Chapter 74
Chapter 74
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 74
Chapter Title: Lazy Darkness
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I charged at Franklin, who was full of openings as he scraped the blood I had sprayed off his face. I drove my fist into his stomach, trying to pour my aura inside, but it failed to pierce the demon-like exterior and bounced back.
“Die!”
He snapped out of it from my attack. The arm he swung grew into a massive beast's hand with vicious claws and struck me.
The other three behind him unleashed attacks, but he targeted only me. That was actually better. My attacks might not work well, but his weren't dealing any real damage to me either.
Right now, I was wrapped in thick aura, so no fatal wounds could get through. Minor scratches were healed by drawing endless vitality from my core.
Franklin and I tangled up, trading punches, until I grabbed his arm and flipped him over. In that brief moment as his body flipped, he landed consecutive punches on my head and torso.
I slammed him to the ground and unleashed a barrage of punches, but even lying on the floor taking my attacks, he swung his enlarged beast hand at me.
Taking advantage of our entanglement, I spat blood in his face. He seemed to have strong resistance to poison, but sustained poisoning would still affect him—and there was an even bigger bonus.
“Gaaah! Not my face again!”
He charged at me in excitement, single-mindedly intent on killing me. I met him head-on without dodging. And when our hands clashed, I spat poison mist again.
“Gaaah! You lowborn scum! Street rat! Spitting on my face! With your filthy blood!”
He stopped fighting and started frantically scratching his face.
Even though the exterior covered his body and it hadn't touched him directly, the psychological shock made the exterior flicker.
Puk.
A sword protruded from his solar plexus.
“Huh?”
He stopped scratching his face and looked down at his stomach.
“Did you forget about me?”
Hunter Jeong Min-gi had stabbed his sword into Franklin's back.
“You... pierced my body?”
“I'm not really specialized in ranged attacks anyway. And thanks to your excitement from the spittle, it was easier.”
“It's not spittle.”
I brushed the dirt off my body. My defense might be superior, but I still couldn't match Hunter Jeong Min-gi's pinpoint strikes. The aura coating his sword was as solid and stable as if it had been one with the blade from the start.
“That damn tear or rainwater or whatever kept me from getting close, so it took too long.”
“Cough...”
“Time to go.”
Slash!
The sword in his stomach slid out sideways.
“Get back!”
Sonorim shouted, and at the same time, Hunter Jeong Min-gi leaped away.
“Good instincts.”
“What...”
His side had already healed, and vicious claws extended from Franklin's hand. If Hunter Jeong Min-gi, thinking it was over, had stayed close, he might have taken a surprise blow.
“The souls I've harvested number in the thousands. Did you think a pierced gut would kill me? But it's my fault for trying to spare souls. I admit it—you're decent for vermin.”
He released his transformation.
Then, a Devil's Tear bulged out from his hand. Unlike the ping-pong-ball-sized ones before, this one kept growing.
“What do you think happens if this goes off?”
He smiled chillingly at the Devil's Tear in his hand.
One small one had been powerful enough, so if that exploded, everything around would be obliterated.
“Farewell.”
The Devil's Tear, about a meter in diameter, dropped from his hand and slowly floated into the air.
“Everyone, group up! Sonorim! Barrier!”
I grew massive to shield with my body, Hunter Jeong Min-gi's Myeong-wang, and Sonorim layered space-distortion and mana barriers.
Then came a light 'thung' from above and a faint tremor in the air. And then.
KABOOM!
The shock made my ears ring.
The impact had already reached my back, meaning the barriers were all breached, leaving only me. I wrapped aura around my back and focused vitality for regeneration.
The prolonged vibrations and shock of the explosion finally stopped.
When the dust settled, Franklin was visible, smiling. But the smile didn't last.
“You... blocked it?”
My insides were a mess, but drawing vitality from the core made me look fine on the outside. I'd overused the seemingly endless core vitality, making its output unstable, but he didn't know that. Just as I didn't know his limits.
“How are you...”
He looked at me like a monster.
“Is that all?”
The surroundings were reduced to rubble, and the other three had lost consciousness. They seemed badly hurt from the massive shock, but they were still breathing, so they could be saved later.
“...Impressive. Fine, I acknowledge you. You're different from the other vermin. Come to the Empire. I'll make you a count.”
“Count my ass. Not coming? Fine, then I'll come to you.”
As I stepped forward, he flinched.
“...You've used it all up, haven't you? Your soul?”
“...”
He fell silent. He must not have expected me to survive that.
“Demon God! Return me to the Empire!”
He stretched both hands to the sky, summoning a geometric magic circle in the air.
