Ch.2424. Believer of Cyberpunk

Amon was a very rational human being.

This was a natural characteristic of a veteran player.

In speedruns or hardcore mode, a single mistake can send you back to the beginning.

That’s why even with countless veteran tricks and bug exploits in his head, if the success rate doesn’t exceed 80%, he wouldn’t attempt it in hardcore mode.

He would save that section in easy mode, practice repeatedly, and only use that strategy when the success probability exceeded 80%.

This approach applied even to his first playthrough of a new series.

He wasn’t particularly fond of failure.

Before the vanguard’s strategies were available, rather than defeating bosses through numerous attempts and precise controls, he preferred to overwhelm them with an excessive level advantage.

He always entered boss fights at least 10 levels above the recommended level, and wouldn’t even tilt his head at the final boss until he had completed his endgame gear set.

This caution only increased after games became reality.

It was natural, since there were no saves, no resurrections, and no strategy guides.

The reason he could destroy the Higgjen Group in a single night while avoiding them until now was because the success rate wasn’t 100%.

He only took the risk because Higgjen Group had crossed the line and left him with no choice.

Attacking a Megacorp without knowing the strategy and with incomplete character development wasn’t his style.

He only executed the plan because there was a relatively high chance of success—just adding the final touch to the nuclear bomb Higgjen Group had already created. Under no circumstances would he jump into a battle with less than a 50% chance of winning.

Moreover, Amon knew well.

How reckless it would be to challenge a dungeon boss who easily subdued the security guards he couldn’t defeat.

How foolish it would be to rush in without knowing the strategy and without sufficient development.

The opponent was a dungeon boss anyway.

Even if he couldn’t defeat it right here and now, it wouldn’t run away anywhere.

Calmly escaping the dungeon and returning after becoming strong enough would be a much safer and more ideal solution.

But.

“If the Goddess herself is a coward behind the times, are her apostles just running away too?”

After hearing those words that he could never overlook or forgive, he changed his mind.

‘What child would stand by while their parents are insulted to their face?’

Throughout history, insulting someone’s parents has been an unforgivable sin.

From the moment he heard those words, Amon had only one plan.

He would behead that bastard and hang it in the square as food for crows.

This was the only thought in his mind.

“The Lord desires it.”

In the midst of his fiercely burning anger, Amon calmly estimated the fight against the dungeon boss.

First, his own condition.

Although he couldn’t even touch the security chief before being discovered, his eyes had followed the chief’s movements.

The problem was simply that he didn’t have proper weapons on hand due to the hasty infiltration and didn’t know any of the security chief’s patterns.

But now things were different.

In his hand was the sword of the dead(?) or monster-transformed security chief.

As for patterns…

‘I’m not certain, but the pattern should be similar to the final boss of Punk City 1.’

More precisely, a downgraded version.

The summoning method is identical, and both appearance and speech style are similar.

With fewer sacrifices, the patterns should be simpler or weaker.

That’s how it should be.

His reaction speed was at the minimum threshold, his weapon was sufficient, and he knew the patterns.

The conclusion was that it was doable.

Of course, he wasn’t completely certain.

Being too confident and then encountering even one new pattern could lead to an immediate life logout, so he decided to use this only as a reference.

Amon observed the dungeon boss’s movements from behind the cross he had formed with his dual swords.

‘I mustn’t be mistaken.’

He was a challenger, not a strategy guide writer.

He didn’t know the boss’s patterns, and he had only one chance.

If he were a guide writer, he would have charged in first out of impatience.

He would rush in and understand the boss’s tells from a single finger movement or breath, responding accordingly.

He would dodge with millimeter precision and squeeze in damage through the most optimized route.

But a challenger doesn’t have that initiative.

A challenger must flee according to the patterns the boss shows, attack only during safe periods for a predetermined time, and then wait for the next pattern.

That’s why Amon waited.

The dungeon boss would be the impatient one, and that arrogant demon would reveal its hand on its own.

Sure enough, the first pattern appeared in less than a minute.

As she gestured, Amon immediately rolled to the side.

Crash!

With the sound of breaking glass, a cross-shaped scar was engraved where Amon had been standing.

‘Phase 1. Branding pattern.’

Amon rolled twice more from that spot.

While avoiding the pattern, the thought that this was manageable circled in his mind.

‘A speed I can react to.’

Check.

Rolling toward the boss, he swung his sword twice.

The sword bounced off with a “ting!” sound.

