“Then let’s leave it alone and take care of our business.”
Yeon-woo looked at Brahm, Galliard, Phante, and Edora.
While everyone was nodding with serious faces, Yeon-woo pulled out several books from Intrenian. They were De Roy’s Records. It was what he got from the Kelat Auction House. That was the good thing about the auction house; you could easily finish quests.
[You have destroyed ‘De Roy’s Records (Third Part)’.]
[The hidden piece is being revealed!]
[The skill ‘Demon Studies’ has been raised by one level.]
[You have destroyed ‘De Roy’s Records (Sixth Part).’]
[You have destroyed ‘De Roy’s Records (Fourth Part).’]
…..
There were 10 parts in total for De Roy’s Records. Of those 10, Yeon-woo had 6 of them.
The rank of the Demon Studies skill was at BB+ now.
Yeon-woo activated Demon Studies and released his power.
The Black Bracelet trembled, emitting a black ray of light.
[The 3rd Soul – Hundred Nocturnal Ghosts]
Kiaaaa!
With a scream, souls poured out.
Phante and Edora flinched unintentionally upon seeing them. After taking his mask off, Yeon-woo was showing them the powers that he had hidden from them, one by one.
They got shivers because with just a glance, there seemed to be thousands of souls.
It was not a question of whether they were scary. Of course people would feel uncomfortable because the souls were floating around with foggy forms.
Yeon-woo looked at the beings circling around him with steady eyes.
[Number of collected souls: 3,511]
As his understanding of the dead increased, the amount of souls he could put into his collection with his power increased.
Even though there were already over 3,000 of them, there was still more space left.
But what was more shocking was that the souls, which were nothing more than a collection, were now able to be controlled with a flick of his finger.
He realized how amazing the influence of his new power was.
‘A power…..can I make one of my own someday?’
Even his genius little brother hadn’t made a power. His Sky Wings were close to that, but in the end, even he couldn’t surpass that limit.
With those thoughts in mind, Yeon-woo gave orders to his souls.
“Scatter.”
Thousands of souls scattered across the red sky.
They scoured around, aiming for the Demonic species.
Each soul entered the Demonic species’ bodies. As the souls poured inside the beings’ heads, the Demonic species realized that something was amiss and tried to run away, but they weren’t able to do so.
And when the soul took over the nerves and brains of the Demonic specimen, it stiffened, and its eyes turned black, the color of the souls.
‘It’s done.’
Feeling the consciousness of the thousands of souls, Yeon-woo’s eyes flashed.
Demons and Monsters.
Yeon-woo continued practicing inputting the souls into monsters or Demonic species with the power.
He learned that the inputting process went a lot smoother the lower their intellect or health.
Fortunately, the Demonic species had a lower intellectual level than most monsters, so it was easier than he thought to control them.
“Move.”
And with the new order, the souls that controlled the bodies of the Demonic species all jumped inside De Roy Lake.
The Demonic species began to tear each other apart under the lake.
As one ate up another, another entered to swallow it, and this repeated over and over again.
The lake turned into chaos.
Kiaaaaa!
“Horrible.”
Brahm shook his head. But he didn’t turn away, his eyes shining with the amusement of a scholar.
The man who tried creating the Ceratopsian Dinosaurs with Demon Trees was greatly interested in Yeon-woo’s method.
Yeon-woo used the souls to incite fights between the monsters, then collected the dead souls of the controlled monsters.
Thanks to that, the number of souls in his collection continued to grow, and the predator under the lake got larger.
Crrrr!
The Ceratopsian Dinosaur lifted its head above the water. However, next to it, another Ceratopsian Dinosaur appeared and bit its neck. Several Ceratopsian Dinosaurs made their entrances.
The chaos was now like hell.
Flesh floated in the water. All the Demon Trees around the lake were crushed.
Galliard, who hated demons to the bone, looked satisfied, Edora wrinkled her pure face, and Phante clenched his fists with sparkling eyes.
“This is dope…..!”
Just then, Brahm shouted.
“It’s starting. Get ready.”
The party all braced themselves and pointed their weapons towards the lake.
The dance of Ceratopsian Dinosaurs and Demonic species was over.
When thousands of Demonic species were blended into its stomach, the last Ceratopsian Dinosaur suddenly stuck its head into its body and began to eat itself.
