Chapter 23 : Should I Not Pursue A Meeting In The Demon King’s Castle? (2)

The Hero Guild’s large-scale subjugation event, commonly known as “Subjugation Week.”

At this time, an overwhelming number of heroes and strong individuals gathered.

With the rewards tripled, there was no need to say more.

The Hero Guild’s server had already crashed long ago.

Even the renowned Demon King Castles were subjugated countless times within a single day.

And yet, these stories were not the main highlight.

Many people’s attention was directed toward a different Demon King Castle.

Its name: the [Nameless] Demon King Castle.

It had been closed until recently due to risk adjustments but had reopened again.

It was only the first day of subjugation.

But the attention it received had already surpassed 9,000.

Even people who weren’t interested in broadcasts and didn’t know Irene.

Thanks to the extensive promotion that day, they learned about Irene.

The key topic was:

Who would be the first to enter this popular Demon King Castle, start their stream, and capture the viewers?

“I did it! I did it! I can finally reclaim my terminal!”

(Fact) It’s not Leon’s.

Is this really the first subjugation attempt at the Nameless Demon King Castle?

Why is this person trying to steal Irene’s terminal?

First subjugation attempt lololol.

Great great great great great!

Just show Irene already!

If you’re here for Irene, upvote lol.

Seems like there are more Irene viewers here than Leon viewers.

Ding-dong-dang, correct answer.

“It is my terminal!”

[Leon] – [Currently Broadcasting!]

[Please let it be the first subjugation, please let it be the first subjugation, please let it be the first subjugation.]

[Viewers – 8,527 people]

And so, all attention turned to Leon’s broadcast.

Leon’s viewers shot up to a staggering 8,000.

Considering that Leon’s stream usually had at most 400 viewers, It meant that 8,000 people came to see the [Nameless] Demon King Castle.

And out of those, about 4,000 were likely there to see Irene.

Leon took several deep breaths.

Even so, he couldn’t relax his tense body.

‘Stay calm, stay calm. This is my chance to become as famous as my sister.’

He thought about how much effort he had put in since that humiliation.

Leon was confident because he knew his efforts.

Of course, he didn’t know that Elian had been defeated, or that Luna had been crushed in a bet.

He had only bought his terminal yesterday, so there was no way he would know about that.

“I’ll handle the subjugation, so all standby teams, please exit.”

Lol Leon’s speech.

Someone dares to solo attempt what even the #1 rank failed?

Wait, he broke into the first subjugation attempt by going in solo?

Oh, the timer for verification got shortened, so he got in instantly.

Argh, can’t we just move on to the next party?

Since you’re already here, just watch Leon for a bit before leaving…

Seriously, when are they going to show Irene? I’m starting to lose patience here.

“Who is this Irene everyone keeps mentioning?!”

When Leon snapped at the chat, frustration evident in his voice, the viewers were stunned.

How could someone who was the first to enter the Nameless Demon King Castle

…not know who Irene was?

???

He doesn’t know Irene?

How is someone like this leading the first subjugation attempt?

Can he just lose already and hand it over to another party?

Classic Leon being Leon…

Lol, I knew it from the moment he impersonated someone on Luna’s stream.

That wasn’t Leon, though.

Anyway, it’s Leon.

“You guys really don’t know when to shut up, huh? Fine, I’ll show you! I’ll show you all!”

Leon confidently crossed the demon realm.

All the beasts in this realm had been disintegrated by Irene’s magic.

And since all the forces were concentrated at the Demon King Castle, there was nothing to stop

Him.

After marching for only five minutes, he arrived in front of the castle.

It didn’t take long for Leon to notice something was off.

“Did they rebuild it?”

Wait, this isn’t the place I saw on Elian’s stream.

Did he come to the wrong place?

Nope, this is the [Nameless] Demon King Castle.

But it’s still nameless, huh?

Everyone, Leon chickened out again.

