Cucking The Demon King
Chapter 101: Meeting the heretic

Chapter 101: Meeting the heretic

Liam’s eyes remained locked on the ominous cave entrance, his instincts screaming at him that something was off. The dense, unnatural darkness seeping from within wasn’t normal—it was thick, suffocating, and radiated a presence that reeked of corruption.

Then, suddenly—

Ding!

A blue notification window flashed into existence before him.

[New Quest!]

[Take Down the Heretic]

[Rewards: 30,000 EXP]

Liam’s brows rose slightly in surprise.

’A new quest?’ His eyes flickered over the words, and a small smirk tugged at his lips.

’Thirty thousand experience points for taking down a single heretic?’

He hadn’t expected the reward to be that high, regardless, it was a welcome reward.

He let out a slow exhale before turning to the three girls standing beside him. Emma, Lela, and Cynthia all had their eyes fixed on the cave, their expressions tense.

"Be careful," Liam warned, his voice steady but firm. "Something’s definitely off about this place."

The girls exchanged glances before nodding.

"We understand," Lela said, her voice quieter than usual.

Cynthia simply gave a short nod, while Emma’s eyes flickered with determination.

Liam, however, barely spared them another glance. His focus shifted entirely onto Emma, his gaze sharpening as a strange glint flickered through his golden irises.

[Eye of Truth]

A series of translucent tabs appeared before him, displaying a detailed breakdown of her stats.

[Name: Emma Silvagold]

[Race: Human]

[Health: 1000/1000]

[Blessing: Divine Summoner]

[Elemental Nature: Light]

[Grade: Legendary]

[Mastery: Practitioner-level]

[Mana Pool: 3464/5000]

[Magic Power: 2000]

[Strength: 90]

[Agility: 100]

[Stamina: 90]

[Constitution: 120]

[Charm: 150]

[Intelligence: 500]

[Additional Information]

[Current Emotion: Worry, Confusion, Fear]

[Weaknesses: Head, Neck, Back]

Liam’s eyes widened slightly as he read through the information. His mind processed the sheer absurdity of her stats.

’This girl... sure is an anomaly.’

The moment that thought crossed his mind, Lilith’s voice echoed in his head.

[Like I said, you should be careful around her.]

Liam inwardly nodded, silently agreeing.

Emma was far from normal, even among holy mages.

She was still at practitioner-level mastery, yet her mana pool and magic power were leagues above master-level holy mages.

Not even Tenny, the priest they met back at the church, could compare to her in raw mana capacity.

Her physical capabilities were relatively normal, but her intelligence was an entirely different matter.

Five hundred intelligence? That was the level of masters, or even beyond.

Now, it made perfect sense why she was constantly referred to as the next Knight King—why she had dominated the academy rankings for so long.

His gaze sharpened.

’I wonder... what’s the strongest divine creature she can summon at her current level?’

If he were to fight against her strongest summon, could he stand a chance?

His eyes drifted to the golden bug fluttering beside her, its wings softly scattering tiny golden dust particles into the air.

The more he stared at the harmless-looking creature, the more he felt an uneasy sense of mystery surrounding it.

Even Eye of Truth couldn’t scan its abilities—his skill level was still too low to analyze it.

That fact alone bothered him.

’Annoying... I’m still too weak compared to these divine beings.’ He exhaled softly, the frustration settling deep within him.

Emma’s monstrous mana and magic power were likely because she contained a trace of divinity within her. That divinity allowed her to summon creatures from the Divine Realm—beings far beyond normal comprehension.

If a practitioner with just a small trace of divinity was already this powerful, then...

How strong would a Saint be?

Or worse...

A Seraphim.

Liam’s expression darkened.

Seraphims were direct servants of the Goddess, divine warriors who stood at the peak of celestial beings. Their power was beyond monstrous, and worst of all—

They were his enemies.

However, her overpowered ability to summon divine creatures had one glaring weakness, and that was the amount of mana it consumed.

It was probably another reason she didn’t use her blessing frequently, in order to converse her mana.

From summoning that little bug alone, over a thousand points had already deducted from her mana.

Fortunately for her, she had a large mana pool to compensate for the her blessing.

If it was any other person with that kind of power, they probably wouldn’t be able to handle it.

Unless they also possessed a large mana pool like she does.

Howl!!

