The cascade of system notifications should have been a symphony of triumph. Instead, they were a terrifying drumbeat in the silence of his own hiding place. Each Ding! felt like a hammer blow that might shatter his fragile invisibility.
Ding! System Notification: Congratulations! You have learned the True Name of a Devil.
Ding! System Notification: Congratulations for being the first player to know a Devil's true name! Rewards: 1 Golden Treasure Chest, 1 Mysterious Box, [Famous Through the Land] Title.
Ding! System Notification: Congratulations for being the first player to earn Fame points (+100)! Reward: +1 Level.
Ding! System Notification: You have opened the Fame Rankings! Reward: Class-related Skill.
In any other circumstance, he would have been ecstatic. A level-up, a Golden Chest, a unique title—this was the stuff of legends. But here, crouched in the shadows mere yards from a creature of apocalyptic power, they were just noise. His entire being was focused on the devil, Jurthradaan. The pressure emanating from the entity was a physical weight, making the air thick and hard to breathe. He didn't dare even swallow, his hands clenched so tightly around the Teleportation Stone that his knuckles were white. He offered a silent thanks to whatever god watched over fools and madmen for the [Absolute Nothingness] skill. Without it, he would already be a smoking crater.
After five agonizing seconds where the devil remained fixated on the magical arrays, Tony's fear began to be supplanted by a dangerous, calculating curiosity. The devil hadn't sensed him. Emboldened, he moved, a ghost in the gloom, slipping fully into the chamber. His eyes, still enhanced by [Hawkeye], scanned the room, but they were irresistibly drawn to the center.
There, a complex fivefold magic array pulsed with malevolent energy. Within its larger structure, three smaller, intensely glowing circles hovered, each containing a single item: a leather-bound book etched with silver, a ring that seemed to be made of condensed starlight, and an ancient scroll sealed with a wax emblem that hurt to look at. Jurthradaan's entire attention was consumed by them, his hellish eyes burning with a mixture of ravenous greed and triumphant madness. It was this single-minded focus that was Tony's salvation.
"Finally!" the devil's voice boomed, shaking the very foundations of the chamber. "The time for my departure from this forsaken prison is at hand, after millennia of confinement!" The killing intent in his roar was so potent Tony felt the stone beneath his feet vibrate. "But to be trapped and yet to unearth these... it was worth every second of agony." The devil licked its razor-sharp teeth with a black, forked tongue. Tony's [Hawkeye] revealed nothing about the items, their power shielded by the very arrays that contained them.
It has to be the arrays, Tony reasoned, his mind racing, trying to find an angle, a crack in the impossible situation. The thought of stealing even one was ludicrous, a suicide mission, yet he couldn't extinguish the spark of avarice in his heart.
With only fifteen seconds of invisibility remaining, he had accepted the need to retreat when the devil spoke again, its voice a low rumble of impatience. "Why is that trash delayed? Has something befallen him?" An accomplice. The memory of Hawkeye's story—cursed by a devil's minion—flashed in his mind. Right on cue, the sound of hurried, scraping footsteps echoed from the hallway. A hooded figure entered the chamber and immediately prostrated himself on the floor, his body trembling violently.
"Apius pays his respects to Master Solrar," the man stammered, his voice choked with fear.
Tony's eyes narrowed. Solrar? The system had recognized the name Jurthradaan. A pseudonym, or a title?
"Why are you late, Apius?" The devil's question was a lash of pure menace.
"Master Solrar, after I cursed that Hunter, I sought to finish the job, but the worm proved elusive! I scoured the lands, used all my contacts in the mortal alliances... it was only recently I caught his scent," the man, Apius, pleaded. He threw back his hood, revealing a face so gaunt and wrinkled it was more skull than flesh, a visage twisted by dark magic and paranoia.
"You, a Grandmaster Cursemancer, are thwarted by a mere Hunter?" Jurthradaan—Solrar—sneered, the contempt in its gaze enough to wither a forest. "Give me what I require and remove your wretched presence from my sight."
Apius flinched as if struck, fumbling in his robes before producing a small, dark bag. It floated from his hands into the devil's grasp. Without another word, the Cursemancer scrambled backward and fled the room. Seeing he still had a few seconds of cloaking left, Tony made a split-second decision. He slipped out after Apius, tailing the man at a safe distance.
The moment Apius was clear of the chamber, his demeanor transformed. The cowering sycophant vanished, replaced by a figure crackling with suppressed rage and power. "Damn that Hawkeye! Where has he buried himself?" he spat, his voice a venomous hiss. "The [Soulslayer] curse is eating him alive, but I must be certain. He may know nothing, but I will not risk exposure." He cast a look of pure, undiluted hatred back towards the devil's chamber. "Just you wait, you arrogant beast. When I uncover your true name, the roles of master and slave will be reversed." With a final, triumphant sneer, he activated a talisman, chanting a short incantation before vanishing into thin air.
Ding! System Notification: [Devil Hunt] quest has been updated. Return to Hawkeye the Hunter and report your findings.
The notification was a clear exit sign. His mission was technically complete. He had the information. He could leave, collect his reward from Hawkeye, and count his blessings. But the image of those three artifacts, now unshielded and soon to be in the devil's possession, was a siren's call. He knew the devil's true name. He had a weapon, however small. The cooldown for [Absolute Nothingness] was 25 minutes. He would wait.
