Chapter 31
Chapter 31
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 31
Chapter Title: The Arrival of Amon
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My heart pounded like mad.
So fiercely that anyone nearby might hear it.
Was this really okay?
Just pulling a 6-star demon through gacha was a miracle in itself, but this wasn’t some ordinary 6-star—it was a full-fledged Archdemon heading straight to me.
‘This is…’
A crime.
The kind of utterly heinous offense that would get you permanently banned from any community if you posted about it in real life.
The names of the seven Archdemons swirled through my mind.
What kind of monster would it be?
What monster would bring revolution to these rotten roots?
The luck in my hands no longer felt distant. It demanded I claim it boldly, as if it were rightfully mine.
I hoped this wasn’t all a dream.
I hoped I could keep dreaming like this, even wagering reality itself.
“The seven demons who inherited the primordial blood were each powerful in their own way, inheriting vastly different abilities.”
What were they?
What power did you inherit…?
“The Twinkle of the Stars…”
Ah…
It’s you.
It was you!
“Her hell is filled with intellect as brilliant as the stars…”
Ruuuumble…
The gate began to open.
A chilling mist settled around us.
“She who delivers judgment of intellect with sulfur and lightning…”
The intellect that burned.
“The eternal star now crashes down upon this place.”
Kwaaaaaaaa—!
An immense light burst forth from the hell gate.
Rumble rumble…
The gate slowly creaked open, and from within emerged a petite girl.
At that exact moment, a sinister voice from beyond the hell gate—one that would make all life tremble in fear—echoed through.
— Aaaamoooon! You thought you could esca—
Rumble rumble rumble…
The hell gate slammed shut before the shout could fully transmit.
The girl who appeared amid the mystical smoke had a striking appearance.
Sleeves hanging loosely, very small horns.
Twin braids in brown and gold that suited her delicate frame perfectly.
Every detail drew the eye, but what overwhelmingly commanded attention was…
Whirr—
Whirrrrr—
The mechanical hands freely floating and drifting around her.
Roughly five—no, seven of them, though there might be more.
Each had what looked like an eye embedded in the back of the hand.
‘No, they might actually be eyes.’
My gaze shifted from Amon’s cute little horns to her facial features. A sigh escaped her small mouth.
“Haa… haa… Hm?”
Only now did the Archdemon turn her attention to her summoner.
“A-hem… Allow me to introduce myself. I am the Star of Intellect and Archdemon of Hell…”
Her eyes gleamed eerily.
“Amon.”
[Summoning ★★★★★★ Amon.]
[Achievement Quest ‘Eternal Star’ completed.]
She smiled sweetly, but an overwhelming presence lurked behind that smile. Her gaze soon shifted from me to the two women who bore horns like hers.
Phenex and Lucifer.
“Oh? And who might this be? Ah, I see… So that’s how it is. Lucifer, you’re the one who called me.”
Lucifer raised one hand halfway and replied.
“No, Amon. Faust summoned you.”
“Spaghetti?”
“Faust.”
“…….”
Snap!
One of Amon’s mechanical hands pointed its index finger straight at me.
“A lie. You claim I was summoned by that lowly creature?”
“Lord Faust is a demon.”
“…I heard his kind was extinct?”
“The bloodline endures.”
“…Urghhhh.”
Amon seemed utterly displeased at being summoned by me, of all people. But she soon lifted her head…
“Grrrr… Very well! The universe is still full of incomprehensible mysteries…”
Heh—
“That’s what makes it so fun.”
After a storm of moments passed, the dream had become reality.
“Very well, lead the way. Where are my chambers, hmm?”
“…….”
Lucifer glanced around cautiously before whispering to Amon.
“She’s been sleeping wherever for now.”
Amon’s eyes went hollow, as if in shock.
“…That won’t do. A proper bed is essential!”
She ground her teeth and continued.
“I should have brought my attendants!”
Seeing her regretful expression, I relayed the message to Lucifer.
“We’ll stop here.”
I concluded it was too early to use a mana stone.
* * *
Amon.
One of the seven great demons—the oldest and most powerful beings in Hell.
In the game, only whale players could even encounter her. Each Archdemon was so overpowered they were blamed for breaking the game’s balance entirely, so it’s no wonder one reason LeMegaton shut down was their existence.
‘The envy from those who couldn’t get them was off the charts.’
Too expensive to call human rights, yet too devastating to miss out on.
And now, that very Amon stood with both feet planted in the Rotten Roots. Looking up at me from a height much shorter than mine, she asked,
“So, Spaghetti. You’re the Demon King, right?”
“Faust.”
“What I call you becomes your name!”
“…Faust.”
“Faust! Right, you’re the Demon King?”
“I have no relation to the Demon King.”
“No way! This is around the 31st dungeon, isn’t it? You must be here on an inspection, right?”
“My first territory.”
Fwoop—!
It was like a face I’d seen in some anime. Her pupils vanished in an instant, and she nearly collapsed—only for her mechanical hands to catch her.
“Th-this… ca-can’t…”
She barely straightened up, her face twisting into one about to burst into tears, and declared she was going home.
“I’m returning now! To Hell!”
In times like this, help from someone with a connection was needed.
Someone like Lucifer, for instance.
“Amon, Lord Faust needs your power.”
“What? Heh heh… I knew it… No! Even your request won’t sway me, Lucifer.”
