The Delusional Duke
Just as Halordale had predicted, the Cult's destination was Iceland.
But even he had failed to foresee one thing.
The Pope's reach.
The Pope had long since swallowed Iceland whole. Apparently deciding that skulking in the shadows was no longer viable, he had stretched his hand across the entire nation.
A dense, oppressive wave of demonic energy rolled out across the land.
"As expected."
As the miasma of the entire island washed over him, the light in Do-ha's eyes went cold. Exactly as he had anticipated — the whole country had been steeped in demonic power. Even a seasoned Awakened would find it hard to draw breath here.
Good thing I cast a protection spell on Han Jeong-soo.
Kang Ji-hwan and Han Se-ah had nearly reached SSS-Rank; they could endure this level of corruption. Woo Shin was Cheon-oe-cheon — no question there. But Han Jeong-soo was still only A-Rank. Without protection, he could easily die.
A low hum of power stirred the air.
Kill every living thing you see.
"What?!"
Han Jeong-soo jolted at the telepathic order.
Kill every living thing in sight…?
It's already too late. They've taken the Demon God's power. Every last one of them is an enemy. Don't hesitate and get yourselves killed.
"Y-yes… understood."
"Understood."
"Moving out now."
The moment Do-ha finished speaking, a thunderous roar erupted and the battle began.
In a sense, they were annihilating an entire nation.
Caught completely off guard, most of the cultists fell into chaos. The explosion moments earlier had been the Cult's own excavation work. Everything that followed was the enemy's assault.
The ground rumbled.
"They're quick to react."
From far off, massive auras scattered in every direction — archbishop-class forces, most likely.
And the largest, strongest contingent is heading straight for us.
They weren't fools. They could tell where the real threat was, and they were sending forces to match.
But Do-ha had no intention of staying put.
"Metatron. Baal. The two of you handle the troops here."
"Understood."
"Are you going after Anubis?"
"I'm going after the summoning circle. By the time we find Anubis, it'll be too late."
A god's descent had to be stopped at any cost. This was an entirely different matter from immortals descending to the mortal world. Immortals might occupy a divine station, but they were not the same thing — a mountain spirit, after all, was something he could handle without much trouble.
"Move."
The instant the word left his mouth, Metatron and Baal shot toward the Cult forces approaching from the distance. There were more than five cardinal-class fighters among them, but with Metatron and Baal on the field, defeat was out of the question.
"Canteas. Let's go."
"You know where we're headed?"
"I figured it out."
North, east, south — three explosions in total. But only one of those sites had produced a secondary chain of smaller blasts.
"East."
Amid the massive detonations, only the eastern site had triggered additional, finer chain explosions. That meant something was being excavated with precision.
"We're going."
"Okay."
Canteas set a hand on Do-ha's shoulder.
Lightning crackled. In a single breath, Do-ha unfurled the Noeryeongsinbo and vanished from the spot.
Teleportation would have been preferable, but the moment the Cult registered the intrusion, they had activated a coordinate jammer.
"Cut the firepower, you bastards!"
The cardinal overseeing the site bellowed at the cultists. They had just found Fenrir's jawbone. That meant the rest of the beast was almost certainly buried somewhere in this very area.
"How many times have I told you to be careful?!"
"We're sorry!"
"Reduce the output. Scrape it out little by little."
"Yes, sir!!"
The ground shuddered as the cultists resumed digging with drastically reduced force.
This is it… Fenrir has to be buried here.
Arms folded, the cardinal bit his lip with barely contained anxiety. If they truly found Fenrir here, the credit would be enormous.
Anubis, growing desperate, was preparing to descend in person to search for the Book of the Dead. And if the cardinal found it first…?
I could rise to become the next Pope.
How much power would Anubis throw behind him? He would have found what a god himself was preparing to descend for.
Footsteps pounded closer.
"Your Eminence!"
"What is it."
"E-enemies have invaded Iceland."
"And what of it?!"
The cardinal snapped with irritation. The entire island belonged to the Cult — what did it matter if enemies walked in? They were moths diving into flame. They would die before they managed anything of consequence. Why interrupt his pleasant daydreams with a report like that?
"W-well… according to the report, Baek Do-ha has come."
The cardinal shot to his feet.
"…Baek Do-ha? The Cult's Class-One criminal?"
Baek Do-ha was the only Class-One criminal the Cult recognized. Class Two: Dimerof and Namgung Je-u. Class Three: Canteas and Emilton. Depnius had once been Class Four, but he had pledged himself to the Cult and received the Pope's absolution.
"Yes. Baek Do-ha is currently heading this w—"
A colossal tremor ripped through the earth. Sand and grit rained from the ceiling as if the whole tunnel were about to collapse.
"…It seems he's already here."
As the life force of cultists above them snuffed out in real time, the cardinal and everyone around him went rigid.
He turned slowly toward a figure reclining atop a pile of rubble.
Damn it.
He had wanted to avoid asking that creature for anything if he could help it. But given how fast the cultists were dying, he had no choice.
"Yaaawn."