It was a barrier.

While seemingly disappointing, Amon took this as a positive sign.

‘If I wasn’t threatening, she wouldn’t have deployed a barrier.’

Moreover, though just a feeling, the barrier seemed to have weakened slightly from a single attack.

His equipment and strength were sufficient.

He retreated without getting impatient and waited for the next pattern.

‘Don’t get greedy.’

No barrier has infinite durability, and time was on Amon’s side.

If he got greedy and took a single hit, it would be the end for him.

The boss seemed puzzled that Amon only struck twice before retreating, but continued her attacks.

This exchange between Amon and the boss repeated several times.

The barrier broke, and Amon finally succeeded in wounding the boss’s palm.

‘Phase 2!’

As soon as he cut her hand, Amon created distance.

Sure enough, the demon, facing Amon who had wounded her, took out a staff and said:

“How sad. My wound. So I say, this is truly suffering. Should I endure this?”

Despite the elegant speech, the conclusion was: it hurts, I’m angry, now I’m getting serious.

That’s what it meant.

As phase 2 began, she struck the ground with her staff.

In response, golden light poured down from the sky.

A scene that might seem sacred at first glance.

But Amon knew well that just because it was golden light didn’t mean it was holy.

‘By that logic, thermite could also be dyed golden.’

You shouldn’t believe what you see.

By that logic, even a robber could wear a police uniform and use a police gun.

What matters is the substance, not some holy effect.

Originally, divine power wasn’t exclusive to the holy ones.

Entities, demons, and evil people all handle divine power under the name of mystic power.

They were perfectly capable of making effects that only ‘pretended’ to be holy.

The golden pillar of light struck where Amon had been standing.

Amon avoided that spot, and an ominously decayed mark remained.

‘If it were truly holy light, I wouldn’t have dodged it.’

Starting with that light, phase 2 proceeded in a holy atmosphere.

As if claiming she was truly a saint, the boss room transformed into a bright white temple.

Grumbling about the blinding light in the middle of the night, Amon swung his sword.

Clang!

A wall that had been invisible due to the white background shattered.

‘Phase 2 is a bit different.’

The white wall pattern wasn’t one used by the final boss.

If anything, it was a technique used by the mid-boss, equivalent to her Four Heavenly Kings.

He had suspected a build-up from the moment the surroundings were dyed white, and sure enough, that pattern emerged.

‘Well, this is reality.’

It’s not like she would only use predetermined skills like in a game, and it didn’t seem likely she would refrain from using certain skills for balance considerations.

Even Amon was using dual-sword techniques with a single sword style, so he couldn’t call it cheating.

With these thoughts, Amon dodged the attacks like a dance.

In between, he slashed at the demon’s skin.

What was peculiar was that the demon wasn’t regenerating the cuts he made.

At first, Amon was cautious of a trap and didn’t act rashly, but when he saw that she didn’t recover even after his sword deeply cut her hamstring, he became certain.

‘She can’t heal?’

That was highly likely.

This was good news for Amon.

At least, it was much easier to deal with an enemy that couldn’t regenerate.

Amon calmly continued to increase the wounds on the demon’s body.

The demon thrust down pillars of light with her staff,

Rained spears from the sky,

And set fires everywhere, leaving no place to step.

But when Amon dodged all of these, she desperately created a blade of light at the end of her staff and swung it.

But a demon whose main strength was magic couldn’t be threatening with a spear.

It would hurt if hit, but he just had to dodge.

Amon avoided even that and swung his sword toward the demon’s neck.

“Aaaagh!!”

“Tch. Did I miss?”

He had aimed for the neck, but as the boss dodged, he hit her eyes instead.

It was a critical wound, but not enough to finish her.

The demon wailed, spilling black blood from her eyes.

“Aah!!! Aaaah!!! Why do you take away my light! It’s the only thing I have left, why are you so cruel!!”

Mother! Mother!!

The blinded demon called for the Goddess.

After expressing resentment toward the unresponsive Goddess, she shifted her target to Amon.

“Aaaah! Amon!! Aaamoooon!! Why do you persecute me!!”

It was an utterly shameless statement.

She had provoked him first, even intending to kill him, and now she was playing the victim.

But Amon didn’t bother to argue point by point.

‘Shamelessness is a basic quality of demons.’

Amon kept his eyes fixed on the demon.

Though he wanted to aim for her neck to finish her off, seeing the dripping black blood made him change his mind.

It wasn’t out of sympathy.

