Novel Catchup
Chapter 173: Special Grade Demon Realm (2)
[Translator - Prøks]
[Proofreader - Prøks]
Chapter 173: Special Grade Demon Realm (2)
Dark figures flickered from all the walls – left, right, front, back, without distinction.
I first glared at the left side where the screams had come from.
A blood-stained, fiercely sharp axe blade slowly emerged from beyond the wall.
It appeared as if it were crossing over from a completely different subspace.
A calf as thick as an adult’s torso.
Then, a monster, easily twice the size of Makan, revealed its massive form and roared.
“Krrr……!”
Just before the monster’s blood-stained axe blade swung down to split the head of another injured man…
A slight sense of doubt filled the monster’s eyes as it felt the sudden emptiness in its wrist.
Slash—
Only when a fountain of green blood gushed from its severed forearm did the monster scream.
“Kraaaaagh……!”
The scream stopped.
I had severed the monster’s arm with a wind blade and then smashed its head with a shock-type incantation.
All the Circles in my heart were already rotating.
Thud—
The massive body fell diagonally, raising a huge cloud of dust.
Simultaneously, monsters began to appear from all directions at once.
“Sp-Special grade demon realm……!”
None of the orcs appearing from all directions were ordinary.
They were the same size as the one we had seen in the depths of ‘Hexen’s Tomb’ before.
Great Warriors, high-ranking monsters.
“Great Warriors! R-Run!”n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
Chaos.
Hardly anyone could keep their composure.
None of the people here had ever been in a special-grade demon realm, but everyone knew that what was happening now couldn’t occur in a Level 1 demon realm.
If high-ranking monsters appeared in such numbers from the very beginning…
There could only be one explanation.
A special-grade demon realm.
The pressure of the fear of annihilation caused everyone, mages and knights alike, to freeze.
The heir of the Parmaus clan also managed to raise his sword, but his body kept trembling.
A typical reaction of those who had never experienced a life-or-death battle.
Observing the situation, I said,
“Scatter.”
My subordinates nodded simultaneously and dispersed in all directions.
I also ran towards the two Great Warriors appearing from the front.
Efficiency-wise, it would be more effective to gather them and deal with them all at once, but…
‘That’s not possible.’
There were too many people to manifest wide-range offensive magic.
It was also burdensome to use dark lightning or dark explosions. People could get caught in the crossfire.
In the end, there was no choice but to deal with them one by one.
“Gah!”
“Ugh!”
Screams continued to ring out amidst the chaos.
Several knights of the Parmaus clan barely managed to defend against one Great Warrior, and the situation on the other side was similar.
A Great Warrior required at least two 5-star knights from a vassal clan to handle.
If it were a Divine Clan level, one knight from Balthar or a mage from Samael who had reached the 4-Circle extreme could handle it.
But, except for the Crazy Mage Squad, there's no one like that here.
"Kraaaaagh!"
Utter chaos.
Thanks to the Crazy Mage Squad' efforts, the number of Great Warriors was decreasing, but the screams continued.
The cavity was too narrow, and the people and monsters were too entangled.
Only after a few more minutes did the screams slowly die down.
Just as I felt the situation was coming under control…
After smashing the head of one Great Warrior, I suddenly turned my head to the right.
Right behind where the knights of the Parmaus clan were tangled with a Great Warrior.
A dark axe shimmered on the wall.
Following that, a Great Warrior with black eyes appeared, breaking through the wall.
'A demonic creature.'
Crash—
"Gah!"
"Young Master!"
The heir of Parmaus quickly raised his sword and struck, but…
Both his sword and neck were cut simultaneously by the dark axe swung down by the demonic creature.
"No! Young Master!"
"...A mutant?"
I kicked off the ground and flew towards the demonic creature, chanting the Shock Wave incantation at its head.
Crack—
The moment the dark axe shattered and I grabbed the demonic creature's head…
I had no choice but to look at the other side once again.
Where the injured were gathered.
Another monstrous figure shimmered from behind them.
Another demonic creature had appeared.
Damn it, the distance was too far.
"Crazy Mage Squad!"
Unfortunately, all my subordinates were each engaged with a Great Warrior, so there was no time.
It was the moment when the demonic creature that had appeared through the wall swung its giant axe towards the injured.
Fwhoosh—!
Blair and Cliff, despite being exhausted, forcibly raised their mana and blocked the attack once.
But they couldn't do more than that.
"Kraaaaagh!"
As the roaring demonic creature's axe shimmered with black demonic energy and was about to strike again…
Fwhooooosh—!
A burst of light erupted.
As soon as the light flashed, the demonic creature that was swinging the axe was thrown back and rolled across the floor.
A translucent barrier surrounded the injured.
"..."
I smashed the head of the monster I was holding and slowly headed towards the injured.
The barrier disappeared in an instant, but I saw it clearly.
Clumsy, but definite.
"...Huff, huff."
Taylor collapsed with a pale face.
Black blood continuously flowed from his mouth.
That's right. He was the one who manifested it.
6-star, Reflection Shield.
While I was looking down at Taylor, Crazy Mage Squad members, who had beheaded the last remaining demonic creature, approached.
There were no more signs of Great Warriors appearing.
***
Light shimmered continuously around the unconscious Taylor.
Palge, who had cast several incantations in succession, let out a sigh with an exhausted face.
A moment later, Taylor, who had opened his eyes with a pale face, uttered his first words.
“...The people?”
Taylor looked around urgently and then staggered, clutching his head.
“Formation!”
“It’s alright.”
Taylor, who had shaken off Blair’s hasty support, breathed a sigh of relief only after confirming that all the monsters had disappeared.
