Chapter 109: Talk To Me

Episode 109

[The Demon God Dantalian chuckles at your actions, shaking his head with a smirk.]

‘…What?’

Kim Jinsung’s eyebrow twitched in annoyance as he read the notification.

He gritted his teeth, fuming,

“This isn’t some game…! Ugh!”

He ducked, dodging a projectile hurtling toward his forehead, before he could even finish speaking.

He was then forced to focus all his attention on dodging the relentless barrage of attacks.

This situation was too precarious to worry about a condescending Demon God.

‘And the purple circle is getting bigger.’

As he backpedaled, he realized something.

The circular boundary created by the purple eye was expanding.

Lee Jiseong’s body, which had been far behind him moments ago, was now inside the purple circle, evidence of its growth.

‘There’s no way it’ll continue to expand indefinitely, right?’

He hoped that was the case as he stared at the circle,

But complacency could be deadly.

To avoid a senseless death, he had to be prepared for the worst-case scenario.

In other words, he had to assume this purple circle could expand infinitely.

‘If there’s truly no limit, it’ll eventually cover the entire labyrinth. And then….’

He would likely suffer the same fate as Lee Jiseong before he could escape.

He had to figure out a way to stop it.

‘There has to be a way. Those monsters must have a weakness.’

He dodged the incoming missiles while retreating,

Observing the purple monsters with keen eyes.

He soon realized something,

‘They’re not leaving the circle?’

They only attacked him from afar, remaining within the boundary; they hadn’t once chased him beyond it.

‘So, if I can stop the purple circle from expanding, I can hold out…’

The problem was, he still didn’t know how to do it.

‘…What if I try this?’

He unleashed a wave of dark energy from his body, activating ‘Space Dominated by Dark Energy’.

The expanding wave collided with the boundary of the purple circle.

It stopped, failing to push the circle back.

‘…Huh?’

His eyes widened as he realized something else.

‘The purple circle is also no longer expanding!’

Just like the ‘Space Dominated by Dark Energy’ couldn’t push the circle back, the circle couldn’t expand any further against his dark energy.

His expression brightened.

‘I can use ‘Space Dominated by Dark Energy’ to contain the expansion!’

Just then, a familiar name appeared before him again.

—

[The Demon God Dantalian, with a bright expression, shouts something towards your created space.]

—

‘Shouts with a bright expression? At what?’

As he puzzled over the nonsensical message, something even more baffling happened.

More notifications popped up in rapid succession.

—

[The Demon God Andromalius has noticed your presence.]

[The Demon God Belial has noticed your presence.]

[The Demon God Andromalius is becoming interested in you.]

[The Demon God Belial is becoming interested in you.]

[The Demon God Dantalian is showing an expression of bewilderment at the interest of other Demon Gods.]

—

‘….What? There’s more than one Demon God?’

He couldn’t hide his shock as he dodged the incoming projectiles.

He had no prior knowledge of Demon Gods and had assumed Dantalian was the only one.

‘How many are there? …Ugh!’

He reflexively swerved, narrowly avoiding a projectile.

He tore his gaze away from the notifications, taking in his surroundings.

‘…Oh no. I’m surrounded.’

He saw a wall of those purple monsters beyond the boundary of his ‘Space Dominated by Dark Energy.’

The purple circle had expanded to completely encompass his large dark energy space.

The monsters simultaneously unleashed another barrage of attacks in his direction.

He quickly used his ‘Shadow Concealment’ skill to hide.

But they seemed to know exactly where he was, launching their projectiles directly toward the shadow he was hiding in.

‘Damn it…! I gotta run.’

He activated ‘Warp Hole’, without hesitation.

He created an exit in the passage behind him, outside the purple circle, and jumped through.

He had narrowly escaped.

“Whew…. Gotta catch my breath…”

He had just started to relax when,

He saw the passage ahead, at the far end, starting to…corrupt.

Purple was creeping in, spreading like a stain.

‘…Damn it.’

He had retreated as far as he could, but the purple circle had already caught up.

‘It really is going to cover the whole labyrinth…?’

His expression darkened. He couldn’t outrun this with ‘Warp Hole’ or any other movement skill. He had to find a way to stop that purple circle.

‘What do I do…’

As he was racking his brain, the purple stain reached the ground beneath him, and more purple monsters instantly materialized, unleashing a volley of projectiles.

* * *

[Kim Jinsung is once again facing a crisis! He is desperately dodging attacks from the surrounding purple monsters! ]

[This time, he’s using clones, even transforming into Forghenae. But… nothing seems to work.]

[Ah! As I speak, the main Forghenae clone’s vine has been severed! That thick vine was cut through so easily!]

[Oh my…! Even Kim Jinsung seems helpless against these purple monsters.]

[How can he possibly harm them?]

The commentators, watching Kim Jinsung struggle in vain, frantically narrated the battle.

