Chapter 51
A throne stood atop a towering dais.
The moment Yoon Sang-hyuk saw the being seated there with a look of arrogant indifference, he felt a faint shiver run through him.
"Hoo-."
He let out a long breath.
"It’s been a—..."
He thought the tension had already left him, but even his voice trembled thinly.
"Ahem. It’s been a while."
The one seated on the throne looked down with a detached, haughty gaze. It was Baal, ruler of the 72 Demon Lords and master of this demon king’s castle.
This was not the Baal Yoon Sang-hyuk had seen in the final quest of Eternal World. The difference in presence alone was unmistakable. The Baal from that other world had been so overwhelming that merely looking at him was enough to make one feel crushed.
Hadn’t he even treated that phantom as real and staked his life on the fight?
But the Baal before him now was...
"A fellow not even as good as a mere illusion."
Someone squeezed his hand. Turning his head, he saw Lilith trembling faintly, her gaze lowered. Until they had dealt with Agares, the second-ranked Demon Lord, she had always reacted like this whenever she saw a Demon Lord.
Of course, her reaction was at its worst right now. No matter how degraded a copy he might be, "Baal" was still "Baal."
As long as Lilith remained within the demon race, she could not help but seem pitiful and small before Baal, the king of all demons.
Even if that knockoff Baal sitting on the high throne fought Lilith right now, Lilith’s chances of winning would not be high. No matter how fake he was, he still carried a fragment of Baal, a piece of him.
Castle of Chaos was undeniably a raid dungeon. Yoon Sang-hyuk had simply swept through it alone because he was so overwhelmingly stronger than the other players that the comparison itself was meaningless.
Even Agares, the second-ranked Demon Lord he had encountered before arriving here, had been formidable. Far stronger than Andromalius, the fake ranked 72nd. Of course, he had not lasted long under Yoon Sang-hyuk’s relentless assault before dissolving into smoke.
"It’s fine."
Lilith gave a small nod.
Watching her like this was rather interesting, considering she was strong enough to toy with anyone outside Yoon Sang-hyuk himself among the players. He glanced at her trembling shoulders, then back at Baal.
"Wait here for a moment."
Lilith stepped back. Someone who was afraid of their opponent would not be of any help in a fight.
Yoon Sang-hyuk looked at Baal again and gave a little wave.
"I said it’s been a while. If someone greets you, you should at least respond."
"Human."
The voice that rolled out of him was ominous, as though it had come from a cave.
"Do you know this is not the place for you?"
"I also know this is the place I had to come to."
Seeing Baal, who he had desperately wanted to meet but had no way to reach, made the conversation strangely enjoyable even though he knew this was a fake.
"Your arrogance will lead you to death. I shall grant you eternal rest."
"Sorry, but I’ve got a lot of work to do. I’ll take that rest from you instead. In exchange, give me the box."
"Impudent!"
The instant he heard the word, Baal was already gone from the throne.
A sharp killing intent flashed toward him. Since he had been ready for it, Yoon Sang-hyuk raised his sword and blocked without difficulty. A heavy impact rolled through him, forcing him back several steps.
"Yeah. That’s more like it."
Yoon Sang-hyuk’s sword cut through empty space. A sliver of the void split and spilled open. From within, Baal’s figure emerged.
"May I ask you one thing before we fight for real?"
"..."
"Are you perhaps an illusion?"
Whenever he thought of Baal’s phantom from the other world, his teeth ground together.
"Nonsense."
Powerful battle aura surged from Baal’s body. Darkness flooded in. It wrapped around Yoon Sang-hyuk from all directions, pressing in on him. At times it became a sharp sword; at others, a heavy club, all of it hunting him.
Yoon Sang-hyuk raised his own aura in response.
Spat-
Red energy burst upward. The crimson light tore the darkness pressing on him to shreds. Yoon Sang-hyuk moved. The space around him rippled, twisting into chaos. Within that warped, folding space, his figure appeared and vanished again and again.
Baal looked startled by the sudden change in the surroundings.
Swish-
A red blade pierced straight through the center of Baal’s abdomen.
"Kh-heu-."
With a low groan, Baal’s body vanished. A short distance away, he reappeared and stared at his own stomach in disbelief. Black smoke billowed in thick plumes from the wound the sword had made.
"It’s a skill called Steps That Traverse Space."
A technique that folded space, then unfolded it again to move. It was a skill attached to the boots from the Dragon Emperor set. But it was also a skill that could not be used carelessly. Without the Eye That Pierces Falsehood enchanted into the Mask of the Lord of Chaos, it could trap him in the distortions of the very space he had created.
"You insu—l--o--n--t!"
Baal shouted in rage.
Countless spells flew toward Yoon Sang-hyuk. Between them, Baal’s sword struck like a viper’s fang, aiming for him with lethal precision.
As with most Demon Lords, Baal had no set pattern. He had to be handled according to the situation. That was precisely why everyone who had gathered at the demon king’s castle in Eternal World, the very best among the players, had been wiped out in a single sweep.
If you knew the attack pattern and the phases, you could find the right strategy. If you didn’t, all you could do was learn the opponent’s techniques through experience and respond as the situation demanded.
But every Demon Lord met in the demon king’s castle had been powerful, and learning their techniques required sacrifice. In the end, the death squad that had conquered the final quest, the demon king’s castle, had all been killed by Naberius, ranked 24th.
Alone, Yoon Sang-hyuk had fought dozens of times, and fled even more often, just to bring down a single Demon Lord. Only after accumulating battle experience had he finally been able to eliminate them one by one.
But there were times when not knowing the pattern did not matter.
"Then you just crush them with overwhelming strength."
