93-94

Chapter 93: Rebellion 2

Demon King

Rebellion – 2

I had always wondered if the store, Jinma's Tower, and the Garden of Nak technically belonged to our world. I had a vague idea up until now that those three spaces, including the castle I was going to now, once existed in Hater but had moved into our world. During the Great Fusion, everything in Hater was merged into Earth, but most of the monsters and dungeons – including some spaces and entities – were added to our world while maintaining their shape. The monsters and dungeons had invaded existing spaces, immediately becoming a threat to humanity, and drawing their ire in return.

But the space I was in now was a little different. It didn't appear in the world but rather was hidden behind it. As such, it could only be reached with powerful magic. Truly, it was hidden very deep, although it still belonged to the world. In a sense, it was like the ultimate form of the inventory system that everyone had. Usually invisible, but still connected to us.

"It was an unstable fusion, as you might predict." Rain looked up at the sky, which was covered in dark red clouds, constantly swirling and colliding as they spat forth black lightning.

"Is the underground battlefield that Lee Chan-yu went to, here in this world?"

"That's probably the case, though I don't know the details." He gave me a bitter smile.

"The Great Fusion. I wonder if it must have been caused by you."

"What a shocking declaration to make with such a straight face."

"Who can say. We know nothing more than you, and we have nothing." When he finished speaking, he looked up to the sky to leave me to mull over his words. I was expecting something like that, to some extent. Otherwise, so many things up until this point would have been too arbitrary, too coincidental. I became a goblin and was born in the Black Palace, not anywhere else. I had been connected to the shop, the tower, and the garden. These things were proof that I had been once in contact with the truth of the Great Fusion.

But now I was like this. Jinma's power had been restored, at least slightly. My memories were sparse and filled with holes. 'But what do these people think?' I didn't know why they were trapped here, but I could only guess at what Rain's feelings might be, trapped in such a castle.

"Doesn't it make you anxious?"

"No, I'm happy." He took a cigarette out of his pocket and placed it in his mouth. I had never seen him smoke before, so it was an odd but refreshing sight. Maybe he had been refraining from doing so because the store was an enclosed space, or because he was working.

"I enjoy having conservations with you like this. I thought I had lost everything, but there is still so much here for me. I've been enjoying watching you grow on your journey."

"Such kind words from you."

"Haha, don't let it go to your head." It was an odd conversation, but it energized my heart.

"Then, on to the reason I'm here."

"Tell me what you want to know. It'll cost you, though."

"What the hell do you use all that money for?"

"Gold is a valuable commodity for both elves and Jinma. It's permanent. Don't mistakenly think it's only useful as a currency."

"Permanent?"

"Do you get the gist of it?"

"Only about five percent." I already knew that he wasn't taking my money simply because he liked gold, but I still knew nothing. Well, that question was just a light jab. I removed the main dish from my inventory: the bodies of the Chaos Soul and that armored monster that I encountered on Earth. Rain's expression immediately hardened as soon as he saw them.

"I see."

"You know about it?"

"At least I know what the elves and those who lead them are aiming for. They want to erase everyone but elves from the world."

"Please explain." He pointed at the body of the Chaos Soul.

"This is an imitation of the soul monster you told me about. It's not from the Rookie's Battlefield, but they must've thought they could use it when they saw the process of a human soul transforming into a monster there."

"How?"

"The hybrid… no, look at that human."

"…Hm?" I complied and looked at the corpse of the armored monster born from light that he was pointing to. I noticed that what I thought was a monster now had the form of an elf. When I had killed her, she didn't have any elven features. But now… no, the magic must've been dispelled by Rain. This was undeniably an elf. I felt like someone hit me on the head with a hammer.

"I had thought this light monster and the Elakatra were separate forces."

"It was disguised by the magic of the one who leads the Elakatra. It's no wonder you didn't notice at first."

