Chapter 180

Trace of the Monarch (3)

Instead of standing there and talking, we decided to go into the base of the devils.

The rest of them were said to be in there.

"But they're all in terrible shape right now..."

Nate's expression got worse the more he talked about it.

'This is going to drive me mad.'

While I was lost in thought, a devil stood in front of the barrier and formed a unique Mana pattern.

Looking at the scale of the Mana's vibration, it must've been a magic circle set up by the Monarch-class devil in the past.

I kept the pattern that functioned as a key in mind.

Shhh!

Space distorted, and the door opened.

Beyond the barrier, there was a long passage leading to the underground.

Walking together, Nate confided about what had happened.

Their predicament's main culprit was the species called Roheem, who formed the expedition team with them.

From the moment they first saw Earth's hunters, they reportedly displayed an attitude that looked down on them.

I was dumbfounded, listening to it.

'Those mediocre punks, when their strongest being has barely 60 to 70 thousand Mana...!'

Nate grunted.

"Hmph, what a pain in the ass they were. I had to put up with them even though I wanted to fight them. Hibiki explained everything to me. If that happened, it would be reported to the Union, and Jin-Wook would've been in trouble. So I held myself back."

So while they were just concentrating on their work, pretending not to notice it, Hibiki seemed to have finally found a clue.

"Jin-Wook, you saw it when you walked by, right, the barrier? She said there was a small gap on it. Hibiki found it through magic. It was something that even the pretentious Roheems couldn't find it."

Nate spoke with pride as if it was his own achievement.

"That moment definitely humbled them down."

They took advantage of the gap to break through the barrier.

But their method wasn't as subtle and cautious as it was when I came in with Genograche.

Of course, Hibiki would have paid as much attention as possible, but... She had touched the alarm system concentrated with high-level magic and powerful forces.

The Union expedition team continued onwards, unaware that the wide-scale alert signal was being transmitted between the devils already residing in the barrier.

"The number of devils whom Jin-Wook has seen here has drastically decreased compared to that time. At that time, thousands of devils suddenly gathered in front of us and surrounded us."

Thousands?

Then why were those all we that we had?

The number of devils that rushed out to stop us was only a few dozens.

While I was busy making sense of everything, Nate continued.

"Actually, I thought I was going to die then. There's too much difference in numbers. Regardless, I didn't want to get killed just like that, so I prepared to fight, but the moment I called my subordinates out..."

The situation turned upside down.

Nate summoned his subordinates, the undead, as usual.

At that moment, the devils, who were approaching them little by little, looked frightened and surprised and acted like they worshiped Nate.

It was hard for Nate to understand.

However, someone seemed to have a clue as to why.

- Indeed, I suppose it's understandable.

In unison, we turned our heads towards the voice behind us.

"?"

Genograche, who was listening to our story while walking along, stepped in.

He asked Nate a question out of the blue instead of explaining.

"These guys must probably be the descendants of the Monarch of Evolution's subordinates, aren't they?"

Nate watched the atmosphere of the devils walking ahead of them and nodded.

"I think so. But these devils must have been stuck here for too long. It seemed like they no longer know what happened in the past. I mean, they do know, but should I say that there are a lot of things that are omitted?"

According to the stories passed down to the forest's devils, they regarded themselves as a militant species excommunicated from the 'blessed land.'

Nate continued.

"They're obviously devils based on their looks, but they don't seem to know that they're part of the magic species."

According to their perception of history, long ago, they served a great Monarch in a blessed land.

However, they waged war against the 'devils' that suddenly appeared and eventually lost, forcing them to be driven out to the forest and hide.

I sensed irony when I heard that part.

'The natives who live outside the forest call the magic species the Devil, and these magic species regard the Awakened that drove them out as the Devil.'

The reason for hiding in such places, instead of the devils dominating them or leaving the woods and moving freely, was also related to the tale told by the seal aliens, the Lutresians, which were non-awakened and were much weaker than the magic species.

"They think that those devils should never know the fact that they're still alive and surviving in here. They say that's why they never get out of the cracked barrier unless it's absolutely necessary."

Genograche gave a bit more details.

"As you said, the passed-down story seems to be in a mess and is missing too much detail."

He pointed at Nate and said.

- Somehow, I think they mistook you for the 'Monarch of Resurrection.' He was able to command the dead, too.

Nate tilted his head.

"The Monarch of Resurrection? I've never heard of that name before."

It was the same for me.

"There's one such title that came out of those devils. It's awkward since it's conveyed through interpretation magic, but they said something about a great warrior that controls the dead? They call me something like that."

They must've remembered what his abilities were but had forgotten the title. The Monarch of Resurrection was one of the devils who the Monarch of Evolution ruled.

A monarch controlling a monarch?

- There was a reason behind that. I've already told you what power the Monarch of Evolution had, right?

The Mana Core naturally formed without being chosen by the System to become a user... Essentially, among those with Mana Core, some individuals developed special powers only they could use.

One such example was the Dragon Breath.

They called it abilities, which was the same as users' Unique Skills.

The Monarch of Evolution's ability was the gift to increase other people's potential Mana and help them go beyond their limits.

- Even the Awakened beings that made a contract with the System rushed in to be that devil's subordinate. Would it be any different for a Monarch? The Monarch of Ressurection was said to be able to manipulate more undead than before ever since he started serving him.

Nate nodded as if he had just understood it then.

"For these devils, the Monarch of Evolution is the god, and the Monarch of Resurrection must be about the level of an archangel, right?"

- ... Why use such a metaphor out of all the ones you could've used? Anyway, I think it was passed down in a similar sense.

