MTL NOVEL Chapter 71: chapter 71 demon king
Mist Low's grin stretched wider, golden eyes glinting with mischief. "So, this Eresh-Tal isn't strong?"
The old man turned to him slowly, his pale silver gaze unreadable. For a long moment, he simply studied Mist Low, as if trying to see something beyond the surface.
Then, to Raven's surprise—he chuckled.
A dry, quiet laugh, tinged with something that could have been amusement. Or maybe something deeper.
"How did you find it?" the old man murmured, more to himself than anyone else.
Mist Low tilted his head. "Find what?"
The old man didn't answer immediately. Instead, he tapped his staff against the ground, his eyes never leaving Mist Low.
"Eresh-Tal is not 'strong' in the way you think. It does not wield swords. It does not cast spells. It does not command armies. But strength is not only measured by the power of one's hand."
He let his words hang in the air before continuing.
"Tell me, Trickster. How do you fight something that cannot be seen? How do you kill something that is not alive? How do you escape something that does not move—because it is already everywhere?"
Mist Low's grin didn't fade, but Raven noticed the way his fingers flexed at his sides.
The old man's voice dropped lower, almost a whisper.
"Eresh-Tal does not break its enemies. It makes them break themselves."
A cold silence settled between them.
For once, Mist Low had no immediate comeback.
Raven's gaze sharpened. He ignored the way the air felt heavier, ignored the way the torches flickered as if protesting the conversation itself.
"So, Eresh-Tal is just a pawn in the Demon King's hands?"
The old man turned to him, his silver eyes filled with something unknowable. Then—he shook his head.
"No."
A simple word, but it carried weight. Finality.
"Eresh-Tal is not a servant. Not a general. Not a piece on the board of demon lords and kings."****"
He lifted his staff, pointing toward the abyss.
"It is older. It is lower. It is not part of their war because it does not care for their war. Do you think the ocean cares for the battles of ants on the shore?"
The ground beneath them vibrated again—deep, slow, almost imperceptible.
Liz inhaled sharply. "Then what does it care about?"
The old man exhaled. "Nothing."
A pause. Then, his voice dropped lower.
"That is the difference between demons and the Abyss."
"A demon king rules."
"A demon lord desires."
"A demon hungers."
His pale silver eyes met Raven's.
"But the Abyss does not hunger. It does not desire. It does not need to conquer."
He tapped his staff against the ground.
"It simply… is."
A deep, unsettling silence followed.
Mist Low let out a low whistle. "Well. That's worse."
Mist Low's grin flickered, the sharpness in his golden eyes cutting through the heavy air. He took a step closer, head tilting slightly as if savoring the weight of his next words.
"Alright, last question, old man." His voice carried a deliberate slowness, drawing out the moment. "Can you tell us the power of the Demon King?"
The old man did not answer immediately.
Instead, for the first time, he hesitated.
His expression did not shift much, but Raven caught the way his fingers tightened around his staff. A subtle tension. A flicker of something behind those pale silver eyes.
It wasn't fear.
No, this was something heavier—the weight of knowing.
And then, the old man exhaled, his voice quieter now. "The Demon King… stands at Tier 7."
Silence.
A silence that felt unnatural, pressing against them like the hush before a storm.
Mist Low's usual smirk dimmed slightly. Liz's arms tightened across her chest. Ana's fingers curled around her staff, and Daniel shifted his weight, his bow hand twitching slightly.
Raven simply listened.
The old man continued.
The Four Emperors
"The Demon King does not rule alone. His empire is vast, and at his command stand four Emperors—each of them powerful enough to lay waste to entire civilizations."
He raised a hand, as if counting unseen figures.
The First Emperor – Tier 3 (100)
The Second Emperor – Tier 4 (150)
The Third Emperor – Tier 5 (200)
The Fourth Emperor – Tier 6 (250)
Ana inhaled sharply. "Each one is… above Tier 2?"
The old man nodded grimly. "Each one a monster in their own right. Kingdoms do not fight these beings. Nations do not resist them. They are calamities—forces of destruction that cannot be reasoned with."
Liz's expression was unreadable. "And below them?"
The Demon Commanders
The old man's voice dropped lower. "Each Emperor commands seven Commanders."
Mist Low let out a slow, amused whistle. "So… 28 commanders in total?"
The old man nodded.
"Twenty-eight creatures that are not kings or emperors, but warlords in their own right. Beings that lead entire legions, creatures that wield powers strong enough to reshape battlefields. Entire armies fall at their feet before they even unsheath their blades."
Mist Low hummed thoughtfully. "That's a full-blown war machine. An empire of monsters."
Daniel frowned, adjusting his stance. "And you're saying Eresh-Tal is still nothing compared to them?"
Where Does Eresh-Tal Stand?
The old man finally looked away from the abyss, his silver gaze locking onto Daniel.
"To the Demon King's commanders, Eresh-Tal is a mere shadow."
A pause. A breath. The world seemed to tighten around them.
"A fragment of something greater. A lesser thing. It is dangerous, yes, but in the grand scheme of the Abyss?"
His fingers pressed against his staff.
"It is a pawn."
Silence fell once more.
Raven felt the weight of those words settle in his chest like a cold stone.
Eresh-Tal was already an unfathomable horror—something that broke minds, warped reality, consumed entire regions.
Yet in the eyes of these beings?
It was insignificant.
A Realization
Liz exhaled slowly. "If something like Eresh-Tal is just a pawn…"
Ana finished the thought, voice barely above a whisper. "Then what are we?"
Mist Low's grin flickered, but this time, there was something different beneath it. Something darker.
Raven didn't answer.
Because deep down, he already knew.
In the grand scale of this war, of the forces moving unseen—they were nothing.