episode_0167

CLIX.

As we learned last time, it is an undeniable fact that power is a very important factor in the evolution of a Demon into a strong individual.

But I also said that not everything follows authority, like in a caste society where status is determined by birth, right?

Let’s see this guy.

This guy’s name is Daedalus. As you can see, he’s a high-level demon.

They say no one would have thought that Daedalus would become a high-level demon.

Because his power was ‘construction’.

Yeah? That’s right.

The power to construct something, to build and manipulate structures as fast as you can imagine.

In fact, Daedalus rose to the ranks of the upper-level demons with this power, which could be considered more of a skill than a power.

It is said that he became a high-level demon in a very short period of time by eating mid-level demons even when he was a low-level demon.

How was that possible?

The driving force that made this impossible possible was the Labyrinth, a labyrinth that he designed and built from start to finish.

―From a book on the ecology of the demon tribe

Professor in charge: God of Time, Lee Hyo-joo

◈

―Kraaa―!

― Myarrr―!

― Qaaarrr―!

It was like coming to a giant monster fair. I never thought I’d see so many and so many different kinds of giant monsters in one place in my life.

He put his right hand, which had been stroking Catherine’s back, into his waistband and quickly took out 『Dūrámen』 and held it.

and,

“Catherine. Don’t worry.”

“Ugh, uh.”

At the same time comforting Catherine,

thud-!

I stepped on the tremor so loudly that the floor shook.

Whew! Pachik! Woof! Pachik!

The power of that awakening and the divine power flowing from the divine power core flow into the Duramen, which is one of the strongest in the world, through the divine power circuit of the 『Byeokhae』.

It was a fleeting moment.

As I stepped onto the platform, large monsters rushed towards me as if flying.

It took only about a second for me to stretch out Duramen forward as if letting go of the string I had pulled back while listening to the roaring cries of Duramen and the ‘pachichik’ sound of the 『Byeokhae』 showing off its presence.

Kwakwakwakwang!

What preceded the explosion was the light emitted by the strong energy spreading out.

A clear, sharp, glossy, black thunderbolt that is destructive and vivid.

A bundle of brain energies the size of an adult’s thigh explodes out of the Dūrámen, filling the passageway through which the large monster is jumping.

This is the first time that the martial arts skill 『Byeokhae (霹海)』, recognized even by the gods, shows its true colors at the level of a quasi-superhuman.

A light so bright that it blinded Catherine, who was looking at Gray’s back while hugging him, ironically flowed through the black cerebrum and illuminated the surrounding area.

And as the surroundings brightened from the explosion of light, Gray saw.

“What the heck?!”

I mean, the ceiling is slowly coming down.

“Hold on tight.”

“Ugh!”

At the moment when he was about to throw himself at Catherine after warning her once again.

Grrr!

Grrr.

The walls on both sides open, and monsters that had gathered at the sound of an explosion pour out.

“What is this? Catherine, would you please close your eyes for a moment?”

“Yeah!”

Pachichichik!

A thunderclap envelops Duramun, reminiscent of a punishment.

“Thunderstorm.”

The herbivore names I recited are not meant to be fancy.

It was a kind of motivation to perform this technique, which was being used for the first time in real life, more accurately and without mistakes.

If the spear technique that was previously developed was a skill that resembled swinging a heavy and violent hammer, the spear technique that is being developed now is,

Phishung―. Phishung―. Hoong―!

It seemed like a dozen sharpshooters were firing arrows in rapid succession.

The thunderous energy shot out like an arrow, piercing through the monsters running in front and damaging the monsters behind them before finally subsiding.

The ceiling was still coming down, and this time the walls disappeared into the floor, like in a Japanese yakuza movie with many doors that opened into a single long room.

A avenue three times wider than before was revealed, and monsters began to swarm the space.

In the aftermath of the 〈Thunderstorm〉, the front is suddenly empty, but monsters pouring out from the wall that disappeared below rush to fill the space.

Bloodshot eyes, almost bloodshot red, saliva dripping from their chins, and even some that were clearly bipedal but ran on all fours.

In a word, the abnormal state of the monsters.

These were filling the passageway blackly.

“Catherine, are you okay? Can you count to ten now?”

“Yeah yeah. One… … . Two… … .”

I know that this heavy drinking, the pungent, bloody scent, is not good for Catherine, but I have no other choice right now.

As I lightly kicked the ground, the ceiling quickly came closer. And when there was a distance of about the height of a person left from the ceiling, I saw.

Skewers of unknown identity stuck to the ceiling without any gaps.

For a split second, I looked closely at the divine power in my eyes, and it was not metal, but rather like someone’s bones. Bones of various lengths and thicknesses were embedded in the ceiling.

‘shit.’

“Lower pressure!”

Inhale and exhale.

Accordingly, divine power flows out from the divine power core and fiercely resonates with the external divine power.

Grand Master.

This is the principle of handling soul weapons that you will naturally acquire when you reach the level of a quasi-superhuman.

Materializing a weapon made of divine power by resonating with an external divine power.

That’s the soul weapon.

Three Duramens flashing with black lightning appear as they fall towards the ground.

