Submission, or Death

Submit.

Or die.

That aggressive aura made Gachi's breathing involuntarily freeze for two seconds.

But only for two seconds.

A moment later, the fat rat let out a wild, uninhibited shriek of laughter.

"Submit?! To you?! You're not even as intimidating as the Death Knights under Demon Lord Dragan! Why should Lord Gachi submit to you?!"

"This is Hell's command." Bond looked at him impassively and spoke in a cold, hoarse voice.

"Hell?! That Hell that's who knows how far from here?! Hahahahaha! You're trying to make Lord Gachi laugh himself to death! Let me tell you, we ratfolk have never worshipped your Demon God for even a second! The only ones worthy of our faith are the three supreme true gods! Lords Svirt, Gerlo, and Rifenda!!!"

Those so-called three true gods were the Ratfolk Clan's worshipped Rat of Trickery, Gluttonous Rat, and Bountiful Rat.

Leon had happened to read about those three rat gods in academic texts before. All he could say was that each one looked more bizarre than the last.

In a sense, ratfolk were not accepted by Hell's mainstream society precisely because rebellion ran in their blood.

Although there were Ratfolk Clans attached to Hell, he had hardly seen any Rat Rats in the Demon Capital.

But that was not what concerned him.

What he truly wanted to ask about was something else.

"Why did you betray Hell?"

"Betray? I never betrayed anyone. As for those things in the labyrinth, how could Lord Gachi possibly know? Before the great Lord Gerlo bestowed power upon Gachi, Gachi was merely a weak Slave Rat... a Rat Rat none of you had ever bothered to look at properly!"

Gachi let out a piercing laugh, the fat all over his body quivering as though mocking this Demon Lord's stupidity.

After only a few exchanges, he had already tested the Demon Lord's strength and found him pitifully weak, without the slightest threat to him.

So he no longer hesitated and immediately turned hostile.

"Since you came knocking on my door... then die!"

The sweeping rat tail was like a whip, sending "Bond" flying into a wall over ten meters away in an instant.

Dust billowed from the impact, and the enormous force nearly shattered what little flesh remained on Bond into even smaller pieces!

"Die! Die! Hahahahaha!" Gachi shrieked excitedly, unconsciously lowering his guard.

Not missing that fleeting opportunity, Leon rose from behind a protruding rock with his Magic Wand raised after finishing his chant. A dark yellow light shot from its tip!

"Earth Collapse!"

This time, he targeted not the floor but the ceiling directly above Gachi's head! In an instant, the once-solid cavern roof shattered into several sections as if struck by naval artillery!

"Boom—!"

Massive rocks fell from above, crashing down on the unprepared Gachi like a barrage of shells.

The fat rat was startled and was about to turn toward Leon when a Giant Stone struck him squarely on the forehead, freezing his bloated body stiff for an instant.

And that instant of sluggishness had already decided the battle!

In the blink of an eye, huge amounts of rubble pinned the fat rat to the ground.

Even with hundreds of tons of fat cushioning the blow, Gachi was smashed black and blue, buried beneath the rubble and unable to move.

As he looked fearfully at the human mage standing before him, his amber pupils were filled with a bone-deep terror for the first time.

He screamed in alarm.

"You! You're the real Demon Lord!"

Though this fellow's body had expanded hundreds of times over, his outward fierceness masking inner weakness, his habit of bullying the weak and fearing the strong, remained no different from when he had been at his smallest.

Leon smiled faintly and looked down at those terrified eyes.

"That's right. I intended to give you a chance, but your stupidity told me that you did not deserve one."

Seeing his gaze gradually turn cold, Gachi trembled all over and desperately struggled beneath the Giant Stone pinning him down.

"No! Lord Demon Lord! Gachi... Gachi was only blinded by desire for a moment! Please give me another chance! I-I-I'll lead my clan in serving you! I'll help you reclaim the labyrinth! I'll become your fiercest claw!"

Afraid Leon might go soft-hearted and spare him, You You anxiously spoke beside his ear.

"Lord Demon Lord, don't believe him! I can't feel any faith from him at all! He must be deceiving you!"

"I know. I'm not an idiot."

