LGHTNOVELBOOK Chapter 25
“Ah―ugh!! Are you seriously pulling it, you crazy Demon King?! Let go! Not letting go?!!”
A red magic circle began to spread. Regardless, I was left dumbfounded, my mouth agape at the scene before me.
[Constellation, ‘I Am the Demon Fabre’, has sent a request.]
Without asking or hesitating, I accepted the request.
|Pr. Northern Grand Duke|: Haaaaaaaahk.
|Pr. Northern Grand Duke|: Am I finally going to be free? ㅠㅠㅠ?
As if that would ever happen. Ignoring the Duke’s desperate message, I unleashed the power of the Godslayer.
“Guild Master! Do something about the Demon King! My hair!!”
“Demon King, let the mage go.”
The mage, finally released from the Demon King’s grasp, began fixing their hair with a face full of tears.
“But Guild Master, why did you accept the request?”
“Look ahead.”
“Look? Why… Huh.”
The mage’s eyes widened as they pointed with a trembling finger.
[Constellation, ‘I Am the Demon Fabre’, requests the guild, Return, to exterminate the escaped S-Class Insect Kings.]
Since when did cockroaches become S-Class Insect Kings?
“How on earth did you manage this…?”
To my murmuring, the Constellation responded.
[Constellation, ‘I Am the Demon Fabre’, apologizes, stating it was a management error during the process of calming the sanctuary, Flame of Hell.]
You should have managed that properly!
“I shall handle it.”
The Demon King took a step forward, aiming at the dense swarm of cockroaches blocking the view.
Shasha―shak!
As the thousands, tens of thousands, or even more cockroaches moved simultaneously, the Demon King halted his steps.
“Godslayer.”
“Yes.”
“I cannot do this.”
“……”
Whimpering, the Demon King admitted defeat.
“Mage.”
“Can I blow up the building, Guild Master?”
“……”
How could there not be a single helpful person here? I started wondering how to handle these cockroaches so that people would think it was dealt with neatly and quietly.
“Ah, students! You’re still here?”
“!!”
The voice of Kang Hasu, who should have been in a meeting, suddenly came from behind.
“Good thing you’re here! So, here’s the thing—I stepped out to use the restroom, but I can’t figure out where anything is… But what are you students doing here?”
The mage and I, except for the Demon King, forcibly moved our stiff necks.
Kang Hasu had a friendly smile on his face.
The smile was fleeting, though. His eyes widened in shock, and his face froze in disbelief.
Then.
“Ahhh! Ifrit!!”
“?!!”
A red pillar of fire shot past between the mage and me.
Whoooosh!!
The red flames incinerated every cockroach on the wall before vanishing as if it had never existed.
“……”
“……”
A heavy silence fell over us. The one to break it was the mage.
“H-his hands… Fire came out of his hands?”
“……”
For a Hunter with control over natural elements, that was possible.
But Kang Hasu was a civilian. This fact had even been proven on a variety show.
Yet here he was, invoking Ifrit and wielding flames…
Kang Hasu smiled warmly, dismissing the mage’s comment with ease.
“You must have seen it wrong.”
“My vision is 2.0. There’s no way I could have seen it wrong.”
“Then it must have dropped to 0.2.”
It felt like sparks were flying between Kang Hasu and the mage. I watched the two in silence before deciding to lighten up this hopeless situation with a cheerful message.
|Pr. Godslayer (Guild Master)|: Cockroach above your head.
“Uwaaah! Undine!!”
Kang Hasu jumped in shock, raising his hands. At the same time, a spray of water shot up, piercing through the ceiling.
WEEEEEE-ENG!
―Intruder! Intruder! An intruder has been detected!
WEEEEEE-ENG!
“……”
The emergency alarm rang loudly throughout the center, leaving me speechless. But, of course, not everyone remained silent.
“Do Haun, I think this guy is the Spirit Master…”
I know. Shut up.
I smacked the Demon King’s mouth with a resounding clap.
“There!!”
“There’s the intruder!!”
Damn it!!
Swearing came naturally in this situation. I glanced at the mage, who then looked at the Demon King.
Like the Demon King would understand a single glance!
Grabbing the mage’s ear with all my strength, I hissed softly.
“Open the portal! Quickly!”
“Ack! Alright!!”
A red magic circle unfurled. I dragged the still-dazed Kang Hasu and the Demon King inside.
Fortunately, the portal connected to the center room where we had previously gathered.
[S-Class Relic, ‘Egg of an Unknown Reptile’, has been stored in the warehouse.]
[The request has been completed.]
[All powers of the title ‘Godslayer’ are now restricted.]
And just like that, the request ended.
