Taming Master

Chapter 215: The City of Rage (3)

Before anybody realized, it had been 30 days since the Devildom had opened.

The users’ interest in the Devildom grew even more to the point that a separate bulletin board related to the Devildom was made in the official Kailan community.

Now, even most decent top-ranking users had succeeded in receiving related quests and had entered the Devildom, and because of this, the number of users that had entered the Devildom far surpassed a couple ten thousand.

On top of that, because Yankoun, who guarded the point to get into Zone 119 through Zone 120, was defeated, there were even over thousands of users that had entered into the 110-range Zones.

To be honest, besides Ian, not one user knew of the existence of the chief gatekeeper that guarded Zone 120.

However, the portal of Zone 120 didn’t remain a free pass forever.

• Ack, what exactly happened here? I finally got through Zone 121 today, and entered Zone 120, but there’s a chief gatekeeper at the portal that’s at the end of Zone 120!

• Huh? What are you talking about? I just passed through Zone 120 yesterday and am in the middle of hunting in Zone 119 right now.

• Hul, guys, this is a serious problem. Apparently, a chief gatekeeper suddenly appeared at the portal in Zone 120 this morning.

• Huh…? Was there always such a thing?

• Person above, you’re behind on information. The fact that Zone chief gatekeepers exist already emerged a week ago. Several rankers already reached Zone 110 as well, but because the chief gatekeeper there is incredibly strong, apparently nobody has been able to pass through yet. They say that the best rankers are forming a raid party in order to catch the chief gatekeeper of Zone 110… To think that a chief gatekeeper would appear in Zone 120 as well.

• Aaack! Then will the latecomers not be able to get through Zone 120 now?

• That’s right. Not only will they not be able to enter through, but if you use a return stone and go back to a village, you won’t be able to return to your original hunting ground again.

• Ha… Will nobody catch the chief gatekeeper here?

• Apparently, they’re at lv 350 or something like that, so who would catch a monster like that? They could maybe be brought down if a full party of 20 top-ranking players went after it…

• Pfft, person above. I don’t think it will be to that extent. Even if it’s a monster that’s in the lv 350-range, I feel like even if just four of five users in the top 10 gathered, they’ll be able to catch it.

• Is it easy pulling together four or five of the top 10 users then?

• But then again… That would be difficult as well.

Exactly in the spot that Yankoun disappeared from, a new chief gatekeeper had appeared.

Thanks to that, the price of Low-grade Magic Stones, which only dropped from Zone 120 and onwards, began to skyrocket.

Of course, Ian, who didn’t really have much interest in what the market price of Magic Stones were, just melted all of his Magic Stones on fortifying his weapon as soon as he obtained some.

“Whew, I’ve failed at making it reach the 10th fortification this time as well.”

Along with the message that stated that the fortification failed, Ian wore a disappointed expression as he looked at the Judgment of the Spirit King, which had stopped at the 9th fortification.

“For crying out loud, I asked for my sword to be fortified as well, but he keeps fortifying for himself.”

Ian assured Kaizar, who grumbled next to him.

“Once I just make this spear reach 10th fortification, I will give you all of my Low-grade Magic Stones to fortify your greatsword, retainer. Just be patient.”

“Ahem, if that’s the case, then…”

While Ian bickered with Kaizar, the party was able to enter into a deep part of Zone 100 before they realized.

And shortly after, a giant fortress appeared before Ian’s eyes.

“Ooh, it looks like it’s over there.”

At Ian’s mumbling, Paulean, who followed behind him silently, replied.

“It looks like that’s the case, Lord. I think this is the first time I’ve seen a fortress in the Devildom.”

Having discovered his destination, Ian’s footsteps grew quicker, and as he got closer to it, exclamations naturally poured out of the mouths of the party members.

The giant and grand fortress, which had pointed protrusions shooting up out from here and there, showed off a visual of a demon fortress that seriously looked like it would only exist in hell.

“Keu, it actually seems like we’ve come to the Devildom.”

At Ian’s exclamation, Celia, who was next to him, carefully picked on his words.

“Lord, this actually is the Devildom.”

At that, Ian wore an embarrassed expression as he scratched the back of his head.

“Ah… That, that’s right.”

The party that had been walking along the fortress that sheltered the City of Rage was able to discover the entrance which led to the inside at the end of their roughly 10-minute long fast walking.

The entrance was blocked off by a giant fortress gate that seemed to easily be about 10-metres tall, and in front of it, rough-looking devils guarded it.

‘It looks like they are guards…’

Ian, who checked the information of the devils, gulped loudly as he approached them carefully.

This was because although they may have been guards, the levels of devils were close to 300.

“Ah, ahem.”

As Ian, who had approached them, cleared his throat, the gazes of the guards gathered towards Ian.

“Who are you? This is not a place where other races besides devils can carelessly enter.”

As one of the devils said that, his large eyes glared at Ian as he looked up and down at him.

Ian, who studied every face, let out a sigh of relief internally.

‘Whew, still, they didn’t just attack immediately. I was worried about what to do if they swung around their spears before I showed them the seal.’

Ian checked the information of the devil that spoke to him again.

• The General of Public Order of the City of Rage Heiska / Level: 325

‘No wonder, the ugliest one is the roughest one amongst them.’

Ian’s mouth slowly opened.

“I am Ian, a user that has received a request from Yankoun, one of the Twelve Chosen Generals of the Devildom.”

At Ian’s words, the expression of Heiska, who was wearing an incredibly hostile face, changed completely.

“Hmm…! Human, how do you know Yankoun?”

Ian contemplated if he should explain the content of the quest in detail, but for now, he pulled out the seal from his inventory.

“I feel like it will be too long to explain all of that, so I will just show you the Seal of the Devil that I obtained from Yankoun.”

