by Road Warrior
“Uuugggh.”
One of them immediately died. The other, a man with long sideburns, let out a pained cry as he looked out toward nothing in particular with his rapidly fading vision. Elijah and Sophia hurriedly ran to his side.
“Kruut!” Elijah propped him up and hugged him. The man’s eyes had already lost their sight at this point.
“Elijah. Is that you?” asked Kruut.
“Yes. It’s me.”
“I’m sorry. I’m… really sorry.”
The man died after leaving behind those words. A heavy silence soon followed. Sungchul recovered the Tome of the High Devils from the dead woman’s corpse within this silence. When he held the tome in his hand, a faint line appeared in his vision. It was a faint beam of light that would be easily missed without focus. The light extended towards the south.
Sungchul handed the tome to Elijah. “Take it.”
“…”
Elijah had a befuddled look as he accepted the Tome of the High Devils. This guy… what are his intentions?
It was impossible for him to even guess what Sungchul's heart deeply desired. The man’s motives and goals were all veiled in mystery.
Sungchul read the confusion that was raging behind Elijah's eyes and said with a low tone of voice, “Lead on. Towards the Devil’s quest.”
Elijah finally understood a bit of what Sungchul wanted. He nodded and led the man to the location where the Devil’s quest awaited them. After crossing several glacial mountains and rivers of lava, they arrived before a foggy sea. Curiosity rose in Sungchul’s eyes. Are you saying there is something in this foggy region?
The Sea of Fog was one of the places that Sungchul recalled from his days when he wandered the Demon Realm. The area had nothing special. There were pits of mud scattered about the ground, with monsters resembling drowned corpses waiting to drag victims into the pits. However, Sungchul had the Tome of the High Devils now. The beam of light extending from the Tome of the High Devils acted as a guide that led them through the Sea of Fog where vision was completely obstructed.
CRUNCH!
Around the time Sungchul crushed the tenth monster with the sole of his military boots, the annoying fog began to dissipate. Sungchul and the Breggas siblings could see towers that seemed to pierce the sky as they left the fog.
There were eight towers in total. The precarious walkways strung like spider webs between the eight towers were dizzying to the eye. Sungchul took another step forward as he looked at the towers. So there are places like this in the Demon Realm.
Sungchul discovered a figure lingering at the bottom of a tower. Surprisingly, it was a human. Its body had become twisted and disfigured from horrendous torture and body modifications, but Sungchul could easily recognize that the creature carrying a gunny sack was a human. He looked back toward Elijah as he asked, “Where is this?”
Sungchul thought that Elijah, who held the Tome of the High Devils, would know something. He was bound to have additional information from the person who had given him the book. Some information regarding this city in the Demon Realm that even Sungchul had never seen before, and he had guessed correctly.
“This place… is a city of humans,” Elijah responded honestly, and curiosity rose in Sungchul’s eyes once again.
“There is a human city in the middle of the Demon Realm?”
“That’s right. It is a city of those that wished to escape their mortal destiny. A gathering place of those that desired to become Devils,” answered Elijah.
“You’re saying that this place is a so-called hideout of the Devil worshippers?”
Elijah’s eyes grew dark before he nodded to Sungchul’s question.
So a place like this exists.
There weren’t many people among the humans who knew more than Sungchul regarding the Demon Realm. At the very least among the people of the same era as he. However, Elijah Breggas… no, the person that handed him the book knew of this city’s existence. This was no ordinary person.
Sungchul turned towards Elijah. “Who gave you that book?”
It was a question that had to be asked at one point. Sungchul felt that that moment had been drawing close, and it had finally arrived.
Elijah also knew that Sungchul would ask that question at some point. After organizing his thoughts in his head, he made a complete and calm reply. “I would like to first begin with an apology. There is very little I know about her. It is because she appeared before us without warning. We also don’t know whether the identity this person revealed to us is true or not.”
It was not a satisfactory answer. Sungchul’s arm twitched slightly, but to Elijah, that movement felt unreasonably large. He gulped and continued to speak again. “She gave the name of one of the Seven Heroes.”
“Seven Heroes?” Sungchul’s lips that had been tightly shut came loose. Elijah immediately followed up the question.
“Yes. The woman called herself Vestiare.”
Vestiare. One of the Seven Heroes, and the one who had handed Sungchul his Echo Mage class. Elijah continued to explain what he had seen when Sungchul’s hand shot up. It was a signal for silence. He then turned to look at Sophia. Sophia’s figure trembled slightly, but her dignified eyes met Sungchul’s.
“Have you also seen this woman?”
Sophia was about to shake her head when she realized it was a pointless attempt and nodded instead.
"What did that woman look like?" asked Sungchul.
Sophia combed through her memories at his question. “It was a blonde High Elf.”
Sungchul’s eyes lit up.
“She had pale skin like a ghost. Enough to be able to see her veins. She also had a serene voice as though she was from a dream.” Sophia’s recollection of Vestiare roughly matched up with his. It didn’t seem like a lie. Sungchul immediately fell into thought.
The Calamity of the Demon King hasn’t ended, but the Seven Heroes are already active?