It was a monstrous sight. When only its head was left, the dinosaur’s skull cracked open like a butterfly crawling out from its cocoon, revealing a man.
It was a snow-white naked man with a pair of black wings.
He looked at Yeon-woo and the others with an overjoyed face.
“Ah! What a refreshing breeze.”
[You have succeeded in growing a lower-level demon artificially!]
[Congratulations! You have found another way to control death. The range of your influence of darkness becomes wider.]
[You have succeeded in recognizing the foundation of magic and demons. Your understanding increases dramatically.]
[Your properties and control increase by 30.]
[You have learned a great amount of the Demon’s Blessing.]
[You have learned a great amount of the Demon’s Blessing.]
…..
[Your understanding of souls becomes deeper.]
[The storage capacity of your collection is growing.]
[Your ability to control souls has become deeper. The proficiency of the power ‘The 3rd Spirit’ has increased dramatically. 21.5%]
[You have earned the trait ‘Dark Lord.’]
[You have earned the title ‘Guide of Evil Spirits.’]
[You have achieved an accomplishment that isn’t easily achieved. Additional Karma and rewards are being given.]
[You have gained 15,000 Karma.]
[You have gained an additional 30,000 Karma.]
[The evolution of ‘Demonic Studies’ is being rewarded to you. A new skill is being searched for in consideration of your stats and traits.]
[The influence of the trait ‘Dark Lord’ is received.]
[The superior skill ‘Demonism’ has been created.]
[Demonism]
Numbering 19
Proficiency: 0.0%
Summary: The form of Demon Studies has been promoted by several levels. Though it is a lower level demon that can’t even be considered a real demon, you still created a demon, and so you will be given great understanding and properties of demonic spirits.
With this, your black magic and other powers will surpass their current limits.
*Demonic Energy
The demonic energy needed to activate this skill will continually be produced through the Demon’s Blessing.
*Demon’s Curse
When the black magic learned through a skill book is expressed, its rank will increase. The increase of rank is incomparable to what the Demon’s Blessing can do.
*Devil King Poison
A more effective poison than Devil Poison will be created. Its quality depends on how much Demon’s Blessing you have.
Endless messages popped up. They were all about how he gained traits, titles, and skills. What he did was incredible even by the system’s standards.
Like when he bound Brahm to him, the reaction of the 98th floor was filled with confusion.
[Multiples gods and demons of the 98th floor sigh.]
[Multiple godly societies are looking at you with strange gazes.]
[Most godly societies are reserving their judgment of you. A few gods feel amused by you.]
[Athena is looking at you proudly.]
[Hermes nods his head with satisfaction.]
[Poseidon is having a deep conversation with someone. Their judgment of you is reserved.]
[Azrael expresses his greed for you.]
…..
[Multiple demonic societies are seething.]
[A few demons are exchanging a serious conversation about you.]
[Agares reveals his greed for you.]
[Chaos licks his lips.]
[A demon of ‘Jeolgyo,’ Tao Wu, expresses his interest in you.]
However, it was slightly different than with Brahm.
Back then, the related godly societies were enraged, but now, they were looking at Yeon-woo with interest. There were even some who clearly showed their desire for Yeon-woo.
‘My inventory of powers has increased.’
Yeon-woo saw the number of powers that were in the channel he left open.
With this, even those that had been unsure about Yeon-woo had jumped on the boat.
The more he stacked his achievements in the future, the greater his inventory would probably become.
Then that meant the strength that Yeon-woo had would increase in parallel with his achievements.
The lower-level demon curved his lips up, probably oblivious to the situation.
“I can’t express my gratitude for waking me up from a deep sleep. I’ll accept you as my faithful…..!”
“Shut up.”
“Kup!”
He suddenly gasped and kneeled. His shoulders were trembling like there was something heavy on them. Veins popped out from his pale skin.
“W, What did you do…..!”
He was breathless from the curse of the thousands of souls in his body. The demon tried to circulate his demonic energy to get rid of the souls. But before that, Brahm activated the transmutation circle that was along the lake.
Chrk!
Divine Iron flew out to bind the demon, and new magic circles folded the space he was in.
It was a sealing circle that imitated the buildup of the Philosopher’s Stone. Of course, this newborn, lower-level demon wouldn’t be able to bear it.
“N, Nooooooo!”
“Yes.”
Boom!
