Chapter 118
Chapter 118
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 118
Chapter Title: Frost Giant (1)
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The next morning.
The guillotines and corpses that had littered the streets were gone without a trace.
In the now spotless street stood a man dragging a sack.
Squeak— Squeak—
He plopped down on the edge of a fountain gushing blood like a torrent.
"Valbarus."
He called out the name of the demon from the 20th floor.
But aside from the fountain's spray, silence reigned.
"Valbarus, if I use the summon code to call Sandalphon and you at the same time, it'll be a total mess. Come out nice and easy."
As his tone grew heavier, one corner of the fountain rippled.
Splash—
A man with bull horns emerged from the blood fountain.
He cut an imposing figure like a general clad in heavy armor.
It was the Demon Archduke Valbarus.
"What's your business, human."
"That's what I should be asking you. This 20th floor is a custom mission made just to kill me, right?"
He went straight for the mission designer's throat.
Ju Gonghyeok propped his chin, eyeing Valbarus.
"You're a sharp one, human."
Valbarus admitted it plainly.
Beating around the bush wasn't his style anyway.
The corner of Ju Gonghyeok's mouth twitched upward.
"The Last Ten, huh? Truth is, there were only ever ten real humans from the start."
「Rule 3-1. All Shadowless die, and the Last Ten survive.」
From the beginning, only ten on the 20th floor had shadows.
The other 990 were fakes—copies.
"Theoretically, that gives a 100% survival rate, so it passed the mission fairness check. Right?"
"Any issues with that?"
"You bet. One, two, three, four."
Ju Gonghyeok counted on his fingers, showing him.
"You rerouted me from another mission, so to make it work, you filled eight of those ten spots with assassins you prepared?"
A stern voice echoed from inside Valbarus's helm.
"I know nothing of it. But I will kill you here."
"Still the same stubborn bastard. Want me to drill some sense into that thick skull?"
Thud—
Ju Gonghyeok kicked the sack he'd brought.
Two charred assassin heads rolled out.
"You think swarming me with trash like this will take me down anytime soon? After Babel's finale, when the Demon King's head rolls?"
Gonghyeok rummaged in his pocket and pulled out a twig.
It was a neatly trimmed cigarette, handmade with care by the recent alchemy division.
"You even shoveled some sniper items my way. Pearls before swine. All it does is rack up the angels' rewards for me."
"Anything else?"
"Yeah. Cut the pointless crap and talk to me."
Valbarus snorted at that.
"Pointless? That stick in your mouth looks even more pointless."
"What'd you just say?"
For the first time, Ju Gonghyeok's face hardened as Valbarus dissed his cigarette.
"It's my life's companion. Respect it unless you want tears later."
"Human."
Valbarus slammed the greatsword from his back into the fountain's marble where Gonghyeok sat.
Thud—
The sheathed blade pierced the stone.
A beastly growl rumbled from his helm.
"I hate you."
Valbarus glared down at the puny human.
"I'll kill you. Your words are worthless. Your provocations from that tofu brain, your petty schemes—all empty. And that wooden splinter in your mouth is utterly useless."
Flames roared from the Demon Archduke's back, his red eyes crushing down oppressively.
"Anything more to say, human?"
Gonghyeok leisurely exhaled smoke toward the sky.
"Apologize."
"Apologize?"
"As the demon rep, for brutally disrespecting a human's hobby and pride."
"······?"
"And swear from now on, out of respect for my cigarettes, you'll call them 'Sir Cigarette.'"
The hellfire heat and pressure from Valbarus faltered.
His sense of absurdity had flown sky-high.
"Human, the situation right now..."
Nathaniël whispered in his ear as Valbarus trailed off.
- He's still an archduke. Pushing him too far might not be good?
"It's fine. Watch."
Gonghyeok pulled something from his inventory.
A wooden circlet dropped by Guardsand on the 4th floor.
[Somewhat Lacking Wooden Circlet (S)]
Valbarus's eyes flickered at the sight.
Then Gonghyeok gripped both ends of the circlet.
"Hyah."
Creeeak—
"······!"
S-D(800) strength, surpassing most boss mobs.
The circlet bent with an ominous creak.
"Respect it, yeah? Or I'll snap this for real."
"Sorry."
Valbarus swiftly released the sword hilt and apologized.
"My bad. I respect your hobby. That smoke stick in your mouth looks plenty useful."
Short on words, Valbarus apologized desperately.
His helm was probably drenched in cold sweat.
Gonghyeok chuckled at the reaction and inspected the circlet.
"Fine. To me, it's just a decent accessory. But not to you, right?"
Valbarus ground his teeth.
‘Guardsand, you moron! First sight of you, I'll crush you from head to balls.’
- Why's that demon acting like that? He wasn't like this before.
Nathaniël tapped the wooden circlet lightly.
