CHAPTER 14

- Mars -

Demon Castle (1st Floor)

It was strangely quiet in the dungeon, as I've quickly gotten used to the atmosphere of an entire city ablaze. The sweltering temperature is negated by my own aura. As the King of the Dead I can radiate an icy ambience.

I look to my shadows, who have already decimated all of the demons on the first floor. Only low-grade demons inhabit the first couple floors. But as I climb the tower, the demons will evolve from savage unintelligent low grade (D) beasts to intermediate (C), high (B), highest (A) and ancient grade (A+); until I reach the top, where the demon nobles are practically all S-rank. The nobles are especially sly and powerful, nobles Vulcan and Metus act as mini-bosses.

Baran, the King of Demons resides on the top floor, but I should be able to make enough preparations for the boss battle on the way up.

I've noticed as I get stronger, I can feel it takes more and more experience to level up, but the top levels of the castle should prove quite fruitful. To become stronger, I can't start to lose my pace.

Igris hands me the parchment with ancient demonic scribbles.

Item: Entry Permit

Item Class: ?

Type: ?

A permit to enter the 2nd floor of Demon Castle. Usable in the floor movement magic circle on the 1st floor

Grasping the pass in my hands, a golden beam of energy appears from further in the destroyed city.

"That's the magic circle…"

I fly into the air, speeding towards the glowing gate, it was covered in demonic runes.

Feeling the entry permit flash red in response, the paper suddenly bursts into flames, revealing the entrance to the second floor.

Stepping through the gate, my army immediately comes forth from my shadow, splitting into different teams.

Each of my top shadows are to lead separate squads, this should be the quickest way to find the permit on each floor. Baruka started the attack on his shadow warhorse, the deadly Hyakki soldiers behind him all thirsty for blood. Iron leads the original shadows, Kang and the assassins won't be missing this chance to go all out once again.

Cyclops, the golems and the beastly shadows' orders are simple: rampage and go ham as I won't need to worry about any innocent casualties.

Tusk and my four orc elites are to all lead the various high orc shadows in five different groups: a hundred orcs with each general, while Tusk is accompanied by the remaining fifty orcs. Tusk should be nearly unstoppable here now that he has holy fire based attacks, and I learned last floor he can use my holy lightning.

To motivate my shadows to go as fast as possible, I decided to hold a contest, of sorts. The team with the most demons killed will get a whole day out of my shadow once we clear the castle. The captains of each squad will have a separate competition as well: the captain with the most souls collected will get a whole week out of my shadow, regardless of which faction wins.

Not to say my soldiers don't love being in my shadow, Igris has assured me they all live comfortably within my shade. It's sort of like watching my life through my eyes as if they are watching a never ending movie.

Igris and Tank will accompany me, as the rest of the squads will search for the permit in all directions. For the first levels, I shouldn't need to even lift a finger, so I should use this time to start my readings on White Magic.

Hopping onto Tank, I observe the second floor, which looks extremely similar to the first level, but there are subtle differences. For example, this new floor seems ever slightly more ruined than the previous floor. Each floor of the demon castle really is a separate world… Just how many worlds have been lost to the Monarch-Ruler conflict?

Collect Demon's Souls! (209 / 10 000 souls collected)

A Bet with the Chairman (3 days, 22 hours left)

I still got a long way to go…

- Hwang Dongsoo (Scavenger Guild) -

Seoul, South Korea

"The atmosphere sure is different." Hwang Dongsoo took a deep breath, inhaling his home country's air for the first time in a long time, reminiscing his old life, before he awakened as an S-rank hunter. "I ended up visiting South Korea earlier than I expected."

He took off his Gucci sunglasses, admiring the orange Seoul sunset, ignoring the camera clicks of some randoms not so secretly taking pictures of the infamous hunter who has returned to Korea.

"You're here." A monotonous voice interrupted his thoughts, turning his attention to a man in a clean black suit, with slicked back hair.

