Chapter 102

"Aaaaaagh!"

"H-have these bastards gone mad?"

Watching the demons pour down toward him, the Frenzied Blood Tyrant could scarcely believe what was happening.

The Demon Realm had lost not only its Monarch but every last noble. It was a ruined world in every sense. The demons who had survived were nothing but vermin—worthless creatures who ought to consider it an honor to die after a lifetime of grueling slavery.

Yet now those lowly, insignificant creatures dared to rebel against him. No, they were charging at him, drooling at the thought of devouring him.

Enraged, the Frenzied Blood Tyrant summoned blue flames.

"You savages! Who do you think you're baring your teeth at?"

FWOOSH!

Starfire.

The flame of life that burned eternally within an apostle serving the Itarim, gods of the distant outer universe.

Those blue flames spread across the colosseum, swallowing the demons attacking from every direction.

"Aaaaagh...!"

Like moths flying into a lamp, the demons began burning helplessly to death in the blue flames. But already driven into an utter frenzy, they paid no heed to who died in front of them. Using the corpses as shields, they kept charging at the Frenzied Blood Tyrant.

"Just one bite!"

"Just a single bite!"

"One bite is all I need to grow stronger!"

"Aaaaaagh!"

Demons.

This was truly hell.

"Th-these lunatics really..."

The Frenzied Blood Tyrant was appalled.

Were these dreadful creatures really the same slaves who had meekly submitted to his rule all this time?

As an apostle of the Itarim, his mission was to conquer and rule this world. What, then, was this disgraceful spectacle?

At this rate, it was almost as though...

'I've become their prey!'

Humiliation surged through him. He simply could not accept that the emotion he was feeling was fear.

"Raaaagh! I'll kill you all! Burn, and become my fuel!"

KABOOOOM!

"Aaaaagh...!"

Flames blazed as though they would burn the entire world. Demons poured endlessly into them, engulfing the blue fire, and their corpses scattered in every direction as ash.

At the center of it all, the Frenzied Blood Tyrant burst into wild, knowing laughter and shouted.

"Hahaha! My strength is returning! I may have lost precious slaves, but my Starfire will burn forever!"

As he spoke, his gaze roamed in search of Suho, who had caused all this.

He had suffered some losses, but this was not the only part of the Demon Realm. Once he replenished his power, he need only find and conquer another fragment of the realm drifting through the dimensional rifts!

But there was one fact he had overlooked.

While he slaughtered countless demons to replenish his depleted strength, the souls of those dead demons were being sucked into a single place.

"W-wait. Don't tell me...!"

The Frenzied Blood Tyrant's eyes widened as he spotted it in the distance.

"... Ha. That's more like it."

At the end of that stream of souls stood Suho, holding Vulcan's Horn aloft with a supremely satisfied smile.

WHOOOOOSH!

[Vulcan's Horn devours a demon's soul.]

[Vulcan's Horn devours a demon's soul.]

[Vulcan's Horn devours a demon's soul.]

[Vulcan's Horn devours a demon's soul...]

...

Ravenous, Vulcan's Horn was greedily swallowing the souls of the demons killed by the Frenzied Blood Tyrant.

"That's right. Eat all you want. Until you're fit to burst."

WHOOOOOSH!

[Demon Souls Devoured: 83->97->113->...]

It felt as though he had hit the jackpot. The devoured soul count kept climbing without pause.

Until, at last...

DING!

[Vulcan's Horn feels full.]

Vulcan's seemingly bottomless belly had finally filled to bursting.

[Item: Vulcan's Horn]

Acquisition Difficulty: ??

Type: Sword

Attack +40

A sword made from the horn of the greedy demon Vulcan.

Imbued with Vulcan's power, it deals additional damage.

-Effect 'Destructive Urge': Increases physical damage by [300%].

-Effect 'Demon Devourer': Vulcan's power grows stronger as it devours demon souls.

[Demon Souls Devoured: Saturated]

It had worked.

A 300 percent increase in physical damage.

Suho had finally developed Vulcan's Horn to its full potential.

[Good heavens. You're using it like this?]

Esil could not help but marvel. While the Frenzied Blood Tyrant replenished his weakened power, Suho had taken full advantage of it to maximize his own attack power to a far greater degree.

But that was not the end of what Suho had planned.

"Well? Satisfied now?"

Grinning, Suho raised Vulcan's Horn.

"Then hand it over, Vulcan."

As though answering him...

DING!

A message arrived.

[You have completed 'Emergency Quest: Vulcan’s Greed.']

[Your completion reward has arrived.]

[Would you like to view your reward?] (Y/N)

He already knew what the reward was. Suho grinned and reached out.

FLASH!

A second Vulcan's Horn appeared in his hand.

[Item: Vulcan's Horn-2]

Acquisition Difficulty: ??

Type: Sword

Attack +40

A sword made from the horn of the greedy demon Vulcan.

Imbued with Vulcan's power, it deals additional damage.

-Effect 'Destructive Urge': Increases physical damage by [300%].

Was it because Vulcan alone was the one feeling full?

