Chapter 26
Chapter 26
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 26
Chapter Title: The Cult Leader's Ultimatum
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"Huff... huff..."
It had been truly ages since Marus last felt alive. It'd been decades since he'd endured agony this excruciating compounded by terror this profound.
Staring at his hollow left sleeve, he tried to shake off the daze, wondering if this was all a dream.
The moment he'd come face-to-face with Phenex again, he'd sensed it would be no easy feat to pass the trial unscathed.
Naturally, he'd even been prepared to sacrifice an arm.
If he could gain the power of a demon, he could do anything. That's what he'd believed.
'...I let my guard down.'
Phenex's aura had seemed weaker than expected, and the battle had unfolded just as he'd hoped, dulling his resolve.
He'd even started thinking he might brush off the demon's interference without a scratch.
The result? A severed arm and burns across his face.
A fair price, all things considered. Fortunately, he could still fight, and he had an ace up his sleeve just in case.
"Hoo... hooo..."
He needed to rein in his emotions.
Ahead lay the prize he'd craved for decades.
"I'll... pay it all back."
This pain, this rage.
Everything.
He reached the end of the trial and stood before the door he'd once tried to fling open.
On his first visit, he'd been brimming with confidence. Now, on his second, he was battered beyond recognition.
Marus couldn't shake the foul suspicion that it was all part of a scheme by the demon beyond this door.
Boom-!
Screeeeech...
At last, he threw open the door to the heart chamber.
"......"
...No grand vista awaited him there.
A clean yet empty space.
A solitary throne sat in the middle.
Someone occupied it.
On closer inspection, it was Faust.
He hadn't recognized him at a glance, and it wasn't just because of his injuries.
Faust wore a mask Marus had never seen before.
"...What a ridiculous mask. Meant as mockery?"
"Mockery? It's armament."
"......Armament?"
Marus questioned it because the mask Faust wore didn't resemble any conventional gear.
"It's my own form of resolve."
Like someone who always proclaimed armament as resolve, Faust had donned the mask to steel himself.
Faust rose from the throne, wearing a goat skull mask shaped like Satan.
Swoosh...
He peered through the eyeholes at Kal Kurs with his sword.
'He really came.'
The being known as Kal Kurs might just be a pawn. Perhaps this world of Solaria was using him to stoke hatred against Faust.
A ludicrous notion, but that's simply how it felt.
"All your schemes were for naught. This is the end of the line."
"For someone saying that, you look pretty roughed up."
"Kukuku... You mean this arm?"
"Trying to say you can beat me with one arm?"
Kal Kurs's laughter cut off abruptly. He rummaged in his bosom and pulled something out.
A silver scroll gleaming with light.
"...No way."
"You recognize it? This single scroll's worth more than all those fools I killed before."
Sizzle-!
[Kal Kurs uses the Alchemy Scroll: Mercury Body.]
[Reforms the body with mercury until it shatters or takes massive damage.]
Whoooosh...
Crackle crackle crackle...
Energy burst from the scroll and enveloped Marus's left arm stump.
In the blink of an eye, a new arm of mystical sheen took its place.
"Well? How's this?"
"...Thoroughly prepared. If only you could fix that ugly mug too."
"Prepared... yeah..."
Marus chuckled.
"Decades. I've lived decades for this very moment. That's who you're up against."
"......"
"My sole interest is the demon. I'll give you a choice. Sever your contract with the demon right now. Leave for distant lands. Do that, and I'll spare your life."
"Kind of you. Seems you like demons quite a bit. Is that why you've been up to all those deeds?"
"...Deeds?"
"The things you did to your nephew."
It was a question born of pure curiosity. What mindset let Kal Kurs commit such acts without a second thought?
And if he understood that, could the Kim Seojin within Faust likewise kill humans without qualms?
"Nephew... ah, yes, Mawen. That reckless brat."
Marus chuckled as he threw the question back.
"What's the problem?"
"......"
"More to the point, you're an odd one. Your way of thinking, I mean."
"...What?"
"Why does a demon debate the rights and wrongs of human death? To your kind, a human life should mean nothing."
Kim Seojin caught something in his words. Something close to the truth in what Marus said.
"After the War of Hegemony, the two races took killing each other for granted. They even took pride in it. Easier to see each other as beast-like vermin than equals."
Marus seemed to crave someone acknowledging his true self. Gone was his grave demeanor; he rambled on ceaselessly.
Or perhaps this was his true face.
"From my brother's death, I learned. That human didn't just slaughter demons—he tortured them inhumanely, committed vile atrocities without hesitation. Laughable that such a man was hailed a hero, but what really made me lose it was right after he died."
There might be a clue to his path forward in Marus's words. Kim Seojin listened in silence to draw it out.
"They were all outraged! Cursing the damned demons who killed their hero! Hahaha! Isn't it ridiculous? Killing the enemy is natural, but getting killed by them? It's like some tragic injustice to them."
"Amusing indeed."
"It's the truth. That's the true color of humans, the pinnacle race. How many do you think would claim their life worth more than dozens, hundreds of demons?"
"......"
"All of them. Every last one thinks that way. Your demons too, no doubt. So why do you, a demon, grieve human deaths? As if..."
...That was it.
"As if you were human."
In this world, Kim Seojin was a demon.