Heiska, who received the Premium Seal of the Devil that Ian handed to him, wore an even more surprised expression a moment later.

“No, this is… The Premium Seal of the Devil!”

Along with the words of Heiska, who was flustered, the devil soldiers that were guarding the entrance of the City of Rage bowed their heads towards Ian all at once.

“I’ve disrespected such a nobleman. I hope you will forgive me…”

As he said that, Ian wore an even more flustered expression at the excessive reaction instead.

‘Hmm? Was this thing this great of an item?’

Ian didn’t exactly know this, but the Premium Seal of the Devil was not an item that could be obtained so easily.

Truthfully, the Premium Seal of the Devil, which Ian had just perceived as an item that anybody could obtain once they defeated a chief gatekeeper, was an item that could only be obtained if one received proper ‘acknowledgement’ from a devil that was at least a high-ranking one.

It was an incredible item that allowed one to receive treatment from the low-ranking devils in accordance with high-ranking devils until the one that handed over the seal retrieved that ability again.

Either way, Ian, who felt everything was going smoothly, headed towards the inside of the fortress gate without further delay.

“Either way, I can go inside then, right?”

At Ian’s question, Heiska immediately nodded his head.

“That’s right. You can go in right away.”

Ian headed towards the inside of the door as soon as he heard his response, and Ian’s retainers also followed Ian and moved.

However, just then, Heiska suddenly blocked off Ian.

“Wait!”

“Hmm…?”

Heiska blocked off Kaizar, who was following behind Ian, with his spear as he continued his words.

“Only you, Ian, can enter inside here.”

As he was a little taken aback, Ian asked back.

“They are my retainers, so can’t they?”

“No. Since the one that was acknowledged by Yankoun is you, Ian, not your retainers.”

“Tsk…”

Ian was somewhat leery, but he couldn’t do anything else but enter while leaving his retainers outside.

“Kaizar, I’ll be back soon, so depending on the situation, if you see any weak magical beasts, just hunt carefully.”

“Got it, Lord guy. I will hunt down every last magical beast in this area.”

“This bluffing, though.”

Kaizar was strong, but as it wasn’t easy hunting magical beasts that were Intermediate-rank and higher without his Familiars, Ian just smirked.

Heiska gave a couple more precautions towards Ian, who headed towards the inside of the fortress gate.

“Ah, lastly, if I was to give a couple more precautions, first of all, Yankoun is no longer one of the Twelve Chosen Generals now. I’m okay with it, but as the people within the City of Rage may take it sensitively, please be careful of your words.”

“Ah, I see.”

“And if you are looking for Yankoun, he will be in the Tower of Punishment that stands in the middle of the central plaza.”

Ian, who heard the name the Tower of Punishment, wore a quizzical expression as he mumbled internally.

‘The Tower of Punishment? It gives off a prison-like feeling… Either way, it looks like I’ll have to meet up with Yankoun firstly.’

After Ian slightly bowed his head towards the hospitable Heiska, he moved again.

“Thank you for the information. Then, I’ll be off.”

And system messages popped up in front of Ian’s eyes.

Ring-.

• You are the first to discover the ‘City of Rage’.

• Your Fame has increased by 500 thousand.

• You have obtained the title the ‘Devildom Citizen’.

• For a week from now on, the prices of all items that can be purchased in the City of Rage will be discounted by 15%.

• The Affinity of the citizens of the City of Rage has increased by 10.

* * *

Ian, who had entered into the inside of the City of Rage, immediately headed towards the central plaza that was in the middle of the city like Heiska advised.

However, but because there was no reason for Ian to rush, he looked around the city as he walked slowly.

Rather, the atmosphere of the City of Rage was generally tranquil to the point it was not much different from the cities of humans.

‘Speaking of which, there are an incredibly large amount of devils that I didn’t even get to glance at outside.’

There were all sorts of devils starting from the ones giant in size and with rough-looking expressions that were reminiscent of golems to devils that had clean features like a good-looking man and even ones that boasted an incredible beauty to the point it caught his eyes.

However, Ian wasn’t just checking out the outer appearance of the devils.

He was in the middle of checking the information of each and every one of the devils that he passed by nearby.

‘Most of the devils that you can see here are Low-rank devils. Their level range is almost about mid- to late- 200s…’

Although he even occasionally saw Common devils that were in their early lv 300s, it wasn’t to the point that Ian was surprised.

‘Now that I see this, I can certainly feel that Yankoun was amazing even amongst the devils.’

And as he observed each and every one of the members, he was able to find out a new truth as well.

‘There’s not only devils inside of the city.’

Of course, aside from Ian, there was not one human, but he occasionally saw Half-Devils, or even elves or races with interesting outer appearances that he had yet to see up until now.

‘Is this why the devils don’t really care about me even though I pass by them?’

While thinking of this and that, Ian continued walking at a slow pace.

‘It looks like there’s an incredible amount of content even inside of the City of Rage, so once I complete my quests, it looks like I’ll have to come back here again and look around each corner. I’ll preoccupy all of the content that I can.’

Ian, who had walked like that for about thirty minutes and arrived at the central plaza, was able to find the ‘Tower of Punishment’ without much difficulty.

This was because the giant tower that stood the tallest in the middle of the plaza was the Tower of Punishment.

‘Hmm, but the atmosphere is a little interesting here, different to up until now. It almost seems like a market area as well…’

Before he stepped foot into the Tower of Punishment, Ian looked around at his surroundings as he mumbled to himself.

‘What the hell? Is this like… A slave market?’

However, just then, a first discoverer’s system message popped up in front of Ian’s eyes again.

Ring-.

• You are the first to discover the ‘Tower of Punishment’.

• Your Fame has increased by 100 thousand Fame.

• You have obtained the ‘Slave Contract’ item.