Ch.787Defense War

The crystal formations that had been mysteriously glowing lost their light, becoming dim and dark like a field at dusk in the middle of the underground cavern.

From dozens of suddenly formed black holes, all kinds of monsters poured out, howling with murderous intent toward Demian, who stood silently with the holy sword drawn, and me standing beside him.

It wasn’t surprising. This was a situation I had anticipated from the beginning.

It was just like in the original work.

A battle event where monsters, suppressed by the holy sword’s power, all broke free and charged at the dazed owner of the holy sword, venting their frustration from being bound for decades or centuries.

Until Demian was fully acknowledged as the holy sword’s owner, players had to control party members they brought along to fend off the monsters.

What would happen if Demian came alone without party members?

Well, that’s obvious. Holy sword owner or not, he’d just stand there dazed and become monster food.

The same would happen if you focused too much on developing Demian and neglected your other companions.

Actually, that might be an even worse ending. While Demian gets eaten by monsters, the companions would be “eaten” in a different sense.

“Kyaaaak!”

“Kiruk! Kirruruk!”

“Grwooooo!”

Indeed, among the monsters howling at me, many were wiggling their tentacles or reproductive organs, suggesting interests beyond mere killing.

[What are these filthy creatures?]

Even Hersella expressed extreme disgust.

‘What else would they be?’

I threw off my cumbersome fur cloak, placed my hand on the hilt at my waist, and drew Durandal as I answered.

‘Enemies.’

The moment the golden-inscribed true blade revealed itself to the world, hundreds and thousands of monsters charged at us all at once.

—-

Protecting someone while fighting is an extremely tricky task.

You have to constantly keep in mind things you wouldn’t need to worry about when fighting alone, which inevitably places major restrictions on your tactics.

I couldn’t sweep away the small fry with the Field of Mortality since Demian might get caught in it, and similarly, I had to avoid setting everything on fire and turning this place into a hell of flames.

Not if I wanted to avoid turning Demian into Demian stew or roasted Demian.

So, like this—

– Kwadududuk!

I had no choice but to cut them down one by one with my sword.

“Grwoooooargh!”

Screams filled with pain.

Dozens of small monsters were simultaneously cut in half by the vacuum blade extending from my sword tip, spilling their entrails, while medium-sized monsters that were grazed howled as they bled black blood from their severed limbs.

Not all monsters are created equal.

Newcomer monsters that had been sealed recently were powerful enough to easily overwhelm master-level knights, but monsters that had tried to descend hundreds of years ago and failed were surprisingly weak.

It was as if they aged in reverse.

Actually, it made sense. Since Heaven’s Wall was still intact back then, strong monsters couldn’t even attempt to descend in the first place.

In other words, they were just numerous but not much of a threat.

“Kyaaaaaaah!”

With Durandal resting on my shoulder, I charged toward the wave of monsters rushing in, freely demonstrating the martial prowess of a warrior who had reached superhuman realms.

Every time Durandal drew a blue arc in the air, leaving afterimages, vacuum blades extended outward, tearing apart dozens of small fry, while crimson mist rose in clumps, becoming swords, spears, thorns, and chains that swept in all directions.

Rivers of black blood and chunks of flesh floating on them. Rotten flesh and animal entrails scattered everywhere, transforming what had seemed like a sacred crystal cave into a scene from hell in an instant.

“Ahahahaha!”

Heat mixed with my bursting laughter.

My blood, which had been chilled by the bitter cold of the Heavenly Mountains, began to boil with the excitement of battle. Steam mixed with body scent rose like mist over my reddened skin.

It wasn’t a bad feeling.

The murderous intent of the monsters stimulating all five senses, the warmth of black blood pouring over my body, the sensation of tearing flesh and crushing bones with my blade—it all felt so welcome that I even felt joy as if reuniting with an old friend.

Perhaps I had built up unrecognized frustration after spending all day flying around in the cold.

“Krooooo!”

A hand of bone and rotting flesh swung with fierce momentum as if to strike and crush my entire body. Claw-like talons made an ominous sound cutting through the air.

“Where do you think?!”

I stepped back a couple of paces, raised my right foot high above my head, and as the giant undead monster’s hand swept past my face, I brought my foot down hard.

