Chapter 33: Lord of the Flies (4)

DING DONG!

<Will you retrieve MRG-682 ‘Immortal Pseudo-Dragon’?>…… [Yes/No]

The moment I touched YES, the air split open and the entrance to the Magical Warehouse revealed itself.

KKIIIIIIK-

A hellgate opening with a spine-chilling sound.

From beyond the pitch-black abyss, the Immortal Pseudo-Dragon charged out.

[KRAAAAAAAA-!]

The Pseudo-Dragon roared in fury.

Its body was melting FLUMP FLUMP, pickled in acid, and its head was nothing but exposed white skull.

But.

DAEDAEDAEDAE_

The instant it escaped the warehouse, the Pseudo-Dragon’s body restored itself in the blink of an eye.

Its dark crimson eyes fixed on the Death Lord.

Soon.

KWAAANG!

Two monsters outside all metrics collided.

Explosions began erupting all over the lobby lounge.

KWAKWAKWAANG! KWAKWAANG!

With every clash, concrete fragments, glass shards, and steel beams rained down like hail.

While the Death Lord and the Pseudo-Dragon fought, I moved Cheok Junseong and Shin Sodam to safety.

“Phew……. This should be fine.”

I laid Shin Sodam and Cheok Junseong on the carpet.

Both were unconscious.

Shin Sodam seems to have collapsed from mana depletion. 

As for Cheok Junseong…….

Cheok Junseong’s condition was far worse than Shin Sodam’s.

His armor was shredded like rags, and large and small wounds covered him from head to toe.

Then Jeanne looked down at Cheok Junseong and said.

“These aren’t cuts from a blade. They’re marks from the flat of the sword.”

“The flat?”

Looking closely, there were no slicing wounds on Cheok Junseong’s body.

Only dark red bruises, as if he’d been beaten with something heavy.

Soon Jeanne explained the reason.

“In the past, Peter Winsfelt would attack weak beings not with the blade, but with the flat of his sword. In short, it means they aren’t even worth cutting.”

Like a fighter not going all out against a child.

To define Korea’s A+ rank 6 hunter as a “weak being.”

Just how strong is S-rank?

And furthermore, the Immortal Pseudo-Dragon that was facing such an S-rank……

At that moment.

KWAAANG-!

Building debris exploded outward as the Immortal Pseudo-Dragon rose.

Its body was covered in bite-like wounds.

DAEDAEDAE-

But the countless wounds healed in an instant.

At that moment, a pitch-black blade flew toward the Pseudo-Dragon’s flank.

CHWAAAAK-!

A slash infused with the Death Lord’s aura.

The moment the blade cut into the flank, pitch-black teeth immediately began gnawing at the wound.

[KRAAAAAAA-!]

The Pseudo-Dragon screamed in pain.

At the same time, its tail rushed toward the Death Lord.

KWAAANG-!

The Death Lord, struck by it, flew fiercely and crashed into the wall.

He immediately rose.

But the Pseudo-Dragon was also rapidly regenerating its wounds.

Five minutes since summoning the Immortal Pseudo-Dragon.

All that time, the Death Lord and the Pseudo-Dragon had continued fighting.

Moreover, in strength, speed, and durability, the two were virtually equal in every aspect.

Soon I shouted loudly.

“Hey, you! Pseudo-Dragon! Ten thousand years!”

The Pseudo-Dragon whipped around.

I raised my index finger high and yelled.

“Knock that guy down and I’ll shave off 10,000 years of your sentence! Another 10,000 bonus if you do it in five minutes!”

Proper rewards motivate labor(?), after all.

Sure enough.

[KROOOOOOOOOOT-!]

The Pseudo-Dragon let out a thunderous roar.

Its tail FLAP FLAP smashed the ground left and right; it must have really liked the offer.

Soon.

KWAAANG-!

The ground exploded violently, and the Pseudo-Dragon vanished from sight.

It reappeared behind the Death Lord.

Its massive foreleg instantly seized the Death Lord’s shoulder.

KWAJIK! KWAJIJIK-!

Curved claws like hooks tore flesh and dug deep.

The Pseudo-Dragon opened its huge maw and swallowed the Death Lord’s head whole.

But that wasn’t the end.

CHIIIIIIIK~!

Acid solution gushed from its jaws like a flood, beginning to pickle the Death Lord PUUK.

Boiling acid dripping onto the ground instantly melted the marble tiles into sticky mush.

But at that moment, the Death Lord grabbed the Pseudo-Dragon’s jaws.

And.

JJIJIJIK-!

The Death Lord tore the jaws apart top and bottom.

Immediately after, a jet-black flash grazed the Pseudo-Dragon’s foreleg.

SEOGEOK!

Dark crimson blood shot high into the sky.

At the same time, the foreleg was cleanly severed and fell.

[KRAAAAAAA~! KEUK!]

The Death Lord’s blade tip rushed toward the screaming Pseudo-Dragon’s chin.

The black sword instantly pierced chin and head.

The Death Lord lifted the Pseudo-Dragon and slammed it into the ground.

KWAANG! JJYEJYEOK-JYEJYEOKJEOK-!

With ferocious vibration, massive cracks split the floor.

Beneath the endlessly spreading cracks, crimson lava bubbled BUBL BUBL.

CHYEOK!

The Pseudo-Dragon fell into the center of the boiling lava.

Its scales glowed red-hot and burned, flesh, muscle, and bone beginning to melt.

[KYAAAAAAA-!]

