God-Tier Enhancement: My Upgrades Never Fail-Chapter 262: Episode _The Great Gear Arms Race (5)

7.

Demon Kings don’t walk around with the words “Demon King” written on their foreheads.

The same goes for Emperors, Heavenly Kings, Popes, and even the President of the United States.

At best, you might recognize the president on the street from TV and think, ’Wow, it’s the President.’ But it’s not as if sitting in a chair grants them some indescribable aura that makes ordinary people instinctively feel they shouldn’t get close.

For that reason, the monsters that appeared didn’t recognize Epia.

How could they? She didn’t look like a Demon King.

She was cute, pretty, and sexy.

Though those words didn’t quite belong together, not a single one of them had anything to do with “Demon King.”

Did she at least possess a symbol of her office?

No.

At most, there were her weapons, but even those had already passed into Simin’s hands.

And these were monsters, not demons. There was no way they would know that the twin swords symbolized Demon King Epia.

The Demon World was vast.

The Demon King ruled it, but that didn’t mean every demon and monster knew who she was.

Many lived their entire lives without ever seeing her.

On top of that, Epia wasn’t spewing streams of dark magic to provoke the instincts of the mindless beasts.

From the outside, she looked like a typical young succubus.

Who would look at her and see the queen of the succubi, let alone the Demon King?

That was why the monsters had charged in, and why Epia now stepped forward.

“What a nuisance...”

Her face was full of annoyance, but her eyes held a flicker of concern.

That worried gaze was fixed on Han Simin, who was running for his life.

She wasn’t certain yet.

The former Enhancer.

Her beloved.

The one and only love of a succubus, whom she would carry in her heart for the rest of her life, even after his death.

This was a critical moment; that love might have just returned to her.

He might not be the one, but for someone who had lived with even the faintest glimmer of hope extinguished, this was a test worth investing everything in.

There was no way she could just let him die. 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

That was why she had followed him.

And, while she was at it, it was about time she reminded the races of the Demon World just how terrifying their Demon King truly was.

She would show them.

Epia reached out toward the gigantic monster that stood between her and Simin.

She moved with a careless air, not even sparing the creature a glance.

She wasn’t in a hurry.

Her gesture was like brushing away a gnat blocking her path.

And performed with Epia’s slender, delicate hand, the motion looked anything but threatening.

The result, however, was brutal.

Jeong Hyeonsu, who had been blocking the monsters’ attacks with a proud “dad smile” on his face, suddenly froze.

He would never admit it was because he had just watched a monster’s life get snuffed out, its body sliced cleanly in half by a single, casual swipe of her hand.

The body, severed with surgical precision, didn’t even bleed, as if refusing to accept what had happened.

Whether that was because the cut was so clean or because of some ability imbued in the Demon King’s authority didn’t matter.

Only one thing did.

“Grrr...?”

“Grrr...”

It was the first attack that made the monsters—who had been acting purely on instinct—feel fear.

And by the time they felt that fear, more than five of them had been split in two by the Demon King’s touch.

“...So she really doesn’t need weapons or armor at all.”

Han Simin, who had been running for his life, couldn’t help but let out a hollow laugh.

What the hell was that?

With power like that, he felt he could enhance the twin swords he was clutching to +15, steal them, and run off, and Demon King Epia’s life wouldn’t be particularly affected.

And so Demon World Exploration Part 2, the Demon King’s warm-up, was successfully broadcast.

*

The warlocks fled with everything they had.

They ran as if they had truly abandoned all else.

Because of that, some ended up dying to adventurers who, under normal circumstances, wouldn’t have dared to even look them in the eye.

It couldn’t be helped.

Even when attacked, they chose evasion and retreat over counterattacks.

In any war, no matter how strong your forces are, no battle is more costly than a retreat.

Even so, the warlocks had made that choice because they had no future.

There was no point in fighting.

If they couldn’t open the gate to the Demon World, any further losses would just be a war of attrition. Given the difference in numbers, that war could only end in a bitter loss for the warlocks, who were not even a speck compared to the Continent.

On top of that, the Continental Army was drunk on victory, charging in without the slightest regard for their own casualties.

Even if the warlocks managed to kill their pursuers and get some breathing room, the humans would just throw away their lives to buy time until the next party arrived. The warlocks would end up dead anyway.

So they didn’t fight.

They ran, so that even one more of them might live.

So that there would be a future generation.

However, once the Main Quest changed, the story shifted.

The warlocks, of course, didn’t know the new quest text.

They only felt it.

“The Continent bastards aren’t killing us.”

“It seems they’re trying to capture us alive.”

It might have been a subtle difference.

But in a situation like this, it felt larger than any other.

Naturally.

The adventurers who had once attacked on sight, who had charged in thinking, ’Even if I die, I’m taking one of you with me for the Contribution Points’—at some point, they were still attacking, but there was always mercy at the end.

