Chapter 110
110. Springtime in the Demon Realm
The name of the demon who had once been the Demon King of the North was Galoham, a yellow demon with seven horns.
Although Galoham was a former Demon King, he wasn't a gatekeeper. Instead of guarding a gateway, he served as the guardian of a massive bridge.
When we abruptly brought up the subject of revolution, Galoham responded cynically, telling us not to talk nonsense.
He even vividly recounted the agony of having his Essence of Power stolen, asking whether we had forgotten how powerful the Gray Demon King was.
The more I heard, the more disappointed I felt that I wouldn't be able to fight the Gray Demon King.
His magic and physical combat were supposedly perfect, and he even possessed a special magic that could steal other people's power, making him literally invincible.
It couldn't have been an exaggeration, considering he was capable of serving as the boss of Floor 48 even after losing his body and possessing something else with only his soul.
Anyway, we told Galoham that the Gray Demon King had been rendered powerless because only his soul had flown off to another place.
Galoham said that if it was true, it was certainly a tempting proposition, but he rejected us once again, saying there was no proof that it was true.
“You've fallen so far, Rotuang. To think you'd believe and follow the words of a mere human like this.”
Well, the green demon Rotuang hadn't decided to believe me because he had any proof, either. He had simply fallen for my passionate persuasion.
“Fine, then. I suppose it can't be helped.”
I took out an excellent substitute for conversation and immediately entered battle with Galoham.
As someone who had once been the strongest in the Northern Demon Realm, Galoham was about as strong as the other gatekeepers.
Galoham's specialty was weapon combat, which was extremely rare for a demon.
He was a warrior type who wielded an attribute-infused axe in each hand, making him the demon whose fighting style most closely resembled mine.
As was usual for demons, he possessed an enormous amount of mana, so the power of his attribute-infused axes was considerable.
Well, even so, it wasn't all that impressive compared to my [Lightning Charge].
[Lightning Charge], which had initially started at the level of mild static electricity, had grown tremendously after I acquired [Mana Dominion].
Its current skill level was a whopping 23, making it unusually high even compared to my other skills.
On top of that, it had the effect of [Lightning Spirit's Blessing], and [Conduction], an additional active effect of the blessing skill, also added to the synergy.
-Crackle!
“Kugh!”
Every time his axes and my sword clashed, crackling bolts of electricity flew out and dealt indirect damage.
The effect of [Conduction] was to transmit lightning-aspected mana to anything it touched.
Combined with [Lightning Charge], which cloaked weapons in lightning, it allowed me to wrap both my entire body and my weapons in electricity.
I could launch slashes carrying electric shocks or simply electrocute my opponent with a punch.
Just as I had done to Rotuang, I could even give someone an electric massage merely by placing my palm against them.
Whether it was wielding attribute-infused weapons or the breadth and depth of straightforward weapon techniques, I was simply Galoham's superior in every way.
“Aaaaargh! I believe you, I believe you! I'll join the revolution—aaaaargh!!”
There was no need to explain what happened as a result of that brief fight and persuasion, was there?
**
With Rotuang and Galoham, two former Demon Kings, recruited, the momentum of our revolutionary army(?) accelerated tremendously.
There were a great many demons who wanted to join the rebellion that the two former Demon Kings had resolved to launch, and as a result, an astonishing number gathered.
Of course, they hadn't gathered overnight. We had to spend nearly three full days doing nothing but recruiting for the revolutionary forces.
And today was the day of the final battle—the day the assembled revolutionary army would storm the Demon King's castle.
Among the assembled demons were six at the level of former Demon Kings and eleven who had once been the second- or third-strongest in their respective Demon Realms.
In addition, more than forty high-ranking demons and around two hundred mid- to low-ranking demons had gathered.
A demon army of roughly 260 in total. If I calculated the total amount of mana they possessed—could it perhaps surpass even the World Tree?
“Now this is a sight to behold.”
I ate a cheese pork cutlet lunchbox that I had bought in advance before coming to Floor 14 while watching the assembled demons raise their spirits.
The former Demon Kings each delivered a loud speech, and the more than two hundred demons responded by shouting slogans.
“Let the Primary Colors be great once more! Let the Demon Realm be great once more!”
“We have nothing to lose but our shackles, and everything to gain!”
“Demons of the entire Demon Realm, unite!”
A few slogans with a distinctly red flavor had been mixed in, but whatever ideology spread through the Demon Realm was none of my concern.
Wasn't that why I was simply leaving them alone and eating a cheese pork cutlet lunchbox like this?
