RD | Chapter 9

The butler of the Demon Archduke, who had arrived at the cave, bowed his head to his master.

“So, my lord, what should we do with this human?”

“Do whatever you want.”

The Demon Archduke spoke with tears in his eyes. He was so filled with sorrow from losing his slaves that he couldn’t spare any attention to a single human.

Demons, whose madness had penetrated to their very marrow, tended to be crazy in peculiar ways. In this case of the Southern Demon Archduke, it was his extreme emotionalism that stood out.

The butler had expected such an answer from his master.

“Thank you, my lord. I will feast well.”

The old butler’s mouth opened wide to an unbelievable size, swallowing Louise whole from head to toe.

However, Louise also knew that these demons wouldn’t let him go easily.

His spirit split into two. As the demon devoured the illusion, Louise immediately ran toward the nearest escape route without a second thought.

It was a cave.

“You’ve aged, haven’t you?”

“Forgive me, Your Majesty.”

“It’s fine. I suppose it doesn’t matter.”

After all, all the humans inside the cave would die.

The butler led the way, followed by the Demon Archduke as they entered the cave.

The cave was dark, but not to a degree that would interfere with the demon’s vision. The unusual thing was that the ceiling was high enough for the Demon Archduke to not need to crouch. The width was also expansive, making it easy to navigate shallow areas.

Not long after the Demon Archduke discovered a trivial trap, the water on the ground suddenly turned to oil. It seemed as though someone had lit a fuse at the far end of the cave, and the oil caught fire, rushing toward the Demon Archduke.

The Demon Archduke opened his mouth. Then, he spat out a sticky liquid.

The flames that had been flying toward him were, strangely, extinguished by the Demon Archduke’s spit.

The Demon Archduke’s excitement faded.

Was he really trapped by something so trivial?

While he admired the courage of the Warrikka tribe, but their stupidity was a flaw.

When they passed through the passage and reached the next area, the Demon Archduke couldn’t help but frown in disbelief.

His slaves, the Warrikka warriors, were pointing their spears at him.

“What are you doing? How dare you!” The butler yelled. However, the Warrikka warriors only made a hissing sound, pointing their spears at them.

‘Is this brainwashing?’

Incredibly, it seemed as if these monsters had been brainwashed by humans.

The Warrikka warriors didn’t appear to have lost their senses. They still retained the intelligence of warriors but yet, despite knowing they were facing a terrifying enemy, they were hostile toward the Demon Archduke.

“So that’s why my slaves died.”

The Demon Archduke personally snapped their necks. The monsters collapsed right there.

Among the humans he had come to capture was a skilled beast tamer. Someone capable of controlling monsters. However, in front of the Demon Archduke, that ability was useless.

“Is that all?”

The Demon Archduke raised his hand. With a single gesture, the narrow passage in front of him was cleared effortlessly.

It was as if someone had placed a round mold and pressed it with a compressor, as the cross-section of the cave was smoothly carved out.

The Demon Archduke followed the newly created path. Then, suddenly, he was struck with shock.

‘This…!’

He could feel an enormous amount of magic from the direction he was heading. It was beyond what could possibly belong to a human…

Was there really such a human on my land?

Cold sweat formed on his back. It was a feeling he had never experienced since becoming the Demon Archduke. Tension and fear.

Unable to accept it, the Demon Archduke raised his hand and opened the path again.

I will erase that human from my land.

The path was carved, and the sturdy wall blocking the end was destroyed.

The next moment.

Kraaaarararara!

A dragon, who had been sleeping deep in the cave, awoke.

“……!”

The young dragon had been sleeping. This was a dark and filthy place. Staying awake would drain his strength.

Someone had told him that fact. Or rather, the dragon instinctively knew it. Just as the adult dragon, who had hidden him deep in the cave, had known.

This young dragon, still under three hundred years old, understood that he must remain asleep. He had to fall into a long slumber until he reached adulthood, conserving his magical power and purifying this place.

Only then could he awaken all of the dragonkind.

The young dragons, including himself, remained asleep with the knowledge that they must stay in their eggs. The adult dragons chose not to wake them up in order to preserve their future….

Except for one, the young dragon.

He had to wake his kin. He had to become an adult. He was the most powerful dragon of his generation. It was his duty.

Then something warm began to approach him.

‘Mom?’

