Episode 535. Fake Dungeon (7)

It’s hot. The blood flowing down from the wound on my forehead obscures my vision.

Ptooey.

Lee Hoyeon spat out the cold blood in his mouth as if vomiting. Even if I tightly shut my lips, the bleeding wouldn’t stop.

Rather, the blood filling my mouth hinders my fighting, so it’s better to just spit it out.

“… My head hurts.”

Is it because I’ve lost too much blood? My vision swims.

I couldn’t stand properly.

“I can’t understand. That a human could be this resilient. But even if you, Lee Hoyeon, have surpassed humanity, you won’t last long. Why don’t you fear death?”

“What I carry is different from you.”

I glared ahead, pretending to be strong, but Lee Hoyeon was actually in a state where dying anytime wouldn’t be strange.

The toll of the battle, which had exhausted my whole body, was certain.

My clothes, now rags, hadn’t regenerated, so they were as good as gone, and my tattered limbs felt like they’d fall off any second.

From head to toe, there wasn’t a single spot where I didn’t feel pain.

If I were a normal human, this pain would have already caused me to die from shock. But Lee Hoyeon’s combat sense, sharp mental fortitude, and high regeneration ability allowed me to stand even amidst immense pain.

Thump. Thump.

Despite being in this condition, my heart’s thumping didn’t stop.

Blood Beat was already deactivated. The Sky-Piercing Bow surrounding Lee Hoyeon was also gone.

My mana circuits no longer responded.

All that was left was fighting relying on combat sense and instinct.

“As I’ve said countless times, fighting any longer is just a dog’s death. If you kneel now, begging for your life would be better.”

“…”

Lee Hoyeon caught his breath and listened to Lucifer.

I knew it was nonsense, but whenever Lucifer muttered such nonsense like that, I could recover little by little.

Mana was slowly returning to my depleted mana circuits.

‘That he intends to capture me alive is fortunate.’

The fake dungeon’s magic circle has a healing space.

It’s a place they automatically move to when a lifeform reaches death, but Lucifer seems to have no intention of sending me there.

It must be his pride, wanting to make me kneel myself no matter what it takes.

That pride was keeping Lee Hoyeon going.

‘Just a little longer.’

Thump.

Lee Hoyeon drew up the recovered mana.

The battle wasn’t over.

Anyway, there was nowhere to retreat, and I had no intention of giving up.

During the long battle, Lee Hoyeon wasn’t just passively taking hits.

Seizing openings, I wounded Lucifer several times. But that monstrous regeneration ability restored even the tuxedo back to normal.

But the fact that I inflicted wounds means I can still do something.

“Your will is incredible. Of all the lifeforms I’ve seen in my life, you are the most aggressive.”

Ta-at-

Lee Hoyeon’s mana and Lucifer’s mana collided.

A mana discharge constructed with maximum efficiency.

Unlike how I was struggling just moments ago, it was quite a sharp attack.

“I acknowledge you. But….”

Lucifer scrunched up his face.

“If you thought you could kill me with your squeezed-out mana, that thought itself is an insult to me!”

“You crazy bastard.”

Lucifer suddenly started getting angry.

The situation itself was absurd, but the power he emitted was no joke.

An immense aura poured out from Lucifer’s wings, and Lee Hoyeon had to quickly retreat.

Unlike Lee Hoyeon, who was battered all over, Lucifer’s mana, in full condition, was overwhelmingly superior.

After retreating briefly, just as I was trying to regain my composure.

“Kuhup…!”

A massive impact struck Lee Hoyeon’s abdomen.

Lee Hoyeon’s body was already at its limit.

If the goal was capture, he should have controlled his strength. But making the one who attacked him feel the difference in class is also something he must do.

Lucifer poured strong mana and drove his fist into Lee Hoyeon’s stomach.

KUNG-

A massive wave, spreading beyond the center enough to ripple through the entire dungeon.

That mana, which had resonated through the center countless times, penetrated Lee Hoyeon’s entire body.

“Ah….”

Thud-

No matter how strong the body, he was still human, after all.

Lee Hoyeon’s body finally collapsed onto the cold floor.

‘Shit….’

Zzzzzzzzzing-

A chaotic ringing filled my ears.

I couldn’t even hear my own heartbeat, and it felt like my combat sense had completely shut off too.

Thump. Thump.

“It’s truly surprising that you’re still alive.”

Lucifer looked down at the exhausted human and smiled.

Although he had won, he acknowledged that tenacious life was something he had to admit.

“I am truly impressed by you, so let’s talk. I know you won’t believe me, but I have no intention of destroying the human world. Because there’s nowhere as interesting to me as this place.”

“…”

Lucifer was saying something, but I couldn’t hear it well.

Lee Hoyeon felt the cold floor while listening to the gradually fading ringing in his ears.

“As I’ve said many times, if you wish, I can spare the human women too. Ah, I’d like to speak with Calliope and a few other humans first. I have much to discuss with Calliope specifically, because I recently found the key to unlocking her seal.”

“With nothing else to trust, would I trust a damn devil… Huh? Kuhuh.”

Lee Hoyeon endured the pain assaulting his entire body and slowly took a deep breath.

Unable to contain my irritation, I threw out a remark, and the pain immediately followed.

The floor was covered in Lee Hoyeon’s blood, forming puddles.

