by Park Saenal
He wanted to be alone. There was no need for a new relationship. He just wanted to resurrect his old lover and atone for her life. As his vision flashed red, he recalled a skill he had always ignored.
[Assimilation]
[Part of the ego of the 1st great demon, Baal will descend to your body.
At this time, your class will be converted to Great Demon’ and control of the flesh will be transferred to Baal.
Skill Trigger Conditions: Enter a new contract.
Skill Duration: 2 minutes
Skill Cooldown: Reset every time 3,000 human lives are taken.]
Agnus had to turn away from it. He felt a great reluctance to give others control of his body. Who in the world would transfer their body to someone else? It was only a very stupid or crazy person. Furthermore, there was a bigger problem. The real problem was the contents of the ‘contract’ needed to activate the skill.
(Slaughter 100 humans every day for the rest of your life. Your level will drop by one every time the contract is violated.)
Harming 100 humans every day wasn’t an easy task. In particular, the stronger the opponent, the easier it was to harm him. Therefore, he didn’t have time to run and hunt humans every day. Of course, a solution existed. He could slaughter the relatively weak. Visit a small village and destroy it or drop a spell at a hunting ground where novice players gathered. He would take 100 lives in an instant.
However, Agnus didn’t have the hobby of bullying the weak. In particular, he was extremely reluctant to harm innocent children. It wasn’t because he was particularly kind, but it was the nature of humans. This was the decisive reason why Agnus turned away from the Assimilation skill.
Now things had changed. Agnus lost his temper and was no longer bound by his previous conscience. He had lost everything because he was weak. Even the last dignity had been trampled on. He had the right to pay back the same thing to the world.
Agnus awakened in a negative manner and shouted, “Baal!”
[Assimilation has been used.]
[Baal, the absolute ruler of hell, is laughing cheerfully.]
-Eung~? Agnus, what is this? I didn’t know you would make this choice?
“Don’t be sarcastic!”
-Kukukuk, I’m not being sarcastic. I’m trying to compliment you. Very well done. In rare cases, you make the right decision.
[Part of Baal’s ego has entered your body.]
Clouds filled the sky. They were red clouds like blood. All the plants in the forest quickly rotted, and the area was blackened. The nasty air not only harmed the hurt and collapsed Euphemina but also Zibal and Beniyaru. Every breath of poison they took in caused blood to flow out.
“What…”
What was happening all of a sudden? The confused gazes of Euphemina and Zibal turned to Agnus. They could see that Agnus’ entire body was covered in demonic energy. The blackened whites of his eyes made his cold, gold pupils stand out even more.
“Kukuk, kuhahahat!” Agnus laughed loudly. The piece of Baal’s ego that had descended to Agnus’ body pulled out a horn rising from his forehead and held it like a sword. At the same time, Beniyaru fell. There was a big hole in her chest. The horn that Baal pulled out and held had suddenly pierced her chest.
“Fallen? Can this be called fallen when you are hiding like a rat in the forest?” Baal ridiculed Beniyaru as he narrowed the distance to her. He held Beniyaru’s hair in a vicious grip and whispered in her ear, “Keep this in mind, elf who is as timid as an adolescent boy. The only duty that the fallen must commit is revenge, destruction, and chaos.”
Bang!
“Well, you won’t have a chance to do that.”
“…”
Beniyaru was beaten by Baal’s fists, and she flinched. Her bloodied and bulging eyes were so horrendous that Zibal couldn’t bear to look. Euphemina, who had been stunned because of the critical hit to her heart, finally shouted, “Agnus, calm down! I’m fine!”
“Hrmm.”
Baal’s gaze turned to Euphemina. “You are her.” Step. Step. Baal smiled as he approached Euphemina. It was a really refreshing smile, but his fingertips were turning into daggers. “The one who often showed ridiculous goodwill to my toy.”
“Agnus…?”
The dagger was inserted into Euphemina’s delicate neck. Her blue eyes lost their light, and her small body collapsed like a broken doll in Baal’s arms.
