Ch.190Demon Awakened from the Seal (9)

# 190. The Demon Awakened from the Seal (9)

Yuri’s figure, leaping high with her twin axes raised, looked like a painting depicting a hero from mythology. Yes, like Heracles slaying monsters. Well, Heracles would have to be female and the monster would have to be a demon, but anyway, Yuri’s furious strike seemed to have that kind of impact and…

*CRAAAAAACK——-*

“■■■■■!”

And it actually did.

Three factors aligned perfectly: the demon had just used up all its absorbed mana, its twisted mana field surrounding its body had been weakened after the elemental fusion flame spear broke through its breath attack, and Yuri had relatively conserved her strength.

These three elements combined to allow her twin axes to demonstrate their terrifying destructive power.

The Sealed Demon screamed, and Yuri screamed too.

“SEEEEX!!!!!!!!”

‘Ah. Haven’t heard that in a while.’

Of course, the two screams were worlds apart.

Regardless of Yuri’s embarrassing battle cry, our raid party didn’t miss this golden opportunity. Arang put down his crossbow and drew his dagger, Danya unleashed her claws, and they both dove in simultaneously, while Subin drank potions to squeeze out more mana and continued to harass the demon.

“[Seyeon!]”

“I’m fine.”

Even Seyeon, who had nearly crossed the Jordan River, jumped back into the fray as soon as she recovered some health. I couldn’t just stand by either.

“How dare you! HOW DARE YOU!! HOW DARE YOU!!!”

Even though it had been sealed away long enough to forget its own name, the demon’s nature remained unchanged—still spitting out “how dare you” in rage despite its dire situation.

The creature that hadn’t moved a single step since the raid began was now retreating. It frantically waved its hands to summon more monsters while hurling mana projectiles as well.

Of course, being in phase 3, the mana projection patterns were denser and more powerful than in phases 1 and 2, and the elite summoning pattern now included more elite monsters.

We were surprised by patterns that weren’t in the game and the unexpected reveals, but this boss had definitely weakened.

“[Danya!]”

“Leave it to me!”

“[Subin!]”

“This is… the last one!”

“[Confirmed!]”

We blocked another elite summoning pattern with Subin’s AoE skill, while Danya, our free-roamer, used her speed to cover the scattered elite monsters.

The Sealed Demon’s patterns weren’t particularly diverse despite being annoying and frustrating to deal with, so the raid members were performing optimally even without my detailed orders.

This reduced my burden of giving orders and allowed me to more actively cut down monsters as a warrior, creating a virtuous cycle that lessened the burden on other damage dealers.

And then…

“Fuck!”

“This!”

“Stubborn!”

“Bastard!”

Proving that Subin wasn’t the only one who had mastered new techniques, Yuri’s twin axes demonstrated the Barbarian class’s combo skill—one that increases in power and speed with each consecutive hit as long as the attack chain isn’t broken.

“Dementia!”

“Old!”

“Demons!”

“Should!”

“Stay!”

“In!”

“Coffins!!!”

*CRACK-!*

“■■■■■!”

Finally, she broke through the outer mana field and succeeded in inflicting a terrible wound on the Sealed Demon’s body!

Immediately, like salt on a wound, Arang and Danya followed up with attacks from behind and the sides. The Sealed Demon, suddenly battered from multiple directions, tried to swing at Yuri who had dealt the major blow but was momentarily distracted by Arang and Danya.

Perfect aggro ping-pong.

And that was the demon’s painful mistake.

“DIEEEE!!!”

In that brief moment when the demon’s aggro shifted to Arang and Danya, Yuri used Seyeon’s hand as a stepping stone to jump much higher, allowing her to reach the area near the demon’s heart. The demon hurriedly tried to repel her by ejecting mana, but the momentum Yuri had built up couldn’t be stopped by a few mana projectiles.

Finally, Yuri’s axe blade pierced the demon’s heart and…

“Without even knowing my name…”

“That’s not my problem.”

[‘Demon Awakened from the Seal’ has been defeated.]

Whether it was due to Yuri’s savage retort or from overexerting itself earlier, the demon couldn’t even finish its last words before turning to ash and disappearing. At the same time, the area around us gradually began to brighten.

