[Translator - Kiteretsu]

[Proofreader - Kyros]

Chapter 414

The Demon Realm.

Beelzebub, who had left claiming to act as a spy, returned in one piece.

The moment he came back, he summoned the Named beings.

“All gathered, I see.”

Beelzebub smirked.

“You returned quicker than expected.”

Armageddon tilted his head with a puzzled look.

“I planned to stay a little longer, but it was too foul to endure.”

He pinched his nose with his fingers, grimacing. Armageddon burst into laughter at the sight.

“True enough. Stay in a place like that long enough, and your body would rot.”

“So how did you escape from the Divine Realm? Don’t tell me you were in league with them?”

Ulion cut in, chilling the atmosphere.

“Hah, in league with them? I’d sooner die than stoop so low. Do you think I’m insane?”

“Then explain.”

“Tch, you’re always first in line to ruin the mood.”

“If you don’t speak, I’ll treat you as a spy.”

As he spoke, a spear of light formed in Ulion’s hand.

Beelzebub raised his hand in a gesture of surrender.

The truth was, Ulion’s attitude annoyed him. But getting into a fight with that self-righteous bastard would be nothing but trouble. Backing down here was the wiser choice.

“Fine. I escaped thanks to Psyche.”

“Psyche?”

All eyes turned toward Psyche.

Armageddon spoke, surprised.

“Strange. I never thought you’d be the one to trip up the Divine Realm.”

“Hmph. You’re as insufferable as ever.”

Psyche glared at Armageddon for a moment before averting her gaze.

“Psyche foresaw that the Outsider would cross into the 96th Demon Realm. She said that if Baal were left unchecked, he’d side with the Outsider. So I dealt with him first.”

Beelzebub caressed the fragment he had retrieved, smiling slyly.

“And?”

The voice of Logos, who had been silently listening, cut in, laced with irritation.

It was a warning—stop the pointless preamble and get to the heart of the matter.

“This.”

Beelzebub pulled out a colorless orb.

“What is that?”

“The Spirit Orb.”

The Spirit Orb—an item possessed only by the Supreme God, a relic so rare that without divine sanction, it could not even be used.

How could Beelzebub possibly have such a thing?

“Psyche gave it to me. She said with this, I could fool the Divine Realm’s gaze.”

“Psyche, you’d better explain this in detail.”

Psyche nodded and opened her mouth.

“Before my betrayal, I was once an angel of the Divine Realm. During that time, I happened to glimpse the process of forging a Spirit Orb.”

“**The process of forging a Spirit Orb?**”

“Yes. It’s not perfect, but I managed to make one refined enough to fool the Divine Realm’s gaze.”

She laid out nine Spirit Orbs in front of them.

There had originally been ten, but since she had already handed one to Beelzebub, nine remained.

“So these are Spirit Orbs…”

“They’re a little different from the real thing.”

“But good enough to deceive the Archangels’ eyes, at least.”

The fact that Beelzebub had managed to escape from their grasp was proof of that.

“How was the Divine Realm?”

As Psyche gathered the orbs back into her hand, she asked Beelzebub.

The entire reason he had posed as a spy was to gather intelligence about the Divine Realm.

“Shame about losing the Obsidian, but I obtained information that more than makes up for it.”

Beelzebub, as if waiting for this moment, began laying out details of the Divine Realm one by one.

* * *

In front of the sealed research lab.

[You cannot enter.]

The system blocked Jeong-hoon when he tried to go inside.

‘Seriously? How incompetent can they be? Shouldn’t restrictions like this have been lifted in a situation like this?’

He stared at the message with an incredulous look when Tenebris spoke.

‘It’s because the concentration of Dark Energy is too strong.’

Dark Energy was the power of the Demon Realm.

Even while stabilizing New World, the Divine Realm couldn’t interfere with it—precisely because it belonged to the Demon Realm’s domain.

[Wow, but Dark Mages have it good.]

* Out in the field, you’ll see this black mist-like stuff. Dark-type classes can actually absorb it. How do I know? I’m a Dark Mage, lol.

