Chapter 238 : Chapter 238
Chapter 238 - Demon Realm (8)
The standoff broke, and the battle between the demonfolk and the Griffin Lord began.
Because of the sudden appearance of the three-digit rankers, everyone had grown impatient.
Once someone hurriedly launched the first attack, all kinds of magic poured out afterward.
There were basic elemental spells, and even undead summoning.
‘Their levels vary quite a bit.’
Some of the demonfolk displayed considerable skill, enough to make their Pandemonium rankings seem almost irrelevant.
But the Griffin Lord used its enormous wings as shields, nullifying all those attacks.
GRAAAAAGH!!
And it even returned the attacks it had blocked with a tremendous flap of its wings. The presence of a boss monster was truly on another level.
‘This will not end quickly.’
Of course, if the battle dragged on, the side with the overwhelming numbers, the demonfolk, would ultimately gain the advantage. However, from their perspective, a major variable had just appeared.
The three-digit rankers had suddenly emerged like hyenas.
If they joined in properly, there was a high chance the rewards for this raid would fall into their hands.
But there was no need to worry about that.
I intended to deal with them myself.
I stepped into the path of the three-digit rankers as they walked over.
“What is this?”
Several of them snorted when they saw me.
In truth, to them, this probably was not a serious matter.
Under Pandemonium’s rules, they could not attack me first because I was a lower-ranked person, but lightly shoving me aside was still possible.
One of them grinned and provoked me.
“Ah, are you going to challenge us?”
At that, the others began playing along with the mood.
“Oh, how frightening! In Pandemonium, having a lower rank is practically a title of nobility, and I failed to recognize that!”
Then they burst into laughter.
I scanned their ranks first.
It would be advantageous for me to deal with the lowest-ranked one first.
That way, I could threaten the remaining ones by holding their lives in my hands and extract information from them.
“What is this? Do you mean you stepped forward so bravely, only to lose your courage now that it is time to challenge me?”
Coincidentally, the one speaking in front of me was the lowest-ranked of the group.
My target was decided.
“Heh heh heh. Then how about this? I will keep my eyes closed, so try attacking me.”
Then he truly closed his eyes.
‘Is he that confident?’
No matter how low my rank was, an upset could happen at any time if he was defenseless.
I had heard that in Pandemonium, one gained a tremendous increase in power the moment the number of digits in one’s ranking changed, and now I could feel the truth of those words.
“Then I will challenge you without hesitation.”
“Oh? Now this should be interesting.”
There was no reason to delay.
A swift conclusion was the greatest virtue.
SWISH!
The moment I drew my sword, his head fell to the ground.
[Your Pandemonium rank has become 884.]
In that instant, everyone here froze.
The three-digit rankers froze because of the situation they had never expected.
The four-digit rankers froze because they had suddenly received news that their rankings had each risen by one.
“Impossible!”
“He knew an attack was coming, yet he was still struck down?”
The three-digit rankers immediately grew agitated.
I searched among them for the next rank.
This time, it was a red-haired female demonfolk.
“You will be next.”
I had already obtained the right to challenge a two-digit ranker, but I was not yet finished with these people.
I had to extract information from them.
For now, I still needed to create a little more fear, enough for my threats to work.
“Do not tell me you chose me because of my rank?”
I nodded.
“How absurd. In Pandemonium, rank is merely for reference. Do you still not know that?”
The red-haired woman seemed to think the one who had died just now had fallen only because he had let his guard down.
“Then go ahead and challenge me. For your information, I will not do something foolish like closing my eyes.”
It was a commendable stance, but in the end, there would be no difference.
SWISH!
“Hah!”
The only difference was that this woman at least let out a final scream before she died.
She had instinctively sensed that it was an attack she could not possibly avoid.
[Your Pandemonium rank has become 807.]
Only now did the three-digit rankers seem to vaguely grasp the dreadful situation they were in.
“Wh-what is this?”
“There is no way Reish could be taken down so pointlessly!”
“Reish’s actual strength is in the five-hundreds!”
Still, I would probably have to demonstrate it once or twice more.
There were always people in this world who could not believe even what they had seen with their own eyes.
More than anything, they likely did not want to believe it.
And such denial of reality tended to call forth even more blood.
“This time, you.”
I pointed to the next one in the ranking order.
“Damn it! Are you saying you are going to take us all down one by one from the bottom?”
“You understand well.”
“You arrogant bastard! Try it if you are so confident!”
He hurriedly widened the distance and took his stance.
Unlike the previous two, he did not intend to be taken down meekly.
Demonic energy boiled up from both his hands.
His posture said he would immediately counterattack the moment my attack unfolded.
It seemed killing only two of them had not been enough.
BOOOOM!
The extension of Sword Qi rising from the tip of my sword instantly tore his neck apart.
As expected, he was inferior to the red-haired woman who had gone second.
This third fellow had not even known how he had died.
***
Only after two more of them died did their grasp of reality finally correct itself.
“Spare me!”
“There is no reason you have to kill us!”
I raised the corner of my mouth as I answered.
“That is true.”
“You are thinking clearly! Within the same number of digits, becoming a higher-ranked person only makes life more exhausting for no reason, does it not?”
This fellow’s rank was 224.
