WHEN A BOOK BECOMES THE STRONGEST WEAPON

15. Demonic Essence

“Who exactly are you?”

The man Shaden had taken down in a single blow—the one referred to as the leader of everyone in this place—returned to him with a weary expression, accompanied by several of his subordinates.

Shaden stood beside Leah and Tery, while a few people around them stared curiously at the boy who had managed to defeat the tall man now standing in front of him.

“We’re just survivors, same as you,” Shaden replied.

He was a bit annoyed—he had intended to sleep while waiting for the fourth mission to begin. But then these people showed up, only to ask who he was.

“You… are you using some kind of youth skill that makes you look like a school kid? Your strength doesn’t match your appearance.”

Leah, standing next to him, stifled a laugh. Shaden simply let out a quiet sigh at the man’s comment.

“There’s no such thing. What you see is who I really am. As for my strength, isn’t everyone able to grow stronger by increasing their stats? I just did it that way.”

The people in front of him nodded in understanding, though their faces still looked doubtful, as if there was something they hadn’t yet said.

“So… are you going to lead everyone here now?” the man asked.

Shaden raised an eyebrow. “Why would I? I have no intention of doing something so troublesome. From the start, I only wanted a sparring match with you—and because I thought the f*e you were charging people here was way too much. So, go ahead and keep playing the role of leader or whatever, but I want you to return half the payment everyone here gave you.”

Then Shaden placed a hand on the man’s shoulder. “Also, I’ve already transferred 150 coins to cover upkeep for me and my friends.”

Hearing this, the leader and his subordinates visibly relaxed. They even hugged each other and spun around in joy.

“Thank you! I’ll return 50% of the coins I collected and suggest everyone use the refund to upgrade their stats. We’ll never forget your kindness. Oh, and remember my name! I’m Will. Hopefully, we can help each other in the future.”

Shaden gave a slight nod. The group then left and made their way back down.

“Ah, I forgot to tell them they shouldn’t stay in the field area,” Shaden muttered.

Tery responded, “Should I go after them and tell them?”

“Hm… no need. With their strength, they should be fine against a bunch of Goblins.”

“What?! Goblins? Is that what we’re up against in the fourth mission?” Leah asked, shocked.

Shaden shook his head. “That’s just a kind of sub-mission. I don’t know what the actual fourth mission will bring.”

His answer made both Leah and Tery narrow their eyes at him suspiciously.

“I swear, I don’t know everything. So this time, I’m just as clueless,” Shaden insisted. It would be too suspicious if they thought he actually knew everything. Especially now that so much had changed—including the cultists of Asmodeus, who were originally supposed to appear during the tenth mission. That’s why Shaden didn’t want to act recklessly.

“I didn’t expect you to still be alive, Leah.”

Shaden’s attention shifted as someone approached. He immediately recognized the man as Dany—Leah’s former superior at the office before the world ended.

“Really? You’re the one who’s still alive? I’m actually impressed. Weren’t you supposed to have died after failing the second mission?” Leah asked.

Dany laughed and looked at Leah with condescension. “Me? Fail? Please! I’m a special being who didn’t need to scavenge for garbage in the Department Head’s room like you people. See? I’m still alive, even after being betrayed by the likes of you.”

This time, Leah burst out laughing—even louder than Dany had before.

“Betrayed? Are you serious? You stole the key from us and left us to die for failing the mission, and now you’re calling us traitors? You’re absolutely shameless!”

Dany’s face darkened at Leah’s words.

“Have you forgotten that I was your superior?”

“Oh, really? And where are we working now? How do you plan to pay me? You used to take credit for my work—now you’d just kill me and steal my coins, wouldn’t you?” Leah shouted, clearly enraged by Dany’s shamelessness.

Shaden didn’t want Leah to lose control and attack Dany, especially since something about him felt… off. The aura Dany gave off was suffocating.

“Leah, step back!” Shaden urged.

Thankfully, Leah listened, though her eyes still burned with fury toward Dany.

“What do you gain from provoking her? If you’re lucky enough to still be alive, you should be grateful and recognize how much of a jerk you’ve been. Why are you still stirring up trouble like this?”

Dany frowned. “I know who you are. You’re that brat Leah picked up at the beginning, right? What, are you her lackey now? But I saw you fight Will—you’ve got some skill. I’m interested. So instead of following a weak woman like Leah, why don’t you become my subordinate? I promise I’ll treat you well.”

“This trash—”

Leah lunged forward, but Shaden stopped her. Meanwhile, Tery, who had been quietly observing, was getting increasingly irritated by Dany’s arrogance.

“Who is this guy anyway? Why’d he just show up and start acting like a big shot? Was he your friend or something?”

Leah scoffed. “I wouldn’t even admit he was my former boss with that rotten attitude.”

“Ah, so he’s the kind of boss who enslaves his underlings, huh?” Tery guessed.

Furious, Dany raised his hand, intending to strike Tery. But Shaden caught his arm mid-air.