The reclining figure stretched with a long, lazy yawn and rose. He had been sleeping so comfortably, too.
"You know my fee, right?"
"…Yes. I know."
The cardinal's brow furrowed. The fee in question was not money.
It was people. Cultists, specifically, offered up as payment.
This is exactly why I didn't want to use him…
The other party — no, the Duke, Saleos, nineteenth in the demonic hierarchy — always cost far too many cultists. He claimed that cultists saturated with demonic energy tasted far better, and for every job he took, he consumed a minimum of five thousand. Sometimes as many as ten thousand.
"This time, I want twenty thousand."
"What?! Why twenty thousand this time?!"
The cardinal recoiled. The cardinals already maintained their own factions, and each faction's forces were fixed. Handing over twenty thousand of his Iceland troops as sacrifices would grind the excavation to a crawl.
I need to finish the dig before Anubis is summoned, so I can at least claim the credit…
What to do?
Offering twenty thousand cultists was not difficult in principle. It was difficult right now. If he gave up twenty thousand of his own men, he would have to bring in replacements from other countries — and moving troops on that scale risked exposure abroad.
Why else had the Pope spent so long converting Iceland's citizens into cultists? Until Fenrir's location was properly confirmed, he had not shared a scrap of information even with the cardinals. Security this time had been absolute. And now the cardinal himself might compromise it.
Another massive quake. Dirt cascaded from the ceiling.
"The longer you take to decide, the more dangerous this gets, don't you think?"
Saleos smiled a sickening smile. That aura above them — he had not felt it in a long time.
"You already know, don't you? I'm the only one who can stop the Absolute One rampaging up there."
"…"
The cardinal bit down hard on his lip. It was true. He had heard that Saleos had already fought the Absolute One and won. Long ago, the story went, Saleos had defeated him — and only the sudden arrival of Dimerof, Namgung Je-u, and Canteas had saved the Absolute One from death. The testimony had come from enough demons that it had to be taken as fact. To stop him, Saleos had to move.
"I'll offer thirty thousand as sacrifice."
"Oh?"
"But!"
"?"
"I can't manage it immediately. Within two months. If you'll concede that much, I'll throw in an extra ten thousand."
"Keh-hi-hi-hi. Fine. Deal."
With a laugh that crawled under the skin, Saleos shot upward, punching straight through the earth toward the surface.
Baek-bo Myeol-hwang Gong
First Step: Cheon-roe — Heavenly Thunder
Lightning flared. The sky cracked open, and thousands of thunderbolts blackened the cultists where they stood.
"Just what the hell has the Pope been doing in Iceland?"
The madness pouring from their eyes was anything but ordinary. It ran far too deep for people who had only recently become cultists. Normally, watching people die beside you made you flinch. Every single one of them charged forward with boundless faith in the Demon God.
"Do-ha! There are a lot of monsters mixed in among them!"
"So they've got demons embedded in the ranks."
The forces at this single location alone numbered roughly five times Iceland's officially recorded population.
A low, grinding vibration.
"Do-ha, something's coming."
"I felt it too."
The ground trembled faintly — and something rose from below.
"Enormous demonic energy… a noble, then."
At the vast aura washing over him, Do-ha's expression brightened. Just as expected. He had figured a noble-class demon would be here.
"Keh-hi-hi-hi-hi. Absolute One, Baek Do-ha. It's been a long time."
"?"
Saleos laughed from the sky above, and Do-ha tilted his head. Who was this? A demon he had never seen before, acting as if they were old acquaintances.
"Someone you know?"
"No? First time seeing him."
"Decades since you fled from me. And here we meet again."
"?"
"?"
At Saleos's words, Do-ha and Canteas both looked even more baffled.
Fled? Him?
"Back then you survived with Canteas's help, and this time you've brought him along again."
"Hey. What the hell is he talking about?"
"Uh… no idea?"
Canteas scratched his head. The demon was mentioning him too, so they must have crossed paths somehow. But something felt off. Do-ha surviving because of his help?
Come on. No way.
The reverse had happened plenty of times. Do-ha being saved because of Canteas? Never.
"Ah!"
Something clicked. Canteas clapped his hands.
"Hey, Do-ha. Isn't that the guy? You know — that weak demon we ran into while tracking Lucifer's trail."
"Ah?"
"You said he was so pathetic it wasn't even worth killing him. That chasing Lucifer's trail mattered more."
"I remember."
"Yeah. I think that's him."
At the time, they had just uncovered a decisive lead on the elusive Lucifer. Missing the chance would have meant another tedious chase. So Do-ha had summoned all his comrades mid-fight and teleported away.
"Keh-hi-hi. This time, I'll kill you for certain!"
Saleos flung both arms wide overhead, drawing up his power.
But then—
A screaming rush of air. A catastrophic impact.
"Guhk!"
From far above Saleos, a single arm of the Heavenly Manifestation Vajra came down and crushed him flat.
"What is wrong with this idiot…"
Do-ha watched the screaming, plummeting demon with a look of pure disdain.