(Sighing Elian emoji) (Sighing Elian emoji) (Sighing Elian emoji)

“I’m not scared at all, okay?! This time, I’ve got my gear ready. Also, who’s the one spamming my sister’s emoji?”

Leon, instead of focusing on the Demon King Castle, began fighting the chat.

Known for being easily provoked by chat even on normal days, With 20 times the usual viewers, things only escalated.

Because I’m not subscribed.

(Sighing Elian emoji) (Sighing Elian emoji)

No one here’s subscribed to you, lololol.

(Angel Luna emoji) (Angel Luna emoji) (Angel Luna emoji) (Angel Luna emoji)

Your stream is doomed! From now on, this is Irene’s domain!

If you worship Irene, upvote, lol.

Starting with me!

“Alright! I was gonna pretend to struggle a bit for the drama, but forget it. I’ll just finish this now!”

Leon struck a confident pose, drew his sword, and began walking toward the castle.

He was fully prepared.

Even though he didn’t have the protective barrier his sister had given him this time, He had achieved remarkable results through his training.

He hadn’t streamed it, but Leon now had the experience of subjugating a level 4 Demon King Castle.

He figured he could handle this.

That overly optimistic thought didn’t even last three seconds.

Wait a second, isn’t this a trap?

Lol, this guy has no idea how Demon King Castles work.

“If it wasn’t the [Nameless] Demon King Castle, he’d have died and been kicked out, lol.”

“There’s a space behind the castle gate!”

“Oh no, if he grabs the gate, it’s over, this is bad.”

“A 3-second subjugation attempt? I’ve never seen this in my life, lol.”

“He can’t show Irene, he can’t subjugate the castle—what’s the point of this stream?”

“You shouldn’t even call yourself a hero.”

[The Emergency Return Stone has been activated due to detected danger.]

“What the hell.”

Leon had grabbed the doorknob to open the castle gate.

The next thing he knew, he was standing outside the demon realm.

The viewers were just as clueless as Leon about what had happened.

But a 3-second knockout? It was the perfect material for mockery.

Even though most of the viewers who had come for the subjugation stream had left, About 1,000 people stayed to keep watching.

Not that Leon wanted them to.

Overwhelmed with embarrassment, he screamed,

“AAAAAHHH!!”

The Broadcast Hub.

A channel run by the Hero Guild during Subjugation Week to stream the most dramatic moments.

Typically, the senior members of the guild would feature and broadcast across the demon realm’s hotspots.

But this time, the Broadcast Hub was different.

Because the [Nameless] Demon King Castle was so infamous, The Broadcast Hub effectively became a dedicated channel for it.

Using a special transmission system, it broadcasted the [Nameless] Demon Realm.

The short green-haired woman managing the stream commented,

“This is absolutely ridiculous! Every single hero who enters is falling into traps!”

“Wait, why is the Demon King Castle filled with so many traps?”

“I tried a subjugation attempt, and yeah, there were way too many traps.”

“What’s been discovered so far?”

“If you grab the castle’s doorknob, it electrocutes you. If you break the gate, a golem pops out. If you just walk in, spike traps activate.”

“This place is a hellscape, lol. Even a Rank 6 hero party got wrecked by traps earlier.”

“The fact that Irene hasn’t even shown her face yet is unbelievable.”

“The Hero Guild must be saving so much gold, lol.”

Lucena scanned the chat.

This wasn’t a castle—it was one massive trap.

No one had expected it.

After all, traps were considered an extreme rarity.

Trap detection potions and magic existed.

And, in most cases, breaking a wall allows you to bypass traps entirely.

Traps were full of weaknesses.

But the [Nameless] Demon King Castle was different.

Trap detection potions?

They didn’t work.

Irene had scattered her magic across the entire castle.

The magic didn’t just nullify detection—it reversed it, destroying any detection spells.

The same went for potions.

Breaking through the wall to bypass traps?

That didn’t work either.

If you broke a wall, there were traps triggered by the act of breaking it.

Theoretically, the only solution was to bombard the Demon King Castle from outside with magic.

