Episode 272: The Devil’s Followers (1)
The Kingdom of Tart was a nation situated on the edge of the continent.
Though its territory was quite expansive, its national power was not particularly strong. It was renowned for its abundant high-quality seafood, thanks to its proximity to the sea.
The Kingdom of Tart was a great distance from the Kingdom of Apple, requiring over a month of travel to reach.
However, with the Five Great Sages, the situation was different.
Damian was traveling at an incredible speed, as if he were seated on a carpet woven from the wind itself.
As he sat upon the wind, Damian gazed out at the passing scenery. The landscape blurred past so quickly that even his keen eyesight struggled to keep up.
This was the result of the wind of Green Gale being enhanced by the power of Light.
“At this speed, we’ll reach the Kingdom of Tart in just a few minutes,” Green Gale announced to the group.
Despite managing such a vast wind, Green Gale showed no signs of strain, a testament to the prowess of one of the Five Great Sages.
“Then we should brief Sir Damian on the situation before we arrive. There won’t be time once we get there,” Light said, turning to Damian.
“Our primary goal is to destroy the summoning circle. Only by doing that can we…”
“Send the demon back to the underworld,” Damian finished, causing Light’s eyes to widen slightly.
“Oh, how did you know?”
“I’ve read some texts on demons,” Damian replied, though it was a lie. His knowledge of demons came from memories of a past life. In this world, only Dolgo knew more about demons than he did.
“If you’re already aware, then there’s no need for further explanation.”
Demons were beings that thrived in the underworld, not the mortal realm. When summoned to the surface, they were bound by numerous restrictions, making them quite weak initially.
The only way to lift these restrictions was to feed the demon human souls. Thus, dark sorcerers would kidnap humans to offer as sacrifices after summoning a demon.
The greatest restriction placed on a summoned demon was its binding to the summoning circle. If the circle was even slightly damaged, the demon would be banished back to the underworld.
“It sounds simple enough, but… it won’t be easy. This demon summoning incident is no ordinary affair.”
The strongest among the Five Great Sages, Blue Flame, had gone missing. Given Blue Flame’s skills and stature, it was an unfathomable occurrence.
“I heard the order suspects a marquis-level demon has been summoned.”
“That’s right. Only a demon of that caliber could pose a threat to someone like Blue Flame.”
Damian nodded in agreement. With Blue Flame’s abilities, even a count-level demon would be easily defeated.
“What puzzles me is how Pandemonium managed to prepare such a large-scale summoning circle without the main order noticing.”
Damian’s thoughts drifted to Dolgo. Dolgo had long prepared to bring about humanity’s downfall. If anyone could orchestrate such a summoning ritual in a short time, it would be Dolgo.
“But why?”
The question was why Dolgo would make such a choice. In his past life, Dolgo had never relied on demons, his arrogance leading him to overestimate his own abilities. Moreover, Dolgo had little interest in the blessings or powers granted by demons.
“Could it be because I killed the Weapon Master?”
The Weapon Master’s greatest asset was the ability to wield over a dozen demon swords. These swords were akin to extensions of the demons themselves, allowing the Weapon Master to wield demonic powers without limit.
During the War of Destruction, the Weapon Master had been a wild card.
“The Weapon Master is dead. All the demon swords have been destroyed. There’s no one in Pandemonium who can freely wield demonic powers now. If that’s why they summoned a demon…”
As Damian pondered, Green Gale spoke to Light.
“Sister, we’ve entered the airspace of the Kingdom of Tart. We’re now in Pandemonium’s territory.”
No sooner had Green Gale finished speaking than the air was filled with the stench of burning and blood.
Damian’s expression hardened. There was only one explanation for these smells.
“The dark sorcerers are raiding villages to gather sacrifices.”
Unconsciously, Damian clenched his fists. But now was not the time to give in to anger. They needed to destroy the summoning circle as quickly as possible to send the demon back.
“We’re almost at the summoning circle. We should start preparing…”
Just then, something caught Damian’s senses. He stood up reflexively.
“What’s wrong?” Green Gale asked, puzzled. At that moment, a flash of light appeared in the distance.
A red beam shot straight toward them. Damian swung his sword, Dawn, to intercept it.
But as Dawn clashed with the beam, he realized something.
“Cutting it down won’t work.”
Standing on the wind made it difficult to wield Dawn effectively. Damian twisted his sword to deflect the beam’s trajectory, sending it soaring into the sky.
The group watched in shock as the beam disappeared. Agnes was the first to regain her composure and asked Damian.
“Sir Damian! What was that just now?”
“It seems the demon isn’t pleased with our arrival.”
No sooner had he spoken than another flash of light appeared. Another red beam shot toward them.
“Sir Damian, step back,” Light intervened, conjuring a shield of light with her divine power.
The shield blocked the beam, but the red light pierced through it effortlessly, threatening to engulf Light.
Damian quickly intervened, deflecting the beam to the ground.
“Impossible… I enhanced it a hundredfold,” Light murmured in disbelief.
