CH 81

21. Subordinates (5)

Jin-woo was terribly confused. He had been through a lot, but this was the first time he had been as confused as he was meeting the Emperor of Greed. He could hardly comprehend the scene unfolding before his eyes. He only reached out to stop the giant weapon. But suddenly, the ground cracked open, and the bones of a giant dragon appeared.

To that extent, he would have tried to understand somehow.

[The Emperor of Gold and the Incarnation of Evil have absorbed the Black Flame Dragon.]

[The Black Flame Dragon resides in your right hand by resonating with your dark mana.]

The Emperor of Gold and the Incarnation of Evil, which had been quiet for a while, were activated, and a technique was engraved on the huge bones. Dark mana began to escape in large quantities. The Dark Ego filled it up in a hurry, but the mana was still empty. Scales began to attach to the giant skeleton, very evil and beautiful black flames engulfing each one.

It was an indescribable sight. The Dark Ego was replenishing mana with all its power, which was causing issues for the Realm. As a result, the sun of the Demon Realm, which was burning demon energy and emitting light, gradually darkened. As if the end had come, the sun turned black, and the light completely faded.

A black flame came out of Jin-woo’s right hand with tremendous force. The temperature suddenly increased, growing excruciatingly warm. He tried to wave his hand to extinguish the flame.

Guoooooooooo!

The Black Flame Dragon roared and flew up. Every time it flew, a rain of black flames fell and burned the surroundings. Fear and despair descended on the Demon Realm under the darkened sky. The Demon Kings screamed their astonishment as they watched the scene. They didn’t even care about the giant weapon now. Jin-woo understood how those Demon Kings felt.

Because Jin-woo also felt the same.

The Black Flame Dragon, who flew above Jin-woo, looked at the giant spinning weapon. It followed Jin-woo’s will too well. It knew it had to stop the giant weapon. The flying Black Flame Dragon descended on it like an eagle, whipping up a huge storm of black flame as it fell.

The Black Flame Dragon and the giant weapon collided.

Bang!

The giant weapon’s stopped spinning. The surface simmered and began to bend wildly, burning red like a crab drowning in boiling water. The Black Flame Dragon bit the giant weapon and threw it into the air. It looked light as if it were a puppy playing with a toy ball. The moment the Black Flame Dragon opened its mouth, the surroundings vibrated. Dark mana was concentrated in front of the Black Flame Dragon’s mouth.

The Emperor of Gold and the Incarnation of Evil created a very evil and beautiful magic circle.

Kwaaaaang!

A jet of black flames spewed out. It hit the giant weapon and stretched out into the sky, colliding with the small mountain that was originally the target.

A hot wind blew past them. It exploded, creating a hole in the small mountain. It didn’t end there, however. It fired off that violent breath as many times as Jin-woo waved his hand. The mana consumption was extreme. The mountain was neatly reduced to dust. The dust was all burned out, so the results could be seen well.

The breath was very powerful, but about 60% was consumed to take the form. Much mana was also consumed to draw beautiful lines, produce an evil sound, and create a cinematic explosion. Thanks to that, it seemed more powerful than it was. The Black Flame Dragon’s character was a combination of the Emperor of Gold and the Incarnation of Evil, after all.

The Black Flame Dragon soared into the sky and moved behind Jin-woo. Its shape grew blurred as it continued to consume mana. It was connected to the dark mana emitted from Jin-woo’s right hand, but then it gradually grew smaller and was absorbed by his right hand. The huge head and wings still floated behind Jin-woo.

‘This….’

The mark on the right hand now actually contained a real Black Flame Dragon. He didn’t know why, but the Black Flame Dragon created the dark mana itself. It was as if it had a power source with great energy.

Thud! Boom! Kwang!

The remains of the giant weapon that was swept up by the breath and flew up to the sky fell around the Demon Kings. Most of them were melted and stuck together, making it difficult to recognize the shape. It was the result of the Dark Ego pouring mana into Jin-woo like crazy.

The Demon Kings had their eyes half protruding from their skulls. Even Gallord, standing behind Jin-woo, fared a little better.

Jin-woo controlled the dark mana. The shape of the Black Flame Dragon remained like smoke, making it even more terrifying, but he barely maintained his composure as he looked at the Black Flame Dragon with the Magic Eye of information.

[S] Black Flame Dragon of Gold and Evil

‘A masterpiece created by chance and luck!’

It is a masterpiece created by the Dark Craftsman Degurron and the Dark Dwarves. It can be materialized by consuming an enormous amount of mana. The power is certain, but the Emperor of Gold and the Incarnation of Evil are active, so mana consumption is extreme.

*[C] Maintenance cost: 66.6% of mana is used for evil and beautiful effects.

