Chapter 65
Chapter 65
Chapter 65 Am Human Too
First, there are two main ways that transcendents obtain power.
The first is gaining power through the faith of followers, the second is gaining power by taking control of a world.
Naturally, the second method is more difficult, but the magnitude of power increase is much greater.
And it's through this method of taking control of worlds that gods and Demon Kings are divided.
Those who take control of worlds by securing a majority of believers through proselytizing are gods, while those who directly descend with avatar bodies to take control of worlds are Demon Kings.
You might think that the Demon King side would be much more advantageous, but that wasn't the case either.
The method of taking control of worlds through proselytizing is difficult but has no penalties.
However, the method of descending avatar bodies means that if the avatar body dies, the main body also suffers such a great blow that it must recuperate for a very long time.
In such cases, they could be attacked by other transcendents and lose their status and fall from grace, so Demon Kings couldn't carelessly attempt world invasions.
Gods take worlds with low risk, low return, while Demon Kings take worlds with high risk, high return.
That's why Baal and other Demon Kings were enjoying themselves while watching Han Yeong-min's 9th floor trial.
"I didn't expect the trial to come out this way... As expected, is Han Yeong-min closer to our side?"
Originally, the theme of the 9th floor trial is conquest.
In low difficulty, you conquer one village; in medium difficulty, one castle; in high difficulty, one kingdom; in highest difficulty, an empire.
Nightmare difficulty goes beyond that to a continent, and Hell difficulty demands taking control of an entire world.
"It's just that the trial came out this way. We still don't know who Han Yeong-min will choose."
Zeus refuted Baal's words.
He argued that it was because conquest as a theme suited Demon Kings more, not because Han Yeong-min's human nature was closer to Demon Kings that such a trial appeared.
'I must make him my apostle.'
The transcendents who confirmed Han Yeong-min's amazing abilities were all engaging in daily psychological warfare to make him their apostle.
Someone who, despite being mortal, uses domination magic, possesses both Divine Blood and Demon Blood, has indomitable mental strength, and has excellent skills in all fields.
The aspects he showed while clearing the Hell difficulty trial left nothing lacking in stimulating the transcendents' possessiveness.
Everyone wanted him.
He had even already achieved two qualifications for transcendence, so if they took him as an apostle, it would be virtually the same as getting the next transcendent in their hands.
Those like Han Yeong-min who possess all qualifications for transcendence and transcend on their own gain very strong power from the moment of transcendence, so essentially now was their lowest point.
Therefore, it was perfectly natural for the transcendents to try to make a full purchase regarding Han Yeong-min.
Baal laughed as if Zeus's words were ridiculous, but with her eyes continued to focus on how Han Yeong-min would take control of the world.
She couldn't miss even a moment of that enjoyable spectacle.
'What interesting thing will you show me this time?'
She was already completely captivated by Han Yeong-min's charm.
*****
Although I suddenly got excited and said let's kill them all, I wasn't planning to stupidly engage in frontal combat.
No matter how strong I was, a direct confrontation against the entire world with just this number of people was unreasonable.
[Current World Erosion Rate 5%]
The area where the sky had turned black, centered on where the Demon Castle was embedded, seemed to be the eroded territory, and even at 5%, it was quite vast.
Then how vast would the remaining 95% be, and how many enemies would be lurking within it?
Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated in a hundred battles - first I needed to assess the capabilities of those under my command.
'The numbers are small, but they're all decent.'
Even the weakest one had martial prowess at the level of a first-rate warrior, most were at the peak level, and some had martial prowess at the transcendent peak level.
When I might have had to invade the world single-handedly, having subordinates to help was truly grateful.
"Are there any here who specialize in infiltrating enemy lines and changing appearance?"
In the early stages, minimizing losses and increasing forces was important.
I had Black Magic, an ability optimized for increasing forces, so if I could just get the first step right, there was a high possibility that things would develop relatively easily afterward.
"Yes, Demon King. There's a Doppelganger unit over there."
The one with transcendent peak martial prowess who had said the expedition preparations were complete earlier pointed to a demon tribe unit with his finger.
He was strong in martial prowess and knowledgeable, so I should make this guy my adjutant for now.
"Good. From now on, you're my adjutant."
"It's an honor!"
After appointing an adjutant like that, I approached the guys who all looked identical and asked.
"Can you change to look exactly like me?"
They nodded and all transformed to look exactly like me. Naturally, they didn't copy my abilities, but being able to just mimic my appearance was sufficient.
"Try speaking once."
"Would this be acceptable?"
Their voices were exactly the same too.
'This should work?'
A plan forms in my head. How I should attack the enemy.
"Only the Doppelganger unit follow me. Everyone else wait at this location until I call."
"Yes!"
