Why I Quit Being the Demon King

Why I Quit Being the Demon King Chapter 171

39. Finding a road leading underground

(3)

Although it was a temporary territory created to avoid persecution by the Holy Emperor, Noi Ekan now had more meaning to Zeke.

“You always talked like a habit. “The world is twisted.” It was twisted.

Regin’s life too.

Zeke

didn’t bring Regin with him on purpose because he thought it would be unlucky for him to be with him…

Was it a bad choice?

no.

Regin became Leo Paladin.

A warrior from a Joryx Castle contracting family rose to the rank of Le O Paladin, the pinnacle of all warriors.

Is there a more successful life than that?

“Because I’m fifteen now.”

On the continent of Jose, fifteen was legally an adult.

Fifteen

doesn’t mean you become an adult right away, but it was old enough to do one’s job.

It didn’t matter if I was hated.

Rather, use that heart as energy to become a better warrior.

“Rather than a hero who can no longer hate the Demon King… you are much better suited to that position.”

Zeke muttered to himself and followed the flames toward the old lava cave path.

The appearance of the entrance was completely different from before.

It didn’t even occur to me that it was the same place.

Some places collapsed and others soared, and memories were of no help in finding the way.

However, he had an ability that was incomparable to then.

After climbing over sharp rock walls and walking along a lava-flowing valley for a while, several underground caves were revealed.

Zeke explored each of the caves.

We explored seven caves over two days, but

all of them ended up being cut off within a few kilometers.

It was an adventure I couldn’t have attempted if I didn’t have tolerance for heat, but I wasn’t very happy with the results.

In the 8th cave, I also encountered a strange monster.

They were fish swimming in lava.

Its body was about two spans long and covered with white scales. I tried to catch one to see if I could eat it, but as soon as it got out of the lava, it died and hardened.

Because I live in a hot place, it seemed like I was freezing at normal temperatures.

The ninth cave was unusually deep.

The cave was nearly 10 kilometers long, narrowing and then widening as if it were disconnected.

Considering the slope, I thought it must have been about 500 meters below the ground.

A lot of time has passed.

I found the entrance to the cave during lunchtime and started exploring, but it felt like it was getting closer to midnight.

Progress was slow as we searched through small caves that stretched out in all directions like branches.

I happened to find a small cave covered in a thick layer of sand, so I spread out a cloak and lay down there.

Since it was a lava cave, there was no need to worry about the cold.

My body felt warm thanks to the moderately heated sand.

If it weren’t for the monster that might appear at any moment, I would have wanted to take off my armor and take a bath.

Then, before I knew it, I fell asleep.

How much time has passed?

Zeke’s eyes widened at the sound of a low singing voice.

-This is the sky. A sky full of stars.

—Let’s dig for stars. Let’s dig up a lot. Until your and my sacks are full.

— Hey ho hey ho!

The song that I heard vaguely in my sleep became clear.

It wasn’t far.

I finally found the short charcoal guy.

Zeke walked around the cave following the sound for about 10 minutes. But the sound only grew further away.

There was no place as loud as the cave where I fell asleep.

Zeke put his ear to the wall.

The sound seemed to come from beyond the wall.

I drew my sword.

If the wall was broken with too much force, the cave might collapse.

The only way to do this is to use sword energy to cut the rock apart.

Zeke took a stance holding the sword with both hands.

The opponent is a rock.

I felt like I could cut as much as I wanted.

The sword glows red.

The faint scent of flames enveloped my body.

Even though it was just a magic trick, it felt like my strength had doubled.

You can cut down anything that blocks your way.

I lowered my sword.

I felt as if something had brushed my hand.

I changed the angle again and cut.

A cross-shaped incontinence formed on the rock wall, and soon it

collapsed as it could not bear its own weight.

After a few sword strikes, a new cave 30 meters deep was created.

Dust fell and part of the wall collapsed.

The dwarves shouted loudly.

“It’s a fall!”

“The cave is collapsing! Avoid!”

There were a total of seven dwarves mining ore there.

From some point on, when entering Hwangdo, 7 people were in groups.

The leader dwarf waved his hand, signaling us to avoid.

The dwarfs, who were only half the height of adults, ran around and hid behind a larger rock wall.

The dust soon cleared. The dwarves stuck their heads out from above the rock wall to check the situation.

The leader made eye contact with a man there.

“They are humans!”

The dwarves came rushing out with surprised faces.

“It’s human!”

“human! human!”

“We’re finally connected to the ground!”

Listening to the shouts of joy, it seemed like they were cheering at the fact that the passage was connected rather than happy to see people.

Zeke broke through the wall and spoke to them, scratching his head.

“Little guys, please calm down for a moment.”

But no one stopped talking.

The leader raised his hand and clenched it into a fist.

“Shut up! “Little guys.”

Everyone pressed their lips together. The young

dwarf covered his mouth with his palm, worried that the sound would leak out.

Only then did the leader extend his hand to Zeke.

“He is said to be Chanz of the Iesod Kingdom.”

“It’s Zeke Zeke Pan Jade.”

“Zeke? “I vaguely remember that name.”

“I had a friendship with Kielce, a knight of the Kingdom of Malkut.”

“I know the Kielce of Malkuth well. The Southern Root Knights are the most powerful army in this area. “Welcome to the roots, human Zeke.”

