Getting to Know You

It didn't matter if he didn't know the demon. He could just get to know them from now on.

'That's just how life works. Sometimes you have to deal with people you don't like,' Tae-hyun thought as he moved forward.

The moment he stepped inside, the cold intensified dramatically! There was no blizzard blowing, but the chill was bone-deep and eerie. It was a cold that brought to mind Frozeland on the Central Continent, but it was far quieter and more sinister. The absolute ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠silence of it made it all the more terrifying.

'Mmm. What a shame.' Tae-hyun smacked his lips. The opponents that suited Tae-hyun best were stupid demons, Edaor, or demons that wielded the element of fire. Since Tae-hyun possessed Sadiq's fire authority, he could absorb or gain immunity to most fire-based attacks. But he couldn't do that with the ice element.

'Seriously, that Sadiq guy is so useless. Shouldn't he have given me ice immunity too?'

Poor Sadiq! He was probably the only god in existence who would give so generously only to be cursed out in return.

'If it's the ice attribute... we're both in danger.' They were natural counters to each other. He would have to fight cautiously.

'Enemy spotted.'

Flutter!

As the spirit—a creature made of ice that seemed to be a hybrid of a spirit and a demon—waved its hand, the nearby blue ores shot upward, shifting the layout of the path.

'So the demons are constantly changing the path!' No wonder the path felt increasingly complex and volatile; it was a living, breathing maze.

'I'm fine, but I'm worried about the other rankers.' Tae-hyun possessed a cheat-like skill for situations like this—one that made him practically immune to any maze or labyrinth map! However, many of the other rankers were weak to these kinds of environments. Finding the path was usually the job of explorers or thieves; combat classes weren't supposed to navigate as well. Tae-hyun, who did everything from A to Z by himself, was the real anomaly here!

'Well, nothing I can do about it now. I'll just have to leave it to them.' Tae-hyun lowered his posture and moved forward under the cover of stealth. There was no need to fight every single demon here on his way in.

'A castle that's as massive as possible... and likely crawling with demons...'

Specifically, a place that would yield the most experience points when blown to smithereens! Passing by the blue crystal towers scattered everywhere, Tae-hyun finally spotted a decent-looking castle.

"What kind of demon is Ice Duke Furneus?"

"Furneus? Ah, that cold bastard? That's a relief."

"Why is that a relief?"

"Because he's a Demon Duke who's a step below the likes of Edaor, Adad, or Esla."

"Hmm. Is that so?"

Suddenly, Ice Duke Furneus felt incredibly easy to deal with!

'Ah. I almost lost my mind for a second there.' Underestimating a Demon Duke in the Demon Realm was pure madness. The only reason he had been able to defeat Edaor and Adad was because they had been summoned to the continent, and he had been able to lure them into traps. Facing a fully powered Demon Duke head-on in their own territory was a completely different story.

"Skip the commentary and just tell me what kind of demon Furneus is. Focus on his weaknesses. Where should I blow up to make him cry the hardest?"

"...I don't know about that. Furneus isn't a particularly famous Demon Duke. All that's known is... strangely enough, he commands spirit-type demons..."

"Ah, I saw that earlier."

"And there's also a rumor that he traps his enemies in ice to preserve them as permanent specimens?"

"...That's a bit creepy. Well, whatever. I'll find out the rest once I'm inside."

If he got caught inside the castle, he might end up as a frozen specimen, but Tae-hyun had already done too many crazy things to be intimidated by something like that.

Patter, patter!

Tae-hyun and Pogalo ran swiftly, scaling the walls of the ice castle and slipping through the gates. The wandering demon spirits didn't notice them at all. Tae-hyun's stealth skill was incredibly powerful, but... above all, the security was practically nonexistent.

'...The lack of security is actually making me uneasy.' What did it mean when a castle had no guards? It was basically saying, 'Come in if you dare!' Tae-hyun headed inside with a tense expression.

"H-Heh... H-Haaah... *Gasp*..."

'So this is it!'

The moment they stepped inside, they were greeted by an overwhelming wave of cold! The outside had been cold enough, but the interior defied imagination. It was a powerful force that even pierced through Tae-hyun's Divine Authority. Indeed, the power of a Demon Duke in the Demon Realm was on a completely different level.

It had been a while since he had seen a status ailment window. Tae-hyun glanced to his side. Pogalo was already starting to freeze over. As a mere demon, his resistance was far weaker than Tae-hyun's, who was an Apostle. In any case, they couldn't just stand there. Tae-hyun decided to try what he could.

'I don't know if this will work.'

Whoosh!

Tae-hyun engraved the flame rune onto his own body. Under normal circumstances, this would have been pure madness, but Tae-hyun didn't take damage from Sadiq's flames; instead, they restored his HP.

'!!' Tae-hyun was astonished. Sadiq...! They really did say even dog dung had its uses!

"W-What on earth is this power?" Pogalo was shocked. Could Akisus really wield this kind of fire authority?

"It's the flame of Akisus."

"????"