The oppressive silence around them was suddenly shattered by a deep, bone-chilling howl echoing from inside the cave.

The sound sent an eerie vibration through the air, causing Lela and Cynthia to instinctively take a step back.

Emma’s eyes narrowed.

Liam barely reacted.

Instead, his red eyes glowed faintly as he focused on the darkness.

His heightened senses picked up the faint presence of something... moving within the cave.

"Looks like our welcoming party is here," Liam muttered.

Emma stepped forward, pulling out a pair of knives at her side.

"Then we better not keep them waiting," She said.

Since they knew they were bound to encounter something dangerous, they made sure to carry their weapons with them in case of anything.

Uti, the golden bug, suddenly buzzed loudly, as if acknowledging her words.

Cynthia clutched her staff tightly, while Lela drew her dagger, her eyes darting around warily.

As for Liam, he pulled out the pair of dual blades the church gave him for the mission.

’This... should be fun.’ He thought, and together, they all walked into the cave.

However, the moment he stepped into the cave, everything went black.

"Huh?" He muttered, subconsciously halting his steps.

His vision was completely covered in darkness.

Not just ordinary darkness, but a void-like abyss that swallowed all light. Even his sharp senses struggled to pierce through it.

’Tch. As expected.’

A part of him had already anticipated something like this.

This was no normal cave—it was the lair of a heretic. The presence of corruption was thick in the air, suffocating, almost as if it had a will of its own.

He quickly looked around, expecting to see Emma, Lela, or Cynthia beside him.

But, there was nothing.

Not even a shadow of their presence remained. It was as if they had vanished into thin air, swallowed by the abyss.

His fingers instinctively tightened around his blades.

Then, suddenly—

"Hahahaha!"

A deep, maniacal laughter echoed from the depths of the darkness.

The sound was distorted, almost inhuman, making the air around him tremble. Liam’s expression twisted into a frown, his golden eyes narrowing.

And then—

A figure emerged.

An average height, slender man materialized in front of him, his grotesque features illuminated by the dim glow of eerie, flickering lights that seemed to form out of nowhere.

His long, thin tongue drooped from his mouth, dripping spittle onto the ground.

His larger right eye twitched violently, glowing faintly as he stared at Liam with a sickening glee.

Liam’s eyes slightly widened in recognition.

’Of course, it’s him.’ He thought.

It was the same heretic they had seen in Uti’s projection.

The heretic’s smug grin widened, stretching his already hideous face into something even more unnerving.

"Welcome," Jaegel rasped, his voice slithering through the darkness. His lips curled in twisted amusement.

"Welcome... to the place where you will meet your end."

Liam’s expression remained impassive.

"My end?" he muttered, before scoffing.

Jaegel let out another sharp, guttural laugh, his spit-covered tongue swiping across his own cheek.

"I like that fire in your eyes," The heretic purred, taking a slow, deliberate step forward. His elongated fingers twitched in excitement. "But I want to crush it."

Liam didn’t respond, merely keeping his gaze fixed on the disgusting figure before him.

Jaegel’s grin didn’t falter as he continued speaking.

"I must say," He mused, tilting his head unnaturally, "I didn’t expect someone like you among the group the church sent after me."

His larger eye twitched again, filled with a mixture of amusement and disdain.

"A complete weakling."

Then, bursting into uncontrollable laughter, he spread his arms wide, as if mocking Liam’s mere existence.

Liam remained still, his expression unreadable.

Among all four students, Jaegel had sensed the smallest amount of mana from Liam.

And because of that, he had assumed—

That Liam was the weakest of the bunch.

Unfortunately for him...

He couldn’t have been more wrong.

But Liam didn’t even bother responding to the insult.

Instead, he simply let out a small scoff, completely unaffected by the heretic’s words.

He wasn’t afraid.

Even if he couldn’t see anything apart from Jaegel’s grotesque face, he wasn’t intimidated.

Calmly, he tilted his head slightly.

"Where did you take Emma and the others?" He asked, narrowing his eyes at the heretic.

The moment the words left his lips, Jaegel’s laughter suddenly ceased.

For a brief moment, a strange flicker crossed the heretic’s grotesque features.

Then—

His long, slimy tongue snaked out, running over his entire face, coating it in spit as he grinned.

Liam’s face twisted in disgust at the sight.

This freak...

He had already looked hideous in Uti’s projection, but in real life?

He was even worse.