Fishing for Lemegeton

The rod twitched and bent.

Hmm.

The bite feels pretty decent.

- Should you not pull the fishing rod at once, my partner?

“Hold on a second.”

Fishing is like romance.

Just as a one-sided push can shatter a relationship, the same principle applies here. Yank the line the instant the fish bites and it will simply loosen its grip. You need the right give-and-take to drag it onto shore.

- You there. You speak as though you possess considerable experience in the ways of love.

What? I’ve dated plenty of people, you know? Why the suspicion?

- Wipe the moisture from your eyes before you dare speak such words.

“Damn it.”

The reason I never dated in my previous life was simply that I was too busy. That’s a fact. It’s true!

During my school days I was crushed under the weight of part-time jobs, and right after my discharge I awakened and spent every waking moment inside the Tower. Where was I supposed to find time for romance?

- Hmm. The mortals I observed in my leisure always seemed to pursue their species’ reproductive destiny with greater fervor the busier they became.

“Aish, fuck.”

I swear I will never speak of love or dating in front of the goddess again. One innocent example and she buried me alive with facts.

I poured ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠all the burning resentment of that factual assault into the fishing rod and yanked with everything I had.

“Lerrr!”

The shadow traced a perfect parabola in sync with the violently pulled rod. It was roughly ten meters long, a fish covered in green scales that glared with both eyes wide. A demonic beast of the dark realm—King Salmon.

The instant its head broke the surface it began thrashing with savage force. The once-silent lake churned as though struck by a typhoon, waves crashing loudly in every direction.

“King Salmon?”

“That’s the second-ranked fish in the Silence Lake!”

“Who the hell just pulled that monster?”

“Hah. There goes my RP again.”

“Don’t get excited. You know how strong King Salmon is.”

High rank meant high difficulty. Obvious, really. The rod was already bent like a drawn bow, trembling as if it might snap at any moment. Fail to control the force or let even the slightest ripple disturb your mana flow and—pop—it would break.

- For someone speaking so casually, you appear remarkably composed.

I told you. I’ve been through every kind of battle—land, sea, and air. This is nothing…

“Lirrrrrr!”

“No.”

The second-highest scoring fish in the Silence Lake. There was no way this would satisfy me. Naturally, I was aiming for the absolute top score.

- Then why not target a great catch from the very beginning?

“You just don’t understand.”

What is my specialty? Devouring. Devouring.

I swung my right hand at the King Salmon still flopping on the ground. The hand wreathed in explosive demonic energy brushed ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠across its body. With a wet crack, scales harder than steel split open and blood poured out.

“Lirk…”

It was a skill modeled after the image of salmon fighting their way upstream.

- You obtained a complete essence from a single specimen.

“It’s because this is the boss monster, the number one of the Silence Lake.”

- Yet aside from imitating a drunkard, it does not appear particularly useful.

“Everything has its use.”

I told you. There is no such thing as a useless essence in this world.

This was not the result of Fusion Qigong but the pure synergistic effect of Devour itself. It was the first time since I had forged the True Dragon Armor.

Incidentally, Dragon’s Fury was the ability I gained by devouring the holy relic of Balak, the “Dragon Commander,” one of the seventy-two demons.

There was no reason to hesitate over a new skill born from synergy.

“Fuse them.”

- What are these absurd numbers?

“Khehehehe. See? I told you there’s no such thing as a useless essence.”

Comparing it to the brute force I had relied on since regression: Brute Force gave 330% Strength. Reverse Scale gave 200% Strength plus 300% Magic Power. It wasn’t an either-or choice between the two stats. The points were added together for the final damage value. On top of that, when I used Dragon Form the bonus increased by another 100%. This wasn’t just brute force—it was grandfather-level brute force.

Furthermore, the root of the synergy—Dragon’s Fury—granted additional bonuses to any dragon-race skills. If I layered explosive demonic energy or an aura blade on top of it, even the early forms of Hundred Beasts Emperor Martial Arts would be insufficient. The destructive power would be overwhelming even for the later forms.

- Then is the usefulness of the martial arts you cherish so dearly now in question?

“There’s a penalty, isn’t there?”

Like Berserk, it left me vulnerable to damage and counters while the skill was active. Reverse Scale itself contained no deeper martial principle. Without proper understanding of martial arts, the immense power would scatter uselessly at the moment of release.

- You could easily be swept away by the power itself.

“Anything can be used with the right application.”

