Chapter 140
Chapter 140
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 140
Chapter Title: The Sealed Chamber
-----------------------------------------------------------------
We arrived at the end of the underground.
There was a door emblazoned with Baphomet's face.
I approached it and grabbed the handle.
[The power of the 'Opener' activates.]
[Opening the door to the room where Lucifer is sealed.]
Creaaaaak—.
The door swung open, and light poured out from within. At the same time, the stench of blood and rotting corpses assaulted my nose.
Without hesitation, I stepped inside. In a space as vast as a school field, Belzebul awaited us.
“……You again.”
Belzebul greeted us with a beaming smile.
“Yeah, me again.”
We had just over ten minutes left.
No time to fight this guy.
We had to charge straight through.
“Jeongwoo.”
“……Got it.”
Jeongwoo tapped Michael on the back.
“Let’s start.”
“……Okay.”
Click.
Michael fired a grenade at the ceiling. The swirling yellow light struck the wall and exploded massively.
Boom!
Light rained down like a downpour.
Belzebul covered his eyes with both hands.
Ma Jeongwoo, pumped up from Yoo Sora’s injection, gripped his axe handle tight and charged at him.
-Haaap!
In an instant, Jeongwoo closed the distance and sliced horizontally across Belzebul’s body.
Slash—.
Belzebul’s upper body hit the ground. But only for a moment—his body scattered into flies, then reformed.
“Haha! Too bad. Attacks like that don’t work on me.”
Jeongwoo glanced above his head.
A sliver of his health bar had been shaved off.
“Kim Cheonjae, you were right.”
“……Told you. It’s obvious.”
Jeongwoo smirked at me, then charged at Belzebul again.
This time, Belzebul dodged Ma Jeongwoo’s attack by a hair’s breadth and counterattacked.
His claws flew toward Jeongwoo’s forehead.
At that moment.
Kim Yeonhee leaped in and swung her dagger.
“Attack Breaker!”
Clang!
Belzebul’s claw snapped and fell to the ground. Ma Jeongwoo seized the opening and cleaved his neck with the axe.
Swoosh—.
Belzebul’s head came off again.
We already knew it would scatter into flies and reform.
I pretended to watch their fight while shifting along the wall.
My only goal was to reclaim the hourglass before Lucifer’s seal broke.
Ma Jeongwoo and Kim Yeonhee handled Belzebul.
Yoo Sora and Michael followed me along the wall. No, they sprinted.
We had no choice if we wanted to reach the hourglass in time.
Thud thud thud thud—!
Belzebul, fending off Ma Jeongwoo and Kim Yeonhee, noticed our footsteps.
“Where do you think you’re going!”
Suddenly, shadows burst from everywhere, transforming into Belzebul’s form.
Not just one or two.
At least ten of them.
If he’d split, his abilities would be divided among them too.
“……Recall. Iron Maiden.”
Whoosh!
Space warped briefly, and my summons appeared before me all at once.
[‘Iron Maiden’ activated.]
Countless silver spikes flew out, enveloping the Belzebul clones blocking my path.
“Take them out.”
-Kieeeek!
The skeleton soldiers charged at the Belzebus. With bodies of steel and crackling electricity, they wielded far more power than ordinary skeletons.
But even so,
I knew they wouldn’t stand a chance against him.
That was fine.
Our goal right now was just to clear a path.
Not to defeat him.
Boom!
Belzebul’s illusions clashed with my soldiers. Everyone except Park Gyuhwan and Gawain was outmatched, as expected.
They started dropping one by one, unilaterally.
Didn’t matter.
Their purpose was solely to stack damage on ‘Iron Maiden.’
“Ares, you guard me.”
Ares nodded.
“Got it.”
“Hold this too.”
One skeleton handed Kim Jeongjae’s severed head—still in its monstrous form, quite large from carrying it—to Ares.
“Hm? Why do I need to carry this?”
“Just in case. Stick it on your spear tip for now, and give it back when I signal.”
“……Alright.”
Ares impaled Kim Jeongjae’s head on his spear tip and stuck by my side.
I didn’t stop running.
A few of Belzebul’s illusions tried to block me, but Ares held them off.
“Get lost!”
I kicked the gut of one Belzebul blocking my path.
Thud!
A light kick, and its body scattered into flies.
I could tell it was an illusion made with a fraction of his aura.
Still, it was strong enough to overpower a skeleton soldier in a one-on-one.
Thud thud thud thud!
We reached the door to the room with the hourglass. The previous door had been giant-sized.
This one was barely wide enough for one adult man.
I stood before the golden door and slowly pushed.
Belzebul roared in despair.
“No!”
I grinned at him, then pushed the door again.
Creak. Creeeak. Creeeaaaak.
A sweet fragrance wafted from inside. After the foul stench earlier, it smelled incredibly sweet.
I stepped closer and shoved hard. It took my whole body, like rolling a boulder.
Kreeeeak!
Halfway open, a voice came from within.
