Ascension Through Skills

Whoosh.

His body, which had accelerated in the air, was obscured by the forest.

Since the distance wasn’t too far, he was able to reach his destination quickly by stepping off the tree branches and leaping.

“Heuk, heuk, heuk.”

A young girl was running, panting heavily. With black hair and black eyes, she appeared to be a teenager with long, semi-curly hair.

Despite her worn-out appearance, an unmistakable aura of nobility emanated from her. However, her clothing, ragged and tattered like that of a beggar, did not match her aura. Her face was smeared with dirt as if she hadn’t washed for a long time.

“Is that the child of the demon god?”

[She has an overall black appearance. Seems like a child of the demon clan.]

Taesan observed from atop a tree. A single arrow was shot right in front of the girl who was running with cold sweat trickling down her face.

The girl instinctively stepped back. At the same time, a trap was activated from beneath the bushes, tying one of her ankles with a rope.

The girl’s face turned pale. Although she quickly cut the rope and tried to escape, the men who had been chasing her had ample time to catch up.

“Whew, that was tough.”

Several men revealed themselves. A boisterous man looked at the girl and whistled.

“Definitely a princess. There’s a reason she hadn’t been caught for ten years. A pro at escaping. Pro.”

“You men…..”

The girl bit her lip. The men started to take out their equipment.

“I’m sorry, Princess. You’ll have to be captured without resistance.”

“I’m not so cheap to be caught by the likes of you.”

Her tone was light, but her eyes were filled with tension that she couldn’t hide. It was the first time she had been cornered this far since she started being chased.

“You’re all alone anyway after everyone’s dead, aren’t you? Isn’t it about time to meet them?”

“You bastard!”

The girl swung her sword roughly.

It was a decent move, but the girl was too worn out. Her swinging sword lacked strength, and, unsurprisingly, she was overpowered by the man’s power.

“Ah!”

The girl fell to the ground, appearing to faint as she started to breathe heavily.

“Great!”

The men cheer.

“We did it!”

“We finally caught her!”

“Wow!”

The men started to settle down with flushed faces.

“How much is this?”

“The bounty was a thousand gold, so… If we divide it per person, isn’t it a hundred gold?”

“Ha!”

If one were to save and live conservatively, a hundred gold would be enough to live the rest of their life without need. They had become wealthy in an instant.

While they were chattering about what they would do with their lives, someone said.

“Isn’t it a bit short?”

“Short? What’s short? It’s a hundred gold. A hundred gold!”

“That’s why it’s short.”

The man who spoke wrinkled his face.

“Do you know how much gold we’ve spent to get here? A whopping 60 gold.”

“But that gold was spent jointly by all of us, wasn’t it?”

“No, most of it was my money!”

The man raised his voice roughly.

“I paid for most of the tracking cost, commission fee, and hush money! Out of sixty gold, I spent forty gold? I used up all the money I saved in my lifetime!”

Even if he got a hundred gold, the man would only profit by sixty gold. He wasn’t satisfied with that.

“So, what do you want?”

“Give me more.”

“What?”

The atmosphere quickly turned hostile. The man extended his hand.

“You all take only 90 gold. I’ll take 190 gold.”

“You spent 40 gold, and you’re going to take an extra 90 gold?”

“The value of money has different rules. My 40 gold is now worth 90 gold.”

The man said confidently. In the silent hush, someone muttered gloomily.

“Do you think we’ll allow that?”

“If you don’t like it, you can die.”

From the suddenly tense atmosphere, they slowly started to draw their weapons.

The ghost chuckled.

[Did you really think these miserable creatures would uphold any loyalty before money?]

It wasn’t a new sight for Taesan either. It was a common tale for Somali pirates who disappeared after collecting a hefty ransom. News often reached him that half of the crew had been killed by their own hands when they were found again.

As the atmosphere turned hostile, one man was fidgety. The pale-faced man opened his mouth.

“Um, I’ll just…”

“May I join in, too?”

Taesan snapped a tree branch and landed in the middle of them. The overheated atmosphere surprised the group and forced them to create a distance.

“A black-haired one?”

“A demon?”

“No, no. The color is too light.”

Listening to their mutterings, Taesan realized.

‘Do demons have perfectly black hair?’

The girl’s hair seemed to suck in the light, a perfect black. While East Asians typically had black hair and eyes, there were also many shades of brown, and perfect black wasn’t that common. Taesan was the same.

“…Who are you?”

“I’m someone who has business with that woman.”

At his words, the men’s eyes dangerously flickered. Taesan quickly realized they perceived him as a competitor, and they drew their weapons.

Whizz!

As the arrow flew, eight men charged at him. Only the young-faced man seemed flustered as he watched the other men charge.

“You fight quite well for a bunch of brutes.”

Taesan moved his hand.

He caught the arrow.

The spectacle of him catching the flying arrow made them halt for a moment.

Taesan casually shook his hand. The arrow flew and pierced through the head of the man who was still staring blankly with a bow in his hand.

His fist wavered, and multiple afterimages formed.

Squish.

The chests of the men in front of him crumbled and disappeared. Taesan was more surprised that he managed to kill them all in one hit.

“Why did they die instantly?”

He thought they would last at least two to three hits, but they crumbled and died immediately as if they had no defense. The ghost casually commented.

