A Clash of Dukes

Tae-hyun was dodging by the skin of his teeth. He had Sadik's Flame, the Authority of Archisus, and an absurd Luck stat, but Furneus's level was simply overwhelming. If he took a direct hit from one of those ice spears, there was no telling what kind of curse he would be slapped with. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠A movement speed debuff or getting frozen solid would leave him dead in his tracks, rendering his Luck stat useless. Even if he managed to dodge, any injury to Yong-yong would still be a massive loss!

It was a tense situation, but Furneus was feeling just as anxious.

Edaor, you cowardly bastard, what are you aiming for?!

Although the Demon Dukes all boasted of being the strongest, none of them underestimated the others' power. A Demon Duke was, by definition, a ruler of an entire layer of the Demon Realm. Without absolute power, governing such a territory was impossible. And now, he was facing two of them! If Edaor and Adad had joined forces, Furneus couldn't afford to let his guard down for even ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a second.

Of course, defending his own territory gave Furneus a massive home-field advantage. However, he had been blindsided by a surprise attack, his domain was currently contaminated, and his subordinate spirits were running amok in a frenzy. The longer this dragged on, the worse it would get for him! He needed to defeat Edaor—or at least force him to retreat—to buy time to regroup. He had to summon new spirits, cleanse the contamination... yet Edaor refused to engage in close combat, choosing instead to poke at him from a distance to stall. From Furneus's perspective, it was incredibly suspicious!

"We have come here under our master's orders!"

"Graaaagh!"

"!"

"Damn it...!"

Furneus gnashed his teeth at the demonic roars echoing from behind. The dimensional gate and demon summoning skills—Edaor's Authority skills that Tae-hyun had activated upon his arrival—were finally bearing fruit.

"For the glory of Edaor!"

"Power to the Master of the Greatsword!"

Led by superior demons, Edaor's demonic army poured out of the gate! But the moment they emerged... they hesitated.

"Wait, isn't something a bit off?"

"Our master should be in seclusion right now..."

"...I don't know, but we've been summoned, so let's just fight!"

Though Edaor's subordinates were bewildered, they had been summoned, so they charged forward. Tae-hyun immediately barked an order.

"Ignore the spirits! Target Furneus!"

Flash! Receiving a multitude of bonuses, the superior demons lunged from all directions. The superior demons of the Demon Realm possessed a level of power that was on a completely different scale from those found on the continent. Furneus spat out a curse and conjured a raging blizzard to hold them back.

It was an incredibly devastating spell, but the demons of the underworld fought back with rabid ferocity.

"Burning Blood Soul!"

One of the demons sacrificed itself, instantly applying a powerful buff to all surrounding allies.

Wow. They aren't playing around. Tae-hyun watched in awe. Their sheer savagery was on a completely different level compared to the battles on the continent!

Meanwhile, Pogalo was frantically gesturing from below. His frantic hand-waving clearly meant, Can I run away now? Tae-hyun nodded. Pogalo had done more than enough. The rest was up to Tae-hyun.

Ah, that... The reason was simple: just in case! Rather than revealing that he and Pogalo were working together, he figured it was better to keep their relationship a secret. He might be able to exploit it again in the future! Just like those winged demons he had forged as statues and left forgotten somewhere on the continent.

Tae-hyun preferred to set up as many contingency plans as possible. Since he had so many enemies, these little escape hatches and hidden cards often proved incredibly useful down the line.

I don't have massive expectations for it, but it might come in handy later.

As Tae-hyun continued to stall, countless viewers on the stream suddenly turned into self-proclaimed "Demon Realm experts" and ran their mouths. Of course, they were immediately shut down by others.

Reaching level 200 meant a player was high-level enough to aim for the ranker boards. The fact that Tae-hyun hadn't even surpassed level 200 yet was a secret known to absolutely no one!

When the level 200 barrier was first broken, players assumed the level 300 milestone would follow shortly. However, the amount of experience required for each subsequent level increased exponentially! Even the top-tier rankers were currently stuck in the mid-to-late 200s. Yet, looking at Tae-hyun's sheer strength, people couldn't help but wonder, Could he actually be...?

The internet was a terrifying place. Once a narrative took hold, it was almost impossible to change, no matter what anyone said. There were still players who vividly remembered being scammed by Tae-hyun in Pan-On 1, but they were a tiny minority compared to his massive, newly formed global fanbase!

First of all, my main objective is complete.

He had dealt a massive blow to Ice Duke Furneus, severing his contracts with his spirits! On top of that, he had leveled up, earned various titles, and received massive reputation bonuses. He had been handsomely rewarded for that single, powerful spear thrust. The problem now was the aftermath! How was he supposed to get out of here in one piece?

