Demon (4)
Demon (4)
Contrary to my worries that they might have fled to another country through a Gate, the Fiends' residence was situated right there in Incheon.
I suppose this is what they call "it's darkest under the lamp."
If things had gone according to the original plan, I would have flown there the moment the residence was discovered and trampled them without mercy, but that plan was rejected at the request of the three.
Whether they wanted to test the strength they gained from absorbing the essences or simply wanted to handle it themselves, I accepted the opinions of the three, and we headed to Incheon.
Before leaving, I contacted the Association in advance to evacuate the area so no civilians would be harmed. As if to emphasize that it was a secret base, the already quiet hideout of the Fiends was even more deserted.
And perhaps they realized their hideout had been discovered during the evacuation process, because when we arrived, the Fiends were out to greet us.
It was an energy similar to the possessed Baek Yeon from before.
Specifically, that energy felt strongest from the man standing at the very front.
That man is likely the one called Sahwi, who fought Linnea.
He widened his eyes at my appearance, as I was a new face among the four of us.
"A Dragon? There was a Dragon too?"
"What, is this your first time seeing a Dragon?"
"Hoh, to think a Dragon would be with you. But even so, it is still a small and weak Dragon. The gifts to bring to The One-nim have increased."
"What?"
Small? Weak?
No matter how accustomed I've become to concealment techniques to hide my power lately, he can't recognize it?
It's so absurd I'm speechless.
Not just me, but everyone in the party looked at him with faces that asked what kind of bullshit he was spouting.
But whether he lacked situational awareness or was just excited about the increase in gifts, he didn't care about our stares.
I turned back to the party, looking visibly displeased.
'Can I really not just kill him?'
'Please endure it just a little...'
"Tsk!"
Vowing to personally buy a gift box after the fight and fold him neatly inside it, I stepped back.
"Is the Dragon not fighting? I was curious about what Dragon blood tastes like. That is a shame."
"You. Are you actually insane? If you want to die, die alone. Don't make that person angry and drag us into it. Ah, no. Is this a strategy to aim for mutual destruction by making him angry so we all die together? If that's the case, I'll acknowledge it."
At the sight of him provoking me until the end, Linnea stepped forward, donning her armor and drawing her spear.
Shin Su-ah and Baek Yeon, standing on either side of her, also raised their weapons, and Sahwi snapped his fingers.
Then, something wriggled within the shadows, and as the shadows expanded in all directions, uniquely shaped Fiends that had been squirming inside popped out.
If the Fiends originally standing behind Sahwi looked like humans dressed in black clothes, the Fiends that just emerged from the shadows were gradually deviating from human form.
Some had arms or legs similar to those of monsters, or even their heads were of a different appearance.
"Ugh, gross."
"This too is the process of evolution by accepting The One-nim's power."
"If that's evolution, you can have plenty of it yourself."
"I have already surpassed that process and become The One-nim's confidant."
"Seriously..."
"It was a glorious process."
Having realized how crazy the opponent was just from the conversation so far, Linnea signaled the start of the fight by gripping her spear tightly and charging.
Reaching the front of Sahwi in a single step, Linnea's thrust was blocked by black steel gauntlets that covered up to his elbows.
Linnea was surprised that her spear was blocked so effortlessly.
"That is?"
"It is the grace bestowed by The One-nim."
But Linnea isn't one to give up just because she was blocked once.
She let go of the blocked spear, created a new spear made of light, and thrust it without rest.
More than ten thrusts in a single breath overwhelmed Sahwi, but he stirred up black Magic Power, wrapping it around his gauntlets and parrying all the attacks.
"Terrifying power. But that is all."
"Whew... you think you can beat me just because your weapon changed a bit?"
"Of course."
Seogeok!
The violently rotating black Magic Power formed beast-like claws on the outside of the gauntlets, and finding a gap in Linnea's defense, the claws grazed her armor.
Being a Valkyrie's armor, it wasn't pierced, but for the first time, a scratch appeared on her armor.
"Look. Does it not reach so easily?"
"......"
"Have you eaten your fill of fear by now?"
"Ah."
Sahwi smirked while provoking Linnea.
Linnea, who had been blankly staring down at the scratch, rubbed the mark with her palm, but it wasn't a mark that would disappear with just that.
"Aaaaaah!! My private priest armor still has 12 years of installments left!"
???
What, wasn't Valkyrie armor provided by Odin?
Linnea, who had been acting out in a frenzy over the mark that wouldn't disappear no matter how she tried to wipe it, suddenly stopped.
Then, she looked at Sahwi, emitting a killing intent so thick it was visible even through her armor, and a golden light different from before gathered in her hand.
"I'll, I'll kill you!"
When a long handle appeared, I thought it was just a spear.
But when the weapon was completed, a double-edged axe-like blade was attached to the end.
A polearm.
Linnea had pulled out a weapon I had never seen her use before.
After swinging the polearm grandly through the air, she charged at a rapid speed.
