Arte's Aspiration (8)

One of the main reasons demons avoid descending in their true forms is the Ares Church.

The Ares Church, wielding holy power as its primary weapon, exerts tremendous force against demons, embodiments of evil.

But this was merely speculation and conjecture among humans.

Of course, demons feared the Ares Church and refrained from true descent for that reason alone—but there were other factors too.

Among humans, there existed those bearing the title of Legend.

They were strong.

Long ago, during the Great War between humans and demons, the demons had believed they could conquer the human realm with ease, yet they failed to occupy it—a testament to that strength.

Humans are frail.

But Legends are not.

And Grout knew this as well.

'Humans flock together by rank.'

The strong befriend the strong; the weak band with the weak.

Where did Hyun-soo fall in that spectrum?

Neither strong nor weak.

Grout pondered.

'If by chance his so-called friends should arrive...'

He would tear them to shreds.

Show these insects the extent of his power.

Like a human crushing a mosquito with a single finger—that's how it would be.

But then.

His body trembled violently.

Staring at the first Legend standing beside Hyun-soo, supporting him, Grout doubted the reality of the situation.

When he spotted the second Legend, Grout took a step back, cold sweat trickling down his spine.

'This can't be real...'

To sum it up: the average demonkin level ranged from 400 to 450.

In contrast, demons from the demon realm averaged 700 to 800.

This situation was akin to demonkin crying out to their demon friends, "Help me!"—and the demons rushing in to protect mere demonkin.

"Are you the bastard who did this to my friend Hyun-soo?"

At the words of this "Heavenly Spear," Grout nearly blurted out:

'No?'

He nearly denied it, looked away, even considered fleeing.

A disgrace for a demon. But he had no choice.

Grout, in his true form, was in the 500s.

The Tiger Aura's effects had already been nullified.

'Am I being overwhelmed by their presence?'

His failure to resist the status ailments proved it.

Legends possessed the game's supreme status resistance, while a demon's in true descent was weakened.

He held his breath in tension.

Finally, Sword King Barad moved.

Grout watched his fury-twisted face.

'Why?'

For just that one guy?

Besides, there was a clear divide between strong and weak.

The weak ruined battles with rage and excitement; the strong used it as fuel to fight even more calmly.

Grout prepared to counter.

Then.

Slash—

Barad had already sliced past Grout.

Hyun-soo's previous damage had ranged from 10,000 to 17,000.

Average around 10,000 to 12,000, spiking to 17,000 on criticals.

But Barad was different. A single normal strike dealt over 33,000 damage.

The key point: Hyun-soo had boosted his sword attack power to over 200% via the Rampaging Sword's Mystery.

And this—training for NPCs, skills for users.

Swordsmen possess Sword Mastery.

Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, Supreme.

No users had surpassed Supreme yet.

Even if they did, they couldn't match the Sword King's version.

It was one rank beyond Supreme.

While normal Sword Mastery boosted sword attack and cutting power by 3% each, Barad's granted 4.5%.

Ares's greatest swordsman, far transcending ordinary ones.

Boom—

He uppercut Grout skyward.

Grout soared, preparing a counter.

But Barad was already above him.

"Sword King's Swordsmanship."

Rumble—!

Red haze billowed.

One power within Sword King's Swordsmanship: Storm Blade.

Recently, Hyun-soo had leveled it up once.

His Storm Blade now dealt 150% bonus damage, 200% on vital hits—stronger than before.

But.

Barad's far surpassed it.

Instinctively, Grout guarded his vitals.

But the greatest swordsman's blade couldn't be blocked at will.

Stab—!

"Graaaah! Arrrgh!"

Grout felt the blade pierce his flesh. Instinctively gripping his sword with both hands, he screamed.

Damage beyond common sense.

"...How dare you grasp my sword."

And for daring(?) to grab the Sword King's blade, he was shredded midair.

Slashslashslash—

Over three swift strikes per second lacerated Grout.

Of course, Grout wasn't just taking it.

His viscous blood splattered across Barad's body as he ascended.

Blood was Grout's power source.

He couldn't match swordsmanship, but this would overwhelm.

The blood sprayed on Barad triggered chain explosions.

Boom—!

Kaboom, kababoom, kaboom—!

Grout could outdamage Barad by a notch.

A groan escaped Barad, engulfed in chain explosions midair.

"Ngh..."

Even then.

Slashslashslash—!

'This mad human...!'

Enduring the blasts, he kept slashing Grout.

Then.

Tsk, tsk, tsk...

An old man's tongue-click echoed.

"This is why sword nuts are no good— all flash, no substance."

Sword nut?

Grout doubted his ears. To speak so to such a powerhouse?

Something unidentified rocketed up, grabbing Barad's arm and hurling him earthward.

"Take a breather."

He called him a sword nut, but affection laced his tone.

A white-haired elder gripped a spear, eyeing Grout.

And the "substance" he mentioned revealed itself.

Thrust—!

