Chapter 38
Chapter 38
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 38
Chapter Title: The Demon King's Fall
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The demons' eyes were bloodshot.
As soon as Gilgamesh approached, Abyss fell back like a baton pass and struck the Demon King's vital spot.
Kwa—ang!!!
The Demon King threw its head back high and let out a resounding wooo.
My skin vibrated.
The demons synchronized with the Demon King's wavelength, rolled their eyes back, and charged.
Chijik. Chijijik.
There was no more translation, but a sudden image popped into my head.
Space?
The place the Demon King came from? Was it missing it? Or was it someone who commanded this being—
"What are you doing?!"
"!"
Gilgamesh's call startled me, snapping me back to reality.
I must be crazy during this raid.
I immediately summoned an ancient god's sword imbued with divine power from my inventory and gripped it.
After striking the Demon King's vital spot a few times—the spot I'd targeted—Abyss suddenly realized something and shouted loudly.
"Below!"
The moment I heard that and leaped down, my eyes met Dart's nearby.
We both looked down at the same time.
As if we'd planned it, Dart and I cast our skills toward the ground.
[Dynamite Racing Through the Heavens]
[Ultra-Wide Lightning that Burns Light]
[Gunfire Tearing Through Darkness]
[Spire to Hell]
Dart's and my skills intertwined wildly and hammered the ground.
Kwa-kwang—!!!
The dynamite that sliced through the heavens, tracing a path with mana, plunged deep into the earth alongside blue lightning.
Then the ground surged up like a spire, flipping the entire area.
The main body was partially revealed.
["Whoa. The main body is that big?"]
["It's too big."]
Dart, who had landed on the ground, cast a lightning area-of-effect skill right near the root body.
He clenched his hands behind his back and pulled them forward in a motion.
Lightning tendrils sparked from a kilometer radius, compressed like an electric gun, and slammed into the Demon King's roots.
Pajijik, kwa-kwang—!!
Immediately after, Gilgamesh jumped down from atop the Demon King's body and punched the main body.
Kwa—ang!!
A net-like mana exploded, engulfing the area in flames.
My follow-up attack was.
[Thrust]
It was that basic, lame skill even newbie users could use.
["Wh-what?"]
When someone spouted nonsense in the guild group chat, Kali was sticking out her tongue in a private message.
["Your brainpower is insane."]
Limited to in-game, some non-Fulminak rankers were starting to resemble superhumans.
Poo—uk!
As faithful to the basics, the simply and brutally amplified basic skill plunged deep into the Demon King's body.
Continuous skill.
[Flames of the Abyss]
[!!Warning!!]
[Unless it's an item made of special materials that can withstand ultra-high temperatures, the item will be completely destroyed, and the caster will take massive damage.]
Chiiik—
An enormous heat spread along the sword.
The pitch-black Demon King's body glowed red from within, as if lit by fire.
Follow-up area skill.
[Dynamite Racing Through the Heavens]
Kuku-kwang—!!
Half of the Demon King's lower body blew away.
["Whoa, that's brutal."]
["Melted the insides with ultra-high heat and shoved in dynamite."]
["But why is it regenerating?"]
Deudeudeudeu—
The ground rumbled.
[!Warning!]
[Demon King (error code:⑉⑆⑈) loses rationality and goes berserk.]
Laughter echoed in the voice chat room.
["Berserk again?!!"]
["Ahahaha!! You watching, Space King?!"]
It was good news that the Demon King was berserking from the crisis, but no matter how hard I looked, there was no HP bar.
The Demon King's earlier claim of being a god nagged at me.
Then.
"!"
Deul, kyeng—
My whole body shook violently once, and a voice like tinnitus burrowed in.
'Yu Ga-hyun!'
"!!"
Oh, shit.
The final boss appeared in reality.
Thump thump thump.
I felt cold sweat breaking out on my real body, not this one.
Mom was here.
"No, no way......"
["What? Problem?"]
Kali asked, but with my eardrums vibrating, I couldn't parse the words.
No.
Not now.
If it disconnects right now, at this crucial moment—if Mom force-quits the game—it's really over.
["What's wrong? You hearing me? What's going on, hey, above you!!"]
Chwaaak—
Something wet and sticky dripped down from above.
Monster blood.
["Whoa, Dart helping you for once. Overall raid, huh. But why aren't you dodging that—"]
Shuwot.
I teleported, raised my sword, and struck the Demon King's main body wherever.
Kwa—ang!!
I couldn't even remember which skill I'd chosen.
I started pouring out attacks wildly.
Kwang! Kwaang!
Seup, kwakwakwa-kwang—!!
Tatatatang!!
Flames soared, gunfire rang out, and chaos erupted before my eyes.
["Whoa, Guild Master pissed?"]
["Dart sliced a monster above and dropped juice on her, probably mad."]
["Seems like it. Full DPS like beating Dart on a hot summer day."]
Was it because someone kept calling Dart?
Unconsciously, I mimicked Dart's motion from earlier and cast a high-density lightning skill.
Pajijik—
Spreading mana across several kilometers, then gathering and detonating it on the target—an area compression skill, so to speak.
Compressing an area skill was the first application Dart developed.
Area-level power compressed.
Flash.
If this were reality, my retinas would have burned white.
Kwakwakwang—!!!
The area shook violently.
["Hngh!"]
["Out-output insane!"]
["Agh! I feel it on my skin! Is this qi sense?!"]
["Nope. This isn't qi sense; it's real physical vibration. The shockwave turned the ebb tide into a tsunami."]
["Whoa, epic."]
Ding!
