Chapter 62. Demon King Puratremos.

Demon King Puratremos flicked his fingers. Dozens of blood-colored metal dolls that fell from the sky began to rush towards the hero team.

“Block themㅡ! Just block themㅡ!”

The heroes ordered the mages, healers, and buff masters to be defended first, and began to stab and slash at them with their weapons. The buff masters were busy blocking the magical energy that was slowly invading their bodies. If they made a mistake and a curse came in, the whole team would collapse.

The opponent was none other than the Demon King. It was natural that even the slightest mistake could not be tolerated.

The mages couldn’t use their power against the enemies who were moving so quickly. After all, magic only works if it hits, but if they move so fast, the magic they make won’t hit and will become useless.

So they tried to cast a few spells, but when it didn’t work, they immediately focused on maintaining their mana shields. If they couldn’t attack, they had to defend to help the team.

Ji-hyuk’s team, without Ji-hyuk, joined forces with Larosha’s team to fight the enemies. Ork Grendal was shooting arrows ping ping, but soon realized that he had run out of arrows and picked up the iron club hanging from his waist. He wasn’t professionally trained in clubbing, but the Ork’s natural strength was enough to smash the enemies’ heads without any fancy techniques.

The ghost archer, Oro, put on a serious expression as if he had never smiled lewdly when he engaged in battle, and shot arrows. He sometimes used the iron-clad bow he was holding to beat up enemies who approached him.

The dreamer Castus also folded his hands as if praying and closed his eyes. And the eye of mana, called the third eye, opened. The powerful telekinesis crushed the metal dolls in the air like paper trash in an instant, udeudeuk.

Demon King Puratremos dropped his finger that had risen to the sky towards the dreamer Castus. The moment a huge pillar of magical energy fell, the dreamer turned its direction with telekinesis. Kwaaaangㅡ, and when it hit the ground, the guard and mage blocked the shockwave that burst.

At that moment when his gaze turned away for a moment, Ji-hyuk did not miss it and rushed in at an enormous speed and swung his holy sword at the Demon King. However, he accurately grasped the distance so that he would not be hit by a hair’s breadth, dodged, and shot a magic bullet at Ji-hyuk and detonated it.

…I’ll endure itㅡ!

Ji-hyuk endured the magic bullet with his whole body without dodging for a follow-up attack. He gritted his teeth and took a few more steps forward.

ㅡ!

The Demon King stepped back as he watched Ji-hyuk rushing in without dodging. He must have thought he couldn’t avoid the holy sword, so he threw a fist at the opponent. It seemed like he was willing to give flesh and cut bone, but Ji-hyuk had no intention of giving up his bones.

ㅡㅡ!!

The holy sword tore through the Demon King’s body once, bueuuk. His body staggered once. However, the cut part was quickly restored. …Still, the damage wouldn’t be small.

– You little bug….

Magical energy began to boil in the Demon King’s silver-white eyeballs.

Ah.

A beam poured out of his eyes. Ji-hyuk quickly threw himself, but the beam hit his left leg.

The moment the leg hit by the beam exploded, Ji-hyuk’s body spun around and crashed to the ground. His left leg disappeared without a trace, and Ji-hyuk felt like he was about to suffocate from the shock. But even in the pain, he gritted his teeth to avoid losing his mind.

The Demon King flew straight to Ji-hyuk and punched him in the face. The hero quickly blocked the fist with both hands, but he couldn’t completely offset the shock.

ㅡㅡㅡ!!!

Ji-hyuk flew away and crashed into the building wall in the distance. The precariously standing building collapsed. The Demon King wasn’t satisfied with that and indiscriminately poured magic bullets on top of it.

Kwang kwang kwang kwang kwang kwang kwang kwang

The stones instantly turned to powder, and the surroundings were filled with thick dust.

The tank healer who was fighting the metal dolls thought that this wouldn’t do, so he entrusted the team to the vice-captain and rushed at the Demon King to help Ji-hyuk. However, the tank healer’s attack was so slow that it made him yawn to the Demon King, who had almost the same speed as Ji-hyuk.

