Ch.188Demon Awakened from the Seal (7)

# 188. Demon Awakened from the Seal (7)

Inferno.

Subin tended to name her spells simply and intuitively. For ease of casting and to avoid cringe-worthy incantations, she said. She even renamed existing skills when casting them, not just the ones she developed herself.

In that sense, the Inferno she showcased for the first time was an extremely simple naming.

And it was intuitive.

Literally, a hell made of flames unfolded before us.

“[Yehyun!]”

“Red! Protect us!”

No sooner had Yehyun increased our fire resistance than high-density flames spread in all directions from Subin, instantly expanding in concentric circles.

No, “spread” was too mild a description.

Explosion.

A series of explosions.

BOOM- KWANG- KWAANG-!

The initial explosion, which was just large enough to surround us, incinerated or blasted away the monsters that were forcibly pushing their way in.

Then, the flames and residual magical power from the first explosion regathered, spread in all directions, and exploded again. More monsters turned to ash. Even the elite monsters that had just evolved weren’t spared.

The flames that devoured the monsters continued to expand their range with each explosion, completely incinerating our position and its surroundings before gradually subsiding.

“…Amazing.”

“Shh. The raid’s not over yet.”

“Unni. How’s your mana?”

“I’m fine.”

The Law of Yehyun: Eun Subin is a goddess and invincible.

The impact was no joke. Of course, it wasn’t a skill she could spam like fireballs, but it was a brilliant move that made the battlefield—which had become difficult to navigate—advantageous for us while simultaneously decimating the enemy’s forces from the start.

Moreover, the elite summon pattern appeared and shortly after, all the elites were annihilated—practically a pattern skip.

So what does that mean?

“[DPS time!]”

This was one of the few opportunities for dealing damage. The Sealed Demon had an opening, and the raid members unleashed their pent-up frustration all at once.

— *To speak of hell in front of a demon.*

The Sealed Demon muttered something, but we ignored it and swung our weapons. Though its expressions were hard to discern, I’d like to think it was at least a little surprised by our audacity.

I hope it was. It would only be fair since we were a bit shocked earlier too.

“[Expected DPS window: 7 seconds!]”

“Roger!”

This wasn’t a game, so we couldn’t see exact HP stats, but experience and intuition count for something. In professional terms, we were “hardcore,” and as the hardcore raid leader, I knew the timing of patterns and the gaps between them.

Distinguishing between DPS time and when to hold back.

This too was a virtue of a raid leader.

“[Pull back!]”

— ■■■

Though it lasted only a few seconds, the raid members’ unrestricted barrage seemed formidable enough to immediately push the boss into the next phase.

“[Phase 2! Prepare for Phase 2!]”

Unlike Phase 1, where it spoke in unpleasant but human language, now it was trying to erode our minds with completely incomprehensible words.

“[Soyu! Dispel again!]”

“Dispelled!”

We preemptively cleared the accumulated stacks of “Discomfort.” This was to prevent us from clutching our heads and staggering before Phase 2 properly began.

— ■■■■■!

The Sealed Demon, enveloped in ominous magical power like during its magic radiation, resumed its attack. The moment I saw it raise its right arm, I moved my lips.

“[Magic barrage pattern!]”

“[Scatter!]”

Like a child throwing toys in a tantrum, the Sealed Demon began hurling magical energy blobs randomly.

There was no formalized pattern for this. We just had to dodge on our own. While powerful, the attacks lacked precision due to their random nature. For our skill level, dodging wasn’t particularly difficult.

That proved true in practice.

It actually seemed easier than in the game. Subin even muttered “What a waste of mana” while dodging, showing how disorganized the Sealed Demon’s attacks were.

— ■■!

Meanwhile, Yuri managed to plant her axe into the demon before retreating, and Arang shot his crossbow into any visible weak spots. Compared to Iseratia, this almost seemed relaxed.

“[Summon pattern!]”

Sensing danger, the Sealed Demon waved its hand again, calling forth more monsters. Being Phase 2, the number of monsters invading our area was visibly greater, once again blocking our path to the boss.

Son of a bitch.

