NOVEL ONLINE FREE Chapter 42
Chapter 42
Nahun stood in the quiet western plains outside the Demon King Castle on the 68th floor, gazing at the sky as if waiting for something.
Soon, a shadow cast down from the sky, and a huge object landed with a thud, kicking up a sandstorm.
“Nahun, did you call for me?”
Before heading to the Astral Stone Mine, Nahun had summoned a special guest: the enormous gargoyle, Argol, who originally captured humans on the 72nd floor.
“I need your strength.”
“What should I do?”
“Just follow me for now.”
Argol flapped his wings slowly and followed Nahun as he traversed the wilds toward the Astral Stone Mine that Dekarabia had mentioned.
“Nahun, this place is….”
“This is the Astral Stone Mine. Isn’t it similar to where you were?”
“Do I have to sleep here again?”
Argol was questioning whether he would have to guard something once more while sleeping, like he did on the 70th floor. Nahun turned to him and chuckled.
“What are you talking about? Why would I put you to sleep?”
“Then why did you bring me here?”
“Gargoyles can distinguish ores, can’t they?”
“Yes… that’s correct.”
Gargoyles possessed the ability to locate specific ores within rocky areas filled with various minerals and stones. For reasons unknown, it might be due to the fact that they are the statues themselves. Nahun intended to use his ability to find something.
“Once we enter the mine, search meticulously through the rocky areas.”
“Is there something?”
“There should be something. If you notice anything odd, let me know right away.”
“Yes.”
Nahun and Argol entered the Astral Stone Mine. Unlike the abandoned mine where Argol was first discovered, this site was still active with miners present, who were naturally startled to see Argol suddenly appear.
“What is that!?”
“W-why is a gargoyle here…?”
Nahun raised his hand slightly to calm the miners.
“Everyone here has probably heard, but as of today, the 68th floor is now subordinate to the 72nd floor. I am Nahun, the teacher of His Majesty Seere von Debata, the Demon King of the 72nd floor.”
The miners’ expressions showed clear tension upon hearing Nahun’s introduction. One miner stepped forward and asked.
“I-is it true that the rumors are real?”
“Would you believe me if I showed you Dekarabia’s head?”
At Nahun’s fierce remark, the miner shook his head vigorously. Nahun then addressed the miner who was wearing a armband.
“Are you the foreman here?”
“Yes.”
“Stop all work immediately and escort the workers outside.”
“What?”
“You can resume work once things are finished. So hurry up and get out.”
At Nahun’s command, the foreman hesitantly nodded and started gathering the workers.
“Alright, everyone, break time! Let’s get outside!”
“Yes, yes…”
As the workers exited, they couldn’t help but glance at Argol at least once. Among demons, the presence of such a gigantic gargoyle was indeed a rarity.
“Everyone seems intrigued. It seems they’ve never seen a gargoyle as large as you.”
“I felt like a monkey trapped in a cage.”
“Is that all? You’re being overly dramatic.”
After confirming that all the workers had exited, and after sending off the foreman, Nahun spoke to Argol.
“Argol, what you’re looking for now is a bracelet.”
“A bracelet?”
“I don’t know what material it’s made of, but judging by its color, it’s likely gold.”
Argol found it odd.
“Are you saying a gold bracelet is in the Astral Stone Mine?”
“It won’t just be lying on the ground; it’ll be trapped within the rock. Along with the ores.”
“…So that’s why you brought me here.”
If the bracelet was indeed trapped within the rock alongside the ores, Argol would certainly be able to find it. However, he was also curious about why the bracelet was unexpectedly inside the mine, and cautiously asked.
“Nahun, why is the bracelet in the mine…?”
“Well, I honestly don’t know.”
“Excuse me…?”
Then how did you find out? Argol harbored some doubts but decided to let it slide for now, thinking that Nahun was merely hiding the reason rather than truly not knowing.
Of course, contrary to Argol’s thoughts, Nahun genuinely had no idea. There was no way Nahun could know what the game developers had designed.
