Chapter 414
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 414
Chapter Title: Beelzebub's Return
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Demon Realm.
Beelzebub, who had volunteered as a spy and departed, returned completely unscathed.
No sooner had he arrived than he summoned all the named demons.
"Everyone's here."
Beelzebub grinned.
"You're back sooner than expected?"
Armageddon tilted his head with a puzzled look.
"I was going to stay longer, but it was so disgusting I couldn't stand it."
Armageddon burst into laughter at the sight of him pinching his nose with his fingers and grimacing.
"You're right. Staying in a place like that would rot your body away."
"So how'd you escape the Divine Realm? Did you take their side or something?"
Ulion interjected, cooling the atmosphere.
"Hah, take their side? I'd rather die. You think I'm crazy?"
"Then spill it."
"Tch, you're always the expert at killing the mood."
"If you don't talk, we'll consider you a spy."
With those words, a spear of light appeared in Ulion's hand.
Beelzebub raised his hands in surrender.
He was annoyed by Ulion's attitude, but tangling with that scholarly prick would be a massive headache, so backing down here was the smart move.
"Fine. Psyche helped me get out."
"Psyche?"
Everyone's eyes turned to Psyche.
Armageddon spoke in surprise.
"That's surprising. You actually decided to screw over the Divine Realm."
"Sigh... anyway, he's a guy I just can't stand."
Psyche glared at Armageddon for a moment before looking away.
"Psyche knew the Outsider would head to the 96th Demon Realm. She said if we left that Baal guy alone, he'd stick to the Outsider, so we took him out first."
Beelzebub stroked the recovered fragment and chuckled.
"And?"
An irritated voice came from Logos, who had been listening quietly.
It was a warning to cut the chit-chat and get to the point.
"This."
What Beelzebub pulled out was a colorless orb.
"What's that?"
"A spirit orb."
Spirit orb.
A rare item possessed only by the Supreme God, impossible to use without being bestowed one.
How the hell did Beelzebub have something like that?
"Psyche gave it to me. She said it could fool the eyes of the Divine Realm."
"Psyche, you're gonna have to explain this in detail."
Psyche nodded and opened her mouth.
"Before I betrayed them, I was an angel of the Divine Realm. During that time, I happened to glimpse the process of making spirit orbs."
"The process of making spirit orbs?"
"Yeah. It's not perfect, but it's good enough to fool the Divine Realm's eyes."
She pulled out nine spirit orbs and placed them in front of her.
Originally ten, but one had been given to Beelzebub, leaving nine.
"So these are spirit orbs..."
"They're a bit different from the real ones."
"But good enough to fool the archangels' eyes, right."
That Beelzebub had escaped their grasp was proof.
"How was the Divine Realm?"
Psyche put the spirit orbs away and asked Beelzebub.
He had volunteered as a spy purely to gauge the Divine Realm's situation.
"It's a shame to throw away the black orbs, but I got info that more than makes up for it."
Beelzebub began explaining the Divine Realm's information one by one, as if he'd been waiting.
In front of the sealed laboratory.
You cannot enter.
He tried to enter the lab, but the system blocked Jeong Hoon.
'What a lack of foresight. Don't they usually lift restrictions at times like this?'
Tenebris chimed in as he stared at the message with a dumbfounded expression.
'It's because the dark energy is too strong.'
Dark energy was the power of the Demon Realm.
The Divine Realm had stabilized New World but couldn't touch the dark energy because it belonged to the Demon Realm.
Wow, black mages have it good.
-There's this dark murky stuff in the fields, and dark-class jobs can absorb it? How do I know? I'm a black mage lololol
Jealous...
Ugh, that crap drops all my stats by 20... I use holy power
Absorbing it boosts your mana And it upgrades skills too
Can you change jobs?
Some profited from the dark energy, while others couldn't perform due to debuffs.
'You shouldn't absorb that recklessly.'
Dark energy.
Absorbing it would lead down the path of corruption.
Taking in such overwhelming energy without proper control would overwhelm the body, turning one into a demon.
Good thing this wasn't reality.
If it were, it would've been a real headache.
'Couldn't the Master absorb it?'
'Sounds like a good idea.'
Tenebris shook her head at Mukho and Anima's words.
'It's already burned-up residue. Absorbing impure energy like that won't help.'
He agreed.
Even if absorption were possible, the amount was negligible, so better to absorb unused black orbs in that time.
"Hey! This isn't a place you can just barge into!"
Deras came running up in a panic.
"Who owns this lab?"
Jeong Hoon pointed at the sealed lab door and asked.
"W-What... This place is sealed; no one can enter."
"Hm? Why are you so flustered?"
"Me? Not at all."
Contrary to his words, Deras was dying inside.
He should've realized something was off when he couldn't read the human in front of him.
That guy wasn't normal.
Pinpointing a sealed room in this vast underground meant he already knew what was inside.
He absolutely couldn't let him in there.
"Open it."
As Jeong Hoon released a bit of his energy, Deras's face went deathly pale.
His legs shook like aspen leaves, and soon he dropped to his knees.
"P-Please spare me! I beg you..."
"Then open it."
"It's not under my jurisdiction."
"Then whose is it?"