“My head is ringing. Stop shouting. Now, now. Calm down. I’m going to make your dream come true from now on,” Baal said to himself as he threw away Euphemina who was beginning to turn to gray. Then he inserted the dagger drenched with Euphemina’s blood into Beniyaru, who was still lying against a huge tree.
Suddenly, a black-gold hand covered his face. The dagger struck the hand, but there were still three more hands remaining. Every one of them unleashed a sword technique. Link, Kill, Pinnacle—it was a familiar swordsmanship to Baal’s. It was from his previous contractor.
“Kuhahat! This is fun!” Baal noticed who appeared and was excited. He turned his head to the sky as he blocked the three sword techniques from the God Hands with a dagger. Lightning was falling.
“Agnus!!”
“Pagma’s Descendant!”
The Enlightenment Sword and Baal’s dagger collided and caused a shockwave. Grid’s eyes that peeked through the gaps in his hair were full of anger and hatred. “Son of a bitch! What did you…! What did you do to Euphemina?”
The reason that Grid flew here was due to the world tree’s request. He was asked to save Beniyaru. The first sight that Grid saw after arriving here was Euphemina’s death. His colleague faced a lonely death while he was caring about others.
“XX!” Grid swung the Enlightenment Sword again. He was a transcendent—a player. Grid judged that Agnus, who was relatively weak in melee, could easily be overpowered. Agnus easily blocked Grid’s attacks with a small dagger. The black flames and red lightning that exploded were easily extinguished by the demon energy.
‘So strong?’
Time was fair to everyone. As he grew and developed, other people would also grow and develop. Grid was naturally aware of this. Still, wasn’t there something called a gap? Grid wasn’t convinced this was due to Agnus’ growth, considering he had yet to even summon his death knights and lich.
“Blackening!”
Did he get a special skill like Bentao’s Mockery? Grid thought as he gathered his demonic energy. Although he was filled with great anger, he was surprisingly sober. He decided to rescue the seriously injured Beniyaru and end the fight there.
“…?”
The demonic energy created by Blackening was destroyed like it was a lie. Blackening stopped, and the skill effect didn’t occur. Baal grinned at the baffled Grid. “It is stupid to rely on demonic energy in front of me.”
“…?”
“Hahat! You haven’t even noticed? Unlike Pagma, you have a stupid side.”
What was this nonsense? The frowning Grid, who didn’t understand Agnus’ ridiculous babble, belatedly realized something. With white skin and long fangs as well as eyes which had blackened whites, Agnus’ appearance was different from usual. It was reminiscent of Grid in his Blackening state…
[Fighting energy has reached the maximum!]
“…!?”
His fighting energy was already full…? This was the fastest speed ever.
“Who are you?!” Grid got goosebumps. The feeling of cold sweat flowing down his back was unpleasant.
Baal replied to the trembling Grid’s question, “I sit on the throne of hell.”
“It is fun to watch the pretensions of the gods and the humans.”
“Ah~ I’m a very free person.”
This would be enough for an explanation. What would Pagma’s Descendant’s look like when he learned Baal’s identity?
“Kukuk…?” Baal was expecting to see despair fill Grid’s face, but he ended up stiffening. There was no change in Grid’s expression. He didn’t look too s
urprised in the first place.
‘He isn’t afraid of me…?’
Grid urged Baal, who was in a state of discomfort for an unknown reason, “So who are you?”
“…” Baal was someone huge. He was like the final boss who protagonists always dreamed about fighting. Baal had met many heroes and saw something in common among all the heroes he had seen. They were wise, regardless of their ability. The heroes of Baal’s time were as intelligent as him. It was possible to exchange 10 meanings with a single conversation, so sometimes there was even a rapport.
‘Yet why this person…?’
Baffled by the unexpected reaction, Baal was stiff for a moment before shouting, “You are truly Pagma’s Descendant! More intelligent and despicable than any hero I’ve ever seen. It is exactly like Pagma.”
“…?”
“You immediately noticed that I have no time and decided to waste time… Huhu, it is a bit disappointing. I will have to postpone seeing your skills until the next time.”
