Ch.142Chapter 142. The Cloud Demon (1)

Chapter 142. Cloud Demon (1)

Keuruk! Keuruk!

The resistance of the Night Stalker demon, spewing blood and raging, ended rather anticlimactically.

“Noisy like a brat.”

Splash!

Lakye had thrust her hand into its abdomen and ripped out all its intestines.

Damn. This is truly disgusting. I turned my eyes away for a moment.

Thud!

The body of the Night Stalker demon collapsed as it stopped struggling.

– Lakye, are you alright?

“I’m fine. It’s healing.”

As Lakye said, her shoulder was healing thanks to my “Healing Totem” effect, but I couldn’t help worrying.

A large hole had been punctured in her shoulder. The divine-power-infused fingertips of the Night Stalker demon had thoroughly destroyed Lakye’s muscles.

It was the worst injury Lakye had suffered so far.

“I’ll recover soon. Don’t worry too much.”

Lakye smiled slightly and drew up her divine power. I could see her torn muscles repairing themselves.

– …

Right, Lakye isn’t an ordinary person but a demigod. She probably knows her body better than I do. I should focus on what I need to do.

I entered my status window to check my points.

[Name: Malak]

– Available Blessings: Healing Totem (Superior), Divine Descent, Binding Totem, Zombie Control (High), Chaos Totem, Storm God’s Power, Malak’s Domain (High), Enhancement Tattoo (Medium), Transport Totem, Follower Summoning (Low)

– Used Blessings: Berserker’s Soul (Kanto), Skilled Spirit Master (Paya), Storm God’s Guardian (Lakye), Potential Reached (Lakye), Incomplete Manifestation

– Available Points: 23,160

– Followers: Paya, Lakye, Muri, Nix, Bojak, Sola… (See more)

– Enter Community

Good. I’ve earned 23,000 points, more than 3,000 over the 20,000 needed for manifestation.

Finally, the long-awaited manifestation unboxing has arrived. I can’t wait any longer. Let’s purchase it right away.

[Do you want to learn the blessing ‘Manifestation’?]

There’s no grade. This could be good or bad.

The good thing is that I can transform into the perfect true Malak form from the beginning, like with the “Incomplete Manifestation.” The bad thing is that I still can’t overcome having to sleep like the dead for days after the manifestation wears off.

At crucial moments, I’ll have to use it carefully.

Click.

[You have learned the blessing ‘Manifestation’!]

A sense of omnipotence envelops my mind. I feel an impulse that I can do anything, literally anything.

“Lord Malak!”

“Are you alright?”

Paya and Lakye are looking at me. Kanto and Isaac are also approaching.

Ah, Totem #3 is glowing.

Lakye’s arm trembles as she carefully lifts Totem #3 with her intact left hand. It’s not just glowing but also vibrating.

This is a glowing vibrating totem.

– I just fully regained my power of manifestation.

“Your efforts have paid off.”

“We’ll be able to see Lord Malak’s divine form again!”

“Those demon bastards won’t stand a chance!”

“I can see the end of this apocalypse.”

Everyone is happy, which makes me excited too. Riding this momentum, I used my remaining points to upgrade other blessings.

[Do you want to upgrade the blessing ‘Enhancement Tattoo (Medium)’ to High?]

[Do you want to upgrade the blessing ‘Follower Summoning (Low)’ to Medium?]

I quickly double-clicked.

No special effects occurred, but my abilities were strengthened.

With ‘Enhancement Tattoo,’ the number of followers I can bless simultaneously has doubled, and with ‘Follower Summoning,’ I can now summon three people at once.

Good. Now let’s take the hidden piece. It’s not for combat, and like other hidden pieces, its performance is ambiguous, but having it might help someday.

“Here it is!”

After finding the hidden piece, I climbed up above the well with my companions.

“Lord Malak! We’ve killed all the demons! We just need to deal with the worshippers!”

Siwoo, drenched in green blood, grinned. A truly murderous smile.

– I see.

Good. All preparations are complete.

It’s time to execute the “big picture” I’ve been thinking about.

To positively change public opinion in the Paladin community, to provide justification for Dina’s special forces to join us, and to give everyone living in this world what they want.

– Our next target is the Cloud Demon.

I declared proudly. The game clear starts now.

***

[PrincessDina: …I see.]

[PrincessDina: So Lord Malak said that.]

[yy]

[PrincessDina: Subjugation of the Cloud Demon.]

[PrincessDina: It has been my long-cherished wish as well.]

[PrincessDina: I will join the tribal alliance with my special forces. We’ll arrive within three days.]

[good]

Great. I’ve finished persuading Dina.

I contacted her right after the tribal alliance reorganization was complete, and fortunately, she accepted quickly. Now I can tell the community about the joint front between the tribal alliance and paladins.

