“You are not… the Demon Lord, Vernas…?”
—Yes.
“Damn it! I wanted to summon Demon Lord Vernas and establish a contract with him, but why did a no-name trash come out?!” the old magician snapped in anger and treated Metatron like a piece of trash.
It was understandable why he would react that way as he was a Sixth Circle magician, and he felt that he deserved to establish a contract with Demon Lord Vernas himself rather than his son, whose name he had never even heard of.
“Why did this brat come out? I’m certain that I drew the magic circle to summon Vernas…”
— Haha! How foolish can you be, human?
Metatron simply laughed at the old magician.
“…?”
— It’s not a coincidence that you summoned me
“What bullshit are you spouting right now? Stop disturbing me and get lost! I have no plans to enter into a contract with a no-name demon like you!”
— You need to know your place, old man. Did you really think someone like you can enter into a contract with the Demon Lord? Your mana isn’t even enough to summon me properly, let alone the Demon Lord.
“Ha! I already told you to stop spouting nonsense! I summoned you with ease just now, didn’t I?”
—That’s because it is not by sheer coincidence that you summoned me.
“Not by coincidence…?”
— You will never understand with that dull head of yours how much work I had to do so that you could summon me.
“Ha! Nonsense! Just shut up and scram!”
— I can’t do that until I achieve my goal, and that goal is to take your body from you.
“Hahaha!” the old magician burst into laughter at those words, and then he scoffed, “Pfft! Did you really think I’d summon a demon without any safety measures in place? It seems those eyes of yours are just for show. Here, do you see this magic circle? You can’t lay a single finger on me as long as this magic circle exists. Now, scram!”
The old magician laughed once again after pointing at one of the magic circles. The magic circle was called Archangel’s Protection, and it was a high-level barrier that protected the summoner from the summoned demon’s magic.
It was also a powerful barrier known to be impossible for demons to destroy.
— Do you really think so?
“Hmm?”
— Chaos!
The old magician was shocked when he heard the name Metatron called.
“Yes, Master!” Chaos, who had been working as the old magician’s assistant and disciple for many years, rushed forward and knelt before Metatron.
—Destroy that annoying thing.
“Yes, Master!” Chaos replied. He grabbed a stick and drew a line across the magic circle.
Crack! Clang!
The Archangel’s Protection cracked before shattering like glass. The powerful barrier was able to keep out even the most powerful of demons, but it had a crucial weakness of being extremely easy to break if it were altered even slightly.
“C-Chaos! You crazy bastard! What the hell are you doing?!”
“Keke! Do I still look like a human to you?”
“…!”
“I am…” Chaos muttered. His face slowly shifted into that of a demon before he continued. “Demon Chaos, a loyal servant of Metatron-nim. Pleasure to meet you! Kekeke!”
“A d-demon?!”
“You have no idea how hard I worked to make you summon Metatron-nim. Kekeke!”
“Oh my god!”
The old magician finally realized the predicament he was in, but it was far too late.
— Hand over your body to me.
Metatron turned into an evil-black current and descended upon the continent.
Whoosh!
And the current bound the old magician’s limbs like shackles…
“N-No…! Release me… at once…!” The old magician resisted with all of his strength, but it was in vain. The black current gathered in front of his face and took one good look for the last time before rushing into his eyes, ears, and mouth.
Shwaaaaaaa!
Thud…!
Seuk…
The old magician fell to the ground but slowly got up right afterward. However, his eyes had been replaced by a pair of eyes tainted with a dark red hue, and his eyes exuded immense evil.
“You have finally descended upon the continent, my lord!”
“You shall be rewarded for your loyalty, Chaos.”
“Not at all, my lord! There is nothing I will not do to assist my lord in becoming the Demon Lord!”
“You’re truly a loyal servant, Chaos. I look forward to your continued loyalty.”
“Thank you, my lord!” Chaos bowed on the ground in front of the old magician, whose body had now been taken over by Metatron.
“But how am I supposed to find Avenger?”
“I believe we will have to start by rummaging through the list of humans who have ever wielded Avenger, my lord.”
“I see… Let’s get out of this filthy cave first.”
“Yes, my lord! I have already prepared a suitable place to accommodate my lord!”
