Chapter 40
Chapter 40
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 39
Chapter Title: Clash with the Bomb Demon
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The final adversary, Helmut, fell to the combined assault of Baek Sa-young and the belatedly arriving security guards.
Until his last breath, he cackled madly, hurling curses that weren't quite curses.
He claimed everyone here would soon join him in hell...
It was a chilling end befitting a demon, but no one paid his words any mind.
The chaos subsided, and the situation quickly moved into cleanup.
With the suffocating tension in the hall lifted, Cheon Seo-yun lowered her sword, gasping for breath.
Her shoulders heaved up and down without rest, and her hand gripping the sword was slick with sweat.
The incident had wrapped up faster than expected, but it had been no easy fight for her.
It just happened to be her first battle against a demon right when her mind was in turmoil, so she'd struggled more than she cared to admit.
"Seo-yun, you okay?"
Even so, with Joo Ah-rin approaching to pat her shoulder, she felt herself calming down.
"No injuries?"
"Nothing major."
Cheon Seo-yun subtly hid her shin, where she'd been struck by demonic energy.
But Joo Ah-rin, with her sharp eyes, wasn't fooled.
"What? You're bleeding. Sit down and rest first."
"I'm fine."
"Fine my foot. No more pushing yourself."
"I'm really okay. Seriously. And..."
Cheon Seo-yun trailed off mid-sentence, glancing around.
But for some reason.
The one person who should be here was nowhere in sight.
Growing urgent, Cheon Seo-yun started limping forward on her injured leg.
Joo Ah-rin followed and grabbed her collar firmly.
"Hey, you're hurt. You're a patient, remember?"
"Park Ha-yul..."
"What?"
"...Where's Park Ha-yul?"
"That guy? He's probably fine somewhere. No casualties, right?"
Joo Ah-rin tried to soothe her.
But Cheon Seo-yun seemed fixated solely on that one person, showing no sign of stopping.
"Okay, just come out already."
"No, treatment first..."
"No, finding him comes first."
Cheon Seo-yun firmly shook off Joo Ah-rin's hand and started walking again.
"This kid..."
Joo Ah-rin, unaware of the full story, was furrowing her brow when.
"Why Park Ha-yul? He hasn't come back yet?"
Baek Sa-young approached at just that moment, looking puzzled as she asked, and Cheon Seo-yun whipped her head around.
"What do you mean? Hasn't come back?"
"Yeah, earlier he grabbed the box and ran backstage."
"Box?"
No sooner had Baek Sa-young finished than Cheon Seo-yun's eyes snapped to the stage.
It was true.
It had clearly been on the cart just moments ago...
...but now it was gone.
Which meant the necklace was gone too.
Why on earth?
She pondered briefly, but there was no answer to be found here.
"You said backstage, right?"
"Yeah. Pretty sure."
"I'll be right back. Don't follow me—I'm going alone."
Cheon Seo-yun bit her lower lip hard and dashed off.
Her speed was hard to believe from someone who'd been limping moments before.
"Hey, you're injured!"
Baek Sa-young, flustered, tried to follow, but Joo Ah-rin stopped her.
"Let her go."
"But what if something happens?"
"Not now. She needs some space."
Joo Ah-rin, her expression firm, soon looked up at the stage.
Only now did she realize...
Something felt off.
Cheon Seo-yun wanted it, Park Ha-yul won the bid, and right when they were about to check it, red smoke billowed and the demons' terror was revealed.
Lorelei Necklace.
What the hell was it?
Narrowing her eyes, Joo Ah-rin murmured softly to herself.
"...Maybe there's more to this than we know."
* * *
One Sword's side effect was Absolute Accuracy.
Here, 'absolute' hinged on one condition.
'Within possible range.'
And among those range factors, the most crucial was space allowing free trajectory changes.
Even the best player with top-tier personal skills has their abilities halved when cornered; without room to evade enemy resistance, even One Sword would be blocked.
Thus, the facility control room was the absolute worst environment.
Lower ceiling than a normal room, narrower width.
A maze crammed with unidentified cylindrical pipes.
Screeeeech.
One Sword, slicing through the already tight space, was soon engulfed in an instantaneous explosion.
KABOOOM—
If there'd been enough space, or if One Sword could be infused with mana...
In the former case, it would have corrected its path; in the latter, pressed straight ahead unhindered.
But under conditions where both were impossible, One Sword merely twisted slightly and embedded in a nearby wall.
After its 5-second manifestation ended, it vanished without dealing any damage.
For me, used to relatively easy fights, it felt like my chest was clogged.
"...You... saw through... my bomb..."
A raspy voice scraped out, like forcing damaged vocal cords.
I turned toward it.
And met her gaze.
The bomb demon, Kali.