└ So jealous…

└ Ugh, because of that, all my stats dropped by 20%. I’m in a Holy-based class, so I’m screwed T_T

└ If you absorb it, your mana goes up, and even your skills can upgrade.

└ Can’t you switch classes?

Because of this, some benefited from Dark Energy, while others couldn’t perform properly, hampered by severe debuffs.

‘That stuff shouldn’t be absorbed carelessly.’

Dark Energy.

Absorbing it meant stepping onto the path of corruption.

Anyone taking in such overwhelming power without mastering it would collapse, their body unable to endure—and become a demon.

It was fortunate this wasn’t reality.

If it were, it would’ve been a catastrophic problem.

‘Couldn’t the Master just go in and absorb it?’

‘That might be best.’

At Mukho and Anima’s suggestion, Tenebris shook his head.

‘What’s left is nothing but burned-out residue. Taking in impure scraps like that won’t help him.’

He wasn’t wrong.

Even if it could be absorbed, the amount was so insignificant that the time would be better spent finding untouched Obsidian instead.

“Hey! This isn’t a place you should be wandering into!”

Deras came rushing over in a panic.

“Who owns this laboratory?”

Jeong-hoon pointed at the sealed research lab door as he asked.

“W-what…? That place is sealed. No one is allowed inside.”

“Oh? Why do you seem so flustered, then?”

“M-me? Not at all.”

His words said otherwise, but Deras looked like he was about to keel over.

He should have realized the moment he couldn’t read the human before him—this man wasn’t ordinary.

The fact that he had singled out this sealed section in such a vast underground hall could only mean one thing: he already knew what was hidden inside.

And that was something that absolutely could not be allowed.

“Open it.”

The moment Jeong-hoon released a sliver of his aura, Deras’s face drained white.

His legs began trembling like leaves in the wind before he collapsed to his knees.

“S-spare me! Please…”

“Then open it.”

“That’s not under my authority.”

“Then whose is it?”

He couldn’t let him enter, but if he lied here, his head would roll in an instant.

“Duke.”

“Duke?”

“The overseer of this Hall.”

Just in case, Jeong-hoon cast Mind Control on Deras and asked again.

The same answer. Only then did Jeong-hoon nod.

“Alright. As promised, I’ll let you live.”

The overseer of the Hall of Magic.

Duke should be up on the third floor, managing his duties.

Jeong-hoon invoked Heavenly Demon’s Dominion Steps and in an instant arrived on the third floor.

===

[NPC Information]

* Nickname: Duke

* Level: 150

* Class: Overseer of the Hall of Magic

===

An old man who looked to be in his late seventies.

His beard, long and white, flowed down past his chest, and his unusually large nose was his most striking feature.

In the blink of an eye, Jeong-hoon was in front of him, resting a hand on his shoulder.

“Wh-who’s there?! Hrk!”

Duke’s heart nearly leapt out of his chest, shocked that he hadn’t noticed the man approach.

Staring at Jeong-hoon with a frightened expression, he quickly lowered his eyes, unable to withstand that chilling gaze.

“You know about the sealed laboratory, don’t you?”

“I-I know nothing—!”

Duke hurriedly shut his mouth.

Before he realized it, a dagger was pressed against his throat.

“I’ll give you one chance—tell me the truth.”

Jeong-hoon warned with a faint smile.

If Duke dared to lie again, that dagger would pierce straight through his neck.

Sensing the danger, Duke swallowed hard and gave a small nod.

“Th-the key. I’ll give you the key.”

“The key?”

“The key that opens the sealed laboratory.”

“Who was the last person to enter?”

“T-that was… urk!”

The dagger dug into his skin.

“If I press just a little harder here, you really will die.”

“I-I’ll speak! It was Jaiki!”

Jaiki.

The instructor NPC who had once tried to block Jeong-hoon’s path.

To think he turned out to be a follower of Beelzebub.

At that moment, a rainbow-colored question mark flickered above Duke’s head.

