Golden clouds flowed in the colorful sky. It was a beautiful landscape that made people excited. Drasion quietly opened his eyes and wiped his cheeks with the back of his hand. The liquid that flowed down the rough, hard skin was clearly tears.
“......”
Drasion’s eyes shook. The world he saw in his dreams was a place of darkness everywhere and it made him feel empty and afraid. A strange but nostalgic voice echoed in his confused mind—“I don’t want to face your ugly eyes stained with the light of pa.s.sion anymore.”
“Uh... uuuuuh...”
He had regained his memories, so why did he miss the scenery and voice that couldn’t be found in his memories. Why was his heart so cold and pained? What was this terrible solitude? Drasion held his head in agony and recalled a human he met during his days as Biplonz.
“You were born in a strange place after your previous life.”
The white-haired human who seemed to know his previous life—the eyes of the person who looked at him contained both ridicule and sympathy.
‘Is he talking about the me in the past, or who I am now?’
An absurd question came to mind and made Drasion feel ferocious. The turmoil that came like a tsunami made him feel more confused and afraid. Somehow, he felt a sense of anxiety like he shouldn’t just sit still. The desire to quickly dye the world with his curse and inflict the same confusion and pain that he felt in others arose.
This was pure instinct. An instinct that couldn’t be resisted.
‘...I have to leave this place first.’
An abyss filled with deep darkness—in the Abyss, the entrance to h.e.l.l and the exit to the earth coexisted, but Drasion only looked at the exit. He was a great demon who had experienced pain on the earth and there was the variable called Grid protecting the earth. Even so, the world he wanted was the earth, not h.e.l.l.
Why? Drasion himself didn’t understand his unusual obsession.
Flap.
Drasion raised his crouching body. Black feathers fluttered in all directions as he spread open his wings. He was trying to fly out when his ankle was grabbed by a hand rising from the ground. Drasion looked down in a startled manner and saw red eyes.
“Is there a need to be so anxious?”
The owner of the eyes exuded enough magic power to make even Drasion nervous. It was demonic energy that was thick enough to dye the golden clouds that Drasion saw in his dreams black.
“Baal...” The 1st great demon—Drasion vividly remembered the true evil that ruled h.e.l.l on behalf of the evil G.o.d Yatan. “Why have you come to me?”
“I came to congratulate my old colleague after hearing that you opened your eyes.”
“Colleague?”
The great demons didn’t easily use the term ‘colleague.’ They just had a compet.i.tive or submissive relations.h.i.+p with each other. Drasion belonged to the former. In the past, he competed without obeying the great demons who had a higher rank than him. He showed this consistent att.i.tude toward Baal, yet Baal used the word ‘colleague’ without hesitation. It was as if Drasion wasn’t a compet.i.tor from the start.
Baal rolled his eyes and made a complete appearance in front of the frowning Drasion. The eyes spun and accelerated like a spinning top. They seemed to be observing everything in the Abyss that was covered by darkness. He swept over it without missing anything.
Then Baal snapped his fingers and a series of explosions occurred in the darkness. It was the sound of those living in the Abyss dying. Now there were only two living beings here, Baal and Drasion. No one could eavesdrop on the conversation between the two of them. “I will tell you one thing.”
“?”
“You will die in this war. It is impossible to conquer the earth with the power of the 11th great demon.”
“......”
It was a curse and a mockery. Baal’s terrible personality was still the same. Drasion was turning away due to this when he heard Baal’s words continue.
“So don’t deny death this time. Accept it.”
“......?”
They were meaningful words. Drasion looked back and found that Baal was already gone.
***
The 1st ranked black magician, Rose—as a Servant of Yatan, she received revelations from the great demon Amoract. It was the same again this time. She was tasked with monitoring the great demon of curses who could possibly be resurrected.
Rose was a bit puzzled about why it was surveillance rather than a.s.sistance, but she completed the mission as seriously as always. She sent a familiar to the Abyss and witnessed the resurrection of the demon of curses. She was delighted to see Grid’s powerless retreat and frustrated when she saw that Drasion didn’t go up to the earth despite defeating Grid. Even so, she focused on her mission.
This was when the 1st great demon Baal appeared. The great demon at the peak that she only heard about through rumors was amazing just from his presence. The unique rated familiar, the ‘twilight bat’ was scared and tried to escape. Rose understood the heart of the twilight bat but didn’t listen to its wish.
She controlled the twilight bat to observe Baal a bit more clearly. The result was painful. Baal rolled his eyes a few times and the twilight bat lost its life.
[The familiar ‘twilight bat’ has been destroyed.]
“I was noticed.”
The familiar could work in places far away from its master and share its vision with the master but the penalty was that they only had one life. Unlike pets who could be summoned again after the cooldown had pa.s.sed, death was the end for a familiar. Rose lost a unique rated familiar and suffered huge losses.
She was feeling regret when Amoract sent her a new revelation
-My dear child, set off for the Saharan Empire straight away.
The great demon of curses is about to rise to the earth.
The Saharan Empire will soon turn into a battlefield.