"Oh~ Look who it is! Long time no see…" He smirked as he saw the tired looking man. "What business does hunter Woo Jinchul have here?"

"It's only natural that a hunter from the monitoring division is here to receive and observe any S-rank hunters arriving in Korea." Inspector Woo bowed professionally, always ready for any situation.

"Monitoring division? Heh, you're still working as that old geezer chairman Go Gunhee's right arm?" Dongsoo snickered, he never liked the old man. "If it was me, I would have cut off his left arm, and made sure the geezer couldn't do anything without his right arm… You have an opportunity to take over everything!"

"How long do you plan on staying?" Woo Jinchul ignored his suggestion, looking into his eyes without a hint of emotion.

"I don't plan on staying in Korea for too long." He admitted, getting into the A-rank inspector's face. "Don't worry, I'll return after I finish some business."

- Woo Jinchul (Korean Hunters Association) -

Go Gunhee's right hand man looked up at the controversial Hwang Dongsoo, who has started to let some of his disgusting aura leak out. Jinchul disliked the Scavenger hunter, who was an unapologetic murderer. Even his smirk bothered Jinchul, as the defected hunter was somehow more obnoxious than guildmaster Choi.

But something is different with him now, he appears to be even stronger than last time Jinchul saw him. Was it due to the American's ultimate trump card: Norma Selner? He's even stronger than hunter Cha Hae-In now, who is the strongest active Korean hunter.

Well… Maybe it's Mars, now?

"What business would bring back hunter Hwang, who has abandoned his homeland and moved to the United States?" Jinchul asked the brutish S-rank fighter, who had begun to walk away. "Does it involve inspector Kang Taeshik?"

The large man stopped in his tracks, a dangerous energy began surrounding Dongsoo.

"As expected from a member of the monitoring division, asking something he already knows about…" Hwang Dongsoo lowered his glasses, revealing a cruel look in his now glowing red eyes. "Will you stop me? You… Stopping ME?!"

"I'm just devoted to my job." Jinchul calmly responded, nervously looking around at the civilians, who have begun to react to the putrid energy.

"I'm out of breath now that I'm at the airport." A passerby completely oblivious to the situation walked by the high level confrontation.

"You're right, my chest feels heavy." The stranger's companion also noted the drastic change in the air.

"I like you." Hwang Dongsoo broke the uneasy silence, putting his hand on Jinchul's shoulder, not so subtly showing off his overwhelming strength. "How about you join the Scavenger Guild? We can treat you better than that old geezer."

As expected of Hwang Dongsuk's brother. Dongsuk was a lead suspect in the murders of many hunters, as if he was cutting a lizard's tail. And the reason the Association couldn't start a proper investigation was due to Dongsoo, if they arrested Dongsuk then who knows what Dongsoo would do?

"I'll have to decline." Jinchul immediately shut down the idea of him ever working for the psychopath.

They were truly brothers bound by blood, as the Association suspected their first murder was their abusive father. Neither brother has shown a single drop of sentiment with their long list of unforgivable crimes. Despicable trash.

"Your loss." Hwang Dongsoo bluntly said, putting his sunglasses back on. "Actually, there is something you can help me with, inspector. Tell me where I can find Valentino Mars."

Woo Jinchul felt his heart drop, as he didn't expect Mars' identity to be leaked so quickly. He thought he just needed to keep Dongsoo away from the other S-rankers, specifically guild master Baek Yoonho.

But if Hwang Dongsoo knew the true identity of Seoul's Saint? Then that means Thomas Andre and the Americans are already making their moves.

Fuck. Where's Mars?

- Ant King -

Jeju Island

The menacing ant was greedily savoring each part of the hunters, who were sent to scout the deserted island. As he slowly dined on the humans' remains, the king absorbed knowledge and memories from each so called 'S-ranked hunter'. He can finally understand and communicate with the humans now.

