Ch.208208. Melee (1)

KWAAANG─!

A thunderous roar shook the world.

Countless spirits, at least intermediate-level ones, unleashed their merciless violence upon the altar. The shockwave from the explosion burst forth.

Our side was mostly fine, having hidden behind thick wooden pillars and braced ourselves firmly. But those at the center of the bombardment must have been reduced to dust in an instant.

As the momentary flash subsided and thick dust began to rise, I looked at the area swept by the barrage and thought.

‘Really…’

Elves love peace and have such tender hearts that they can’t even bring themselves to pluck a single flower?

How many idiots are there for people in this world to accept such nonsense as truth and think it’s natural?

‘What kind of weak race would do this?’

I can only scoff at such foolish common beliefs.

Their love of peace stems from knowing that conflicts among themselves could spiral out of control, and they find blushing at their own actions distasteful—an instinctive aversion ingrained in their arrogant nature. Their reluctance to take life is merely avoiding the effort it requires.

They are by no means possessors of merciful characters.

I pushed aside these idle thoughts and took in the scene before me as visibility gradually improved.

‘They really did a number on it.’

About 30% of the altar that the cultists had so lovingly decorated had collapsed into a complete mess. And of the crowd that had gathered for the sudden attack, about 30% had been cleanly blown away.

In many ways, it was a disaster for those fanatics and a green light for us, so I couldn’t help feeling elated.

At least we’d thoroughly disrupted the regular religious gathering they were about to start.

‘But…’

That alone wouldn’t be enough. Before long, they would complete repairs and once again hold rituals for that damned demon. Some of their truly devout followers had thrown their bodies and lives to protect what appeared to be the most important ritual items the moment the explosion occurred.

Looking at it that way, it was remarkable that only 30% was destroyed in such an explosion.

‘This is troublesome.’

In this situation where we couldn’t retreat if we wanted to prevent their ritual from being quickly restored, the three most important half-demon hybrids unfortunately showed no signs of having been touched by the explosion.

“…Catch them!”

“Ah! It’s those damned pointy-eared wenches!”

The fanatics, having had their sacred prayer time interrupted again, were starting to go berserk.

“Everyone, strike hard once and retreat!”

The moment Friel’s voice fell, we emerged from hiding and began to move nimbly.

Those of us particularly skilled in coordinating attack and defense, myself included, headed toward the horned ones. The remaining majority of Elves began to overturn the remaining structures and altar forms through unrestrained spirit magic.

Once again, a chaotic battlefield unfolded.

“Tania, Orna.”

As I summoned my two spirits who had been resting in the spirit realm, I confidently drew my bowstring. At that moment, I heard an unpleasantly familiar woman’s voice.

“I was really curious about who made this mess…”

Blood-red pupils. Behind the woman with black hair—devoid of any vitality or luster—dense Magia rippled.

Just as I thought how well she could smile in this situation and properly took in her expression, I noticed the sharpness hidden in her upturned corners of her mouth.

“So you’re here too?”

“Oh, shi—!”

This is truly unfair. With so many people around, why did she have to find me again like this?

As Tania and Orna were being summoned, I hurriedly extracted Mana from my heart and clumsily bound it to the arrowhead.

A heavy sensation at my fingertips.

PAANG─!

I shot it with a sliding release all at once, but…

“Can you even make a scratch with such a toy?”

She deflected the arrow with monstrous speed and closed the distance between us.

“Tsk.”

At this rate, her sword would reach me before I could even nock another arrow.

─Myaang!

“Orna, it’s dangerous, so step back and support my movements.”

─Mya!

With Orna summoned just in time, I gave a simple command to make my body more agile, and grabbed an arrow shaft.

“In the end, a bow-wielding bastard could never defeat a knight. Whether with arrows or magic, what good is putting strength into that tiny piece of metal?”

As her sword approached my vicinity in a middle stance, then moved to a higher position, I understood.

‘Siabel.’

Her attack closely resembled the first attack of Siabel, who always demanded to spar with me, claiming she would teach me swordsmanship.

‘A thrust.’

I quickly twisted my body to avoid her attack.

“In the end, you’ll be cut in half before a sword—huh?”

The flat of her Magia-infused sword brushed right past my face.

As the woman who had predicted my head would roll on the ground made a dumbfounded sound, our eyes met.

“…!”

I silently swung the arrow I was holding in my left hand.

A simple motion. The arrowhead extended toward her throat, but…

The half-demon hybrid twisted her mouth into a smile and twisted my wrist, preventing the attack from succeeding.

“You’re faster than I thought. Well, if you weren’t at least this good, I would have forgotten you quickly.”

“You talk too much.”

“…What?”

“Tania, burn.”