“…?”
What did this person keep saying? It happened when Grid was cocking his head with confusion. Baal moved at a speed that was hard to catch even with Grid’s transcendent senses and reached Beniyaru’s side in an instant.
“I’m glad I still have time to finish the job.”
“Wait!”Grid hurriedly rushed through a sword dance. The four fusion sword dance was completed in an instant, threatening Baal.
However, Baal was already reaping Beniyaru’s breath. “Haha, I’ll see you again next time.”
The moment that Grid’s sword was inserted into Baal’s torso…
[The duration of Assimilation is over.]
Baal’s ego returned to hell, and Agnus regained control of his physical body. Death was in front of him. Agnus, who reflexively attempted to use Bentao’s Mockery, quickly stopped and gathered Beniyaru’s body into his corpse inventory. Then Agnus turned to ash.
“I was told Beniyaru had to die anyway. So what was the point of the rescue attempt…? Huh?” Grid remained in the rotten forest and suddenly closed his mouth. He belatedly found Zibal.
Zibal was admiring him in many ways. “You are truly great.”
“What? No, wait.” Grid was surprised. “The grandmaster? Why is he here?”
Was he a sleeping prince in the woods? Why was he sleeping here? Grid clicked his tongue and tried to reach for Zikfrector, but he was blocked by Zibal.
“It is no use trying to wake him up because it doesn’t work. Shouldn’t your priority be avoiding him? The Neo Red Knights will be coming soon, and it will be hard for you to deal with them alone.”
“Yes, I will call Piaro.”
“That unlucky person… In any case, the grandmaster will come to visit you when the time comes.”
“Hmm… Are you acting with the grandmaster?”
“That’s what happened.”
“It is a good side to stand on.” Grid grinned. The Red Knights finished up and were coming. Since they were exhausted, the battle against the Yatan Church must’ve been hard. “Since you said so, I will step back today. I’m busy.”
Grid pulled out a return scroll and ripped it without hesitation. Before meeting the world tree again, he wanted to look at Euphemina’s status.
As Grid disappeared, Zibal shook his head. “What a scary guy…”
It might not be the main body, but he was amazed that Grid could be so calm despite meeting 1st Great Demon Baal.
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Chapter 1107
In the capital of the Overgeared Kingdom, Reinhardt…
Lauel’s eyes widened as Grid informed him about what happened in the forest.
“Isn’t that Baal? No, there is no doubt that it is Baal?”
“It is impossible.” Grid denied Lauel’s speculation. “Baal is almost like a final boss. The timing is too early for him to appear and there was no strength.”
The basis for Grid’s thoughts wasn’t poor. The great demons Belial and Berith boasted a fearsome strength. Putting aside other players, even Grid had seen the ease at which they caused despair. If the identity of the great demon he encountered in the forest was Baal, the absolute monarch of hell, Grid would experience a sense of fear that would be hard to endure.
However, Grid hadn’t been afraid.
“It makes no sense for a final boss to appear in the body of one user. It is too unbalanced if a specific player can borrow the power of a final boss. The S.A Group shouts about balance all the time and wouldn’t allow such a situation.”
“Aren’t you allowed to borrow Braham’s power?”
“Braham isn’t a final boss.”
“I think that for an average person, Braham or Baal are just as fraudulent.”
“In any case, it is different. That must not be Baal,” Grid reiterated, “He was even less powerful than the grandmaster.”
He wasn’t talking casually. The demonic energy that was emitted from Agnus’ possessed body was lower than Great Demon Berith. No, it wasn’t much better than Belial. If the grandmaster hadn’t been asleep then it would’ve likely been forced on the defensive by the grandmaster. It was too weak to be 1st Great Demon Baal, even if Baal was subjected to a number of penalties by possessing a player’s body.
Of course, the fact that Grid’s fighting energy filled up so quickly, the great demon freely using shunpo, and the great demon destroying Grid’s demonic energy meant it was likely to be a higher ranked great demon. However, this didn’t mean it was Baal.
