The levels of the demonkins detecting and tracking the hell gate were at least 460. It was very high from a player’s perspective but they weren’t classified as ‘elite monsters.’ In their base area, level 460 meant an average or below average level that wasn’t special. The red-skinned demon Glant speculated that their origin was the land soaked in moonlight, the 14th Hell. The demons and demonkin of the 14th Hell had high intelligence and were known for their proficiency in magic.

“......?” Yura’s eyes widened as she entered hell. She had been prepared for the surprise attack of the demonkin but it was Grid and the messengers who welcomed her, not the terrible hellfire.

“How did you come here in advance?” Yura’s dimensional movement skill was currently level 2. The coordinates of the hell gate she opened were so unstable that even she didn’t know where it would appear.

Nefelina told the surprised Yura, “I am a great dragon. Why can’t I do what the demonkin can do?”

Braham scoffed like this arrogant attitude was ridiculous. “It was thanks to me.”

“It is true that your magic helped but the main thing was my insight. If I hadn’t detected a change in the wave of mana, wouldn’t your magic have been useless?”

“I can detect it as well. I was just a few seconds behind you because I’m in a bad condition.”

“I don’t understand it. Why do you have a sense of competition with me? For me as a dragon, you are just a trivial existence.”

“You have no right to call yourself a dragon when you are just a hatchling. In my prime, I fought and survived the fire dragon. Don’t you think it is too much to treat me like a trivial thing?”

“What? That is impossible. Are you lying to me because you want to die?”

“You both did a good job. Both of you were great.” Grid smiled awkwardly as he soothed the two people. The pride of the messengers was so high that it was easy for them to bicker if Grid didn’t mediate.

What did Grid go through for two hours? Yura felt sorry when she saw the fatigue on Grid’s face.

“A type of wave occurs just before the hell gate opens. It is a very slight change but Nefelina detected it and Braham used magic to teleport here faster than the enemies.”

“I see.”

She had been worried about the worst case situation where they were attacked separately. Fortunately, they gathered together safely. Yura comforted herself and looked back at Sariel who crossed the hell gate with her. The gazes of Grid and the messengers shifted to Sariel.

The demonic energy of hell was eroding Sariel. The ends of the large white wings started to turn black. Yura gulped and was ready to use Hell Regulation. In fact, Yura’s role was very important in this expedition. Sariel had a high probability of running wild in hell because he was banished from Heaven. It went beyond just being rejected by hell. One of the few ways to stop Sariel from running out of control was Yura’s Hell Regulation.

“I’m fine.” Sariel smiled as he grabbed his chest and gasped for breath. “The god’s trial... I will surely overcome it.”

A trial. It was an accurate description.

Grid wasn’t here to play. Hell was the only place where he could quickly grow the messengers who had an average level of 550. It was also the home of the great demons who dropped excellent treasures. Just as Mercedes grew rapidly stronger every time she wrote a chivalric code, Yura grew rapidly every time she cleansed hell.

The hell subjugation expedition was a necessary process to strengthen the fighting power of the Overgeared Kingdom. Grid didn’t want to exclude Sariel from this important schedule. He was one of the stronger people in the Overgeared Kingdom. He was a target who needed to be developed intensively. Rather than looking at the situation, he hoped that Sariel could overcome his limitations. He wanted to stop the experience of that hard-earned power rotting away...

“Why are you looking like that?”

“Nothing. I was thinking of the past for a moment.” Grid felt a strange displeasure when he recalled the case of Braham being nerfed the moment he was resurrected. Grid frowned and spoke to Sariel. “Once again, tell me straight away if you can’t stand it. Yura will be here.”

Hell Regulation was one of the Demon Slayer’s ultimate abilities and was a spatial skill that temporarily paralyzed the function of hell. It meant she could control Sariel who had a probability of running wild in hell.

“I am thrilled that the Demon Slayer who makes all the demons of hell tremble with fear is looking after me. God, your grace is warmer than light.” Sariel suffered terrible pain but he was still smiling.

Grid was proud after feeling Sariel’s determination while Yura blushed. She was ashamed. The Demon Slayer feared by the demons was Alex, not herself. Yura was fully aware that her skills were still lacking. She knew she wasn’t qualified to hear this from Sariel.

“...Sariel.”

“I will listen to God.”

“Turn into a woman.”

