Episode 204 [Battle of the Demon King – 3]
—————————
Hyunwook Lee and Agaidica were standing face to face.
The two only clashed once for a few tens of seconds, but that alone devastated an entire area of about 100 meters.
And as the atmosphere intensifies to the point where talks can no longer proceed, the situation is about to unfold as if troops from both sides will rush in at any moment and a full-blown battle will break out…
Hu—du—du—du——
Rain poured down from nowhere, full of divine power, and the overheated heat cooled down.
Grrrr?
The ancient red dragons wearing them did not hesitate but looked up at the sky with blank expressions.
“Oh, this is….”
“I feel like my head is clearer!”
In other words, the latent spell in my head was lifted.
“…If you do this, your head won’t explode and you’ll die if you rebel against those bastards, right?”
“So… is this a chance to run away?”
“Maybe it’s a chance to fight again.”
A strange current began to flow between them.
Although they were all of the same race, some were captured by the Demon King, while others resisted until the end and were shackled by the ‘latent spell.’
Grrr—
Until just a month ago, although they were from different villages, they were living together as one race, but now they were divided into two factions, and the emotional rift was deepening.
But sparks didn’t fly right away. They were all receiving orders from different beings.
Agaidika and Chahalis.
Since they were both at the front line, I had no choice but to wait for their orders to come.
“…But what are those two doing?”
Meanwhile, the confrontation between Lee Hyun-wook and Agaidika was stopped, and the two put down their weapons and began talking at a fairly close distance.
Then the battlefield fell into complete silence.
All eyes were focused on just those two.
Whoa whoa—
After some talk, Agai Dika turned his head and looked at his men waiting behind him. His eyebrows moved a few times as if he saw something in his eyes.
“…Indeed, everything has been lifted. “I never imagined this would be possible.”
The voice was somewhat angry. In other words, it seemed that the hostility toward Lee Hyun-wook had been eliminated to some extent. Lee Hyun-wook took a step closer and asked in a more subdued voice.
“So, are you trying to obey the Demon Lord forever? I don’t think you’re that type of person.”
“…I thought that if I waited, the day would come when I could kill him. Even if it lasts a few decades or even hundreds of years.”
“Oh, so I saved you time?”
Lee Hyun-wook took a step closer. He came within range of Agaidica’s fist with his bare hands. This expressed not only the intention to fight but also a certain degree of trust.
Then, except for Agaidica, the other three Ancient Red Drakes glared at him with wary expressions.
Lee Hyun-wook watched Hugin and Munin’s movements closely. because….
– Chahalis, ruler of the eastern part of the Red Volcano (LV: 193)
* The devil’s descendants
– Eastern Centurion of Red Volcano (LV: 181)
* The devil’s descendants
– Eastern Centurion of Red Volcano (LV: 181)
* The devil’s descendants
This was because all three were members of the Demon King’s family.
‘Chahalis is a boss monster. The other three are elite monsters. After all, he is not an easy opponent.’
Still, they seemed unable to move forward hastily, perhaps because they were aware of Agaidica, the guardian of the red volcano, who was overwhelmingly stronger than them.
“…But can you say that you are different from the Demon King?”
Suddenly Agaidika asked.
Lee Hyun-wook showed a puzzled expression.
“You call that a question? Do you know why I’m here—”
“That guy was just like you. He was also called a player.”
Only then did Hyunwook Lee understand what he was saying.
“Didn’t you players persistently attack us who were living quietly inside this red volcano… even though we had no grudges whatsoever?”
“…….”
“We have always been on the lookout for your invasion, whether we are asleep or out hunting.”
From the perspective of the Ancient Red Drakes, all players seemed to be the same invaders.
“We did not take this land by force, as you claim. You know that. When we came, you were not there, only volcanic fields and wastelands. We cleared land from nothing and built homes.”
At this point, humanity cannot help but feel unfair in many ways. Strictly speaking, the entire state of California was taken away and they were just trying to get it back.
However, the Ancient Red Drakes claimed that since they appeared after erosion, they had migrated to unclaimed land.
‘This is not a matter to be debated here.’
In order to figure that out, I had to fundamentally know what this game was and what its purpose was.
Who and why are they turning the Earth into such a mess and sending these unidentifiable monsters to make humanity fight a game?
But that wasn’t a problem that could be solved by thinking about it now. I didn’t know if I could reach the truth if I followed the ‘main quest’ given to Lee Hyun-wook, but…
“…First of all, we all have to kill the Demon King, but then we can think about the next time, right?”
