Chapter 239. Demon Grand Duke
‘What in the world is going on?’
Just a moment ago, Ryu Min had been looking at Sosohan Mukbang and sneering.
But now, there wasn’t a trace of amusement left on his face.
Red skin, bat wings, pupils slit like a cat’s, even a sleek tail—
a being that looked like a demon no matter who saw it was standing there in place of the Players.
“W-who is that?”
“The orb suddenly got bigger, and then a person came out of it.”
“It looks exactly like a demon…”
Hearing the murmuring, Ryu Min gave a bitter smile.
‘Not “like” a demon. It is a demon.’
Starting from Round 18, you’re given quests that involve waging war against demons.
Back then, Ryu Min and seven other Players survived and carried out those quests.
‘I know because I killed plenty of them then. I know exactly what demons look like.’
Normally, demons shouldn’t appear before Round 18.
But one had suddenly devoured people and appeared in Round 14, so of course Ryu Min had to be shocked.
‘From the look of it, it’s because of the book the archangel gave him…’
The instant Sosohan Mukbang recited the activation phrase, the Messiah members were devoured, the orb grew—
and then the orb cracked and this demon appeared.
‘It’s like it hatched from an egg using Players as sacrifices.’
Either way, he needed to be on guard.
Just because demons are hostile to angels doesn’t mean they’re friendly to humans.
‘Of course, it’ll be friendly to me.’
After capturing Uriel and Raguel recently, his reputation with the demon faction had risen all the way to “Eternal Ally.”
In other words, that demon had no reason to attack Ryu Min.
‘But that’s not true for the other Players.’
He couldn’t just leave the people he’d gone to the trouble of saving to die at a demon’s hands.
‘Of course, I need to figure out its intentions first… but for some reason, I can’t read its inner thoughts.’
The Rune of Inner Thoughts had even worked on angels.
Naturally, if a demon was still a “person,” it should be possible to read its thoughts.
But this demon in front of him—he couldn’t read it at all.
Like a soulless doll.
[This air, this environment… it’s practically the human realm, yet it feels slightly alien.]
The demon, breathing in the air, soon spotted the Players.
[Humans? No… the feel of the spirit-body and the physical-body is different. Are they Players? Then this must be a place that imitates the human realm.]
It wore a disappointed expression for only a moment.
Then the demon’s mouth split wide into a long grin.
[Well, does it matter? Even if the shell is different, vermin are still vermin.]
In an instant, hostility flashed in the demon’s glare.
[You parasite-like gnats. While I’m at it, I’ll kill you all—and give those angel bastards a headache too. Keuk-keuk.]
It smiled wickedly, laughing toward the Players.
And then—
[Huh? A-ah… a demon?]
At the voice from the sky, the demon lifted its head.
[Well, look who it is. A gnat-like angel bitch shows up right on time?]
[H-how is a demon here…? Ah, it’s only Round 14…?]
Confusion spread across the angel Millen’s face.
She’d come down into the other world to tally Round results, only to run into an unexpected demon.
[If you’re the guide, you’re a 9th-rank angel? Hmph. I meet an angel after so long, and it’s a low-class one who’s worse than a human. How pathetic.]
Even in the face of the demon’s mockery, Millen couldn’t bring herself to bristle.
Just looking at it, she could feel strength so overwhelming she wasn’t even worth being treated as an opponent.
[So you can at least sense strength? The way you’re trembling is ridiculous beyond belief.]
[W-who… who are you?]
[If I told you, would trash like you even know?]
[…]
[Well, you might. So I’ll tell you. Have you ever heard of a Demon Grand Duke?]
[Hngh! D-don’t tell me… Demon Grand Duke Plunictos…?]
The angel’s mouth fell open wide.
To the Players watching, it was a rare sight.
You didn’t often get to see an angel looking shocked.
[You know me? Well, I suppose I’ve built up enough fame that even a trashy angel like you would know. I piled up the heads of tens of thousands of gnats, after all. Keuk-keuk.]
[…]
Millen couldn’t laugh.
Because she knew perfectly well that “gnat” was a derogatory slang term for angels.
[Now that you know who I am, how about you come down already? How long are you going to stay above this body’s head?]
[Ah…]
At that, Millen reflexively started to descend—then flinched and froze.