“Excellent. Let’s go.” Metatron nodded with satisfaction before taking a step forward, but…
Crack...!
Metatron staggered when something in his knee popped after taking a single step.
“Kuhuk! M-My knee…!”
“My lord!”
“Why does my knee hurt so much?”
“T-That is… The old magician you have possessed suffered from Chronic Rheumatism so…”
“What? Rheumatism?!”
“He was a traditional magician who only knew how to cast spells, so it seems that he did not train his body at all…”
“Damn it!” Metatron cursed loudly while suffering from the throbbing knee gifted by his desired body.
***
“M-Master!”
Siegfried was still having a hard time believing what Deus said.
“It is not that I cannot trust your all-knowing wisdom, Master, but… this does not make any sense at all! How is it possible that she’s already pregnant, and how is it that the child’s sex can already be determined?!”
“I already told you, didn’t I? The Tree of Love has blessed both of your bodies with its energy.”
“Heok!”
“But that’s not the only thing…”
“Is… Is there something else?”
“The child’s lifeforce is quite strong. It seems that it will be born in three months' time…”
“Three months?!”
“Yes, you will become a father in three months, and this great being will become a grandfather! Kekeke!”
The mood in the room turned into a festive one after hearing Deus’ words.
“Oh!”
“The royal baby will be born in only three months!”
“Owner punk! You’ve already succeeded in breeding! Hamchi’s going to have a little sister in three months! Kyu!”
“This is a cause for celebration! A celebration!”
“Our kingdoms will soon have a new princess!”
Everyone in the room was busy rejoicing while Siegfried was plunged into a state of panic at the unexpected disaster.
‘I’m going to become a father…? But I’m a virgin in real life! What the fuck is going on?!’
“Hey, Han Tae-Sung.”
It was then that Cheon Woo-Jin stood beside Siegfried and whispered, “You’re really going to turn into a weeb—Ack! Why are you hitting me?!”
“Fuck off…” Siegfried muttered while giving him a death glare. “…before I kill you.”
“I-I apologize…” Cheon Woo-Jin replied with a slight bow.
Ironically, his actions assuaged Siegfried’s panicked nerves.
‘It was bound to happen sooner or later. It just happened much sooner than expected…’ he thought before sitting down next to Brunhilde.
“…”
Brunhilde could not utter a single word as she was too embarrassed, but not only that, she felt a sense of crippling fear creeping up her body after hearing that she was going to give birth in a matter of a few months.
‘I have to take better care of her in situations like this,’ Siegfried thought as he held her hand.
“Don’t worry so much.”
“Okay…”
“I’ll do better.”
“Honey…!”
“Have some fruit juice if it’s difficult for you to eat,” he said as he placed a cup of carrot juice in front of her.
‘Ah! Siegfried-nim cares about me so much!’ Brunhilde was extremely happy at his gesture.
“I’ll try to become a good husband to you and a good father to our child.”
“Me… Me too. I will become a good wife to you and a good mother to our child…” Brunhilde replied while squeezing his hand.
Siegfried squeezed her hand back.
The start of his life as a newlywed was signaled off by the fast-track pregnancy thanks to the blessing from the Tree of Love.
***
Siegfried returned to the Proatine Kingdom with Brunhilde after finishing all of the ceremonies in Elondel.
“Ack! What the hell is this?!”
Unfortunately, what awaited him was a mountain stack of documents that had accumulated during his three weeks of absence.
“Ah… What am I going to do with this…”
Siegfried stood in a daze before the intimidating stack of documents.
“Your Majesty.”
Michele entered the office and asked, “Your Majesty hates doing administrative work, right?”
“No, I can do it.”
“You may tell me honestly, Your Majesty.”
“No! I can do this! I like doing paperwork!”
“I will exempt you from doing paperwork from now on if you would be frank with me.”
“R-Really?”
“But you will have to do something else.”
“Something else? Like what…?”
“I know that Your Majesty has a very unique set of talents.”
“B-Brunhilde…?”
“NOT THAT!”
“S-Sorry…”
“Use your body.”
“My what…? How?”
“The Guild Master of the Genesis Guild, Desire, hasn’t paid us yet.”
“Really?”
Siegfried took out the invoice he had sent Chae Hyung-Seok.