There was something called priorities.
“If we cannot kill the Demon King, we will perish. I don’t know whether you will perish or not, but you will be miserable slaves.”
“…….”
“And anyway, you don’t have a choice. That’s why I told you to take this opportunity. Then, think slowly.”
Lee Hyun-wook slowly turned his head and looked at Chahalis.
He could see its mouth was moving, so it seemed like he was talking through distant eyes and magic.
‘It’s probably the devil.’
The Demon King would be ruminating on the current situation, and if he knew that his bid for time was in vain, he would come up with another plan… He couldn’t be wasting time.
Jerk—
Hyunwook Lee took a step closer to Chahalis. Then the guy frowned and took a step back.
Then, the remaining two elite monsters named ‘Red Volcanic Eastern Centurion Commanders’, who were standing as if guarding him, stepped forward.
Considering that all three had the modifier ‘Eastern’, they seemed to be blood relatives.
As Lee Hyun-wook approached them, he stretched out his hand behind his back, and the giant sword Moglei, which had been planted on the ground, flew out and landed in his hand.
chin-!
The large sword shone menacingly in the sunlight.
“Don’t make it too complicated. Let’s first solve what we can solve now.”
Lee Hyun-wook raised his moglai and passed by Agaidica.
Despite his clear intention to kill Chahalis, Agaidika took no action.
In other words, he completely agreed with Lee Hyun-wook’s opinion.
“And… I’ll show you my sincerity by pulling out a few of your sore teeth, so let’s do it well.”
Even if they were traitors to their race, Guardian Agai Dika might be reluctant to kill his compatriots en masse due to his sense of duty, so Lee Hyun-wook planned to deal with them instead.
Then Chahalis got scared and shouted.
“—Hey Guardian! Shouldn’t you protect me and all of our people? huh?”
But Agaidika was silent.
He let out a long sigh and glared at Chahalis with an angry expression.
Then, even though he was startled, he unconsciously stretched out his hand to Agaidica and released mana.
yes-
It seems that he was given the authority to activate ‘latent magic’ and was using it to control Agaidica… but of course, nothing happened.
“You really don’t understand the situation. Or is it a struggle?”
Lee Hyun-wook said with a chuckle.
“this person-!”
Chahalisui put his hands together and created a magic circle, and powerful flames spewed out from within.
pop–!
However, Lee Hyun-wook swung his moglai and simply extinguished the flame.
“If it’s not that guy… you can’t be my opponent in the first place.”
Lee Hyun-wook said, pointing to Agaidica with a nod.
As he was the guardian of the red volcano, he was stronger than most dragons here in the red volcano, so even Lee Hyun-wook could not easily defeat him.
However, if it was an ordinary Ancient Red Drake, there was nothing that Lee Hyun-wook couldn’t beat, no matter how much it was a boss monster.
no. He could win them all.
He has become so strong that he has no rival, not only in this timeline, but even in the world eight years from now…
Jerk— Jerk—
They cowered and stepped back even as Lee Hyun-wook, who was much smaller than them, approached.
They could feel it too.
The scale of class that Lee Hyun-wook exudes.
“Stop this— this— that bastard!”
At Chahalis’ shout, the two centurions transformed into the Drake they had seen and rushed towards him.
Meanwhile, Chahalis put his hands together as if trying to perform a ‘short-distance teleportation spell.’
“How dare a human being!”
“—Die, you barbaric life!”
Lee Hyeon-wook swung his moglai with all his might at the two men who were running towards him. Although it cut into the air, ‘Space Cutter’ was activated and an invisible mana blade was fired.
Come on, come on, come on!
The space around the waist of the two men was distorted, and with a thud, the scales broke and blood burst out.
“Kak!”
“Tsk!”
As expected, since his level was quite high, he did not die instantly even if he was hit directly by the space cutter.
However, because the damage was quite severe, it staggered backwards and began to inflate its body.
Since my recovery speed would be faster if I returned to my normal form, I planned to prioritize defense.
However, Lee Hyun-wook was already developing the next move.
Sigh- Sigh-
Two silver arrows moved in an arc and hit both men’s left eyes at the same time.
Because they were only wary of Lee Hyun-wook, they were unable to respond to attacks coming from outside their field of vision.
