Chapter 580
“Western Demon King is...?”
“Dead...?”
“Then...!”
Shock, doubt, certainty, and then.
“Waaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!”
Joy.
It was an emotion that set the entire Eastern Demon Realm boiling.
The people, overcome with delight, screamed like mad, and some even burst into tears and sobbed.
Leihian, the strongest Player in the Eastern Demon Realm, was no exception.
“Ah...!”
His legs nearly gave out from under him.
No way.
To think he had truly defeated the Demon King all by himself...!
He had never even imagined such a thing could be possible.
And yet that stranger from another world had done it.
His name was An Su-ho.
Called the Avatar of the Demon King, he had, incredibly enough, truly made the impossible possible.
- Keukeukeu, how is it? I was right, wasn’t I?
Just then, as Leihian was standing there in awe, Grid appeared again.
“Demon King!”
- He is none other than my Avatar. Even without this body taking the field personally, he can easily suppress something like the king of the Western Demon Realm.
“As expected...! You had a plan all along, Demon King...!”
- Did you think I would simply stand by and watch my beloved Demon Realm fall into this state? In addition, I...
Grid told Leihian what he had been thinking.
And Leihian’s eyes widened as much as they had when he learned of Lucifer’s death.
“What?! Are you serious?!”
- Of course I am serious. In that sense, what do you think? You are the strongest Player in the Eastern Demon Realm, so you have the qualifications to represent all the Players of the Eastern Demon Realm.
“I...”
After hearing Grid’s opinion, Leihian was thrown into confusion.
To think their Demon King had been thinking this.
But the more he thought about it, the more it made sense.
“Understood. I’m fine with it, for now.”
- If that is what you think, then that is enough. I will handle the rest.
“Then is the war over now?”
- The East-West War is over. The Demon King and the Six Great Demons are dead. However, Pediak may form again.
“Then what should we do?”
- What else? That one will have to finish things as well.
“The Avatar?”
- Watch, and you will understand.
Around then, Su-ho appeared, having proudly defeated the Demon King.
“Everyone was gathered here.”
“Avatar!”
“I told you, didn’t I? I said I’d handle everything.”
“I didn’t think you would truly pull it off. You were incredible.”
At Leihian’s fussing, Su-ho grinned.
Grid said,
- So, did you achieve what you wanted?
“Ah, right. Hold on.”
At Grid’s question, I immediately opened my status window and checked.
[ An Su-ho ]
Even so, I was still only level 372.
Considering I had started at 335, it was an explosive growth rate, but I still had twenty-eight levels to go before reaching my goal of level 400.
Su-ho looked disappointed.
“I even joined a war, but leveling up really isn’t easy.”
- What are you so worried about?
“What, I shouldn’t be worried? I’m still a long way from my target level.”
- That is precisely why I am asking why you are worried about such a thing.
“What are you talking about?”
- Can you not see those things?
“......?”
Grid pointed at the battlefield, where a slaughter was still unfolding.
There, countless Western Demon Realm inhabitants could be seen still trying to cross into the Eastern Demon Realm, regardless of whether their king had died or not.
“Uh, don’t tell me?”
- Yes. From the moment Pediak disappears, those bastards will keep trying to cross into the Eastern Demon Realm, regardless of whether their king dies or not. In that case, it is better to simply kill them all.
“Whoa, no matter what, isn’t that a bit much when the very top guy is dead?”
- Then are the people of the Eastern Demon Realm, who will be killed by their hands, acceptable losses?
“No, that’s not it.”
- That is what war is. Of course, if one can defeat the enemy leader and absorb those beneath him, that is naturally what should be done, but as you know, those bastards are mindless barbarians.
“Then I have no choice but to kill them for the sake of the people of the Eastern Demon Realm too. The war isn’t over yet.”
There was a difference between how something was phrased, sure, but this time I understood what Grid meant.
And thanks to that, my concern was resolved.
I did not enjoy the act of killing someone itself, but I did think executions done out of necessity had to be carried out.
That was why Su-ho stepped forward.
“I’ll be back.”
Su-ho leaped into the battlefield with a light heart.
***
[ Your level has increased. ]
[ All stats have increased by 1. ]
[ You have acquired 1 bonus stat. ]
My level rose.
Su-ho wiped away his sweat and checked his status window again.
[ An Su-ho ]
Thanks to killing the Western Demon Realm inhabitants in what was practically a massacre, my level had reached the point where only two more remained before level 400.
‘War really is profitable.’
In Su-ho’s case, it was levels instead of money, though.
Su-ho wiped away his sweat and looked around.
The battlefield, where not only the Shadow Knights but even the gods of Olympus had descended to the ground and were fighting, now seemed to be slowly nearing its end.
‘A complete extermination is impossible, really.’
Who knew how wide the Western Demon Realm was? Was he supposed to find and kill every last one of the ones hiding in its every corner?
He had no real interest in doing that, and there was no need to.
The only goal was reaching level 400.
After investing the bonus stat he had gained into True Demon, Su-ho spoke to Jack.