[How can ordinary hunters withstand your attack when famous swordsmen probably won't last long either?]

“Even players in Easy Mode all lasted at least a hit.”

[That's because your world is unique.]

It was frustrating. He had been beating them one by one, trying to extract information, and they had all died.

“Maybe I should be satisfied with just one.”

The young-faced man who hesitated to attack was alive. The man was startled by the gaze directed at him.

These were not weak hunters. If they were, they would not have been able to capture the princess.

Among bounty hunters, even outstanding swordsmen in the upper ranks couldn’t easily break through their teamwork.

However, they all died in a single strike. The process of catching the arrow, the process of throwing the arrow back, the process of killing his companion, all of it wasn’t visible to the eye.

Then, there was only one conclusion.

‘..He must be at least a Sword Master!’

The man slowly retreated, screaming inwardly.

Taesan took a step.

In an instant, he disappeared from sight. The man felt a strong force at his neck and was slammed to the ground.

“Cough, cough!”

“Can you withstand this? It’s difficult to control my strength.”

“Ple, please…”

“Just answer my questions, and I’ll spare your life.”

Taesan, who had overpowered the man, spoke leisurely.

The man didn’t want to die. Not only did he answer Taesan’s questions, but he also spilled everything he knew without being asked. Thanks to him, Taesan was able to gather more detailed information about this world.

“So, a decade ago, an oracle came from the heavens.”

“Ye, yes……”

The man’s words were summarized as follows.

This world was originally a normal one. It was a world where humans and demons divided the world in half and lived by interacting with each other appropriately.

While there was an existence known as the Demon King, he bore no ill will towards humans but rather had goodwill towards them. They aided each other and lived in peace.

The deity that the humans in this place believed in was the god of light, Harmon. Demons believed in the Demon God. Although they believed in different gods, there were no major issues as they respected each other.

Then, precisely ten years ago, an oracle came down from Harmon.

Kill the demons!

They aimed to kill humans!

They were the enemy!

The priests who received the revelation were bewildered. It was too cruel and brutal for a divine oracle. They attempted to confirm it several times, but another revelation came down.

Kill the demons!

It was a sentence filled with firm determination.

And then, unnaturally, incidents caused by demons started to occur.

A mad demon self-destructed, wiping out a village and terrifying the capital. A serial killer who had caused widespread terror was actually a half-demon. Such rumors about demons came and went daily.

Thus, the chaos accelerated. The Demon King was also flustered and sought the Demon God, but the Demon God gave no answer.

Having lost their god, the demons were also shaken and started to create incidents one by one.

A year later, the war broke out.

The demons, who had lost their god, were helplessly swept away. Their proud dark magic was sealed and could not inflict any damage on holy knights clad in their armor.

The demon’s treasury was plundered by wretched beggars, and ordinary people killed the most noble of them unceremoniously.

Another year passed.

The Demon King was killed, and the war ended.

All the notable demons became the dew of the gallows, and those who ran away had a bounty on their heads, becoming fugitives. After a persistent pursuit, most of them were killed.

“And she is… the last princess of the demons.”

The child of the Demon King. The hope of the demons.

Somehow, she managed to survive for eight years, constantly on the run and staying alive.

“So it’s like that.”

Taesan stroked his chin. He understood the situation.

“I see.”

“Um…”

The man rolled his eyes anxiously. Taesan spoke leisurely.

“I’ll let you go if you answer one more thing.”

“W-, what is it?”

“How strong are you guys here?”

The man swallowed hard when he understood what Taesan was asking, and then answered.

“If you look at us as bounty hunters, we’re at the top. If you look at individual strength, we’re average mercenaries, and in terms of combination, we can handle up to a first-class swordsman.”

“So it’s like that.”

They were stronger than average. Just this level?

“Are the higher ranks extremely strong?”

[Well……]

The ghost trailed off.

Taesan waved his hand.

“Okay. You can go.”

“R-, Really?”

The man’s eyes widened. Honestly, he didn’t have high expectations of being spared.

“Why? Do you want me to send you to your friends?”

“No, not at all! Thank you!”

The man scampered away hastily.

‘What a nuisance!’

The man planned to give up his life as a bounty hunter and return to his hometown to farm. As the man disappeared into the forest, the ghost spoke.

[Not going to kill him?]

“I promised. He doesn’t seem like someone who’d cause trouble, so I don’t feel like killing him.”

Instead of enjoying the capture of the princess, he looked at her with pity. The young man was more startled than eager to attack Taesan, who they perceived as a competitor.

He didn’t seem like someone who would cause any problems.

“And it wouldn’t matter if he did.”

If he set his mind to it, he could cover tens of kilometers in a single day. His current location wasn’t important information.

Taesan looked down at the unconscious girl. Her black hair was tousled.

“I think I understand what happened.”

Presumably, Harmon had made a pact with Lucifer. He didn’t know the details, but it must have been an agreement not to interfere with the world.

Having achieved his goal, Harmon began to exterminate the demons.

The Lucifer that Taesan met seemed to have an obsessive personality about her possessions. Seeing the demons crying out her name as they died, Lucifer must have been enraged.

And then he showed up.

He was free to act here since he was a human, not a demon. Lucifer would have thought it fortunate and fulfilled the minimum requirement needed for interference.

That was why she had given him the quest, even if it cost her.