Chapter 118
After cutting off contact with Lia, I lay down on the bed.
Her nagging, which had poured out like a machine gun, echoed in my head.
She said she’d kill me if I didn’t keep in touch properly.
A pretty cute death threat.
Anyway, things were unfolding differently from what I had expected, but it wasn’t a bad situation.
Most of all, Park Siwoo had entered the Trial Tower.
Considering he still hadn’t come out, it seemed he was holding up in there for at least a few months.
That talented guy was monopolizing a growth event too… just how strong would he become?
I was looking forward to seeing them again.
According to Lia, the Academy’s closure would end soon, so I’d be able to check their growth.
And the information Lia gave me wasn’t just about the main characters.
The Academy itself was undergoing a massive upheaval.
It seemed they were sharpening their knives after the Hell Manifestation incident.
The most noticeable change was the addition of new instructors.
The Academy’s instructors, who had originally been composed of mid- to high-tier Heroes, had been largely replaced.
The standard had been raised to upper-mid-tier, and the previous mid-tier Heroes had either retired or stepped down into assistant roles.
Behind this sudden shift in faculty were major Guilds.
The Academy had allied with them to inject capital and elite manpower, aiming for immediate combat strength.
In the short term, it was certainly an effective decision.
But in the long term, it wasn’t a good one.
Unlike before, when it was a pure educational institution, the involvement of Guilds—profit-driven groups—introduced the risk of internal power struggles.
And worse, it was practically opening a path for Demons to slip back into the Academy that had only just been freed from them.
No… perhaps this very change was something Pandemonium had intended.
Of course, the Academy wasn’t foolish either, and it seemed they had prepared a strong safeguard.
That safeguard was placing Instructor Chun Ga-eun, a top-tier Hero, as the core overseer.
I had always thought she was no ordinary person whenever I saw her, but to think she was a top-tier Hero…
Even I hadn’t known that.
As the Academy changed, I needed to adjust and do my part as well.
I opened the desk drawer to store Lia’s Heart Fragment.
That was when a bundle of papers caught my eye.
“This is……”
I placed the Heart Fragment inside and picked up the bundle.
It had quite a bit of weight to it.
Looking through it, they were letters that had arrived from Pandemonium while I was training with the Heavenly Demon.
I didn’t even need to read the contents.
They were obviously missions prepared by those who couldn’t stand me sitting idle.
Seriously, letters? Letters?
Well, since the Heavenly Demon had cut off all external communication and focused solely on training, there hadn’t been any other way to contact me.
I had expected missions to come in.
Without opening them, I checked only the recipients.
Honestly, I wanted to burn them all, but I couldn’t ignore everything due to my position.
If I didn’t handle at least one or two major ones, the High-ranking Executives would definitely start giving me trouble.
As I flipped through the letters quickly, my hand suddenly stopped at one.
An envelope that looked like it was made of some kind of leather, neatly folded and sealed with red wax.
My eyes focused on the seal.
A skull with horns, wrapped by a serpent.
It was the symbol of a High-ranking Executive—Lord Biden.
My face immediately twisted.
What does this guy want?
The relationship between Lord Biden and the Heavenly Demon was extremely bad.
So if he sent a request, it wasn’t aimed at her—it was aimed at me.
Could it be something related to Joo Sarang?
Or was he trying to assign something related to his laboratory?
But for a mission letter, the packaging was way too extravagant.
I broke the seal and checked the contents.
The letter roughly said this:
[Devil Knight, I have confirmed that the information you provided is true.
You have resolved a long-standing problem of mine. That is no small merit.
I, Lord Biden, have promised you a reward.
Come to my residence.]
After reading it, I crumpled the letter.
He sure took a long way to say “come visit my house.”
The flowery language and self-praise made my eyes hurt.
Anyway, what he sent wasn’t a mission order—it was an invitation.
I began weighing my options.
Should I accept it or not?
If I went to his residence, I’d likely receive lavish treatment and compensation for the information.
Considering he was a High-ranking Executive of Pandemonium, the reward would be substantial.
But I didn’t welcome his invitation.
No—more than that, I wanted to refuse it if possible.
It wasn’t because I was afraid of entering enemy territory.
Inviting someone and then harming them would disgrace a High-ranking Executive of his level.
Besides, I had the Heavenly Demon backing me.
No executive in Pandemonium would want to make an enemy of her over something trivial.
The problem was Lord Biden himself—and his abilities.
Lord Biden was a Lich.
A worst-case Necromancer who commanded the dead.
And the name of the fortress he resided in was Necropolis.
A city of the dead.
A fortress filled not with a few undead, but hundreds of thousands of them.
