< Chapter 162. Solo. End of the Penalty Game. >
***Shu!***
That energy forced Wiroong and the surviving guild members to retreat. Krazen's guild members, on the other hand, drew their weapons and stood firm against the energy. The black-robed mage, in particular, who covered his entire body, drew a long, silver-white staff and easily deflected the dark energy spreading around him.
"This..." The white light emitted from that staff, very similar to the staff used to create the Holy Spirit's barrier, repelled the incoming dark energy and protected the guild members on his side. As if reacting to the light, the mage's black robes began to turn white, and silver letters appeared on them.
***Kwaaang!***
Meanwhile, Krazen and Krosino continued to swing their weapons at each other. Krosino seemed to enjoy fighting Krazen, but then he frowned and retreated.
"A holy knight?" Krazen replied, a sinister smile on his dark face. "Have you remembered the old days?" The hero chosen by the gods to seal him and the mage who assisted him. Not dark magic fed by the power of the demon world, not even human magic, but holy magic fed by the power of heaven. If it weren't for that man's holy magic, the exact opposite of his own power, it would never have been sealed by an ordinary person.
"This isn't something that can be learned just by trying, is it?" Holy magic was different from other types of magic. It wasn't a magic that could be learned and mastered, but a blood-bound magic. Even though it was sealed, the Demon King Krosino had taken sufficient precautions to ensure that all bloodline of holy magic would be cut off before that could happen.
"Cloyd is a place that makes the impossible possible." At Krazen's words, Crossino looked up at the sky and cursed. "Damn bastard! You tricked me!"
At that moment, a holy mage dressed entirely in white extended his staff, and an intense white light spread out, enveloping him.
"Aaaah!"
***Squish!***
Breaking through the white light that had momentarily enveloped him, Crossino lunged at the mage. "Is that all?"
***Kuk!***
The moment the five knights blocked the black sword that fell from above the holy knight's head, his knees buckled, and Krazen shielded the man from behind.
***Kakakang!***
After exchanging a few blows, he pushed Krosino away and opened his mouth. "You made a deal with the Demon King who could destroy the world and borrowed his power, yet you didn't take this level of security measures?"
"Hmph! You think an ordinary holy weapon can stop me?"
"No way. These holy priests and knights are a backup plan to stop me. If the demon's power engulfs me, they'll kill me. They didn't even consider fighting the demon king."
Hearing this, Seo-woon nodded silently. "I knew he was ambitious, but he was willing to risk his life for this."
The battle between Krazen's group and Krosino continued for a while. As the two began to use all their strength, the surrounding forest turned upside down, and an open field began to form.
***Kwaaang!***
"You can't defeat me with the attack of a holy knight who has only awakened once!"
***Tukang!***
Krosino's sword finally broke through Krazen's defenses and struck his chest. Krazen's expression hardened as his armor cracked and was repelled.
"My lord. This is too much. Let's end it here. We've already passed the limit of survival. There's no need to strain yourselves and make the demon stronger." At the white-robed wizard's words, Krazen looked at Krosino with a heavy expression.
As an epic beast, he was the strongest he had ever faced. He was more interested in hunting it and retrieving its items than in the game's score. It was a daily struggle to survive as the prince of Crescen. He had risked his life several times, crossing dangerous bridges, acquiring followers and leading them to the central political arena. Only through such a process could he maintain his identity as the prince of Crescen and survive.
In the midst of my days of merely surviving, I joined Cloyd and gained the strength to fight not only to defend what I had, but to take what was mine. Especially when I obtained the agreement between the Holy Spirit and the Demon Spirit, I saw for the first time the path to challenging the throne.
After enduring life-threatening attacks since the age of four, finally being able to tip the scales by threatening the life of his half-brother, only five years his senior, was a source of immense joy for him. It offered hope for a reversal in the past, where he had to fake his death when crushed and smile brightly even after losing something precious. It was the place. For Crescen, that was Cloyd.
When he learned that his greatest enemy, with whom he shared blood, had joined Cloyd, he applauded enthusiastically for the first time in his life.
For someone forced into an unfair fight from birth, the opportunity to fight him on equal terms for the first time was thrilling. Senrayno, the most powerful king in Crescen's history, called the Sword Saint. Senruk, Senrayno's reincarnation.
Although five years younger than Senrayno, he never considered himself inferior to him in the sword. Although he began five years after Senrayno, he believed he was born with far greater talent. Yet, he was never given the chance to openly display his talents. It was a life of injustice, one in which he had to smile even while being treated as half a man.
