Leveling with the Gods - Chapter 149

Diablo looked at the sword that YuWon drew with confusion.

“ᗙ You’re quite the odd one.”

Shutter—

His two horns grew longer and curled like a mountain goat’s. Bloody wings spread from his back through his skin. The moment his blood-red eyes met YuWon’s, he felt his innards churning.

“ᗙ Challenging me even after knowing who I am.”

[You have entered ‘Diablo’s Tainted Sanctuary.’]

[Your senses are paralyzed.]

[Resisting status effect: dominated.]

Diablo’s control oppressed the space around them. He had declared the area as his own territory and then started to move his creaking fingers.

“ᗙ Let’s start the test.”

‘Status effect: dominated’ had the special ability to control anything that entered the area as he pleased.

In reality, it was closer to hypnosis that turned someone into a puppet rather than a status effect.

‘How unpleasant.’

Maybe if Diablo was in his true body, but this much wasn’t enough to control YuWon. But it also wasn’t a good idea to fight inside an area that was designated as his sanctuary.

Although the system wasn’t currently telling him, the effect of the sanctuary wasn’t just domination.

A space made for demons. This area was now suited for demons like the ocean was suited for fish.

‘First, break the sanctuary.’

[Cinder Eyes attempts to resist ‘Tainted Sanctuary.’]

[Successfully resisted.]

[Holy Fire burns ‘Tainted Sanctuary.’]

Fwooosh—!

Flames ignited the air and filled the sanctuary. The fire ate up the bloody mist, and the effect of the sanctuary started to disappear.

Shwooo—

As the eye of 「Kyneē」 opened, arcane power poured out from it. And with it…

“Then…”

Bzzzzt—!

A black lightning bolt was created in YuWon’s hand.

“Let’s start.”

Rumble—!

In the forest lit up by purple light…

Fwoosh—

A fist flew out from within it.

Fwip—

Bang—!

Sword and fist collided. In that moment, a spray of blood jetted out from the trembling purple flames.

Fwip—

The fist got cut.

But Diablo showed no reaction to it and swung his tail.

Vwooong—

Clang, crack—!

As the tail smashed on the ground, the earth was dented, and a thick cloud of dust formed.

The [Holy Fire] that had been surrounding them disappeared. After having jumped upwards to evade the tail, YuWon struck down at Diablo’s head with his sword again.

Clang—!

It sounded like metal clashing against metal.

Fwip—

With that, another part of Diablo’s skin was cut, and new blood flowed again.

Crashhhh—!

The mana flowing from the 「Divine Dark Crystal」 ate up Diablo’s flesh. Diablo glared with wide-open eyes and opened his mouth.

Fwaaaaaaah—!

An abnormal amount of mana started to condense within his mouth. Immediately after, a jet of flame hotter than magma exploded out from his mouth.

Crackkkkkkkk—!

The flames melted the cliff and ate up the [Holy Fire.]

Diablo looked around looking for YuWon.

“ᗙ Where did you run this time?”

Tap—

YuWon walked on air and looked down at Diablo.

Although this was a fragment created for the test, it was still befitting of the head of the Demon Lords guild. He looked as if he didn’t feel a single ounce of fear against [Holy Fire.]

‘So he’s saying there’s no way he would feel fear against such a thing as Holy Fire.’

Although it was a foreign power, there was no way that Diablo would get scared of a random flame. The body might have been different, but his mind was still the same.

[Activating Sky Steps.]

[Movement speed has increased by 100% for 5 seconds.]

[You can walk through the sky for 5 seconds.]

The duration of [Sky Steps] was five seconds. During that time, YuWon flew through the sky and generated a lightning bolt in his hand.

Bzzzzt—!

Arcane power exploded from his palm.

As that started to coalesce, only then was Diablo able to detect YuWon.

“ᗙ You!”

After raising his head towards YuWon, Diablo opened his mouth. The burning flames spewed out again.

And with that, YuWon launched the lightning bolt downwards.

Rumble—!

Fwaaaaaah—!

Lightning and fire. The two forces crashed into each other. The black lightning bisected the wave of fire and hit Diablo’s body.

Bzzzzzt—!

“ᗙ Kuaaaaaah!”

Diablo roared.

On top of the force that had burned his entire body black, YuWon’s lightning didn’t only have electric-attribute mana. The attribute of 「Kyneē」 was dark.

After being hit by the lightning bolt, Diablo’s body started to corrode, and his muscles ruptured.

Tap—

After throwing the lightning bolt, YuWon landed on the ground.

Even after being hit by that, Diablo hadn’t collapsed. Rather, he gathered his strength and struck down at YuWon with his fist.

Bang—!

Rumble—

The shock quaked the earth.

But no matter how strong the strike, it didn’t mean anything if it missed.

Diablo’s eye rolled to look to the side.

In that moment…

[Your body has been imbued with the power of a giant.]

Shwak—

The sound as he felt his arms become lighter.

Flop—

Two arms fell to the ground lifelessly.

Diablo raised the stump that was starting to bleed and muttered.

“ᗙ …Impressive.”

Crackle—

Diablo’s body started to crumble.

A corroding body, severed arms, and even his two broken horns. Diablo’s body had become a mess. He, who had been set as the final boss of the 41st Floor’s test, was dying like this.

As if giving up, he lowered the remainder of his attached arm.

“ᗙ Seeing that you’re taking this test, you must be a player. What are you?”

“Is that important?”

“ᗙ It is important. Because I have come to like you a lot.”

