The war in Manchuria ended up with the overwhelming victory of the players.
It was the first large-scale war that happened after the 'Cataclysmic Day,' so it was understandable that it received attention worldwide.
Thanks to that incident, China and Korea's image improved around the world.
The Demon Cult had been making the world tremble in fear.
Their first large-scale attack was stopped, so it wasn't weird that everyone was so excited about it.
Unlike what people thought, they weren't able to perfectly block the Demon Cult's attack.
They just won the fight against the leftovers from the Demon Cult's plan.
'They're going to move again soon.'
…And the scale was probably going to be much bigger in the future.
His eyes deep and sunken, KangWoo put his hand on top of the table.
There was a spicy lobster there.
It was obviously his first time eating it.
He put plastic gloves on and grabbed a lobster.
'It would be better if they moved first.'
He chewed the lobster, which was covered with a red sauce.
Crunch.
Its shell cracked, and he could taste the soft meat.
'Except for the golden teeth, I'm going to chew everything away.'
The bigger the move the Demon Cult made, the more he'd be able to eat.
Considering that he had to protect the world, the situation was kind of ironic.
'Anyway. The priority right now is for me to get stronger.'
KangWoo wasn't sure what would happen if the Gaia System kept weakening.
To stop unexpected things, he needed to have a power that could crush those variables.
"Do you like the food?" Cheon SooYeon asked while entering the room.
KangWoo nodded.
"Yes. It's delicious."
"You're eating that without taking off the shell, yet you find it delicious…?"
Chae YeonJoo looked at him in disbelief.
TaeSoo, who was also eating it without peeling off the shell, tilted his head.
"What's up with this monster?"
"Fufu. His name is Mr. TaeSoo, and he's a member of my party," Han Seol-ah answered with a smile.
Chae YeonJoo shook his head while looking at TaeSoo, who looked like a monster.
She turned her eyes toward KangWoo.
"We should start getting ready to go back."
"Oh, yeah. About that…"
KangWoo put down the lobster.
"I have a place I have to visit first, so go ahead without me."
"You have a place to visit? Where?"
"Vladivostok."
There was a bit of commotion.
Vladivostok…
It was where an SS-rank gate was located and where the conflict with the Demon Cult started.
Chae YeonJoo narrowed her eyes.
If he was planning to visit Vladivostok in that situation, there was only one possible reason…
"Are you planning to investigate the Demon Cult’s trace? If so, I'll also go."
"No. That's one of the reasons, but I have another thing I have to do. Just Echidna and I will be fine."
Chae YeonJoo tilted her head.
"What do you have to do?"
"I'm planning to get another summoned monster."
"A Summoned monster…?"
Everyone's attention was placed on Echidna.
Echidna, who was eating lobster, stood up while making a surprised expression.
"K-KangWoo… Is it that you don't need me anymore?"
She anxiously pulled KangWoo's sleeves.
She seemed to be worried that her place as a summoned monster would disappear.
KangWoo smirked and patted her head.
"It’s nothing like that, so don't worry."
"Ugh…"
Echidna bit her lip anxiously.
Han Seol-ah softly hugged her from behind.
"Don't worry. You know very well what kind of person Mr. KangWoo is."
"Okay, understood."
As even Seol-ah calmed her down, Echidna nodded.
"Then let's go. YeonJoo, once I return to Korea, tell me if the Demon Cult has started moving in another country."
"Will they start moving again so quickly?"
"Hmm."
KangWoo shook his head after thinking about it.
"I'm not sure, but there's nothing wrong with being careful."
‘I must eliminate the demons before another person does.’ KangWoo stopped himself from saying that and turned around.
"Echidna, let's go."
"Okay."
Echidna nodded and followed him.
* * *
Reaper Scans
Translator - Daniel Shin
Proofreader - ilafy
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https://dsc.gg/reapercomics
* * *
KangWoo mounted on Echidna's back and flew toward Vladivostok after walking out of the barracks.
Thanks to the speed at which the demonic monsters moved, KangWoo realized Vladivostok and Manchuria weren't that far apart.
Tap-
"So lots of things happened here, too. Huh?"
The city looked like a scene out of a post-apocalyptic movie.
He couldn't feel anyone present.
After the summoning incident, all of the monsters using the city as a base had been killed.
The only thing left in Vladivostok was silence.
"KangWoo, is it here?"
"Yes."
He turned his head.
He saw an SS-rank gate in the middle of the city.
