Chapter 32
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 32
Chapter Title: Practice Like the Real Thing (2)
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The moment she saw the giant cockroach charging at her.
Chae Seol-ah immediately deployed her magic.
"Hup!"
Right away, arrows of light formed following her hand movements. The created light arrows flew toward the giant cockroach.
Papapak!
The giant cockroach shrieked as it was pelted by the arrow barrage.
Kieeeek!
However, mere arrows couldn't stop the giant cockroach's charge. Aiming at the relentlessly advancing cockroach, Chae Seol-ah deployed another spell.
"Rise!"
With Chae Seol-ah's shout, ice spikes erupted from the ground. Like the quills of a hedgehog, thorns instantly covered the area around her.
Seeing this, the giant cockroach slowed its pace.
Kiek!
Its charge blocked by the spike barrier, the giant cockroach began circling around Chae Seol-ah. She calmly watched it while preparing her next spell.
After gauging the distance for a moment, Chae Seol-ah flicked her hand.
The next instant.
Pfboom!
An explosion erupted beneath the giant cockroach's belly.
Like a landmine detonating, flames surged up from the ground, piercing through the cockroach's body and shooting straight to the cave ceiling.
In a single strike, a hole had been punched through the giant cockroach's body.
Kieeee...
Confirming the cockroach's death as it let out its death cry, Kim Hyun spoke to Chae Seol-ah, who was panting heavily.
"Don't waste your mana."
"Y-yes, yes!"
Chae Seol-ah wiped the sweat from her forehead and replied.
Kim Hyun watched her for a moment before parting the barrier to let in the next monster.
After that.
Chae Seol-ah began taking down the monsters Kim Hyun sent one by one.
Aside from the physical strain, it wasn't all that difficult.
Though she did wonder how repeating this could possibly make someone stronger.
'I have to trust Kim Hyun.'
He said he'd make her stronger, so she had no choice but to believe him.
And so.
Finally, after Chae Seol-ah had slain over ten giant cockroaches.
Kieeeek!
Kim Hyun parted the barrier again to let in a monster.
But this time was different from before.
"Huh?"
Two of them.
This time, two giant cockroach monsters entered.
'D-did he make a mistake?'
Chae Seol-ah hesitated at the sight.
But Kim Hyun wasn't the type to make mistakes like that.
Tension crept onto Chae Seol-ah's face.
'I have to face two at once?'
One wasn't so bad.
As Kim Hyun had said, these giant cockroaches were monsters she could handle as long as she focused on her spells and avoided mistakes.
But two enemies?
The variables multiplied several times over.
'Can I do it?'
Chae Seol-ah swallowed dryly.
'No, I have to.'
She'd made up her mind to get stronger.
She couldn't give up over something like this.
Chae Seol-ah steeled her resolve.
Then she clenched her fist in the air.
Whoosh!
A bow of flames materialized in midair.
As Chae Seol-ah mimed drawing the bowstring, a massive flame arrow formed and nocked itself.
She aimed at the lead cockroach charging toward her, then loosed the arrow.
Pang!
The arrow whistled through the air.
It struck precisely between the cockroach's eyes. The beast shrieked as the fire arrow hit its head.
Kieeeek!
The next moment.
Perboom!
The fire arrow exploded, sending embers flying everywhere.
Kieeeek!
The explosion at its brow caused the charging cockroach to stagger sideways. The second one leaped past its stumbling companion.
Faster than expected.
'Defense first!'
Chae Seol-ah erected a barrier.
Kwang!
Kiek!
The cockroach slammed into the barrier and loomed over Chae Seol-ah, chittering its jaws.
She winced at the grotesque sight but bit her lip.
'It won't hold long.'
She knew it best herself.
This barrier wasn't particularly sturdy.
It couldn't withstand a massive monster like this ramming it for long.
Time to attack.
Chae Seol-ah prepared her next spell without delay.
