Chapter 243: Fortress of the Devil and Ricardo (3)

There were a countless number of different magical beasts that existed in the Devildom.

At this point, where it had not been long since the Devildom had opened up, even if the number of different magical beasts were counted, it was to the point that there were over a hundred of them.

On top of that, from the LB Corp. side, an official stance was revealed that there were a ton of different magical beasts that had yet to be known.

However, there was one interesting truth amongst the content revealed that was related to the information on magical beasts from the LB Corp. side.

That was the information related to the ‘Legendary’-rank magical beasts.

Amongst all of the ranks of magical beasts, just in ‘Legendary’-rank magical beasts, it was specified that exactly fifteen kinds existed.

The opinions of the users were incredibly divergent about this.

In particular, the interest of the young Summoners who were dreaming of obtaining a dual class in the Devildom in the future was truly immense.

• Keu, how strong must a Legendary-rank magical beast be? When even Low-rank magical beasts are this strong.

• Person above, the reason that Low-rank magical beasts are strong is just because their levels are high.

• No, no, even if their levels are considered, apparently Low-rank magical beasts are for sure much stronger than Common-rank monsters that are in the human world.

• I see. Is that truly the case?

• But amongst the 15 species of Legendary-rank magical beasts, is there even one species that has been revealed?

• Yes, there’s just one, I think?

• Oh! What species is that? Exactly where did it appear? I still have yet to even see any material related to High-rank magical beasts being uploaded in the bulletin board yet, that is.

• Yes, that is obvious. Since even High-rank magical beasts have had yet to appear.

• Then… What do you mean when you say that a Legendary has appeared?

• Do you not remember the video from when the Devildom update first occurred?

• Hmm, a video? I’ve definitely seen it, but my memory…

• Keu! How can you not remember that video overflowing with swag? Can you even call yourself a Summoner when that’s the case?

• Ah, what is it, just tell me.

• Balrog. Do you not remember the Balrog? It appeared with a truly incredible force in the video, too…

• That’s right. Now I remember it very vividly. That’s because back then I fell in love with the Balrog as soon as I saw it.

• Huhu, that’s right. It’s truly worthy enough to fall in love with.

• Yes, that scene when it ran out of that fortress gate and slaughtered the other magical beasts… Kya!

• That’s right. It’s energy was seriously no joke. It even dealt damage by the hundreds of thousands…

There weren’t even that many Summoner users that had succeeded in entering the Devildom, yet they were rapidly raising their dreams(?) related to the Devildom.

While looking at the information of the magical beasts that were popping up on the Devildom bulletin board, they were diligently debating as to which magical beasts would be good for them to tame later.

However, just then, one user revealed a question.

• Huh? But, guys. Now that I think about it, wasn’t the scene where that Balrog came out a little weird?

• Why? What was weird? It was just cool.

• No, that’s not what I meant… The Balrog was fighting with the other devils. From what I remember, it wasn’t a fight with humans or another race, but a fight between devils.

• Oh, now that you mention it…!

• That’s right. I definitely remember that scene. In front of an incredibly strange-looking rampart that was the colour of blood, it was a scene where the Balrog was slaughtering Low-rank magical beasts.

And that blood-red rampart was the ‘Fortress of the Devil’, which was currently right in front of Ian’s eyes right now.

* * *

Thud- Thud- Baang-!

Red hair that looked like it was on fire covered its whole body.

A giant monster, whose ruggedly-grown horns even shone a dark-red colour, began to whisk through the battleground.

Whenever the monster swung its humongous fists, a low-rank magical beast tumbled onto the ground one by one, and each time that attack took place, all magical beasts that were in the surrounding area were sucked into a cosmos-destroying conflagration.

The Balrog was a Legendary-rank magical beast, one of just fifteen species that existed in all of the Devildom.

The greatness of the Balrog was indeed tremendous.

‘How can damage worth 300 thousand be popping up? On top of that, its splash damage is even dealing over a hundred thousand or so damage.’

Whenever the Balrog, which had hands so enormous that it could easily grasp a decently-sized adult male with one hand, swung those hands, fragments of hellfire that were sucked out of hell itself embroidered its surrounding in disarray.

Baang- Bang-!

When it came to combat, the Balrog had no technical skills.

No, it didn’t need any technical skills at all.

The battle method of the Balrog was to just crush and demolish everything in sight.

Ian was overwhelmed by its presence.

‘Its level is definitely lower than Yankoun, however, it feels like its fighting power far exceeds Yankoun’s. Is this the difference between their inherent rank?’

