CHAPTER FIFTEEN!
────demon castle: return (1).

❝SO, WE GOT TALKING DEMONS.❞

EARLY THAT MORNING, JIN-HO offered them a ride and had dropped the two players off at the world tower.

when he asked why they needed to visit the building, they disappeared without a trace.

[YOU HAVE ENTERED THE DEMON CASTLE.]

"i'm so glad i decided to change out of my sweater before coming here, i would have been cooked like a well-done steak." [y/n] comments as the two stand side by side looking at the firey field-type dungeon.

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jin-woo chuckles at her comment before handing her the items he bought for this dungeon.

"with these, we'll be able to within stand the heat." he explains, putting on his wind robe and a nameless ring embedded with water attributes.

the female player does the same and adjusts the robe comfortably around her shoulders. she ties her [h/l] hair in a way it won't bother her while she fights.

as the two head forward, a new system screen shows up.

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[NORMAL QUEST: COLLECT DEMON'S SOULS! (PART 2)]
THE MONARCH OF DEMONS, 'BARAN' AND HIS QUEEN, 'ARCANE' ARE RESIDING ON THE HIGHEST FLOOR OF THE DEMON CASTLE

ELIMINATE BARAN AND ARCANE. COLLECT THEIR SOULS.

QUEST COMPLETION REQUIREMENT:
- DEFEAT THE DEMON KING AND QUEEN

REWARD(S): 
- 1. HIGHEST QUALITY RUNESTONE X2
- 2. BONUS STATS +30
- 3. HIDDEN REWARD

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"the rewards are better this time around." [y/n] adds inspecting the description of the runestone reward.

[HIGHEST QUALITY RUNESTONE: LIGHT TRAVEL]
A JOB-SPECIFIC SKILL CAN BE OBTAINED BY BREAKING THE RUNE.

she swipes away her screen as her eyes gaze to jin-woo's screen who was looking at the same rewards. "we've gained three job-specific skills so far with incredible effects. i'm looking forward to this one." he states while she nods in agreement.

THEN THE TWO HEAD OFF TO THE UPPER FLOORS

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THE FEMALE PLAYER protects herself with her robe from the blast of heat made by the male player's newest summon, tusk.

"i thought his abilities were nerfed once he became a shadow soldier? forget that he's holding the orb, how the hell does he still have so much power?!" [y/n] grumbles, as she and jin-woo approach him.

the dark-haired hunter chuckles watching her pout and covers part of her face with her robe's collar. he knew she was still upset over the fact she lost the game to have tusk as her summons.

he gentle grabs her hand making her look at him. "i promise the next monster is yours [n/n]." he states in a soft tone, one he uses to her and only her.

her [e/c] eyes widen full of hope. "no takes backs, right?" she asks and he nods, smiling.

filled with happy energy, she jumps into the air cheering almost doing a victory dance as she wears the biggest smile on her face.

'she's so happy over something so simple, it's cute.' jin-woo comments staring at her with an adoring look

[y/n] runs ahead and turns to look at him over her shoulder with a smile. "c'mon! don't lag behind woo!" she teases earning a laugh from jin-woo as he runs to catch up.

"IN YOUR DREAMS [N/N]!"

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NAME: [Y/N] [L/N]
LEVEL 81
JOB: SUN MONARCH
TITLE: THE ONE WHO OVERCAME ADVERSITY (1+ MORE)
HP: 24,406
MP: 5,019
FATIGUE: 0

STRENGTH: 186
AGILITY: 175
SENSE: 126
VITALITY: 145
INTELLIGENCE: 189
AP: 0
PHYSICAL DAMAGE REDUCTION: 46%

— PASSIVE SKILLS
(UNKNOWN) LV. MAX
PERSEVERANCE LV. 1
ADVANCED DAGGER ARTS LV. 3

— ACTIVE SKILS
LANGUAGE OF THE PLAYERS LV. MAX
SPRING LV. MAX
BLOOD LUST VL. 1
STEALTH LV. 2
BALDE OF THE SUN LV. 1

VITAL STRIKE LV. MAX
DAGGER THROW LV. 3
DOMINATOR'S TOUCH LV. 2

━━━━━━ ◦ ☽ ◦ ━━━━━━

NAME: SUNG JIN-WOO
LEVEL 81
JOB: SHADOW MONARCH
TITLE: THE ONE WHO OVERCAME ADVERSITY (1+ MORE)
HP: 24,406
MP: 5,019
FATIGUE: 0

