Read the Room, Gusirak
Just as Gusirek was about to roar in anger, Tae-hyun spoke in a low, quiet voice.
"Hey. Read the room."
-...
Gusirek quickly scanned his surroundings. The black mage named Lee Se-yeon was incredibly powerful, but the church-affiliated NPCs gathered around her caught his attention even more. It was a rare, terrifying sight—multiple Archbishops gathered in a single place! Considering that high-ranking NPCs of this caliber rarely congregated like this, it was an absolute nightmare for a demon.
To make matters worse, holy magic was his natural counter, and Gusirek was currently in no condition to fight. Having been tortured by the black mages, his overall power had plummeted to less than ten percent of his maximum! Before he could recover his strength, his only option was to hide, not fight.
"If you fight now, you'll die instantly and have to spend about a thousand years recovering in the Demon Realm. While you're gone, the other Demon Dukes will probably gobble up your territory. Actually, dying here is the better option. Looking at this lineup, you might get sealed or locked up somewhere forever."
For a demon who had crossed over to the continent, the scariest thing wasn't dying and being banished back to the Demon Realm. The ultimate horror was being captured by church heroes and sealed away. If they returned to the Demon Realm, they could eventually recover and return, but being sealed meant there was no escape. They would be locked away in absolute confinement for eternity.
"Do you have any idea how painful it is for a demon to be sealed?"
-...I know. Trapped in eternal darkness, unable to do anything...
"No, they lock you in a cage, drain your mana whenever they need it, and shower you with holy water at all hours of the day."
-??? I have never heard of such a sealing method!
Gusirek was utterly flustered. A sealing method he had never even heard of! Had the church bastards changed their tactics? Just hearing about it made his skin crawl. Keeping a demon in a cage to humiliate them while constantly draining their mana... That was more demonic than actual demons!
-Just which church would dare commit such a despicable act?!
"The Phytos Church does that. They're the ones who popularized it."
-How dare they...!
Sparks of fury flared in Gusirek's eyes. Coincidentally, the Archbishop and holy knights of the Phytos Church were standing right there. The holy knights, panting and wiping away sweat in the oppressive heat, looked puzzled when the demon suddenly glared at them.
"Why is that guy glaring at us? Isn't he a demon summoned by the Pope of Archisus?"
"Demons are naturally violent. It's only expected for a contracted demon to act that way."
The holy knights naturally assumed the demon belonged to Tae-hyun. Black mages didn't just summon undead; some summoned and contracted demons as well. Of course, it was highly unusual for the Pope of the Archisus Church to summon a demon, but nobody dared to point that out.
"Anyway, Gusirek, what's it going to be? Are you going to foolishly reveal your identity, get sealed, and be dragged around by the Phytos Church to have your mana drained? Or are you going to be smart and wise, and pretend to be a low-grade demon named Gusirak?"
[Carbanog grumbles, asking why you're even asking when you've already decided everything...]
[Activating Supreme Eloquence...]
[Demon Duke Gusirek hides his identity and decides to pretend to be the low-grade demon, Gusirak!]
[This is truly a magnificent achievement!]
[Many have defeated a Demon Duke, but none have ever broken a Demon Duke's pride until now.]
Your Eloquence skill has increased significantly!
[Supreme Eloquence]: Level 4 → Level 5
All speech-related skills have been enhanced!
[Vocal Resonance]
Removes the MP consumption of all speech-related skills for a short duration. The duration increases as the skill level rises.
As a skill derived from Supreme Eloquence, the new ability possessed incredibly broken performance. Removing the MP cost of speech skills entirely! At first glance, since most speech skills didn't consume MP anyway, it might have seemed like a useless skill.
[Carbanog mutters that it's still just a trash skill...]
However, Tae-hyun possessed the Word of Power skill. If he activated Vocal Resonance, he could unleash a relentless barrage of magic in a short period without worrying about his mana. Even trash skills became overpowered when combined correctly!
'Hmm. With my current level of Word of Power, trying to cast grand magic wouldn't be very efficient anyway. It's better to strike multiple times in rapid succession.'
He could chant a spell dozens of times in rapid succession, or weave his existing skills with the new one... While Tae-hyun was contemplating his options, the next message window popped up. The rewards weren't over yet.
A lavish shower of rewards! Anyone looking at this would think he had defeated Gusirek in battle. But he hadn't. He had simply forced a Demon Duke to pretend to be a low-grade demon.
'I couldn't level up through all sorts of normal methods, and yet this works...'
Tae-hyun was dumbfounded. Of course, realistically speaking, it was an incredibly high-difficulty achievement... but he still couldn't help but find the situation absurd!
-I... I am the low-grade demon... Gusirak...
"But why is he so big?" Se-yeon asked, tilting her head.
"It's his special ability."
"Really? He doesn't look very strong. Do you really have to contract a demon like that?"
Lee Se-yeon inspected Gusirek's state. A high-ranking Necromancer could easily gauge a demon's worth just by looking into its eyes. Usually, the more arrogant, proud, and insolent a demon was, the stronger it tended to be. A demon trembling and looking humiliated like this was usually a weakling. Why would a top ranker like Kim Tae-hyun choose such a demon?
"I can help you find a better one."
"No, it's fine. I've grown attached to him, so I'll just keep him."
"Since when are you so...?"
Lee Se-yeon stared at Tae-hyun in disbelief.
'Ah, shoot.'
Tae-hyun instantly regretted his words. He had acted too nice. They were the type of people who suspected each other the moment one of them did something altruistic!
"Actually, I'm planning to use him as a Living Bomb if the opportunity arises."
