Chapter 158
Chapter 158
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 158
Chapter Title: Growth Verification (5)
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Like a puppy catching a flying bone in midair, Yuri caught the power crystal with his lips.
Soon after, his tongue reached out to draw it into his mouth.
Those watching let out dumbfounded sounds.
“…Huh?”
“…What?”
But that only lasted a moment before cries of shock erupted from all around.
“That crazy bastard?!”
“Why the hell are you eating that?!”
Even amid the shouts ringing out from every direction, Yuri’s expression didn’t change.
‘What’s it to you?’
In truth, Yuri hadn’t planned to go this far.
It might look like Yuri was smashing the mold and tackling the quest in a completely different way from the established rules, but even he had his minimum lines he wouldn’t cross.
The line Yuri wouldn’t cross.
It was legitimacy—or justification, in other words.
An excuse, to put it plainly.
No matter how much sophistry Yuri spouted like, “Can’t the princess escape the Demon King’s castle?” or “Is there a rule saying the princess can’t steal the Demon King’s treasure and run?”
The reason he hadn’t just swallowed the power crystal right away and instead went looking for Theresia to complete the quest was to secure that legitimacy.
To show the Cradle that his actions hadn’t strayed from the quest’s boundaries.
That this was just another way of clearing the quest.
If he’d snatched the power crystal and popped it straight into his mouth without that process, it would’ve been an act outside the Cradle’s defined quest parameters.
What would that be different from just raiding the Cradle’s item storage?
And the Cradle wouldn’t tolerate actions straying from the quest’s boundaries.
So Yuri had planned to complete the quest properly, however bothersome, to claim legitimate ownership of the power crystal...
But.
‘The situation changed.’
No—more accurately, he’d gained a new excuse.
‘This is an act of God.’
The Demon King’s eyes were bloodshot red.
Anyone could see that wasn’t a normal state.
It might even be power exceeding the quest’s set stats for the Demon King.
A kind of emergency situation—an error in the quest, you could say?
‘Well, even if not... I can just say I felt like I had no choice but to eat the power crystal.’
And there were plenty of witnesses around to prove the Demon King’s abnormal state right now.
No better justification or excuse than this.
With that thought, the power crystal melted away in his mouth.
Yuri’s eyes sparkled.
‘That pervert was right.’
Goetz Roetern had said it.
The power crystal might look hard, but once in your mouth, it melts like candy.
Exactly as described.
Though it was candy that melted in an instant.
Gulp.
The liquefied power crystal slid down his throat.
Ssshh—
A hot energy rose from his solar plexus and flowed straight to his heart.
Thump thump.
Along with the pounding heartbeat came Goetz’s words echoing in Yuri’s ears.
[The power crystal boosts a human’s innate physical abilities. Hmm... for example, someone who could only lift 100kg no matter how much they trained their whole life could lift 110kg, 120kg after consuming one.]
The intense heartbeats spread hot energy throughout his body.
Through every blood vessel, down to the tiniest capillaries in his fingers and toes.
It felt like lava coursing through him—so intensely hot.
Ssshh—
White steam actually rose from Yuri’s body.
And...
[Plus, it enhances your current abilities too, so one crystal can match years of physical training. And it’s not temporary—it’s a permanent increase.]
Just as Goetz had said, the effects kicked in immediately.
Sizzle—
Crack—crunch—
Sounds like red-hot iron plunged into water, mixed with bones and muscles tearing and breaking, rang out continuously.
Grind.
Crunch.
Sounds that might feel gruesome and painful.
But Yuri himself felt not pain, but a refreshing pleasure.
A cool freshness invigorating every corner of his body.
Ssshhh—
His eyes snapped open as his lungs filled with air.
Haaa—
Golden breath slipped out from between his slightly parted lips.
And right then.
“Yuri!”
At Theresia’s scream-like cry, Yuri kicked off the ground.
Bang!
Splash—!
Yuri leaped into the air, transforming into golden lightning and soaring forward.
Ahead of him, Theresia was precariously facing off against the Demon King.
No, “facing off” wasn’t the right term.
