Chapter 232: God of Grinding (3)

• You have successfully completed the Devil’s Test.

• Highest Stage Broken Through: 17

• The Devildom Rank of User ‘Ilahan’ has been set as ‘Common Devil’.

• You have been given an additional 10,500 of a new Devildom stat, ‘Devil Energy’.

• You have been given an additional 3% of a new Devildom stat, ‘Devil Energy Activation Rate’.

• You have succeeded in becoming a ‘True Devil’.

• You are the first to become a ‘True Devil’.

• You have obtained 500 thousand Fame.

• Your Devil Energy Activation Rate has permanently increased by 3%.

• Your Resistance Magic has permanently increased by 5%.

The fist of Ilahan, who read the messages that popped up one after another, trembled from ecstasy.

“Finally…!”

On top of that, this wasn’t the end for the messages.

• User ‘Ilahan’s race has been changed from ‘Human’ to ‘Devil’.

• All combat abilities will increase by 20% within the ‘Devildom’.

• The amount of Devil Energy that you obtain when killing a devil or magical beast will increase by 50%.

• The amount of EXP that you obtain when killing a devil or magical beast will increase by 50%.

• From now on, even if you kill a ‘Human’ race in any field, you will not obtain Infamy.

• As the ‘DarkRuna’ Guild that you were affiliated with is a guild of the ‘Human’ race, you have been automatically withdrawn.

• As your race is now ‘Devil’, your Affinity with all NPCs in the mortal world has dropped by 50.

• As your race is now ‘Devil’, the Human race class that you had, the ‘Magic Swordsman’, has been erased.

Through the hidden quest, Ilahan had succeeded in becoming not a ‘Half-Devil, Half-Human’, but a ‘True Devil’.

He had succeeded in becoming not just half, but a complete devil.

Fundamentally, in terms of fighting power, there was no aspect where a True Devil was better than a Half-Devil, Half-Human.

However, within the field called the Devildom, a True Devil had the conditions to grow much faster than a Half-Devil, Half-Human.

Since the fact that the amount of EXP and the amount of Devil Energy he obtained was 1.5 times higher compared to other users, it would become a magnificent foothold for high-speed growth.

However, of course, there was a large loss as a trade-off.

‘Tsk, it’s nice, but still, as expected, I’m a little disappointed that I’ve blown away my Magic Swordsman class. And that I had to give up the guild as well…’

The ‘Magic Swordsman’ class, which had allowed Ilahan to grasp onto 1stplace in the unofficial rankings up until now, had disappeared as his race changed.

Obviously along with that, all of his skills and class-related proficiencies also disappeared, so this was incredibly fatal.

On top of that, he even had to give up on the ‘DarkRuna’ Guild, the strongest guild of the Korean server, which had been the source of his funds up until now.

This could possibly be a critical loss to the point that it was impossible to compare even if all of the advantages he obtained from becoming a devil were combined.

However, it looked like Ilahan didn’t really care.

This situation was already all within his calculations.

Since he had even already handed over the Guild Master position of the DarkRuna Guild to another user.

“Then, shall we now obtain a new class?”

Ilahan, who had been standing still in the darkness, began to walk forward with heavy footsteps.

It was an abysmal darkness where he couldn’t see in front of his nose, but there was not a touch of hesitation in his footsteps.

“Hmm… It should be about time for it to appear now.”

The second Ilahan’s words ended, the sight in front of him began to brighten.

And the thing that had appeared in front of his eyes was a pool of lava that was stretched thin to the point it was as thick as half a handspan.

The line made of lava let out a pale light within the darkness as it drew a complex pattern.

Ilahan’s eyes shone.

‘Alright, it’s that way! I’m certain!’

Having found his destination, his footsteps grew faster and faster.

And the place that he had reached was a low peak-like place that reached around his waist.

A giant sword was lodged into the middle of it as lava poured out from where the sword was at the pivotal point.

Ilahan’s two eyes sparkled.

“The sealed sword…! I’ve finally found it!”

Ilahan, who had mumbled with a quiet but powerful voice, grasped onto the handle of the greatsword that was lodged into the lava tightly.

As he did so, a system message popped up in front of Ilahan’s eyes.

• You have discovered the ‘Sealed Sword of Devil King Ricardo’.