The chat was overflowing with reactions.

– Wow… Aren’t they OP?

– How can he block that?

– Why isn’t he doing any damage even with ‘Union of Body and Demon’ attacks?

– ??? : Your attacks won’t affect me, but mine will damage you. How’s that? Fair and balanced?

– And that circle keeps getting bigger… What if it ends up engulfing the entire labyrinth?

– This finale is ending more anticlimactically than I expected…

One person watched their reaction with glee.

Yong Hangil.

‘He’s really something. I never thought he’d use his black subspace to contain the spread of ‘Void’.’

He had assumed Kim Jinsung would be instantly killed after being engulfed. But he was steadily holding out, having created his black subspace.

‘But if that’s all he has, he’s still going to die.’

Human mana had its limits. ’Void’, on the other hand, could expand its space indefinitely.

Kim Jinsung stood no chance unless he had another trick up his sleeve; he would eventually be exhausted and killed.

‘A rookie who just arrived in the New Continent won’t know the secret to overcoming it.’

Watching the live broadcast, he was convinced.

Kim Jinsung would ultimately lose to the ‘Eye of Void’.

* * *

**Swoosh!**

The head of one of his clones, severed by a purple monster’s claw, flew through the air, instantly turning into a straw scarecrow. Kim Jinsung watched, gritting his teeth.

‘Damn it… I’m out of clones!’

He had been summoning and fighting with clones for hours.

Normal clones, the Quagmires, even the Forghenae clones, considered his last resort.

But now, only the real Kim Jinsung remained standing atop the ‘Space Dominated by Dark Energy’. All of his clones had fallen.

‘And none of them could even scratch those things.’

This was the most disheartening part.

He had hoped to glean some information about their weaknesses, but nothing he tried had worked.

‘How do I defeat them….Ugh!’

He was frantically searching for a solution when he was forced to summon another clone to evade the barrage of attacks from the surrounding purple monsters.

‘I’ll tell the clone to use its skills and dodge…’

He was about to issue a mental command when,

[Tsk tsk tsk….]

‘…Huh?’

He looked around, trying to pinpoint the source of the clicking noise,

But he saw no one.

The voice continued,

[He’s going to die without achieving anything. A true talent, gone to waste, such a shame, such a shame…]

The voice, tinged with regret, sounded elderly.

Kim Jinsung, unable to identify the speaker, finally spoke,

“Who’s there? Dantalian? Is that you?”

He called out the name of the only logical candidate who could’ve been observing him this whole time – Dantalian.

But he received no answer.

**Swoosh!**

He watched helplessly as the clone he’d just summoned was instantly decapitated.

But his clone was no longer a concern; he needed an answer from Dantalian.

He was his only hope.

Having waited in vain for a response, his face twisted in frustration.

“Is that bastard messing with me till the very end?”

He growled. As he did, he was forced to summon another clone to avoid being hit.

This time, it was a Quagmire.

‘I need something more durable.’

If his attacks were ineffective, he needed something that could at least survive long enough to buy him some time.

Just then,

[…Answer me! Can you truly hear me?!]

A frantic voice suddenly reverberated within his head.

His head throbbed painfully, prompting him to yell back,

“Of course I answered, damn it!”

[No…!]

His response was met with a surprised gasp. Hearing this, he quickly continued,

“Are you that Dantalian fellow?”

[Unbelievable! How can a lowly human like you speak directly to me?!]

The voice, instead of answering his question, rambled on.

But he did acknowledge him, meaning it must be Dantalian.

“Cut the crap and tell me how I survive this!”

[…Wait. Are you talking to me like that?]

“Who else would it be?”

[You insolent human! Daring to speak so casually to a Demon God…]

Dantalian’s voice, laced with fury, suddenly cut off. He was about to snap back when he stopped, sensing something strange.

‘It feels like the connection was cut abruptly?’

It felt as if their…call had dropped.

‘What was that…. Huh?’

He noticed that the Quagmire he’d summoned was gone.

Another straw scarecrow on the ground indicated that his clone hadn’t lasted long against those projectiles.

‘…Hang on.’

A realization dawned on him.

‘Now that I think about it, I couldn’t hear Dantalian while I had no clone summoned.’

He retraced his steps.

He could only hear Dantalian when a clone was active, never while alone.

‘If that’s the case…’

He summoned another Quagmire clone.

He was about to speak when,

[…Why are you ignoring me?! Do you really want to experience a Demon God’s wrath?!]

Dantalian’s enraged roars filled his head.

[Do you even know where you are?! This is the Demon World Dungeon! A place where I can exert my influence freely! A lowly human like you. I can destroy you with a snap of my fingers…!]

“Shut up! You’re an idiot!”

Silence followed his outburst. He assumed he’d lost the connection again,

Until,

[…Wh-what did you just…?]

He heard Dantalian stammer, his voice laced with shock.

—