Chapter 98

At that moment.

TICK.

Time stopped for Suho.

[Passive Skill ‘(Unknown)’ activates.]

'... This again.'

While checking the quest window, Suho had found himself in a world of pure white. An enormous shadow loomed before him. He looked up at the colossal demon staring down at him.

[Vulcan the Greedy]

The name tag floating in front of the demon caught his eye.

'So you're Vulcan?'

'...'

Vulcan gave no answer. The demon had never been able to speak, after all. But they understood each other.

In response to Suho's question, Vulcan's lips spread into a grin of unsurpassed cruelty and malice. Then the demon patted that bulging belly and ostentatiously gave it a gentle rub.

GRRRROWL!

Right on cue, a booming foghorn of a growl rang out from the belly, so swollen it looked ready to burst.

'Hah.'

The transparent display left Suho no choice but to laugh in disbelief.

'What? You're hungry?'

'Heheheh.'

Vulcan promptly nodded, drool streaming from that huge mouth.

'Unbelievable.'

No wonder Vulcan's Horn had been whining so much lately... Apparently, it was because delicious smells filled the air everywhere.

In appearance alone, the demon was far more frightening than any of the dead Monarchs Suho had met, but the pressure of its presence was much weaker. That was only natural. Vulcan wasn't a Monarch, merely a remnant of a soul left inside an item. Compared to the dead Monarchs, the demon almost seemed cute.

After all, ‘Item: Vulcan's Horn’ was a weapon that grew stronger the more demon souls it devoured. Vulcan, who had craved demon flesh and blood in life, had become an item that craved their souls in death.

Until now, however, even if Suho had wanted to spoon-feed it, demons simply hadn't shown up before him. Now that he had entered a place crawling with them, Vulcan's Horn had gone so far as to appear in person to demand a proper meal.

'No wonder Esil called you a fat pig...'

Was the demon so hungry that a quest wasn't enough, and it had to show up in front of him?

Still, he didn't like how vague the quest's criteria were. Just how much would he have to feed this thing to fill it up? His gaze settled on Vulcan's bulging belly.

'So how much do you need to eat before you're full?'

'Hehehe...'

Rather than answer, the fat pig—no, Vulcan—merely drooled, that enormous mouth watering.

Suho chuckled.

'Well, it doesn't matter.'

There were demons everywhere here anyway. Meeting Vulcan's eyes, he said,

'All right. I'll feed you all you want. But...'

'...?'

'That horn of yours is pretty good. Got another one?'

Vulcan stared at Suho with an unreadable expression. Then, just as the corners of that mouth curled upward...

DING.

The quest window in front of Suho changed.

[Emergency Quest: Vulcan’s Greed]

- Reward: Vulcan's Horn-2

A line listing the reward had been added to the quest window. Suho's eyes gleamed.

“Okay. Deal.”

Negotiations complete.

At that moment, Vulcan gave a smile of utmost cruelty...

WHOOOOSH!

And frozen time began moving again.

Instantly back in reality, Suho fixed his flashing gaze ahead.

“MOOOOO!”

RUMBLE...!

From every direction, maddened minotaurs charged at him, burning through the last of their lives.

But Suho didn't spare them even a glance, focusing solely on the demon head jailer.

“Detoxify.”

The instant he spoke, someone in the distant world of the void raised her eyes with sinister intent.

[The Queen of Insects, the Monarch of Plagues, smacks her lips at the sight of Frenzied Blood Poison.]

And then.

[Detoxifying ‘Debuff: Frenzied Blood Poison.’]

[Detoxifying ‘Debuff: Frenzied Blood Poison.’]

[Detoxifying ‘Debuff: Frenzied Blood Poison.’]

[Detoxifying ‘Debuff: Frenzied Blood Poison’...]

...

The Demon Jailers here had been using Frenzied Blood Poison to keep the other demons under effective control. Their attempt to feed Suho poisoned food had been part of that effort. Instead, however, it had given him the means to destroy their method of control. He could freely administer or neutralize any poison he had ingested.

“Mooo...!”

“Moooo...!”

In an instant, the madness drained from the minotaurs like smoke, and they began collapsing where they stood, carried forward by the momentum of their charge.

THUD-THUD-THUD!

[You have defeated a Domesticated Minotaur.]

[You have defeated a Domesticated Minotaur.]

[You have defeated a Domesticated Minotaur.]

...

They had been burning through their final reserves of life, and the instant the Frenzied Blood Poison left them, they died.

DING!

[You have leveled up!]

WHOOOSH!

“Perfect timing.”

Restored to peak condition at just the right moment, Suho immediately reached toward the head jailer.

“Here. Take this back.”

[Using ‘Debuff: Frenzied Blood Poison.’]

WHOOOOSH!

Formless poison streamed from his hand and engulfed the head jailer.

“Hmph! Parlor tricks!”

FWOOSH!

The head jailer swept his arm contemptuously, burning away the poison.

The minotaurs' sudden collapse had startled him, but he was already within striking distance of Suho. His searing heat slammed into him.

BOOM!

Rather than retreat, Suho charged forward. He reached up, seized Vulcan's Horn on his head, and pulled it free, as if drawing a sword from its sheath.