• Warning: If you pull out the sealed sword, the magic square will be invoked and the Evil Dragon will awaken.

• If the Evil Dragon is awoken, the invasion of the destructive devils into the mortal world will quicken by 30 days, and their power will become bigger and stronger.

Simply put, it meant that the ‘monster wave’ of the Devildom that would approach the users would quicken by 30 days as the difficulty level would increase even more.

In other words, it meant that if Ilahan was a normal user, it was a sword that he should absolutely not pull out.

“Huhu, that’s great.”

However, Ilahan immediately pulled out the sword without even a tinge of hesitation.

Cla-cla-clang-!

Along with a heavy, ringing sound, the sealed sword was pulled out.

At the same time as that, messages began to pop up again.

Ring-.

• You have pulled out the ‘Sealed Sword of the Devil King Ricardo’.

• The ‘Sealed Magic Square of the Dark Abyss’ has begun to operate.

And the streams of lava that were spread around Ilahan began to let out an even redder glow.

Kuoooh-!

The light that gushed out from those lava streams were sucked into the sealed sword that Ilahan held up with a terrifying force, and Ilahan’s hand, which was holding the sword, began to tremble violently.

“Euh…!”

Whoong-!

Had about 5 minutes passed like that?

The light that was wrapped around Ilahan’s sword suddenly spurt out a strong flame into the air.

Hwa-reu-reuk-!

And once again, a system message popped up.

• You have satisfied all conditions required to class-change into a ‘Combat Devil (Berserker)’.

• The sealed magic square that was spread out on top of the murkiness and darkness has been successfully cleared.

Ku-reu-reu-

Following that, a giant crack formed in the grey peak that Ilahan stood on top of as it started to split.

Cra- Cra-crack-!

And shortly afterwards, one system message additionally popped up.

• ‘Evil Dragon Khalifa’ has been awoken from the darkness.

* * *

Ian, who had come out of the City of Rage, met up with his retainers that were waiting outside of the fortress gate and began to head towards the gateway of Zone 100.

And Kaizar, as expected, wore a flustered expression as soon as he saw Yankoun.

“What happened, Lord guy? How exactly did this devil become your retainer?”

At Kaizar’s flustered image, Ian wore a pleased expression as he responded.

“Huhu, that, well, don’t you think it was possible because this body is so amazing?”

“…!”

And towards Kaizar, who was dumbfounded, Yankoun approached him and held out his hand.

“I look forward to your kind cooperation. I see that you are the warrior that fought against me back then.”

“That, that’s right.”

Kaizar slightly flinched, but he took his outstretched hand and slowly shook it.

He was instinctively feeling that Yankoun was stronger than him.

Ian watched that form with an expression full of laughter, as Yankoun slowly got acquainted with Ian’s retainers.

However, just then, a creature with a different-looking outer appearance that made it look like cotton candy caught Yankoun’s eyes.

Yankoun rounded his eyes as he spoke to Ian.

“Oh…! Ian, how did you find this fellow?”

At that question, the one that was taken aback was Ian instead.

“Huh? You know this useless creature?”

As he said that, Kaka, the wad of cotton that was lodged in between them, pouted with a dissatisfied expression.

“What do you mean useless creature, that’s too much, owner.”

“I’m not wrong, though. Aside from the fact that you’re a little cute, what do you have?”

Kaka’s expression contorted even more.

“I am not cute!”

And while the two squabbled with each other, Yankoun approached Kaka until he was right in front of him.

“It seems you are a kin of darkness. A Karga Phantom… Right?”

Kaka replied with a triumphant expression.

“Huhu, finally, someone who has recognized me has formed in the party. That’s right, I am a great kin of darkness… A Karga Phantom.”

Yankoun nodded his head as he spoke as if he was mumbling.

“As expected… Just like I’ve heard, you’re incredibly cute.”

“Eek!”

Meanwhile, Ian wore an expression full of anticipation as it seemed that Yankoun knew about Kaka.

“Yankoun, is there any information that you know about on the Karga Phantom?”

At Ian’s question, Yankoun nodded his head.

“I don’t know that well either, but I have read about their race in an old book before.”

“Is that so?”

At Ian’s counter-question, Yankoun’s words continued.

“That’s right. Their appearance is incredibly cute, and I heard that as they are a kin of darkness, they do not sleep.”

Ian’s expression suddenly contorted.