[Invoice]
[Amount: 50,000 gold]
[Term: 1 month]
[Remaining Period: 16 days]
[Late Payment Interest: 2,000 gold per day]
[Note 1: Payment must be made in full].
[Note 2: The emperor will issue a hunt if payment is delayed by more than thirty days.]
Three weeks had passed since the Constantine Civil War ended, so he was definitely over the sixteen-day period. Siegfried counted how many days the debt was overdue and found that eight days had passed since then, which meant a total of sixteen thousand gold.
“Your Majesty will greatly benefit without lifting a finger if the Genesis Guild’s guild master fails to pay in the next twenty-two days.”
“Yeah, you’re right.”
Siegfried was certain that there was no way Chae Hyung-Seok could survive a hit issued by Emperor Stuttgart himself.
“But the Genesis Guild’s guild master is not stupid, so he will definitely try to come up with the money.”
“Yeah, he definitely will.”
“You need to stop him from earning enough money to pay us back.”
“Did any new information come in?”
“We have received a report that he has lost the trust of his guild members and is currently in a pinch.”
“So?”
“So he went somewhere to earn money by himself, and that place is the Great Rift located in the southern region of the continent.”
The Great Rift was an extremely large dimensional rift, and there were four Great Rifts on the continent. There was a Great Rift in every cardinal direction—the North, East, South, and West.
“The Great Rift…? Did he go on a raid?”
A normal hunt was never referred to as a raid except when it involved hunting a high-level monster above Level 400. It went without saying that such powerful monsters could be mostly found in the four Great Rifts on the continent.
“The Genesis Guild and their guild master, Desire, being wiped out by the emperor is the most ideal scenario for both Your Majesty and the kingdom.”
“I agree.”
“But I am certain that their guild master, Desire, will try to somehow come up with the money and pay us back, no matter how unrealistic that sounds.”
“Hmm…”
“If Your Majesty hinders him while he is trying to make money to pay us back, then he will have no other choice but to sell his expensive artifacts to raise funds. That means…”
“He will be greatly weakened?”
“That is correct.”
“Oh!”
“Your Majesty should go to the Great Rift. Besides, it will be an opportunity for Your Majesty to grow stronger, too.”
This was the good news Siegfried had been waiting for as he was supposed to head to the Great Rift to level up anyway, as even the demons on the Eternal Isles had stopped giving him a decent amount of Experience Points.
“All right, I’m going there,” Siegfried replied with a smile.
The thought of going to the Great Rift to level up, earn money, and hinder Chae Hyung-Seok was extremely appealing to him. This was probably what they would call killing three birds with one stone.
Thirty minutes later.
“I’ll be going now.”
“Be careful! Smooch!”
Siegfried left the Proatine Kingdom and headed for the Southern Great Rift after receiving a kiss from Brunhilde.
‘I told you I’m going to make you hang yourself, right? I’m going to drag you through hell and back this time, so you better look forward to it.’ Siegfried was excited at the thought of driving the final nail in Chae Hyung-Seok’s coffin.
Chae Hyung-Seok was greatly weakened after the civil war, and it was time to deal the final blow to make him quit the game.
***
“Wow… So that’s the Great Rift…?”
Siegfried was stunned by the massive size of the Southern Great Rift.
The rift in front of him was several times larger than the ones he had seen until now.
The rifts he had seen so far were the size of a mid-rise building, but the Great Rift in front of him was at least a kilometer tall. This was an eye-popping height when taking into consideration that the tallest building in the world, the Burj Khalifa, was only 828 meters tall.
Murmur… Murmur…
There were many high-level Adventurers gathered in front of the Great Rift.
‘Wow, look at their items. They’re locked and loaded… I think I’m the weakest one here…’ Siegfried was impressed and a bit intimidated by the Adventurers surrounding him.
‘Hmm… I need to find a party first, but—’
Somebody suddenly grabbed him by his nape.
Tak!
“Caught you! Punk!”
“Ack!”
“What brings you here? Bwahahaha!”
Siegfried looked up and saw a huge middle-aged man towering over him.
Yong Tae-Pung.
He was the guild master of one of the top ten guilds on the continent—the Mandate of Heaven.