There was no way the warlocks, who were walking a tightrope with their heads on the chopping block, would fail to sense that.

“Why are they showing mercy?”

“It is not mercy. Their objective has changed.”

And that, in turn, became an opportunity.

“They’re trying to take us alive.”

They had gained a crucial piece of information.

Of course, communication between warlocks had long since broken down, so there was no way to pass this on. But if this behavior wasn’t limited to just a few groups, then the other warlocks would feel it too when they faced the Continental Army.

And at the same time, they would all think the same thing.

’They aren’t killing us.’

Which meant that as long as they weren’t captured, they would be fine.

The humans, who had slaughtered them without a second thought after the war, had suddenly changed their minds.

No warlock bothered to agonize over the reason.

It was obvious.

They didn’t know the exact details, but they understood.

There was only one reason for such a change of heart.

There was something the humans wanted to hear.

Something they wanted.

The power dynamic was on the verge of flipping.

“We resist. If it looks like we’ll be captured, we kill ourselves. We do not give the Continent bastards a single scrap of information or help.”

“Yes.”

Of course, things wouldn’t truly be reversed.

To the people of the Continent, the warlocks were still an evil that had to be eradicated, and if they needed something, they wouldn’t ask politely.

They would resist to the end and survive.

As the Main Quest changed, so did the movements of the Continent’s people.

And in response, the warlocks changed as well.

“Hey! Warlocks! Get ’em!”

“Arrogant adventurer scum.”

A party of more than twenty users spotted about five warlocks in a dense forest and gave chase.

It was such a secluded forest that they couldn’t hope for reinforcements, but the users didn’t hesitate.

After all, warlocks only ran away now.

Their own low attack power didn’t matter against the warlocks’ weak defenses, and their low HP was a non-issue since the warlocks never fought back.

However, when they finally closed in, the changed warlocks didn’t run.

In fact, they had already finished chanting their spells.

“Die, humans.”

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

“Argh! What the hell! Why are they attacking?!”

“What’s gotten into them all of a sudden?!”

In the end, it was an information war.

Who would be the first to feel the increased difficulty of the new Main Quest?

Given time, everyone would eventually adapt.

What mattered was this:

The difficulty of the Main Quest had gone up.

And because of that, the number of warlocks who survived had increased significantly.

8.

The world is always high risk, high return.

The Continent, which could have killed more warlocks with fewer casualties, chose a riskier path for the chance to save its hero, focusing on capturing them alive instead. As a result, the Continental Army had to accept the risk of dying in situations where they would have been safe before.

Naturally, the number of NPCs and adventurers capable of capturing warlocks alive was extremely limited. Until they arrived, the pursuit parties had to endure and hold the warlocks in place, accepting heavy losses.

Complaints naturally increased. It was unavoidable.

No one wanted to die.

However, even though those voices of discontent rose until they reached the Princess and were reported to the Emperor, the Main Quest did not change.

The Continent had to let many warlocks go and suffered unnecessary losses, but they pressed on.

“Tell us how to open a gate to the Demon World.”

“Heh heh. Whatever’s going on, we can’t just give you what you want.”

“Isn’t that your destiny?”

“Opening the gate you want is not our destiny. And we’re hardly afraid of some invasion you’re supposedly preparing for.”

They were capturing warlocks alive.

They had been rewarded for the risk they’d taken.

Of course, the captured warlocks didn’t grant their wishes, but they had at least succeeded in capturing them.

What came next was entirely up to the Princess.

She had to make the warlocks open the gate.

“Bwahaha! I don’t know why, but I guess there’s something you need from the Demon World, huh? You’d better wake up from that dream. A gate to the Demon World doesn’t open with just one or two warlocks, and in that vast Demon World, it’s impossible to open one exactly where you want it without a demon’s magic circle!”

On top of that, they were saddled with this handicap.

The road ahead was a mountain range stacked upon another.

Even so, the Princess did not give up.

“Is that so? Then capture more. A hundred, a thousand. Capture every warlock on the Continent. And we keep trying until it works. The hero who protected the Continent is now trapped in the Demon World, his life threatened by the Demon King. We cannot give up just because it’s hard or the odds are low. From this moment on, we will commit all our forces to capturing warlocks alive.”

For the sake of the hero who had gone all the way to the Demon World for them, the Continent would not give up.

It was the kind of news that would make savvy users tilt their heads and wonder if they were even playing the same game, but regardless, the Continent was still burning with determination.

*

“Argh! I’m gonna die!”

“You’re not dying. Only I get to kill you.”

“Don’t say creepy stuff with that face. I told you, I’m not the former Enhancer!”

“That’s for me to decide. So don’t die.”

And while all that was happening, the hero of the Continent was spending his days in peace.