Free Web NovelThe moment the system notifications appeared, Su-ho's eyes widened to an unbelievable degree.
It was because of the rank of the skill called Dominion Core.
It was SS-rank, no less.
Was that why?
Additional system notifications appeared.
[ Congratulations! You have mastered an SS-rank skill for the first time among all players. ]
[ You have achieved an incredible accomplishment that no other player has ever managed. ]
[ The system acknowledges your supreme accomplishment and gifts you 30 bonus stats. ]
He hadn't seen it wrong.
The system had clearly guaranteed that he had obtained an SS-rank skill.
When Su-ho stood there unable to say anything with stunned eyes, Grid came up beside him and said,
- Congratulations. Your first SS-rank skill, isn't it?
"H-how did something like this suddenly...!"
- There's nothing to be surprised about. This isn't just anything else—it's the power of a Demon King, no less. It has to be at least this much. Of course, it is also true that I was able to give you the complete power because you're a High-rank player.
"Wow...."
An SS-rank skill.
It was his first since Formless Sword.
Maybe that was why it was even more shocking.
To be honest, if he ever obtained another SS-rank skill again, he had thought it would absolutely be Formless Sword, not some other technique.
Grid jerked his head and said,
- In your world, don't they say seeing once is better than hearing a hundred times? Rather than listening to me explain it, why don't you just check the skill description yourself?
"Huh? Ah, right. I'll look at it now."
Snapping back to his senses, Su-ho checked the information on Dominion Core.
[ Dominion Core ]
# The end of greed is domination. It is not satisfied with mere collection; it must possess everything, including power, honor, and people, and so domination—keeping them under one's command—is the final form of greed.
# Dominion Core is a power born from such domineering desire. Whatever the type may be, the more things that are definitively designated as one's own increase, the more Dominion Core grows and strengthens without limit, increasing all stats of the player who possesses Dominion Core.
"...!"
After reading the information on Dominion Core, Su-ho's eyes widened once again.
Seeing Su-ho's expression, Grid said,
- Surprising, isn't it?
"Y-yeah, a lot.... Is this the power you have?""
- You could say it's all of the power I have. Doesn't it suit me well? The Demon of Lechery grows stronger the higher its lust, and the Demon of Pride grows stronger the prouder it is. Wrath, Jealousy, Sloth, and Gluttony are the same. So naturally, I too have no choice but to grow stronger the more I covet and the more I possess. But do you know this? That there is one decisive difference between me and the other demons.
"A decisive difference?"
- Right. Compared to the powers the other demons possess, my greed has overwhelmingly higher growth potential and scalability. If there's one with an attribute somewhat similar to mine, maybe it's only Gluttony.
Su-ho understood at once what Grid meant.
Things like lust, pride, jealousy, wrath, and sloth had lower scalability and growth potential than gluttony or greed.
Because compared to the two demons who grew stronger simply by possessing and eating, the other demons required a mindset or specific actions.
But compared to that, gluttony and greed only needed to eat and possess, which meant faster growth potential and broader scalability.
'And if you compare gluttony and greed, then of course greed would rank higher.'
That was because compared to gluttony, which had to keep devouring, the advantage of greed was that it grew stronger simply by possessing and dominating.
- Of course, in exchange for that high growth potential and scalability, it's also the most difficult kind of power when it comes to the mechanism of becoming stronger. In your words, I guess it'd be all or nothing. So in that sense, I feel fortunate and grateful. That among the Seven Great Demons, you chose me as your partner. And that you made me into the Demon King.
He hadn't chosen Grid while foreseeing all the way to this point, but just as Grid said, now that events had played out, choosing him really had turned out to be the wisest choice.
Because it was unlikely that Su-ho would ever grow stronger through lust, jealousy, gluttony, or sloth.
'If I had to name the closest ones, I guess it'd be wrath and pride.'
But considering how steady and unbothered he normally lived, it was clear that compared to pride or wrath, greed was definitely the power most compatible with him.
After examining Dominion Core once more, Su-ho noticed something strange and asked,
"But this doesn't say exactly how much stronger it makes me."
- That's how it is from SS-rank onward. I guess they decided numerical values were meaningless, so they said to figure it out by feel.
"Who did?"
- Who else would it be?
Grid shrugged his shoulders.
Ah, the system?
Su-ho nodded and asked,
"But I don't really feel anything yet."
- You have to activate the power.
"Activate it?"
Ah, so this was a button-type one?
He activated the skill right away.
[ Dominion Core activates. ]
At that moment.
Whoooosh!!
The instant the skill activated, it felt as though a warm current rose from Su-ho's lower abdomen, and then a mass of black light swept over his body as though scanning it before disappearing.
Then grand and pure energies he had never felt before began to dominate his whole body like a storm.
"This is...!"
- Can you feel it?
"I can. It feels like an enormous amount of power is welling up."
- From SS-rank onward, a player's perception is important. In that sense, the power of greed and domination increases the more obsessively you cling to the fact that you own and dominate something. From a player's perspective, that power can become a skill, or a stat, or an item. But do you know why I granted you this power at this particular timing... even without me saying it?
As Grid's words trailed off, both Grid's and Su-ho's gazes turned to the six Great Demons at the same time.
"Right. From the beginning, you weren't telling me to subjugate the six Great Demons so I could command them and the Demon King Army. You gave me this power because if those guys just put everything down and came under me, then I could grow stronger."