It was more like desperately fleeing from the Demon King’s attacks.
Slash—slash—!
Red trajectories slashed murderously through the air, with Theresia’s shadow darting between them.
Then golden lightning shoved the shadow aside and took its place.
In that instant, Yuri and Theresia’s eyes met.
‘Oh? You’re alive?’
‘You’re late! Ten seconds!’
‘Got it, switch!’
Good thing his acceleration hadn’t fully kicked in yet—if he’d delayed even a little longer, Theresia might not have made it.
Of course, he’d entrusted it to her because it was Theresia.
He believed she could hold the Demon King’s attention, even if just for a moment.
If it had been anyone else, they’d have been sliced into dozens of pieces and rolling on the ground long ago.
Thus, Yuri took Theresia’s place in the Demon King’s attack range.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh—
Crackle crackle—
His Linked Sword unfolded, and his glowing red sword slipped through the gaps in the Demon King’s barrage.
The process didn’t look much different from when he’d sent the Demon King flying moments ago.
But what was happening within was on another level entirely.
‘The holy sword is dangerous.’
Yuri remembered clearly.
Greta’s holy strike that had sent the 5-meter giant Poppi flying.
Judging by that horrific power, even grazing that holy sword would spell his end.
So Yuri wielded his sword even more cautiously than before, gathering the flow.
Perhaps because the attacks came through the holy sword, the barrage’s flow was far more erratic than before.
Drip.
Sweat beaded on Yuri’s forehead as he gritted his teeth to direct the flow.
Sizzle—!
Still absorbing the power crystal, white steam rose from his body.
Then finally.
Stillness—
A silence like time had frozen descended.
‘Got... it.’
The gathered flow of the barrage hung heavily at his sword tip.
Yuri gritted his teeth and stomped forward hard.
Boom—
His right foot slammed into the ground.
Slash—
The sword tip, positioned high on the right, pulled the bundled flow along.
The weight transmitted with it.
Crack—
It felt like a massive boulder hung from his sword tip—moving even 1cm was grueling.
Yuri’s eyes widened.
‘Move!’
He summoned all his mana and channeled it swiftly into his mana circuit.
Then, steam far denser than before erupted from his entire body.
Siiiiizzle!
And.
Crunch—
Yuri’s sword, bearing the massive flow, began to move.
Bit by bit.
Yet clearly.
Starting from above his head, Yuri’s sword began slashing diagonally down at the Demon King.
When it reached about the midpoint.
Swoosh—
The Demon King’s holy sword appeared out of nowhere, blocking Yuri’s sword horizontally.
Kiiiiin—
The clash of holy sword and Linked Sword.
Despite the overwhelming advantage of the holy sword—enough to prevent any contest of strength—Yuri’s Linked Sword didn’t yield an inch, defying expectations.
It was essentially a clash between the Demon King’s holy sword and the flow Yuri had redirected.
The evenly matched struggle dragged on.
Finally, the balance of power broke.
Crack—
At the sound from his right arm, Yuri’s eyebrow twitched.
‘Damn it!’
The crack in his bone widened further.
Because of it, Yuri’s Linked Sword, which had held steady, was pushed back slightly.
Crunch—
At the new cracking sound, Yuri clenched his teeth.
‘At this rate... it’ll break.’
Even knowing that, Yuri didn’t withdraw his sword.
He gripped it even tighter.
‘Bones heal anyway!’
If he pulled back out of fear of a mere broken arm, it’d be an indelible shame.
If the arm was going to break anyway, better to snap it cleanly and seize victory.
“Hraaah!”
With a massive shout, Yuri squeezed out every drop of mana with all his might.
His retreating Linked Sword pushed forward again.
Thud—
Then, with a grotesque sound, his arm finally snapped completely.
But the grotesque sound wasn’t just from Yuri’s arm.
Grind—
The Demon King’s holy sword crumpled badly.
At the same moment, an enormous explosion that shook the earth erupted.
KABOOOM!
Rumble rumble—
The ground shook like an earthquake.
———!
Whoosh—!
As if kicked by a giant god, the Demon King’s body bent like a shrimp and was hurled away.