A spear thrust in an instant, overwhelmingly surpassing Barad's normal strike.

People favor swords for their ease of handling.

Moderate range, damage just by swinging.

Spears differ.

Longer reach means 30% more time per attack— not easy to wield.

But spears allow distance, excel at vital thrusts.

Of course, only if they land. Heavenly Spear saw them all.

Hundreds of human vitals.

Demons shared similar anatomy.

Stab, stabstabstab, stabstab—!

Relentless vital strikes.

Exponentially rising critical damage.

As he said, Ben wielded the spear with ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠true substance.

Yet this was merely a fraction of his power.

"Ultimate Spear."

The force forging the current Heavenly Spear.

A secret technique predating Ghost Step.

All his stats and attack power surged transcendentally.

Whoooosh—

His wild white hair whipped about, attacks storming from all directions.

Grout couldn't comprehend it.

Only 30 seconds since combat began.

His HP had plummeted impossibly.

Grout writhed, watching his endlessly spraying blood.

Soon, thousands of blood droplets ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠from him coalesced.

Gathering beneath Ben, they unleashed immense power.

Rumble—

It engulfed everything nearby, even drawing in the Heavenly Spear.

But...

Grab—

The elder inside the storm seized Grout by the collar.

Blood Storm's caster takes no damage.

Rumble—

His body shredded within the storm, the elder's voice remained calm.

"Ho, not bad?"

"...!?"

Demonstrating supreme mental fortitude, he plunged earthward, stabbing endlessly.

Stabstabstab, stab—!

They crashed to the ground together.

Boom—!

"I'm getting old—feeling this winded."

Ben surveyed his bleeding body.

He staggered briefly from dizziness.

Grout saw his chance.

Barad and Ben together would be too much.

As he moved on that judgment, a smirk curled his ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠lips.

"...?"

The insects he'd dismissed had surrounded him.

Mere nobodies, he thought.

That instant.

Roar—

"Peak Arrow."

Ian drew flames into Jumong's Composite Bow.

"Dragon's Roar."

Wriggle—

The dragon spirit stirred within Riesel's Dragon Light Sword.

"Frost Wave."

Freezing chill poured from a shield, overwhelming Grout.

"Iron Blood Arrow."

"Iron Blood Strike."

"Iron Blood Kick."

Han-ul, Hye-ji, Tae-hoon. The three geniuses ignited their auras.

And all at once.

Whoosh

Kaboom—

Thud

Crackcraaaack—

Screeeeech!

The moment the arrow pierced him, Grout's mind went blank.

These nobodies.

Their single strikes defied reason—like Sword King, like Heavenly Spear.

Assaults from every angle left him reeling.

Bam, bam-bam-bam—

Tae-hoon's kick landed, shoving him back.

Terror gripped Grout. No precedent for his HP dropping this low.

Individually, he'd win.

But Hyun-soo's peculiar(?) friends' power pressed him.

Soon, Grout regained composure.

Like named NPCs.

Demons had traits too.

The 72 Demons' were tenacious and wondrous.

Enough to elevate demonkin to demons.

His trait emerged.

Hummm—

Scattered blood around him.

His own, enemies'—every droplet absorbed into Grout.

The Blood Demon's trait: infinite regeneration.

Sizzle—

His writhing wounds healed; Grout drew a refreshing breath.

"Haaa... that all you got?"

Fear had made him forget.

Who he was. His power.

And he sensed it—they'd be shocked, terrified by his reality-defying strength.

But he was wrong.

"Ho? Perfect."

"...Same here, spear nut."

Barad and Ben, recovered, conversed.

"Haven't met a worthy foe lately. Wanted to test full power damage output."

"Ditto."

"So, we can keep wailing on him, right?"

"Yeah. Killing quick would be a shame. Wanna beat him more."

"..."

Grout panicked.

Their expressions rang true.

And they had the skill to back it.

'Me... a demon like me...!'

Demon Grout had become a damage dummy.

A high-end one, at that.

Meanwhile.

Receiving Bellia's healing, Hyun-soo realized.

'Dangerous...'

Barad, Ben, Gwangmyeong guild.

Together, they could overwhelm Grout.

The issue: Grout's regeneration was infinite; their power finite.

Users and NPCs alike—skills had cooldowns post-use.

Grout's regen never tired them; humans did.

'One way.'

Kill without recovery chance.

But.

Having witnessed that trait activation, Hyun-soo felt dread.

'Too fast.'

Absorbed blood, healed in under 2 seconds.

Strongest powers needed to collapse him instantly.

Here, Hyun-soo needed Sword King or Heavenly Spear-level damage.

'But I don't have that kind of—'

Then.

Viewing it, Hyun-soo gasped.

'An attack skill...'

Hyun-soo marveled.

This power would let him rival Sword King, Heavenly Spear—if only briefly.

His chest burned hot.

"I'll join in too."

The mere thought of rewards ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠for slaying the demon with his own hands set his heart ablaze.