The Monarch of the Polluted Throne
The swamp bubbled and churned.
My Sixth Sense kept blaring warnings in response to the bizarre phenomenon unfolding across the marshland.
Yeah, yeah. I already know it's dangerous. You don't have to scream about it.
I stroked my chin with my right hand, staring at the swamp.
I don't remember hearing about anything like this happening in the tutorial.
I calmly recalled my pre-regression knowledge.
But I had never heard of anyone encountering a monster called the Swamp Demon King during the tutorial.
I changed my approach.
Hunting five bosses in the first week wasn't exactly normal, was it?
Based on the system messages, there were two conditions for the Swamp Demon King to appear.
First, hunting five or more bosses during the first week.
Second, remaining in the swamp for over an hour.
Even if someone managed the first condition, if they visited the swamp earlier or stayed in another area long enough to pass the first week, they wouldn't meet the requirements.
To think there were still hidden elements left in the Tower.
"This is perfect."
A wide grin spread across my face.
The Swamp Demon King. That was a name that sounded seriously strong.
I was already excited to see what kind of essence it would drop when I devoured it.
What do you mean, perfect?
"Ah, right. My goddess probably can't see the quest window."
I shared the system screen with Nyx.
The Swamp Demon King? At your current level, you cannot possibly defeat a being that has reached the pinnacle of demonic power!
"It's only called a Demon King. It's probably not that big a deal."
I replied casually.
The Tower of Babel had suppression mechanics on every floor.
That meant monsters capable of breaking the balance couldn't appear.
This newly triggered quest, The Swamp Demon King, was probably just a monster with a fancy name.
This one only has you as her contractor, so do not push yourself too hard.
"Are you worried about me?"
If my contractor dies a meaningless death, it would be most inconvenient.
Well, I suppose I was her only hope right now, so it made sense that she'd be concerned.
Don't worry. If it really gets dangerous, I'll run away immediately.
The bubbling swamp suddenly surged upward, rising nearly five meters high.
Eyes, a nose, and a mouth emerged from the slime.
A sickly green light flickered within its hollow pupils.
The mud that formed the swamp coalesced into a head, two arms, and a torso.
Swamp Demon King
Red letters floated above its head.
Apparently, this was its true form.
Mrooooooo!!
The Swamp Demon King let out a deafening roar through its gaping maw.
You have encountered an existence from the Myriad Demon Realm.
This is an entity beyond your current capabilities.
You have fallen into Fear. You cannot properly perceive your enemy through your terror.
Cold Blood has activated. Partially suppressing the fear.
"Huk."
My breath caught in my throat.
Just facing the Swamp Demon King had inflicted two different status ailments on me.
Contractor... consciousness... hold on...!
Nyx's voice came through in fragments.
Since it was a higher-grade skill than Cold Blood, it couldn't completely suppress the fear inflicted by the Swamp Demon King.
My hands and feet trembled like leaves in the wind.
I wanted to turn my back on that repulsive creature and run, but thanks to Cold Blood, I could still make rational decisions.
Damn mental attacks.
Even with the mental resistance I'd built up through the Cold Blood skill, I couldn't fully resist it.
It was proof that this monster, which looked like a child had crudely slapped some mud together, was far stronger than it appeared.
I touched the necklace around my neck.
Bravery has been used.
Fear status has been dispelled.
The red gem embedded in the necklace radiated a powerful light.
The terror that had gripped my mind began to fade.
Just as I thought. It's a skill that nullifies mental debuffs.
Whew. Now I could finally breathe properly.
I really owed Ares one for this.
Have you regained your senses?
"Yeah. Thanks to the artifact."
That is a relief.
Nyx's voice was colored with relief.
"Goddess-nim, were you worried about me?"
What nonsense are you speaking? If you cannot overcome even this much, you would not be worthy of being my contractor.
"Sure, sure."
With clearer eyes, I looked at the Swamp Demon King once more.
The domain of the swamp has been declared.
The user is the Swamp Demon King.
A radius of 100 meters has been designated as the battlefield.
Any attempt to leave the battlefield will result in forced relocation to the center.
The battlefield will not disappear until one of the two parties falls or admits defeat.
Oh ho, so it still has some conscience after all.
If the player declares defeat, it would let them live.
Maybe because it was a hidden quest.
Or perhaps the difficulty was so absurdly high that death wasn't part of the equation. Either way, it seemed I wouldn't die here.
"I have no intention of leaving this place without defeating you."