STRENGTH: 186
AGILITY: 175
SENSE: 126
VITALITY: 145
INTELLIGENCE: 189
AP: 0
PHYSICAL DAMAGE REDUCTION: 46%

— PASSIVE SKILLS
(UNKNOWN) LV MAX
PERSEVERANCE LV. 1
ADVANCED DAGGER ARTS LV. 2

— ACTIVE SKILS
LANGUAGE OF THE PLAYERS LV. MAX
SPRING LV. MAX
BLOOD LUST VL. 1
STEALTH LV. 2

VITAL STRIKE LV. MAX
DAGGER THROW LV. 2
DOMINATOR'S TOUCH LV. 2

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[Y/N] EXPERTLY PARKOUR's her way through the field to meet up with jin-woo to report she hasn't found the entry permit yet.

icarus was following right behind her as she sets her sights on her friend's figure in the distance.

they devised a plan to split up for now to cover more area but till then, they haven't found the item they needed.

she slows down her pace and calmly approaches her dark-haired friend with a dejected look. "nothing, i even had some soldiers look through every single demon's body and still nothing." she states, sulking a bit as her trusted sun knight pats her head.

"we need to start using our summons more efficiently..." he mumbles. "it be a waste to travel in one big pack."

the female player's face lights up, having an idea. "woo, how about we split them into teams!" she suggests with a smile.

he ruffles her hair affectionately. "good idea [n/n]! we'll split up into three teams from each army, making six in total." he states, praising his friend causing to face to heat up a bit.

as they begin assigning teams [y/n] feels a gentle tap on her shoulder. she hums to face icarus who seem to look like he wanted something.

"what is it icarus? is there something you need?" she asks tilting her head a bit. with a bit of hesitation, the light solider pointed towards jin-woo's shadows, more specifically, igris.

the female player raises her brow a bit confused, she looks between the two summons, and then it clicks. she lets out a gasp and squeals in delight.

she grabs his hands in glee, feeling like a teenager all over again. "oh my god! i never knew you had a crush on igris!? that's so cute! you wanna join his team, right?!" she asks with stars in her eyes. he shy nods, a bit embarrassed that his queen caught on.

"you can join him! i have enough orcs to make another team anyways!" she states, giving her summon full permission to be with his crush.

icarus gives [y/n] a grateful bow and she waves it off. "no need to bow, you two look cute together! besides, i think he likes you too! he sticks by your side when me and woo are together!" she adds, the soldier bows again and walks over to the shadow knight.

a giddy smile forms on her face when she sees them interacting, reminding her of her and jin-woo.

she pauses and her smile falls, realizing now what she said earlier.

"...when me and woo are together!"

her eyes gaze at the two summons and soon jin-woo who approached them confused.

her eyes stay on her best friend who looked annoyed at their antics. icarus then points at her for some reason and [y/n] quickly turns away, hoping she didn't get caught staring.

she feels her face heat up. 'was i staring? god i'm an idiot, why am i even considering this it's not like i have a—' she stops herself from finishing her thought

she blinks as she gazes her eyes back to jin-woo, asking herself.

'DO I HAVE A CRUSH ON HIM?'

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ONCE THE TEAMS were set, the two players wished each other good luck and went in different directions to cover more ground, they'll meet up in about a few days.

unbeknownst to [y/n], jin-woo placed a shadow on her. he doesn't doubt her abilities, he knows full well she's the only person in the world who could put up a good fight against him. but it doesn't mean he wasn't allowed to be worried about her.

the same could be about [y/n], also placing a knight on jin-woo. though she felt stupid about attaching a summon on the strongest man she knows, she still worries.

it wasn't like he won't notice either, seeing as how he didn't notice the thin sliver bracelet that appeared on his wrist when she attached a knight to him.

it was cute how they worried about each other.