"No wonder they kept saying weird things to me."

It seemed that through Hibiki's help, Nate became somewhat civilized enough to not mess up by saying things such as 'I'm not a devil, though?'

Since they worshipped him, my members most likely allowed them to keep doing that.

Nate returned to the story of the expedition team's encounter with the forest dwellers.

"They invited us inside of this barrier. So we just followed the devils."

They were treated as VIPs, and the expedition team had a serious discussion in bafflement.

The quest objective was to find traces of the Monarch.

But would they be qualified for Quest Completion only with that?

The Roheems reported their existence to the System and suggested converting the quest into a 'devil hunting' quest.

- What?!

Genograsche showed signs of discomfort all of a sudden.

However, Nate continued, saying that they opposed the suggestion.

"The magic species are living peacefully among themselves here. Why should the Awakened come all the way here to hunt? I felt it while observing them as well. They're different from Dungeon monsters. They're not feral beasts whose eyes burn of bloodlust and whose instincts scream for them to kill."

While he talked, the long passage ended, and a huge underground space unfolded in front of us.

I spoke up in pure amazement.

"Was it this large-scaled?"

The underground city was wide enough to accommodate more than ten thousand people.

Contrary to my response, Genograche muttered disapprovingly.

- I can't believe it wasn't enough for the devils to be kicked out of the magic kingdom because of the System. They have to live in hiding underground like rats too... Damn it.

Nate pointed to the city.

"The one that governs this place... Using Earth's term, the devil that acts as a mayor of this place is called 'Knight' by the residents."

A Knight was originally the title of the devil that commanded the army under the Monarch.

The original owner of the golden armor thieved by Genograche was a Knight.

The word's value had depreciated. At the moment, it seemed to be used as a title for the head of the administration.

"As the opinions between Roheems and Terrans collided and didn't go along, Hibiki suggested an alternative. The traces usually refer to the items, skills, or magic-related information that the old being left behind, right? So all we had to do was focus on those things."

When one found a clue about the unique abilities that the Monarch possessed, the System then exchanged and bought it with points.

It was then assumed to be redistributed in a form accessible to the Awakened contracted by the System.

"So we met the Knight and got some additional information about the old owner that created the barrier surrounding this city a long time ago and went off alone to fight off the invaders while keeping the residents hidden... We also tried to get clues about where the 'Monarch' had lied. They said that only the Knight knew about that. However, he refused to inform us about it."

The Terrans insisted on persuading them more instead of fighting the friendly devils, and everyone decided to stay overnight in the city for that reason.

However, the Roheems attempted to kidnap the Knight while everyone was asleep.

It seemed their intention was to monopolize the System rewards instead of sharing them with humans.

"Us, and of course, the devils fought together, but the Knight was kidnapped in the end."

Contrary to many Roheems dying, the Earthlings' casualties were only one, thanks to Hibiki and Nate's performance.

The problem was what happened next.

"If I were to do as I wished, I would've tracked the Roheem bastards right away, but I couldn't."

We soon saw the reason.

As we got closer to the accommodation of the Terrans, the disgusting smell stung our noses.

It's a familiar smell.

"Isn't this the smell of rotting corpses? Could it be...?"

Did someone else die in the meantime?

Nate shook his head.

"No, it's not what Jin-Wook thinks."

As I approached the door, I observed it closely with [The Successor's Eyes].

Crack!

And I couldn't help but grind my teeth because of the swelling anger.

Ten human Hunters were lying weakly.

The one who died was said to be temporarily sealed in the item, so the rest were definitely still alive.

Nevertheless, a terrible rotting stench was flowing out of their bodies.

I looked at the Mana Cores of the bedridden ones.

"... It's a curse."

It was a skill type that most Earthlings didn't know before, but things had already changed.

Nate nodded his head.

"As soon as the fight ended, we noticed something wrong with them."

The first one to fall was reported to be Hibiki.

"Looking at it, it seems like it's a curse with a quite tricky activation condition. It makes me think that perhaps killing the colleagues of the skill holder may be the trigger. It's because Hibiki, who had slain the most Roheem bastards, is in the worst state."

I approached the bed he pointed at.

There, Hibiki laid in a ghastly shape.

There were evident signs of black rotting throughout her revealed skin.

When I saw it, sparks flew from my eyes, and blazing heat rose from my throat.

Hibiki barely managed to open her eyes.

"Oh... Guild Master!"

A weary voice.

I stared at the red Mana tangled in her Mana Core.

It was a combination of someone other than her own.

'It's a Unique Skill.'

It was similar to how the original Seo Jin-Wook was affected by the [Mercadius' Seed].

The effect of the curse was to cause the body of the living to decay slowly.

Surely Nate must have been hit as well, but there was no sign of a curse on his body.

Could it be that his Unique Skill's properties made him immune to it?

Well... Among Nate's subskills, there was an ability that allowed him to turn his body into an undead. Understandably, such skills wouldn't work for him.

I suppressed my wrath as much as I could.

"First of all, let's make you feel better."

I would just have to use the same method that got rid of the curse on my body.

I was going to open the [Door of Hope] and bring Iponia from Earth for a while.

"Revenge will come next."

"Couldn't it be that the Roheems have already returned to their dimension?"

I shook my head.

"The quest is yet to be completed. The Union headquarters thinks both Roheem and humans parties are missing. They were sure that you all were going to die if they left it be, so they haven't contacted the Union yet."

So they would be completely off guard.

I meant to crush piece by piece the entirety of their skulls while they were leisurely waiting, unaware of what's on their way.