"The one in charge of the Elakatra…" It was magic powerful enough to completely deceive not only my eyes but my senses and mana. Considering my own level, it would only be natural that humanity wouldn't notice it. I recalled the mana of pure white light that appeared alongside this elf. 'Was that the mana of their boss? No wonder they deserve to be called Elyos…'

"No, that's an ability that anyone with Elven blood has at the core of them, even hybrids. It just happens to be weaker and cannot be properly expressed. That power you saw means that the monster had developed its abilities through its own strength."

"Mireina can do it too?"

"If the hybrid was given enough time and had the talent to handle Jinma's mana, then yes."

"Huh. No, wait. Rain, what did you say earlier? You said this body was a human."

"I see the soul rather than the body. By judging just the physical form, it is definitely a hybrid."

"Hahaha." I laughed as soon as I grasped what he meant. The body was of an elf, but the soul was human, which meant…the corpse before me was a soul monster that had killed an elf and took over its body.

"I was thinking about this the wrong way." Until now, I had thought it would be difficult, if not impossible, to distinguish between a monster that had taken over an elf and a normal one. I thought the scattered elves on the battlefield would view each other with mistrust as a result. However, if there was a way to differentiate between them, that entire premise would be wrong.

"It's impossible for hybrids, but it would be possible for an elf. More than that, they have learned to manipulate the soul monsters." The Wind of Eutinus. It was now clear who had made it. The Elakatra had magic to control the soul monsters who had mutated with the sole purpose of stealing bodies.

"It would be easier than controlling a normal monster. The quality of their soul has deteriorated, and their sense of reason has been lost. They've discarded too many essential parts of their soul."

"What terrible creatures to cling to life and target others' souls."

"If the monster eats the soul of an elf or a hybrid and takes over their body, they could develop their strength even more through slaughter and fusion."

"It seems like the Elakatra are making soldiers to destroy Jinma."

"I see…" He let out a sigh.

"All of the hybrids that died on the Rookie's Battlefield may have been used as sacrifices to these monsters."

"…"

"Don't you feel like this monster's ability is similar to your own?" I had thought they killed the soul, but the Wind of Eutinus made it clear to me when they began to merge. With my Demon's Claw, I could devour them. It was tailored to me, but still similar to their own ability. They merged into each other and became stronger, taking other monsters into their body to grow. It was similar, in a way, to my Predation.

"…Is the leader of Elakatra aware of me?"

"Of course." Maybe they were someone I was connected to in the past. I couldn't say for sure, however, with my fragmented memories.

"They created the Chaos Soul to destroy humanity. Monsters that try to devour human souls, but not elven ones."

"So they're using Earth as an experiment site." Chaos Souls to annihilate humans, and a soul monster to annihilate Jinma. Both were controlled by the Elakatra, who were trying to nurture troops that were harmless to them but lethal to their enemies.

"If so…" One question still remained.

"They may have guessed that Jinma has a connection to Earth."

"It's possible."

"Why would they send that soul monster in the form of an elf to Earth before it was completed? I would only let it go when it had been strengthened to the point where no one could touch it."

"…That's it." Rain had a bloody smile upon his lips as he responded.

"They don't know the situation here."

"They don't?"

"That's right." Rain laughed darkly.

"They couldn't properly check it out. It's what you despise the most, Fate. They were arrogant."

It was an eerie but confident laugh.

Chapter 94: Rebellion 3

Demon King

Rebellion – 3

I had been in such a hurry before, trying to grow stronger so that I might survive. I only considered killing the enemies in front of me and then moving on to the next. That hadn't changed all that much, but now I needed to look further ahead and make calls based on the limited information I had. At the very least, I knew I had enemies that I couldn't face alone. Fortunately, I did have all I needed- a basis for improving my abilities and increasing my allies. All that was left was to capitalize on that.

"I'll be back." I turned away from the fortress to a scene of an underworld full of fog.

"Given your excellent sensing ability, I don't think you will be in any particular danger. But as I said before, the underworld is quite unpredictable. There will be warped creatures created by the Great Fusion, just like there were on the battlefield. Be careful."

