If You Don't Want to Die
Hwaaaaaaah—
A sudden, murky aura swept out in a hemispheric dome, blanketing the entire area.
"Hmm~?"
Hera, who had been sitting on a rooftop swinging her legs, let out a curious hum.
"So you've got a delicate side too, huh?"
Her eyes lit up as she leapt down. Landing in the middle of the alley, she waved at the figure standing motionless there.
"Hi there~. It's been a while since I've seen a demon. Did you come alone?"
She beamed as if genuinely delighted, flashing a bizarre little smile with every word of greeting.
The demon wrapped in white robes—Belger—opened his mouth.
"As expected. A Master."
He pushed back his hood. Rounded horns, pale skin, and a pair of sharp fangs faintly visible at the corners of his mouth.
"You're no ordinary demon either, are you?"
Hera's hands drifted to her waist. Her red-tinged eyes raked over him from head to toe.
"…I will give this everything I have."
"Oh my, isn't that a given? How arrogant."
Belger pulled a handful of black orbs from his robes and tossed them straight into his mouth.
Crunch!
His jaw worked savagely. The orbs shattered into fragments and slid down his throat. At once, the demonic energy radiating from him began to explode outward.
Crack!
Every muscle in his body swelled, shredding the robe he wore. Twisted veins bulged across the skin exposed through the torn fabric. His once-still eyes flooded blood-red, and his heartbeat and breathing turned loud and ragged.
"Wow, are you sure you're supposed to eat that many?"
Belger's power had roughly doubled—but even at a glance, Hera could tell the side effects of whatever he'd swallowed were anything but mild.
"It doesn't matter. Not if it means completing the mission."
Belger's voice had grown thick and deep. With a sharp ring, two blunt-edged blades appeared in his hands—wide, rectangular weapons shaped like butcher knives. Dark energy began to coat the edges.
Ziiiiing!
Demonic energy, woven into dense thread-like lines, wrapped around the blades. Belger was forging the blade aura used by martial artists—not with mana, but with demonic energy. More precisely, he had far surpassed mere blade aura, reaching the fully matured realm of blade silk.
Unlike most demons who relied solely on their innate physical gifts, he was a proper demon who had honed martial arts and technique to their absolute limits.
"Haha."
Hera laughed, and two short swords appeared in her hands as well.
Crackle—!
A luminous red aura rose over the blades. Mana condensed to its absolute limit coated them in a flawless, unwavering sheen. The dazzling crimson radiance was hypnotically beautiful—as if she were holding swords of pure light, or beams of energy itself.
Sword Aura into Sword Gang.
It was Sword Gang—irrefutable proof that she had ascended to Master rank.
"…"
Belger stared at the Sword Gang with heated eyes, then spoke.
"I am Belger."
Playing at being a martial artist, announcing his name before a fight. Hera sent him a mocking laugh.
"Pfft. We're not exactly on name-exchanging terms, are we?"
"…"
The sheer contempt in her attitude—as if asking how dare he put himself on her level—made Belger's brow furrow deep.
—G-Gyaaaaaaaah!!!
—Uwaaaaaaah!!!
—Aaaaaaaagh!!!
Agonized screams rang out from every direction like a grim overture.
"Oh dear. This isn't a situation for dragging things out."
Hera licked her lips slowly and stepped forward.
"I'll finish this quick."
Even as she said it, a thought crossed her mind: this might take longer than she hoped.
Fssht—
Hera's form vanished as if the ground itself had swallowed her.
"…!"
Belger detonated the demonic energy within his body, blasting it outward in every direction.
Booooom!
Centered on him, demonic energy materialized into black mist and expanded in concentric rings. The dense wave of force swept all eight directions—a catastrophic power that would shred a body to pieces on contact alone.
But the wave was cleaved clean in two by a vertical streak of red light. Through the gap that opened—
"Hi there~."
—Hera burst forth, smiling.
Song of Sword and Death, Intro.
Sword and death always arrive without warning.
Hera's blades began to dance off-beat. Crimson beams roamed wildly through the air. Their endlessly shifting trajectories gathered and swelled until they blanketed the sky—like a shredded red net flung high overhead.
Crimson Sky.
Belger's blades answered, thrashing through the savage dance of steel.
KRAAAAAAANG!!!
The moment the two clashed in earnest, the shockwaves were enormous. The raw force erupting from their exchange easily shattered the barrier that had been raised, roaring across the whole of Pribil.
At the same time.