Eyes utterly emotionless, like a doll's, stared back at me.
I warned in a low, forceful voice.
"Stop this madness now. Blowing this place won't change a thing."
"...Why?"
She tilted her head and continued.
"More... people die. More... brilliant flames... bloom. Why... won't it change?"
"......What?"
What nonsense.
I barely suppressed the surge of fury at her logic defying common sense.
"Then you'll die too. You planning to go down with them?"
"Special... flames bloom from special... wicks. Not dying... burning..."
But words failed to connect.
She gazed at me with a sincere smile—the most ominous one I'd ever seen.
I realized further debate was pointless.
Better to dash my head against a rock.
I hurriedly activated manifestation.
Pouring in all remaining mana to summon One Sword.
"I pay the toll of 3 remaining days."
Then invested all available time, gripping Two Sword.
It was the strongest move I could muster here and now.
[Remaining Time: 3 days 17 hours 23 minutes]
"Just die already."
I hurled Two Sword. One Sword followed with a delay.
Two Sword split into ten, filling the narrow passage.
One Sword trailed tightly, targeting her heart once more.
Even if another explosion hit, I judged she couldn't block them all.
......But.
"Dodge..."
Her lips twisted grotesquely.
Eyes mixed with ecstasy, longing, anticipation—whatever—thrust both hands forward.
RUMBLECRASH—
Then came an explosion incomparable to before.
As if her own safety meant nothing.
"That crazy bastard..."
['Greed' detects danger.]
I ducked low and instinctively thrust out my right hand.
[[Accessory Authority 1] Absorption activates.]
[Trait, Adversary of Demons, partially reduces the authority's power.]
Demonic explosion laced with mana, but adding the trait's effect, I figured I could offset some.
However, I couldn't stop the pipes caught in the blast from rupturing.
CRACKLE,
Pipes nearly my height shattered, turning everything to wreckage,
And I was helplessly swept up in one, slamming into the wall.
Thud—
My ears rang.
Vision doubled, tripled, spun wildly.
Unknown smoke and fluids burst everywhere, soaking my back. Alarms blared with deafening sirens, the world flashing red.
['Greed' yells to snap out of it.]
[The demon's still alive.]
"......Fuck, I know."
I chewed my lips, tasting blood.
Grabbed any pillar, took deep breaths, barely stood, and searched for her first.
......
Her condition was worse than mine.
Body covered in minor wounds.
A sword had pierced her thigh area, dark red blood steadily flowing.
Yet that eerie smile remained.
"Ah... aaa..."
No, it had deepened.
Blood smeared on her mouth made it seem like her lips split to her ears.
Kali stared blankly into space, mumbling something.
"This... twelve."
At first, I thought it mere mutterings.
But the rhythmic opening and closing felt off.
I quickly focused my sight to check the messages.
Then every hair on my body stood on end.
20
19
18
.
.
A countdown.
And what happened when it hit 1 was obvious.
What she awaited was grander than the previous blast.
Her life's final flame, using herself as the wick...
Desperate, I tried to manifest armament.
But no.
Mana...
With all time sacrificed as toll, I couldn't count on that either.
In short, spells and armament manifestation both impossible.
11
10
9
No time to hesitate.
Fail to drop her, and hundreds might die.
Then...
I charged straight at her, yelling into the air.
"Not working? What's with the slowness?"
A response came.
['Greed' absorbs a set amount of demonic energy.]
[Seal Release Rate: 100%]
[Seal Release Rate 100% achieved.]
[[Accessory Authority 2] unlocks.]
The 3% shortfall in mana filled from that explosion.
Precarious timing, but not too late.
What ability?
[Accessory Authority 2] Discharge
-Can discharge demonic energy swallowed by [Accessory Authority 1].
-Limited to 12 hours post-absorption; unusable after.
Perfect.
Exactly the offensive authority I desperately needed now.
I kept charging without slowing.
Ribs cracked like, every breath brought sharp pain; mana exhaustion blurred my vision, but sheer will to block it drove me straight.
Straight on.
5
4
3
At optimal range, I extended my hand without hesitation.
"Too... late..."
"End of the line."
['Greed' says protagonists always arrive last.]
[[Accessory Authority 2] Discharge activates.]
Almost simultaneous with the countdown's end. Perhaps a hair faster.
Whoooosh—
Just as reddish light filled the space, pitch-black demonic energy erupted from my outstretched hand.
KABOOM—
A foreign moldy sensation, like gangrene in my hand.
Nausea from the trait Adversary of Demons repelling it.
Yet the wave of demonic energy poured out.
She vanished like a buoy in rapids, then resurfaced.
Eyes still vacant, lips still arrogantly curled, but no life in her.
The mana I'd absorbed from her became the final dagger severing her life.