"Gairen. The world says I was born without the charisma of the Crescen royal family, and calls me half a man. Do you think so?"
The priest and the old knight standing beside her nodded at Krazen's unexpected words. "Your Majesty has Crescen royal blood, more powerful than any of the previous kings!"
"If you believe that, then let's try to catch the Demon King."
"Your Majesty! But..."
"It's almost time. I've always been worried about challenging the throne. Is this really enough? Can I really defeat my older brother, the so-called Mad King? If I hunt that special monster, perhaps it can give me the item that will relieve my anxiety."
The old knight lifted his face mask and tried to stop him. "My Lord! If you lose control of the demon's power..."
"Then I'll just be a human, unable to go any further. A half-baked Crescent King."
With that, Krazen ignored Nogisa's shouts and drew even more power from the Bifuraniq. With black energy seeping into the whites of his eyes, Krazen, who looked almost completely human, dashed towards Crossino with even greater speed.
***Kang!***
"I thought you were watching me put on a dramatic performance, thinking I'd made a big decision. Hahahaha." Krazen smiled at his mockery and opened his mouth. "Your comedy is more entertaining than my melodrama. A pathetic demon king who came to conquer and got sealed. Hahahaha."
Krazen's provocation worked better than expected, successfully enraging Crossino.
***Kaang! Ka-kaang!*** In an instant, the armor covering his side and shoulder shattered, and the knights behind him began charging forward.
"Hey... I guess we can't help him. Can't we just retreat?" Just as Weirong was about to nod in agreement, Seo-woon, who had transformed into Billy, shouted. "Now! Everyone, charge!"
Seizing the moment Krazen's knights charged, they mingled with them and charged towards the Demon King, and the knights, seized by his words, charged together. No longer having to protect the mages, they were able to run towards the Demon King with a lightened heart.
"If we capture the Demon King, who knows what items we'll get! They'll definitely put it on the list!" Hearing Billy's shout, even the warriors who had been hesitating and waiting for Wiroong's orders began to change their minds. After all, the game was already nearing its end. Finally, even Wiroong had no choice but to charge towards the Demon King.
Seeing the players rushing towards him with greedy eyes, Crossino, with a look of disbelief, gathered his strength and concentrated it into his wings. Just as he was about to swing his wings to slash the insect-like creatures with a single blow, he felt a sharp pain.
***Krak!***
Missing his timing, Krosino blocked Krazen's thrusting sword, and his own sword collided with the knight's wing. Even someone as powerful as him couldn't withstand the damage inflicted by the brute force of a creature equipped with Biburanik's power.
"This..."
***Kang!***
Just as he was about to deal with the pesky Krazen, he felt a sharp pain in his wings again. The pain was even more intense than before, seeping into his nerves.
"Damn insects!"
***Shhh!***
The players who ran towards the creature, which spun and spread its wings wide, were instantly torn in half at the waist and fell to the ground. The only ones who survived the creature's attack were Wiroong, Billy, and the Krazen Knights protected by a pure white aura.
"Hmm... The energy surrounding my sword isn't strong enough to pierce its skin."
Seeing his comrades almost completely destroyed, Seo-woon, who had transformed into Billy, thought to himself. If he had unleashed all his strength and used his blood bones, he could have pierced its skin, but he thought it wouldn't be easy to deal a fatal blow with a single blow.
"Not like this..." With that thought, Seo-woon said. He barely dodged the creature's attack and looked at Weirong, who was wincing in pain. "Except for one player who had his heart ripped out, all of Krazen's men are still alive."
This wasn't what Seo-woon wanted. After that, the two continued to target the Demon King's rear, striking and retreating, while Krazen's group fought a long battle at the Demon King's front line.
"It's dangerous to get too close!" Billi nodded enthusiastically to Weirong's command and rolled on the ground to avoid the Demon King's flank attack. To Weirong, Billy's skills didn't seem particularly impressive, but perhaps his innate intuition kept him alive, allowing him to anticipate the Demon King's attacks and dodge them like a ghost. Even now, he couldn't help but think that he had only survived by sheer luck, rolling wildly on the ground to obey Weirong's orders.
After the long, attrition-ridden battle, Demon King Crossino's patience was wearing thin.
"Kukuk ... Hearing the holy priest's cry, Krazen frowned in surprise. It wasn't easy for a powerful being from another dimension to bring all of its power to a divided dimension like the human world or the heavenly world.
