Chapter 109
Chapter 109
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Vine
Chapter: 109
Chapter Title: Arpeus (2)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
“Isn’t that too many?”
“For a count-rank, you’d need about twenty. If it's the heart of a marquis-rank demon, ten should be enough.”
On the way here, Bio had explained about the demons.
He’d said that, like human nobility, demons also had titles, and those ranked count or higher were called high-ranking demons.
Setting aside the fact that high-ranking demons could take the lives of their comrades, he said each count-rank demon was on par with the Heavenly Demon.
A marquis was even stronger.
Two dukes could supposedly stand against the Emperor, and a grand duke was said to be nearly on par with the Demon King. The conditions were too steep.
Did I agree to this too hastily...?
Just as I was thinking it might be better to just deal with this guy and move on, a good idea popped into my head.
“Then what about byproducts from lower-ranking demons, below a count?”
“It’s not impossible, but you’d need a huge number, so it’s inefficient.”
“What about something like a Death Scorpion?”
Arpeus grimaced.
“For low-level demons like that, you’d need to kill about 200,000 of them. If you want this done quickly, you should go for high-ranking demons...”
“That’s a relief.”
Because the number of Death Scorpions I’d killed on the way here was about that much.
Of course, their byproduct wasn’t a heart but an item called a Soul Fragment, but that probably didn't matter.
I took a large purple crystal out of my inventory.
[Cluster of Low-Rank Demon Soul Fragments (Death Scorpion x201,532)]
“Do you have some kind of grudge against Death Scorpions?”
He looked completely astonished.
“There were a lot of them on the way here. Take it.”
Arpeus accepted the fragment cluster.
“This should be more than enough.”
The moment I thought to myself that people really need to use their heads, black demonic energy erupted from the purple fragment, and the ground began to shake.
*Rumble— Ruuumble—*
As the earthquake intensified, the temple began to collapse.
Strangely, not a single small stone fell where Arpeus and I stood.
[The former Demon King, Arpeus, has destroyed the Demon King's sealing barrier.]
“You foolish human! What reckless thing have you—Ugh!”
*CRASH—*
The gatekeeper T-Rex, who had run toward us with a flushed face, collapsed powerlessly.
“Did you kill him?”
“I just put him to sleep. He was only following the Demon King’s orders, after all.”
Surprisingly, he didn’t just kill indiscriminately.
“Anyway, thank you. I thought I’d be waiting for a long time. Oh, are those your companions over there?”
I looked where Arpeus was pointing and saw my companions and Ha-young inside Timi’s blue barrier.
“They are.”
“Hyeon-ung!”
“Mister!”
My companions approached me.
I, too, made my way toward them, stepping over the rubble.
Without a sound, Arpeus was suddenly by my side.
“This man is… the former Demon King?”
“That’s right. I am Arpeu—hm, I see a face I’m not particularly pleased to see.”
His expression hardened as he looked at Bio.
Bio’s expression wasn’t any better.
“You used a false name.”
A false name?
“It wasn’t on purpose. As you know, I have many enemies, don’t I?”
“Do you two know each other?”
Bio remained silent, but Arpeus shrugged.
“Still as quiet as ever. We know each other very well...”
“Cut the crap. We’ve only seen each other a few times in the past.”
“I’m a little hurt. I never imagined you’d be with this friend. No wonder your clan is worried.”
“This one’s real name is Lucifer.”
Lucifer. In most games and novels, that was the name of a great devil or a demon king.
“You shouldn’t reveal someone’s name without permission. In that case, I’ll...”
The atmosphere froze over, and an immense pressure descended upon us.
It wasn't even directed at me, but...
“If you want to die, keep talking.”
Arpeus flinched at Bio’s cold, emotionless voice.
“Why so scary? There’s no need for us to fight here. Didn’t you and I make a promise with your summoner?”
It seemed Arpeus was backing down, but his tone hadn't changed, suggesting he wasn't particularly surprised.
“Just keep your promise.”
“Right, right. I will. Will you come with me? Or wait here?”
“There’s no need for us to accompany you.”
“You shouldn’t be the one to answer. What does our summoner think?”
I looked at Bio, and he shook his head.