Wow—
The guys instinctively twisted their bodies due to the pain and the loss of one side of their vision, and at that moment, Lee Hyeon-wook kicked the floor and rushed to the guys’ bedside, swinging his Mowglei.
P—billion——! P—billion——!
It is a sword that weighs a whopping 100 tons.
No matter how ancient the Red Drake was, its flesh would inevitably fall off in chunks and its bones would break off like tree branches.
One fell back, clutching the back of his neck, blood pouring out like a waterfall, and one had one of his arms torn off from the top of his wing, tattered.
He was practically a retiree.
“Quaaa——”
“Buy it and save it….”
Meanwhile, Chahalis threw the two guys as bait and completed a short-distance teleportation.
And just as you were about to move—
puck-!
A spear hit the guy’s shoulder and the spell got tangled up.
“Tsk!”
It was a dragon spear thrown by Edward Woods.
“Stand there.”
Before I knew it, Edward Woods was just a stone’s throw away.
“Huh! This—this—young guy…”
He took out another dragon spear and assumed a javelin throwing stance.
However, Chahalis succeeded in forcing a short-distance teleportation spell, and his figure disappeared before my eyes…
yes…….
“Holy shit!”
Perhaps because the spell was disturbed after being hit by a javelin, it reappeared only about ten meters away.
Still, he tried his best to escape from this place by trying magic once again.
but….
Kwa—ang——!
He did not spot the mogul ray that fell like lightning on his head and was crushed to smithereens.
It was a very bland battle, no, it was an overwhelming hunt.
“…….”
Meanwhile, the thousands of Ancient Red Drake troops who were watching the scene seemed unable to do either one thing or another.
They couldn’t make any decisions, just wandering around in place as if they had forgotten how to move. Some even let out cries mixed with anxiety.
This is a phenomenon called ‘command collapse’ that occurs among group-type monsters, and when the leader monster is eliminated, the monster temporarily falls into a debuff state.
Not only that, but there are also those who are confused because they do not know which side to be on.
However, as if providing the correct answer, Agaidica stood next to Lee Hyun-wook.
It would have been difficult for the Ancient Red Drakes in the rear to understand the situation since they had no way of knowing what conversations were taking place here, but this one scene would have explained it.
A new alliance was formed.
Then, a commotion broke out among the Drakes.
Some Drakes, probably those following the Demon King, had begun to run away.
There were also Drakes trying to catch it.
However, the overwhelming majority seemed to have decided to follow the guardian of the red volcano, so they remained in their seats and let out loud cries.
Soooo——
It was a scene that humans could hardly understand, but it seemed like they were cheering or chanting Agaidika.
At that time, Lee Hyun-wook asked Agaidica.
“Agaidika. Do you know where the Demon King’s Castle is?”
“…Know.”
“Guide me there. Go and kill the demon lord.”
However, Agaidika reacted skeptically.
“Even if we help, you cannot do it alone. It is true that your attack put pressure on the Demon King, but that does not mean that your sword can pierce his heart.”
Hyunwook Lee nodded his head.
“There is no need to worry because this is not all.”
He lifted his head and looked up at the sky.
“We are just the advance team, the main team will come now.”
***
There were people watching the scene at that time…
“…This is crazy, but didn’t you think that if those red lizards went out in droves, they would last for a few hours? Gordon said they would, right?”
A large man holding a sledgehammer said.
He was standing in a cave-like room, looking down at the window.
This was the Ancient Red Dragons’ watchtower facility located on a cliff on a peak of the Red Mountains, overlooking the wilderness where the commotion just unfolded.
At that time, a woman holding a very long cane approached behind him.
The wand was unusual in that it had a very small fairy ‘fairy’ stuffed into her head.
At first glance, it looks like a simple sculpture, but upon closer inspection, you can see that it is indeed a dried fairy corpse… a mummy.
She too looked out her window and quenched her appetite.
“Instead of holding on, it looks like they stuck to that side. Isn’t this completely messed up? It’s like an entire corps fell to the ground.”
“That’s right. I think I’ve forgotten how long it’s been since those lizard bastards were beaten.”
“Hmm, His Majesty the Demon King must have judged that way too… Did he get hit by Steele Lane again this time? Damn, I don’t know how this works. If we keep doing this, aren’t we really going to lose?”
“Ugh, Rachel, do you really regret choosing to follow the Demon King?”
“Oh no, that can’t be possible.”
