Flames of Vengeance (Part Two)
"I'll beat you to death... until you die!"
Thud, thwack, thwack, thwack!
With both hands locked together, I brought them down on the bastard's head in a wild, relentless barrage. Every ounce of strength I had, poured into it — arms pumping up and down with a savage, rhythmic fury!
Good — the damage is landing!
Die, die, just fucking die!
Thwack, thwack, thud, thud!
"Ghk!? Khhk!? You!? You little shit!?"
The bastard swung his arms up over his own head. Trying to crush me flat? I ducked to dodge—
Grab!
Ah, he got me! Ah, fuck! This bat-human bastard grabbed my arms!
Tremble, tremble!
"Urgh...!"
"You... you bastard... for a mere human, how the hell is your strength this great...!"
I held on somehow. Goddammit...! Both arms caught! He was about to rip them clean off! But... I had to break free somehow! If he threw me to the ground, everything would be for nothing!
"You son of a bitch...!"
Flap, flap!
Hhk — this bat-human bastard was beating his wings. Right, these things could fly. He was going to take off into the sky! Goddammit, what do I—
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
Just then, I heard the sound of arrows cutting through the air.
Shhhhrk!
And I saw it clearly with both eyes — a massive chunk of ice hurtling toward us.
CRAAASH!
"Khhk!"
The giant ice mass — no, an ice fang — slammed dead-on into the Vampire Lord's unprotected solar plexus. And the arrows that followed punched into both of the Lord's arms that were holding me, thock-thock.
"You... you leech-like vermin dare...!"
His grip had weakened a little, but both my arms were still locked in this goddamn bat bastard's hold. Fuck! His wings still showed no sign of stopping! At this rate—
But thankfully, my comrades' support didn't end there.
Thud-thud-thud-thud!
"Haaaaaaah!"
Park Seeun came charging in. Bravely, straight at the Vampire Lord head-on. Wait — that thing in her hand...
Yeah. You figured it out too. You picked up the hint from the crap this bastard was spouting. Seeun!
Hero Grade
A hiking staff steeped in the long years of a man who served as a professor for over thirty years. Intelligence +20%. Magic casting speed +15%. Reduces MP consumption of all magic by 30%.
It looked like an ordinary hiking stick, but that thing was a genuine weapon — loot taken after defeating a dungeon's final boss.
Staff in hand, Park Seeun suddenly launched herself into the air. Ah — that was a skill unique to Seeun the Warrior!
"Eat this!"
She swung it. The target: the bastard's right arm.
THWACK!
"Ghk!?"
Damage registered. And the strength drained from his right arm... freeing my right arm. Yes!
"You... you bitch dare...!"
Hhk — his eyes bulged as he prepared to strike Park Seeun. Seeun, why are you just standing there!? Get out of the way already—
"Eat this too!"
But instead of pulling back, Park Seeun hurled something straight into the Vampire Lord's face. Once again, I found myself marveling at how thoroughly prepared she was.
BOOM — FWOOOOSH!
"GRAAAAAAGH! My eyes again...!"
The bastard screamed. How's it feel getting blinded back-to-back? And as for your left arm—
"HAAAAAAH!"
With both my arms free, I'd pin him down for good. Hell, I'd snap the damn thing clean off!
I called up that sensation from when the restraints came off, and poured every last scrap of power into both arms. I was going to rip free of the Vampire Lord's grotesquely muscled left arm like I was tearing it clean off his body.
CRRRRK...!
A truly sickening sound reached my ears. And then my left arm came free of his left arm for certain.
Huh? Blinded? Don't tell me... he got hit with flash potions from so close that it actually stuck?
"AAAAAAGH! My... my left arm...! M-my eyes... I can't see...! You miserable... insignificant pests dare... inflict such wounds on this body...!"
That's it! Then... we're good!
Left arm neutralized, eyes useless... all that remained was...
"Die...!"
Thwack, thwack, thwack!
Still mounted on him, I hammered the back of his skull without mercy, again and again.
"I said die...!"
My arms throbbed, but I didn't care in the slightest — I kept swinging. Like a human possessed by pure madness, I brought my arms down over and over, smashing the back of his head.
Thwack, thwack, thwack, thwack!
"I said die...! Die... die...!!!"
For the tragedy you created...!
Thwack, thwack, thwack, thwack!
For the suffering you inflicted on people...!
Thwack, thwack, thwack, thwack, thwack!
For the karma of summoning dark clouds over this land and letting the darkness fester...!
Thwack, thwack, thwack, thwack, thwack, thwack!
Pay for it by dying, you bastard...!
Thwack, thwack, thwack, thwack!