Were those weaklings really some of the strongest humans in the world? Maybe Mother was exaggerating, the ant felt like he could defeat every human that was sent to clear the island. The hunters need to accept their new role as the ants' prey.

He wanted to find and challenge humanity's king. Surely, they aren't all this weak…

Suddenly, the monstrous ant felt it's antennae vibrate in alarm, as it began to rush back to his Mother's den, instinctively returning as it felt the queen ant's distress call.

It's a new feeling for the monster, Mother has been living in complete comfort for the past year. Anything that could threaten the queen ant would have to go through the formidable queen's guard first, but he only felt comfort and safety through the guard ants' shared connection.

Finally entering the cavern, the ant King slightly trembled in fear as he saw his dead Mother being devoured by her own guards. The queen's guard were happily feasting on her headless corpse, as Mother's pheromones were no longer being secreted throughout the den. A new odor was beginning to dominate his senses.

He turned to the source of the strangely ancient smell, a lone woman was leaking the dangerous aura? She was sitting on Mother's ripped off head, as two giant ants were cuddling into the woman's arms.

"Eat up darlings~" The unknown entity sang to the traitorous ants, playfully petting the cooing insects.

"M-MOTHER?!" His eyes widened, he felt his exoskeleton grow and harden, his razor sharp talons doubled in size. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MOTHER?!"

The ant only saw red, screeching loudly, rushing at the woman.

"KIIIIEEEK!" He spat out blood as two glowing green hands of mana instantly materialized out of thin air, forcefully restraining him in place.

"Such a rude child I have…" The woman began to emit a skin crawling energy, her eyes shined red as she multiplied in size, dwarfing the bulked up ant.

"Y-YOU CRAZY BITCH!" The ant spat out his deadly paralysis poison, an ability he received from consuming a cone snail.

It her on the cheek, but to his horror she only laughed. Her freakishly long tongue licked up the poison, as if she found it to be delicious.

"A child who doesn't recognize their mother needs to be punished~" She laughed, the ends of her hair morphed into scorpion stingers and dozens of venomous millipedes. "My name is Querehsha, the Monarch of Plagues. I am the Mother of every insect in existence!"

The ant king was now being held in her insectile hands, he couldn't move an inch.

"Even though you're an ungrateful insect who doesn't recognize their mother, I will still embrace you as one of my children~" Querehsha softly whispered to him, stroking his antennae lovingly.

He was flooded with intoxicating pheromones, overriding every instinct he had, until he could only think of Her.

No longer sensing any hostility, she let go of him, but he wished that embrace lasted forever.

"My Queen!" He dropped onto one knee with joy in his heart. "How can I serve, Mother?"

Querehsha broke into a grin, and began to pet the buzzing king ant.

"You need to prepare yourself and the new hatchlings..." The queen stated, looking at him with serious eyes for the first time. "The Monarch of Shadows will be arriving to the island soon. But don't you worry, little one…"

Before he could respond, the ground underneath them began to shake violently. In an instant, packs of poison-fanged giant sand centipedes emerged from the ground, hissing violently at the ant before they settled around the Queen.

"My Queen…" The ant king began to feel even smaller, when a giant arachnid began to descend from above, joining the centipedes and guard ants who have gathered around their Mother.

"Ahh, Buryura, my darling!" Querehsha was affectionately hugged by the massive red spider. "My you've grown a bit, since I last saw you, haven't you? I wonder how many hunters you've eaten~"

The Mother of all insects created a glowing green throne made of mana, sitting on it comfortably, before she turned back to the ant. Some of the centipedes have wrapped themselves around the Queen of Plagues.

"You're lucky you have such a loving Mother!" She said with cruel smile. "Now go and get the new hatchlings, my dear. They need to greet their new Queen!"

- Mars -

Demon Castle (27th Floor)

As time went by, I felt like I climbed the floors at a scary pace. I've only encountered low or intermediate-grade demons, who seem to cap out at high C-rank at best.

