Dungeon Hunter

"His Majesty will be safe.”

Oswen was next to her.

The two of them were travelling on White. They had moved for half a day and barely escaped the scope of the explosion.

“I don’t have a good feeling. Again...can’t we go back?”

"His Majesty wanted me to take you to the original location. I have to follow that order.”

Oswen spoke gently.

Although he now had the terrible appearance of a creature, he was originally a human. He was a skillful blacksmith who dealt with iron. It was unfortunate that the Hell Monarch noticed him, but he didn’t completely forget his human mind.

“By the way, you are really a stupid woman. Why did you come back? Thank you for bringing His Majesty back, but aren’t you human?”

"He said something. He is our hope. I came back to verify if he is that hope.”

Yoo Eun-hye replied without any hesitation.

She had gone over that answer in her mind several times.

Oswen closed his mouth. Then he opened it again.

"Is he your hope?”

“Yes. I guess so. He...is humanity’s last hope. Nobody else knows it.”

"Huh, a human still thinks that despite knowing His Majesty’s true nature? Then what will you do next?”

"I don’t know. Everything is confusing. However, I feel sorry for him knowing that he is surrounded by enemies.”

Yoo Eun-hye sympathized with the man. She didn’t know why. She just felt sorry for him.

Oswen was dumbfounded. He thought that this woman was crazy.

"Then what about staying by His Majesty’s side?”

“Huh?”

"The seal of a slave. Then His Majesty will give you some credit.”

Oswen threw out those words.

In fact, Oswen knew that His Majesty, or Randalph Brigsiel as she knew him, tended to open up a little more when there was a contract.

It was because he was sure that person would stay at his side.

“...I understand. I’ll do it.”

“You will regret it.”

“It is fine as long as it will benefit the world. Getting closer to him will help out a lot.”

“Ha! A totally genius idea. It is so bizarre that it is genius.”

Oswen was filled with admiration.

Yoo Eun-hye gave him a pained smile.

“Will he be okay?”

"Believe in him."

Oswen replied concisely.

A heavy silence returned.

Soon the explosion stopped and the white light faded.

My eyes were ringing. My senses felt shallow. My vision was blurred and my whole body was stinging.

It was the aftermath of the explosion.

‘My magic power has evaporated.’

I shook my head. Of my restored magic power, only 2% was remaining. This was just enough to sustain my flesh.

It was a testament to the enormous magic power that went into protecting my body. Of course, I didn’t have that much magic power remaining before...I turned and searched the surroundings.

There were craters all over the place. The holes were deep. The clouds in the sky were cleared.

The creatures around me had evaporated. I couldn’t see even one bone. All the corpses were gone. There weren’t even the remnants of high class creatures left behind.

‘How great.’

I clicked my tongue.

It was more destructive than I imagined.

The terrain in this area had changed and I alone had survived.

However, I soon shook my head. It had great destructive power, but it wasn’t enough to kill a grand duke. At best, it would only destroy the demons and creatures. The grand dukes would be able to keep their flesh.

Of course, that was assuming that their original state was fine.

I climbed up from a crater. My body was at the bottom of the steepest cliff. The melted ground was still hot but I managed to hold on.

‘My magic bag is messed up.’

I wanted to get some useful items from my magic bag but it didn’t listen to me. It seemed like the explosion had caused the items in the magic bag to be jammed.

I shook my head and kept moving.

Chiik. Chiiik.

It felt like the ground was melting with every step. The earth was burning and melting like it was lava.

Chwaaaak!

It happened when I almost reached the top of the crater.

A sharp sound entered my ears.

Degururu!

A person’s head fell into the crater. I was familiar with it.

It was the head of Grand Duke Upa Bullenon.

His head had been cut off.

As I climbed out of the crater, I looked at the person who killed Upa Bullenon.

“You son of a bitch."

Someone was cursing while vomiting. As I expected, it was Ariel Diablo. Her surroundings were filled with hundreds of corpses of demons and creatures. She had killed all the strong opponents that survived Hope.

It was a pure physical achievement, with little help from her magic power. She truly was a weapons master. She could use all types of weapons.

“Randalph Brigsiel. Do you have business with me?”

Ariel Diablo glared at me. A third of her proud horns were cut off and she had deep cuts on her shoulders. Spears were stabbed in her sides.

Anyone could see that she was at her limits. If I attacked Ariel Diablo now with my sword then it was highly likely I could kill her.

She knew it as well. I wasn’t in my normal state, but she was in an even more serious condition.

"You could finish me off now without much difficulty. You can do it but...it should be finished before the other demons under my command arrive here.”

I shrugged.

"I won’t touch an injured beast.”

The possibilities were high but I had lost almost all of my magic power. Besides, in terms of pure swordsmanship, she was ahead of me. There was no guarantee that I wouldn’t be gravely injured.

Of course, Ariel Diablo would weaken over time. She had far tor many injuries for them to heal naturally. It wouldn’t be too late to kill her if I just sat and watched.

But...I needed to be faster than her troops. She was the first person to enter Greenwich Observatory, but her demons and creatures arrived very slowly. It felt like they were coming one at a time. It was a very wise decision.

"Huhu, I guess you are more of a coward than I thought.”

"A day will come when we will meet in a normal environment. There is no need to hurry.”