The harsh words escaped me involuntarily.

As a test, I asked Subin to attack the Sealed Demon from a distance. But it didn’t seem to have much effect. The mechanic where damage to the boss drastically decreases with more summoned monsters appeared to still be in play.

It was disappointing that our trick didn’t work, but we had no choice. We had to methodically take down these monsters.

Meanwhile, I could see the Sealed Demon gathering magical power again, using the monsters as shields. From the looks of it, it was preparing to fire something massive, regardless of whether its monsters got hit or not…

[Command Skill: Charge activated.]

“[Break through! Get as close to the boss as possible!]”

If we couldn’t avoid or cancel that attack, why not use it to our advantage?

We quickly abandoned the idea of killing all the monsters and stubbornly pushed through those blocking our way. Regardless, the Sealed Demon stubbornly continued preparing its attack, and just as we reached it, the attack was unleashed.

— ■■■!

“[Soyu! Seyeon!]”

“Shield up!”

“Yes! It’s done!”

“[Get closer!]”

Accepting minor damage to inflict greater damage.

When the massive magical energy the Sealed Demon had launched made a U-turn and fell near us.

We staggered a bit but remained standing, more than half the monsters blocking us had evaporated, and…

— ■■!

The Sealed Demon was pissed.

“Idiot.”

We mocked the one who had smashed its own fingers with its hammer. Should have adjusted the power, changed direction, or canceled the attack, right? Strong but a bit dim-witted, aren’t you, demon friend?

Having successfully used the enemy’s attack to reduce their numbers, we could deal with the remaining monsters more easily. Meanwhile, the Sealed Demon continued its magic barrage, but we dodged nimbly and sometimes used monsters as shields.

And then came another DPS window.

I wondered if the Sealed Demon was really this weak in combat despite being a summoner-mage type, but quickly accepted that it might just be the case.

Either way, all that mattered was defeating it safely.

In the end, with just one DPS window, the Sealed Demon transitioned to another phase.

Already the final phase.

‘Compared to all that self-promotion and unpleasantness earlier, it’s pretty pathetic.’

Still, we couldn’t let our guard down. Like most bosses, Phase 3 was the final phase and its last desperate struggle.

After creating some distance and catching our breath, the Sealed Demon—now looking more like an elemental being than a humanoid—looked down at us.

— *Yes. I am… a demon.*

While we were on guard due to this unexpected admission that wasn’t in the game, its body began to grow larger.

“[Everyone be careful!]”

The Sealed Demon, which had been at most slightly larger than an average human, grew to the height of a 3 or 4-story building. Then it made a motion as if taking a deep breath.

Suddenly, a suction force incomparable to any vacuum cleaner began pulling everything around it!

‘Holy shit!’

For a moment, I almost fell forward and got dragged in, but I managed to stab my sword into the ground, grab the handle, and lower my posture to resist.

“Kyaaaah!”

“[Hold on!]”

“Unni!”

Those with better physical abilities than me held their ground well, but Soyu and Yehyun, who had been providing shields until just now, almost got sucked into the Sealed Demon’s mouth.

Thankfully, I grabbed Yehyun and Arang caught Soyu. We grabbed them in somewhat embarrassing places in our haste, but neither they nor we had time to be embarrassed.

“Ba- rang- ah-“

I saw Yehyun trying to summon a wind spirit to somehow counteract this insane suction, but even the spirit was about to be sucked in, so she hastily unsummoned it.

‘What now?’

I didn’t think this would last forever. We couldn’t attack, and while it was difficult, we could endure. So I wondered.

What was the boss’s real aim?

Even though it had immobilized us, it had also put itself in a channeling state?

The strong wind made it hard to lift my head and assess the situation, which was frustrating. I was even considering using “One for All” to force movement when the wind gradually subsided.

‘Why?’

I immediately lifted my head. And I could see the reason right away.

‘Damn, that bastard…!’

The boss’s—the Sealed Demon’s—main objective wasn’t to immobilize us.

“[Everyone attack!]”

“Sunghyun?”

“[With your strongest abilities! Quickly!]”

It was to absorb the monsters it had forcibly summoned.