Late at night, a storm raged through the Ma Mountain.
The chancellor of the Yurrendel Empire, Alvesto, sought the now quiet Ma Gwang after the defense force withdrew.
“Chancellor, please wait a moment!”
Alvesto and the two knights who were guarding him stared silently at the soldier.
The soldier, who had run through the rain and wind from a distance, awkwardly smiled and bowed.
“I heard you’re going into Ma Gwang, I’ll escort you. Haha…”
“It’s fine.”
“No, it’s not. The underground tunnels of Ma Mountain are complicated like a maze. You’ll need a guide, and I’ve been to Area B at least.”
Alvesto quietly looked down at the soldier.
The soldier, with his enormous physique, struggled to shrink his shoulders and held his breath, a sight almost too unbelievable for a human.
After a moment, Alvesto spoke.
“…Then I’ll leave it to you.”
“Yes, I’ll escort you properly. By the way, which area are you heading to, Chancellor?”
“I’m going to the quarry in Area B. There’s something I need to check.”
The underground of Ma Mountain was divided into development zones from C to S, depending on the grade.
Area S was an unknown territory, still unexplored by the Empire.
If the chancellor himself was heading to the quarry, the reason was clear.
It meant there was something important to be smuggled.
However, the soldier couldn’t understand why they were going to Area B when a higher-quality ore poured out of the Area A quarry.
‘Well, it doesn’t matter. As long as I get a share for sticking around…’
The underground tunnel was filled with a chilling silence, even in the dark.
Water droplets fell from the damp stone walls, creating small puddles on the floor, while old iron supports groaned and barely held up under the weight.
The soldier glanced at the dried-up knight standing on Alvesto’s right.
Normally, a knight assigned to the chancellor wouldn’t be just any knight, but the soldier didn’t recognize him.
Moreover, his unsteady gait suggested he had been injured.
“…Are you okay?”
“It’s just my body is not feeling well, so don’t mind it.”
It was the knight on Alvesto’s left who responded.
Not long after, they arrived at the quarry, where gray rocks were piled up like mountains.
Broken stone fragments were scattered across the floor, and dust floated faintly in the air, making it hard to breathe.
“The miners all left when the defense force withdrew. They never know when the Demon King or monsters might attack.”
As the soldier had said, various ores were scattered and abandoned in the quarry.
He looked greedily between the ores and Alvesto, curling the corners of his mouth.
“If we deal with it now, the Empire won’t find out about it.”
Alvesto looked down at the soldier with his wrinkled face and nodded slowly.
“That’s true, if only you weren’t here.”
“…What?”
In that moment, a chilling silence completely consumed the dark quarry.
Alvesto and the two knights stared at the soldier with expressionless faces.
The soldier belatedly looked into their eyes.
There was a flash of blood-red light in those eyes.
“…!”
Before the soldier could say anything, Alvesto flicked his finger, bursting the soldier’s head.
The mask of the Empire’s chancellor was removed, revealing the indifferent face of Beal.
“If one of the soldiers we brought in dies, it might raise suspicion outside.”
The knight who had removed his mask, Aishi, spoke.
Beal shrugged her shoulders.
“There are no witnesses. And I am the chancellor of the Yurrendel Empire, what is there to fear?”
Another knight, Drak, who had been hidden under the mask, revealed his emaciated form.
After losing the dungeon and the demon army, the long years of decline were etched into his appearance.
His once muscular body now looked pitiful, like a deflated balloon, and his face, which had once shone with confidence, was now nothing but a skeletal form.
Beal picked out an unrefined magic stone and threw it to Drak.
“Swallow it.”
Drak silently accepted the magic stone and hesitated for a moment before swallowing it.
Soon, his dry body trembled convulsively as rejection spread throughout him.
Drak let out a painful breath, kneeling on the ground.
Beal, seeming uninterested, shook her head and sighed.
“Tch. Poor bastard.”
After reluctantly absorbing the magic stone, Drak’s dull eyes gradually regained some vitality.
“Focus only on recovery until you can use your powers fully.”
“…Understood.”
Drak nodded weakly with a hollow face.