“You are not… the Demon Lord, Vernas…?”
—Yes.
“Damn it! I wanted to summon Demon Lord Vernas and establish a contract with him, but why did a no-name trash come out?!” the old magician snapped in anger and treated Metatron like a piece of trash.
It was understandable why he would react that way as he was a Sixth Circle magician, and he felt that he deserved to establish a contract with Demon Lord Vernas himself rather than his son, whose name he had never even heard of.
“Why did this brat come out? I’m certain that I drew the magic circle to summon Vernas…”
— Haha! How foolish can you be, human?
Metatron simply laughed at the old magician.
“…?”
— It’s not a coincidence that you summoned me
“What bullshit are you spouting right now? Stop disturbing me and get lost! I have no plans to enter into a contract with a no-name demon like you!”
— You need to know your place, old man. Did you really think someone like you can enter into a contract with the Demon Lord? Your mana isn’t even enough to summon me properly, let alone the Demon Lord.
“Ha! I already told you to stop spouting nonsense! I summoned you with ease just now, didn’t I?”
—That’s because it is not by sheer coincidence that you summoned me.
“Not by coincidence…?”
— You will never understand with that dull head of yours how much work I had to do so that you could summon me.
“Ha! Nonsense! Just shut up and scram!”
— I can’t do that until I achieve my goal, and that goal is to take your body from you.
“Hahaha!” the old magician burst into laughter at those words, and then he scoffed, “Pfft! Did you really think I’d summon a demon without any safety measures in place? It seems those eyes of yours are just for show. Here, do you see this magic circle? You can’t lay a single finger on me as long as this magic circle exists. Now, scram!”
The old magician laughed once again after pointing at one of the magic circles. The magic circle was called Archangel’s Protection, and it was a high-level barrier that protected the summoner from the summoned demon’s magic.
It was also a powerful barrier known to be impossible for demons to destroy.
— Do you really think so?
“Hmm?”
— Chaos!
The old magician was shocked when he heard the name Metatron called.
“Yes, Master!” Chaos, who had been working as the old magician’s assistant and disciple for many years, rushed forward and knelt before Metatron.
—Destroy that annoying thing.
“Yes, Master!” Chaos replied. He grabbed a stick and drew a line across the magic circle.
Crack! Clang!
The Archangel’s Protection cracked before shattering like glass. The powerful barrier was able to keep out even the most powerful of demons, but it had a crucial weakness of being extremely easy to break if it were altered even slightly.
“C-Chaos! You crazy bastard! What the hell are you doing?!”
“Keke! Do I still look like a human to you?”
“…!”
“I am…” Chaos muttered. His face slowly shifted into that of a demon before he continued. “Demon Chaos, a loyal servant of Metatron-nim. Pleasure to meet you! Kekeke!”
“A d-demon?!”
“You have no idea how hard I worked to make you summon Metatron-nim. Kekeke!”
“Oh my god!”
The old magician finally realized the predicament he was in, but it was far too late.
— Hand over your body to me.
Metatron turned into an evil-black current and descended upon the continent.
Whoosh!
And the current bound the old magician’s limbs like shackles…
“N-No…! Release me… at once…!” The old magician resisted with all of his strength, but it was in vain. The black current gathered in front of his face and took one good look for the last time before rushing into his eyes, ears, and mouth.
Shwaaaaaaa!
Thud…!
Seuk…
The old magician fell to the ground but slowly got up right afterward. However, his eyes had been replaced by a pair of eyes tainted with a dark red hue, and his eyes exuded immense evil.
“You have finally descended upon the continent, my lord!”
“You shall be rewarded for your loyalty, Chaos.”
“Not at all, my lord! There is nothing I will not do to assist my lord in becoming the Demon Lord!”
“You’re truly a loyal servant, Chaos. I look forward to your continued loyalty.”
“Thank you, my lord!” Chaos bowed on the ground in front of the old magician, whose body had now been taken over by Metatron.
“But how am I supposed to find Avenger?”
“I believe we will have to start by rummaging through the list of humans who have ever wielded Avenger, my lord.”
“I see… Let’s get out of this filthy cave first.”
“Yes, my lord! I have already prepared a suitable place to accommodate my lord!”
