Chapter 39
Chapter 39
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 39
Chapter Title: What Does That Mean?
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“What did he mean by that?”
‘That Gerald was talking about me?’
He had lost consciousness, so he had no idea what the two had discussed.
As Seowoojin just stared blankly, Dariel clicked his tongue and dragged a chair over to sit down.
“Gerald said that if it hadn’t been for you, every single one of those guys there would’ve died.”
Ah, that’s what he meant?
That was a relief.
‘I thought he’d talked about the Abyss.’
“What did you do?”
“…I just struggled a bit, that’s all.”
It wasn’t a lie.
He had simply tried everything he could because dying unjustly would’ve been too pathetic.
None of it had worked, though.
“I looked into you a bit. D-grade Sword Soldier, level 10. That’s all there was to it. And yet you stopped Gerald? Does that even make sense?”
“I’m not level 10.”
Seowoojin denied Dariel’s words.
“What? But I heard...”
“I’m level 16 now.”
He had just checked, so it was accurate.
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■ Name: Seowoojin
■ Job: Demon King [Immeasurable]
■ Level: 16
■ Skills: ??? [Passive], [Black Flame], [Heavy Strike], [Rampage], [Acceleration], [Aura], [Abyss], [Punishment], [Brand], [Madness], [Twilight], [Muspelheim], [Uranus's Sword].
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There were a lot more now.
It seemed like using the Abyss to massacre the goblins and Dark Elves had caused this sudden level surge.
‘Hunting really is all about mob farming.’
Most of them had been low-level monsters, so the gains weren’t as huge as expected, but still, this was plenty.
He had closed his eyes for a bit and jumped six levels.
“…You didn’t hide your level, did you?”
“Of course not. Why would I lie about that? I’m not some masochist who enjoys being looked down on.”
Of course, everything except his level—his grade and job—were lies.
‘This one’s unavoidable. I’m not a masochist.’
As Seowoojin spoke confidently, Dariel furrowed his brow.
“That doesn’t change anything. Level 10 or 16, it’s the same. It’s still impossible for you to have stopped Gerald.”
He was right.
An ant evolving into a queen ant didn’t mean it could beat a human.
“What did you do?”
“I really don’t know. For some reason, I wasn’t affected by the Demonic Energy at all. He got curious, struck up a conversation—that’s it.”
Seowoojin mixed truth with lies.
Perhaps because his job was Demon King, he hadn’t been affected by the Demonic Energy at all.
It was true that Gerald had been flustered and taken an interest because of it.
But he absolutely couldn’t mention the Abyss.
If they asked him to demonstrate it right here, he had a feeling his head would roll.
‘My bad premonitions have never been wrong before, so this one won’t be either.’
Even if they held a knife to his throat, he couldn’t say it.
But that seemed explanation enough for Dariel.
“You endured the Demonic Energy?”
Dariel thought for a moment, then grabbed Seowoojin’s wrist.
“Huh? What are you...”
“Be quiet.”
Startled by the sudden action, he tried to pull his arm away but shut his mouth at the overwhelming pressure pinning him down.
Then he felt a clear, refreshing mana flow into his body.
“Hmm.”
A look of puzzlement crossed Dariel’s face.
After probing Seowoojin’s insides for a long while, Dariel let go of his hand.
Then he asked,
“You’re D-grade?”
Had he figured something out?
“And level 10. No, 16...”
Lost in thought for a moment, he soon glanced at Ailin.
“Aiya, did you train this guy?”
It was an out-of-left-field question.
Ailin flinched but answered calmly without showing it.
“I helped him build his foundations, but I didn’t teach him the sword.”
“Then who?”
“The lord.”
Dariel smacked his lips and nodded at Ailin’s response.
“That northern kid managed to produce something decent.”
Whether it was admiration or lament, he muttered it and stood up.
“We’ll talk again once you’ve fully recovered.”
He said his piece and left.
“…I’m already fully recovered.”
Leveling up had perfectly healed his body.
He had still passed out because he was mentally exhausted.
Seowoojin chuckled softly and sat up.
“But where is this place?”
It wasn’t the academy dorms.
Those were extravagantly spacious, decked out with who-knows-how-much money.
This place, by contrast, was modest.
It had an old-fashioned feel, but it was nothing compared to the academy dorms.
“It’s the lord’s castle in Tiphein, a border city of the Empire.”
“Ah, the one with the train station?”
It was the closest city to the subjugation site.
“Yeah. With so many injured, we couldn’t head straight to the capital.”
Knights and Heroes alike.
Especially the elite kids who had gotten hit by Gerald at the end—their conditions were a bit serious.
“What about you? You gonna be okay without resting?”
Ailin had been exposed to the Demonic Energy too.
Corrupted Demonic Energy clashed with mana, causing internal injuries.
That was why the other knights were recuperating as well.
Ailin’s face looked a bit pale too.
