Chapter 202. Omen of Reunion (1) (1/2)

[5F, Materialized Demon Realm]

I went back down to the Materialized Demon Realm. The demon castles were completely conquered by now, but there were still secret underground bases that no one knew about and NPCs that hadn’t been rescued.

“Is it here?”

But because the terrain was unfavorable for a sharpshooter, I brought the trustworthy comrade, Cheok Jungyeong, with me.

“Yep.”

We were currently in a secret passageway on the outskirts of the Materialized Demon Realm. Standing in front of the passageway that was hidden behind a huge boulder, I glanced at Cheok Jungyeong’s face.

“It better not be boring.”

Equipped with the armor I gave him, Cheok Jungyeong looked like a giant soldier from legends. Because of the special skill [Secret March], his body had gotten even bigger.

“It’ll be at least somewhat interesting.”

According to my setting, the demons here were high-leveled, and there was even a drake that the demon tamed. As a side note, drake leather was a great material for crafting. I planned to secretly make myself a wrist protector with it.

“Let’s go.”

“Sure.”

We went into the passageway which looked like a manhole.

The underground passageway was naturally pitch-black. But my eyesight wasn’t hindered by darkness in the slightest as it quickly penetrated the walls and detected the presence of several heat sources.

There were at least 30 enemies in this underground base, and the NPCs I was trying to rescue were located on the bottom floor.

[Quest discovered!]

[Rank – High]

[Summary – The demon ‘Ryukai’ has hypnotized and enslaved many NPCs. The NPCs will only regain their sanity for three hours per day.]

[Goal – Rescue all trapped NPCs and undo Ryukai’s mind control magic.]

[Reward – Mystical Whetstone, Mandrake]

A quest popped up. Cheok Jungyeong seemed to have seen it too as he was squinting at the air.

“Mm… so what’s our plan?”

“Just follow me.”

I led Cheok Jungyeong forward, but before I could even take many steps, the base’s defensive system activated.

Koong— Koong— Koong— Koong—

Large rumbling sounds rang out. Cheok Jungyeong glared at the epicenter of the noise and frowned.

“…What are those?”

“Obviously, they’re demons.”

Cheok Jungyeong had frightening hardware specs of 2.16 meters and 140 kilograms.

However, the two giants that appeared in front of us were even bigger than Cheok Jungyeong.

[Lv.10 Demon Giant]

“Leave this place—”

One of the giants spoke mechanically. His voice was loud and deep enough to cause the earth to rumble.

Crack, crack. Cheok Jungyeong stretched lightly before asking.

“Newbie, I’ve been wondering for a while, what’s the difference between Djinns and demons?”

“Huh?”

“I’m just curious.”

Cheok Jungyeong thought about such things? Well, Cheok Jungyeong was a general in his past life, so he was technically a strategist as well.

“…Demons are born in the Demon Realm and Djinns are humans who borrow the Demon Realm’s power.”

“Demon Realm? Is that something that really exists?”

“Who knows?”

I shrugged.

“But why wouldn’t it? The universe is vast.”

The Demon Realm certainly existed. In fact, parts of Earth would soon be devoured by the Demon Realm. This was the core event that started the latter half of the story. In the first place, the goal of the Evil Gods, who commanded the Djinns, was to conquer Earth as part of the Demon Realm’s territory.

“I won’t repeat myself a second time—”

The demon giant spoke once again.

“Leave—”

“You better shut your trap, kiddo.”

Cheok Jungyeong stepped forward. The sound of his footstep was far quieter than the giant in front of him, and his body looked far weaker.

“Take care of them however you want. I’m going ahead.”

“Sure.”

I left Cheok Jungyeong to deal with the demon giants and used Parkour to kick off the wall and stick to the ceiling like Spiderman. Of course, Parkour itself wasn’t enough to ignore the laws of physics, so I had to use a little bit of Stigma’s magic power.

In any case, I shot past the two giants blocking the passageway.

As I was about to peacefully get to the lower floor, a huge wind pressure swept out from behind my back.

KWANG—! Cheok Jungyeong’s punch resulted in an explosive shockwave, and a demon giant flew backwards and smashed into the wall.

I smiled in satisfaction as I went downstairs. A total of nine demons were on the second floor. After hearing the ruckus upstairs, they were quickly getting ready for a fight.

—Get your weapons!

—Intruders!

—Report to Count Ryukai!

I transformed Aether into a bow and took out five dark ore arrows. I could have used my Desert Eagle, but it was a waste to use bullets on these small fries. I fired the arrows simultaneously without hesitation.

Chwaaaa….

Arrows that were darker than black shot forward.