Grid mistakenly thought that Yura blushed because of Sariel’s appearance. He was alert because Sariel was so beautiful as a man that even a man’s heart would pound when seeing it. Long eyelashes and large eyes that seemed to be sprinkled with gold. Anyone would be fascinated looking into these eyes.

“I will follow God’s will.” Sariel changed his appearance without saying a word. For an angel, the body was nothing but a trifling concept. It was easy to change the gender.

“This looks good.” Grid was relieved to see Sariel whose skeleton became smaller and her body curves changed dramatically. He didn’t see Yura and Mercedes pouting.

“Ohh, ohhh....” It was due to Piaro. The admiration he felt after entering hell attracted Grid’s attention.

“How about it? Didn’t I tell you?”

“Yes, Your Majesty. Hell isn’t a place where it is completely impossible for humans to survive. It seems to be well developed here.”

“Being a demonkin doesn’t mean they just do hunting and gathering.”

Hell had a city. The wise demonkin formed a society in the neutral area. Grid had personally experienced the food culture there. It was rare but there were a few dishes made using grain.

Piaro told him, “I think it would be great to grow toxic plants and grains on this land. There might be toxins but the more toxic the plants, the better the efficacy in medicine.”

Grid’s face became rosy. “Does that include the herbs used to create a medicine?”

“That’s right, Your Majesty. There are many poisonous varieties of herbs that can be used as potion ingredients... If we grow them here, we can expect the efficiency to be 20 times those grown in the human world.”

“20 times...!”

Grid’s heart thumped. The biggest disadvantage of the potions produced by Reidan was their high price. The performance was excellent enough to be distributed to key people but the production costs were too high. This would make it possible to reduce the spending.

Piaro was already excited by the new environment. He became even more excited after hearing Grid’s response and took out his hand plow. “Then I will start plowing now!”

“Ohh!”

“...What’s wrong with them?”

***

In conclusion, Piaro didn’t start plowing. The reason he visited hell wasn’t to farm. Grid almost forgot after he was swept away by the atmosphere. Fortunately, Nefelina tackled him and he was able to come to his senses.

“Piaro, the task is the first priority.”

“I, Your Majesty’s sword, shield and grain provider will give my life to realize Your Majesty’s great cause.”

Piaro also calmed down. The two embarrassed people took the lead. They marched to the 28th Hell. Hundreds or thousands of demonkin and demonic creatures who had levels in the late 300s and early 400s blocked the path forward but they couldn’t stop the two people’s progress.

The elite demonkin and demons that occasionally appeared in the middle were quite powerful but Grid and Piaro were stronger. There was no need for Yura and the messengers to go forward. The two people directly broke through the enemy line and entered the castle of the 28th great demon.

“Demon Slayer, are you crazy enough to crawl to my feet? It is good. Thanks to your insanity, I will be able to show off my skills to the world. I will cut off your head and hang it from the gates! Kuhahahat!”

The hells in the 30s and the 29th Hell had already been subjected and purified by Grid and Yura.

“Now! Fight, Demon Slayer... eek! Who are you? My opponent is the Demon Slayer! These guys! Ack! Kuak!”

The 28th great demon was a bit stronger than the 22nd great demon Berith who appeared in the human world. It was the difference between the human world and hell. Even so, it was the 28th great demon. His physical power and magic power were stronger than Berith but the quality of his abilities was inferior. It wasn’t difficult for Grid and the messengers to kill him. The level of the messengers was so high that they received less experience, but they got excellent items. The two that stood out the most were the legendary rated twin swords and cloak.

‘It isn’t at a level that the members here can use.’

The performance was a lot lower than Belial’s Staff. In retrospect, Belial was likely a special named monster among the great demons. Wasn’t Belial the first one to invade the human world, proving that hell was real and bringing fear and despair to human beings?

‘The nickname was also gorgeous... The level and ranking were low but Belial was special. In any case, it would be good to give these items to the guild members.’

In the past, he might’ve opened an auction to gain more than the original price but it was different now. Rather than getting money from the pockets of the guild members, he needed to provide support to increase their strength. This way, his own strength would increase.

There was also the beauty of reciprocating. The Overgeared members regarded Grid as the best and made concessions and gave him support. He planned to pay them back steadily.

‘Money can be earned any time I want.’