SHING!

Vulcan's Horn returned to its original sword form in his hand as he swung it.

[Using ‘Skill: Storm Slash.’]

KABOOM!

A fierce storm of blades split the head jailer's flames in two and assailed him. His eyes widened.

“You can even transform it into a weapon! You really are Vulcan's flesh and blood...!”

“Who gave you permission to change who my dad is?!”

SHING!

Suho immediately drew ‘Item: Rakan’s Fang’ from his inventory as well and swung both swords furiously.

SWISH-SWISH-SWISH!

[“What if they find out you're human?”]

Esil's voice was full of concern. But the head jailer wasn't an opponent Suho could afford to hold back against. Green poison and red flames swirled out of him, meeting Suho's storm in a deadlock.

Esil clicked her tongue.

[“What a mess. He uses poison and fire?”]

As a rule, poison and fire counteracted each other, making them a difficult combination to use. The head jailer was managing that difficult feat himself. Yet difficulty aside, to the lofty demon noble Esil, it was simply an unsightly display.

[“You need to concentrate your power into one thing to be efficient. Using all these different powers at once...”]

Then Suho shouted boldly,

“All right! Let's see who can make a bigger mess!”

[“You little...! Don't compete over that!”]

A mess? That description didn't apply to Suho in the first place. He was a literal one-man army! And an army grew stronger the more varied its troops were.

“Arise, Quay!”

[“As you command, Master.”]

Suho's shadow had already spread thickly beneath the head jailer's feet as he fought Suho fiercely at close quarters. Quay, who had been waiting inside it for an opening, answered as his deadly spear shot straight upward.

WHOOSH-WHOOSH!

“Gah?!”

The head jailer hastily twisted aside, but couldn't evade Quay's spear completely. That was enough.

[Quay uses ‘Debuff: Paralytic Poison.’]

“...!”

Horror struck the head jailer as he felt his body suddenly grow sluggish.

The most common of Querehsha's venomous insects that Suho had eaten in the world of the void were those carrying paralytic poison. And since becoming a shadow soldier, Quay could coat his weapon with Suho's poison instead of the queen bee's royal jelly.

“Poison won't work on me!”

FWOOSH!

The head jailer radiated scorching heat from his entire body, burning away the paralytic poison.

[‘Debuff: Paralytic Poison’ has been removed.]

But that fleeting instant was enough for Suho's twin swords to sever his neck.

SLASH-SLASH!

“...!”

[You have defeated the Demon Head Jailer.]

[Vulcan's Horn devours demon souls.]

The head jailer's head rolled across the floor, eyes still wide.

'Oh. Ten souls from him alone?'

Suho quickly checked Vulcan's Horn's amplification first. Perhaps he was imagining it, but a vision of Vulcan chuckling and patting that belly flashed through his mind.

At that moment.

WAAAAAAH!

An enormous uproar filled the colosseum.

“Th-the head jailer is dead!”

“One-Horn killed the head jailer!”

“A-a demon noble has appeared!”

“He really was Vulcan's son!”

[“KIEEEEK! Those bastards deserve to be torn limb from limb! How dare they call him that thing's son!”]

Unable to contain his fury, Beru flew into a rage.

Then Suho turned to glare at the Demon Jailers.

“Now, who wants to come out next?”

“...”

They couldn't answer, standing frozen in place with rigid expressions.

But then...

“... Hmm?”

Suho suddenly realized that their terrified gazes weren't directed at him, but somewhere else.

A chill ran through him. Warned by his Perception stat, Suho turned his head that way. And there...

“Huh?”

He could only stare in bewilderment. The dead head jailer's headless body was getting back to its feet.

FWOOSH!

Then scorching flames rose from within, blazing fiercely with the head jailer's entire body as their wick.

[Frenzied Blood Tyrant]

'His name changed!'

Suho tightened his grip on his twin swords, his eyes tense.

EEEEEK!

At that moment, terrified screams began erupting from demons all around him.

“Th-the Tyrant King is here!”

“O Tyrant King...!”

In the distance, the Demon Jailers had prostrated themselves flat on the ground and were trembling violently.

[“It's a parasitic demon!”]

Esil's voice rang inside Suho's head, filled with intense wariness.

“A parasitic demon?”

[“Yes. I don't know whether it was hiding in there from the start or only just entered... but something feels ominous.”]

At Esil's words, Suho raised his twin swords and glared at the Frenzied Blood Tyrant.

FWOOSH!

The head jailer's entire headless body was burning fiercely. Just like... a Mist Burn, born using a human as fuel. The flames were a different color, but the underlying structure was so identical it gave him goose bumps.

'... A coincidence?'

Not a chance. Suho could say that with certainty. Of all the strange things he had experienced so far, how many had truly been coincidences?

All of it, as if by fate.

No, as if by an inescapable destiny.

[“This aura...”]

All of it had been waiting in Suho's path as though that were only natural.

[“Young Monarch, prepare yourself.”]

Beru had appeared in front of Suho and was glaring at the Frenzied Blood Tyrant through narrowed eyes.

[“An apostle of the Outer Gods, the Itarim, has appeared.”]