Ch.11538. Soso and the Hell Blood Demon (4)

Sweat ran down my body even though I was standing still.

My opponent was a member of the Red Lake. Not just any member, but the right-hand man of Seomun-yeom, the Soul Stealer. To make matters worse, he was a swordsman—the type of opponent most difficult for me to face.

‘Mages don’t engage swordsmen one-on-one in the first place.’

But now I was facing him alone. His Shadow-Breaking Sword sliced through the air.

Kaang—

The moment I saw the path of his blade, I involuntarily imagined my head being severed. Yet somehow, I survived his first strike.

“Hmm? How curious…”

Sparks flew as the tip of his Shadow-Breaking Sword collided with the edge of my Wind Cutter.

“How did you block my strike? Or perhaps your skills are why you dared to discuss becoming the Heavenly Demon’s son-in-law in my presence!”

That was incredibly close. To be honest, I don’t even know how I blocked it. It happened so fast that even I was surprised.

‘My reaction speed has increased to an impossible degree. Even more than when I faced Ains.’

I felt my mana heart growing hot.

‘It’s because of the Red Jade.’

The Red Jade replacing my mana heart—being S-class gear, its sensitivity to mana was on a completely different level compared to humans.

Tatat—

I hurriedly put a few steps between myself and Lee Seon-woo. Though a meaningless distance against an S-class villain, it still bought me a few seconds to respond.

“Did you think you could buy time?”

But he was already right in front of me. Another slash aimed at my neck followed.

Swoooosh—

I narrowly avoided his sword. Once again, my reaction exceeded my own perception.

‘Could it be the Wind Cutter too?’

My guess was correct. The Red Jade increased my body’s reaction speed, and the Wind Cutter’s breeze made my movements twice as fast.

“Scurrying away like a rat…”

I barely dodged his next strike as well. Perhaps he hadn’t expected me to evade so well. Lee Seon-woo emanated terrible demonic energy in his rage.

“But time will ultimately favor me. Mages are notoriously poor in endurance!”

I wanted to refute his words immediately, but the barrage of sword strikes left me no opportunity to speak. Besides, he was right.

When a mage engages in close combat against a swordsman, the mage naturally suffers extreme stamina drain.

‘That’s not all. At this rate, I might be defeated without casting a single spell.’

Unlike sword strikes, spells require casting time. Of course, skilled mages can reduce spell delay to near-instantaneous levels.

But magic is the manifestation of phenomena through mana. No matter how much one reduces the gap, there will always be a slight delay in casting.

Riiiiip—

My clothes were slashed. These weren’t ordinary clothes—they were magical equipment with protective enchantments, prepared for today’s battle.

‘This gear has defense far superior to a bulletproof vest. Damn it.’

But I knew such equipment wouldn’t be enough against the infamous Hell Blood Demon. To make matters worse, he was strengthened by the Sacrificial Domain.

At this rate, I was clearly on the defensive. Lee Seon-woo was already catching up to my reaction speed. I wouldn’t be able to block his next strike.

However, I had no intention of dying at his hands. I needed to create an opening.

‘No, I’ve already created one.’

BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM—

The observatory ceiling exploded.

Intense flames engulfed Lee Seon-woo’s body. The thick smoke from the explosion spread around us like a smoke screen.

‘Good. The spell activated.’

Earlier, when Soso was present, I had secretly placed a spirit formation on the ceiling while provoking Lee Seon-woo.

While trap-related spells were commonly used in modern times for practical purposes, the spirit formation I learned from Elder Yeon Mun-woo’s secretary was on a different level.

Just as certain poison families in the Martial World use formless poisons, formless spirit formations also exist.

These spirit formations leave no trace during installation, so Lee Seon-woo hadn’t noticed at all.

And now, the blue flame I had embedded in the formation finally activated and exploded.

I entered the observatory through the collapsed ceiling. Though my vision was still obscured by the explosion’s aftermath, Lee Seon-woo must have fallen here with me.

