〈 Chapter 111 〉 The Third Trial (6)
*
Having escaped from the Trial Barrier, we hurriedly started moving towards the 31st Demon King.
For us, time was literally life.
“I have to hurry.”
The longer time passed, the lower our chances of defeating him became.
He was still rapidly recovering and growing in size.
The closer we got, the more it could be felt in the surrounding air.
Fortunately, Yusera’s advantage as a magician was shining through in this situation.
Typically, a close-range warrior like Yusera had higher stats compared to magicians.
She could run faster and for longer.
“The mobility is different from lugging around a magician.”
So, we continued to sprint towards the 31st Demon King without a moment’s rest.
Along the way, we didn’t forget to pick up the relics scattered across the distance.
While it would have been more convenient to gather relics at the Church Headquarters, which functioned as a storage, we simply didn’t have the time for that right now.
“Even if we grab high-grade relics, there’s no guarantee they can be used immediately.”
Unlike the more universally usable 2-star relics, starting from 3-star relics, certain conditions applied, and from 4-star onward, the requirements became fairly demanding, while 5-star relics were essentially categorized as exclusive weapons, usable only by specific individuals.
Moreover, even if we could use them, since high-grade relics had high thresholds, it would require a considerable adaptation period to draw out their full power.
“So let’s just focus on obtaining single-use relics for Yusera for now.”
The goal of acquiring relics was closer to increasing the ammunition for Yusera rather than obtaining high-performance relics.
Since Yusera’s “Overload” was categorized as a trait rather than a skill, apart from the penalty of relic destruction, it could essentially be considered penalty-free.
This meant that gathering relics directly translated into her combat power.
“If we have enough relics, she could cast stronger attacks consecutively without incantation than most magicians.”
Consequently piling them on.
That was the most crucial part.
Due to the Demon King’s regeneration abilities, we needed to inflict significant damage at once or unleash continuous attacks.
“Got it? Yusera.”
Of course, the swordsmanship I taught Yusera was focused on powerful strikes that ranged from strong to medium.
While it took longer to execute due to larger movements compared to other swordsmanship styles, it was still nothing compared to magic.
However…
Yusera hesitated slightly and asked me,
“But is really three hits enough?”
Her strikes were powerful, but they also placed a significant burden on her body.
Thus, she could only unleash three consecutive strikes.
But there were ways to overcome that to a certain extent.
I took something out of my inventory and handed it to her, saying,
“Right before entering the fight, I’ll give you a signal…”
*
In the blind spot near the 31st Demon King.
Yusera was moving independently according to the strategy devised by Sung Yoo-rang, or rather, Allen Pleuk.
“Whoa…”
To be honest, the current situation was a bit overwhelming.
The sudden invasion of the demon kings and the destruction of Saint City Hailen.
When she first emerged from the lake, she had been entirely overwhelmed by the horrific scenery outside.
However, Elsie remained calm and steadfastly convinced Allen.
Watching her provided Yusera with courage, and she decided to trust Allen’s strategy for now.
“I was half in doubt.”
That the world’s destruction was on the horizon.
Though she had experienced the collapse of the association against Chaos Beasts, the destruction of the congregation was a different story from the end of the world.
But seeing the scene before her, she began to realize.
“If this continues, the world might really be doomed.”
It appeared the 31st Demon King had not even recovered half of his strength yet.
But already, he was huge, and from that massive body, dozens of tentacles squirmed.
That sight was enough to instill fear in her.
“I feel like I’ve seen this somewhere before…”
In fact, she had encountered the 31st Demon King during the entrance exam.
However, that time, the demon king was still in a state of not having started his recovery, so he had been much smaller, allowing her not to recognize him.
Only a vague sense of déjà vu lingered.
“Still…”
Sung Yoo-rang, or rather, Allen…
Forget it.
No matter how much the original identity of Sung Yoo-rang was Allen, the name Sung Yoo-rang was more familiar to her.
“Sung Yoo-rang said I could manage it if it’s my ability.”
Besides, he had also handed her a pill.
It looked suspicious, but supposedly it would temporarily boost all of her physical abilities.
With this, she would be able to release even more ‘Overload’ strikes.
Thus, she merely waited for the signal.
The signal to commence the hunt.
Then, the signal gleamed and lit up from across the demon king.
“Is it starting?”
The arrow shot by Sung Yoo-rang flew, cloaked in the aura of Overload.
However, the demon king saw through it and used a tentacle to block it.
The power contained within the arrow was quite strong, causing the tentacle to be crushed as it blocked the arrow, but the tentacle quickly regenerated.
“That regeneration is incredibly fast.”
Given how quickly the demon king was growing, it made sense.