*[S] Dark Mana Power Source: Supports dark mana.

*[S] Materialization: Can be materialized into various shapes depending on the size and type of mana.

For now, he somehow understood why the Black Flame Dragon appeared. There was a lot of support, but there were likely some misunderstandings.

No, this was a very serious misunderstanding.

When Jin-woo stood still, thinking, everyone remained silent. Jin-woo thought that the first thing to do was to fix the situation. It was supposed to stop the giant weapon from going rampage, so there was no big excuse. Rather, it was fortunate that the demon soldiers could be saved.

Jin-woo approached the Demon Kings. Digent and the others looked up blankly as he approached. Jin-woo was at a loss. The place where they came to negotiate had exploded like this, so he didn’t know what to say. Judging from the Demon Kings’ conditions, it wasn’t a situation to proceed with negotiations.

“Are you all right?”

“U-ugh.”

He had a lot of potions since he bought everything he saw in the Dimension Store. It hadn’t been up lately, but he still had plenty of them. Jin-woo took out a box full of potions from the subspace. Their eye’s widened when they saw the potions. The expression of the Demon Kings became serious. The potion was a bit expensive, so it could be that they felt burdened about it.

“Don’t worry about it. Now that the situation is like this, I think it would be better to negotiate again later. The soldiers were injured, too…”

The Demon Kings stared blankly at Jin-woo and nodded. They had no choice but to do so. It was because the Black Flame Dragon, who became a black stream behind Jin-woo, opened its big mouth while glaring at them. It felt as if it wanted to grab and eat them. It was the moment when the Black Flame Dragon smacked its lips…

“M-my Lord Emperor, please leave it to me.”

Gallord, who came to his senses, rushed in front of him and said so. Jin-woo nodded. It would be better for the Demon King Gallord to patch things up rather than himself. It was something to do in this present situation. For now, he wanted to quickly seal this crazy dragon head. It kept trying to pop out.

“That would be better. Then please take care of it.”

“L-leave it to me!”

Jin-woo politely asked Gallord to do it. He nodded fervently. No matter how much Jin-woo thought about it, he was the one who drove the case. He didn’t know if it was because he was the villain or something that couldn’t be quantified in the equation. Still, he thought it was very fortunate to have Gallord with whom he could share his worries.

Jin-woo went back to the Sanctuary. The Emperor opened a portal that seemed to have been made from darkness itself and disappeared. Gallord gulped as he looked at it, barely breathing out a sigh of relief.

“Gallord…y-you!”

Digent shouted. Though, since his magic core was damaged, he was no match for Gallord. The same was true of the other Demon Kings. Only Sarah Vriac stood a little farther away with an arrogant expression on her face. She didn’t even move as she watched the whole situation.

“Then why did you offend the Emperor? Are you crazy?”

“Kugh!”

“If it weren’t for me, all three of them would have become like Hallas.”

Gallord’s voice was filled with anger and sorrow. Digent and the Demon Kings couldn’t say anything. They were definitely on the verge of being eaten.

Digent clenched his teeth.

“From where…from where did he plan this?”

“It’s hard to guess. I am nothing but his puppet.”

Gallord said so. The tectonic fluctuations in the Demon Realm had dealt a huge blow to the largest potion production area. Not only would advanced potions not be able to be produced for the time being, but all the potions in the warehouse had been destroyed. Then, all the items for sale in the Dimensional Store were purchased by the Emperor.

Exploiting the Succubus Queen, who once used to be helpful, was now useless. She no longer sold potions to the Demon Realm. What could they say if she only sold to the Emperor?

Digent stared at Sarah Vriac.

‘Then that bitch…!’

It was meticulous and deadly. It was the Demon King of Fear that made him attack the Emperor with the giant weapon. Come to think of it; she was the only one with a strange smile on her face when the Demon Kings mentioned the giant weapon.

“Ugh, you are…you were on the Emperor of Gold’s side from the very beginning.”

Sarah Vriac flinched slightly when Digent said so. However, she looked at Digent and the Demon Kings with the same expression as usual.

“Fu, fufu.”

Sarah Vriac laughed. It was a charming but sinister laugh like a black curtain had been lifted to reveal the true nature that she had been hiding.

“R-right! I am the Emperor’s faithful left arm, the most favored high-ranking executive. Fu, fufu, you fools! Everything went according to plan.”

“Kugh!”

“Is that so…!”

Sarah Vriac uttered those words to save the situation. Her back was wet with a cold sweat, but she couldn’t help it. After all, she was trapped in the bad image she created herself.

