episode_0019

Approaching hundreds of Belthans.

Kariel swung his sword towards them.

Shaaak!

With each swing, the Belthan clones were torn apart, only to be immediately replaced by the next clone. Nevertheless, Kariel continued to swing without any hesitation.

“It seems futile, doesn’t it?”

Looking at Kariel like that, Belthan sneered.

Even without a response, Belthan kept on shouting.

“You can’t do anything.”

“What can you do?”

“This is my domain. No matter how strong you are, you will eventually tire and fall.”

In response to his shout, the clones echoed.

An ordinary person would have despaired in the face of the swarming clones and relentless mental attacks, but Kariel remained calm as ever.

Continuing to overcome the clones, he spoke.

“If there’s one thing I’ve learned coming here, it’s that there’s no point in giving up and despairing.”

Despite cutting down clone after clone, they were incessantly replenished.

Occasionally, attacks or the clones themselves exploding from the darkness.

It could be described as a rather bleak situation.

Yet, Kariel did not give up.

He had realized long ago that giving up and despairing wouldn’t change anything going forward.

Moreover, Kariel never considered himself to be in a dire situation.

He was at the brink of being a Sword Expert.

Just one step away.

Once taken, he would reach the level of a Sword Master.

Of course, the gap between a Sword Master and a Sword Expert was vast, but at least the Sword Expert had obtained the ‘qualification’ to ascend to a Sword Master.

This qualification was not something anyone could obtain.

Even if chosen by the world at birth, one had to be without lacking to reach such a level.

The constant emergence of these mere clones posed no real threat to him.

The blade extended from Kariel’s hand plunged into the darkened ground.

The aura surrounding the sword spread along the ground like ripples, and in an instant, hundreds of clones vanished.

While the clones kept reappearing, there was a time interval between their appearances.

Especially now, after the disappearance of hundreds of clones, this interval lengthened.

Kariel rushed towards the remaining main body alone.

His speed felt slow to the point where even a moment seemed prolonged.

Leaving traces of his sword’s path, he aimed towards Baltan.

The moment the sword struck Baltan’s neck,

Baltan’s body instantly disappeared, reappearing a bit further away.

There was a slight wound on his neck, blood trickling down.

Astonishment crossed his face.

“Wow. Impressive.”

Baltan muttered with a mix of admiration while casually wiping the blood.

He hadn’t expected this kind of revelation to unfold in this manner.

If he had been even 0.1 seconds late, his neck would have been cleanly severed.

“It seems like my domain isn’t quite mine anymore.”

Baltan had thought that unless Kariel used sanctity, there was no way for him to win.

Because this place was his domain.

Being in his domain made him several times stronger than his usual strength.

Therefore, he had thought that even if he were a hero, he wouldn’t be able to win without invoking sanctity.

But just now, he painfully realized that was a misconception.

Before him stood a true hero.

Regardless of good or bad rumors, whether it was true or not, this was a being chosen by the gods, transcending ordinary strong individuals.

Baltan cleanly acknowledged that he had been negligent.

Unlike other proud demons, he was very rational.

He knew how to assess his own situation.

“So, I must go all out.”

Honestly, I didn’t think I could defeat the hero in front of me even if I gave it my all.

But the blood within him.

The warrior spirit engraved by demons boiled and surged within him, prompting him to confront them with all his might.

His surroundings extended into doppelgangers.

Though their numbers were not as many this time, the power possessed by the doppelgangers was on a different level compared to before.

Thus, four doppelgangers were created.

Each wielding a spear, sword, greatsword, and dagger.

They each assumed their stances.

The doppelgangers, excluding the main body, rushed towards Cariel.

Cariel assessed their movements as they attacked with different weapons.

“This might be a bit challenging.”

Typically, when multiple assailants faced one opponent, it was common for one to attack while the others exploited the openings when the opponent defended. Of course, if there was a significant difference in skill, even a larger number wouldn’t matter.

The issue was that the opponents’ skill level was formidable, and there were four of them.

Moreover, since each wielded a different weapon, it added another layer of complexity.

“Starting with a dagger, huh.”

