69. The Monsters' Broadcast (1)
“The monsters…… watch broadcasts?”
It was an unexpected story. Of course it was. In his past life, Jeonghyeon had been too busy fighting monsters in Afraksas to even imagine something like this.
“You wouldn't know. You humans are so dim-witted and complacent. The followers of the Storm Dragon Mirtus beyond that dimension you can't even perceive. Before they invade and devour you all in their greed and gluttony, they wanted to savor your stupidity first.”
Any other hunter would dismiss it as nonsense, but in Jeonghyeon's mind, the pieces clicked perfectly into place.
How the demons had managed to invade the present dimension right when humanity was deep in the thick of battles in Afraksas. Why the invasion had started specifically in the west. And why Mirtus's awakeners had betrayed humanity.
They'd never been on humanity's side to begin with.
Seoul Western District had been a base camp for demons and monsters from the very start.
It felt like a crucial puzzle piece had locked into position. Unlike humans who thought the invasion had come out of nowhere, how much time had the Demon King and his minions spent meticulously preparing?
Humanity had been far too complacent. Way too complacent.
Watching Jeonghyeon's expression, Evil Eye grinned with malicious glee, having stopped hurling spears altogether as it sank into narcissistic rapture.
“Kuhahaha! Getting it now~? How about that~~?”
Yet no one in the dungeon made the first move.
Not even Jeonghyeon, who knew this was a prime chance to easily kill Evil Eye.
“Did you really think every dragon was on humanity's side? That's just arrogant. The Storm Dragon is using humans to expand his domain and hasten his 'return.'”
Every boastful word stabbed deep into Jeonghyeon's lungs. He ground his teeth, filled with two churning emotions.
One was disgust at his past self's ignorance—the man who'd been so fixated on conquering Afraksas that he hadn't even noticed the darkness right under his nose. The other was a glimmer of hope: maybe, just maybe, he really could change history.
What now?
Jeonghyeon asked himself. In a way, this was the first button to fix the tangled threads of history. The surest card to stop the Demon King's minions from easily crossing into the present world.
He couldn't let this opportunity slip.
He had to inflict some damage on the enemy, even if just a little.
But how?
According to Evil Eye, half of Seoul Western District was already dungeonizing. Killing Evil Eye alone wouldn't break the dungeon.
A split-second choice could dictate life or death. He had to see beyond mere survival in this moment.
“You thought you could just hack away at monsters like brainless ghouls and mine mana stones?! What a shame. My demon duke viewers are having so much fun, they're showering me with sponsorships!”
Jeonghyeon tuned out Evil Eye's nonstop bragging—its desperate bid to impress the demons—and quietly closed his eyes.
If you're surrounded by countless enemies and don't know what to do, start by slowly eliminating the ones right in front of you.
He recalled the words of Han, his master—the battle-hardened warrior from Afraksas's edge, closer to the Demon King and dragons than anyone.
Even if you know the enemy commander's position, you'll inevitably clash on the path ahead anyway.
His voice echoed directly in Jeonghyeon's mind. Even the surrounding noise felt serene.
Don't hesitate. Trust your comrades.
Comrades. Jeonghyeon had them.
Nus, Philip, and Jeonghu.
A ruler had to properly promote those who followed him and use them to achieve his goals. Shouldering everything alone would only lead to...
...ending up like my past self.
He couldn't let that happen. There was a way. The most reliable one.
“Puhuhu. Accepting death and closing your eyes? Or denying reality?”
“No. I've found a way.”
***
You walk a path different from your previous life.
Demon King Assimilation Rate increases.
Demon King Assimilation Rate: 10%
Current stat reduction: 92.1% → 90.0%
Jeonghyeon cracked his eyes open.
Just that simple act exuded an overwhelming presence that dominated the surroundings. Nus reacted first.
Demon King…… sam?
In Nus's eyes, Jeonghyeon now looked every bit the Demon King.
Black sclera and red irises. Both eyes had become the Demon King's Eye.
“……?!”
Evil Eye flinched in shock, fluttering its wings as it stepped back.
Not because of the changed color in Jeonghyeon's eyes, or the way the air around him suddenly chilled his spine.
This aura……?
It was the Demon King's power—something mere monsters had never even sensed before.
Evil Eye, who had never encountered the Demon King let alone his direct subordinates, felt a dense mana concentration that screamed "this must be it."
“You know what?”
Evil Eye jolted at Jeonghyeon's words.
Even the voice carried the essence of the demon realm.
“Guys who waste time yapping when they could just kill the enemy always end up dead.”
As Jeonghyeon took a step forward, Nus naturally dissolved its protective slime barrier, parting to clear a path for him.
“Humans call that a cliché, but experiencing it firsthand? Spot on.”
“W-what are you suddenly talking about?!”
Splat-!
Jeonghyeon swung his arm like drawing and slashing a sword. A diagonal crack appeared across Evil Eye's massive eye. Moments later, one half slid downward in a viscous ooze.
“You're dead, asshole.”
“Uh……?”
As if unaware of its own demise, Evil Eye let out a final, feeble noise before its bisected body plummeted to the floor.
