“H-Here is the key, sir...”

Eososios handed Siegfried the keys to the Great Library with trembling hands.

After witnessing Belial prostrating flatly on the ground before Siegfried, Eososios was so overwhelmed with fear that he couldn’t regain his composure. His reaction was only natural, as he believed having Belial as his contracted demon would make him unstoppable, yet the one before him turned out to be the Demon King.

“Thank you very much,” Siegfried said, quickly snatching up the key.

[Alert: You have obtained Great Library Key!]

After obtaining the key, Siegfried began to ponder.

‘Hmm... Do I spare him or just kill him?’

As if reading Siegfried’s mind—

“Your Majesty? If I may make a suggestion...” Belial said carefully.

“Hm? What is it?”

“Would it not be better to spare this insolent fool?”

“Oh? I was thinking of just killing him. Why bother sparing him?” Siegfried asked, tilting his head in confusion.

“This fool cannot defy my commands. He is bound to me by soul and has no choice but to obey me no matter what,” Beliel replied.

“So? What good would he be?”

“Why not keep him as a slave, just in case?”

“Oh?”

“He will surely prove useful in many ways, my lord.”

“Well, I guess you have a point,” Siegfried replied with a shrug. Then, he added, “Ah, you need him whenever you want to visit the Middle Realm, too, right?”

“Yes, my lord.”

“Okay.”

With that, Siegfried accepted Belial’s suggestion and decided to let Eososios live.

‘You crazy bastards! Don’t decide if I get to live or die on your own like that!’ Eososios screamed inwardly in utter disbelief.

He couldn’t help but find the conversation between Siegfried and Belial to be utterly absurd, but he couldn’t utter a single word in protest.

He was nothing more than a mere contractor, so for him to speak out against Belial, a Demon Lord, and Siegfried, the Demon King, was unthinkable. If he dared to utter a single word and said something wrong, then he would be killed and have his soul dragged to the Demon Realm.

And after that...

Eososios shuddered at the thought of the unimaginable torment awaiting him, and he dared not even imagine it.

“Good heavens...”

Meanwhile, Laimian watched the scene and had a hard time keeping her composure.

She could no longer tell whether this was a dream or reality after witnessing things that defied logic again and again.

Laimian initially found it difficult to believe Siegfried’s claim of being the Demon King and was skeptical of him, but after witnessing even a demon lord bowing down to him, she could no longer deny it.

This man in front of her was indeed the real deal—the Demon King.

“Time to go in,” Siegfried said casually, smiling with the Great Library Key in his hand.

The way he said it was so casual that it was like he couldn't care less about Laimian's stupefaction.

“O-Okay.”

“I will open it now.”

Siegfried inserted the key into the slot and turned it.

Woooong...!

Click... Clack!

The barriers dissolved, and the iron gates opened.

“Whoa...” Siegfried muttered in admiration at the sight of the Great Library.

The Great Library located within the Magic Tower was the largest library in the world, and its sheer size was comparable to the Jamsil Sports Complex[1].

Endless rows of bookshelves stretched as far as the eye could see, each one crammed full with books on magic. The library housed all the magical knowledge accumulated by mages over thousands of years.

However, the problem was how they would transport all these countless books.

“It will be impossible to carry all of these books, no matter how large your inventory is... Even if we only took the important grimoires, it would take decades to sift through them all,” Laimian said.

“Whoa... There are that many of them?” Siegfried muttered in response, shocked by the sheer scale of the library.

“It’s hopeless. All this knowledge... lost forever...” Laimian despaired.

Siegfried shook his head and said, “No. I will take everything with us.”

“But how?”

Even as a Great Wizard, Laimian couldn't transport the entire Great Library. It could be possible if tens of thousands of mages were to work together, but doing it alone was impossible.

“Well, it is not me who will do it—but this guy.”

Siegfried summoned the Three-Legged Crow.

“Caw! Caaaw!”

“Do you think you can carry off all these books?” Siegfried asked.

“...”

The Three-Legged Crow seemed to be at a loss for words when Siegfried pointed at the entire Great Library.

“What? You can’t?”

“C-Caw...”