It felt like all the blood in my body had spilled out, and it was a miracle I was still alive.

With this much protagonist buff, maybe I could stand up again?

Thud-

Lee Hoyeon, trying to push himself up from the floor, face-planted back into the puddle.

No matter how great the regeneration ability, once a certain line is crossed, recovery requires a lot of time.

Lee Hoyeon’s body right now had not just crossed the line, but torn it to shreds.

“Why can’t you trust me?”

“…”

“Lee Hoyeon. You act like you know me well. But the mere fact that you’re still alive proves my trust, I believe.”

Bullshit.

Lee Hoyeon swallowed the curse and slowly inhaled.

Lucifer might not know, but this world is fundamentally a game and a bet with God.

In the end, the Demon King will descend upon the human world, and Lee Hoyeon must stop the Demon King after having conquered all the women.

Otherwise, the world will be destroyed.

That’s not the only problem to begin with.

The reason Lucifer likes the human world is because it satisfies his curiosity.

If he can no longer find interesting things, eventually, the human world too will become the same as hell.

“Hmm….”

Lucifer looked down at Lee Hoyeon and frowned.

I don’t like it.

Now that Lee Hoyeon was weakened.

His power was still unreadable, but his emotions were readable.

What I felt was immense distrust and anger.

Lucifer couldn’t understand Lee Hoyeon pouring out such emotions towards him.

“Is it unfair to die? I think I’ve given you plenty of chances.”

“…”

“It’s natural to die when you meet a stronger opponent. That’s the natural order. You should consider your own death when you fight.”

“…”

Lee Hoyeon quietly focused on healing his internal body.

Lucifer has no intention of killing me.

There must still be a chance.

“It doesn’t seem like anger towards death. Then what is it?”

Lucifer also knew, of course, that Lee Hoyeon was gathering strength.

But Lee Hoyeon in that state couldn’t possibly resist me, even if he gathered all his mana.

Knowing that, he was letting it be.

His current interest wasn’t Lee Hoyeon gathering mana.

What he was curious about was the reason for Lee Hoyeon’s anger.

It didn’t seem like mere anger over defeat.

“Then is it the human women?”

Lucifer looked down at Lee Hoyeon and initiated a conversation.

To find out why Lee Hoyeon was avoiding his demonic eyes, he needed to find out, so gathering even trivial information was best.

The female beings he had been concerned about from the start. There seemed to be a secret there.

“When we talk about women, your emotions intensify. Is it to protect them? But that’s strange. Why did you design this magic circle to trap the women? If the magic circle didn’t exist, I wouldn’t have known about the existence of human women. Meaning, I wouldn’t have threatened them either.”

“…”

“That means you have another purpose…. Were you planning to trap them and manipulate their minds to make them yours? If so, that’s disappointing. It’s a low-level thought fit only for incubi.”

“Stop talking bullshit.”

Lee Hoyeon gritted his teeth.

I didn’t want to listen anymore to the words of that damned devil.

Zzzzzing-

Lucifer’s red eyes glowed.

Lucifer, reading the emotions of the human before him, felt a question arise.

“So they’re already yours? Then why kidnap them? This magic circle operated over a vast area. What was the meaning of the other humans?”

“…”

“Mere curiosity? But you, Lee Hoyeon, don’t seem like that kind of person. Besides, those women felt affection for you. They felt affection for each other, so why did you do this?”

“… Because it’s disgusting, don’t put my women in that mouth.”

“So you desire all the human women, including Liliana. Is that it? If so, then you are evil.”

“Don’t talk shit.”

Lucifer looked down at Lee Hoyeon.

Although that abnormal regeneration was healing his body, he needed time to get up.

The stage for conversation wasn’t over yet.

“Being greedy despite being weak. That is why you are evil. The moment you were defeated by me, the humans became my spoils of war. I can do whatever I please with them. Therefore, getting angry is arrogance.”

Lee Hoyeon ignored Lucifer’s words and checked his internal body.

It still takes time to move.

‘… Can I even win if I get up?’

The mind follows the body.

Because of my wrecked body, Lee Hoyeon’s spirit was also broken.

I had already fought him several times.

I couldn’t defeat Lucifer even in peak condition. Could I possibly win now?

But Lee Hoyeon had nothing else to do but struggle.

“No, it would be more accurate to say this. You are a hypocrite.”

“What?”

“Inside your heart, hypocrisy fills it; you deceive even yourself.”

Lucifer’s demonic eyes scanned Lee Hoyeon up and down, and mentally lowered his evaluation of Lee Hoyeon by one level.

The unpleasant feeling I felt from Maestro was felt exactly the same.

Finding the reason for one’s actions elsewhere.

“My demonic eyes cannot be deceived. You are also the same type of human as Maestro. Perhaps it’s because you are such a being that you avoid my demonic eyes.”

As the successor to the Demon King, dignity is one of the important factors.

While Lee Hoyeon’s spirit itself is commendable, without dignity, he is no different from a beast.

Unfortunately, the conversation with Lee Hoyeon was not interesting.

“The conversation is over. I will have to slowly figure out the reason for avoiding my demonic eyes.”

It might not be possible now, but if I can spend time researching, I should be able to figure it out.

Lucifer raised his mana and lifted Lee Hoyeon’s body.