Ch.160Malice

# 160. Malice

Meanwhile, the remaining Veritas members who had left Sunghyun with Danya on the fourth floor and entered the fifth floor according to his orders all wore grave expressions.

“I’m worried about Sunghyun… It’s hard enough to endure even with a healthy body, but now…”

“He knew what he was doing when he made that choice. It’s annoying, but thanks to that buff, we were able to break through forcefully, so it was the right decision in the end. Plus, we confirmed there are no other enemies on the fourth floor besides those mages, so he should be fine for now.”

“For now?”

“For now. That’s why we need to assess the situation as quickly as possible and resolve it if we can before he comes up to the fifth floor. Everyone’s buffs have worn off, so you can all feel it too, right? That there’s something truly dangerous here.”

Subin tried to reassure the anxious Soyu while naturally changing the atmosphere. They were a bit tired from breaking through the tenacious defense line and from the negative feeling after losing their buff, but even accounting for that, the air on the fifth floor was extremely “heavy.”

This wasn’t just a simple linguistic expression about the mood being heavy. It was literally heavy. The magical energy was so concentrated that it had physical force, pressing down on them.

“We can’t hold out long like this. At this rate of consumption, even if we drink mana potions like water while fighting, we won’t last 20 minutes. So let’s put aside our worries about Sunghyun for now and move quickly.”

“…Alright.”

Unlike during their gaming days when they only listened to orders, Subin now found herself in a position to give orders, even if only to part of the raid team.

Subin was acutely feeling how different the raid team’s atmosphere was without Sunghyun beside her, and how much heavier her shoulders felt with just his one statement entrusting her with command… But this wasn’t her first time giving orders, and fortunately, she was intelligent.

Besides, hadn’t she directly experienced and observed Sunghyun giving orders all this time?

It will be fine. I can do this well.

Subin repeated to herself as she spread her magical energy. Like sonar searching for fish, the subtle waves of magic emanating from her instantly spread to the surroundings.

And soon, she found the anomalous location.

But it wasn’t good.

“Let’s go.”

When Subin’s already nearly expressionless face completely hardened, the raid members watching her held their breath. They silently followed her lead, and Subin gasped as she realized her premonition had been wrong in the worst possible way….

“Fuck…”

Yuri’s short curse followed by silence encapsulated all their feelings.

They were too shocked to speak even if they had something to say, hesitating because they didn’t know how to express what they were seeing.

If one had to describe it, this place looked like an altar for summoning demons or even a demon’s dwelling.

Bizarre patterns and unknown characters drawn in blood that seemed capable of causing mental illness just by looking at them.

Objects that, whatever they were, made you feel sick and nauseated just by looking at them, and a stench so foul it made you want to vomit immediately.

No demons, chimeras, or wizards were visible, but the very act of breathing felt difficult just by being in this space.

The grotesqueness of flesh with what appeared to be human eyes embedded in sticks of irregular sizes or totems, or placed atop pillars.

Somewhere in this space, which seemed impossible to create or endure without extreme malice, fountains of blood and flesh were gushing up. Screams more chilling than fingernails on a chalkboard sliced through their bodies, and the magical pressure, amplified several times beyond what they’d felt since the first floor, combined to create an experience beyond merely uncomfortable and unpleasant—making them want to gouge out their eyes to avoid seeing it, pierce their ears to stop hearing it, and become one with it…

“Warm compassion and cool tolerance, O Goddess. Protect us!”

At that moment, Soyu’s prayer, which sounded as if she was forcing it out, snapped the group back to their senses—those who had been stretching their necks forward, tapping their ears, or repeatedly touching and releasing their weapons.

“Everyone, get a grip…!”

Their faces turned pale as they regained their senses thanks to Soyu’s skill and assessed the situation. Their instincts were screaming at them to turn around and flee this space at full speed.

But time was flowing as always, and they all knew without being told that this space was the source of all evil….

“…Fuck!!!”

*Thunk-*

“Y-Yuri!”

Yuri, who had cursed with veins bulging in her neck, drove her axe blade into her own arm. While the other raid members were horrified at the sight of her bleeding profusely, Yuri gritted her teeth and asked:

“Unni. What do we do?”

“It seems to be a major spell related to mental contamination or sacrificial offering, or perhaps both. The spatial constraints are significant, but it doesn’t appear to be complete.”

“That’s not what I’m asking! What should we do? Advance? Or retreat?”