"I'll remember that, thank you. And thank you for taking care of Mireina." She was now entirely under my control due to some circumstances I didn't fully understand, but she did. At first, I just wanted her to not get in the way, but now things were a bit different. I could no longer enter the Rookie's Battlefield, which meant Mireina was my only link to it. Learning what the Elakatra were doing, what they wanted… given the way Mireina was currently, it would be impossible to learn those things. Nevertheless, she was still the only one who could return there and gather that information.

"Go ahead and use my money to strengthen Mireina."

"By your command, I will prepare a room for her to train in." If Rain said he would do it, then I could trust it would be done. I nodded and looked back out of the castle. A didn't seem to want to meet me and was hiding at the top of one of the spires. He was one thing, but if I left without stopping by to see L, she would get angry, even if I wasn't going far. I didn't have time to stop by every time I visited the castle, so I decided to deal with that later. If I looked at her face now, I might want to stay here longer.

"I'll be waiting."

"Yeah."

I arrived in the blood-stained underworld that was covered with a red mist. The sight reminded me of the last dungeon of an RPG game. The mana in the air was still familiar to me, but the castle's calm atmosphere had been replaced with an eerie one that was as thick as the fog. I activated my senses and expanded them, clearing my mind as I needed. The Wings of Jinma spread out from my back, stretching out. It was an odd feeling as I let them out as if I had an extra eye or ear. I became more sensitive to the world around me, and I could tell my ability to handle mana increased dramatically.

'The difference really is incredible.' It was just going from inside to outside the wall, but as soon as I spread the Wings of Jinma, I could feel the gathering of enemies toward me from all sides. Monsters strong enough to be incomparable to the Chaos Souls; Beings that were greatly distorted, too mutated to be considered alive.

'So the castle is a sanctuary.' The castle where I had just been was protected by strong barriers and magic. It was thanks to the fact the owners of Jinma's Tower, the Garden of Nak, and the Dedicated Store were all gathered there. They weren't able to go outside, but they could exert their full power within that castle. I couldn't help but wonder how it was related to me; If that would change if I continued to grow and put them under my command one day.

'Under my command…' Me, who couldn't even properly grasp their power. No, I supposed I would be able to, eventually. I had gone from being a goblin to grabbing onto a fragment of Jinma in the course of a year and a half, after all. I could definitely go beyond in the future.

[Can I eat you?]

Among the gathering dark monsters, a tall humanoid one resembling a Pierrot approached me. His long-tongue lolled out of his mouth as he spoke to me, black water droplets dripping off him. In a flash, the droplets burst toward me; terrible poison meant to kill me. However, just before I could use Ubiquitous to evade, the crystal that was floating invisibly around me, The Goddess' Touch, absorbed the poison. It happened too quickly for me to detect any mana flow, so I wasn't sure what happened.

[Look?!]

For just a moment after the poison was absorbed, the crystal spat out a brilliant light. It left a feeling of warmth in me as it faded as if it had never happened in the first place. The monsters around him, however, had shrunk back from the light. I didn't know what was happening, but I recognized the opportunity. I drew the Twilight Sword on the Pierrot monster first, the sword even more destructive now that I had evolved. I struck out with my sword, the power of Reaper destroying the monster's poison as I carved a deep wound through its face at the end of my sword's trajectory. But the monster didn't die right away, and I was still surrounded by all sorts of monsters.

[What a delicious meal!]

[I want to eat too.]

[I want some too, even one toe will do.]

Even the weakest among them still had a strength higher than 180. They were the type of foes I could kill with a single sword strike or spell. I remained calm and narrowed my detection range to around myself so that I could figure out the number of enemies and their method of attack. Three came at me from above: stinger, whip, and sword. I could feel the ground vibrating below me, deformed claws aiming at my legs as explosive clouds spread around me. I started my counterattack by spreading my mana outwards, blocking the brunt of the attacks. Confusion quickly spread amongst my enemies, which was exactly what I wanted.

