Episode 649. Extermination of the Demon Cult (7)

“Focus on its feathers! Don’t take your eyes off them until the end!”

Chwaaak-

The expedition leader, Guild Master Kim Tae-hyun, shouted as he sliced through the approaching feathers.

The Ironblood Guild had broken through countless dungeons and gates.

He had always been at the forefront during those times, but he had never experienced a battle as tough as this one.

The madly rushing demons were annoying, but they weren’t particularly difficult.

In fact, most of the demons had already been killed.

The problem was the two demons.

One was a demon with the head of a bird, and the other was a man with ore embedded all over his body.

Each of them possessed an absurd level of strength.

‘He hunted monsters like these alone…?’

Every time he blocked the demons’ attacks, he was astonished by Lee Hoyeon’s strength.

How could he have subdued such a monster, one that the entire expedition force struggled against, all by himself?

Guild Master Kim Tae-hyun glanced briefly at the battle on the other side.

Lee Hoyeon was fighting the boss of Pandemic.

The battle wasn’t clearly visible due to the building debris floating all around, but the boss of Pandemic couldn’t possibly be weak either.

He wanted desperately to hunt the demons using only the expedition team’s strength and help Lee Hoyeon, but holding on was becoming increasingly difficult.

“Kuh, Kkeuk…!”

“Gyeonghyeon-ah! Son of a bitch…!”

The fight dragged on, and the expedition members began to fall one by one.

Hard ore, capable of delivering immense shock just by grazing someone, flew in from all directions, interspersed with feathers aiming for weak spots.

Even when the expedition members tried to attack the demons, exploiting any opening, the monsters moved with agility.

‘If this continues, we’ll all be annihilated….’

The front line, directly enduring the demons’ attacks, was growing increasingly exhausted.

Guild Master Kim Tae-hyun was holding the front, but the burden placed upon him grew heavier with each passing moment.

If he couldn’t hold on, it was only a matter of time before the others fell.

He had to end the fight as quickly as possible.

‘Three times. No, two more times.’

Throughout the prolonged battle, Kim Tae-hyun analyzed the opponents’ patterns.

The demon covered in ore had a cycle when summoning stone projectiles.

Precisely every five times, the ore would twitch, creating a slight opening.

It must require magical charging.

‘I’ll charge through that opening.’

Kwaaang-!

He dodged the incoming ore and sliced through the feathers.

‘One last time.’

Guild Master Kim Tae-hyun sent hand signals to the expedition members behind him, gradually closing the distance.

Finally, the demon summoned a massive chunk of ore from its body.

This was the fifth time.

“Now!!”

Kim Tae-hyun glared and charged straight ahead.

At the same time, he channeled the condensed magic within his body into both hands and assumed a defensive stance.

[Counter Stance]

It’s a unique skill that stores the force received for a few seconds and then returns it.

This was why he always led the charge in battles, despite being the Guild Master.

It was high-risk, high-return, as it inflicted damage on himself too, but it could reliably deal significant damage to the enemy.

Koo-oong-!

The massive ore struck Kim Tae-hyun’s body directly.

The impact was enough to make his head spin.

Judging by the lack of sensation in his arms, his bones might all be broken.

Kim Tae-hyun held onto his consciousness, keeping his gaze fixed on the demon.

The time it took for the ore demon to charge its ore was about 2 seconds.

It was enough time for him to close the distance and unleash his Counter Stance.

Kim Tae-hyun’s vast experience shone in situations like this.

“…?!”

However, contrary to Kim Tae-hyun’s calculations, the demon was creating ore immediately.

The demon had a charging time every five attacks. He had confirmed this phenomenon dozens of times just moments ago.

Only then did Kim Tae-hyun notice the demon’s mouth twisting.

‘You son of a bitch…!’

It was a trap.

Or perhaps, the demon had recklessly launched an attack.

The crucial point was that he had to take another hit in this state.

Kim Tae-hyun’s Counter Stance was a powerful skill, but it carried the risk of taking the full damage.

Even after taking just one hit, his head was spinning.

If he took another direct hit like this, his body wouldn’t hold.

“Guild Master-nim!”

“Don’t come any closer!”

Kim Tae-hyun gritted his teeth and looked straight ahead.

‘I can’t avoid it.’

Since he had charged forward intending to attack, he couldn’t dodge this blow.

