Chapter 229: Episode 72. The Dark Lord (1)
I thought it was not too bad to have strong enemies.
I turned my head and looked around. Most of my main subordinates were here: Oswen, Krithli, Tashumal, Roy, Rose, and Lyhee. They were worried, astonished, and sad. However, all of them were relieved now.
“How long has it been since I was asleep?” I asked.
“Exactly 139 days have passed, Master,” Lyhee replied.
Ha! I laughed bitterly. I had been asleep for 139 days… It was almost half a year. Many things had changed since then. Something must have happened since I went ‘dreaming’. I wanted to be updated on what I had missed.
“I can’t see Maxium. Is he still trying to occupy Ufa’s dungeons?” I asked. I immediately noticed his absence and found it strange.
Maxium was the faithful knight who had mistaken me as the Hell Lord. He had followed my orders and made great achievements in remote areas alone.
He was supposed to be here just like everybody else. Silence ensued. No one answered my question.
“Master…,” Lyher began in a gloomy tone. “Maxium is dead. Pandemonium got him.”
Lyhee had no choice but to be the bearer of bad news. I frowned. As far as I remembered, Pandemonium was on the defensive. He did not have enough forces to counterattack.
I had assigned a lot of forces to Maxium, and he had slashed countless enemies. If Pandemonium had killed Maxium, he would have to kill all the other monsters first.
“But he managed to get rid of Maxium…,” I wondered, confused.
That was something impossible, at least to me. My expression hardened.
“Tell me about everything that happened in the last 139 days,” I demanded.
***
In the early days, nothing big happened. Even though I had been absent, it was difficult for Pandemonium to reverse the situation. He was weak; my army led by Krithli continued its winning streak. Maxium also took half of Ufa’s dungeons. Just by looking at my remaining statistics, I could tell how much they gained while I was asleep.
Ariel Diablo also did her best to keep Pandemonium in check. She quickly expanded her influence. She also succeeded in restoring the silver knights. Pandemonium’s doom was coming. It was inevitable. He would soon officially confront Ariel Diablo.
Everyone had a part in challenging and reducing Pandemonium’s strength and power. He only had one last dungeon left.
“Lyhee only knows that Pandemonium was just pretending—he pretended to retreat but had another plan. Krithli will tell you the rest, Master.”
I turned my gaze at Krithli.
With a sad expression, Krithli began, “My Dungeon Master, Pandemonium aimed for something else. It was Hashi. I should have been more careful. It was my mistake to overlook things. I was confident from all the successive victories.”
“Pandemonium aimed at Hashi?” I asked, puzzled.
It was strange. Yes, Hashi was the highest-ranking angel on Earth, but there was no reason to suddenly kidnap her. Even if he got Hashi, there was no way Hashi would help Pandemonium. Angels and demons were enemies. Pandemonium was well aware of that.
Krithli went on as if she understood my confusion, “Pandemonium…he used Hashi as a sacrifice in front of his dungeon. Along with the pure blood of a cherub, he had the blood of an ophanim that we are still not sure where he got. When we attacked his dungeon, he opened the door in front of us.”
I heard about Opinion, the ophanim. Except for Hashi, he was the next highest-ranking angel. I knew he had led angels in the Royal Observatory of Greenwich. Pandemonium might have used the blood of two angels. Something extraordinary must have happened.
“What did Pandemonium open?” I asked.
“He summoned…he opened the door to the Celestial World.”
Krithli shut her eyes as if recalling that specific instance. It seemed like terrifying things had happened. Tashumal, Oswen, and the others clenched their fists.
Tashumal flapped her dark wings. She then interrupted, “The angel, Camael, descended with 1.14 million forces alone. I have foreseen that Camael would come on Earth, but I have never imagined it would happen at the hand of a demon.”
Tashumal’s voice was filled with anger. A demon summoning angels was bad news for her. Although she had fallen, she still considered herself an ally of the angels.
A seraph was the highest-ranking angel and the strongest one, too, except for the God of the Celestial World.
“I don’t think Camael would help Pandemonium just because he summoned him. Was it some sort of suicide?”
“He was at the end of his rope. I guess he didn’t want anybody to become the Dark Lord if he couldn’t be one.”
What Tashumal said was possible. Pandemonium was a greedy demon. He was similar to Ufa. He loathed anyone being above him. He would have died anyway. Perhaps opening the Celestial Door was his frantic last-ditch effort.
Pandemonium mastered all the dark magic. He was knowledgeable about the ancient magic as well. Therefore, it was not weird that he knew how to open the door of the Celestial World. But Camael? Seriously?
“What has been the damage so far? How is the war going?” I looked at Krithli again.
She replied calmly, “Maxium turned to dust. His troops were completely destroyed. Seventy percent of my troops had also been annihilated after Camael was summoned.”
I scowled. It was fortunate that not all of them had disappeared, but it was an unexpected damage. It was proof of Camael’s strong power.
