NOVEL NEXT Chapter 143: Hundreds of attributes
He chuckled then, a dry sound that hissed at the edges. It was a sound meant to put distance between himself and any illusions of mercy.
He followed with a soft, disappointed hiss—his voice a jagged music that cut through Juer'lo's very bones. The hissing and chuckling mingled, interspersed with idle, almost bored mutterings like a predator thinking aloud.
"Nonetheless, bring whoever that player is to me. It's better to eliminate any inconveniences no matter how small. If you can do this… I'll promote you," the high demon said.
The words were spare, almost casual, but Juer'lo's whole body answered them as though touch had been administered. "I'll make you a noble demon."
It was an offer the world could not buy in ordinary circumstances. Juer'lo's breath snagged.
Nobility among demons carried power and prestige like a weapon. A noble demon commanded respect, territory, followers—tools for ruling lessers—and more importantly, the right to make decisions beyond the petty edicts of local warlords. It meant resources to hoard, slaves to bend to his will, and territory from which to draw more tribute.
Juer'lo felt a dizzying swell of gratitude and panic braided together.
He had grown up knowing the hierarchy by rote. Every rank was a rung on a ladder carved from bone. To climb one rung could change a demon's entire fortune.
He could already see it: banners on a staff heavy with trophies, whispered obedience by lower demons, the taste of arrogance née from authority.
He imagined territories carved out in his name. He saw himself smearing the names of rivals into the dirt. He wanted it—wanted it so badly that the craving almost made him sick.
Tears fell again, but now they were not of a raw animal joy; now they were threaded with steel. The kind of steel that commits to action.
"I will not fail you, High Lord," Juer'lo whispered, barely audible.
The high demon hummed, a sound like distant thunder rolling over a quarry. It was satisfaction, faint and cruel.
"Good," he said. "Begin immediately."
Riley suddenly snapped back to his real body, his eyes shooting open as though he had been submerged underwater and only now allowed to breathe again.
His chest rose sharply, a loud gasp tearing out of his throat, and his body trembled with the aftershocks of what he had just witnessed.
His pupils dilated, sweat glistened down the side of his temples, and he could feel his heartbeat hammering violently in his chest, pounding as though it would burst out at any moment.
"Demons…" he muttered under his breath, his voice harsh and ragged. His teeth gnashed together audibly, the veins in his neck standing out.
His fists clenched tightly at his sides until his knuckles whitened, and for a moment, it felt like the suffocating aura of that high demon was still wrapped around him.
Even now, long after returning, Riley couldn't shake the lingering terror.
The sight of those glowing red eyes, the crushing weight pressing against him like a mountain—it had been unlike anything else he had experienced.
His lips curled in frustration as he tried to steady his breathing. But beyond the overwhelming presence of the high demon, what rattled him most was the information he had just overheard.
The demon had been strange, muttering to himself, chuckling, hissing—unstable, almost deranged. And yet, that strangeness was the very reason Riley had been able to gain so much information.
He had revealed things he likely shouldn't have said out loud, and those words now dug deeply into Riley's mind.
A few things in particular struck him like nails hammered into his skull. Riley's teeth ground together again as his thoughts circled. 'They have a way… to keep a player trapped in the game?'
His face darkened instantly at the realization. The high demon had said it clearly enough—if they could get their hands on a player, or simply hold them for a month, that would be enough. Riley's eyes narrowed sharply, and his entire body tensed at the meaning behind those words.
That means… the player won't be able to log out or return to the real world!
It wasn't just a casual threat. Riley understood the weight of those words. The implications were terrifying. His breath grew uneven again as he pieced it together.
Whether that "month" the demon referred to was in-game time or real-world time, the end result would be the same: the player trapped would die. His jaw tightened so much it hurt, and he muttered lowly, "Damn it…"
He thought about it logically. Normal humans could survive maybe a week without food and water at most. Two weeks at the absolute extreme, though even that would leave them half-dead.
And if the body was left unattended in the real world for that long? The trapped player's physical body would wither and collapse, unable to sustain itself.
