[Alert: Warning! Warning!] [Alert: The aftermath is closing in!] Siegfried hurriedly expanded the World of Despair and drew out every ounce of his remaining energy to shield himself. Even with Hyungseokius’ buffs stacked on top of his own power as a demon lord, the sheer force unleashed by Touch of Death was so catastrophic that the aftershock alone was already lethal. Unfortunately, shielding himself was not enough. ‘No! I’ll die at this rate!’ Siegfried came to the conclusion that maintaining the World of Despair under these circumstances was tantamount to suicide. What greater shame could there be than the Lord of Despair dying in his own dominion? ‘I have to release it.’ Siegfried hurriedly canceled the skill and transformed his +16 Vanquisher’s Grasp into a shield. He knew that whatever he could do wasn't going to be enough for him to survive the cataclysmic aftermath within the confined space. The World of Despair was a pressure cooker, and the aftermath was the pressure inside it. Siegfried was trapped in that pressure cooker. The World of Despair receded and— A massive explosion took place, obliterating everything in its wake. The World of Despair had been containing the force, and the second it receded, the pent-up energy was unleashed like a dam breaking apart. Gripping his +16 Vanquisher’s Grasp, Siegfried cried out in agony. Half of his HP was instantly gone, but it was not over yet. The aftermath was not a single explosion, but rather, it was a relentless maelstrom that constantly damaged him, reducing his HP every second. In the blink of an eye, Siegfried was on the verge of death. But just then, a lifeline reached out to him. “Warning. Life force at critical levels. Immediate recovery required.” The Demonic Cross: Hyungseokius had been waiting patiently with his eyes closed when Siegfried disappeared into the World of Despair, and he instantly opened his eyes the moment the darkness receded. Then, Hyungseokius used his powers on Siegfried without any delay. [Alert: You have received Terra’s Blessing!] [Alert: Your HP has been fully restored!] His HP was completely restored in an instant. Terra’s Blessing was an absurdly broken healing skill that instantly restored one hundred percent of the target’s HP. It was literally a cheat ability, as it healed the target immediately rather than over time. But the buffs did not stop there... [Alert: You have received Titan’s Blessing!] [Alert: Your Defense has been increased by 1,000% for 3 seconds!] Siegfried received another buff, the Titan’s Blessing, and was rendered virtually invincible, even against the cataclysmic aftermath of his own attack. ‘Oh! You’re the best, Hyung-Seok!’ Siegfried exclaimed inwardly. Thanks to him, Siegfried survived the aftermath of the Touch of Death. Chae Hyung-Seok, who was once an enemy, now stood as the greatest ally Siegfried could ever ask for. In his foes' eyes, he was a nightmare, but in his allies' eyes, he was salvation itself. Having Chae Hyung-Seok by his side made Siegfried feel as if he had obtained an entire army. The aftermath of the Touch of Death had finally settled, but it had torn through everything, obliterating every living being and structure in its path before dying down. ‘W-What happened...? Did I kill him in one hit?’ Siegfried remained still, waiting patiently for the dust to clear. He was armed with his stats as a demon lord, and those stats were further amplified by Hyungseokius’ buffs. He had attacked Sidon with a charged-up Touch of Death along with max-stacks debuffs The outcome was as good as decided. ‘Hurry up and show me what happened...’ he anxiously waited for the dust to settle. A gust of wind swept through the battlefield, carrying the dust away. ‘Ah...’ Siegfried spotted a silhouette through the clearing dust. The Demon Lord of Gluttony, Sidon, was still standing. Siegfried was worried that the Touch of Death had completely obliterated Sidon, but it wasn't the case at all. Could it be that he had failed to kill him? Siegfried walked through the cloud of dust to get a better look. [Demon Lord of Gluttony: Sidon] Sidon only had one HP left. In fact, his HP would regenerate to ten and quickly drop back to one, just like a flickering dying flame. A single breath of wind could disintegrate him. ‘Ah, so I couldn’t kill him in one shot?’ Siegfried grumbled inwardly, disappointment written all over his face. With Hyungseokius’ buffs stacked on top of his own buff, the Touch of Death ought to have obliterated Sidon on the spot. Contrary to his expectations, Sidon had one point of health remaining, which Siegfried found to be annoying. “Tsk...” Siegfried clicked his tongue in annoyance. However, his expectations were unrealistic to begin with. Killing a demon lord in one hit was nothing more than a pipe dream. Moreover, his opponent was none other than the Demon Lord of Gluttony, Sidon, a tank-type demon lord. Reducing the HP of a tank-type demon lord to one HP in a single attack? That was already a monstrous feat. In other words, Siegfried was being too greedy and ambitious. ‘Tsk... I’ll get stronger. And next time, I’m going to kill him in one hit for sure,’ he thought. And with that resolve, he raised his +16 Vanquisher’s Grasp and prepared to finish Sidon off, but then... A notification popped up in front of his eyes. [Alert: An Epic Quest has been triggered!] [Alert: Make your choice!] [Crossroad of Destiny II] [Choose one of the following paths.] 