Novel Lived
Chapter 174: Special Grade Demon Realm (3)
[Translator - Prøks]
[Proofreader - Prøks]
Chapter 174: Special Grade Demon Realm (3)
Lost in thought for a moment, a faint sound of footsteps subtly tickled my ears.
Thud—
Straight ahead, about 30 meters away.
The ground deeply caved in, and the Orc King was flung back at a merciless speed.
With a thud— sound, a massive pile of rocks and dust erupted from behind the Orc King.
Before I could even register it, a merciless double-edged axe descended like a judgment upon Makan’s head.
However, spear energy materialized on the tip of Makan’s spear.
Simultaneously, the spear blade was dyed gold and its strength increased by Makan’s incantation with an open Circle.
Clang—!
A deafening roar erupted as the axe and spear clashed.
The Orc King’s axe, which was cleaving down from the air, gradually pushed back Makan’s spear blade.
Creak—
Makan was pushed back three steps, his arm muscles bulging as if about to burst.
Just as the Crazy Mage Squad were gathering towards Makan…
The Orc King suddenly leaped into the air, completely defying inertia.
It was a feint from the start.
“Iron, to your right!”
The moment Iron heard my shout from the opposite side of Makan, he quickly chanted without any hesitation.
4-Circle, Point Barrier.
As soon as a minimized, high-strength barrier formed on the right side of Iron’s face…
Crackle—!
The giant axe blade tore through the barrier like paper and struck down towards Iron’s face.
That split second was enough.
Dark lightning exploded on the Orc King’s face.
“…Krrr……!”
The Orc King, hastily retreating, looked down at his axe blade, which was half gone.
In the meantime, it had switched to a defensive stance and blocked the exploding dark lightning on its face with its wrist and axe blade.
I also looked at the Orc King.
Both wrists, directly hit by the dark lightning, were blackened and tattered, but still moving.
“…!”
A brief lull ensued.
Zion looked at the Orc King with a dumbfounded expression.
“That’s an Orc King? What a crazy bastard.”
It wasn’t a demonic creature.
A pure disaster-rank monster.
As I had heard, it was incomparable to a high-ranking monster.
This was the first time in my life I had seen a monster withstand two direct hits from dark lightning.
It was burning with fighting spirit, its face ferocious.
It was said that two 6-star knights from a vassal clan were needed to handle it.
It wasn’t an exaggeration.
Moreover, unlike ordinary orcs, this one wasn’t just physically strong.
It had focused our attention on Makan and targeted Iron, who had the slowest reaction time, trying to weaken our forces.
It was a cunning creature.
A tricky opponent even among disaster-rank monsters.
It was clear that if we fought this creature head-on, it would be difficult for anyone except Makan, Arin, and Palge to last even a few minutes.
“Krrr……!”
Makan burned with fighting spirit as the Orc King ferociously roared and scanned its surroundings.
“A strong opponent. I will also give it my all.”
“There’s no time for that.”
I blocked Makan’s path.
“Save your fighting spirit for later. Let’s finish this guy quickly.”
The circular staircase behind the Orc King kept catching my eye.
There's no telling what might be beyond it.
The tower, Parin’s secret letter, the direct descendant of the Bellusia clan.
It could be true, or it could be false.
Whatever it was, one thing was certain: this demon realm was not normal.
“Everyone attack together and draw its attention. I’ll finish it in one blow.”
At my signal, the Crazy Mage Squad all charged at the Orc King simultaneously.
Whoosh—!
Fire and wind surged, distracting the Orc King.
Palge’s incantation flashed with light, limiting its vision.
Crackle—!
In the meantime, a powerful electric current struck down on the Orc King’s head.
Makan’s spear blade, appearing through the light, aimed straight for its heart.
Clang—
At the same time, the Crazy Mage Squad’ attacks were deflected.
“Sigh. Everyone get out of the way.”
The Orc King only took a defensive stance with its axe blade, focusing all its attention on me.
In this case, diversions were useless.
Whiiiiing—
While the Crazy Mage Squad retreated, I opened all the Circles in my heart and gathered wind pressure in my fist.