Diablo’s eye that was glued to YuWon swayed.

It was an unpleasant gaze. The instinctive need to have everything he wanted. That was one of the characteristics of the Demon Lord Diablo.

“ᗙ Come to the Demon Lords Guild. The moment you become a ranker, I’ll give you the seat of the next Demon Lord.”

Giving the seat of a Demon Lord to a human. It was a truly shocking offer.

At least from what YuWon knew, there had never been a Demon Lord like this.

Demon Lords were a guild made up of only demons. Also, the seat of a Demon Lord was representative of a demon that was a core leading power in the guild. The moment one sat on the seat of a Demon Lord, they would be able to command demons.

“I am a human.”

“ᗙ I know. But you’re also a demon as well.”

Hearing that, YuWon stopped for a second and sighed.

He didn’t use that power in case he would get wound up in something bothersome. Demonic energy was known as an exclusive power that only demons possessed.

And so, Diablo seemed to have noticed that YuWon contained demonic energy.

However…

“No.”

Whether that was true or not, YuWon’s answer was the same.

“I am human.”

“ᗙ …Are you refusing?”

“Yeah. And I’ve heard too many offers similar to yours. Sorry, but I’m not joining anywhere.”

Hearing that, Diablo’s eyes went wide for a moment and then found peace. After that, he smirked.

“ᗙ I see. So you’re Kim YuWon.”

The reason his name didn’t come to Diablo’s mind at first was because he didn’t care too much about human affairs. He only had interest in demon players or rankers, and when he heard stories about other things, he would just let them go in one ear and out the other, ignoring them.

“ᗙ Can’t trust rumors these days. Although in this case, the rumors were too understated.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.”

Diablo was an aggressive and destructive demon, but that didn’t make him an enemy.

Demons spent every day in conflicts and battles. This was also the reason they had made a contract with the Administrator of the floor and were summoned there. To demons, fighting and dying was just daily life.

Also, they didn’t hold grudges against people they lost to or if they died by underhanded methods.

This was the same for their head, Diablo.

YuWon didn’t have a particular desire to create a hostile relation with Diablo.

‘It’ll become troublesome if I become this guy’s enemy.’

Fwooosh—

A blood-red flame ignited Diablo’s body. This was not [Holy Fire] controlled by YuWon but Diablo’s own flame.

His form began to disappear within the fire.

“ᗙ If you change your mind, you’re always welcome, so visit my guild. I’ll reserve the offer for now.”

Tap—

A small horn fell to the ground.

YuWon picked it up and asked, “Do you grind your horns or something?”

“ᗙ …Don’t you go around making jokes like that.”

Even while saying that, his laughter could be heard from within the flames. A moment later, the flames that had been scorching hot died down and disappeared.

YuWon looked at Diablo’s horn in his hand for a second and then put it into his inventory.

‘I’ll probably find a use for it.’

In any case, a gain was a gain.

The feeling that Diablo held towards him wasn’t resentment or vengeance but a friendly one. If it ever came to a time that he needed to use the Demon Lord’s strength, this might become useful.

[You have defeated the ‘Demon Lord – Diablo.’]

[You obtained 1,000,000 summoning points.]

[As the maximum amount of points was obtained, your test will automatically end.]

[You have passed the test of the 41st Floor.]

[You obtained 100,000 points.]

[You obtained ‘Diablo’s Horn.’ You may obtain favors from demons using the item.]

[You received the blessing of the ‘Demon Lord of Fire and Destruction.’]

[Your proficiency with Demonic Body has increased.]

[Your demonic energy increased by 20.]

[Will you move to the next floor?]

An increase in demonic energy. It was a pretty meaningful reward for YuWon, who hadn’t expected a stat increase. The reward this time probably had something to do with the final boss being Diablo.

‘So this was part of the reward as well.’

YuWon thought of 「Diablo’s Horn」 that was now in his inventory.

He had thought that Diablo just didn’t have a favorable impression of him, but that didn’t seem to be the case.

Even as he felt disappointed, a sense of anticipation was felt.

The reward he received after defeating a fragmented copy of Diablo. If it was something given out of good will, then its worth would definitely not be low. The Tower’s system wasn’t one to reward a big achievement with a small prize. It was sure to reward players appropriately.

“It’s better than a random skill or item.”

Although the test wasn’t over yet, he had maxed out the criteria required by defeating Diablo. There was no reason to stay here any longer.

“Let’s move.”

* * *

The first thing he felt after moving to the 42nd Floor was the stagnant, stuffy air.

His surroundings were a wide temple made of marble. The sky was clear and wide.

YuWon raised his head and looked up.

It was dark, and the only light that shined was a small sphere in the sky. Even then, the light was so faint that it wasn’t even as good as the moon on Earth.

What illuminated his surroundings were the torches that were lit everywhere.

“It always sucks to be here.”

YuWon furrowed his brows at the suffocating feeling in his chest.

The world of the 42nd Floor wasn’t that popular among the players. Including the stuffy air, this world didn’t even have daytime.

“That’s what I’m saying.”

Step—

Footsteps were heard.

As if they were waiting for him prior, someone suddenly appeared from a place nearby.

“I don’t know how uncle lives here like this. More than anything, isn’t it too damp?”

Woo—

As they approached, their face was illuminated by the torchlight. A familiar face filled with shadow and talking in a forced, pleasant tone.

Hargaan looked at YuWon and greeted him. “Welcome to Hell.”

Hell. That was what many rankers called the world of the 42nd Floor.