Chapter 53
Chapter 53
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 53
Chapter Title: Facing Burtel
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Ludein, left alone, slowly walked toward the direction from which the demonic energy was emanating.
Shing—
The silver-white blade was drawn, beginning to radiate sharp killing intent.
“Come out.”
Ludein, who had come to a sudden stop, spoke toward the front.
Grurrr—
A low growl echoed.
It didn’t sound like the cry of any normal creature.
It was far darker, heavier, and more profane.
“Burtel.”
As the name slipped from Ludein’s lips, sticky demonic energy began to erupt violently.
Krrrk.
Ludein gritted his teeth at the horrific stench of the demonic energy.
But that was all.
It wasn’t as overwhelmingly powerful as Gerald’s demonic energy, enough to make his body uncontrollable.
Fwoosh—!
Ludein’s sword ignited in crimson flames.
As befitting a top-grade knight, he effortlessly ignited his aura.
Thanks to that, the oppressive demonic energy weighing on his body began to dissipate bit by bit.
“Dark Elves and Burtel, of all things. Events I never could have imagined are unfolding.”
Still, it was a blessing amid misfortune.
This incident didn’t seem to be a calculated scheme by the Demon King’s followers.
“If it were, that thing would never have appeared.”
Burtel was a named entity among the beasts corrupted by demonic energy.
Its power was so immense that it was an unrivaled predator even within Demon Realm Heldein.
Even Dark Elves feared it, calling it a blood-drinking beast.
Though both were corrupted by demonic energy, they were as good as mortal enemies.
‘It seems anomalies are occurring because the time of descent is drawing near.’
That explanation made far more sense than Dark Elves and Burtel joining forces.
“Well, the reason doesn’t matter anyway.”
What mattered was that Burtel had appeared before him, and what he needed to do now...
“It’s time to repay the debt of my comrades’ lives.”
Ludein had encountered Burtel before.
No, he had clashed with it in desperate battles multiple times.
Each time, his subordinates had died.
The number of knights he had lost to it reached a staggering twenty.
Yet Ludein had ultimately failed to hunt it down.
The most recent battle had been five years ago.
In the time since, Ludein had devoted himself to training and finally reached the pinnacle realm.
‘Now I can take it down.’
It wouldn’t be easy, by any means.
The beast was that powerful.
But with the sword he had honed all these years, he would not yield.
“Come at me, you filthy beast.”
Burtel charged.
* * *
Pffuk—!
The black sword pierced the Dark Elf’s heart.
That was the end.
With that one, not a single Dark Elf remained standing on two legs.
“Haa, haa—”
Seo Woojin gasped for breath.
Dark Elves were undoubtedly strong.
He had taken out the first one easily by exploiting the element of surprise, but the ones who regained their senses proved formidable.
Even so, they couldn’t withstand the combined assault of Seo Woojin and the knights.
“Thank you for your help.”
One of the knights bowed his head in gratitude.
But Seo Woojin wasn’t in any state to accept it.
‘Where’s Ludein?’
The roar he had heard during the fight.
It carried potent demonic energy within it.
‘Not as strong as Gerald’s, but...’
It was still a threatening presence.
“It’s probably Burtel.”
A knight beside him noticed Seo Woojin’s gaze and explained.
“Burtel?”
“A beast that inhabits the Demon Realm. It doesn’t usually come this far...”
Seo Woojin looked around.
Not a single hero was left out; all had fainted, and the knights didn’t look much better.
‘No choice.’
He couldn’t count on their help.
After catching his breath and recovering some stamina, Seo Woojin turned.
“I need to go help over there.”
“Pardon? Who’s fighting Burtel?”
Come to think of it, they didn’t know Ludein had come along.
“I’ll head out first.”
Instead of answering, Seo Woojin launched himself forward once more.
He couldn’t afford to waste any more time.
Ludein seemed like a truly powerful knight, but the demonic energy he sensed was far from ordinary.
Kicking off the ground and soaring into the air, Seo Woojin first surveyed the surroundings.
“What a mess.”
The area nearby had already been reduced to something that couldn’t even be called a forest anymore.
Trees uprooted, earth overturned, remnants of demonic energy and aura continuing to wreak destruction.
Just from the scene, he could tell how fierce the battle had been.
“A top-grade knight, indeed.”
It was on a whole different level from regular high-grade knights.
Testron and Gerard were incredible powerhouses.
Excluding Ban Slaine and Dariel, they were the strongest humans Seo Woojin had seen.
But Ludein surpassed those two knights by a vast margin.
It made sense.
Unlike high-grade knights, top-grade knights were a realm reachable only by the chosen few.
Talent.
Without it, one couldn’t even glimpse its edges.
And Ludein wasn’t just glimpsing it—he had set foot there.
So of course he wasn’t weak.
“And what monster is trading blows with a guy like that?”
He had set out knowing only the name Burtel, without details on its nature.
He couldn’t afford to wait and hear everything, or he might be too late.
“But just how far did they go?”
Even after running quite a distance, he still couldn’t spot the two.
