"Wh-what? Why did it suddenly disappear?!" Chae YeonJoo asked, confused.
The black gem KangWoo had found…
That item that could be a hint to finding more about the Demon Cult had suddenly disappeared.
"It melted down the moment I grabbed it..."
KangWoo looked at his hands while making a surprised expression.
In reality, it had disappeared because he'd used the Authority of Predation, but he couldn't say the truth.
He had to hide that he wasn't a human but a demon. Not only that, but he couldn't let them know he was the Demon King, the one at the peak among demons.
Chae YeonJoo looked disappointed.
"Is this a characteristic of demonic energy...?"
"Now that I think about it, the Oriax’s corpse also became dust and disappeared," Goo HyunMo said.
'Yes.'
KangWoo's eyes shone after receiving an assist from Goo HyunMo.
Chae YeonJoo nodded.
"Hmm... It seems like it really is a characteristic of demonic energy."
"Ask the guild members to investigate. We should figure out if this item is present only in El Quero or if other monsters have it too. And if they find a gem near the monster's brain, ask them to bring it."
If the Demon Cult were the ones that had implanted the gem inside El Quero, there was no way that it would end with only one case.
Other monsters had also probably been implanted with that gem.
'If I get more demonic energy stones...'
He could simultaneously interfere with the Demon Cult's plan and obtain a huge profit.
"But this black gem disappears once you touch it. Are we going to be able to bring it?"
It was a sharp question.
But KangWoo didn't get surprised by the question.
KangWoo smoothly answered.
"Since it disappeared after I touched it, it will probably be okay if they use something like a vacuum pack."
"Hmm. Okay. I'll ask the guild members to investigate."
"I'm also going to ask the Hwarang guild members to investigate. Did you find it near the monster's head?"
"Yes. They'll find traces of it being inserted."
"Okay."
The Red Rose Guild and the Hwarang Squad… If it was like he thought, he'd be able to gather many demonic energy stones.
KangWoo tried his best to refrain from smiling.
Echidna, who had returned to her human form, tilted her head while looking at KangWoo.
"KangWoo, you seem to be having fun."
"You're wrong. How could I be having fun while in the middle of such a situation?"
"...?"
Echidna looked confused. She was connected to him through the soul, so she knew what he was feeling.
KangWoo was full of expectations.
KangWoo, who saw her expression, quickly opened his mouth.
"Rather than that, you were of great help just now."
"Really? Was I of help to KangWoo?"
"Yes. As expected from Echidna. I'll give you a reward when you return home."
"Hng! Hng!"
Echidna snorted—she was thinking about what she was going to ask him for.
KangWoo patted her while smiling.
'I'll also have to search.'
Obtaining one demonic energy stone was more effective than killing hundreds of giant ogres.
Because his level was restricted, rather than gaining more experience, it made more sense to keep searching for demonic energy stones.
'Thanks to them, I'll be able to sleep comfortably.'
His level restriction hadn't been lifted; he also didn't know the last condition for the Extreme Demonic Energy Body.
Even by using the Authority of Predation, his demonic energy stat wasn't going up. The Demon Cult had appeared just when his growth was blocked.
It was such good timing that he almost felt thankful.
KangWoo felt full just by thinking of all the demonic energy stones he would get from the Demon Cult.
"Burp."
A dirty burp came out of his mouth.
* * *
"El Quero... Has been killed."
"What?"
A dark room…
A low voice came out of the mouth of the man that was wearing a red demon mask.
"What happened...?"
"We aren't sure either. We wanted to see the erosion level of the demonic energy stone, but we just found traces of a battle and some blood we think was from El Quero."
Slam-! Crack!
The man hit the table, and the solid wood table broke in two.
"What about the other monsters?"
"We're checking them out, but... It doesn't seem like they hunted it because they found out about the plan."
"Damn..."
El Quero was a monster that hadn't been hunted since gates began appearing on Earth.
But to think it would be hunted after they’d planted a demonic energy stone inside it.
Not only was he getting angry, but he was also starting to get desperate.
"How are things progressing?"
"Because of this... Things will get delayed."
"..."
The man's eyes narrowed.
You could see his eyes shining with a chilling light.
"What if we use the other plan?"
"C-cardinal. That...!"
"I'm not saying that we're going to use that immediately. I just wanted to check."
"If we use that, we can proceed with our plans immediately."
"Hmm."
"B-but, Cardinal. If we do that, we won't be able to handle the repercussions. Now that the world rankers have started to move, it's too dangerous and reckless."
"I know that," the man answered.
"What about the number of demonic energy stones?"
"We still have some left."
