I Became a Dark Knight in the Game

11 – Sudden Death of the Demon (2)

Morgina, who had been staring blankly at the suddenly torn abyss, also shouted, “Hey, wait!” and chased after Kriel.

“The depth… isn’t that great.”

Morgina scolded Kriel for doing something crazy again, but Kriel ignored her. The Abyssal Spawn’s goal was likely to waste time by attacking the abyss in the usual way, so there was no need to play along.

[No, it seems a bit crazy.]

“I just implemented an efficient way to descend.”

Kriel recalled the structure of the abyss. As the name suggests, the more eroded by the abyss, the deeper it became.

Therefore, the danger of the abyss varied according to its depth. The abyss that had spread in the monastery was relatively shallow, as Kriel had expected.

“Hmm.”

“What’s wrong?”

Kriel touched the wall of the abyss. This stone wall, which had once been part of the monastery, had been bizarrely distorted and grafted by the abyss, now appearing as an architectural chimera of garden trees, bricks, and stained glass.

Morgina raised her holy mace. The red light illuminated the darkness.

“Two paths?”

“One leads to the core of the abyss, and the other to the main body of the seed.”

They had stored the core and the seed separately. Kriel speculated why the Abyssal Spawn had made such a choice.

“Ordinary priests can’t track the abyss like I can.”

Kriel’s ability to sense the abyss was abnormal. It was an effect possible because a dark knight was inherently close to the abyss. It was easier to find because they were on the same side.

If a paladin with combat power similar to Kriel’s had been deployed here instead of Kriel, they would likely still be wandering at the entrance of the abyss.

Recognizing the weak parts of the abyss’s surface and accurately destroying them to create a shortcut to the depths was something only a being sensitive to the abyss, like a dark knight, could do.

“Dividing the paths was probably to buy time to escape while attacking the core of the abyss.”

It meant they considered the main body of the seed more valuable than the carefully crafted abyss. Kriel thought about the ‘Seven Demon Weapons’ that Morgina and Orisin had been talking about.

“I don’t even know about this.”

The Seven Demon Weapons were not weapons that existed in the Tirnanog RPG. According to the stories he had collected, hoping they might be clues to his return, the Seven Demon Weapons were the last insurance left by the Demon King Balor, who foresaw his defeat by the heroes.

A rumor was also passed down that if all seven weapons were gathered, the Demon King would be resurrected.

“Seeing that even the abyss side is using them as tools for their plans rather than resurrecting the Demon King, it seems there is no such effect as resurrection…”

It was Morigina’s voice that woke Kriel from his thoughts.

“What are you going to do? Can you split it?”

Indeed, the important thing now was not the identity of the Seven Demon Soldiers, but who would destroy what. Whatever the identity of the Seven Demon Soldiers, they were deeply connected to the Abyss, so it wasn’t something Kriel could use.

“I’ll go to the seed and hold it down. I’ll leave the core to you.”

It was a natural choice to build nobility.

Executing those who betrayed the world and threw themselves into the Abyss was an act that increased nobility in itself.

*

Satranak let out a scream-like shout.

“How!”

Even if the depth of the Abyss was not deep, it was still the Abyss. A world of chaos and darkness befitting its name. The realm of the Abyss, where distorted space and fading senses threatened the mind.

However, that person revealed himself in front of Satranak less than ten minutes after stepping into the Abyss.

“You are quite perceptive.”

It was unfortunate for Kriel. The minions of the Abyss often failed to properly sense him. Whenever that happened, Kriel would greet them by swinging his greatsword and beheading them.

‘Is it because of the mark of the Great Warrior?’

The mark received from Morigina served to obscure his presence as a Dark Knight, but it also made him more wary of the beings of the Abyss. Kriel, who had resolved to remove the mark the next time he fought the Abyss, aimed his greatsword.

“Grikenkos’ Mist!”

At that very moment, Satranak’s attack began. The mist, forged with the power of demons, was added to the darkness of the Abyss.

The instinctive fear that darkness brings. Grikenkos’ Mist was a magic that reflected that fear. A phantom magic that materialized the fear imagined unconsciously when looking into the darkness, tearing the enemy apart.