With Yeon-woo’s cold smile, space folded, and the demon was crushed like that. Something fell down to the lake with a pop. The souls picked it up and brought it to Yeon-woo.
“So this is it.”
Brahm approached with trembling eyes. There was a pitch-black stone in Yeon-woo’s hand. It was the Devil Core of the demon.
Yeon-woo gave it to Brahm. It was now up to Brahm to take care of it.
Brahm’s hand shook as he accepted the Devil Core. WIth this, Sesha could be cured. He was happy that what he had been waiting for was finally here.
Looking at him, Yeon-woo activated his Cores.
On the outside, it looked simple, but binding a demon used up the magic power he had. His stamina was at a low. A demon was definitely a demon. It wasn’t something that could be done twice.
But thankfully, the Philosopher’s Stone moved furiously, and his magic power stock quickly filled up again.
Just then, he felt Phante looking at him strangely.
“Do you know that?”
“What?”
“There were just two things you said after seeing a demon.”
“…..?”
“Shut up. Yes. That was it.”
“…..”
Yeon-woo turned away like he didn’t hear anything.
“Gosh, that personality of his…..”
He could hear Phante complaining behind his back, but he ignored him on purpose.
Right now, he didn’t have time to deal with him.
He could feel countless players crowding near him. It was expected since he had swept up all the Demonic species in the area.
Also, Yeon-woo was the culprit who messed up the 23rd floor. He received a lot of attention since he hadn’t shown himself for the past few months.
Of course all those people would gather to see the situation.
Edora and Phante also felt their presence and gripped their weapons. Galliard turned his head in its direction.
A group revealed themselves from amongst the large crowd.
It was a group with red armor. They looked organized like they were from the military of a certain country.
Yeon-woo was familiar with the person taking the lead, thanks to the diary.
The Blood Land. Of them, there was one of the swords that the Gluttony Emperor especially cherished.
‘Marquis Caliburn.’
The marquis opened his mouth.
“Are you the Hoarder?”
***
The Summer Queen and Troy looked down at the three pieces of the tablet.
“This is the Philosopher’s Stone…..”
A bright light shone along the Summer Queen’s eyes. She tightly held onto the tablet.
The appearance of the pieces was sudden. It was like the heavens gave her a gift. Like it was given to her ‘intentionally.’
It was her steadfast opinion that there was no such thing as coincidence in this world.
It was a teaching she had learned as the last dragon, throughout her life. Just like how a stone was created through all kinds of processes and turmoil, it seemed like someone had touched the appearance of this tablet.
So normally, she would’ve thrown the tablet away, or tried to look into the motive of whoever did it, but she didn’t have the freedom to do so right now.
Her Dragon Heart that was turning into stone was beginning to crack, and her body was just on the brink of ruin.
If this kept up, all the powers she was barely holding onto would vanish.
Thankfully, there wasn’t anything suspicious about the information about the tablet. She examined it with her Dragon’s Knowledge, but there was only information about complex alchemy.
There were even some things that her Dragon’s Knowledge didn’t know.
The Dragon Queen felt like her knowledge had become deeper.
There wasn’t anything wrong with what it said. There wasn’t even a trap.
‘Unless a god played a dirty trick.’
But there was no way something like that would have happened, so she wasn’t concerned.
The Summer Queen moved her magic power based off of what the tablet said. While her subordinates made the Philosopher’s Stone, she was planning on sealing her Dragon Heart first.
Checheche—
As she did, the rate at which her Dragon Heart was cracking slowed down, and it was even fixed on some sides.
The Summer Queen’s body trembled ecstatically.
The binds that had trapped her like a curse were gone. She felt like she might even be able to return to her old form.
She wanted to smile. She wanted to laugh at Heaven Wing.
Watch her. Even though he destroyed her, he was dead, and she was alive. The Summer Queen didn’t die. Rather, she would be born again, to defeat Allforone and rise to the 98th floor. And Heaven Wing would be her sacrifice!
Just when she was laughing—
“Accck!”
The Summer Queen screamed.
Her renewed Dragon Heart suddenly broke.
Magic power flowed out, exploding. Her Magic Circuit was destroyed, and her Dragon’s Blessing was crushed.
Her flesh turned black, and the rate of destruction sped up. The poison that was mixed into her magic power ate up her body at a quick pace.
It was Devil Poison.
