Chapter 31
Chapter 31
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 031
Chapter Title: Entering Pain
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“Exactly as you said…”
The man with a long knife scar across his face.
His name was Furgen.
“Otolmeo, I’ll cooperate with Tarian.”
He was the boss of the Furgen Family, a Demorus-affiliated organization that controlled the Antara district.
The knife scar on his face, said to have been earned when he received Demorus’s recognition, was his pride and joy. But now, there was another wound.
A fresh bruise on the opposite side of the scar.
“You grabbed the right rope.”
It was the glorious mark Sein had given him.
Right after taming Bastion, Sein had done exactly that.
The preparations were complete.
“I told you not to glare like that.”
Oh, there was one more thing.
His opponent wasn’t Furgen—it was the girl beside Sein.
The girl with radiant golden hair cascading down, Cecil.
“Ha. I know you’re not deaf.”
Only then did the girl, who had been staring with wide, sparkling eyes, slowly lower her head.
Sein irritably scratched his ear.
Cecil, the saintess of this era.
“You lure in the prey, and I’ll protect you. That’s the deal.”
Sein said.
However.
“Don’t drag in anything unnecessary. It’s a hassle.”
The problem was Cecil’s appearance.
She was around fifteen years old.
Even so, Cecil’s beauty was dazzling.
Like all saintesses and saints before her, Cecil possessed a radiant allure.
‘Does holy power have some kind of effect?’
If so, all priests and nuns should be stunning beauties.
But Gallio proved that wasn’t the case.
Sein, having reached that conclusion, looked up at the sky and muttered.
“You filthy bastard.”
Anhel.
It must have been that bastard’s twisted tastes at play.
Of course, Cecil wasn’t a saintess chosen by Anhel, but the thought crossed his mind anyway.
“Keep your eyes down and your mouth shut. Got it?”
Nod.
“Speak only when I tell you to.”
“...Got it.”
Cecil finally replied.
Only then did Sein flash a satisfied smile.
With this, everything in Antara was settled.
In a little more time, Antara would become Sein’s district.
‘Information brokers, armed forces, trade guilds.’
A solid triad setup.
Someday, Antara would grow alongside Borfeo into a sturdy foundation for Sein.
“Are the preparations done?”
As Sein emerged from Furgen’s office, Arin greeted him, leaning against the wall.
“Yeah.”
Smirk.
Grinning, Sein patted Bastion at his waist.
“He listens well.”
“Good to hear.”
Arin pushed off the wall.
Turning on her heel, she added.
“He’d better listen even better from now on.”
Borfeo, Antara.
And now.
“Things are going to be completely different from here on out.”
It was finally time to head to Demorus.
*
*
*
His level hadn’t reached 10 yet.
Having spent considerable time in Antara, he needed to hurry, and the path ahead wasn’t one where monsters were easy to encounter.
But Sein’s face brimmed with confidence.
Smirk.
Thanks to Arin, now his guardian and ally, he had regained part of his power.
Moreover, the contract with the demon dragon, something he never had before.
The lacking weapon was resolved with Bastion.
Humm, humm.
Thanks to Gallio’s noble sacrifice, the imbalanced holy power had swelled enough to devour mana and demonic energy.
Sein’s level hadn’t hit 10 yet.
‘But this should put me around level 15.’
Considering his stats and mana, that was about right.
In a game where max level was 30, level 15 was halfway—even if still just the tutorial phase—reason enough for overflowing confidence.
Of course.
“Don’t act like you’ve already conquered the world, Sein.”
“I know.”
He knew that wasn’t the whole story.
Max level was 30, but it was far from the end—he knew that much.
And from conversing with Arin, he understood the current state of the world.
“Even so, it won’t work against me.”
He could still be confident.
He would become the strongest, unstoppable by anyone.
“That’ll be true eventually.”
Arin said.
“But for now…”
Finally.
“You’d better watch your back.”
They had arrived.
District 5.
The midpoint of the continent, divided into ten districts.
“As I said before, we’ll part ways here for a while.”
Arin said.
-Once you arrive, you’ll have to stay away from me for the time being.
Arin, the reliable ally and guardian.
-That place demands you prove yourself without a guardian’s help or other aides.
A guardian’s role in the early stages boiled down to two things.
One, selecting the candidate they would sponsor.
Two.
“In Pain, you’ll have to do it alone.”
The gathering place for candidates.
Guiding candidates up to the intermediate organizations.
Pain.
That was the city in District 5 they had now reached, and Demorus’s intermediate organization where Sein would stay.