“Didn’t you say you could defeat the Demon King on your own? Just keep your promise.”
“Alright, I will. Then wait here for a bit.”
As he finished speaking, Arpeus vanished in a flash of red light.
The oppressive weight that had filled the air also disappeared, as if Bio had withdrawn his unfurled intent.
“How do you know that guy?”
It wasn't just me; my other companions were also curious, all looking at Bio.
“We don’t know each other that well. I saw him when I made a contract...”
“A contract? What contract?”
“You don’t need to know.”
“Hey, you have to give us some kind of explanation. Saying it like that just makes us more curious...”
Bio was always like this.
Of course, he had helped and guided me a lot, but he never gave a straight answer about anything, which was frustrating.
“@#! $%%! @# @##@!”
“What are you saying?”
“You can’t hear it even if I tell you, can you? This is why I said you’ll find out when the time is right. Well, it won’t be long now, so don’t be too impatient.”
It felt similar to when he’d told me about the 81st floor.
What did he mean, it won’t be long now?
“Um, Bio, so do we just wait here now?”
“Perhaps. It might end like that, but… I’m not sure. The current Demon King is no pushover either.”
“Then wouldn’t it have been better to follow him?”
“If a goblin stands next to fighting ogres, it’s bound to get its spine shattered.”
It sounded like the saying about a shrimp’s back getting broken in a whale fight. But was he calling me a goblin?
“Is the power gap between me and a Demon King really that big right now?”
He had just praised me for learning the Living Sword and told me to be confident, and now this...
“Calling you a goblin is generous. Even if you’ve learned the Living Sword, it’s meaningless if you die first, isn’t it?”
I thought he was looking down on me too much, but my opinion changed in less than ten seconds.
“Aah!”
“What… what is this?”
No sooner had he finished speaking than the ground, and even the air, began to tremble violently.
I thought something was about to burst from underground, but Bio’s expression was calm.
“It seems they’ve already started.”
“Huh?”
“This is just the shockwave from Arpeus and the Demon King’s battle.”
“A… a shockwave is this intense? Is the Demon King close by?”
“They’re about three million paces away.”
Three million paces?
If ten thousand paces was roughly 7.5 kilometers, then a million paces was 750 kilometers.
Three million would be over 2,000 kilometers away. It was unbelievable that a shockwave could be this strong from that distance.
“You’re joking, right? How could a shockwave from that far away reach all the way here…”
“I’m not joking.”
...Come to think of it, Bio had never once lied, so it must be true. It was truly absurd.
“If the shockwave is this strong from that distance, the area near them must be completely obliterated,” Timi said.
She was right.
I guess that was why he told us not to follow. I was glad I listened.
This floor was a total freebie.
I did fight Death Scorpions for three days and nights, but that was only because of their numbers; they weren't difficult opponents.
Arpeus said he’d take care of the Demon King, so do we just have to wait here?
Just as I was thinking we should probably put more distance between us while we waited, Bio snapped his fingers.
“Bio?”
Ha-young, who had been among our companions, disappeared.
“It seemed dangerous, so I sent her down to the 1st floor.”
“Dangerous?”
Ha-young could have handled the ground shaking a bit.
She had been standing just fine until a moment ago.
“I didn't evacuate her because of the shockwaves from the Demon King and Lucifer.”
“Then why?”
“From the Demon King’s perspective, you’re a traitor who refused the trial and freed the leader of a rebellion.”
“A traitor is a bit much… So?”
“If you were the Demon King, would you let a traitor like that go?”
Just as I was about to say I probably wouldn't, red lights began to burst forth in the empty air.
“High nobility of the demon world. They should make for good opponents for you.”
“Good opponents?”
“You haven’t had a proper fight since you came here, have you? There’s no such thing as a free lunch.”
“Hey…”
“I’m going to check on the Demon King. I’ll help if things get dangerous, so do your best.”
With that, Bio vanished like smoke.
Simultaneously, monsters began to emerge from the massive black holes where the red lights had faded.
There was a hulking monster with horns like a minotaur and giant bat wings on its back.
Next to it stood a monster with the head of an alligator snapping turtle, brandishing a massive spear that looked to be five meters long.