“Excellent. Let’s go.” Metatron nodded with satisfaction before taking a step forward, but…
Crack...!
Metatron staggered when something in his knee popped after taking a single step.
“Kuhuk! M-My knee…!”
“My lord!”
“Why does my knee hurt so much?”
“T-That is… The old magician you have possessed suffered from Chronic Rheumatism so…”
“What? Rheumatism?!”
“He was a traditional magician who only knew how to cast spells, so it seems that he did not train his body at all…”
“Damn it!” Metatron cursed loudly while suffering from the throbbing knee gifted by his desired body.
***
“M-Master!”
Siegfried was still having a hard time believing what Deus said.
“It is not that I cannot trust your all-knowing wisdom, Master, but… this does not make any sense at all! How is it possible that she’s already pregnant, and how is it that the child’s sex can already be determined?!”
“I already told you, didn’t I? The Tree of Love has blessed both of your bodies with its energy.”
“Heok!”
“But that’s not the only thing…”
“Is… Is there something else?”
“The child’s lifeforce is quite strong. It seems that it will be born in three months' time…”
“Three months?!”
“Yes, you will become a father in three months, and this great being will become a grandfather! Kekeke!”
The mood in the room turned into a festive one after hearing Deus’ words.
“Oh!”
“The royal baby will be born in only three months!”
“Owner punk! You’ve already succeeded in breeding! Hamchi’s going to have a little sister in three months! Kyu!”
“This is a cause for celebration! A celebration!”
“Our kingdoms will soon have a new princess!”
Everyone in the room was busy rejoicing while Siegfried was plunged into a state of panic at the unexpected disaster.
‘I’m going to become a father…? But I’m a virgin in real life! What the fuck is going on?!’
“Hey, Han Tae-Sung.”
It was then that Cheon Woo-Jin stood beside Siegfried and whispered, “You’re really going to turn into a weeb—Ack! Why are you hitting me?!”
“Fuck off…” Siegfried muttered while giving him a death glare. “…before I kill you.”
“I-I apologize…” Cheon Woo-Jin replied with a slight bow.
Ironically, his actions assuaged Siegfried’s panicked nerves.
‘It was bound to happen sooner or later. It just happened much sooner than expected…’ he thought before sitting down next to Brunhilde.
“…”
Brunhilde could not utter a single word as she was too embarrassed, but not only that, she felt a sense of crippling fear creeping up her body after hearing that she was going to give birth in a matter of a few months.
‘I have to take better care of her in situations like this,’ Siegfried thought as he held her hand.
“Don’t worry so much.”
“Okay…”
“I’ll do better.”
“Honey…!”
“Have some fruit juice if it’s difficult for you to eat,” he said as he placed a cup of carrot juice in front of her.
‘Ah! Siegfried-nim cares about me so much!’ Brunhilde was extremely happy at his gesture.
“I’ll try to become a good husband to you and a good father to our child.”
“Me… Me too. I will become a good wife to you and a good mother to our child…” Brunhilde replied while squeezing his hand.
Siegfried squeezed her hand back.
The start of his life as a newlywed was signaled off by the fast-track pregnancy thanks to the blessing from the Tree of Love.
***
Siegfried returned to the Proatine Kingdom with Brunhilde after finishing all of the ceremonies in Elondel.
“Ack! What the hell is this?!”
Unfortunately, what awaited him was a mountain stack of documents that had accumulated during his three weeks of absence.
“Ah… What am I going to do with this…”
Siegfried stood in a daze before the intimidating stack of documents.
“Your Majesty.”
Michele entered the office and asked, “Your Majesty hates doing administrative work, right?”
“No, I can do it.”
“You may tell me honestly, Your Majesty.”
“No! I can do this! I like doing paperwork!”
“I will exempt you from doing paperwork from now on if you would be frank with me.”
“R-Really?”
“But you will have to do something else.”
“Something else? Like what…?”
“I know that Your Majesty has a very unique set of talents.”
“B-Brunhilde…?”
“NOT THAT!”
“S-Sorry…”
“Use your body.”
“My what…? How?”
“The Guild Master of the Genesis Guild, Desire, hasn’t paid us yet.”
“Really?”
Siegfried took out the invoice he had sent Chae Hyung-Seok.
