Regressor Instruction Manual-Chapter 1182. The Demon King of Sunset’s Castle (2)

[Mainstream Event: Monarch of Sunset's Second Story—the Demon King of Sunset's Castle has started.]

The troops remained quiet upon hearing the message.

Unlike the time against the Forsaken Saint, they didn’t get a positive, uplifting energy from that message. It was understandable, as the Demon King’s Castle was giving off such an overwhelming and oppressive air.

‘It’s well made.’

I had no idea who made it, but the Demon King of Sunset’s Castle felt like an actual dungeon. It had an antique design, and the scale and size of the dungeon were pretty overwhelming. Its scenery blended with the Ashen Sunset, and if I were to exaggerate a bit, I'd say the entrance looked like it was welcoming its guests to hell.

‘Actually, it’s more like they remodeled the castle. Didn’t they say that it was originally some king’s castle?’

It was natural for some people, including Marybell, the fifth princess and the survivor of this kingdom, to be upset. Perhaps she thought the demons had damaged the pride of the royal family.

I also saw a sense of duty and responsibility in her eyes.

Overall, everyone looked nervous. They were all probably thinking the same thing. They didn’t want to enter the castle, and if I had come here without knowing anything, I would have withdrawn the troops.

“What should we do, Mr. Lee Ki-Young? Should we make a safe zone...”

“No, I think we should enter right away before we get surrounded by the demons of the 21st Legion. We worked hard to get here after shaking off the pursuers, and I don’t want to let that go to waste,” I answered.

“I see.”

“We’ll create the safe zone inside the Demon King’s Castle,” I added.

The path that Kim Ye-Ri and the members of the Blue Guild had made was really helpful to us, but publicly, it was a surprise attack on the enemy.

The demons probably hadn't expected all of us to enter the Demon King of Sunset’s Castle. The command center probably thought that I was showing off my abilities as the Genius Commander, but we couldn’t delay any longer.

‘It’s not like we didn’t get into any battles before coming here.’

We intentionally avoided battles.

The demons were actually maintaining the defensive line of the Ashen Sunset Region. The Blue Guild said that they would open a path, but the 21st Legion actually belonged to Kim Hyun-Sung, and not the Blue Guild.

They had to have witnessed their master getting beaten to death in real-time, so if they didn’t want to get purged, they had to stop us with everything they had. This applied to the demons protecting the outer walls of the castle, and they were trying to stop us from entering.

Unfortunately for them, we had a way to counter that.

“A large army like this cannot stay there forever, so...” I paused.

“Yes?”

“Can I ask you to lead the way, Miss Marybell?” I requested.

“I honestly don’t remember it well. Escaping the castle through the sewers was something I did often when I was young... and when I matured, I lived in the Central Imperial Academy... I know I confidently said I knew this place, but...” Marybell paused.

‘Now that you’re here, you're not confident anymore?’

“It’s fine. It’s enough for you to tell me that the path leads to Melbourne Village. The reconnaissance team will probably investigate the area first based on what you told me beforehand,” I said.

“I see.” She nodded and bit her lips with a determined face.

Honestly, it didn’t really matter if the fifth princess of a fallen kingdom didn’t know the way very well because the blueprint of the Demon King’s Castle that I got from Kim Ye-Ri in advance was already in my head.

The only reason the princess was here was so that I could answer questions when asked about how I knew the way.

Obviously, I started walking immediately. Walking through the entrance didn’t seem like such a bad idea, but there was no need to force a siege and tear down the door. The former seemed more dramatic, but fighting the demons who were terrified of getting purged would inflict too much damage on us.

“There are a total of three entrances to the sewer, right, Miss Maybell?” I asked.

“What? Ah... yes, I think so,” Maybell answered.

“Like you said, the first and second entrance is connected to the underground waterway in Melbourne Village, and the last one leads to the Pedlington River. Isn’t that right, Miss Maybell?” I asked.

“Ahh, yes! I... I think so,” Maybell answered.

“I think it’s best if we split the troops into three groups. The first entrance, which is the largest, will be investigated by my party and me, and the remaining two will be investigated by the groups I mentioned earlier. I’ll be constantly watching you using the long-distance communication spell, so if you find anything unusual, please report it to me right away,” I instructed.

“Yes, sir.”

“Understood.”

Jung Ha-Yan, who had Anemone’s Eye, was obviously going to go with me, but unfortunately, I couldn’t take Han Sora of Ahrendel.

The first party included me, Jung Ha-Yan, and our other party members; the second party included the heroes of Ahrendel and Han Sora; and the third party included Woo Hyo-Hyeol and the high-ranking officers of Rohen.

I looked around and saw Hyo-Yeol leaving without saying a word to me. When I saw Lim Chae-Ryeong, Nam Goong-Seon, and No Dam-Hye, I walked over to them and greeted them.

The parties had a separate communication network, and after passing through the underground waterway, we would meet at the castle, so it was going to be a short farewell.

“Okay, let’s go,” I said.

Stealthily and quickly...

“Five, four.”

Quickly...

“Three, two, one,” I said.

“...”

“The spell.”

“Shadow of Concealment.”

Multiple mages cast the same spell at once. The invisibility spell on the entire army was promptly refreshed, and the operation finally began.

The mages and the priests cast another spell.

The Perception Reduction spell and the Speed Boost spell on me stacked up. My body felt light as a feather. The people, whose Agility was boosted, were moving so fast that they couldn't quite get used to it.

Of course, the buff didn’t last long.

We didn’t have a saint-level priest who could cast a buff on the entire army by themselves, so this method wasn't that effective.

