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Chapter 13: The Lowest-Class Demon, Morgon
The Black Serpent Cult began with a single tiny snake.
According to legend, this weak creature ate a forbidden fruit, became a black dragon, and ascended.
That unbelievable tale was passed down and became their sacred scripture.
Following that belief, the cult would do anything for power—
even one of the most forbidden acts on the continent: Summoning a demon.
Their current target?
Morgon, a lowest-class demon.
“A worthless battle slave in heaven, wrapped in burning chains.”
Because Morgon had low intelligence, they believed he’d be easy to control.
Even if he disobeyed, they had a backup:
a forbidden spellbook, found in an ancient ruin—
“The Holy Chains Grimoire”, made to restrain Morgon specifically.
But the ritual was never easy.
All their past summonings had failed—
resulting in disasters like gray weeds, black sludge, or a corpse-like baby dragon.
But this time would be different.
The cult’s priest, Niral, had spent six months preparing four severed heads from different races and regions.
The sacrifice had to be fresh, too, which was no easy task.
Their many failed attempts had also corrupted the land, turning it into the magi-infested zone it was now.
But today, that hardship would end.
Niral began the ritual.
“O lowest in heaven, yet closest to us—Morgon. Accept our sacrifice and descend upon this world!”
Dark energy began to rise from the altar.
And then—Niral’s chest exploded.
This wasn’t a metaphor.
Blood and organs spilled as he collapsed.
“P-Priest?!”
The cult members froze in shock.
The black energy now surged wildly and violently out of control.
Everyone realized it:
Something had gone terribly wrong.
Just then, the blood-soaked spellbook began to float—
and next to it stood a man they hadn’t seen before.
“W-Who are you?!”
“A spy! He was watching us with invisibility!”
“You dare interfere with a demon summoning?!”
The cult panicked.
But before they could act—
“Shut up.”
Kranol, holding the glowing grimoire, raised his other hand—
a black lightning spark crackled in his palm.
The cult froze.
“Th-that’s… black lightning?”
“He’s a contract holder! A real dark mage!”
“Why would someone like him be here?!”
Only those who had made a real pact with a demon could wield such powerful dark magic.
And the cult, despite being evil, respected power.
They immediately believed Kranol was an elite dark mage.
“Y-you’re strong, fine… but you also said you know how to survive this?”
“Idiots. Of course I do. I’m a dark mage. I know demons better than you.”
Kranol lied with a straight face.
No one questioned it—his sickly appearance (from his madness) made him look like someone who had literally sold his soul.
“You three—get up front.”
“Huh?!”
“To fight Morgon, we need to hold the formation.”
Without knowing what was happening, three cultists obeyed and got into position.
Then—the dark energy exploded from the altar.
“C-can’t we just run?”
“Try it. You’ll die before you get far. It’s a demon, after all.”
And Kranol was right.
A huge black hand emerged from a dark rift.
It was covered in burning chains, massive, and covered in black hair.
Only Morgon’s left arm had been summoned—his full body couldn’t descend.
Still, that one arm was strong enough to tear Niral’s chest open in an instant.
SNAP!
Morgon flicked one of his fingers—
and one of the three cultists Kranol pushed forward was split open and fell.
“H-he’s insane!”
“Damn it! Fight, or we’re all dead!”
Though Kranol used them as shields, the cultists didn’t realize it.
They rushed in, swinging weapons.
But Morgon’s skin was like iron—
their attacks left shallow scratches, barely drawing any blood.
Still, a wound was a wound.
[Your Poison Fang Sword has attempted to apply poison.]
[Failed – Target is immune.]
Demons had strong resistance to poison and fire—so the effect didn’t work.
But Kranol didn’t care.
He wasn’t after damage.
He was after experience.
“The stronger the target, the faster skill XP grows.”
Morgon was technically a volume 3 enemy—way out of his league.
But Kranol’s attacks were connecting.
[Beast-Hunter Swordsmanship leveled up! Lv.1 → Lv.2]
[Lv.2 → Lv.3]
His swordsmanship, barely trained, shot up by two levels!
“Perfect. Insane XP gain.”
Normally, training physical combat skills was slow and painful.
But here, just a few swings gave huge results.
While others fought to survive, Kranol was calm.
He took out a bow and fired at Morgon’s wounds.
Most arrows bounced off, but a few hit open cuts.
[Basic Archery leveled up! Lv.1 → Lv.2]
[Lv.2 → Lv.3]
Again, massive skill growth.
He could’ve summoned the baby dragon or the girl,
but chose to keep the gains for himself.
