229. Tag with Demon Lords

The sky split open, and Demon Kings poured down like rain.

Each wielded devastating power, and cracks began to form in Hailan’s barrier.

With every crimson lightning strike, the priests of the Church lost consciousness and collapsed. Each time a Demon King in the form of a ram charged the barrier, Hailan endured shocks severe enough to kill her.

“How long can you hold out?”

“A day. No, not even half a day. I’ll die before then.”

At Hailan’s reply, Irene tightly shut her eyes.

Originally, they were supposed to receive the holy relic and flee to the kingdom, but perhaps because she was bound by the Soul Chain and thrown into this hellhole, tears threatened to spill.

‘Why the hell did you drag all these helpless people down here anyway?’

As Irene poured divine power into Hailan, her hatred for Shion grew. No matter how she looked at it, she couldn’t see Shion in a positive light.

“Ugh…! Irene! What are you doing?! Stop spacing out and heal me!”

“Damn it! Hold on!”

While Irene suppressed her rage, Hailan staggered from a heavy impact, prompting Rozie to snap at Irene, urging her to cast healing magic immediately.

Of course, even if Irene healed Hailan, the barrier would still be destroyed within half a day, and everyone inside would face a gruesome death.

Truthfully, their resistance was meaningless. Nothing had gone according to plan so far.

The original goal was to quietly pick off the Demon Kings one by one before they swarmed, building their strength. Just as they had killed the Insect King and given his body to Oliver to enhance their forces.

The plan was to gradually steal the Demon Kings’ bodies, allowing Shion and his party to claim the hidden pieces and dominate the 7th Floor. But for some reason, the Demon Kings were nowhere to be found, and the hidden pieces had already been taken.

Neither Shion nor those who descended to the 7th Floor knew. That most of the Demon Kings had already been killed by Erphin, turned into her puppets-and that Erphin had prepared everything in anticipation of Shion’s arrival.

The result was the current crisis.

“Are we just helpless? Are we supposed to sit here and wait to die?!”

One of the adventurers shouted. With the Demon Kings swarming all at once, any attempt to fight would result in being torn apart without resistance.

It wasn’t that there was no one capable of killing a Demon King. Strong individuals like Mabel and Jason, the Martial Hall Director, could take down “one or two.”

“But against that many, there’s no hope.”

With over twenty of them descending, hope was nonexistent.

They might have been able to hunt three Demon Kings by pushing themselves to the brink, but without Shion and the Demon King subjugation team, facing more than twenty meant certain death.

‘Their condition is strange. They’ve lost their free will-almost as if they’re being controlled. This contradicts all the intel we had. Why? Are they under someone’s dominion? Maybe…’

Meanwhile, Mabel observed the Demon Kings, forming several hypotheses.

‘The Insect King’s body exploding must be related. What kind of power could shatter a Demon King’s resilient flesh without warning? Unless…’

After much deliberation, Mabel reached one conclusion.

‘What if the Insect King was already a familiar of something? If he was forced to self-destruct, then it makes sense. That means all of them are being controlled.’

Mabel realized something was reigning over the Demon Kings.

Furthermore, she deduced that this entity had seized the opportunity of Shion’s absence to attack and that the invading Demon Kings had no will of their own.

‘Their souls have been stolen, or they’ve lost ownership of their bodies. Either way, there must be a way to seize control over them.’

But there was no time to find that method. The barrier would shatter within half a day, and when it did, everyone here would die.

Yes, death was inevitable. The only thing left was to ensure their corpses remained as intact as possible.

Moreover, given that the Demon Kings were being controlled, something clearly had the power to steal souls or bodies. They had to prevent that at all costs.

‘If one of them can manipulate souls like Shion… they’ll try to tamper with ours. That would make resurrection impossible, and even reviving through golems would be difficult. We must protect our souls at all costs.’

Mabel called for the Martial Hall Director, drenched in monster blood.

They had to prepare not only for their corpses being desecrated but also for their souls being stolen.