‘Even I think it’s strange.’
A bracelet inexplicably wedged among the gemstones in a mine. No matter how well it was hidden, that was pushing it too far. It was like the Blood Vein Swords appearing too early, while this was an item too deeply buried and only found late.
“I’ll look for it.”
“Yeah, please do.”
Argol moved his massive body and wandered through the mine. The mine was expansive and tall enough that Argol could walk around without touching the ceiling. It demonstrated how much astral stone Dekarabia had mined here.
‘But there’s still a surplus of deposits.’
It was reminiscent of oil-producing Middle Eastern countries. Dekarabia wasn’t able to move such a large army or govern this level just through the sale of astral stones by chance.
‘Now half of that income should be coming to us.’
Thinking of that made Nahun feel good. He chuckled softly to himself. Suddenly, Argol shuddered at Nahun’s sudden laughter, but he remained unaware.
After some time, Nahun stopped laughing and said to Argol as if to get his attention.
“It’s time to seriously train the army.”
“…You’re talking about an army.”
“Yeah.”
Backed by the booming income from the sale of astral stones and the thriving slave business, now it was time to begin forming a proper army.
Currently, the forces under Seere von Debata consisted of exactly 21,209 men, combining the Fourth and Fifth Legions. It was far too few for an army of a Demon King who had conquered three layers.
The reason he had deliberately refrained from increasing his forces was to avoid raising the suspicions of other layers. Now that it would be known that Seere had conquered the 69th floor, the lower-tier Demon Kings would naturally begin to be wary of him.
It was certain that there would be preemptive declarations of war against him. Thus, it was necessary to start amassing troops even now. Fortunately, with the occupation of three layers and part of the 70th, there were ample human resources.
‘It might soon be time to accept some losses.’
Until now, Nahun had pursued a conquest policy aiming to minimize casualties, but now that his foundations were solid, it was possible to adopt a strategy that might incur some losses in exchange for greater gains.
“Nahun.”
“Did you find something?”
“I think so. There’s something nearby that’s not an astral stone.”
“…Step aside.”
Nahun looked toward the area Argol pointed out and reached out his hand. Argol’s whole body stiffened.
‘Wh-what an immense… magic power….’
Simply sensing Nahun’s magic power made Argol feel threatened. Of course, Nahun had no intention of harming Argol. Rather, he intended to use magic to extract something from among the ores.
“Material”
『 Materia 』
An ancient rune emerged. Argol’s eyes widened in astonishment as he gazed at it.
“Extraction.”
『 Extractionem 』
Then another rune of a different color appeared and combined with the first one. The combined runes transformed into a single spell and activated.
As a result, without having to use a pickaxe, something slowly emerged from the rock face. A round object glowing in golden color. This was the bracelet Nahun had been searching for.
In the game, this equipment was known as the Ancient Golden Bracelet. As the name suggests, it was a bracelet buried in the mine since ancient times; however, the question of who owned it and why it was buried in the mine was not answered even in Ebel Queen Maker.
Setting that aside, what was important was that the performance of this equipment was considerable. The game developers certainly wouldn’t have hidden an item of poor quality.
‘The Blood Vein Sword had shown immense power in this place, hadn’t it?’
Thus, this bracelet would surely demonstrate tremendous performance in some way. Being an accessory, Nahun thought it would stand out in defensive capabilities.
Nahun smiled satisfactorily and turned to Argol.
“Well found.”
“N-Nahun.”
“What is it?”
“Your magic power….”
“Oh.”
Nahun withdrew his magic power. He had a habit of unconsciously spreading his magic power around when using spells. As Nahun retracted his magic power, Argol seemed to relax, exhaling in relief.
Nahun didn’t quite understand how his magic power felt to others. Naturally, he couldn’t feel any pressure from his own magic. Suddenly curious, he asked Argol.
“Is it that burdensome?”
“Of course….”
“To what extent?”
“Excuse me?”
