Chapter 14: Is that really enough? (1)

Splash-

'So this is a D-rank gate.'

KangWoo frowned at the discomfort that the moisture gave him.

"So the atmosphere of each gate is different."

Unlike the previous gate, which was a dense forest, the D-rank gate where lizardman lived was a muddy swamp.

'It's a bad place for close-range types to hunt.'

Unlike the forest where you fought while stepping on solid ground, moving in that swampy area was hard by itself.

Until then, he'd been using the Authority of the Blade to engage in close-range combat, so that setting was unfavorable to him.

'Well, I'll just have to use a long-range offensive Authority.'

He had more than 100 long-range offensive Authorities.

Most players were either specialized in long or close-range, but he didn't have such limitations.

"Authority of Silence."

It was an Authority that blocked sound from spreading.

As per Han Seol-ah's suggestion, he silently moved while looking for lizardmen.

'There're three.'

He saw three lizardmen moving in a group not far away from where he was.

The lizardmen were almost as tall as an average person. They had sharp spears and were alert to their surroundings. They definitely looked more menacing than goblins.

'She said that they have bad sight, right?'

Their body was similar to that of a lizard's, so instead of sight, they relied more on their auditory senses to hunt.

KangWoo used the Authority of Silence to get closer to the lizardmen to test that information, but they weren't able to notice his presence.

'Good.'

KangWoo moved toward their backs and smiled.

Since a one-sided assault was possible, it would be an easy hunt.

'Authority of Hellfire.'

It was the Authority that the demon Andras had.

As expected from a high-ranking demon, it was an Authority that had an impressive destructive power.

Fwoosh-

A black fire appeared from KangWoo's right hand—compared to normal fire, its destructive power was on another level.

KangWoo fired the hellfire that was in his hand toward the lizardmen.

Fwoosh-!!

"Kiieekk!"

Although it was the size of the palm of his hand, the moment it touched the body of the lizardmen, it grew in size by devouring their body.

The three lizardmen that were surprised at KangWoo's ambush turned their bodies toward KangWoo and tried to attack him with their spears.

KangWoo moved backward and easily dodged their attacks; then he patiently waited for the hellfire to devour their lives completely.

"Kiieekk..."

A few moments later, the lizardmen collapsed to the ground.

Although their entire bodies had been covered in fire, there wasn't any mark on their bodies.

'As expected, Andras's Authority is strong.'

The hellfire made with Andras's Authority didn't burn the target's body.

—It stuck to the body of the target and devoured the opponent's lifespan.

That was the power that the fire of Hell had.

Once the fire touched you, it was impossible to extinguish it, so you had to push it away with demonic energy or mana.

'I struggled quite a bit while fighting against him.'

KangWoo trembled a bit while thinking of the fight against Andras.

If he hadn't had a lot of demonic energy gathered with Authority of Predation at that time, he wouldn't have been able to brush off the hellfire.

"Oof."

Was it because the power of the Authority of Hellfire was too strong?

He had created a flame that was the size of the palm of his hands, but he felt that he'd consumed quite a bit of demonic energy.

* * *

'If I hadn't awakened, I would've struggled to use it.'

If the seal of the Ten Thousand Demon Core hadn't weakened, he wouldn't have been able to hunt the lizardmen so easily.

"Hmm? Now that I think about it..."

Suddenly, he remembered something.

'Wasn't the guild Han TaeHyun part off called Andras?'

Among middle-sized guilds, its size and power were quite considerable.

The name of the guild, around which there were all sorts of bad rumors, had the same name as the Authority he was currently using.

'Well, the 72 demons of Solomon are famous even on Earth.'

He didn't know why, but most demons that lived in the Hell of Nine Skies were quite well known on Earth.

For example, the seven archdukes appeared in the bible.

The Hell of Nine Skies was where demons that appeared in all sorts of religions and myths lived.

He was intrigued by why they'd picked the name of a demon that wasn't that well known compared to others, but he thought that it wasn't necessary to find the connection.

"First, I should absorb some demonic energy."

KangWoo used the Authority of Predation on the lizardmen.

Crunch-!

'As expected, it wasn't just the goblins that had demonic energy.'

As he began devouring the bodies of the lizardmen with the Authority of Predation, demonic energy began flowing into his body.

His thesis that the higher the monster's rank, the more demonic energy they had was correct.

The lizardmen had more demonic energy than the goblins.

'Although it can't be compared to the amount that demons have.'

