The Demon Realm (3)

Level S Monster, "Wagong-ui Morugrian" — I face it head-on.

Morugrian. Is that its name?

S-level monsters actually have individual names. Of course, they're on another level entirely.

"Die!!"

The blazing projectile that shot straight toward Morugrian's brow...

-Crack!

"...Huh?"

The trajectory curved. The perfectly straight path aimed at Morugrian suddenly arced away, bending like a curve.

"Goddammit, it's not hitting?!"

-Shwooooosh!!

Yu Ryun hurled another compressed fireball.

But again, it got caught in the bastard's aura and veered off course.

"Ugh!"

"This time, I'll do it!"

"Haaaahhh!"

She lowered her stance to reduce her target area, and pushed off with her legs to add thrust to the strike, her ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠dark body cutting through the air.

"Oh, this is sharper than I expected."

Seolhye's sword was aimed squarely at Morugrian's solar plexus.

It looked like it would hit.

-Kkigikigik!

Once again, the scene in front of my eyes warped. The spot where its solar plexus should have been had a round hole punched through it before the sword even made contact.

"...No..."

In the instant Seolhye froze in shock, the bastard swung its fist.

-Pweoeruk!

"Hnngh!!"

"Seolhye!!"

She rolled across the ground until she reached our feet before she could even regain consciousness. A single casually swung punch from Morugrian had clearly done serious damage.

"This won't do. Let me take over."

Yeoryeong-noona stepped forward. Her nine tails, usually hidden, appeared and swayed gently, casting a golden light that brightened the interior.

-Wuuuuung.

"You have an interesting ability. How about this then?"

-Ssleureuk!

Her tails wrapped around us softly. Our view of the outside was blocked, and all we could see was the faint shimmer of gold between the fur.

-Piiiiiing!!!

Overwhelming radiance, and with each passing moment, strands of fur lost their luster and fell away.

When all the fur had fallen off and only bare tails remained, we could finally see what was happening outside.

"This is..."

Everything was dyed gold. Glittering particles spread in every direction — an attack that couldn't be dodged no matter how Morugrian warped space.

"I poured energy into my fur and sent it out. No matter how you warp space, there's no dodging it."

"Pe...pretty..."

That's not what I'm saying, Jinyul. What exactly do you usually watch?

-Pweoeruweoeong! Pweopeng!!

The explosion rang out. It tried to warp space, but no matter what it did, Yeoryeong-noona's attack connected.

Its body was engulfed in the explosion. The gaping hole revealed glass-like tissue from within.

"I don't know what tricks you're pulling, but if it's an attack that can't be dodged from anywhere, you can only take it."

"Ha! Really, can you?"

-Ssuwoooh! Ssuk!

Fur grew back from Yeoryeong-noona's tails. The soft, fluffy texture felt even better than expected, and I wanted to keep hugging them forever.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. I think I can use it about twenty more times."

"Let me help too."

Harin stepped forward slightly.

"Jinyul, watch carefully."

This is the sixth power that guards the north — the path you must walk from now on.

-Tutututut...

"Oh, you're absorbing the heat from the surroundings? An interesting method. I've never encountered this kind of energy before."

"Well, nobody who could handle this would have any reason to come here."

"Shut up."

Harin muttered quietly.

"-Break apart."

-Ckjakjakjakjeok!!!

Cracks split the air. Like ice that had frozen solid shattering, the abstract distortion of the landscape that had been warping fluidly before our eyes shattered and disappeared.

Now that the thing that had been constantly reshaping the surrounding scenery was gone, the true appearance of the surroundings was visible.

In the middle of the plain...

Morugrian's form had completely changed. All the glass fragments had separated individually, and its voice didn't even come out properly anymore.

"It's over. Once you're shattered like that, you can't recover."

"Mother... what was that just now..."

Jinyul looked at Harin with a puzzled expression. Jinyul had been enveloping my body in black mist from the start, and on top of that, she'd been holding me from behind.

"That's something you'll have to figure out on your own. As you grow, Jinyul, you'll naturally learn how to control this power."

Harin's voice returned to its usual warmth. That composure was the ease of having completely lost that bastard's form.

"Looks like we dealt with it. Once Master recovers the core..."

Cheonghwa loosened her stance and spoke. If Jinyul's role was to block attacks aimed at me, Cheonghwa's role was to intercept attempts to attack me first.