He couldn't let him in.
But lying here felt like his head would fly off any second.
"Duke's."
"Duke?"
"The administrator of this hall."
Just to be sure, Jeong Hoon mind-controlled Deras and confirmed again.
Only after hearing the same answer did Jeong Hoon nod.
"Okay. As promised, I'll let you live."
The Hall of Magic's administrator.
Duke would be on the third floor reporting his duties.
Jeong Hoon stepped into Supremacy of the Heavenly Demon and swiftly ascended to the surface, reaching the third floor.
NPC Information
-Nickname: Duke
-Level: 150
-Job: Hall of Magic Administrator
An elderly man who looked to be in his mid-to-late 70s.
He had grown a white beard down to his chest, and his notably large nose was striking.
Jeong Hoon closed the distance in an instant and placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Wh-Who?! Gah!"
Duke, unable to read Jeong Hoon's approach, felt his heart drop.
Staring at Jeong Hoon with a terrified face, he quickly averted his eyes from the chilling gaze.
"You know about the sealed lab, right?"
"I-I don't know anyth!"
Duke clamped his mouth shut.
A dagger was already at his throat.
"I'll give you one chance. Be honest."
Jeong Hoon smiled and warned him.
One more lie, and the dagger would pierce his throat.
Duke, no fool, swallowed hard and nodded.
"I-I'll give you the key."
"The key?"
"The key to open the sealed lab door."
"Who went in there recently?"
"Th-That... Urk!"
The dagger dug into Duke's flesh.
"A little more pressure here, and you're really dead."
"I-I'll talk. It's Zaiki!"
Zaiki.
The instructor NPC who had blocked Jeong Hoon.
Who would've thought that bastard was a follower of Beelzebub.
At that moment, a rainbow-colored question mark blinked above Duke's head.
Secret Quest: Beelzebub's Follower (1)
-Restriction: One who uncovers the follower's secret
-Reward: ?
-Description: Eradicate the cult to purify the world.
The number meant to take them out in sequence.
Probably a quest made by the Divine Realm.
Jeong Hoon accepted the quest without hesitation and severed Duke's neck.
"......!"
Duke died on the spot without even screaming.
Having the key to access the lab meant Duke was also a follower of Beelzebub.
Zaiki, who frequented it, must've been transporting the black orbs.
Jeong Hoon headed straight for the hall's main entrance.
But Zaiki had already vanished.
"Even without free will... because I accepted the quest?"
Accepting the quest allowed Zaiki to use every means to escape Jeong Hoon.
'Master, let's secure the black orbs first.'
'Yeah. He can't escape Origin Village anyway.'
Agreed.
Jeong Hoon turned and headed back to the sealed lab.
With the key, the system no longer blocked him.
Would you like to open the laboratory?
The message appeared as he inserted the key into the lock.
'Open.'
Turning the key unlocked it with a click, and the door slid open smoothly.
Inside, black orbs were piled high.
Black Orb
-Type: Consumable
-Grade: ??
-Black orb used for rituals.
Caution: Immense energy is condensed; do not use recklessly.
Not decoysthe real black orbs.
Jeong Hoon crushed one in his hand.
A tremendous energy flowed into him.
Acquired 1 dark energy.
Each one gave 1 energy.
Despite being called immense, the increase was minimal.
Jeong Hoon absorbed them all, accumulating 1,353.
'If I clear the rest, I can exceed 3,000.'
Catching Zaiki came first, though.
Leaving the lab, Jeong Hoon grabbed passing users and asked.
"Excuse me, do you know where the instructor NPC went?"
"Huh? Instructor NPC who...?"
"One NPC bolted in a hurry."
"Oh, that? I saw him. He ran into the forest over there."
The user pointed to the forest.
The field to the west.
"Thanks."
Jeong Hoon thanked him and vanished in an instant.
"Wh-What? Was that a person?"
The user panicked at the movement too fast to track with the eye.
At that moment.
Zaiki was fleeing desperately, abandoning everything.
"That damn bastard!"
Zaiki inwardly cursed Jeong Hoon nonstop.
He'd suspected, but to think he was a heresy inquisitor purging cultists.
Installing the bug in the office had been a stroke of genius.
Otherwise, he'd have fallen to that guy's hand too.
His breath reached his chin, but Zaiki didn't slow down, charging forward.
He had to reach base quickly and warn the other followers.
"Hey."
Then, a chilling voice entered Zaiki's ears.
His body froze stiff, losing balance and tumbling over.
Zaiki slowly raised his head like a broken robot.
"You... crazy..."
Standing above him was the mysterious man from the hall just moments ago.
"Where are the remaining black orbs?"
"Black orbs...?"
"The ones in the lab aren't all of them."
Damn.
He'd already ransacked the lab.
Zaiki hurriedly pulled out a sack.
It contained just over 100 black orbs.
"Th-These are leftovers from the ritual. Please, take them and spare me."
If it meant saving his life, he could hand over all the black orbs.
Send him off first, then alert the followers about the inquisitor.
"No can do. I'm planning to wipe out every last follower."
He took the black orbs, then mercilessly severed Zaiki's neck.
Like Duke, Zaiki died on the spot without a scream.