CH 273

“There is such a legend…” The demon, who revealed himself as Altums, finished his story.

“If it’s a legend, it must have happened a long time ago. When was that?” Eugene asked.

“I-it’s just a long time ago. The reign has changed four times in the meantime,” Altums responded.

“So how many years is… No, so how many times did the sun rise and set?” Eugene decided to change the way he asked questions. In the Demon World, there was no concept of time in terms of months or years. The ‘reign’ that Altums spoke of referred to the period of time when the highest-ranking demon, in other words, the king, ruled the world. The reign changed once the demon in power was killed or deposed by another demon.

“Thousands, no, tens of thousands? N-no, even more than that… I’m sorry.”

“…”

Well, Eugene couldn’t blame the demon. Who in their right mind would count the number of times the sun rose and set? Moreover, the Drakan that Altums had mentioned, the King of Darkness Eugene, was a figure of a time long before Altums had even come into existence.

‘At least hundreds of years? If that’s the case… If I’m actually the King of Darkness…’

Did that mean he crossed over into this world hundreds of years ago?

Eugene shook his head. He couldn’t assume that the flow of time in the Demon World was the same as in this world.

‘This is a little complicated.’

Eugene decided to stop worrying for now. The only thing that was clear was that he had the same name as the King of Darkness Altums had mentioned and that his heart had thumped the moment Altums spoke the name.

However…

‘I think that is actually me.’

And that was enough for now…

Eugene looked down at Altums, who fervently avoided eye contact with him. The overflowing evil energy from the demon’s transformed form was nowhere to be found, and Altums’ eyes kept darting around nervously as he stole gazes at Eugene.

‘They’re different from vampires.’

Vampires submitted as soon as they realized the power gap between them and their enemy. They wouldn’t dare to have any other thoughts, and they would thoroughly surrender. However, demons were somewhat different. At first glance, they appeared submissive, but it was clear that they would try something if given the chance. Eugene could tell just by the way the demon’s eyes darted around.

‘They’re creatures you cannot, and should not trust. Evil itself.’

Although it was only his first time meeting demons, Eugene was already sure of some facts about their race. His eyes turned bleak. However, since he didn’t have that much information about the Demon World, he couldn’t kill the demon for now.

“There was something interesting that one of the other ones said earlier,” Eugene said.

“What?”

“Breeding grounds,” Eugene responded.

“…!”

“What does that mean?” Eugene asked.

“T-that’s…” Altums hesitated for a moment while turning his eyes away. Eugene’s crimson eyes met the demon’s blue eyes in the air. Altums immediately gave up his schemes as soon as he saw the emotion in Eugene’s eyes. It was an emotion the demon knew very well. After all, he had also looked at the monsters in the Demon World the same way.

‘He considers me even lower than an insect. I’m dead with a single slip of the tongue.’

No, it wouldn’t be just death, either. This wasn’t the Demon World, so Altums would be extinguished. It wouldn’t simply be his body; his soul would literally get deleted as well.

“T-that’s what we call this world. Breeding grounds. Sometimes we call it a hunting ground as well,” Altums answered.

“Explain,” Eugene said.

“Well, that’s…” Altums hesitated for a moment.

Eugene focused his Fear on the demon without warning.

“Keugh! Agh!”

Although the heart of an evil land was filled to the brim with evil energy, the Fear of an Origin nullified all conditions. Altums was unable to even breathe properly due to the overwhelming pressure. Even though Altums could be considered an intermediate-rank demon among the demons, he could not even lift a finger in face of the overbearing mystery.

That wasn’t the end of it as well. As Altums’ body twitched, Eugene used Charm. It was a power that allowed Eugene to hypnotize and instill a deep sense of trust in subjects favorable to him. However, it also allowed him to inject fear into subjects, who were afraid of him.

“K-Keugh…!” Altums’ gray skin turned darker as he experienced overwhelming fear and despair for the first time.

“Explain,” Eugene said.

Altums stammered. He was almost drooling as he faced the red eyes. “I-it’s because we regard e-everything living in t-this world as prey, regardless of race…”

“You bastards don’t even know your place, huh? What kind of predator gets beaten up by prey on a hunting ground?” Eugene said.

