Chapter 355: The Lost World (10)

The green smoke coiled outward from the ground, tightened around the black smoke, and forced it back.

Boom...

The shattered sigil's black smoke couldn't resist. The thick, syrup-like green haze pushed it out of the celestial boundary, and as the black smoke trembled, it broke apart into countless particles and scattered into the air.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

Every corpse charging toward us collapsed as if someone had snuffed out their strings.

[Southern Demon Realm Encroachment Zone – Murmur's Excavation Site Cleared!]

[Level Up!]

[Level Up!]

[Level...]

...

[Remaining Stat Points: 36]

"All the gremlins... they're down? What did you do? What did you hit to make this happen!" Gilaut shouted, spinning around in disbelief. "You did this, right? Right?!"

"I did," I answered.

"You... you!" Gilaut's headless body shook with excitement. "I knew you were impressive, but this, this is incredible!"

[Dullahan Gilaut's Affection increased by 10!]

The headless knight grabbed me in a tight embrace and shook me with joy, rattling my bones.

Rattle! Rattle!

However, I had no room to react. New messages flooded the air.

[You have stolen Demon King Murmur's territory. He is enraged with you.]

[Demon King Gaap is delighted.]

[Demon King Vapula watches you with interest.]

[Assimilation Rate has decreased.]

[54.19% → 53.85%]

[Calculating Hero Points.]

[Demon-Realm Encroachment Zone: Murmur's Excavation Site]

[This area belongs to no proper territory. It is a boundary zone.]

[A personal scenario has not begun.]

[Rank not established.]

[Hero Point gain reduced by 90%.]

[You have earned 800 Hero Points!]

[Current Purchasing Power: 97.5%]

The messages cascaded before me.

A penalty...

This reminded me of killing the Heroes beneath the imperial capital and stealing the points from inside their souls. Still, even with the penalty...

If I repeat this three or four more times...

A spark of anticipation filled my chest. I was close to full purchasing power. As long as I survived this place, then...

"Kuhuhuhu..."

Laughter rippled through the cavern as if someone was shaking the air itself. If laughter had a color, this one would be a deep, scratchy green. A chill crept up my spine. Slowly, I turned around.

"Kuhuhuhu..."

Something straddled the back of a spiked wolf, hood pulled low, facing me.

A... gnome?

The height, the hands, the feet resembled one, but everything else was wrong. It had four green-glowing eyes, a shy, childlike smile, and yet two long tongues dangled from its lips. Its pale, delicate arms wrapped around the wolf's neck as it giggled and rocked its tiny hips.

"Ahh, Lord Murmur. Such a fool! Always wasting power like this! Forever stuck at the bottom ranks!"

No subspecies of gnome could create this kind of grotesque dread.

"Now he's even lost his territory! Oh dear, oh dear! The gremlins all turned into paste!"

I couldn't understand the creature in front of me, because whatever it truly was lurked far beyond its tiny frame.

Should we run?

I wanted to run. I glanced at Gilaut. He was still resting his hand on his sword hilt, perfectly still. I tried to signal him.

Flutter!

A massive black bat, wings spanning at least three meters, swooped down from the opposite side. Hanging vertically from a stalactite, it spread its wings and swayed its long tail with eerie balance.

The escape route was closed. Pressure pressed down on my skeleton like a physical weight.

"I assumed he was just a normal subordinate of a Dullahan... but his swordsmanship improved at an astonishing rate."

The giant bat blinked its red eyes. Its mouth didn't move, yet its voice echoed through the cave like a whispering tide.

"Tch. I hate when random bats jump in! Stay out of it! This is my sector!" the gnome on the wolf shouted, clearly irritated.

The bat answered coldly, "Your sector? Since when did the human realm get divided into sectors? Also, I was observing their sword path. The one who assigned me considers that a key interest."

"Swordsmanship? That's not the important part! Something far better happened! That one, him! He smashed 16th Seat Murmur's sigil! CRACK! On purpose! Don't pretend it was by chance! The one who assigned me despises irrationality and coincidence!"

They bickered loudly, completely ignoring us.

"What... are you two?"

Gilaut's grip tightened on his hilt. He hadn't drawn his blade, but the killing intent flowing from him felt sharp enough to cut through stone. Still, the gnome atop the wolf continued speaking in an obnoxiously cheerful voice.

"Ahahaha! My apologies for the late introduction! I am a talent scout! A genius investor who recruits promising seedlings before they even sprout. The name's Nopel! Demon Realm Rank 157, Nopelluns! Oh? Ohhhh? Looks like I've found two promising seedlings here!"

What? Nopel?

The little creature babbled nonsense, but it had clearly started its purpose. The first thing that came to mind was Aezar, the stag from T&T who once tried to recruit me. Yet, the atmosphere here was different. Rather than the blind, fanatical devotion of Purson's followers, this was something else entirely.

A scouter... is someone acting under delegation.

So the Demon Kings used agents like this, too. I had heard of such stories when internal conflicts broke out among Demon Kings; they used every trick imaginable to recruit strong demons to their side. I might not be impressive enough now to matter much to them, but since this was a newly eroding zone, they were probably scrambling to seize an early advantage.