There was also one with a goat’s head, a giant skeleton, and a humanoid monster in a black robe.
All together, there looked to be well over twenty of them, and the aura emanating from each one was formidable.
“Hoh, so you’re still here.”
“Have you lost your mind? How dare you release Arpeus?”
“Nobody touch him! This human is mine to kill! Die, human!”
The massive alligator-turtle-headed monster at the front hurled its spear toward us.
“Everyone, dodge!”
I shouted a warning and moved quickly, narrowly avoiding it.
*BOOM—*
Fortunately, it seemed all my companions had dodged, but a huge crater had formed where we had been standing just a moment ago.
His strength certainly lived up to his size.
“He’s as quick as a rat.”
“What was that? After all that big talk.”
“Aren't you just too slow, Saleos? Watch carefully.”
One of the demons sneered at the alligator-headed one, then aimed a bow at me.
The bow was already drawn, and in the blink of an eye, a massive arrow, at least a meter long, materialized in the air and shot toward me.
*CLANG—*
It wasn’t particularly fast, so I immediately drew my sword and deflected it.
“That’s pointless.”
The deflected arrow reoriented itself in mid-air and shot toward me again.
What kind of arrow does that...?
Just as I was about to slice it in half, three small arrows flew from behind me and struck the large one.
*BOOM—*
With a massive explosion, the arrow vanished without a trace.
“Are you alright, Hyeon-ung?”
“Thanks.”
“What was that, Leraje? You’re not so special either, are you?”
“Seems like that human over there is a better archer than you.”
“Spoken like a true dog-face, spouting nothing but dog crap. No being is a better archer than I.”
Fortunately, they seemed to be underestimating us, attacking one by one. But if they all attacked at once, it would be extremely dangerous.
I launched a blade of intent at the closest one, the alligator-headed monster.
What?
Nothing happened.
“What are you doing?”
“Looks like you’ve never fought a being of a higher class before.”
“Hey. Did you really think a petty trick like that would work on a being of a different class?”
*Rumble— Rumble—*
My intent doesn’t work on high-ranking demons, not even the Demon King?
I was about to try again when the ground began to shake even more violently.
“If they’re as quick as rats, then you just have to hold them down!”
At the shout of the goat-headed demon, black vines shot up, bursting through the ruins of the temple.
They reached for us like living tentacles.
*Swish— Swish—*
They weren't very tough, so they were easy to cut, and my companions were dealing with them right away, but...
“It’s useless!”
The moment a severed tentacle hit the ground, it regenerated into two.
“What is this?!”
“Hyeon-ung, there’s no end to them, even if we keep cutting!”
“Move aside. This kind of thing is my specialty!”
Dozens of small White Flame orbs, created in an instant, slammed into the ground next to Timi.
*BOOM— BOOM— BOOM—*
They instantly turned the vines to ash and even melted the temple ruins, but it was only for a moment.
As soon as the White Flame dissipated, the black vines regenerated again.
“My… my White Flame doesn’t work?”
“Ugh! Help me!”
Alpen, who was among our companions, was caught by the vines and hung upside down.
“Alpen!”
“That blasted—Ugh!”
Next, Timi and Rina, who were nearby, were also caught by the vines.
I and the other companions tried to help, but the vines kept multiplying, making it difficult to get close.
“Haha, go on, keep struggling. My Vines of Greed cannot be burned by any flame—”
“Poyo! Poyo!”
Nix, who had been in Alpen’s arms, soared into the air.
“W-Wait a minute, that’s…”
“It’s… it’s a divine beast!”
Unlike usual, Nix glowed with a golden light instead of red and shot its feathers out in all directions.
The vast number of black vines that had been tormenting us melted away like snow the moment the feathers touched them.
And it wasn't just the vines.
Most of the demons had scrambled to create black barriers, but as soon as Nix’s feathers touched them, a golden light spread out and engulfed the demons.
[You have defeated the high-ranking demon, Marquis Berial.]
[You have defeated the high-ranking demon, Count Ipos.]
[You have defeated the high-ranking demon, Marquis Naberius.]
…
[You have defeated the high-ranking demon, Marquis Barbatos.]