The Three-Legged Crow seemed hesitant. Understandably so, as moving every book in the Great Library was an impossible task even for it.

“Just do me this favor, please? These are really important materials. And they’re absolutely necessary for contributing to world peace,” Siegfried said, coaxing the crow.

“...”

“Don’t give up without even trying! Just do as much as you can, alright?”

“C-Caw!”

Eventually, the Three-Legged Crow let out a reluctant cry and then shot off at the speed of light.

[Alert: You have obtained Compendium of Subspace Magic!]

[Alert: You have obtained Secrets of Ancient Spells!]

[Alert: You have obtained Fundamentals of Fire Magic!]

[Alert: You have obtained Introduction to Summoning Arts!]

(omitted...)

[Alert: You have obtained Art of Magic and Sex!]

(omitted...)

The immense collection of magical books within the Great Library began pouring into Siegfried's Inventory. Since his inventory capacity was infinite, storing all the books from the library posed no problem whatsoever.

“Caw! Caw! Caaaaw!”

Of course, the Three-Legged Crow was struggling.

“T-This is impossible...” Laimian muttered, completely dumbstruck.

In less than five minutes, more than half the books in the Great Library had vanished. Never in her life had she ever imagined that the apparition of the Three-Legged Crow could be used to transport items into one’s Inventory.

***

Fifteen minutes later...

“See? It worked,” Siegfried said proudly.

“Y-Yes, you did do it...” Laimian muttered in response.

Do it... Do it... Do it...

The massive Great Library was now empty, and there wasn't anything around except for empty shelves, so it was only natural for her voice to echo throughout the hollow space.

“So, no complaints if I destroy this tower, right?” Siegfried asked.

“N-No, none at all,” Laimian stammered in response.

In the end, she gave her permission for Siegfried to bring down the Magic Tower. Now that every book in the Great Library was secured, it no longer mattered if the tower was reduced to rubble or not.

“Good work, man. It’s all thanks to you,” Siegfried said, patting the crow on the head.

“Caw... Caw...”

The Three-Legged Crow looked utterly drained, its voice lacking any strength. After gathering every single book from a library the size of a sports complex in only twenty minutes, the crow was utterly exhausted.

“Oh, by any chance...”

“Yes?”

“Does the Magic Tower have something like a treasury?”

“Pardon me?”

“Something like a vault where all wealth is stored.”

“Ah, the ninety-ninth floor could be called the Magic Tower’s treasury then. All of its accumulated wealth is stored in that floor.”

“Okay! Let’s go!”

“What...?”

“We cannot leave valuables behind.”

“...”

“Oh, right!”

Siegfried suddenly turned around and held his hand out to Eososios.

“Hand it over.”

“Y-Yes, sir. I will give it to you.”

Once again, Eososios had no choice but to obey and hand over the key to the treasury.

Despite being the master of the Magic Tower, he couldn’t utter a single word in protest. Now with the key in hand, Siegfried dragged Laimian along and headed straight for the ninety-ninth floor.

“Treasure, treasure, treasure~ Lalala~”

The moment Siegfried opened the door and stepped into the treasury, he was overcome with joy and ecstasy at the sight of mountains of gold coins piled high.

“A-Ahng~!”

Contrary to his usual actions, Siegfried did not plan on using all of these treasures for himself.

The Proatine Empire was on the brink of war with the Marchioni Empire, so it desperately needed military funds.

With the economic power of the Marchioni Empire being more than ten times that of the Proatine Empire, the situation was so dire that the Proatine Empire even started looking into taking out loans.

In such a situation, stumbling upon the wealth that the Magic Tower had accumulated over thousands of years was like a rain sent from the heavens during a drought.

Once again, he summoned the Three-Legged Crow.

“Just one last favor, okay? Please? This really will be the last time! I promise!”

“...”

“Just one more time. Pleaaaase~!”

“...”

“We can’t just leave all this treasure behind, can we?”

“Caw...”

The Three-Legged Crow was utterly worn out, yet it couldn’t bring itself to refuse Siegfried’s earnest plea.

The way Siegfried looked at it with those sparkling eyes as he begged tugged at the Three-Legged Crow’s heartstrings.

