Chapter 59
I tightly gripped Vestark and Espada in both hands and approached the Eter bottle.
Sssss… Three kinds of powers coursed through my body, emitting a brilliant light. As soon as I felt the effects kicking in, I pushed off from the ground.
“Seven Sword Pierce!”
Pip-ping! Seven magical blades generated from the Espada in my left hand shot out like arrows. The lady seemed slightly flustered but quickly regained her composure, deflecting all the blades with ease.
Her face was filled with confusion.
“Rat. Your mana should have been depleted… How are you using skills…?”
“Seven Sword Pierce!”
Why? Well, there’s a reason.
It’s because the Water Ether not only restores stamina but also mana.
But I had no intention of explaining it to her. Instead, I smirked mockingly and swung my sword repeatedly.
Pah-jji-jik!
With increasing proficiency, the magical blades poured forth from the Shadowfang, targeting the lady one after another.
“Go ahead and complain, then why don’t you reincarnate back in the Otherworld with a silver spoon?”
Pah-jik, Pah-jji-jik! Sparks flew each time her sword met mine.
She effortlessly deflected all of my attacks again.
“Here I go again!!”
This time, I swung both swords simultaneously.
Boom-boom-boom! A total of fourteen blades surged toward her from all directions, as if ready to engulf her.
Of course, controlling both hands was harder, but I poured all my concentration into controlling the magical blades.
“Pointless attempt…!”
The lady furrowed her brow and, as usual, easily fended off all the blades coming her way.
Cha-ka-kang! Seven magical blades clashed with her sword and crumbled helplessly into pieces mid-air.
“… Seven?”
And then, at that moment, realizing something amiss, her eyes widened in alarm, but it was already too late.
With a satisfied smile, I swiped my thumb across my neck.
“Leeching is all well and good, but did you really need to broadcast it as a weakness?”
“……!!”
At that exact moment, the game was already over.
The remaining seven magical blades that had vanished from her sight had already reached behind Polluxius.
Realization dawned late on her face.
“Your Highness!! Run…!”
The lady hastily spun around with a shocked expression.
Pah-bur-burk!
A heavy explosion resounded.
Polloxius stared wide-eyed at the hole in his stomach.
“… Eh… Huh…”
There was a massive hole through his body. Outside of it, the magical blade was sparking faintly.
A sticky, dark red liquid streamed out continuously. Polloxius looked at the flowing blood in disbelief.
His bloodshot gaze slowly turned toward his back.
“Unthinkable… How… Ma, mana shouldn’t have been possible… What kind of manipulation is this…? How…!”
“Die, fool, your curiosity is unbecoming.”
I curtly remarked and promptly canceled the ‘Seven Sword Pierce.’
Poo-jji-jik. A ghastly sound echoed as Polluxius’s internal organs spilled out of the gaping hole in his gut.
His gaunt body collapsed heavily to the ground.
“… O Goddess.”
A brief utterance. Immediately after, the light faded from Polloxius’s eyes.
He was dead.
“…….”
“…….”
A chilling silence.
The fleeing heroes, overwhelmed by the rapid turn of events, stood speechless.
As the situation unfolded unnoticed by most, the status window appeared and etched it in.
[The 7753rd Demon King, the Fallen One, Polluxius, has been executed.]
[To all heroes involved in the slaying, 1000 Paraïso gold coins and +5 to all stats are granted.]
[An exclusive bonus treasure chest will be granted to the top 10 contributors.]
At the same time, additional panels appeared before each individual’s eyes.
[Level Up!]
One was a Level-up panel, and the other was…
[The contribution of the 163417413th hero, Park Jeong-yong: Rank 1]
[Random Treasure Chest: ‘Giant’s Relic Box’ has been granted.]
[Special reward for Rank 1: An additional 1000 gold coins has been obtained.]
This was the panel for the special item given only to 10 people, including myself.
The reward had arrived; meaning the slaying was complete.
“Is i-it… over?”
Finally realizing it, murmurs spread throughout the area.
The murmurs soon turned into a commotion and then erupted into shouts of joy.
Tang-grrang! Without distinction, heroes and defending troops abandoned their weapons and embraced each other.
“Y-We won!”
“We’re alive! We survived!”
“WOOAAAH!!”
The atmosphere flipped entirely. The somber mood had given way to a festive spirit.
As I idly glanced at the Demon King’s corpse with a nod, a shrill scream rang out suddenly.
“Aah… Ahh! N-no! My Sovereign Archbishop!!!!”
An entrancing yet eerie, distorted voice.
A figure with violet skin rushed toward Polluxius’s corpse with a distraught expression.
Come to think of it, there was exactly one person here who would mourn the Demon King’s death. I watched the scene calmly with narrow eyes.
In that instant, my gaze upon the lady sharpened more than ever.
“… Gahk!”
The rushing lady abruptly stopped, gathering a dark aura on her greatsword and swinging it wildly.
Cheooong! An immense explosion of dark energy erupted.
In front of it, I had already appeared, having parried with both of my black-and-white double swords.
She locked eyes with me and gritted her teeth fiercely, flashing a bright smile.
“You… bastard…!”
Kgi-gi-geek, Ggi-geek.
The colliding greatsword and twin swords discharged a hissing flame.
Snickering, I slightly tilted the corner of my lips.
“To be able to counter the ‘Flow,’ you’re much better than your master, it seems?”
I said it with a somewhat congratulatory tone, mocking the master she had just lost.
Her face immediately contorted with rage.
“Hold your tongue…!”
“Stop asking for things you won’t accept. If you want to threaten us, it’s best done with force, Lady.”
Gugugugug. The auras we emitted resonated clearly, creating solid forms that vibrated the air.
