Chapter 59
***
Adelaide didn’t answer and instead walked towards the portal. It was more important to get out of this cold place quickly and take the portal that would lead them somewhere else. It would be fine to reply after that.
Everyone rushed to the portal as if they all had the same thoughts. The mission to find the key was forgotten as soon as the portal appeared. Finding the key in a snowfield like this was no different from finding a needle in the desert.
“Oh my! Ugh, ugh!”
Adelaide, who was the first to pass through the portal, jumped hard and brushed the snow off her body. She was wearing Lisianthus’ cloak so she didn’t get too wet. However, the hem of the cloak was dirty from being dragged through the snow.
Her demons passed through the portal one after the other. Everyone trembled saying it was too cold.
“What’s cold?” Caladium bluffed even though the tip of his nose was red.
“But what did that mean? Power?”
The Skeleton Captain tilted his head and asked. Adelaide, who was patting her clothes, also stared at Lisianthus.
“Literally, the hidden portal opened thanks to Master Adele’s power.”
“What? Awesome, Adelaide! I didn’t know you had such amazing power!”
The Skeletons clapped their hands in admiration. Adelaide had a bewildered face. She puckered her lips like a crucian carp a few times before opening her mouth.
“Could you be mistaken? I don’t have powers…”
Adelaide hesitated. Her face, which was red due to the cold, became redder. She was ashamed to be a mid level demon who lacked powers.
A power that had not manifested for more than 100 years couldn’t awaken so suddenly. It was strange that there was a hidden portal, but it was probably not her own ability. She was embarrassed because she thought Lisianthus overestimated her.
“I am sure of Master Adele’s power. A portal color changes suddenly, or a hidden portal suddenly appears… Has this ever happened before? It must have.”
Lisianthus asked in a confident voice.
What happened in the Boraca Dungeon came to her mind naturally. But, how did he know? Adelaide’s eyes widened in surprise.
“Yes, there was, but…”
“Then, what do you mean it’s not your power? I knew it was strange that you entered the place where I was confined in the Boraca Dungeon. Boraca thoroughly locked me in there.”
Caladium said as he brushed the snowflakes off Bell’s body.
“Isn’t it a coincidence? How could this power… appear so suddenly?”
Adelaide looked puzzled. She should have been happy if she really had powers, but she seemed unable to believe it because she had lived without powers for too long.
“Of course you’re supposed to have powers. There are ones that you are born with but there are many that could develop throughout your life. Isn’t that right, manager?”
“…Yes. I was quite old when I got my crafting powers. So don’t worry too much, Master Adele.”
At Caladium’s and Lisianthus’ explanations, Adelaide’s face gradually brightened.
Power! I can’t believe I have an ability too!
How many times had she been teased by Succubi and Incubi for having no powers? Adelaide, during her prime, was always the object of jealousy, so if she lacked anything, she was immediately ridiculed.
Her lack of powers was always brought up. Even Maximilian would often sadly say, “It’s strange, you should at least have one power…”
“Well then, what kind of power is it?”
“We will be more certain as you use it several times, but… I think it’s probably ‘portal interference’. It’s a pretty rare power. They are classified from D-Class to B-Class depending on the demon’s ability, but from what I’ve seen so far, it is at least C-Class or higher.”
“That power is the best for stealing. Because it’s great for hiding or running away. If you can create your own portal, it would be an A-Class. We’ll see.”
“We still have a lot of time.” Caladium smiled.
As if waiting, the Skeletons gathered around and hugged Adelaide. The Durahans also gave her a thumbs up and praised her. Congratulatory greetings continued.
“Congratulations, Adelaide!”
“Congratulations!”
“Woof! Woof!”
Bell, who was being held by Caladium, quickly jumped into Adelaide’s arms. Caladium felt both regret and jealousy at the sight of the puppy disappearing like a shot arrow.
Anyway, it was a very warm sight. Lisianthus watched them with a graceful smile like a grandfather watching his grandchildren grow.
While the cheers from the party who celebrated the discovery of her power continued, a hoarse voice interrupted.
“Excuse me.”
It was her first time hearing the voice. Adelaide slowly turned her head in its direction.
“How long do I have to wait?”
A demon awkwardly stood there. He was a member of the Sol Dungeon assigned to the room.
Adelaide frowned and murmured, “What, who’s interrupting?”. She had forgotten where this place was because the atmosphere was so good.
“From what I heard, it looked like you escaped the trap room due to portal-related powers. You’re lucky. You skipped dozens of rooms and came here.”
When everyone paid attention to him, the satisfied demon quickly ran up the stairs and sat down on a large chair. He seemed to want to look cool. Sitting on a large chair when you want to look cool is a special kind of demon.
“But it’s too early to celebrate. You have met this Carpesium, the Gatekeeper of Darkness.”
Kuk Kuk Kuk. Carpesium laughed like a villain as he covered his face with his gloved hand.
Adelaide stared at him for a moment, then whispered softly to the Skeletons and covered her mouth with her hand.
“He’s similar to Caladi.”
“What?!”
Caladium, who never misses to curse, was offended.
