Chapter 256

* * * * *
“Yeah, whisper it, I’ll go back upstairs.”
As she spoke to Soma, Margaret stepped onto the warp circle, and soon warped to the tower’s seventh floor in a black cloud of energy. Once on the seventh floor through the warp, Margaret stepped out of the circle and walked to the sixth floor where the officers were gathered.
“First… We need to get the perimeter under control.
Margaret intended to make sure that no one else could enter the Black Moon Tower, the entrance to the demonic realm. It was sparsely populated, abandoned, and most importantly, the Guild had enough power to keep it under control.
Jab!
Soon, Margaret reached the sixth floor, where she found the executives waiting for her and approached them.
“You’re here, but where’s Soma…?”
The oldest of the five executives turned to Margaret. Margaret simply replied to the executive’s question.
“I went first.”
“Well, then…”
“I’m really here…!”
Margaret’s answer made each of the executives look surprised, which made her smile.
“Yes, this is the entrance to the demon realm.”
“Ohhh!”
“Ho-ho!”
“Argh!”
The executives began to murmur their admiration. Margaret looked at the exclamations of admiration and continued.
“I’m going to take control of this place for now, so please spread the word to your guilds and control your respective areas.”
“I see.”
“Yes!”
The executives who had been listening to Margaret’s words of admiration quickly began to contact their guild members. Margaret turned away from them and looked at the stairs leading up to the seventh floor.
“You’ve arrived, right?
Margaret whispered to Soma, thinking that they would have reached the demon realm by now.
[Soma cannot receive whispers].
But the message that followed left Margaret puzzled.
“Can’t I get a whisper?
Why is Soma, who was with her just a moment ago, suddenly unable to receive whispers? Margaret pondered.
“Is it because it’s a different dimension?
Apparently, the whispering was not working because of their different positions. Margaret frowned and gave up on whispering to Soma.
That was the moment.
“Uh-oh, Gilma!”
At the shout in her ear, Margaret turned her head and looked at the officer who had called her. The officer looked slightly puzzled, as if something had gone wrong. He opened his mouth to continue.
“A party has now entered the forest.”
Margaret looked surprised at the officer’s words. It was a bit surprising to have a party here, in the middle of nowhere.
“…But?”
Margaret shook her head, looking a little surprised. It was a surprise that the party had already shown up, but she had been prepared for such an eventuality. The officer who had spoken knew that, but to say so would have been to say something else.
“It’s…”
The executive trailed off. It was clear there was something else going on. The stuttering executive opened his mouth.
“The alleged party organizer… knows Soma… Soma.”
“…My brother?”
Margaret furrowed her brow in question. After a moment’s pause at Margaret’s frown, the executive continued.
“Yes, plus she says she can’t whisper right now, and Soma said she’s always available to help. What should I do?”
At first thinking the user was lying, Margaret was convinced by the officer’s subsequent words that the user who had entered the forest was indeed connected to Soma. Knowing that she shouldn’t whisper, she knew that she shouldn’t whisper, but she was convinced by the fact that she wanted to help.
“Is that him…?
There was one person he recognized. The user Soma had been talking about, the one who had come into the forest, the one who had been talking to her all along. Margaret looked at the cadre waiting for her answer and wondered what she should do.
‘No matter how much I know my brother…’
I thought about it, but even if I knew Soma, I couldn’t let him in here. Margaret looked at the officer.
“Tell them to take control.”
“Well, I’ll tell him that.”
Margaret nodded at the executive’s words. But then the executive looked surprised, and Margaret frowned. Something seemed to have gone wrong. The surprised executive opened his mouth again and spoke.
“A guild member… is dead. I think he was killed by that user.”
That was the moment.
[Warning!]
[The High Demon “Arudosa de Penec” is attempting to cross into Middle-earth through the gate].
“…”
The message came out of nowhere, and Margaret couldn’t say anything; she just stared at it. As she stared at the message, Margaret quietly opened her mouth to mumble.
“Advanced…demon?”
The message clearly said that a higher-level demon was coming. Puzzled, Margaret pondered what this could mean, but then she realized what it meant.
“No way, a higher level demon is coming over?
It was literal. Margaret quickly called out to her officers, unable to believe that a high-level demon was coming.
“Go to the basement right now, he’ll probably show up there!”
