Chapter 121: The Trap (7)
Chapter 121: The Trap (7)
There were only four humans.
The demons numbered around a thousand, an overwhelming advantage by any objective measure.
Originally, their numbers had exceeded a thousand, but a minimum force had been left behind to guard the fortress in case any humans tried to destroy the Black Spire. Thus, the number of demons currently attacking was slightly less than that.
Regardless, the demons—vastly outnumbering Han Shin’s party and bolstered by Baal’s Blessing—were certain of their victory.
It was only natural for them to think so.
For the past thirty years, these demons had been trapped in Nippur, unable to commit the atrocities and destruction they craved. These inherently evil beings, who found joy only in tormenting and destroying others, had been forcibly restrained until recently, when they finally tasted blood by slaughtering the Japanese Awakeners.
They had been warned that their current targets might be strong and that they might be followers of the Benevolent Gods. This was exactly why they had prepared so thoroughly, launching an all-out assault with their full strength.
Yet, despite these preparations, the demons were being ruthlessly slaughtered.
It began with silver crescent-shaped sword energy effortlessly cleaving through demonic bodies, followed immediately by Han Shin charging into their ranks, spear in hand.
The demons had assumed they would be the ones taking the initiative. They were wrong.
Common sense dictated that with such superior numbers, they would swarm the humans, forcing Han Shin’s party into a defensive struggle of parries and counterattacks.
Contrary to these expectations, Han Shin’s party took the fight to them, attacking with aggressive ferocity.
Following Grace’s sword energy, Han Shin plunged into the fray, drawing the demons' collective gaze and drawing their aggro.
A human knight stood tall atop the corpses of their kin.
Han Shin’s imposing figure, clad in silver full body armor, felt strangely grating to the demons.
Perhaps it was because they had grown arrogant after their easy victory over the Japanese Awakeners, or perhaps it was because Han Shin, as the Proxy of Tiamat, possessed an energy that was fundamentally antithetical to their own. Whatever the reason, the demons wanted Han Shin dead more than anyone else.
Normally, such concentrated demonic bloodlust would exert a crushing pressure.
However, Han Shin felt neither fear nor burden in the face of their malice. If anything, their reaction only stoked his competitive fire.
The demons of Baal lunged at him.
But even reaching Han Shin proved to be a daunting task for them.
Grace, who had been unleashing silver crescent sword energy, leapt out from the smoke behind Han Shin and began butchering the demons.
The demons had relied on their magic resistance and physical capabilities, both enhanced by Baal’s Blessing. However, their morale crumbled as their bodies were helplessly severed by Grace’s sword energy.
Faced with an unstoppable attack, the demons fell into a panic, scattering and fleeing in every direction.
Because there were so many of them, they collided and became entangled with one another, only to be sliced apart by the sword energy in clusters.
As Lesser Demons wavered amidst the rain of black blood, the Mage Demons began barking orders like overseers.
“Attack! Do not retreat!”
“We have the numbers! They are just humans!”
A silver spear whistled through the air toward one of the shouting Mage Demons.
Thwack!
Han Shin had identified the larger demons in ornamental armor as the squad leaders and sniped them with a thrown spear.
The spear, thrown with the monstrous strength of the Power of the Dragon, was so fast the demon couldn't even react before its chest was pierced clean through.
Han Shin immediately pulled a new spear from his subspace. He cut down a demon charging at his empty hands and then steeled his mind, realizing the battle felt easier than expected.
‘Don’t get careless. There’s still a long way to go.’
Han Shin swung his spear against the demons swarming him.
Only after engaging him in close quarters did the demons realize that Han Shin was purely faster and stronger than them in terms of raw physical power.
The problem was that by the time a demon realized this, it was either dead or so severely wounded it could no longer fight.
The demons of Baal were characterized more by their magical prowess than their physical strength. While Baal’s Blessing did buff their physical stats, its primary function was a massive increase in magic resistance.
It was an effective spell against mages, but it left them defenseless against the raw force that cleaved and pierced through their bodies.
Laysia, who had significant experience fighting demons while defending Bürg as a follower of Tiamat, recognized them as Baal’s demons.
Knowing this, she didn't bother with wide-range holy magic. Instead, she used body arts combined with Qi infused with the Divine Power of Tiamat to crush and explode the demons' bodies.
Since they were so numerous, not all of them could fly; a vast number of demons stood upon the earth.
Laysia targeted these ground forces, darting between the trees to dive straight into the demons attempting to surround her.
Like a wolf among a flock of sheep, Laysia tore through them. She shattered skulls with her fists, burst hearts with her kicks, and snapped limbs until the forest was filled with the screams of demons.
Both Laysia and Grace were seeing the fruits of their month-long grind in Nepal.
Having reached Level 35, they had reclaimed more of their former power. With more of Tiamat’s holy power and increased speed and strength, demons of this caliber were trivial opponents.
Laysia, in particular, had over a decade of experience fighting demons as a follower, unlike Grace. She knew exactly how to handle them with maximum efficiency.
As she slaughtered the demons attacking from all sides, Laysia would lunged at any Mage Demon she spotted and eliminate them instantly.
It was a basic tactic: eliminate the mid-level commanders, and the rank-and-file would turn into a disorganized rabble. This held true for demons as well, making her movements incredibly effective.
Kang Yujin was thrilled by the fact that she could fight such a large-scale enemy, moving beyond the ten demons she and Han Shin had faced earlier.
Of course, it was best if Han Shin wasn't in danger at all, but since fighting these demons was unavoidable, she wanted to be by his side.
Though they hadn't been able to enter a dungeon together yet, fighting their true archenemies and threats in the outside world held great meaning for her.
Thus, she drew out and utilized her psychokinesis to its absolute limit for the first time.
The thought of fighting for Han Shin stimulated her, allowing her to focus more intensely and manipulate her psychokinesis with greater precision than ever before.
While one might think a psychokinetic doesn't need to use hand gestures, the power was a reflection of the user's will and mental strength.
Therefore, the gestures and movements she made while using her power were meaningful actions that made the application of her psychokinesis smoother and more natural.
Currently, Kang Yujin held her hands apart in front of her chest, slowly bringing them together as if molding something into a ball.
"Gah?!"
The demons hovering in the air reacted with panic as an invisible force—Kang Yujin’s psychokinesis—surrounded them and began crushing them together.
It wasn't magic, yet this force bound their bodies and prevented them from moving as they wished. This was a first for these Lesser Demons.
They were new entities born after the demons had been trapped in Nippur.
While some demons might have recognized the power as psychokinesis, the Lesser Demons caught in her grip did not. They screamed in agony as their bodies were pressed together without knowing why.
"Aaaagh!!"
The demons, who had once tortured and tormented humans in various ways, were now dying in similar agony as they were crushed.
Kang Yujin used her psychokinesis to compress the demons into a single mass of flesh and then hurled it toward the other demons.
Quite a few Lesser Demons were swept away by this "meatball," and the demons, absurdly enough, began to feel fear toward Kang Yujin.
A psychokinetic of this caliber was rare, and an extremely powerful psychokinetic was a lethal threat to magic users.
Those among the Mage Demons who knew of psychokinetics realized she was powerful beyond imagination and screamed at the Lesser Demons to target her.
If they didn't eliminate that human quickly, they would all die.
Kang Yujin used her psychokinesis to bind the body of one particularly loud Mage Demon and tore its limbs from its torso.
This act of deliberate, calculated cruelty caused fear to spread through the demonic ranks like a plague.