I handed the adjutant a communication artifact I had made thinking it might be useful someday, and headed toward the nearest human castle with only the Doppelganger unit.
It was to gather information and make estimates. And I also needed to investigate whether people already knew about the Demon King's descent.
At the castle entrance, guards were conducting inspections, and many humans were submitting identification papers and talking about their purposes for entering.
And listening to the conversations of the waiting people, there were quite a few interesting stories.
"Did you hear that a Demon King is descending?"
"Don't be ridiculous. That's why the goddess is appointing a new hero through the saint."
The Demon King's descent was already a prophesied matter, and I learned about the existence of a goddess, saint, and hero.
Not the makeshift hero I had been on the 7th floor, but a real hero appointed by the goddess to defeat the Demon King.
Moreover, that hero would likely have a saint and other party members attached, and there was a high possibility that countless others were prepared to help the hero.
As time passed, the hero would grow stronger, and the world would begin to unite around the hero as their focal point, so it was better to start the invasion as quickly as possible.
So I waited.
For a good opportunity to come. And that opportunity came sooner than expected.
A group of merchants was greeting the guards and coming out of the castle gate, passing in front of where we were hiding.
They were escorted by decent mercenaries, but there was no problem.
They were at most similar level to the Doppelgangers, and I was right beside them.
I immediately ambushed them and could easily take everything they had.
"Don't tell me... Demon King? Why would you attack ordinary merchants like us... GUH...!"
'Sorry about that.'
Perhaps their eyes had some special correction, as I seemed to appear as a Demon King to them. Otherwise, there's no way they would call someone as ordinary-looking as me a Demon King.
After finishing the farming like that, I gave orders to the Doppelgangers.
"Everyone look at the faces of the guys we just killed and transform exactly like them."
As soon as I gave the order, their appearances began changing to look like the merchant group we had just encountered.
After all the transformations were complete, I arranged them again to look exactly as the merchants had been moving earlier.
"Now go to the castle gate, show your identification papers, and say you came back to retrieve some items you left behind after trading. Hide inside like that, and when night comes, secretly open the castle gate. Can you do it?"
Seeing the Doppelgangers nod silently was quite reassuring.
When they reached the castle gate, I was somewhat worried there might be a way to distinguish Doppelgangers, but a mere frontier castle didn't have such advanced systems.
They passed through the castle gate smoothly, and just before nightfall, I called the demon tribe through the communication artifact.
"You can come now."
-Yes!
The communication artifact even had the effect of knowing the location of the artifact on the other side, so they would find their way here well.
"Demon King! We've arrived!"
"Good."
Now I just had to wait for the Doppelganger unit to open the castle gate.
When the sun had completely hidden itself and the moon rose in the sky, some sound came from the direction of the castle entrance.
CREEEEAK! THUD!
"Wha... what's this?"
"Who's opening the castle gate?"
The soldiers looking down from the castle walls were shocked, but it was already too late to stop it.
The castle gate opened wide, and the drawbridge came down.
"Now! Go in and kill them all!"
"WAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!"
The demon tribe excitedly rushed into the castle at my shout and began slaughtering the soldiers guarding the castle walls in an instant.
And the dead soldiers became undead through my Necromancy, so as enemies decreased, the number of allies actually increased.
"What's all this commotion!"
When the cleanup near the castle walls was almost finished, those on horseback wearing full plate armor were charging toward the castle walls.
They seemed to be this territory's knight order.
Each one possessed strength on a different level from the soldiers we had just faced.
Especially the knight in front was at least at the transcendent peak level.
'No. If a mere territory's knight commander is at the transcendent peak, then larger territories might even have masters of the Harmony realm.'
I didn't know if it was because of Hell difficulty correction, but this world's power balance was also going crazy.
Not choosing frontal combat was really the right decision.
"Can't you see? I came to conquer this territory."
Perhaps angered by my confident declaration, the guy's face was turning red. And he drew his sword and covered it with brilliant starlight energy.
'Is that Aura?'
It was similar to the strong energy of transcendent peak masters, but it felt like it sacrificed some cutting power for increased destructive power.
Since they would normally face monsters more than ordinary humans, it seemed their techniques had developed differently from the martial world.
"I don't know where you came from, you ignorant fool, but as long as I'm here, such a thing will be absolutely impossible!"
Perhaps the adjutant was also angered by the guy's words, as he stepped in beside me, wrapped himself in demonic energy, and began shouting instead.
"How dare a mere human be so arrogant! Demon King! You don't need to deal with such a guy personally. I'll step forward!"
The knight using Aura shouted loudly again as if he expected this.
"Demon King? As expected, those with ominous appearances from the start were demon tribe! The knights of our Britain Kingdom will never yield to things like you! Come at me!"
'Saying I look ominous from the start is quite harsh. Really.'
I'm human too.
Human.
There's nothing they won't say.