Dungeon Hunter

Chapter 236: Hell Monarch (1)

After our innocence was proven, we could safely step into the castle.

The old demon Sasun offered his head, but I didn’t take it.

He was the one who ruled this castle instead of the Hell Monarch. There was a lot of information I didn’t know so it wouldn’t be good if the commander changed suddenly.

"When the Hell Monarch first appeared in this place, he was alone.”

A spacious room. It was a large room that reminded me of a plaza. There were a lot of luxurious tables, chandeliers, etc. as well as high quality food.

Sasun quietly kneeled down and proceeded to tell the story. He was on the ground due to his sin.

"However, his army increased in size as time passed. All the demons he killed became his puppets. Although the White Knights found him, the power of the Hell Monarch exceeded our imagination and we lost an important power. I wasn’t even aware of this fact until the White Knights became an enemy.”

Sasun hit his head against the ground.

He felt regret about not knowing sooner, but it wouldn’t have changed the situation.

Ariel sat in her seat and didn’t move. Only the main demons could enter this banquet hall.

I sat in the most prominent position with Ariel beside me.

As the deep silence continued, Sasun kept talking.

"The ones who became puppets of the Hell Monarch only follow his words. The amazing thing is that the puppets still maintain their own personalities. He is able to use magic freely while wielding a sword. In some cases, they pretended to be allies and completely decimated the bases. We have to distrust everything...”

They had no choice.

It was a situation where they didn’t know who was the enemy.

Their smiling allies could stab them from behind.

They couldn’t trust anyone.

In such a situation, a proper war couldn’t happen.

It wasn’t a coincidence that all of the grand dukes’ troops were wiped out except for this place.

"His army is growing so big that no one can resist.”

"How many?”

"Three million...that is the lowest estimate.”

“Hah.”

Ariel breathed out heavily.

Three million? That was the number if all of the grand dukes’ troops were combined.

It meant that those killed by the Hell Monarch’s puppets were also changed. I didn’t think that the Hell Monarch could wipe out a large army of three million enemies alone.

It was the same if he killed or his army did.

Who would be able to deal with it?

The soldiers lost their will to fight.

‘An invitation to a place of death.’

I remembered Greenwich Observatory.

At that time, all the grand dukes except for me received a special quest to go to the Demon World.

It was clear what would have happened if they reached the Demon World.

They wouldn’t have been able to win. My army this time was no exception.

"Still, Ariel has returned so the morale of the solders is soaring to the sky. The knights are also motivated.”

“I am not the master of the castle now.”

Ariel said strictly.

Perhaps Sasun might have already noticed. I was just listening with my arms folded. Yet he always paid attention to me.

“Sasun, raise your head.”

Ariel ordered once again.

Then Sasun slowly lifted his head.

Ariel glared at him coldly and declared.

“Randalph Brigsiel. He carries the name of the demon king. Remember this.”

"...Demon King...I am glad to meet you.”

Sasun knelt in front of me.

This was my position. It was a position that wouldn’t change for a very long time. I would be Ariel’s eternal master. Her subordinates’ loyalty was unchanged, but the ruler of this place had shifted. There were also the creatures following me.

Sasun was forced to face the reality that Ariel was defeated in the war to become the demon king.

The number of troops inside the castle was 300,000.

Including my creatures, there were 450,000.

A sufficient number. Quite a large number of troops were stockpiled. It was proof of Sasun’s exceptional abilities.

But it was also true that it was troublesome.

The demons and creatures were likely to become obstacles.

"Your Majesty. Just leave it to me."

Oswen came out once again.

Oswen pulled out a small mirror.

"One of the Hell Monarch’s curses is to keep the dead moving. This ‘Mirror of Truth’ can stop the curse from spreading to our troops like a contagion.”

"Isn’t this too small?”

I asked. A small hand mirror didn’t seem capable of stopping a curse. Oswen nodded like he agreed.

"I can make it bigger. I just need enough time and materials.”

Ariel interrupted.

"All the magic materials required are available. But time is the problem. The army of the Hell Monarch is nearing.”

“A week. Please endure for that time. Of course, it won’t end even after I finish the mirror. The mirror must be protected. If it breaks then the curse will be triggered and spread again.”

"Can’t you solve the curse?”

"It is possible, but it is a matter of efficiency. It can’t be done in a week. Even if I had 10 other people at my level, it would take me three months.”

