Chapter 267 – Side Story 16 – Kidnapping (1)

The Demon Realm.

Originally, the homeland of monsters and Demon Kings was an ordinary world like other dimensions.

A normal planet with animals and intelligent beings living on it.

What made this world different from others was the sole deity who watched over it.

In the past, it had a different name, but now it was called the Demon God—a deity who had fallen into the abyss, spreading dark divine power and corrupted mana, known as evil energy, throughout the world.

The fall of a god who ruled over a world transformed that world into hell itself.

The living creatures that made up nature became monsters called demon beasts, and the intelligent beings who had built civilizations became intelligent monsters or demon races.

Finally, the superhumans who could be called kings became beings known as Demon Kings.

“So, is that how it happened?”

Egger, who had entered the hall, clicked his tongue as he looked up at the ceiling.

Inside the door painted with a skull, the ceiling of the massive hall was adorned with paintings depicting the story just described.

The original appearance of the demon realm and its transformation, along with tales of monsters and Demon Kings.

Though the paintings must have been drawn long ago, they hadn’t faded or worn out, just like the building itself.

Unrealistically vivid ceiling murals.

And beneath the painted ceiling stood dozens of large statues and one enormous statue.

Massive statues that distorted one’s sense of proportion.

Come to think of it, this hall was impossibly large to be inside the tower.

A hall so vast it could contain dozens of soccer fields. And at the end of the hall stood enormous statues.

“Then, those statues must be the Demon Kings and the Demon God?”

The statue at the very back, as tall as a building dozens of stories high, resembled the Demon God painted on the ceiling.

Though dark in color, it was a statue of a goddess that looked sacred and holy, like the goddess of Ea.

The statues in front of it, half the size of the goddess statue, were not of gods but of monsters—no, Demon Kings.

There were amorphous monsters, a dragon with nine heads,

A knight in black armor, and a female statue with thorny vines wrapped around her body.

And at the end of these diverse sculptures was a skeleton wrapped in a robe.

That skeleton was the Demon King who had fought with Egger 20 years ago.

Standing in front of the skull door and looking around the hall, Egger could guess what kind of place this was.

Though ridiculously large, with its enormous statues, murals, and bizarre yet majestic sculptures, it was a place he knew well.

“This must be a temple. A temple in the demon realm, so it would be the Demon God’s temple.”

After surveying the hall, Egger began walking toward the end where the statues stood.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Only the sound of one person’s footsteps echoed throughout the massive hall.

After walking for a long time through the hall, illuminated by light from an unknown source, he finally reached the front of the statues.

Egger looked up at the goddess statue—no, the Demon God statue—standing in the center.

“Well, now that I’ve come this far, there should be some kind of response, right?”

If this was the Demon God’s temple and that statue was the Demon God’s statue, there had to be a response.

Just like the temple that created heroes.

And his prediction was correct.

The enormous statue began to ripple.

Like the goddess statue he had seen in the hero’s temple, the statue before his eyes began to change.

But unlike the goddess statue in Ea’s temple, instead of the sculpture moving, black mist—no, evil energy—enveloped the statue.

As if a person made of mist had covered the statue.

The black evil energy covered the statue and rippled.

And an image was imprinted in Egger’s mind.

[I am the god of this world. I have been waiting, one who shall become a Demon King.]

It wasn’t language, nor was it a message from mages.

It was like concepts or images being forcefully implanted into his mind.

“As expected, it was the Demon God’s temple that creates Demon Kings.”

Like the hero’s temple he had seen in Ea, this temple was one that created Demon Kings.

The traps and monsters he had encountered while climbing up here must have been tests to filter out those who would become Demon Kings.

“But the difficulty seems too high for that…”

Was it because the hero and Egger lacked evil energy?

Thinking about it, there had been many monsters and traps that could have been avoided if one had evil energy.

As such thoughts crossed Egger’s mind, the Demon God’s words continued to reach him.

[You have broken through the obstacles and come this far, so receive my baptism, become my servant, and bring down the worlds of false gods to be the same as this world.]

The Demon God’s command imprinted itself in his mind as if it were an obvious truth.

It was the kind of command that would have made an ordinary person kneel and submit in awe.

But Egger was no ordinary person.

Though he had lost his divine power and given up his position as a hero, his body and mental strength were beyond that of an ordinary hero.

After hearing the god’s command, he responded in a calm voice.

“I refuse.”

Despite Egger’s firm refusal, the Demon God’s commands continued.

[Then, accept my power.]

Continued commands that ignored his refusal.

Egger looked up at the Demon God statue with a puzzled expression.

“Can’t you understand what I’m saying?”

[If you accept my power, you will gain the power you dream of. The power of death, the power of immortality, numerous subordinates, you will gain them all.]

Though he questioned again, the god’s commands didn’t change at all.

It sounded almost like a recorded message playing on repeat.

“Is it insane? Or has it broken down to the point where it can’t even have a conversation?”

Either way, the answer was clear.

Conversation with the Demon God was impossible.

