EP8. The Incomplete Demon King
Stone Golem has mined a D-rank Magical Core.
500 gold has been added to your inventory!
Stone Golem has mined a C-rank Magical Core.
3,000 gold has been added to your inventory!
Jae-jun swept a proud gaze over the Stone Golems diligently at work.
After selling the Magical Cores he already had and combining the proceeds with his existing gold, he now had over 90,000 gold.
'Good.'
He could soon buy the Aqua Punishment authority.
Jae-jun immediately returned to Citri and the Demon King's Castle.
Citri looked puzzled by Jae-jun's brightened expression but was also pleased to know he'd been of help.
"Citri."
"Well done."
"Just keep it up like that."
"Th-thank you!"
Citri bowed his head deeply, assuming a posture of submission toward Jae-jun.
At that moment, Jae-jun noticed a large crowd of demons gathered in his field of vision.
'What are they doing?'
"Kyaack!"
"Sp-spare me!"
A scream rang out from someone.
The demons were surrounding slaves and toying with them like playthings.
'Dwarves?'
The slaves were dwarves.
Their small stature was unmistakable, along with their exceptionally developed muscles.
A man who looked like a warrior and a woman who seemed to be a mage had tried resisting the demons but were hopelessly outmatched.
"Where'd all that spirit from earlier go?!"
A demon with dozens of eyes sprouting from its head kicked the fallen dwarf man's stomach while shouting.
"St-stop!"
The two dwarves, man and woman, soon collapsed covered in blood from head to toe.
Jae-jun could see their listless expressions as they awaited only death.
'Hmm.'
'What to do.'
As Jae-jun pondered while watching the two dwarves, the demons spotted him and assumed postures of submission.
Some were drooling from their mouths, as if they'd been about to devour the dwarves.
'Humans are one thing.'
'But I don't need to worry about dwarves too.'
As Jae-jun nodded lightly and tried to walk past—
"...Please, save us!"
The female dwarf crawled desperately toward him, crying out.
"Please!"
"How dare you!"
"What insolence toward the Demon King!"
"Tear that filthy dwarf vermin to shreds right now!"
Citri shouted with surprising excitement, startling even Jae-jun.
The demons flinched but began moving toward the dwarves.
At that moment, the fallen dwarf man raised his head.
"...Huh?"
"...Eh?"
The dwarf man and Jae-jun made similar sounds as they stared at each other.
"N-newbie?"
"Barik?"
Surprisingly, the identity of the dwarf slave was Barik, the dwarf he'd met in the arena.
'Why is Barik here?'
Jae-jun approached Barik.
The wounds on his body didn't look fresh—they seemed like old scars from long ago.
'Hmm.'
Jae-jun pulled the Unstable Demon King's Sword from his inventory.
"N-no!"
"Don't kill my brother!"
"You bastard!"
The female dwarf crawled desperately toward Jae-jun, screaming.
'Demon King's Salvation!'
Demon King's Salvation
A faint ink-black glow flowed from the sword, gently spreading to envelop the surroundings.
Not only the wounds on Barik's body but also those on the female dwarf and even the demons healed cleanly without a trace.
'Its power has been greatly enhanced since becoming an authority.'
The demons and dwarves alike stared in stunned silence.
Jae-jun grabbed Barik and the other dwarf.
"I'm taking these slaves."
"If you wanna play, go play with monsters."
"Citri, see you at the Demon King's Castle."
'Shadow Movement!'
Shadow Movement
In the blink of an eye, Jae-jun and the dwarves had teleported in front of the throne.
'Whew.'
Jae-jun helped Barik up from the floor.
"...Newbie!"
"How'd you get here?"
"Did you come to rescue me?"
Barik's eyes welled up with tears.
"You idiot!"
"Didn't you hear earlier?"
"He's the Demon King here!"
"This human—no, this lord!"
The female dwarf shouted, her eyes still holding a hint of hostility.
Barik glanced back and forth between Jae-jun and his sister before introducing her.
"Oh."
"Newbie, this is my little sister."
"Isis."
"And this is..."
Pointing at Jae-jun, Barik continued.
"My teammate."
'Teammate.'
Not a bad introduction.
"So, you're saying that slimy Vyne guy isn't the Demon King anymore, and the newbie is now?"
"Hahaha!"
"Serves Vyne right!"
Barik clutched his belly and laughed heartily.
But after learning that Jae-jun was human, not a demon, Isis's eyes filled with shock and suspicion.
Well.
Not my problem to explain.
