Chapter 230
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 230
Chapter Title: Demon Conversion
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The emptiness outside Babel after everyone had left.
One angel remained there.
The archangel of the battlefield, Azazel.
The angel gripped her spear and stared at the World Tree with hardened eyes.
For some reason, she couldn't tear her gaze away from it.
"Do you sense something?"
"Who's there!"
Azazel whipped the spearhead around fiercely.
Standing at its tip was Babel's Four Heavenly King, Hildegarth.
"Hildegarth?"
"I've just come to talk. Put the spear away for now."
"Talk? What the hell!"
"More importantly, why are you still hanging around here? The other angels and challengers have all gone back."
Hildegarth tapped her temple.
"Has something changed?"
"I don't know. Looking at it just makes my heart ache."
Azazel clutched her chest.
"Damn it, I've seen World Trees countless times while playing angel. Why today of all days..."
Watching her, Hildegarth smiled with a hint of nostalgia.
"I suspected as much. Looks like you've remembered a little."
"......"
"I thought it was a total failure and was about to seek revenge on my own. But maybe it's not too late."
Azazel gripped her spear with a pained expression and asked.
"What?"
"Remember the meaning of your spear. When you recall who it originally belonged to, come find me."
"Wait, you demon! Hold on!"
Hildegarth turned and vanished.
Azazel stared at her fading trail, then looked back at her own spear.
A plain white trident with no patterns.
It was the spear she'd held since being born as an angel.
"That damned demon bitch... what meaning could there be in this thing."
She clutched her forehead and disappeared.
From that day on, she began having dreams every night.
Dreams of a battlefield where the cries of crows echoed.
* * *
Bzzz—
Thousands of hunters were summoned to a dark palace.
"What the hell?"
"Aren't we going home?"
The hunters looked around warily.
After Heydrich's rebellion ended and the demon king and angels agreed to send them back to the 5th floor, they ended up in this strange place instead.
Thousands of hunters scowled suspiciously at the dark palace.
"Now, now~ Hello there, demon contractors."
Click!
The ceiling lights shone down like in a musical, spotlighting the platform at the far end of the palace.
A familiar succubus stood on the platform.
Lilianne wore a grand duke's crown and beamed like an angel.
"Contractors~ This is the 87th floor grand duke's palace~!"
"87th floor? Right below the 88th?"
"Why'd you bring us here..."
"Don't panic~ I snuck you all out just before you could return to the 5th floor."
Bathed in bright light, she gripped the mic enthusiastically.
"Not everyone, of course! Just the demon contractors, as I said!"
The hunters exchanged glances and murmured.
"Demon contractors?"
"Now that you mention it, these are the guys from Giant City or Halloween."
"Now, allow me to properly introduce myself!"
Pop-pop-bang!
"Whoa!"
Fireworks burst from the platform as Lilianne struck an artistic pose.
"I am one of the great Eight Grand Dukes, the 'Lewd Demon Grand Duke' Lilianne! This palace is my home."
"Wasn't it Ten Grand Dukes?"
"The reason I've summoned you is for the 60th floor mission!"
Ignoring the jab, she pulled a gold-threaded cord.
A white screen unfurled onto the stage with a flap.
Zoroaster blew his trumpet with all his might.
Pam-pa-ra-pam~! Pam-pam-pam~ Pam-pa-ka-bam~!
[60th Floor Mission: 「Demon Conversion」.]
- Demon contractors, you have a choice.
- Will you sever your contract with the demon and remain your original race?
- Or join hands with the demon and be reborn as Babel's demon?
- It is up to you.
Lilianne smiled sweetly from the platform.
"This is your last chance to remain demon contractors."
Murmurs grew among the contractors.
They'd all vaguely thought the day might come when they became demons.
And that day was now.
"Ahem~. But the 60th floor got wrecked in an accident, right? Don't think the mission's canceled, though. I'm giving you this demon conversion mission right now."
[Final Quest for Demon Contractors: 「Demon Conversion」.]
[Accumulate achievements before becoming a demon.]
A map of the 5th floor appeared on the screen, along with photos of various figures.
"The stage for this quest is the 5th floor! Show us what you can do as a demon!"
Lilianne waved her baton and tapped the screen.
"No need to hide your identity like a spy anymore. No need to worry about consequences at all~. If you're in danger after being found out, just call my name. I'll open a dimensional gate to my palace. Hehe. Then you can become demons and enjoy a new life in my palace."