“Jason! Can you help me out?”

“Help you? With what? There’s no way out of this.”

“Exactly. We’re going to die anyway. So we have to die properly.”

“Die properly? What kind of bullshit is that?!”

“If everyone here dies in a state where they can’t even be resurrected, humanity loses all hope. You know that.”

The people who descended to the 7th Floor were humanity’s last line of defense.

Finding adventurers stronger than this group would be nearly impossible. If everyone here was slaughtered beyond resurrection, there was no telling when they could raise and bring down another force like this.

So even in death, they had to minimize damage to their bodies and prevent their souls from being stolen at all costs.

“This expedition is humanity’s first and last chance. We can’t lose everything here helplessly.”

“Damn it… Fine. What do I need to do?”

“Hold out with me until the end. Just until Shion arrives.”

“Do you really think that’s possible? Look at them. There are over twenty Demon Kings. Once the Saintess’s divine power runs out, everyone here is dead.”

“We’ll kill them before they slaughter us. And then preserve the bodies.”

Mabel planned to artificially stop the hearts of the adventurers, beastkin, and elves, inducing death before freezing and sealing the bodies in preservation artifacts.

“Once they’re sealed, we just have to hold out until Shion arrives. It’s better for you and me to survive until the end and protect the seals than for everyone to be brutally slaughtered by the Demon Kings.”

“What? You crazy bitch! That means you and I-“

“Two lives sacrificed to save hundreds is a net gain.”

“…So you’re trading certain doom for everyone’s survival.”

“Exactly. Two lives for hundreds.”

“Weren’t you an egoist? Why are you thinking like this-“

“If I were an egoist, I wouldn’t have come down here in the first place.”

Jason fell into deep internal conflict at Mabel’s words.

He loved fighting. But he avoided hopeless battles.

And if he accepted Mabel’s proposal now, death was certain.

“If I don’t join you, everyone here dies?”

“Absolutely. Worst case, our bodies and souls get stolen too.”

“You’re asking for a sacrifice.”

“Will you do it? Let’s sacrifice ourselves together. Just you and me holding out until the end.”

“Are you sure we can last? If that bastard Shion is too late, it’s over.”

“Better to chase even a sliver of hope than resign to certain doom.”

“Hope, huh.”

Jason wavered at the word.

In a situation of utter despair, the mage was talking about hope. The one who should be the most coldly rational was chasing light.

Without even knowing if it was real or an illusion.

“Best case, everyone but us survives. Worst case, we all die together.”

“Even if you refuse, everyone dies anyway. Think about it. You came down here to protect your family, didn’t you?”

“…”

Jason thought of his wife and daughter.

The real reason the Martial Hall Director had descended wasn’t just because he loved fighting.

He had a family to protect. That’s why he had accepted Shion’s request for help.

“Gotta protect my little girl’s future.”

“Didn’t want to leave her fatherless.”

Jason nodded with an expression caught between a smile and a sob.

“Let’s do it. Fuck it. If it works, great. If not, at least we tried our best.”

Victory against the Demon Kings was unlikely, but surviving by running and hiding until Shion arrived might be possible.

So Mabel began preparations to induce cardiac arrest in the assault team before the Demon Kings could tear them apart, sealing them to hold out until Shion’s arrival.

She obtained medicine from Rafnel and worked with the Druid Association head to set up every possible defensive measure.

“The barrier will break soon.”

A massive crack split Hailan’s barrier.

Time was up. Most of the assault team had already voluntarily sealed themselves. Only the Saintesses and the Druid Association head remained.

“Shion will take at least two, maybe three days to get here. If we can hold out for three days, we win.”

“Three days… Let’s hope we last.”

Everyone except Mabel and Jason entered the preservation artifacts.

The moment Hailan died and was sealed, the barrier shattered, and dozens of Demon Kings charged at the two.

“Run!!!”

Now, until Shion found them, the two had to desperately protect the sealed artifacts.

The deadly game of tag with the Demon Kings for humanity’s survival had begun.