“I’m fine. It’s more bearable than I thought, so don’t worry.”
Compared to her training under Massive Guardian, this didn’t even count as an injury.
“That’s a relief. Oh, what about the others?”
He hadn’t thought about it when Gerald showed up, but Lee Jia and Kim Dahye were missing.
As were a few other Heroes.
Only the five elite kids had arrived later.
“They’re fine. They went out scouting the area and ran into some Dark Elves, but they got out safely.”
“…I see.”
That meant those kids had seen the Abyss.
The jellyfish had squeezed every ‘enemy’ around Seowoojin.
Sure enough, Ailin brought it up.
“While you were fighting, Woojin, something weird happened on their end too, apparently. Some kind of black ghost killed all the Dark Elves.”
“A ghost?”
“We don’t know what it was, but it massacred over a dozen Dark Elves in an instant. Even the Empire’s starting an investigation into what it was.”
Ailin didn’t suspect any connection between the jellyfish and Seowoojin.
“That’s lucky.”
Seowoojin let out a genuine sigh of relief.
“How long do we have to stay here?”
“We’re leaving tomorrow. Not many serious injuries, thankfully, so once everyone’s recovered, we’ll take the train back to the capital’s academy.”
Tomorrow...
Seowoojin nodded and lay back down.
“Then let’s rest a bit more. You should rest too, instead of staying here.”
Ailin nodded at Seowoojin’s words.
Now that she’d seen he was awake, it was time for her to rest.
As Ailin left, Seowoojin closed his eyes.
He had gone out for a simple subjugation, but so much had happened.
Demon King followers, Dark Elves, Gerald...
This world seemed more complicated than he’d thought.
‘But what was that?’
When Gerald had swung his axe to cut Seowoojin’s throat.
He had definitely hesitated for a moment.
It was just like...
‘Drakeas.’
He didn’t know if it was because of his Demon King job or some other reason.
If it was the job, would that cause problems?
But worrying about it now wouldn’t yield answers.
For now, Seowoojin decided to rest a bit more and think later.
He drifted off to sleep.
Hoping to dream once more of his happy past, Seowoojin fell asleep like that.
* * *
“Are you alright?”
Ronaine, captain of the White Silver Knights—one of the Empire’s prides—asked with a worried expression.
“…I’m fine.”
Baek Siwoo smiled in response.
But his condition contradicted his words—it was pitiful.
Both arms were crushed, and one leg had been amputated with no other choice.
He had pushed himself too hard protecting his friends in that compressing space.
“What about the others?”
“Thanks to the Sword God, they’re in pretty good shape. Of course, they’ll need time to recuperate...”
“That’s what matters. As long as they didn’t die.”
They had really almost died.
Baek Siwoo had felt death creeping right up to him.
“Don’t worry. We’ve already prepared treatments for the Sword God and the others in the capital.”
A Hero’s greatest strength was their easy and rapid growth.
And there was another advantage nearly as great.
As long as they didn’t die, they could recover to perfect condition.
Kill monsters, level up—no matter if limbs were severed or their guts spilled.
It all healed.
The higher the level, the longer it took, but the fact that full recovery was possible made it an overwhelmingly cheat ability.
“Thank you.”
Baek Siwoo sincerely thanked Ronaine.
“You should thank someone else more than me.”
“…Someone else?”
“If the Sword Sage hadn’t arrived in time, it really would’ve been disastrous.”
Baek Siwoo knew the Sword Sage well too.
He was a Hero supported by the Empire.
“He came?”
He hadn’t known.
The pain had overwhelmed him, and he had passed out at some point.
He was only now learning how he had survived.
“So the Dark Elf is dead?”
The Sword Sage Baek Siwoo knew was truly strong.
Even now, past level 50, he was no match for him.
If it was Dariel, he could surely defeat even that monstrous Dark Elf.
But Ronaine shook his head and explained what had happened.
“…So it was that strong.”
Even though it had fled, the fact that it could escape Dariel was miraculous.
‘Then how strong is the Demon King?’
A monster like Gerald followed it, and even Dariel couldn’t win.
Could they really beat a Demon King like that?
He had thought continuous growth would make it easy.
He had talent, and combining it with his friends’ power wouldn’t be hard.
With Heroes’ unique growth, it had felt like a fun game.
But after yesterday...
‘It’s scary.’
He hadn’t realized death could be this close.
He had thought it was still far in the distant future.
“Are you alright?”
Seeing Baek Siwoo’s darkened expression, Ronaine asked carefully.
Baek Siwoo instantly flashed a bright smile as if the gloom had never been there and nodded.
“I’m fine. You must be busy, so no need to worry about me anymore.”
With his usual friendly smile, Baek Siwoo sent Ronaine away and buried his head in the pillow.
‘I need to get stronger.’
Strong enough to overwhelm not just Gerald, but the Demon King too.
‘How?’
Baek Siwoo’s worries deepened.