Sahwi seemed to intend to block the attack by coating his gauntlets with Magic Power as before, but that was a huge mistake.
Kuuuuung!!
With a thunderous roar, the ground where Sahwi stood was deeply gouged.
Even though he had dispersed the impact, the ground sank from the aftermath.
"What kind of strength...!"
"How many times do you think I've fought worthless things like you? Did you really think I was giving my all against a guy like you? You should know your place."
"Kueueue!"
A massive amount of black Magic Power erupted with a shout and pushed the polearm back, but instead, Linnea used the recoil to rotate her body and swung the polearm from bottom to top this time, attempting to cleave his body in half.
A terrified Sahwi quickly twisted his body, but his right arm was severed and went flying, and the winner of the fight seemed decided.
"Heh, to think you were hiding such power."
"Why? Are you regretting it now? It's too late for regrets."
"You only know which is longer or shorter by measuring them against each other."
Black Magic Power discharged from his entire body.
Does this side have some hidden technique as well?
When his form, which had been hidden by the thick Magic Power, was revealed, what stood there was no longer human.
A black wolf standing on two legs with black fur growing all over its body was there.
Grrrr—
"It has been so long since I've brought out this form."
"Every single line you've said from a while ago is just... precious."
Linnea, with a smirk, charged at the completely transformed Sahwi.
She aimed for the right side.
The attack targeting the gap where the arm was missing was blocked by an unexpected means.
An arm made of black Magic Power had appeared in the place where the right arm should have been.
However, it seemed there was a penalty, as the black Magic Power was draining away like a flood.
He wouldn't be able to maintain it for long.
And he likely knew that well himself.
"Let's settle this quickly."
"That's my line. I've dragged this out too long with the likes of you."
The two kicked off the ground and charged at each other.
Becoming lines of gold and black light, every place they passed was shredded, and they collided several times in an instant.
Creating small craters at the spots where they collided, the two, who had clashed dozens and hundreds of times, prepared to deliver the final blow to each other.
Sahwi concentrated all the black Magic Power he had been pouring out to create the replacement right arm into his left arm.
His last remaining arm twisted grotesquely and grew massive.
The golden light gathered on Linnea's polearm also shone even brighter.
A polearm showing a sparkle like starlight.
The moment the weapons of the two, who charged in a straight line toward each other with increasing speed, were about to collide.
Hwik!
The light disappeared from the golden polearm that had been sparkling like starlight until just a moment ago, and as Linnea ducked her body until it almost touched the ground, Sahwi's attack swept through the empty air above her.
'Eh?'
My face and Sahwi's face became similar for a moment.
What. Wasn't this supposed to be a clash of ultimate moves to finish it off?
Like master, like servant; she did something incredibly crafty.
"Keuk!"
The black Magic Power surrounding Sahwi's body, who had squeezed out all his remaining strength, vanished, and Linnea, seizing the moment, raised her polearm high.
"Hehehehehe! Did you think I'd fight you fair and square? Did you think you were dealing with a Saintess or something?"
With a face that made even me want to give her a smack, Linnea's polearm ruthlessly split Sahwi in half.
The halved Sahwi died right then and there without being able to leave any last words.
"Ah."
And only then, realizing what she had done, Linnea deactivated her armor and turned this way with a pale face.
"Ni, Nidhogg-nim?"
"Anything to say?"
"I, I just got caught up in the mood..."
"You call that an excuse!"
"Kyaak!"
I couldn't hold back any longer and delivered a body slam to Linnea.
The moment Sahwi met his death by being split in half, a man reacted to his death and turned his head to look toward Korea.
"Hmm? Did Sahwi die?"
A handsome young man wearing a black robe with half of his face covered by a mask.
His identity was the person Sahwi referred to as The One.
The man nodded calmly without any change in expression, even after learning of his subordinate's death.
"As expected, it seems Sahwi alone was not enough to handle them yet."
As the man shook his head and turned his gaze, there was a remote rural village burning there.
The rural village, which would have been peaceful with children running around and adults farming, now had buildings ablaze and all the people had become corpses.
The man who turned an ordinary rural village into this state walked forward without feeling any emotion.
As he crossed the village, the man stopped at the sound of a pained groan from below.
"Uuuu..."
"Hoh. You were still alive."
"He, help me.... It hurts..."
The child's hand, waving slowly in the air as if they couldn't see properly, was filled with pain and despair.
And as if responding to that, the man reached out his hand toward the child.
Then, murky black Magic Power dripped toward the child like liquid.
"If you accept this, you will be able to survive."
As the child's body was swallowed by the black Magic Power and disappeared, the man walked out of the village again as if nothing had happened.
And not long after.
—Kwoooooooo!!!
A sound like a beast howling echoed from the village he had passed through.
"A failure this time as well. Regrettably, it seems you were not the material to join me in the new world."
Leaving behind the unceasing sound of the beast, the man used black Magic Power to open a Gate and stepped inside.
And in the place where the Gate disappeared.
Only the beast, rampaging and destroying everything around it without distinction, remained there.