[Somewhat Lacking Wooden Circlet (S)]
[A circlet made from sacred world tree wood. Seems made to see into unseen other worlds. Currently missing a key component.
- Grants special skill透視(B-).
- Increases resistance to mental magic.
- Allows sight of invisible beings.
- Various other functions hidden.]
She peered at the description, then up at Gonghyeok from her perch on the circlet.
- Yeah, just a decent accessory. No clue what it's for.
‘Made after your fall, so you wouldn't know.’
Gonghyeok replied via telepathy.
The circlet's true name: Circlet of Transcendent Vision.
An item the Demon King needed to monitor all of Babel from floor 88.
‘For the Demon King's eye symbol to be floating around like this...’
Proof that his superior, the Four Heavenly Kings' Hydrich, was plotting rebellion.
A substitute fooled the Transcendent Vision in its place.
- Doesn't feel that impressive. Just fancy world tree material?
‘Missing the key part. Right, Guardsand?’
= I know nothing.
Cold sweat seemed to seep from the Vampire Princess Ring.
Valbarus had sworn on his honor to remove the Transcendent Vision and hand only the circlet to Guardsand.
Guardsand had lavishly gifted it to a 14th-round hunter stacked with buffs.
"My enemy is the Demon King, and your boss wants him gone too."
Gonghyeok stroked the ring.
"So let's go for a win-win. Self-help books say it: Ditch win-lose thinking for mutual wins in relationships."
Valbarus listened quietly, then spoke.
"Human."
"Yeah."
"You die here today."
[Hunters: 6 approaching.]
[Unidentified hunter: 1.]
The GM signal chimed with Valbarus's words.
It'd been ages since such a definitive declaration.
Danger pinged in his head even as excitement stirred.
"How? You really pinning it all on the Shadow King's guillotine?"
"You know far too much."
Valbarus nodded at Gonghyeok's sneer.
"From my lord's ambitions to the 20th floor's strongest weapon. Can't fathom how, but it won't matter soon."
Gruk—
He shouldered the greatsword from the fountain.
"Your death here ends it all."
Gonghyeok rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
Valbarus could glimpse his basic stats, if not details.
‘That confidence despite knowing my stats...’
As one who'd walked 13 routes, he pondered Valbarus's possible cards.
But none fit the situation.
"Hmm. Not playing by the rules, huh."
From the Future One's meddling and Guardsand on 4, this 14th Babel strayed from norms.
Based on a twisted past, Valbarus had surely drawn an irrational card.
"I don't act without certainty of killing you."
An unseen smirk echoed from the helm.
Gonghyeok scratched his chin.
One.
A shadow beyond Ju Gonghyeok's grasp.
"Don't think I'll go down easy and underestimate me, human. We've brought our best available force."
"Best force?"
The demons' utmost available force.
A shadow beyond Gonghyeok's grasp.
Assuming human hunter, the puzzle clicked.
One hunter's name flashed in Gonghyeok's mind.
"No way. Imir?"
"You won't escape."
Shadows stood atop roofs in every direction.
Six assassins arrayed around Ju Gonghyeok.
Gonghyeok scowled at the faintest presence.
"Why's that guy here?"
Imir, head of the unique city Titanomachy.
A monster ranked top hunter alongside Mother Christina, Silver Arm Edgar, and more.
And...
"That guy cleared the 20th floor eight years ago?"
Imir now prowled Babel's forefront, floor 35.
"A minor 'hiccup' occurred."
"Hiccup my ass, damn it."
Gonghyeok cursed at the impassive Valbarus.
A small figure perched on the east blue roof.
Babel's sole bearer of an 'SSS' avatar.
Unmistakably 'Frost Giant Imir.'
[South: 'Supersonic Sword Taniguchi,' southwest: 'Roaring Flame Lorenzo,' northwest: 'Wall Smasher Ong Kim'······.]
The other five were contractees of note too.
"This is something. Nicely perilous situation."
- This time, I won't be much help either.
Nathaniël's tense voice rang out.
Death is, in a way, probability.
Even countless crises survived stack up, and slip once.
The mundane peril tightened around Gonghyeok.
"Hm?"
A familiar face caught his eye amid the assassins.
"Whoa~ R. Long time no see."
"Yeah. Hated to meet like this."
R rubbed his earlobe.
The spot Gonghyeok had warned and chewed out before.
"Hated it? Kinda hurts. I couldn't sleep thinking of you."
"Oh my, such undue attention."
"But R, I told you last time, right?"
[Ju Gonghyeok Inventory Open]
['Murderous Automaton Spear (S+)' Equipped]
['Orlando's Mad Blade (S)' Equipped]
"Wear that face and speak in that thorny tone again, and you're dead."
Spear left, blade right.
Left hand spear, right hand longsword.
"Like we promised last time, let's gut each other a bit, yeah?"
A murderer's sloppy grin spread on his face.
At his full battle intent, R silently signaled.
[Frost Giant (1)] End