Beal turned her attention directly to Aishi.
“How far have you progressed with the work?”
“As per your orders, we’ve set up more than half of the magic circles in Area A.”
Aishi answered in a slightly tired voice. If this had been the quarry where the magic stones were found, it would have been hopelessly insufficient.
Beal spoke in a flat tone.
“The conquest of Ma Mountain is not far off. Don’t forget the death list I gave you. Whether human or Demon King, we only need to kill those who must be killed.”
“I will remember.”
It was only Aishi who replied.
Beal looked down at Drak with a dark gaze.
The one who had fallen to the bottom after being cut by a Death Knight on Sky Island was right there.
“Drak, trust me.”
She gently patted Drak’s horn as she spoke.
“Ma Mountain is my domain. If you can fully use your powers, as I said before, even Kyle will not be a match for you.”
“…!”
Kyleen, the Swordmaster of the Human Empire.
Saying that she could overwhelm her meant that there was a possibility of victory in the rematch with Kan.
“…Yes, I will remember.”
Drak decided to trust the Demon Lord who had raised him from being nothing more than a coward, to second in command among the lower Demon Lords.
After the incident on the airship was published in the Hell Journal, my fame soared endlessly.
The dungeon was filled with monsters trying to join the Demon King’s army, and now there wasn’t enough room.
Not only monsters but also lower Demon Lords who had once ignored Rupia came with bribes.
I spent the whole day receiving them and stamping documents, and eventually, in place of Rupia, who was found dead while breathing in her throne, I greeted them.
“I want to forget the past and build a new relationship with Demon King Rupia.”
“This is my humble token of goodwill…”
At that moment, when all the Demon Kings and monsters were gathered, a fox appeared, drawing everyone’s attention.
With white ears and a white tail, a promising monster that rivaled Lauro.
It was Roshi, the heir of the Silver Fox family, known as the ruler of the harsh northern region of the demon realm, and a snow fox, who had come all the way here.
Behind her, there was a pile of treasures so vast that even all the goodwill given by the Demon Kings she had encountered so far would not be enough.
Roshi lowered her body and head in front of me, speaking softly.
“I present myself to you, the great knight recognized by the Dragon, the esteemed Death Knight, and one of the strongest monsters in the demon realm, Lord Kan.”
When did my introduction become so grandiose?
I pretended to observe formalities and said,
“You’ve come a long way from the northern noble family. What brings you here?”
“The young lady has come to join the Balotus Demon King army, under Lord Kan’s command.”
Perhaps by mistake, there was no mention of her family.
I tilted my skull slightly.
As far as I knew, Roshi was already serving another high-ranking Demon Lord.
Since the demon realm was a competitive society, she must know what this meant.
“Does the Demon Lord you serve think the same?”
“No, this is my own decision. Even though the sun is meaningless in the northern regions, one cannot ignore the rising new sun.”
“…You mean you want to make a dual contract?”
Roshi smiled slightly.
“While I serve, I haven’t made any contracts. I simply yield to the strong.”
They say a fox can charm people, and I instantly understood what she meant.
However, the body I inhabited was no ordinary one; I was an undead who had survived countless human battles and still did not die.
“If you move according to circumstances, I suppose you would stab me in the back if we were at a disadvantage.”
“Although my family is noble, it is in the far northern edge of the demon realm. The one who holds the sword hilt is always Lord Kan.”
“My blade cannot cut through the wind.”
“…!”
I could not trust something that was invisible and moved freely around here and there.
Roshi flapped her white ears in slight surprise.
She stopped speaking and seemed to think for a moment before nodding and standing up.
Her gaze, which had been lowered, now met mine directly.
“…If you do not want a contract, then we can negotiate. My Silver Fox family plans to sever ties with the Demon Lord we currently serve and offer support to the Balotus Demon King army.”
Only then did the name of her family, rather than just herself, come up.
I nodded and asked,
“What are the conditions?”
Roshi hesitated for a moment but then came closer to ensure no one else could hear and said,
“…If Lord Kan attends the Monster Social, just once, and supports me, that will be enough.”
Her voice carried cold determination mixed with an inexplicable tremor.