Royal Shop (4)
Gremory's Prison.
This place, boasting extreme difficulty, takes the form of a dungeon.
The average monster levels range from 400 to the late 470s.
It's a dungeon no current user could even dream of challenging.
And at the end of this dungeon.
There stood a man whose skin was dyed pitch black, like a demon's.
He was a handsome man with a sturdy build, and two tiny horns protruded from his forehead.
Lesser demon Lukio. That was the man's name.
He looked down at his legs.
Invisible shackles bound them.
Shackles placed by the legion commander demon, Gremory.
Lukio recalled.
'That outsider who came before...'
The man had wielded a sword so exceptional that even he had to acknowledge it.
But it wasn't enough to defeat him as he was now.
Lukio hoped.
'Grow stronger and return. Come back and grant me peace.'
Lukio yearned for eternal rest.
No matter if it took years—he wanted that man to return and end him.
At that moment, a demonkin appeared.
In stark contrast to Lukio, he evoked the image of a true demon.
His horns were several times larger, and his physique even more massive.
A demonkin serving the demon Gremory, and her legion commander Robus.
In hell's hierarchy, the great demons sit at the pinnacle.
Beneath them are ordinary demons, followed by other demonkin and demonic beasts.
These legion commanders are among the elite of demonkin, equivalent to human commanders.
Their strength ranks just below demons, and Gremory's Prison is treated separately from the surface world.
Thus, legion commanders and demonkin aren't weakened here.
A being with power matching most human legends.
No—in hell, brimming with demonic energy, legion commanders could easily exceed level 500.
Legion commander Robus, who had revealed himself, looked at Lukio with admiration.
"Lady Gremory is truly remarkable."
Lukio's face twisted.
"After using you as a vessel for demonic energy for so long, she's turning you into a real demon!?"
Legion commander Gremory commands the most demonkin and beasts.
But she knew.
"To challenge for a higher throne, this experiment has succeeded beyond expectation! For the once-undefeated knight to become a complete demon!"
To ascend higher, she needed not hordes of demonkin and beasts, but one overwhelmingly strong individual.
The undefeated knight had once held a continent-spanning legend's power, solidifying his position.
He had single-handedly repelled Gremory's invasion and protected his homeland.
But Gremory's true aim wasn't conquest.
It was to claim an undefeated knight who wouldn't yield.
Lukio had fought desperately.
Even weakened, Gremory and her minions were formidable.
Yet the king he served betrayed him, stabbing him in the back.
And by handing him over to Gremory, the kingdom bought peace.
Thus, Lukio had lived a tragic life.
He fought demons alone for his country, only to be abandoned.
Now, hated and despised by demon Gremory, he was becoming a "lesser demon."
"In half a year, you'll lose all remaining reason, your human emotions and memories, reborn as a true demon—the undefeated of hell, Gremory's loyal hound. Rejoice in the honor! Kuhahaha!"
Robus had once trembled in fear fighting the mad-dog-like Lukio.
The pinnacle of demonkin.
Even legion commander Robus feared him.
And deep down, Robus harbored inferiority toward such a Lukio.
He knew.
The moment Lukio fully became a demon, he'd earn Gremory's boundless favor, shoving Robus aside.
So before that, he'd vent his jealousy.
"The day you become a true demon, your first mission will be annihilating a kingdom."
Gremory had another reason for nurturing the lesser demon.
One who became a demon while retaining human blood wouldn't weaken on the surface.
On earth, he'd rival Gremory herself.
Lukio heard which kingdom.
"It will be the Brook Kingdom. Kuhahaha!"
Brook Kingdom wasn't Lukio's homeland.
Yet tears of blood welled in his eyes.
His parents hailed from different nations.
His gentle mother, who protected him, from his own country.
His knight father, from Brook Kingdom.
His family surely fled to Brook on the day he was offered as sacrifice.
And Lukio was born and raised in Brook.
Friends and acquaintances he knew as human—all fragments of memory he'd destroy with his own hands.
Demonkin were truly cruel.
Lukio lunged to seize Robus's throat.
Whoosh—
But Robus moved first, demonic energy rampaging through his body, eroding his brain.
"Guh...!"
Veins bulged on Lukio's face as his brain was dominated.
Robus placed a foot on the slowly collapsing man's head.
"A bastard dog better obey its master."
Lukio thought.
Before eternal rest, he wanted revenge on them.
'Anyone. If someone gives me a chance at vengeance, I'll do anything.'
But Lukio knew.
No mere human would exist for that.
There is no definition of a lesser demon.
Words from Bahala.
Hyun-soo, having heard of Lukio, had searched for info.
But keywords like "lesser demon" or "Lukio" yielded nothing.
Thus, he formed a new hypothesis.
"Maybe Lukio was human once."
Bahala slowly nodded at Hyun-soo's words. His expression unchanged.
"Could be. A human threatening the entire continent ahead."