Rather, judging by the black smoke rising from that blood, it was time for her transformation.

Amon wasn’t one to respect transformation etiquette, but rushing in without knowing what she would transform into could result in getting hit by blind rage and having his name carved on a tombstone.

The wait wasn’t long.

The black tears falling from the demon’s eyes covered her lower body.

The sticky black tears gathered to transform her lower body into a long black snake.

‘Good thing I waited.’

Viscous black liquid dripped from her slime-like lower body.

The liquid was corroding everything it touched.

If he had rushed in thinking her final transformation form would be identical to the Antichrist’s, he would have been engulfed by that liquid.

Her lower body writhed and slithered toward Amon.

‘Now she’s not even trying to hide it.’

Phase 3 began as she shed her pretense of holiness.

This transformation form in phase 3 was something he hadn’t seen before.

But that wasn’t reason enough for Amon to give up.

He had already prepared for the reality to differ from the game.

‘No need to force an attack.’

The fact that she had entered phase 3 meant she was also cornered.

Instead of recklessly going on the offensive, it was sufficient to slowly strategize with a defensive approach.

The problem was that since he didn’t know the patterns, he couldn’t dodge all attacks and would have to parry the monster’s spear.

If asked whether he had the reflexes and strength to block the spear wielded by that monster…

‘I have to.’

It’s death if he couldn’t.

Amon calmly adjusted his grip on his swords.

He sheathed one of his dual swords at his waist and faced the demon with just one blade.

Finally, phase 3 began.

The demon swung her spear.

Boom!

With a sound like air exploding, Amon was pushed back.

Amon quickly checked the condition of the sword in his hand.

He had thought it would be sturdy since it was looted from the chairman’s direct security guards, and it held up as well as expected.

The problem was that his muscles might break before the sword.

‘That really hurts…’

Barely managing the tingling pain running through him, Amon blocked the next attack.

Ting!

His arm went numb again.

The one fortunate thing was that the demon couldn’t see, so her attacks were large and didn’t come in combinations.

Thanks to this, he had enough time to recover from the arm damage.

The demon, seemingly growing impatient with Amon blocking her spear, gripped it with both hands and swung it widely.

As if challenging him to block this too.

But Amon didn’t bother blocking such attacks and instead jumped or ducked to avoid them.

Their intense exchange continued.

The demon cast spells in between spear swings, but Amon created distance at the slightest sign.

With her eyes gone, she couldn’t cast precise spells targeting Amon and could only indiscriminately throw magic in all directions.

Ironically, from Amon’s perspective, such magic was harder to block.

Without regularity or prior knowledge, dodging became quite difficult.

As a result, magic that had never hit him when she could see finally struck Amon for the first time.

“Ugh!”

A blind laser burned Amon’s side.

A dizzying pain shot up his spine.

His clothes melted and stuck stickily to his burned skin.

But he didn’t show it and silently endured the attacks.

Finally, the moment he had been waiting for arrived.

The demon launched a bold thrust.

Amon dodged the spear to the side and stepped on it to prevent her from retrieving it.

“?!”

While the demon was confused by the sudden weight at the end of her spear, Amon threw the sword he was holding at her.

Thud!

The sword embedded itself in the demon’s forehead.

She writhed in pain, but the fact that she didn’t die proved she was indeed a demon.

Amon grabbed the spear under his foot and wrested it from the demon’s hand.

With her hand suddenly lightened, the demon pathetically reached out, but Amon didn’t particularly feel any sympathy for her.

Amon’s divine power flowed into the spear.

The spear generated a much larger blade than when the demon had held it.

Though she couldn’t see, the demon hesitated at the immense divine power she sensed, and in that moment, Amon stepped forward.

“Return to hell, demon!”

He slashed upward diagonally with the spear.

A trajectory of light was engraved in the air.

The trajectory extended beyond the demon to the wall behind her.

The demon, directly hit by Amon’s slash, remained frozen with a golden line on her body.

Amon silently watched.

Crack.

In that silence, cracks began to form on the demon’s body starting from the line.

[Kiaaaaargh!!]

With a final scream that had shed all dignity, she turned to ashes.

Only then did Amon confirm his victory and breathe a sigh of relief.

“Phew…”

Amon, who had twisted his entire body to defeat the demon.

The first thought that came to his mind wasn’t a sense of achievement or superiority.

What came to him first was…

“Ugh… I should really control this temper.”

It was the moment of clarity after intense anger.