Yujun... What Have You Done?
"Yujun... what on earth have you been doing out there?"
At Do Jiyun's words, Yujun scratched his head.
"Even so, I have to meet that witch."
"A pureblood witch—and you said the two of you already fell out? Then a path of thorns through the Demon Realm is as good as set. Ah. No, wait."
Do Jiyun caught his hand.
"Let's turn this crisis into an opportunity."
"How?"
"Demons and witches don't get along. In a sense, they're enemies, each fighting for their own gain. We use that."
"Don't witches just run dungeons? You can't really call that hating demons, can you?"
Do Jiyun shook her head.
"In War of the Gods, at least, witches despised demons. High-ranking ones especially. Demons with titles—counts, marquises, that sort."
"Why?"
"I don't really know myself. I died dozens of times taking commissions from a witch, and the job was always the same: kill a demon who held the rank of marquis."
"Wasn't that just that one witch?"
"No. Witches generally hate demons. They say they're arrogant beyond their station. The reason witches run dungeons is so they can gather demons in one place and kill them easily."
"Just because they dislike them?"
"There could be other reasons."
He could feel, plainly, how little he knew of the Demon Realm. He had come here and cleared dungeons, nothing more. The relationship between demons and witches had never once crossed his mind.
Yujun spoke.
"All right. Say witches hate demons. How do we use that?"
"Why do you think demons keep setting foot in witches' dungeons?"
Do Jiyun answered with a question of her own.
"The clear rewards, I'd assume."
"Exactly. What you can get inside a dungeon is too sweet to resist. Demons in particular will do anything if it makes them stronger. The moment word spreads of an impregnable dungeon, they swarm it—even when the place is dangerous enough that dying is a certainty."
"Don't tell me you want to lure the demons in. By siding with the witch?"
"Wow, you caught on immediately? Better not to cross paths with a witch if we can help it, but if we have to meet her anyway, I'd rather we end up on the same side."
"You think she'll listen to us?"
"You said you have to meet her because there's something you need to ask. Is there another way?"
"Fine."
"We should find the witch first. Do you happen to know her name?"
"Manuela. That's her name."
"Unfortunately, I've never heard it."
"Have you ever met a pureblood witch, Jiyun?"
"Not even in the game."
"That's not encouraging."
Yujun sighed, and Do Jiyun looked at him as if she couldn't believe her ears.
"And you still dragged me along?"
"Two is better than one."
"And three is better than two, is it not?"
Paranet, quiet until then, chimed in with a flourish.
"..."
"...What are you?"
"Master! Leave the search for the witch to me."
"To you?"
"I have an uncanny nose for a witch's scent."
"That sounds kind of perverted..."
Do Jiyun muttered it, but Paranet pretended not to hear and pressed on.
"In any event, I can say with certainty that I am the man for this task."
"Have you ever even seen a witch?"
"Back when I was an alchemist..."
As if recalling the past, Paranet gazed at the distant sky. Skeleton though he was, the look was strangely wistful.
"I once came to the Demon Realm to gather alchemical materials. In those days my strength was nothing to speak of, so it was a gamble with my life. Over cliffs, across seas... even unto the sky—no. In truth, reaching the Demon Realm was possible only because several coincidences happened to stack atop one another. To say I came for materials is a lie."
"Then why bother lying...?"
Do Jiyun asked, dumbfounded.
"An alchemist who risks his life crossing into the Demon Realm for materials. It has a certain air about it, does it not? Heh heh."
Paranet said it with a smug little grin.
Do Jiyun's face went flat.
"Yujun. Is your summon right in the head? He seems a little off."
"He's always been like that. Be generous."
Yujun turned his gaze on Paranet.
"Still. Coming to the Demon Realm at that low a level really was suicide."
"Indeed. Even the small demonic beasts here were stronger than I. In this place, I was utterly the weakest."
"And yet you somehow didn't die."
"I brushed past death more than once... Heaven's fortune followed me. And then I met her—no. I met a witch."
"...Her?"
"She is a stranger to me now. My one true master is you alone, Master. In any case, that witch saved me when I was on the verge of being eaten by a demonic beast."
"A witch saved you? Why?"
"Yes. After saving me, she allowed me to stay in a great mansion within her dungeon. I suspect she required a servant to see to the menial work. From then on, I served as the witch's attendant for several years."
"Hold on. This actually happened, right?"
"Yes. Setting aside what I said at the very first, there is not a shred of falsehood in my words. Please believe me."
For an alchemist who had not even reached level 100, it was quite the turbulent life.
"Keep going, then."
"Pardon? That is the end."
"What? What does working under a witch have to do with being good at finding one?"
"Intuition."
"Then what was all that earlier about smelling something?"
"A figurative expression."
"So you can find a witch by feel? In a Demon Realm this vast?"
"Yes. I simply have a feeling that I can!"
"Hmm."
It was rare for Paranet to speak with such certainty. Yujun thought it over, then nodded.
"We don't have another way. Go on and look."
"I need only find the witch we saw before, do I not?"
"Right."
Come to think of it, Paranet had witnessed Manuela as well. It had not been her true body, but neither had it been a complete illusion.
"Then I shall trace that witch's mana."
"You can do that?"
"We shall know once I try."
"I'll search in my own way too. If you get a feeling, say so."
"Yes."
