Chapter 173
Chapter 173
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 173
Chapter Title: The Demon King's Circle
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"What do you think you're doing?"
Do-jae said in a low voice.
The Wind Arrow he'd fired from the tip of his sword was blocked by the high elder's Dark Barrier and dissipated.
"…You can't!"
The high elder aimed his staff at Do-jae.
A black fireball shot toward Do-jae.
*Fwoosh-! Swish-!*
Do-jae swung the Black Scale to strike down the fireball, but it flew past him and vanished behind.
"Hmm..."
Soon after, dark elves rushed into the underground chamber.
Judging by their light armor and the bone staves they all carried, they had to be black mages.
"Elders! Stop that high elf!"
The dark elves, called elders, aimed their bone staves at Do-jae in unison.
As they chanted, dark energy gathered at the tips of their staves.
They intended to launch a black magic attack reeking of malevolence.
"Why make things difficult for yourselves..."
"Dark Arrow!"
"Bone Prison!"
"Death Whip!"
*Swoosh-! Rumble-! Crack-!*
Piles of bone shot up from the ground, trapping Sari and Do-jae. Various black magic spells assaulted them from within.
The seven elders who appeared at the high elder's call relentlessly fired black magic at Do-jae. The aftermath was so powerful that the ceiling of the chamber began to collapse.
*Sssss-.*
"Wait!"
The high elder raised his hand, halting the attack.
A thick cloud of dust billowed up, obscuring the spot where Do-jae had been.
"High Elder, what is..."
"Tch... How can this be..."
Even before the dust had settled.
The high elder's brow furrowed.
Likewise, the other elders' expressions darkened.
"To think we can still feel his presence after such an attack..."
Through the slowly clearing dust, a dome-shaped stone wall was revealed.
The Bone Prison had already been shattered by the various attack spells, leaving only a scorched and dented stone wall.
*Crumble-.*
*Crumble, crumble-.*
"You've all gone too far."
Do-jae and Sari were visible through the collapsing stone wall.
Neither of them had suffered any harm.
"I came here so we could all live well together."
Do-jae advanced toward the flustered dark elves, bringing his thumb to the edge of the Black Scale.
*Slice-.*
As his finger grazed the blade, drops of blood formed.
Do-jae let the blood fall onto the blade of the Black Scale.
"I have no ill will. As long as you live on this land, you will cooperate to protect Tranepeion."
*Vrrrr-.*
The Black Scale absorbed the blood.
It was only a few drops, but the blade glowed red and emanated a sinister aura.
"Ah..."
"Ahhh..."
*Thud-.*
*Thud- thud.*
The elders who looked at the Black Scale collapsed one by one, pressing their foreheads to the ground.
*Swish-.*
Do-jae pointed the tip of his sword at the high elder.
A red aura flowed from the Black Scale and swirled around the high elder.
The high elder, who had held out until the end, finally went limp and pressed his forehead to the ground.
"From now on, you will obey my words. You will help the other races suppress the monsters. I will not demand unconditional sacrifice. We will all join forces to protect Tranepeion from Gellahan and the Apostates."
*Shudder-.*
The high elder and the seven elders trembled, repeatedly bowing their heads to the floor.
"Wind."
Finally, he summoned a gust of wind to blow away the white powder forming the summoning circle and knocked over the jar of blood.
The corpse poison that filled the chamber was also swept away by the wind.
"Shall we go?"
"Yeah!"
The dark elves of Black Lake Village had tried to quietly summon a demon king amidst the world's chaos.
Unfortunately, their plan was thwarted by the whim of Do-jae, who had merely stopped by to see Sari.
***
While Sari spoke with the high elder, Do-jae took a piece of paper and drew on it.
The demon king summoning circle was perfectly memorized in his head.
This gave Do-jae an idea.
'Summoning a demon king is still a form of interdimensional magic...'
Demon kings and their kind fundamentally exist in the demon world.
The demon world is also a completely separate, new dimension.
Just as the Ascetics crossed over to Earth, demon kings could also cross over to Tranepeion.
However, according to Altein, various gods, including the Ascetics, had erected a powerful barrier to directly prevent demon kings from crossing into Tranepeion. The black mages' summoning circle was a way to slip through the cracks in that barrier.
'What if I could modify this magic circle to connect Seoul and Tranepeion?'
It would be a huge help in hunting the Apostates and suppressing Gellahan's forces.
Here in Tranepeion, though still in the early stages, preparations for war were steadily progressing under Sari and Oson's leadership. But the Awakened on Earth were not yet ready to face the danger.
Therefore, bringing the other races to Earth or bringing the Awakened to Tranepeion to fight together would undoubtedly create great synergy.
'For now, it's just an idea...'
Of course, this was only the best-case scenario.
He couldn't even begin to predict the chaos humans, who viewed other races as monsters, would cause.
It could easily erupt into a war between the races and humans, and it would likely become a one-sided slaughter by the humans.
The other races might have superior physical abilities and special powers like magic, but humans had superhumans known as S-ranks.
'I'll need to think this through carefully, but it's best to know how to modify it. I should ask Herteias.'
For now, it was all just hypothesis and imagination.