The Swamp Demon King slid across the ground as it moved.
It wasn't that it lacked a lower body. It was simply an amorphous slime-like monster, allowing for such fluid movement.
A monster that my pre-regression knowledge couldn't account for.
When I checked with Eagle Eyes, a red aura even denser than the one the Blood Mountain Lord had emitted surged from it.
That monster is far too weak to be called a Demon King, just as you said.
"Right?"
However, it is still far stronger than you, contractor.
Even a rotten fish is still a fish, I suppose.
Even while unable to display its full power, it had instantly seen through the difference in combat strength between the Swamp Demon King and me.
"I told you. I don't pick fights I can't win."
I smiled with full confidence.
Energy Bolt has been used.
Just like when I fought the swamp lizards, I tried to create distance and begin overcharging.
The Swamp Demon King swung its right arm.
Shrrrrk! Its slime-formed arm stretched out like a whip.
The distance closed in an instant.
The thirty meters between us became meaningless.
I hurriedly fired the Energy Bolt.
The bolt pierced through the elongated arm of the Swamp Demon King.
The whip slowed slightly.
I backpedaled, dodging the attack.
Thump— My Sixth Sense reacted.
The Swamp Demon King's attack wasn't over with just one strike.
A second blow followed.
Its left arm, stretched to its limit, swept across the ground and flew toward my side.
Dangerous!
"I know."
So thirty meters wasn't its maximum range.
The whip flew in at a slight angle, barely lifted off the ground.
Judging by its length, its effective range reached up to fifty meters.
Evading was impossible.
Before the whip could touch me, I quickly completed another Energy Bolt.
Kwaaaang— With a short explosion, the point of impact was scorched.
Just like the right arm, this whip also slowed down slightly.
Thorn Armor has been used.
I created armor on my right arm and side.
I received the whip head-on.
"Kgh."
Even with the armor, I couldn't absorb all the force behind the whip.
I braced my legs and held my ground so I wouldn't fall.
Thorn Armor's durability has been reduced by 37%.
The damage wasn't as bad as I'd feared.
Most of the impact had been blocked by the armor, and my strength stat, which had reached the nineties, allowed me to endure the Swamp Demon King's attack.
Contractor!
"It's fine. Everything's going according to plan."
Sharp Claws has been used.
Blue energy shimmered over my extended fingernails.
Claws reinforced with mana.
I curled my fingers.
This was the stance of a beast about to pounce on its prey—the ready position for the Blood Claw Technique.
The internal energy settled in my dantian stirred.
It flowed through my meridians and spread throughout my body.
Shaaaak!
I targeted the Swamp Demon King's stretched left arm.
While the Energy Bolt had only slightly scorched its surface, the martial arts I unleashed with Sharp Claws tore the slime-formed arm into several pieces.
Splat. Splat.
The severed mud fell to the ground.
The demonic energy that formed its body had been extinguished upon clashing with my internal energy.
Eagle Eyes has been used.
The opponent is overwhelmingly stronger than you.
The red aura surging above the Swamp Demon King's head.
"Just as I expected."
I smiled.
Right after cutting off part of its arm, I noticed the red energy had diminished slightly compared to before.
What exactly is going according to plan?
"That so-called Demon King. The mud isn't its real body."
Ah, I see!
Nyx immediately understood my words and let out a gasp of admiration.
But how did you figure that out?
"You just have to observe carefully."
I answered nonchalantly.
The difference was so subtle that I wouldn't have noticed if I hadn't been watching closely.
Monsters without a fixed form like this one constructed their bodies using demonic energy.
That meant I had to exhaust its demonic energy to defeat it!
Either destroy the mud that formed its body, or lure out its attacks.
Either way, defeating the Swamp Demon King would require patience.
It's fine. Endurance is my specialty.
No matter what powerful enemy I faced, I was always the one left standing on two feet in the end.
It had been that way before my regression, and it would be the same now.
Shrrrrk!
The elongated mud dug in from both sides.
It was quite fast, but my Sixth Sense detected the attack one step ahead.
I didn't even glance at the incoming whips and kicked off the ground.
Agile Hind Legs has been used.
The distance closed in the blink of an eye.
With a single leap, I slipped past the whips and arrived right in front of the Swamp Demon King.
"It will."
The Swamp Demon King spoke like a machine.
Dozens of spikes erupted from its mud-formed chest.
Mud hardened by demonic energy.
They possessed a sharpness that rivaled the thorns of a thorn boar.
Blood Claw Technique has been used.