‘This should be enough time. Now it’s my turn to counterattack.’

But soon, a red flash cut through the smoke screen ahead. I wasn’t surprised.

“You’re already caught, Hell Blood Demon.”

Once more, an explosion echoed through the place.

***

The smoke from the blue flame and debris from the collapsed ceiling cleared.

Unlike before, Lee Seon-woo’s clothes were now burned and in tatters from my consecutive blue flame attacks.

“I thought you’d be dead, but you’re still alive. What a shame.”

I deliberately spoke with casual confidence as I looked at Lee Seon-woo. His eyes were turning pitch black. He seemed furious at being caught by an unexpected attack.

“The sin of disrespecting me cannot be repaid even in death!”

As he threw off his ruined clothes and shouted, I added one more remark:

“Wait. I’d advise against moving recklessly. I’ve filled this observatory with invisible spirit formations. Feel free to rampage if you want to be caught in another explosion.”

It was pure bluff, of course.

Setting up invisible spirit formations consumes a lot of mana. After using consecutive blue flames with resonance compression, I had no capacity left for more spirit formations.

But Lee Seon-woo had already been badly burned by my spirit formation spell. The man who had been about to charge at me just moments ago now hesitated.

“This damned spirit formation… Did you learn it from Yeon Mun-woo, that nasty old man?”

I nodded. And the expression of the man who had been so composed on the observatory roof changed.

“That difficult old man was famous for never taking disciples… How did you manage to persuade him?!”

Having once been a disciple of the Heavenly Demon Sect himself, Lee Seon-woo would certainly know Elder Yeon Mun-woo.

‘That’s why he can’t move freely now.’

I deliberately provoked him:

“As the son-in-law of the Heavenly Demon Sect, it’s only natural. Unlike you, I’ll officially inherit the sect, so it’s only natural that the elders recognize me.”

“Don’t run that filthy mouth of yours!”

Unable to contain his anger at my provocation, Lee Seon-woo finally lunged at me. A jet-black flash flew straight at me, but—

Swiiiiish—

Dodging his sword strike wasn’t difficult.

“Damn it. Where did you learn such foul techniques…”

He had lost his composure due to my provocation. And right behind him, my Wind Cutter’s slashing wind flew.

With my extremely enhanced reaction speed, it wasn’t difficult to avoid his counterattack.

‘His sword is less sharp because he’s conscious of the spirit formations.’

And he had definitely taken damage from the blue flame explosion. Our confrontation continued. Sensing that I was no pushover, Lee Seon-woo’s gaze changed.

“I was going to use you as entertainment before taking Soso, but you’re not an ordinary man. In that case, I should show some of my real skill.”

As I expected, he hadn’t yet revealed his full power.

Compared to the Hell Blood Demon’s reputation, I was still practically an unknown hunter. He had killed hunters in the triple digits since joining the Red Lake.

So while I might get complacent fighting him on equal terms like this, I knew villains’ methods well.

‘They always have an ace up their sleeve. That’s what makes them villains.’

Lee Seon-woo had only used the Heavenly Demon Sect’s Destruction Sword against me so far. Before arriving at this coastal cliff, he hadn’t shown any of the Hell Blood Arts he had cast across the island.

‘And as a devil contractor, his physical strength is on a completely different level from ordinary people or monsters.’

Despite being hit by blue flame—even one using resonance compression—he had only slowed down slightly without suffering serious injury.

“Then I’ll show you why my title is the Hell Blood Demon.”

Simultaneously, his body began to glow bright red. No, like someone severely injured, blood began to flow all over his body.

‘No, that’s not Lee Seon-woo’s blood.’

The demonic energy swirling around him materialized in the form of blood. That blood would become a weapon that moved and responded according to his mana acceleration.