She was startled by the big man’s question and shook her head. If you use her mouth incorrectly… she could be reduced to nothing more than an undead. There have been several cases like that so far.
The woman named Rachel opened her mouth again.
“I am very satisfied with this power… I am clearly the Demon King’s vassal. How can I doubt the Demon King after being given this kind of power?”
These were players who responded to the ‘Demon King’s invitation’ and came under the Devil’s command.
Of course, the vast majority of people who received the devil’s invitation naturally ignored it, but there were also those who did not. For example, devil worshipers and red players… these were them.
“Ugh—right? Where on earth can I get this level of power increase? Is that all? I never thought I’d have monsters as subordinates in my life.”
An orc approached the large man who said that and poured a drink into the empty glass that was on the table.
“I truly feel like a noble.”
As such, not only did they gain a tremendous increase in their abilities as they became ‘vassals of the devil’, but some of them also received the power to control monsters.
But then—a blue magic circle was drawn in the center of the room.
yes-
“Ah, it looks like Gordon is finally coming.”
Then, the players scattered here and there, so-called ‘vassals’ of the Demon King, began to gather one by one.
“Is this another new operation?”
“You sure they won’t let us out this time, right?”
“Before that, there were titans and black orcs. “I’ll use those first.”
Soon, a figure appeared above the magic circle.
He is a tall man. He was a handsome white man with pomaded hair and a suit.
“Gordon.”
Gordon Price, the CEO of [Blue Tree], the largest company in the world.
If it were known that he was supporting the devil, the world would be turned upside down.
Not only was he rich, but he also had a high reputation in the player community.
He slowly walked out of the magic circle.
He then approached the large man, snatched the glass he was holding, and took a rather rough sip.
“Um… Gordon, isn’t it going to be completed soon? I mean, the Demon King’s Castle.”
The large man asked so cautiously that his size made him feel awkward.
They were only waiting for the completion of the Demon King’s Castle.
This was because when it was completed, the power of not only the Demon King but also all beings who followed the Demon King would increase significantly.
Even if that were not the case, the Demon King’s legion, which was an enormous force, would be strengthened several times and would be able to go out to conquer the whole world without hiding anymore and being chased by Steelaine.
That moment is just around the corner.
However, Steelaine came and knocked loudly on the door, creating a sense of crisis, so he sent out the Ancient Red Drake Corps and the Guardian of the Red Volcano… but rather, Steelaine’s power was strengthened.
In many ways, the atmosphere was not good.
Gordon Price looked out the window and opened his mouth.
“Not much time left. There are only 7 hours left until completion.”
“…You can handle that much, right?”
The big man asked and Gordon Price shook his head.
“Max. Holding on is not important.”
“huh?”
“Even if the Demon King’s Castle is completed, it is of no use if there are no troops that can receive its power. The Devil wants to preserve his troops. That is the reason why I have traveled all over the world and subjugated monsters. therefore….”
He slightly lowered his head and looked at the side of the mountain outside the window.
Coo coo coo coo——
A large hole was created there.
And then something, a lot of something, started crawling out of the hole.
It was like a reaction to touching an anthill.
“…The undead army that can be revived even if it dies has decided to go out, so from now on, you will guard the Demon King’s side.”
A legion of necromancers had marched out.
Then a murmur spread throughout the room.
This was because it was very unexpected.
Rachel took a step closer and expressed her doubts.
“Uh… But didn’t you say it would be difficult to take out the undead army right now? I think I heard that when Laputa appears riding her saint and her divine beast, her power weakens too much. So he said he would hide it for now. For a shot later.”
Gordon Price nodded his head.
“Yes, it will definitely be a loss, but since it is possible to restore the undead army even while the war is going on, the Demon King decided that it would be okay to consume some amount.”
Gordon Price knew well the formula for the power of the ‘Necromancer’. It was something he raised.
“And above all…”
He looked up and saw a plume of black smoke rising near another peak.
Everyone’s eyes focused on that phenomenon.
And soon, exclamation burst out.
“oh…….”
“That can’t be….”
Hung——
The wings of the tent protruded through the black smoke.
A being so large that it made the great mountain range known as Red Volcano look like a mere hill… It was the ‘Bone Dragon’.
There were as many as four of them… The sight of flying undead, such as wyverns, pouring out and decorating the sky afterward was the scene of hell that everyone had imagined at least once.
Gordon Price looked at the scene and slowly smiled.
It felt like the unpleasant feelings from before were washed away in an instant.
