‘Submit. Or die.’
That man’s coercive attitude caused Jaki’s panting to stop for two seconds.
But only for two seconds.
The plump rat burst into a shrill, arrogant laughter.
“Submit? To the likes of you? You are nothing compared to Demon King Dracul’s death knights, yet you have the galls to ask this Lord Jaki to submit to you?”
“It’s the netherworld’s order,” Bant coldly replied with unwavering eyes.
“The netherworld? Don’t you know how far this place is away from the netherworld? Hahaha! Are you trying to make this Lord Jaki die of laughter! Let me tell you—we, the Ratmen, have never worshiped your Demon God, not even for a second! The only ones worthy of our worship are the Three Supreme Ones—Lord Svelte, Lord Gelor, and Lord Ravda!”
The so-called Three Supreme Ones worshiped by the ratmen were the Deception Rat, the Gluttony Rat, and the Abundance Rat.
Roan had learned about them from his study materials, and he could only say that each of them was more eccentric than the other.
The ratmen were not well accepted in the netherworld’s mainstream society because of their rebellious nature. There were ratmen clans allied with the netherworld, but it was still rare to see ratmen in the Demon Capital.
But this was none of Roan’s concern. He was more interested in another matter.
“Why did you betray the netherworld?”
“Betray? This Lord Jaki has never betrayed the netherworld. How is this Jaki to know what the others in the labyrinth are up to? Till Lord Gelor bestowed power upon this Jaki, this Jaki was nothing more than a weak slave rat... a slave rat whom none of you gave a proper glance to!”
Jaki laughed shrilly as his fats rippled. He was mocking the demon king’s foolishness.
With a few words, he verified that the new demon king was too weak to pose a threat to him. Thus, he didn’t hesitate to turn against the other party.
“Since you have come knocking on your accord, this Jaki shall send you on your way!”
The plump rat flicked his tail like a whip, sending Bant flying ten meters away before crashing into the wall.
Dust rained down. The immense impact further mashed up what little flesh and blood that Bant had left.
“Die! Die! Hahahaha!” Jaki screamed in excitement, inadvertently letting down his guard.
Roan didn’t let this opportunity slip. As soon as he finished his chant, he emerged from behind the boulder, raised his staff, and unleashed a beam of dim yellow light.
“Earth Collapse!”
His target was not the ground but the ceiling above Jaki.
The previously sturdy cavern ceiling shattered into bits right away!
Boom!
Large rock pieces fell from the ceiling to bombard the unguarded Jaki.
The plump rat was stunned. He quickly turned to face Roan, but a rock smashed him squarely in the face then, causing him to stiffen in place.
In a matter of seconds, the shattered rocks crushed the plump rat to the ground.
Despite being protected by over a hundred tonnes of fats, Jaki still suffered injuries all over. Buried under a huge pile of stones, he couldn’t move at all. ȓ�
He looked at the human mage before him with amber eyes reflecting deep fear. Realizing the tides weren’t in his favor, he quickly shrieked, “You! You are the real demon king!”
Despite having his physique inflated hundreds of times over, he couldn’t shake off the cowardice from his insignificant days.
Roan looked at his terrified eyes and chuckled. “I planned to give you a chance, but your foolishness shows you are unworthy of it.”
Jaki trembled. He tried struggling free of the stone heap with all his might.
“No, Demon King! This Jaki... This Jaki was just blinded by desires! Please give me another chance. My clan and I will serve you loyally! We will become your sharpest claws and aid you in recovering the labyrinth!”
Worried that Roan might get soft-hearted, Youyou quickly advised, “Demon King, you mustn’t trust him! I feel no faith from him! He’s deceiving you!”
“I know. I am not a fool.”
Roan glanced at the gamers standing behind him. This time, he spoke in a language they comprehended, “Why are you still dawdling? That’s the culprit behind the earlier stampede. Rip him a new one!”