‘W-wait. Why am I listening to a demon who isn’t even an archangel?’
No matter what anyone said, an angel’s mortal enemy was a demon.
No matter how high-ranked, would any idiot obey an enemy commander’s words?
[You started to come down, then what are you doing? Get down here. Now.]
Seeing the angel slipping farther away instead, the demon let out an incredulous laugh.
[How absurd. A mere 9th-rank angel dares to ignore my words.]
[If I go down… you’ll kill me, won’t you?]
[I won’t kill you. I’m merely asking to talk.]
Even so, Millen didn’t move.
She had been taught that demons were a race that lied as easily as they breathed.
That they were the best at exploiting a moment of slack in the enemy’s guard.
Perhaps because of that, her body was drifting higher and higher.
[I-I would like to speak from a distance, if possible…]
[You damn angel bitch. You really do force the curses out of me.]
The demon’s killing intent fixed itself wholly on Millen.
[Do you think I’m doing this because I can’t kill a gnat like you? Do you truly believe you can escape my grasp?]
[…]
[I offer you a chance to live, and you don’t even know your place—no manners, not even a speck. Fine. If that’s your wish, I’ll personally drag you down, twist every one of your wings, and tear your limbs off like an insect—]
In that moment, the demon couldn’t continue.
Because out of nowhere, a human walked right up to it.
[What is this… a hu… man?]
After confirming who it was, the demon made a surprised expression.
[You are… Black Scythe?]
With his reputation so high, it recognized him even though it was their first meeting.
Maybe it had simply read the nickname above his head.
[I have heard plenty of rumors, Black Scythe.]
The demon narrowed its eyes into crescent moons as if delighted, then whispered in a voice others couldn’t hear.
[They say you personally cracked open the archangels’ skulls? Excellent. Well done. Well done indeed. How did you acquire such power—]
“Did you hear rumors? Or did the system tell you?”
[…]
Its expression soured slightly, but the demon soon smiled coolly.
[I despise humans who interrupt me so much it makes me shudder, but since our steadfast ally Black Scythe did it unknowingly, I shall bestow mercy with my own hand—]
“No need for a long speech. Why did you come here?”
Ryu Min had no intention of caring what it rambled on about.
Angels or demons—either way, they were the same in how they saw humans as insects.
[Hoo… If I’m answering that question, I didn’t come here because I wanted to.]
“Then?”
[Someone used the Demon’s Resurrection Tome. I descended here after devouring five sacrifices.]
“Descended? And who the hell are you?”
[Demon Grand Duke Plunictos. Never heard of it?]
“That kind of name is a first for me.”
[First… time hearing it?]
As if his pride had been pricked, the demon’s eyebrow twitched.
[Well, if you’re a Player, you might not know. I can accept that—]
“Stop the useless talk. I asked your purpose.”
[Insolent… No matter how much of an ally you are, you’ve been far too rude from the start. Like that gnat, you have not even a speck of manners.]
“There’s no manners to show a demon who won’t even state its purpose.”
[Is that so? Then I suppose I’ll have to teach you etiquette.]
A whip formed in the demon’s hand.
But before it could do anything, Ryu Min’s hand moved first.
Thuk-
The demon’s eyes dropped.
It saw its own forearm on the ground—still holding the whip.
[This human…!]
“I said state your purpose.”
[And if I won’t?]
There was no answer to the question.
Thuk- De-gul-
Because before it could, the demon’s head rolled across the ground.
‘What… what an absurd situation.’
Demon Grand Duke Plunictos could only stare blankly in disbelief.
It was absurd enough that the Demon’s Resurrection Tome—lost during the Heaven-Demon Great War—had been used, but what was even more absurd was—
‘To kill me on the spot just because I didn’t state my purpose.’
The Black Scythe he’d thought was an ally had killed his incarnation.
‘Ridiculous.’
Of course, it was only an incarnation, so Plunictos himself suffered no damage.
What had just died was nothing more than a doll that held only one-hundredth of his power.
But Plunictos had been seeing the world through that incarnation and even speaking through it until just moments ago, so it was impossible not to feel offended.
Killing the incarnation could reasonably be seen as a challenge directed at him.
‘Does he not know how high the Demon Grand Duke stands? He’s nothing but a thunder-struck fledgling.’