After saying that, Leon looked toward the restless players behind him and spoke in a language they could understand.

"What are you waiting for? He is the culprit behind this riot. Tear him apart!"

At Lord Demon Lord's command, the Skeleton Soldiers immediately charged forward in excitement.

Some carried short blades, some held spears, and others had explosives that might not even ignite...

Other than those carrying explosives, whom Leon stopped, all the other skeletons rushed forward and struck Gachi's eyes, nose, ears, and other weak points with whatever they held.

Blood and fat sprayed everywhere. The scene could only be described as unsuitable for children.

A Chosen Rat with Steel-level, perhaps even Gold-rank combat strength, was beaten to death beneath the rubble by a group of unranked Skeleton Soldiers.

In this world, levels truly were not absolute...

Faith Points +11000

Just as Gachi drew his final breath, Leon was surprised to see a dark green notification flash before him.

This time, it was not Experience Points that had increased, but faith?

"You You, what's going on?"

As the worm in Leon's stomach, You You naturally knew what had surprised him.

"Ah! That was probably the faith the Slave Rats offered to that big rat. You and your players killed him, so his Faith Points naturally transferred to you."

Leon froze.

"Faith Points can be transferred?"

You You explained.

"More precisely, what is transferred is divinity... If you did not possess an independent divinity, it naturally would not transfer to you. But since you do have one, you can absorb it."

Leon lowered his head in thought.

"Divinity... I always thought he was something like a Chosen One. Or are Chosen Ones actually a kind of deity as well?"

You You said, "Hard to say. Demon Lords are probably similar, aren't they? The Demon Lord Territory core clearly possesses traits of divinity, though it is incomplete."

It seemed that authority was not the only thing that could be granted in this world.

Silently noting that clue, Leon also checked his spoils.

Besides crates and bundles of wheat, dried chicken, duck, beef, and mutton, and dairy products, there were some strange goods, along with coins that had likely been looted from merchants.

It was Leon's first time seeing the currency used in the human world.

There were several stacks of paper notes carrying a faint sacred aura, as well as silver coins and Copper Coins stamped with all sorts of emblems.

He had no idea what that fat rat had been collecting these things for. Was Gachi planning to buy a house in the Holy City too? In any case, they all belonged to Leon now.

Just as Leon was considering whether to move these spoils to the Demon Lord Territory or leave them here for the time being, the Warning Magic Array he had casually set at the cave entrance that morning was suddenly triggered.

Noticing the situation at the cave entrance, Leon slightly raised his brow.

"It's quite lively today. More guests have arrived."

Though he said that, he was not surprised at all.

After all, North Peak Mine was one of the entrances to Thunder City's underground labyrinth.

It was merely too remote, so adventurers rarely came here.

"Should we capture them? Lock them up and stockpile Faith Points!" You You eagerly urged. She seemed somewhat influenced by the Demon Lord Territory core and looked even more like a Demon Lord than Leon himself.

"Let's see what's going on first."

Leon waved his hand, and the collapsed "Bond" picked up his greatsword again, swaying as he rose from the ground.

Then he called out to the players behind him.

"Don't touch any of the spoils here except the equipment! I have my own arrangements!"

In truth, Calamity Online had no built-in storage space. Even if the players wanted to take things, they only had two hands. Leon was not worried about them rifling through crates and chests in his territory.

Leaving behind those final words, he took Bond out of Gachi's "palace" and headed toward the mine entrance.

Since he was unsure of the enemy's identity, he did not bring the players this time and instead quickened his pace, disappearing around the corner.

Though the entire North Peak Mine had complicated branches, it had only one exit. Finding several intruders would not be difficult.

As for the possibility of passing each other by, Leon was not worried in the slightest.

After triggering the Warning Magic Array, those adventurers had already been tainted with the aura of the undead. As long as they were not too far away, he could vaguely sense them.

Clearly, this was another team too poor to hire mages and priests.

Still, to be safe, Leon had "Bond" walk at the front, You You float as far ahead as possible, while he himself stayed at the rear.

After proceeding through the mine for a while, Leon soon caught sight of torchlight around a bend in the cave.

From the adventurers' conversation, they seemed to be getting cold feet...