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— A few days later, jin-woo meets up with one of the teams just to check up on them.

this time it was scar's team. the big animal approaches from behind him, turning to look at his king and as he checks his level.

[SUN MONSTER LV. 24]
ELITE RANK

"[n/n] will be very excited that've you've gone up 10 levels, scar." he adds with a small smile, petting the big animal.

he looks around at the other light summons with a satisfied look. "seems like you all leveled up higher than expected. she'll be over the moon once she sees you all again."

he looks down in thought with a grin. 'i wonder how big her smile will get when she sees them...' he guesses imaging a happy [y/n] in his head.

jin-woo catches himself, feeling his face heat up. he sighs in annoyance and covers the bottom part of his face with the collar of his robe. 'i'm doing it again, i need to sort these feelings out...'

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SOMEWHERE ELSE ON the same floor...

"wah! you guys leveled up 10 more levels!" [y/n] cheers, checking up on the shadow monster team.

she smothers the shadow ice bears with love, praising them for their hard work, they feed into her praises since she's the nicer one out of two

the shadows were a bit jealous of their queen's summons. to experience [y/n]'s kind and warm personality was such a blessing to the shadows.

they were mostly jealous of jin-woo of course, because he receives the most affection from her.

she giggles when she notices they were leaning into her touch. "woo is gonna be so proud of you when he sees you guys again!" she adds with a bright grin.

'i don't think he gives these guys enough head pats. it must be why they listen to me so willingly cause i spoil them afterwards...' she guesses with a small snicker, remembering how much he teases them.

'just like how woo spoils me with head pats...'

[y/n] pauses and blinks, realizing what she was thinking. she shoves her face into the palms of her hands, a bit embarrassed. 'this has gotta stop! why do keep getting butterflies just thinking about him giving me affection?! i haven't felt like that since... since...'

it was then her mind travels to a dark moment in her life, she quickly shakes her head trying to forget that memory and the person connected to it. the ice bears noticed her discomfort and began snuggling into her body as a way to ease her worries.

she sadly smiles at their attempt to comfort her and rubs their fur. "you guys are too sweet..." she mumbles, as she reminds herself of very important detail.

'i'm in a better place now, mentally and physically. a place where he can no longer hurt me. i have jin-woo to thank for that...'

she catches herself again and sighs, feeling embarrassed that she was thinking about her friend again. 'it's different this time around, woo is different... he isn't like him... so, maybe for once i can be a bit selfish about my feelings...'

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THERE ARE 20 floors left until the two players reached the top floor.

"we reached floor 80 pretty easily... but it's been two days since we reached this floor and we still haven't found the entry permit." [y/n] grumbles to herself and kicks a stray rock.

like so, jin-woo and her separated to cover more ground but they were having difficulty finding the item they needed.

she ruffles her [h/t] hair in annoyance. "if it's taking this long to find it, then there has to be a strong enemy around here?" she asks herself.

suddenly, she feels her mana be consumed at a fast rate and looks to where she deployed one of her teams.

"that's the team scar is leading... to think there's a demon strong enough to overwhelm scar." she mumbles, narrowing her eyes.

she once again feels her mana deplete at a rapid pace and she sighs. "i have no choice, let's bring my knights back."

waves of white come rushing back to her, flowing around her body and back into her hands.

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THE PLAYERS MEET up after continuous ambushes on both teams.

the two write out the teams on the dirt ground, crossing out the teams that've been ambushed.

"they attacked my high orc team today and my regular knight team, one right after the other. you said there was an ambush on your side?" [y/n] asks her friend who nodded.

jin-woo crosses out the igris team and his high orc team and hums. "it's strange, the igris team was right next to tusk's but they completely skipped over them." he mentions.

the female player furrows, still finding something odd about the ambushes. "they attacked iron's team yesterday? but skipped over irgis and icarus, like they knew they couldn't take them on, not yet anyways. but at the same time they attack scar's team..."

they stay silent letting the information hang it the air and that's when it hits them.