“To cure my madness, I have to grow stronger in every way.”
This wasn’t just hunting—this was profitable hunting.
But Morgon wasn’t just standing there.
His huge arm began to tremble with fury.
Energy swirled as he opened his palm and formed a dark orb.
Kranol narrowed his eyes.
“Uh-oh. He’s actually mad.”
This was probably Morgon’s strongest move in his current state—
enough to wipe out everyone nearby.
Kranol acted fast.
He grabbed the floating spellbook—the Holy Chains Grimoire.
He knew what it was.
The book could control the chains restraining Morgon.
But alone, it wasn’t enough—it required divine power.
Luckily, he had two holy items from earlier quests:
- A Pure Silver Cross
- A Stick touched by Angel’s Tears
He placed them on the book.
They burned away, fueling it with holy energy.
The glowing letters shone brightly.
“Morgon. It’s not your time yet.”
Kranol opened the book and pointed.
A radiant beam struck Morgon’s massive arm.
The chains around it glowed and tightened.
The arm twisted—struggling to stay.
But the chains dragged it back into the rift.
It resisted fiercely but failed.
At last, the struggle stopped.
But as it vanished, Morgon’s index finger pointed straight at Kranol—
A silent message:
“I’ll come back for you.”
The rest of the demon’s arm was pulled into the black rift and never came back.
The strange dark energy completely vanished.
It was over.
“I-Is it over?”
“We did it!”
“Damn, I thought I was gonna die!”
With the demon gone, the surrounding magi also disappeared.
The land was clean again.
Kranol threw aside the book and walked toward where the demon vanished.
There, he found a black orb, glowing like a jewel—
the leftover loot from Morgon’s failed attack.
He picked it up.
[Name: Corrupted $@#@$.]
[Warning! This item’s data is locked.]
[You don’t have the required level to understand it.]
An item he couldn’t even identify.
But Kranol was thrilled.
“…This is huge.”
This was not something you were supposed to get in volume 1.
It was a future-tier item, only meant to appear in volume 3.
Even with all his exploits so far, everything had still been technically “possible” in the current story phase.
But this?
This broke the timeline.
Even someone like Kranol, who knew the original story, didn’t expect to get it.
“I can use this to cause some real chaos in volume 1…”
But just as he was getting excited—
“Hey, wait! Why is he picking that up?”
“He gets the demon’s loot? Just like that?”
The Black Serpent cultists began complaining.
Now that the danger was gone, they were eyeing the loot greedily.
“It’s from the demon—we summoned it, didn’t we?”
“Yeah! We did all the work. That treasure belongs to us!”
Kranol turned to them, clearly annoyed.
“You talk too much.”
Black lightning flickered in his hand.
The cultists flinched and backed off—
But suddenly, Kranol coughed hard and collapsed, blood dripping from his nose.
He bent over, pale and shaking.
His terrifying presence faded—he looked like a sick, weak man now.
It was a sudden madness flare-up.
“What’s wrong with him?”
“Is he dying?”
“Maybe we should just kill him and take the loot!”
The cultists began whispering.
One by one, they picked up their fallen swords.
Kranol was in danger.
Weak, outnumbered, and about to be killed.
But then—
“Raaaargh!”
A rift opened, and a small baby dragon appeared.
It leapt in front of Kranol and breathed out a white-hot flame.
“Ahhh!”
“What the hell is that?!”
“Wait, that looks familiar—AAARGH!”
The cultists were instantly burned alive.
Those who tried to run didn’t make it far.
Then—
“You tried to hurt Mister? No way I’ll let that happen!”
The little girl burst out of a rift and unleashed black lightning,
hitting the last survivors.
The evil cultists were wiped out by the very people they tried to betray.
***
Kranol, still shaky and bleeding, swallowed herbs.
His vision cleared, and his strength slowly returned.
The little girl stood proudly, hands on her hips.
“Hehe! I defeated the bad guys and saved you, Mister! I’m a hero!”
Kranol looked at her, exhausted.
‘…I probably would’ve survived thanks to the demon heart I saved earlier, but… still. They saved me.’
He owed them.
He thought for a moment and asked:
“So. What do you want in return?”
“Hmm… You have to buy me pretty clothes and sweet desserts!”
“Fine.”
“Yay!!”
The girl flapped her wings and jumped happily.
The baby dragon clung to Kranol’s leg, excited too.
“Kyaa! Kyahhh!”
“…Alright, I’ll get you new jerky too.”
They both clung to him, smiling.
It would cost some money—
but Kranol didn’t mind.
Now, it was time to go claim his promised reward from the lord.