‘Sarah Vriac…I see. So…’

Even Gallord, who was listening, was startled. Sarah Vriac was on the Emperor’s side from the beginning, and he played in their hands. Sarah Vriac had pressured him from a long time ago, putting him into debt. It was all already planned. Then there was Hallas, an arch-enemy to Sarah Vriac.

It was only then that everything made sense. He got goosebumps. The Demon King lost their giant weapons, and most of their elite demon units were also severely wounded.

These Demon Kings were already cornered.

‘He must be aiming for something.’

It wasn’t just to build an army. Gallord was horrified, but for now, the Emperor’s favor was his priority. Gallord took the initiative on his own because of his attachments, so he was in trouble if he didn’t give back results.

“Isn’t the priority to recover? With that serious wound, you’ll need to consume a lot of the finest potions. There may be some finest potions in the Demon King Castle, but they are not in front of you right now.”

Gallord had already made a decision. The Mana of Extinction erupted from his hand. Digent took a deep breath and nodded.

“I’ll hand over some of my territories and residents.”

Gallord looked at Sarah. Sarah was a high-ranking executive of the Emperor; perhaps he told her something. Digent said that he would hand over his territories, but Sarah was just watching.

Digent’s expression grew distorted.

“Thirty percent…”

“Umm?”

“Ugh…forty percent, more than this is…”

Sarah didn’t know what to say, so she stayed still.

“Okay, I’ll give you half. Is it still not enough? Sarah Vriac, the evil left hand of the Emperor.”

“T-that’s enough….well…”

Sarah Vriac nodded.

“The Evil Left Hand of the Emperor”

As she heard that, she thought it was cool. The Demon Kings paid a very high price to buy potions. They even had to write a contract before they could take care of themselves. Gallord thoroughly ripped them off. He chose the best territories and carefully wrote them in the contract.

In front of Daront, which was called the capital of the Demon Realm, they signed a humiliating contract while their high-ranking demons and elite soldiers were watching. The Demon Kings trembled at the Emperor’s wickedness. They lost their honor, pride, territories, and residents.

It was complete submission.

Gallord, who was fully aware of the circumstances of the Demon Realm, was also in the hands of the Emperor so that he couldn’t be deceived. He accepted the contract with trembling hands.

“Sarah Vriac, is this enough? Even if you don’t take their power away…”

“R-right! T-the Emperor doesn’t even care about the powers of petty Demon Kings.”

“I see. As expected…”

Gallord nodded. It was a bit disturbing to let them go without follow-up, but they were in the hands of the Emperor anyway. The Demon King of Fear smiled as she looked at the Demon Kings. She looked like a beast staring at prey.

‘Indeed, it’s hard to guess what she is thinking. Do I have to be at that level to become a high-ranking executive?’

He was already in the same boat. Not only Sarah Vriac, but Arina must be a high-ranking executive.

Gallord had a new goal! He thought he had to work harder. After a while, a huge territory was created around Sarah Vriac’s estate. The Demon King, who now possessed more than half of the Demon Realm, was called the Demon Emperor.

[Sarah Vriac became the Demon Emperor.]

[The Warlocks of Middle-World are astonished.]

[A surprised Goddess has put down an oracle in the Middle-World during her bath.]

‘W-what should I do?’

Sarah Vriac trembled. She suddenly became the Emperor’s loyal servant, the Emperor’s evil left hand, and the official Demon Emperor. It happened all while Jin-woo was absent from the Demon Realm for a while. Only Arina’s estate was as peaceful as always, her mind distracted by the dimensional gold coins settling in from the Earth.

* * *

Jin-woo looked around the Dimensional Store and paid a lot of money to buy a white bandage full of light attributes. It was an item called ‘Goddess’ Blessing’ that appeared in the VIP Luxury section. He had been looking for seal items for a long time, but this white bandage was the simplest. It had an excellent fit, but it looked a little strange in appearance.

Jin-woo painstakingly enhanced and applied many things to it. Thanks to that, he was able to seal the dragon perfectly.

“Hmm…”

For the time being, he thought it would be better to keep it sealed until he could control it completely. Jin-woo sighed.

The last puzzle was completed, becoming the perfect, unrealistic combination. Golden Magic Eye, evil incarnation, dark mana, white bandage, and the sealed right arm with the Black Flame Dragon.

‘The good news is that…’

Whether it was a mixed influence of the world or not, unrealistic concepts didn’t exist clearly. He could breathe a sigh of relief. The Emperor of Gold was working, so it just looked like that without him knowing. The Emperor of Gold was an existence far beyond unrealistic, after all.

He also met with Choi Hee-yeon to discuss the Choi Family’s Sword School due to the international competition.

“There are suspicious movements in Japan.”

“I see.”

“This international competition is unusual.”

