.
Indeed, that was the reason.
I recalled the high dark elf Shilla for a moment. She was originally Chrisleyâs mother, but became frozen and was sold at the Demon World Auction. She was surrounded by ice and I felt a powerful curse magic. Oswen hadnât yet found a way to melt the ice.
I heard that the magic power was similar to mine. To be precise, it was similar to the Shadow Emperor. I had thought the Shadow Emperor might be in the Demon World, but the possibility was extremely low. How could a dead person be in the Demon World?
Yet now Ariel said that he was in the Demon World. The Hell Monarch was devouring the forces of the grand dukes. It wasnât easy to believe.
âThe Shadow Emperor, Iâve never seen him but I believe Pandemonium has. Anyway, the demons in the Demon World wouldnât last that long. Pandemonium said that the strongest mortal is the Shadow Emperor. He said that only all the grand dukes attacking him would work. It is a really ridiculous story. We ignored him because he was human. Anyway, he was executed by the gods. HoweverâŠI remembered. It is the first time Pandemonium has recognized someone. How can I not remember?â
âIt doesnât make sense. Even if he was revived, can he alone take over the Demon World?â
The power prepared by the Hell Monarch.
I took over the Underground World.
His treasure trove was still intact.
Yet he was trying to take over the Demon World alone.
It was impossible unless he was a god, and he wasnât one.
âThe special quest stated that he will occupy the Demon World in one year. We have been participating in the game so we didnât know about the situation in the Demon World. Only you have the key to solving this problem.â
The key to solve the problem?
Returning to the Demon World?
Something seemed suspicious. I should have received the quest to stop the Shadow Emperor.
âBut it is over. I lost my main force, Upa is dead and I donât know about Pandemonium. If Pandemoniumâs words are true, we wonât be able to stop the Shadow Emperor now. I canât stop him alone. It will be better to build up my strength here.â
I roughly understood. Ariel Diablo seemed to have determined her route. It would have been different if the four grand dukes had led all the creatures in the Demon World. But now that this had happened, she decided that they couldnât win.
âHuhu, if you donât kill me now then you will be very annoyed later on.â
âPandemonium would be more annoying.â
I moved my eyes around. Pandemonium couldnât be seen anywhere. He didnât seem to have died so he must have escaped.
I missed him⊠I felt regret.
I desperately wanted to stab him after he attacked me, but it seemed like I would need to postpone it.
âThatâs right.â
Ariel Diablo also agreed. She had to admit that Pandemonium could be very annoying. In some respects, Pandemonium was more annoying than Upa. He was sly like a snake.
I turned back.
Ariel was unlikely to die here due to her demons and Pandemonium had escaped.
âIf Pandemonium knows that Upa is dead then he will move straight away.â
From now on, it was a fight against time.
I had already eaten some of Upaâs dungeons, but it would be annoying if Pandemonium started moving.
I needed to move faster.
âHell Monarch. Shadow EmperorâŠâ
I thought about the Hell Monarch as I walked.
I thought he was dead. His heart was inside me. Even now, my heart was beating faster when I thought about the Hell Monarch.
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Was it the real Hell Monarch?
Or was it someone posing as the Hell Monarch?
âOne year.â
The special quest specified one year. If I became a devil and returned to the Demon World then I would meet him.
OrâŠhe might come here, so I needed to think about my options carefully.