Contrary to the expectation of an initial attack from a long-range weapon, the doppelganger wielding a dagger, Belthan, took the lead and launched an assault.

Belthan’s doppelganger, gripping the magically imbued dagger, swiftly changed its grip from reverse to a striking position, slashing with both hands as if bringing down the dagger.

Cariel immediately swung his sword to deflect the dagger, but Belthan’s doppelganger regripped the dagger in reverse and continued the attack.

As the dagger thrust towards his side, just as Cariel attempted to parry the two approaching daggers, the remaining doppelgangers lunged in exploiting the opening.

A spear and a sword pierced towards Cariel’s back, while a massive greatsword descended like a mountain in front.

Effectively, if he blocked one, he would have to allow the other three attacks.

Without hesitation, Cariel used his agility to pierce through each opening, parrying the incoming attacks with swift movements, tearing through the doppelgangers with precise strikes.

When Belthan’s doppelgangers were immobilized by his maneuvers, Cariel decisively slammed the ground shrouded in darkness without delay.

Thud!

With an illusion of bullets being fired, Cariel’s body shot forward.

His body accelerated at a speed incomparable to before, the sword whirling along with him.

Simultaneously, as Belthan’s body began to vanish as before,

Cariel seemed to be aiming to strike Belthan, but then altered the trajectory of his sword.

The twisted path of the sword veered slightly away from him.

Cariel swung his sword again.

The sword energy was unleashed in the form of a thrust.

At the same time, Belthan’s dispersed figure reappeared there.

Belthan hastily tried to block the sword energy in front of him.

Due to a slight delay, he failed to block the sword energy.

Not missing the opportunity, Cariel swung his sword once more to finish the job, but due to the counterattack from the doppelgangers who evaded his previous strikes, he distanced himself.

“Haha…”

In a less than favorable state after the attack, Belthan began to chuckle as if resigned.

“Truly remarkable, isn’t it?”

Belthan marveled at the hero’s attack.

The abilities displayed by each of the doppelgangers he created reached the level of a Sword Expert in human terms.

Essentially, they were no different from having mastered those weapons completely.

Overcoming all of them and relentlessly targeting the main body, successfully executing the attack, was something that couldn’t be simply described as impressive.

“I never really thought I could win from the start.”

Observing Cariel, who remained unfazed, Belthan once again realized that he was even more dangerous than he had imagined.

“Okay. I admit you’re impressive. I acknowledge your strength surpasses my expectations. But this must be tough for you too.”

Belltan, the main body, reached out into the air.

Instinctively feeling that she couldn’t let it go unnoticed, Kariel poured all her strength into speed, advancing so quickly that her clones couldn’t keep up.

And then she tried to slit Belltan’s throat.

Belltan just smiled at Kariel’s attempt.

“It’s too late.”

Magic poured around Belltan.

The density of the magic was incomparable to before, forcing Kariel to keep her distance.

“This is going to be a headache.”

The dense magic enveloped Belltan.

Kariel realized that whatever happened next, it would be an incredibly difficult fight unlike anything she had experienced before.

“I can’t stop it now.”

Unless using divine power, that magic was untouchable.

Although known as a hero, Kariel, in reality a fake one, couldn’t use divine power, thus unable to prevent the current course of action.

“It’s almost amusing how I, known externally as a hero, can’t use divine power.”

To be precise, she could have used it, but currently, she couldn’t.

“Well, it’s not like I had much anyway, so I won’t regret it.”

At this moment, she felt a slight pang of regret.

If she had even a bit of divine power, she could have somewhat hindered that action.

Setting aside her growing regret, Kariel gripped her sword tightly.

Belltan, shrouded in magic, had now revealed his true form.

The wounds inflicted by Kariel had completely disappeared, and his aura and presence were even stronger. In his hand, he held a sword.

Kariel scanned her surroundings.

There were no signs of Belltan’s clones.

“Has everything returned to normal?”

However, simply attributing it to a return and a power increase felt unsettling given Belltan’s current appearance.

Nevertheless, since the fact remained that they had to fight.

Kariel adjusted her stance.

Taking a deep breath,

she slammed the ground once more in preparation for the impending battle.