In that case… he had to push further in.

Rather than trying to preserve his own life with a low chance of success, he had to throw himself forward to create even a brief opening for the expedition team.

That would increase the probability of defeating the demon.

‘If I’d known this would happen, I shouldn’t have brought Young-han….’

Kim Tae-hyun dismissed the useless thought and carried out his charge.

He intended to block everything himself, so his guild members wouldn’t get hit.

His gaze followed the ore demon until the very end.

At that moment.

The ore blocking his vision disappeared.

“Eraser.”

“…?!”

Kim Tae-hyun’s eyes widened.

He had charged forward prepared to die, but suddenly the ore before him vanished.

‘I don’t know what happened… but I’m charging forward.’

He moved his body instead of thinking.

The ore demon seemed flustered and was summoning ore again, but Kim Tae-hyun had already closed in right before its face.

Paaaah-!

“Kuh, Kuuua…!”

He returned the energy stored throughout his body directly to the demon.

It was a demonic scream he had never heard before.

Kim Tae-hyun stepped back, his arms hanging limply.

‘Damn it… If I’d taken a second hit, I would have died instantly.’

As Counter Stance ended, the accumulated damage hit his body fully.

He thought only his arms hurt, but it seemed like bones throughout his body were fractured.

To suffer such damage from a single stone? That creature was fundamentally unfair.

Teolseok-

Kim Tae-hyun knelt on one knee, sitting on the ground.

The ore demon writhed in apparent pain, but it didn’t seem to have received fatal damage.

‘…Kkeu, I can’t finish that bastard off?’

He had managed to create an opening against the ore demon, but the bird-headed demon interfered with other expedition members approaching.

“Kuo-oooooh! Kurururu!”

The bird-headed demon was thrashing wildly, shedding feathers from its entire body.

Judging by the ferocity, far greater than its previous attacks, it seemed the demon was also concerned about the ore demon falling.

Just then, the ore demon glared at him and opened its mouth.

“Kuh, Kkeuk… Ha, Haaa… To think a mere human…”

“Crazy rock. You can talk too?”

Ha.

Kim Tae-hyun let out a hollow laugh, looking at the ore demon glaring at him.

Was it something to be proud of that he made the creature, which hadn’t uttered a word until now, speak?

The demon seemed to have fully recovered from the shock and directed murderous intent towards him.

‘Is the subjugation a failure after all…?’

He hadn’t underestimated their strength.

The Association had planned the expedition force with three times the strength they anticipated from the Demon Cult.

Mage Lee Hoyeon had strongly advocated for this, but… who knew it wouldn’t be enough?

Kim Tae-hyun squinted and forced strength into his body.

Just sitting here was of no help whatsoever.

He needed to get up and draw attention, even just a little.

Just as he thought that.

Kaaaang-!

With an immense roar, the gem embedded in the back of the ore demon’s head exploded.

“Kuaaaak! Ah, Aaaak!”

The ore demon clutched the back of its head as if in pain, and blood began to flow from its body.

Who had done this to the demon?

There was no need to ask.

Because he saw the familiar back of a man in front of him.

“Guild Master Kim Tae-hyun-nim. Can you get up?”

“Y-yes.”

Kim Tae-hyun flinched involuntarily as he looked up at Lee Hoyeon looking down at him.

His golden eyes instilled fear, even though he wasn’t an enemy.

But, more than that, a sense of relief washed over him.

“Now, pull yourself together. I’ll finish off that rock-head, but there’s still one more left. Guild Master Kim Tae-hyun-nim.”

“…Understood! Everyone, hang in there for just a little longer!”

Kim Tae-hyun forced himself to muster his magic and stood up.

The ore demon that had been tormenting them was critically wounded in an instant.

It was a sight that astonished every expedition member present.

The most crucial thing in a fight is momentum.

If you can’t seize the momentum at a time like this, you can’t win the battle.

“Mage Lee Hoyeon has killed the boss of Pandemic and joined us! Finish them all!”

Kim Tae-hyun raised his voice and drew his sword again.

Just Lee Hoyeon’s arrival brought hope to the faces of the expedition members.

*

The battle didn’t last much longer.

Malpis, the demon covered in ore, was critically wounded by Lee Hoyeon’s surprise attack.

Since its greatest weakness, the gem on the back of its head, was shattered, ending its life wasn’t difficult.