"Boss, something feels wrong here... I've been to North Peak Mine before. It wasn't like this."

"These sword marks... Lexon must have left them. No mistake! And these are axe marks, probably Am's!"

"But where did they go? Into the labyrinth?"

"Mm... I can guess what that little girl Chris was planning, but if that were really the case, they wouldn't need to enter the labyrinth. Staying near the entrance would have been enough."

Hearing familiar names in their conversation, Leon narrowed his eyes slightly.

It seemed they had come to rescue their companions.

Then there was nothing more to say.

He gave Bond a look. Bond silently raised the greatsword in his hand and charged toward the distant light source in a single stride.

"Dim Light!"

At the same time, Leon raised his Magic Wand and pointed it toward the cave ahead.

This was a Black Iron-level Necromantic Spell that could extinguish flames that were not too hot, as well as Black Iron-level Illumination Spells.

When he had attended Demon Lord Academy, he usually used it to extinguish oil lamps or candles.

The adventurers' torches went out in an instant, and the entire mine plunged into darkness. Their eyes fell into darkness along with it.

With darkness before his eyes, a bone-chilling sensation crawled over Jack's entire body.

He almost instinctively raised his sword. Then an enormous force slammed into the side of his blade, making the web between his thumb and forefinger ache sharply.

When he met the attacker's gaze, his heart nearly leaped into his throat. "Bond?!"

No—

This guy had become undead! And he had been awakened by at least a Bronze-level Necromantic Spell!

"Wait!"

Barely blocking the fierce attack from the greatsword, Jack leaped backward to open some distance and raised his left hand.

"Please wait! Respected mage! We have no grievances against each other. There's really no need for us to fight!"

"No grievances?"

Leon, standing in the darkness, chuckled softly and said unhurriedly, "You have already seen my spell. Do you think I'll still let you leave?"

A bead of cold sweat ran down Jack's forehead.

From the other man's words, he heard absolute confidence—this man was completely certain he could keep all of them here!

Driven by his desire to survive, his mind raced. Then his eyes shifted as he spoke.

"Why not? This is the Ryan Kingdom. Our faith in Saint Siss isn't actually that devout..."

"And then?" Leon said indifferently, controlling Bond as he continued forward.

At the same time, the chains of Soul Extraction had tightly bound the man who seemed to be the strongest.

"We can cooperate!" Feeling death close in, Jack shrieked. "Damn it, you're a necromancer, not undead! There must be things you need!"

Leon's hand stopped, and he stared at the group standing in the darkness with interest.

"You want to make a deal with me?"

Jack held his head high toward the pitch-black cave and forced himself to speak.

"Yes... Quite a few of my friends do work that would get them beheaded if others found out. When you think about it, it's not much different from being a necromancer... What I mean is! I don't reject you! I won't report you either! Whatever you need, I can help you get it!"

"What if I want an elf slave?"

Jack's breathing stopped at those words, but he did not say no.

"That would cost a lot of money... a great deal of money. Elves are allies of the Os Empire, after all."

Looking at Jack, drenched in sweat, Leon smiled faintly and spoke in an ordinary tone.

"I was only asking. It seems you really do have unusual channels."

This fellow was obviously no good person, but he at least thought before speaking and making promises, unlike a certain little rat who treated his words like fart and changed with the wind.

Seeing that the mage hidden in the shadows had finally become interested in him, Jack finally breathed a sigh of relief and wiped his sweaty palms on his pants.

"Of course! You'll have use for me! I swear it! Also, my name is Jack... May I know your name?"

Leon had intended to make up a name, but he quickly remembered that he could no longer piggyback on the Demon God's faith.

Sooner or later, he would have to develop his own faith and make his name resound throughout Thunder City, even the entire Ryan Kingdom...

"My name is Leon. Also, swearing to me is useless. I want you to swear to it."

As those words fell, a grimy Crystal Ball rolled to Jack's feet.

Watching the bewildered man, Leon spoke in a casual voice.

"This is a Recording Crystal."

"I want you and your companions to swear before it. Say, 'Long live the Demon God, long live Lord Demon Lord, long live You You...'"

"And Saint Siss is a pile of shit."