Getting trapped in the game for over two weeks… that means certain death.
Riley's eyes flickered with a dangerous glint, but beneath it, there was a layer of unease.
He had lived through horrors in his past life, seen death and cruelty firsthand, but this… this was something different. Something new. A way for demons to drag the real world directly into Apocalypse.
And if what the high demon said was true, then anyone who fell victim to this method would never wake up again.
He leaned forward slightly, his breathing slowing but his teeth still clenched tightly. The weight of what he had just discovered pressed down on him like a vice.
"So this is what they planned on doing to me…" he whispered, gnashing his teeth in frustration.
This meant no matter what he did, he had to make sure he would never fall into the hands of the demons, or else that would be the end of his life… as well as that of the world!
Normally in the game, there was a strict limit—one could not remain inside for more than twenty-four hours of in-game time.
The system forcibly logged players out once that limit was reached, preventing them from lingering too long.
Riley knew this all too well. He had felt the pull of that timer many times in his past life, and it was not something anyone could avoid.
That twenty-four hours in Apocalypse translated to only twelve hours in the real world. The ratio was clear, fixed, and absolute.
It was the system's safeguard, a protective measure to ensure players' real bodies were never pushed past their natural limits.
After all, in the real world, their flesh and blood selves still needed rest, food, and water. Even the strongest player couldn't ignore that.
It had been for the best. It meant there was no risk of players frying their brains, collapsing from dehydration, or starving because of spending endless time inside the game.
Though some players constantly grumbled, whining about wanting to stay longer, to grind endlessly, or to escape reality fully—the truth was, they couldn't change that system detail. No matter how much they cursed or complained, the twelve-hour limit was set in stone.
But now… Riley's expression darkened. His brows furrowed as his thoughts circled like a storm. The demons… they seemed to have a way to go around that.
His frown deepened, his jaw tightening.
'How?' he wondered bitterly. 'Just how are they planning to bypass something hard-coded into the system?'
His teeth ground together hard enough to ache. His fists clenched at his sides until his knuckles cracked.
'Demons…' he thought, his eyes flashing coldly. 'None of you deserve to live.'
The image of Juer'lo's memories returned to him vividly, unbidden. He saw again the mountains of corpses, the rivers of blood.
He saw humans dragged in chains, eyes vacant, their screams echoing uselessly into the night as they were slaughtered like mere livestock.
Riley's lips curled in a snarl. That memory seared into his mind, feeding the fire inside him.
'I let him off too easy…'he thought, bitterly. 'Death was too merciful for that monster.'
However, what had happened had happened, and there was nothing he could do about it.
He then brought his focus back to the notifications floating at the corner of his vision.
[You have devoured: Normal Demon]
[Acquired: Strength +830.9, Agility +810.3, Endurance +860.7, Vitality +838.1, Mana +900.2, Skill: Darkness Chains (B-rank), Skill: Dark Veil (B-rank), Talent: Dark Warlock (A-rank)]
Riley's eyes widened at the sight of the glowing blue notifications, and for a moment he couldn't even breathe.
His jaw hung open, utterly frozen in disbelief. He had seen notifications countless times, had devoured monsters before, but never—never—had he seen numbers like these.
'Eight hundred… nine hundred…' His mind tripped over the digits, struggling to process them. The sheer enormity of it almost felt unreal, like he was staring at an illusion. Strength, Agility, Endurance, Vitality, Mana—each one surging by hundreds in a single gulp.
His breath caught, and almost instinctively he focused inward, paying closer attention to his body.
That was when he felt it—waves of raw power coursing through him like a violent river.
His muscles thrummed with energy, his veins burned as if filled with molten fire, and his senses sharpened so intensely that every sound and flicker of movement around him felt painfully clear. It wasn't just numbers on a screen. It was real.
A faint mutter slipped past his lips as his thoughts turned back to Juer'lo. "So this is what I got… from devouring a demon…"
His tongue darted across his lips, tasting the dryness there.
His stomach gave a low, eager rumble that startled even him.