Before they could catch their breath, multiple beams flashed simultaneously.
Red beams rained down without pause. Damian deflected them with Dawn and spoke.
“Green Gale, we should land here.”
“We’re still far from the summoning circle. You’re handling it well, so if we keep going…”
“They’re holding back, which is why I can manage. If the number of beams increases, I won’t be able to keep up.”
On solid ground, Damian could unleash his full potential, but not while standing on the wind.
”…Understood.”
Green Gale adjusted the wind’s direction, guiding them downward.
The four of them landed in the middle of a forest. The beams ceased their assault.
Damian looked toward the direction the beams had come from and muttered.
“Stopped? Are they toying with us?”
It was not a pleasant feeling.
The demon was treating Damian like a mere plaything.
“I’ll repay this debt soon enough.”
“Impressive… to block all my beams.”
A man stood atop a tower, gazing out and murmuring to himself.
“I wasn’t trying to kill them, but I wasn’t holding back either… Humans these days are quite something. Don’t you think, Dolgo?”
He turned to face Dolgo, who glared at him with displeasure.
“Why were you summoned?”
“Why not be honest and say you’re pleased? It’s like finding gold when you were digging for silver.”
“That’s nonsense. You demons never do anything out of the goodness of your hearts.”
The man smirked crookedly at Dolgo’s words.
“Dolgo, you speak as if you’re not one of us. Aren’t you the same kind of being? Except for that little issue of being a traitor…”
“Enough. I didn’t go through the trouble of drawing the summoning circle to discuss trivial old stories.”
“You’re so prickly. Can’t we at least have a chat with a fellow kin after so long?”
“Upstart.”
Dolgo’s eyes glinted menacingly.
“You’ve grown bold, considering you couldn’t even earn a title when I was in my prime.”
“True, you’re older than me… but look at your current state. Reduced to a mere lich.”
The man’s voice dripped with malice as he spoke.
The two glared at each other, tension crackling between them. Eventually, the man shrugged and backed down.
“If that’s the summoner’s will, so be it. What do you want? Why did you summon me?”
“I want the essence of a marquis-level demon’s power.”
The man’s eyes narrowed at Dolgo’s demand.
The essence was the power demons possessed, a higher concept than dark magic.
“The essence of a demon is like an elixir to dark sorcerers. But someone like you wouldn’t summon me just to squander it. Not with such effort.”
The man gestured, revealing a massive magic circle etched across the entire meadow.
The scale of the circle was astounding, but even more so were the materials used.
The circle was drawn with magic stones and powdered gems, and at its center lay thousands of hearts.
“That’s not something you need to know.”
“I’m the curious type…”
“Just answer. Will you agree to the contract?”
The man clapped his hands.
“Since you’ve gone to the trouble of showing me the world, I suppose I can grant you that request.”
With that, the man grinned slyly.
“Is everyone alright?” Light asked, checking on the group. They all nodded, indicating they were unharmed.
“Phew, I have no idea where we are. Nokpoong, where was the summoning circle again?”
“Just keep heading southwest.”
“Did everyone hear that? Let’s get moving.”
“Where do you think you’re going?”
A stranger’s voice cut through the air.
Turning towards the sound, they saw men dressed in tattered clothes. But it wasn’t poverty that had them dressed this way. Their clothes were shredded by their grotesquely twisted limbs.
Their arms and legs were as black as if dipped in ink, and each was deformed in a different way.
One man had arms that were disproportionately large, while another had a beast’s head where his arm should be.
“…Demon worshippers,” Agnes muttered with disdain.
Dark sorcerers didn’t worship demons; they merely saw them as entities to bargain with. But demon worshippers were different. They gained immense power by becoming servants of demons.
“Well, well, I was running low on sacrifices, and here you are, dropping from the sky,” said the man who seemed to be their leader, grinning as his centipede-like left arm clicked ominously.
“You idiots, don’t just stand there. Capture them!”
The men surrounded the group of four. Gwangmyeong chuckled and said, “Oh my, how brave of you to stand in our way.”
“Sister, I don’t think they know who we are.”
“Oh, surely not.”
“It’s quite possible. These low-level grunts wouldn’t have the chance to see our faces.”
“Hmm… you might be right.”
Damian drew his sword, but Gwangmyeong stopped him with a gentle hand.
“You did well earlier, Sir Damian. Why don’t you rest this time?”
As Gwangmyeong stepped forward, the men were momentarily stunned by her beauty.
“This… this face is too precious to be sacrificed.”
“Boss, let’s just take her. The other three should be enough.”
Gwangmyeong pointed to the ground and said, “Did you know? The earth has a force that pulls things down.”
The demon worshippers exchanged confused glances.
“Is she pretty but crazy?”
“Damn, what a waste. Crazy ones aren’t any fun to play with…”
Gwangmyeong unleashed her divine power, and a blinding light erupted around her.
“Let’s see how you handle a hundred times the gravity.”
Before they could react, the demon worshippers were pulled violently to the ground.
Crack.
Their legs and lower bodies were crushed under the immense force.