Chapter 212
Chapter 212
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 213
Chapter Title: The Fall of the Disease Demon Beast
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Yoo Ah-yeon's words left my mind blank.
Not Jaun?
For a moment, I thought I'd misheard.
"...No way, you thought I was Jaun?"
At my bewildered question, Yoo Ah-yeon clamped her mouth shut.
Lee Seo-jun tilted his head at her words and chimed in.
"...Were you Jaun?"
No, what the hell is this guy saying?
"Were you seriously asking that?"
When I glared at him, Lee Seo-jun let out a playful chuckle.
"Hah."
How was I supposed to process this?
I'd never even imagined that Yoo Ah-yeon thought I was Jaun.
[Character 'Yoo Ah-yeon' feels a slight embarrassment toward you.]
[You acquire 500 points as a reward.]
[Interest level toward you from Character 'Yoo Ah-yeon' increases.]
[Character 'Yoo Ah-yeon's interest level in you: Lv. 1]
[You acquire 2,000 points as a reward.]
What the hell was this?
My mind went blank again at the incomprehensible situation.
Then, Jaun's voice echoed from deeper inside the lair.
—Whoa, there are some pretty amazing magic artifacts here. Huh? What's this? A fragment of the Disease Mystery?
—Hmm. Seems like it? Bert, should we take this too?
—Better safe than sorry. Grab it anyway. Useless on its own, but who knows.
Hearing Jaun's voice snapped me back to reality—this wasn't the time to chat idly.
I turned to Yoo Ah-yeon and whispered softly.
"Let's get out of here first. Running into those guys right now won't end well."
"...Okay. But what about the Disease Mystery?"
"We'll figure that out later."
Yoo Ah-yeon nodded slightly.
But her expression remained stiff.
She clearly hated the idea of fleeing with Jaun right there.
I gave her a small smile.
"Like I said earlier, there'll be plenty of chances. We're just outnumbered right now. And our top priority is taking down the Disease Demon Beast anyway."
"...I know."
With that, we headed back out of the lair.
The sky, which had been bright just moments ago, had grown quite dim.
We hurried away, making sure not to run into Jaun.
As we moved to a new spot, a snow-laced wind began to blow.
Yoo Ah-yeon brushed her wind-tossed black hair aside and turned to me.
"Once this is over, let's talk. I have a lot of questions about you."
"Me too."
I had plenty I wanted to ask. Why she'd mistaken me for Jaun.
And what she knew about the Seonhyeon Family.
That was when it happened.
Kuuuung...
A massive roar shook the heavens and earth.
Moments later, something enormous beat its wings amid the dark clouds, approaching fast.
"...It's here."
I didn't know where it'd gone after we vacated the lair so briefly, but the Disease Demon Beast had returned.
Ignoring the lair entirely, it flew straight toward Tevela.
Then, a voice came through the communication magic artifact.
[Everyone see that?]
[It's heading for Tevela!]
[All units, converge on Tevela!]
"...Let's go!"
We rushed down from the Himalayas toward Tevela.
But by the time we arrived, Tevela was already a sea of flames from the Disease Demon Beast's assault.
The beast showed no sign of stopping, gathering black mana in its maw before unleashing it in a bombardment of the ground.
Kwaaaang!
"Crazy..."
I watched the ground shatter under the overwhelming mana, breaking out in cold sweat.
It held the most dominant power I'd ever witnessed.
Was this the legendary dragon's breath?
"Attack!"
The battle began.
The wizards gathered in Tevela unleashed spells at the Disease Demon Beast.
But its tough hide and swift movements made effective hits few and far between.
Fwoosh!
Seeing this, Yoo Ah-yeon extended her hand, manifesting a massive fireball.
It dwarfed anything Yoo Ara could produce.
"Haat!"
The fireball shot toward the Disease Demon Beast, slamming into its torso.
—Kieeeek!
Flames engulfed its body.
The beast writhed in agony.
It was the first solid hit since the fight started.
[Urk! You insolent pest!]
The Disease Demon Beast began gathering black mana in its mouth again.
I activated Outsider's Benefit and scanned it. Weak points hidden throughout its body lit up in my vision.
I switched on the communication artifact and shouted.
"Aim for the neck! That's its weak spot!"
[The neck? How do you know that?!]
"You can tell just by looking. The skin there is relatively thin."
[No way you...]
As skeptical responses came in, Lee Seo-jun's voice followed.
[Do as Seon-woo says and target the neck. You can trust him.]
[...Got it.]
I cut the connection, pulled out a mana elixir, and dumped it into my mouth.
The bitter taste I'd not felt in ages wrinkled my brow.
No time to savor it, though—I manifested a spell at once.
Woooong!
A silver magic orb trembled violently above my hand.
But to deal real damage, I needed to compress far more mana.
I'd trained for this before.
It just took time.
Woooong!
I squeezed every last drop of mana into the orb, compressing it.
Meanwhile,
The Disease Demon Beast unleashed the mana it'd gathered straight at the ground.
Kwaaaang!
The explosion swept away several wizards.
"Kuuaaaak!"
"...How do we even beat this?"
Fear began creeping into everyone's eyes.
They were all top wizards renowned worldwide, but the calamity-class beast's strength exceeded imagination.
As time passed, the silver orb in my hand gradually took on a faint golden hue.
Still imperfect, but I'd succeeded in compressing it like an S-Rank wizard.
I aimed my hand, targeting the beast's neck with the pale golden orb.
"Hup!"
I drew in a breath.
And released.
Paaang—
The recoil from the overwhelming mana flung my body backward.
The magic orb streaked through the darkness, leaving a golden afterimage as it hurtled toward the neck.
The Disease Demon Beast sensed it and tried to dodge.
But it was too late.