Everything they’d faced so far was nothing compared to Iseratio. That wasn’t arrogance or carelessness—it was simply fact. But who could have predicted they’d encounter something like this?

Of course, Iseratio was far superior in absolute strength. His flames could probably burn this disgusting space to ashes in no time.

But they didn’t have that kind of power. Moreover, the magical energy filling the space—no, the space itself—was hostile. Staying in this space for even one more second, which constantly ate away at their minds and weighed down their bodies, was definitely not a wise choice. As Yuri said, they needed to decide whether to advance quickly and eliminate the source or retreat before something happened.

‘At a time like this, if it were Sunghyun…’

Her mind, usually quick-thinking, seemed to have gone blank. Despite her confidence earlier, she found herself thinking of Sunghyun and looking for him.

Subin gritted her teeth.

“Everyone, how’s your mana status?”

“Forget 20 minutes, even 10 minutes would be pushing it…”

“Same here.”

“It’s beyond just being difficult—my body is rejecting it. I might not even last 10 minutes.”

Do we really need to find and fight the source in this space? The risk seems too high.

But then.

We mentioned the snowball effect, and now we’re going to run away after seeing this? What if some truly terrible unknown variable appears on the upper floors?

Shouldn’t we try to resolve this ourselves somehow, before Sunghyun, who’s suffering from side effects, has to push himself even harder?

Though it was an extremely short time, Subin felt like her head was about to split. The extreme pressure also made her feel nauseated.

“Advance.”

“What?”

“Let’s advance. We can do this.”

The further back we go, the more other demons might appear, and things will generally get more difficult and harder.

So, we eliminate this malicious variable right here.

“Soyu unni. Maintain continuously.”

“O-Okay.”

“Seyeon and Yuri in front, Soyu unni and I in the middle, the rest in the rear. Keep moving without stopping unless instructed otherwise. We’re going for a blitz attack from now on.”

“Okay.”

“Move out.”

Having made up her mind, Subin gave firm orders, and the raid members, regaining their composure, quickly formed their positions and set out. Moving at a fairly rapid pace, though not at full sprint, they began traversing through the area filled with blood and flesh, and soon encountered monsters made of blood and flesh. Their appearance was truly nauseating.

“Keep running!”

As Seyeon and Yuri at the front were about to swing their weapons, Subin quickly shouted. Then she swung her arm forward, launching a spear of flame to clear the path. Trusting Subin’s words, Seyeon and Yuri didn’t miss the opening and widened the gap with their bodies, allowing everyone to pass through before it closed.

Subin roughly wiped away the blood flowing from her lips as she continuously broke through most of the blood and flesh walls. Whatever she couldn’t handle was naturally ground away by Seyeon and Yuri’s physical charges and Soyu’s area protection barrier.

The power of moving as one with full force.

Regardless of their class, they were veterans and warriors. As the intense beam of light cutting through the malice-filled space moved increasingly toward the center, the monsters’ resistance grew fiercer, but…

“…”

“…”

“S-Subin.”

“…”

At some point, the resistance abruptly stopped. No, it disappeared.

Instead, a giant eyeball floating in a space filled with dark red energy rather than blood and flesh was watching them.

“This is, this is…”

*Clap- Clap- Clap-*

The moment she made eye contact with the three-quarters open eyeball, Subin, who was stumbling over her words as if her entire body had frozen, was barely able to turn her head at the sudden sound of applause.

“How is it?”

“…”

“In the eyes of the Demon Slayer, how would you rate the forbidden magic we’ve completed with all our souls?”

“…”

“Are you speechless because it’s so pathetically inadequate, or… because you’re too steeped in fear to speak?”

A mage who suddenly appeared beneath the eyeball stretched both arms to the sides and burst into maniacal laughter.

“Summoning demons was not in vain! That experience allowed us to complete this magic with a more efficient process!”

“…You’re insane.”

“You look like a mage, but I’m disappointed. Aren’t mages the type who can’t achieve greatness without being somewhat mad?”

The mage immediately countered Subin’s barely uttered words, suddenly stopping his laughter and pointing his index finger at Subin’s group.

“I commend you for coming this far, but now it’s time for you to become fertilizer for the greater cause.”

“Everyone!”

“You’ve all been too disruptive.”

“Combat ready!”

As the eyeball watching the group began to turn increasingly black, Yuri and Arang lunged toward the mage.

The battle had begun.