The grotesque gnome-beast looked at Gilaut. "I was interested in you at first, you know. But that skeleton kept becoming more interesting."

"No, thanks. I like catching two rabbits at once!"

They argued over us like children.

"The Dullahan..."

"He's mine!"

Both of the gnome's torn mouths spoke at once.

Pop!

Green smoke curled in the air and condensed into small floating symbols, like tiny runes from a spellbook drifting overhead.

"Tch. You're staking your claim already? I never agreed to that."

The giant bat hanging from the ceiling sounded genuinely annoyed.

"Oh, stop whining! I arrived first!"

Red and green light burned in the darkness as their eyes clashed.

"You came to... recruit us?"

"Correct! We evaluate value very carefully. Shall we begin? Guess who delegated me! Whoever shattered Lord Murmur's sigil first gets a 2,000 advance!"

A limp butterfly fluttered out of the gnome's hand. Its wings shimmered weakly as it drifted toward me, then crumbled like dust against my wrist. A faint glow surged.

[You have acquired 2,000 kruna!]

[You have obtained currency bearing a Demon King's covenant for the first time.]

[Assimilation Rate has decreased.]

[53.85% → 53.14%]

This is—!

Kruna. Demon Realm currency. I had heard of it, but I had never used it. Only the Demon Kings could guarantee their value. The currency itself was sealed by their covenants.

It's real.

He was truly delegated, and truly something that crawled out of the Demon Realm.

"Nervous? You look nervous."

The gnome answered the bat dismissively, then raised its hand high.

"You've received your advance! Now let's begin the wager! If you fail to guess who delegated me..."

Whoosh!

The number etched on my wrist transformed into a faint green cuff of transparent smoke.

"You'll follow me step by step and serve the one who delegated me!"

The wager formed instantaneously.

"How the hell would we know who's behind you? Don't be ridiculous!"

"Ridiculous? Really? The headless Dullahan is loud... perhaps he wants to lose more than his head?"

A pulse of heavy green energy surged from the empty air.

Woooom...

A crushing pressure pressed on my bones from all directions.

Zing.

Gilaut drew his sword.

Sh-sh-shh!

The shadows flowing around his armor were pulled inward, then seeped back out through the blade like thin mist. When he leveled the sword, the oppressive force eased slightly. Red smoke rose from the bat's eyes.

"Intriguing. So you weren't using your full power earlier."

Gilaut stepped forward, poised to spring.

"Friend... don't worry. I have one last strength reserved. For an enemy like this, I could face death satisfied. I'll buy you time..."

Has he... grown this attached to me?

Gilaut sounded far too heroic, unnecessarily heroic.

I raised my hand to stop him.

Rattle.

"Quiet," I ordered.

Gilaut was dumbfounded. "Huh? What are you planning?"

"Trust me."

This problem was far too easy.

Not just easy, almost insulting.

[Demon King Gaap is growing impatient.]

[Demon King Vapula has become more deeply interested in you.]

The answers were floating right there in the air. It was not a 1-in-2 chance, nor did it even involve guesswork. The green smoke on the celestial chart. The red smoke on the other sigil. There was no mistaking it.

"I'll be generous! Time to think! Ten minutes? Twenty? Thirty is too long! No choosing randomly, you only get one name!"

It would be a waste to rush this. My footing was solid, so I might as well swim a little further.

"That's it? 2,000 kruna? I'll stake my friend here as well."

"What?! Absolutely not! Selling me off?!"

"Trust me. You were prepared to die a moment ago, right? Consider this another gamble with your life."

"Well... I... that's... uh..."

The bat nodded.

"Fine."

Clang!

A small medal landed between us, glowing red with the number 4,000, tossed from who knew where.

"4,000. If you can guess the one who delegated me, you may take it."

"Uuugh..."

Gilaut fidgeted nervously.

I pointed at the gnome. Its four relaxed eyes widened.

"Eleventh Seat. Demon King of Impetus, Gaap."

All four of its eyes shot open.

"W-wha?! How did you guess it instantly?! But! There is still one more question!"

"Eighth Seat. Demon King of Aesthete, Vapula."

A low hum slipped from the bat's throat. "Hmph."

[Demon King Gaap is stunned and impressed.]

[The Demon King Vapula accepts your gambit.]

Judging from their reactions, I was certain that the Demon Kings couldn't see the status messages.

This could be useful in many ways...

"You've won." The bat folded its wings slightly. "Then I'll take my winnings."

I walked over and picked up the medal.

[You have acquired 4,000 kruna!]

"Looks good."

"You can even verify authenticity... More impressive than I expected. How about it? Will you walk the path of martial arts with us?"

Gilaut perked up immediately. "The path of martial arts?"

"As you said earlier, the one who delegated me is the Demon King of Aesthete. Swordsmanship, spearmanship, body techniques, those who walk the path of martial mastery will gain incomparable guidance."

"..."

Gilaut wavered, dangerously so.

Is he going to... accept? Will he really join them? Is that... actually safe?