The Demon King's Army Without a Demon King
Normally, Han Aram, who only exerted 30 percent of her true power, was walking behind Lee Juha and Sora without a second thought. After the exhaustion of clearing the underground floor of the Black Market, her desire to rest had reached 1,200 percent, leaving her with zero motivation for anything else. She followed along with Sora’s purification work as if she were just doing it because she was told to, and whenever Juha and Sora didn't use standard Korean, she would tease them by "grading" them, much like she used to pester her younger sister, Han Areum. It was a peaceful purification session, devoid of any real threats. She was planning to return to the base camp soon, grab a bite to eat, and then make up some excuse to head to the surface and sleep to her heart's content. But then...
“Kwahahaha!!! It’s a DUEL!! Let’s kill or be killed!!!”
A blonde man appeared out of nowhere, shouting "Duel" in English as if he were itching for a fight, and drew a massive greatsword.
“Shit.”
Han Aram spat out a curse. Could you blame her? In the middle of a peaceful purification time in Narak, some crazy American bastards had shown up. Moreover, judging by the English, they looked like the lackeys of that "Hero" or whatever he was. Having already heard about the existence of these enemies from Jojun, Han Aram quickly realized they were hostile. That was why she didn't hesitate to charge forward immediately. There was no time to waver. The opponent had swung his sword with the genuine intent to kill.
-Whoosh!! A wind blew. A ferocious wind that would tear apart everything in its path.
-Pwahak!!!!
-Kwajajajajak!!!!
“Uwoooooh!!!!”
“Kishasha!!!”
The slash unleashed by the Dragon-Blooded Knight with all his might turned into a blade of wind accompanied by sword energy. The mushroom men, parasitic tree hosts, and the hatchlings of the Jet-Black Cockroaches standing in the front line were all caught in the gale and shredded to pieces.
-Chwahak!!
-Puk!! Puk-puk!!!
The entrails stuck to the walls were torn away, and yellow gastric juices erupted from everywhere. Blood sprayed from the shredded flesh walls like a fountain, turning the floor into a sea of blood.
“Kahaha..!”
Bathed in the pouring gastric juices and blood, the Dragon-Blooded Knight smiled. Seeing the woman who was still standing despite the onslaught, he felt a surge of excitement at having finally met a human who knew how to fight.
At that moment, Michael, who had roughly assessed the classes of the three, thought:
‘All three of them are High-Class Awakened. Looking at it... they are all in a slave state... they might not be fighting of their own free will. It’s a waste to kill them here, but... there’s no time to keep them alive and take them with us...’
Michael coveted the three East Asian women with classes he had never seen before: Demon Slayer, Shinto-Miko, and Nine-Tailed Fox. He even felt the urge to use the Saintess's skills to release them from their slave status and accept them as his companions. However, judging that there was a very high possibility that their presence had been discovered by the enemies, Michael decided that it would be more profitable to kill them quickly and leave.
“Everyone, finish this quickly and let’s get out of here. We don’t have time.”
Michael told his party to make it a quick battle. He intended to kill the three and leave immediately.
“Keuk.... Ku-keuk...”
Meanwhile, Han Aram was vomiting blood, her clothes shredded and her body a mess. She had charged forward the moment the Dragon-Blooded Knight swung his sword, pulling Lee Juha behind her. Furthermore, she had stacked her Demonization and self-buff skills, wrapping her entire body in black armor to absorb the knight's gale. She had defended Sora and Lee Juha, who hadn't been able to react in time, all by herself. The price she paid was being mangled all over, and one of her eyes had been blown away. She couldn't see anything in her left field of vision. The pain made her feel like her hair was being ripped out. Her mind felt like it was drifting away. She wanted to collapse right then and there. The strength was draining from her legs. She was losing too much blood. She felt dizzy.
‘Can I make it out of here alive... I don’t want to die yet... I’m sleepy... I want to sleep.’
Random thoughts kept surfacing. But she knew that if she stopped thinking, she would die right there, so she forced herself to keep going. She wanted to at least try to run away, but that was impossible. She knew that if she retreated now, it would be a meaningless death.
Realizing that she had no choice but to fight, Han Aram gritted her teeth and muttered:
“You guys... run...”
