Growburn Village – Demon Race

body {
font-family: Georgia, serif;
line-height: 1.6;
max-width: 800px;
margin: 0 auto;
padding: 20px;
}
h1 {
color: #333;
border-bottom: 2px solid #ddd;
padding-bottom: 10px;
}
p {
margin-bottom: 1em;
text-align: justify;
}

Raspha, struck directly by the unexpected attack, was sent flying rapidly.

-Bang.

And crashed straight into one of the walls.

“What is this…?”

Jade was dumbfounded at the sight.

-Thud.

“…Who is it? Who is it!”

Raspha, emerging from the wall, stomped his feet, his voice filled with rage.

Moreover, Raspha’s arms, which seemed to have blocked the hammer, had small, hideous burn-like scars.

“You were still hiding allies? And this power is from that Goddess…”

Jade, who was being questioned, was just as bewildered.

‘Who on earth did this…?’

The massive hammer stuck in the floor had blown Raspha away, not Jade.

Although he didn’t know for sure, it was clearly an action to help him.

But as far as Jade knew, there was no one who would come to help.

Who would know and come to save them in the Dungeon?

‘Could it be the Village Chief?’

Could it be that the Village Chief had secretly called in other adventurers without him knowing?

-Whoosh.

Suddenly, the hammer that had been dropped on the floor floated into the air.

Then, it began to return in the direction it had come from.

-Thwack.

A man who had entered the room grabbed the flying hammer.

“…Am I a little late?”

The man who came into Jade’s view was an unexpected figure.

The man, presumed to be an old man, had grizzled hair and eyes overflowing with experience and indomitable spirit.

He also held the massive hammer he had seen earlier in his left hand, and the armor he was wearing had a circular symbol of the Goddess embedded in it.

Jade was quickly able to deduce that the old man was from the Holy Kingdom.

The thing that bothered him was…

The place where the old man’s right arm should have been was empty.

“Y-you…”

Raspha, upon seeing the old man, was taken aback and stepped back.

“Hmm, do you know me?”

“Antonio! Why are you here!”

‘Antonio?’

Jade felt like he had heard that name somewhere before.

While Jade was frantically searching his memory, the old man called Antonio passed Raspha and walked straight towards Jade.

-Thud, thud.

At the sight, Jade did not let his guard down and watched the old man’s next move.

-Clunk.

The old man placed the hammer on the floor and asked Jade a question.

“Are you perhaps the one who has awakened as the Hero of this era?”

“I haven’t been formally appointed… but I am a Hero for now.”

“Hoo, so I’ve finally found you. I have come here to serve the Hero.”

The old man bowed his head and paid his respects to Jade.

“Huh? To me?”

The old man had come to find Jade, who was none other than the Hero.

“Then… may I ask who you are?”

“Haha, I’ve left out my important introduction. I am Antonio from the Holy Kingdom. I was once a Cardinal of the Holy Kingdom, but now I am just an ordinary retired old man.”

Antonio smiled and stroked his beard with his left hand.

‘Could it be…’

When Jade first heard the name Antonio mentioned by Raspha earlier, he was dubious.

But the old man who was a former Cardinal of the Holy Kingdom and whose name was Antonio was only one person in this world.

It was Cardinal Antonio, the hero who played an active role in the Great War.

Jade hurriedly tried to raise Antonio’s bowed head.

“Sir Antonio, you don’t have to do this to me.”

“It is only natural to pay respects to the Hero who has been chosen by the Goddess.”

Due to Antonio’s stubbornness, Jade had no choice but to bow his head and pay his respects to Antonio as well.

“…I am also honored to meet Sir Antonio here.”

Antonio fought on the front lines of the war as a Cardinal and saved the lives of countless people.

Moreover, he is the only person alive among those who were Cardinals during the Great War.

It was the first time Jade had actually seen Antonio, but he knew the achievements he had made, so he couldn’t help but feel respect.

But there was a big problem.

The fact that such a great hero, Sir Antonio, was coming to take him to the Holy Kingdom was news to Jade.

Also, he had no idea how he had even found his way to this Dungeon.

“I’m hearing for the first time that someone is coming from the Holy Kingdom to take me. Was it not conveyed to me?”

“…There are complicated circumstances. First of all, you must go to the Holy Kingdom as soon as possible. I have prepared Warp Magic, so as soon as we get out of the Dungeon, we can go straight there.”

Antonio urged Jade, saying there was no time.

“Hey, can you pay attention to me too?”

Raspha called out to Antonio in a voice that seemed to suppress his anger.

“First of all, you must take care of your injured comrades. Their condition is serious, so quick action is needed. And…”

But Antonio ignored Raspha’s call and continued to explain to Jade.

Antonio’s attitude was as if he regarded Raspha as a roadside pebble.

‘I-is this okay…?’

Jade, who was listening to the story, was rather conscious of Raspha’s mood.

He understood Sir Antonio’s power in his head, but Raspha’s power, which he had directly faced, felt greater to Jade.

“Ha… are you kidding me?”

Raspha’s figure, who was behind the two, became blurry.

Jade noticed this and hurriedly raised his sword―

-Clang!

It was already after the hammer had blocked Raspha’s fist, which was reaching towards Jade’s head.

