Ch.104104. Easy Mode

Ludion’s movements were clearly those of someone in pain.

Though he was pretending to be fine, it was completely transparent to her. The trembling body and subtle facial muscle movements whenever he suppressed his pain.

He probably knew he’d been caught. Yet he continued to pretend he was fine…

‘Does he not want to worry me?’

How foolish and stupid.

He’s the one who’s injured, so why worry about others?

Why did he throw himself into such a situation to save me in the first place?

If he was going to get hurt this badly, it would have been better if he’d done nothing at all.

Despite thinking this, the corners of her mouth turned upward.

It was a strange feeling. Logically, she should be scolding him.

Right. She couldn’t scold someone who was hurt. She’d give him an earful once he recovered.

So for now, the priority was to return quickly so he could receive treatment.

After that, things progressed remarkably smoothly.

Though monsters that would normally cause panic appeared one after another, she was able to handle them easily thanks to her growth from the Favorability System and Ludion’s advice.

Ludion’s advice, in particular, was incredibly helpful.

Part destruction, was it? How did he know which parts would break easily, and how could he predict what attacks would come and when?

Of course, he was a mysterious figure who somehow knew everything from her secrets to her food preferences without being told. Such questions were probably meaningless.

She knew this, but… it was still bewildering.

One thing was certain, though—thanks to him, conquering the Rift had become several times easier.

How could someone be so capable? Though he had worried her by foolishly getting injured.

‘Come to think of it, Celia would freak out if she saw this.’

Perhaps because she had some peace of mind now, she could think about people who weren’t present.

How would Celia react if she saw Ludion’s wounds?

While imagining this, goosebumps spread across her entire body.

Something incomparable to anything she’d faced until now was approaching.

The moment she realized this, all her idle thoughts vanished instantly.

She could tell what was coming just from its aura.

‘Another demon, seriously?’

Although she’d learned that encountering demons in Rifts was possible, it was supposed to be an extremely rare probability.

Perhaps one in dozens or hundreds of Rifts.

In fact, until this year, she had never encountered a demon.

But this was already the third time this semester… something was definitely wrong.

‘Have the demons become more active?’

Perhaps not much time remained before chaos would befall the world.

Anyway, the demon had approached nearby.

It had a horrific appearance. It seemed to imitate a human but fell far short.

As it came closer, it became clear. This creature was stronger than any enemy she had faced so far.

But… it wasn’t beyond her ability to handle.

Just as she thought she could manage it…

“My, that won’t do. You’re trying to harm my cute child again.”

A fourth one appeared.

How could something with such an overwhelming aura completely conceal its presence? That shouldn’t be possible.

The creature greeted her casually, but the overwhelming pressure froze her entire body, making it impossible to do anything.

She had grown quite strong herself. Especially thanks to the rewards from the Favorability System, she had broken through walls that had previously blocked her.

She had been proud of how much stronger she’d become, but facing this creature made her realize it was all just arrogance.

‘Overwhelming.’

That was the only way to describe the demon who introduced herself as Belle.

The gap was so extreme that trying to gauge the opponent’s abilities felt like staring into a deep abyss.

It was remarkable that Ludion could converse so calmly with such a being.

When she was suddenly questioned, her heart nearly burst, but somehow she managed to get through it.

She could feel the demon’s genuine disappointment at whatever it had planned to do.

Somehow, that made it seem almost human.

…That’s why she had felt relieved when it turned its back.

“Feeling relieved?”

The twisted neck. The staring eyes. Even setting those aside, a simple phrase sent chills down her spine.

What she felt was killing intent, and what would happen next was entirely predictable.

“Poppy, kill her.”

Poppy? That name still sounded strange no matter how many times she heard it.

The demon with the completely unsuitable name approached her.

A twisted, awkward body. A ridiculous appearance.

But the pressure it emitted was real.

From now on, she would have to face this thing alone.

She wasn’t particularly afraid. Ludion had declared she would be sufficient.

Ludion was someone who said something could be done when it could be done, and couldn’t when it couldn’t.

The only thing that worried her…

“I’ll deal with you.”

“You alone against me? Are you serious?”

It was Ludion, who had to face such an impossible being.

The wounds on his back stood out as he faced Belle.

Now she wasn’t sure. Was he really that strong?

Having seen him nearly die, worry overtook faith.