“Caw! Caw!”

In the end, the Three-Legged Crow mustered the final vestiges of its strength and began transferring every kind of valuable treasure in the vault into Siegfried’s Inventory.

“I’m really sorry about this. I really appreciate you doing all this for me,” Siegfried said sincerely.

He truly felt pity for the Three-Legged Crow, seeing it push itself past its limits. Unfortunately, he had no choice but to swallow the guilt and push the poor crow on.

‘Is there something I can do to make it feel better?’ Siegfried wondered.

He wanted to give the Three-Legged Crow something in return for its efforts, but he couldn’t think of anything suitable.

“Caw! Caw! Caaaw!”

The Three-Legged Crow cried out to inform Siegfried that it had stuffed all of the treasure in the vault into his Inventory before collapsing from exhaustion.

“Good job. I really owe you big time,” Siegfried said, stroking the crow’s head.

Then, he dismissed the Three-Legged Crow so it could get proper rest.

Ding!

[Alert: You have obtained a new title!]

A notification suddenly popped up in front of Siegfried’s eyes.

Shortly afterward, the details of the newly obtained title appeared too.

[Black Hole of Greed: World’s Greatest Glutton]

[A title given to the most greed-driven individual in the world.]

[A master of scavenging that would suck up anything of value with insatiable hunger.]

[Type: Title]

[Rating: Mythic]

[Effects:]

- +250% Chance of stumbling upon a hidden treasure

- +500% Chance of stumbling upon something valuable

- Three-Legged Crow +50 Level

[Note: This is not an honorable title!]

“...”

For the first time in a long while, Siegfried had obtained a dishonorable title, leaving him momentarily speechless. However, he quickly brushed it aside, as the title’s effects were simply so good that he was happy rather than upset at the dishonorable title.

“Shall we make our great escape now?” Siegfried asked.

“Okay,” Laimian replied.

With Siegfried leading the way, Laimian followed close behind him.

***

Siegfried's reckless invasion of the Magic Tower had brought utter chaos to the area around the tower.

The Marchioni Empire immediately deployed its soldiers and knights to surround the Magic Tower. In addition, tens of thousands of mages loyal to the Marchioni Empire swarmed in as well.

In almost an instant, the entire place was transformed into a sea of people. Then, a group sallied out from the Magic Tower, causing a massive battle to break out.

Surprisingly, the Marchioni Empire’s forces were one-sidedly slaughtered.

“Bwahaha! Pathetic humans! You’re nothing but livestock against us demons!”

“Die!”

“Time to have a taste of the true horrors of the Demon Realm!”

“Kneel before us, insignificant humans!”

Thanks to the demons being able to unleash their true power, they easily overpowered the Marchioni Empire’s forces.

This bought time for the imprisoned mages to escape with relative ease, and once outside, they joined the battle by bombarding the Marchioni Empire’s forces with all sorts of magic spells.

However, the Marchioni Empire’s forces quickly turned the battle around.

“Hold the line!”

“Hit them with everything!”

“Attack! All out attack!”

“Forget about capturing them alive! Kill everyone at sight!”

“Leave none alive!”

The Marchioni Empire was not interested in catching them alive, so they used their overwhelming numbers to bombard their enemies with indiscriminate attacks.

‘Geez... What a mess...’

Siegfried arrived at the entrance of the Magic Tower and looked around the tower’s surroundings, which had turned into a battlefield. He was frankly fed up with the Marchioni Empire using their immense numbers to overwhelm him all the time.

But still, he was not complaining.

Why?

It was all because...

Ssseuuu...!

Siegfried immediately activated Green Hell Magno, shielding his allies from long-range attacks while blanketing the area in radioactive gas. Then, he gripped his +10 Sky Piercer.

His plan was simple and straightforward.

He would charge straight into the heart of the Marchioni Empire’s forces with Green Hell Magno activated. Once there, he would sweep away every single enemy who dared to get anywhere near him.

1. The total area of Jamsil Sports Complex or Seoul Sports Complex is 402,816 square meters. It hosted several high-profile concerts such as Eminem, Maroon 5, and many more. More info here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seoul_Sports_Complex ☜