The First Strike
After the battle ended, Zephyr’s siblings were busy at work.
“You could’ve taken it a little easier.”
“Exactly. You practically smashed the whole thing to pieces.”
The brothers and sisters wandered through what had only moments ago been a fierce battlefield, picking up scattered fragments. What they were gathering and stuffing into their spatial pouches were the puppets’ remains.
“If we sell these, they should fetch a fortune, right?”
At Zephyr’s question, Zeronia nodded.
“I think we’ll be able to give the younger ones quite a lot of dark energy.”
Zeronia straightened from where she had been bent over and looked at her younger siblings, who were diligently collecting the puppets’ remains.
“By the way, where did Brother Jerome go?”
At Zeronia’s words, Zephyr’s expression turned bitter.
They had only thought that once they reached the Gray Wasteland, they would be able to hear news of Jerome, their second brother, who had gone missing.
But their hopes were shattered in an instant.
- If you mean the dark elf, he stayed here briefly before leaving. While he was here, he had no contact with anyone else at all. So I have no idea where he went.
That was what Atram had told them.
“At least we know he’s alive.”
In truth, by the time they came to the Gray Wasteland with Yoon Sang-hyuk, so much time had already passed since Jerome’s disappearance that they had not been expecting much. Their purpose had been less to meet Jerome alive than to confirm his fate once they reached their destination.
“Besides, that blacksmith, old man Balara, is going to lose his mind when he sees these.”
Seeing Zeronia look so downcast, Zephyr tried to lighten the mood with another subject.
“Like you said, these things will give the little ones plenty of dark energy. I’d already felt bad that just the two of us had ended up getting something so impressive, so this is a relief.”
“Yes. It really is.”
After they finished sorting all the puppets’ remains and returned to camp, Yoon Sang-hyuk was drinking with Valender von Graus and Ibrahmut. Zephyr and the others sat down carefully so as not to interrupt the gathering, letting the weariness of battle ease out of their bodies.
“Brother. Today was truly incredible.”
Ibrahmut drained his cup in one go and shouted loudly.
He, too, had fought the two puppets that Yoon Sang-hyuk and Valender von Graus had missed. Even against those two, he had had a hard time of it. And yet Yoon Sang-hyuk had crushed the rest of the puppets without mercy.
“How on earth do you get that strong?”
“...”
If the question was how, there was only one answer he could give.
“You bet your life. That’s all.”
“Huh? Ah, yes... I see. So I just have to risk my life.”
Yoon Sang-hyuk gave a dry little laugh at Ibrahmut’s uncertain expression.
Risking your life.
The words were simple enough, but how many people could truly put them into practice?
“But why did you push yourself so hard earlier?”
“I just answered that.”
“Huh? When?”
“You asked me how to get stronger, didn’t you? That’s why I did it. I risked my life to become stronger.”
With a mischievous look, Yoon Sang-hyuk took another sip of liquor.
“Both Valender here and I are the same. If we want to reach a realm beyond the one we’ve already built, the ordinary way won’t get us there. Valender’s the type who gets stronger through realization; I’m the type who gets stronger by colliding head-on with things myself. But to give me a stimulus strong enough to make me stronger, I have to be pushed into a situation where even I have to gamble with my life.”
In the battle with the puppets, his level had risen by two. It was easy to say that, a rise of two levels, but on Earth, to gain two levels, he would have had to spend a long time slaughtering thousands, even tens of thousands, of monsters. And those would have had to be the strongest monsters, too.
That was how powerful the puppets had been.
There had been several dangerous moments during the fight, but Yoon Sang-hyuk did not regret any of them. In return, he had become that much stronger. At his level, the effort required to raise even one stat, and the impact of even a single point of stat increase, was something he could talk about until his mouth went dry.
Ibrahmut kept glancing at him with that still-unsure look. He understood why Yoon Sang-hyuk was so obsessed with strength. It was to eliminate Satan, who sat in the Abyss of the Void.
Satan, the strongest being in the Demon Realm, whom Baal, the current ruler of the Demon Realm, was said to be weaker than. Only by getting rid of him could Yoon Sang-hyuk return to the world where he had originally lived.
“Just how strong is Satan?”
The Yoon Sang-hyuk Ibrahmut had seen was possessed of a level of power unlike anything he had ever witnessed. And that was precisely why Yoon Sang-hyuk kept striving to become stronger, so that he could face Satan.
“There isn’t a single easy thing in this world. Do you really think returning home from some strange world would be easy?”
Yoon Sang-hyuk rose to his feet.
“I haven’t had a proper night’s sleep thanks to those bastards, so all of you get some rest. They don’t look like the type to pick a fight for at least a day.”
As Yoon Sang-hyuk headed toward the container box, he stopped. Slowly, he turned around.
“What is it? You still have something to say?”
Yoon Sang-hyuk’s gaze was not on Ibrahmut. He was staring into empty space above his head. Valender von Graus, still seated, had turned only his head to look where Yoon Sang-hyuk was looking.
Red energy was writhing and gathering there.
“Wh-what is that?”
Only then did Ibrahmut sense it, and he spoke in a trembling voice.