The Orc King, as if sensing that the situation would only end if it killed me, pointed its half-broken axe blade straight at me.
Thud—!
I dug my toes deep into the ground. A crouch for a single leap.
“Towards the unbroken cliff face…”
In line with my chant, a powerful energy began to swirl around the Orc King’s axe blade.
“An unwavering fighting spirit.”
5-Circle shock type, Shock Wave.
Thud—!
The Orc King and I charged towards each other simultaneously.
My fist glowed yellow as the materialized earth attribute mana condensed.
I thrust my fist straight towards the Orc King’s axe blade.
Fwhooooosh—!
Indeed, a monstrous creature.
The Orc King’s axe blade gradually pierced through the shock wave surrounding my fist and dug into my skin.
“You idiot Commander!”
Zion was the first to rush towards me, shouting urgently.
The difference between the past me and the current me…
Was that I wasn’t limited to using magic from just one dimension.
I had already practiced countless times for this kind of moment. It was just a matter of making it look natural.
Just before a cruel delight appeared in the Orc King’s eyes…
Black lightning erupted within the fading Shock Wave.
The dark lightning that I had kept within the shock-type incantation revealed itself.
Noticing this, the Orc King hurriedly withdrew its axe and retreated, but it was already too late.
A shock-type incantation that strikes the opponent's body to inflict internal shock.
The moment the shock wave of the Shock Wave grazed the Orc King's upper body, the dark lightning contained within it struck the Orc King's heart through its body.
There was no sound of impact.
Thud—!
Only the sound of the Orc King collapsing could be heard.
Zion, who had stopped running, shouted in surprise,
“Wh-what?”
It happened in an instant, so none of the Crazy Mage Squad could grasp what had occurred.
Arin, looking down at the fallen Orc King, muttered,
“It’s dead.”
“It died from one punch?”
Zion looked at me as if demanding an explanation.
"It's a new technique."
"And that is...?"
Since it was an important question, I decided I owed him an answer. I had a few names prepared for situations like this.
First option: a name reflecting how only I could use it.
"How about The Crazy Mage's Secret Punch?"
"...."n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
Judging from their expressions, that wasn't it.
Next idea: something to represent the fusion of yin dimensional mana and natural mana.
The harmony of yin and yang.
"How about Yin-Yang Strike?"
"...."
That wasn't it either.
“Actually, it has a different real name.”
“What is it?”
“Hidden Strength.”
“That’s not very good.”
“There’s nothing else. Let’s go with Hidden Strength.”
“I said it’s not good.”
“Sigh.”
Somehow annoyed, I flicked Zion’s forehead with the slingshot and looked at the circular staircase at the end of the passage.
“We don’t have time. Let’s go.”
“Take this.”
Arin, who was searching the body, found the dark double-edged axe stuck behind the Orc King’s back and handed it to me.
As soon as I scratched the surface with a red dagger, sparks flew.
“It’s a weapon.”
Its strength was comparable to Hundred-Year Cold Iron.
It was smaller than I thought.
Small enough to be worn on my waist.
***
Leaving the Orc King’s corpse behind, we entered the circular staircase.
This time, I led the way to the upper level.
The passage was narrow, and it was still dark all around.
As we climbed the spiral staircase that stretched vertically upwards, doubts grew stronger in my mind.
‘The more I look at it, the more it really seems like a tower.’
Splash—
The floor became muddy as we climbed the stairs.
Raindrops began to fall again, one or two at a time.
“It seems like we’re almost there.”
Drip— Drip—
The intervals between the sounds of water drops falling from the ceiling were getting shorter and shorter.
It meant that we were not far from the top.
I continued to climb the stairs while examining the walls, but there were still no signs of anything unusual.
My vision grew darker and darker.
I refrained from using any magic to keep my senses as sharp as possible, but it was a different story when my vision was completely obscured.
Whoosh—
As soon as I lit a fire, I sensed something strange.
“Huh?”
The Crazy Mage Squad also each cast fireballs, and let out exclamations of surprise.
There was no wind, and no water had been splashed on them.
Whoosh—
The same thing happened.
As soon as they lit up, they went out.
“Stop.”
