The Strongest of the Southern Demon Realm
Just as the human world is divided into numerous countries, the Demon Realm was once similarly fragmented and ununified in the past.
There were the harsh outer fringes known as the Outer Demon Realm, where even demons struggled to survive, and the Inner Demon Realm, home to most of the demonkin. The Inner Demon Realm was further split into east, west, south, and north, each governed by its own Demon King.
The East had its Eastern Demon King, the West its Western Demon King. In total, four Demon Kings maintained a delicate balance of opposition across the Demon Realm.
The sole qualification to claim a Demon King's throne was one: overwhelming power that crushed all other demonkin. Each regional Demon King was the strongest in their domain, and a king who lost that strength had to be dethroned by a superior force.
Amid endless cycles of decline and resurgence dictated by the law of strength, and countless challenges, the throne changed hands dozens of times. Among the parade of kings who came and went, the most standout were those of the "Primal Colors."
Every demonkin bore a unique color of innate demonic power, and the purest among them were granted the title of Primal Color. These Primal Color demonkin held the throne longer than any others in history.
The only ones who could wrest the throne from a Primal Color were others of the same lineage—fellow bearers of Primal Colors. By the time each Demon King had reached their 20th generation, all four thrones—east, west, south, and north—were occupied solely by Primal Color demonkin.
And so it went—after centuries had passed with the notion cemented among demonkin that only those born of Primal Colors were fit to be Demon Kings—
A lone demonkin emerged from the desolate Outer Demon Realm, deemed uninhabitable by all. He began toppling each regional Demon King in turn.
As if the color of one's power meant nothing to true strength, the light of this demonkin's mana was gray.
A middling gray that, even at its best, could hardly be called a Primal Color—like dust piled in a warehouse corner or haphazardly mixed paints.
This Gray Demon King forced even the Primal Colors, once deemed the strongest, to their knees. He single-handedly unified the east, west, south, and north of the Demon Realm.
The first unified Demon King, the strongest in history.
[Detailed lore on Demon Realm history up to the Gray Demon King's unification and subjugation of former kings into gatekeepers]
"What the hell? That's it?"
I confirmed the scroll had stopped and muttered to myself. The last line of the post read, "To be continued in the next part."
Fucking cliffhanger bullshit. This guy could've been a drama or novel writer and made bank.
Grousing, I searched for the sequel. But no matter how I tried with the author's name, nothing came up.
"You fucking asshole."
Some prick worse than this demonkin had dropped just part one and ghosted!
No results found for "Next Part" or Author Search.
Luckily, I didn't have to wait forever for a sequel that might never drop. The post's author was just one of the challengers who'd explored the 14th floor's lore—not some dedicated creator.
Other climbers had investigated the floor's background too, and digging through their posts and comments quickly revealed the rest.
The entity who stole the Essences of Power from the Primal Color demonkin—the Gray Demon King, overwhelmingly stronger than this floor's top monster, the gatekeeper—is currently absent from the 14th floor for some reason.
And that reason? Totally fucked.
The 14th floor's background ties into another floor's. The boss of the 48th floor—a world of hyper-advanced magitech—is none other than the Gray Demon King's soul.
A cultist in one of that floor's quests succeeded in a summoning ritual, pulling the Demon King's soul there. So the king "fell" because only his soul got summoned away, leaving his body behind.
"Holy shit, that's ridiculous."
The gatekeeper's weak compared to his mana reserves because his Essence of Power got yanked out—by the Gray Demon King, no less.
So the Gray Demon King, never stripped of his own essence, must be way stronger than mana-bloated gatekeepers who can't fully use it.
With all this hype buildup, I'd hoped for a hidden boss fight. But nah—soul summoned elsewhere? Empty husk left behind?
A few intriguing keywords, sure, but disappointment's inevitable. No combat growth on this floor, looks like.
The final third trial's orthodox solution was solving a massive block puzzle. The community had detailed walkthroughs, but as always, I had zero intention of bothering.
"Halt! To pass, you must prove your wisdom."
"Yeah, yeah, I'm an idiot, so I'll do it my way."
"The unwise cannot pass. Begone."
I pulled a massive hammer from my inventory and smashed the giant block the green demonkin shoved forward.
-BOOM!
As the block shattered and rained down, the green demonkin instantly went into combat stance.
The first red one I'd seen was melee brawler type. The next blue one was ranged magic spammer.
Perfectly specialized with no overlap— this green one with two pairs of wings specialized in speed.
-Whirr-whirr-whirr-whirr-whirr!
Wings spread, it circled me at high speed. The shockwaves alone were no joke.
Speed-wise, comparable to the 13th floor boss without gimmicks solved. Insanely fast for the floor level.
Difference from the 13th boss? This fucker wasn't jumping—it was straight-up flying.
Movement in flight looked utterly free and unconstrained, a nightmare matchup for a close-range fighter like me.
Ranged I could handle somehow, but aerial without flight? Fucked.
"But hey, what're you gonna do, just buzz around?"
This green demonkin just looped endlessly—no attack attempts whatsoever.
Sure, air combat's my weakness, but only if it can unilaterally bomb me from above.
That requires both flight and ranged attacks. This guy seemed to lack the latter.
"I'll end you!"
Then it yelled and ramped up speed. Ramming at that velocity?
But if you're body-slamming, shouldn't you not telegraph "I'll crush your throat!" first?
"What a moron."
I timed it perfectly and triggered my skills.
Iron Wall
All-Out
-KABOOM!
Its body exploded on full-speed impact with mine, spraying chunks of flesh.
Body-checking? Know if you're tougher than the target first, dumbass.
"Gahk... Impossible, how...!"
Egg-on-rock style, the green demonkin twitched. Still clinging to life, barely.
Then crack—a horn sprouted from its forehead. Six horns, same as the blue one.
Guess the first red one was the strongest. That tanky fucker took a hit too.
"Impressive! To force even Roturang, 26th Demon King of the Southern Demon Realm, to reveal his horns!"
Anyone watching would've seen I did jack shit. It kamikaze'd itself.
Horns out, it amped speed further—like now the real fight starts. Durability up too, probably. Learned from the last blunder, no more reckless charges.
But betting on speed? Already doomed.
I'd already chased down the 13th boss on raw sprint. And I had ways to go faster.
Haste
Boosting movement speed instantly with Haste, I flanked it in a flash.
Grabbed its nape, slammed its face into the ground.
-THUD!
Planted root-vegetable style, I snapped its limbs one by one.
Sure, combat growth expectations were dashed, but "soul summoning"? Can't ignore that hook.
"Hey, you're a former Demon King—ain't this embarrassing?"
I made the pinned green demonkin—Roturang—an offer he couldn't refuse.
"Getting fleeced by a human—how's that feel? That Essence of Power or whatever—don't you want it back?"
You and me, let's start a revolution.