As I kept silent, Krithli went on, “Fortunately, Pandemonium was killed by Camael. Moreover, Camael is annihilating all living things on Earth in the name of purifying the world. We have gathered all the monsters back to South Korea and have been resisting, but we don’t know when Camael will carry out a full-scale attack.”
It meant that I was on the defensive now. This all had happened in 139 days. I smirked.
“And…” Krithli opened her mouth to say more.
“And? There is more?”
At present, I felt like I would not be surprised by anything anymore.
As I stared at Krithli, she lowered her head and said quietly, “My Dungeon Master, the Archduke Ariel Diablo is waiting for you.”
***
Ariel Diablo’s forces were based in North America. She was the victor in my previous life. She also managed to survive in this life. I was surprised that she had reached where I was in this current state of affairs.
It seemed like she was waiting for an opportunity to discuss some things with me in the past two weeks. She came alone; not one monster was with her. It must be important that she would risk being alone with me.
“It has been a long time, Randalf Bruciel,” Ariel said.
She was outside the dungeon, staying at the humans’ old outpost while waiting for me.
I stared at her quietly. She had become stronger in the past 139 days. I could tell through her aura that she had passed the ‘wall’. She had entered the realm of transcendence.
Her broken horn had been restored. It had grown bigger than before. Her horn was a symbol of her strength and power.
I asked her with a stoic expression, “Why did you come here? Not because you’re bored, I’m sure.”
Ariel slightly smiled then replied, “I am not a demon of leisure.”
She looked at me. She was keeping me in check. I could sense Kotodama from her words. Kotodama was the power of words. When she spoke, the weaker ones would easily be moved by her words and follow her, even if she did not mean to. However, it would not work on me.
“You also passed the wall,” Ariel stated. “Even though I entered the transcendent realm, I could still not see your limit. Indeed, you are truly one of a kind.”
Ariel was surprised. She thought she could easily guess my abilities. She could have succeeded if she had done it before. But since I had absorbed Gustarte’s divinity, she was not good enough to judge me.
“So what brings you here?” I inquired frankly.
“I thought we are friendly enough to chat a little bit—at least for my part,” she answered, grinning. “Alright. I will tell you why I came here. You have probably guessed what this is about. I want to discuss about the seraph, Camael, who came through the Celestial Door.”
“I guess your situation is not good,” I teased her.
“Ha! Yours, too, Randalf Bruciel. Stop pretending. Camael is not only killing demons, but humans as well. He is running wild. Perhaps that’s why Pandemonium had summoned him,” she paused, meeting my gaze. Then she continued, “We have to work together to stop Camael.”
‘Work with Ariel…,’ I considered.
I was surprised to hear such a proposal from Ariel. She was a direct descendant of the previous Dark Lord. His blood ran through her veins. If the archdukes weren’t hostile towards each other in Devildom, she would have taken the seat of the Dark Lord already.
Because of that, she never compromised. She had no idea how to develop alliances. She had suffered in the previous life because she was stubborn. As far as I knew, she had never reached out her hand to others first.
But now, she was initiating an alliance with me. She came to South Korea by herself for this. It was quite an effort.
It was a reasonable choice to remove the common enemy first. I still wanted to fight Ariel Diablo once we got rid of Pandemonium. However, I had limited time. Even if I eliminated Camael, that would not end there. I still had to handle the Spirits of Darkness and Death Bringer.
I was silent for a while, considering my options and possible outcomes. When I had finally decided, I informed Ariel Diablo, “Let’s fight. The winner takes everything.”
“Are you saying we fight first for the seat of the Dark Lord?”
“I’m saying that there’s no point in prolonging it,” I said calmly.
Soon, a smile formed at the corners of her mouth. It seemed like she was thinking the same thing. To effectively kill Camael, the victor had to take everything from the loser.
“Good,” she replied.
“You can set the date, although I would prefer it as soon as possible.”
Both of us were not in our best condition. I needed to recuperate. Even though we could fight at the moment, there was a chance that her demons would not accept the result, especially if I defeated her. The fight had to take place when all of our subordinates were there to witness such a spectacle. Otherwise, some would oppose it.
I turned and left. Soon, Ariel also disappeared from the outpost.
***
Exactly seven days later, Ariel came to South Korea with her five loyal subordinates. She was the one who set the time and location, and insisted on having a battle in South Korea. She seemed confident that I would not play tricks on her.
Some might think she was simple and honest, almost stupid. But she was right. I did not intend to trick her at all. I had divinity. My words carried authority. If I acted disgracefully, my divinity would diminish. I could tell it by instinct.
“Let’s end this, Randalf Bruciel.”
Ariel was wearing an armor made of Balrog. The long tail bone of the armor looked like Balrog itself. Her Ivory Sword was also made of Balrog’s ivory.
I was wearing my crimson cloak and the Infinity Armor. Rage and the Sword of the Emperor were trembling. This fight would determine who would be the next Dark Lord.
I was actually nervous. I had been dreaming of this moment since I was young. Now, it was within my grasp.
“Alright.” I nodded.
I sighed. I proceeded to attack Ariel. She did the same. Then our swords clashed.
Clang!
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