The Most Efficient Way to Kill Pests

I immediately hid my body within the debris of a collapsed building. I needed to observe the situation further. 'The Underground Guard and the Parasitic Trees are fighting... the Demi-humans are almost all dead. The guardsmen are putting up a resistance, and those guys are being slaughtered by low-level demons... It’s a total war zone.' It was pure chaos. If my identity were exposed here, I’d have to deal with those insane demons, the Underground Guard, and the bastards from the security squad who were hunting me, all at the same time. Just thinking about it gave me goosebumps.

'If that happens, there’s a high chance I’ll be delayed too long. I only need to get to that one spot...' I had to go to the drug dealer’s shop to find Cheshire. To do that, I needed to find a door that led out of the central plaza. 'A shop with a door...' Every building that caught my eye was in ruins, and the only one left standing intact was the fly-folk’s sore-ridden shop. There was a door in that shop’s storage room that could be opened and closed. If I went there and passed through the door, I’d be transported to another location, so I had to get to that shop first.

'How am I supposed to push through all these lunatics to get there... I don’t think I have enough mana...' No matter how strong you are, you can’t fight against sheer numbers. If those crazed bastards decided to swarm me, I’d end up fighting them one by one until I inevitably ran out of mana and collapsed.

'I could just summon Kesia from the start, but...' I was in a state of being "awkwardly strong," meaning I couldn't wipe out these monsters all at once, but Kesia was different. The moment she was summoned, she would likely massacre the Underground Guard and decapitate the demons searching for me from the sky. The black market security squad and the Parasitic Tree hosts hovering nearby would probably get caught in the crossfire and die.

'However, if I do that, I lose one of my trump cards for when I face Lamech. Surely, the backlash of the summoning would prevent me from calling Kesia for a while... then I’d only have Einax left...' The same went for the opposite. If I summoned Einax, I’d only have Kesia left. Could I kill Lamech with just one of them? I didn't know. I still couldn't clearly gauge the extent of his strength. You can only truly understand an opponent's power when your cultivation levels are somewhat similar... and I wasn't there yet.

'I don’t know exactly how strong Lamech is... but to hunt him, I need to be fully prepared...' If he was an outlier—a monster even stronger than Ziegfried—he could pierce through Kesia and Einax ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and go for my throat. The martial prowess of a transcendent who had reached the realm of the gods was immense; he could slice off my arm at a speed my eyes couldn't even follow. My arm had been severed before I could even deploy the Void Veil. Even if I had been careless, that was too much.

Regardless, if I fought him while reunited with Hilde or my other companions, it might be a different story, but thinking about potentially facing him alone made me want to save my trump cards as much as possible. By the way, it had been a while since I called my companions... where were they? 'The ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠pager still has no response... and at the auction house...' I decided to check the auction house just in case.

She did it. Mer actually did it. I immediately purchased the letter and read it.

'The only person who can use the auction house is Mer, who cleared the Ghost Gate with me...' I sent a reply to Mer. I told her I was in the central plaza, so she should come here with Cheshire. We had to gather. We would hunt Lamech together. I didn't even need to go to the fly-folk’s shop; I could just hold out here. Yes, I’d stay quiet and avoid being spotted. When Lamech arrived, I’d kill him with everything I had. 'I’m so relieved Cheshire is safe...' Knowing she was safe eased my mind a little. I had been worried sick that something might have gone wrong. I’m truly glad. I hope the day I have to use the Saint’s Rosary never comes.

As I was thinking that, one of the Parasitic Tree hosts discovered me and came shuffling over. "Urrghhh..." "Shh!! Come quietly, you idiot!" "Urr..." When I snapped at it, it lowered its voice as much as it could and crept closer. 'A Parasitic Tree combined with a Demi-human... so disgusting...' It was a horrific sight, likely because it had crawled inside a Demi-human’s body. I gagged and asked it, "No, why did you make such a mess of things..." "Urrghh.." "What? You were looking for me? You crazy bastards... you should have just stayed put... ha..."

Why were these guys so loyal? I don't know. The owner is clearly Son Haeun... is it because Son Haeun’s owner is me, that they swear such loyalty? Maybe I’m the highest in their own internal hierarchy, or perhaps it’s just because of the favor of the Ten Thousand Mountains. Regardless, I spoke to the Parasitic Tree, which was waiting for orders. It seemed necessary to clean up this mess a little.

"First, keep killing anyone who stands out, just like you’ve been doing. And you see those guys with things growing on their backs?" "Urrgh?" "Yes. Those bastards. They get stronger when they use those as hosts, so make them your top priority and kill them. And don't kill all the Demi-humans; leave some alive. I’ll need people to clean up the mess later. Finally, that shop over there is mine, so tell them to stop attacking it." "Urrghhh..."

The Parasitic Tree shuffled back toward the horde of the undead. There was no need to touch the Demi-humans, who were already nearly extinct. Right now, the priority was to crush the Underground Guard and the low-level demon bastards. 'That dog-like Paimon bastard... you won't die easily...' I’d kill the bastards who were clearly Paimon’s subordinates first, then force the surviving Demi-humans to submit and swallow the black market whole. That was how I planned to pacify this place. It was time to take the black market into my own hands.

'Demi-humans and demons alike are all shit... I’ll take this place over and make some money. Yes... if I’d known it was this simple, I would have conquered it sooner...' There was no need to be satisfied with just one fly-folk shop. I was always hungry for coins. I’d swallow this place and become a big shot in the black market... yes, I’d become the mastermind pulling the strings from the shadows. I’d always wanted to be a coin-rich tycoon. I’d achieve that dream right here. There was no reason to remain a mere troublemaker of the black market.

