Let's Pay the Demons Back!

"Let's pay the demons back for what they did to us! This is not the land of demons!"

Technically, it was the Demon Realm, but no one was in the mood to argue semantics right now. Tae-hyun thrust his fist high into the air, rallying the surrounding Shadow Elves.

"Drive out the demons! Drive out the demons!"

"Dr-drive out... drive out the demons!"

"A Demon Duke is nothing special! They're just fools who disguise themselves as humans only to get stabbed by a single dagger and run away, or get surrounded by mages from the Magic Tower!"

A strangely specific critique! Yet, it was incredibly encouraging to the Shadow Elves. Even a Demon Duke wasn't invincible! If they struck at the right opening, they could definitely deal some damage!

"We will pay back the Demon Duke for what he did to us!"

"In the name of the Shadow Elves!"

"Let's go to the Demon Duke's territory and set it ablaze!"

"Let's go to the Demon Duke's territory and set it ablaze!"

"Let's go to the Demon Duke's territory and strike down the demons!"

"Let's go to the Demon Duke's territory and strike down the demons!"

"Let's unleash a foul plague upon the Demon Duke's lands, poison the air so no demon can breathe, blow up the bedrock to flood the place with lava, and then alter the climate to burn and smash everything to pieces! Let's turn the Demon Duke's territory into a scorched wasteland!"

"..."

"..."

"Huh? What's wrong? Repeat after me!"

"..."

Even the Shadow Elves were thinking, Whoa, isn't that a bit too extreme? But the effect was undeniable. Though Tae-hyun terrified them, they realized he was indeed a fearsome existence worthy of serving Akisus. Shadow Elves respected the strong—especially those who could fight alongside them!

"Akisus! Akisus!"

"Akisus! Akisus! Akisus!"

"Guys, I appreciate the enthusiasm, but let's keep it down."

"?!"

Tae-hyun quickly shushed them. These idiots were going to blow their cover before the battle even started!

Ugh... Gellendel is a bit much...

He was a textbook nutcase! Everyone had a friend like him back in school.

"Hey, wanna go to the capsule room?"

"Hey, capsule room?"

"Capsule room?"

"Capsule?"

A friend who was obsessively single-minded! Duke Gellendel of the Elves was exactly like that.

"Great adventurer Kim Tae-hyun. Shall we go ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠decapitate some Orcs?"

"Great and noble adventurer Kim Tae-hyun. Shall we go decapitate some Orcs? Ahem. I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠have prepared a pristine white horse. H-mph! It's not like I prepared it specifically for you or anything..."

"This is a friendship ring crafted from an Orc's skull... I'm only giving this to you because it's you. Don't go around telling people I gave it to you."

A lunatic who would keep pestering you to hunt Orcs until you finally gave in! Normally, if you ignore someone's messages and play dumb, they eventually stop. But Duke Gellendel seemed to have taken an immense, obsessive liking to Tae-hyun. It was a blessing that Tae-hyun operated under a hidden identity as an adventurer; otherwise, Gellendel might have marched right into the kingdom and staged a sit-in protest in the middle of the plaza.

What's wrong? My disguise is flawless.

Once an Elf fixated on something, they pursued it with terrifying madness! When a long-lived race acted that way, their capacity for being an absolute nuisance transcended human imagination. As a divine beast of the continent, Carbanog had witnessed countless such troublesome Elves.

Don't worry. He can't follow me here.

But the quest for when he returned to the continent wasn't the priority right now. Connecting the continental Elves with the Shadow Elves of the Demon Realm would make for a great quest, but what lay directly before Tae-hyun was a highly perilous Legendary Quest! And he had just cranked the difficulty up even higher!

The Shadow Elf tribe is strong, but they aren't powerful enough to go raise hell right in a Demon Duke's front yard.

High-ranking demons who ventured to the continent and became weakened were already over level 500 or 600. What about a Demon Duke residing in his own domain in the Demon Realm? He could easily be over level 1000!

Just making eye contact could probably kill me.

Any other player would have given up, but Tae-hyun felt a fire igniting within him. The more dangerous and difficult the situation, the more his gambler's instinct flared!

I just have to avoid a direct confrontation!

Demon Dukes were essentially the kings of each layer of the Demon Realm. How often did one actually run into a king? Most of the time, a king wouldn't even step out of his palace.

I never planned on a head-on fight anyway. Besides, hit-and-run tactics are the Shadow Elves' specialty.

In truth, the Shadow Elf tribe suited Tae-hyun much better than any of the continent's renowned, illustrious knightly orders or holy paladin orders. At first glance, this might sound absurd. How could a tribe of Shadow Elves be better than knightly or holy orders whose individual members were over level 500 or 600, grew exponentially stronger when grouped together, and possessed all kinds of buffs and overpowered equipment?

Our synergy is just too good.

Ever since the days of Pan-On 1, Tae-hyun had always fought from the position of the underdog. Most of his battles had been fought under highly disadvantageous conditions. Though in Pan-On 2, he had luckily managed to swallow a throne whole and now commanded entire knightly orders...

His true specialty was executing solo hit-and-run tactics to utterly screw over his opponents! In that regard, the Shadow Elves shared a striking resemblance to him. Their levels ranged from 300 to 400—with only the exceptionally strong warriors reaching the 500s—but they possessed excellent utility skills. Especially Stealth and Invisibility!

It's been a while since I've done this.

Tae-hyun's motivation blazed fiercely.