It felt similar to the warmth his mother had given him before he fell asleep. The warmth is full of affection, cleaning away the filth. It was slowly making its way toward him.

‘Just a little more.’

If it came just a little closer, he would open his eyes. He could finally be in his mother’s embrace. But it didn’t come any closer. It stopped, leaving only an aching distance between them.

The young dragon waited, half-conscious in his sleep. But after a moment, instead of the warmth he had been expecting, a violent and malicious energy suddenly engulfed him.

“Mom.”

The moment the dragon opened his eyes, the world shattered. The disgusting magic of the demons dominated the space.

A huge, black form opened its mouth.

The dragon was enraged.

There was no mother. And…

‘That’s the enemy.’

Give me my mother back.

The young dragon roared in fury. The cavern shook with a thunderous roar from his scaly body.

Kraaaararararaaa!

‘I’m going to die…’

Ian leaned against the wall, watching the Demon Archduke approach down the path they had dug beforehand.

The people he had dragged down huddled together, crouching in the shade.

If they were caught, it would be the end. But Ian was confident they wouldn’t be caught.

Would the demon even notice the presence of humans in front of the dragon’s magic?

In truth, Ian was almost certain that the plan would succeed. The important thing in this plan wasn’t just luring the Demon Archduke, but ensuring that the person who awakened the dragon wasn’t Ian himself.

The first being the dragon would see had to be the Demon Archduke.

A dragon, just awakened from its slumber, would consider any creature that entered its dungeon an enemy.

Wouldn’t anyone do that?

If you closed your eyes and opened them to find an unfamiliar person in your home, you’d grab the nearest weapon and swing it.

Since the dragon’s body itself was a weapon, it was natural for it to think of swinging its body.

Then, suddenly, a scream came from behind followed by someone shooting an arrow.

“Ugh!”

“What is that!”

‘Are they crazy?’

Ian was shocked and turned around. If they kept making noise like that, they’d attract the demon’s attention, and everyone would die. “I already warned them to just breathe quietly…!”

One of the people in the group made a sudden move, but Ian couldn’t tell who it was.

He didn’t have time to figure it out.

The arrow passed by the Demon Archduke. Normally, it would have been ignored as a powerless arrow, but the Demon Archduke was facing the dragon. When some unknown attack came at him, he instinctively avoided it.

That created an opening for the dragon. The dragon’s tail struck the Demon Archduke.

Bam!

The Demon Archduke was slammed into the cave wall.

Crash!

The ground trembled violently.

Ian, sitting in his spot, saw debris falling from the ceiling. The sound of a beast’s roar and the Demon Archduke’s angry howls echoed through the chamber.

Ian activated the skill <Purification>.

The demonic magic that the Demon Archduke had been emitting faded before it could reach the people. The faces of those who had been on the verge of suffocation relaxed slightly.

‘It worked.’

Ian checked his skill window.

He could clearly see that his magical power had decreased. But how did the skill activate?

The area around the dragon’s dungeon was filled with demonic magic. Whether it was a precaution by the dungeon’s creators or something else, Ian had to reach the dragon, so he used his level 4 <Purification> skill repeatedly. Eventually, he had dug through to the spot he wanted.

The cost was that his magical power was completely drained.

Could it be that the magical power was regenerating?

It wasn’t as if Ian had any item to restore it…

At that moment, Ian began coughing.

“Ugh! Cough! Cough!”

The coughing wouldn’t stop. Ian quickly covered his mouth and tried to muffle the sound as much as he could. Then, he uncovered his mouth.

‘No wonder my throat hurts…’

It felt like a sharp blade was scraping his throat, and blood stained his hand.

‘Using too many skills drains my health.’

Even in games, HP decreases. It’s crazy how they’ve implemented so many little details, but the reactions around him were strange.

“Ian, did you just spit up blood? Could it be from the demon’s scream…?”

Sema spoke nonsense.

Ding!

[People think you’re weak.]

Ding!

[People think you’re terribly sick!]

Ding!

[Character]
‘Tyrant’ Ian (★★★★☆)

[Reputation]
Tyrant, Bastard, Playboy, Lavish, Hedonist, Strategist, Mentally Unstable, Sickly (+NEW)

[Skills]
Purification: LV.4
Horsemanship: LV.1
Archery: LV.1

“…….”