- Exactly. Because that's domination.
Nodding, Su-ho walked straight over to the six Great Demons.
They were sprawled on the floor and writhing, but Su-ho could see it.
That those actions were false.
They had already healed all the wounds Su-ho had inflicted on them and were considering what to do next.
Whether to run away, for instance, or launch a surprise attack.
Walking up in front of them, Su-ho said to the six Great Demons,
"All of you, attention."
Even without being told to pay attention, the six Great Demons' focus was already fixed on Su-ho.
But even so, after making them focus once more, he continued,
"The East-West War will begin soon. You know better than I do what the East-West War is, right?"
"What is it you want to say?"
The one who answered was Pride, the strongest among the six Great Demons.
"Join the Demon King Army. And help me. That way, won't the chances of winning the East-West War increase even a little?"
"And if we refuse?"
"Refuse?"
Su-ho summoned the Blood Sword.
Then he used Paladion and let sacred light pour forth.
"I invited you because I need you for the East-West War, but if you say no and refuse, do I really have any reason to keep you alive?"
"You cannot kill us."
"Why? Because you're sub-Constellations?"
At the words sub-Constellation, Pride flinched.
"Thanks for telling me with that reaction. Right, system-wise, I probably can't kill you. Then how about being thrown somewhere so painful it'd be worse than death?"
As Su-ho said that, he snapped his fingers.
Then a huge wormhole opened behind him, and from inside it terrifying energies of death and demonic power poured out.
It was a gate leading to Tartarus.
"...!"
"...!"
"...!"
The eyes of the six Great Demons trembled as they looked at the gate to Tartarus.
Because even here in the Demon Realm, they had never seen a place giving off such an aura.
"However desperate the situation may be for even a cat's paw, do I really need help from you when you get torn apart even without me coating myself in a single skill? I'm the Avatar of the Demon King of Greed. Then you should understand very well what power I was granted and why I need you."
Su-ho raised his sword and pointed it at the six Great Demons.
"I'm not good with words, so I can't sweet-talk you into it. And it's not like I'm some widely admired person who's going to persuade you and bring you along through force of character either. So decide. Quietly submit to me and come in to watch the East-West War victory, or fall beneath the abyss and pay for your pride forever."
Pride shut his mouth.
Because his pride had not yet been broken.
No, it would not break easily.
Because he was pride itself.
At that moment, one of the six Great Demons spoke up.
"If I submit, do I not have to do anything?"
The one who spoke was Sloth of Sloth.
Yeah.
I knew you'd be the first to answer.
Su-ho grinned and said,
"Of course. Just submit. Then I won't even make you participate in the East-West War, and I'll let you loaf around and take all the naps you like."
"Then I will submit."
[ The Great Demon of Sloth, Sloth, declares submission to you. ]
[ Dominion Core activates. ]
[ All stats increase. ]
Whoooosh!
The moment Sloth declared submission, Dominion Core activated.
Then Su-ho could feel it vividly—his power had increased all at once.
'So this is how it makes me stronger.'
This wasn't just any being but the submission of a sub-Constellation-class Great Demon.
Naturally, his power had no choice but to increase drastically.
That was how it started.
Beginning with Sloth, the other Great Demons, who had been gauging the situation, also began declaring submission one by one.
"I'll submit too. If I go beneath the abyss and there's nothing to eat there, I think I'd be really pissed."
[ The Great Demon of Gluttony, Gluttony, declares submission to you. ]
[ Dominion Core activates. ]
[ All stats increase. ]
"I give up too. I prefer sadism over the pleasure of suffering, you see."
[ The Great Demon of Lechery, Lust, declares submission to you. ]
[ Dominion Core activates. ]
[ All stats increase. ]
"I forfeit too. If I hear news of victory in the East-West War from beneath the bottomless abyss, I think I'd die of envy."
[ The Great Demon of Jealousy, Envy, declares submission to you. ]
[ Dominion Core activates. ]
[ All stats increase. ]
Now only Wrath and Pride remained.
Looking at Ras of Wrath, Su-ho said,
"Why don't you just submit and fight with me? With that personality of yours, it's not like you'd be able to sit there quietly while the West Demon Realm bastards invaded."
"...I won't deny it."
[ The Great Demon of Wrath, Ras, declares submission to you. ]
[ Dominion Core activates. ]
[ All stats increase. ]
Now only one remained.
When Su-ho looked at Pride, who alone was left, Pride bit down on his lip as though unable to accept reality.
"How could I possibly be brought to something like this...!"
What should he do with that one?
Should he just break his pride so thoroughly that he'd never dare get cocky again?
At that moment, Grid walked up to him and whispered something into his ear.
Then Pride's eyes widened, and soon after, he declared submission.
"...I submit."
[ The Great Demon of Pride, Pride, declares submission to you. ]
[ Dominion Core activates. ]
[ All stats increase. ]
Thus he succeeded in subjugating all six Great Demons, and after they returned to their own territories, Su-ho asked Grid,
"How'd you talk Pride into it?"
- I told him that if his pride was going to be broken anyway, then rather than going there and having it broken without a moment's rest, he should just let it be broken here once and get it over with.
"Huh?"
Grid, the Demon King of Greed.
He was not a demon who was merely greedy.