[Demon King (error code:⑉⑆⑈)'s hologram and gravity are released.]
Finally.
In that instant, the mountain-sized Demon King's body vanished like a hologram whoosh, and the fleshy, heavy materials attached to it all fell away.
Kung! Kukung!
Hududuk—
Kwaang!
What emerged was a slender figure emitting a mysterious glow from an unknown material.
Too... not like a Demon King.
For some unknowable reason, my breath caught, but my body betrayed my emotions and moved toward the goal on autopilot.
Puk!
A clean strike.
"......"
Without hesitation, I pierced the core in the Demon King's entity chest.
A momentary silence.
A head made of translucent, holographic material shimmering in iridescent colors.
That doll-like head seemed to gaze at me silently from its sunken eye sockets.
Ding!
[Congratulations!]
[You have repelled the Demon King!]
Hating the face stirring waves in my heart, I unwittingly drew my sword and fully severed the head.
Seogeok.
For something made for war, it cut too easily.
Keeeng—
As I gripped the head, the sparkling light inside the mysterious material, like a vein of life, slowly faded.
"......"
I looked around. Dart and Gilgamesh were staring at me nearby.
I looked down again.
"......May you find peace in death."
[Wirrentia's Repose]
[NPC Exclusive Skill lv99]
[Comforts the deaths of NPCs.]
[Guides and soothes the souls of deceased NPCs to Wirrentia. The departed are embraced in the arms of Wirrentia gods and promised new life.]
[Faith of NPCs under your command increases.]
To think this was the Demon King's essence.
I wasn't sure if I was fooled by its strangely childlike mechanical appearance, but it felt impossible to believe it was a war-maddened being.
Just as I raised my hand to stroke that face once,
The screen cut out.
* * *
["Phew. Quest clear."]
["Good work."]
["Everyone, great job!"]
["Anyone need EXP or items, hunt the remaining demons! You can still snag rewards!"]
With the Demon King dead, the demons suddenly lost their power and grew listless.
Even so, EXP and rewards remained the same, so excited users swiftly cleaned up the few remaining demons and monsters.
Dart and Gilgamesh looked at Kaisha holding the Demon King's head.
"......"
They glanced at each other.
The two showed no particular reaction and looked back at Kaisha.
Dart and Gilgamesh hated each other so much that they seemed fine as long as the event's final reward wasn't the other guy.
Excluding title rewards, joint events like this always gave rewards proportional to DPS, so no grievances.
Gilgamesh, arms crossed, spat without turning his head.
"Go protect Tereb now. You're teaming with Kaisha to hit Avrilia too, so brace yourselves."
"......You bastard."
Dart's pride stung at the words; he scowled and turned, but realized leaving now would just benefit Gilgamesh.
Dart knew Gilgamesh was luring Kaisha for a joint stream.
The moment paused Dart turned to look at Kaisha.
Gilgamesh flinched.
"Wh-what?"
"？!"
Gilgamesh and Dart panicked and opened the login list simultaneously.
Kaisha's login status.
Offline.
Gilgamesh muttered in shock.
"N-no way, she really logged out? At this spotlight-stealing moment?"
The protagonist Kaisha had vanished.
Regardless, with the overall reward quest complete, story message windows kept popping up for users.
[Kaisha]
[You are the god who saved this world. Your name will remain in Midgard's myths, and this land's descendants will praise you eternally.]
[Myths of your brave and splendid exploits echo through the world in poems and songs.]
[In this world, your name becomes a symbol of good and victory.]
[Acquired title.]
[Title duplicated.]
[New title activated.]
[[God of Victory]]
[[God of War]]
[[God of Mercy]]
[[God of Rule]]
[[God of Luck]]
...
[[God of Gods]] new!
[[God Who Changes Fate]] new!
[Calculating overall rewards.]
[Calculating....]
Dart and Gilgamesh were dumbfounded.
Guild members flying around sniping demons or hanging with friends belatedly caught on.
["Huh? Why'd Guild Master log out?"]
["Kaisha-nim logged out now? Why?"]
["Guild Master left?"]
["Whoa?"]
Meanwhile, cheers began erupting at the quest's end.
Waaaa—!!
Users who'd logged in to see in-game Kaisha or join the quest started unleashing their hidden fan hearts and faith.
Some raised fists, chanting Kaisha's name.
Kaisha!! Kaisha!!
Everyone enjoyed it together.
The thrilling unity of Fulminak's spatial command,
Kaisha's insane area buffs,
The flashy aerial finisher show full of spectacle.
At the users' hot cheers, Dart, Gilgamesh, and the guild members in the know were stunned.
"......"
Kaisha isn't here......
Even without Kaisha, ongoing system messages and quest success effects kept users boiling.
Fireworks users launched painted the sky brilliantly.
Pang! Paang, pang!
The air filled densely with colorful effects like 'I love you, Kaisha!'
But one by one, they noticed.
"Where'd Kaisha go?"
"Huh? Yeah?"
Users who'd unleashed pent-up fan hearts and faith to praise Kaisha freely grew restless.
Kaisha was gone.
"Where'd Kaisha go?"
"Did you guys hide her?"
"Hand over our Kaisha-nim!"
"Those bastards must've ambushed and killed her for the rewards!!"
At the absurd claim, Gilgamesh, Dart, and both guilds' members were aghast.
Gilgamesh bellowed.
"You think that makes sense, you lunatics!!"
The users raged.
That guy's the one! Kill that bastard! Hand over Kaisha! Waaah! It's war!!
"Sh-shit?"
A sudden riot amid the Bipa siege,
[Service maintenance beginning.]
But it didn't last long.