Demon King Puratremos lightly dodged the troll’s attack and slapped the top of his head with the back of his hand.

With a kwaang sound, the tank healer’s body flew away and fell to the ground with a thud. At that time, Ji-hyuk slowly got up from the dust. The exploded left leg had already grown back and recovered. However, his leg tingled as if blood wasn’t flowing through it, making it difficult to move.

Shit…, it’s hard alone after all….

The confidence that had soared to the sky after drinking the dragon’s blood hit the bottom again. Even so, fighting the Demon King alone was reckless.

The Demon King looked at Ji-hyuk, who had gotten up perfectly even in the midst of the concentrated attack, with a somewhat surprised look.

– You’re quite something. Quite something for a bug. I’ll acknowledge you.

Puratremos drew the magical energy floating in the air into his body, hwak. Then the thickness of his arms and legs doubled and his body grew.

– I’ll give you one more chance. Will you serve me?

To be honest, he was a merciful guy for a Demon King. …But Ji-hyuk had no intention of bowing his head to the Demon King bastard, even if he died.

“Fuck, off.”

The Demon King threw a fist at Ji-hyuk. The tank healer ran urgently, but it was already too late.

Ji-hyuk also wanted to avoid his fist, but his regrown leg wasn’t normal yet, so he couldn’t avoid it completely. He had no choice but to block and endure it somehow.

…Shieeeebalㅡ!

He wouldn’t die, but he could tell just by looking at it that it wouldn’t just end with being painful if he got hit. But what could he do? He had to endure it somehow and counterattack later.

Just as his fist was approaching Ji-hyuk’s nose, a huge axe suddenly hit his fist, kwaang.

ㅡㅡ!!

When the fist and axe collided, a shockwave exploded in the middle, kwang. Ji-hyuk flew away and rolled on the ground several times.

Ganesha, the golden-haired princess, appeared in front of him, struggling to raise his upper body.

“You little shit, looking pathetic.”

“…Why are you so late?”

“Huh? Are you blaming me right now?”

“I’m saying it because I’m glad to see you, because I’m glad.”

Ganesha snorted.

“But that bastard…, he’s damn strong?”

Her arms were numb from the heavy shock she felt in her palm. …Just by colliding with him once, she immediately knew that he was by no means an easy opponent.

“He’s strong. You can’t let your guard down.”

The tank healer also stood tall next to Ganesha, and the dreamer Castus also floated slightly in the air in the same praying position with his eyes still closed and approached them.

Even with three S-class heroes in front of him, the Demon King didn’t seem nervous at all. He muttered, “You bugs,” as if it were a habit, and began to throw punches again.

Castus tried to block the fist as much as possible with telekinesis, but it was impossible to completely block the attack because of its overwhelming power. The tank healer pushed forward with his specialty, tanking, and Princess Ganesha attacked in that gap. The ghost archer Oro also occasionally shot arrows to distract the Demon King’s attention.

While they were fighting the Demon King, Ji-hyuk also quickly recovered his body. The dull left leg was now slowly regaining its sensation.

The Demon King, who was being attacked so intensely, suddenly burst out with magical energy and quickly distanced himself from the heroes.

Then he drew all the blood-colored dolls that were fighting the hero teams to himself. Even the ones that weren’t moving all turned into smoke and flew to the Demon King, turning into some strange shape.

The blood-colored magical energy gathered in the Demon King’s left hand became a huge, long spear. …It was a weapon that didn’t look ordinary at first glance.

Ji-hyuk, who had recovered, thought that this wouldn’t do and took a deep breath. The mana mixed with magical energy bubbled in his stomach.

Ugh.

Ji-hyuk held his breath and gathered mana and gathered it again. The mana that was gathered until it was about to explode burned even hotter in his stomach.

He glared at the Demon King with wide eyes and poured out his breath as it was.

Pwahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaㅡㅡㅡㅡ.

The moment the enormous mana beam was fired, the Demon King threw the magical energy spear he was holding in his left hand at Ji-hyuk.

