Chapter 343: Rule Breaker

[Using the Demon Realm Access Pass.]

His vision distorted, and the familiar, stinging smell of sulfur rushed to the tip of his nose.

The place he stepped into was the 1st ranked territory of the Demon Realm that Vulcan had newly come to rule, specifically the massive Demon Lord's castle located at its center.

“No, what are we going to do if you come right now!”

The one who came running immediately as soon as the portal opened was Andromalius.

For the number one contributor who had raised the territory to the 1st place, his complexion was not very good.

It was truly close to a pale, deadly hue.

“What's with your expression. Weren't you managing Vulcan's territory while sucking up some sweet honey?”

“What sweet honey! My guts are burning up right now!”

Andromalius let out a deep sigh and urgently began his briefing.

“After the Ranking Battle ended, Lord Vulcan rose to 1st place, but as you know, there is no way the existing big shots would look kindly upon that. Right now, the Great Lords from 2nd to 7th place have formed an alliance behind our backs and cut off all economic exchanges. It is a blatant check.”

“So you can't defend?”

“I can somehow manage the territory defense. Because of the Demon God's law anyway, the lords cannot engage in open armed conflicts with each other! At most, economic sanctions or picking localized fights are all they can do. The real problem is not the territory……!”

Andromalius pointed at Kim Minwoo as if accusing him.

“It is you, Lord Kim Minwoo! Since the Ranking Battle has ended, the proxy protection regulations have also completely expired!”

“What about me.”

“Since the protection period is over, you are no longer a proxy protected by the Demon God's rules! You are just a human who rolled into the Demon Realm! Even if those bastards cannot strike Lord Vulcan, there are no restrictions on them striking you! The moment the rumor spreads that you have come to the Demon Realm, the Great Lords harboring grudges will scramble to rush in and tear you to death! You must return quickly!”

The urgent shout of Andromalius worrying about him. It was incredibly kind, unbecoming of a demon.

However, Kim Minwoo's reaction was indifferent.

Rather, a bizarre light hovered in his pupils.

“Hey, Mr. Ahn.”

“Quickly open the portal…… Excuse me?”

“So what you are saying is, it's not a violation of the Demon God's rules for those guys to attack me, right? Since I'm human.”

“I'm telling you it is!”

“Then let's think about it in reverse.”

Kim Minwoo stroked his jaw and smiled chillingly.

“Then my invading and slitting those lord bastards' necks wouldn't be a rule violation either, right? I'm not a lord, after all.”

“……Huh?”

Andromalius's pupils began to tremble as if an earthquake had struck.

The Demon God's law was strictly a rule to control the lords of the Demon Realm.

However, an out-of-standard human who crossed over from Earth.

A stranger who was neither a lord nor a demon, and even his status as a proxy had ended.

Not even the Demon God had a justification or a systemic rule to prevent this human from striking first and butchering other lords.

Why?

Because there was no way such a thing would happen in the first place.

Unless another race wanted to die, why would they run wild in the home base of demons.

“N-now that I listen to you, there really isn't any rule being violated…… Crazy?”

Andromalius looked at Kim Minwoo with a face full of astonishment.

It was a blind spot in the perfect system, something that not even a demon who had lived for thousands of years had ever imagined.

Goosebumps unwittingly rose at this idea that was more demonic than a demon's, intending to legally butcher the Great Lords using the blind spot of the rules.

Kim Minwoo rested Hell Rhapsody on his shoulder.

“It just so happens that I'm in a situation where I have to work hard to level up. But maybe it's because my level has gone up a lot lately. No matter what I catch, it doesn't go up well.”

His eyes flashed greedily.

“If it's about the level of a Great Lord…… my level will shoot up if I catch them, right?” 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

“N-no! It just means it's not a rule violation, but invading alone against those Great Lords is……!”

It was the moment Andromalius urgently tried to stop him.

[The Death Emperor's authority is opened!]

[Special Undead, Gleipnir, is summoned!]

Kuaaaaang―!

The front yard of the Demon Lord's castle was crushed, and the sky was dyed pitch-black. The divine dragon Gleipnir, forged from the bones of an ancient dragon of antiquity and the bloodline of the Abyss Lord, which was on a different trajectory from ordinary bone dragons, descended.

Under the overwhelming dragon pressure spewed by the mythical existence, the high-ranking demons guarding the perimeter of the territory gasped for breath and collapsed on the spot.

―Master, the preparations are finished.

Cedric, riding on Gleipnir's back, reported while raising his ink-black spear.

The eye glints of the Dragon Knight who had regained his prime strength were blazing fiercely.

Kim Minwoo leaped lightly and mounted behind Cedric.

“We go in reverse order starting from 7th place. You know the locations, right? Fly straight there and wipe them all out.”

―Understood!

Kwaaaang―!

Gleipnir soared up, tearing through space.

Along with a roar breaking the speed of sound, a black-gold trajectory was deeply carved across the red sky of the Demon Realm.

Andromalius swallowed dryly while blankly looking up at the sky.

“……The ecosystem of the Demon Realm will completely change as of today…….”

Kim Minwoo.

In the time he hadn't seen him, he had become a much greater monster than when he last saw him.

To the point where even he himself had cold sweat soaking his hands from his intimidating presence before he knew it.

＊ ＊ ＊

The old castle of Batalian, one of the 7 major cities of the Demon Realm.