"Is that human really the human?"

"Yeah. I heard he's even more vicious than we are, so be careful."

"No way. A human being more vicious than us?"

"But they say it's true."

The Shadow Elves whispered among themselves as they passed by. Without even realizing it, Tae-hyun had been firmly branded as a highly dangerous individual!

"We strike the enemy before they even realize they're being attacked. Keep in mind that if we get caught, we all die."

"That's possible, but how do we actually deal any significant damage with just that?" Johansson asked, raising his hand.

Pulling off a couple of stealthy ambushes was well within Tae-hyun's capabilities. But would that really deal enough damage to force a Demon Duke to retreat? No king would be frightened just because a few bandits were causing minor trouble in his territory. A Demon Duke would react the same way.

"Excellent question. That's why I prepared this."

Tae-hyun pulled out a small vial. It was the wicked poison that had once afflicted the King and nobles of the Erangs Kingdom: Lalgral's Evil Venom.

Thanks to Tae-hyun personally raiding the demon's lair, he had obtained both the venom and its antidote! It was currently the most potent poison in his possession.

"We're going to unleash this."

Indeed.

"Let's unleash a foul plague upon ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the Demon Duke's lands, poison the air so no demon can breathe, blow up the bedrock to flood the place with lava, and then alter the climate to burn and smash everything to pieces! Let's turn the Demon Duke's territory into a scorched wasteland!"

His previous declaration had been one hundred percent serious! Tae-hyun had always been on the defensive, constantly blocking the demons' invasions, but this time, he intended to show them what he was truly capable of.

Carbanog munched on popcorn. As expected of Akisus! It's a brand-new experience every single time!

"We'll release Lalgral's Evil Venom into the air, and the Plague into the water. Let's see if they can survive after taking both hits."

The rankers listened to Tae-hyun's plan in sheer horror! Suddenly, one of them realized something and gasped.

"Wait a minute...? The Plague... I thought it sounded familiar, but isn't that that thing?!"

The infamous Plague Incident that had once turned Pan-On upside down! It was an event where a bunch of lunatic blacksmiths had appeared out of nowhere, obliterated major guilds, and unleashed a devastating plague. Although countless incidents occurred daily in Pan-On, the Plague Incident was so impactful that people still talked about it to this day. It had infected almost every single player on the Central Continent...

Once contracted, it was completely incurable. It was a terrifying curse that continuously drained one's HP until it was locked at a measly 1!

"Why on earth do you have that?!"

They had assumed that horrible plague had vanished into thin air once the issue was resolved! Suddenly, a terrifying realization dawned upon the rankers.

"N-no way...?!"

"Were those blacksmiths also acting on... your orders?!"

Currently, those very blacksmiths were working as Tae-hyun's loyal subordinates in his territory. If that was the case, then could the Plague Incident also have been...?

"No. I didn't cause that."

Tae-hyun spoke with absolute confidence. Because he truly hadn't done it! However, the rankers were already trembling in fear. A plot twist shocking enough to leave even top-tier rankers utterly dumbfounded! Kim Tae-hyun... what a truly terrifying bastard!

"Seriously, it wasn't me."

"R-right. Of course it wasn't."

These guys definitely don't believe me.

Their expressions practically screamed, We're only saying we believe you because you'll kill us if we don't! Tae-hyun opened his mouth to try and convince them again, but decided it was too much of a hassle and gave up. Whatever, let them think what they want. What did it matter if they misunderstood him a little?

"Anyway, since I have that bomb as well, our plan is more than solid."

A walking disaster! How could a single player carry so many catastrophes in his inventory?! Suddenly, Suana had an epiphany.

Th-this guy...?! Was he planning to use those on our guild?

If the Guild Alliance had continued their war against Tae-hyun, the place where those bombs and poisons would have been unleashed was...?!

"Wait a second. Unleashing poison and plague is all well and good, but won't we get infected too?"

"Of course I have the antidote."

"Phew. Thank goodness."

"See? Kim Tae-hyun isn't actually that bad of a guy, right?"

The rankers let out a collective sigh of relief. It was only natural, but they had been genuinely worried for a second!

"The Archisus Artillery and the rest of the troops will standby at the fortress. All rankers, follow me. We're launching a raid."

"..."

"...Hey...!!"

The rankers seethed with anger. His obvious intention to leave his own companions and highly expensive NPC subordinates safely behind in the fortress was glaringly clear!

"What? Are you suggesting we take the artillery on a stealth raid? How are we supposed to pull off a hit-and-run with giants that big and slow? Besides, my teammates need to stay at the fortress to prepare for any emergencies. Who else is going to command the artillery? Do you honestly think they'd listen to any of you?"

"W-well, that's true, but..."

"Hmm. You get your antidote after the job is done."

Growing annoyed, Tae-hyun resorted to raw leverage. The ranker's face instantly turned pale.

"I was quiet the whole time!"

"I didn't say a single word!"

"Ugh... I'll keep my mouth shut too, so please give me the antidote..."

The rankers pleaded, holding out their hands with tearful eyes. As Tae-hyun handed out the antidotes one by one, a sudden thought occurred to him, and he asked:

"By the way, aren't you guys doing your live broadcasts? Strangely, no information about this has leaked out at all."

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

Put yourself in our shoes!

How could we possibly broadcast this!

Shoveling dirt, getting constantly scolded, crying, begging for antidotes—the list of embarrassments went on and on!