Space twisted again. Each time it folded and unfolded, Yoon Sang-hyuk slipped past Baal’s magic by a hair’s breadth. Inchi Evasion, which only Yoon Sang-hyuk could use in Eternal World, met the Steps That Traverse Space head-on.
Baal kept retreating as Yoon Sang-hyuk pressed in on him from every angle.
"That doesn’t suit Baal."
His voice came from all around.
Yoon Sang-hyuk’s figure flickered in and out of sight. His hands came together at the center of his chest, fingers forming a circle.
"Goodbye."
The maw of the red dragon embossed at the center of the chestplate of the Dragon Emperor set he wore snapped open and spat out crimson light.
"Aaaagh!"
The head on Baal’s shoulders vanished.
His body dissolved into black smoke. And in its place sat a box, faintly glowing as though it held a sliver of light.
"Nice to see you, old friend."
It was the second Box of Chaos he had found in Castle of Chaos.
* * *
Sashin Guild forward base near Castle of Chaos, Siberia.
"How long has it been since he left for Castle of Chaos?"
"About twenty days."
"Hmm."
At Anton Pavlov’s answer, Ian Galayev let out a thin groan.
"He hasn’t developed any other intentions, has he?"
"Even if he had other intentions, what could we possibly do about it?"
Ian Galayev shot Anton Pavlov a sidelong glance. It was because his tone, unlike usual, was edged and sharp.
"Are you going to keep that up?"
"..."
Ian Galayev frowned. He knew very well why Anton Pavlov was reacting like this. He also knew the cause lay with him. But he was the master of Sashin Guild, the guild representing Russia.
He was about to say something to Anton Pavlov, then shook his head instead.
An uneasy current flowed between the two men. The Sashin Guild executives nearby watched their expressions carefully.
Just as Ian Galayev was about to speak, the door flew open and a man rushed in.
"The Masked Lord has returned."
Ian Galayev sprang to his feet.
The man entering through the open door was Yoon Sang-hyuk, wearing the Mask of the Lord of Chaos.
"You came all the way to Siberia to meet me?"
Yoon Sang-hyuk walked in and sat down in the chair Ian Galayev had just been occupying.
"What happened with the raid?"
Ian Galayev cut straight to the point, skipping even the greeting. But Yoon Sang-hyuk did not answer at once. His gaze was fixed on Anton Pavlov, who was looking back at him. He seemed to want to say something, but could not do so because of Ian Galayev.
Yoon Sang-hyuk finally said to Ian Galayev,
"The raid was a success, for now."
"As expected..."
Ian Galayev clenched his fist and spoke, then asked in confusion,
"For now? What does that mean?"
"Exactly what I said. The raid was a success. But that doesn't mean you... no, the Sashin Guild can clear it."
"Was your promise false?"
Yoon Sang-hyuk shrugged.
"I can tell you how to clear it. But even if you hear the method, you still won't be able to do it."
Ian Galayev could not understand Yoon Sang-hyuk’s explanation.
"Why are you thinking so hard about such a simple story? I can do it, but you can’t. I’ll explain why now."
Yoon Sang-hyuk explained Castle of Chaos. Of course, he did not say that the Box of Chaos could be obtained there.
After hearing everything, Ian Galayev frowned.
"So what you’re saying is that we can’t even enter the inner castle of Castle of Chaos?"
"Didn’t anyone see the garden between the outer walls and the inner castle? Your mental strength was too low to perceive its true form. You’d have to see the garden first before you could even begin to talk about clearing it."
"Couldn’t we just raise our mental strength with items?"
Yoon Sang-hyuk gave a faint snort.
Of course, what Ian Galayev said was not wrong. But it was not entirely right either.
"Do you even have those items?"
"Well, you—"
Ian Galayev began to speak, then shut his mouth tightly.
"Looks like you understand. Items that raise mental strength are extremely rare."
Mental strength affected magic resistance and elemental resistance. As Eternal World moved deeper into the later stages, magic and elemental resistance became critically important. But items with magic resistance or elemental resistance options were not common. Even when they did exist, the boosts they provided were not especially high.
In the end, to raise magic or elemental resistance, one had to increase the mental strength stat, and that was no easy task either. If you raised mental strength just to improve resistance, you would end up with what players commonly called a ruined build.
Melee classes had to raise strength, ranged classes agility, and magic classes wisdom. Only then could they equip their dedicated gear without restriction and obtain high attack power.
If you poured points into mental strength in order to raise resistance, you would no longer be able to raise the core stats that formed your build.
That was why players usually patched the gap with items that increased resistance or boosted mental strength. But those kinds of items were not easy to come by.
"Sashin Guild is strong in its own right, right? The average level is high?"
As he listened, Ian Galayev nodded.
"A high average level means it’s not easy to gain even one level. Which means that even if you start dumping points into mental strength now, you still won’t be able to clear Castle of Chaos."
Of course, there was a way.
Players with fewer years of experience, in other words, players whose levels were still low, could be helped to level up. If all the stat points they gained were funneled entirely into mental strength, they could produce the people needed to clear the garden of Castle of Chaos. But even that would take an enormous amount of time.
There was another way too.
"Couldn’t you just lead us?"
That was the method Ian Galayev had in mind.
But...
"Why would I?"
Yoon Sang-hyuk looked at him and asked in visible confusion.
"Do I look free?"
"..."
"You seem to be misunderstanding something, so listen carefully. Entering the inner castle of Castle of Chaos is only the beginning. Do you really think the Demon Lords that appear there, degraded copies or not, are something you can clear easily? In my opinion, at your current level, it’s absolutely impossible."
Yoon Sang-hyuk rose to his feet.
"My role ends here."
Looking out the window, he murmured,
"The sun’s already gone down. I’ll be in your care here for today. And sorry I couldn’t be more help."
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