It didn’t matter if my targets were hiding behind a wall. These arrows were unhindered by any obstacles since they would penetrate them equally.

With a simple move, the five arrows pierced the vital organs of the nine demons. Only a split second had passed since they even spotted me.

“You done?”

Cheok Jungyeong came down immediately afterwards. The black blood on his face told the result of the fight upstairs.

“Yes, follow me.”

After confirming that our combination was undefeatable, we continued to crush our way down. In just five minutes, we found ourselves on the bottom floor of the underground base. There, we found a Dracula-like demon and a chubby drake.

[Lv.12 Ryukai]

“Haha, foolish humans. You dare to come to my abode?”

A ferocious giant charged toward the elegantly murmuring Dracula. Cheok Jungyeong grabbed Ryukai’s neck in an instant and slammed him down on the ground.

“Auu… uuuk… ek… kek….”

Ryukai groaned in pain. He tried to resist Cheok Jungyeong’s physical strength, but it was futile. It was no different than a human trying to push an elephant.

The demon noble’s face turned blue as he flailed and tore apart his fancy suit.

“…Kuk.”

Soon, Ryukai’s breathing stopped.

Crack—

Cheok Jungyeong twisted Ryukai’s neck and confirmed his death.

“The real trouble is there.”

“I know.”

Cheok Jungyeong glared at the drake, which was looking at its dead master, with joy.

I asked.

“You don’t need my help, right?”

“Of course.”

Since he said so, I walked past them and headed to where the enslaved NPCs were kept. To my surprise, the place didn’t look like a prison. The entire bottom floor looked like a noble’s mansion, and the enslaved NPCs were doing physical labor in a stupor.

I walked up to them and took out the Mystic Key. I put the key in their heads and unlocked the spell that was controlling their minds.

When the NPCs snapped out of it, they panicked for a moment before choosing a young man as their spokesperson.

[Lv.9 Yuken]

This handsome young man was also an NPC full of potential. As he was a master in city management as well as stronghold defense and offense, he was a needed talent for Prestige.

“Everyone, I’ve come from Prestige to rescue you. My name is… Kim Huijuin. Let us return to Prestige.”

Hearing me, the NPCs hesitated.

Meanwhile, a fierce battle was in progress nearby. KWANG—! KOONG—! Thunderous roars rang out as Cheok Jungyeong’s fist crushed the drake’s bones and claws.

“…Is Ryukai dead?”

Yuken asked hesitantly.

“Yes.”

“Then… we refuse.”

Yuken shook his head. I had expected as much.

“If Ryukai is dead, it’ll be better for us to live here…. To us, Prestige is no different than hell.”

According to my settings, they had left the 3rd floor to escape from Prestige. Although they were captured by demons and forced to become slaves, to them, being sent back to Prestige would be equivalent to moving from one hell to another.

“Don’t worry.”

I shook my head.

“It’ll be okay. Prestige has changed a lot since you were there.”

But that was all in the past. The current Prestige was… KOONG! KOONG! Cheok Jungyeong was KOONG! kind of noisy KWANG—!, but I used hypnotic suggestion regardless.

“A sun is currently being created in Prestige. Its citizens are working and living meaningful lives, and children can run around the streets with smiles. There is also no shortage of food and water.”

My voice gently flowed into the NPCs’ ears.

“Moreover, Prestige needs your administrative talent.”

**

With Demon’s Cunning Speech, I easily convinced Yuken and the 15 NPCs following him. I guided them back to Prestige.

“This… where… what…”

“Where are we…?”

“Is this really Prestige?”

Seeing the change Prestige underwent, the NPCs couldn’t hide their shock. Meanwhile, Prestige’s most famous named NPCs, ‘Henry’ and ‘Kiri’, appeared.

“Welcome, everyone~ Come here~”

Henry and Kiri took them away, and I sent them away with a smile. After staring at them until they disappeared from my view, I turned to Cheok Jungyeong.

“Cheok Jungyeong.”

“Huh?”

I handed him a parchment.

“…What’s this?”

Cheok Jungyeong’s eyebrows perked up. I retorted.

“Locations where NPCs are trapped on the 5th floor.”

“What? Why are you giving this to me?”

I smiled at Cheok Jungyeong, who looked confused.

“You see, I don’t have time to go around saving all of them.”

“…You’re telling me to save them?”

Cheok Jungyeong shoved his intimidating face forward.

“Look at you, ordering me around now!”

Truth be told, it was really scary, but I had already prepared a reply.

“…Your shoes, clothes, and armor.”

Each time I pointed at something he was wearing, Cheok Jungyeong flinched slightly.

“There isn’t a single one that didn’t come from me.”

“….”