“Yeah, is there no way to make this guy sleep a little?”

“Why do you want to do that?”

“Amongst the abilities that this guy has, there’s an inherent ability called the ‘Greedy Night Hag’.”

“… How did the ability of a hag, which is a devil of dreams, go to a completely incompatible Karga Phantom?”

“Whew, my point exactly…”

Ian glared at Kaka, and Kaka pouted as he flew around Ian.

However, just then, unexpected words came out of Yankoun’s mouth.

“He is a little bit of an interesting guy, but this ability, it’s not a completely useless ability, Ian.”

“Huh?”

Yankoun looked at Kaka as he opened his mouth again.

“If only you can awaken this fellow, that is.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“The Karga Phantom, which is a kin of darkness, becomes a kin of the night if it is awoken. A kin of the night can sleep.”

“Ah…”

He wasn’t incredibly happy or anything like that, but Ian received comfort in his own way.

“How can you awaken them?”

“That I don’t know.”

Ian stared at Kaka, but Kaka shook his head as well.

“I don’t know either, owner.”

“Whew…”

Ian, who had shared an unsatisfactory conversation with Yankoun and Kaka like that, was able to arrive at the gateway of Zone 100 without taking too long.

And Ian, who had arrived in front of the gateway, gulped loudly as he mumbled.

“I should be able to just pass through here with the authority of a High-rank Devil, right…?”

However, before Ian even went into the gateway, Yankoun gave a response to that.

“You cannot just pass through the gateway of Zone 100 even if you were a Devil King, let alone a High-rank Devil. If you want to pass through, you must pass the test.”

Ian’s expression crumpled again.

* * *

“Hmm… So, are you saying that I must help you with that quest called the Devil King’s Test or whatever?”

At Hoonie’s question, Ceilron nodded his head.

“That’s right. Amongst the conditions of this quest, there’s a part that says that we must include one user of every class all into this party, so…”

Hoonie and Canoel had received the help of the users of the Titan Guild, including Blazing Knight Ceilron, and were able to easily clear the City of Rage Entry Quest.

However, of course, they did not help them for free.

As soon as the quest was over, they had requested Hoonie’s help.

And he couldn’t really call it a selfish proposal either. It was an offer where, even from Hoonie’s perspective, there was nothing bad as he would be able to get a free hidden quest.

Hoonie asked again.

“What’s the running time for the quest?”

Ceilron responded instantly.

“The time that it took for each try was about a quarter of a day. And even if you fail the quest, there are no incidences where you will die or anything like that, so there’s nothing for you to worry about in this aspect as well.”

“Hmm…”

Hoonie thought about it for a moment.

‘It isn’t a bad proposal, but… I want to quickly meet up with Ian hyung first… I need to stick next to that monster in order for even one more crumb to fall off the table, that is.’

While looking at Hoonie, who hesitated, Ceilron slightly added on to his words.

“We desperately need the help of an exceptional Black Magician. Despite being the 2nd place guild of the server, there is not one Black Magician user that is as exceptional as you, Hoonie.”

And Ceilron’s attack(?) worked perfectly.

People that were weak to compliments as much as Hoonie were rare.

“Alright, sounds good. You’ve even helped us out like this with the public order quest, so I will show you my abilities.”

Ceilron’s expression brightened at once.

“Ohh, thank you. By any chance, if it is alright with you, how about just joining our Titan Guild completely?”

However, this time, Hoonie also flatly refused.

“That I apologize for. I prefer being alone, so…”

“Ahem, that’s a little disappointing, but I guess it cannot be helped.”

“My apologies.”

Ceilron, who licked his lips, slowly opened his mouth again.

“Alright, then firstly, I will share the quest with you.”

Hoonie nodded his head.

“Yes, please share it with me.”

And at the same time that Hoonie’s words ended, a system message popped up.

Ring-.

• The ‘Test of the Devil King Hikion (Hidden)’ Quest has been shared with you.

However, the moment he read the message that the quest was shared with him, Hoonie suddenly remembered the nightmare of the Immortal Quest from last time.

‘No… No way that this is shared with Ian hyung just like then, right?’

And this time as well, as expected, the proverb that saying “no way” could ruin a man came true without a doubt.

• The quest has been automatically shared with ‘Ian’, the user that you have established a master and servant relationship with.