It pierced through the mana beam and pierced Ji-hyuk’s chest as it was.

ㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡ!!!

Ganesha screamed as she saw it.

“Ji, hyukaaaaaaaㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡ!!!!”

The princess ran to him like crazy. …But he couldn’t hear anything as he fell backwards with a thud.

Ridiculously, he didn’t die even though his chest was completely pierced. Even in the gasping breaths and terrible pain, his mind was clear.

There were no more sensations coming from the outside.

He knew very well what this was.

Death.

It was the process of going to death.

Ah.

It was an injury that would have killed him instantly, but the dragon’s blood stubbornly held onto his life and wouldn’t let go.

The healer Grugg quickly poured healing on the hero.

In the meantime, Ji-hyuk was floating in his own world.

…Funnily enough, he was thinking about life when he was very close to death.

What is lifeㅡ.

Feeling sensations.

What is sensationㅡ.

Interacting.

Interaction is.

The collision of molecules.

Molecules are.

A collection of atoms.

Atom.

The source of everything.

Source.

Source, origin.

Source,

Origin.

Is it non-existent if you can’t feel it?

No, it exists.

There are many things that exist even if we can’t feel them.

We just don’t know.

Why can’t we feel it.

No, what does it mean to feel.

The source is.

Mu (武) is.

Fight.

Victory.

Defeat.

What is the essence.

Yes, essence.

I am looking for the essence.

I have to find the essence.

Is that the source.

Is it an atom.

How small do we have to get.

How much do we have to feel.

Mana.

Yes, an atom is energy.

Everything is an atom,

Everything is mana.

Yes,

That’s all.

…That’s all.

There’s nothing else.

This world is mana.

Only mana.

Ji-hyuk came to his senses. The princess, who was crying and slapping his cheeks, hugged him tightly, saying it was a relief.

He got up as if possessed by something.

The dragon’s blood was raging more fiercely than ever.

He could feel the mana clearly.

This was it.

The source of the world.

There is nothing.

But at the same time, it exists.

It is mana, and it is not mana.

Ji-hyuk reached out his arm towards the Demon King and clenched his fist.

ㅡㅡ!!

The Demon King, who was tearing apart the tank healer’s torso, staggered violently from the unknown force piercing his body. He turned his head and looked at Ji-hyuk.

This bastard…!

The Demon King threw away the troll he was holding and rushed towards Ji-hyuk. But he banged his head, kwaang, as if he had hit a very hard wall.

ㅡㅡㅡ!!!

The guy who fell backwards got up again and punched the wall wildly.

Kwang kwang kwang kwang kwang kwang kwang kwang

An enormous explosion erupted. But the wall didn’t break. He drew in magical energy, hwak, and shot a magical energy beam from his eyes.

Kwaaaaaaaaangㅡㅡㅡ.

Still, the wall was fine. …And it was gradually approaching the Demon King.

No, hard walls were tightening from all sides. The Demon King created a blood-colored spear again. And he threw it at the wall with all his might. But he couldn’t break through it.

– What is it. What is this. What is thisssssㅡㅡ!!

The Demon King struggled. But the transparent wall that was tightening from all sides couldn’t be broken through.

Ji-hyuk poured out blood from all the holes. His arm, which was stretched out towards the Demon King, as well as his body, trembled.

But he didn’t stop. He gritted his teeth and tightened the wall even more.

This was the last time. …If he failed even this, he would really die.

The Demon King screamed and thrashed. He hit the wall that was tightening with all his might, but he couldn’t stop it. It only slightly reduced the tightening speed.

Hic, hiccup.

Ji-hyuk vomited blood and knelt down on one knee. But he didn’t lose his focus until the end.

– A, aaaaaaaackㅡㅡ!!

The Demon King screamed and struggled as the wall began to tighten around his body. His body was gradually compressed more and more.

“Kkeueueueueueaaaaaaaㅡㅡㅡㅡ!!!”

Ji-hyuk also screamed like a monster and tightened the mana with all his might.

– Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaackㅡㅡㅡㅡ!!!

With a perong sound,

The clear blue sky appeared again.