Chapter 64
Chapter 64
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 64
Chapter Title: Odds of Victory?
-----------------------------------------------------------------
#64.
‘Odds?’
No clue.
No, to be honest, they didn’t seem all that high.
Even so, the reason Seowoojin had stayed behind alone was simple.
“That side has a slightly better chance.”
Ludein and the rest of the team were strong, no doubt about it.
But fighting alongside them wasn’t as powerful as unleashing all his hidden strength on his own.
He had that many powers he hadn’t revealed, after all.
Kwa-gwak— Kwa-gwa-gwak—!
The momentum of Logi Ruby charging toward him after kicking off the ground was far from ordinary.
Along with its berserk demonic energy, a murderous intent sharp enough to slice flesh bore down on him.
Seowoojin swung his sword once through empty air, as if shaking it off.
“Come at me, you bastard.”
‘Abyss’ activated.
* * *
“Let go of me! You damn bastard!”
Ludein frowned at Seong Yura’s thrashing.
‘No more pursuers, it seems….’
The demonic energy emanating from Logi Ruby was fading, now barely detectable.
At this point, they could afford to relax a bit.
‘No need to hold on any longer, then.’
She was already annoying enough without all this hysterics.
Ludein dropped Seong Yura like discarding trash.
“I’ll never forget this. You’ll pay for it, I swear….”
Seong Yura ground her teeth in a threat, but Ludein paid her no mind.
Now wasn’t the time to indulge her bratty tantrum.
“This should be safe enough now.”
With the crisis over, Ludein’s speech returned to its prior politeness.
“What the hell was that thing?”
The horrific demonic energy and roar at the end had been plenty to terrify Lee Jia.
The others felt the same.
“Didn’t expect a monster like that.”
“Its name is Logi Ruby.”
“Logi Ruby?”
Kang Byung-gyu tilted his head, prompting Ludein to continue.
“It’s the retainer of Kademain, the seventh Demon King purged from Heldein.”
The word “retainer” startled everyone.
They’d heard of them.
A Demon King’s retainers were existences far more powerful than ordinary monsters or demonic beasts.
Most had perished alongside their Demon Kings, but a few still clung to life.
Even after hundreds, thousands of years.
“Why would something like that be here?”
A perfectly natural question.
Why was a Demon King’s retainer in a place like this?
But Ludein had no answer for it.
‘Logi Ruby should be at the heart of Heldein….’
It was a fact uncovered through repeated subjugation attempts.
Logi Ruby had always been sighted at the Demon Realm’s central stronghold, without exception.
It had no business appearing in some remote outskirts ruin.
“Any way to take it down?”
This time, Yoo Hongseol asked.
But her face showed no expectation.
If there were, they wouldn’t have run in the first place.
And her guess was spot on.
“It’s impossible for us alone. We’d need at least five knights of my caliber to even have a shot.”
Or the Empire’s top powerhouses stepping in.
No matter how strong the heroes were, or how much help Seowoojin provided…
“…Where is he?”
Ludein, mid-thought, suddenly asked.
“What?”
The heroes, not grasping the question, asked back.
“I mean Mr. Seowoojin.”
Everyone turned to look behind them.
“He’s gone?”
Seowoojin, who should have been at the rear, was nowhere in sight.
“No way!”
Ludein’s expression twisted.
He’d realized why Seowoojin wasn’t there.
“Damn it!”
His reaction finally clued in the others.
Seowoojin had stayed behind to fight Logi Ruby.
* * *
A blue ripple appeared in the empty air.
The mana emanating from it was so vast that Ailin couldn’t even gauge it.
“It’s coming.”
At the knight’s words, a foot poked out from the ripple.
Then a leg, arms, torso, and finally the head emerged.
A handsome young man with neatly combed-back black hair and a spotless white uniform.
A simple yet luxurious gold badge gleamed on his chest.
‘A Mana Engineer!’
Ailin was shocked.
Mana Engineers ranked second among the four tiers: Mana User, Sorcerer, Mana Engineer, Grand Sorcerer.
They were beings an ordinary person might never encounter in a lifetime.
Even Sion had just one.
The gold badge on his chest proved he held that exalted rank.
“This the place?”
The Mana Engineer frowned at the unpleasant air of the Demon Realm and asked.
“I’m Riok, captain of the Yuren Knight Order.”
The search leader stepped forward with a polite bow.
Knights and mages didn’t share ranks unless nobility was involved.
But a Mana Engineer warranted Riok’s respect.