– Bbeoeoeoeok!

With a thunderous sound, the monster’s foreleg was driven into the ground. Crushed bone and flesh splattered in all directions.

Holding my breath to endure the foul stench of decay, I used the rebound from stomping on its hand to leap up onto the monster’s shoulder.

“Kruaaaa-!”

The monster’s head, reminiscent of a half-rotten whale skull, roared in pain and anger.

Dozens of pairs of eyeballs, clustered like frog eggs in eye sockets dripping with pus, rolled around to glare at the human standing on its shoulder.

Despite its appearance.

“Shut your mouth.”

I stabbed Durandal into the monster’s shoulder and raised my right hand toward the eyes glaring at me, infusing the flame rune with the power of Karma of Murder.

“The stench of rot is overwhelming.”

Hwarak—karma flames arose. The tiny flame grew with karma, becoming a crimson burning hand that grabbed the monster’s head.

“Kraaaaaaak!”

Rotting flesh and flowing pus boiled up with bubbles in the heat of the karma flames. Dozens of pairs of eyeballs convulsing madly all swelled up and burst with a pop.

I glanced at the sight, then pulled Durandal back out and leaped off its shoulder.

– Peoeoeouk!

The monster’s shoulder, which had served as my foothold, ruptured under the pressure of my jump, and the torn-off arm flew backward, crushing and bursting smaller monsters beneath it.

“Gweaaaaaaak!”

The undead monster, writhing and screaming as it felt its head melting away, staggered and collapsed.

The firepower that melted its brain along with the skull was undoubtedly a fatal wound.

As soon as I sensed its death, I cut off the Karma of Murder power maintaining the karma flames, extinguishing the fire, and then expelled new karma flames behind me to accelerate my body cutting through the air, charging like a comet.

Toward a skeleton snake that was tearing through the ground, rushing toward Demian while I was momentarily away from him.

“Kyahyaaaaaaak!”

The skeleton snake opened its jaws wide as if to swallow Demian in one bite. Inside its open jawbones were teeth as sharp as spears and swords.

“You snake bastard, how dare you!”

I pulled Durandal back behind my shoulder and threw it like a javelin.

– Kwaaang!

With an explosion like the wall of air bursting, the blade shot like a blue lightning bolt. The transcendent force contained within pierced through the snake’s upper and lower jaws, nailing its skull to the ground.

“Kishaaaaaaak!”

The skeleton snake, its head pinned to the ground by Durandal like a crucified Jesus, howled fiercely, frantically writhing its snake body made of spine and ribs.

Well, it was just a final struggle. I had already reached its vicinity.

When I was just a few steps away from its back.

“Kyaaaap!”

I extinguished the karma flames on my back and raised my left arm—still blunt from incomplete healing—above my head, concentrating a large amount of Karma of Murder power at its end.

– Hwaaaak!

The Karma of Murder power burst out like a geyser, condensing according to my will into a clear form. Like a giant mace attached to my severed forearm.

If I had brought Aekrinso-do with me, I would have drawn and wielded it… but unfortunately, Durandal was the only weapon I had on me now.

The black iron dagger I had brought just in case had long been broken when I used it earlier to test my strength, and all other weapons had been left at the mansion.

It couldn’t be helped. In the freezing cold that froze even breath, wrapping your body in metal wasn’t exactly a wise decision.

So I had no choice but to create and wield a weapon like this.

“Be crushed-!”

I gripped my left forearm with my empty right hand as if holding a sword hilt and brought down the karma hammer toward the skeleton snake’s back.

– Kwaaaaaang!

A firework display of white, red, and black fragments unfolded with an ear-splitting explosion.

In the moment of impact, a storm-like shockwave erupted, shattering the karma hammer, the snake’s skeleton, and the ground beneath into pieces that scattered in all directions.

“Ki, shaargrgeuk…!”

The skeleton snake, now just a head, went limp with a bizarre death rattle.

I grabbed Durandal’s hilt protruding from the top of its skull, swung it to split the skull in half, then quickly glanced to confirm Demian was still safe before launching myself toward more monsters.

Though I seemed to have slaughtered over a hundred monsters in just a few minutes, the black holes filling the area everywhere continued to spew out more than twice the number I had killed.