Quiet nothingness.
Endless horizon.
At the edge of a pure white world where even the flow of time has frozen.
[... ... .]
The 'devil' finally opened his eyes.
[...]
The devil frowned.
Where is this place?
Who am I?
How long have I been asleep?
Everything was hazy.
[I am...]
Soon, his consciousness, which had been locked away, began to slowly rise to the surface.
Memories of the past began to return and came together piece by piece.
In the end, he finally succeeded in remembering himself.
Yeah, I remember.
I am... ... .
[... ...I wish.]
Yes.
His name is Baran.
He was the pinnacle of all demons and the great king of demons who ruled the demon realm, Baran.
However... Where are we?
How did the once great me end up like this?
[...]
At that moment, another thing popped into his mind while he was locked in a coma.
It was... ... his last memory, the conversation he had with 'him'.
-Why did you betray me?
A cold voice.
I felt an instinctive fear at his words scolding me, but even at the moment of his death, the devil still bared his teeth.
-What a... shame. I could have done away with you.
-I asked why.
Tsk tsk.
Why?
Are you really asking because you don't know that?
To his question, the devil simply laughed.
Tsk tsk tsk tsk.
The devil, who had been hanging his head like that for a while, shaking his shoulders and giggling like a madman, raised his
head again.
At the same time, his laughter stopped.
The strong hatred that had been suppressed burst out from his wide-open eyes.
[The King of Demons, the Lord of the White Flame, opens his eyes.]
Phew! Phew!
A cruel and intense killing engulfed the pure white world.
But that's it.
In this empty world, there was no one to receive his wrath.
Even the small creatures that usually tremble and crawl on the floor when they receive his deadly attack.
And the armies of rulers he hates.
Even... that damn thing that killed me.
Wow!
Realizing that vain fact, the devil raised his head and roared towards the sky.
Countless blue sparks flashed from inside his wide-open mouth.
Kwajijijijijijik!
An eerie flash of blue light enveloped the pure white world.
White flames falling from the empty sky.
Heavenly punishment falling from the sky.
In the midst of it all, the king of the demons howled in rage.
[Where are you! Shadow Lord! Greatest Fragment of Brilliant Light-!]
Towards the damn being who made me like this.
[Come out! It is I! The demon king Baran who betrayed you is here!]
But this is a world of nothingness.
No matter how much he shouted, his voice became a hollow echo, floating in the pure white sky.
But Baran did not give up.
After all, the devil is persistent.
The identity of the demon king Baran is the person who stands at the top of the demon world, where fighting for survival is
a daily routine.
I don't know how I opened my eyes again, but since I woke up, I was just faithful to my instincts as a devil.
[If you won't come out, I'll go find you myself! It doesn't matter where you are! I'm Baran, the king of demons! Wherever I am, the demon realm is right here!]
Baran raised one hand to the sky.
[All demons! Gather before me! Your king is imprisoned here!]
In his hands, a unique power inherited only from the king of demons was revealed.
[Demon King Baran uses 'Skill: Army of Hell'.]
The forces of hell.
This is the power to rally troops to where the Demon King is, regardless of where the demons that serve him are.
Pababababat!
Dozens of magic circles were created above his head.
The magic circle began to forcibly twist the dimensional rift to summon the demons. But it was impossible.
[Now! Everyone must come out!]
None of the dozens of gates created in this way were able to summon demons.
Because this was a world of nothingness.
But among the words he shouted out, there was only one thing that came true.
Ring!
['Devil's Sanctuary' activates.]
Baran failed to gather the demons, but Baran's power succeeded in concentrating the demons who had lost their king and
were wandering through the gaps in the dimension in one place.
The moment Suho encountered the 'devils in the gap'.
* * *
Ring! Ring! Ring!
At that time, Suho's eyes were shining as he saw the system messages that suddenly appeared in front of him.
[Quest has arrived.]
[The King of Demons, the Lord of the White Flame, opens his eyes.]
[Demon King Baran uses 'Skill: Army of Hell'.]
['Devil's Sanctuary' activates.]
"The Demon King has awakened."
"What?"
"The devils' sanctuary has just been activated."
When Suho's expression suddenly hardened next to him, Antares couldn't help but be embarrassed.
"Are you saying that Baran has woken up? I don't feel any energy."
This was surprising and strange.
In a situation like this, there was no way Suho would suddenly lie, but the problem was that the Dragon Emperor himself didn't sense any signs.
