NOVEL ONLINE FREE Chapter 9
Northern Grand Duke: I’m leaving the guild.
The Grand Duke popped into the guild chat late in the evening, declaring his intent to quit. And how did our sweet guild members react to his dramatic announcement?
9th Circle Archmage: ｡•́︿•̀｡
9th Circle Archmage: Grand Duke, did you go insane after finishing your latest quest?ㅠ
No, they mocked him instead.
Ignoring the Grand Duke’s teary messages, I left my room.
Do Haun had been abruptly called into a meeting, and my brother wouldn’t be back until late, so I had the evening to myself.
[Constellation ‘Greater Lord of Hell than Satan’ has submitted a quest.]
If only no quests came in, I’d be free.
Taking a sip of fizzy soda to cool my throat, I skimmed through the quest details. The request? To find a lost Cerberus puppy he had gifted.
Yesterday, it was a bird causing trouble; today, it’s a dog. Lovely.
Northern Grand Duke: I can’t do this quest.
Knew it.
I was about to threaten him with releasing a certain recording when another message quickly followed.
Northern Grand Duke: My grandfather’s critically ill.
“…”
With that, the Grand Duke vanished from the chat. I could feel the can in my hand crumpling under my grip.
“Damn Grand Duke…”
Let’s see what excuse he comes up with next time. With a sigh, I was about to accept the quest.
[‘Demon King’ has accepted the quest.]
“…What?”
9th Circle Archmage: ???
9th Circle Archmage: This time, the Demon King??
9th Circle Archmage: Guild Master, are you threatening members one by one?
9th Circle Archmage: Mages are scared you’ll come after us next.
9th Circle Archmage: ( ˃⍨˂̥̥ )
Northern Grand Duke: The Demon King accepted the quest?
Northern Grand Duke: That’s definitely going to fail;;
Hero: Demon King, have you lost it?
Spirit Master: Today’s turning out to be quite entertaining――^^
The Dragon Slayer and the Greatest Martial Artist didn’t bother showing up this time. Looks like they’ve lost interest.
Meanwhile, the Grand Duke, whose grandfather was supposedly dying, seemed very concerned about the Demon King taking on the quest.
Ha, Grand Duke. See you at the next quest.
Placing the crushed can on the table, I slumped into the sofa.
Godslayer: Demon King, are you crazy?
Demon King: I am not crazy.
9th Circle Archmage: Demon Kingㅋㅋ If the Guild Master is threatening you, shake a carrotㅋㅋ
Demon King: I am not being threatened.
9th Circle Archmage: ???
Hero: Did you just get dumped? Why’d you suddenly accept a quest out of nowhere?
The Hero asked the question I’d been dying to ask. The Grand Duke whined about why nobody asked him, but no one bothered to respond.
The Demon King finally replied after a long pause.
Demon King: My nephew was bitten.
“…!!”
His nephew?
“Angel lady, are you leaving?”
“Goodbye!”
The memory of the little boy’s bright smile surfaced. Frowning, I sent the Demon King a private message.
Godslayer: How did the kid get bitten?
Demon King: He wasn’t bitten. He was… carried off.
God, this guy…
Suppressing the urge to explode, I thumped my chest once and typed another message.
Godslayer: Fine. How’d he get “carried off”?
Demon King: I stopped because he resembled the loyal dog that guarded the gates of my castle. Who could have known it was a feral beast that bites its master instead? Anyway, my nephew found the puppy cute and stopped to play with it. This great one then joined him――The puppy quickly grew into a massive beast and clamped its jaws around my nephew’s nape before running off. Thinking that accepting the quest might reveal the beast’s location, I took it—and fortunately, I now know where it is.
“…”
Blinking at the wall of text on my screen, I sent a succinct reply.
Godslayer: Summarize that in three lines.
Demon King: The puppy became a beast. The beast bit my nephew and ran off. The beast was a feral dog. Understand now?
A throbbing headache crept up as I massaged my temples. The quest was now the Demon King’s responsibility—he was the one determined to rescue his nephew.
Technically, I could just wish him luck like the others and ignore the whole thing.
But, of course, it’s never that easy.
Godslayer: Share the quest.
Demon King: I am not one to share secrets.
Godslayer: Not a secret, the quest, you idiot!!!
I practically shouted as I sent the message, my blood pressure skyrocketing. Dealing with the Demon King always threatened to give me an aneurysm.
[‘Demon King’ has shared the quest with ‘Godslayer.’]
I accepted immediately, grabbing my coat as I stood.
Godslayer: Mage, portal me.
9th Circle Archmage: Nah.
