Chapter 121
Swoosh—! Thump!
With a loud thump, one of the giant heads of the demonic beast fell to the ground. Its head was heavy, and the neck was sturdy, leaving Baek Hyun’s wrist momentarily numb.
"Take a short break," said Kim Kang-Chun looking at Baek Hyun.
Kim Kang-Chun sent Baek Hyun to the back, deciding to fight Kakus alone for the moment. Despite losing a head, it was still going, albeit a bit weakened. The anger made Kakus’ movement erratic, making it even harder for Kim Kang-Chun to deal with it.
“Khaaa—!” The flames pouring out of Kakus’ mouth swept in all directions.
Kim Kang-Chun noticed that the flames hadn’t spared a single spot.
‘Tsk.’
Kim Kang-Chun bit his lips and plunged his sword into the ground, creating an explosion to block the flames.
Shhh—
He heard something cutting the wind and realized that it must be Shadow Archer's thorn. The first thorn brushed Kim Kang-Chun’s arm and fell to the ground. He frowned and was about to turn around when he heard Ha-Neul’s shout.
"I'll stop him!" Shin Ha-Neul shouted.
Shin Ha-Neul took a stand behind him in defense, so Kim Kang-Chun nodded toward Ha-Neul and charged at Kakus.
Kakus had a strong physique and powerful flame power. However, every time Kakus lost a head, its demonic power weakened.
Swoosh—
Kim Kang-Chun’s sword cut through the demon’s knee, spraying blood all over the ground. Kakus’ screams echoed on the battlefield.
"Good," Kim Kang-Chun muttered.
Losing a head had weakened Kakus’ defense. Kim Kang-Chun took out one of his swords from his waist and stabbed Kakus in the side.
"Khhaaa—!" Kakus, in agony, punched Kim Kang-Chun.
However, Shin Ha-Neul, who had approached Kim Kang-Chun unnoticed, blocked the punch and made room for Kim Kang-Chun.
"Get in there!” Shin Ha-Neul shouted at Kim Kang-Chun.
Kim Kang-Chun jumped up while avoiding the punch, stepping on the sword he had plunged into the demon. He instantly reached Kakus’ shoulder and looked straight into the monster’s eyes.
"Now!" Kim Kang-Chun shouted.
Kang Ji-Hoon, waiting under Kakus, threw the sword toward Kakus’ head.
Kwhaaa—!
Kakus’ second head spewed flames, but Kang Ji-Hoon's sword shattered in midair. The sword fragments became blades layered with water and sliced through the flames.
Although Kang Ji-Hoon’s magic had neutralized Kakus’ flames somewhat, it was not enough to completely stop them. Therefore, Kim Kang-Chun used his greatsword to block the flames and dove deeper. The flames burned Kim Kang-Chun, reaching around the sword.
"Keugh...!" Kim Kang-Chun gasped.
Kim Kang-Chun had dove deeper because he had assumed Explosion Swordsman would give a high resistance to flames. However, he felt he was about to lose consciousness due to the unexpectedly strong power.
His flesh was burning, but Kim Kang-Chun clenched his teeth and finally stabbed the sword into Kakus’ neck.
Swoosh—!
The sword then exploded, making the demon’s flesh and blood rain down.
‘It's done.’
A happy smile appeared on Kim Kang-Chun’s face. However, as his consciousness gradually faded and flames engulfed him, Kim Kang-Chun collapsed.
"Hyung!" Kang Ji-Hoon hurriedly supported Kim Kang-Chun.
Meanwhile, Kakus’ huge second head fell to the ground, and unable to endure the pain, he started to run toward the other side.
"Hyun!" Kang Ji-Hoon shouted.
"Don't worry," Baek Hyun replied.
Baek Hyun, who had rested enough, jumped toward Kim Kang-Chun. Unaware of Baek Hyun approaching, Kakus unwittingly exposed his neck to him.
Swoosh— Thump!
“Ha… ha…” Baek Hyun was out of breath.
Kakus' giant body collapsed. Below him, Baek Hyun was looking around with bloodshot eyes, breathing heavily. Countless demons surrounded Baek because he had ended up deep inside the demon's camp while chasing Kakus.
"Haha… damn bastards," Baek Hyun muttered.
Every part of Baek Hyun’s body was in pain. He clicked his tongue at the sight of the demons. Their number seemingly remained the same regardless of how many he killed.
"Let's see who wins," said Baek Hyun.
Baek Hyun gripped his sword more tightly. Then, a familiar demon appeared in his sight. It was the one with thorns all around his body.
'Shadow Archer?'
Shadow Archer’s condition did not look too great. Park Hye-Won and Kanoko's consecutive attacks had injured him. Shadow Archer’s eyes turned toward Baek Hyun.