Leon was watching the hindquarters of a centipede demon beast that was fleeing for its life with every ounce of will it possessed.
"We need to catch that thi—"
———!!!
Sensing the colossal wave of energy rolling out from the city, he briefly shut his mouth.
"That's where the Captain is. Looks like the Gonghyeol Group has a formidable fighter of their own."
Aria spoke, lightning energy drawn up through her entire body.
"Must be a high-ranking demon."
Demonic energy, demon beasts—of course there'd be a demon in the mix.
She won't lose, right?
This was still Middle Earth, and Hera was a Master. There was no need to entertain the possibility of her defeat. It would just take a little time—the same way hunting this demon beast was taking Leon and Aria some time.
Whatever the case, one thing was certain: Hera had no capacity to help anyone else right now. The Mukwol Squad that had come with her was equally silent, so they were likely in a similar situation.
Which meant the only people who could deal with this demon beast were the two of them.
"Aria."
Leon grabbed Aria around the waist and scooped her up into his arms.
"…?!"
"Hang on a second."
Bang—!
He deployed the Heavenly Spirit Steps and shot forward like a bolt of light. There was no time for leisure. In the span of a few blinks, the demon beast was already closing in on the city walls.
Aria was skilled at physical enhancement magic and could run at tremendous speeds herself—but she was no match for Leon, who had recently broken through to a higher realm of light-body technique. Martial artists were simply faster sprinters than mages to begin with. Carrying Aria and running was far quicker.
Knowing this, Aria didn't squirm. She clung tightly to Leon's body with perfect tact.
"…"
Her face and ears had gone completely scarlet, but the two of them—merged into a single silhouette—streaked across the open plain.
Their speed was truly monstrous. And yet—
Kwadadadadada—!
Abandoning all stealth, the demon beast tore up the earth with explosive force, thrashing its countless legs in a frenzy. Its speed was nearly a match for theirs. The gap refused to close easily, and before long the beast's head reached the city walls.
Compared to its bulk, Pribil's shallow, low walls looked pitifully small.
"Damn it."
Leon spat a curse in advance of what was about to happen.
KRAAAAAANG!!
The pincer the demon beast thrust forward like a wedge smashed through the wall with absurd ease. It didn't even manage a basic barricade—it burst apart as soft as cake.
"…Huh."
Even Leon, who had roughly expected this, was taken aback.
That strong?
Alarm bells started ringing alongside a fresh sense of urgency. The beast was charging as if it had a lover stashed somewhere in Pribil. A creature with an engine that powerful, rampaging through the heart of a city?
"Everyone's going to die."
There was no way the citizens would come out of this intact. Even if Leon caught up, a creature this desperate to live wasn't going to sit still and die. They'd end up thrashing all over the place, and by the time it was over the city would be reduced to rubble—far past half-destroyed. If that happened, all their efforts to stop the magic circle from completing would be completely wasted.
"Ah, hell."
Had he been too complacent? Should he have evacuated people in advance?
No—how was anyone supposed to know something like this would pop out? They'd been fighting outside when this thing suddenly bolted, even firing off some bizarre mana wave he'd never seen or heard of in his life.
"Whatever."
He'd try to save as many as he could, but—
"If they die, it can't be helped. Call it an accident."
Leon reached his conclusion. The entire chain of thought took two seconds. In that time, the demon beast was already planting its feet into the streets of the city proper.
Leon pushed his thighs to the bursting point, accelerating harder, and urgently called out to Aria.
"Aria—cast a voice amplification spell on me."
Given the urgency, Aria did so without a moment's hesitation.
Tszzzz—
Leon felt a cool, refreshing sensation from his mouth down through his chest—like the solid, warming comfort of gulping down a hot broth.
"Cover your ears."
Nod nod—
Aria went further and used magic to layer multiple soundproof barriers over her ears.
Leon drew in a breath to the absolute limit, swelling his chest wide. Then he opened his mouth—and roared.
The atmosphere shuddered and resonated. Windows, lamps, and glass throughout the city shattered all at once.
It was grand enough to warp the rain. It was vast enough to bury the sound of thunder. It was immense enough to reach every single citizen in the city.
It was like the voice of a god ringing down from the heavens—a true word that pierced past eardrums and drove straight into the brain. A demonic voice that jolted the spirit awake, uncurled bodies that had been cowering, and forced people up onto their own two feet.
The ears of Pribil's thousands of citizens locked onto Leon's mouth.
"—IF YOU DON'T WANT TO DIE, CRAWL THE HELL OUT RIGHT NOW!!!"