I was sure many mages would complain about not having enough mana after entering the Demon King’s Castle, but there was no other way.

All I did was take one step, but it felt like I moved two to three steps, and the vanguards were way ahead of us.

It was pretty spectacular to see over one thousand troops moving in formation in a single file line. Emilia standing next to me raised two of her fingers not long after we started moving.

‘Did she place the troops in place?’

I raised one finger, and I saw her nodding.

I immediately saw the results.

I saw low-ranking demons being killed at the underground waterway entrance.

‘The vanguard has already entered the waterway.’

The enemy’s force was small, and I couldn’t help but think that Kim Ye-Ri was being considerate of me. The second party and the third party entered the underground waterway around the same time.

The disgusting smell of the sewage stung my nose so badly that I couldn’t breathe, but I couldn’t show it.

‘Shit.’

It smelled so bad that I couldn’t help but think perhaps we could have just started a siege and entered the castle that way.

“Please remove the invisibility spell,” I ordered.

“Yes, sir.”

“Same thing for the second and third party. Save your mana. The reserve will secure an escape route, and the remaining troops will head inside,” I instructed.

“Yes, sir.”

— Understood.

— Yes, Commander.

— Party Two will start the battle. It looks like a demon influenced by the Ashen Sunset.

“Good luck,” I said.

‘That won’t be a problem, so it’s better for us.’

The third party continued without any issues. I would have to wait and see what would happen next, but our plan to enter the castle seemed like a success.

After removing the spell, I saw William taking care of his unit.

After checking the mages’ mana and stamina, he immediately called for the reconnaissance team and ordered them to search the area. He had to have thought that I had too many responsibilities, as he was trying to do things he could do on his own.

‘Nice, nice. That’s how people should act. You have to have the ability to learn.’

“Miss Marybell, how much longer until the Demon King’s Castle?” I asked.

“I think we just need to walk for about thirty minutes. We can move faster, as there aren't that many demons here... from what I saw earlier...” Marybell answered.

I was walking while having necessary conversations with Marybell, and eventually, I saw a large clearing.

I knew the first underground waterway was the largest, but I was still taken aback by the size of this place.

It was big enough to accommodate all the troops, so if I were this dungeon's designer, I would place a gatekeeper here.

Kim Ye-Ri and the members of the Blue Guild had visited so many dungeons to the point that they were tired of it, so I was sure this atmosphere was familiar to them.

“Looks like foolish guests arrived.”

I heard a voice from far away, and I recognized it instantly.

“Hmph... You don’t know your place by entering... the D-Demon’s Castle... You’re so foolish.”

There was a small problem; the voice sounded like she was reading a textbook. The way she talked sounded stiff, as if she were wearing clothes that didn’t fit her. Actually, she was wearing clothes that didn't suit her at all.

‘Ah... who put her here?’

She was one of the youngest members of the Blue Guild...

‘Why did they put her here?’

It was Alps.

‘Ah, Kim Ye-Ri. Seriously! She shouldn’t have done anything. Why did she prepare so many things?’

I was more confused than happy. I couldn’t help but feel confused. I was at a loss for words when I saw her outfit. I never imagined I’d see her wearing a bikini-style armor. Whenever she wore armor, Alps would always wear a puffy beige-colored robe.

From the start, she was a simple country girl. Even after joining the Blue Guild, she maintained that innocence, and she had a lot of fans who loved her for that. The helmet, which covered her usually well-groomed hair, had horns attached to it, and there were even horns attached to the bikini armor.

I had no idea why, but she was holding a whip.

Alps emerged slowly from the darkness, and her outfit, which reminded me of female protagonists from the 90s, seemed to be making her feel embarrassed, as she had her head down.

To make matters worse, her face betrayed her delight upon seeing Jung Ha-Yan and me.

‘Don’t greet us, damn it. Don’t greet us...’

Alps was about to bow toward us, but she had to have recalled her role in time, as she quickly fixed her posture.

However, her behavior was pretty strange.

‘Just don’t say anything. I beg you.’

“Hmm... mmm~” Alps hummed.

‘Don’t hum, and please stop that sexy female officer concept.’

“It seems that... many mortals... have come to be t-trained by me,” Alps stuttered.

‘Why are you stuttering? What’s with that concept? Stop hitting the ground with the whip.’

Crack!

Crack!!!

Crack!!!

That sound annoyed me so much that I found it unbearable.

To make things worse, the way she was swinging that whip looked really awkward.

‘Where’s Shiro?’

It probably wasn’t Shiro, but I saw three giant demons behind her.

I finally understood her concept and role, but it didn’t mean that I could forgive her. What saved Alps was certainly not her poor acting skills or her bikini armor—it was the three demons under her control.

“Grrr...”

“Kergh...”

The beasts from hell were drooling while growling at us. If only Alps weren’t swinging her whip while blushing, this would be a pretty convincing scene.

‘Why is she wearing a cape with that armor? Since she's controlling the beasts, does she need a whip? And since she's using a whip, why did you give her the traits of a queen? Are you the one who came up with this, Ye-Ri?’

“Hmmm~ nothing more needs to be said,” Alps said.

No one asked her anything, so I didn’t know why she said that.

I wanted to run out of the dungeon because I was so embarrassed.

“Now, let’s go straight to the point~ I, the tamer of beasts, will be your opponent! You foolish mortals!” Alps yelled.

[You have encountered the first boss of the Demon King of Sunset's Castle.]

[The Beast Tamer, Alps.]

The three giant beasts charged at the troops.