"That is just a coward’s excuse.”

She was provoking me. She was a demon who didn’t like being weak. No matter how noble her lineage, she couldn’t help her instincts.

I smiled and stared into Ariel Diablo’s eyes.

“What is happening in the Demon World?”

I needed to know this. It was the original reason why the grand dukes assembled. I had wanted to hear the story but the invasion of the angels caused a battle.

Ariel frowned. Then she smiled like she realized something.

"You, did you not receive the special quest?”

"Let’s say it is something similar.”

“Haha! Cough...! You don’t know. No, I will tell you. Right now, there is someone running around the Demon World.”

“Someone strong enough to threaten a grand duke?”

"Half of my forces were eaten by him. Upa, Pandemonium...Okullos’ forces in the Demon World have completely collapsed.”

What?

I didn’t answer for a moment.

I put my thoughts together.

"Who would have that type of power in the Demon World?”

I asked incredulously.

The Demon World was originally divided into four equal parts. Ariel, Upa, Pandemonium and Okullos had divided the Demon World precisely between the four of them.

This had continued for hundreds of years.

Yet that was blown away in a few years?

It was nonsense. It was an impossible task.

"There wasn’t even an army. He is the only one.”

“One? Is he a god?”

“He is someone who tried to be a god in the past.”

Ariel was calm. She didn’t seem surprised that something like this had happened. While I was frowning, Ariel asked me.

“Randalph Brigsiel, do you know about the Shadow Emperor?”

Shadow Emperor.

Hell Monarch.

He had many titles, but I never imagined that name would pop out of Ariel’s mouth.

Ariel scowled with frustration.

"I don’t know the exact details. That was just what was written in the contents of the quest. But I know a little bit about the Shadow Emperor. If the Shadow Emperor is truly in the Demon World then it will be a hassle.”

Not only Ariel, but the other grand dukes seemed to know about the Shadow Emperor. They felt fear and hurried after hearing his name. If not, they wouldn’t have gathered so quickly like this.

Indeed, that was the reason.

I recalled the high dark elf Shilla for a moment. She was originally Chrisley’s mother, but became frozen and was sold at the Demon World Auction. She was surrounded by ice and I felt a powerful curse magic. Oswen hadn’t yet found a way to melt the ice.

I heard that the magic power was similar to mine. To be precise, it was similar to the Shadow Emperor. I had thought the Shadow Emperor might be in the Demon World, but the possibility was extremely low. How could a dead person be in the Demon World?

Yet now Ariel said that he was in the Demon World. The Hell Monarch was devouring the forces of the grand dukes. It wasn’t easy to believe.

“The Shadow Emperor, I’ve never seen him but I believe Pandemonium has. Anyway, the demons in the Demon World wouldn’t last that long. Pandemonium said that the strongest mortal is the Shadow Emperor. He said that only all the grand dukes attacking him would work. It is a really ridiculous story. We ignored him because he was human. Anyway, he was executed by the gods. However...I remembered. It is the first time Pandemonium has recognized someone. How can I not remember?”

"It doesn’t make sense. Even if he was revived, can he alone take over the Demon World?”

The power prepared by the Hell Monarch.

I took over the Underground World.

His treasure trove was still intact.

Yet he was trying to take over the Demon World alone.

It was impossible unless he was a god, and he wasn’t one.

“The special quest stated that he will occupy the Demon World in one year. We have been participating in the game so we didn’t know about the situation in the Demon World. Only you have the key to solving this problem.”

The key to solve the problem?

Returning to the Demon World?

Something seemed suspicious. I should have received the quest to stop the Shadow Emperor.

“But it is over. I lost my main force, Upa is dead and I don’t know about Pandemonium. If Pandemonium’s words are true, we won’t be able to stop the Shadow Emperor now. I can’t stop him alone. It will be better to build up my strength here.”

I roughly understood. Ariel Diablo seemed to have determined her route. It would have been different if the four grand dukes had led all the creatures in the Demon World. But now that this had happened, she decided that they couldn’t win.

"Huhu, if you don’t kill me now then you will be very annoyed later on.”

“Pandemonium would be more annoying.”

I moved my eyes around. Pandemonium couldn’t be seen anywhere. He didn’t seem to have died so he must have escaped.

I missed him... I felt regret.

I desperately wanted to stab him after he attacked me, but it seemed like I would need to postpone it.

"That’s right.”

Ariel Diablo also agreed. She had to admit that Pandemonium could be very annoying. In some respects, Pandemonium was more annoying than Upa. He was sly like a snake.

I turned back.

Ariel was unlikely to die here due to her demons and Pandemonium had escaped.

‘If Pandemonium knows that Upa is dead then he will move straight away.’

From now on, it was a fight against time.

I had already eaten some of Upa’s dungeons, but it would be annoying if Pandemonium started moving.

I needed to move faster.

‘Hell Monarch. Shadow Emperor...’

I thought about the Hell Monarch as I walked.

I thought he was dead. His heart was inside me. Even now, my heart was beating faster when I thought about the Hell Monarch.

Was it the real Hell Monarch?

Or was it someone posing as the Hell Monarch?

‘One year.’

The special quest specified one year. If I became a devil and returned to the Demon World then I would meet him.

Or...he might come here, so I needed to think about my options carefully.