The Demons Scattered After Edaor's Fall
Edaor’s direct demons were each strong enough to serve as the boss monster of an instance dungeon all on their own.
There was a reason Tae-hyun hadn’t attacked Edaor right away and had instead tried to keep his subordinates as far away as possible.
They were taking constant damage simply by standing inside his holy domain, but that didn’t mean their strength had gone anywhere.
We’re screwed!
Lee Da-bi squeezed her eyes shut.
A mistake she normally never would have made!
KWA-KWA-KWANG!
“?!”
You have failed the Luck roll within Archisus’s Holy Domain.
You have been cursed.
The attack flying toward Lee Da-bi twisted strangely off course, then exploded into another allied demon instead.
“What the hell are you doing?!”
“T-this wasn’t on purpose!”
Ah. So that’s how it works.
Watching that, Tae-hyun realized what law governed Archisus’s Holy Domain.
A curse for those who couldn’t endure it through luck.
“Kraaagh! What is this?!”
One of Edaor’s direct demons screamed when lightning suddenly crashed down from the sky while it was simply walking.
And because it had already been taking damage inside the holy domain, the impact was multiplied several times over.
The demon staggered, unable to defend itself from the sudden strike.
Well, I should still do what needs doing first.
Tae-hyun hadn’t forgotten his roots.
Even with Edaor right in front of him, the true beginner’s mindset meant clearing out the other enemies first!
“Hey! That bastard’s the traitor!”
“?!”
“He teamed up with the other adventurers!”
Intermediate Eloquence — Bonus applied.
Your standing within Edaor’s army grants an additional bonus.
Fight Fire with Fire has succeeded.
The enemies begin fighting each other.
Even in the middle of chaos, Tae-hyun remained diligently committed to turning enemies against one another before moving on.
Lee Da-bi watched and found herself impressed all over again.
“Me, a traitor?! What nonsense are you spouting?!”
“Shut up, traitor! Did you really think you’d survive after betraying Lord Edaor?!”
Whether they fought or not, Tae-hyun used the confusion among the direct demons to rush Edaor.
Edaor’s ankle was bound, but he was still happily pounding Cain into the ground.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
“Aaaagh! Hey! Help me! Why’s everyone just watching?!”
Cain had hastily thrown his gear back on, but he hadn’t managed to escape.
The moment Edaor cast his magic, Cain had been dragged right back in.
Now that Archisus’s Blessing had run out, defense was the only thing he had left to trust.
“U-ugh! Shield of Red Aura!Countering Blow!”
Getting beaten senseless, Cain screamed at the top of his lungs.
Of course, the others nearby couldn’t exactly jump in.
“Hang in there!”
“Don’t lose!”
“You bastards, I said help me!”
“Orc’s Frost Skin!”
Instead of help, what came back was a buff.
From the distance, Yang Sung-gyu waved a hand.
Sorry. Even I’m a little scared of that Edaor guy.
“Don’t just buff me!”
“Persistent little worm! Die!”
That was when Tae-hyun arrived.
The instant Edaor saw him, his face brightened.
“You’ve come, Count Kim Tae-hyun! Deal with the insects around here!”
“Yes, Lord Edaor!”
“Why are you coming this way?”
“Allow me to assist you!”
“I can handle vermin like this on my own!”
As he got pummeled, Cain cursed Edaor in his head.
Was that demon carrying his brain around for decoration? He still trusted Tae-hyun.
At this point, shouldn’t he have realized something was off?
“...What’s that dagger?”
“Haha. It’s nothing.”
“Don’t tell me— KRAAAAAAAGH!”
A scream loud enough to tear the sky apart.
Instant Death has activated.
Archisus’s Sacred Dagger has been destroyed.
While Tae-hyun closed the distance enough to land a strike on Edaor, the demon never once suspected him and took the hit head-on.
Seeing that, Cain shouted, “Are you even a demon? Don’t ever go around calling yourself one again, you stupid bastard!”