"two different groups are ambushing us!"

they say at the same time with smiles on their faces. "they're going after enemies they can handle, figuring out their weaknesses!" [y/n] adds, grabbing the stick from jin-woo.

she then draws an arrow from scar's team to his ice bear team. "if my hunch is correct, the next team they'll attack is your's!" she states as she draws an arrow from the igirs team to her second high orc team.

"for me, it'll be my high orc team b!" she predicts with a smirk.

"THEN LET'S GO FIND OUT WHO'S BEEN AMBUSHING US!"

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THE 2 PLAYERS separate again, following their plans to see who's been ambushing their summons.

[y/n] uses her stealth skill and hides behind some rocks, following her high orc team.

'it has to be this team or it wouldn't make sense...' she thinks, crouching down and peeking behind a huge chunk of building debris.

her [e/c] eyes widened when she sees figures coming towards her summons.

'so i was right... they're already here.'

she eyes the demons who wore armor that covered their faces and also rode horses. 'a demon noble and three demon knights.' she counts as one of her orcs lets out a battle cry.

one of the demon knights jumped from their horse with a spear in hand. they moved fast and elegantly cutting down her orc in an instant, the rest of the demons followed suit.

'so that's why they couldn't regenerate, their too fast...'

she gets up from her crouching position and steps out of her hiding place, deactivating her stealth skill.

"no wonder, my sun knights have no chance against them..." [y/n] states, making her presence known to the demons.

one demon notices her and before they can attack, she runs up to them, kneeing them in the gut followed by a spin kick to the face.

[YOU HAVE DEFEATED A DEMON KNIGHT.]
[YOU RECEIVED 3,000 EXP.]

the other demons charge to attack her but a second later she disappeared causing them to stop in confusion.

suddenly, right in front of the demon knights was [y/n], and without a minute to waste she cut them down using her dagger.

[YOU HAVE DEFEATED A DEMON KNIGHT.]
[YOU RECEIVED 3,000 EXP.]

[YOU HAVE DEFEATED A DEMON KNIGHT.]
[YOU RECEIVED 3,000 EXP.]

she turns to face the demon noble who stood firm with a sword in hand. but she could tell they were a bit scared.

she smirks at this detail.

"I WAS WONDERING IF MONSTERS COULD FEEL FEAR SEEMS LIKE I WAS RIGHT..."

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KNOW WHEN YOU'VE been beaten. though it's honorable to keep fighting, it becomes ignorant to keep fighting when you know there's a power gap between you and your enemy.

this demon knew that but they chose to fight anyways.

the demon attacks [y/n] with fast and accurate swings and she dodges them all.

she jumps to the side and eyes the demon. 'arms, neck, and hands. that's where their accurately aiming hoping to slow me down.'

in a quick motion, she cuts their sword in half with her dagger catching them off guard. she knees them in the gut and shoves them to the ground.

they see the female player swing her dagger to finish them off but they do something that [y/n] doesn't expect.

"I GIVE UP! YOU WIN!"

she pauses as the dagger was mere inches from their necks and her eyes were wide. she blinks quite confused.

'is everyone speaking in the human language now?!' she comments with a raised brow.

she narrows her eyes realizing the sound of their voice.

"wait a minute..."

she quickly takes off their helmet to see what's under the mask and to her surprise, it was a young man.

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THE TWO ADULTS  separate from each other and get up from the ground.

"thank you for sparing me. i've realized now we were in the wrong." the demon apologizes and [y/n] deadpans.

she faces him with a twitchy eyebrow. "dude, you attacked my soldiers and now you're asking for forgiveness?" she retorts as her high orcs surround them with ticked-off faces and irk marks.

the demon pauses and looks at her confused. "wait, this is your army? not the black soldiers?" he asks, thinking that her summons were the shadow army.

'ah so they've must of been watching us then, gathering intel.' she assumes and nods answering his question.

he frowns a bit and sulks. "oh, i was hoping i would face off with the dark-haired one." he mentions, making [y/n] laugh at his stupidity and this angers him.

"what's so funny?!"

she waves him off and cheekily smiles at him. "the result would have ended the same way." she adds, giggling.

the demon feels his face heat at her carefree demeanor, opposite than she was in battle.