I made decent progress with the grimoire, but I could only read so much, the endless large scale battles are too much of a distraction for me.

I rub my eyes while yawning big, I need to take a break from all this reading. Putting the grimoire back into my Inventory, I look up at Igris, who, up to this point, has slain at least a quarter of all defeated demons himself.

Summoning my shield, the Ancile, I study it's hefty weight. I throw it as hard as I can, quickly accelerating until it smashes into a D-rank demon beast, turning it into a bloody fine paste. An unlucky demon behind it was beheaded instantly by it's pointed edges. Using [Ruler's Authority] basically turns my golden shield into an unstoppable star of destruction.

Unsurprisingly, Tank acts like his namesake, bulldozing any demons who get immediately crushed or mauled by his massive paws.

New skills added

Heal: Restore a target's vitality, healing small injuries. Effectiveness will depend on skill level

Bless: Bless a target, temporarily buffing their stats as long as the skill is active

Pretty basic, but once I level up them both up I'll have the same skill set as Lee Joohee or Min Byung-Gyu. Healing magic is self explanatory, and with my Ruler genes I should have no problem tapping into my more benevolent side.

Bless is interesting, it's practically the same as any normal buff skill most healers would have. I can already imagine blessing any hunters before the Great War. As a summoner, this is an essential skill.

I just need to find hunters I can practice and experiment on. Maybe I'll actually act like Seoul's Saint for once and visit the hospitals when I'm back. Win win for everyone.

Feeling the distant tremors of Cyclops and Tusk going berserk, I quickly check the quest.

Collect Demon's Souls! (3116 / 10 000 souls collected)

It seems there's no real way to game the floors, a random monster on each floor carries the entry permit. Sometimes I would luck out and my shadows would kill the carrier within the first 5 minutes of entering the floor. Other times, it felt like I had to kill every single demon on a level to find the permit.

"My King." Igris interrupted my thoughts, as my knight has personally delivered most of the entry permits to me.

Entering the next floor, I adjust to the new inferno. With each floor, the already extreme heat rises significantly. I feel like at this level, a normal human would literally begin to melt.

Anyway, I need to use this time to prepare for my upcoming spar with the chairman. Even before I bestowed him powers, I wasn't so sure if I could best him one on one. Depending how much I level up in the tower, I won't know if I can rely on brute strength.

Something I noticed when I bestowed Song-Yi, and confirmed with Go Gunhee, was the fact they could channel my [Holy Lightning] in their fists and body. Despite my newfound strength, I haven't really workshopped my personal powers in a while. I don't want to be a one trick pony and only use holy spears and throw my shield at enemies. Although, surprisingly, it never gets old.

Instead of shooting out my lightning bolts, I try to focus the energy within, until I can feel the holy current flowing through my veins and wings.

It's a weird yet pleasant feeling, I can even feel it in my eyeballs. I'm pretty sure I could hurt a demon just by standing near it when I'm like this.

Focusing my attention on the demons closest to me, I can't wait to try this new fighting style, charging at them with a manic look on my face. Punching the closest magical beast as hard as I can, I flinch back when the intermediate-grade demon explodes in a thunderous explosion, taking a small group of demons out with it.

Wiping the blood off my face, I sigh. Maybe I should have held back a little bit, weaker beasts don't make for good punching bags.

"My King… Allow me to show you how to throw a proper punch." Igris suddenly chimed in, using a poor C-ranked demon as an example for optimal punch techniques.

Similarly, Igris didn't hold back any power, punching the whimpering beast as hard as he could. I tried to watch his form, but the demon died instantly, Igris literally punched a hole through the beast. The lightning bolt of a punch spread through numerous demons around it, electrocuting them all.

Igris, satisfied with his demonstration, turns back to me with a satisfied nod.

"Ahh I see. Well done, Igris, what would I do without you?"