Having regained his composure, Tae-hyun scanned the castle's ground floor. It was a vast hall that seemed to stretch on endlessly, dotted with crystal pillars and doors lining both sides. Normally, he would have rushed to find the stairs to the second floor, but...

"What are you doing?"

"Looting."

"A-Are you completely fearless?! What if you get caught?!"

"I'll just take them out before they can make a sound."

Tae-hyun replied casually and began opening the doors. Laying waste to the place was one thing, but he had to grab as much loot as possible before doing so!

Click, click, click!

Tae-hyun opened the doors, checked inside, and slipped back out with the fluid, practiced movements of an expert thief. This was clearly not his first rodeo. His actions were incredibly precise!

'Is this guy really an Apostle? Well, I suppose he is the Apostle of Akisus...' Pogalo cursed Tae-hyun inwardly. No matter how he looked at it, Tae-hyun's behavior was completely unbecoming of an Apostle.

Swish, swish!

Tae-hyun swept up items indiscriminately. 'Maybe I should have borrowed Towang-i?'

As expected of a Demon Duke's castle, there were plenty of expensive and valuable treasures. 'I should focus on light and expensive things.'

The crystal and ice sculptures would probably fetch a high price if he brought them out, but Tae-hyun didn't get greedy. He prioritized small, expensive, and shiny things first!

'This should cover the territory's operating costs for a few months.'

There were various jeweled necklaces with stat options, as well as paintings. While the necklaces weren't good enough for Tae-hyun to wear himself, putting them up on the auction house would easily net him hundreds or thousands of gold. He could display the paintings and small sculptures in his territory or sell them...

Ice Duke Furneus had been far too overconfident in his own power. Sometimes, there were bound to be intruders who could stroll through his castle while cloaked in Sadiq's flames!

"!!"

Tae-hyun, who had been looting calmly and systematically, suddenly froze in his tracks.

'What's this?'

A room he stumbled upon in ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the middle of his looting spree! Instead of treasure, the room contained people trapped inside pillars of ice.

"Are these the guys the Demon Duke locked up?"

"Most likely."

'?'

'Huh? I don't recognize those outfits.'

The heroes of the continent's famous religious orders! Those very heroes were currently trapped inside these ice pillars. Even religious attire had trends; the gear worn by the current paladins of the Phytos Church was different from what their predecessors wore hundreds of years ago. That was why Tae-hyun hadn't recognized the equipment.

'Just how ancient are these heroes...'

The righteous orders of the continent had always produced heroes who ran themselves ragged to protect the land from evil. While some heroes left their names in history and met peaceful ends, others faded from everyone's memory and perished in obscurity. Ice ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Duke Furneus had frozen the heroes of the orders that opposed him and put them on display.

'Now that's a quest I can get behind.' He had been planning to pay him back anyway! Even if he didn't owe anything, paying them back with interest was the Akisus style!

"They don't look like they'll fetch any money. Shall we move on?" Pogalo asked from beside him. To a demon like Pogalo, the people trapped inside those ice pillars didn't look like they would yield any profit.

"What are you talking about? We have to save them!"

"...Did you eat something bad, Apostle of Akisus?"

"You seem to be misunderstanding something. I'm originally the type of person who saves people like this."

"????"

Pogalo wore an expression of utter bewilderment.

"Ah. I see. You plan to free them and hold them hostage to extort money from the other orders?"

"That's also a good—no, I'm just going to rescue them, so shut up."

Pogalo was tempting Tae-hyun like a true demon! Of course, Pogalo wasn't actually trying to tempt him. He simply couldn't comprehend how an Apostle of Akisus could be so kind! While holding them hostage to extort the orders was a decent idea, Tae-hyun had no intention of doing so. In times like this, showing kindness was far more profitable.

'I don't know what kind of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠heroes they are, but they must have been pretty incredible to be captured by a Demon Duke.'

Since they were ancient heroes, when they returned to their respective orders, the churches would cry, "Oh my goodness! Our esteemed seniors!" in sheer gratitude. And after that?

"Oh, Your Majesty! We failed to recognize your greatness! Please accept these contribution points and shop to your heart's content in our holy treasury!" That's how it would go!

'I'm saving their seniors. Shouldn't they do at least this much for me?'

The problem was how to free them! Tae-hyun stared down at his hammer. At that, Carvanog frantically tried to stop him.

'Mmm. That's a very good point.' It would certainly shatter Furneus's ice seal, but it would probably shatter the heroes trapped inside as well! Tae-hyun gave up on the hammer and pondered.

'Come on, Carvanog. There's a limit. Don't put too much faith in Sadiq. Honestly, just resisting the cold with his flames right now is already far beyond what I usually expect from him.'

Just enduring the powerful curse blanketing this castle was something to be grateful for. If it had been any other ranker, they would have fled immediately or frozen solid before they could even leave! It seemed simple, but Sadiq's authority was playing a massive role. Although Tae-hyun said that, he summoned the flames anyway. There was no harm in trying, after all.

"!!!!"

[!!!!]