'i'll leave him be. since he has a human-like face, i don't wanna hurt him.' she thinks as she turns away from him.

without wasting this precious chance, he grabs his hidden dagger and goes to stab her. but when he does, his wrist is grabbed and she twists his arm cause him to be immobilized.

[y/n] brings him to his knees and when the demon stares up, his eyes are met with dangerous blue glowing eyes, towering over her was icarus who menacingly stared down at him.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?"

the demon bows his head shamelessly, his forehead touching the ground.

"I'M SORRY PLEASE SPARE ME!" he shouts, regretting to ever attack in the first place.

she sweatdrops at the demon, not knowing if he was being shameless or stupid.

"do you know where i can get an entry pass?" she asks as the demon keeps bowing.

"the entry pass is protected by our clan. if you bring me and my younger sister back home unharmed, we can give it to you." he explains as he looks up to meet her eyes.

the female player analyzes the information she's just been given. 'demons are protecting the entry pass? and a little sister? she must of be the other demon that ambushed jin-woo's team thinking it was mine.'

"me and my sister can guide you to where entry passes are in the higher floors. that's only if you can guarantee the safety of our lives and my clan." he offers to [y/n], hoping that she'll spare his life and his sister's.

she hums at his offer. "it's tempting, to say the least..." she mumbles but a thought lingered in her mind.

'THE PROBLEM IS WHETHER OR NOT I CAN TRUST HIM.'

[y/n] steps towards him and bends down to his height, her face close to his. it's then the demon notices her beauty and his face flushes.

a single finger under his chin making him lift up his head to meet her glowing eyes. to outsiders, it was a scandalous position. a demon noble on his knees for a mere human woman, as if she was his queen.

"CAN I..."

her voice, once full of warmth was now dripping with calm malice and fear starts to creep up his spine.

"TRUST YOU?"

her aura became dangerously hot and her once bright eyes seemed to glow like a raging fire. something told him if he didn't answer he'll be burnt to ashes.

before the female player can even active her bloodlust skill, he nods frantically, his face entirely red.

she backs off, satisfied with his answer. "fine if you can give me the entry pass, me and my friend will leave this place quietly."

"th-thank you. what about my sister?" he asks, regaining his composure and standing up.

she gives him a warm smile. "she'll be fine, my friend is a kind person. she's in good hands." [y/n] reassures, this calms him down.

"then, allow me to properly introduce myself..." he states, approaching her and grabbing her hand.

he bows and lightly kisses the back of her hand. then, he looks up at her with a charming smile.

"I AM AZAZEL, ELDEST SON OF THE RADIR CLAN. PLEASURE TO MAKE YOUR ACQUAINTANCE MY LADY."

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AZAZEL, THE DEMON PRINCE

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[y/n] blinks at his sudden princely action though she wasn't phased as her heart is unknowingly set on someone else.

she retracts her hand as he straightens his posture, still smiling at her. she notes how he was taller than her and it annoyed her a bit.

"i'm [y/n] [l/n] and likewise azazel." she replies with a sigh, a bit glad that jin-woo didn't meet him first.

though, she does have a few questions.

"azazel can i ask you something?"

"yes, of course, lady [y/n]."

she hums, thinking of a way to ask him without causing a bit of confusion.

"do you hear a voice inside your head telling you to kill humans?"

this catches the brunette demon off guard but he holds his chin in thought and furrows his eyebrows. "no, but we do hear a different voice. it tells us to protect the area we reside in."

this peeks [y/n] interest as the gears in her head start turning. 'it's a different voice than what other monsters hear? does that mean these dungeon monsters are different from the ones in the gates?'

"when did you start hearing this voice?"

"the moment we opened our eyes."

her [e/c] eyes widen, now connecting the dots. 'does that mean demons lived somewhere else before they came here? if i dig a little further maybe i can find out the nature of the system.'

she takes a step towards him. "where did you live before opening your eyes?" she questions.

"in the demon world lady [y/n]. before we knew it we ended up here." azazel simply states.

she narrows her eyes as they glow a bit.

"WHAT WERE YOU DOING IN THE DEMON WORLD?"

"WAR... WE WERE PREPARING FOR WAR."

CHAPTER FIFTEEN END!
────demon castle: return (1).