Return of the Frozen Player

No one knew how vortex zones were created, but they would appear throughout the Underworld and distort the senses of travelers daring enough to enter it. Therefore, vortex zones had always been popular sites for ambushes and robberies.

Even friends could not be trusted here, let alone foes.

"Phew..."

Cannell, who had been stealing glances outside the window, let out a deep sigh.

"Tighten the formation!"

"Endure it! It's better than being ambushed and killed!"

"If we advance together like this, no bandit will dare to target us!"

The issue was that everyone already knew how vortex zones worked. Naturally, everyone already knew that vortex zones were the favorite spots of bandits.

‘I have a general idea of the Underworld's politics.’

The reason he was told to enter this place was undoubtedly for an ambush. It would be easy to ambush and eliminate the demons one by one in a vortex zone.

‘But…’

The mercenaries' tactics were flawless.

They weren't small fries who’d fall for such simple tricks in the first place.

‘Perhaps I should have stopped them more forcefully back then?’

He had pointed out the weakness in the plan, but faced with the lightly smiling face of confidence, he found himself nodding in agreement. Anyone would have reacted the same as him if they were in his shoes at the time.

‘Damn it, but things will become really complicated at this rate.’

While Cannell was quickly reorganizing the plan after leaving the vortex zones, a voice echoed from beside him.

"What are you thinking about so diligently?"

"I'm calculating whether we can enter other vortexes on our way to the West—"

Cannell drew a dagger from his sheath, but the other party’s dagger was already a few inches away from his throat.

"You said you were a merchant, so I thought you were a softie. You're feistier than I thought."

"The public enemy of the Underworld?" Surprised, Cannell quickly closed the window curtains, lowering his voice. "What's going on? What happened to the city? Have you always been here?"

"Of course not. I've been chasing after you. I’m done with the business in the city."

"The city—"

"Viscount Astol is dead, and I'm currently impersonating him."

Cannell gulped. The public enemy of the Underworld was both mysterious and terrifying to the extent that Cannell felt reassured knowing that the former was on the same side as him.

Cannell asked, "How did you get in here?"

"Like this."

The public enemy of the Underworld vanished right in front of Cannell. It was a concealment technique so unbelievable that he could hardly believe it even though he saw it with his own eyes.

"Wow… Wait, are you still here?"

"As you can see." Once again, the public enemy of the Underworld appeared, and he spoke, "It's a technique called Night Walking. I’m sure there's no need for a detailed explanation."

"Hmm, by any chance... Can I learn it? It seems useful."

"You can’t learn it. It's a technique related to my ability."

Watchguard of Darkness was necessary to use Night Walking.

Cannell was visibly disappointed, but he changed the subject.

"I guess it can't be helped. So, what should we do from now on?"

"We have to kill them all, of course."

"... Do you even know how many demons are outside?"

"I counted while coming here. There were 5,329."

“And how are you going to kill them all?"

Seo Jun-Ho blinked and retorted, "Didn't I say it before? I killed Gorgon."

"I know. That's why I joined forces with you. But there are over 5,000 of them."

"...Ah."

Seo Jun-Ho's expression changed to one of understanding.

"I see what the problem is. You don’t know how strong the counts are, do you?"

"Most of us in this era have never seen their true strength with our own eyes."

The Four Counts system was established decades ago. Since then, the counts hadn't really engaged in a proper fight in public.

"Well, I guess then it’s natural that you wouldn’t know. I understand."

"What are you talking about? What do I not know?"

"It means you don't know how strong Star Destruction Stage creatures are."

"... Of course, I know that they are strong. However, are they really strong enough to handle five thousand demons?”

Seo Jun-Ho smirked. It was an adorable question.

"Want me to tell you a secret? Every Count can wipe out all life on this continent."

"That's an absurd claim. If that were true, why had they bothered to keep the demons alive?"

“...Do you want to know?”

Cannell briefly stopped breathing upon meeting Seo Jun-Ho’s gaze. For some reason, he felt as if he were peering into the abyss while staring into Seo Jun-Ho’s eyes.

However, his curiosity had gotten too strong for him to endure, and he eventually nodded.

"Tell me. If they truly possess the power to annihilate us all, why are we still alive?"

"...Because it's a hassle."

"... What?"

Seo Jun-Ho sounded nonchalant as he was speaking of a well-known fact. "It is exactly as I said. It’s a hassle, so they let you guys live."

"A hassle?"

"If they were to kill all the human slaves, who would mine the demonic stones? And if they exterminated all the demons, who would manage the slaves?"

The Counts disliked the idea of dealing with such inconvenience. It was a thought that Seo Jun-Ho had learned from Gorgon's memories, so he was confident of its accuracy.

"The Counts could kill you all at any time, but they decided to spare your lives simply because it’s going to be a hassle to deal with the aftermath."

"..."

Cannell stared agape at Seo Jun-Ho.

'Because it was a hassle? Really?’

The reason he—himself, was breathing and living—the reason why demons had developed and had been living all this time was all because they felt that it was a hassle to kill every demon?

"Haha." Cannell chuckled hollowly. If it were true, it meant his existence was worth less than dust.

Cannell asked, "Can you prove it?"