He didn't even know if this magic circle could be modified to connect to Earth.
So, Do-jae decided to set aside his deep thoughts for a moment and show the magic circle to Herteias.
"Do-jae, what are you doing?"
"Oh, just thinking about something. Did your talk go well?"
"Yeah! They said they'll join us as soon as they're ready."
Sari wore a pleased expression.
The dark elves of Black Lake Village would follow Sari's orders from now on.
With the powerful domination of the Great Demon King Kerperaos in effect, there was no need to worry.
"Here. Take this."
Do-jae handed Sari an earring with a large gem that he had made in advance.
"Wow...! It's beautiful!"
As soon as she took it, Sari immediately removed her old earring and replaced it with the one Do-jae gave her.
It was a single earring, but it suited her well.
"If you need help like this time, just rub the earring. I'll arrive right away."
The earring Sari wore.
It wasn't just an accessory; it was a golem.
The mana stones he had taken from Herteias's treasury.
He had fashioned one of them into an earring-shaped golem.
"Really? Thank you!"
"Try not to break it. Well, not that it's likely to break."
It looked like a pretty earring, but it was a golem made from a high-grade mana stone.
It was highly unlikely to break.
It was a bit of a waste to use a high-grade or better mana stone, the kind that had been scattered all over the treasury, for a simple communication device, but...
"Then, back to Hamar!"
Sari fiddled with the earring preciously and set off with a determined stride.
Do-jae smiled and followed her.
***
A day passed after they rejoined Hamar and the residents of Night Cuckoo Village at the shelter.
"Thanks to you, Do-jae, I feel like I really got to rest easy."
"Well, that's a relief. Anyway, I should get back, so call me if anything happens."
"Okay!"
Sari packed her things and prepared to leave.
In the meantime, Do-jae called Man-gol aside.
"Man-gol. Is there a weapon you want?"
"No, sir."
Man-gol answered bluntly.
Until now, the black golems had fought bare-handed, without even a common iron sword or spear.
Do-jae had resolved to give each of them a weapon.
*Swoosh-.*
"Take these. For some reason, I feel like they'll suit you."
He took a one-handed sword and a square shield from his Subspace.
Then he placed them in Man-gol's hands.
"Awakened don't typically use shields, so I can't teach you, but try to use it well. Learn if you can while traveling with Sari. There's also a skill that only activates when you use these two together."
A sword and shield crafted as a set.
The description said it was imbued with the will of a human hero from long ago. He didn't know if that was true, but when used together, the wielder could use a skill called [Acceleration] that circulated their mana faster.
"Your attack and defense are balanced, but it's also true that they're both lower compared to Gong-gol and Ma-gol. This set seems perfect for maximizing that balance."
"Thank you."
Man-gol hung the sword at his waist and slung the shield onto his back.
Because he had used the skill 'Blood Armor of the Golem' to slightly alter Man-gol's appearance, the sword and shield fit perfectly.
"Protect Sari and the residents of Night Cuckoo Forest well. I'll be going now."
With those words, Do-jae headed back toward Briareus's lair.
It wasn't far in the first place, so after running for about thirty minutes, the entrance to the lair appeared. He went to the treasury to find Herteias.
"Still trying to disable it?"
Herteias looked disheveled after two days.
But his expression was much brighter than before.
"Almost... done..."
Do-jae crossed his arms, leaned against the wall, and waited for the concentrating Herteias.
He didn't know what they were drawn with, but the walls were densely covered in various magic circles that emitted a bright light.
How much time had passed?
Do-jae, who had dozed off, was woken by a loud noise.
*BOOM-! Fssssss-.*
White smoke billowed out from the door.
*Creeeak-.*
The door slowly opened.
"Haha... Hahaha! Briareus, you insignificant fool! No matter how hard you tried, this was nothing more than a simple pastime for me. Mwahahahaha!"
Herteias shot to his feet and burst into maniacal laughter.
He had finally undone the magic on the door.
"Oho, so you finally broke the absolute nullification magic?"
"Not just absolute nullification! Magic reflection, forced return, spatial transfer... I've dismantled all 27 overlapping spells! Mwahaha! No one but a dragon as great as I could have ever solved it."
Herteias wiped away the sweat dripping down his face.
It was clear he'd gone through quite an ordeal.
"I had something to ask you, but it looks like now's not a good time."
"What is it? Do you think I'd be tired from undoing a few measly spells?"
*Stagger-.*
Herteias stumbled as he tried to stand.
"Yeah. So get some rest. Briareus's bedroom is over there, and it looked nice."
"If you insist, I suppose I have no choice. How much time has passed?"
"About two days?"
"What? Two days? It took me two days for a single spell like this... How humiliating!"
*Clang-!*
Herteias threw down what he was holding.
Seeing it shatter and scatter black dust on the floor, Do-jae could tell it was charcoal.
"Even though we came to raid this lair, I feel a bit bad about making a mess..."
Do-jae used water magic to clean up, and in the meantime, Herteias left for the bedroom.
"He must be really tired, leaving without even being curious about what's inside."
Do-jae let out a small laugh and entered Briareus's treasury.