But even that was impossible due to the barrier jointly created by Luminil and Irene.

No, it wasn’t just difficult—it was completely impossible.

There wasn’t a single mage in this world capable of breaking Irene’s barrier.

So, in the end, the only option was to attack the castle head-on.

And doing so meant encountering the traps mentioned earlier.

To be fair, they hadn’t intended for things to escalate this far.

But seeing all the traps they had set up ignited a sense of stubbornness in many people.

As a result, countless challengers attempted to conquer the [Nameless] Demon King Castle.

By the end of the first day, the number of defeated heroes had surpassed three digits.

People had even started compiling a strategy guide.

[Trap List for the Demon King Castle Subjugation Parties (Updated in Real-Time)]

By: Irene992

“Please, someone read this and break through the castle so we can see Irene’s face…”

If you touch the chandelier in Sector 3, it immediately explodes.

If you approach the statues, they come to life.

If you try to enter through the windows, fireballs shoot out from inside.

Ongoing updates.

“Share this so others can see it, please…”

[Upvotes: 1,778] [Downvotes: 91]

“There were 32 traps discovered, but they keep finding more? lol.”

“It’s over 50 now.”

“100 achieved lolololol.”

“It’s past 130 now.”

“Add that the food in the dining hall is poisoned.”

“Wait, someone ate the food in the castle?!”

“Did they die from it?”

“No, actually, it wasn’t poison—it had a teleportation spell that sent them outside the demon realm.”

“So, no one’s died from it?”

“Not entirely, but it’s clear Irene tried not to kill anyone.”

“Looking at these traps, you can tell she was really trying not to kill anyone, lol.”

“Apparently, Irene placed hundreds of return stones at the entrance.”

“Where did those even come from?”

“They tested the magic—it seems Irene herself made them.”

“? How much magic power does she even have?”

“No one’s managed to make it through, huh…”

Luminil stared blankly outside.

Today, her understanding of the world had been completely overturned.

She had always believed that magical beasts were the best way to fend off heroes.

Yet this enormous coffin of a castle, without a single magical beast, had sent back over a hundred heroes.

It was a miracle brought about by Irene’s absurd fear of blocking trap detection.

But Luminil had no way of knowing that.

“So, when is this person called Selina supposed to arrive?”

Luminil sipped her wine and asked.

To be fair, Irene’s explanation was lacking.

And Luminil, who had never stepped outside the demon realm, didn’t even know what the Empire was, let alone what the “Empire’s Radical Faction” meant.

“I don’t know either.”

“There’s something Irene doesn’t know?”

“Well, I’m not an encyclopedia.”

“Ency…clopedia?”

“Never mind.”

It was just as the broadcast channel announced a break.

Irene decided to check the cameras she had set up.

Roughly 30 hero parties had entered so far.

About half of the traps had been cleared.

This wasn’t good news at all.

The subjugation festival lasted for an entire week, after all.

‘Still, it held up better than I expected.’

But she wasn’t disappointed.

These traps were only meant to stall in the early stages anyway.

The fact they had lasted this long was already impressive.

At this rate, if hero parties kept entering nonstop, all the traps would be cleared by dawn.

‘But heroes do need to sleep, so if you exclude their rest time…’

The second day.

That would be when Irene planned to take action.

And so, the next day came.

Irene’s prediction was spot on.

By morning, all the traps had been cleared,

and the strategy guide now listed all 217 traps.

Stretching as she woke up, Irene casually glanced at her terminal.

A sword, crafted from her magic, was already resting lightly in her right hand.

From this point onward, she would have to deal with the heroes herself.

‘I hope they’re someone I know, so I don’t have to waste time investigating them.’

Tuning into the Hero Guild broadcast, Irene immediately recognized someone.

There was just one problem.

[Elian] – [Currently Broadcasting!]

[“Revenge Match”]

[Viewers – 11,712]

It wasn’t just someone she knew.

It was someone she knew very well.

Elian, with twice her usual magic power,

had brought her party into the demon realm.