Even if true, Bahala must kill him.
Hyun-soo felt the same.
'I don't know this Traitor's standard.'
A title reacting to potential talents or vassals nearby.
With only 0.1% chance.
Thus, Lukio must be eliminated.
The two entered Gremory's Prison together.
Bahala looked around puzzled.
"Why no monsters?"
Bahala had been here once before.
Back then, demonkin and beasts guarded the prison.
Hyun-soo tensed at his words.
'Different from before—something's up.'
Then, their hairs stood on end.
"Not long ago, the demons on their thrones sensed a power threatening them. Briefly, but that unknown force was surely the evil-exterminating power dwelling in the Babylon cast into hellfire long ago."
Hyun-soo and Bahala panicked.
Especially Bahala, walking the Sword God's Path.
He more than anyone wanted to deny the situation.
'No chance of victory like this.'
A chilling, sinister voice.
Like Satan's whisper, goosebumps-inducing.
"Lady Gremory judged that even if someone wields that Babylon, it's not yet a threat to her or other demons and great demons."
Reasonable deduction.
Current Myeolak deletes 80% HP.
But no one could fell a demon or great demon's remaining 20%.
"But it could handle lesser demon Lukio. And the one who attacked Lukio three months ago chased the Babylon thrown into hellfire. Thus, she commanded: Wait for him, then reclaim 'Babylon.'"
Gremory's Legion Commander Robus has appeared!
Lesser demon Lukio has appeared!
Legion Commander's Fury.
Lesser Demon's Fighting Spirit.
Vast demonic energy induces dramatic status abnormalities.
Status abnormality emanations from the two advancing together.
Bahala's eyes flashed open.
'I possess the Sword God's Dignity.'
His Sword God's Dignity resisted even semi-transcendent lesser demon status waves.
But Bahala knew.
Hyun-soo, the sole user legend, resisted up to legend-grade abnormalities, like the hydra poison before.
Indeed, Hyun-soo resisted legion commander Robus's.
But the lesser demon's fighting spirit differed.
All stats reduced by 15%.
Agility reduced by 25%.
Taking 1,613 damage per second.
Hyun-soo was genuinely flustered.
'This much from status alone?'
And he saw Bahala, lost and panicking.
Bahala's current fluster.
'Who to use it on?'
Myeolak had one use.
He worried because Robus's power was unknown.
Though Robus's level was overwhelmingly lower than Lukio's, the legion commander title weighed heavy.
'If he has healing for Lukio...'
Dilemma.
Bahala hesitated for another reason.
'If I charge Lukio now, Hyun-soo dies.'
Guilt aside, the fact remained.
If Hyun-soo died, Robus would turn on Bahala.
Against lesser demon Lukio and Robus, Bahala lacked confidence.
Then.
"I said I won't be baggage. I'll hold him off."
"......"
Hyun-soo eased his burden, calming the chaos.
Bahala saw Hyun-soo's reliable back, blocking Robus alone.
Bahala steeled himself.
He saw the lesser demon Lukio charging like light.
Level 615 semi-transcendent being.
Perhaps the ultimate named monster never raided by users.
Human or demon—irrelevant.
Hunting it would forge Bahala into a stronger Sword God.
"Myeolak."
Exterminate All Evil!
The holiest power extended from the black sword, Babylon.
Swinging from 10m behind lesser demon Lukio, it struck him.
Shiiiing—
Slices all evil!
Deletes 80% HP.
Spluuurt—!
For an instant, illusion of Lukio's body splitting in half.
Then, Bahala witnessed something astonishing.
"Uwoooooh!!"
Hyun-soo, whom he'd hoped wasn't baggage.
Was hugging Robus, charging full force toward him.
Briefly, Bahala couldn't comprehend.
And the Myeolak aftermath was silent.
But as Hyun-soo entered 30m radius with him, Bahala marveled.
'This is how a blacksmith fights!?'
Bahala realized why Hyun-soo hugged and threw Robus.
Silence reversed.
Splash damage triggered.
Babylon's creator was Hyun-soo, who understood it deepest.
Deals 2,300% damage to evil within 30m radius.
Silence lifted; like boiling light lava, it erupted from the ground, engulfing Robus.
Spluuurt—!
Steam rose from Robus's body like acid poured on it.
Bahala saw Hyun-soo fiercely battling Robus amid the white lava.
In the time granted, forgetting him to whittle lesser demon's 20% HP, Bahala panicked.
He'd thought Hyun-soo would be crushed miserably in the splash range.
Soon, goosebumps covered Bahala. He was truly aghast.
Within that white light.
'...What is this?'
Bahala's thoughts froze.
His passive, Sword God's Eye, informed.
Damage to make even the Sword God marvel is about to occur.
And protagonist Hyun-soo.
He burned with ecstasy.
Ultimate
Ultimate activated.
Ares's first instant-kill was triggering.