Unlike demons, who relied on demonic energy to maintain and move their bodies, monsters had a pure physical body that was moved by mana.

The demonic energy in them was just something that was mixed in their souls—it wasn't the source of their power.

It was inevitable that there would be a difference in the amount of demonic energy they had.

Ting-

[Your Demonic Energy has increased by 1.]

"Well, it's still better than not having it at all."

Having a way to stack demonic energy was better than not having it.

KangWoo used the Authority of Silence again and began hunting the lizardmen.

Fwoosh-!

"Kiieekk!"

Hunting was easy.

He just approached them with the Authority of Silence and then burned them with the Authority of Hellfire.

It was so simple and easy that he wasn't sure if he could call it a fight, but it was clearly very effective.

KangWoo only looked for groups of three to four lizardmen since he could kill them with only one attack.

'Is there any need to hunt more difficultly?'

There was a way to hunt easily, and he had the ability to take advantage of it.

There was no need to engage in battle just for the sake of enjoyment while hunting.

'Simple and easy is the best.'

He used their weakness, sight, to his advantage and approached them silently.

Then he threw the hellfire at a short distance and dodged their attacks until their lives ended.

From the point of view of the lizardmen, it was probably cheating.

Fwoosh-

"Kiieekk!!"

Even while being burned by the hellfire, they kept trying to attack him with their spears.

But as they became covered with the hellfire, they couldn't narrow their distance with KangWoo.

They collapsed to the ground while screaming.

Even the desperate screams couldn't reach other members from the same species because of his Authority of Silence.

It was a way of fighting that couldn't be called fair.

That was how KangWoo hunted.

'There isn't "fair" in hunting.'

Hunting consisted of taking the life of the prey and taking their belongings.

The word "fair" didn't match such an act.

That was something that only someone who had shit in their head could say.

Desperately and thoroughly...

—That was the way of hunting that KangWoo had learned in Hell in order to survive.

KangWoo kept hunting lizardmen by using his method.

Ting-

[Your level has increased by 1.]

It was a way of hunting that was boring but effective.

In just a few hours, he was able to increase his level by three.

'The leveling up process has definitely slowed down.'

Compared to the beginning, when killing five goblins increased his level by two to three times, he was barely able to increase his level by one after killing between 20 ~ and 30 lizardmen.

Not only his level, but the speed at which his demonic energy stat increased had slowed down as well.

'Well, I had already expected that to happen.'

He had read the first time he used the smartphone to investigate players that the higher your level and stats became, the harder they became to raise.

His current speed of leveling up was unreasonably fast compared to other players.

Even with a bus party, it was almost impossible for a 2nd awakening player to increase his level by three in just a few hours.

If that fact became known, there would be a huge uproar within the players' world.

KangWoo opened his status window while picking up the mana stones on the floor.

[Status Window]

Player: Oh KangWoo

Level: 14 [2nd Awakening]

1st Awakening Attribute: Authority of Predation (Rank: ???) * Most of the characteristics of the Authority are sealed.

2nd Awakening Attribute: Unfulfilled Hunger (Rank: C)

Strength: 11

Agility: 13

Vitality: 11

Magic Power: 0

Demonic Energy (Unique Stat): 25

Intelligence: 9

Wisdom: 8

His demonic energy stat was too high for a level 14 player.

Not only that, but on top of that stat, you had to add the demonic energy he was able to use thanks to the seal of Ten Thousand Demon Core getting weaker.

If he added the amount of demonic energy he could use from the 'Ten Thousand Demon Core,' that stat would probably go up to 40.

He had reached a number that couldn't be easily achieved by even a player about to unlock the 4th awakening.

'It still isn't enough...'

KangWoo wasn't satisfied with what he saw in his status window.

Even if it was overwhelmingly stronger than other players, it was still insignificant compared to his old strength.

"Hmm."

KangWoo fell into his thoughts while crossing his arms.

Leveling safely was nice, but he wanted to increase his level and demonic energy faster.

"Should I horde hunt?"

Although it was a bit dangerous, it was probably the most effective way to level up faster.

He was able to increase his level so fast while hunting at the E-rank gate because he had horde hunted in the goblin's hideout.

"Hey, how's the hunting going?"

While he was wondering if he should try horde hunting, he heard an arrogant voice coming from behind.

KangWoo turned his head.

There, he saw the young man with acne and the four party members following him.

'That guy is...'

KangWoo's expression darkened a little bit.