Both of them were injured and thought it was an opportunity to kill the other.
Sssh—
With a loud piercing sound, a thorn—no, three thorns flew toward Baek Hyun. However, regardless of the thorns’ speed, Baek Hyun thought he could avoid such an attack.
"Bring i— Ugh!" Baek Hyun gasped.
A thorn had torn the muscles in his left arm from behind abruptly. Shadow Archer had distracted him with the thorns in front and launched the real attack from behind.
'Damn it… When did he...!'
Baek Hyun clenched his teeth in frustration. His left arm was bleeding heavily, and his body was begging him to stop, but he could not stop now.
"Baek Hyun!"
Baek Hyun turned his head when he heard someone call his name. He could see his comrades fighting their way through the horde of demons to reach him in the distance. While it might have been safer to spare Shadow Archer and join his comrades, Baek Hyun couldn't stand the smug smirk on Shadow Archer's face.
'That bastard...!'
To Baek Hyun, Shadow Archer's hissing and glaring seemed like an affront. It notoriously hunted from the shadows in battles, so Baek Hyun thought that he would regret it later if he missed this opportunity.
Baek Hyun needed just one shot. He was confident that he could end the demon if he could just hit it once. Shadow Archer couldn’t shoot multiple arrows without any downtime, so this was an opportunity for Baek Hyun.
'I don’t wanna regret missing this chance.'
Baek Hyun was determined to kill Shadow Archer. He gripped his sword tightly, imbued mana into his legs, and charged forward.
In an instant, Baek Hyun was near the demons. Attacks from the demons came at him from all directions. He swung his sore arm and sliced through one of the demons.
Slash—
One head fell to the ground. Baek Hyun swung again, and another head fell.
Slash— Slash— Slash—
In a short time, Baek Hyun had chopped the arms, legs, shoulders, and heads of many demons. He was now quite close to Shadow Archer’s position, so he quickly swung his sword a dozen more times.
Sssh—
Shadow Archer's thorns came flying again, but dodging them was not difficult since Shadow Archer couldn’t use shadows yet. However, a wolf-like demonic beast was also simultaneously trying to claw at him.
If Baek Hyun dodged the thorns, he would be ripped apart by the claws, and if he blocked or dodged the claws, the thorns would riddle him. Besides, Baek Hyun had to save up his mana to deal with Shadow Archer and escape.
'I'll give up one arm.'
His left arm was already a bloody, gory mush, so he decided that any more damage to it would be inconsequential. Then, Baek Hyun raised his left arm toward the incoming thorns.
Swoosh— Swoosh— Swoosh—
"Keugh!" Baek Hyun groaned in pain.
Three thorns pierced his left arm, and the poison seeped into his body. He then almost simultaneously spun his body to rent the wolf-like demonic beast with the sword in his right hand.
Baek Hyun felt like he would faint, but he gritted his teeth and kept moving. If he got pushed back now, his sacrifices would be for nothing.
He was now an arm's length away from Shadow Archer. He could see Shadow Archer crouch again to shoot another set of thorns.
Since Baek Hyun could no longer move his left arm, he bit the sword with his teeth and drew a mana circle in the air with his right hand. Shadow Archer momentarily felt numb as the mana circle poured out cold air. And that moment was enough.
Crack—
Baek Hyun quickly moved the sword to his right hand from his mouth and stabbed Shadow Archer. The thick thorns broke, and his sword pierced through the thin shell of the demon.
"Die!" Baek Hyun shouted, possessed by rage.
He had finally killed this annoying guy.
‘Now, I just have to get out of her—’
Swish—?
"Keuugh… huh…”
A dark red demonic power had emerged from the darkness and pierced Baek Hyun’s abdomen. Baek Hyun dropped the sword in shock and fell to the ground. His vision became hazy, but he saw the demon who had attacked him.
The demon appeared fearsome, clad in black armor adorned with horns on his head and wielding a black sword in his right hand.
"Shit! Baek Hyun!”
"Hyung!"
"No! Stop! Oppa!"
Baek Hyun could hear the urgent voices of his comrades nearby as they fought their way through the demon horde, ignoring their own injuries. He tried to hold on to his consciousness, but his vision blurred. He saw the demon channeling his mana to strike him again.
‘No…’
Baek Hyun could not say anything. He froze the wound to stop the bleeding and then lost consciousness. Kanoko, also running toward him with the others, was shocked when she saw that armor-clad demon.
Was she mistaken? She rubbed her eyes and realized that it was indeed the demonized human that usually appeared in the third demon force.
"He’s Belzark! A Solo Digit! Number nine!” Kanoko shouted, now sure of the enemy’s identity.