Then, after glancing at each of the Crazy Mage Squad and checking the traces left on the corpses of the exploded monsters, he met my eyes and asked,
“R Ruin, is that you?”
“…”
“Thank you.”
“You foolish bastard.”
I looked down at him for a moment with mixed feelings.
It was evident that core magic lagged behind incantations, but Taylor’s talent, which had taken a step forward in the meantime, was still surprising to see.
Although lacking, he had definitely taken a step into the 6-star mana core.
But what was even more absurd was his stubbornness.
Was he trying to prove his words that he would walk his own path?
He used the most un-Samael-like magic, but perhaps he was the most Samael-like of all.
I looked around and said,
“For now, there are no signs of the monsters reappearing.”
The initial ominous feeling had disappeared.
Those who had potions were treating the injured, and the Crazy Mage Squad members were gathering the dead and wounded in one place.
The situation was calming down, but my heart was not.
There were too many casualties.
Screams and cries were heard from everywhere.
“Ander…!!!”
Chano was crying out, holding someone’s body in his arms.
I calmed my heart and observed the situation.
The circular cavity was still dark.
This couldn’t be the end.
I looked at Taylor.
“You take care of this place. You’re the only one who can.”
Taylor looked back at me.
Our eyes met for a moment.
“I’m going to try and figure out what the hell is going on here. You guard this place.”
I needed someone to stay with the injured.
Taylor looked at me with a surprised expression for a moment, then nodded.
“Be careful, Ruin.”
Taylor got up and walked among the people, quickly taking control of the situation. Blair and Cliff assisted him.
Meanwhile, I gathered Crazy Mage Squad.
“We need to move.”
“Let’s go, Commander.”
“But where do we go, nya?”
A dark passage on one side, and a circular staircase beyond it.
That was the only way.
“Follow me.”
As soon as we entered the passage, we stopped in front of the circular staircase that slanted upwards.
Thud—
It was too narrow to pass through all at once.
“Zion, you have good intuition, so take the lead. I’ll take the rear.”
We lined up and slowly climbed the stairs. Nothing could be heard except our breathing and footsteps.
“If you feel anything strange, tell me immediately.”
It was dark all around, but…
There was still no ominous feeling.
What in the world was going on?
We cleared a Level 1 demon realm, and another one appeared.
A double demon realm?
I’ve never heard of such a thing.
High-ranking monsters and demonic creatures attacking from the entrance.
Could this simply be considered a special-grade demon realm?
Screech—
The moment we stopped at the sudden noise, Zion whispered from above,
“Damn it, why is it so slippery?”
Splash— Splash—
The stairs gradually became slippery, as if filled with water.
Drip— Drip—
Water drops were falling from the ceiling one by one.
It was still dark all around.
It was quiet as a mouse, but we couldn’t let our guard down.
This wasn’t a natural phenomenon.
I put my hand in my pocket and briefly grasped the black mask.
‘Damn it.’
The direct descendant of the Bellusia clan, the one who died in the depths of ‘Hexen’s Tomb,’ definitely knew something about what was happening now.
Even after climbing the circular staircase for a long time, there was still no end in sight.
As we continued to move vertically, I suddenly stopped and looked at one spot.
The wall diagonally to the left.
A fine crack running vertically in the darkness.
‘Hmm.’
The moment I focused my eyes…
I felt the depth of the crack become more pronounced than before.
At the same time, Zion shouted from above,
“Commander!”
“Jump!”
With a crack— sound, the wall was torn vertically, and a giant axe blade appeared, grazing past us like a pendulum.
Crash—!
The stairs, directly hit by the axe blade, were half destroyed and began to crumble.
“Jump!”
I accelerated and leaped upwards with superhuman speed.
As soon as I looked back, the axe blade disappeared into the wall.
Crack—!
Simultaneously, an axe blade appearing from the opposite wall grazed past Zion, who was at the front, shattering the stairs above.
“Step on it and climb!”
Crash—!
Using levitation magic and the fragments of the floating stairs as footholds, we quickly ascended.
Looking up, I could see the end of the stairs not far away.
Makan, who was the first to climb up, was flung backward with a thud— sound.
“What?”
‘Expansion, Wind Expansion.’
I wrapped Makan in wind pressure and sent him back up.
At the same time, the moment I reached the next floor, bouncing off the fragmented debris as footholds…
Two axe blades flew at me as if to crush my body.
Whiiiiing—
3-Circle, Reverse Rotation.
Dark Lightning.
I concentrated dark lightning in my right hand and thrust it forward.
Swoooosh—
“Commander.”
The Crazy Mage Squad, who landed beside me one by one, looked straight ahead with serious expressions.
The monster reacted at the very moment the dark lightning exploded.
A disgusting smell wafted towards us.
The axe blade in its hand was a massive size, easily over two meters long, but…
The monster itself was no different in size from an adult male.
The orc’s right hand, grazed by the dark lightning, was still moving.
An Orc King.
A disaster-rank monster.
A completely different opponent from ordinary orcs.
The Orc King, directly hit by the dark lightning, looked at us with wary eyes.
“…”
But what caught my attention more than that was…
Behind the Orc King, another circular staircase spiraling upwards.
Zion’s voice, who was the last to climb up beside me, reached my ears.
“What the hell is that guy? He smells awful. And… Damn it, it’s not even a tower, why is there another staircase?”
I was about to tell him to shut up, but I nodded, realizing his expression was accurate.
The endlessly rising circular staircase looked as if it were inside an old tower structure.
‘Wait a minute. Tower?’
Suddenly, an ominous feeling washed over me, and a memory flashed through my mind like lightning.
[Number 7, meet the Clown at the tower.]
[Translator - Prøks]
[Proofreader - Prøks]