Both hands drew arcs as they dug between the spikes.
Claws reinforced with mana.
When internal energy was added on top of that, even spikes imbued with demonic energy couldn't withstand them.
"But it's not over yet."
I continued the forms of the Blood Claw Technique in rapid succession.
Like a tiger crushing its prey's skin, flesh, and bones.
The Blood Claw Technique, modeled after the movements of beasts, didn't miss a single opening the Swamp Demon King revealed and relentlessly tore through the mud.
Splat! Splat!
The mud that formed the Demon King's body flew in all directions.
The mud that had been torn apart by my claws was once again absorbed back into the Swamp Demon King.
It was like watching time reverse.
It felt like facing an invincible being that couldn't be defeated no matter what I did.
The Blood Claw Technique's effect is definitely working.
I continued monitoring the Swamp Demon King's condition with Eagle Eyes.
By closing the distance and using the Blood Claw Technique, its stored demonic energy was visibly decreasing.
Just as I thought.
When it came to maximizing physical ability, martial arts really were the best.
Corrupted Mud
Black-tinged mud spewed from the Demon King's mouth.
It carried a foul stench. Just looking at it made me feel like I shouldn't let it touch me.
"Ugh. You vomit that filthy stuff?"
I kicked off backward, quickly increasing the distance.
Whips poured down immediately after.
This time, I couldn't deflect or block them.
I deployed Thorn Armor on both arms.
Crossing them in an X-shape, I blocked the whips.
The impact on both shoulders was considerable, but I gritted my teeth and endured.
The Earth Mother's Blessing has been applied.
The pressure weighing down on my shoulders quickly dissipated.
I immediately reached out and sliced off the whip-shaped mud.
I can take this thing down more easily than the Blood Mountain Lord.
When viewed through Eagle Eyes, the Swamp Demon King had seemed more dangerous than the Blood Mountain Lord.
Theoretically, yes. But in actual combat, it was different.
The Blood Mountain Lord had continuously pressured me with superior combat technique and mobility.
The Swamp Demon King, on the other hand, only had high demonic energy and specs. In reality, it had been dragged around by me throughout the entire fight.
It simply possessed such an enormous amount of demonic energy that it wouldn't fall no matter how many attacks it received.
I had far more breathing room than when I fought the Blood Mountain Lord.
If I had been an ordinary player, the situation would have been reversed.
The Swamp Demon King, which could shape mud into various forms and attack in multiple ways.
With the hundred-meter restriction in place, winning through long-range attacks was also impossible.
But that body wasn't immortal.
If I kept attacking with internal energy, the demonic energy forming its body would soon be depleted.
The end is finally in sight.
"Yeah."
The battle had lasted over two hours.
Despite its seemingly intact appearance, it had consumed a significant amount of its stored demonic energy.
Thanks to the Earth Mother's Blessing and the Dragon's Heart, I had been able to maintain my stamina and mana perfectly. My internal energy had also held up thanks to the Three Talents Qi Gong and the Moonview Stone I had absorbed.
Have you done it?
Goddess-nim, please don't say things like that.
At that moment, the Swamp Demon King stopped moving.
The constellation that created the Swamp Demon King is showing interest in the battle.
📍 The Lord of the Polluted Throne is observing you.
Wait, the Lord of the Polluted Throne...
It's that guy.
A drop of cold sweat trickled down my spine.
Why was that name being mentioned here?
It was surprising that the Swamp Demon King was connected to the Lord of the Polluted Throne, but the timing was terrible.
A variable that should never have appeared.
Who is the Lord of the Polluted Throne?
Instead of answering the goddess, I stared at the Swamp Demon King with a tense expression.
The Lord of the Polluted Throne has taken an interest in you.
He is intervening in this quest.
The Tower system has detected an error and prohibits the Lord of the Polluted Throne from interfering.
The origin that created the Swamp Demon King reacts to the Lord of the Polluted Throne. Part of the system has been nullified.
Kwaaaaaaaa!
Dark crimson demonic energy poured out from the Swamp Demon King's body like a waterfall.
Ominous energy carrying the origin of 'corruption.'
When the black energy touched the water, it spread out like a spiderweb in multiple directions, seizing control of the surrounding space.
The Swamp Demon King.
No—the constellation dwelling within it opened its mouth.
"Fuck."
A curse slipped out involuntarily.
The Lord of the Polluted Throne.
The absolute ruler who governed the Myriad Demon Realm—Baal—had descended into the tutorial.