Park Hye-Won urgently looked at Belzark. The demonic power emanating from this demon was scary.
"Fuck!" Park Hye-Won sent a demonic beast nearby flying with her magic and took a stand there, holding her wand.
Kang Ji-Hoon and Shin Ha-Neul moved quickly to save Baek Hyun, and Belzark was trying to impale him with his sword.
[Pale Gun]
An invisible wind bullet flew toward Belzark. Belzark changed the direction of his sword, now aiming for Park Hye-Won.
[Terrain Movement]
Seeing that, Kanoko quickly used her skill. As the ground shook, Kanoko moved Park Hye-Won close to herself. Consequently, Belzark’s sword mowed dozens of demonic beasts instead.
"Thank you," said Park Hye-Won.
"No worries, but... What do we do now?" Kanoko looked worried.
The appearance of a Solo Digit was a disaster for the challengers, as capturing a double-digit demon alone was difficult enough for them. It would’ve been tough to deal with it even if they were in tip-top condition, but they were all currently exhausted and injured. Therefore, they had no choice but to escape somehow.
"Kogo!" Kanoko shouted.
"Darn it! I don't know if I’ll be able to do this!” Kogo shouted back.
Inyuu Kogo, who had been protecting Park Hye-Won and Kanoko, poured out his mana with a frown. Flames shot up in all directions, and the flames moved around like living things, separating the challengers from the demons.
"Take advantage of this gap!" Kogo shouted.
Meanwhile, Kang Ji-Hoon and Shin Ha-Neul rescued Baek Hyun, who had collapsed. Fortunately, he seemed to be alive but was in grave condition.
"What about Shadow Archer?" Park Hye-Won asked the two who had saved Baek Hyun.
"Baek Hyun killed him," said Kang Ji-Hoon.
Kang Ji-Hoon’s words made Park Hye-Won breathe a sigh of relief.
"We don't have time to hesitate! Move quickly!" Inyuu Kogo shouted.
The demonic beasts began to throw themselves into Kogo’s flames, seemingly unafraid of death. Soon, the corpses of the demons piled up in the fire.
Swoosh— Bang!
A thick sword covered with demonic power had pierced through the flames and landed near the challengers. Belzark had thrown the sword without caring about the mounting casualties on his side.
"Keugh!"
Kang Ji-Hoon and Shin Ha-Neul, who had blocked the sword's spell, fell back. And Inyuu Kogo sweated profusely as his mana depleted. Kanoko looked for a way to escape.
In the distance, she could see allies approaching them to help these people.
‘No. If they come, only our death toll will increase.’
Kanoko was failing to devise a solution. The demons were gathering. Kang Ji-Hoon and Shin Ha-Neul were injured from Belzark's attack and exhausted, and Baek Hyun had passed out.
Inyuu Kogo’s mana would also soon run out, so the only ones left were herself and Park Hye-Won.
‘Is this the power of a Solo Digit?’
Even though the challengers were exhausted, the fact that Belzark could easily take down Baek Hyun and attack Shin Ha-Neul and Kang Ji-Hoon simultaneously was beyond her expectation. Kanoko could not think straight.
They hadn’t expected Belzark to show up here, so the current situation was utterly out of the control room's expectations. Meanwhile, Belzark calmly approached the challengers, walking through the flames.
"Die, you idiots!" Belzark shouted.
His voice sounded like metal scraping. Belzark smirked and shot his demon power at the challengers. The challengers' faces stiffened with nervousness, but a black lightning bolt fell from the sky.
Craaack—! Bababam—!
With a loud noise, the ground began to shake. A large Skeleton appeared from the sky and landed on the ground.
“Master!” Park Hye-Won shouted in excitement."Is that you… Mr. Lee Shin?” Kanoko was surprised.
Park Hye-Won and Kanoko called out to Lee Shin. Even though they could not see his figure, they could tell it was Lee Shin from the Skeleton and the black lightning bolt. One person descended from the giant Skeleton, and it was Lee Shin.
"Master! Hyun is…” Park Hye-Won teared up and explained the situation to Lee Shin.
Lee Shin turned around and looked at Baek Hyun, who was gasping for breath and looked bloodied and battered. His expression stiffened, and he walked toward Baek Hyun. However, a dark red demonic power attack flew toward Lee Shin.
Bang—!
As if he had expected it, Lee Shin created a shield by gathering mana with his left hand, blocking the demon’s attack. Then, he glared at Belzark coldly.
"Wait just a second. I'll kill you soon," said Lee Shin authoritatively.
Belzark’s expression hardened, and he gritted his teeth.
"You arrogant bastard!"
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