I made full use of Ubiquitous to move through the gaps between them. An alter ego remained in my place, using Belkena spells and Lunatic Trickster to hold them off. That wouldn't last long, though; I had to press my attack. The moment stretched out to eternity as I sharpened my Reaper skill, focusing on the tip of my blade as I let out a battle cry.

[Kyaaaah!]

[It hurts, it hurts so much!]

The screams of the monsters around me were a welcome sound, almost as much as the bits of flesh and bone that flew off of them with each attack I made. I spread out my dark smoke, greedily consuming every piece of them as I moved about. Each time I used Ubiquitous to dodge their attacks and cut through their ranks, the confusion among them only intensified. I ran through them like a wolf in a flock of sheep, cutting through the necks of each and every one of them.

[You received 37 gold.]

[You received 28 gold.]

It suddenly occurred to me that my alter ego was using magic according to my will as if it were perfectly natural. It had used physical power before, but this was new. I didn't know when it started, but I wondered if it was because I was getting used to the skill. Or maybe because I evolved? This was the first time I had used my full power since I evolved, so it was hard to say. Regardless of why, the end result was that it would make my tactics more diverse and effective. The battle became effortless with the use of my alter ego casting magic as well.

[Just a little bit…let me eat…!]

The last monster was a huge humanoid monster with goblin-like horns. My sword cut through where its heart should be, its body slumping to the floor as my energy swallowed it whole.

[You received 29 gold.]

[You received 31 gold.]

A simple notification window popped up, informing me that I couldn't get experience from monsters of this level. I needed to fight an entity from the higher system, after all. Their level was high, though, so the mana I recovered from devouring them was significant.

'This money though…just gold? No silver or bronze…' I wondered if it had anything to do with Rain's words. He said gold was permanent, after all. Maybe it had some magical value? I groaned at the fact that I didn't know as I moved forward. I didn't sense any more monsters nearby, which was a good thing. It would be annoying to keep fighting those monsters that couldn't give me the joy of growth.

Deciding I should find water, I started to walk through the distorted world. It took me four days in the end, to find a monster strong enough to gain experience from. Even in the underground, higher-level entities weren't so easy to come by.

I walked and walked, sometimes using Ubiquitous to break the monotony, through this world without beginnings or endings. Eventually, I came across an oddly massive temple built in the middle of a mountain range. It was there where, for the first time, I encountered another higher-leveled entity.

[How did you find your way here to this closed place?]

It was a monster in the form of a giant spider.

"Closed place?"

[The underground here is distorted. The space beyond this room is connected to the unknown chaos. And every time I tried to leave, I would be blocked by a wall. This space has been closed off until now when you arrived.]

"…" I felt like Rain's words made a bit more sense now. The environment itself was distorted, and space would get jumbled up. Places would be connected or disconnected from each other, like what had just happened. Perhaps I wouldn't be able to return to the castle by going back the way I came. It was a good thing, with that in mind, that I had the ability to open the door to the castle from any place. Rain knew that, so he let me go without worrying about it.

Pulling myself out from my thoughts, I felt briefly awkward as I noticed the spider had been staring at me the entire time.

"Why aren't you attacking me?"

[Why should I?]

It was the first time I heard such a response from a monster, and I felt somewhat embarrassed to even ask. However, as I examined him closer, this monster wasn't quite like the other ones I had encountered. It was a giant spider, for sure, but it didn't look as grotesque or distorted as the other ones had.

[I can feel the energy of Jinma in you, deep and pure. There are too many other things for me to hate to be bothered with you.]

"Other things to hate?"

[Those bastards, the Elves.]

Lightning flashed through my head as it occurred to me. Of course, it was natural that it was this way. The inhabitants of the underworld would undoubtedly be hostile toward the elves and the Elakatra. And among them, there would no doubt be many monsters and demons that had never been connected to a human as a partner. I wondered what exactly that would mean.

"You… do you want to get out of here?"

[…You have my attention, Jinma.]

Maybe this was a great place to find some colleagues and subordinates.