[Invoice]
[Amount: 50,000 gold]
[Term: 1 month]
[Remaining Period: 16 days]
[Late Payment Interest: 2,000 gold per day]
[Note 1: Payment must be made in full].
[Note 2: The emperor will issue a hunt if payment is delayed by more than thirty days.]
Three weeks had passed since the Constantine Civil War ended, so he was definitely over the sixteen-day period. Siegfried counted how many days the debt was overdue and found that eight days had passed since then, which meant a total of sixteen thousand gold.
“Your Majesty will greatly benefit without lifting a finger if the Genesis Guild’s guild master fails to pay in the next twenty-two days.”
“Yeah, you’re right.”
Siegfried was certain that there was no way Chae Hyung-Seok could survive a hit issued by Emperor Stuttgart himself.
“But the Genesis Guild’s guild master is not stupid, so he will definitely try to come up with the money.”
“Yeah, he definitely will.”
“You need to stop him from earning enough money to pay us back.”
“Did any new information come in?”
“We have received a report that he has lost the trust of his guild members and is currently in a pinch.”
“So?”
“So he went somewhere to earn money by himself, and that place is the Great Rift located in the southern region of the continent.”
The Great Rift was an extremely large dimensional rift, and there were four Great Rifts on the continent. There was a Great Rift in every cardinal direction—the North, East, South, and West.
“The Great Rift…? Did he go on a raid?”
A normal hunt was never referred to as a raid except when it involved hunting a high-level monster above Level 400. It went without saying that such powerful monsters could be mostly found in the four Great Rifts on the continent.
“The Genesis Guild and their guild master, Desire, being wiped out by the emperor is the most ideal scenario for both Your Majesty and the kingdom.”
“I agree.”
“But I am certain that their guild master, Desire, will try to somehow come up with the money and pay us back, no matter how unrealistic that sounds.”
“Hmm…”
“If Your Majesty hinders him while he is trying to make money to pay us back, then he will have no other choice but to sell his expensive artifacts to raise funds. That means…”
“He will be greatly weakened?”
“That is correct.”
“Oh!”
“Your Majesty should go to the Great Rift. Besides, it will be an opportunity for Your Majesty to grow stronger, too.”
This was the good news Siegfried had been waiting for as he was supposed to head to the Great Rift to level up anyway, as even the demons on the Eternal Isles had stopped giving him a decent amount of Experience Points.
“All right, I’m going there,” Siegfried replied with a smile.
The thought of going to the Great Rift to level up, earn money, and hinder Chae Hyung-Seok was extremely appealing to him. This was probably what they would call killing three birds with one stone.
Thirty minutes later.
“I’ll be going now.”
“Be careful! Smooch!”
Siegfried left the Proatine Kingdom and headed for the Southern Great Rift after receiving a kiss from Brunhilde.
‘I told you I’m going to make you hang yourself, right? I’m going to drag you through hell and back this time, so you better look forward to it.’ Siegfried was excited at the thought of driving the final nail in Chae Hyung-Seok’s coffin.
Chae Hyung-Seok was greatly weakened after the civil war, and it was time to deal the final blow to make him quit the game.
***
“Wow… So that’s the Great Rift…?”
Siegfried was stunned by the massive size of the Southern Great Rift.
The rift in front of him was several times larger than the ones he had seen until now.
The rifts he had seen so far were the size of a mid-rise building, but the Great Rift in front of him was at least a kilometer tall. This was an eye-popping height when taking into consideration that the tallest building in the world, the Burj Khalifa, was only 828 meters tall.
Murmur… Murmur…
There were many high-level Adventurers gathered in front of the Great Rift.
‘Wow, look at their items. They’re locked and loaded… I think I’m the weakest one here…’ Siegfried was impressed and a bit intimidated by the Adventurers surrounding him.
‘Hmm… I need to find a party first, but—’
Somebody suddenly grabbed him by his nape.
Tak!
“Caught you! Punk!”
“Ack!”
“What brings you here? Bwahahaha!”
Siegfried looked up and saw a huge middle-aged man towering over him.
Yong Tae-Pung.
He was the guild master of one of the top ten guilds on the continent—the Mandate of Heaven.