Yujun decided to use Ancient Magic. The spells contained within it were beyond counting, and among them were several of the searching kind. He meant to find the witch with those.
He spread his mana. Threads of it, thin as silk, fanned out in every direction, and he planted them in the small demonic beasts that inhabited the Demon Realm.
That was when Do Jiyun spoke.
"Yujun. You use magic too?"
"Yes."
"During the Species Tournament, didn't you mostly just use a sword?"
"I didn't have a magic skill back then."
The only thing worth calling a skill in those days had been Frozen Field. Obtaining Ancient Magic was comparatively recent.
"I was about to use a search spell myself..."
"Go ahead. Two are better than one."
"True."
Yujun lifted his head.
An ash-gray sky. The Demon Realm had no sun, and no clouds—a landscape wholly unlike Earth or the Infinite Tower Continent. Even breathing was not entirely comfortable. Something sticky seemed to cling to his lungs, and moment by moment a faint sense of ill omen crept in, as if the Demon Realm itself did not welcome him.
"This definitely isn't a place you want to stay long."
"Ah. I thought the same."
Do Jiyun agreed. In the game, the place had only imposed a stat-reduction penalty. It had never worn on the mind like this.
Yujun stood in the middle of the wasteland and cast search magic again and again. About an hour passed that way.
There was a result. Not the witch—a procession of dozens of demons. The Demon Realm was so vast that running into demons was no easy thing.
"What should we do?"
"We kill them."
"Judging by the carriages, there may be a demon with a noble title among them. Yujun, can't we just ignore them? If we attack and announce ourselves to the Demon Realm, it could affect the search for the witch..."
"It's fine."
Yujun said it plainly.
"Unless our opponent is a Demon King, we have no reason to be afraid."
Demons gave a considerable amount of experience. Here in the Demon Realm, rather than on the Continent, that gain grew even larger. He could not let the chance slip.
Do Jiyun nodded.
"All right."
"Wait here. I'll go alone. Paranet."
"Yes."
"I'll call the coordinates. Handle the spatial movement."
"Understood!"
Do Jiyun cut in.
"Um, I'll just come with you. Being left alone makes me more uneasy."
"Then come along."
After the spatial shift, Yujun concealed himself behind a nearby rock. The procession of demons was visible, heading somewhere, eyes constantly sweeping their surroundings. Ambushes along the road were common in the Demon Realm, and their guard was bound to be tight.
"I think there are a few high-ranking demons mixed in. At that level, they'd be viscounts at the very least."
Do Jiyun kept her voice low. Yujun nodded.
"About what level is a viscount?"
"Four hundred eighty at minimum. That's the floor. You should assume the enemy is around level five hundred or higher and move accordingly."
"Then how did players in War of the Gods hunt demons?"
"You're probably the only one who came to the Demon Realm and went around hunting. Everyone else crept about in hiding. There weren't many players who came here to begin with."
"And weren't you one of them?"
"I was a special case. I kept digging because I thought there might be items of Mythic grade or higher here. The consumables were just an excuse."
Yujun's face stiffened for a moment. Does she know too?
"Items above Mythic? Those exist?"
"No. Nothing certain. I happened to overhear it while I was in the Demon Realm. Only that Mythic isn't the end."
"Is that why you kept going back and forth between the Demon Realm and the Continent?"
"Yes. Honestly, there's no way I could ever beat you on spending alone."
"...Mm."
"Which is why I'm curious. What did you get as your perk? Even I—"
"Jiyun. I think it's about time we got ready."
Yujun cut her off. He had no desire to reveal his perk. Why would he? It was absurdly broken. Nothing good would come of saying it.
"You told me to stay put anyway."
"Right. Oh—and we never formed a party."
Yujun sent a party request, and Do Jiyun accepted. The moment she checked the party window, her eyes went wide.
"Wait, you're really level 352...? It was true?"
"Why would I bother claiming a lower level? I told you I wasn't lying."
Yujun drew up his mana. These days he hardly used a sword. Magic was simply too convenient, and unable to let go of that convenience, he meant to use Ancient Magic again.
They don't know we're here.
The demons were still a fair distance off.
Shall I cast a proper spell for once?
He had time to spare. Yujun reversed the arrangement of his mana, and the ground heated until it scorched. Merely releasing mana and inverting its array was enough to exert a profound influence on the surroundings. The ash-gray sky bled red. A tremendous quantity of mana began to pour out of his body.
The demons sensed the disturbance.
In that instant, a single enormous meteor plunged from the sky at terrifying speed.
Meteor
Ancient Magic — the meteor spell manifests.
Among spells of great destructive power, it ranked near the very top. Meteor had originally existed as its own skill, but by borrowing the power of Ancient Magic, casting it was possible as well. And now the spell's effect had been amplified by various items and titles. The meteor falling toward them was of a size no ordinary Meteor could match.
KWA-KWA-KWA-BOOM! KWA-KWA-KWA-BOOM!
The colossal meteor collided with the ground, precisely along the path the demon procession had been traveling.
FWOOOSH!
Air and earth shuddered together, and the ground where the meteor struck became a sea of fire. As time passed, the flames only grew fiercer. Faced with a sight that left one stunned just to look at it, Do Jiyun's mouth fell open.
"Are you trying to make an enemy of the entire Demon Realm?"
"No."
"Then why go that far...!"
"I didn't know my Meteor would turn out like that either."
"..."