Ch.142Our Paths Crossed. (1)

The Serial Murderer closed his eyes as if savoring something, focusing all his nerves on stabilizing his breathing.

Thump.

His heartbeat gradually slowed down, eventually returning to its normal pace.

The Serial Murderer slowly lifted his eyelids. And once again, he looked at Olivia.

Thump. Thump.

His heart began racing wildly again. The faster his heartbeat became, the wider his pupils grew.

Tsk.

The Serial Murderer backed away from Olivia as if fleeing. He was flustered. Was it some magical effect? Or perhaps a curse? He frantically checked his body again. There were no notable wounds.

He bit his lip and looked around. He needed to control this somehow. He pulled out his scythe and hastily kicked off the ground.

He could see a flock of birds soaring high in the sky.

The Serial Murderer coated his scythe with aura and launched it.

SWOOSH!

With a vicious sound, red blood and feathers rained down, soaking the ground.

The Serial Murderer stood in the middle of it all.

He stood there, allowing his entire body to be drenched in red.

“Hmm, hmmmm…”

The Serial Murderer wore a face of dismay.

In the past, doing this would calm his mind. But not now.

It had no effect whatsoever.

The Serial Murderer’s furrowed brow wouldn’t relax. He looked at Olivia again out of desperation but immediately regretted it. His heart was pounding as if it might burst at any moment.

The Serial Murderer looked back and forth between his scythe and Olivia.

“Um, Olivia. Ever since I started looking at you, my heartbeat has been twice as fast as usual? Did you cast some kind of spell…?”

“Oh, that? It’s arrhythmia.”

“I see… arrhythmia.”

Only then did the Serial Murderer seem relieved.

“Oh, you’re back!”

Olivia sighed softly and stood up.

“Hey. Crazy psycho kid. Look at me.”

The Serial Murderer raised his head. Unlike moments ago when he couldn’t even make eye contact, now he could maintain eye contact for quite a while.

“How is it? Still beating fast?”

“Definitely… better than before.”

“If it starts racing again, just look at the ground and count pebbles. Count to about a thousand and you’ll feel better.”

“Hmm, I’ll keep that in mind.”

It was fortunate that he was genuinely insane.

If he had been only moderately crazy, he wouldn’t have accepted this explanation so easily.

“But why have you been scribbling on the ground?”

“It’s not scribbling, I’m drawing a teleport magic circle. Ah, you’re in the way, move aside a bit.”

“…”

The Serial Murderer went to a corner and crouched down pitifully. With a gloomy face, he pressed his fingers down on innocent ants, killing them. By the time the magic circle was complete, there was a mountain of ant corpses.

“Are you done now?”

The Serial Murderer observed the magic circle with a curious expression.

“Where does this connect to?”

“The Magical Realm of Earth.”

“…Magical Realm?”

Olivia nodded.

To enter the Magical Realm of Moon, she needed to obtain three keys in total.

[Key of the Magical Realm of Fire]

[Key of the Magical Realm of Metal]

And Olivia currently possessed two keys.

‘I originally planned to get one from the Magical Realm of Wood, but…’

Olivia had cleanly abandoned the idea of going to the Great Forest of Euran. Having been thoroughly defeated by the Returners there once, she had no intention of foolishly revisiting the place.

Going to a place teeming with nature-loving elves with the Serial Murderer could lead to disaster.

There might even be traps waiting.

‘There’s no need to take on unnecessary risks.’

Though she said that, honestly, the Magical Realm of Earth was also a place Olivia was somewhat reluctant to visit.

Unlike the other Magical Realms that had existed for hundreds of years, the Magical Realm of Earth, Moria, didn’t have such a deep history.

Nevertheless, the reason it was called a Magical Realm was…

‘Because it’s the headquarters of the Demon God Cult.’

The Demon God Cult—a group of fanatics who worshipped the Demon God.

And their leader was the third-ranked demon in the Abyss, the Great Demon Agares.

Honestly, no place deserved the term “Magical Realm” more than that place.

‘The key question is whether Agares knows about Baphomet’s death or not…’

Honestly, there was a higher chance that he didn’t know.

The relationship between Great Demons was, to put it mildly, like that of mortal enemies.

All demons in the Abyss competed for their rank and position. This was called the Rank Battle, and even Great Demons, and even the Demon Lord, weren’t exempt from it.