The reason Soul Weapons are scary is not simply because they are weapons made of divine power.

Pachichichik―.

Boom! Kwakwakwakwak!

Phew! Phew! Whoosh! Whoosh!

It’s scary because each of them can manifest their own different skills.

It was as if three of me were simultaneously manifesting the martial arts of different 『Byeokhae (霹海)』.

The center is like a thunderbolt spell, with thunder exploding in all directions, blowing up or roasting monsters.

This is “Bokcheon (爆天),” one of the skills of “Byeokhae (霹海).”

Just like the attack shown when a large monster suddenly appears from further back than the center, a bunch of lightning-like energy is indiscriminately shot forward, causing the monsters near the Soul Spear to be torn apart.

This is also one of the skills of 『Byeokhae (霹海)』, called “Sanpa (山破).”

And in front of me, where I’m going to land and closest to the monster, there’s a thunderbolt that shoots out like a machine gun.

As I was humming earlier, this is one of the skills of 『Byeokhae』, “Thunder and Rain.”

Urrr―.

The soul weapon was gone, and all the monsters had become corpses, but when I heard the ground tremble in the aftermath of the technique, I landed on the ground.

“…Year.”

“Our Catherine did well. Just a moment.”

The surroundings were cleaned up while Catherine counted to ten.

I kicked the ground and kept moving forward.

To get to a place where the corpse cannot be seen, and to escape the influence of the ceiling that is still coming down hard.

After reaching a place that meets the conditions,

“Phew… … . You can open your eyes now.”

He said so with a deep sigh.

The Soul Weapon mentioned earlier, while showing great power as it is now, was a skill that was difficult and had a lot of recoil.

There is only about half of the divine power left in the divine power core, and a hot, throbbing headache comes over me, as if someone has poured hot water on my brain.

“Brother, are you okay?”

Even though her mental age is young, Catherine also knows that she has slept for a long time and experienced things that others only experience once in their lifetime.

That the current situation is not as easy as it seems.

“It’s okay.”

So I kept repeating to her and to me, as if I was hypnotizing her, that it was okay.

But the situation was actually not okay at all.

As soon as we left the area where the ceiling was coming down, this time a wall rose from the floor, creating a square space large enough to swing a spear through.

A space surrounded by walls on all sides.

But I could tell that this was not a consideration for me just from the unique ‘gurgling’ sound of the wall moving beyond it.

“Catherine.”

“Yeah. Oppa.”

“It’s okay. I’ll definitely protect you.”

“Hehe. Yeah!”

Catherine was smiling, but it was a sad, mournful smile.

I took out the clothes and rope from my magic pouch and tied Catherine up with me in a position where she was hugging me in front of her. Instead of her head sticking out over my shoulders like before, I lowered her height so that her head was on my chest, just in case she was hit by a blind arrow or attack.

It was tied several times, first with clothes, then with rope, and then with clothes again.

As soon as that work is finished.

Grrr.

As if it had been waiting, the noise coming from beyond the wall suddenly stopped.

Like the calm before the storm.

Catherine seems to tense up in the heavy silence and her grip on my back tightens.

Grrr.

At the same time, the walls on all four sides descend to the floor.

There weren’t any swarms of monsters like before.

First, on the front,

―Krrr… … .

There stood a guy who had an unusual hobby of carrying his face in his hand.

“Dullahan?”

The headless knight, Dullahan.

The one on the right was silent. He was wearing black armor and had a dark sword hanging from his waist.

“Death Knight.”

Yes, that’s right.

An undead that uses the power of a sword. This is the Death Knight.

On the left was a man wearing a black robe. The hand that was sticking out of the robe was nothing but bones, and judging by the fact that it was holding a staff,

“… Is this Richie?”

That’s Lych.

Richie, who also appeared once in the candidate competency evaluation.

These alone are difficult to deal with, but that wasn’t the real problem.

Behind the back.

So, right where I had just killed a monster, a chilling, murderous feeling like a cold wind rising from the cold floor of a crazy winter was stabbing my back.

I wanted to turn around out of curiosity, but I couldn’t do anything because I was afraid that doing so would inadvertently affect Catherine with this vicious murderous intent.

Then, after spreading the divine power widely around his body, he turned around. There, standing there, was a being that at first glance seemed to be a Death Knight.

But I could intuitively feel that it was definitely not a Death Knight.

It was something much more primal, vicious, and baser than that.

An undead wearing armor that was not black, but a dark red color that looked like hardened blood, and holding a huge greatsword taller than me in both hands.

I wondered why the other undead were just sitting there, but it seemed like they were listening to the orders of this one in front of them.

No, should I say that I am intimidated by this guy?

A being that the undead feel fear of.

[Do you know someone who looks like this?]

If you know your enemy, you will be able to avoid danger.

Through the power of the Card Master, the form of the thing they are seeing now was transmitted to the Arcanas.

Then,

[Master, avoid!]

[Huh? Why?]

[It’s the Doom Knight! Get out of here! Hurry up!!]

As soon as the witch’s screams ended, the witch relayed to her complete information about the undead known as the Doom Knights.

“Haa… … . I got caught up in something really dirty. Phew heh heh heh.”