Yankoun was strong.

Since the one with the strongest fighting power currently amongst Ian’s party was him.

However, it wasn’t always going to stay like that.

‘If the stat growth value per level is calculated, Yankoun has stats that Kaizar will also catch up to soon enough.’

Currently, Yankoun was at lv 362. Meanwhile, Kaizar was at lv 295.

There was a 70-level difference, but the difference between the two’s combat abilities was just around 10%.

When the stats were tallied up, it was at a level where Yankoun had about 110% of Kaizar’s combat abilities.

This was a standard that Kaizar could easily catch up to even if he just reached about lv 320.

Ian found the reason for this was in the difference in the inherent rank that the two had.

‘Kaizar’s inherent rank itself is a Legendary-rank. Meanwhile, Yankoun is a Heroic-rank retainer.’

And Ian believed that the one-rank difference was definitely what was creating the difference in the two’s stat growth rate.

‘In that sense…’

Ian’s gaze slightly turned towards Balrog.

‘That means that thing will have as much potential as Kaizar, no, it will have more potential than Kaizar…’

Ian licked his lips before he even realized it.

‘I want one!’

Of course, Ian already possessed a lot of Legendary-rank Familiars.

Karceus and Pin, as well as Ly and even Bbakbbak.

These Familiars definitely had exceptional potential that was not lacking whatsoever even when compared with the Balrog, but Ian couldn’t help but be itching for the Balrog. This was because it wasn’t an issue with the Potential stat, but based on its current fighting power, the Balrog couldn’t help but be overwhelmingly powerful.

‘Euh… The level difference is truly big, though.’

Ian’s other Familiars just reached the edge of lv 190, but on the other hand of that, as the Balrog’s level was over 300, if there was no difference in fighting power, that instead would have been weirder.

‘Keu, seriously, if I got a Legendary-rank Familiar that was over lv 300, my fighting power will probably grow stronger by at least 1.5 times, right?’

To reinforce with a Legendary-rank Familiar was yet another meaning from obtaining a retainer.

This was because, while retainers perfectly fought with their own AIs, Familiars moved depending on Ian’s controls.

As that was the case, Ian felt a bigger merit from Familiars than retainers.

If a powerful magical beast like the Balrog moved according to 100% of Ian’s wishes, he truly felt that he would be able to battle comfortably.

‘Is there a way to capture one somewhere?’

Just then, when Ian was licking his lips while he watched the Balrog, Yankoun, who had elatedly wiped down his opponents, approached him so that he was in front of him.

“Ian, I see that this is your first time seeing a Balrog.”

Ian slowly nodded his head as he replied.

“Yeah, this is my first time seeing them in real life. Truly incredible fighting power.”

At Ian’s words, Yankoun grinned as he replied.

“The Balrog is indeed a tyrant. Since it’s a creature that even a decent Noblesse devil cannot face thoughtlessly.”

While attentively studying the form of the Balrog, Ian asked Yankoun about parts that he was curious about.

“But how did something like a Balrog come out from within the Fortress of the Devil? Is the Balrog different from other common magical beasts?”

Yankoun, who didn’t properly understand Ian’s question, tilted his head as he asked back.

“What do you mean by that, master?”

“So, you know how magical beasts are normally free beings that inhabit places all over the Devildom, right? But since it jumped out from within a fortress for devils, I was just wondering what that’s all about.”

One corner of Yankoun’s mouth curled slightly upwards.

“As expected, master, I see that you also want a Balrog.”

Ian shrugged his shoulders.

“I won’t deny it. Isn’t it weirder that you don’t want one after seeing that greatness?”

Yankoun nodded his head.

“That’s right. The dream of mostly all ‘Devil Summoners’ is to tame a Balrog.”

And Yankoun, who stared at the Balrog once more, continued his explanation.

“Going straight to the conclusion, the Balrog is definitely a being that can be tamed.”

“Really?”

Yankoun smiled as he pointed at the Balrog with his finger.

“Isn’t the evidence of that right there?”

“Huh?”

Ian carefully looked in the direction that Yankoun’s hand was pointing towards.

It seemed like his finger was pointing at the Balrog, however, after looking more carefully, he was pointing at someone who was floating behind the Balrog.

Yankoun’s mouth slowly opened again.

“That person is the owner of the monster-like Balrog that is in front of our eyes right now.”

Ian widened his eyes.

This was because the black silhouette of a shadow that floated in the air was peculiar.

“Who is that devil?”

Yankoun responded shortly.

“The reason for why you came all the way here.”