It was a clear signal to anyone watching that the demon had died.

A moment later.

WOOOOOOOOAH——-!!!

Cheers loud enough to shake heaven and earth erupted from the fortress. Glancing behind, I saw that the monsters around us were scattering in all directions, likely freed from control after the demon’s death.

[You have achieved two objectives: making the bold decision to awaken a demon that was about to be unsealed ahead of schedule, and securing the cooperation of Fort Paelm. Additionally, while the demon awakened from its seal was weakened due to the unexpected event, this too was part of the strategy. Originally, Fort Paelm might have suffered irreversible damage or failed to stop the demon entirely, but all those crises were averted with relatively minor damage. Fort Paelm will remember this forever.]

[Evaluation in progress.]

The raid members collapsed in exhaustion amid the deafening cheers, each expressing joy in their own way. “Evaluation in progress.” I never thought I’d be so happy to see this message.

“All those crises were averted with relatively minor damage. Fort Paelm will remember this forever.”

Among all the text, this sentence that seemed to praise our efforts made my heart swell with pride.

I felt fulfilled. Everyone did so well. I’m proud!

“Captain.”

“Sunghyun.”

And.

We had won again, and survived. There was much I wanted to say, but for now…

“Everyone, great work.”

It was time to move up to the next floor.

**

“Hyung.”

“What?”

“Do we really need to keep climbing this tower?”

“If we don’t climb, the tower might eventually threaten us to climb, you know?”

The two men simultaneously tilted their glasses. Ah… the way the alcohol went down was an art. At least in this moment, they could spend time without any worries—that was their shared opinion.

“So.”

“Yes?”

“Why did you suddenly bring that up? You can’t be drunk already from just that.”

Instead of answering immediately, the younger man refilled his empty glass.

“If our climbing had even the slightest impact on the advance party, I’d understand, but you know that’s not the case, hyung.”

“That’s right.”

“Then there’s no point in climbing. The tower hasn’t forced us since the Eden Guard incident.”

“That’s also true.”

“Our party had a rough start, but… I’ve grown really attached to you and Nari.”

The older man flinched as he was about to take another drink.

“Hey, man, don’t get all mushy on me.”

“Ah, hyung!”

“I know what you’re trying to say. You’re worried because Nari and I got hurt coming up to the 4th floor.”

The man called “hyung,” the Golden Wings raid leader, snatched a piece of jerky from in front of the Yalli-Yalli raid leader.

“Mmm~ delicious.”

“Hey!”

“Listen, Minseok.”

“Yes, hyung.”

They clinked their glasses again.

“It’s true we were in danger. Honestly… I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t scared. Like you said, I’ve thought several times that we should just hide out until the tower threatens us.”

“Hyung.”

“If we’re thinking about safety, you’re right. And nobody would blame us. We’ve climbed pretty far for a trailing party. But you know what?”

The Golden Wings raid leader rolled his empty glass in his hand, gazing into the distance.

“At some point, climbing this tower with you two became thrilling for me. Before being kidnapped here, my greatest joy was showering after work and chugging beer while playing this game. But now my joy is… this. The adventure. The drinks and conversation after the adventure. This itself.”

*Thud-*

As soon as the empty glass found its place, it was filled again. The Golden Wings raid leader downed it in one shot.

“I might be older and have taken the lead since the first floor, which is why you two treat me as the implicit leader. But the three of us are equals. So I have no intention of forcing my opinion on you.”

“I enjoy it too, and find it thrilling.”

“But your fear of something going wrong somewhere, sometime, was greater.”

“…I’m sorry.”

“What are you sorry for? I might be the crazy one here. So…”

“Nari holds the casting vote, then.”

The two men smiled, thinking of their female companion, the Aniri raid leader, who was quietly lying down in the room.

“Whatever Nari chooses, we go with it without complaint.”

“Of course. A man doesn’t go back on his word.”

“Right. And a man doesn’t drink with a bent wrist.”

“Ugh.”

“You’ve been drinking with a bent wrist since the first glass? Come on.”

“H-hyung!”

Though their intentions were completely opposite, their friendship was real.

As the number of empty bottles increased, their bond deepened tonight. Along with their inevitable hangovers.