- Vulcan (Demon Castle Second Boss) -

Demon Castle (50th Floor)

The ruler of the first 50 floors sat on his throne, which was comprised of the bones of a wyvern he killed. Digging a finger in his ear, he flicked away a lump of wax, the sticky black substance landing on the floor with a plop.

"My Lord…" One of Vulcan's personal guards carefully called out to him, bowing deeply as to not show any disrespect. "I have arrived from the upper floors, with a message from Lord Metus…"

"Brrrrrp!" Vulcan burped, pausing for a second to send the puke back down, resting his meaty hand on his belly. "Metus? What does he want?"

"According to Lord Metus, an intruder is rapidly climbing the lower floors." The guard started to sweat a bit, realizing Vulcan is in a bad mood. "The intruder will be here soon! Lord Metus declared if you need any help-"

"He dare insult me?!" The obese demon boss slammed his club on the ground in fury. He felt Metus always looked down on him. "I will not need any help! Go back to your post, guard, and prepare for the trespasser!"

Vulcan spat at the ground in disgust.

"I, the indomitable Vulcan, am not afraid of anybody!"

- Later -

- Mars -

Demon Castle (46th Floor)

I'm covered in guts and blood, but thankfully, it's not mine. Apparently all demons bleed purple, as I'm drenched in the vile liquid. At these levels, most demons are high-grade, around B-rank, allowing me to practice my moves on more durable opponents.

So far, the one downside to being a pure brawler is the complete mess it makes. But it's worth, with each floor I feel more fluid in my movements, I'm clearing the floors at an insane pace.

Igris decided to match my style, as he too is simply electrically tearing through these demons with his bare hands. Eventually, some of the wiser beasts realize they have a better chance at survival by fleeing, but they will all soon fall.

Catching up to one of the fleeing beasts, I roughly grab it with both of my hands, overloading it with my holy power. I continue to electrocute it long after it stops moving, until the demon explodes, Raiden style.

A group of demons trying to escape suddenly can't move anymore, as Tusk is holding them in place, violently increasing the gravity. The beasts could only look up in fear, as I fly into the air, forming a bright holy spear. I accelerate myself into the middle of the pack, landing on the poor demon in the middle, stabbing it through the heart. The rest of the demons die immediately after, my crackling spear frying them alive.

I look at the carnage surrounding me, it's a bit scary, I feel like I've been on autopilot for the past how many hours. It's almost as if I'm losing myself to these powers. Conjuring my holy light within comes naturally to me now. Whether I punch, kick or even poke my opponent, they will receive the shock of a lifetime. My lightning is volatile as fuck, my attacks spread easily through multiple beasts at once.

Demons make terrible noises as they are shocked to death by my holy lightning. Exterminating hundreds of these beasts with my own hands doesn't even register to me. This blood on my hands is nothing at this point.

The 46th floor is clear.

47…

48…

49…

And finally, the 50th floor.

Rather than an entire devastated city, this level is a lot smaller, about the size of a city block. I can immediately see the hulk of a boss, as I've spawned in a what looks like a giant ribcage. Directly in front of me sits a morbidly obese demon, about the size of a small building.

As far as I can tell, this floor isn't littered with demons, rather, it's a boss floor. I can only see Vulcan, surrounded by dozens of his ancient personal protectors.

I can't tell if he noticed me right away, but the way his personal army is shifting nervously, makes me guess he's been waiting for me. He looks at me with a lazy gaze, as if he's waiting for me to make the first move.

Name: The Ruler of Lower Floors, Avaricious Vulcan

Level: 80

Race: Demon Noble (Titan)

Class: Fighter

Thoughts about you: He's tired, wants to kill you as quickly as possible.

I observe his personal guard, excited to finally encounter high ranked demons. Most of them are A-rank, but a couple of Vulcan's men are S-rank.

In response, I summon my own red skinned guards: Tusk and my four orc generals. I summon Iron as well, he really wanted to be part of this fight. I'll have to indulge my shadows every now and then. In this case, Iron just wants to be known as my official vanguard.