The Pseudo-Dragon writhed in agony, trying to climb out.

But.

DEUDEUK- DEUDDEUDEUK- KWUNG!

The Death Lord plunged his fingers deep into the ground and forcibly closed the fissure.

To subdue the Immortal Pseudo-Dragon so easily.

I couldn’t believe it even though I saw it.

Natural disaster.

The strength of an S-rank magical beast far surpassed human common sense.

At that moment.

DING DONG!

<Warning! Severe damage detected in storage number MRG-682!>

<Warning! Severe damage detected in storage number MRG-682!>

<Warning! Severe damage detected in storage number MRG-682!> <Warning! Severe damage detected in storage number MRG-682!>

<Warning! Severe damage detected in storage number MRG-682!>

System windows spawning like mad.

Soon another system window appeared.

DING DONG!

<Will you retrieve MRG-682 ‘Immortal Pseudo-Dragon’?> . [Yes/No]

The Pseudo-Dragon would never die even buried in lava.

But that was all.

Flesh and bone melting in lava, regenerating, melting again, regenerating again.

Only meaningless destruction and regeneration would repeat.

I touched YES and recalled the Pseudo-Dragon into the warehouse.

The frantic system alerts finally stopped.

At that moment, Jeanne’s blade sliced through the air.

『Seven Demon First Strike: Gluttony Slash, Beelzebub』

The Gluttony Slash sword aura swallowed the Death Lord like a giant wave.

But when the pitch-black sword aura faded, what appeared was.

[……………..]

The Death Lord’s expressionless face staring this way.

The Death Lord spoke in a low voice.

[……How utterly inadequate, Jeanne.]

At the same time, the Death Lord vanished from sight.

And when I noticed.

He was already standing behind us.

In an instant, the Death Lord’s hand struck the back of Jeanne’s neck.

BBAK!

Jeanne powerlessly plummeted toward the ground.

“Wins……felt…….”

With those words, Jeanne fainted.

The Death Lord immediately fixed his gaze on me.

But.

Something was wrong.

PASSSSSSS

The Death Lord’s body…… precisely, the pitch-black swarm of flies enveloping his body, was crumbling like dust.

Soon, the Death Lord’s bare skin, once dyed black, was fully revealed.

A body covered in scratches, tears, and piercing wounds.

Burns from Shin Sodam, wounds from Cheok Junseong and Jeanne, even claw marks from the Immortal Pseudo-Dragon.

All injuries remained intact.

TUDUK- TUDUDUK-

The wounds tried to regenerate, then burst again, repeating.

…As if the Death Lord was deliberately suppressing regeneration.

Most eye-catching was the deep scar crossing his upper body.

It was the spot directly hit by Jeanne’s Gluttony Slash.

Pitch-black mana flowing from the wound was rapidly collapsing the Death Lord’s body.

Jeanne’s final strike had landed perfectly.

Then Winsfelt looked at me and said.

[Are you the one who returned freedom to Jeanne? She called you Master…….]

Winsfelt’s hollow eyes scanned me.

[But you do not seem worthy of teaching anyone. ……Yet she must have seen something in you to follow.]

“There’s a misunderstanding. We’re not that deep or anything.”

At that moment, Winsfelt extended his hand toward me.

At the same time.

CHIIIIIIIK-

The nape of my neck felt like it was being branded with a hot iron.

“……! ……! ……! ……!”

It hurt so much I couldn’t even scream.

Soon Winsfelt opened his mouth.

[I have engraved the Mark of Binding on you and Jeanne.]

“?”

[Those whose names are recorded in the demonic lineage will recognize you and Jeanne as the same existence, and the adjusted causality will entwine your fates even more closely henceforth.]

“??”

[If Jeanne meets death……. you too will meet death…….]

“???”

So if Jeanne dies, I die too?

Why insert such a poisonous clause without discussion?

[……Instead, I will give you something helpful.]

Winsfelt brought his right hand to his own chest.

At the same time.

KWADUK!

Winsfelt pierced his own chest.

Pitch-black blood poured like a waterfall from the gaping hole.

Unlike me, left speechless, Winsfelt remained calm.

Soon he pulled something from his chest and held it out to me.

A radiant crimson gem.

It was.

“A skill essence……?”

I blankly accepted it.

Winsfelt looked at me and continued.

[The other six apostles will not be like me. They feel not a shred of regret or guilt for selling out our homeland.]

Winsfelt’s body rapidly crumbled.

He looked at Jeanne and continued.

[Please…… take care of her.]

Soon.

PASSSSSS-

Winsfelt’s body scattered into black ash.

At the same time.

KUGUGUGUGUGUGU~!

The entire area began shaking violently.

The dungeon was collapsing as the dungeon boss vanished.

I quickly hoisted the three unconscious people and bolted.

Thanks to the strength and stamina stat increases from the warehouse quest.

…It’s not even hard?

Carrying three people while running, I was actually faster than before I awakened.

At that moment.

DING DONG!

<You have cleared the S-rank dungeon ‘Stairs of False Desire’!>

A message window appeared before my eyes.

Reading the text, it finally sank in.

“We cleared it. An S-rank dungeon……?”

And it was Korea’s first clear!

What kind of article would be on tomorrow morning’s front page?

I ran toward the gate with excited steps.

But there was one thing I missed.

The second notification hidden behind the dungeon clear window.

DING DONG!

<You have acquired a new skill!>

[New Skill]

『Seven Demon First Strike Secret Art: Gluttony Slash, Beelzebub』<S> [NEW]