"Plant them in other monsters. Proceed with the plan as fast as possible. If it gets delayed any further..."
He looked angrily at the priest.
"You guys won't be safe either."
"U-understood!"
The priest that had hidden his head bowed and answered with a fearful voice.
"But... Who killed El Quero?"
"We aren't sure, but we think it was the Red Rose Guild."
"The Red Rose Guild?"
"Yes. We found the red chains that Chae YeonJoo uses at the scene."
"So she's interfering once again..."
You could feel a strong killing intent coming from him.
* * *
The priest trembled.
"Prepare the shadows."
"Are you planning to eliminate Chae YeonJoo...?"
"Yes. She must pay for interfering with our plans."
"Chae YeonJoo is strong."
She was one of Korea's top rankers.
Not only that, but she had a huge force called the Red Rose Guild, so killing her was going to be hard.
The red-masked man smirked.
"There's a rookie Chae YeonJoo cares about: he's a rude one called Oh KangWoo. We're going to take him as a hostage."
"Oh..."
"He's a newbie who doesn't know much about the world. It probably won't be hard."
"Understood."
"You must catch him no matter what. Oh, also, there's a little kid that follows him. Catch her as well."
"A... Kid?"
The masked man nodded.
"I felt demonic energy from her. I want to check."
"Yes!"
The priest walked out of the room.
"Oof."
The masked man took a deep breath and placed his hand on his face; he took off the red demon mask.
"I don't like this."
The red masked man, Baek KangHyun, put the mask on the table and frowned.
* * *
"Here's the money left after deducting the repair cost," Baek HwaYeon said to KangWoo and Chae YeonJoo after calling them to the Hwarang Squad base.
"10 million was left after selling the mana stone and the corpse. Since it's the first time El Quero was hunted, they gave us a lot of money for it."
"Hmm. So you're going to give us five million each?"
"Yes."
"What about you, HwaYeon?"
"I don't need it. Also, you and KangWoo were the ones who collaborated the most."
"You're a born soldier."
Chae YeonJoo laughed and guarded the bank details. Baek HwaYeon kept talking.
"And there's good news."
"Good news?"
"Is it about the demonic energy stones?"
Baek HwaYeon shook her head.
"No. The Hwarang Squad members are investigating it, but they couldn't find any yet. I'm talking about other news."
"What happened?"
"A legendary-rank ingredient has come out from El Quero. They said they can turn a thorn that El Quero has in its tail into a sword."
"Woah."
"Woah, did a legendary-rank ingredient really come?"
Chae YeonJoo and KangWoo's eyes shone.
A legendary-rank equipment…
For high-level players, it was something priceless.
KangWoo, who had just seen how effective the Black Pearl Coat was, showed great interest.
'Although I don't use swords.'
He didn't use a determined weapon…
He created a weapon with an Authority depending on the situation.
But he could receive the benefits just by equipping himself with it, so it really didn't matter.
"A rough estimate came out... It will probably be legendary-rank equipment that increases your strength or agility."
"Ah..."
"Then it will be useless to me."
KangWoo and Chae YeonJoo clicked their tongues in disappointment.
KangWoo mainly used demonic energy, and Chae YeonJoo used mana, so they didn't need a legendary-rank equipment that increased their strength or agility.
"HwaYeon, couldn't you use it?"
"Oof. Sadly, the requirements for the ceremony are quite harsh. I can't use it."
There were some items that had requirements for the ceremony…
That wasn't something that was decided while creating the items, but it was something that was already decided by the ingredient, so if you didn't fulfill the conditions, you wouldn't be able to use it.
"What are the conditions?"
"You need a unique stat called Qi."
"Qi? That thing that appears in martial arts novels?"
"Yes. They said that some warrior players have that stat, but most players that have that stat are Chinese... There aren't many Korean players that have it."
"Hmm... Then it's basically fool's gold. How about we sell it to China?"
"I wanted to hear your opinions first. After all, you were the ones who contributed the most in killing El Quero."
KangWoo and Chae YeonJoo nodded.
The one that played the biggest role was KangWoo, and then Chae YeonJoo.
The others also contributed a lot, but it couldn't be compared to those two.
"There isn't anyone who has a unique stat in our guild, but I'm willing to sell it if the price is good."
"Then I'll buy it."
"KangWoo... You?"
KangWoo nodded.
Having the unique stat called Qi…
He knew one person who had that.
'Kim ShiHoon.'
The good-hearted young man who followed him along with TaeSoo.
He was very handsome, but his talent was even more incredible than his looks.
'Although we aren't blood-related, you're my little brother.'
Their souls were literally connected.
'Hyung will get you a present!'
KangWoo clenched his fist.
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