C917
'A real demon...'
Raon narrowed his eyes as he observed the demon with a chilling aura.
"It definitely feels different."
While there were many demonized humans with unique appearances like the demon in front of him, almost none possessed such strong demonic energy.
'Transcendent level demonic energy.'
If the demon revealed the power it was hiding, it would probably be stronger than the Flame Demon General Orgoth he had encountered before.
-However, there's something a bit peculiar.
Wrath clicked his lips briefly.
'Peculiar?'
-This is clearly a high-ranking demon, but strangely, the smell of Devildom isn't very strong.
He narrowed his eyes and said that it seemed like this demon was born on this land as a human.
"Should I take care of it?"
Martha stood beside him, gripping her sword.
"No. Stay back."
Raon shook his head as he pushed Martha behind him.
"That one is dangerous."
Although the demonic energy the demon was currently displaying wasn't very great, the power it was hiding was immeasurably vast. At the very least, it was on par with Flame Demon General Orgoth. He was the only one here who could defeat this demon.
"Human."
The demon looked at the Light Wind Palace swordsmen and Balkar's mages before turning towards Raon.
"What are you going to?"
He narrowed his dark, sunken eyes as if he couldn't understand.
"What do you mean?"
Raon took a step towards the demon and lowered his chin.
"The energy I sense from you isn't that far off. It's almost..."
The demon seemed to be pondering something as he moved his black fingers.
"If you're trying to buy time, I'll pass."
Raon raised his Heavenly Drive and pointed it at the demon's neck.
"We don't have time. You'll have to step aside."
Despite unexpectedly facing a strong opponent from the start, he felt confident that he wouldn't lose to any enemy in his current state.
"..."
The demon seemed to be considering something as he rolled his eyes and then lowered his coal-black arms.
"Originally, I should die here, but I'd like to observe a little more."
He stepped back and spread his black wings. With a whistle, the demon enveloped himself in his enormous wings and disappeared in a flash of darkness.
"W-what just happened?"
Burren opened his mouth in a round shape, unable to comprehend.
"Did he get scared of Raon?
Martha clicked her lips as she looked Raon up and down.
"Stupid...?"
Runaan also blinked, finding it strange.
"Maybe he had to go to the bathroom urgently. I do that sometimes too..."
Dorian rubbed his hands as if he could relate to that.
'Wrath.'
Raon narrowed his eyes as he looked at the empty space where the demon had disappeared.
'Did that demon just see you?'
-How could such a lowly creature know what even other demon kings don't know? He probably felt this king's energy resonating with the demonic energy here.
Wrath shook his head, saying that the demon was quite perceptive.
«If he sensed your energy, shouldn't he have bowed?»
-Unlike Balrog, who is obsessed with fighting, demons are like humans with diverse thoughts and values. It's common for them to attack even after seeing this king, or to flee without looking back.
He waved his hand and said that demons, like humans, come in many varieties.
-That one from before doesn't seem to have fled, but rather seems to be thinking about something else.
Wrath quickly looked around, warning the others not to let their guard down. With a rumble, a door leading to the next floor rose from the ground where the demon had been.
"Let's go up."
Raon let out a sigh tinged with demonic energy as he walked towards the newly emerged door.
"Even if the path ahead leads us to a tiger's mouth, we have no choice but to enter."
* * *
Karoon frowned as he looked at the blonde woman standing in front of him.
'An angel...'
Just like the door he had seen before entering this place, the blonde woman standing in front of him had white feathered wings sprouting from her back, and she even wore a golden crown on her head. She was the very image of an angel from the stories.
"I can't sense any demonic energy."
Unlike other demonized humans, the angel looked at him surrounded by a sacred aura. Her gaze was so warm that it felt more like he was in a cathedral than a battlefield.
"But angels aren't good either."
Since Derus Robert had summoned an archangel, angels were no different from enemies, just like demons. Especially, an angel inside the Black Tower couldn't be trusted.
"You've been through a difficult battle."
The angel smiled gently and opened her arms.
"Here you can be at peace. No one will raise a sword against you."
She nodded, inviting them to stay there together.
"Who are you?"
Morel Kazan stepped forward, raising his staff.
"My name is Peridot. I have come here to free you from your destiny."
"Destiny?"
Karoon lowered his eyebrows as he looked at Peridot.
-Yes. If you go up from here, you will all die.