“Huh?”

Ian’s gaze turned towards the black shadow again.

And the shadow grew closer and closer towards Ian’s party.

‘If it’s the reason for why I came all the way here then…’

As the shadow grew closer and closer, Ian was able to closely check the image of the other person.

With a light grey cloak, it was a man wearing a reddish steel armour and a silver head ornament.

“That devil is… The owner of the Fortress of the Devil?”

Yankoun slowly nodded his head.

“That’s right. That person is Devil King ‘Ricardo’, ranked at 7th place in the Devildom hierarchy.”

It was then that Ian began to understand the whole situation.

‘So that Balrog… He’s saying that it’s a magical beast that the Devil King has tamed, right?’

Ian stared back and forth at the Balrog and Devil King.

And he felt his mood slightly go up.

‘Then, that probably means that the class of Devil King Ricardo is a Devil Summoner, right?’

The eyes of Ian and Ricardo met.

‘No wonder, it looked like there was a ton of things that I could take from that Devil King dude, that is.’

Ian, whose mood brightened, began to grin, and during that time, Devil King Ricardo had approached Ian so that he was standing in front of him.

Looking at him more closely, Ricardo had an incredibly good-looking outer appearance.

He didn’t look wild like Yankoun at all, and if a comparison had to be made, he had a bloody and pale appearance that was reminiscent of a vampire.

Ricardo, who stood in front of Ian, opened his mouth with a slow tone.

“It’s been a while since I’ve seen a Half-Devil.”

It wasn’t deep, but at the weighty voice with an imposing aura that could dominate a whole assembly, Ian quietly gulped as he replied.

“That’s right. Are you Devil King Ricardo?”

At Ian’s question, Ricardo slowly nodded his head as he replied.

“That’s correct. It seems you know of me already.”

Ian continued his words.

“I have come because Seraphim sent me.”

At Ian’s words, the face of Ricardo, which was only cold and emotionless, changed for the first time.

“Hmm… Seraphim did? For what reason?”

Ian calmly replied.

“It’s content related to the ‘destructive devils’. There’s a letter that Seraphim has sent, so if you took a look at that…”

“‘Destructive devils’, huh?”

As expected, Ricardo immediately reacted to the words ‘destructive devils’.

However, as Ian tried to pull out the letter from his inventory, he lifted one hand and stopped Ian as he opened his mouth again.

“Wait.”

“…?”

“Firstly, after we’ve completely wiped away the small fries that are crowding in over here, we’ll finish our conversation. We can’t be talking about such important matters here, no?”

At those words, Ian wore an embarrassed expression.

“Ah… That is true.”

And as Ricardo slightly turned his gaze and stared at the Balrog, which was still leaping around like crazy, he continued his words.

“That thing is strong, but it’s too much for him to face all of them on his own. I should quickly go help him.”

At those words, Ian nodded his head as he carefully spoke.

“By any chance, would it be alright if I helped?”

And near the mouth of Ricardo, who heard Ian’s words, a faint smile appeared.

“Of course. With your combat abilities, you will be quite helpful.”

Along with Ricardo’s words ending, new system messages began to pop up in front of Ian’s eyes.

Ring-.

• Devil King ‘Ricardo’s Affinity with you has increased by 15.

• Devil King ‘Ricardo’ is requesting to form a party with you.

• In a party with NPCs, you can only obtain 50% the amount of EXP that you would normally be able to obtain in a user party.

• Will you accept Devil King ‘Ricardo’s party request?

Something like a slight warning sentence popped up, but Ian immediately accepted the party without even giving a little bit of thought.

‘No, are there even idiots that would kick away such a sweet chance?’

Ian, who had a chance to be carried by powerful NPCs starting from the royal knights a long time ago, had a feeling of wanting to bow down to Ricardo.

‘This is no different than a confirmation that I will reach lv 200 with this!’

Towards Ian, who wore a broad smile, Ricardo held out his hand.

“Thanks for helping me protect my castle.”

Ian took his hand as he politely responded.

“This is something that I should definitely help with.”

At Ian’s reply, Ricardo wore a satisfied smile, and a message that pleased Ian popped up once again.

• Devil King ‘Ricardo’s Affinity with you has increased by 1.

The increase of Affinity soon meant that there would be much more that Ian would be able to extract from the relevant NPC.

Ian’s mind raced as he began to create a conspiracy.

‘How do I need to extract that Devil King dude in order to maximize the amount I receive from him?’

Ian was prepared to annoy his senior Devil Summoner NPC, who was even a whopping Devil King.