Crash—crash—crash—!
Crack—crack—crunch!
Trees snapped wherever the Demon King’s body tore through the forest.
Only after at least thirty trees had met their end did peace return to the woods.
Yuri gazed at the forest where the Demon King had vanished, his face pale and hollow.
“......”
A long wait brought only unbroken silence.
With firm conviction, Yuri let a faint smile play on his lips.
“Demon King subjugated... successfully.”
With those words, his body collapsed.
“Yuri!”
The startled Theresia rushed over like the wind and caught him in her arms.
* * *
Dust rose in the forest, countless leaves fluttering in the air.
The 49th Cohort watched with eyes full of confusion.
‘What just... happened?’
‘Is this... even possible?’
None of them had expected Yuri and Theresia to defeat the Demon King.
And the process had exceeded all imagination.
The Demon King, whose eyes suddenly spun like he’d become someone else entirely, even wielding the holy sword—symbol of Certified Rank 6.
Against that, Yuri had used merely the Linked Sword of Certified Rank 2.
Anyone with common sense would say the Rank 6 would win.
But shattering that common sense.
In the most absurd way, Yuri had sent the Demon King flying.
No one had figured out just what Yuri had done in the process.
No—they were too shocked to even think about it, minds gone blank.
But one thing.
Etched deeply into the minds of the blank 49th Cohort.
Yuri Holland wasn’t some new star who’d shone in the Hundred Steps Trial...
‘A monster.’
He was a monster with a massive maw creeping up behind them.
* * *
Theresia laid Yuri down with a worried face.
“You okay?”
She asked, but at a glance, Yuri’s condition looked far from good.
Having poured out all his mana and stamina in that instant, his cheeks and under-eyes were sunken.
Not only that, his skin and lips were dry and cracked, as if every drop of moisture had been wrung from his body.
And his right arm dangling broken.
It was miraculous he was still gripping his sword in that state.
“Ugh......”
Yuri lay with his head on Theresia’s lap.
He forcibly clung to his fading consciousness.
There was something he had to tell Theresia before passing out.
“T-The... resia.”
Theresia leaned in at his hoarse, cracked voice.
“What is it?”
“D-Demon... King...”
“Demon King? Oh! Don’t worry, he hasn’t shown up yet! Looks like we really took him down this time.”
At her words, Yuri gave her a frustrated look.
“D-Demon... King......”
“Yeah?”
“The Demon King... I... caught... him.”
“I know, you caught the Demon King. Not just me—everyone saw.”
“S-So... split... 5-5......”
“......”
She’d leaned in wondering what he wanted to say, only for it to be about normalizing the 8-2 split he’d pushed for.
Theresia couldn’t help but chuckle.
Because it was so very Yuri.
She nodded.
“Yeah, got it. We’ll do 5-5.”
Right then, Yuri grabbed her hand with his good left hand.
Snap—!
“W-Wait... listen... Demon King... I... caught him.”
“Yeah, I know, really—we’ll do 5-5, so don’t worry.”
Yuri shook his head faintly as if that wasn’t it, gripping her hand tight.
At the same time, a fierce light gleamed in his eyes.
“Those bastards did jack shit. All the points are ours. Guard them... no matter what.”
Like a burst of returning lucidity, the rapid-fire words made Theresia’s eyes widen.
“Ah!”
She realized what he was trying to say.
‘The quest completion reward for defeating the Demon King!’
The condition: Defeat the Demon King, all princesses freed, 750,000 points each to all heroes.
Yuri meant he’d defeated it, so don’t hand points to those useless bastards.
With that intense gaze full of will, Theresia nodded with a sense of duty.
“...Don’t worry. I’ll protect them. Our points—you and me!”
At Theresia’s assured reply, Yuri finally relaxed his grip.
Slide—thud.
His arm fell to the ground.
As if entrusting the rest to her, he closed his eyes with a peaceful smile.
* * *
Recalling how his arm had broken in response to Se-kyung’s question, Yuri chuckled.
“Oh, this? No big deal. Got hurt playing princess a bit.”