Peridot lowered her hand and said that she had come to prevent everyone's death. Seeing her smile, a desire arose to stay there and not fight anymore.
"Mmm..."
Morel Kazan's hand holding the staff trembled, as if it was difficult to maintain his composure in the face of Peridot's smile.
"Lady Peridot..."
"If she says so, maybe we should stop."
"Palace Master. Should we stop here?"
"That's right. Why don't we wait here and leave it to the Light Wind Palace Master?"
Even the Central Martial Palace swordsmen with their exceptional mental strength lowered their swords, suggesting that they stop fighting, as if they were mesmerized by Peridot's smile.
-Did you say I would die?
Karoon approached Peridot, ignoring the stabbing headache.
-Not just you, Lord Karoon.
Peridot clasped her hands together and smiled bitterly.
"Everyone here will die on the upper floor of this tower."
She shook her head, saying that she didn't want to see such a hell.
"I'm certainly afraid of dying. I've always been afraid of the battlefield."
Karoon nodded, loosening his grip on his sword.
"But if my death can contribute to Zieghart, I'm willing to give up this miserable life."
He gritted his teeth and swung his sword against Peridot's neck. With a sharp sound, Peridot's head fell, and golden blood gushed out like a fountain from her silky neck.
"If an angel blocks the way, I'll kill the angel. If a god blocks the way, I'll kill the god. I'll go up no matter what."
Karoon wiped the angel's blood from his cheek and exhaled deeply.
"Ah..."
"!!Palace Master!"
"What did we just..."
The Central Martial Palace swordsmen regained their senses at Peridot's death and widened their eyes.
"Enough, let's go up again..."
Just as Karoon was about to gesture to the Central Martial Palace swordsmen, a pure white current rose from Peridot's corpse, and her body recovered to its pre-death state, as if time had reversed.
"You're more ruthless than I've heard."
Peridot nodded with a gentle smile.
"However, you will come to regret this choice."
With those words, she disappeared in a white light. As the angel completely disappeared, a door leading to the next floor opened from the ground.
"Regret..."
Karoon shook his head with a sneer.
"I'm sorry, but I leave no room for regret."
He climbed the stairs with firm steps, as if he didn't care at all about Peridot's words.
* * *
Raon clenched his fist as he reached the next floor.
"I've gotten stronger again."
When he encountered the demonic energy of the upper floor, his own energy had become even stronger than when he was on the middle floor. It seemed that he could utilize the tower's demonic energy better than the Black Tower's demonized humans.
-Damn it!
Wrath gritted his teeth at this sight.
-How does this bastard get rewards wherever he goes?!
He thumped his chest, wondering why Raon was so lucky.
'But...'
Raon looked back and swatted away Wrath's agitated arm.
'I understand it for myself, but why is the Light Wind Palace okay?'
The demonic energy on the upper floor was more than twice as intense as on the middle floor. It felt thicker than the air itself, but the Light Wind Palace swordsmen were moving just like they were on the lower floor.
"It's not the same for others."
On the contrary, the Warring Steel Division and Balkar's mages, who had recently joined the Light Wind Palace, were breathing heavily as they struggled against the demonic energy.
-Of course they're fine, they were with this king.
Wrath frowned as if asking why Raon was asking.
-Although they haven't been with this king for that long, those kids have been exposed to Wrath for quite a while. They may not look very affected, but Wrath has gradually contaminated them, so it's natural that they can withstand this level of demonic energy.
He raised his chin, saying that the Wrath he had exposed them to was protecting them.
-Also, those whom the King has saved could even utilize this demonic energy.
'I see.'
Hearing Wrath's explanation, Raon understood why the Light Wind Palace swordsmen were resisting the demonic energy well. It seemed they could withstand it because they had been exposed to Wrath, just like him. (E/N: But they were completely exposed in the Holy Kingdom. What changed since then?)
'That's good.'
He felt pleased to think that the Light Wind Palace swordsmen could play a major role. As he quickly climbed the stairs with light steps, he saw a huge stone wall reaching up to the ceiling.
'It's wide.'
Unlike the middle floor, an extremely wide space stretched out before him, with thick walls blocking all sides. The first area of the upper floor seemed to be a maze.
"Ha! Is this even possible?"
Martha let out a hollow laugh as she looked at the maze, which had a completely different spatial feel than the lower floor.
"I heard that the upper floors of the Black Tower are a completely different world. It's not strange that there's a maze."
Burren frowned and said that the upper floors of the Black Tower were spaces beyond understanding and logic.