Sure, it was a good thing that it ended so easily and without much effort, but…
“Why on earth did this happen…?!”
“?”
Kang Hasu—or rather, the Spirit Master—slumped to the floor, clutching his head and shouting.
“A cockroach…! Why! Why was it above my head?!”
“That was a lie.”
“……”
Kang Hasu glared at me with wide eyes. I shrugged as if to ask, What do you want me to do about it?
The mage, now seated comfortably, smirked and spoke.
“Cockroaches are a bit gross, sure. But Spirit Master, were you seriously ignoring all our messages right in front of us? That’s impressive in its own way.”
The Spirit Master sighed heavily before replying.
“Once you get used to it, ignoring messages becomes second nature.”
What a thing to brag about.
Kang Hasu glanced nervously at me before opening his mouth again.
“And… I never imagined you’d be members of Return! Not in my wildest dreams!”
“Even though the Demon King was exuding that much presence?”
The mage’s comment seemed to inflate the Demon King’s ego, as he proudly straightened his shoulders. Demon King, I swear, you’ll be the death of me.
The Spirit Master forced his trembling legs to stand and added, “I’m a talent agency CEO. With all the wild concepts we deal with, ‘Demon King’ is hardly surprising.”
“I am no concept.”
“……”
The Spirit Master was left speechless, staring at the Demon King with an incredulous expression. The Demon King tilted his head, as if to say, Is there a problem?
This was my cue to intervene.
“Let me give you some advice: don’t bother trying to have a proper conversation with the Demon King. He exists in a realm beyond our comprehension.”
“The Guild Master is right. I almost died of frustration trying to have one proper conversation with the Demon King!”
The Demon King tilted his head again, as if completely baffled, while the mage pounded their chest in exasperation. Meanwhile, the Spirit Master stood there slack-jawed.
“By the way, Spirit Master—no, CEO Kang Hasu?”
At my words, the Spirit Master shut his gaping mouth, swallowing nervously, and looked at me with a face full of unease.
I flashed a leisurely smile before speaking.
“You must’ve been very busy managing your company.”
“W-well, yes, that’s true.”
The CEO lowered his gaze. Watching him bow his head so easily, I felt a sense of satisfaction and pulled up a green window.
“Let’s see, who are the celebrities under H-Entertainment…”
Humming a tune, I skimmed through the list of just over 30 entertainers. The hum stopped when I came across a familiar face.
“That lunatic, huh?”
“Pardon?”
“Why is this lunatic here?”
Even though he always wore black sunglasses whenever we met, I recognized him instantly. The Spirit Master sidled up to me and spoke in a soft, admiring tone.
“It seems you know our Doby.”
“Doby? Isn’t his name Dobin?”
“That’s his real name. His stage name is Doby. Look, it’s written right there—Doby.”
“……”
Sure enough, his profile listed “Doby” as his official name.
The Spirit Master scratched his cheek awkwardly.
“He’s always loved escaping from the dormitory back when he was a trainee.”
“Dobby is free,” the mage quipped.
The Spirit Master added with a chuckle, “That’s exactly right. We gave him the name so he could live as a free spirit even after debuting. And ‘Dobin’ and ‘Doby’ only differ by one consonant anyway.”
The mage murmured incredulously, “That’s so half-hearted…”
“Half-hearted? How dare you! Ifrit, Undine, Sylph, and Gnome were all very pleased with the name!”
“Maybe your spirits just have weird taste?”
“How dare you say such blasphemy!!”
The Spirit Master jumped up in outrage, but the mage simply stuck out their tongue playfully, claiming they didn’t care about being blasphemous.
In the middle of their squabble, the Demon King, who had been sitting quietly, suddenly spoke.
“Godslayer.”
“Yeah?”
“I wish to leave.”
“No. Endure it.”
The noise of hunters running around searching for the intruder filled the air. If the Demon King were to step outside in the midst of this chaos, who knew what additional turmoil might erupt? Still, the racket outside was preferable to…
“But Spirit Master, why were you wandering around so much? Doesn’t the guidance of spirits help?”
“Guiding paths is under Gnome’s jurisdiction! But in this concrete building, Gnome couldn’t use his powers!”
“Useless spirits, huh?”
“How dare you say such a thing!!”
The commotion around me only worsened the headache pounding at my temples. Oddly enough, it wasn’t the Saintess’s power causing this headache—just pure irritation.
Suddenly, a system message popped up.
|9th Circle Archmage|: (૭ ᐕ)૭?
The Spirit Master clutched the back of his neck at the sudden notification, while the mage burst into innocent laughter.
Grabbing the mage’s ear with a pinch, I turned back to the Spirit Master.
“CEO Kang Hasu. Since we’ve met like this, why don’t we sign a contract?”