“Th-that’s impossible...”
Tae-hyun released his disguise and summoned Yong-yong.
Holy power radiated from his entire body.
Only then did Edaor realize who had cast the holy domain spread across the area.
And who had laid this trap.
“How... were you a believer in a god?”
From the side, Cain muttered, “Isn’t the idiot the one who got tricked?”
“Impossible! How can a servant of a god...”
Edaor dropped to one knee with a heavy thud.
He looked moments away from collapsing.
“...you’re telling me a man who believes in a god can lead demons around like this?!”
“...”
Honestly, fair point.
Without thinking, Cain nodded.
Now that he heard it out loud, Edaor had had every reason to trust Tae-hyun.
No one would expect some god-worshiping bastard to roll around with demons and smash cities to pieces.
But Tae-hyun stood there shamelessly righteous.
“You can believe in a god and still travel with demons. That’s just prejudice. Don’t you think?”
“Mark my words, Count Kim Tae-hyun! I will return from the Demon Realm! And then...”
“Ah. Shut up.”
Tae-hyun didn’t listen any further and kicked Edaor.
Edaor turned gray and began to vanish.
You have defeated Edaor, Demon of the Greatsword Duke’s Arena.
Your Fame rises greatly.
You have leveled up.
You have leveled up.
You have leveled up.
You have leveled up.
You have obtained items.
You have obtained items.
It went up four levels in one shot?!
For most players, gaining four levels at once wasn’t all that shocking.
If you joined a raid against a powerful boss monster, that kind of thing happened all the time.
But for Tae-hyun, four levels at once was truly...
Emotional. Rare. Miraculous.
He had finally reached the cursed level sixty.
Of course, to other players, level sixty wasn’t anything special.
To Tae-hyun, though, it was a different story.
I’m not usually the kind of man who cries over something like this, but wow. I’m tearing up.
He found himself suddenly grateful to Edaor.
There was no way he could have won in a straight-up fight.
This thoroughly unfair raid had only been possible because Edaor had trusted him to the very end like the perfect sucker he was.
Even his dangerously high Infamy looked like it could somehow be patched over now that his Fame had shot back up.
All right, then. Time to check the items—
But the message window still wasn’t done.
Edaor has fallen. You inherit part of Edaor’s army.
Yeah. Figured.
Tae-hyun nodded with satisfaction.
This was exactly why he’d taken Edaor down now in the first place.
Your current Tactics skill is insufficient to command all of Edaor’s army.
All forces beyond your command limit will be divided separately.
Qualified demons will be promoted.
Kantacha, Demon of Mace and Axe, will lead one force.
Barka, Demon of Roar and Shout, will lead one force.
The message windows kept popping up one after another.
Tae-hyun tried to get a grasp on what exactly was happening.
So... they’re splitting up now?
There were simply too many demons for Tae-hyun’s Tactics skill to command, so the army was dividing itself automatically.
And among those newly divided groups, demons were being promoted to lead them.
“Hey. Longtail 1.”
“Yes, Master.”
Watching the remaining demons bunch themselves into clusters, Tae-hyun called Longtail 1 over and asked, “What are those bastards doing right now?”
Longtail 1 answered politely.
“Preparing for battle.”
“...They’re not targeting me, are they?”
Tae-hyun asked, suddenly uneasy.
He’d struck Edaor because he hadn’t expected the demons to be all that loyal, but what if they’d actually been fanatically devoted to him?
It wouldn’t have been strange for them to regroup and attack immediately.
“No, Master.”
“Then what battle are they preparing for?”
“Edaor’s last command was to go to Bardo City, so they are all preparing to head there.”
“...!”
Only then did Tae-hyun finally understand what the demons were doing.
The demons he could command stayed put, but the others—now that the one who gave them orders was gone—had chosen new leaders on their own and were moving out.
For Tae-hyun, that was excellent news.
The demons were trying to carry out the very last order Edaor had given.
“They’re going to Bardo City? Then this works out great!”