After Floor 9, I stopped subsisting exclusively on white rolls.
Of course, I still made white rolls my staple for efficiency, but I occasionally treated myself to special meals like this.
Back when I was stuck on Floor 1, I had thought they were merely decently tasty, but after eating nothing but white rolls every day, this felt remarkably novel.
I suppose I finally understood why cheese pork cutlet lunchboxes were regarded as the challengers' soul food in the community.
It was also the sort of food that rarely inspired strong likes or dislikes, and its appeal lay especially in being the exact opposite of a white roll.
Crispy fried coating instead of soft bread, and salty, savory cheese instead of sweet cream.
A lunchbox that stayed warm even after a long time had passed, in contrast to white rolls eaten cold.
It was meat-based to begin with, and the rice that came with it made it excellent in terms of both satiety and calories.
The downside was that it was a little expensive, which was precisely why challengers regarded it as something to eat on special occasions.
They ate it to celebrate whenever something worth commemorating happened—getting a great drop, leveling up, beating a boss, and so on.
I was the same. I had more than enough gold, so if I put my mind to it, I could eat cheese pork cutlet lunchboxes for every meal.
But I decided to take this lunchbox out only when something special happened. Like today.
“What a bunch of sneaky bastards.”
I had just learned that the demons cheering over there were harboring ulterior motives.
Today was going to be a very special day.
**
Although the Gray Demon King had been rendered powerless, with only his body left behind, there were countless demons who had sworn loyalty to him.
The demons gathered beneath the banner of the revolution were formidable, but the high-ranking demons who had received power from the Gray Demon King were formidable as well.
Storming the Demon King's castle to reclaim their Essences of Power meant engaging those high-ranking demons in an all-out battle.
Ordinarily, challengers on Floor 14 did not infiltrate the main castle itself. They challenged the labyrinth area through the left tower instead.
The final boss of Floor 14, a Demon Count, was the owner of that left tower according to the setting.
The main castle, which existed merely as a challenge element, housed beings comparable to that Demon Count.
-Roooaaaar!
The mid-level demons serving as cannon fodder surged toward the main castle. The footsteps of two hundred demons created a deafening uproar.
The various defensive spells deployed around the Demon King's castle activated, but the high-ranking demons dispelled them one by one.
With the Gray Demon King himself absent, assaulting the main castle was extremely easy.
Even as a challenge element, its difficulty had been set around the level of challengers' parties or raids.
Naturally, breaking through was easy when demons this powerful stormed the place as a group. The appearance of a Demon Count-level opponent was no problem, either.
“Insolent fools, how dare you—stop at once or—Aaaaargh!”
So what if there were Demon Count-level opponents? We had two former Demon Kings on our side, along with several others who were their equals. Of course we won easily.
I didn't even need to lift a hand. I was deliberately refraining from doing so, of course, but still.
“Hahaha! Looks like what you said was true. Isn't this too easy?”
The high-ranking demons who had refused to believe my claim that the Demon King had been rendered powerless burst out laughing.
Everyone had already lost all sense of restraint. The demons who had infiltrated the main castle rampaged through the empty castle and looted it.
They took whatever they wanted from the countless treasures, powerful weapons, spellbooks, and items in the Demon King's castle.
Normally, these were items I should have vacuumed up, but I deliberately left them alone.
Those items wouldn't disappear just because those bastards ate them.
They were like my inventory bags. If I killed them all and slit open their stomachs, wouldn't they spit the items right back out?
In the sense that they automatically collected items for me, perhaps they were closer to pets than bags.
“Come on, let's head that way.”
Based on the information the community ghosts had dug up, I headed toward a place where the Essences of Power were likely to be.
I got a little lost along the way, but it didn't take long to find the Essences.
The location was the Demon King's bedroom. Several jewel-like, shining objects floated around near the Demon King, who lay sprawled there with his soul gone.
“Ah, at last! I finally found it—my power!”
The Demon-King-level demons accompanying me immediately flew over, seized their Essences, and shoved them down their throats.
-Tingle.
The [Heightened Senses] skill sent me a faint warning. I could distinctly feel their strength multiplying severalfold.
The amount of mana they possessed remained the same, but their vigor—or perhaps their aura—had changed dramatically.
“Hehehe… I owe you one, human.”
The demons who had regained their vigor immediately turned to look at me. I smiled.
“Oh, me too.”
After all the trouble I had gone to, electrocuting and beating them, it would have been disappointing if they hadn't held a grudge.
All right, shall we kill them all?
Except one.