Diablo (1)
Conquer the Second Underground Floor
📍 Objective: Defeat 500 Demon Elite Soldiers and kill Boss Andras
📍 Current Progress: 0/501
🎁 Reward: ???
Seeing Choi Doheon biting his lip hard enough to tremble, Kim Jun couldn’t help but let out a laugh.
“I can do it. I can do it…”
The boy kept trying to steady himself, but the faint tremor at his fingertips refused to disappear.
Hell. Even the name alone was enough to press down on human instinct.
Kim Jun lifted his head and looked around.
Hell, Floor 3. [Andras's Seal].
Flames surged on every side. Lava cascaded like waterfalls, staining the cliffs red as blood.
Even the air felt hot enough to burn.
The reek of sulfur stabbed at his nose, so sharp it felt as if every breath would singe his lungs from the inside out.
And there, straight ahead, stood an upside-down temple.
“W-What is that…?”
The part that touched the ground was the roof.
The ornate spires and decorations that should have stood proudly overhead were driven into the earth instead, while the pillars and floor that should have formed the foundation hovered in the air.
It looked as though the entire temple had been flipped over and nailed into the world from the sky.
The crimson mist rising from the inverted pillars and shattered altar erased the boundary between earth and heaven.
This was a twisted temple, one that blurred even the senses of what was above and what was below.
“Doheon.”
“Yes, sir!”
“You ready?”
“Yes, sir!!!”
The boy’s answer was as forceful as a battle cry.
But Kim Jun knew better.
Against a difficulty that stood on a completely different level from the surface, how far would this young boy be able to hold out?
Even so.
He tightened his grip.
“Good spirit.”
Kim Jun smiled.
The clear condition for Hell, Floor 3, was to kill 500 Demon Elite Soldiers and the boss, Andras.
On the second floor, where he had fought alongside Park Minsu, two thousand demon soldiers had come pouring in.
But fewer enemies did not mean this would be easy.
The foes here were elite soldiers.
They were on an entirely different level from the common rabble in crude armor.
Black-scaled plate, axes and spears and maces that looked rusted at first glance but were frighteningly sharp in their weird, unnatural way.
Their frames were longer than a human’s, with bull-thick neck muscles that twitched and flexed beneath the armor.
The instant Kim Jun and Choi Doheon stepped into the twisted temple, those red eyes all lifted at once and locked onto them.
Thud!
Dozens of shields slammed into the ground.
In perfect formation, they took battle stance.
“Doheon.”
“Yes, sir!”
“Don’t get tense. You can do this.”
“...!! Yes, sir!!”
The boy’s shoulders jolted, but his eyes soon flashed and steadied.
[Monster Information: Demon Elite Soldier]
[Grade: C]
[Level: 20]
Right now, Choi Doheon was C-grade and level 13.
On paper, a head-on fight should have been impossible.
But—
Wham!
“Ghk!”
The first shield charge came flying in.
If a person was hit by a shield that heavy, it would smash them flat without question.
Yet Choi Doheon didn’t dodge. Instinctively, he snapped his fist up instead.
Bang—!
For an instant, fist and shield collided head-on.
The explosion of sound echoed through the temple, flinging dust in every direction.
One Demon Elite Soldier staggered and then toppled over completely.
[Monster slain: Demon Elite Soldier ×1]
“Th-That’s strange…”
Choi Doheon muttered in surprise, and Kim Jun let out a low snort beside him.
“Not bad, right?”
From the beginning, the nature of a monster’s level and a hunter’s level was not the same, even if the numbers matched.
A monster’s number was closer to a pure absolute value of strength and stamina, while a hunter’s level did not automatically include the skill and experience needed to wield that power.
That was why.
Just as a player could sometimes challenge a higher-level monster in a game, a hunter could bridge the gap with combat skill and sense.
“You can do this.”
“Yes, sir!!!”
As Choi Doheon swung his fist,
Wham!
Crack!
Crash!
Three elite soldiers were sent flying in an instant, slamming into the wall.
