The Demon Duke's Wrath and a Demon's Survival Instincts

"Hah! To play dumb... You pathetic mortals act exactly as expected, playing such ridiculous tricks!"

"No, seriously, who are you—"

"I have heard enough! Die!"

Ice Duke Furneus looked down at the players with a freezing gaze. How dare these filthy mortals, hired by Adad, lie so shamelessly to his face! They were no longer worth keeping alive.

"S-Surrender! We surrender! Lord Furneus! We surrender!"

The quick-witted players gave up on running and surrendered. It was a smart choice. They realized it was already too late to escape. Surrendering meant taking a hit to their reputation and church affinity, but at least they would keep their lives... And above all, they could ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠try to get under Furneus's wing and aim for another quest.

A brilliant choice! ...Or it would have been, had the timing and situation been different. Right now, Furneus was absolutely furious. What Demon Duke wouldn't be pissed when some intruders teamed up with Adad to unleash poison and plague upon his territory? Normally, he might have accepted them as slaves, but right now, he had absolutely no intention of doing ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠so.

"Die!"

"Wait, wait, wait—!"

Crash!

Just like that, Furneus began slaughtering the guilds one by one.

"Shield of Saia! Great Protection!"

"Everyone, get behind the shields! The tanks will hold—"

"Hell Frost Storm!"

Rumble!

This was what it meant to face a near-level-1000 Demon Duke in the Demon Realm. A literal natural disaster! Only after the guilds trying to make a stand were completely wiped out did the large guilds finally snap out of it.

'We're going to be completely wiped out at this rate!'

They had greedily chased Kim Tae-hyun into the Demon Realm. They had taken the Demon Realm far too lightly! The demons and monsters they had encountered so far were strong, yes, but they were still at a level that could be hunted with some casualties. A Demon Duke was on an entirely different level.

"Run... Argh!"

That day in the Demon Realm, three leaders of large guilds were logged out, and their core guild members were utterly decimated. More than half of the forces of the large guilds from the Erangs Kingdom were wiped out. Of course, they could log back in after a few days, but the death penalty and the loss of equipment were massive blows. It was a hit so severe they would have to halt guild activities for a while and focus entirely on recovery!

Ironically, the Guild Alliance and the Midas Guild suffered no damage from this incident.

-Hey, shouldn't we follow them too?

-...Let's not pick a fight with Kim Tae-hyun for no reason. If we butt into his quest...

-Leader. The Guild Alliance is staying put, though?

-...Cowardly bastards! They must be planning to curry favor with Kim Tae-hyun.

-Ah, then...

-We stay put too!

-...Yes, sir...

They had stayed in the fortress, warily watching each other! The Guild Alliance had already clashed with Tae-hyun several times, and the Midas Guild had recently picked a fight with him. Both were in a position where they had to walk on eggshells around Tae-hyun! They were already fighting a life-and-death territory war in the Auston Kingdom, so they didn't want to provoke Tae-hyun, the king of the neighboring Atali Kingdom. If they were unlucky, they could end up getting beaten from both sides.

The result of their cautious hesitation was this.

"N-No! Nooooo!"

Su Ning screamed.

Currently, the members of the Guild Alliance were split into two groups. One was in the Erangs Kingdom. Led by Su Ning, they planned to meet the King of Erance and say, "Ahem, I am the true King of the Auston Kingdom. Split in two, you say? No, I am the legitimate ruler!" and then formally participate in the quest. Participating as a king was entirely different from participating as a common adventurer.

Su Ning also wanted to ride the World Tree to the Demon Realm.

The atmosphere was enough to hypnotize even those who had no interest in the Demon Realm! However, as a king, Su Ning had no choice but to stay behind to meet the King of Erance. He had no idea that this would save his life!

Still, not giving up, Su Ning had sent the elites and rankers of the Guild Alliance to the Demon Realm first. If he couldn't eat, his guild members had to! He had been relieved to receive reports that they had successfully established themselves in the fortress despite suffering immensely from the demons...

But now, dozens of broadcasts popping up on the community boards were shattering Su Ning's mental state.

They were shocking videos of the Demon Duke personally grinding down the large guilds. Watching a whole party get logged out with a single swing of his spear made Su Ning despair.

"I was insane! I should never have sent them! Nothing good ever happens when you get involved with Kim Tae-hyun!!"

This time, they weren't even fighting Tae-hyun, so he thought it would be fine. Who could have guessed things would turn out like this!

"How on earth do I recover from this loss... If we exclude the ones who went to the Demon Realm, our territory war with the Midas Guild... Wait, if the Midas Guild suffered the same losses..."

"Guild Master!"

"W-What is it?"

"...Our guild members didn't die over there."

"...What!?"

Su Ning was startled. They didn't die?

"Did they actually manage to escape?"

"No... They didn't go there in the first place."

"...Why...?"

"...They said they were too wary of Kim Tae-hyun, so they just sat tight in the fortress."

"......"

"......"

A heavy silence fell over the room. Su Ning didn't know whether to be angry or happy.