“I think the big ones are mostly dealt with now, so can I leave about two levels’ worth to you?”
- What will you be doing in the meantime?
“I’m going to talk with Grid.”
- Do as you like.
After answering, Jack disappeared.
Jack was a truly excellent helper.
Serving as both strategist and proxy commander, he was now an elite asset Su-ho could no longer do without.
At that moment, Grid appeared.
- Were you looking for me?
“I was just about to call you, so good timing. What do you think? This seems roughly settled now.”
- It is not a complete extermination, but this should be enough.
“Has the notification for the end of the East-West War popped up?”
- It will soon.
“Yeah? Then now, well... no objections, right?”
At Su-ho’s words, Grid grinned.
- Yes, no objections.
“Then it’s your turn now, isn’t it? Let’s hear it, then. How exactly you’re planning to give me the Demon Realm.”
The thing I had been just as curious about as reaching level 400.
That was Grid’s promise that if we won this East-West War, he would give me the Demon Realm.
But no matter how I thought about it, I couldn’t understand how he intended to give me the Demon Realm.
That was only natural, since the Demon Realm referred to this entire world.
- Yes. I will skip the preliminaries and get straight to the point. Partner, by using one of your traits, it becomes possible to give you the Demon Realm.
“One of my traits?”
- Yes. One of the traits you possess, “King of a Fallen Nation.”
King of a Fallen Nation.
A trait I had used a long time ago and then forgotten for quite a while.
Su-ho checked the information on the King of a Fallen Nation trait for the first time in a while.
[ King of a Fallen Nation ]
# The surviving king of a ruined nation.
# The country, the citizens, the subordinates—everything has been lost, leaving only the empty shell of royalty. But that does not mean he is not a king.
① The Command stat, which only a king may possess, is granted.
② The minimum qualifications of a king are granted.
└ A nation can be proclaimed.
└ War can be declared.
└ Peerages can be granted.
└ Positions can be appointed.
③ The power of a king is activated.
└ A domain can be proclaimed.
└ Through talent recruitment, loyalty contracts that place targets under your command become possible.
└ Through the king’s call, subordinates placed under your command can be summoned.
King of a Fallen Nation was a trait he had received long ago from Hex, whom he had met in the Manwoldae Gate after infiltrating Kaesong alone around the time he began conquering North Korea.
Hex was the founder of the Isis family, and through the process of defeating him and earning his recognition, Su-ho had become the knight of the moon who wielded the Power of the Moon, as well as the last royal and final king of the Isis family.
‘In that world line, I use the name Henry the Isis instead of An Su-ho.’
I had gained the Command stat then too.
And I had also gained the Power of the Moon then.
Later, the Power of the Sun and the Power of the Moon fused, and I obtained Sun-Moon Body and Eclipse, but apart from that, Henry Moon still remained as a Little Moon. The Little Sun was the same.
It was only that, out of necessity, I mostly used their combined sun-moon form instead of using them separately.
‘Hex said that if there was a power I truly, desperately wanted, Henry Moon would sprout through it and grow into a true moon.’
Just as Hex’s Moonless Blade had.
However, no matter what crisis came for him, Su-ho had somehow overcome nearly every situation on his own, so he had never wished for a power with the desperation of someone about to die.
That was why Henry Moon still had not grown.
‘I’d completely forgotten.’
But that was not what mattered right now.
What mattered was that Grid had mentioned the King of a Fallen Nation trait.
“So? What about King of a Fallen Nation?”
- How much do you know about King of a Fallen Nation?
“Hard to say.”
- One who possesses the ordinary qualification of a king is very different from one who possesses the King of a Fallen Nation trait. An ordinary king is nothing more than a matter of social honor, but King of a Fallen Nation intervenes through the system and grants a Player the official qualifications of a king. Just as you incorporated Madagascar into Suholand.
“So what, you’re telling me to use the King of a Fallen Nation trait to proclaim a domain over the Demon Realm?”
- Yes.
“What?”
- You saved the Demon Realm from the East-West War with your own hands. And you are currently the one and only Avatar of the one and only Demon King of this land. You even have more than enough qualifications. For someone who suddenly appeared, Leihian, the representative of the Eastern Demon Realm Players, saw and heard everything.
“W-Wait. Are you serious?”
- I am serious. And what can I do by continuing to hold onto the empty title of Demon King when I cannot even participate in the East-West War?
“No, no matter what, by the standards of the Demon Realm inhabitants, I’m someone from another world. And you’re telling me not only to hand the Demon King’s position over to someone from a completely different world, but to proclaim a domain too? Do you think that makes sense?”
- Leihian has already accepted it. And Leihian is the strongest Player in the Eastern Demon Realm, with the qualifications to represent them. So if he has accepted it, is this not already settled?
“No, still...”
- Su-ho.
Grid called him Su-ho, not partner.
His eyes were endlessly serious.
- I want you to accept this world. And I want you to win the indie game and free this land as well from the system’s claws.
Grid bowed his head.
- I ask you sincerely.