This one was the summon of dozens of flame arrows she'd used before.
Smaller than the one from the bow.
She fired them all into the cockroach's underbelly.
Confirming every arrow had hit, Chae Seol-ah clapped her hands hard.
"Hah!"
Pubububang!
The flame arrows detonated instantly.
The sudden explosion in its belly sent the cockroach flipping backward, thrashing wildly. The damage was severe—its guts were spilling out from the torn torso.
Revolting, but encouraging all the same.
'Got it!'
One down; now just the other.
That was when.
A black mass surged from behind the fallen cockroach.
It was the first one she'd hit with the arrow.
It soared into the air, vaulted over its fallen comrade, and plummeted toward Chae Seol-ah from above.
"...!"
Chae Seol-ah's face drained of color as she bit her lip.
Kiiing!
A barrier enveloped her body simultaneously.
Kwang!
"...Kuh!"
She successfully blocked the attack, but the backlash from the hasty casting hit her.
Chae Seol-ah swallowed the blood trickling from her mouth and summoned an ice spear. She hurled it, piercing the cockroach's soft underbelly.
Kieeeek!
The cockroach wailed in agony.
"Die!"
Chae Seol-ah kept firing spears.
After dozens had embedded in its belly.
Kieeee...
Finally, the cockroach let out its death cry and collapsed sideways.
"Haa... haa..."
Chae Seol-ah gasped for breath.
Perhaps from overusing her mana in a rush. The physical toll was immense. She wanted nothing more than to collapse right there.
But.
'I can do it.'
Chae Seol-ah gritted her teeth.
Then she drove a light spear into the remaining cockroach, still twitching.
Kieeee...
She glanced at Kim Hyun.
Kim Hyun gave a short nod and parted the barrier.
Two more giant cockroaches crossed over.
'I can do it.'
Chae Seol-ah focused her eyes and drew up her mana.
There were still plenty of monsters left to hunt.
In the end, Chae Seol-ah hunted a total of thirty giant cockroaches.
She seemed capable enough, so I'd added ten more on my own judgment.
Of course, as a result, she passed out right after slaying the last one.
I looked down at the unconscious Chae Seol-ah and scratched my cheek.
'Did I push her too hard?'
No, she collapsed exactly after thirty, so I could say I'd tailored the mission perfectly to her limits.
That was my conclusion. I turned to look at Batori.
"Want to clean up the rest?"
"Ugh..."
Batori groaned at my words.
She clearly found dealing with cockroaches unpleasant.
But soon enough, she nodded as if she had no choice.
"Understood, Demon King. I need to test just how much power we brought over anyway."
"If it's too gross, I can handle it."
We could test in other gates just fine.
"N-no...? It's fine. I can't trouble you, Demon King. I-I can do it, Demon King."
She didn't look fine at all.
But if she insisted she could, no reason to stop her.
It was a hassle for me anyway.
While Batori dealt with the remaining cockroach monsters, I looked down at Chae Seol-ah and organized my thoughts.
'If I keep grinding her like this, she'll grow eventually.'
Crude method? I know.
But that's how I got strong. The only way to power up that I know is endless real combat.
'She'll definitely get stronger this way.'
I'd never seen anyone fail to grow after accumulating this much combat experience. Eventually, the growth comes.
Though only heaven knows how much grinding it'll take.
"Mm."
"All done, Demon King."
As I pondered, Batori returned from afar.
"How was it?"
"We lost quite a bit of power crossing over."
Batori scratched her cheek with a grin.
"Even this much is a strain on my body."
"Hm."
At that rate, we'd lost pretty much everything.
It was a shame considering what she'd built up until now, but it was her choice.
She'd abandoned it all without hesitation to come to my side.
No need for pity.
I smirked at Batori, who was grinning vacantly.
Well, she seemed satisfied, so that was fine.
"Let's head out then."
I picked up the fainted Chae Seol-ah and stepped out of the gate.