In the quiet nothingness.
An 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... ... .]
[…Baran.]
Yes. His name is Baran. He was the pinnacle of all demons and the great king of demons who ruled the demon realm. However...
'Where is this place?'
'How did the once great me end up like this?'
[...]
At that moment, another thing popped into his mind from his subconsciousness. 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? – At his question, the devil simply laughed.
– Tsk tsk tsk tsk.
The devil, who had been hanging his head for a while, shaking his shoulders and giggling like a madman, raised his gaze again. And at the same time, the laughter stopped. The strong hatred that had been suppressed burst out from his wide-open eyes.
[The King of Demons, the Monarch of the White Flame, opens his eyes.]
Whoosh—!
A cruel and intense killing intent engulfed the pure white world. But that was all. In this emptiness, there was no one to receive his wrath. Not even the small creatures that usually tremble and crawl on the floor at his killing intent.
No armies of rulers he hates.
Not even... that damn being that killed me.
Kyaaaaaaaaaaaak—!
Realizing that vain fact, the devil raised his head and roared towards the sky. Countless blue sparks flashed from inside his wide-open mouth.
Crackle Crackle Crackle—!
An eerie flash of blue light enveloped the pure white world.
White flames falling from the empty sky.
Heavenly punishment falling from the empty sky.
In the midst of it all, the king of the demons howled in rage…
[Where are you! Shadow Monarch! Greatest Fragment of Brilliant Light-!]
Towards the damn being who made me like this…
[Come out, it is Me! 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 he did not give up. After all, the devil is persistent. The one who stood at the apex of the demon world, where struggling for survival was an everyday occurrence, that was the identity of the Demon King Baran.
'I don't know how I opened my eyes again, but since I woke up, I will just be 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!]
A unique power, inherited only by the King of Demons, manifested from his hand.
[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 those that serve him are.
Flash Flash Flash—!
Dozens of magic circles were created above his head. They began to forcibly twist the dimensional wall to summon the demons. But it was impossible.
[Now! Everyone come out now…!]
None of the dozens of gates created in this way were able to summon demons. Because this was a world of nothingness. Among the words he shouted out, there was only one thing that came true.
Ding!
['Devil's Sanctuary' is activated.]
Baran failed to gather the demons, but his power succeeded in concentrating the demons who had lost their king and were wandering through the dimensional gaps in one place.
At the moment when Suho encountered the 'gap demons.'
* * *
At that time, Suho's eyes were shining as he saw the system messages that suddenly appeared in front of him.
Ding! Ding! Ding!
[Quest has arrived.]
[The King of Demons, the Monarch of the White Flames, opens his eyes.]
[Demon King Baran uses Skill: 'Army of Hell'.]
['Devil's Sanctuary' is activated.]
"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 King himself didn't sense any signs. This was quite a blow to his pride.
'Is this how I was awakened as well? As expected of the Shadow Monarch's son.'
It's truly unique. When they encountered the gap demons, 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 reawaken dead Monarchs who have returned to nothingness…' Regardless of how this was possible, he felt satisfied that he had made the right choice to make this guy his successor. To accept his great power, one needed more than just ordinary talent; otherwise, they would be reduced to a handful of ashes.
Crackle Crackle Crackle—!
"Come to think of it, the cracks here are particularly… 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. How many souls these disgusting creatures suck, will determine 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 was the territory ruled by the demon noble Esil Radiru.
'And the other one...' Suddenly, the Dragon King's gaze suddenly swept around.
Kihihik!
Kikikeke!
From one end to the other. Countless residents of the gap covered this land of cracks, leaving no space to step on.
A barren wasteland without a single drop of water.
A strange landscape with long, thin rocks of bizarre shapes jutting towards the sky.
The appearance of the residents of the gap covering it was all different. Just as those they had devoured were of various shapes and sizes. But regardless of that, their interest was fixed on one thing from the beginning… The swords held in Suho's 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.]
[Predated Demon Soul: Saturation]
"Why? Do you want this?" Suho, who noticed their greed, lifted Vulcan's horn slightly. Which resulted in a fierce reaction
Kekekeke!
Kihihi—!
Although they were wary of Suho's power, they couldn't overcome their instincts and attacked 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."
[Predated Demon Soul: Saturation]
Yes. Vulcan's Horns, where countless demon souls were highly concentrated. What would happen if this item fell into the hands of the residents of the gap? How strong of a demon could they become?
'At least a demon noble on the level of Vulcan. Or even higher.'
Perhaps they could even aim for the King. Especially since there was only one demon noble alive, Esil. It was truly a chance to turn their lives around.
"I was going to find the World Tree first, but it seems like I'll be getting the Demon King's blood before that." 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 Radiru.]
[Sacrifice as many of them as possible to help Esil Radiru become the demon king's legitimate successor.]
[compensation : ??]
"The trial has already begun. Then I don't need to hold back, do I?" Suho's lips curled up. His gaze fell to his feet. The objective had changed. If the goal until now was to find the World Tree. From now on, it was just hunting.
[Use Skill: 'Monarch's Domain'.]
Now was time for slaughter.
Whoosh—!
Suho's shadow spread out from his feet in all directions. As if to fill the entire dimensional gap.
"Arise."
…!
That moment. At Suho's command, thousands of shadow soldiers rose simultaneously.
"Sweep them away. Don't leave a single one alive."
'Yes, the more sacrifices, the better.'