Chapter 46 – The Demon King
#046.
“This request belongs to the regular request. You can receive the request fee by bringing only the by-products of the monsters. Of course, special requests do happen from time to time, but there aren’t that many. Do you need any further explanation?”
“No. Enough now. Then work hard.”
“Yes. Goodbye.”
Gaon overheard the counter staff’s explanation and left the mercenary guild with Chorin.
The Magical Landscape is an area created when space is eroded by overlapping dimensions. Once opened, the rift will not close until the connection with the medium is severed, and the monsters will continue to vomit.
In the old days, it was said that the demonic realm opened as quickly as possible, but it was different now.
This is because the corpses of monsters that have both the energy of the other world and the energy of the Union in the process of crossing the dimension are used as excellent magic materials.
So, in the case of demonic spectacles with low risk factors, most of them only collect the medium and keep it in a safe place without disconnecting it.
However, there were cases where the Demonic Realm was removed from time to time, and that was when the medium that maintained the rift exerted the power of a powerful artifact.
If the corpse of a monster that has mutated by harboring both energies at the same time serves as an excellent magical material, how effective is the medium that maintains the rift?
In fact, the influential families of the countries that were said to be doing their best in the Union had several such artifacts.
Usually, the demonic world doesn’t cover the time and place, but if the environment is not good or it is not easy to operate, the country dispatches knights to retrieve the artifact, and then use it in such a way as to bestow it on those who have made great achievements later.
Or, there were many cases where those who quickly obtained information secretly took artifacts before dispatching troops at the national level.
Artifacts gathered from such layers of time are carried by key members of the family.
That’s why, unless you have heavenly luck, acquiring artifacts is more difficult than picking stars in the sky, but Gaon is a regressor.
That’s a regressor who has entered the 3rd playthrough.
It doesn’t make sense that he doesn’t know the location of the demonic realm that will be created in the future.
He has already gone through a lot of trial and error in the second round.
As long as you know both the date of occurrence of the demonic world and the location of the artifact, the difficulty level drops exponentially.
Distribute them appropriately to allies who will be helpful in the future, and only take them when the original owner is a wicked person or absolutely necessary.
That alone can prevent destruction.
I was thinking about this and that, thinking about the location of the Demonic View that would be opened in a month, when I suddenly felt something soft and warm in my hand.
When I turned my head, Chorin was right next to me before I knew it.
“Miss Gaon. What do you think?”
She asked softly with a smile like a warm spring breeze. Her emerald eyes were beautiful, shining brightly under the bright sun.
“Before going to the Demonic Realm, I was wondering if I had missed anything.”
“Puhuh… Gaon, are you nervous?”
“No. That’s not it. Then let’s go right away.”
In the first place, they don’t have much luggage to pack.
Simple food and drinking water. And even a tool to make a fire and a potion for emergency use. Other than that, there was a map of the Devil’s Land that the mercenary guild handed out, but it wasn’t too bulky.
Arms are hung all over the body, and the cloak to be used as a blanket has already been worn.
Gaon held Chorin’s hand after the final inspection and headed for the eastern entrance where her Demonic View would be located.
The Devil’s View in Lesti Manor isn’t that big.
A demon’s mirror usually increases in danger in proportion to its size. This was a place where trolls were the limit at most.
Maybe that’s why the mercenaries here weren’t that strong either.
Their enemies aren’t just monsters.
In a position where other people should also be wary, this is a fairly suitable territory for growth.
After passing through the downtown area and passing through the residential area, I saw a large castle wall. At the gate under the wall, there were full of guards standing guard, checking the IDs of those who entered.
Fortunately, Gaon and Chorin were able to get out of the gate without much restraint, as if they didn’t need to go through ID checks when going out.
“And… Gaon Mr. There are a lot of people!”
“Yes. It seems to be to deal with any monsters that might jump out of the Devil’s Edge.”
After leaving the castle, the tall buildings seemed to form an encirclement, and the barracks lined up around a certain range were full of mercenaries busily passing by.
There was a black forest in front.
Trees that give off ominous energy, dyed in black, fill the field of view, and thickets grow thickly to the waist.
Even in broad daylight, the pitch-black realm that does not permit a single light instinctively stimulates the fear submerged in human consciousness.
Chorin, who was watching the people as if he had discovered the forest belatedly, clung to her side and crossed her arms.
“Miss Gaon… Is this the Devil’s Nest?”
“Yes. You’re right. There are only goblins in this area, so don’t worry too much.”
As she unfolded her map with her free hand, Chorin nodded at her as if reassuring her, and removed her strength from her hand wrapped around her forearm.
“I’m sure there are no monsters except for the goblins here.”
“Don’t worry too much, I’ll just finish with a simple adaptation for today. Then let’s go in.”
Gaon, who patted Chorin on the shoulder and undid her arms, stepped into her demon realm with a spear in one hand and a map in the other.
It looked like jumping into the jaws of a beast, but Gaon had no fear at all. The life he has lived is not easy to be intimidated by this level.
Nothing more than that would slow him down.
***
Follow me!
“Kyaaah! Gaon-san, look at that!”
“It’s a grasshopper.”
With a loud noise, the grasshopper flapped her wings vigorously and disappeared over the distance.