"Tusk!" I give a confirming nod to my shadow shaman. "NOW!"

Eager to start the battle, my second strongest summon began conjuring his ultimate ability. In a second, a holy fireball started to grow in his hood turned dragon head.

With a bright flash, the calamitous magical blast hit Vulcan's guard, obliterating any A-rank demons instantly. The remaining S-rank demons didn't appreciate the attack, who begun their charge at me.

"Take care of the rest." I order Iron and the orc generals, while Igris, Tusk and I stand back to watch.

The S-rank guards clash in the middle, Iron successfully taunting the weakened demons, allowing my shadow orcs to get their attacks in uninterrupted.

Looking back to the throne, I notice the fat demon shift his weight ever so slightly, before he disappears in a blink.

As if he teleported, he suddenly appeared in front of Iron, the nimble boss swung his giant club at my vanguard, sending Iron backwards into a destroyed building with serious force. Without wasting a millisecond, Vulcan swung his cumbersome wooden club with almost impossible speed, wiping out my unprepared orcs in a single strike.

That movement is not normal…

With a loud boom, Tusk sent out a volley of holy flames, roasting the remaining guards, leaving Vulcan all by himself.

Not loving the holy flames he's covered in, the not so mini boss roared in extreme displeasure, coating himself in a heinous purple energy.

[The Ruler of the Lower Floors, Avaricious Vulcan is using Skill: 'Wrath']

[Vulcan will maintain its Rage status]

[Vulcan's stats will increase by 50%]

[Vulcan will feel less pain]

"He's mine." I order my shadows to let me fight Vulcan alone.

The horned three-eyed demon began to shout in ancient demonic tongue, as if he was possessed. This is an upgraded version of Cerberus' rage?

Giving me barely enough time to react, the enraged demon noble shot at me with significantly increased speed, raising his weapon, not holding back a single bit of his strength.

An ear shattering clang shook the surroundings around us, my golden shield materialized just in time to block the blow, still sending me back a couple hundred feet.

"SHIT!" I think I fractured my left forearm just by absorbing the hit. "What the fuck is that club made out of?!"

I thought he wasn't as strong as Cyclops? This is going to be harder than I thought...

Clumsily using [Heal] for the first time, I feel my broken arm begin to repair itself. Thanks to my angelic side, my already superhuman regeneration works even quicker.

"IRON!" I shout out to my vanguard, who instantly understands my intention, throwing me his shadow axe.

Grunting in pain as I stand up from the wreckage, I grip the great battle axe as hard as I can with both hands, biting my lips because my arm is still fractured. Casting [Bless] on myself, an erratic crackling energy covers the axe and my entire body, I have to take this fight seriously. I can see Vulcan looking down on me with an unimpressed sneer, drool is starting to drip from his crooked fangs.

In response, I rapidly fly into the air, higher than the brute can reach. At least I hope he can't reach me up here.

Vulcan stares up at me with fury in his eyes, I give him my coldest stare, using my right hand to gesture to him. He understands my body language, as I get ready to meet him with all I have. Rather than look for a counter attack, I should face him head on.

The atmosphere triples in tension, there's a couple seconds of quiet burning, as me and Vulcan size up one another.

NOW!

We charge at each other with as much speed as we could muster, Vulcan is already winding up with a mighty swing.

As soon as Vulcan soared into the air, an abrupt black cloud appeared above us. Vulcan is suddenly surprised as Tusk used his gravitation magic to control the demon's gravity, considerably slowing him down. Meanwhile, I threw Iron's axe as hard as I could, using [Ruler's Authority] to accelerate the huge battle axe straight at the stunned boss.

I roll on the ground smoothly, watching as the weapon smashes into Vulcan's ribcage, the sickening crunch on impact made me feel a little bad for it. I'm immediately reminded Vulcan is numb to the blow thanks to Wrath, because he hopped right back up, seemingly unaffected. I wonder how long that skill lasts for?