No worries about getting lost, though.
He just had to follow the traces of battle.
After another ten minutes or so of running...
“There they are.”
He finally spotted Ludein.
The knight was swinging a brilliantly shining crimson aura.
Kwaaang—!
The aura sliced through three trees at once and devastated the surroundings to boot.
An immense power, obvious at a glance.
Yet Ludein’s opponent was dodging every single swing.
“...A monkey?”
At first, he thought it was a person.
But up close, it was a massive monkey covered in yellow fur.
“No, a gorilla?”
He couldn’t say for sure.
There was no identical animal on Earth.
But one thing was certain: its name was Burtel, and it was strong.
“I’ll help!”
Ludein looked exhausted at a glance.
His breathing was ragged, and his mana seemed unstable.
“Stop!”
Ludein’s urgent shout rang out.
In his haste, he dropped the polite speech he’d been using.
He must have thought Seo Woojin’s skills weren’t enough to fight the beast.
But Seo Woojin ignored him.
‘Acceleration.’
The skill activated once more, and Seo Woojin shot forward like a beam of light.
Grur?
Burtel tilted its head at the sudden newcomer.
But it soon dismissed him.
Probably confident that Seo Woojin’s sword couldn’t even scratch its fur.
“Aura.”
Fwoosh—!
A blue flame, different from Ludein’s, erupted.
Seo Woojin swung it at the back of the fully off-guard Burtel.
Slash—!
Graaaargh—!
The cost of carelessness was steep.
A long gash was carved into the back of the beast that hadn’t even suffered a minor scratch against Ludein.
It was no trivial wound.
With an injury that size, it clearly couldn’t last long against Seo Woojin and Ludein’s combined attacks.
Or so Seo Woojin thought.
“Dodge!”
Ludein bellowed a warning.
‘Dodge? Suddenly? Why?’
It was an incomprehensible shout.
But Seo Woojin’s body, tempered by countless battles, was already twisting away on instinct.
Something grazed past Seo Woojin’s side.
It carried a horrific sharpness.
Kwaaagugugugwak—!
The air tore, the ground split, and a massive shockwave raged.
“Ugh!”
Seo Woojin planted his feet into the earth to avoid falling.
Cold sweat poured out.
If he’d been 0.1 seconds slower, he’d have been bisected.
“...What was that?”
Only then did Seo Woojin see what had attacked him.
Blood.
Yellow, viscous blood, just like its fur.
The yellow blood flowing from the wounded back undulated like a whip, targeting Seo Woojin.
“It’s the beast’s mana ability.”
Ludein’s curt explanation reached his ears.
A power unique to demonic beasts and the Demon King’s kin, unlike ordinary monsters.
“We call it ‘Blood Whip.’”
It weaponized blood leaking from its body to attack.
“So minor wounds like that only make it stronger. There’s only one thing to aim for.”
Instant death.
The more it bled, the stronger it got, so he had to sever its neck in one blow.
“Whew—”
Seo Woojin let out a sigh.
He’d thought it was a perfect ambush, but he’d only made things harder.
Fortunately, he hadn’t completely botched it.
“Controlling the blood takes considerable mental focus. You handle the ‘Blood Whip.’ I’ll create an opening to decapitate it.”
But no more wounds.
“Got it.”
Ludein drew Burtel’s gaze, which was now wary of Seo Woojin.
“To dare get distracted.”
Ludein swung his sword.
A graceful crimson arc traced through the empty air.
From that single slash, Seo Woojin could tell how exalted a realm the knight had attained.
‘Clean.’
He’d only seen swordplay that precise from Ban Slaine.
A flawless horizontal cut.
Startled by the lethal strike, Burtel leaped backward in alarm.
It seemed to realize it needed to focus on the Ludein in front of it.
The moment Burtel’s attention shifted, Seo Woojin seized the opening and charged.
This time, instead of ‘Acceleration,’ he used ‘Heavy Strike’ and ‘Aura.’
Swaaaaash—!
Blood sliced through the space to block Seo Woojin’s attack.
Kwaang—!
‘Damn.’
Even with ‘Heavy Strike,’ the blood withstood it.
Despite power enough to pulverize most monsters, it took no damage.
The blood’s durability seemed even greater than its flesh.
The blood, which had floated high into the air, now plunged toward Seo Woojin.
Papatapat—!
Massive holes were punched into the spots where Seo Woojin swiftly dodged.
As if pierced by awls.
It wasn’t just whipping; it could thrust as well.
‘A mana ability, huh...’
What kind of cheat skill was this?
Getting stronger with every wound?
The yellow blood kept targeting and pursuing Seo Woojin.
Underestimate it, and this could become his grave.
Seo Woojin bit his lip at the unfamiliar ability.
But he didn’t stop swinging his sword.
He couldn’t kill Burtel himself.
But the more he pressed, the more it had to divide its attention.
If its focus scattered like that...
Ludein would decapitate it, as promised.
Trusting in that, Seo Woojin kept swinging.
Kwaang— Boom boom—!
Explosions rang out.