"Hah... hah... hah... hah...!"
When I came back to myself, it felt like all sensation had vanished from my arms. Both of them had gone impossibly heavy.
I lifted them one last time and brought them down on the back of his skull like an axe.
THWACK!
And then something changed in the Vampire Lord, who had been taking the beating helplessly.
THUD!
He drove his knees into the ground. Those frantically beating bat wings went limp, their strength spent. Looking closer, the back of his head was outright caved in. The dent was massive. Naturally — it was the mark of both my arms.
I honestly had no idea how many times I'd smashed this goddamn boss bastard's skull. How much time had passed? I'd been pounding without rest until the world swam before my eyes...!
The effort hadn't been wasted. Thank god. He hadn't driven his knees into the dirt for nothing.
"Hahh... hahh..."
But how the hell do I finish this bastard off? What options did I have left?
I wanted to slit his throat with a dagger, but even that blade was only Rare-grade — it probably wouldn't even scratch this guy's skin.
Fuck. If this bastard recovered his senses or regenerated while I sat here thinking, we were completely screwed. I had to come up with something!
Whoosh!
In that moment, someone threw something at me. It didn't feel like an attack — it felt like they were trying to pass me something — so I caught it on instinct with my right hand.
"Ah...!"
This was...
Hero Grade
"Hoon-oppa... finish him with that!"
Right. A Hero-grade weapon should be more than enough to get through. But this wasn't a bladed weapon — whether it could pierce the skin and kill him for certain was still up in the air.
"Look at the tip... of the staff."
Seeun added, as if she'd read my mind. And sure enough, something was fixed to the end of the staff.
Ah — an arrowhead. One of the tips from the arrows. She'd pulled one out of the ground and lashed it on...
With this... it would work.
SHUNK!
It worked, all right.
Without a moment's hesitation, I drove the staff into the spot where the back of his skull met his neck.
Level:100
Status:Instant Death
His body tipped forward, listing heavily.
THUD!
The massive bat-human, unable to endure the desperate life-or-death struggle against a human—
met a death far too pitiful for a monster of the highest caliber.
"Hahh... hahh...!"
I was spent. I could barely move a single finger.
Still straddling the fallen Vampire Lord's corpse, I gasped for air with my head hanging, unable to move.
"Wh-what...?"
"Everyone! L-look up!"
"The sky...!"
Was it just my imagination that the world around me was growing a little brighter?
No. It wasn't imagination.
Bit by bit, centered on me, I could feel the darkness peeling away and light arriving. I watched it spread outward as if the light itself were purifying the grim atmosphere that had hung over everything.
The dark clouds were withdrawing from the sky, and the sunlight we were meant to receive was descending upon the earth — that much was certain.
"I-it's clearing...!"
"That bastard — that goddamn bat bastard is completely dead!"
"Hooray! Hooray!"
People's cheers poured into my ears. And at the same time, my head slowly... lifted.
I took it in.
In the middle of a ruined city reduced to little more than bare bones.
Beneath a blue sky where clouds drifted sparsely, bathed in the heat of the shining sun, I sat atop the corpse of the dead Vampire Lord.
Sssssss...!
No — the moment the sunlight arrived, the bastard who'd been serving as my cushion began to dissolve.
Yeah. Now I could say it with pride.
We did it. The expedition was a real success.
We won the gamble...!
"Hoon-oppa...!"
Crash!
Seeun, who'd been closest, threw herself into my arms. Without thinking, I moved my right arm and wrapped it around her back.
Still fixed on the blue sky, I held her as she gasped with emotion beside me, the two of us locked in an embrace.
"J-Jeong Hoon-oppaaa!"
"Orabeoni...!"
"Jeong Hoon... we did it. We... no — you defeated the Area Boss!"
Three more came running. Exhausted, they couldn't manage much speed. They stopped in front of me and, every last one of them, threw their arms around me.
Utterly drained, I simply accepted the embrace of four women. Even Yun Mina joining the hug was a bit of a surprise.
Feels incredible... but goddamn, I'm so tired...!
I was so exhausted my eyes closed on their own. Someone nearby sucked in a worried breath, but I curved the corners of my mouth into a smile as best I could, as if to say don't worry.
Then I raised my right arm high.
This time, making sure the words left my mouth for real.
"Yes, we did!"
"We won, we won, oppa!"
"Jeong Hoon... you worked so hard!"
"Orabeoni, you really are..."
Listening to the four women chatter all at once, I slowly opened both eyes.
Ahh — the dazzling sunlight washed over me properly now.
A baptism of light that proved, beyond any doubt, that humanity had won.