"...Hey. Yu Cheonghwa. What did you just say to Hwanhyeon?"

"I said to recover the core."

"No, before that. What did you say first?"

"'Looks like we dealt with it?' Oh."

"No, you crazy bitch! Why the hell would you say that?!!"

The moment those words left her mouth, the surroundings warped again. The scenery that had barely returned to normal also looked hazy and distorted.

"...Goddammit. It didn't go down."

Morugrian's body reassembled itself. This time, space itself twisted and several new bodies appeared.

"Bullshit. What a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠fucking monster, all ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠mouth and no substance."

While the conversation continued, the Morugrian replicas standing up from the ground were countless.

"Goddammit!"

A blazing ball appeared above the head of every enemy. The problem was that the size and color were identical to the one Yu Ryun had fired.

"Get close to me!"

Harin built a defensive barrier around us, just like Jinyul had. With denser cold energy and greater solidity.

-Pweopweopweopeng!!!

Smoke from the explosions obscured our vision. The attack didn't reach us, and no heat was felt.

The voice rang out. Until now, multiple voices had sounded like one, but now the voices of countless enemies merged into a single chorus.

-Cjijijik!!!

Morugrian's body broke apart again into pieces. But we couldn't afford to let our guard down.

"...Its form disappeared. What we could see wasn't its true body."

"Noona. Then what do we do?"

"I don't know. Unless we find a way to escape this space and its ability, we may have no chance."

Yeoryeong-noona's ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠expression hardened. Everyone was beginning to realize how serious the situation was, seeing the strongest among us look like that.

"..."

The shattered Morugrian spoke again.

Its form, reflecting beams of light and shining brightly, was very similar to what Yeoryeong-noona had just used.

-Cswaeaeaeaeak!!!!

Like strands of fur spreading outward, its fragments flew toward us. The difference from Yeoryeong-noona was that she fired energy in all directions, while Morugrian poured everything toward the direction where we were.

"Vice-head! Pour in all your energy!"

Yeoryeong-noona wrapped us in her tails again, and at the same time told Harin to layer black mist over them.

In the end, it was Yeoryeong-noona who bore the brunt of the attack.

"Huuuugh!"

-Pweopweopeng! Pweobeong!

"Kkkuuuuugh!!"

A deep groan echoed. She enveloped herself in black energy, and fundamentally, since she understood how that attack manipulated energy, she didn't take serious damage. But her clothes were the exception.

"...Noona! Are you okay?!"

"It's just a shallow wound. Nothing serious."

"..."

She said that, but the sight of blood welling up on her body was too familiar.

"...I'm sorry."

...Because of me.

Because I was weak, she must have thought she needed to protect me. Because I was weak, she abandoned all mobility and faced the enemy with pure firepower.

The objective was simply to reach whatever my Sense skill was guiding me to. I only wanted to get in here and retrieve something.

"We have to cut through space. Otherwise, it'll keep attacking us forever."

"...But that's impossible. Seeing how its power acts even outside this distorted zone, even if I open the 6th constellation and crack space again, it won't work."

Morugrian's attacks don't land. No matter what attack you try within its domain, it just bounces back.

We had to find a way through.

Then—

"What the hell, you show up now and tell me what?!"

"What am I supposed to do?!"

...Huh?

S-rank?

Why the hell?

This was strange. The system felt like it had glitched.

"Hwanhyeon, what are you saying right now? It's attacking again-!"

"...What the hell is this."

The last line — "a single stroke that can sever the heavens at its peak" — caught my eye.

It wants me to slice it with this?

"What am I supposed to slice?"

"Right. You're not going to tell me, are you?"

I didn't know what was going on, but temporarily, the rank of Jeolcheon had risen to S-rank. The message was clear — try something with this.

"Alright. Let's do it."

I didn't care about the situation around me. The Morugrian clone attacks flying toward me, the voices trying to stop me — none of it reached my ears.

"Huuuugh!"

All I had was the intention to cut down the enemy in front of me and the space behind it.

My body moved strangely. It wasn't as if I was moving — my arm swung as if being pulled by the sword alone.

-Kkigikigikigik!

The sound of the air being torn apart rang out, and a line was drawn along the sword's trajectory.

And then—

It looked like the skill hit it too.

"Uuugh..."

-Thud.

This is the last thing I remember.