“Kill… I’ll kill you.”

…Right. This wasn’t the time to worry about others.

Ludion had asked her to buy time. Then she just needed to follow his words as she always did when with him.

If he lost, she wouldn’t survive either.

For now, she would just do what she could.

///

The demons Poppy and Belle.

Though both were demons, they weren’t treated the same.

Simply put, there was a difference like that between nobility and commoners.

The demon class system has some confusing aspects, but skipping all that and just comparing these two, their relationship was close to that of master and servant.

More specifically, it was like the relationship between an owner and a pet.

Well, demon relationships tend to be inconsistent, so there’s not much point in analyzing them.

It’s foolish to try to make sense of relationships established by non-human beings.

Whatever the case, master-servant relationships in fantasy worlds often demonstrate extreme differences in combat power.

These two were exactly like that.

[Poppy]

[Strength: 89]

[Endurance: 105]

[Agility: 56]

[Mana: 0]

[Traits: Demonic Energy(59), Reinforced Skin, Solid Body, Talent for Desperate Struggle]

These were Poppy’s current stats, whom Alkine was facing.

Instead of mana, it had a trait called Demonic Energy, which was roughly comparable to Alkine’s stats.

But the stats of the creature standing before me were like this:

[Belle]

[Strength: 81]

[Endurance: 101]

[Agility: 50]

[Mana: 0]

[Traits: Demonic Energy(729), Annihilation, Affection Amplification, Demon King’s Recognition]

The strength, endurance, and agility were one thing, but that demonic energy value was insane.

‘This thing is a complete monster.’

Honestly, I was genuinely surprised.

In the original work, it would have been around 300 at most. To exceed twice that?

The difficulty increase I’d been forgetting about recently. The resulting inflation was painfully apparent in this moment.

If there was any consolation, it was that the traits remained as I knew them.

Fighting something like this in my current state was really unappealing… but I had no choice now.

I swung the sword I pulled from my inventory.

A sword swung right in front of its face. The creature just stared at it, showing no intention of dodging.

Confidence. The certainty that such an attack wouldn’t even scratch it, that even I couldn’t do any damage.

Indeed, no matter how much I swung my sword, it was clear I couldn’t even leave a scratch. From its perspective, it would be like being tickled.

But that certainty was wrong. Because I had an absurdly unfair trait.

[Attack (Effect Modified)]

[Originally based on stage progression… attack calculation formula modified…]

I’m quite concerned about what might happen later if I reveal this to a demon… but hiding it now would be stupid. As they say, don’t be stingy at the wrong time.

So I swung my sword, lightly grazing the creature’s abdomen…

“Kyaaaaaaah!!!”

…Huh?

That reaction was stronger than expected.

“You, what did you just do?”

Whatever it was, the effect seemed good, so instead of answering, I swung my sword once more.

I thought it would dodge, but it seemed too shocked and got hit again.

“Kyaaak! Stop!! Stop it!!”

The creature screamed as soon as the second attack connected, stretching out its hand in resistance, and black demonic energy began to emanate from it.

The demonic energy, taking a form like plant stems, writhed briefly before rushing toward me.

It looks thin and weak. It seems designed to wrap and bind rather than destroy.

But that’s just appearances. With its “Annihilation” trait, this would be a disaster that erases everything it touches.

In the game, it would at most rapidly wear down armor durability or make stolen weapons evaporate… but here, who knows what catastrophe might occur if it touches me. It might literally annihilate me.

Knowing this, I avoided all attacks through evasion.

To be honest, these kinds of attacks posed no problem for me anymore.

‘Even with evasion delay, I can dodge everything.’

For me, who no longer had any delay, this level of attack was now easy mode.

Crack-

“Urgh.”

My movements might have been a bit too intense, as the wound on my back nearly reopened, but this was a hundred times better than getting hit by that attack.

“You… dodged everything…?”

Looking up while enduring the pain, I could see the bewildered expression on its face.

Apparently, my evasion skills seemed remarkable even to it.

Thanks to that, an opening appeared, but the distance was awkward.

I decided to take a moment rather than move hastily.

I’ll dive in during the next attack. Having decided that, I waited for it to move… but something about its expression was strange.

It was like someone who had found someone they’d been desperately searching for… ah, right, that’s it.

This is the expression that appears when the Affection Amplification trait activates.

……?

Why is that happening now?