“…”

“And what do you mean when you said you were the first? Are you saying that others could cross over to this world through these passages?” Eugene asked.

“It’s probable that… No, it’s most likely. Because…”

Altums had become almost certain of Eugene’s identity as ‘Drakan’ after experiencing Eugene’s Fear. As such, he hurriedly spoke in desperation, “The divine power of some passages has recently weakened. As such, even the living have been allowed passage. It was said that the time of adversity has come…”

Altums started to explain everything he knew about the recent changes in the demon world. However, he was interrupted.

Ruummmmmmble! Booom!

The translucent wall to the Demon World emitted a rumbling noise once more. However, the scale of the tremor was incomparably greater than before. In fact, the entire passage shook as if there was an earthquake. Were other demons crossing over?

Eugene turned away from Altums and quickly prepared for battle once more.

Rummmmble…!!!

The translucent wall shook. However, unlike the previous instances, there were no visible ripples on the wall. Rather, the surface began to distort thanks to an invisible force. It was as if someone was slicing the wall.

Craaack! Crunnnch!

The warped walls began to collapse upon themselves. In an instant, the wall folded in dozens of layers before quickly taking the form of a long, thick, straight line. It almost looked like a black spear, and even Eugene was unable to react to what happened next.

Fwoosh!

“Kuaaaaaagh!”

The black spear pierced Altums’ chest in the blink of an eye.

Crack!

The demon’s body instantly scattered into black particles. Simultaneously, the black spear disappeared without a trace as well.

“What?!” Galfredik was stupefied by the sudden turn of events. The translucent wall had disappeared without a trace. And only a rock surface, similar to the walls of the passage leading to the heart of the dungeon, remained.

“Master! What was that just now?” Galfredik asked.

“How would I know?” Eugene responded in vain. There had been many things he had been planning to ask the demon, so what the hell just happened?

“Was it magic? No, if it were, there should have been a caster nearby.”

“…” Eugene clicked his tongue before looking around. Nothing remained. The entrance to the Demon World—the translucent wall—was nowhere to be found. It was clear what the unexpected change represented.

“Master. This… Has the dungeon been cleared?” Galfredik asked.

“It seems that way,” Eugene answered. It was unfortunate for Lord Bemos, the owner of the dungeon, but it appeared that the dungeon of the Bemos territory had come to meet its end. In fact, the evil energy that once filled the entirety of the passage could no longer be felt. It was nothing more than a regular cave now.

“Ha… I would have never imagined that I would see an evil land disappear,” Galfredik commented.

“Has this never happened before?” Eugene asked.

Galfredik responded, “Yes, this has never happened as far as I know. In the first place, you’re the first one to ever reach the heart of an evil land.”

“…Don’t you think the one responsible for the monster uprising knew about this?” Eugene asked.

“That’s possible. Ah, or maybe they induced this situation,” Galfredik said.

“Hmm.” Eugene fell into contemplation while stroking his chin. However, it was impossible to get a good grasp on the confusing situation. There was only one thing left for him to do.

“I think… we need to find the one responsible for this mess,” Eugene said.

The one who knew that passages to the Demon World existed at the hearts of evil lands.

The one who allowed demons to pass through the passage instead of monsters, though it was unclear how it worked.

The one who could even destroy the passage that allowed an evil land to serve as an evil land.

It was unknown whether the one responsible had planned everything or not, but it was clear that they knew secrets and important truths relating to evil lands. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have started the monster uprising.

And perhaps…

‘They might know about me as well.’

The one behind the curtains probably knew much more about Eugene, the Drakan King of Darkness and the Origin vampire.

“Let’s get out of here for now,” Eugene said. Although knowing one truth led to even more questions and secrets, Eugene wasn’t discouraged at all. After all, he already knew who was keeping the truth related to the current situation.

‘Yellow bastard. And the vampire clan masters.’

He couldn’t know for sure if they were the mastermind or just pieces, but he could surely obtain some answers from them.