"It's fine for me... but I'm not sure if it's going to be fine for you."

Cannell was still shocked, so Seo Jun-Ho couldn't predict what would happen if the truth was revealed.

However, Cannell shook his head and insisted.

"The truth will definitely shock me, but it won't change anything."

"Well, in that case. Can you open the roof for me?"

"Sure."

Click.

The ceiling of the carriage opened smoothly.

The gazes of the nearby demons turned toward the two of them.

"Who's that?"

"I don't know. Probably a friend of the employer."

The demons displayed rather indifferent reactions and turned their attention back to the front. Watching their responses carefully, Seo Jun-Ho muttered under his breath, "Then, let's begin."

Slowly raising his fist, Seo Jun-Ho summoned his magic.

‘10%... 20%... 30%...’

‘This should be enough.’

Exactly 38%.

He had squeezed out exactly thirty-eight percent of his entire magic reservoir, and a pitch-black darkness began to envelop his arm.

Cannell gazed at the lethal beauty with entranced eyes.

"Watch closely."

Seo Jun-Ho opened his fist, and the magic abruptly erased the tornadoes of demonic energy.

"Huh? My vision..."

"What's going on? Are we out of the vortex zone?"

"No, my senses are still distorted. I think it’s just the dirt and dust. They’ve vanished for some reason."

"Hey, look at that," someone said while pointing at the sky.

A black line had shot up into the sky. The line ascended coolly like an ascending dragon until it reached a certain height; then, it exploded and turned into a dome before transforming into hundreds of tiny lines that plummeted under gravity’s influence.

"Is that... rain?"

"There’s rain in vortex zones?"

"I think we’re just seeing things."

"Well, I don’t know, but the raindrops look beautiful."

The falling pitch-black rain had a fierce charm in the demon’s eyes.

Cannell asked in a bewildered voice, "Rain?"

"You'll see soon."

Seo Jun-Ho created an umbrella large enough to cover both of them.

"..."

There was silence in the area as the demons were captivated by the pitch-black rain.

However, screams soon shattered the silence.

Shwik!

"...Hmm?"

A demon looked down at his palm. The raindrops didn’t form a puddle in his hand. They went through his hand and pierced the ground as if they were hot knives slicing through butter.

"Huh?"

It took a moment before the demon’s mind could process what his eyes had just witnessed. Moments later, everything finally became clear.

"Huh?"

The demon was disappearing—the pitch-black rain was literally melting him into nothingness. It wasn’t painful, but the scene his brain was processing from his senses and eyes made him feel an artificial fear and agony beyond what he could perceive.

"Argh, aaargh!"

"It hurts! It hurts!"

"Run!!!"

The bewildered demons started fleeing in all directions.

Unfortunately, it was impossible to escape the rain.

"..."

Cannell stared blankly at the scene until it ended. Five thousand demons had vanished into nothingness after just a light drizzle, and they left neither blood nor bones behind. It all ended in less than three minutes.

"Phew..."

Seo Jun-Ho inhaled to absorb the demonic energy in the air.

[Your magic stat has increased by 0.1.]

[Your magic stat has increased by 0.2.]

[Your magic stat has increased by 0.1.]

[Your magic stat has increased by 0.1.]

…

His magic stat increased by a whopping 666 points in the blink of an eye.

He felt full, even though he hadn’t eaten anything.

"Huh, jeez."

Cannell looked around the desolate wilderness and chuckled hollowly. “So you didn’t make us enter a vortex zone to ambush us?”

"Yeah. Vortex zones are a clump of unstable demonic energy, so the Counts won’t notice even if a Star Destruction Stage creature were to use a decent amount of strength here.” Seo Jun-Ho got up and folded the umbrella. "I guess I should go back for now. You should go West and hide for a while.”

“All right. What are you going to do?"

"The settlement day is soon upon us." The two red moons were the reddest on the settlement day, and demons from all over the Underworld would offer their tributes to their masters on that day.

"We’ll hit Lavue the day the tributes are offered."

And Seo Jun-Ho’s tribute to her was death.

***

It was the dawn of the fateful day.

Seo Jun-Ho entered a luxuriously decorated hall as Viscount Astol.

"Here comes Viscount Astol of the Cologio!" shouted the herald.

A few demons approached Seo Jun-Ho with a smile.

"Long time no see, Lord Astol."

"You seem to have become even more handsome since we last met."

"Did you receive some good news?"

These people were present in his memories.

Seo Jun-Ho smiled at them and shook his head.

"What good news? Today is just a good day," he said.

A servant passing by brought a glass of wine on a tray.

Seo Jun-Ho picked it up and took a sip.

"By the way, I don't see Lady Lavue around."

"That's right. She's running late today."

"She’s usually here earlier than anyone else."

"..."

Unlike a stern ruler, Lavue enjoyed parties and reveling in her own spotlight. She had the habit of arriving early and leaving later than anyone else on the Day of Tribute. The fact that she was missing made Seo Jun-Ho feel uneasy as he drank his wine absentmindedly.

A servant approached Seo Jun-Ho with a smile.

"Master Astol, Countess Lavue has invited you to the backyard."

"..."

Seo Jun-Ho put down the wine glass and spoke without hesitation. "Lead the way."