“thank you. Rather, how long does it take from here to the Kingdom of Malkut? “I would like to meet Kielce after a long time.”

“The underground terrain has changed greatly since the cataclysm ten years ago.”

“I thought so.”

“The roads that had been connected were cut off and the roads that had been disconnected continued, making maps more useless than toilet paper. “I also blew the map that had been handed down from generation to generation and threw it in the trash can.”

Chanz glanced at the hole in Zeke’s back.

“It looks like you were lucky enough to find a passage connected to the ground, but over the past 10 years, various kingdoms have dug numerous holes in search of passages that can replace the existing paths.”

“Are you also looking for a passage?”

“That’s right. Even if you have an overflow of gems, they are of little use if you can’t sell them to humans. Oh, I asked about the road leading to the southern roots. I will guide you personally. Although he is said to be an acquaintance of Lord Kielce, he may be an enemy. “I will personally guide you and take responsibility.”

“We are truly friends.”

“Follow me, Zeke. The paths in the ground are endless. “Even if I rush today, I won’t be able to arrive the day after tomorrow if I’m lazy about my work.”

The Kingdom of Iesod was immediately adjacent to the Kingdom of Malkuth.

In terms of straight-line distance, it was only about 10 kilometers away, so Zeke’s walking pace was enough to cross the border in one day.

But the path underground was different from the one on the ground.

It was twisted and twisted in three dimensions, and large rocks in the middle often blocked the path, so the length of the cave was more important than the straight distance.

It was a full 24 hours later that we arrived at the capital of the Kingdom of Malkuth.

It was a long journey that took 18 hours, not including Chans, who said he wanted to take a break and slept for 6 hours.

The distance walked was about 40 kilometers.

Zeke was once again surprised by the complex landscape of the underground kingdom.

“It’s because humans are arrogant.”

Chanz opened his mouth while looking at Zeke’s face.

He lit his pipe, exhaled a long puff of smoke, and walked towards the main street of the capital of the Kingdom of Malkuth and continued speaking.

“If you build a house in the dirt, there is no room to decorate it beautifully. Since the sun doesn’t reach it, there’s no point in adding color. That’s why we build houses in a crude way, like building pillars, but there is beauty in them.”

“Our family’s swordsmanship was also like that.

Because we were a family of warriors, all that remained was swordsmanship against monsters, and we were often laughed at because we always lost in sparring.”

“It appears they are a family of warriors.”

” yes.”

“Then it must be Holly Beach. “But I’ve never heard of it.”

“Because I haven’t been able to stand out for a long time. But things will be different in the future. “My younger brother has become a Leo Paladin.”

“oh! Leo Paladin! Isn’t he the leader of the Zodiac Knights? “It seems like all the talent was gathered in my younger brother.”

“Maybe so.”

“Practicality itself is beauty. Unless one understands that fact, the human kingdom is nothing but a castle of thought. Even after the cataclysmic day, we are holding on well. However, it is said that many of the human kingdoms have disappeared.”

“Because mugwort monsters are scary.”

“It seems they call it the mugwort monster. Anyway, I’ve said enough that even Seonghwangcheong abandoned its home and ran away. “It seems like the dwarves of the Kingdom of Tiparet are having a hard time because of that.”

“ah! After all, there was a kingdom

of charcoal workers there too .”

“We are invisible but we are everywhere. “Not even those damn ants could harm our kingdom.”

“Giant ants are really scary monsters.”

“He is persistent, ferocious and cruel. But our warriors are also not inferior in perseverance. “Don’t be surprised when you see Lord Kielce.”

Zeke tilted his head at Chans’ words.

The two immediately headed to the knights’ office near the royal castle.

I was able to meet an old friend inside a strange building made up of jars stacked like jars.

“no way! “Are you saying that the outstanding warrior, Lord Zeke, has grown this much?”

Kielce greeted Zeke with a big smile.

Chans finally confirmed that Zeke’s words were not lies and heaved a sigh of relief.

Zeke hugged Kielce and patted his back.

Since I was about 120 centimeters tall, I had to bend my knees, but it wasn’t awkward.

Kielce’s left hand was replaced by a machine.

It seems that what Chanz was talking about when he told me not to be alarmed was the left hand.

Kielce laughed at Zeke’s gaze.

Rather, he moved his left arm as if he was bragging.

When I pulled the string and pressed the switch, my wrist rotated and a hole appeared.

“I put on a repeating cross bow. “When you turn this lever, an arrow flies out once every two seconds.”

Unable to comfort or congratulate his words, Zeke could only smile forlornly.

“Even so, we kept looking for Lord Zeke, and since he came to visit us in person like this, it seems that God has not abandoned us yet.”

“Actually, I was also looking for Lord Kielce. “After the Devil’s Whispers were completely destroyed, we lost all contact with the dwarf kingdom.”

“It was only recently that we found a way to the surface. “At least because of the monsters

, it’s not easy to navigate the streets, so it’s a lot of trouble.”

Kielce paused for a moment and exchanged greetings with Chanz.

Dwarves have a much longer lifespan than humans, easily living for 300 years.

There was a lot of interaction with neighboring countries, so we knew each other well.

Chanz said a few good words to Kielce and left for his kingdom again.

Zeke thanked him several times and sent him off.