The aura of the foreigners walking out from behind the Dragon-Blooded Knight was also ominous. They were surely all absurdly powerful. It was clear that if they fought like this, they wouldn't escape death. So, Han Aram told the two to run. Running away wasn't something to be ashamed of. She had lived a life where she ran away whenever she could. She had run away from her parents' neglect, run away from the weight of life, and even compromised and ran away from the death of her younger brother, Han Taeyang. So, she wanted the two to run. Since she was already beyond saving, she hoped at least the remaining two would run and survive. After all, Lee Juha and Sora were close to her sister Areum in age and were quite close to each other. She felt they could fill the void she would leave behind well.
“R-run away... Aram-unni... you’ll definitely die!! Since everyone is coming, I think we just need to hold on... a little longer.”
Sora, who had notified the guild chat of the enemies' presence, had no intention of running. She felt that if she abandoned Han Aram, who had always taken good care of her, she would be haunted by nightmares forever. Thinking that the team members at the main base would arrive if she held on just a little longer, she tried to cast a healing spell on Han Aram. That was when a dagger flew toward her.
“Kyaaaa!!!!”
A cross-shaped dagger was embedded in Sora's thigh. It was a petrification dagger thrown by the Heretic Inquisitor, Caesar. And true to the name of the petrification dagger, Sora's body began to harden slowly, starting from the area where the dagger was embedded.
“You goddamn bastard!!!”
Lee Juha, who had snapped back to reality, let out a scream like a seizure at the sight of Sora, who had turned to stone, and lunged at Caesar. Her body, leaping as if flying through the air, was engulfed in flames. Soon, Lee Juha transformed into a Nine-Tailed Fox and ignited large flames in both hands. She intended to slam the flames directly into Caesar.
“May the Lord protect you!!! May the blessing wrap around you!!”
The chant rang out clearly. The Saintess's barrier wrapped around Caesar with a flash of light.
-Bang!!!
“What?!”
Lee Juha's attack was blocked by the barrier and failed to pierce Caesar. The attack had failed. At that moment, Beast Hunter Killian, who had been watching the situation from behind, loaded a magic bullet into his gun.
“A beast was mixed in.”
He smiled as he looked at the Nine-Tailed Fox's tails. He thought he could make a nice scarf. To hunt the beast, almost instinctively, he pulled the trigger.
-Bang!
-Pwahak!!!
The fired magic bullet pierced Lee Juha's forehead, as she hadn't been able to dodge in time, and went straight through, stirring her brain. The back of her head shattered like a watermelon, and blood and brain matter poured out. Lee Juha's fallen body twitched.
“Ju... Juha... Uwaaaaah!!!!”
Han Aram screamed. But she couldn't afford to be distracted.
“Where are you looking!!!”
The Dragon-Blooded Knight's greatsword came crashing down on Han Aram. Caught off guard, Han Aram couldn't dodge the incoming greatsword.
-Kwajik!!!
“Kyaaaaa!!!!!”
Both of her arms were severed, and blood sprayed out. Soon, the Dragon-Blooded Knight grabbed the head of Han Aram, who was kneeling and screaming, with both hands.
“I thought it would be a bit more fun. You’re nothing special either.”
-Squish!!!!
Han Aram's head was crushed and exploded. She hadn't even been able to put up a proper resistance before her head was smashed. The Dragon-Blooded Knight wiped the blood off his hands and frowned. The situation was over.
“An unexpected harvest.”
The Beast Hunter approached the sprawled-out Lee Juha. He then drew his hunting dagger and cut off her fox tails. Now, all that remained was Sora, who had become immobilized by petrification.
“I have no particular ill will toward you, but...”
Giant Hunter Dante put on his knuckles and mercilessly struck Sora, who had hardened into stone.
-Bang!! Bang!! Bang!!!!!
-Crackle!!!
Sora's body was crushed into fine powder. It was total annihilation. Han Aram, Lee Juha, and Nanase Sora had all died within three minutes. And the Great Sage Michael, who had been watching the scene, finished his analysis and called out to his party in a tired voice.
“Everyone, snap out of it. It’s an illusion.”
-Snap.
Michael snapped his fingers. At the same time, the skill Lee Juha had cast was dispelled. In an instant, the illusion vanished, and the corpses that had died disappeared without a trace. Since they hadn't actually died in the first place, there was no reason for traces to remain.
“Ha... ha... y-you... saw through this...”