The Crazy Mage Squad at the rear stopped simultaneously.
Looking left and right, I could no longer see even an inch ahead. My entire vision was engulfed in darkness.
I was a man who could adapt even to darkness, but now even that didn’t work in this complete darkness.
Even when I turned around, I could only sense the presence of the Crazy Mage Squad; I couldn’t see them with my eyes.
It was then.
Whoosh—
As soon as I nodded, a sharp sensation grazed my ear.
“Ugh!”
At the same time, Ain’s scream was heard.
“Fatty!”
“The brilliance that covers the waves, Light Area.”
4-Circle light attribute Magic, Light Area.
The moment the light burst forth and my vision briefly cleared…
A figure, its entire body dyed in darkness, brushed past Ain and disappeared into the wall.
Zion muttered with a bewildered face,
“A monster?”
No.
That wasn’t a monster.
A figure of darkness that thrived in the realm of darkness.
I knew exactly what that figure was.
‘The Black-Clad Tribe.’
“It’s a Dark Elf. We have to deal with them using our senses.”
“What?”
A threat comparable to giants as a single species.
Aside from demons, they were the ones who posed the greatest threat to humanity.
Could it be that even the cunning Black-Clad Tribe had been turned into demonic creatures?
Palge’s light quickly faded away.
At the same time, darkness enveloped everything.
Strictly speaking, they were comparable to high-ranking monsters, but in the darkness, their threat was multiplied several times over.
However…
In fact, this situation wasn’t bad for me either.
“Everyone, get down.”
Whiiiiing—
Four Circles rotating in reverse.
I could sense the bloodlust moving swiftly from all directions.
Originally, the Black-Clad Tribe relied on their senses to fight, but I had no intention of doing that.
4-Circle Reverse Rotation.
Multiple Dark Lightning.
Swoooosh—!
A wave of dark lightning fired indiscriminately towards the front.
I couldn’t even tell where I was shooting, blinded by the complete darkness.
If you don’t know where something is, you just have to shoot everywhere, right?
A scream stretched out from somewhere, and then suddenly the darkness lifted.
“…”
There was no sign of the Dark Elf’s body.
It seemed it had been directly hit by the dark lightning and didn’t even leave a corpse behind.
The moment the stairs ended and the top floor came into view, I suddenly stared intently at the wall to the left.
A strange sensation as if my vision was being distorted.
As soon as I reached out my hand towards the wall…
My body was sucked into the wall as if someone was pulling me from inside.
“Commmaanderrrr!”
The Crazy Mage Squad’ shouts stretched out and then faded away.
Even when I knocked on the wall again, the same phenomenon didn’t occur.
It was as if I was trapped in a completely different space once again.
I was about to cast dark lightning, but then I brought my ear close to the wall.
The voices, presence, and senses of the Crazy Mage Squad.
I couldn’t feel anything.
“…”
Drip— Drip—
Raindrops fell one by one.
It didn’t seem like I had moved to a completely different place.
Looking to the left, I saw a sloped passageway, just large enough for one person to pass through.
Perhaps, another passage inside the tower.
I wasn’t surprised. Ever since we were transported here from ‘Hexen’s Tomb,’ there had been many strange things happening.
I was worried about the Crazy Mage Squad, but there was no other way. I had to press forward.
As I continued to climb the passage, the slope became steeper.
There was no ominous feeling.
There were no signs of monsters, the Black-Clad Tribe, or anything else strange.
Finally, reaching the end of the almost 90-degree slope, I arrived at the top of the tower.
And there was a small door.
“…”
I didn’t know why, but sometimes I had a hunch.
I couldn’t explain it, but there were times when I just knew something in my heart.
I rummaged through my pocket and put on the mask that the direct descendant of Bellusia had been wearing, then opened the door.
I deliberately didn’t use Magnus’ illusion. I didn’t know what was inside. If it was a high-level opponent, I might be caught as soon as I entered.
Creak—
Gray smoke billowed out like fog.
The interior was quite dark and spacious, with a large window on one side.
A figure with a cigarette in its mouth was looking out the window, exhaling gray smoke.
[Translator - Prøks]
[Proofreader - Prøks]