The words of the Breggas siblings couldn’t be trusted completely, but most of what they said seemed to be truthful. Sungchul glared at the high rising tower of the Devil worshippers with suspicion. It has become clear that something is happening here.
But it was more important right now for him to resolve the problem at hand. He quickly concluded his thoughts.
A firmly shut doorway stood before Sungchul and the Breggas siblings. It was a massive steel door that didn’t look like it could be forced open by human strength. But it opened with a thunderous noise once Sungchul’s hand, instilled with godly strength, took action.
“Follow me.”
Sungchul walked towards the interior of the tower, which shone with an ominous light.
Chapter 12 – Lords Of The Tower
Within the tower, a short path appeared with opaque windows on either side. It was an empty walkway, but the busy murmurs of conversations could be heard without pause from every direction. There stood another door on the opposite end of the path. Sungchul flung that door open.
As soon as the door opened, an overwhelming stench of perfume that could paralyze the senses flooded his nose. Sungchul held his breath and looked around at the surroundings. He had arrived at a crossroads this time. Ahead were several pathways which were surrounded by glass walls. The sound of murmur which hung in the air of the walkway like a fog was now clear enough to be discerned.
“Hey, Good-lookin’ Oppa. Come and play.”
“Ten gold coins. Anything below ten gold coins could be worked out too!”
“It’s the same, regardless of where you go, so just come into our shop!”
It was a commotion that was commonly heard in any marketplace. There was no change to Elijah’s expression, but Sophia looked deeply disturbed. Sungchul’s indifferent face looked toward the wall where the noises came from. Behind the cloudy window, there was a shadowy figure in the shape of a human whose eyes lit up in a reddish hue.
“Where’s the Altar of Ten Thousand Demons?” Sungchul asked Elijah.
&nb
sp; Elijah opened the book and nodded as he arrived at the answer. “At the top of the tower.”
“Typical,” responded Sungchul as he pressed forward.
After walking a few steps, a masked woman whose clothing barely covered the most important parts appeared. “Oh, my. How cute. It looks like we have a couple of new faces here.”
Sophia, who noticed the woman’s vulgar appearance, paled. “Orabuni! you can’t look!”
She hurriedly rushed towards Elijah and covered his eyes. Sungchul, on the other hand, was glaring at the unfamiliar woman with the most unconcerned of expression. Something that is neither a devil nor a human.
The feet of the masked woman didn’t touch the floor. She appeared to float like a balloon through some magical force.
“State your purpose,” Sungchul demanded plainly.
The woman’s rosy lips formed a curious smile beneath her mask. “Oh, my. A young man that doesn’t even bat an eye at the sight of me? Maybe I’m not your type?”
“I said state your purpose.” A hint of annoyance mixed in Sungchul’s voice.
The woman licked her lips in disappointment at Sungchul’s cold response and straightened her body once again. “I don’t have any particular purpose. I just wanted to be the first to greet the new faces.”
Then her eyes settled on Elijah. Elijah, whose eyes were still covered by Sophia’s hands, had the Tome of the High Devils in his embrace. The woman’s eyes revealed a strange light when she saw the book. “My, my. You’ve got the book.”
The voice of the masked woman changed. “Hey, good-looking Oppa. That book… could I have a look?”
She drifted towards Elijah’s direction and pushed her body towards him.
“Be gone! Perverse harlot!” Sophia drew her blade in revulsion. When she did so, the woman retreated with a mischievous smile on her face.
“My, my. A baby just weaned off of milk is trying to interfere? Do you want to die?” She flew back but quickly raised both of her manicured hands. As she did so, Walls of flame formed around Sungchul. The woman’s coy voice could be heard beyond the flames.
“Hand over the book if you wish to preserve your life. Otherwise, you can burn with the book.”
At that very moment, Sungchul jumped into the flames. He burst through the flames in an instant and stormed toward the masked woman standing behind them. The masked woman tried to recite another spell in the face of such unexpected behavior, but Sungchul’s hand was faster. His hand gripped her neck.
“Kk-kuuu…” Her arms and legs, supple with beautiful youth, began to flail. When Sungchul began to assert a bit more strength, the woman’s appearance started to change.
Sungchul firmly asked his question without releasing his grip, “Who are you?”
“I-I am…! Cough! Cough! A resident… of this tower!”
“Why do you covet the book?”
“I-I can become… a real De… Devil with it…!!”
“I see. This is the final question. Where is this place?”
The masked woman answered Sungchul through great pain, “This is… the Tower of Euphoria… It is the territory of the High Devil Miriadora…!”
Sungchul’s interrogation ended here. He threw the masked woman towards a wall. Her body broke through one of the opaque windows and dispersed the shadowy figure behind it before she turned into smoke herself. A massive maggot with the head of a human wriggled in her place when the smoke dissipated. It was a disgusting life-form that conjured revulsion at the mere sight of it.
“It looks like this was the true form of that harlot.” Sophia held her blade as she headed towards the direction of the wall. Fearsome hostility poured out of her eyes. Sungchul held her back.
“Leave it. Life itself is a punishment for their kind.”