However, the arrow shot by Sung Yoo-rang was not meant to inflict damage.
It was merely intended to divert the demon king’s attention.
“Overload.”
She imbued the pill given to her by Sung Yoo-rang with Overload.
As a result, dark energy began to swirl from the pill.
From what was already suspicious, it transformed into something highly dubious, but the effect was surely much better.
“After all, Overload is an ability originally used for consumables by the Crow Association.”
She swallowed the pill.
And soon, her senses began to change from the norm.
It was thanks to the sharp increase in her physical abilities.
“With this…”
Could the pill also have a confidence-boosting effect?
For some reason, confidence began to well up within her.
“I’ll just try it.”
As the demon king’s attention shifted towards Sung Yoo-rang, she broke out of the blind spot and started quickly approaching the demon king.
No matter how much damage her attack could potentially cause, the closer she got, the greater the damage she could inflict, so she needed to close in as much as possible.
The demon king seemed to notice her approach but didn’t shift his gaze away.
It was in accordance with Sung Yoo-rang’s strategy.
“If Yusera and I draw attention from the opposite side, he won’t really focus on you. Your Overload won’t show until it’s triggered.”
Meanwhile, it appeared that Sung Yoo-rang and Elsie had the traits to draw the demon king’s attention.
Evidently, the special authority she sensed from both Sung Yoo-rang and Elsie was that.
Though it still bothered her somewhat, it allowed her to approach the demon king much closer.
“Overload.”
She imbued the 2-star relic she was holding with Overload.
As a result, black energy began to swirl around the relic.
At the same moment, it seemed the demon king also sensed that he needed to keep her in check, and swung his tentacles.
But that was already too late.
“Was it called a shout?”
Thanks to the characteristic of Overload, she had a habit of fighting cautiously, which she needed to break.
She must not hesitate; she needed to swing the sword with the certainty that she could strike.
One of the methods that Sung Yoo-rang devised to achieve this was shouting.
“What was that?”
Not the simple shout, but the excited shout that Sung Yoo-rang had jokingly mentioned.
She remembered him asking her not to do it because it embarrassed him when she tried to imitate it.
But who cares?
“I like it.”
Just then, the shout came to mind.
She stopped running and firmly planted her feet on the ground.
And, just as she learned from Sung Yoo-rang over the vacation, she swung her sword wide and yelled.
“Sky Cleaving!”
At that moment, it felt as if the world split in half.
No, it was more like an illusion.
Was she hallucinating because of the pill?
It couldn’t be.
While the world didn’t actually split, the tentacles flying toward her were cut in half, and a line was drawn diagonally across the demon king’s main body.
Thanks to taking the pill, the power had clearly increased.
“If that’s the case, I could actually cleave the sky!”
Suddenly, she recalled something Sung Yoo-rang had said before.
“Why think about the back? No one can stop it anyway, right?”
He was right.
Leaving the hilt behind, she dumped the shattered sword and pulled out a new sword from her inventory.
Even though the demon king was now fully focused on her, she felt no fear.
“Sky Cleaving!”
*
My head spun at that guy’s “Sky Cleaving” echoing in my ears.
“I asked him not to do that, for crying out loud.”
Of course, it was my fault for jokingly shouting it out first.
If it gave her the confidence to strike without hesitation, then all the better.
Above all, I had no time to worry about that now.
“Now it’s our turn, Elsie.”
Yusera was doing quite well.
Her strikes were smoothly cutting through the demon king’s strong tentacles, inflicting clear damage.
Thanks to that, the demon king appeared busy trying to recover from the damage inflicted by Yusera.
However, that alone wouldn’t lead to a decisive blow against the demon king.
Yusera’s strikes were definitely powerful but, they wouldn’t allow for a decisive strike against the demon king’s main body.
What do I mean? The massive body covered in tentacles is not its main body.
The true main body could move freely within that enormous shell.
That was the information I had received from Stella about it.
If we couldn’t completely kill the main body, the demon king’s external form would just continue to recover.
“So no matter how much Yusera attacks, the main body inside the shell can’t be destroyed.”
Yusera’s attacks were indeed strong, but compared to speed-oriented warriors like Elsie, they were distinctly slower.
Unless fortune smiled upon us, the main body hidden within that outer shell would not get hit by Yusera’s attacks.
So there was only one way.
We had to directly enter the demon king’s external shell and cut down the main body.
Yusera’s role was to draw the demon king’s attention and weaken his shell by inflicting damage.
Meanwhile, Elsie and I had to penetrate through that shell and enter the demon king’s inner sanctum.
“Overload.”
To do that, I used all five Awakening Pills I held in my hand for Overload.
*