Shouting to her officers, Margaret began to run toward the seventh floor, where the warp magic circle was located. Reaching the seventh floor, Margaret climbed up to the top of the warp circle and thought to herself.
“What happened to my brother?
It was frustrating not being able to whisper.
Siaak
Soon warping into the underground space, Margaret turned to the door. Unlike the last time she had seen it, the door was oozing with black energy.
Squeak squeak squeak
A cadre of executives have been warping in behind Margaret.
“This is the gate to the demon world…”
“That’s the gate to the demon world.”
The cadres, who were new to the place, looked at the scenery and the door, and each said something. But when they remembered that they weren’t in a position to watch, they shut up and looked at Margaret.
“I think it’s coming out of there, but first…”
Looking at the door, Margaret trailed off as she turned to the officers and continued.
“Get ready for battle.”
“…!”
“…”
Margaret’s words caused the cadres to look a little surprised, and rightfully so; Margaret and the cadres had exterminated low-level demons before.
However, at that time, there were an incomparably larger number of people than now, and even under those circumstances, more than half of them died. However, what was coming over now was not even a low-grade demon, but a high-grade demon. It was natural that they couldn’t be captured with this number of people. Sensing such a reaction from the officers, Margaret smiled and said.
“We’re not going to catch it anyway. We’ll have to find out what level of advanced demon it is.”
The officers listened to Margaret’s words and quickly began to prepare for battle. After preparing for battle, Margaret and her staff began to keep an eye on the Demon Gate.
κΈ°λ¦Ό…
After a while, the door started to open.
[The superior demon ‘Arudosa de Penec’ has crossed into Middle-earth].
The door opened and the message appeared. When Margaret saw the message, she expected to see Arudosa, a high-level demon, through the open door.
Jab-jab-jab
Sure enough, someone walked out through the open door, but Margaret couldn’t help but panic.
“…two?
Not one, but two people walked through the door.
“To the left is an advanced demon…
The one standing to the left of the two was clearly Arudosa, the superior demon in the message. The horns on his head gave it away.
“Who is it? I think it’s a human…
The problem was the man who had crossed over with Arudosa. A demon, a high-level demon, crossed over from the Demon Realm with him, and I was curious about his identity.
“Huh? What are these?”
Arudosa stepped through the door and looked at Margaret and her officers. The man beside him replied.
“Looks like the location of this place is known.”
Margaret swallowed hard and began to stare at the two of them, and Arudosa smirked at Margaret’s reaction. What happened next surprised Margaret.
Suk
Arudosa walked away.
Squeak Squeak
At the same time, a sound came from behind her. Margaret quickly turned around. She could see Arudosa’s figure, but only for a moment before she disappeared again. And Margaret could see something that Arudosa hadn’t been able to see.
Whisk
Two of the officers had fallen, deaths so futile. Margaret turned around again. Before she knew it, Arudosa was back where she belonged. But as if waiting for her to turn around again, Arudosa disappeared again.
Squeak
The sound came from behind her again. Margaret quickly looked behind her. Sure enough, an officer was falling to the ground, the afterimage of Arudosa fading.
“This is ridiculous.
Margaret couldn’t believe it. The officers were all rankers. She couldn’t believe that they had met their end so quickly.
Squeak Squeak
And so, while Margaret panicked, the last of her officers were killed.
‘…’
Nothing came to mind. Margaret stared blankly at Arudosa. She didn’t think she could win, but she also didn’t think it would end this way. That was when it happened.
“Wham, wham, wham. Reinforcements.”
Sobered by Arudosa’s words, Margaret couldn’t help but wonder. Reinforcements? What does he mean by that?
“It’s been a while.”
A voice from behind her startled Margaret. It seemed someone had warped in while she was staring at Arudosa. Margaret turned around to see who it was. She had already guessed who it was. Apparently, the power of the Guild was not enough to stop them.
“Uh…?
Now that she had identified the voice, Margaret stared at the voice’s author in disbelief. The voice was that of a man in his early twenties with a strange charm.
‘This user is…’
The problem was that Margaret already knew this guy.
‘That’s when I robbed the Twin Axe Guild’s guildhouse…’
It was the same user who had robbed the guild house of the old Twin Axe guild.
“Was this… the user you were talking about?
Margaret watched the man with a subtle glint in her eye, but for a moment, the man’s appearance and the ensuing events left Margaret unable to think.
[High level demon ‘Arudosa de Penek’ has been slain].
[Only prestige will increase].