She pointed to the photos one by one.
"Kill and plunder to your heart's content. Assassinate city lords and sow chaos in exclusive cities. Those who rack up achievements will receive fitting ranks."
[Achievements determine rewards and ranks.]
[Remaining Slots - Grand Duke 0/1 Thousand Knights 0/200]
The rewards Lilianne offered exceeded the slots for grand dukes and thousand knights.
But once full war with the challengers began, grand dukes and thousand knights would start dying.
Even if set to 1,500 knights, time would naturally fill the numbers.
"Demon, huh... doesn't sound bad."
"Christina or whatever, we got wrecked by those beastmen this time."
"Ah, those beastmen bastards are insanely tough. Totally broken."
"What about the Machine God tribe? They were the ones who shattered the dimension earlier."
As the contractors reacted positively, Lilianne nodded in satisfaction.
Then she pointed at one person among them.
"Actually, someone has already achieved grand duke-level feats. Come on up! Necromancer King Omer Ashk!"
Step-step. The masked Necromancer King ascended the platform.
The Necromancer King's true identity was Ju Gonghyeok, using the persona of Omer Ashk to pin all crimes on him and operate with a double identity.
Lilianne beamed as she introduced him.
"The Necromancer King has slain the archangel Remiel, securing the authority of 「Severance」 and a grand duke rank! Upon converting to demon, he'll become the Severance Grand Duke!"
"An archangel?"
"When the hell?"
All eyes turned to the Necromancer King.
Lilianne clapped with a wide smile.
"Come on, contractors! Applause for the Necromancer King! Let's all strive to claim those thousand knight and grand duke spots!"
"Woo~! Clap clap!"
"Hey hey~! Knew you had it in you!"
"Damn! Already a demon grand duke? Lucky bastard!"
Hahaha! The palace filled with thunderous applause.
Lilianne cheerfully offered the mic to the Necromancer King.
"Now! Necromancer King! A word on your thoughts...?"
Something felt off in the atmosphere.
Lilianne, who'd offered the mic so cheerfully, froze stiff.
The Necromancer King—Ju Gonghyeok—clearly looked pissed.
"Um, that... Necromancer King? Are you angry?"
"......"
"Uh, is something bothering you?"
Lilianne broke out in cold sweat.
'Did I overdo it? This guy's got a filthy temper and didn't even congratulate me on becoming grand duke! Seriously!'
The clueless hunters whistled and cheered, unaware of Lilianne inwardly cursing him as a 'total asshole'.
"Necromancer King! Got any plans?"
"If you're thinking of blowing up a whole city big time, count us in!"
"......"
The Necromancer King took the mic.
"By any chance..."
"Ooh! Speak, Necromancer King!"
"Quiet down, everyone!"
The contractors hushed and focused on his words.
The Necromancer King sighed.
"By any chance... have you no intention of stopping the killing?"
"......?"
The palace fell silent.
The lord of the demon contractors, Necromancer King Omer Ashk.
He looked at the murderers and said.
"I know you're afraid of the beastmen, Machine God tribe, and countless demons. I know better than anyone. Still, I want you to change your minds."
"Uh..."
"I'll protect you. It might not be enough, but I'll do everything in my power. So..."
The Necromancer King trailed off.
His unexpected words left the contractors dumbfounded.
"Don't kill any more people. Don't do something you'll regret."
Silence filled the hall.
And what broke it was.
"Pfft—."
"Puhahaha~!"
Laughter from everyone.
"Hey, Necromancer King. Giving last rites or something?"
"Funny ways to crack jokes, huh."
As the contractors joked, Lilianne bit her finger and trembled like a leaf.
'Th-this is bad. We're all gonna die.'
Behind his mask, Ju Gonghyeok gave a wry smile.
In the past, he would've ripped out the tongue of the first one to laugh and crushed his throat underfoot.
'No one would've dared laugh.'
But Ju Gonghyeok had changed.
After killing countless hunters, he'd decided to save them now.
Ju Gonghyeok raised the mic again.
"I'm not joking. Even if humanity perishes and Earth is swallowed by Babel, you feel nothing?"
The palace erupted in laughter.
"No way, this guy's lost it, heh heh. Necromancer King finally cracked?"
"What's with the sudden Earth talk? Puhahaha~!"
One contractor stifled his laugh and replied.