According to information, the situation in Japan was better than in China during the Demon King crisis. Still, it was a difficult time in many ways.

“Isn’t the international competition always dangerous?”

“Yes. The international competition…always needs us to put our lives on the line…”

Choi Hee-yeon nodded at Jin-woo. Choi Hee-yeon was worried since it would be her first appearance, but Jin-woo didn’t care about international competitions. He was confident he would do just fine if it were held normally.

“Are you hurt?”

Choi Hee-yeon looked at the bandage exposed under his sleeve. Upon closer inspection, it appeared that his entire arm was wrapped in it.

“You are too harsh on yourself.”

“It’s nothing.”

Choi Hee-yeon approached Jin-woo and tightened the loose bandage. The atmosphere grew quite awkward, but just then, Yoo-na arrived.

“Young Master, huh? Are you hurt? As expected….”

When Yoo-na talked as if she knew something, Choi Hee-yeon looked at them with a question mark over her head. Jin-woo didn’t know what to say.

‘Actually, there is a Black Flame Dragon in my right hand…’

He wouldn’t say that it wasn’t a wound but a black flame dragon asleep in there even if he were on his dying breath. Yoo-na looked serious. Wearing a bandage despite having the potions meant that he was seriously injured.

‘After all, the real Demon King…’

Yoo-na vowed to follow him no matter what happened next time. Choi Hee-yeon and Yoo-na’s eyes felt increasingly uncomfortable. Glances passed between them.

Jin-woo quickly fled.

* * *

Jin-woo, arriving in Arina’s estate, barely stopped the dwarves as they started making things again. Arina wasn’t in the estate due to the construction and work of expanding the Sanctuary. To her, her estate was more like a studio and a bedroom.

He went to Gallord’s estate next. He was already there to meet him like he knew he was coming. Gallord’s estate was crowded. For some reason, it seemed like the residents had increased significantly.

“Has everything been taken care of?”

“Yes, I will give you the report inside. It just happens that your evil left hand is on her way here.”

“Umm?”

The flower petals flew on the way to the castle. It was truly a great parade. Jin-woo tilted his head but entered the castle anyway.

He listened to Gallord. The more he listened, the more he didn’t understand. It was said that 50% of the territory of the Demon Realm was now under the control of Sarah Vriac, his evilest left hand, who took the throne of the Demon Emperor.

Jin-woo blinked and looked at Gallord. How could 50% of the Demon Realm…and that many demons…?

‘What is this? Why did this result come out?”

He didn’t know where it came from.

“Sarah Vriac has arrived.”

The maid said so. Sarah Vriac walked in hesitatingly. She was dressed in flashy clothes and a huge crown. Perhaps because of her younger appearance and her small body, her clothes and crown looked unusually big.

Jin-woo looked at her, and she met his gaze.

“…”

“…”

Sweat beaded on Sarah Vriac’s face. Gallord was amazed; it was the first time he had seen Sarah Vriac like that.

‘That Sarah Vriac…how can she be so scared?’

Gallord swore he would never rebel against the Emperor. Judging from the atmosphere, it seemed that the Emperor and the high-ranking executive had something to talk about. It was obviously about their important plans.

“Then I’ll leave you alone.”

Gallord tactfully slipped away, quietly promising himself that one day he would rise to that position.

The silence was laid plainly between them. Sarah Vriac rolled her eyes around. Up until now, luck and fortune had somehow overlapped so that she managed to survive, but it didn’t seem like it would work against the Emperor. The Emperor had something huge beyond her good fortunes.

“So….”

Jin-woo opened his mouth, causing Sarah Vriac to jump. Her body quickly folded in mid-air and fell straight to the floor.

“I’m wrong! I’m sorry! I have sinned to death! I-it just somehow happened! Help me!”

Sarah Vriac began to cry, and snot dripped from her nose. Jin-woo looked at her information as she wept.

Lv. 66

[C] Sarah Vriac

Titles: The Emperor’s Evil Left Hand, the Demon King of Fear, the Ruler of Iron Blood, the Goddess’ Enemy

Position: Demon Emperor

Age: 142 Years Old

Favorability: 5%

Possessed Technique: [D] Black Magic, [C] Political Art

Special Technique

[A+] Power of Bluff

The power to make something that doesn’t exist seems like it exists. It is a power that has been handed down from generation to generation in the Vriac family. It is almost impossible to find out because it deceives even the Dark Ego. It has become even more powerful since she became the Demon Emperor.

However, if an existence that surpasses her fortune appears, the façade will collapse.

*[A] Luck

“Umm…”

Jin-woo realized the importance of conversation. The thought of fixing it gave him a headache. No, could he fix this?