The enemy of his enemy was a friend.
Delighted, Tae-hyun strode over to one of the demon forces.
It was led by Kantacha, Demon of Mace and Axe, a demon newly promoted to command one of the groups.
“Get away from me!”
“...”
The reaction was violently hostile the instant Tae-hyun approached.
Tae-hyun nodded.
“Well, yeah. I did kill Edaor. Honestly, it’d be weirder if they were friendly about it. Is this loyalty? Demons sticking by their own kind?”
“That is not the reason, Master.”
“...?”
Longtail 1 shook his head.
Now that he looked closely, Kantacha was staring at Tae-hyun with fear in his eyes.
It didn’t suit his giant body in the least.
“Get away from me! You’re obviously trying to trick me! Just like you did to Edaor!”
By deceiving Edaor, your Infamy among demon armies has reached its maximum.
The demons fear you.
Other demons will no longer listen to your words.
Even demons—who betrayed each other as casually as breathing—had looked at Tae-hyun and decided, That guy can’t be trusted.
“...R-right. Sorry about that.”
Dumbfounded, Tae-hyun backed off.
The other demons weren’t any different.
“What are you trying to extort from me?! Get away!”
“If you come any closer, all my subordinates will fight to the death! Stay back!”
It was as if they had rehearsed the same panicked response.
The demons fled from Tae-hyun’s side one after another.
Like they were terrified of him.
“Tae-hyun, why are those demons leaving? Did you order them to?”
“No, my skill wasn’t high enough, so they split up on their own.”
“What? Then where are they headed?”
“Bardo City.”
“?!”
Yang Sung-gyu was horrified.
They had killed Edaor to stop him from reaching Bardo City, and now the remaining forces were all going there anyway?
“We have to stop them!”
“Yeah. By stopping you, sir.”
“What did you say? You little punk, don’t tell me you’re trying to—!”
A chill raced up Yang Sung-gyu’s spine, and he immediately reached for his weapon.
But Tae-hyun was faster.
KWA-KWA-KWANG!
“Boys! Take good care of the old man!”
“Yes, Master!”
The demons faithfully obeyed the command of their newly acquired lord.
“To order us to attack someone who fought with us just moments ago... even we demons can’t match that kind of wickedness.”
“He’s more demonic than any demon!”
The muttering was just a bonus.
“You little bastard, I’ll remember this!”
“Haha, sir. Be sure to give my father my regards!”
Ignoring Yang Sung-gyu’s curses, Tae-hyun drew a finger across his throat.
Under the combined assault of the demons, Yang Sung-gyu didn’t last long before he fell.
This wasn’t an arena elimination.
This was real PK.
He wouldn’t be able to log in again for three days.
Your Infamy rises.
You have obtained items.
You have obtained items.
There had never been any need to mess with the antidote in the first place.
Once Edaor was defeated, Yang Sung-gyu would be left alone, and taking him down would be easy.
“Eek!”
Now the only one left was Lee Da-bi, and the moment her eyes met Tae-hyun’s, she flinched.
“Why are you so startled? We’re friends.”
“W-we are! We’re friends!”
Watching the two of them, Cain suddenly remembered his school days.
It was exactly like the local thugs who slung an arm around your shoulders and went, “Hey, we’re friends, right? Right?”
“We’re heading to Bardo City too, so you’re coming with us, right?”
“...”
Lee Da-bi desperately spun her thoughts.
What was the correct answer here?
“Well, if you don’t want to, that’s fine. Guess I’ll just have to keep whatever comes out of Bardo City for myself.”
“...I’ll come with you! Please let me come!”
“I thought you didn’t want to?”
“We’re friends! Friends do everything together!”
“Haha. That’s right, isn’t it?”
Tae-hyun nodded and looked at Lee Da-bi.
If things get messy later, I’ll pin the responsibility on her and run.
The moment I get a chance, I’m grabbing the loot and making a break for it!
The two smiled at each other, each thinking something completely different.