[Secret Quest: Follower of Beelzebub (1)]

* Requirement: One who has uncovered a follower’s secret

* Reward: ?

* Description: Purge the heretics and cleanse the world.

The number attached meant this was only the beginning, and they were to be rooted out one by one.

Most likely, this was a quest created by the Heavenly Realm.

Without hesitation, Jeong-hoon accepted the quest and slashed Duke’s throat.

“……!”

Duke died instantly, without even managing a scream.

Possessing the key to the sealed laboratory meant Duke too had been a follower of Beelzebub.

Jaiki, who had entered that place, must have been the one moving the obsidian.

Jeong-hoon immediately headed for the Hall’s front gates.

But Jaiki had already vanished.

“They should have lost their free will… is this because of the quest?”

By accepting the quest, Jaiki had somehow gained the means to evade Jeong-hoon.

‘Master, let’s secure the obsidian first.’

‘Yeah. Even if he runs, he won’t be able to leave the First Village.’

That much was certain.

Jeong-hoon turned back and made his way to the sealed laboratory first.

With the key in hand, the system no longer blocked him.

[Would you like to unlock the laboratory?]

The moment he slid the key into the lock, the message appeared.

“Unlock.”

The sound of the lock disengaging echoed as the door slowly creaked open.

Inside, piles of obsidian filled the room.

[Obsidian]

* Type: Consumable

-Grade: ??

-Obsidian used in sacrificial rites.

*Warning: Contains condensed, overwhelming energy. Do not use carelessly.

This was no decoy, but genuine obsidian.

Jeong-hoon picked one up and crushed it in his hand.

At once, a surge of immense energy coursed through him.

[You have acquired 1% Dark Energy.]

Each piece increased his Dark Energy by 1%.

For something said to contain overwhelming power, the growth felt rather meager.

Jeong-hoon gathered all the obsidian in the laboratory and absorbed them.

As a result, he accumulated a total of 1,353%.

‘If I sweep up the rest, I could surpass 3,000.’

But before that, capturing the fugitive Jaiki took priority.

Leaving the laboratory, Jeong-hoon stopped a passing player.

“Excuse me, do you know where the instructor NPC went?”

“Huh? Which instructor NPC…?”

“One of the NPCs must have bolted out of here in a hurry.”

“Oh, if that’s what you mean—I saw him. He was running hard toward the forest over there.”

The player pointed toward the western fields.

“Thank you.”

Jeong-hoon offered his gratitude, then vanished in an instant.

“Wh-what the hell? Was that even human?”

The player was shaken, unable to process movements so fast they could hardly be seen.

---

Meanwhile.

Jaiki was fleeing with everything he had.

“That damned bastard!”

He cursed Jeong-hoon inwardly.

Who would have thought that man was an Inquisitor sent to eradicate heresy?

Planting a listening device in the office had been a stroke of genius.

Without it, he too would have fallen into that man’s hands.

His lungs burned and his breath was ragged, but Jaiki dared not slow down.

He had to reach the hideout as quickly as possible and warn the other followers.

“Hey.”

A cold voice brushed his ear.

In that instant, Jaiki’s body froze stiff, and he collapsed to the ground.

Like a broken machine, he slowly tilted his head upward.

“Y-you bastard…”

Standing above him was the same mysterious man who had entered the Hall earlier.

“Where’s the rest of the obsidian?”

“O-obsidian…?”

“What’s in the laboratory can’t be all of it.”

Damn it.

So he had already cleaned the laboratory out.

Jaiki hurriedly pulled out a sack.

Inside were just over a hundred pieces of obsidian.

“I-it’s what remained after the sacrifices. Take them, just please spare my life.”

If it meant survival, he would gladly surrender all the obsidian.

As long as he could escape and alert the cultists about the Inquisitor’s presence, it would be worth it.

“That won’t do. I intend to wipe out every last follower.”

Taking the obsidian, Jeong-hoon swung his blade without mercy, severing Jaiki’s neck.

Like Duke before him, Jaiki died on the spot without even managing a scream.

[Translator - Kiteretsu]

[Proofreader - Kyros]