"You have to create the mirror."

Ariel also realized the reality. By this time, she had realized that Oswen was the great blacksmith.

Oswen. The Twilight Blacksmith. Even the gods were jealous of his techniques, so there was no one at a similar level to Oswen.

"Go ahead. I will buy you one week.”

If my thoughts were correct, it would be possible.

"I will follow."

“Me too...”

Ariel and Chrisley both came forward.

I shook my head.

“I will go alone. Don’t you two have something to do?”

They were embarrassed as they realized. Ariel needed to stabilize the soldiers inside the castle while Chrisley’s brain would be used to develop a plan. Magical measures also needed to be taken.

These things couldn’t be compromised. It was only possible for them.

“Alone...will it be okay?”

"I have an idea. It will be enough to buy time for a week.”

I was confident. Even if I made a mistake, it wouldn’t be that easy to kill me. Many high ranking demons and creatures were guarding the Hell Monarch, but it was possible if I was only buying time.

‘Most of the high ranking demons have transcended.’

I could almost say that they were above a duke. All 72 demons, including the grand dukes, had their abilities restricted after being sent to Earth. But now, Ariel had almost recovered the power of her prime days.

‘Hell Monarch. I will make you prove yourself.’

I smiled thinly.

I had most of the things that should have belonged to him.

It couldn’t be helped if he felt pained when looking at me. He could only blame himself for coming back from the nothingness.

As soon as I left the castle, I raised the Emperor’s Sword.

A treasure preserved by Maxium, it was originally used by the Hell Monarch.

It would never break and had one more function.

“The Emperor’s Army.”

Chwaaaah!

A golden light sprang from the Emperor’s Sword. A large crack formed near the Emperor’s Sword, and creatures started to gradually emerge from it.

Cheok. Cheok.

They came from the treasure trove.

Their names were the phantom cavalry.

100,000 cavalry members lined up behind me.

They had no body, but wore iron armour. All of them were advanced grade or higher.

‘90 days.’

This was the real emperor’s army. The 100,000 strong army would remain for 90 days and would destroy the enemy according to my commands. They had been made by the Hell Monarch for this function.

They had no flesh, just artificial armour. In addition, curses wouldn’t work due to my skill ‘Power of Domination.’

‘Hell Monarch. I wonder what it feels like to be attacked by a soldier you made yourself.’

I spread my wings and flew forward quickly.

Dagudak! Dagudak!

And the 100,000 phantom cavalry moved in an orderly manner behind me.

The army of the Hell Monarch wasn’t far away.

At most, they were three days away.

If I was even a little later, the castle would have fallen.

‘A lot.’

Camael had led 1.14 million angels.

1.14 million. It took a month to wipe them all out. If I had delayed even a little longer then I would have used the Emperor’s Army.

'I did well to save it for now.’

It would have been a waste if I used the Emperor’s Army on Camael. I would have had no way to stop the army that was three days away. I could use myself as bait, but I couldn’t be sure without knowing the Hell Monarch’s power.

His curses were able to affect transcendent demons. It was good that I didn’t move when I realized how annoying Camael was.

'It is hard to figure out because there are too many of them.’

Sasun had estimated three million enemies. However, the number seemed to go far beyond that. In addition, there were the creatures of the demons. Among them was a mixture of dragons and earth dragons.

‘Balrog...’

I saw a balrog that was known to be extinct long ago.

Endless creatures.

The highest grade creature was the balrog.

They were a high class Lv5 creature and no higher levels existed.

The true demonic dragon Aojin wasn’t treated as a creature, so he couldn’t be ranked at Lv6.

In other words, the balrog was the strongest creature in the Demon World.

It was about the size of a hydra. Despite being smaller, it was still over 10m. But it also had large wings.

Just flapping the wings caused magic power in the area to fluctuate.

When looking at ancient stories, even the demon kings had struggled to remove a balrog. A balrog never got tired and many demons were sacrificed.

Even the ninth demon king ‘Alexus Troja’ was killed by a balrog.

Like Aojin, the balrog surpassed general creatures by an unimaginable amount.

The appearance of the balrog who killed the demon king was described in detail.

The name.

'Rogujan.’

I frowned.

Rogujan’s description in the literature was very similar to the balrog that I could see now. Except for the right wing, everything else was the same.

‘It came from the nothingness.’

It seemed like the Hell Monarch wasn’t the only one who came back from the nothingness.