This was quite a blow to my pride.
'Is this how I was awakened? Am I the son of the Shadow Lord after all?'
It's truly unique.
When they encountered the demons in the gap, the king of the demons suddenly woke up from the dead.
Can this really be called a coincidence?
No way.
This image appeared in Antares' eyes as he gazed at Suho.
'As expected, he is a strange guy. The ability to revive dead monarchs who have returned to the sky...'
Regardless of how this was possible, I felt satisfied that I had made the right choice to make this guy my successor.
To receive his great power into one's body, even a mediocre talent would be reduced to a handful of ashes.
Tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk!
"Now that I think about it, this place is particularly... The cracks are severe."
Antares quickly looked around and realized why this place was overrun with demons.
Cracks that seemed to have been created by someone were gathering the residents of the gap here.
It wasn't a proper gate, but if you look at the results, it's almost like using the 'Hell's Army', which was the power of the Demon King Baran.
"Hehehe. This is the demons' sanctuary. This is a great opportunity for the residents of the gap. Perhaps one of them will be the successor to the Demon King."
The qualification to become a demon king was not an opportunity given only to demon nobles born as purebloods.
If you think about it, even the dregs of the 'not-yet-born' demons had a chance.
Depending on how many demon souls these disgusting creatures suck, it will be determined how high of a demon they will
be born as.
And as far as the Dragon King knew, there were two places in the universe with the largest concentration of demons, other
than this place.
One is the territory ruled by the demon noble Esil Radir.
'And the other one...' ... .'
Suddenly, the Dragon Emperor's gaze glanced around.
Kkihihi!
To you!
From one end to the other.
The inhabitants of the endless gaps, countless in number, covered the cracked land without a single space to set foot.
A dry wilderness without a single drop of water.
A heterogeneous landscape with long, thin rocks of strange shapes sticking out toward the sky.
The appearances of the inhabitants of the gaps that covered it to the point of being disgusting were all different.
Just as the shapes and sizes of the demons that have been caught and eaten are all different.
But regardless of the number and type of demons they had caught and consumed, their interest was focused on only one thing from the beginning.
At the end of that gaze was none other than the swords held in Suho's two hands.
[Item: Vulcan's Horn]
Difficulty to acquire: ??
Type: Sword
Attack power +40
A sword made from the horn of the greedy demon Vulcan.
Empowered by Vulcan, it deals more damage.
-Effect 'Destroyer': Increases physical damage by [300%].
-Effect 'Demon Predator': The more demon souls you devour, the stronger Vulcan's power becomes.
[Predatory Demon Soul: Saturation]
"Why? Do you want this?"
Suho, who noticed their greed, lifted Vulcan's horn slightly.
Immediately a violent reaction came back.
Kkekeke!
Hee hee hee!
Although they are wary of Suho's power, they cannot overcome their instincts and attack ravenously.
In the face of that rough and barbaric greed, Suho could not help but chuckle.
"Yeah, I guess so. I must have fed a lot of demon souls to this greedy guy over the years."
[Predatory Demon Soul: Saturation]
Yes. Vulcan's horn, which contains a high concentration of countless demon souls.
What would happen if this item fell into the hands of the residents of the gap?
How strong a devil can he become?
'At least a demon noble of Vulcan level. Or higher.'
Maybe you can even aim for the king.
Because the only demon noble currently alive is Esil.
This is truly a life-changing opportunity.
"I tried to find the World Tree first, but I ended up getting the Demon King's blood first."
Suho snickered and checked the quest window.
[Quest: Trial of the Demon King]
The denizens of the rift, who wish to become demons, have invaded the domain of the sole demon noble, Esil Radir.
Sacrifice as many of the crevice's inhabitants as possible to help Esil Radir become the demon king's legitimate successor.
-compensation : ??
"The ordeal has already begun. If this happens, I won't have to control my strength."
The corners of Suho's mouth turned up.
His gaze looked down at his feet.
The purpose has changed.
If the goal so far was to find the World Tree, from now on it will be a one-sided hunt.
[Use 'Skill: Monarch's Domain'.]
No, it was a time of slaughter.
Phew!
Suho's shadow spreads out in all directions, centered at the bottom of his feet.
With the momentum to fill the gap between dimensions.
"Arise."
... ... !
That moment.
At the command of the Guardian, thousands of shadow legions rose up simultaneously.
"Sweep them all away. Don't leave a single one behind."
Yes, the more offerings, the better.