Handling abilities extracted from essences is my specialty, after all. If I unfolded Reverse Scale while using Dragon’s Wings, I could sweep away everything around me in one go. Since I could also deploy it with my tail in Dragon Form, I had gained another trump card—one different in meaning from the Mind Sword.

- Then have you harvested everything there is to gain?

“Now the real work begins.”

What a disappointing thing to say.

I intended to stay glued to this spot like a ghost until every last fish in the Silence Lake was devoured. I would consume every essence they held and remain until I had eaten the “element” hidden within the lake itself.

“Then let’s fish for eternity.”

I murmured leisurely and poured additional mana into the rod.

* * *

“Uryaaaah!”

- What a substantial fellow.

A fish thicker than my torso thrashed violently. Yes, yes. It wouldn’t be any fun if they were docile.

I braced my forearms and lifted the rod high. A rainbow-colored fish drew a long arc through the air and landed with a wet smack in front of me.

“No.”

I had already lost count of how many times I had done this. I blasted the flopping fish with explosive demonic energy and devoured it on the spot.

A skill useless on its own. However, the True Dragon Armor—which had evolved one step beyond Dragon Scale—was treated as scales. The previous stage, Metal Reflection Armor, had no such interaction, but the True Dragon Armor received an additional effect.

Ehehehe. In my second year of regression I had essentially completed the final defensive tech tree.

- Are you finished catching minnows now?

“Probably.”

There were still two more essences I had obtained on the 62nd floor.

Both essences were difficult to use on their own. Slippery Mucus would have been useful in the tutorial or the Tower’s lower floors, but now that I had completed the ultimate defensive essence called True Dragon Armor it offered little help.

The important thing here was the mucus’s property. After deactivating the essence through body modification, I extracted only the “flexibility” factor and subordinated it to my primordial essence.

Agility +2%

Impact Resistance Lv. 10 added

It was less effective than covering myself in mucus, but for me right now the benefits far outweighed the drawbacks.

I also subordinated Mono Eye under Truth Eyes. The demonic eye could distinguish, read, and even interfere with the nature of mana. Since they shared the concept of “eyes,” I added Jaco’s vision-blocking resistance to it.

- There are not as many fish species as I expected.

“Even within the same species the judgment isn’t identical.”

Size, weight, condition—everything mattered. It was the same as the fishing competition itself. The first King Salmon I caught was guaranteed top grade regardless of weight, but the true target of this mission was something else entirely.

- Is it not about time you told me?

Nyx puffed out her cheeks. I suppose my constant hedging had been obvious.

“The hidden element on the 62nd floor is Lemegeton.”

- Lemegeton? I believe I have heard that name before.

“Ars Goetia is one of the fragments of Lemegeton.”

The magic king Solomon. A great monarch versed in all creation who contracted with the seventy-two demons. In the end he deceived every last one of them, sealed their powers and authorities, and created the forbidden tome known as Lemegeton.

- Baal also proposed a wager with you because he desired that book.

If Lemegeton were to appear in its complete form, the power structure of the demon world could shift entirely. Or perhaps Baal, who already possessed god-king level strength, might ascend to an even higher realm by obtaining it.

- You never witnessed the completed Lemegeton either.

“Sharp as always.”

I only knew about the hidden opportunity on the 62nd floor. Of the remaining three volumes, one already had a known owner, and from my pre-regression knowledge I could guess where the second was hidden. The last volume, however, remained a mystery.

Who knows? In this life I might be the one to complete Lemegeton. If I uncover the hidden element on the 62nd floor, I will obtain two of the fragments.

Swish!

The trick was the same as when fishing for the lake’s fish. The only difference was pouring dark mana into the rod instead of regular mana. The fishing rod gradually turned pitch black under the influence of dark mana.

- It is slower than before.

“If I go any faster it will break.”

Dark mana possessed a nature that rebelled against order. If I didn’t accumulate it carefully, I wouldn’t be able to store enough to satisfy the hidden element.

Five minutes. Twenty minutes. Then a full hour passed. The rod continued devouring dark mana without pause. In terms of stat points, that was roughly 1,500. My total magic power was 6,000; after conversion through Primordial Dragon Heart it lost 30%, meaning I had poured more than 30% of my available mana into the rod.

Tremble!

The rod that had been sucking in dark mana shook violently up and down.

“Stage one complete.”

Then let’s fasten the second button toward obtaining the Lemegeton fragment.