“Similar? F*ck. Me and that id*ot? You’re talking nonsense!”
“Look at the face, the face!” Caladium said energetically. Adelaide also acknowledged it. The appearance of that demon and Caladium were so different that it was regrettable to compare them.
“No, I’m not talking about looks. I’m talking about the title and the way you speak. Even Caladi sometimes calls himself titles and pretends to be cool. ‘This Caladium’ and ‘The Great Devil of the Red Flame Caladium’, things like that.”
Caladium’s face turned red. He couldn’t admit it even though the point was clear.
“D*mn, that loser pretending to be cool! I’m just cool!”
Caladium shouted while pointing a finger. As a result, Carpesium, the ‘Gatekeeper of Darkness’, was heartbroken. Tears streamed down under Carpesium’s large eyes. He looked scary in appearance, but once you got to know him, you’d know that he was a very tender-hearted friend.
“A loser… H-How could you say that…”
“Ugh! Caladi, apologize now! He’s crying.”
“What should I apologize for? I was just telling the truth!”
Caladium exhaled through his nose and folded his arms. He said he had no intention of apologizing.
Adelaide, restless, approached the chair where Carpesium was sitting. Lisianthus squinted his eyes to see if there was any danger, and stared at Carpesium. Carpesium seemed to have no intention of attacking. He seemed to have forgotten his mission because he had been sobbing.
“Hey, I’ll apologize on his behalf. Caladi didn’t mean it in a bad way…”
Adelaide gently patted Carpesium on the back. He lifted his head, wiping his tears at her consolation. Yes, not all demons in the world are bad.
However, what greeted him was the appearance of Adelaide smiling while taking the Skeleton’s sword.
“Yup.”
Tak! A loud sound rang. Adelaide hit him in the head using the sword without hesitation. Being attacked at his weak point in a defenseless state, Carpesium lost consciousness.
Flop. His large body fell in front of his chair. Adelaide smiled brightly while holding the Skeleton sword high.
“I won!”
[T/N: I swear Adelaide leaves me speechless sometimes XD]
“Let’s go to the next room!” Adelaide said with a happy face.
The other demons were at a loss for words for a moment and were silent. The Skeletons greeted her with an awkward smile. Caladium trembled, saying it was horrifying.
“You really don’t know someone…”
“What’s wrong?” Adelaide tilted her head. Only Lisianthus approached her and said that it was a very good attack.
As she shrugged her shoulders and headed for the next room, another demon greeted them. This time they were twin demons. Some familiar lines followed.
“Hey, it’s great that you beat Carpesium.”
“But he was the weakest amongst all of us…”
“Wow, they’re twins.” Adelaide opened her mouth and admired. No matter what they said, she didn’t feel a sense of crisis. If it wasn’t a trap room, there was nothing to worry about.
‘Because Greenville has Caladi!’
Although he was useless in the trap room. Adelaide turned her gaze to Caladium.
“Caladi.”
If both dungeons succeed in conquering the opponent’s dungeon, the victory or defeat is decided according to the time it took to attack.
She was confident that they could defend themselves well against the attacks of Sol Dungeon, but since they wasted a lot of time in the trap room, they couldn’t fight leisurely anymore. They had to change their strategy.
“It’s your turn now.”
“Strategy name, ‘Swift Action’.” Adelaide added with a bright smile.
“Are you ready?”
Caladium grinned, revealing his white teeth. “You call that a demon?”
“It’s been a while.”
Caladium snapped his fingers. In an instant, huge fireballs were created next to him. It was his power that Adelaide first saw.
“Hic!”
The twin demons instinctively sensed the threat, embraced each other and groaned. But it was already too late to run away.
“Okay, go!”
Adelaide pointed to the demons of Sol Dungeon and gave the order.
“I accept your command, Master.”
At the end of Caladium’s playful tone, fireballs rained across the room.
***
A large square in Bilbao.
The shouts of the crowd echoed everywhere. The reason could be found in the screen erected in the middle of the square.
The video on the screen was fixed on a grey wall. The video stone used by a videographer belonging to the Dungeon Newspaper had been filming the same scene for over 10 minutes.
“Woooooo-! Boring!”
“Aren’t they already dead? Seriously, what can eight people do…”
It was natural for the audience to be disappointed when they had no idea what was going on. Even Shavarma, the owner of the Sol Dungeon, yawned as if he was bored.
[Ehem. Calm down, everyone. They’re not dead yet. The match is set to end automatically when all demons from the Greenville Dungeon die.]
“You call that an answer!”
“Boo!”
The crowd threw trash at Go Il. “It’s the first dungeon match in a long time, we even took a warp!” Dissatisfaction erupted from everywhere.
And between the portals of Sol Dungeon and Greenville Dungeon, inside the cage laid out, one demon was endlessly looking at the portal, it was Raham.
‘You, why would you do such a reckless thing? …’
He looked at the portal with empty eyes.
Demons were dying because of him. It broke his heart to think of his close friends who followed Adelaide. The moment he thought that he would rather die than this, the portal to Sol Dungeon shook.