Actually, scratch that. While he may not have felt the pain, he's certainly feeling the effects, as Vulcan is noticeably slower when he tries to charge at me. I'll give him some credit, I didn't expect to need a shadow's assistance during the fight. But I can't help it if I come up with a strategy in real time.

Looking up at the imposing S-rank giant, I envelop my arms and wings with my holy electricity, ready to use Vulcan like a demonic punching bag. Aiming for his caved-in ribs, I start to strike him with my 6 limbs, increasing my speed with each blow. The holy energy begins to burn his thick hide, eventually a large portion of his mid-section is scorched black.

I don't know how long I've been hitting him, but at this point, the titan is just slumped over, it feels like his insides are pure mush. A precise strike from one of my wings tears a hole through him, a huge chunk of his intestine is hanging out of his huge gut.

A particularly disturbing lightbulb goes off in my mind, as I grab the piece of entrails sticking out, forcefully yanking it out with no mercy.

"KUAAAAAAH?!" Vulcan yelped out in agony, looks like he's beginning to feel the pain.

I channel as much holy electricity as I can, electrocuting the weakened slob with his own intestines until he was burned to a crisp.

A shiny red orb falls out from his mask, it appears he only had two eyes, after all. Holding the baseball sized sphere in my hands, my huge grin is reflected back at me. Admiring the vigorous energy it exudes, I observe the loot drop

Item: Orb of Avarice

Item Class: A

Type: Magic Item

An orb created by hardening blood of high-rank demon, Vulcan. It will amplify magic effects and deal more damage

Effect: Desire for Destruction: Double Magic Damage

"Tusk!" I toss the overpowered orb to the high orc, who was watching Iron saw Vulcan's head off.

The shadow shaman bows to me in gratitude, before he activated his powers, growing larger than I've ever seen him. He's noticeably more dangerous, it's like I'm watching Godzilla charge up his beam. An ominous energy grows and grows, until he releases an immense beam of fire, completely incinerating Vulcan's remains and the scenery behind the bony throne.

Shielding my eyes from the explosion, I quickly notice a large piece of wood, seemingly unaffected by the flames.

Item: World Tree's Fragment

Item Class: ?

Type: Ingredient

A leftover piece of wood from removing the corrupted parts of 'Vulcan's Club', which was created from the World Tree's Branch. Woods from the World Tree contain a powerful magic and thus used as an ingredient for magic items of the highest quality

Well I can't throw that away, can I? I'll find a use for it some day, but for now, it'll serve just fine as a trophy.

World Tree's Branch... Wasn't Bellion born from the fruit of the World Tree? I wonder if it's still up?

Ashborn, you there?

…

Hmm, that's a weird feeling. I was used to having one of the most powerful individuals in existence at my beck and call. I still feel my black heart beating, I wonder what he's doing?

"My King, that was an impressive battle." Igris startled me with a compliment, he's kneeling down with the decapitated ancient-grade demon guard heads assembled in front of me in a neat circle.

"Heh. Thanks Igris." I pat my loyal protector on his back.

So far, it's been a decent adventure in the dungeon. None of my shadows have evolved yet, but some are quite close, specifically my Hyakki warriors.

The upper floors will exclusively contain high rank demons and beasts, and I'd be lying if I wasn't a little anxious, I don't have that much canon knowledge regarding the demon nobles.

Whatever. Worst case, I'll treat it like a tutorial for DxD.

Collect Demon's Souls! (8008 / 10 000 souls collected)

A Bet with the Chairman (2 days, 22 hours left)

- BONUS -

- Esil Radiru (Radiru Clan, Demon Castle) -

"Father! We should send some of our warriors to assist Lord Metus, he was worrie-"

"Enough!" Radiru's patriarch interrupted her, bringing his hand up. "Please, Esil. Stop meddling with the lower floors, let Baran's barbarians take care of it."