When I was in elementary school, I remember catching a grasshopper on the way home from school in the summer, playing with it and heading home. Soaked in her memories of him, she stared in the direction the farthel flew away, and she trembled as if Chorin gave her goosebumps.
“How can there be a grasshopper bigger than a man? Nonsense!”
His eyes were filled with astonishment, as if something like this should not happen in the world. Knowing that there were plenty of insect-type monsters that were much bigger than that, he was ready to say fainting.
Gaon opened his mouth to reassure him.
“Even on Earth, there were locusts that were about 2m tall. That’s not surprising.”
“It’s not like that! Mr. Gaon doesn’t notice.”
“… Is that so? Then hurry up and go.”
Gaon did not respond to Chorin’s words and strode forward. The fact that she didn’t notice didn’t really hurt her.
At the time of the 1st playthrough, he barely joined the mercenary corps, but as the youngest, he did chores and did not recall the memory of being scolded for not paying attention.
It’s just that the Devil’s Nest was a place where you shouldn’t be vigilant, so we didn’t have a long conversation.
Gaon, who thought so from the bottom of his heart, did not look back even when Chorin told him to go slowly.
He made his way slowly through the woods without batting an eye, as he had to be vigilant.
How much time had passed like that?
In a situation where even the seahorse was hidden by thick black trees and it was difficult to fathom the flow of time, Gaon suddenly stopped his steps and lowered his posture.
Chorin, who quickly followed the figure and hid herself among the bushes, breathed lightly and asked.
“Miss Gaon. Did the monster come out?”
“Yes. These are goblins. There are five of them.”
Chorin, who peeked her head over Gaon’s shoulder, was able to see the goblins. However, they were only wearing shabby rags and had no weapons.
Everyone’s arming was good because the earthlings who had not yet adapted to the previous space were beaten by the goblins and their weapons were taken away, but not here.
In this world where fights with goblins are not forced, those who enter the Demonic Realm are basically only those who have trained their bodies to some extent and learned weapon skills.
Even more so, there was no way that a goblin could handle them together with a reliable companion. As for the guys in the deeper realm, the armament of the goblins who had been driven to the outskirts could not have been good.
Chorin didn’t look too nervous, perhaps because he had killed countless people up until now, and even his armament was poor.
Rather, isn’t it that the shoulders that have shrunk a lot because they set foot in an unfamiliar place are gradually losing strength and regaining stability.
Gaon confirmed it, sent a signal with his eyes, and immediately rushed.
“Kieek!?”
“Huh!”
As the bushes swayed and the gaons came out, they screamed in amazement. He was so surprised that he tripped and saw the guy hit his butt, but Gaon didn’t care at all and cut off their breath by slashing his spear.
The lightly fired spear pierced the body of one and stuck in the abdomen of the one behind.
There, without retrieval, he dug in and punched one man in the jaw to break it, then spun his body, stretched out his foot, and hit the temple of the other with his heel.
Each one had the power to kill people.
Of course, all the goblins with less durability were instantly killed in one hit.
After harpooning four of them, Gaon, who retrieved the spear, swung the spear and completely subdued the remaining one.
It was only after the situation was settled that Chorin arrived at the scene and exclaimed.
“And! Are you done already? Great!”
“Because they aren’t that strong.”
As he killed goblin shamans, orc warriors, and even trolls, his physical abilities rose exponentially. Now it was at the level where an orc could play with pure strength.
In fact, even now, it’s because I controlled my power, if I had done my best, I might have ripped off the goblin’s neck when I hit the head.
After catching his breath for a moment, Gaon pointed to the goblin lying on the floor with broken limbs.
“Lee Cho-rin. Would you like to try the magic bullet?”
“Yes? A magic bullet?”
“Yes. Haven’t you ever used it in practice? I wonder how much power it has.”
“Ah… All right. Wait a minute!”
Chorin, who looked down with sympathy on the goblins, who were now degraded to be their test subjects because dying was not enough, finished his thoughts and nodded.
With her eyes closed and her hands held out in front of her, she muttered about the image in her mind and began to channel her magic.
Sssss…
Green magic bloomed from the outstretched palm and drew a round shape. The light green orb glowed more and more brilliantly as the mana accumulated, and eventually it was dyed a vivid green.
The magic bullet, which emits a strong presence like a luminous glow in the dark, boasted a mysterious charm.
Of course, the target goblin was just struggling on the floor screaming.
“Then… I will shoot.”
“Yes.”
“Haap!”
At the same time as Gaon’s answer, Chorin vomited a short spirit and fired a magic bullet. The magic bullet fired with a small pee-it sound was lodged in the goblin’s abdomen,
“Oh!?”
“This…”
Spreading mana throughout the body, it began to heal wounds.
With a booming sound, the bent limbs gradually returned to their proper places, and the goblin’s face became lively.
Even the scars on his stomach exposed through the rags seemed to have a very good healing effect.
“Awesome. Now it seems that healing can be done without touching it.”
“Is that so? But it takes too long.”
“The fact that you can heal mid-combat is enough.”
Gaon exclaimed in admiration and walked slowly and struck the spear at the head of the goblin who was about to get up, splitting his skull.