1. Path of the Demon Lord (Learn More) 2. Path of the Supreme King (Learn More) [1) Path of the Demon Lord] [Yes! Kill them all and absorb their power!] [I will become even stronger and surpass the Demon King! All of the Demon Realm will be under my rule!] [Warning: You will become too powerful if you choose this path, and you will not be able to descend to the human realm.] [2) Path of the Supreme King] [No! I’m the King of the Proatine Kingdom! My kingdom is where I belong!] [I’ll turn Sidon into a Radioactive Ghoul and enslave him!] [I am already a demon lord, so I do not need to grow stronger at the cost of losing my home!] “Hmm...” Siegfried pondered for a while after being presented with the two choices. He could either kill Sidon and absorb his demonic power to become an even stronger demon lord or enslave him and turn the Sixth Domain of the Demon Realm into a colony of the Proatine Kingdom. Both paths had clear pros and cons, and neither was an easy choice. *** Fresh chapters posted on NovelHub(.)net While Siegfried was debating whether to kill Sidon or not... Chae Hyung-Seok let out a deep sigh in his small studio apartment. He looked like his world was crumbling down. Empty soju bottles were scattered across the floor. He picked up another bottle and drank straight from it without any chasers or appetizers. “Seriously... This is so fucking depressing...” he muttered in melancholy. Sorrow filled his eyes, and he looked like he would burst into tears any moment now. He had lost everything yet again. His previous encounter with Han Tae-Sung ended with him losing everything. Thanks to Baroque’s generosity, he had been able to pay off his debts and regain some semblance of a normal life, but Baroque had fallen, and his character was stolen, so he had truly lost everything. His character was now Han Tae-Sung’s property, and there was no way to escape the life of servitude that awaited him unless he deleted his account. Unfortunately, BNW was a game where a player could never create another account for the second time. In other words, his only options were to remain as Han Tae-Sung’s slave for the rest of his gaming life or just quit the game entirely. “Fuck... Fuck this fucking goddamn game... This fucking trash game... I’ll just fucking quit. I don’t need this fucking piece of shit...” In the end, Chae Hyung-Seok made up his mind to quit BNW, the most popular VRMMO game of the era. He figured it was better to cut his losses and find a different game to play rather than be humiliated as his archnemesis’ plaything. But that thought only lasted for half a second... “Ah...” Chae Hyung-Seok muttered weakly. He felt a wave of despair washing over him after seeing the caller ID displayed on his phone. He forgot about one crucial fact, and that was that he still had a massive debt to pay off. While Baroque had helped him clear his private loans, the real problem was the banks. He still owed about one and a half billion won to the banks, and the monthly repayment alone exceeded twenty-three million won. Now that Han Tae-Sung had stolen his character, he couldn’t play the game properly anymore. Being unable to play the game meant losing his main source of income, which meant that he had no clear way of repaying his debt. On top of that, he couldn’t sell his items to pay off the loan’s principal amount because his items all belonged to Han Tae-Sung. At this rate, he would either live the rest of his life drowning in debt, declare bankruptcy, or end things with his own hands. Perhaps that was the reason, but— —Chae Hyung-Seok did not even feel angry anymore. Instead, he just let out a hollow laugh. The situation had spiraled so far beyond his control that there was not even room for anger, only a strange sense of tranquility that felt rather eerie. “Is this... what that bastard felt, too?” Suddenly, he thought of that bastard. Needless to say, that bastard was none other than Han Tae-Sung. “Did he feel this kind of despair... after losing everything? Did he drown in debt because of me...? Did he... feel like he wanted to die?” Strangely enough, Chae Hyung-Seok found himself empathizing deeply with the Han Tae-Sung from three years ago. Now, he was putting himself in Han Tae-Sung’s shoes. Now that he was in the same situation, he could finally understand how Han Tae-Sung must have felt back then. “If, back then... that bastard hadn’t gotten another chance... if he hadn’t been able to make a comeback... would he have ended his own life?” It wasn't far-fetched at all. Chae Hyung-Seok was barely hanging on right now, so he would not have been surprised in the slightest if he had heard that Han Tae-Sung had committed suicide back then. “What the hell have I done...?” Chae Hyung-Seok finally realized just how much of a monster he had been in the past. He was not only a monster to Han Tae-Sung. How many other players had he deliberately ruined? How many had he driven into despair? How many chose to end things with their own hands because of what he did? As the bitter truth set in, guilt came crashing down on him. “A-Aaaah! Aaaaagh! Kyaaaaah!” Drunk and overwhelmed by emotions, Chae Hyung-Seok screamed in agony. Only now, after losing everything, did he finally feel the weight of the evil he had committed. Siegfried stood there for a long time, staring down at Sidon. Should he choose the Path of Demon Lord? Or should he continue to pursue the Path of Supreme King? He would be lying if he said he was not torn. It was all because just a short distance away, Dantalion was lying unconscious. If he wanted to, he could simply absorb the demonic powers of both demon lords. He would become the single most powerful being in the history of BNW, a player beyond anything the game had ever seen. Of course, even now, he had already achieved legendary feats that would be remembered for generations. “What are you doing?” A voice rang out from behind him. “Huh?” Siegfried muttered and turned around. Standing behind him with a sly smile was none other than the Demon King, Baal. “What are you thinking about? Hohoho!” “Ah, well, I was...” Siegfried hesitated before answering. Then, he replied, “I was thinking whether to consume him or not.” Baal flashed a wicked grin and said, “What is there to think about? Hohoho!” “Go on. Feast on him.” “There’s a delicious meal right in front of you. Are you really going to let such a perfect opportunity slip away? Go on, help yourself. It’s all laid out so nicely for you, and you just have to eat.” A chill shot down Siegfried’s spine as cold sweat trickled down his back. ‘H-He’s... the devil!’ This was, without a doubt, the devil’s temptation. It was as clear as day that the Demon King, Baal, was using this opportunity to lure him in and mold him into his successor... and perhaps, even his son-in-law.