After the command ended, black evil energy began to pour out from the Demon King’s statue.

“Damn, I didn’t expect this. To think the god would be broken.”

Egger frantically backed away as he saw the evil energy pouring out.

The black evil energy pursued him as he retreated.

Seeing the pursuing evil energy, Egger grumbled with a horrified expression.

“I came all this way, but this isn’t a god—it’s just a machine that produces Demon Kings and evil energy.”

He had come all the way here to find the cause of the endless appearance of Demon Kings and monsters, but the Demon God he found had become a broken recording machine.

Moreover, it was a mad god trying to create Demon Kings without even looking at its targets.

Even Egger hadn’t anticipated this.

Woong.

“Damn, it’s endless.”

Though he emitted sword energy to erase the pursuing evil energy, the amount of evil energy continued to increase.

The evil energy began to fill the enormous hall and continued to follow the fleeing Egger.

Egger ran for his life for the first time in a long while.

Past the hall, through the skull door, down corridors and stairs.

The evil energy stopped chasing him only after he left the tower.

The evil energy, which had followed him all the way to the front door of the tower’s first floor, was sucked back into the tower as soon as he stepped outside.

“Terrifying. If I had even a little evil energy, I might have become a Demon King.”

Egger watched the evil energy retreating into the depths of the tower with a disgusted expression.

The evil energy had caught up to him several times as he descended.

Though it hadn’t completely engulfed him, the evil energy that had made contact with him multiple times had continuously tempted him.

It had continued to tempt him with promises of immense power in his mind and had tried to corrupt his mana into evil energy.

If he had been a monster or had even a little corrupted mana, he would have immediately transformed into a Demon King.

But he was a Sword Master who had experienced being a hero, a possessor of powerful mana.

He did not succumb to the Demon God’s temptation.

But it hadn’t been an easy victory either.

“I can’t do much alone.”

Egger sighed as he looked at the wall where the hero had collapsed, deciding to return home for now.

In any case, he had completed his planned reconnaissance, and to do anything more would require a proper team.

“I’ll need at least two grand mages and two Saintesses.”

That level of experts would be necessary to block the evil energy coming from the Demon God’s statue.

More would be better, but the only people who would follow him to the demon realm to fight the Demon God would be those he had just mentioned.

The Saintesses and grand mages were his wives and the domain mage.

Egger took one last look at the tower, then turned and headed toward the forward base where the gate was located.

After placing the hero’s body in his magic pouch and wearing clothes that had worn out from being consumed by evil energy, he left the demon realm forest.

Unlike when he had entered, the monsters in the demon realm forest quietly watched the departing human.

Shortly before Egger left the tower.

The young lady’s group, having arrived in front of the former Demon King’s castle in Pyongyang, was shocked by the words of the monster waiting for them.

The vampire monster, smiling at Vlad, said:

“It seems I’ve raised a better son than I thought.”

The young lady, the boy knight, and the Earth psychics assigned by Minister Seung-ah all looked at Vlad with surprised faces,

And Vlad sighed as he looked at the pale vampire wrapped in a black cloak.

Indeed, for him, the world was a place that brought only misfortune.

“No way… Vlad, were you a monster? But that can’t be. Vlad was human…”

While Vlad was sighing, the young lady looked back and forth between Vlad and the vampire with a confused face,

“You lured us here!”

The boy knight hid the young lady behind him and raised his sword toward Vlad.

Feeling the killing intent piercing his body, Vlad reflexively defended himself.

“It was the young lady who brought me here. I didn’t even know where we were going.”

“Then, you contacted the monster in the meantime?”

He had neither a way to contact nor any intention to do so, but Vlad simply shook his head.

There was no need for further excuses anyway.

After all, it was true that he had infiltrated as a spy.

Besides, it didn’t matter if he was misunderstood a few more times.

Instead of making excuses, Vlad clicked his tongue as he looked up at the sky.

A sky full of dark clouds.

Thanks to that, the vampire could be outside.

The monster standing in front of the hotel wasn’t just Vlad’s father, the vampire.

Other vampires and monsters, who looked much stronger than his father, surrounded them not only in front but all around.

The situation had already unfolded.

Vlad spoke to the smiling vampire.

“How did you get here? There should be no way to come without a portal or gate.”

During his speech, Vlad subtly moved his eyes without being noticed.

Toward the young lady, at the moment he said the word ‘portal’.

Fortunately, the young lady understood his words.

And the next moment, she moved her mana.

In the next instant, a magic circle began to form beneath her feet.

“Ah!”

But the forming magic circle collapsed before it could be completed.

“I’m sorry, but space-type magic won’t work here. We’ve created a gate using the evil energy left by the Demon King.”

Seeing the disappearing magic circle, the vampire smiled.

“Well, son, that should answer your question too, right?”

Behind the vampire who spoke those words, a gate was visible inside the abandoned hotel lobby.

Through the circular gate, a red different world could be seen.

Though the young lady and Vlad couldn’t recognize it, the world visible through the gate was the demon realm.