“Human?”
“And just one?”
“Did I hear that wrong?”
Dormanimonu spoke in rapid succession.
“I don’t think you heard wrong.”
“Yeah, all three of us couldn’t have misheard.”
“Then did Catulon say it wrong?”
“Could be.”
Catulon grimaced at Dormanimonu, who never stopped talking for even a second.
“Shut your mouth and just listen, will you?”
Irritation filled Catulon’s voice.
But Dormanimonu was no ordinary demon.
He was a Demon King who had once vied with Catulon for the top position in the demon world and still commanded a vast number of subordinates.
He had no need to care about Catulon’s irritation.
“Haha, we have three mouths—how are we supposed to stay quiet?”
“That’s pretty difficult.”
“More importantly, tell us about this human already.”
“Right.”
“Could the heavenly realm be pulling something?”
“Oh, Dor! That makes sense. You’re so smart!”
“As expected of our strategist!”
At Dormanimonu’s unchanging reaction, Catulon thought with a dumbfounded expression.
Ha, just why did Mirdahon……
He could not understand why Mirdahon had sent Dormanimonu.
Of course, understanding it would not change anything.
Catulon dropped the thought and waved his hand.
A stack of documents flew toward Dormanimonu from the side.
Dormanimonu carefully caught the stack with all six hands and opened it.
Then he began to read.
“Hm?”
“Hmm.”
“Oh?”
Dormanimonu let out sounds of admiration as he read.
Catulon watched him silently and thought.
I hope he finds it interesting.
The documents were packed with information on a single human.
The strange human named Gaon.
From the information gathered so far, he could be killed easily enough.
The problem was that the gathered information was not the end of it.
That was why he had not set out immediately and had waited instead.
The situation felt extremely unpleasant and ominous.
Catulon sincerely hoped Dormanimonu would take an interest in Gaon.
If Dormanimonu showed no interest, the one who would have to deal with Gaon would be Catulon himself, who had descended first.
Before long, Dormanimonu finished reading the documents.
“Interesting.”
“Very interesting.”
“Not an ordinary human, is he?”
At Dormanimonu’s reaction, Catulon smiled inwardly without showing it.
He had taken an interest, just as hoped.
“I want to fight him once.”
“Right, I never imagined a human like this existed. I’m curious.”
“Catulon! Can we take this human for ourselves?”
At Dormanimonu’s next words, Catulon nodded with a perfectly calm face that hid his true feelings.
“I’ll yield him to you. But don’t let your guard down.”
Dormanimonu snorted in unison as if on cue.
“Ha, let our guard down?”
“Haha, that word doesn’t exist for us.”
“We always give our all.”
At Dormanimonu’s reply, Catulon answered with the same calm expression.
“Then I’ll look forward to it.”
“Hmm….…”
Gaon let out a low hum.
His face was troubled.
The reason for his trouble was none other than Murin.
Murin’s eyes were eerily calm.
As if nothing had happened at all.
But something had.
After subduing Murin, Gaon had activated Bone-Crushing Agony.
At maximum intensity, no less.
Five hours had passed since then.
Not five minutes. Not fifty minutes.
A full five hours.
The other members of the Ten Strong had already given up long ago and spilled everything.
I didn’t expect a method like this.
Murin was not enduring through sheer willpower.
Surprisingly, Murin knew how to sever his consciousness from his body.
The moment Gaon activated Bone-Crushing Agony, Murin had cut off his consciousness from his physical form.
Bone-Crushing Agony was pain inflicted on the body.
If consciousness and body were severed?
Then naturally no pain could be transmitted.
There’s so much I wanted to ask him…….
Murin was the Lord of the Abyss.
He would know far more information than the others.
More than what Gaon had already heard from the Ten Strong.
So the current situation, where interrogation was impossible, was truly regrettable.
Can’t be helped…….
Dragging things out here any longer would be meaningless.
The situation would not change.
Besides, he could not keep wasting time like this.
He had already spent far more time than expected.
I’ve already heard plenty anyway.
It was only from Murin that he had learned nothing.
He had obtained a great deal from the Ten Strong.
Having finished thinking, Gaon waved his hand.
Craaaack! Craaaack!
The Ten Strong, who had already been teetering on the edge of death, all froze solid.
Crack! Crack!
Then they shattered into pieces.
With that, every member of the Ten Strong met their end.
Gaon looked at Murin.
Murin’s expression remained perfectly calm.
With a slightly regretful gaze, Gaon looked at him and waved his hand once more.
Craaaack! Crack!
Just like the Ten Strong before him, Murin froze instantly and shattered, meeting the same fate.
Having dealt with them all, Gaon turned around.
He headed for the sanctuary proper.
Once inside, he focused his perception.
No living beings remained in the sanctuary.
But he had completely razed it once before.
Seeds could still have been left elsewhere.
The branch organizations spread across the continent alone numbered far more than one or two.
This time I need to handle it perfectly.
Gaon made up his mind.
He would leave not a single remnant of the Abyss behind.
Decision made, Gaon moved again.
He was going to collect the treasures he had not yet obtained from the mansions of the Ten Strong.
The first place he visited was the Ats family mansion, which was the closest.
I didn’t expect a hidden space.
Gaon had already visited all the known warehouses of the Ats family.
And he had collected everything without missing a single item.
Or so he had thought.
Surprisingly, the Ats family had one hidden warehouse.
It was concealed so well that even Gaon’s perception could not detect it.
Of course, he had no idea what was inside.
Even Shiryon, the former head of the Ats family, had not known.