“Pleased to meet you.”
The Mana Engineer gave a slight nod in greeting.
But he didn’t offer his own name.
‘Arrogant.’
Ailin and the other knights could guess his personality from his demeanor.
He feigned courtesy, but clearly thought nothing of Riok.
‘Mages are all the same….’
Ailin didn’t like him.
No, she didn’t like mages in general.
But she couldn’t show it now.
This Mana Engineer had come to help them.
‘To find Woojin, we need a mage’s assistance.’
They had to decipher the box stamped with the Demon King’s seal and locate the missing heroes.
“What do you need from me? I heard traces of Kademain were found.”
“…This.”
Riok, clearly displeased, handed over the box with a stiff expression.
The Mana Engineer took it and examined the exterior first.
“Hmm.”
After about five minutes.
“It’s definitely Kademain’s seal.”
They’d suspected as much, but his confirmation darkened the knights’ faces.
“So what now?”
“Where was this box buried?”
“Right here.”
Riok pointed to a spot.
Just ten meters from where they stood.
“We’ll need to investigate further, but it seems the Demon King’s power lingers there.”
Ailin swallowed dryly at the Mana Engineer’s words.
The Demon King’s power touched the incomprehensible.
Though defeated and weakened by time, its nature remained unchanged.
An absolute force that warped concepts and shattered common sense.
Far too much for inexperienced heroes to handle.
“Looks like we’ll need to brace ourselves.”
The Mana Engineer shed his initial arrogance, adopting the look of a true seeker.
He was clearly gripped by intense curiosity about the box and the lingering power.
If things continued like this, he’d prioritize satisfying his curiosity over finding the heroes.
Mages bearing the moniker “Seeker of Truth” were like that by nature.
“How long will the deciphering take?”
Then Ailin stepped forward and asked.
All eyes, including the Mana Engineer’s, turned to her.
She was just a mid-tier knight; it wasn’t her place.
She knew that full well.
But right now, Seowoojin’s safety mattered more than protocol.
Riok looked displeased at her sudden move but didn’t stop her.
He too had the urgent task of finding Baek Siu.
“Your name?”
“Knight of Sion, Ailin.”
A snicker escaped the Mana Engineer at “Sion.”
He deemed her unworthy of his time.
“It’s important to us.”
But Ailin didn’t back down.
“I’m curious too.”
This time, Riok supported her.
The Mana Engineer scowled at the pair.
Their attitudes irked him.
Still, he didn’t complain.
“At most an hour. After that, we should be able to trace the heroes.”
One hour.
Long if long, short if short.
Ailin prayed the deciphering would end quickly and stepped back.
Now, they waited.
* * *
“Hah— Hah—! Fuck.”
Seowoojin spat curses like blood.
“What kind of monstrous bastard is this….”
When he’d first activated ‘Abyss,’ he’d felt a bit confident.
He might not win, but he could at least give it trouble.
But that confidence shattered soon after.
Logi Ruby tore through the black jellyfish without mercy.
Despite their vast numbers filling the space, its sixteen legs dismantled ‘Abyss’ with ridiculous ease.
Seowoojin panicked and unleashed every hidden skill in succession.
‘Muspelheim,’ which incinerated flesh in one strike.
‘Uranus’s Sword,’ summoning a greatsword to devastate the area.
‘Brand,’ burning the target from inside.
And even ‘Twilight.’
He poured out every skill his mana could sustain.
Yet the beast emerged unscathed.
No, it did take damage.
But it bubbled and regenerated in seconds.
A super-regeneration far beyond a troll’s.
“That wasn’t confidence; it was hubris.”
Seowoojin panted, letting out a hollow laugh.
He’d thought his hidden powers would at least match it…
Logi Ruby exceeded all his expectations.
“What the hell are you?”
Not a monster.
Nor a demonic beast like Burtel.
‘No way it’s a retainer…?’
The north had a Demon King’s retainer too.
Kratos.
According to Ailin, even Massive Guardian avoided its territory during purges.
If Logi Ruby was a retainer like Kratos, escaping unscathed today would be tough.
“Whew—”
Seowoojin took a deep breath.
It was strong, no question.
He couldn’t even fathom how to fight it.
But he couldn’t just stand there and die.
“Let’s go all the way, you bastard.”
Seowoojin gritted his teeth and gripped his black sword.
Mana exhaustion had set in lightly; his hands trembled faintly.
Kekekekegak—!
As if understanding his words, Logi Ruby let out a mocking wail and charged at Seowoojin.