“Put it in metaphorical terms.”
At Nahun’s question, Argol tilted his head for a moment, recalling what Andromalius had once said to him, and he understood. Strong individuals tended to flaunt their strength. Argol thought Nahun’s question was in line with that tendency.
“It feels like facing a natural disaster.”
However, unlike Andromalius, who had to dress up his words, Argol’s feelings when speaking to Nahun were ‘genuine.’ The pressure from the magic power that Nahun radiated rendered Argol truly powerless. It was as if all living beings were powerless before a colossal natural disaster.
“…Is that so.”
Nahun nodded. He then put the bracelet into his pocket and said,
“My business here is done. Inform the foreman to resume work, and you should return to the 72nd floor. I’ll head to the 69th floor.”
“Yes, Nahun.”
#
When Nahun returned to the 69th floor, Seere was waiting for him at the main gate of the Demon King Castle.
“Seere.”
“Teacher!”
“Let’s go inside~!”
“Okay.”
The Demon King Castle on the 69th floor was bustling. They were in the midst of moving operations from the 72nd floor’s castle. The reason they were relocating here after conquering the 68th floor was due to geographical advantages.
For one, most merchants doing business with the 72nd floor had their bases on the 69th floor. Additionally, unlike the 68th floor, which was at direct risk of attacks from the 67th, the 69th floor was already a territory that had been conquered by the floor above, and the 70th floor was an allied territory, making it safe.
Thus, they were moving to the 69th floor. For the vacant 72nd floor, Dantalion would assume responsibility, forming a contract that guaranteed some sovereignty—none other than with Seere directly.
Seere looked at the symbol etched on his hand while glancing at Dantalion.
“I hope to receive timely updates going forward.”
“…Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Don’t let me down. Since you were once a Demon King, I trust you’ll do well.”
“I will live up to your faith.”
Dantalion tilted his head in submission and departed with his followers. Once his matters were taken care of, Seere turned to Nahun, who was standing nearby.
“Teacher, I didn’t make any mistakes, did I?”
“No, you did well.”
“So we really are going to play now?”
“Where would you like to go?”
Nahun wholeheartedly accepted Seere’s request. Seere smiled brightly and said,
“I want to go to a quiet place with good scenery! A place with not many people!”
“Hmm.”
Hearing Seere’s preferred destination, Nahun pondered for a moment before nodding as if he understood.
“Then I’ll look into some places.”
“Yes!”
“I’ll have it ready by tomorrow, so take a good rest today.”
“Yesss!”
Seere replied with a bright smile, and Nahun headed out of the main hall to gather some information. Left alone, Seere revealed the smile she had been trying to hide in front of Nahun and murmured.
“What should we do for fun with Teacher? Hehe…”
Seere giggled, deep in happy contemplation. Suddenly, the main hall door swung open, and Nahun returned, causing Seere to hastily change her expression in surprise.
“T-teacher?”
“I had something to give you, but I forgot.”
“Excuse me?”
Nahun pulled something out of his pocket. It was a golden, sparkling ring-shaped bracelet. As Seere widened her eyes in surprise, Nahun smiled, thinking she would like it.
“Isn’t it shiny?”
“Y-yes, it’s shiny.”
“This is a gift for you since you did well this time. Hold out your hand.”
“I-it’s for me?”
“Then whose would it be?”
As Seere hesitated and reached out her hand, Nahun gently put the bracelet on her wrist. After fastening the bracelet, Nahun chuckled and said,
“It looks good on you.”
Staring blankly at the bracelet gifted by Nahun, Seere’s eyes sparkled, and she beamed up at him.
“Thank you, Teacher!”
“Yeah, make sure to wear it from now on.”
“Yes!”
After giving her the bracelet, Nahun stepped out of the main hall again, and Seere quietly fiddled with the bracelet he had put on her. Then, after briefly closing her eyes, an ominous feeling began to settle within Seere.
She lightly touched her lips with her index finger.
“…I really can’t let you go, Teacher.”