Chapter 56: Master of the Seven Monarchs

Once his transformation was complete, Vladir’s power surged out of him in waves, and every wound on his body healed in an instant. He wasn’t the only one either. The White Dreadclaw advanced to Grade A as well, and all of its injuries closed up on the spot.

Maybe it was because the beast was under the influence of Vladir’s energy, so its strength rose along with his the moment he changed.

"His face actually looks worse than it did before he changed," Venatrix said, her lip curling up at one corner in disgust.

"For once, I agree with you," Umbra answered from right beside her.

They had good reason to say that, since half of Vladir’s face had started to rot and several tentacles were sprouting out of his back. Anyone would be disgusted by something slimy, stinking, and writhing like that.

The moment Elias realized the army that had suddenly appeared was too big to even estimate, he took his hand off Evelyn’s shoulder. He meant to join the fight, but before he could take a single step, Evelyn and Elysia stopped him.

"Elias."

Elias turned toward Evelyn, who had called out to him, her eyes starting to tremble again.

Then Elysia walked up and planted herself in front of him as if to block his path.

"You stay right here."

When Elias turned to Elysia, her eyes had started to tremble too. She stared up at his face while biting her lower lip.

’What’s going on with them?’

Elias didn’t understand why the two girls were making faces like that. All he wanted was to get back into the fight, and with that many enemies out there, wasn’t that only natural? Besides, he was the Caretaker of both of them.

Even if they had suddenly gotten reinforcements from who knows where, to Elias, getting help didn’t mean you could just sit back and do nothing.

"...But, my ladies—"

"We said no. And once we say no, it stays no," Elysia said in a firm tone.

"This isn’t an order from your masters. It’s a request from us, Evelyn and Elysia, to you," Evelyn added, her hand gripping Elias’s clothes tightly.

"Do as they ask, Elias. Let us handle this."

After hearing Mors, Elias dropped his intention at once. Even though he was still curious about the looks on Evelyn and Elysia’s faces, he reminded himself that this was a request from the two of them, something that almost never happened, and he felt he had to honor it.

’Who exactly are these Seven Monarchs?’

"Hmph! Just the seven of you, against me and my entire army?"

Hearing Vladir say that, Nox answered in a tone that dared him even more.

"So what?"

"W-what?!" The veins on his forehead started to pop out because of how irritated he was at Nox’s reply.

"I’m a demon now. And not just any demon, a noble one!"

"So?"

"...What? I’m a noble demon who holds the title of Count in the Abyss!"

"Who?" Vorax asked, rubbing his eyes.

"I just said it’s me!"

"Who asked~"

"Pfft!..."

Elias gave a sour smile mixed with shock as a few of them held back their laughter.

’Where did they even learn a joke like this?’

"Hey! I was the one who wanted to ask that just now! Why did you have to ask it first!" Umbra yelled, jabbing a finger toward Vorax with an annoyed face.

"Who cares. Besides, when Master said it, he never told us who gets to ask first, right?"

"B-but... Aghh!"

*Stomp! Stomp!

Realizing that what Vorax said was true only made Umbra more irritated, and she screamed in frustration while stomping her feet like a little kid.

Vladir’s right cheek started to twitch. How could he not be pissed! He was watching seven people in front of him still having time to chat and joke around, when he had prepared his army and even sacrificed his humanity for this.

"You dare laugh so happily in front of me..."

*Roar!

Vladir thrust his hand forward, and the entire army he had summoned immediately charged toward the seven of them.

*Thud! Thud! Thud!

The noise of roars and pounding footsteps rang out loud and clear. Some of the demons rode horses, some could fly, and some just ran wildly forward with no weapons at all, relying on instinct alone.

An army with this much power and this many numbers could conquer a major city in a single night. And even though their leader used to be human, in time the demon nature would eat away at his humanity until he lost his sanity.

’They’re seriously dangerous. If they don’t get killed, the cities near Blackwood Forest will take the hit for sure. And then it’s only a matter of time before they reach Nocturne.’

When Elias was about to unleash his last offensive Magic Talisman, the explosive type meant to wipe things out, a dark purple flower suddenly burst out of the ground and swallowed the army charging toward them from below.

Elias was clearly shocked by what he saw.

"So noisy. You know, I’m really pissed off right now."

Umbra then raised her right hand, and the flower started to grow upward following her hand.

"You’re all gonna be my punching bags."

Then she clenched her fist, and the flower exploded on the spot.

*Boom!

The blast sent a dark purple shockwave of energy out in every direction. It was strong enough to stir up a shockwave of air too.

’God damn... This woman is actually terrifying...’ Elias looked at Umbra with disbelief and admiration at the same time. He then dropped the idea of using his Magic Talisman.