While marching through the tunnels, Roan glimpsed a torch’s light in his peripheral vision at an upcoming bend. He overheard the adventurers’ conversation, and they seemed to have made up their minds to retreat...
“Boss, something is off... I have been to the Northpeak Shaft, but it wasn’t like that before.”
“That sword mark over there... It’s Lakeson’s greatsword, no mistake about that! Then that axe mark should be from Amu!”
“But where are they? Did they enter the labyrinth?”
“Well... I can guess what Chris was scheming, but they shouldn’t have a reason to enter the labyrinth. They just need to get to its vicinity.”
Roan narrowed his eyes upon hearing the familiar name.
‘Accomplices, I see. There’s nothing more to say then.’
He glanced at Bant, and the latter raised his greatsword and charged toward the source of light.
“Extinguish Light!”
At the same time, Roan waved his staff toward the source of light.
This Iron-tier necromancy spell extinguished light sources that weren’t too hot and Iron-tier illumination spells. He previously used it in the Demon King Academy to put out oil lamps and candles.
The adventurers’ torches went out, plunging their surroundings into darkness.
Jack felt a lurching feeling rising inside him.
He instinctively raised his sword, and an immense force clanged against his blade right after, nearly tearing the web of his fingers.
When he finally locked eyes with the aggressor, his heart nearly leaped out of his mouth.
“Bant?!”
‘No, that’s not right. This fellow is an undead! And he was awakened by a necromancer who is at least at Copper-tier!’
“Hold on!” Jack hurriedly leaped back to create some distance after barely parrying the first attack. He raised his left hand as he exclaimed, “Hold on, esteemed mage! There is no grudge between us. There is no reason for us to fight!”
“No grudge?” Roan’s chuckle could be heard from the darkness as he slowly replied, “Do you think I will let you go when you have seen through my spell?”
Jack broke out in cold sweat. It could be a bluff, but the other party sounded confident of keeping them here forever!
Driven by his desire to survive, his mind went into overdrive. His eyes suddenly flickered, and he said, “Why not? We, the people of the Lyon Kingdom, aren’t that devoted to Saint Sisto...”
“So?” Roan asked nonchalantly as he continued moving Bant forward.
At the same time, he directed his Soul Siphon at the strongest-looking man in the Jack’s party.
“We can work together!” The encroachment of death made Jack squeal in horror. “Damn it, necromancers are living beings too. There must be something you need!”
Roan halted. Looking at the silhouettes obscured by the shadows, he asked, “You wish to make a deal with me?”
Jack gulped as he mustered his courage to reply, “That’s right! I have many connections in the underworld, and now that I think about it, we aren’t that different from you... I’m saying that we are all on the other side of the law, so I can’t report you too. I can help you obtain whatever you require!”
“What if I want a long-eared slave?”
Jack gasped, but he didn’t turn down the request. “That will take a lot of money—a lot, a lot of money. The elves are allied with the Ors Empire.”
Looking at the profusely sweating Jack, Roan chuckled before calmly replied, “It was a casual question, but I see you have connections.”
Jack might not be a good person, but it looked like he had a brain. He didn’t just speak mindlessly and make empty promises like a rat.
Seeing that he had piqued the necromancer’s interest, Jack exhaled in relief. He wiped his sweaty hands on his pants as he replied, “Of course! I swear I’ll be of value to you! My name is Jack... May I know your name?”
Roan intended to come up with a random name, but he quickly remembered he couldn’t leech off the Demon God’s faith anymore. He would soon have to develop his faith and build his name up in Thunderbuzz City and then the Lyon Kingdom...
“I am Roan. Also, don’t make a vow to me. I want you to make a vow to that.”
A grayish crystal ball rolled to Jack’s foot.
Jack stared at the crystal ball in confusion.
Roan calmly replied, “It’s a record crystal. I want you and your party members to make a vow before it, saying ‘Long live the Demon God’ and ‘Saint Sisto is a steaming heap of shit’.”