Chapter 172
Chapter 172
Ch. 172 .｡.:✧ The Trap (12) ✧:.｡.
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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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“Finally caught you, you rat bastard.”
“Tie him up tight. Belphegor is a master of escape. There’s no telling how or when he’ll try to run.”
|Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh!!!|
Held captive by the Frost Duchess and the Murderer, the Archdemon shrieked. He thrashed and spewed demonic energy, but the superhumans remained unfazed, their superior strength keeping him firmly subdued.
They seemed unbothered by the searing pain of his demonic energy burning their skin. They had reached a level where such pain was trivial.
The Archdemon’s attacks were little more than an annoyance.
|Luna!!! Help me!!!|
“…?!”
A commotion erupted from within the dungeon, and red eyes began to glow in the darkness.
Transylvania’s expression darkened.
“Damn it. They look like my kin…makes it hard to cut them down…”
An army of undead, armed with worn swords and shields.
Transylvania flinched, a momentary sense of kinship with their pale skin and red eyes.
“Hmm…”
But then she smiled, her gaze falling upon their withered, mummified forms. Blood ghouls retained their youthful vigor in their eternal life. These grotesque creatures were nothing like her.
“They multiply by infecting humans…!”
Yerina shuddered, noticing the familiar attire of mercenaries among the undead horde.
An endlessly multiplying army of infectious undead…She finally understood why Elvenguard had mobilized so many troops to contain a single dungeon.
“Dacia Style Secret Technique.”
As the undead horde charged, Transylvania drew her sword and stepped back, her aura converging on the blade, making it vibrate.
“Iron Blood Storm Slash!”
Shwing!
A swift double strike, followed by a sharp gust of wind, sliced through the undead, severing limbs and splitting bodies.
Yerina’s face lit up, but her expression quickly hardened as the dismembered body parts began to wriggle and reassemble.
Arms and legs reattached themselves randomly, regardless of their original owner or position. Some undead sported two torsos, swinging swords in opposite directions.
Others hopped on a single leg, or ran with arms where legs should be.
“Have you ever seen anything so disgusting…!”
Yerina recoiled in horror.
These creatures shouldn’t exist in this world.
She finally understood why Yoo-jin was so determined to hunt down the Heavenly Kings and eradicate dungeons.
|Ahahahahahahaha!!! Keep swinging that fancy sword of yours! The undead army will endlessly resurrect and overwhelm you, until you’re reduced to dust-|
KABOOM!
A golden flash erupted from the dungeon entrance, engulfing the undead horde in a blinding light.
The flash subsided, leaving behind a scene of devastation.
The undead army…was gone, vanished without a trace. The demonic energy animating them had been completely eradicated by the divine light, preventing their resurrection.
“…”
The remaining undead, momentarily stunned, turned and fled back into the dungeon.
|What are you doing?! Luna! Help me!!!|
The Archdemon, his face pressed against the ground, pinned by Yerina, screamed in desperation.
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Ignoring the Archdemon’s cries echoing from the dungeon, I focused on the task at hand.
[To summon the God of the Underworld, you must perform a ritual. First, use your Longinus…thingamajig to send your ‘will’ to the underworld. Then, generate a pulling force through the ritual and wait.]
“So, are the preparations complete?”
[It’s…modest, but…considering the circumstances…it’s not bad.]
Guiho straightened up, sighing. I looked at the elaborate formation drawn on the ground.
A layer of black iron sand, intricate lines drawn with white powder, and finally, Sogong’s pure demonic energy completing the design. Four human-sized totems stood at each cardinal direction, like pillars.
“What are these?”
[I don’t know. They’re related to the God of the Underworld. They generate the pulling force, but that’s all I know.]
“What do curse users know? Aren’t you just charlatans?”
[If we had the resources and funding like the mages, with their fancy towers and research facilities, we wouldn’t be shrouded in mystery! We’re forced to hide and conduct our research in secret! If you have a problem with it, why don’t you figure it out?!]
“…”
My playful jab had elicited a surprisingly strong reaction. It seemed to be a sensitive topic for curse users.
Regardless, this was how we would summon the God of the Underworld. Guiho, despite her earlier confidence, now wore a worried expression.
There was no guarantee the summoning would succeed, or that it wouldn’t have unforeseen consequences.
‘I’ll handle it.’
This wasn’t just for my benefit. I had started this, and I had enlisted their help. It was my responsibility to see it through. I wouldn’t allow any of them to be harmed.
[Sogong. Are the preparations complete?]
“Yes, Master. We just need to light the incense.”
“…Here.”
Undecided nudged me, offering me Longinus’s Lance. I opened the compartment, revealing a slot for a device.
The gears within ticked busily.
“Do your thing, Demonic Sword.”
|After all this time cooped up, you finally let me out, and this is what you want me to do-|
How long had it been since I last used the Demonic Sword? It started complaining the moment I drew it.
I placed it against Longinus’s Lance, and its form shifted, seamlessly merging with the lance, filling the empty slot and rotating in sync with the gears.
It would serve as a guide, a beacon leading to the underworld, replacing the missing navigator component.
“Let’s begin.”
“…”
Guiho nodded silently and clapped her hands. The incense sticks placed around the formation ignited, releasing plumes of white smoke.
The formation glowed, absorbing Sogong’s demonic energy. Sogong poured wine into a small cup and placed it in the center of the formation.
I channeled my magical power into Longinus’s Lance, activating it. I focused my will, and the space before me began to distort.
A small orb of light shot out from the lance and into the warped space. The distortion vanished, and the lance deactivated.
[Did it work?]
“Probably…”
[Probably?! This isn’t a game! Lives are at stake!]
Guiho grabbed my collar, her voice frantic. I wanted to give her a definitive answer, but this was my first time using Longinus’s Lance, even after all these regressions…
A minute passed, with Guiho clinging to me, tears streaming down her face.
Suddenly, Sogong’s clone, sitting in the center of the formation, flinched. Guiho froze, her mouth snapping shut.
“…”
A heavy silence descended upon us.
There were no sound-dampening barriers, yet it felt as if we were the only beings left in existence, an eerie, unsettling silence.
“Ah…”
The world around us had turned black, an endless abyss of darkness. The world beyond the formation had vanished, leaving us trapped in a void.
Or perhaps…it wasn’t that we were trapped, but that everything outside the formation had been erased.
“…!”
A shiver ran down my spine. A world reduced to the space occupied by the formation. All sounds, human voices, the rustling of leaves, the wind, everything had vanished.
The silence was absolute, amplifying the slightest rustle of cloth, the nervous gulp of Guiho beside me.
[W-What is this…? Sogong! Are you connected yet?!]
“Uwaa…something’s wrong…”
Sogong frowned, tilting her head.
The God of the Underworld, drawn by the pulling force, should have possessed her by now, but…she couldn’t establish a connection.
She was right. Something was wrong. Even with a powerful pulling force, how could the God of the Underworld exert such influence on the mortal world?
I had anticipated a simple possession, a brief conversation…
My calculations were off. Severely off.
|Kiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiyaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!|
“…!”
Crack!
The wine cup in the center of the formation levitated and vanished into the darkness. An ear-splitting shriek echoed through the void, forcing us to cover our ears.
“What kind of message did you send to make him so angry?!”
Guiho shouted, her words barely audible over the deafening shriek.
What message? There was only one message that would grab the God of the Underworld’s attention.
“To summarize, I told him that there were evil spirits roaming the mortal world that belonged in the underworld, and that he was so incompetent that he hadn’t noticed-”
[You crazy son of a bitch!!!]
I had always known that the best way to summon someone was to piss them off. It seemed I had succeeded…perhaps too well.
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