Kwaaaang—
—Kieeeeeek!
A hole punched through its neck, staggering it badly.
The perfect weak-spot hit produced a scream louder than any before.
The Disease Demon Beast turned its gaze to me. Its red eyes glowed ominously.
[...Urk. You again? What the hell are you...]
It must've remembered me from the morning mana downpour.
Great, now I'd been marked.
Nearby wizards reacted with shock to my attack.
"What? The neck really is the weak spot?"
"Anyway, did I imagine it? That looked like gold mana from that student just now."
Even Lee Seo-jun paused mid-fight, staring at me in astonishment.
"...Golden mana?"
I yelled at Lee Seo-jun, who was murmuring as he looked my way.
"Focus on the fight!"
"Oh, yeah!"
His expression turned serious again at my shout. He emanated light-infused sword energy, assumed a stance, and charged forward.
Paat!
Lee Seo-jun leaped high toward the Disease Demon Beast at blinding speed.
He grabbed its leg, then used the high-speed movement technique from the Trial Chamber to climb atop its body.
"Whoa. That's insane."
His balance was unbelievable.
Lee Seo-jun gripped his glowing light sword in reverse and stabbed into the beast's neck.
Puk!
—Kieeeeeek!
Another earth-shaking scream. Hanging like a pendant, he stabbed the neck several more times before dropping back to the ground.
Watching the fight, I glanced at my hand, still faintly tingling with mana.
The previous spell had drained nearly all my mana.
The Heart of Great Nature was tapped out from morning use too.
Not a great spot.
But I had a way.
I quickly drew on the mana stored in my 'Advanced Mana Crystal Pendant.'
Woooong...
The blue glow in the gem faded. My depleted mana began to refill.
"...Good."
Not full, but over 70% recovered.
The remaining 30% would fill with the elixir's effects.
Then the Disease Demon Beast gathered mana in its mouth again.
It scanned the surroundings, seemingly picking a target.
But suddenly,
It whipped its neck around and fired its energy at me.
[Die!]
Paaaaang—!
I panicked.
I'd never expected it to twist like that to target me specifically.
It'd been gunning for me from the start.
'...Too late to dodge!'
That left only 'that' option.
But could I pull it off at my level?
Doubts flooded my mind, but I had no choice.
In that split second, a brilliant idea hit me.
Use 'Instant Acceleration.'
Wung!
Activating it slowed my perceived time.
Even the incoming energy beam crawled.
'Now I can do it.'
In this slowed time,
I could nail the timing for 'that.'
I thrust both hands forward, palms out.
Mana flowed, drawing a massive magic circle at the center.
Mana flow. Energy. Trajectory.
Complex formulas filled the circle.
I'd always been confident in circle manifestation. The issue was timing.
As the breath reached me,
I triggered the absolute defense spell: Reflection.
The terrifying mana energy slammed into the circle.
Surrounding natural mana churned wildly. The massive beam lost direction, twisting violently.
In the slowed time of Instant Acceleration,
I even had leisure to plot reversal coordinates.
Naturally, they targeted the 'Disease Demon Beast.'
"Hraaaap!"
I roared, reflecting the mana back at it.
The recoil hurled my weakened body to the ground.
Paaaaang—
The breath blasted straight into the Disease Demon Beast's torso.
[N-No...? This is...!]
And.
The mana energy pierced its body clean through.
Kwaaaaaang!
[Kraaaaaaaaak!]
The strongest attack yet.
Surrounding voices rose again.
"Crazy. What spell was that?"
"...No way, Reflection?"
"Reflection? Like Chairman Kim Jin-cheol's spell?"
Muttering among themselves, they saw their chance and unleashed a barrage.
Kwang!
Kwang!
Kwaaaang!
—Kieek!
Under the onslaught, the beast began to weaken.
Keep it up, and victory was assured.
'But.'
The fight was dragging.
Wizards were hitting mana bottoms.
Attacks weakened, and the beast regained composure.
[Krah! How dare you...!]
As it tried rallying mana again,
A mana presence stronger than any yet surged.
All eyes turned there.
Light flashed. A colossal mana beam lanced straight through the beast's torso.
Kwaaaang!
Yoo Ah-yeon clenched her fist, staring at the spell's origin.
"...Jaun."
At the edge of vision, amid Jaun's members, stood a massive cannon.
Jaun's ancient magic weapon.
The Great Magic Purifier Cannon.
The beast writhed, then plummeted, strength spent.
Kwaaaang...
[Kreuk...]
It groaned in pain.
Black blood poured from its torso, staining the ground.
Its mana energy faded.
[...Fate flows as destined, after all.]
The Disease Demon Beast looked at Jaun and spoke. It turned to Lee Seo-jun, chuckling faintly.
[My mistake... Should've targeted you... Or was it no mistake?]
With those cryptic words,
It shifted to me.
Or maybe not—I might've imagined it.
But I felt it.
[One with freedom...]
A voice echoed.
Not audible, but resounding in my mind, like conversing with a mystery.
[I know not your purpose, but the world won't bend to your will... I've relayed all I saw to my master. He will judge you henceforth...]
Ding!
[You teamed up with nearby allies to defeat the 'Disease Demon Beast'!]
[You achieved the 'Calamity Demon Beast Slaying' feat!]
[You acquire 10,000 points as a reward.]
[You made a major contribution to the calamity demon beast slaying!]
[You acquire an additional 10,000 points.]
[You achieved the 'Raid Participant' feat!]
[You acquire 3,000 points as a reward.]
[A massive change sweeps the world.]
[Karma rises by 2.0.]
"...What the hell?"
The Disease Demon Beast uttered nonsense and died.
Its master would watch me, huh.
...If that meant the evil dragon Cruas, killer of Lee Seo-jun?