The 100th challenged the 99th, the 99th challenged the 98th.

The weak challenged the strong, and the strong couldn’t refuse such challenges.

‘Agares is ranked 3rd. Baphomet was 4th.’

It was a relationship that couldn’t possibly be friendly.

Even though Agares was the leader of the Demon God Cult, he wouldn’t always be residing in the Magical Realm of Earth. Unlike Asmodeus who preferred plotting from behind, Agares was a combative demon who enjoyed fighting on the front lines.

‘…But why do I feel so uneasy?’

Olivia’s brow furrowed. Whenever she had this feeling, misfortune invariably followed.

‘Hmm…’

After pondering for a while, Olivia discreetly modified part of the magic circle.

“…What are you doing?”

“Trying to change the arrival coordinates. It’ll take a while, so go play with the ants.”

“Olivia.”

The Serial Murderer looked at Olivia with a troubled expression.

“There’s not a single one alive.”

“There are plenty of stones over there. Play with them.”

“Um. Uh. Okay…”

By the time she completed the modifications, a stone tower had appeared. In that short time, the Serial Murderer seemed to have found some enjoyment, fidgeting with his hands as he handled a pile of stones.

Why did she feel the urge to knock it down?

With superhuman patience, Olivia resisted the urge to topple the stone tower and said:

“Let’s go.”

Tzzzzzt!

[Using skill, ‘Teleport’.]

Light flickered from the magic circle, and the party’s figures disappeared.

*****

At the same time, the Master of Dark had successfully infiltrated the Moria Gorge without much difficulty.

[Urgh…]

The Master of Dark drove his kama into the neck of a groaning demon, then split its head. After dealing with many demons, he had now figured out how to handle them to some extent.

Of course, if a Great Demon appeared, that would be a different story.

‘…I still have a long way to go to reach the entrance, but demons are already appearing.’

Demons, not mindless monsters, were moving in groups, led by mid to high-ranking demons.

Now he understood why his subordinates had died without putting up much of a fight, and it made him feel bitter.

‘This must be their headquarters.’

A place of this scale couldn’t just be a branch. His long experience told him so.

Swish!

Sensing a faint presence, the Master of Dark quickly concealed himself in the shadows. Not far away, more demons were visible.

‘They’re as numerous as cockroaches.’

The Master of Dark frowned and fingered the dagger in his pocket.

Whoosh!

His body instantly traversed the shadows.

His speed was incomparably faster than it had been a few years ago. This was natural. After suffering a painful defeat against the two Great Demons, Agares and Asmodeus, he had undergone grueling training.

Swoosh!

The Master of Dark’s shadow split into dozens of strands, transforming into an equal number of clones. The demons, finally noticing his approach, hurriedly surrounded themselves with demonic energy to resist, but they were torn apart like paper.

Except for one.

“Kuhk!”

“A witch?”

The Master of Dark asked. The witch looked up at him with disbelieving eyes.

“I’d like some guidance.”

“K…kuhk…!”

The Master of Dark’s shadow pressed harder on the witch’s neck. Despite choking and struggling, the witch’s eyes remained defiant.

The Master of Dark secretly clicked his tongue.

From experience, such individuals wouldn’t talk. Rather than wasting time, it was better to kill them.

Slash!

Without hesitation, the Master of Dark slit the witch’s throat.

“Was that the last one?”

The Master of Dark turned his gaze backward. The Devilhunter gracefully descended from the tree branch where he had been standing.

“I just finished on my side.”

“…You’re fast.”

The Devilhunter tapped the bow slung over his shoulder.

“It’s a matter of compatibility.”

“How many were on your side?”

“Four hundred and thirty-three demons. Among them, three were high-ranking demons. And I also found what appears to be the headquarters of the Demon God Cult.”

“Where is it?”

The Devilhunter pointed to a gorge that seemed endless. It was a gorge made of soil, not rock. The slope was almost vertical, making it difficult even for accomplished rangers to descend without proper equipment.

“…No wonder we couldn’t find it all this time, hidden in such a place.”

The Master of Dark said with a sigh.

Though called a gorge, the distance to the other side was wider than most rivers. Moreover, its depth was immeasurable.

Whooosh!

Riding on the desolate wind, a thick demonic energy wafted over.

After a moment of contemplation, the Master of Dark said:

“We’re going down.”