Under Demorus, there were three major organizations.
-Dante of Vilmao.
-And…
This place.
“Rasiel of Pain.”
Things had been different so far from the Sanctuary he remembered, full of new elements.
But from now on, it would be even more so.
His original world had no underworld on Demorus’s scale, let alone three major organizations.
“You’ll manage, right?”
“You crazy bitch. What kind of nonsense is that?”
Sein smiled and replied.
“Have you forgotten who I am?”
The Destroyer, Sein Archibald.
The man who toppled the Immortal Empire Archibald and brought ruin to the world.
“Yeah. No one fits this place better than you.”
Before Sein stood a colossal gate unlike anything he’d seen before.
It wasn’t just a gate guarding the city of Pain—it seemed to protect the world extending from District 5.
Through it strode the white-haired Sein.
Followed by the golden-haired Cecil.
Finally, Sein stood before the gate.
Countless gazes poured toward him.
Few were reckless.
Those who came from the lower world, called the mortal realm, to this gate.
Especially at this time.
“Open the gate.”
They couldn’t afford to be reckless.
It was different from before.
From now on.
“State your identity.”
It would be different.
Smirk.
Sein, with a smiling face.
“Sein Demorus.”
He could say the name Demorus.
“I’m a candidate of Demorus, and the one who will become its successor. So quit wasting my time and open the damn gate.”
Candidates had the right to invoke Demorus’s name upon reaching this midpoint.
Screeech—!
The massive gate began to open with a chilling friction sound.
“Welcome to Pain, young Demorus.”
The numerous guards bowed their heads toward Sein and said.
*
*
*
Rasiel.
They were one of Demorus’s three major organizations, ranking among the top ten on the entire continent.
They were also the final gateway candidates had to pass.
Once past Rasiel and reaching Demorus, they would no longer be candidates but successors, competing against other successors.
“A new guy’s here, huh.”
“The last one?”
In Rasiel’s garden, countless people had gathered.
Each with different looks and auras.
But they shared one thing: their age.
All men and women around twenty.
“Any guesses who it is?”
They were.
“Bova Demorus.”
The candidates of Demorus belonging to Rasiel.
“Bova? What kind of name is that?”
“The name might be whatever, but he’s not someone to ignore, from what I hear.”
A sleazy young man said.
“Word is, Barbik’s sponsoring him as guardian.”
“The Warrior of Bloody Iron?”
The mention of Barbik stirred the room.
Barbik was one of the renowned warriors even in Demorus.
“Sounds like it’s him.”
The one with Barbik as guardian.
Opinions leaned toward Bova being Rasiel’s final candidate.
“Who knows.”
A red-haired woman.
“Someone completely unexpected might show up.”
She scanned the room with a cold voice.
“Roberta’s right.”
The sleazy young man chimed in.
“Even among us, plenty met here for the first time. Some only learned recently that we carry Demorus blood.”
The young man’s name was Ciss.
Rasiel’s first candidate to arrive, also called the eldest.
“Someone we’d never expect could appear.”
A possibility.
“But there are no more qualified guardians left.”
Organizations like Dante of Vilmao were already at capacity with candidates.
Rumors about them reached even Rasiel.
No suitable candidates came to mind, even considering guardians from other organizations.
“There is one.”
If any, just a few.
And only one name stood out.
“Arin.”
“…….”
Silence fell at the single name.
“…The Witch of the Legion?”
The witch’s name was heavy, not uttered lightly even in Demorus.
“Nonsense.”
Roberta said.
“The witch is famous for never taking a guardian role. If she had, she would’ve done it ages ago.”
She seemed to have lost interest in the game.
“And if the witch did sponsor someone…”
The witch famous for never sponsoring anyone, Arin.
If she had taken one.
“It’d be the most noteworthy one.”
That was the end of it.
Roberta stood up, as if there was no reason to wait any longer.
‘Bova, was it?’
She seemed convinced that he was Rasiel’s final candidate.
Not just Roberta—all present thought so.
And then.
Step, step.
At the sound of footsteps, all eyes turned at once.
“…….”
Silence.
“……!”
Shock.
“…What the hell?”
Disgust.
Eyes filled with a mix of emotions.
And for good reason.
Step.
Most hadn’t noticed during their chatter.
That another person had entered the garden and was walking toward them.
Ciss noticed first.
Then Roberta.
But now everyone knew.
Boom!
The man stepping forward.
The aura emanating from him.
“…Kuh!”
Was crushing the entire room.
“So, you lot are Demorus’s scraps?”
Sein, entering the garden with Cecil.