109. Frustrated Desires

I enthusiastically persuaded the green demon to come with me to reclaim the Essence of Power. Of course, I'm absolute shit at talking my way into things and completely hopeless at convincing people with words.

"Graaaah! You devilish bastard, fine! I get it!"

So I didn't use words. The green demon totally fell for my electrifying persuasion via Lightning Charge.

Of course, it wasn't just electric grilling—I gave him a proper massage, mixed in some lies, and spun a tale. Naturally, my fabricated bullshit had tons of holes, but the community phantoms kindly filled them in for me.

Those community lurkers with way too much time on their hands, plus the lore enthusiasts gunning for historian achievements, had fleshed out the setting for me.

"I-Is that true? The Demon King really got neutered? No bullshit?"

Right now, this green demon thought I was some human who'd gotten caught up in an incident and fallen into the Outer Demon Realm to survive.

"Yeah, asshole, that fucker's soul got summoned off somewhere, leaving just his empty husk behind."

Info from the community, settings I'd pieced together myself, and enough force to make him pliable.

"If what you're saying is true... that's one hell of a tantalizing story."

That perfect combo let me ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠turn a former Demon King into my pawn.

Afterward, I chatted more with the green demon and swapped info. Apparently, the Gray Demon King had the ability to steal and absorb others' power. The Essence of Power was like a gem condensing the strength he'd ripped from previous Demon Kings. Since it was a tangible object, and the Demon King was out of commission now—if we stormed in with purpose, we could snatch it back easy.

Of course, charging the Demon King's Castle head-on with just the two of us wouldn't cut it—and that's when I dropped the line I'd been saving.

"That's why—aren't there others who got screwed by the Demon King too? Why not round 'em all up and storm the place?"

There were way more than one or two demons who'd lost their Essence of Power. Just counting the cardinal Demon Kings—north, south, east, west—that was four right there. I'd killed two of them already, but surely they had seconds-in-command like the number twos from each direction? Losing an essence meant they'd been strong enough to catch the Demon King's eye, so gathering them all would make for a solid force.

"I see. That'd boost our odds big time. So, we're gathering revolutionary comrades."

The green demon nodded contentedly, oblivious to what fate might await those "comrades."

Here I am, recruiting my enemies instead of allies. Reverse Pokémon Master, baby.

The moment that thought crossed my mind, a system message popped up like it ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠had been waiting.

It was labeled a quest, but it was basically just asking how I planned to deal with this green demon—a multiple-choice menu. As long as I got my hands on the essence first, I'd get rewards no matter what I picked next.

The real question was which option netted the biggest payout.

I pondered the objectives for a bit—then had a brilliant idea.

Wait, can't I just do all of them?

Hand it back, steal it again, smash the stolen one, then kill him last. Perfect.

"The North Demon Realm guys should be easy to convince. Let's head there."

I nodded eagerly and set off with the green demon.

**

Even on Floor 14, themed around the Demon Realm, there are residential areas called villages. Sure, it's the Demon Realm, but the inner areas aren't half bad places to live. Just a few minor downsides.

Like how massive beasts occasionally show up at night to snatch people, or the fact that all the NPCs are shady demons?

But those NPCs are all wimps with just one horn, so to challengers strong enough to reach Floor 14, they're no big deal. You can tell from how all the former Demon Kings ended up as errand boys—demons run on pure might-makes-right.

But that same might-makes-right bullshit was a real pain in my ass this time.

"Hey, human, what the hell are you doing here?"

"Roturang's servant or something?"

"A human servant? Nah, he's gotta be snacks!"

Village demons don't pick fights with challengers because we're absolute weaklings to them. But the two- and three-horned demons here? They're far from weak.

They're in the strong category. Their raw mana pools are about equal to mine—or even bigger—and they've got the demons' racial trait of potent Mana Control.

So they grovel before the obviously powerful green demon... and strut around me like they're hot shit.

It had been two hours since we crossed into the North Demon Realm to find the guy who'd served under the Northern Demon King. And in those two hours, I'd been stuck in this situation over and over.

My response was always the same.

"Hey, what about these guys?"

"No essence stolen. Weak."

Meaning they were your run-of-the-mill weak demons who hadn't lost their essence. Roturang shut his eyes tight as he answered.

The demons hassling me looked baffled. Questioning how I could be on par with a former Demon King powerhouse like Roturang.

-Kwajik!

I pulled a sword from my inventory and cleaved the nearest demon from crown to crotch.

**

In the two hours since entering the North Demon Realm, I'd taken out about a hundred demons. And from butchering that many, I learned one thing: these fuckers fundamentally suck at technique.

Their natural physical toughness and mana reserves are insane, but "huge" doesn't fit—bloated is more like it. The ones who'd lost their essences might ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠be different, but the rest? Pathetically weak compared to their mana pools.

Like overfed slaughterhouse pigs.

"Y-You bastard!"

The three-horned demon, enraged at his buddy split in half, charged me. I channeled mana into my Steel Straight Sword and sliced off his arm with the glowing blade.

This Steel Straight Sword was junk you could buy in Floor 1 shops, so normally, it couldn't cut demon flesh. Even maxed Sharpness falls short, and max Durability still snaps it easy.

But infusing it with my mana supplements the sharpness and durability, turning it into a blade rivaling the finest in the world.

-Chwak!

I slashed another demon down, then kicked the shin of one swinging claws at me from the side. With a sickening crunch, its leg shattered wholesale, positioning its neck perfectly before me. One more swing separated head from body.

Channeling mana into a sword feels just like using an active skill. It costs MP, and the motion's freeform—basically an upgrade over skills.

The only downside to swordplay with mana is it demands complex inputs. Like the difference between a one-button macro and manually entering commands.

I used to struggle with those "commands," mixing in active skills... but now with Mana Control, I wield mana freely.

I'd stopped using sword skills entirely.

But the system still counts it as skill use—proficiency keeps climbing. One-handed sword proficiency would hit max 999 soon.

I'd heard there was an achievement for that too.

"Done. Let's keep moving."

I swept away the charging demons, shook the blood off my sword, and stowed it in my inventory.

"Can't tell who's the demon anymore. Does living in the Outer Demon Realm turn humans into this?"

The green demon muttered in dismay.

That's my situation now. Strong enough to make Floor 14's top monsters shit themselves. Even the community rankers can't gauge how powerful I am.

No wonder I keep getting hung up on that Gray Demon King bullshit. I hope the Demon Realm revolutionary army is strong enough once they reclaim all the essences.