“Begone.”
‘……Huh?’
I looked up. There was Lucifer. He swung his foot wide at my solar plexus.
Too fast to dodge.
His toe struck my solar plexus, launching me. My body floated into the air.
I curled and twisted, landing lightly.
Tap.
“……Hoo.”
One hit shaved off over a third of my health bar.
“……Lucifer?”
“Long time no see.”
“……”
“Why so surprised?”
How could I not be?
The system timer still had three minutes left, yet Lucifer’s seal was already broken.
I gripped my scythe tight and asked him.
“How’d you break the seal?”
“……Who knows.”
“You couldn’t have done it alone.”
“True. I couldn’t have broken it with my power alone.”
I glanced at Belzebul. He was smirking at me provokingly.
He flicked his tongue, and Jeongwoo cleaved his body in half again.
Boom!
I shook my head and looked back at Lucifer.
“Why team up with Belzebul? Weren’t you two enemies?”
“……You don’t need to know. Don’t pry into things beyond a mere human.”
“A mere human, huh….”
I scanned Lucifer from bottom to top.
His glistening black skin, sharply protruding horns, and unmatched evil aura—all identical to the Lucifer I knew.
But,
There was one thing I doubted.
“……Were you always this weak?”
“Huh?”
“Was the Demon King Lucifer always this pathetic?”
“What are you saying?”
“Your aura’s almost the same as Belzebul’s. No, yours feels weaker.”
“…….”
Mid-conversation, a realization hit me. The Lucifer I knew would’ve charged and crushed us immediately.
Yet here he was, talking?
Even with his ally Belzebul right there.
I reached out to Yoo Sora. She hesitated, then injected me.
[Player ‘Yoo Sora’ injects Triple Injection into Kim Cheonjae.]
Three attribute liquids flowed into me. Power surged. My thoughts sharpened, my body lightened.
I swung my scythe, gauging the distance to Lucifer, and asked.
“You’re not the real Lucifer.”
“……You think so?”
“Yeah, definitely. The real one would’ve jumped me and killed me by now.”
“Think what you want. Real or fake doesn’t matter.”
“You’re right. Whether you’re real or fake doesn’t matter.”
“……?”
“Conversation’s over. Iron Maiden, activate.”
[Activating ‘Iron Maiden.’]
The silver spikes scattered across Belzebul’s bodies gleamed.
His illusions shook, trying to shake them off.
Impossible to dodge.
They had to take the hit.
Boom!
A massive roar echoed through the room. No flames, but the shockwave was strong enough to crumble the ceiling.
Rumble rumble rumble—.
After the blast, only one Belzebul remained.
The main body fighting Ma Jeongwoo.
“Grahhh!”
Even it lost an arm to Jeongwoo’s attack. Too massive a blow to turn into flies.
Thud!
I kicked off the ground into the golden door. No need to fight him, I thought.
With Yoo Sora’s injection boosting my speed, he couldn’t catch me.
But Lucifer blitzed in front of me at unimaginable speed.
“Where to.”
“……”
Even weakened, Lucifer was Lucifer. I swung my scythe at him. He twisted lightly and caught the blade with his left arm.
“Kim Cheonjae, you won’t pass.”
“Shi…. t….”
“What?”
“Ex…. plo….”
“What’re you mumbling?”
“……Corpse Explosion. Ares!”
Swoosh—!
Ares’s spear flew with a whistle. Lucifer caught it with his right hand, smirking derisively.
Thud.
“With such a weak attack—”
“It’ll make you move.”
I released the scythe handle and leaped high backward.
[Countdown complete.]
[Activating ‘Corpse Explosion.’]
[Explosion from 1 stack of ‘Hero Kim Jeongjae’ triggered.]
[The corpse’s hidden power is immense. Please evacuate the vicinity.]
“What’s th—”
Boom!
* * * * *
Michael arrived at the top of Hell’s Citadel.
Raphael’s barrier was about to expire, yet the angels had found nothing.
Outside the citadel, demons from across Hell had gathered, waiting.
When the barrier fell, they’d storm in, sparking a massive battle.
They needed to unseal Lucifer quickly amid this deadlock.
Angels assigned to search each floor rushed to Michael one by one to report.
“Lord Michael, no hourglass on the 1st floor.”
“Nor the 2nd.”
“Nor the 3rd.”
“Nor the 4th….”
Michael bellowed.
“Only report if you’ve found it!”
They all exchanged glances, silent. In the hush, one hesitant angel stepped forward.
“Lord Michael.”
“Speak.”
“The hourglass is likely in the citadel’s basement.”
“……The basement?”
Michael tilted his head.
The angel slowly flapped his wings and pointed to the ground.
“Yes. I saw Kim Cheonjae and his group heading underground.”
“Is that true?”
“Absolutely.”
“……”
Michael raised his sword high and shouted for all angels to hear.
“All units, to the citadel’s basement!”
[Remaining Time: 00:02:18]
Login: The Apocalypse