Literally a living weapon. And if the demonic energy drawn through the Sacrificial Domain was further infused into that blood…

I would face omnidirectional attacks incomparable to his previous sword strikes. For me, who needed to buy time until my companions returned from defeating the shadow puppets…

This was truly a critical moment.

But the Hell Blood Demon, who had been drawing out blood, suddenly looked confused.

“Wait… why is it stopping? I turned this entire island into my domain, but the gathering demonic energy is different from usual…”

From his words, I sensed that Soso had succeeded. The Hell Blood Demon would no longer receive demonic energy through sacrifices.

Seeing my relaxed expression, he shouted:

“You bastard! Was this why you sent Soso away separately?!”

I nodded at his words.

***

Lee Seon-woo lost his composure in rage. The large amount of blood that had instantly formed around him surged endlessly like a fountain.

“The price for interfering with our work! I’ll tear your limbs apart to collect it!”

With those words, the demonic energy recorded by the oscilloscope reached its maximum. Lee Seon-woo seemed to have unleashed his devil’s power.

Perhaps an ordinary awakened would have quickly reached their limit from that demonic energy.

‘But that’s actually fortunate for me.’

I had been waiting for Lee Seon-woo to unleash his devil’s power. Mental interference from demonic energy doesn’t work on me. And I have the Holy Fire of Demon Destruction as a counter to demonic energy.

If he had continued attacking with the Heavenly Demon Sword, it would have eventually become disadvantageous for me. But if he used his prized Hell Blood Arts…

I could buy enough time until Soso arrived.

‘It would be nice if I could handle him myself…’

For me right now, this moment is reality, not fiction. So recklessly risking my life in an all-out battle with him would be foolhardy.

Now, just like in the original work, my role was to buy more time so Soso could settle her grudge with the Hell Blood Demon.

‘And “our work,” he said.’

The words Lee Seon-woo had mentioned earlier echoed in my mind. The Red Lake, which gathered villains driven by desire cognition.

Their goal must be the resurrection of the Evil God. So Lee Seon-woo’s actions in Busan weren’t just due to his personal desire cognition.

‘The Evil God will soon destroy this world. His mission must have been to throw Busan into chaos.’

Papapapapang—

But I had no time for other thoughts. The terrible demonic blood moved like a massive wave and crashed down on me.

However, the Holy Fire of Demon Destruction evaporated that blood instantly. Lee Seon-woo was shocked at the sight.

“How did you counter my Hell Blood Arts…”

As he said, although the Sacrificial Domain had partially failed, he must still have demonic energy he had already absorbed through sacrifices. That demonic energy was certainly not insignificant.

‘No wonder he’s surprised that I blocked such a spell.’

To be honest, in terms of pure awakened power, I’m currently at a disadvantage. But the Hell Blood Demon’s misfortune is that I have the upper hand in compatibility against him.

For someone driven by emotions, whose power is entirely demonic energy, facing me with the Holy Fire of Demon Destruction isn’t difficult.

If he had gathered demonic energy to its limit, it might be different. But now that the Sacrificial Domain has been destroyed, he can’t create demonic arts that surpass the Holy Fire.

‘But I can’t relax yet.’

I too had pushed the Holy Fire of Demon Destruction to my mental limit to block his previous attack.

‘So if he uses that spell on me one more time, it would truly be dangerous.’

But I wasn’t giving up.

I had figured out Lee Seon-woo through this battle. His fundamental inferiority complex toward the Heavenly Demon Sect.

I continued to provoke that inferiority complex. And by completely blocking his spell just now, he had already lost his composure.

‘Against an opponent who has lost their composure, I can buy even more time.’

Seizing that opening, I said to him:

“Is that all? Attacks like that don’t seem to work on me.”

“How dare you run that mouth, you insolent bastard!”

But contrary to his words, I clearly saw fear flash across his eyes—the fear of things not going as planned.

And just as he was about to shout at me, someone interrupted him:

“Don’t touch Minsu!”

At last, Soso had returned to the observatory.