The Monarch Who Levels Up by Devouring - Chapter 312

I caught the Corrupted Dragon.

“Yeah, I’ll submit it.”

—You’re not eating it for once?

“If the conditions are met, I can catch another one next time.”

But that was the thing.

The hidden reward on the 62nd floor could only be obtained the first time.

It was a pure white stele. Upon closer inspection, it was a tablet carved from ice. Countless demonic characters were engraved across its surface, and within the ice, an overwhelming dark mana pulsed with terrifying power.

The description was identical to Ars Goetia. Three unlocked spells. The magic power increase was exactly the same, too.

Ugh. So noisy.

One fly shows up and suddenly every constellation is poking their nose in.

Odin, the ultimate knowledge nerd, simply observed the situation from afar. Following Baal, the other seventy-two demons had also caught wind of the second fragment of Lemegeton appearing in the Tower and completely lost their minds.

—Is he truly such a big shot?

“If he’s the second-in-command of Hell, then yeah, he’s a big shot.”

Agares.

That was the true name of the Destroyer of Eternity, the Great Duke who ruled the eastern region of Hell and ranked right below Baal among the demons.

The Master of the Lazy Serpent was no ordinary demon either. He was the Great Duke who ruled the western region of Hell—Astaroth, the one who presided over Sloth among the Seven Deadly Sins.

Three of the four great demons who divided Hell among themselves were now showing interest. This was getting serious.

—They seem to want this tome quite badly.

“Lemegeton lets you wield the power of the seventy-two demons. Of course they’d want it.”

If one of the demons managed to obtain a complete Lemegeton, the entire power structure of Hell could be overturned. That was exactly why Baal had accepted the bet back on the lower floors of the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Tower.

“I’m probably the first person since Solomon to collect two fragments of Lemegeton.”

I gripped the Stele of Cocytus with my left hand. A bone-chilling cold spread through my fingers. Even though my body was reinforced by God’s Wrath and Dragon Form, touching a stele that contained the freezing chill of Hell’s depths still made me feel the cold.

This would be annoying to use as it was.

“I’ll merge you into your true form.”

I crossed both hands and slammed the Stele of Cocytus and Ars Goetia together.

Six spells recorded in each grimoire. Seven newly added spells. In total, I could now use thirteen spells.

Each one was a powerful technique that borrowed the origin, power, or blessing of a demon. On top of that, the cooldown after use had been reduced to three hours.

When using Ars Goetia alone, I had to wait twelve hours before reusing it. That time had been cut down to a quarter.

“This is insane.”

Even Ars Goetia by itself had been an incredible asset on the lower floors of the Tower. Although Barbatos’s Iron Mace had fallen behind my strongest attack magic after I obtained Fusion Qigong and Eclipse, it was still a very useful spell against monsters resistant to the four major elements.

Amdusias’s Melody and Dantalion’s Illusion also provided powerful debuff effects.

And now the cooldown was reduced to a quarter while the number of usable spells had quadrupled?

“Heh heh heh!”

The demons’ spells possessed power on the level of blessings or authorities. I already had plenty of attack techniques, but powerful debuffs were an entirely different story.

If I used Blessing of All Things Erosion and Blessing of Greed at the same time, I could easily crush most resistances and force status ailments on my targets.

How could I not laugh at this?

—There it is again, that frivolous laughter.

Yeah, yeah. Sigh all you want.

I’m going to enjoy this joy to the fullest.

* * *

Not long after receiving the Stele of Cocytus, the Tower System asked if I wanted to proceed to the next floor.

“No.”

I had already spent half a day fishing. Catching big ones like the King Salmon or the Corrupted Dragon had actually been the easy part. The real challenge was how precisely I could control the mana used as bait. Since the fish I could catch depended on the user’s ability, there weren’t many competitors.

The real competition had come when fishing for small fry like piranhas.

—Those poor children were wary of whether you would declare the trial cleared.

“I don’t know why they got so worked up when I was only catching a ton of piranhas.”

—Because the moment you submit, their Rating Points get deducted. They wanted to get out of there as fast as possible.

Sharp as always. I could give her an A in mortal psychology.

—Only an A?

“You need to submit a report to get an A+.”

—Heh heh heh. What a strict teacher you are.

There was one thing I had realized while climbing the Tower after my promotion.

—What is it?

“That I’m way too strong.”

—You being a narcissist is nothing new, but why are you suddenly emphasizing it now?

“Your words are harsh today.”

—Ordinary mortals don’t usually say such things out loud.

Stop with the brutal facts!

“Hey, at least let me finish what I’m saying.”

—Fine. I shall open my ears wide and listen.

The mood had been ruined.

“I’m not sure what level the guild members have reached.”

When I said guild members, I wasn’t talking about Team Mugeuk or Yellow Storm, who had already finished their Diamond promotion matches. I meant the raw gems I had personally discovered and raised. They weren’t veteran rankers like Ellen or Sergei, but they were the late-bloomers (by current standards) showing frightening growth.