Satranak knew well that a saint would not be overwhelmed by such a magic. But to dispel the darkness and illuminate the mist, divine power had to be consumed.

‘He must have already consumed a considerable amount of divine power breaking through the Abyss. Make him consume as much divine power as possible, then seize the opportunity…’

“A demon.”

A calm murmur was heard. There was no fear of the suddenly narrowed field of vision or the approaching illusions, nor even hostility towards the Abyss.

“That’s good.”

It was impossible to know what was good. Satranak instinctively prepared the next spell. It was a convulsive reaction similar to a cornered rat biting a cat.

Satranak himself could not understand this reaction. Certainly, the saint was a great threat, but if he properly utilized the advantage of the Abyss and his own abilities, escaping this place would be simple.

How long had it been since he felt such a surge of emotion after ascending to the rank of a demon? Perhaps only when he had an audience with the Archdemon—

The Black Knight aimed his greatsword.

Precisely at his heart.

The darkness of the Abyss and Grikenkos’ Mist seemed meaningless to him. The shadow cast by the Abyss was fundamentally different from ordinary darkness. It was a darkness that swallowed light. Ordinary light, without the harmony of supernatural power, was simply swallowed.

There could be no such thing as a paladin who could naturally see through the darkness of the Abyss without the light of divine power.

The moment he realized that fact, the blade wielded by Kriel filled Satranak’s vision.

*

Unlike the eerie white of the fighting spirit, the red of the bloodlust clung to the blade of the greatsword. The red trail, lingering like an echo in the darkness, was gradually reducing Satranak’s chances of escape.

‘There are times when dealing with demons is easier than dealing with beasts.’

The minions of the abyss instinctively understand the hierarchy. Monsters obey beasts, and beasts obey demons for this reason.

Then demons obey devils. This raises a question.

To which hierarchy do I belong?

If this world were still a game, I could simply answer, ‘It depends on the level.’ The hierarchy would be applied differently according to one’s level or skill adjustments.

But now that it has become reality?

The answer is, ‘The hierarchy of the abyss does not apply.’

As a player character, the dark knight has the potential to defeat the demon king and inherit his karma.

Separate from this potential, I did not properly belong to the hierarchy of the abyss. I would need to use abyssal skills to accumulate demonic energy and rise in the hierarchy, but unless I wanted to be admitted to a mental hospital, there was no reason for me to use abyssal skills.

It was a kind of bug-like situation. The potential was at its maximum, but the demonic energy of the abyss was not accumulating.

It seemed that demons could sense this ‘potential.’

It was a very useful trait for me to exploit.

Perhaps because the wisdom of the abyss is bestowed only at the level of demons, beasts cannot even sense the abyssal potential of the dark knight profession.

If they see an enemy, they just charge. If I had actively used abyssal skills and accumulated demonic energy, they would have been tamed immediately.

But demons are different. Just as the saying goes, ‘You see as much as you know,’ demons instinctively sense the level a dark knight can reach.

The moment I reveal my presence as a dark knight using bloodlust or resentment, demons feel the same intimidation they sense from the great devils they serve.

“Grikenkos─!”

Moreover, I was lucky this time. The Grikenkos that demon was desperately shouting about is a demon of illusion and delusion.

It means he is an expert in mental magic.

I had been tirelessly accumulating noble stats to overcome the dark knight skill debuff.

An incomplete spell, suppressed by intimidation, could not affect me.

*

The dead rose and walked the earth, and the darkness, given a voice, whispered despair. In the terrible darkness, the awe-inspiring shadow of the great devil residing in the abyss was cast.

Through the gap where illusions bewildered the senses, condensed fire and lightning raged. In the explosion and darkness, Satranak hid himself once again.

And all of this was meaningless. The red sword energy enveloping the greatsword easily dismantled elemental magic and returned it to nothingness.

The knight slowly, but surely, approached Satranak.

Satranak could not even begin to guess the identity of the one who advanced, mocking the power of the great devil.

“Who! Who sent you here? Chromnag? Ahhtet? Have you forgotten the pact with the Great Demon?”

The knight did not answer.