Vorax gave a faint smile, his hands laced behind his head and his eyes on the explosion.

"That was a pretty grand opening."

"Don’t get carried away, crazy woman."

"Who do you think you are, giving me orders, you damn dog."

"Good grief..." Mors just sighed as Venatrix and Umbra started fighting again.

"C-can you two stop? W-we have to finish Master’s orders..."

"It’s useless, Vesper. They won’t hear you, your voice is too soft."

"...I-I’m sorry..." Vesper started to tear up when Nox stated a fact that hurt.

Nox chose to leave the two of them alone and focus on the job.

"Ferrum, you stay here and protect these three."

Ferrum immediately moved behind Elias and the two girls after being told by Nox.

"Got it."

Nox turned to face forward again, then started channeling golden-yellow energy into his sword.

"The sooner we finish, the sooner we rest."

*Slash!

Nox swung his sword in a horizontal slash, and a long wave of sword energy shot toward Vladir’s army and exploded on impact.

*Boom!

Without wasting a word, Nox dashed straight at the enemy army and started cutting them down one by one. Even alone, he didn’t look like he was struggling at all, and every movement was as smooth as someone who had reached a certain level of mastery with a sword.

’I don’t know how to put it. It’s like the word "great" isn’t enough to describe that swordsmanship. The movements, the way the sword swings, the way it thrusts, the footwork.

Every strike is lethal, and there isn’t even a trace of energy in it!’

While Elias stood stunned by Nox’s swordplay, he suddenly noticed a huge black sphere growing in the middle of Vladir’s army.

*Whooosh~

As the sphere kept growing, any demon nearby got sucked straight into it.

But when Elias sharpened his focus even more, he realized the black sphere wasn’t mana or magic at all. It was Mors, running in circles at insane speed while swinging a dagger.

’What is a blind person doing in the middle of an enemy army?! And more than that, how is he even moving like that?’

*Cough!

"Elias!" Evelyn and Elysia immediately turned to him with worried expressions.

Elias coughed up blood as he forced himself to keep up with Mors’s movements. Even with his focus raised, he still had a hard time tracking him.

Then Elysia wiped the blood from the corner of Elias’s lips with her dress.

’I need to raise my mana perception later.’

"Don’t try to follow it. You can’t handle it, especially in the condition you’re in."

Elias was a little startled when Ferrum spoke to him.

’He can talk?’

"Mors is the fastest among us. He’s good at playing tricks and at hiding. Even our Master admits to that speed."

’Master... Who exactly is this "Master" they keep talking about?’

"That’s me."

While Elias was staring at the ground, thinking about their master, a man’s voice suddenly echoed out, and it felt like he had been moved to a meadow under a clear, bright sky.

Elias covered his face against the glare of the sun. Then again, it had been ages since he last saw it.

Then he started looking in every direction in confusion.

*Tap. Tap.

Footsteps sounded from behind him, and Elias whirled around right away.

When he turned, he found a handsome man with black hair and golden-yellow eyes. For a moment, he thought this guy looked exactly like a Korean person wearing soft lenses. But on closer inspection, those eyes looked completely natural.

Well... Then again, in a world like this, soft lenses obviously didn’t exist yet.

’He doesn’t seem human either... Just look at those eyes!’

The center of the eyes was golden-yellow with a narrow vertical slit, ringed by black irises that made them look even more unnatural.

’Eyes like a dragon or a snake. Definitely not human eyes.’

"Who are you? Where am I?"

The man smiled at Elias while pointing at himself.

"Hmm? Me?"

[System has detected another System near the host.]

’W-what?’

As Elias stared at the system screen that popped up in front of him, the man’s hand reached out and grabbed it.

"Hey, it’s rude to ignore someone who’s about to introduce himself. Didn’t they teach you manners in your previous world?"

"!!!" Elias’s eyes shot wide, and sweat started to bead on his face when the man mentioned his previous world. On top of that, this guy could even touch the system board!

"Tell me, who are you? Are you their master? How do you know about my previous world? And how can you touch the system screen?"

Even though the man hadn’t said where Elias came from, he had brought up Elias’s previous world.

"Chill, bro~ If you bury me in questions like that, we’ll look like we’re already close. We literally just met."

"Then introduce yourself."

"I’ve got two names. Which one do you wanna hear first?"

"What? Quit messing around. Just say it."

"Nope, nope. You have to pick, or I won’t say anything."

Elias let out a long breath while holding his forehead.

*Sigh~

"Your first name."

"Alright..."

The man smiled at Elias, then pointed at himself.

"Baek hyun."

"...!"

* * *