Amon straightened up seriously and stated her position.
“The power of Archdemon Amon cannot be used for trivial matters. This immense strength has been preserved solely to safeguard Hell’s balance.”
Lucifer piled on in response to her resolute words.
“Weren’t you the one who shattered Hell’s balance, Amon?”
“…Was I?”
“Have you already forgotten?”
“You remember that far back, Lucifer?”
Swish…
While they conversed, I slipped away. Watching them chatter in my inner sanctum from my own territory felt pitiful somehow, so I gave them space.
‘I can hear the conversation anyway.’
The Rotten Roots and I were one and the same. I couldn’t be unaware of what happened in the dungeon.
Swoosh…
I stepped outside and patrolled the dungeon.
One perk of the first field being a forest was the feeling of having a park right out front for strolls.
- Keeek…
- Keeeek…
A few days ago, a goblin had spawned thanks to the forest field’s effects. Maintaining the field well over time would likely yield even better familiars.
Coo…
Cooo…
I watched an unnamed bird perched on a branch and thought. The forest remained peaceful, regardless of what had happened or would happen here.
The familiars had lives of their own in this place too.
Listening to the birds’ chirps, I eavesdropped on the ongoing conversation between Amon and Lucifer in my inner sanctum.
- Lucifer, what’s going on? Why are you by a demon’s side?
- …I now serve Lord Faust with all my heart.
- Hmmm… I don’t understand. Leaning on a demon race that’s already extinct.
Amon seemed convinced the demons were beyond recovery.
- That’s not true.
- ……Hm?
- Still, hidden in the ashes…
I was intensely curious about Lucifer’s expression as she spoke.
- A single ember remains, enough to burn the whole world with one breath.
- That’s Spaghetti?
- …Lord Faust.
- Hm… My doubts remain unresolved. You vanished when Hell needed you, yet here you are by some nameless demon… Did you intervene in my summoning?
‘…No way?’
A chill of unease shot through me.
What if all this was Lucifer’s scheme…?
- No.
- ……
- It was solely Lord Faust’s power.
Phew…
Relief washed over me.
My luck hadn’t been manipulated, after all.
- More importantly, that voice from beyond the hell gate… It sounded familiar.
- Th-that’s trivial, let’s move past it…
- Your previous contract, Amon… It must be ancient, and the spell weakened? It felt like you crossed the hell gate on your own… Ah… So that ominous aura during the summoning ritual was…
- Enough! Stoooop! It’s better if you don’t pry further…
- …Were you planning to foist it on me?
Foist?
‘No way… Amon herself intervened in the summoning?’
- …I can’t return to Hell for a while.
- So it was your voice I heard after—
- It’s a bit shabby, but this place seems cozy enough. …I’ll take a look around.
‘I see. She came intentionally?’
My luck had seemed impossibly good. But so what?
‘The only thing that matters is that Amon is in my hands now.’
I stood on a cliff’s edge.
All I cared about was rolling this snowball named Amon down it for massive gains.
“My lord…”
“…Here you are, Phenex.”
“Amon. Dangerous.”
Demons fearing Archdemons wasn’t uncommon, but Phenex too?
“Are you afraid of Amon?”
Shake shake—
Phenex shook her head in reply.
“Grandpa said. Archdemons. Don’t trust!”
“…….”
“Archdemons seal life force.”
Huh?
‘Ah… Right, that happened.’
There was bad blood between the previous Phenex and the seven Archdemons. It played a big role in her storyline later.
‘Doesn’t matter right now, though.’
Looking down at her, I said,
“Got it.”
The words hit her like gospel truth. She beamed brightly and replied.
“…Yeah!”
* * *
Amon.
What a rotten thing.
“…Where’s Amon?”
“In her chambers.”
Amon didn’t work.
She’d commandeered an unused space on a whim and turned it into her quarters in seconds.
To witness a miracle firsthand. Her mechanical hands split and shaped stone effortlessly, even carving intricate details without issue…
Those hands, strong enough to grind rock, sent shivers down my spine for a moment. And in that eerie space, Amon sprawled on the bed she’d made, sleeping soundly without a care—that was even more terrifying.
I could understand how Jiwu felt dragging around that disobedient lizard. I wanted to kick her butt and make her work, but that would lead to bad results…
“Haa…”
Amon wasn’t a snowball.
She was a boulder.
Even Phenex, who at least listened, seemed like a fairy in comparison.
“Lord Faust.”
Swish…
Turning at Lucifer’s call, she handed me a parchment.
“News from Mori.”
“Mori, huh.”
Rustle…
I unrolled the scroll with faint anticipation. Inside was something I hadn’t expected at all.
“The black market…”
It detailed the schedule for a black market trading stolen goods and other shady or rare items from Riudira and nearby—albeit distant—cities.
‘In the game, it was just a spot for illegal loot trades…’
If applied to reality, it wouldn’t be that simple.
‘Perfect timing, since I was planning to head out anyway…’
Lucifer’s eyes gleamed.
“This time, for sure…”
Right then.
“I’m going too!”
Baaang—!
The firmly shut door to Amon’s chambers flew open, and she shot out like a bullet, hair standing on end.
Pop!
“I’m going too!”
Hearing that, a faint smile crept onto my face unbidden. This outing might just cure her laziness.
“No reason not to.”