...If I leave him alone, he'll head straight back to his castle, right?

Furneus would surely be thrilled when he saw his castle. Look up there! Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No... it's my castle?! ...or something like that.

I need to buy more time, but this is getting a bit terrifying.

The more time Furneus was given, the more he would recover and unleash even more ferocious attacks. In contrast, Tae-hyun's transformation into Edaor had a strict time limit, and he wasn't in a position to engage in a head-on brawl. Should he just reveal his true identity as the Pope of Archisus and fight? No, doing that would completely ruin his plans...

"Huh?"

Tae-hyun spotted something flying toward them from the distant sky of the Demon Realm. What on earth was that?

No, that shouldn't be finished yet. And that's not a castle... it's an army!

A demonic army! It wasn't just a small force like the one Tae-hyun had summoned through the dimensional gate; this was a massive host of elites that literally blotted out the sky. Tae-hyun tensed. With his Edaor transformation time running out, if Furneus's reinforcements had arrived before he could make his escape...

I thought so too, but there are no absolutes in this world...

Tae-hyun gripped his weapon and steeled his resolve. If the battle dragged on, he was prepared to abandon his current plan and declare himself the Pope of Archisus. Making that declaration in the Demon Realm would trigger the completion of one of his class quests, which would reward him with another Authority skill... He could settle for that and focus entirely on escaping!

However, events unfolded in a far more bizarre direction than Tae-hyun could have ever anticipated.

"Furneus! How dare you defile my domain?! Go ahead, try spraying that pathetic ice of yours again!"

The face of the Demon Duke was incredibly familiar. It was... Adad!

In the past, Tae-hyun had accidentally ended up in Adad's territory after falling into the Demon Realm alongside the Archisus Church NPCs. Adad was a Demon Duke who harbored a deep hatred for both Edaor and Archisus! Back then, Tae-hyun had shown him Edaor's greatsword and lied, saying, I'm going to attack that bastard Edaor, so please send me back. Hehe, I have absolutely nothing to do with Archisus. Thanks to that deception, he had managed to escape the Demon Realm.

...Of course, his cover had been blown at the very last second!

If I get caught, I'm dead meat! Tae-hyun's intuition screamed in warning. If his true identity was revealed, Adad and Furneus would immediately say, ...Let's put our differences aside and murder this bastard first!

Fortunately, instead of sparing a glance at Tae-hyun, Adad roared at Furneus first. He was a majestic figure with a massive, rock-hard physique, wielding a giant hammer—the very same weapon he had used to cast Earthquake during their previous encounter. He exuded the imposing aura of a warrior king, standing in stark contrast to Furneus, who possessed a human-sized, agile, mage-like appearance.

Adad is a classic warrior type. Edaor is a hybrid, and Furneus is a pure mage... Tae-hyun rapidly organized the information, trying to grasp the situation. Every single piece of data he gathered here was worth its weight in gold—precious knowledge that no other player in Pandemonium Online had ever laid eyes on!

But why is Adad here? The answer presented itself almost immediately.

"Furneus! Go ahead and try shooting your ice at me!"

"Shut your mouth! To think you would join hands with Edaor... For someone who boasts of being the strongest warrior among demons, you have sunk incredibly low!"

"What? What nonsense are you spouting... Do you think you can confuse me with such rubbish? You really are a pathetic mage who can only poke from afar! Do you honestly think I wouldn't find out what you did to my domain?!"

The one thing all Demon Dukes had in common was their incredibly short tempers! The moment Furneus had realized plague and poison were spreading through his land, he had immediately sent a "gift" to Adad's territory in his rage. Having a sudden ice storm ravage his domain out of nowhere had naturally sent Adad into a towering fury.

Of course, Furneus was even more dumbfounded. There was a limit to shamelessness! How could Adad spout such nonsense when Edaor was standing right next to him? Even if Demon Dukes were the most cunning and shameless creatures in the entire Demon Realm, this was taking it way too far!

"You shameless, Archisus-like bastard! How dare you play the victim?!"

"W-What did you say...? Take that back, Furneus! Take it back, or I swear on my name that I will slaughter you where you stand!"

"Edaor is standing right next to you! How dare you shamelessly play word games with me!"

At Furneus's words, Adad turned his head.

"...? There's no one there."

"Are you finished with your delusions?"

"E-Edaor, you bastard...?! Adad, you absolute fool! Are you not even angry that Edaor betrayed you?!"

"I see you've finally lost your mind."