Flicking my arm away to dodge, I hung my bow on my shoulder and immediately drew my sword with my empty right hand.

With a swift reaction, Tania unhesitatingly threw a large flame.

“Park Shinwoo, it might get a bit hot?”

…No, I shouldn’t be the one getting hot.

The mysterious spirit flame that could burn only what I wanted engulfed me and that ominous demon. It was she, not I, who jumped back several steps.

At that moment, another arrow descended upon her. As she tried to swing her sword to defend, her Magia rippled and dispersed.

“This is—”

“Ray, I’ll support you!”

“Ah, it’s that rather troublesome girl from before.”

Perhaps finding these unwelcome developments annoying, all traces of a smile finally disappeared from her face.

Well, she would be irritated and annoyed. After all, it was none other than Sione who possessed the ability to dissolve and disturb Magia itself—her very foundation.

As the half-demon’s gaze, full of displeasure at the unpleasant sensation, turned toward Sione, Diolia revealed her full vigilance and took a defensive stance.

“You people are really something… struggling like this won’t change anything.”

She disheveled her dull hair with her own hand, showing her annoyance.

“What do you think will change by fighting back so desperately—”

She looked around at their sacred sacrificial site, now in ruins.

Spirit magic is a grand and splendid form of magic. To prevent causing a commotion that would reveal our position and attract other enemies, the restrictions on spirit magic that had been held back until now were lifted at this moment.

The Forest Keepers were fulfilling their duties more decisively and fiercely than ever before.

The altar was already in shambles. Quite a number of cultists had been caught up and lost their lives. And thanks to the hard fight put up by Friel and Airine, the two half-demon hybrids were at a stalemate, unable to easily turn their attention elsewhere.

“Are you so desperate to die?”

She began to unleash attacks incomparably more dangerous than the deadly slash she had delivered as a welcoming greeting.

‘Avoid attacks as much as possible, and if I can’t, focus on minimizing damage.’

I didn’t forget my purpose.

‘My attacks just need to be enough to block her path when she tries to go after Sione and Diolia.’

My role was simply to keep that monster’s attention until the other pointy-ears had sufficiently wrecked the altar and retreated. In the end, I too would look for an opportunity to escape.

Even now, it’s quite precarious, but…

‘If it’s just about holding on.’

As long as Orna and Tania’s support reaches me.

Although this tightrope walk was quite precarious, it wasn’t something I couldn’t attempt. And I clearly remembered once fighting enemies greater than this.

The other cult members, perhaps feeling that getting involved in this fight would only hinder the half-demon, weren’t rushing at me either.

With Sione and Diolia, along with several other Forest Keepers holding out until the end…

I could anticipate the success of the mission.

‘The opponent is ultimately a half-demon hybrid, not a pure demon.’

They can be considered degraded versions of demons.

They cannot create and accumulate Magia directly, but they have the ability to handle Magia more concentrated than Demonkin—a broken, degraded version.

Therefore, after receiving Magia from demons, they cannot expand their vessel or accumulate Magia without continuous prayer or offering sacrifices. Recovery is also very slow; without the help of special items or individuals, the recovery of consumed Magia cannot occur in a short time.

‘The longer this goes on, the more her strength will drain, just like mine.’

Eventually, her depleted Magia would open an escape route for me.

After holding out like that, as allies began to retreat and my turn approached…

“Ray, now!”

As I hurriedly tried to pull back…

The half-demon, whose anger had cooled into a frigid expression as she stared at me, quietly let her voice flow.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

“…!”

She should have consumed a lot of Magia after unleashing all sorts of attacks.

Yet what I felt was Magia that was uncharacteristically more violent and explosive. Even more concentrated.

A primal unease rang through my body, life’s alarm bell ringing urgently.

Danger. I couldn’t escape now. I had to continue fighting.

“This is maddening.”

Such an unreasonable opponent was comparable only to that day when, in the midst of a snowstorm in winter, I was sentenced to be mobilized to clean up the devastated territory of the County.

‘And she’s just a half-demon.’

I had already figured out her skills after avoiding her attacks several times. She was originally a Demonkin who lacked the proper disposition and fanaticism to handle such deep Magia-infused swordsmanship.

But now?

The situation had reversed. Had my eyes finally gone bad? I had misjudged her abilities.

This woman was a half-demon with barely any demon blood left after centuries. So what was this violent Magia?

The woman before me wasn’t just a hybrid—she was a mutant. And a dangerously exceptional one at that.

“Huff, really…!”

I hurriedly readjusted my stance, strengthening my resolve and will.

“Tania, get ready!”

Even if I had to use up all my Mana and collapse here…

For a brief moment, I needed to move boldly like in the old days, in my most authentic way, to withstand this woman’s attack.