Lee Juha, who was slumped on the floor, bleeding from her nose, glared at Michael and the Hero's party. Her body trembled from the recoil of using the skill. In fact, everything up until the point where Sora was stabbed by the petrification dagger and Lee Juha pretended to go berserk and rushed at Caesar was the truth. The illusion had been cast afterward. When Lee Juha's body was engulfed in flames and the Hero's party's attention was focused on the flashy effects, that was when her strongest illusion, 'Flame Dream,' began.
It had many restrictions: it only worked on those who saw the flames the Nine-Tailed Fox ignited, she couldn't move while using the skill, and if any of the deceived targets were shocked, the illusion would break. But once successful, it was a top-tier illusion that could even deceive the eyes of the Dragon-Blooded Knight. The fact that she had deceived everyone present for three minutes was proof enough of how excellent her skill was. If Michael hadn't been there, she might have been able to hold them for another two minutes.
“Heh... Hahahaha!!! To deceive all of our eyes...”
Dragon-Blooded Knight Aran, feeling a sense of futility at not being able to see through a single illusion even with his dragon eyes, offered praise to the one fire fox glaring at them. He hadn't seen through their scheme in advance because he had underestimated the opponent and let his guard down. It was a gap caused by his arrogant personality. He was fundamentally different from Michael, who was always on guard and kept the worst-case scenario in mind.
“Heh... shit... you jackals... just run away. If you don't want to die...”
Lee Juha, who had poured all her strength into the illusion, sneered at those who had been completely played by her trick. Enraged by her sneer, Caesar drew his flail.
“Die!! Heretic!!!”
Now, the real death she had been putting off had finally arrived. Lee Juha closed her eyes tightly. And then...
-Shashashat..
“Cheshire!! It’s that direction!! It’s a diagonal line!! Fire!!!”
Eila’s shout and the sound of insects could be heard from afar. Also...
-Tudududududu!!!
-Pwahak!!!!
The flesh walls were blown away by the laser Gatling fired from a distance. A round path was created. Beyond that path stood Eila and Cheshire, who had located Lee Juha with a purple gem. As soon as they received the guild chat, they had led the remaining forces and rushed over. Also, the Jet-Black Cockroaches had brought all the hatchlings that were spread across the Crimson Zone...
“Shashashashat!!!”
Tens of thousands of cockroaches swarmed in like crazy along the opened path.
“Damn it!!! We have to run!!”
Michael was shocked to see the enemies find them faster than he had imagined. At the same time, he shouted to flee before the full-scale battle began.
“Hiiiing!!!”
And then, a skeletal horse began to run, trampling the cockroaches.
“Damn it..!”
Michael, Nick, and Anna had to be kept alive at all costs. Since this game ultimately belonged to the players, there was no chance of winning if they were wiped out.
“Go first!! Michael!!!”
“Killian!!!”
“I’ll follow behind!!!”
The Beast Hunter, who had decided to stay behind to block the enemies, fired a magic bullet at the Dullahan charging in without hesitation.
“Kishaaa!!!”
However, the insects crawling on the walls, ceiling, and floor gathered together to offset his attack, and the skeletal horse and Dullahan were able to keep charging to the end because the magic bullet had been deflected.
“Urya!!”
As soon as the Dullahan passed through the passage leading the skeletal horse, Dante, wearing knuckles, swung his fist at the skeletal horse.
-Kwajajak!!!
The skeletal horse was shattered by the tremendous shockwave, and the Dullahan riding on it was also caught in the impact and thrown off. That was the end of the Dullahan's role. He had come charging in to transport the sharpest blade Jojun possessed into the middle of the enemy camp.
“One, two, three... nine in total.”
The swordsman who jumped off the skeletal horse counted the number of enemies. Then he drew his sword. As the sword was pulled from its scabbard, a killing intent that felt like it would crush the soul was released.
“Th-this...”
The Dragon-Blooded Knight shuddered at the killing intent that made his hair stand on end. Killian felt uneasy, and Dante prepared for the coming impact.
Meanwhile, Caesar, who was about to smash Lee Juha's head regardless of whether the enemies were coming or not...
-Chwahak!!!
“Kyaaaaa!!!!!”
In an instant, his arm was severed. The Heretic Inquisitor's scream rang out. At the same time, the killing intent wrapped around them once again, and everyone on the scene stopped moving. Because they realized instinctively. If they moved now, their throats would be slit right there.
“Don't move. Anyone who moves dies.”
It was the arrival of Pharus.