“Didn’t he say he was the master of hell’s throne?”
“Is there only one throne in hell? Hell has 33 territories and 33 great demons that each rule a territory. There are naturally 33 thrones.”
“Agnus is Baal’s Contractor.”
“It is difficult to assume that Agnus is involved with Baal just because he is Baal’s Contractor. I’m not contracted with Belial or Berith but I can use their power. It isn’t strange if Agnus can borrow the power of other great demons through some method, such as runes.”
“Still, didn’t the great demon know Pagma very well? Shouldn’t Baal know Pagma the best among the great demons since Pagma was the previous Baal’s Contractor?”
Pagma—this was the core point. The demon who descended into Agnus’ body had a high understanding of Pagma and compared Grd to Pagma. That’s why Lauel saw that Baal was the identity of the great demon.
However, this was also denied by Grid. “Pagma was someone who single-handedly prevented the hell army’s invasion of the Behen Archipelago. There would be more than one great demon who fought against Pagma. Most of the great demons who participated in the war, not just Baal, would know about Pagma.”
“Hmm… indeed.” Lauel conceded. Grid was the Hero King who purified the Behen Archipelago and he went directly to Asgard to meet the gods. His understanding of the great demons and gods transcended Lauel’s knowledge. Lauel’s guess was less likely to be correct than Grid’s guess. “Then who do you think descended into Agnus’ body?”
“Is it Amoract?”
“You mean Yatan’s First Servant that Braham talked about.”
“Yes, he is the one most likely and willing to intervene.”
“Nevertheless, he seemed to be hard-working if he is running the Yatan Church behind the scenes…”
“…?”
“It is a bit unreasonable to say he is a very free person who has fun watching the pretensions of the gods and humans every day…”
“Then it must be someone else. In the first place, what is the importance of his identity?”
After all, it was a great demon who could only be expressed through the medium of items or skills. The power of the great demon attached to the rune wasn’t a match to the power of the living great demons and the assimilation with Braham had obvious limitations. The same was true of the great demon who borrowed Agnus’ body. He could just think of it as part of Agnus’ power. Did he need to waste time being stuck on this issue?
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Grid didn’t want to discuss it any longer. Just thinking about Agnus was disgusting.
“There is a separate problem to worry about right now.”
Grid shared the quest information. It was the quest from the world tree.
[Early Death]
[Difficulty Level: SS
The world tree wants the death of the dark elf, Beniyaru.
Help the world tree by killing Beniyaru.
Quest Clear Conditions: Beniyaru’s death.
Quest Reward: Slight increase in affinity with the world tree. The linked quest ‘Search’ will occur.
Quest Failure Penalty: None.
*This is a quest that has already been cleared.]
“…??”
Lauel was also perplexed. The world tree had existed since the beginning and embraced all things like a mother. The sentence that he or she wanted to kill an elf was strange.
Grid explained, “The world tree has determined that Beniyaru is the cause of the darkness outside.”
The elves were pure but more stubborn than necessary. Their self-determination meant it wasn’t easy for them to be corrupted. If Grid hadn’t rescued the elves…
The world tree claimed that in the situation where Grid rescued the elves from Kir, Beniyaru had willingly assimilated with the darkness.
“Look at the next quest.”
Early Death was a quest that ended the moment that Beniyaru died. Grid brought up the information of the new linked quest.
[Search]
[Difficulty: S
The world tree determined that the Beniyaru active in the Gauss Kingdom’s forest is a fake. The world tree suspects that the ancient species ‘rafflesia’ is responsible for this. The rafflesia have been a major threat to the forest visitors and tribes since ancient times since they nourished the darkness in the heart.
Please search for the location of the rafflesia, who hold Beniyaru’s main body.
Quest Clear Conditions: Find the rafflesia.
Quest Reward: Slight increase in affinity with the world tree. The maximum affinity with Beniyaru.
Quest Failure Penalty: None. Beniyaru’s death.]
“Ah… the world tree is aware that Beniyaru is nothing more than a fake clone. It has unique insight from the beginning.”