"Ah. Of course. I figured as much."
Lee Se-yeon smiled, finally convinced. Her guild members, however, looked on with bizarre expressions. Was there really a part of that conversation to smile about?!
'What is our Guild Master finding so funny?'
'Is the bomb part funny?'
'I have no idea!'
Having successfully deceived everyone about Gusirek, Tae-hyun explained the situation as briefly as possible.
"We went into the black mage fortress, things happened, they started fighting among themselves, the fortress blew up, and we barely escaped!"
"???"
"What in the..."
-Is Archisus actually the God of Discord?
The church NPCs whispered among themselves. What kind of talent did this guy have to make enemies fight among themselves and self-destruct wherever he went?
-Then isn't this a good thing? The enemies destroyed themselves.
When the Archbishop of the Demer Church spoke, the other Archbishops looked uncomfortable. It was true, but...
'I don't want to admit it!'
'To think we have to watch that Pope of Archisus get a free ride...!'
'As expected of the God of Luck, he sure is lucky in these situations!'
Of all things, they had to stand by and watch the Pope of the Archisus Church claim a massive achievement! It would be easier to accept if he had worked hard for it. But based on his words... he just got a free ride!
"The Archisus Church has always fought using the power of luck. If you guys are so jealous, you should have served the God of Luck too."
Tae-hyun was shameless. Good luck was a skill too!
-That is certainly true...
-How is that true! Archbishop of Demer! Pull yourself together!
-But isn't it true?
The naive Archbishop of the Demer Church was easily swayed by Tae-hyun's words. He was the Pope of the God of Luck, so what was wrong with getting a free ride through luck?
The other church NPCs clutched the backs of their necks. They had originally followed Lee Se-yeon's request because they wanted to see Tae-hyun in trouble. Let's see that Pope of Archisus squirm! They wanted to watch him struggle and maybe make him owe them a favor...
'Wow. It feels like the churches hate him even more than they hate black mages.'
Lee Se-yeon was amazed. The attitude the church NPCs showed toward Tae-hyun was practically worse than their hatred for black mages!
-Your Majesty. Even if the black mage fortress has collapsed, the servants of Chaos have not completely vanished.
-Indeed. We must search the surrounding area and eliminate them.
The church Archbishops strongly insisted. They couldn't just return empty-handed after coming all this way. If they did... the Archisus Church would monopolize all the credit again!
'Hmm. Do these Archbishops not care about their subordinates?'
Tae-hyun looked at the Archbishops. The holy knights behind them were sweating profusely in their heavy armor...
The scorching heat of the desert continuously drains your stamina and increases fatigue.
"By the way, Lee Da-bi. How did they manage to get all the way here? Did they endure it using holy magic buffs?"
Since they were the elite of the churches, they could probably endure the terrible desert heat with various buffs.
"No, they endured by buying water and food."
"Where would you find a merchant in this desert... Ah."
Tae-hyun looked at Lee Da-bi in admiration.
"Brilliant!"
"Oh, it was nothing."
Lee Da-bi waved her hand, blushing.
"But the church bastards are trying not to buy anymore."
"Tsk. What ungrateful wretches."
Tae-hyun was indignant. She was selling goods at a reasonable price in such a harsh environment; they should be bowing and saying "thank you" while buying! How dare they stubbornly refuse to buy? They deserved to be punished by heaven.
"Are they surviving on what they already bought?"
"Yes. They're rationing it and holding out. Their base stats are so high..."
With various buffs active, the holy knights could endure thirst and hunger much better.
'Hmm. I want to make them even more exhausted somehow.'
Tae-hyun glared at the church NPCs with a wicked heart. They had come all the way out to this hot desert; he wanted to make them suffer a bit more!
Unaware of Tae-hyun's dark thoughts, the church Archbishops continued their discussion.
-We must search this area...
-We should use a skill to detect the power of Chaos. If anyone brought a holy relic, please bring it out.
-Ahem. Surely your side brought one as well...
While they were bickering, enemies appeared in the distance.
"!"
"Enemies! Prepare for battle!"
-Holy knights! Step forward!
The Archbishops shouted, seeing this as their chance. A chance to show off their church's contribution points in front of the Emperor of the Asbian Empire!
The holy knights panted and moved forward. Their movements were noticeably slower than usual.
"Fighting! Go get 'em, holy knights!"
Tae-hyun cheered them on while stepping backward.
Lee Se-yeon's guild members were dumbfounded.
"???"
"Wait, are you not going to fight?"
Tae-hyun, who usually beat up any enemy he saw, was actually retreating! Were these enemies incredibly strong?
"They're right there, so why should I bother fighting?"
"Well, that's true, but..."
There weren't even that many enemies. Honestly, half of the people gathered here could easily win. Besides, the enemies didn't look like they were in great shape either...
The warriors of the Hungry Chaos suffer severe debuffs due to the aftermath of the dimensional explosion.
They seemed to be the ones who had been blown out of the fortress along with them.
"Let's go downstairs and rest."
"...You're doing this just to torment them, aren't you?" Se-yeon asked, catching on.
"No way. Since they brought the church forces all this way, I'm just giving them a chance to shine."
"As if you would... actually, never mind."
Lee Se-yeon stopped herself. Come to think of it, she had no reason to care about the churches either. When Tae-hyun wasn't around, they were the ones nagging her for being a black mage!
"Lee Se-yeon. You worked hard to get all the way here."
"...Thanks??"
Se-yeon was startled. What was wrong with him?
"Since you must be exhausted, I'll cook something for you. It'll give you all sorts of buffs."
"...I'm currently in Lich form, so I'm perfectly fine!"