Yet thinking of himself as human rather than demon might be the root of his hesitation.
To accept himself as a demon.
To accept he could never return to his original world. That was the path before Kim Seojin.
"Well, that's the biggest reason I admire demons too. They're free! They ignore petty human inventions like guilt, rules, morality? They're the perfect beings. I... wanted to become that."
Faust, also Kim Seojin.
It felt like the two names would rarely mix from here on out... and Kim Seojin himself was the one thinking it.
'Is that so...'
To accept being Faust.
That was the starting point.
"...That's enough."
"What about my offer?"
"Refused."
"Fool."
Click...
Marus tilted his head at Kim Seojin placing a hand on an unfamiliar scabbard.
"That sword... you had it before?"
Marus felt a flicker of confusion.
"More importantly, do you even know how to use it? Last time, surely..."
He hadn't sensed any such thing.
The man had brimmed with feeble aura.
Yet the moment his hand touched the scabbard, his energy turned eerily calm.
No—heavy and sinking.
Shiiiing...
No, it wasn't just the atmosphere that changed.
He'd thought it a trick of the mind, but the entire space was growing chill.
His breath was fogging already.
"...Who taught you the sword?"
If Marus himself felt tension, it had to be from a master swordsman.
"Who..."
Kim Seojin recalled the mundane question.
- Faust is a character I directed from start to finish! So...
Seunga.
Hyun Seunga.
She'd given it to him.
"The god of this world."
Click-!
Shrieeeeeek-!
[Dungeon: Rotten Root - Final Battle commences.]
[Critical alert! Enemy has reached the dungeon heart.]
[Faust manipulates the dungeon core to seal the retreat.]
* * *
The F2P Arm-Cutter Kal Kurs.
Final boss of Episode 1.
An ancient demon cultist and former vice-captain of the Holy Knights—a hidden powerhouse.
If he claimed not to be trembling, it'd be a lie.
His first proper real-world opponent in this world was that murderer, Kal Kurs.
Yet against his pounding heart, his body neither shook nor tensed.
Because he knew how to beat him.
- Kal Kurs's party is intentionally balanced for all users to face.
The developers' words: Use what's given.
What's given.
To every user.
'Faust.'
The protagonist of this game, Faust.
A failed experiment bearing the blood of the Seven Deadly Sins, a monster who could wield every unique weapon from the start using the latent power in his greed blood—a demon.
On top of that, in combat alone, he was already at a high level.
The key to defeating Kal Kurs was Faust himself.
Shing...
He drew the sword.
[Faust's Strength: Greed activates.]
[Faust can use all demon weapons.]
[Faust is a failure. Demon weapons occasionally backlash when used.]
Srrrrring...
The sound of the sword leaving the scabbard was unnervingly eerie.
It wasn't just the sound.
As the blade cleared the scabbard, black filled his entire field of vision.
'So this is Crosel's...'
Lake.
When Faust used Greed's authority, he gained all basic skills of the unique weapon's owner, excluding their transcendence.
Whooooosh...
The lake poured out thick black energy.
The first ability of that condensed malice.
[Faust uses Pit.]
[The Pit takes the form of the Black Lake.]
[The Pit claims a vast area, limits enemy vision within, steals 15% stats from up to 5 targets.]
[Targets in the Pit have all HP regen and healing reduced by 50%.]
[The Pit persists through battle, shifting its center based on the user's position.]
It scrolled on like a receipt.
The lake's first overpowered ability from Crosel.
'That's why I picked this weapon with my hellstone.'
With his one hellstone, choosing the unique weapon of Phenex—my sole 6-star demon—over Lake? No regrets even now.
Handing a unique weapon to Phenex immediately was less optimal than getting Faust an instant combat-ready weapon.
The lake met every criterion I'd set.
First: Low transcendence dependency.
High-rank familiars typically wield transcendences stronger than basics.
Early-game Faust sadly couldn't access a unique weapon's transcendence via Greed.
So, prioritize weapons with minimal transcendence reliance.
Second: Balanced basic skills.
Faust lacked innate combat skills, so the weapon's skillset would be his only options for a while—they needed to be versatile, no rough edges.
Finally: No hard limits on abilities.
Avoid weapons with fixed damage values in basics, absolutely.
Plenty met the criteria, but Lake was the best for my current state.
[Kal Kurs uses Guide's Lantern.]
[Illuminates a set area.]
Hummmm...
Light burst from the pitch darkness.
"Hide and seek? Fun. Fine, I'll play tagger as much as you want."
Marus thought he'd lit up the surroundings.
'...Idiot.'
The Pit's darkness had nothing to do with light. His vision was barely wider than his stride.
Hup...
Flash-!
Squeeeeeal-!
"Over there!"
Claaaang-!
Even with that pinhole vision, Marus nailed my position dead-on.
Impressive force behind the blade even in haste.
"Kukukuku... Your big strategy is hiding in the dark? Even that..."
"...Don't get cocky."
Flash-!
Slink...
I pulled back from the sword, melting into the shadows as I spoke.
"I'm the tagger."
"...What?"
Whoosh...
Flash-!
A black water jet from my hand flew at Marus. He swiftly whipped his mercury left arm to deflect it.
But...
It definitely touched the water jet.
That was enough.
[Faust uses Gnawing Corruption.]