-Urrghhh!!!

Soon after, the Parasitic Tree that received my orders joined the horde and let out a loud cry. Then, the Parasitic Tree hosts, who had been attacking any living thing regardless of age or gender, began to focus their attacks on the Underground Guard instead of the Demi-humans. As a result, the Demi-humans, freed from the Parasitic Trees, began killing both the Parasitic Trees and the Underground Guard. The chaos intensified. Good. Since it was already a mess, I’d take advantage of the chaos to profit. 'Now, I just have to wait for my companions to get here...'

"Sniff... sniff... Huh!? Over there!!! I sense a suspicious presence in that pile of buildings...!! It’s the smell of 'that human'!!" "Is that the guy?" "Oh!! You're right!!! The cultist has appeared!!!"

I had hoped to rest until my companions arrived, but I was discovered in just one minute. Were these guys stalkers? How could they tell I was hiding here? When did they even share my scent? 'Damn it...!' Since I was spotted, I had to keep running. Or, I could summon Kesia or Einax... I had to do something...

-BOOM!!!! -KABOOM!!!

A series of massive explosions erupted behind me as I fled. I didn't know what those crazy demons were doing, but they seemed to be firing something at me to kill me. While summoning Kesia or Einax, I was almost incapacitated by the backlash of the summoning, so I needed someone to protect me or to be in a situation where the enemies hadn't spotted me yet...

"Over there!!! It’s the cultist!!! 150 million berries bounty!!!!" "Kieee!!! I’m the one who will become the King of the Ten Thousand Mountains!!! Die, heretic!!!"

This wouldn't work. If I summoned Kesia or Einax incorrectly now, I might get injured before the summon even appeared. Summoning the Shade Moth or others didn't seem to have much meaning in this situation either... I had to run. Before I got surrounded... my companions would be here soon. I just had to wait a few minutes.

"Catch him!!! If you catch that guy, you can receive a name from Paimon!!!" "Kieee!!! Get out of the way!! That guy is mine!!" "Let me fuck him just once!!!" "Kiaa!!! Catch him!!! You have to catch him!!! The heretic’s meat is top-tier!!!!" "Die, heretic!!!! Die for me!!!!" "Become my dinner!!!!! Come here!!!"

I glanced back and saw hundreds of crazed low-level demons flying toward me. It was like a swarm of mosquitoes in a Southeast Asian rainforest. This is insane. A few of them had even anticipated my path and were circling in the air to block my way. I was going to lose my mind. I reached out toward them and spammed my skills. If I stopped, I’d be surrounded and in danger. I had to deal with them quickly.

-Crackle!!! -Splat!!!

The Abyssal Maw opened its mouth wide and chewed off the upper body of one low-level demon, and another was wrapped in a mass of tentacles that erupted from the ground, crushed to death instantly. As I ran, I offered the demons I killed in real-time. These guys were demons without masters, so I could offer them without hesitation. Humans who had already sold their souls to a demon couldn't be turned into slaves and didn't taste good as offerings, but demons were a different story.

Just then, a demon tried to throw a spear at me. "Th-this!!" I reached out to the guy and used Ideal Projection. This was a Void-attribute attack skill that was supposed to compress and kill the opponent...

-Crunch!!!!! "Holy shit..."

As soon as I used the skill, the space around the low-level demon and the guy himself distorted in an instant, pulling into a single point as if sucked into a whirlpool. And just like that, the guy’s body compressed... turning into a ball the size of a fist. To think it would compress an opponent this much in an instant. It was a crazy performance that even cleaned up the corpse perfectly. 'The Abyssal Maw is bloody... and the Tentacle Eruption is a pain to clean up the crushed ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠flesh... but Ideal Projection is so clean...!'

A skill that compresses the space I designate... if I poured in a bit more mana, couldn't I compress a wide area all at once? If I controlled my power better, I could probably compress them slowly like a seal instead of all at once, making them ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠suffer. I could carve the terror of being slowly crushed to death into them. I’d have to experiment with that after escaping these demons. Because of these guys, I’d even drawn the aggro of the Underground Guard, and I was about to lose my mind. Please, just give me one minute. I could just summon the Deep-Layer Spider and slice them all up...

That was when—

"Hey!!! Over here, cultist!!" "Jojun-ah!!!"

I heard the voices of women calling me from afar. "Oh!!! Aila!!! Hilde!!!" Running toward me were Aila and Hilde. And... that guy is... 'Why is the clown here...' The clown bastard being dragged along by Hilde. He looked at me with a subtle smile. Just seeing his face made me angry. I wanted to catch him while he was held by Hilde, beat him up, and offer him as a sacrifice.

"Kiaa!! Heretic!! The legs are mine!!"

I stopped for a moment at the call of my companions, and I was instantly surrounded by low-level demons. It was clearly a crisis, but for some reason, I felt at ease. Should I say I felt relieved? Because Hilde was here, I shouldn't be afraid of mere low-level demons. She was currently my strongest asset.

-Whoosh.. "Huh? Fire?" "Uh-uh..? It’s burning!! It’s burning!!!!!" "Arghhhhh!!!!" -KABOOM!!!!!

With a single gesture from Hilde, all the low-level demons swarming me were incinerated in mid-air. The demons scattered, turning into ash in an instant. Since long ago, there was no better tool for killing pests than a flamethrower. Didn't a practical Korean proverb say something like that? That to catch a bedbug, you have to burn down the whole house. It’s a very true saying. It was my favorite proverb.