***

“My apologies. I found traces, but it seemed that they left the dungeon a long time ago after finishing their work,” The two vampire high lords reported back while kneeling in front of Eugene. They had failed to find the one manipulating the Bemos dungeon.

“I see,” Eugene responded. He did not blame the two vampire high lords. He had expected it to a degree. A few months had already passed since Christian manipulated the dungeon of the Tywin territory. If the one responsible for the Bemos dungeon had arrived at a similar time, they would have already left after achieving their purpose.

“However, given the various circumstances, we believe that the one responsible is not a member of the Dark Clan, but a wizard.”

“Why?”

“As was the case with myself, members of the tribe rarely move alone. If it were a high lord of the Dark Clan, they would have been with knights and butlers. However, we could not find any traces suggesting that they were accompanied by others.”

“Hmm. I see. Good work,” Eugene responded. The two vampires bowed as if they were touched, then stood up.

Princess Lilisain, who had returned after leaving to eliminate the rest of the monsters in the dungeon, asked, “With all due respect, I have a question. What happened to the heart of the dungeon? I detected a strong vibration during the subjugation.”

It appeared everyone had felt the powerful vibrations. Eugene thought for a moment, then answered while shaking his head, “I don’t think this is the time to explain. I will tell you later. However, what I can tell you now is that… This place is no longer an evil land.”

“W-what?!”

“C-confusion!” Princess Lilisain shouted. The other elven knights and vampires appeared greatly shocked and puzzled as well. However, the shock they felt was nothing compared to the ‘owner’ of the dungeon.

***

“W-w-what do you mean? The dungeon’s life span has expired?” Lord Bemos asked.

“Just as I said. This is no longer an evil land.”

“…!” Lord Bemos stood stunned for a while, then hurriedly asked, “Y-you couldn’t be saying that monsters won’t be appearing, right?”

“…It turned out that way,” Eugene responded.

“H-how could that be…?” Lord Bemos slumped to the ground in shock. It was definitely a good thing that the situation had been resolved, as the entire territory had transformed into a monster paradise thanks to it. However, the fact that his dungeon was no longer functioning was an entirely different matter. As was the case with most nobles and lords with their own evil lands, Lord Bemos based his wealth on the by-products and mana stones obtained from the monsters in or near his dungeon. However, the one thing that differentiated his territory from others had actually disappeared overnight.

“T-that’s ridiculous…” Lord Bemos muttered in a voice seeped in despair and disbelief. The other foreign nobles whispered while watching him.

“Don’t tell me that’s going to happen to us as well?”

“What?! A-are you saying we’re going to lose our evil lands?”

“The evil lands may have to be sacrificed to put an end to the monster uprising. The results are telling us, right?”

“That’s…” The nobles were filled with shock and urgency. Almost all territories and kingdoms considered mana stones and monster by-products as the biggest contributor to their economies. What would happen if a large number of evil lands suddenly disappeared?

‘We could really be in trouble…’

The nobles were filled with worries and unease. Eugene spoke in a calm voice, “Sir Bemos. I’m sorry that the dungeon has lost its function and disappeared. But if the monster uprising were allowed to continue, your territory would have been completely ruined.”

“Ah…” Lord Bemos nodded with a miserable expression. It was an undeniable truth.

Eugene continued, “Moreover, there are still many monsters remaining in the territory. This incident has also caused an increase in the number of monsters possessing mana stones. If you plan well, you could continue to harvest mana stones and by-products, though not as much as before.”

“What?” Lord Bemos became wide-eyed.

He immediately clapped his hands, “Ah! We can manage the roamers!”

Eugene responded, “That’s right. You can herd them into a specific place and manage their numbers appropriately. I think it should be possible, as the Bemos territory is fairly large.”

“Yes, it’s possible. Ah… But who could possibly…” Lord Bemos muttered as his expression darkened once again. However, a small hope glimmered in his eyes as he looked at Eugene.

“I will do it for you. In the first place, getting rid of the monsters was stipulated in the contract,” Eugene said.

“How honorable! You are truly generous!” Lord Bemos praised Eugene.

The foreign nobles were quick on their feet and joined in the praise.

“Then with our kingdom…!”

“Your Majesty! If you could please do the same for us…”