The Radiru princess had been arguing with her father for the past hour, Lord Metus kept a careful watch on the bottom floors. Apparently an intruder was rising up the floors with haste.

"But fathe-"

"End of discussion." Her father raised his voice, she knew he never liked using force to silence her. "Let that creep Metus or the glutton Vulcan deal with the intruder. As long as we guard our own floor, Baran will be satisfied."

Esil bit her tongue, before she stormed out of the throne room. She made her way to her luxurious bedroom, stripping out of her demonic armor, jumping face first onto her bed.

Sighing deeply, she remembered her father would always see her as a little girl.

Fine then, she's going to send some warriors down there, anyway.

She quickly scribbled orders on a piece of parchment, before tying it to a demonic messenger raven.

It's always better to ask for forgiveness than permission.

- BONUS -

David Brennon (Federal Bureau of Hunters)

Washington, D.C.

The director of the American hunter governmental organization sat in his recliner, watching the footage of Mars and his ever growing army. With a bang, the door to his home office burst open, rushing in was his deputy director, Michael Connor.

"Director! I have urgent news from Seoul!" Michael exclaimed, his normally well maintained blond hair was messy, his glossy green eyes had bags underneath them. He handed a couple of files to the director. "Our informants are reporting that a couple of Mars' associates have undergone sudden power upgrades!"

"Explain." The stocky leader of the Federal Bureau raised his eyebrow, as he opened the files on two Korean hunters.

"Our contact in charge of monitoring the Korean guilds noticed something strange about two White Tiger hunters close to Mars Valentino. B-rank mage Heejin Park and E-rank hunter Song-Yi Han have experienced severe growths in strength. B-ranker Heejin is currently A-rank, while E-ranker Song-Yi is officially B-rank now!" Michael explained to David, who was reading the report. "Upon further inspection, they both give off identical magical wavelengths as Mars..."

David kept silent for a second, coming to the understanding of what that means for the hunter community.

"Are you implying what I think you're implying?" David asked Michael with dead serious eyes.

"Yes..." The deputy director cleared his throat, standing up straighter before he returned David's gaze. "Mars is the world's second confirmed Upgrader."

David thought their greatest asset was Norma Selner, the fortune-teller turned upgrader and clairvoyant. She single handedly helped America become a superpower again, after the United States lost almost every single top ranked hunter due to the dragon Kamish. Not only did nearly every American A or S-ranker die to humanity's calamity, but the entirety of the country's west coast was devastated, as the dungeon break occurred in San Diego. Thanks to Norma, the United States was able to recruit countless top ranked hunters from other countries, who all left for the promise of guaranteed power boosts.

"We need to act fast..." Director Brennon closed his eyes in deep thought. "Especially since Norma's latest precognition. Apparently National rank Christopher Reed is in grave danger."

"Mars is an anomaly, an upgrader and S-rank hunter who can summon and control hundreds of solders? To be honest, I find him to be a waste to remain in a small country like South Korea." Michael Connor bluntly stated, as the countryman put American lives over anything else.

"My thoughts are the same. Do you have any other information on him?" Michael asked his deputy with an eager expression.

"Our team has already cracked the Korean Association's lock on his file. Thomas Andre has already booked a trip to Korea, specifically to recruit him." Deputy director Connor nodded, he already started the plan.

"This is different from the time with Hwang Dongsoo..." David had a conflicted look on his face. "South Korea has been an ally to the United States for quite some time. If we were to take two of their S-rank hunters, wouldn't it signal that we want to end our relationship with them?"

"But isn't Mars worth it?" Michael revealed his true thoughts. "As far as I can tell, he has no limit. And he's the only other upgrader that we know of..."

David closed his eyes again, thinking of the consequences if they do go with the plan. Sorry chairman Gunhee, but this new world moves fast, and only the strongest countries will continue to thrive.

"Are you able to make it happen?" Director Brennon asked, his eyes opened.

In the end, he was a true patriot as well.

"I will try my best, sir."