"Hey, Necromancer King. Think rationally. Even if Earth gets eaten by Babel, who cares? Once we're demons, we can go to Earth whenever we want. You know demons come and go from Babel's dimensions freely, right?"
"Right, right."
"If you miss Earth, become a demon and live there officially. We could even rewind time? Peaceful era or our own time, whatever."
"Good point!"
Another contractor slung an arm around the speaker.
"I like it here better than Earth! What's Babel missing? Back on Earth, power's out, no food, but here? Overflowing. Just hit a city—hot water 24/7, computers galore. Demons'll be even better, right? Build palaces like this, servants, live like kings! Puhahaha!"
"My house already has dozens of servants and women. As a demon, I'll fill it a hundredfold. Heh heh."
"Ah, dimensional refugee guys beat picky hunter dudes any day!"
"You bitch! That's why you had that horse-dicked centaur at home!"
"Hey! Mind your own privacy, you old fart! Wanna die?!"
The demon contractors bonded in raucous laughter.
"Necromancer King. As demons, we'll get insane power and conquer Earth! Make 'em all our slaves!"
"Other worlds too. Beastmen? Machine Gods? Any fantasy world'll be fun. Heh heh heh."
The hunters knew.
Becoming a demon was as good as becoming a dimension manager.
One man walked up to the front of the platform.
"Necromancer King, remember me? We met on the 3rd floor. Probably not, huh?"
Ju Gonghyeok looked down.
He saw a survivor from the assault team he'd massacred on the 3rd floor.
"I remember. Mongolian Donorov."
"Whoa! You know my name? Good thing I survived like hell after nearly dying by your hand. Heh heh heh."
Donorov, who'd been chuckling lowly, suddenly waved it off.
"Ah, no hard feelings. Climb 60 floors, and grudges fade. Heh heh. Those you killed back then? They'd have died around the 30th anyway."
Donorov's guess was spot on.
To be precise, he shouldn't have survived this long either, but luck had favored him this time.
"Necromancer King, remember your first thousand knight?"
"......"
Donorov recalled the 3rd floor uninhabited island crawling with T-Rexes.
"3rd floor sky, that god... right, Poseidon? After Poseidon crashed down, I was lost. Just trembling in fear. Pfft. Hunters are just strong humans—running was all I could manage. But then..."
Donorov pointed at Lilianne.
"Remember? Lilianne and the thousand knights subdued Poseidon. Then they looked down at us. I was totally cowed by their presence. Felt every bit how worthless they saw us as. Thousand knights were terrifying back then."
His lips twisted in a creepy smirk.
"But now I get it. If it were me, I'd look at those bug-like humans the same way. Now I could squash them like ants, so I understand. Heh heh. To them, we were literal vermin."
Ignorant humans.
Dime-a-dozen humans.
Humans who couldn't comprehend what they saw or felt.
"That's all we were. Climb to the 60th, see through their eyes, and you get it. Endless pleasures laid out everywhere in Babel, unknown to mere humans? They manipulate dimensions, create worlds, make whatever they want—godlike. Heh heh, of course a finger-flick deathbug like us looks laughable.
They roam dimensions freely, bed any woman they want, wield immense power, slaughter us like bugs, lord over us like gods? Ahh, Thousand Knight Guardsand, that guy was scary. Kill kill kill."
Donorov's laughter stopped.
Dark desire boiled in his eyes.
"We're becoming that. Money? Women? Power? Who cares? That shit's everywhere across dimensions. Any pleasure, any desire—dozens of dimensions to satisfy 'em! Spend a millennium gaming in one, another millennium with endless women, another lording as emperor?"
Donorov clenched his fist in excitement.
"It's the best. Gotta be the ultimate high. Necromancer King, I wanna be a thousand knight. Let's conquer Earth together. Family or regrets? Just take 'em back. Come on! Necromancer King!"
Ju Gonghyeok gazed down at Donorov with sunken eyes.
He'd expected this—persuasion was impossible.
'Even if I send trash like this back to Earth... it'd be horrific.'
Horrific for the world, and for him.
Degree aside, Babel-addicted humans were all the same.
Humanity was ants.
Earth was an anthill.
A lion can't live in an anthill.
A hunter can't live in an anthill.
To live in an anthill, you become an ant.
But would a hunter-turned-ant be happy?
Would a fallen ant, scorned by the colony, be happy?
Ju Gonghyeok had seen countless ants.
A very old memory flashed by.