Because Shiryon had never entered it either.
To be precise, it was not that he had not entered—it was that he could not enter even if he wanted to.
A special item was required to access the warehouse.
And Gaon possessed that very ‘special item.’
He soon reached the training hall of the Ats family head.
He walked to the center of the training hall.
From his pocket he took out ‘Atra’s Necklace.’
It was the necklace with a massive ruby that Gaon had gifted to the Belmar Ducal Family.
So this was the key.
The Ats family had tried to steal Atra’s Necklace.
At the time he had wondered why.
Now the question was answered.
Atra’s Necklace was the key to the warehouse.
I’m glad I kept it then.
He had told the then-head, Jack, to store it safely.
Because he suspected the Abyss might target it again.
Later the previous head, Marek, had brought it to him.
If he had not accepted it then?
He would have wasted time going back and forth.
Shiiiing……
Atra’s Necklace began to glow.
Gaon released it.
Yet the necklace did not fall.
It floated gently in the air.
Gaon had not done it.
The necklace had done it on its own.
Hiss!
As time passed, the light from the necklace grew stronger.
Then spatial force suddenly appeared in the space directly above the necklace.
Watching the scene, Gaon thought.
So it was hidden like this?
He had wondered how it was concealed.
No matter how he looked, he could not tell.
But seeing it now, he was impressed.
How could such a space exist?
Gaon was curious.
Exactly who had created this space.
While he was lost in thought.
Riiip!
The space where the spatial force had appeared split open, revealing the hidden area.
The hidden space was small enough to take in at a glance.
It was not filled with a great many treasures either.
Only a few items were inside.
“……!”
Yet Gaon could not help but be shocked by those few items.
To be precise, he was shocked by one of them.
The item that stunned Gaon was a ‘sword’ displayed in the center.
From hilt to blade, the entire sword was pitch black.
Heavenly Demon Sword……?
It looked exactly like the Heavenly Demon Sword that Cheon Mu-hyeok had lost when crossing from the Central Plains to this world.
No, considering the ‘Heavenly Demon Energy’ emanating from the sword, it was undoubtedly the Heavenly Demon Sword.
Of course, Gaon’s shock was not only because of the sword itself.
The very existence of the Heavenly Demon Sword was surprising.
But what shocked him even more was the ‘rank’ the sword possessed.
Surprisingly, the Heavenly Demon Sword held perfection within it.
And what was even more astonishing was that the sword’s ‘rank’ belonged not to someone else, but to the Heavenly Demon Sword itself.
How can an object possess rank…….
Gaon reached out toward the Heavenly Demon Sword to examine it more closely.
The sword rose into the air.
Vrrrrrm!
But the Heavenly Demon Sword did not come to him easily.
It floated in the air, ringing out and resisting.
Of course, the resistance did not last long.
Gaon pulled harder, and the sword flew to him.
The moment Gaon grasped the Heavenly Demon Sword.
Shaaaa!
Heavenly Demon Energy erupted from the blade.
Energy infused with rank.
It had not given up resisting.
But Gaon had expected this, so he was not flustered.
With a deeply interested expression, he released Pacheonki.
The difference in rank was overwhelming, so the Heavenly Demon Sword’s energy was suppressed in an instant.
Gaon then injected Pacheonki into the sword and examined it in detail.
It was exactly then.
Because of the Pacheonki?
Or because of the ‘rank’ contained within Gaon’s Pacheonki?
The Heavenly Demon Sword stopped resisting.
Thanks to that, Gaon was able to inspect the sword easily and thoroughly.
When he finished checking, Gaon wore a satisfied expression.
This is a real treasure.
Currently Gaon was using the Pacheonki Sword he had condensed from Pacheonki.
But after examining the Heavenly Demon Sword, he reached the conclusion that there was no need to use the Pacheonki Sword anymore.
Using the Heavenly Demon Sword would be far more efficient.
Gaon stroked the blade with his index and middle fingers.
Vrrrrrm……
The Heavenly Demon Sword rang out.
Gaon smiled and fastened the sword at his waist.
Then he turned his head and looked back inside the hidden space.
The remaining items were not on the level of the Heavenly Demon Sword, but they still held considerable value.
Gaon collected every single one without missing anything, then pulled the necklace toward him.
The hidden space vanished.
I’ll examine them properly later.
Gaon left the training hall and headed to the next location.
He continued moving around the sanctuary, gathering more spoils.
A short while later, after collecting every last piece of loot, Gaon focused his perception one final time.
Naturally, no life force was detected.
“Teleport.”
After confirming, Gaon immediately cast Teleport and moved through space.
The moment he left the sanctuary.
Flash! Flash! Flash!
The ring began to sparkle nonstop.
It meant he had received communications.
A great many of them.
Gaon immediately took the communication crystal from his pocket.
He contacted Graxios.
He was curious what had happened to warrant so many messages.
—Lord Gaon!
Graxios answered right away.
“What’s going on?”
—It’s serious. We received word from Seionia that there is a very high possibility a Demon King will descend in Tarun.
“Ah….…”
Gaon let out a short exclamation of understanding.
Murin had expanded the Demonic Rift to allow a Demon King to descend.
And Seionia possessed the holy relic, the Eye of God.
They must have checked the situation in Tarun with it.
It was exactly then.
—Eh.
Graxios let out another sound.
Gaon could tell from Graxios’s reaction that something had happened.
“What is it?”
Gaon asked.
Graxios answered with a flustered expression.
—We just received a direct message from Saintess Adela…….
—She says a Demon King has descended.