"Anyway, Barik, why were you here?"
At Jae-jun's question, Barik's expression darkened instantly.
And the story that followed wasn't a bright one.
Barik's home dimension, Pantadium, was at war with the Demon Kings.
But the dwarf race had been helplessly attacked, plundered, enslaved, and scattered to the winds.
Barik had been dragged here along with his sister Isis.
One day, while slaving away, Lucifer appeared in Barik's dream.
When asked if he'd become an arena gladiator, Barik accepted without hesitation.
He'd been promised immense authority and power upon winning the arena.
But.
"I decided not to go back to the arena because of you, newbie."
"Because of me?"
Barik chuckled.
"The battle you showed against the Orc Champion was on another level entirely."
"No, a realm from another dimension."
"So I knew I couldn't win even if I kept going."
"I see."
"Did you win the arena and get an authority that way?"
"No."
"I haven't gone back either."
"Lucifer must be getting antsy."
"He'd love it if you showed your face now and then."
"Haha."
Jae-jun gave a wry smile.
Barik could say such things because he didn't know Lucifer had tried to steal Jae-jun's body.
"So, what are you going to do now, Barik?"
"Go back?"
"...Even if I did, my clan and hometown are long gone."
"Honestly, I have no idea."
Barik scratched his head.
'Hmm.'
Suddenly, a good idea flashed into Jae-jun's mind.
"How many other dwarves are there in the Demon King's Castle?"
"Around fifty, I guess."
"Dwarves are good at mining, right?"
"What kind of question is that?"
"That's basically all we do besides eat."
Jae-jun's eyes lit up.
Stone Golem has mined a C-rank Magical Core.
3,000 gold has been added to your inventory!
Right on cue, his shop gold had surpassed 99,999.
Jae-jun immediately opened the shop window and clicked on the Aqua Punishment authority.
◈ Boasts the highest attack power among water-attribute spells, but its mana consumption is equally terrifying.
◈ Even the sage who created it never used it, so its exact effects are unknown.
'Yes!'
Authority Aqua Punishment has been added.
'Whew.'
Jae-jun let out a satisfied sigh.
He'd spent every last bit of his saved gold, but the Stone Golems were mining Magical Cores in real-time, replenishing it steadily.
Barik and Isis stared at Jae-jun with wide eyes.
"There's a mine nearby—how about settling there?"
Barik and Isis scowled.
"This isn't a place worth living."
"No rain, no food—we slaves have to substitute for rations. How could anyone live here?"
Jae-jun grinned at that.
"Then I'll just make it rain."
"...What?"
"Since it came up, shall we head there now?"
Jae-jun headed outside the Demon King's Castle.
A vast sand desert stretched to the horizon.
Heat haze rose shimmering from the dunes.
'Up close, it really is a desert of death.'
Jae-jun turned to Barik and Isis.
Citri watched Jae-jun with a tense expression.
"My lord...?"
"Wait a moment."
Jae-jun stretched both hands toward the sky.
'I wonder how much mana it'll eat up.'
He planned to pour in his maximum mana output first.
Pure mana gathered at his fingertips until they tingled.
Whooooosh—
Even standing still, the mana pressure made his chest rumble.
Weaker monsters in the distance trembled and writhed in agony.
"Wh-what is this?"
"St-stop it!"
Isis screamed in terror and collapsed to her knees.
All the mana near the Demon King's Castle converged in Jae-jun's hands.
"My lord!"
"Please stop!"
"We were wrong!"
"Spare us!"
Suddenly, demons gathered before the Demon King's Castle, prostrating themselves in apology.
'Do they think I'm trying to kill them all?'
Jae-jun didn't stop.
When a satisfying amount of mana had gathered, he shouted.
'Aqua Punishment!'
Wuuuuuuuung!
A deep navy aura unlike anything seen before poured from Jae-jun's hands.
Storm clouds began slowly spreading from the sky-piercing pillar of energy at its center.
"Wh-what's that?"
But.
The clouds expanded far faster than expected.
In an instant, they blanketed the sky and began disgorging something.
Kuuuung.
Drip—
"Huh?"
"Raindrops?"
The light drizzle quickly turned into a downpour.
It was a sweet rain falling anew on the parched, withered desert.
Shwaaaaa—
"...My lord!"
Citri assumed a posture of submission with eyes full of emotion.
The other demons followed suit.
'Whew.'
"Now that it's raining."
"You'll live in the mine, right?"
Drenched Barik nodded unconsciously.
Thank you.