Godslayer: If you say no, I’ll come find you at your company. Think I don’t know where you work?
I didn’t actually know, but bluffing sometimes worked.
Godslayer: Mage, you little punk.
Godslayer: You’re not off work yet, are you?
Godslayer: I’ll really come find you.
Godslayer: Five.
Godslayer: Four.
Godslayer: Three.
9th Circle Archmage: Where would you like to go, Guild Master?
Grinning triumphantly, I sent the coordinates. The destination? The Demon King’s location.
* * *
“The Godslayer is coming,” the Demon King, Woo Mahun, said calmly.
“The Godslayer? Your guild master?”
“Indeed.”
His brother, Woo Mahan—leader of the guild Hwarang—frowned deeply.
“What difference will that make? Can that person rescue my son from a three-headed beast without a single scratch?”
Gripping his blackened spear tightly, Woo Mahan declared,
“Even if you stop me, I’m going to take care of this myself.”
“You must not. The quest requires capturing the beast alive and unharmed.”
“And what am I supposed to do about it?! My son—your nephew—is trembling in terror right now!”
“Funny, it looks like he’s happily petting the puppy to me. Brother, perhaps your eyesight has gotten worse.”
“YOU—!”
Woo Mahan cursed, gripping the back of his neck in frustration. He exhaled sharply and shouted at his nonchalant younger brother.
“I should never have left my kid with you!”
“Your wife said the same thing.”
“AARGH!”
Woo Mahan clenched his fists, trembling in rage at his brother’s maddening indifference.
“Ah, they’ve arrived,” Woo Mahun murmured.
“…?”
A large crimson magic circle expanded in the air above them.
Woo Mahun gawked, slack-jawed, while the Cerberus pup playing with his nephew suddenly perked its heads.
“Damn that mage!”
With a thunderous crash, the Godslayer, Do Haun, plummeted from the sky.
* * *
Rrrrgh!
Holy crap.
A pup?! That’s supposed to be a puppy?! In what universe is that thing a puppy?!
The three-headed beast bared its fangs, each mouth opening wide. Seeing the sharp, jagged teeth, I clicked my tongue and moved instinctively.
[Absolute Authority, ‘Sovereign Above Laws,’ has been activated.]
My falling body came to an abrupt halt mid-air. It felt as though I were standing on solid ground, and I began walking as if nothing had happened, a scowl plastered on my face.
“Where’s that damned Demon King?”
“I am here,” came a voice from behind me.
Startled, I took a sharp breath and turned my head. The Demon King, Woo Mahun, stood regally, his long black hair fluttering in the air.
“Woo Mahun!! You crazy bastard! I told you not to fly around like that…!!”
“Mahun?”
“It is my true name.”
Oh. Great. Sure.
For some reason, I suddenly felt drained.
Meanwhile, the so-called “pup,” Cerberus, continued to bark loudly, adding noise pollution to the already chaotic situation. Ignoring the racket, I scanned the area.
“Where’s the kid?”
“Between its claws.”
Looking down, I saw the child sitting neatly between the beast’s enormous claws.
“Angel lady!!”
“Yubin! Don’t move! Stay seated! Stay!!”
The moment Yubin stood, the massive “puppy” nudged him back into a sitting position with its paw.
“Yubin!!”
Luckily, the kid seemed unharmed, beaming brightly as he waved at me. Awkwardly, I waved back.
“My nephew knows no fear,” the Demon King commented.
“…I noticed.”
I pointed at the panicked man calling Yubin’s name with desperation and asked,
“And that guy?”
“That is my elder brother. He knows about Returnees.”
“What?!”
“Ah, I’ve been caught.”
“…”
Caught? There’s nothing to catch if you don’t even bother to hide it!
“Do not worry; he is not the type to blabber. More importantly, I am deeply moved by your arrival.”
“Don’t be.”
I grimaced, disgusted at his sentimentality. The Demon King, unfazed by my reaction, continued speaking.
“I swear to repay this favor someday—”
“Don’t. Just don’t.”
I cut him off firmly. Getting involved with the Demon King was a recipe for disaster. My gut instinct screamed at me to minimize contact with him.
Looking back at the noise-polluting “puppy,” I muttered to myself,
“So, we have to capture that thing alive…”
“If anyone gets too close, it threatens my nephew, making it difficult to act.”
“Can’t you just pull the kid out?”
“I tried…”
For once, the Demon King trailed off, sounding uncharacteristically subdued.
“When I cast my magic, that damned beast devoured all of my power.”
And now it’s that huge because of it. The Demon King had the gall to flash a proud smile.
“This is how strong I am, Godslayer.”
“…”