There were many different forms of immortality. The ideal form of immortality was to live eternally while retaining your original appearance, but that kind of lifespan was the privilege of those who have surpassed mortality. An inferior being, therefore, had no choice but to resort to repulsive and wretched dark magic which often resulted in a grotesque and freakish appearance. Sungchul immediately understood that this maggot-like creature was one such pitiful result of their experiments with immortality.
When he gained some more distance from the paths filled with opaque windows, he was able to see more residents of this tower. They each had overwhelmingly charismatic appearances. They were either handsome youths or voluptuous women, and they all attempted to entice Sungchul’s party.
“Hey, miss. Do you want to play with me? We can just swap stories for a bit?”
“Little boy with the red book. You’re totally my type! Do you want to have a meal together? Or maybe something else…?”
When Sungchul’s group ignored them completely and pushed on, the crowd of beautiful women and handsome men continued their vulgar jokes and suggestive tirade. A set of stairs heading upwards could be seen as the group moved forward.
A space filled with the sensuous aroma of food appeared as the group entered the next floor. Sounds of wine glasses clinking, food being chewed, and meat being grilled could be heard behind each opaque window. There were chefs holding ladles and wearing comically tall chef hats.
“Now now! You’ll be missing out if you don’t have a taste! These are the greatest delicacies, and they can’t be found anywhere in the human world!”
“Hey, there is a single empty table just waiting for you! It’ll be perfect if you guys come over here!”
All the people here were fighting to attract Sungchul’s group towards their shop. Sophia, who had had a completely hostile attitude towards the masked pervert, now appeared to have lowered her guard. More than anything, the Breggas siblings hadn’t had a decent meal since they entered the Demon Realm. Their tension began to wear down as the tempting aroma of food enticed them in their already hungry state.
“Let’s go and have a little taste.” Sungchul pointed towards the barbecue of an entire baby pig on a spinning rotisserie.
“Sounds great!” the siblings exclaimed.
The chef, with a comically tall hat of about two meters, laughed as he held out a leg of the baby pig. Sungchul inserted the food into his mouth with a serious expression.
Gulp. The Breggas siblings could only swallow their drool, but Sungchul’s face was not pleasant.
[The Score of this dish is…. 0 points.]
[It might not be a good idea to put another dish of this caliber before me unless you intend to insult me.]
The abysmal score and the threatening message that appeared before him weren’t the only problems. As expected, there was a serious conundrum behind this dish.
This is human meat. They also flavored it with sorcery and narcotics, Sungchul thought and immediately spat out the meat from his mouth.
“Hey! You dare spit out my top dish made with my heart and soul?! You lowly peasant with no discerning taste!” The chef roared in anger and pulled out something from his possession. It was a large kitchen knife caked with blood and dried maggots. “I’ll cook you up!”
“…”
Sungchul easily evaded the knife of the rushing chef and held his collar before shoving his face onto the spinning grill.
“Chiiiiiii-”
The chef began to struggle along with the sound of burning flesh and his tortured scream, but Sungchul’s powerful grip did not allow for the chef to escape.
“Kwaaaaa!!”
The Breggas siblings watched on as the chef let out a howling scream and turned into a grotesque maggot. The mouth-watering baby pig on the rotisserie also transformed into a human thigh before their eyes.
“Claiming to be a chef after declaring such garbage as a ‘dish’… Your arrogance knows no bounds.” Sungchul threw the maggot chef onto a wall and let something peek out from beneath his coat. And once that happened the golden broach that was hidden underneath gave off a brilliant golden glow. That light was blinding to all the other chefs who were watching Su
ngchul and company.
“Oh…!!”
“Is that the symbol of a High-Grade Chef?!”
“It’s real…! A real one has appeared!!”
The other chefs on the floor immediately recognized the broach with a single glance, unlike the Breggas siblings. They looked at Sungchul surprised as if they saw a monster and let out words of praises.
“You must be feeling good. Real good.” Bertelgia bluntly spoke her feelings which Sungchul completely ignored as he said in a firm voice, “Let’s go.”
Following this floor, several different areas appeared. There were some floors filled with comfortable beds, and Sungchul’s group could see people lying on the beds with a happy expression on their faces. It was a place that was filled with boredom and languor that made anyone have the desire to head to bed and close their eyes subconsciously.
Another floor was filled with people on racks being whipped and tortured through various instruments. It was a crazed region filled with the tortured and the torturers who were all enjoying themselves.
The final floor was one giant gambling hall. The ones gathered at the gambling hall were like residents of any other regions and both the men and women boasted absolute beauty, but all of them were missing one or more of their facial features like eyes, nose, or lips. Sungchul could see the reason why as he crossed through the floor. It was because they would gamble their body parts to win the coveted parts of others. There was no other form of currency that would instill these immortal maggots with a similar thrill of gambling.
Is this the world sought so dearly by these Devil Worshippers? At the very least, the faces of those reflected in Sungchul’s eyes looked happy. It wasn’t discernible whether all of this was a facade, but it was not something Sungchul concerned himself with.
“It looks like the Altar is beyond this door.” The final set of stairs awaited Sungchul, and when he climbed it, a massive space opened up before him. There was something similar to a gigantic blob of flesh occupying the space.