Chapter 245: The Great Raid (7)
Chapter 245: The Great Raid (7)
Terotos and Maldicus had come to Korea with the bold ambition of crushing the Moon Shadow Party.
Seeing their long-awaited targets finally appear, they launched a ferocious assault, believing this was their golden opportunity. They had prepared powerful dark magic in advance and even readied mana cannons—devices capable of gathering and firing concentrated dark mana—which they had disassembled during the dungeon transmission to prevent them from being destroyed in transit.
There was a good reason why Han Shin felt the demonic pressure intensify the moment he stepped into the dungeon.
However, Terotos and Maldicus failed to achieve the results they desired. They had expected their opening salvo to kill at least one person or, at the very least, inflict a crippling injury. They had done neither.
"Dammit!"
Terotos, a demon with a bull’s head, dark black skin, and an ominous yellow glow in his eyes, spat out a curse. Beside him, Maldicus, who shared the same bovine features but with dark brown skin, let out a low, guttural growl. It was a natural reaction, given how poorly things were going.
Soon, however, a chilling sensation crept up the napes of their necks.
These two demons were veterans of countless battles over the eons. As demon counts under Baphomet, they had always stood at the vanguard, slaughtering any enemies who dared stand in their way. They had survived this long because they were experts at distinguishing between a winning fight and a death trap.
Even in the heat of battle, Terotos and Maldicus were keen at reading the tide of war. If they sensed an opponent they couldn't handle, they retreated without hesitation.
Did we make the wrong choice?
Having been trapped in Nippur for thirty years—after believing they had essentially secured victory over the Benevolent God forces just before their imprisonment—anxiety began to take root in the two demons for the first time.
While sending dungeons to Earth, they had reviewed the logs and concluded that the level of human Awakeners was pathetic. Though a few strong individuals existed, it seemed obvious who would win once the demons, with their overwhelming numerical advantage, began to fight in earnest.
That confidence had led them to dismiss Han Shin’s group as insignificant. They had based their assessment on the dungeon logs of Han Shin’s party—specifically, records from when Han Shin was still in the middle of his growth. At that time, Han Shin was undeniably weaker, as were his companions, Grace and Laysia.
Based on those records, Terotos and Maldicus assumed Han Shin’s party would be easy prey. Many other demons shared this fatal misconception.
"They are stronger than we thought."
"I agree."
From their low, solemn voices, the two realized that they both viewed the current situation with extreme gravity. Furthermore, their instincts were screaming at them, and they were about to find out why.
Vroom!
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
"Aaaagh!"
"Gah!"
Directly above the air where Han Shin’s party was enduring the onslaught, a massive magic circle manifested. A pillar of light erupted from it, striking the demons on the far left.
Then, the beam swept across to the right.
The demons in its path were incinerated, their bodies consumed by a pillar of light composed of high-heat energy infused with Tiamat's divine power. The mana cannons, forged from black steel and used to fire dark mana, also caught in the blast and exploded into scrap.
Seeing the initial strike begin at the left flank, Terotos and Maldicus instantly recognized the danger of the spell. They scrambled backward, narrowly avoiding the pillar of light. The quicker-witted subordinates followed their lead, but those who were too slow were caught in the beam and snuffed out instantly.
Flames roared, and smoke filled the air.
"Ugh... help me..."
"Cough... hack..."
A single sweep of a pillar of light had dealt a devastating blow to Baphomet’s demons. Most were vaporized without a trace. Those on the periphery who had managed to throw themselves out of the way were still caught in the fringes of the explosion; their bodies were scorched by the intense heat, leaving them to die in agony.
Many others were killed or wounded by shards of black steel when the mana cannons detonated in a secondary explosion. Even without a formal count, it was clear they had suffered near-total annihilation.
Terotos and Maldicus realized there was a powerful mage among their enemies capable of casting such devastating magic so quickly, but the damage was already irreparable.
The problem was that in this situation, there was nowhere to run and no hope for reinforcements. To the demons, this dungeon was now nothing more than a coffin. Only now did Terotos and Maldicus realize they had been far too arrogant, underestimating the task at hand.
The fear of impending death began to overwhelm them. These were demons who had spent their lives enjoying the destruction and slaughter of countless beings.
Terotos and Maldicus scrambled to gather and reorganize their remaining subordinates.
"Everyone, gather up!"
"If you stay scattered, you'll die for nothing! Survivors, regroup immediately!"
The two demons bellowed, their voices echoing through the dungeon. While intended to rally their troops, it had one fatal flaw: it revealed the leaders' exact location to Han Shin’s party.
Before the demons could even finish regrouping, Terotos and Maldicus saw knights clad in silver armor charging toward them.
A silver knight leaped into the air. The spear in Han Shin’s hand shot forward like a bolt of lightning.
Screeeech!
A sharp sound tore through the air as the silver spear flew toward Terotos with a momentum that seemed capable of piercing anything. Knowing he was the target but realizing he couldn't block it, Terotos threw himself aside in a pathetic display to dodge the projectile.
Thwack! Boom!
Instead of Terotos, the demon standing behind him was impaled by Han Shin’s spear. The weapon slammed into the ground with a sound like exploding rock. The impact sent stone fragments flying in all directions, and the shockwave tore through the impaled demon, liquefying its internals and killing it instantly.
Black blood trickled down the shaft of Han Shin’s spear.
Terotos stared, his mouth agape at the realization that he could have been the one in that state. His face was visibly clouded with terror—an expression he hadn't worn in a very long time. Not since becoming a demon count of Baphomet had he felt this way. It was the desperation of being in an extreme situation where he could neither flee nor resist, only wait for death.
Slash!
While Han Shin’s spear throw disrupted the demons' formation and drew their attention, Grace and Sitri closed the distance rapidly.
A faint silver sword energy flowed from Grace’s blade, cleanly severing Maldicus’s head. Maldicus had been momentarily distracted by Han Shin’s attack, and the opening created as he tried to turn around proved fatal.
Knowing full well that demons could self-destruct if given the chance, Grace drew upon Tiamat's divine power within her to push her physical capabilities to their limit.
In the early days of meeting Han Shin, this had been a high-risk maneuver with a five-minute limit, after which she would collapse from exhaustion. That was no longer the case. As Han Shin leveled up, she had received more of Tiamat's divine power through him, recovering much of her original strength.
Leaving a fountain of black blood spraying from the stump of the neck behind her, Grace ruthlessly slaughtered the remaining demons in the vicinity.
"Gah!"
"Aaaargh!"
Screams erupted from all sides, but they quickly began to fade.
Terotos couldn't believe his eyes. Had it even been ten minutes? He was stunned by how pathetically his forces had collapsed in such a short time. Faced with overwhelming power, he was experiencing true despair.
Clink-clink-clink!
Soon, death came for him as well.
Along with the sound of a silver whip sword extending into its whip form, Terotos saw the blade lashing toward him. Startled by the unexpected weapon, Terotos tried to move again to dodge.
However, he couldn't stop his left arm from being ensnared by the whip sword.
"Aaaaaagh!!"
The sharp blades bit through Terotos’s thick steel armor and sank into his flesh.
Sitri, who had originally aimed for Terotos’s neck, furrowed her brow slightly at the fact that she had only caught his arm. She was dissatisfied with herself; she believed that if she couldn't take down demons of this caliber in a single strike, she wouldn't be of much help to Han Shin.
Having witnessed the power of Irene—the new follower who had just effortlessly cast that incredibly powerful magic—Sitri felt a natural urge to grow stronger. She knew she couldn't afford to be complacent with her current level of power.