“An undead of that level will be able to demonstrate great strength even with a little strong divine power.”
That wasn’t all.
Coo coo coo…….
One side of another mountain collapsed, and dust began to rise from there. It was a scene as if a herd of buffalo were running.
They were all red-bone ‘Red Drake Skeletons’.
In this way, an overwhelming number of undead armies began to pour out from three locations.
Looking down at the scene, Gordon Price smiled bitterly.
“Looking at it again, I wonder if that makes sense.”
How much effort did he put into making just one thing when he was training a necromancer?
They built a temple of death in the Central African Republic and received enormous sacrifices to create just one animal.
And its power was truly so great that when it clashed with Steelaine, it tore the Ancient Iron Golem to pieces.
But there are hundreds of them.
“And that’s not all. I also prepared something.”
As he said that, he lifted his head and looked up at the sky.
From a ridge, something that looked like a rocket was soaring high into the sky with a cloud of smoke hanging from its tail.
“Uh, what is that?”
“…This is the ‘Mana Reverse Grenade’ developed by our company.”
“Mana reflux grenade?”
“It’s some kind of EMP that temporarily destroys the mana circuitry. That means its satellite weapons in low-orbit will be useless for a few minutes now, and we don’t have to worry about Moghlay drops.”
Then, exclamations of ‘Oh…’ erupted from everywhere.
The most difficult thing to deal with when dealing with Steelaine was the Mowglai, which had a lot of gravity.
Soon, light flashed in the distant sky.
The mana grenade had exploded.
Although it was not visible from here, it would have paralyzed the ‘war box’ floating in low orbit.
Not only that, it was fired over the players’ camp, completely paralyzing the airships.
Among them, there was probably Gaussham, which sent Leviathan in one blow, and blocked all of Steelein’s powerful blows.
“It’s not like we’ve just been watching him run amok. “When he was gathering materials from all over the world to make weapons, I also used my own money to make weapons.”
Gordon Price slowly lifted his glass and drained all the remaining liquor.
Now it was his turn to watch the victory achieved through collaboration between the Demon King and himself.
Hung— Hung—
Before we knew it, the flying undead army, including the Bone Dragon, slowly lowered its altitude and prepared to attack the players and the Ancient Red Drake.
It looked like a squadron of dive bombers from World War II.
Of course, the fact that Lee Hyun-wook was handling the ‘holy sword’ still bothered me. If you apply that to Moglai, you will be able to retire even a real dragon.
‘But it takes a long time for that to happen.’
No matter how big Mowglei was, he was only an excessive force in front of the real dragon, so it wouldn’t be easy to show his power—but there wouldn’t be a picture of the real dragon collapsing in one hit.
‘You will have to hit it at least fifteen times.’
And all the Demon King needs is time.
‘Hold it hard once. The moment the Demon King’s Castle is completed, it will eventually be revived…’
at that time-
“Oh! The wide hall has opened!”
A circular white ring formed above the player’s camp.
“…Could it be that Laputa is coming?”
“Wow, bad timing.”
They also knew of the existence of Laputa, who had transplanted the sacred tree.
Of course, it appeared when the undead army departed.
Then Gordon Fry shook his head as if to reassure him.
“But even if the concentration of divine power increases in the area, it will not be easy to catch the Bone Dragon. “I assumed that much and sent out the undead army.”
But what came out of Wight Hall was something completely different.
that…….
“…Oh, it’s a dragon, right?”
Yes.
A white dragon came out through the portal and flew vertically. After that, airship fleets came out mushrooming.
But the dragon’s appearance was very strange.
Giiiiii——
Isn’t there all kinds of mechanical devices attached to the whole body?
Then it opened its mouth, white breath spurted out, and struck one of the bone dragons.
Kwagwagwagwagwa——!
The breath was a bundle of divine power itself, and no matter how powerful the Bone Dragon was, it could not withstand it and melted.
Since it was the wing of the film that melted first, it lost lift and plummeted—eventually falling to the ground.
bang–!
One bone dragon was retired in the blink of an eye.
And then—
To—kwa—kwa—kwa——
Missiles poured out from the mechanical dragon’s body along with a loud noise. At the same time, dozens of beams of light were shot out along with a gong sound.
My whole body was a weapon.
It’s also a divine power weapon.
The offensive covered the sky.
Within seconds of the first Bone Dragon crashing, flying undead began to fall like moths to fire.