The rest of the demonfolk secretly seemed to hope I would take him down, but once the one ranked 224 also lowered his tail to me, that too came to nothing.
“You three-digit rankers are said to be the most united group in Pandemonium, are you not?”
“Th-that is true, but why are you suddenly asking……?”
“Then you must exchange information among yourselves rather well.”
“Information? What you wanted from us was information?”
“If you answer properly, I will let all of you live.”
At my words, their eyes began moving rapidly.
“You.”
When I pointed at the one ranked 694, his face turned pale.
He had an expression that seemed to ask why it had to be him, but that was because his rank was the lowest.
“What information do you want?”
“Tell me. Where can I meet two-digit rankers? If possible, it would be even better if they were gathered in a group like you lot.”
But the one ranked 694 only hesitated while glancing around.
I aimed my sword at him and continued, helping him make up his mind.
“I am also a three-digit ranker now. That means we are one family.”
The effect appeared immediately.
He had likely needed an excuse anyway, and I had scratched precisely where it itched.
“That is right! Now that I think about it, there is no need for us to fight among ourselves!”
The others reacted similarly.
“So stop trying to think your way out of this and just answer. There are others here besides you who can answer.”
As if by agreement, they all flinched at the same time.
The one ranked 694 nodded, as if he had resolved himself to spill everything.
If he had not known the information I was asking for, that would have been one thing, but the conclusion had already been set.
The unity of the three-digit rankers was only temporary.
It was merely a matter of timing. There was likely no one who wanted to remain satisfied with their current rank forever.
“I will tell you everything!”
Naturally, that was how things were bound to proceed.
I raised the corner of my mouth slightly.
“You will serve as my guide as well. As long as you lead me properly, I will guarantee your life.”
***
Things went more smoothly than I had expected.
Rank 72 and rank 8 were in the same place.
The two belonged to different groups but seemed to be secretly colluding with each other. Still, that was none of my concern.
In any case, it was two birds with one stone.
[Your Pandemonium rank has become 8.]
Before I knew it, my rank had shot up vertically, and now, as long as I took down Abel, who was said to be the immovable rank one, I would be able to challenge the Demon King.
My friend. But this truly is strange! Why has the Demon King not attempted to communicate with you even once?
There was something I had learned while taking down the fellows ranked 72 and 8.
The Demon King communicated quite frequently with the upper rankers.
Since they were people within striking distance of challenging him, it seemed he managed them in his own way.
And although I had finally risen to the summit of Pandemonium, the Demon King still had not spoken a single word to me.
My friend. Could it be……
“Could what be?”
No, never mind.
“You clearly have something in mind. It is fine, so say it.”
It is an utterly absurd thought, but I wondered whether the Demon King might be afraid of you.
It was something I had never even considered.
“There is no way.”
I know it is a strange thought as well. But in the Demon Realm, the Demon King is an existence with the authority to look down upon the entire world, so he must certainly have been watching you.
“That is probably true.”
My friend, think about it. Even so, he has not spoken to you even once? Even though you reached rank 8 at an astonishing pace? If he is ignoring you to this extent, perhaps it is because he is excessively conscious of you.
“Hmm.”
And since we are on the subject, I will add one more thing. This is something I had been holding back because I thought you might rebuke me by calling it a delusion born in my head.
“But do swords even have heads?”
I merely borrowed a human expression!
The Holy Sword grew slightly indignant before continuing.
Until now, the Demon King has shown signs of impatience. The first was sending Melu, who had been in Pandemonium, down to the lower dimensions.
“Was that not because he wanted to cut away the lower dimensions of the Demon Realm that had been contaminated by Zombies, rather than because he was conscious of me?”
He must have judged that the Demon Realm becoming an utter mess would harm his own authority. Or perhaps his authority had already been damaged. Since you appeared in the Demon Realm at that very moment, the Demon King may certainly have felt greatly threatened.
“Continue.”
The Demon King’s impatience appeared afterward as well. He forced himself to interfere in a lower dimension and saved Melu.
That part had certainly been strange.
At the time, the Demon King had lost a portion of his own authority by interfering in a lower dimension.
He must have wanted to save Melu even if he had to go that far. For the reason I mentioned earlier.
“But if what you are saying is true, would that not make things truly troublesome? The Demon King can communicate with the demonfolk of Pandemonium at any time, so he could hide the rank one fellow away completely.”
But I think somewhat differently. If it were a problem that could be solved that easily, the Demon King would have had no reason to show impatience until now.
“In any case, I have no idea where rank one is right now, so that is definitely a problem.”
After all, the rank 8 whom I had killed truly had seemed not to know.
My friend. How about trusting me this once and following my suggestion?
“Do you have some good idea?”
I think it would be best to take down rank two.
“Then there will no longer be any demonfolk I can threaten by using a challenge as a hostage.”
Is this place called the Demon Realm not ultimately a part of the Abyss as well? The moment you entered the Demon Realm through the map, I suspect a new Law of causality must have come into being.
That was reasonable.
Until now, the Abyss had always been a place where a solution existed.
No matter how quiet Pandemonium had remained for hundreds of years, the moment I came here, the Demon Realm also became one of the quest areas.
“I may as well trust that delusion of yours once.”
Fortunately, I knew the whereabouts of the one ranked second, so it would not take long.