Then again, Plunictos hadn’t even been able to properly display his power, so perhaps it made sense for the human to act arrogant.
[Tch. Humans really are insects you can’t associate with.]
Seated upon the Flame Throne (炎座) in the Demon King’s Castle, Plunictos clicked his tongue.
From interrupting him, to behavior utterly lacking in etiquette, to killing his incarnation—
No matter how much Black Scythe had killed archangels for him, if he acted like this, Plunictos couldn’t view him favorably.
‘Just when I was going to wipe out that gnat-like guide and those vermin-like Players… and yet I died this quickly…’
Had he sensed in advance that Plunictos was about to make a mess?
He’d been taken out before he could even do anything.
‘To dare kill my incarnation. I needed a pretext to cause an uproar anyway—this works out. This time, I’ll hold that damned Michael responsible. He needs to pay the price for using the Demon’s Resurrection Tome without permission.’
Beside Plunictos, five souls kidnapped through the Demon’s Resurrection Tome were tied up on leashes.
[Baal.]
The rank-1 among the 72 demons, Baal, emerged from the darkness.
[You called for me?]
[They are human sacrifices not worth much. Throw them into hellfire and use them as materials.]
[Understood.]
Clink-clank—
As Baal yanked the leashes, Sosohan Mukbang and the Messiah members wept, snot and tears running as they pleaded.
“Please spare me, sir. Please let me go.”
“I’ll live a good life. Please, spare—”
With a sweep of Baal’s hand through empty air, their voices disappeared.
Their mouths only moved soundlessly, like goldfish gulping air.
[Come, vermin.]
After Baal took the souls away, Plunictos suddenly had a thought.
‘But it’s strange. Why couldn’t my incarnation even dodge and got killed?’
Even if it was only one-hundredth of his power, it was still an incarnation with strength on par with an archangel.
To die without being able to respond at all—that shouldn’t be possible.
‘Hmmm… don’t tell me that Player called Black Scythe is truly that strong?’
It was practically proven by the fact he’d already killed four archangels, but perhaps he was even stronger than that.
Resting his chin on his hand, Plunictos fell into thought—then made a decision.
‘No matter what, I should bring Black Scythe to the Demon King’s Castle.’
The red-skinned demon scattered sulfurous dust and vanished.
‘Plunictos’ incarnation?’
A moment ago, Ryu Min had pretended not to know just to provoke it, but in truth, he did know.
He knew what kind of wicked existence Demon Grand Duke Plunictos was.
‘I’ve heard NPCs in the other world mention it in passing. They said the true number one who rules the demon realm is Plunictos.’
In the demon realm, there was always a Demon King, but in truth it was a mere hollow figurehead.
The one who actually controlled the demon realm was Demon Grand Duke Plunictos.
Ryu Min had even seen him from afar fighting angels back in Round 18.
‘He’s the kind of bastard who swept up humans and angels alike. Even if we’re “allies,” I can’t trust him.’
According to reputation, they were allies, but that bastard was never on humanity’s side.
Knowing that well, the moment Plunictos pulled out a weapon, Ryu Min cut off its arm and took its head.
‘Sounds like he could descend into the other world using the Demon’s Resurrection Tome.’
In the process, Mukbang and his Messiah slaves disappeared as sacrifices, but whatever.
They were bastards he’d planned to use and toss anyway.
‘But still…’
Ryu Min couldn’t hide how troubled he looked as he stared at the message floating before him.
[The demon reputation toward Black Scythe has decreased from ‘Eternal Ally’ -> ‘Very Friendly’.]
‘It drops a whole stage just because I killed one incarnation?’
Since it had been Plunictos’ incarnation of all things, it seemed he’d really gotten on its bad side.
‘Doesn’t matter. If I hadn’t killed it, that incarnation would’ve swept through angels and humans alike—everyone here.’
Even though his reputation fell, there was also a welcome message.
[You have killed Plunictos’ incarnation.]
[It has been confirmed that you are the first player to kill a Grand Duke-class demon.]
[You have obtained the title ‘The One Against Evil’.]
‘A title I’ve never gotten before. Because I’ve never killed a Demon Grand Duke.’
Strictly speaking, he’d only killed an avatar, but it seemed it still counted as a kill.
Curious, Ryu Min immediately opened the title information.