Even if summoned, it would have to leave a significant portion of its power behind in its original world. In contrast, even if a demon king summoned to the human world died, his consciousness would return to his own world with the power it had left behind, allowing him to continue his distant life. Of course, the demon king had the power to break this restriction
However, doing so required accepting that due to the different characteristics of the dimensions, a significant portion of his power would be depleted, and if he died or was sealed in the human world, he would never be able to return to his own world.
Long ago, Crossino had broken this restriction and suffered the humiliation of being sealed by a hero and his companions who had appeared as if they had been waiting for that moment.
So this time, as soon as the seal was broken, he sent most of his power into the demon world without defying the dimensional restrictions. He wasn't foolish enough to expend all of his power in a fabricated dimension that wasn't even the real world. However, he was a man whose mind had been clouded by the humiliation he had endured from humans. It was the demon king.
"We just need to catch him before he breaks the restraints!" Krazen shouted as he rushed forward, the holy knight following him, and the knights had no other choice. Of course, Billy wasn't going to miss the chance to target someone who showed weakness.
As his true form began to emerge, shattering his original body, Krazen stabbed him with his blood-stained sword. At that moment, all the attacks converged on the demon king.
***Squish! Crack!*** "
Guh…The demon king's incipient transformation stopped, and Krazen's mouth gaped open, spewing bright red blood.
"It was you!!" Alongside his armored comrades, Billy, the recipient of the five energy streams that had passed through his back and into Krazen's chest, also began to transform and return to his true form.
"Ah. Are you looking for me?"
***Swoosh!***
As soon as he finished speaking, Seo-woon used his free hand to slice off the demon king's wing.
"Ugh! How did you get the Holy Spirit's power...?" Seo-woon's energy, unlike normal, was emitting a faint silver-white light. Not only his energy, but his entire body was emitting a holy light.
"This is how the world is, Cloyd." With those words, Seo-woon bowed low. Krosino's sword narrowly missed Seo-woon's back. Ducking, Seo-woon pulled out a stick from between his legs and stabbed it into the ground, then quickly retreated.
***Whoosh!***
Intense waves of silver-white light pulsed around them, engulfing everyone in the hall. Only Seo-woon, who was quickly moving away, and the priest behind him managed to escape the Holy Spirit's barrier.
***Kwaang!***
"You scoundrel!" Seeing Krosino excitedly slashing at the spirit barrier, Seo-woon smiled brightly. "As expected, you're still alive. No matter how hard I try, I can't kill you."
"So you're going to escape?! How long do you think this barrier can hold me?"
"Three hours. That should be enough time."
Unable to adjust to the sudden situation, the people inside stared blankly at Seo-woon when Ri-an secretly appeared from behind the holy priest and decapitated him.
"What?!!!" The moment the shocked knight let out a scream, Krazen, reverting to his original form, opened his mouth as he lay on the ground, vomiting blood.
"You were aiming for me from the start, weren't you?" Seo-woon nodded at his weak words. "Let's fight fairly the next time we meet." With those words, Seo-woon turned around and began to disappear.
"Come back! You worm! Come back…"
"Ah! Through that barrier. You can't get out, but the people trapped with you can escape." Seo-woon glanced back for a moment, then disappeared into the forest.
When Rian also disappeared from the arena, silence fell for a moment. Only the faint breathing of Krazen and Weirong could be heard in the hall. The momentary pause was broken by the first knight to move, followed by the other knights.
The battle between those trying to escape the barrier and Krosino, determined not to let them go, ended surprisingly quickly. All the remaining knights were killed, and Nogisa, who had lost an arm, managed to escape outside the barrier, ending the fight.
Glancing at Krazen, who had already transformed into a box, Nogisa frowned and drew a new sword with his unfamiliar left hand. "My lord. I will surely avenge you." As the old knight spoke this with eyes burning with anger, a whisper that made his hair stand on end came from behind him.
"That will not happen in this game."
—***Suck!***
Simultaneously with the whisper, five powerful streams of energy pierced his back and shot towards his chest. Seo-woon, who was thought to have gone to hunt down the remaining players, appeared behind him and ended the old knight's life.
"Hmph. Even a demon king like you doesn't know how to catch a human. Isn't that pathetic? That's why you were sealed by a human. A worthless piece of trash."
"What did you say!! You scoundrel!!" Krosino got excited, rolling his eyes as he gathered his strength and slammed it against the barrier.
"Give up. You can't unleash your full power inside that barrier." With that, Seo-woon focused on Hwagyeonggeumjeong and set off to find the other hiding players.
#
"Guh!!" Seo-woon let out a deep breath after hitting his last enemy's heart with his clay. "Phew. This game was dangerous."