“A Demon doesn’t know when to butt in and when not to.”

“Even if you were powerful during the Great War, you’re now an old man who’s lost his right arm. And you’re ignoring me with that kind of background?”

“‘Old man’. That’s right, but… I don’t have the skills to lose to ‘defeated soldiers’.”

“D-defeated soldiers?”

“Haha, aren’t the Demons the defeated soldiers who ran away with their tails between their legs after losing the war to us? Was your name Raspha? I remember now. You were on the Demon list being tracked by the Holy Kingdom. I couldn’t find out where you were after the Great War ended, but you were trembling and hiding in a place like this.”

Raspha gritted his teeth at Antonio’s remarks, which clearly ignored her.

-Gritting.

“Shut up. I’ll just kill you here with the Hero.”

A huge Demonic Energy soared from Raspha’s body, who had retreated.

-Kwagagagang!

In an instant, Jade’s hair stood on end and goosebumps ran all over his body.

‘This is the Greater demon’s sincerity…’

He had been thinking that Raspha had been considerate of Jade and his companions until now, but it was a power that could not be compared to that time.

It was an overbearing energy that felt like a will to smash everything that stood in his way.

Jade felt the gap between him and Raspha to the bone.

How arrogant he had been to think that he would kill Raspha.

If Antonio hadn’t helped him a little while ago, he would have already lost his limbs.

Raspha, who was covered in jet-black energy all over his body, rushed towards Antonio.

A shockwave occurred behind her due to the tremendous speed.

-Paaang!

“Die!”

Raspha’s fist, filled with black energy, cut through the air towards Antonio’s head.

“Sir Antonio!”

Jade unknowingly shouted Sir Antonio’s name.

No matter how much of a hero Sir Antonio was, he didn’t seem to be able to ignore that attack.

“Hero. There is no need to worry about me.”

Antonio lightly swung the hammer in his left hand.

A brilliant light was wrapped around its end.

-Bang!

“Keuheok!”

Breaking Jade’s expectations, Raspha screamed and flew away, crashing into the wall once again.

“I didn’t think that I would be ignored by a Greater demon when I couldn’t even think of rushing at me unless I was a Legion Commander… I must have gotten old.”

But Raspha also quickly got up.

“Huhu, my body is a little stiff.”

There were only minor scratches, and as befitting a Greater demon, he had endured Antonio’s attack.

“It’s really fun to have someone to be serious about after a long time. I’m going to tear you apart and kill you, so don’t run away.”

-Tadatak!

Raspha rushes at Antonio once again.

Thus, a fierce battle between Antonio and Raspha began.

When Raspha stretched out his fist, the Dungeon shook with its energy, and every time Antonio swung his hammer, a large hole was created in the place where it hit.

Also, every time the hammer containing Divine Power struck, a sacred light flashed and illuminated the room.

-Bang! Bang! Bang!

It was literally a battle of brute force against brute force.

At the same time, they skillfully parried each other’s attacks, and a quick battle unfolded.

Jade was struggling to even follow the battle with his eyes.

He was only guessing that there were countless calculations between each seemingly ordinary attack and defense.

But looking at the increasing wounds on Raspha’s body and Antonio’s calm expression, there was something Jade could know.

‘Raspha is being pushed back.’

Raspha had played with Jade and his friends like toys while fighting them at the same time.

But he was unable to use his strength against Antonio, a single human being.

“Haha, didn’t you say you were going to kill me?”

“Shut up!”

“You have a bad mouth, so you need some mental training.”

-Whoosh!

The hammer flashes brightly in the air and heads towards Raspha.

“Do you think I’ll get hit by an attack like this?”

Raspha bent over with agile movements, barely dodging the hammer and thrusting out a straight punch.

But in the blink of an eye, Antonio rotated the hammer 180 degrees and brought it exactly to the end of the outstretched fist.

It was a movement that was unbelievable for a hammer swung with one hand.

-Kwaang!

“Keuek!”

In the end, Raspha, who had launched the attack, rather retreated, complaining of pain in his hand.

“Isn’t that too light a punch? Is that all you had to say so loudly? You’re especially weak among the Greater demons I’ve met.”

“No way… you’re this strong even after losing your right arm?”

“Haha, isn’t it enough to have one arm to swing a weapon?”

Raspha’s face, who had rushed in with great fanfare, was full of embarrassment.

No matter how much she poured out her offensive, she couldn’t even inflict a single wound on Antonio.

On the other hand, Raspha’s body was covered with burn marks caused by the Divine Power.

After that, Antonio’s full-scale offensive continued.

Every time the hammer containing Divine Power brushed against Raspha’s body, the black energy surrounding her faded.

-Bang! Crunch!

Demonic Energy and Divine Power are forces that are mutually exclusive.

But the fact that only one side is unilaterally disappearing meant that the Divine Power contained in the weapon overwhelmed Raspha’s Demonic Energy.

‘This is the power of the hero who was active during the Great War…’

Jade felt himself becoming infinitely smaller in the face of the battle between true superhumans.

But Jade couldn’t just stand by and watch.

‘I have to hit Raspha at least once.’

Anyway, a golden opportunity to avenge Raspha had come.