—Those children are all sweating diligently and honing their skills.

“Working hard and being good at it are two different things.”

Excluding Hyung-nim, who specialized in command, the guild members had grown to the level of Earth’s top rankers. Considering most of them had only been awakened for two or three years, it was an incredible growth rate.

If you excluded a veteran rookie like me, it would be hard to find anyone with similar progress.

The problem was that the competition had expanded across multiple dimensions.

—It’s not like you didn’t already know that. Why bring it up now?

“After doing the 61st floor trial, I got a little worried.”

The elves had an average Rating Point in the 1,500s. Even though they had been crushed five-to-one against me, regular players would need to fight five-to-one the other way around to feel confident of victory.

Where did my guild members stand?

They would be taking their Diamond promotion test soon. It was time to check on them once.

—If their skills are lacking, you plan to delay the promotion test?

“There are still ways to get stronger without promoting.”

Whether it was grinding levels, upgrading equipment, or learning new skills—even after reaching the max level required for promotion, accumulating experience through the cumulative level system would still raise stats.

I had mentioned this before.

Even ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠though the stat bonus was reduced to one-fifth, one was still better than zero.

Players like Ellen, who had stayed in Platinum for a long time, had accumulated quite a hefty amount of bonus stats.

—But the time difference is significant, is it not?

“It would be even worse if they promoted while their abilities were still insufficient.”

Once you left the 50th-floor range, you couldn’t retry those trials. That meant losing a stable source of experience, and it also became difficult to earn resources. Wandering around gates one by one would take too much time.

—What standard will you use to evaluate them?

“After spending some time on the 62nd floor, I have a rough idea of the average level.”

I now knew exactly what their level was.

Whether it was so pathetic that I wanted to die… or not, I would only know after testing the guild members’ skills.

I had two comparison groups.

61st floor — Elven Royal Guard.

62nd floor — The players who had been fishing.

—So the 62nd floor is your benchmark for the average.

“Yeah. I set the pointy-eared bastards as the upper limit.”

The elves affiliated with the World Tree Alliance had an average Rating Point in the 1,500s. The royal guards who had followed to protect the princess were about 100 to 200 points higher than that.

Honestly, that level was difficult.

If they could hold their own against the elven royal guard, they passed. If they fell short, I planned to give them a thorough beating before letting them take the promotion test.

The founding members who had been called over listened to my explanation and simultaneously let out long sighs.

“No wonder my luck felt good today.”

“Were you practicing your sighing timing while I was gone?”

“You called everyone, so…”

“I had a feeling. Heh heh.”

Hyung-nim let out a hearty laugh in response to Enrique’s words.

“The evaluation will be through sparring, right?”

“Jiyoung has good instincts.”

“I feel like I got beaten up yesterday too.”

“Now now. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠You shouldn’t call the whip of love something like that.”

“Is it consideration to lighten the weight of their pockets when gangsters extort them?”

“So I’m a gangster now?”

“Ah. Busted.”

Hmmmm.

So that’s how it is?

“Master. I have a question.”

“Yeah, speak.”

“Is it one-on-one?”

“How could you beat me one-on-one? All of you, come at me together.”

“Guild Master. That’s unlucky.”

“If you underestimate us, it won’t be fun, Master.”

“That’s right, Teacher. We’ve all grown up now, you know?”

“Mister, don’t regret it when you get hit once.”

Everyone’s fighting spirit was blazing.

“Then let’s change locations.”

“There’s a sparring arena, isn’t there?”

“I plan to go all-out in this spar.”

“Eeeek.”

—Jiyoung. I will not be helping you open the way in this spar, so be at ease.

“Even without Nyx, Master is strong.”

—I cannot deny that.

Clap, clap!

“Get ready. We leave in thirty minutes.”

The guild members’ faces were flushed with excitement from the sparring talk. Expectation, fear, and worry were all mixed together.

Inside the defensive barrier installed at the guild house, they couldn’t use their full power. They had always had to adjust their firepower during spars. But this time, the limiters were completely removed and it would be one against five. It seemed they thought it was worth a shot.

Then I should prepare too.

I picked up my phone.

Beep. Beep.

“Special Task Force Member Jinho. What can I do for you?”

“Please find me one gate.”

“Please tell me your desired conditions as well.”

“Platinum rank or higher. Ten people.”

“Fortunately, a gate that meets those criteria appeared in Bundang two hours ago.”

Lucky me. I wouldn’t have to go far.

“Is there a team currently attempting it?”

“Not yet. We will control the site.”

“Thank you. I’ll be there within two hours.”

“Oh my. We’re the ones who should be thanking you. You’re going to clear a high-risk Platinum or higher gate for us.”

Hmm.

There seemed to be a slight misunderstanding, but I could just clear it after the sparring session.

I ended the call without adding any further explanation.

—Heh heh. I’m looking forward to this.

“Me too.”

Let’s see how much they’ve grown while I wasn’t watching.

And whether they have the qualifications to claim the Diamond rank.