“Oh... nice. That last one was sharp.”
“Y-Yes, sir!!!”
With a single word of praise, Choi Doheon’s fists grew even faster.
He tore through the soldiers’ formation without showing the slightest sign of fatigue.
Knowing that Kim Jun was watching from behind made him fight all the more desperately and aggressively.
“Tired already? Want to rest?”
“I-I can keep going!”
“Oh? Really?”
“Yes, sir!!!”
At that very moment, one elite soldier came in from behind, aiming for the back of Choi Doheon’s neck.
Slice—
Shhk!
Kim Jun’s greatsword passed by with lazy indifference, taking the monster’s head clean off.
Of course, Choi Doheon had no idea.
He was convinced he was carving his own way through the battlefield, and so he threw his fists with even greater desperation.
“Hmm. You should be starting to get tired by now.”
“Not even close!”
Crack—!
“Sigh... good. This next one should really push you.”
“No, sir! I can do it!”
Thud!
“Looks like you’re really at your limit now, huh?”
“No!!”
Rumble—!
Bloody fists flared up again.
“Mugeok-Seom!”
“Mugeok-Seom!”
“Mugeok-Seom!”
Hundreds, then thousands of fists rained down.
And so one hour passed, then two.
All field monsters have been eliminated!
The boss room is now accessible!
By then, all the shrieks inside the temple had vanished, leaving only silence behind.
“Hah... hah...”
Soaked head to toe in sweat, Choi Doheon dropped to his knees.
When Kim Jun gave him a light pat on the palm, the boy’s face finally brightened.
“Good work, Doheon.”
“I-I can keep going!”
“No. That’s enough.”
Kim Jun shook his head firmly.
“From here on, your opponent is someone you can’t handle.”
“...”
The boy’s shoulders drooped, but Kim Jun said nothing more.
The ruler of Hell, Floor 3, Andras.
He was not a mere boss.
He was a lord of destruction and flames, a mad sovereign who turned battlefields into oceans of fire.
Of course, for Kim Jun now, he was nothing more than a chew toy.
For a young boy, though, he was more than enough to overwhelm.
When Kim Jun pushed open the boss room door, the iron frame let out a long, grating squeal.
A space drenched in red.
On the altar of the upside-down temple, a giant shadow sat waiting.
“Who are you?”
With a beastlike breath, a voice like wildfire rumbled through the room.
Its blood-red eyes flashed as they speared through Kim Jun.
“You don’t need to know. You’re going to end up under me anyway.”
At Kim Jun’s answer, the corners of Andras’s mouth split into a grotesque grin.
“Keuhhuhuhu... For a human to dare call me his subordinate. One of us will have to die here.”
The two monsters’ gazes collided head-on.
Red eyes.
But Kim Jun’s were the same.
The dragon’s pupils split vertically, and black-red flames rose behind his back.
“What are you...?”
“Kim Jun.”
Kim Jun gave his name in a curt voice.
Andras fell silent for a moment, then let out a snort of contempt.
“A cheat, then. I can’t sense anything from you except human energy.”
“A cheat?”
Kim Jun scoffed and lifted his greatsword.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, but I’d appreciate it if you’d just stand there and take it.”
Black-red energy surged up along the blade.
“I’ll only beat you down until you’re at 10 percent health.”
Andras burst into laughter.
“Hahahahaha! You’re out of your mind, human!”
The conversation ended there.
Inside the temple, where silence had fallen once more, it was Kim Jun who broke it first.
Step, step—
He walked toward the monster, never taking his eyes off him.
One step, then another.
In the instant their shadows overlapped and parted again,
Riiing—
A greatsword so enormous it seemed to spear the ceiling rose from Andras’s hand.
It was three times the size of Kim Jun’s sword and easily exceeded six meters in length.
“Kruuuh... Fuhuhuhuhu!”
Beastlike breaths. A laugh twisted into madness.
Andras’s blood-red eyes had been swallowed by lunacy.
Boom—!
When the blades collided, the entire temple shook.
A storm of shockwaves burst outward, shattering the stone statues hanging on the walls.