Great Lord Paimon, who had ascended to the 2nd place in the rankings by a stroke of luck, was leaning at an angle on a spacious throne, sweating hard to hide the smile spreading on his lips.

A massive communication crystal ball floating above the round table.

From beyond it, the fierce murderous intent of the upper lords who had been ruined by the defeat in the Ranking Battle was spewing out.

―Damn Vulcan! And that arrogant human bastard! Just wait until the proxy protective shield is lifted. I will personally chew and eat their internal organs!

Agares, who had rolled down from the existing 3rd place to 7th place, shouted in a fury.

Next to him, Baal, who had plummeted to 3rd place, was agreeing while growling alternately with his three heads.

‘Kekekek. Your insides must be boiling vigorously.’

Paimon was nodding his head seriously on the outside, but on the inside, he was shouting with joy while sucking sweet honey.

He was the one who had his ranking jump from 7th to 2nd place in a single breath solely for the reason that his Ranking Battle proxy had died late.

The thrill of his ranking, which had been stagnant for hundreds of years, shooting up in a single shot.

That was a joy that could not be compared to any ecstasy.

The securing of prime territories and the increase in harvested resources.

Of course, the general trend was the general trend.

With the angry Baal and the former upper lords uniting to isolate Vulcan, he too was pretending to actively participate in their pressure on the outside to buy time to fully digest the honey of 2nd place.

―Paimon! What are your thoughts, having become 2nd place!

At Agares's yelling, Paimon put on a benevolent smile.

“Of course, I shall follow the will of His Majesty Baal and Duke Agares. We cannot leave alive that human who dared to mock the rules of the lords. Well, if we, the main bodies, step up personally, how hard could it be to tear apart a mere human like that?”

Words thrown out while inwardly looking down on Kim Minwoo.

He believed that they simply couldn't catch him because he was hiding behind the shield called the proxy protection rule, and that if the Great Lords who had lived for thousands of years united, they could crush a mere human with just their breath.

Agares's murky pupils flashed.

―Vulcan's master. That arrogant human bastard, Kim Minwoo. If we continue to pressure and crush Vulcan's territory, that guy won't be able to hold his temper and will definitely reveal his appearance in the Demon Realm.

The lords beyond the crystal ball fell silent in unison and listened closely.

―Since the proxy protection period is also over, the moment that guy walks in on his own two feet without the protective shield of the rules! The six of us will pounce at once and tear him to death. If the summoner dies, that bastard Vulcan won't be able to maintain the summon and will collapse or be left as only an empty husk. We can just chew and eat the 1st place seat very comfortably then.

―Excellent. As expected, when it comes to cunning, there is no one who can follow you, Agares.

It was when everyone was praising Agares's wisdom.

Kureureureureung―!

“Hmm?”

Beyond the crystal ball, Agares's entire viewpoint shook madly as if an earthquake had struck.

―Wh-what is happening!

―L-Lord! A giant dragon in the sky…….

……!

Along with the urgent voice of the report, the ceiling of Agares's castle, which had been reflected beyond the crystal ball, was ripped off like a sheet of paper.

Baal, Paimon, Vassago, and all the Great Lords connected via communication flinched and stared intently at the crystal ball.

Paaaat―!

Piercing through the thick dust cloud, the silver-haired witch reached out her hand first.

―You, don't use magic.

―Keuheok…….!

The mana Agares had been drawing up to counterattack was instantly blocked and scattered.

At the same time, the woman in the red dress pierced Agares's shadow and nailed it to the floor, and the black knight's spear that surged in like a thunderbolt blew a hole in Agares's chest.

A perfect and terrible coordination leaving not even a moment to breathe.

However, what astonished Paimon the most was what followed.

Seureureureuk…….

Beyond the crystal ball, pitch-black darkness poured down.

The intimidation of death itself, forcing all existences with life to instinctively prostrate themselves, bloomed to the point of overflowing even beyond the crystal ball.

“Wh-what is that…….? Just what is that power?!”

Paimon sprang up from his seat in astonishment.

Even the tactician snake coiled on his shoulder huddled its body, trembling like an aspen tree.

It was divinity.

Moreover, a disparate and overwhelming divinity that could not spew out from a human's body!

Kim Minwoo, wrapped in the mist of death, slowly descended right in front of Agares's nose.

―Keu, keuheok……. Y-you bastard……. Aren't you even afraid of the Demon God's rules…….

―What to do? I'm not subject to the rules, though.

Seogeok―!

A single chilling slash.

The neck of the 7th ranked (formerly 3rd ranked) Agares, who had been spewing out anger while raising his veins beyond the crystal ball just a moment ago, flew into the empty air far too vainly.

……!

Paimon's face, having watched that massacre in real-time beyond the crystal ball, turned pale as a blank sheet of paper.

They could win if their main bodies stepped up?

Is that…… really true?

Kim Minwoo, resting the blood-dripping demonic sword on his shoulder, slowly approached the crystal ball that had fallen to the floor.

His gaze met the black pupils filling the screen head-on.

Wearing a creepy smile, Kim Minwoo casually spat out.

“Next, is your turn.”

Bbajik―!

The communication hologram floating in front of Paimon's eyes shattered like fragments and scattered into the empty air.

“…….”

Only deathly silence remained in the banquet hall.

Along the spine of Paimon, who had been imagining sweet honey after taking 2nd place by a stroke of luck, cold sweat was pouring down like rain.