What surprised Shaden, however, was that when he looked into Dany’s eyes, the man suddenly broke free from his grip.

“You’ll regret this. I’ll show you what true power looks like!” Dany snarled.

As Dany walked away, Shaden looked down at his hand, which now felt numb. There was no mistaking it—something about Dany had changed ever since he survived the second mission. Whether it was a sponsor or a deal with a demon like the ones made by those in the Western region, Shaden needed to find out before Dany completely disrupted the balance.

*

[Sub-Mission will start in five seconds.]

“Huh? A Sub-Mission? What’s that?”

“Wait, did I miss some kind of announcement?”

While everyone else panicked over the system’s ambiguous notification, Shaden was already prepared, scythe in hand. This time, he had asked Leah to use a pistol instead of a sword, while Tery stuck with his bow.

“What do you guys know about Goblins?” Shaden asked.

At that moment, the ground on the field trembled, and Goblins emerged, sending people flying in surprise.

Leah replied, “All I know is they’re weaker than most other monsters.”

Tery added, “Aren’t they poorly armored and usually attack in groups?”

Shaden nodded, then leapt into the fray, followed by Leah and Tery.

“But there’s something else about them. They can regenerate by eating their own kind. So if you want to kill them, you need to destroy their brains or completely obliterate them.”

“Is that why you asked me to use a pistol this time?” Leah asked.

Shaden nodded in response.

Chaos had already erupted below. Even though the people in this stadium were stronger than the ones Shaden had met before, they still struggled—especially when the Goblins kept reviving after being killed.

“Will! Smash them to pieces! They can come back to life by eating each other’s bodies!” Shaden shouted.

Will, who was fighting with full force alongside his subordinates, heard him clearly. To Shaden’s surprise, Will responded quickly—he swapped his katana for a massive hammer capable of crushing two Goblins at once.

“He’s got a good item,” Shaden muttered, watching.

He himself had no trouble dealing with the Goblins—they died easily with a single strike.

What he didn’t expect, though, was that a new variable had made this sub-mission far more difficult than anticipated.

If things had gone according to his estimate, they should have been able to finish this mission in under an hour with this many people. But for some reason, instead of decreasing, the number of Goblins kept increasing—and they were becoming even more aggressive.

“Argh!”

That scream came from Tody, the man who had initially demanded payment from Shaden on Will’s orders. Even a fighter as tough as Tody was now struggling, badly wounded from a Goblin bite.

“What’s going on?! Why are they getting harder to fight?!” Will cried out, panicking at the sight of his trusted ally so badly hurt.

Shaden tried to remain calm. He continued fighting while scanning for the source of the Goblins’ sudden shift in tactics.

“Shad! Look over there!” Tery shouted.

Shaden looked where Tery pointed—and saw Dany standing still on the sidelines, watching everyone else battle for their lives.

“I knew it. There’s something wrong with him.”

From the Goblins’ dramatic change in behavior, Shaden deduced that Dany was not only immune to their attacks, but likely the cause behind their spawning. He was the rotten variable Shaden had been looking for.

“Tery! Leah! Hold your ground and don’t get injured. Help Will and his team. I’ll take care of that guy.”

Among the chaos of humans and Goblins, the stadium was nearly 40% destroyed. People who failed to survive were trampled or eaten, while that one man—Dany—stood calmly watching it all unfold.

When Dany noticed Shaden sprinting toward him, he panicked and tried to flee. But Shaden threw his scythe the moment the distance closed—it pierced Dany’s back, sending him sprawling.

Shaden didn’t give him a chance to fight back. He stomped on Dany’s back, causing him to scream in pain.

“You’re the one spawning all these Goblins, aren’t you? How are you doing it? Did you make a deal with a demon to survive the second mission?”

Dany struggled. “Let go! Let me go! You won’t survive if you treat me like this! I’m special—I can’t die even if I’m torn to pieces!”

Shaden hesitated. If Dany really had made a demonic pact, then the scythe left behind by Mikael should’ve destroyed him instantly. But Dany was still here, still raving.

So what exactly had happened to this man?

“Argh! Let go! It hurts!”

Shaden looked at the stab wound on Dany’s back. Though Dany hadn’t disintegrated, the wound had turned black. One way or another, he was definitely connected to demonic power.

As Shaden became lost in thought, Dany suddenly gathered strength and threw him off.

Shaden was flung back. By the time he recovered and tried to catch Dany again, the man had already vanished, leaping up to the top of the stadium.

Clicking his tongue in frustration, Shaden turned to rejoin his companions—only to find that, suddenly, half the Goblins had vanished without a trace. The remaining numbers were now easy to deal with.

“I knew it. He was the one summoning most of the Goblins. But what kind of power lets him do that?”

Shaden clenched his fists. He never would’ve imagined that a coward who was willing to cheat and betray others to survive would suddenly wield such strength.

“Shad! We need your help!” Leah called out.

Setting his thoughts about Dany aside, Shaden rushed back to join Leah and Tery, who had just finished off the remaining Goblins and were tending to the wounded.

**