Amoract would tell her to stand on the side of Drasion and fight together—Rose thought of it this way and felt hope.
‘This time, I will be sure to win.’
Until now, Rose had fought on the side of many great demons. Unfortunately, she never got a single victory. Was it because the great demons were weaker than she thought? No. It was just that humanity was strong. Every time people with different or similar abilities gathered around Grid, their fighting power was more than expected and the great demons were always defeated.
However, this time would be different. Rose had seen Drasion’s Doom. The biggest reason players could do boss raids with less health was due to their ‘healing’ and ‘recovery’ abilities. Doom was a deadly power that blocked this. Humans would never be able to raid Drasion as long as he had this great power.
Rose’s mouth curved up in a smile when she thought this. She imagined the soaring authority of the Yatan Church and the rewards that would be earned the moment a great demon’s territory was established on the earth and she was fascinated.
‘There are no eternally strong people.’
In many MMORPGs in the past, there were always strong forces. A guild made by gathering numerous rankers or an alliance of strong guilds would rule the game. However, Rose knew there were few forces that reigned forever. It was because a force that was too strong would create another force to go against it.
‘The era of the Yatan Church is beginning.’
The moment the Yatan Church established itself in the Saharan Empire destroyed by Drasion, there was a high possibility that the forces hostile to or wary of the Overgeared Kingdom would cooperate with the Yatan Church. It meant that the strongest force in the history of Satisfy would be born with the great demons behind it.
“Yes, I know...”
It happened when the joyful Rose was going to answer vigorously...
-Go and help the humans destroy Drasion.
Amoract’s words continued and the glorious future Rose imagined was shattered.
“...Huh? Fight on the same side as humans?”
Rose doubted her ears. She thought she heard Amoract incorrectly. Unfortunately, this wasn’t the case.
[A new revelation has occurred.]
[Destroy the Demon of Curses]
[Rating: SSS++
Amoract, the agent of G.o.d Yatan, wants the destruction of Drasion, the demon of curses.
Follow her will and destroy Drasion along with humanity.
Revelation Clear Reward: 2 levels. A race change to a demon.]
‘I don’t know the relations.h.i.+p between great demons.’
Rose knew that the great demons had a compet.i.tive relations.h.i.+p. She just didn’t expect there would be a case of cooperating with humans to kill another great demon.
“...I understand.”
Would the Overgeared Guild accept her help? Rose’s relations.h.i.+p with the Overgeared Guild was the worst. If she went to help then it would be fortunate not to have a knife stabbed in her back. Still, Rose had no choice. It was changing her race to a demon, not a simple demonkin.
This time, the reward was too big. From Rose’s position, it was a revelation she wanted to complete.
***
Empress Basara prepared for a war with Drasion and first evacuated the people. Only the sound of knights and soldiers marching through the empty t.i.tan was heard.
“Wouldn’t we be able to defeat even Baal with this much power?”
On the way to the Abyss, Vantner deliberately spoke loudly in order to break the tense silence.
“Our Overgeared Kingdom and the empire is united. What can the 11th ranked great demon do against us?’
Color returned to the faces of the soldiers trembling with fear. Piaro, the pillar of the former empire and Kyle, the pillar of the current empire. 1st Knight Mercedes of the previous generation and the single digit Red Knights of the current generation. Overgeared King Grid and the dukes of the empire.
The soldiers were reminded of who they were with and felt courage they didn’t have. Yes, they would win. They would fight and defeat the great demons with the strongest of the empire and the Overgeared Kingdom. Unlike the imperial soldiers whose morale was raised, Grid was tense.
‘Can we win?’
Doom was too hard to withstand. He had warned everyone of the power of Doom, but it was doubtful they could handle it properly. As he was feeling nervous, they got closer to the Abyss. The entrance of the Abyss could be seen in the distance.
The imperial army was commanded by the dukes while the Overgeared Kingdom’s army was commanded by Asmophel and Mercedes. Soldiers holding bows surrounded the entrance of the Abyss in formations while magicians and priests stood before the soldiers.
The moment Drasion appeared, the soldiers would fire arrows to acc.u.mulate even the smallest damage while the priests and magicians would protect the soldiers from Drasion’s wide area attacks.
“Sigh.”
Grid breathed deeply while the elites of the Overgeared Kingdom and the empire took positions near the entrance.
“If you are a magician please take your place by our side.”
“Shut up.”
The imperial great magicians pointed out Braham’s position, but Braham just scoffed.
After a while...
[Drasion, the great demon of curses has appeared!]
The ground shook and Drasion appeared. Arrows and magic poured out at once and hit him. Once his gaze was drawn away, the Overgeared members unleashed their ultimate attacks. No, they tried to release them.
“Gravity.”
The Overgeared members had been rus.h.i.+ng toward Drasion in the sky. Then they were unable to bear the effects of gravity and fell to the ground. It was Braham’s doing.
“What are you doing?” Vantner was about to scold Braham only to turn pale. It was because the single digit knights who jumped with them were cut in half by invisible blades.