“Hmph. Not bad. Pretty heavy.”
“Hahah! More! More!!”
Andras swung his sword, then even hurled in a headbutt as though he had simply broken his own neck to do it.
It was combat beyond common sense, the movements of a mad beast no human could ever imitate, let alone copy.
Bang—!
Kim Jun’s greatsword severed Andras’s right arm.
Red flesh sprayed, and the sound of bone snapping rang out.
And yet—
“One arm’s enough! Kihihihihihihi!”
Andras spat out madness instead of pain and charged again, seizing the greatsword with his remaining left arm.
And when that too was cut away,
Crunch—
“Grrrr! Yaaahhh, ughh...”
Andras threw his head back and bit down on the massive greatsword with his teeth.
Blood pooled and spilled from his mouth, but he didn’t care.
Even as blood gushed like a waterfall from the severed arm,
Boom! Boom! Boom!
His charge only grew faster.
“Crazy bastard.”
Kim Jun gritted his teeth and swung his sword again.
Black-red flames erupted, and this time both of Andras’s legs were blasted apart.
Crack!
Everything below the waist was severed clean off.
And yet—
“Keuhuhuhuhuhu! Kihihihihihihi!”
Dragging the ruined stump behind him, he still forced his body forward.
Mad laughter shook the temple.
It’d be simple to just kill him outright.
But he couldn’t.
To contract with Diablo, he had to get Andras’s health down below 10 percent.
The problem was control.
Kim Jun’s skills were all strong enough to wipe out a B-class boss in a single blow.
But because he was trying to restrain them by force, the burden only grew heavier.
And then there was the demon’s unique regenerative power.
Gurgle—
Shrrrak—
The severed body parts kept growing back as time passed.
Andras regenerated even his cut-off limbs little by little, all while screaming like a maniac.
“Hahaha! Come on! Cut me again! Come back and cut me apart again!”
Forced to hold back his own strength while fighting an enemy’s madness, Kim Jun was caught in a maddening balance.
If he struck too hard, it would be over. If he struck too lightly, the regeneration would catch up.
At the center of that impossible balance, he tightened his hand around the greatsword.
Not easy.
Just when Andras’s health finally seemed to fall to 10 percent, regeneration would kick in and drag it right back up to 11 percent, then 12 percent.
The lower his health dropped, the faster his recovery and attack speed became.
“Kihihihihi! Cut more! Tear more off of me!”
Watching Andras rampage in a frenzy, Kim Jun let out a faint snort.
In a way... he’s like me.
After a moment’s thought, Kim Jun sheathed his sword and stepped back.
The sealed boss room door creaked open, and the air from outside slipped in.
“You’re running away?!”
Andras shrieked, swaying where he stood.
“I’m not running.”
Then he looked to the boy waiting at the door.
“Doheon.”
“Yes, sir!”
“When I give the signal, can you hit him with your skill just once?”
“Yes, sir!!!”
Health control.
That was a job far better suited to a hunter short on power than to a monster like Kim Jun.
Once again, black-red flames erupted, and Kim Jun’s greatsword smashed down on Andras.
Boom—!
[Andras Health: 11%]
“Now!”
“Mugeok-Seom!”
Pow—!
Choi Doheon’s fist drove straight into the monster’s abdomen.
[Andras Health: 9%]
At last, the condition had been met.
Kim Jun’s lips opened slowly.
Bind the demon Andras under the name Diablo.
From this moment on, his will shall be chained to yours.
Penalty for breach: total annihilation.
Swish—
From the tip of Kim Jun’s finger, a black shadow began to rise.
It spread like smoke, then flickered like flame, stretching in all directions as though it had become chains.
Crk-crk-crk-crk—!
“Grrrhh, ghrrrhhhhh!!”
The giant body thrashed, but the shadow only grew denser, until at last it swallowed the entire monster whole.
And in the final instant, black-red flames shot up in a burst, and Andras’s roar was cut off.
Boom—!
Contract successful! Andras will become your servant.
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