Hunkering down in a deep shadow, he finally allowed himself to process his rewards. The level-up had pushed him to Level 9, refilling his HP and MP. He examined his new acquisitions.
[Famous Through the Land] (Title)
Ability to accept all quests within the Mortal Realm.
Receive a 10% discount on all purchases from NPC shops.
Be treated with the authority of a 3-Star Baron.
The benefits were incredible, especially the universal quest access. It was a key to endless opportunity.
[Shadowless Stance] (Class Skill)
Execute three instantaneous attacks. The first strike deals 120% attack power, the following two deal 100%. All strikes inflict 100% bonus Darkness damage.
It was a perfect complement to his [Lightning Barrage], a powerful, focused assault. The Golden Treasure Chest and Mysterious Box he left untouched in his inventory; opening them here risked a catastrophic energy signature.
Suddenly, a roar of triumphant laughter shattered the silence, shaking dust from the ceiling. "HAHAHAHA! FINALLY! They are unsealed! Mine! They are all MINE!"
Tony's heart leaped into his throat. It was time. He activated [Absolute Nothingness] and rushed back into the chamber. The scene within had changed. The magic arrays had faded, and the three artifacts now rested freely on a stone pedestal. The devil, Solrar, was reaching for them, its form quivering with ecstatic anticipation.
"Now I shall return to the Demon Realm, and all those who wronged me will drown in rivers of blood!"
This was it. His only chance. As the devil's claw descended towards the starlight ring, Tony canceled his invisibility, appearing in the center of the room.
The reaction was immediate and terrifying. Solrar froze, its head snapping towards Tony. The killing intent that erupted from it was a physical force, slamming into Tony and locking his joints. It was like being submerged in liquid nitrogen.
"AN ANT?! DARE TO DEFILE MY SANCTUM?! DIE!" A sphere of black flame, swirling with the screams of the damned, bloomed in the devil's palm. Tony's every instinct screamed that this flame could erase him from the game's code itself.
He didn't have time to think. He poured every ounce of his will into a single, desperate shout.
"JURTHRADAAN, BE STILL!"
The effect was instantaneous and violent. The devil's body seized, frozen mid-motion. A fraction of a second later, it let out an unearthly shriek of agony, as if its very soul were being flayed. The system's promise that knowing its true name would "affect it extremely" was a gross understatement; it was a divine command.
Tony didn't waste the opening. He activated [Wind Rush] and [Rapid Steps] simultaneously, his body becoming a blur. He shot towards the pedestal. His first grab was for the scroll; its aura of ancient, profound power called to him. The moment it vanished into his inventory, Solrar's shrieks turned into a frenzied roar of pure, world-ending rage.
"HUMAN ANT! I WILL DEVOUR YOUR SOUL FOR ETERNITY!"
Black fire began to wreathe the devil's form, the compulsion clearly fighting against its overwhelming power. Tony's hand closed around the starlight ring, and it too disappeared into his bag. As he reached for the final item, the book, the pressure in the room spiked to an unbearable degree.
Solrar, ignoring the searing pain, vanished and reappeared directly behind Tony, its claw, wreathed in soul-destroying fire, poised to strike. Time seemed to slow. Tony's choice was stark: abandon the book and teleport to safety, or grab it and pray the teleportation activated before the attack landed.
A manic grin split Tony's face. In for a penny, in for a pounding.
"Fuck it! Greed is a virtue today!"
His fingers brushed the leather cover of the book just as he channeled mana into the [Teleportation Stone]. The world twisted into a vortex of color and screaming demonic fury. He felt the heat of the devil's strike on his heels, a promise of absolute obliteration.
BOOOOOOM!
That strike erased everything in a radius of 50 yards and a big chasm was created in its place, yet the book still stood there and nothing happened to it.
He rematerialized in a damp, dark cave, collapsing to his knees, gasping for air. The Teleportation Stone in his hand crumbledlost some of its luster. He had never been so close to a virtual death that felt so utterly real.
System Notification: WARNING! You have stolen the treasures of the Legendary Devil, Solrar. In retaliation, he has placed a [Soul Curse] upon you.
Devil's Hunt: All devil-kin will sense your presence within a 1000-yard radius and will hunt you relentlessly.
Marked for Death: You will suffer double the standard death penalty (Loss of 2 Levels upon death).**
Tony's face paled. "You vicious bastard! It was just two items!" The double death penalty was a brutal, permanent handicap. He was now playing on hardcore mode.
Shaking off the dread, a different, more profound pressure suddenly filled the small cave. The air grew still. The very dust particles hung motionless. Time itself seemed to have stopped. With trembling hands, he pulled the ancient scroll from his inventory. The moment it was unrolled, he was met with script in a language that predated humanity, yet he understood its intent perfectly. The pressure emanating from the parchment now dwarfed even that of the devil Jurthradaan. It was a cosmic weight.
Ding! System Notification: You have discovered the [Scroll of Myth].
A voice, neither male nor female, ancient nor new, spoke directly into the core of his being, its words etched into reality itself.
[Welcome, chosen one. Do you wish to change your Fate and embark on the road to Divinity?]