I’ve already persuaded the other paladins. They nodded with expressions that suggested they knew this was coming. I thought Monkey would resist saying “I don’t want to die!” but he just went along quietly.

Maybe it was because the boy they called “kid” was watching.

Ah, FallenPowerKnight has also joined.

He was a level 6 man in his late 30s, and as expected, he was a Korean user. He knocked on the castle gate with a very nervous expression.

“My name is—”

– I’ll call you FallenPower.

“Ah… okay.”

I decided to just call him FallenPower because it’s annoying to remember everyone’s name. Remembering the real names of Siwoo, Hanna, and Noah is enough.

FallenPower had a sociable personality. After a few days, he seemed to have completely adapted, going around with Siwoo calling each other “bro.”

He even dragged Monkey, who had been crouching alone in the corner of the room, saying, “A young guy shouldn’t just stay in a corner. Let’s move around actively.”

Security has become more vulnerable with the increase in possessed people, but it doesn’t matter.

I’m confident that once we catch the Cloud Demon, public opinion in the community will completely tilt in our favor. I just need to avoid revealing that Sans and Malak are the same person.

This is easier than expected. Who would suspect that the kind user Sans from the community and the majestic god Malak are the same person?

[NotACatfish: Our tribal alliance is going?]

A message comes right away. As expected of Dina, she’s quick to act.

[NotACatfish: Huh? They’re going to subjugate the Cloud Demon?!]

[NotACatfish: Hey! What’s all this? Is this real?!]

[NotACatfish: Fighting the Cloud Demon??? Are you crazy?]

[it’s ok Lord Malak’s true form is coming]

[NotACatfish: Even so]

[I’m going to believe. I’ll believe in Lord Malak]

[NotACatfish: …Fine. Let’s drop it]

[NotACatfish: Are you coming to the tribal alliance this time?]

[no busy]

[NotACatfish: What? What are you doing that you can’t come at a time like this?]

Ah. What excuse should I make?

[anyway important business]

[NotACatfish: You’re saying that’s more important than subjugating the Cloud Demon?]

[NotACatfish: No matter how I think about it, it’s strange]

[NotACatfish: You, perhaps…]

Come on, I won’t be caught like this, right? Hanna isn’t that perceptive.

[something only I can do]

Let’s just brush it off. I have too much to do to worry about this.

[NotACatfish: …]

[NotACatfish: You, are you really possessed as a paladin?]

– …!

[NotACatfish: It was strange that you never sent a single photo]

[NotACatfish: You’re possessed as a creature called Malak’s herald, right? Not in human form like AtomicRex?]

– ?

Hanna explained her reasoning for such speculation. Honestly, more than half of it was nonsense.

[NotACatfish: That’s why you ate cockroaches and insects with gusto]

No, why is that coming up here? You still remember that?

[correct]

[actually I’m half-human half-dragon]

[NotACatfish: I knew it]

[I’m also a cyborg]

[NotACatfish: What?]

[recently learned samurai swordsmanship too]

[NotACatfish: …]

[just need to learn how to shoot lasers from my eyes]

[NotACatfish: You’re making fun of me now, aren’t you?]

[correct]

[hahahahahahahahaha]

[our Hanna! your deduction skills~ are.amazing!]

[NotACatfish: Idiot]

[NotACatfish: Get lost]

Phew. Crisis averted. Now let me post something on the community.

I want to write a post to prevent other possessed people from getting involved in this subjugation and to give hope that things will work out well.

[UltraSansMadWithMoonlightMassacreMode: Lord Malak has decided to subjugate the Cloud Demon + Dina’s special forces joining]

This time I’m going to write honestly without trolling. Actually, these two keywords—Cloud Demon and Dina’s special forces—are enough, so I don’t need to add other tags.

I wrote the content briefly and simply, focusing only on the essentials. Within minutes of posting, dozens of comments were added.

There were people who doubted, people who worried, people who role-played as usual, but most sent their support.

[MorningTentPaladin: Malak! Malak! Malak! Shout Malak!]

[PetiteNoah: Everyone, please support Lord Malak and the tribal alliance~!]

[BasementFirstLine: Everyone avoid the area mentioned in the post]

[FallenPowerKnight: Aren’t you tired of running away? Let’s fight with style]

[TrustedMonkeyUncle: The biggest decision in a loser’s life…]

I absolutely did not hire comment bots to make it look like this. Even excluding these friends, there were countless requests for handshakes.

[MeleeSpy: You’re thinking of fighting the Cloud Demon?]

…I got a private message from an unexpected person. He must have seen my post. I’d like him to join and fight together.

[MeleeSpy: Everyone will die]

Unlike his usual nonsensical posts and gibberish, this was a serious statement.