Of course, this was on the premise that less money should be sucked into the alchemy facility. However, the most unfortunate thing right now was that the rune hadn’t absorbed any powers. The Rune of Gluttony. It was a rune that had a chance of absorbing power after killing named demonkin, demonic creatures, demons, angels, half-gods and gods. If it wasn’t for the rune then Grid wouldn’t have grown to this point. It wasn’t just Grid. Presently, those who were qualified to be called the strongest each had a rune in their possession.

‘In the past, I basically absorbed a power whenever I killed a great demon...’

However, this wasn’t the case anymore. At some point, the number of times a power was absorbed was reduced. Recently, the probability had become very bad.

‘Have I become so strong that the S.A Group changed the odds?’

It was unlikely. It wouldn’t be so blatant if it was really manipulation.

‘They would’ve tried to hide it as much as possible if it is manipulation. For example, increasing the odds when killing a relatively weak enemy while lowering the odds when killing a strong one.’

However, the situation was the opposite. Grid was more likely to absorb a power when killing the strong.

‘It might’ve originally been designed as the more power that is absorbed, the less it is capable of absorbing... If there are too many different types of powers that are absorbed then there might be a conflict with each other.’

He was checking the condition of the rune when Yura’s voice was heard.

“It is regretful that we didn’t bring Sehee. It is only by showing her completely eliminating the great demons that the demons will shrink back and be unable to act rashly.”

The Demon Slayer’s Hell Purification wasn’t omnipotent. The hells she cleansed couldn’t be invaded by great demon candidates and were proclaimed a neutral zone, but this wasn’t permanent. If the purification was permanently maintained then hell would be peaceful due to Alex’s actions in the old days.

Hell Purification was simply an opportunity. It was an opportunity for the demons who wanted peace. It was only by quickly establishing the statue of Yatan that the purified zone would become a complete neutral zone. If the statue wasn’t established during the purification period then demons would start to invade the territory again.

Creating a neutral zone wasn’t an easy thing to do. Demonkin attempting to enter the purification zone were hunted down by demons. In order to make the neutral zone, Yura had to defend the purification zone for a certain period of time. This was why Yura wanted the power of Saintess Ruby. The Saintess could permanently destroy the soul of a great demon and prevent reincarnation. Her deeds would be considered horrifying by the demons and make them passive. It could also keep them away from the purification zone.

However, Grid ruled out Ruby from participating in this expedition. The level of hell wasn’t that easy. Hell was a place so dangerous that he couldn’t even bring the 10 meritorious retainers here. Objectively, Ruby’s level meant she had fewer opportunities to go to hell. Rather, she would be a burden and could put the messengers at risk. At least in Satisfy, the lives of the messengers were 100 times more precious than Ruby’s life.

“It will hold us back if we try to fight while defending Sehee. If she wants to join this party then she needs to gain at least 60 levels.”

Buses only drove when they could afford it. Grid, the messengers and Yura. For now, it was ideal to maintain these members.

“In addition, there is no need to be obsessed with purification. It is better for the great demons to keep appearing rapidly. Thus, we can kill them again and get more rewards.”

The situation was different from when it was just Grid and Yura. Now they were together with the powerful messengers.

“That is true.”

Grid wondered, “By the way, the Demon Slayer’s reward is only for the first time cleansing the hell?”

“Yes.”

“It is a bit of a pity...”

The Demon Slayer could learn new skills or get stats every time they cleansed a hell. It was a reward that was limited to once per hell. It was actually shameless to think this was a pity. There were 33 zones in hell. The difficulty of the condition of ‘must purify a hell’ was too high so the growth was slowed down. However, in terms of potential, the Demon Slayer was a tier 1 class.

‘By the time she purifies the 25th to 23rd Hells, Yura will be stronger than me.’

Of course, it was still limited to hell but it was something to look forward to. Grid was also a person. He wanted to be a passenger rather than a bus driver.

—Just like now.

“This time I will come out.”

“You won’t have a chance to be active.”

The appearance of Braham and Nefelina as they entered the 27th Hell made Grid feel at ease. Their stats might’ve been reduced by the hell environment but the tea given by Yura mitigated the penalties to some extent and they could fully use their skills. The combination of these two people was stronger than the combination of Grid and Piaro. They opened the road to the castle of the 27th Hell.

‘I’m comfortable, very comfortable.’

Just watching increased his experience. Sariel also made a great contribution as she slaughtered the demonkin and demonic creatures. while the other messengers fought the great demon. Due to the curse, her stats rose in hell and she was powerful enough to scare the demons.