‘I didn’t know Guild Master Kim Tae-hyun was that strong.’

Although he had helped with Eraser, the sight of Kim Tae-hyun risking his life to create an opening was, even to Lee Hoyeon, exemplary of a Guild Master.

He wanted to build a good relationship with the Ironblood Guild, if only for that one man’s sake.

After finishing off Malpis, he dealt with the bird-headed demon, Amon, as well.

Although they struggled against the two demons, the expedition team consisted entirely of the Hunter Association’s aces.

If they all banded together to keep one demon in check, it was enough to support Lee Hoyeon.

Of course, it wasn’t easy.

While Lee Hoyeon was away, many casualties occurred, and it was difficult to even properly preserve the corpses, let alone capture them alive.

The state of their bodies, scarred all over, made it questionable whether they could even be studied.

‘And the reinforcements were damn late.’

They had called for reinforcements the moment they encountered the demons, yet the reinforcements only arrived after the battle was completely over.

He felt annoyed at first, but the expedition team itself was already an absurdly powerful force.

All available personnel not tied up with schedules had been placed in the expedition, and the rest were essential guild members.

Since they had halted all their duties to organize and dispatch the reinforcements immediately, he couldn’t really get angry.

[Demon organization hiding in Korea purged! Civilians subjected to mind control entrusted to specialized institutions due to memory confusion….]

[Genius Mage Lee Hoyeon. This time, two demons subjugated! The new demons Amon and Malpis. Battle footage is once again setting the world ablaze….]

[Kim Tae-hyun, Ironblood Guild Master, Interview. “Mage Lee Hoyeon is the future of this world. Without him, the expedition would have been annihilated. We must feel the threat posed by demonic beings. It takes over 10 S-class hunters to kill a single demon.”]

Lee Hoyeon’s name soared once again.

Lee Hoyeon’s name appeared in every interview with the expedition members, and with the release of the battle footage, speaking negatively about Lee Hoyeon was becoming the mark of a strange person.

“At this rate, we’ll have the Lee Hoyeon Cult instead of the Demon Cult.”

Lying in bed, browsing EveryDay, Lee Hoyeon turned off his smartwatch and shook his head.

Being famous is fine, but becoming too great a person creates a sense of discomfort.

One needs to know when to stop gilding the lily, so to speak.

Tti- Tti- Tti-

A sound emanated periodically from beside Lee Hoyeon’s bed.

It was a heart rate monitor.

Having this beside the bed meant this was a hospital room.

He was hospitalized again.

This place was the Ironblood Hospital.

It was a VIP room arranged by the father-son duo Kim Tae-hyun and Kim Young-han, as a token of gratitude for the significant help they received from the Ironblood Guild.

“I told them hospitalization wasn’t necessary. Tsk.”

Although Lee Hoyeon’s condition wasn’t great right now, his natural healing ability was immense.

He would recover after a good night’s sleep, even without treatment.

But somehow, no one seemed willing to listen to him.

‘Still, I managed to skip all the interviews….’

Perhaps Guild Master Kim Tae-hyun had considered that.

He really didn’t want to do interviews on top of everything else.

“Honey…! Are you perhaps hurting anywhere…?”

Just as Lee Hoyeon lay there blankly, the door to the room connected to the hospital room opened, and a face peeked out.

“I’m fine. Ah-young ssi.”

“You must tell me anytime if anything is uncomfortable, okay?”

It was Baek Ah-young, of course.

Upon hearing that he was injured again, she had declared she would watch him directly this time and was peeking in every ten minutes or so from the adjacent room.

‘Well, if it makes her feel better, then it’s fine.’

It was better than her bursting into tears and rushing over.

In fact, it had been difficult to stop her from tearing up again the moment they arrived at the hospital.

“Honey. This won’t do. We need to run more detailed tests.”

“Ah-young ssi. No. Honey. Can’t you just lie down for a bit? Even if they test me four times a day, the results will be the same.”

“B-but….”

“Here. You can lie next to me, so just lie down here. That would probably put my mind at ease.”

“Honey…! You mean my presence alone helps you heal, right?”

“…Yes. That’s exactly what I mean, so just stay here.”

Lee Hoyeon made space on the bed as he watched Baek Ah-young approach tentatively.

Yeah. This is better than her crying her eyes out.