Just imagining it made me feel sick.
Haah…
If I could avoid going, I really wanted to.
But… compared to other missions, responding to this invitation was much better.
Pandemonium operated under the Iron-Blooded Law, where strength ruled.
In that system, I couldn’t just reject requests from the strong.
So it was better to accept an invitation from someone like Lord Biden and use it as an excuse to refuse lower-level requests.
Alright—let’s just think of it as preliminary reconnaissance of an enemy I’ll have to defeat someday.
Having made up my mind, I headed toward his residence.
---
Night.
A massive curtain of darkness covered the sky.
The sharp wind howled like the cries of ghosts.
Damp soil clung to my shoes.
The eerie atmosphere made me glance around unconsciously.
The dense trees felt like they were staring at me.
“This damn place.”
Even if I tried not to curse, it was impossible not to.
I unfolded the map and checked my position again.
Where the hell is this castle?
I had been searching the area for hours, yet there wasn’t even a trace of Lord Biden’s fortress.
With a grand name like Necropolis, I thought it would be easy to find.
Did he build it underground or something?
I had definitely followed the coordinates.
Rustle.
Sensing a presence, I turned my head.
And met eyes with a zombie whose flesh was rotting off, its eyeball dangling loose.
“Uoooo……”
“Shut up.”
Without hesitation, I threw Infernal Flame at it.
The flames spread instantly, engulfing the zombie and burning it without a trace.
If zombies were appearing here, they were definitely summoned by Lord Biden.
Even so, I burned it as a warning.
If you invite someone, at least come greet them properly.
Sending just a single zombie in a place like this?
Even in Pandemonium, where the Iron-Blooded Law ruled, there was still such a thing as dignity.
If he had any sense, he’d send someone proper to greet me.
Still, if zombies were appearing, then the fortress had to be nearby.
I should look around a bit more.
As expected, low, beast-like growls began to echo around me.
Through the trees, countless crimson glows appeared.
Something about this felt off.
It didn’t seem like they intended to greet me politely.
“Grrr!”
“Uooohhh!”
“Kieeeek!”
Before I knew it, zombies had surrounded me and were closing in.
Dealing with these things would be easy if I used Demonic Authority…
But the Heavenly Demon’s words came to mind.
‘Have you forgotten the nature of Demonic Authority? It is a sinister power tainted by demonic energy. It is harmful to the mind. If you’re not careful, you may be consumed by it and fall into deviation. Use the Asura Divine Art.’
…Yeah, let’s avoid using Demonic Authority for now.
I slowly activated the Infernal Flame of the Asura Divine Art.
“If you’re planning to scold me just for dealing with trash like this, don’t bother.”
I spoke into the air as a precaution.
These low-level undead were likely naturally generated ones, summoned indirectly by higher undead under Lord Biden.
So even if I killed them, it shouldn’t bother him.
Honestly, I was too lazy to keep searching for the fortress.
Better to stir things up and draw out his subordinates.
Soon, the flames of the Asura Divine Art surged violently, forming a massive pillar of fire.
The undead were erased instantly, unable even to scream.
Though the zombies disappeared in an instant, I deliberately maintained the flames for a while.
After some time—
Swoosh!
With the sound of air tearing apart, three figures dropped in front of me.
They didn’t even try to hide that they were Demons, black demonic energy pouring out from them.
I had expected undead.
“Well, perfect timing. I was waiting.”
At that moment, the one in front lunged at me.
What, we’re fighting first?
“Is this how Lord Biden greets his guests?”
The Demon’s hand darkened as it touched the shadows.
At the same time, a black, monstrous form emerged from the writhing shadows.
“Do Demons not understand conversation at all?”
A wolf-shaped shadow beast lunged at me with its massive jaws.
…Guess it’s easier to subdue them all first and clear things up later.
Honestly, I was already annoyed that they made me go through all this trouble just to get here.
This was just me venting at this point.
I grabbed the shadow beast’s jaws and tore them apart, flames gathering in my hand.
Asura Divine Art
Discipline Through Punishment
Flames split into dozens of strands and rained down on the shadow beasts and Demons.
Kwaaaaang!
With a massive explosion, Infernal Flame shook the ground.
They looked like upper-level Demons… but they wouldn’t die from that, right?
I pulled out the invitation Lord Biden had sent from my pocket.
“I came here gladly accepting your invitation. Is this how Necropolis treats its guests?”
Of course, there was no response.
With a wave of my hand, the thick smoke and flames quickly subsided.
The Demons lay sprawled on the ground.
I slapped awake the one who attacked me first and spoke coldly.
“Playtime’s over. Take me to the fortress.”