Echidna pointed to the gate.
"Do we have to enter that?"
"Wait. Before that, let's look around."
The place where the demon summoning had happened…
Maybe he'd be able to get some information there.
KangWoo began following the traces of demonic energy. It wasn't hard to find where the large-scale summoning had happened.
"I can't see anything like an altar."
A complex magic circle was drawn on the floor, but he couldn't see anything else.
KangWoo knelt and observed the magic circle.
'Authority of Insight.'
KangWoo observed the magic circle and analyzed how they were able to summon beings from Hell.
"Haha…"
He laughed in disbelief. KangWoo's expression slightly distorted.
'I'm not sure.'
He didn't know. Even though he'd achieved Extreme Demonic Energy Body and his control over the Ten Thousand Demon Core had increased, he couldn't analyze the magic circle drawn on the floor.
'How did they develop a technique like this?'
According to what he'd heard, the Demon Cult was present almost a thousand years before the Cataclysmic Day.
During those times, they'd probably investigated summoning a lot, so it was understandable that it had improved quite a bit.
'But even considering that…'
Was it possible for a human to make a technique that was at a level he couldn't reach?
He couldn't help but have doubts about that.
"Tsk."
He couldn't understand it, but he had to recognize something…
'In terms of summoning knowledge, there's a huge gap between them and me.'
Their knowledge was in unknown territory for him.
KangWoo stood up. There were no hints to be had there.
The only information he could get was that there wasn't a way to analyze the magic summoning circle and seal it completely.
"Well, I guess it's better this way."
The tips of his mouth went up. He wasn't planning to stop them from summoning demons in the first place.
'If the only outside world was Hell, finding a way to seal it would be the answer.'
Since he knew there were other worlds beyond the Hell of Nine Skies, blocking the demon summoning was like halting his path to growth.
'I cannot let that happen.'
The Demon Cult was, to him, a jar full of honey. He was going to eat from it for as long as he could.
"Let's enter the gate."
"Did you find the hint?"
"No, but it isn't like I haven't obtained any results."
He entered the SS-rank gate with Echidna.
A monster charged toward them as they entered the gate, but Echidna got rid of it.
"Don't touch KangWoo."
Echidna stepped on the corpse of the giant spider.
KangWoo smirked while looking at her.
'Echidna got quite strong.'
The source of her strength was him. The stronger he got, the more she would grow.
'With this, I guess it won't matter what demonic monsters get summoned.'
If he became unlucky and summoned a weak demonic monster, if it connected with him, it should be able to obtain quite a lot of strength.
'I just hope it's someone who listens.'
He didn't hope for it to be as loyal as Echidna…
He would be satisfied just from it being a dog that didn’t bite its owner.
'But still, I'd prefer for it to be strong. Halcyon, please let it be Halcyon!'
—One of the demonic monsters of the 9th hell that was self-aware.
They only lived in one place and didn't come out very often, so he had never seen one before, but he had heard many rumors.
'Among demonic monsters, it’s probably one of the strongest ones.'
Summoning Halcyon would be like winning the lottery.
"Then, should I start the summoning?"
He focused and used the demonic monster summoning attribute.
Ting-
[A Fissure necessary for summoning was successfully created.]
[An even deeper Fissure was created due to the influence of Demonic Energy located in the Ten Thousand Demon Core (Rank: ???).]
[A connection leading to an ‘Alien World’ was unable to be blocked due to damage to the Gaia System.]
[A dimensional gate that leads toward the Ernor Continent has opened.]
'Huh? Fuck.'
He was sure that time that he would finally succeed in summoning a demonic monster from the 9th hell, but things flowed in a weird direction again.
'Where's my Halcyon?'
He was annoyed.
At that point, shouldn't an incredible demonic monster come out?
A blue gate appeared, and a being crossed through it.
"You…"
There was a skeleton wearing a black robe; he could feel strong demonic energy flowing from its body.
Light came out from the skull, and it looked at KangWoo.
[Where am I?]
"Hmm. It's a bit hard to explain. First, present yourself."
[I'm the one who brings nightmares to Ernor. I'm the king of the dead and the master of magic.]
'Huh? This guy's way of speaking resembles Satan’s.'
There was a demonic energy explosion when the skeleton hit the floor with its wand.
[I'm the Demon King Balzac.]
"…"
There was a heavy silence.
KangWoo couldn't close his mouth.
"Demon King…?"
‘Weird.’
'I'm also a Demon King.'