"It's solid..."
Runaan clicked his tongue briefly as he touched the maze wall.
"Let me try it."
Trevin stepped forward and struck the maze wall with all his Astral Ring power. A powerful impact occurred, but not even a crack appeared on the maze wall. It seemed extremely solid, although not as much as the outer wall of the tower.
"Are you shamelessly trying to waste time?"
Raon smiled as he ran his hand over the maze wall.
"This is a bit annoying."
He let out a hollow laugh, as if the maze was prepared to waste time because the demon hadn't delayed them before. It seemed they were underestimating them, which made him laugh.
"Now it's our turn."
Jayna stood at the entrance of the maze and extended her staff.
"There's a spell to find paths in mazes. I learned it but forgot it, and now I finally have a chance to use it."
She smiled and began to chant the spell to find a path through the maze. A red light bloomed from the tip of Jayna's staff and spread throughout the maze. However, the light faded without even reaching halfway through the maze.
"What's going on?"
Martha approached Jayna with a frown.
"T-The demonic energy is preventing the mana from reaching the end."
Jayna sighed, explaining that the demonic energy on the upper floor was interfering with the spell's operation.
"Sigh, nothing works properly."
Martha clicked her tongue as she looked at Jayna.
"Puaj!"
Jayna shrugged indignantly, but she bit her lip, seemingly speechless.
"Don't say it like that. The demonic energy is really dense."
Burren shook his head as he looked inside the maze.
"Even if I send ice, it will take a long time. It's too wide..."
Runaan lowered his hand and said that trying to find a path by freezing the ground would also be difficult.
"So, whether we use magic or aura, we'll have to go in and figure it out ourselves?"
Mark Goetun scratched his head with regret.
"Then we should go in as soon as possible."
"No."
Raon shook his head calmly.
"That would take too long."
Even if Chamber was blocking them, they didn't have time to find their way through this maze. They needed to use another method to get through this maze as quickly as possible.
-Then what are you going to do?
Trevin narrowed his eyes, as if asking if Raon had a plan.
"There's a way. A very rudimentary way."
Raon raised the Heavenly Drive above his head and brought it down. A great sword energy erupted from the blade, shattering not only the wall in front of them but also the maze walls behind it.
"Are you going to break through this?"
Trevin opened his eyes in disbelief.
"The Astral Ring didn't even leave a scratch!"
His jaw trembled as he examined the collapsed walls.
"It's not that difficult. I can see the exit. Let's move on."
As Raon swung his sword again, the thick maze walls collapsed like dominoes.
"You say this isn't difficult?"
Burren shook his head in disbelief.
"Hey! You're using too much strength when you need to fight upstairs!"
Martha also blocked his way, telling him to save his strength for the battles to come.
"Yes. Save..."
Runaan also waved his hand, as if telling him to back off.
-Don't worry, I haven't used much force.
Raon smiled, pointing to the faint aura on Heavenly Drive.
"I just used a little demonic energy."
Since it wasn't like the outer walls of the Black Tower, which had accumulated demonic energy for decades, he could easily break through the maze walls. With another blow, Raon finally broke through all the maze walls and reached the exit leading to the next floor.
-It's the first time I've seen someone break through a maze with brute force.
Wrath shook his head in disbelief.
-If it were anyone else, they would be completely exhausted, but of course it had to be demonic energy.
He clicked his tongue and said that the owner of this maze was very unlucky.
"You must be a little tired after going through all that."
As Raon was about to go up to the next floor, a figure in gray armor emerged from behind the exit. He possessed the strongest aura among all the demonized humans he had seen so far, excluding the demon from before.
"I am Kabur, the floor master of the upper floor..."
A red line appeared on the bridge of the demonized human's nose who was introducing himself. No, not just his nose. His entire body was being split in half.
"Huh? Aargh!"
The demonized human tried to grab his bleeding wound, but he couldn't hold the wound together that was splitting his entire body.
"Aaaaargh!"
The demonized human finally sank into his own maze, unable to finish saying his name.
"Sorry, but I don't have time to play with insignificant people. I'm only interested in your Tower Master."
Raon shook the blood off his sword and went up to the upper floor.
"..."
The Light Wind Palace swordsmen and Balkar's mages followed Raon, their mouths shut in surprise at his overwhelming power. A chilling sound of blood dripping from the Floor Master's body was all that remained in the empty maze.
-
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