The immense pressure caused the festive atmosphere to subside once more. Even the vagrant heroes realized the fight wasn’t over.
“C-Cr…!”
Yet, who had the upper hand was extremely clear.
My calm expression versus her increasingly anxious visage told the story.
I could roughly understand the reason and raised an eyebrow.
“The wound in your side should be starting to throb about now, shouldn’t it?”
“Hold your tongue…!”
Pained, the lady slowly retreated step by step.
At that point, the direction of the battle was already decided.
“Hmm.”
I grinned faintly at her retreat.
It wasn’t pity or mockery; it was simply an expression of pure mercy.
“I’m quite busy now. If you don’t show up in front of me again, I won’t kill you. Deal?”
As I said this, I began chanting a spell slowly.
Chi-jji-jjing. The surrounding air trembled. Simultaneously, fourteen magical blades floated beside my twin swords, targeting her limbs.
The lady watched them silently, beads of sweat rolling down, then suddenly bit her lips hard enough to draw blood.
“… I will… avenge this… Just you wait, Heroes… especially you with the black hair. I will remember you!”
“Too cliché for a villain’s monologue like that.”
I spat, laced with contempt.
Regardless. Her body soon became enveloped in pitch-black energy, then vanished from sight.
The spectators, who had been observing tensely, sighed in relief.
“Haaah.”
Thump. Suddenly, Seop Baek slumped down beside me.
The dragon within me, startled, quickly flew to cling onto Seop Baek.
“Phew, it was surprisingly intense. Thought it’d be easy with the numbers on our side, but it turned out harder than expected.”
Seop Baek awkwardly smiled, muttering under his breath. Attempting to stand multiple times, but his legs gave out, causing him to sit back down repeatedly. He was quite tense.
I chuckled softly and extended a hand toward Seop Baek. After hesitating for a moment, he carefully took it.
“Th-thank you, Jung Yong-sama…”
“I should be the one thanking you. Thanks to you, I survived.”
It wasn’t just flattery. Truly, thanks to Seop Baek, I won earlier. Without the dragon, I might’ve lost physically to the lady.
At my words, Seop Baek abruptly bowed his head. His lips twitched as he shook his head rapidly.
“No, no, no! Far from it. I still have a lot more to give. Please… rely on me more, Jung Yong-sama. Ahaha…”
“… Hmm? What… oh, sure.”
Whenever this guy does something unpredictable like this, it always scares me the most. Subconsciously, I moved slightly away from Seop Baek, who had started a creepy grin.
Just then, I bumped into the Demon King, who had been standing there blankly. Immediately, he glared at me and spoke curtly.
“What. Don’t bother me without a reason, hero.”
“Oh, alright.”
Luci has looked displeased since a while ago. Gazing steadily at the scattered hero corpses around her, she quietly muttered something.
‘Nevermind. Anyway… this makes the 11th time… right?’
The 11th time.
This marked the 11th Demon King we’ve slain in just a month.
You should now have a rough idea of how often Demon Kings appear.
Honestly. It’s almost Pokémon monster level.
‘Well… still, good that we’re getting experience points and money so consistently…’
At the very least, Demon King hunting is definitely a profitable venture for both experience and wealth.
I scanned the statuses of myself, Seop Baek, and Luci all at once for the first time in a while.
[Name: Park Jeong-yong]
[Nickname: The 163417413th Official Hero, Guardian of the Demon King’s Egg, One Subjugated to Immortality]
[LV. 154]
[Health: 1220/1220 Mana: 450/450 Physical Condition: Normal]
[Strength: 166 Agility: 239 Intelligence: 51 Hero Sense: 16]
[Remaining Stats Points: 9]
[Name: Seop Baek]
[Nickname: The 154829771st Hero, Master of Snow Ki]
[LV. 106]
[Health: 370/370 Mana: 1010/1010 Physical Condition: Normal]
[Strength: 23 Agility: 31 Intelligence: 133 Hero Sense: 8]
[Monster Info]
[Name: Immortal Demon King – Rustica Asmodeus]
[Health: ???/??? Mana: 0/0]
[Strength: ??? Agility: ??? Intelligence: ???]
[Details: The true child and sole descendant of the witch Diana. Through an immortality pact, selects a guardian fated to be together for life. The current guardian is the 163417413th Hero, Park Jeong-yong.]
‘To level up 3 levels just by defeating that underling…’
Looking at the difficulty, it doesn’t match up to even when I fought Eldritch’s claws. Seop Baek, who was at around level 95, reached straight to level 106.
Meaning the amount of experience points given is similar to Eldritch’s level.
‘Plus, we’re making good money.’
1000 Paraïso gold coins is no joke — it’s enough for me, Seop Baek, and even the Demon King to live comfortably for a year.
Since we’ve already completed this 11 times, we could theoretically take a break for 10 years, even just considering the money. Adding the contribution rewards from earlier, like just now, we’ve earned enough to live for at least 15 years.
‘Still, I wish they’d stop spawning so frequently please…’
Because of this, though I’ve become accustomed to dealing with these weak Demon Kings like just now,
it’s really just like fighting a low-level opponent in a video game.
Frankly, I haven’t faced a Demon King with a higher level than mine yet.
Maybe Minerva intervenes for convenience, pairing me up with Demon Kings of similar levels only. After all, I’ve always been called to places where Demon Kings of roughly my level were present.
I don’t know whether to like or dislike it.
“Phew. Let’s keep moving, Seop Baek.”
“A, yes!”
Stopping my complex thoughts there, I urged my companions and quickly moved away from the scene.
We have less than half a day left before we reach Marketrèse. I already wanted to leave this tiresome country behind as soon as possible.
As such, leaving the ruined village behind, we set our pace toward the next town.