Clouds swirled in a circle above his hands.
I charged at the ominous feeling, but black clouds surrounding him blocked me. Unlike their cloudy appearance, they had immense repulsive force, and I couldn't break through.
A massive-horned demon face emerged from the sky. The face alone was several meters across; its body must have been enormous.
[The price?]
“I offer... that guy's life!”
Franklin pointed at me.
[That one is not yours. If you wish to offer him as sacrifice, take his life first.]
I was shocked—did it really reap lives like that? If so, it would be invincible.
“T-Then... territory! I offer the lives of the Empire's territorial subjects!”
[Their lives are not yours either.]
“Then what do you want!”
[When you die, I take your soul.]
“...I offer it.”
Franklin gritted his teeth and replied. He didn't spare others' lives but cherished his own soul.
[The deal is made.]
A massive hand from the Demon God extended into the air, and with its index fingernail, it poked the void, opening a gate.
[Go.]
“...Thank you.”
“Where do you think you're going!”
If he escaped and came back, he wouldn't toy with us arrogantly like this. He'd replenish Devil's Tears and plan meticulously to crush us.
As I pursued, he swiftly threw his body into the gate.
The moment I grabbed his ankle, my eyes met the Demon God's. It showed no emotion about me following. Was it not protecting its own kind?
Before I could resolve the doubt, my body was sucked into the gate.
Passing through led to a massive underground cavern. Tree roots spread from the ceiling along the walls in all directions.
“Die!”
While I scanned the surroundings, he ambushed me with his few remaining Devil's Tears.
It wasn't enough to overwhelm me now. As I tried to draw power from the core, it shook violently.
It was releasing more energy than I could absorb. Like it was about to spew out everything left.
Had I overused it too harshly?
I couldn't even think of blocking the attack and focused on stabilizing the core.
“Y-Yeah! There's no way trash like you made a Dragon Heart!”
Ecstatic, he used his remaining Devil's Tears not to explode but like iron balls to bash me. Not enough, so he poured flames at me—magic he hadn't used before.
I made an aura barrier with the absorbed energy, but the influx of vitality was too fast and voluminous. My body couldn't hold.
“Die!”
Unaware of my struggle, he shot a needle-sharp Devil's Tear at my forehead.
Unable to move, I concentrated aura on my brow, but the impact snapped my head back. In that brief lapse, the core went fully berserk.
Feeling my chest burn, I ripped out the core with my hand and hurled it at Franklin.
“Huh?”
Seeing the mana core at his feet, he looked dumbfounded.
RUMBLE BOOM!
The ground and ceiling shook violently; I lost consciousness amid falling dirt, roots, and rocks.
Was I to be buried alive? Surprisingly, the space held. I pushed off the dirt covering me, stood, and dusted myself.
From the darkness behind, a woman emerged. Waist-length black hair, deep black eyes devoid of light, pale skin—a tall beauty.
She wore flowing nightgown-like clothes revealing her slender figure. But unlike her fragile appearance, her presence was unprecedented. Could a hundred S-Rank Hunters take her? Like a hundred ants taking an elephant.
“You've made a mess of someone else's house.”
My body felt crushed. Gravity around me multiplied dozens, hundreds of times.
“What should I do with you...”
As she pondered my fate, I tried to flee, but my body wouldn't budge.
“Tch...”
Her black eyes, fixed on me, shifted upward.
Clouds swirled on the cavern ceiling where her gaze went, and the Demon God that dealt with Franklin poked its head out.
[Long time no see, Lazy Darkness.]
“Gaph... are you mad? Entering this place?”
[Calm down. I'm only here to collect from that one.]
Gaph waved his hand, and a black orb rose from Franklin's explosion site into Gaph's hand.
“Hmph... a soul this corrupted is a first.”
[It took much time to make it so.]
The demon had no intention of waiting to claim souls. Sending Franklin here meant either I'd kill him or this 'Darkness' would.
“Still up to your filthy deeds. Because of you, the Western and Eastern Continents remain divided.”
[Didn't you say you ignore human affairs?]
“Hmph. I'm just annoyed it's noisy because of you.”
[Kruk kruk.]
A phlegm-boiling, unpleasant laugh echoed.
[See you again, Lazy Darkness.]
Gaph entered the vortex, which then dispersed.
“So... what to do with you?”
Her deep black eyes turned to me. She slowly scanned me from head to toe.
Then she approached, staring piercingly into my eyes. Her black, deep gaze seemed to suck in my mind, as if she were dissecting my very soul.
She stopped examining me.
“You've trashed someone else's house, so you're prepared, right?”
Her expression was emotionless and languid, but the pressure was terrifying.