Amazingly, the second Vulcan's Horn also had its damage boost filled to the same 300 percent.

After confirming this, Suho replaced Rakan’s Fang with the two Vulcan's Horn swords, raising one in each hand with a grin.

"I guess I don't need Rakan’s Fang anymore. Should I sell it and put the money toward the guild?"

Surely two identical swords would offer better balance for Dual Swordsmanship.

There was, however, someone who was horrified by that suggestion...

[The King of Beasts, the Monarch of Fangs, wakes with a start.]

[The King of Beasts, the Monarch of Fangs, requests a conversation, saying there is a better idea.]

[The King of Beasts, the Monarch of Fangs, stamps in agitation, telling you not to pretend you cannot hear.]

But Suho was already charging straight at the Frenzied Blood Tyrant at incredible speed, paying no attention to Rakan's messages.

WHOOOOSH!

"...!"

Seeing the Frenzied Blood Tyrant's eyes widen at his approach, Suho swung his swords without hesitation.

"Thanks. You saved me a lot of grinding."

[Using 'Skill: Iron Body Arts.']

[Using 'Skill: Storm Slash'...]

KABOOM!

"Aaaaagh...!"

An immense blow, on an entirely different scale from before, struck the Frenzied Blood Tyrant's body. Even the blue flames blazing around him were shredded into hundreds, then thousands of pieces by Suho's twin swords.

"I-impossible... How could I fall to creatures like these..."

As the ominously blazing flames died down, a hollow voice escaped his lips.

And finally...

"O Itarim..."

THUD.

[You have defeated the Frenzied Blood Tyrant.]

[You have leveled up!]

[You have leveled up!]

The surviving demons were stunned by the Frenzied Blood Tyrant's death. Their shock was so profound that it eclipsed even the madness with which they had tried to devour him just moments before.

"... H-he's dead?"

"The Tyrant King?"

"He really died just like that?"

They could not believe it. It was sheer shock and terror.

The savage king who had kept them enslaved had vanished before their eyes, leaving not even a corpse. Even the jailers who had worked them to the bone under the tyrant had all burned to death.

Then, now...

'What happens to us?'

"..."

They had grown so accustomed to slavery that they did not even dare voice the question.

It was then that Suho called to Esil in the silence.

"Esil. It's your turn to step forward."

[...]

As Suho saw it, there was only one way to neatly resolve the confusion left by the loss of their ruler.

'I can't keep pretending to be Vulcan's son.'

From what he had seen, the Demon Realm was a strictly hierarchical society.

The strong reigned supreme.

It was a world where stronger demons devoured weaker ones and ruled over them. But the moment the Demon Monarch and all the demon nobles who ruled this land disappeared, that entire system had fallen apart.

Things had deteriorated so far that even an apostle of the Itarim had appeared to rule the land and enslave its inhabitants.

All because there was no 'pureblood' to govern them.

"So come out. You need to rule this place from now on."

Otherwise, there was no telling when another Itarim apostle might suddenly appear and swallow this place up.

[All right.]

WHOOOSH.

At Suho's urging, Esil finally emerged from Vulcan's Horn.

TAP.

"...!"

Every demon's gaze turned to her at her sudden appearance.

It was inevitable. The instant they saw her, they understood instinctively.

All their earlier misconceptions about Suho being a demon noble or Vulcan's secret son vanished in an instant.

The aura emanating from Esil was unmistakably that of a pureblood!

They could clearly feel the presence of a demon noble.

"A-a noble..."

"A real noble..."

Under any other circumstances, they probably would not have reacted this way. These were demons who had charged even the fearsome Frenzied Blood Tyrant to devour him.

But things were different now.

"Kneel."

At that single command from Esil's lips, they could only obediently kneel before her and bow their heads.

"I am Esil, eldest daughter of the Radir Clan. The only demon noble left in this world."

With an utterly haughty gaze, Esil slowly surveyed their bowed heads.

Long ago, when the Demon Realm had flourished, this very moment had been the true purpose of the colosseum.

Duels in which demon nobles staked their honor against one another.

When those duels ended and the hierarchy was established, the victor would always proclaim their rights like this.

Following that ancient tradition, Esil proudly asserted her presence before the demons here.

"I hereby proclaim that from this moment forth, this land is the territory of the Radir Clan."

"Waaaaaah!"

At that moment, a tremendous cheer began erupting from every throat. Its resonance was entirely different from the malicious cheers that had accompanied the colosseum's executions.

"... And."

But Esil's proclamation was not yet over.

"I, Esil Radir, the last remaining demon noble, command you."

Her gaze briefly slid toward Suho beside her.

"...?"

"From this day forward, our Demon Realm will wage all-out war against the Itarim, gods of the outer universe. So that we may never again be ruled by the likes of the Frenzied Blood Tyrant..."

As the only demon noble, Esil was effectively the sole eligible candidate to become the Demon Monarch.

Knowing this, the demons set the demonic energy throughout their bodies ablaze at her words.

"We must fight."

"Ooooooh!"