In an instant, the red energy became a giant eye.
- You are quite something.
It was an eye filled with vicious killing intent and madness beyond words. It looked as though it might begin weeping blood at any second, yet it stared straight at Yoon Sang-hyuk.
“Is that praise? Thanks. You really know how to flatter me. The present you prepared this time is actually pretty decent. But tell me, don’t you have anything a little stronger? You’re supposed to be the dragon that protects the Demon Realm, and yet your guardians seem awfully flimsy.”
Ibrahmut stared at him with a look that plainly said, What the hell is Brother saying right now?! He himself could barely move under the dreadful force radiating from the eye. But Yoon Sang-hyuk wore a bright smile at the corner of his mouth.
“That Jarlan-or-whatwasit from before scared me so much I nearly wet myself. I was properly rattled. And this is what I get? Some half-baked undead, and now a mute puppet? Hm? Your hospitality leaves a lot to be desired. Pay a little more attention to your guests.”
- Hoh. I admit I underestimated you too greatly. But that does not mean you are some extraordinary being. Soon, you will come to understand your limits. When that time comes, you will know true despair.
“You sure do like to talk.”
Before anyone noticed, Song of Doom was already in Yoon Sang-hyuk’s hand.
Gooooo-
The aura of destruction gathered into Song of Doom. Then it cleaved through the air.
It felt as though space itself had been cut apart in one huge chunk. The red eye floating in midair was torn apart, then forced itself back into shape.
Its power was much weaker than before.
“A man proves himself with one action, not ten words. You get that? Ah, or maybe I’m the one who made the mistake? Could it be...?”
Yoon Sang-hyuk chuckled.
“Lady?”
- I can already picture you thrashing about in despair. I will make you feel a despair deeper than death.
“You really do talk a lot.”
Once again, Song of Doom sliced through the air. In the end, the red eye was erased completely. At the same time, a chilling cracking sound rippled outward.
The others clapped their hands over their ears and staggered. Some lost their balance and collapsed, flailing helplessly on the ground.
“As expected, you’ve got a natural talent for provoking things.”
Valender von Graus lifted the cup in his hand to his lips. Since the first time he had ever drunk, Valender von Graus occasionally drank like this, as he did today. He probably couldn’t taste the liquor, but whenever he raised a cup, there was a certain presence to him.
“Everyone’s got to be good at something.”
Yoon Sang-hyuk sat down opposite Valender von Graus.
“I’m in a bad mood because of that bastard, so my sleep is shot anyway.”
He raised his cup again.
* * *
“Brothers, don’t stop me.”
With solemn determination, Ibrahmut unfurled his whip.
“I’ve bet my life on this tonight.”
His body twitched as though he were about to spring forward at any moment.
That was when it happened.
Crack-
“Agh!”
Just as Ibrahmut was steeling himself for battle, he cried out and pitched face-first to the ground. Yoon Sang-hyuk, who had delivered a vicious blow to the back of Ibrahmut’s head, stepped forward.
“How dare you try to put your spoon on Brother’s table? You think you’re worthy to eat at the same table as me?”
Blocking the path before the group were the things that had appeared.
Black flying demonic beasts, beating their massive wings. They were drakes. But unlike the drakes that existed in the human world, their scales were a pitch-black color, and their bodies were more than twice as large.
Some of them even had two heads. Double-headed drakes. Mutants, beings whose strength was on a completely different level from ordinary drakes.
But even the double-headed drakes were insignificant compared to the one flapping its wings farthest back, high in the sky.
Its body was actually smaller than the others. Yet the quality of the pressure pouring from it was plainly different from that of the rest. Unlike the other drakes, this one beat not one pair but two pairs of wings, and its blood-red eyes glared down at the group.
Yoon Sang-hyuk turned his head slightly.
Zephyr and his siblings had already fallen back a long way and formed a defensive line.
“You’re planning to handle this one alone again?”
“Maybe.”
At Valender von Graus’s question, Yoon Sang-hyuk muttered softly.
“They’re winged brats that go around buzzing and whining. I don’t think I can control all of them.”
“Now that’s a welcome answer.”
Ibrahmut stepped forward again.
“Brothers. What should I do?”
Yoon Sang-hyuk and Valender von Graus looked at him and answered at the same time.
“Just watch.”
“Observe.”
Ibrahmut bristled.
“You two are unbelievable... Do you even know who I am? I am Ibrahmut, the first Balrog, Lord of Flames! Huh? I’m not the kind of being you can just dismiss like this. If I called them now, hundreds of Balrogs would come running at once!”
“That’s rich, coming from someone who isn’t even king anymore.”
“Well, I may not be king, but I still have achievements to my name, don’t I?”
“Then go call the Balrogs and play house with them or something.”
As Yoon Sang-hyuk stepped forward, he paused and turned back again.
“There is something for you to do.”
“Is there? What is it? Should I break the wings of that one all the way in the back, the one acting so damn high and mighty?”
Yoon Sang-hyuk shook his head.
“No.”
He flicked a glance toward the drakes gathered ahead.
“Go start a fire. A proper one.”
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