The mana stone weapon hardens like stone, preparing for evolution into an Epic Weapon.
Dismantling Swordsmanship Lv. 9 → Lv. 10 (MAX!)
Test as a Ruler
- Achieve max level on all porter skills. (Attribute Disruption 10/10, Attribute Analysis 10/10, Dismantling Swordsmanship 10/10)
Reward: ???
Special Quest: Test as a Ruler cleared.
Reward:Demon King's Command unlocked.
Rewards poured in one after another.
A boiling energy surged through his body.
“Nus.”
Jeonghyeon called out to Nus, staring not at the wall in front of him but at some point in the void. Nus felt an instinctive loyalty to the Demon King resonating deep in its core.
Jeonghyeon too sensed a power unlike before—indescribable, empowering his comrades simply by its presence. The abilities of a Demon King.
“……Yeah?”
“Nus.”
“……Yes.”
At Jeonghyeon's second call, Nus finally acknowledged its "own Demon King," shifting into a perfect spherical form and floating into the air.
The most primal shape of an Ethereal Slime.
“From now on, consume every mana stone in the vicinity.”
“That means……”
“Fight. By any means necessary.”
Without a word, Nus shot through the air and burrowed into a nearby vine cluster.
Groooowl-!
The ground rumbled low as Nus devoured the mana-infused vines, rapidly spreading and dissolving the dungeon's foliage.
“Jeonghu.”
Jeonghyeon called to Jeonghu in a voice lower than ever before, removing the gauntlet from his hand.
“……Yes.”
Jeonghu, who had been staring blankly at Jeonghyeon, caught the tossed gauntlet—now an egg-like stone, fully charged with Attribute Liberation and awaiting rebirth as an Epic Weapon.
Without a word, as if he understood perfectly, Jeonghu slipped his hand into the hole.
The crude, rock-like gauntlet was hardened solid, capable only of clenching into a fist.
“Smash it. Until the shell cracks and reveals its new form. Crush the enemies.”
“……Understood.”
Jeonghu's left eye glowed red. In this moment, Jeonghyeon's thoughts transmitted to him as divine precepts.
-Kill.
If you can't find the boss, destroy everything until the boss comes to you.
Eventually, you'd either find it or force it to show itself. One or the other.
And that precept reached Philip's mind, kilometers away.
“Jeonghyeon-nim……!”
-Come. To me.
In the midst of shredding a variant Crawly Bear in a distant dungeon, Philip heard the whisper like a dragon's precept echoing in his head.
'Subordinate Summon' activated.
During execution of the Demon King's Command, all physical abilities surge exponentially.
“……Yes!”
Philip's left eye glowed red.
Mana densely flowed into the Soul of the Mountain in his hand.
Philip turned toward where he sensed Jeonghyeon's mana.
“W-what the hell, this guy. Not going forward?”
“Out of my way. I have to go.”
The men trying to block Philip as "supervisors" were flung far away by a mere casual shove, overwhelmed by his terrifying pressure.
Philip's slow steps accelerated into a blistering sprint.
Uldran, pleased with Philip's growth, bestowed an additional skill.
Rampaging Chariot for subordinates activated.
Rampaging Chariot
: Special skill for those who receive Uldran's revelation. While charging toward the Demon King, physical and magical resistances skyrocket, and the body shatters all obstacles in its path.
Boom! Crash! Kablooey!!
Without even swinging his mace, Philip barreled forward, shoulder-checking dungeon walls and monsters into oblivion. He crossed the Western District branch at breakneck speed toward Jeonghyeon.
Half-mad with single-minded focus on reaching Jeonghyeon, Philip demolished enemies and structures alike—his destructive power apocalyptic—yet softly repeated one phrase from his lips.
“I'll…… be there!!”
***
“Grroooar……!”
The dryad vines that had blanketed the dungeon walls were now completely eradicated by Nus.
“Let's go, my Demon King.”
“Move out.”
Jeonghyeon nodded toward Jeonghu, who was punching the last clinging vine on the wall.
“Yes……!”
Jeonghu, drenched in sweat and fighting like his life depended on it, clutched the half-crumbling gauntlet and staggered after Jeonghyeon.
Nus approached Jeonghyeon and Jeonghu, who had gathered to one side.
“Straight shot. Toward the strongest mana source.”
“Do it.”
Enveloping Jeonghu and Jeonghyeon in its body, Nus expended all absorbed mana in a explosive surge, boring straight up to the surface.
……Should've done this sooner.
After unleashing a near-berserk burst of Demon King power and calming down, Jeonghyeon watched Nus's terrifying might with mixed feelings.
Just 2.1% more toward Demon King assimilation. Such a small increase, yet this much change.
Having this power weighed on his shoulders, but at the same time, it was a relief.
“We're here.”
The surface knew of Evil Eye and Dryad Lancer's deaths—no human traces remained, only hordes of monsters swarming the area.
Nus, ballooned into a massive mana orb, punched through every ceiling layer in one go.
“Wipe them all out.”
At Jeonghyeon's command, Jeonghu and Nus charged once more at the enemies before their Demon King.