'These bastards...!'

He knew the Kim Tae-hyun phobia within the guild was severe, but he hadn't expected it to be this bad! Su Ning let out a deep sigh.

'Yes! Let's look on the bright side!'

While the large guilds of the Erangs Kingdom were being slaughtered, the Guild Alliance had managed to survive. He had been highly annoyed by the Erangs guilds looking down on them, thinking, 'We heard ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the Guild Alliance has gotten pretty weak lately? Maybe we can take them.'

"Ah. Did the Midas Guild die too?"

"No. Apparently, they just stayed in the fortress as well."

"...I see..."

"????"

"What the f*ck?!"

"Selling crude ornaments! Five thousand gold!"

"We are so good at business! We are genius giants!"

The giants belonging to the Archisus Artillery were excitedly roaming around the fortress with their stalls. The joy of being a merchant, something they had never felt in their lives! Lee Da-bi nodded with a pleased smile.

"That is exactly what 'business' is."

"Ah! So this is 'business'!"

Business was business. Lee Da-bi, who had guided these giants, received bonus experience points. On top of that, an additional skill!

'...Gold Absorption?!'

The skills of the Archisus Church never ceased to amaze her the more she grew her character! Meanwhile, the players in the fortress were utterly dumbfounded.

"Wait... these ornaments were temporary?!"

"Buy quickly if you want to use it. The price goes up again in an hour."

"Ugh!"

"What kind of place is this...!"

'Huh. That's really fascinating.'

Tae-hyun, who was flying through the skies of the Demon Realm on Yong-yong, looked at the message window in surprise. Just how much money were those rankers and high-level players throwing around?

"Ahem! Avatar of Archisus."

"Why are you calling me, Pogalo?"

The demon Pogalo cleared his throat and spoke.

"If this dragon is to fly freely, perhaps it would be best to set me down on the ground."

"You want me to drop you right now? Well, if suicide is your hobby..."

"N-No! That's not what I meant!"

Pogalo was trying any trick he could to escape Tae-hyun! He was already anxious because this guy, the Avatar of Archisus, was clearly plotting something against a Demon Duke.

'What on earth is he doing?'

Naturally, Tae-hyun hid his plan to remodel the Demon Duke's castle and pull an eat-and-run from Pogalo. There was no need to let a demon in on it. Because of this, Pogalo couldn't help but be dying of curiosity.

'He was tinkering with something... Is he having those goblins build a trap?'

Thinking that, he found it ridiculous. Did he really think making a few traps would work against a Demon Duke? Especially in the Duke's own castle?

"Avatar of Archisus. Traps won't work. How foolish."

"Pogalo."

"?"

"How do you think Ice Duke Furneus will react when he sees you?"

"...Well... I doubt he would react very favorably."

There was a common prejudice that demons would be friendly with one another, but that was absolutely not the case. Sowing discord and creating strife were the innate traits of demons! There was a reason why demons had never managed to conquer the world. If it looked like someone was about to succeed, the other demons would drag them down by the ankles.

Furthermore, Furneus was currently extremely heated, so there was a 99% chance he would kill Pogalo on sight, thinking, 'What pathetic excuse for a demon is trespassing on my land!'

'He wouldn't even have time to use his Speech skill.'

"I'm on my way to meet Furneus right now..."

"?????????"

Pogalo doubted his ears. What did he just say?!

"I'd like you to cooperate."

"You crazy bastard! Turn the dragon around! What are you doing! Do you want to die?!"

Pogalo struggled wildly in his bonds. No matter how terrifying the Avatar of Archisus was, this was too much. This was suicide!

"Pogalo."

"Aaaaargh! I won't die! I can't die here! I, Pogalo—"

"Pogalo. If you don't shut up in three seconds, I'm going to turn you into a bomb and throw you at Furneus."

"Ah. Yes. What can I do for you?"

Pogalo's anger was instantly managed, and he became exceedingly polite! He wasn't called the Demon of Eloquence for nothing.

"So do your absolute best to help. Since things have turned out this way, shouldn't you work hard if you want to survive?"

'What an Archisus-like... No, his opponent literally is Archisus. What a wicked bastard!'

Pogalo wanted to curse, but he quickly changed his thoughts. Curses didn't work on this guy anyway. Dragging him to the jaws of death and then saying, "Hey, if you want to live, do your best," was just cruel. Right now, doing his best seemed to mean running away!

"I... I am not a combat-type demon."

"Even if you're not a combat type, you have to fight when it's time to fight. Do you just want to die? Spit out Furneus's weakness."

"How am I supposed to know what I don't—!"

Sensing a very real crisis where he might actually be offered up to Furneus, Pogalo's brain began to spin at high speed.

"Three, two, one..."

"I-I have a good idea!"

"Better than turning you into a bomb?"

"...Of course! It's something even that bastard Furneus would find highly enticing!"

Pogalo cried out with utmost sincerity. Hearing the desperation in his voice, Tae-hyun felt inclined to at least hear him out.

"What is it?"