novelraw Chapter 53 : Minor Demon Realm (3)
Chapter 53 : Minor Demon Realm (3)
Minor Demon Realm (3)
All throughout, blue flames blossomed on the snowy mountain that had always been shrouded in darkness.
It was beautiful.
And dazzling.
My pupils slowly adjusted to this new brightness.
No words could suffice to describe the amount of blood and flesh scattered everywhere.
It was an unreal scene.
I'm surprised at myself for being fine even after witnessing something like this.
Guess I've become a true medieval person by now.
Boom! Boom!
It was the first time since the day I first met Plerine that I saw her at full power.
Back then, she had turned the impets to ash;
now, though, she seemed to be holding back a bit.
Still, with a single gesture of her hand, she killed more than a dozen at once.
Bam! Fwoosh!
'What tremendous firepower.'
As expected of a 5th-circle mage.
Even Ralph looked quite shocked and could only stare blankly.
"What are you doing, Ralph! Are you just going to watch?"
"... Huh?"
I tapped his forearm and moved forward.
Thanks to Plerine's magic, the snow was melting,
and the monsters from the other side of the Demon Realm were sure to come swarming this way.
"He's starting to act like Jeros."
I heard a jab from Ralph behind me, but there was no time to look back.
A horde of impets was charging at us from the direction Plerine hadn't handled.
I drew a utility knife with my empty left hand and locked onto my target.
Tick-tock.
A faint grid pattern appeared atop the frontmost impet.
I could anticipate its movement.
I threw the knife with the appropriate force.
Thud.
The utility knife embedded itself right in the center of the impet's forehead.
Riding its momentum, the impet tumbled across the snowy field.
But that wasn't enough by far.
I threw two more knives in quick succession.
Thunk. Flick.
Only then did the charging impet horde stop running in a straight line and start dodging sideways.
'Just like the game pattern.'
The impet's offensive capabilities were weak, but they were clever creatures that moved in packs.
Now they'd stop recklessly charging in and start cooperating more deliberately.
At that moment—
"You filthy monsters!"
While the impet horde slowed down,
Ralph impulsively dove in, shouting.
Slash!
With a big swing of his sword, he cleaved apart an impet, separating its upper and lower halves.
A crescent-shaped spray of blood soared through the air and splattered on the snow.
'Sure enough, Strong Sword is best against monsters.'
The impets got mercilessly cut down one after another.
Ralph showed off both his experience and the prowess of Strong Sword.
Even though he had inherited his rank late in life, Ralph was a veteran 3rd-rank.
Kudos to me for recruiting Ralph.
"What are you doing, Ian! You just going to stand there and watch?"
Apparently feeling more relaxed, Ralph threw my own words back at me.
"How about a bet on who kills more?"
"Sounds good!"
All right. In that case, let's get serious.
I darted forward, retrieving the utility knife stuck in an impet's forehead,
and drove a kitchen knife into the impet swinging its claws at me.
Slice!
The impet's front leg came off in a spray of blood.
I immediately stabbed its neck twice in swift reverse grip.
Thud! Thud!
"I'm at four so far!"
Since we started the bet, there was no way I could lose.
.
.
.
The air was thick with the smell of burning meat and blood.
The ground was littered with chunks of monster and sticky with blood, leaving no empty space.
There were now no living creatures in the vicinity other than humans.
Covered in blood, Ralph took a deep breath in satisfaction.
"Man. I can't remember the last time I saw such a fierce battle."
The look on his face was like that of a convict who had just broken out of jail.
In other words, he looked truly happy.
Well, after spending years as a perennial 2nd-rank security squad leader and finally reaching the 3rd-rank to freely hunt monsters, how could he not be thrilled?
Of course, I felt much the same.
My body was exhausted, but my mind was exhilarated.
'I've definitely grown stronger.'
Back when I first faced a horde of impets with a first-rank body, I'd felt like I was staring death in the face.
But now, I'd been able to slaughter countless impets.
It was a sick, but genuinely thrilling experience.
"How many did you get? I'm at 55."
"What? No way!"
Ralph protested, jutting out his big jaw.
Judging by his reaction, I'd won the bet.
'If we compare just raw power, Ralph wins, but in terms of speed, I'm ahead.'
I even tossed my precious utility knives around without a second thought.
Just for that, I ended up losing four of them.
"Come to think of it, we didn't actually decide what the stakes were for this bet."
Just as Ralph seemed about to complain in frustration—
"Great job, both of you."
Plerine came over and spoke.
"So... how many did each of you get?"
Her question cooled my boiling blood instantly.
Plerine looked almost exactly the same as when we set out, fresh and unblemished.
'Even if she didn't try, she must have killed at least a few hundred on her own.'
What a difference compared to Ralph, who looked like he'd just bathed in monster blood.
Well, I looked about the same as Ralph, anyway.
"Hmm? Why are both of you silent?"
Ralph, embarrassed, pulled out a rag and started wiping his blade, feigning indifference.
He was probably thinking the same as I was.
'Let someone else do the carrying, don't show off.'
Yep, the alpha and omega of this minor Demon Realm raid was clearly Plerine.
Kudos to me for recruiting Plerine.
"Plerine! You really are the best!"
"Wait a minute, boss—I asked how many you took down, didn't I?"
I ignored Plerine's odd remark and started walking around, scanning the area.
Victory on the battlefield meant it was time to claim spoils.
'And the wings of an imp are renowned as alchemical ingredients.'
Among the scattered chunks of meat, I searched for something that looked out of place.
Most of the intact meat pieces were long arms, legs, or heads.
'Oh, there is one.'
I managed to find a relatively undamaged wing.
It was heavy in my hand.
"Ian. Why are you picking up that one wing of monster meat?"
Ralph asked in puzzlement,
but I was more puzzled by his question.
"Obviously, to sell it. This is all money, my friend. Money."
Plerine nodded in agreement with my words,
but Ralph said with concern,
"You keep obsessing over money like that, and you'll really turn into Jeros."
I ignored Ralph's annoying comment and stuffed the imp's wing into my backpack.
"You looking for more of those, boss?"
"No. Even finding this one took a while. It's about time to head into the Demon Realm."
If time dragged on, more monster hordes would crawl out.
Plus, I didn't know what I'd find to pick up inside the Demon Realm, so I needed to keep my pack light.
"Let's go."
"Yeah."
We trudged across the sticky ground until we stood right in front of the Demon Realm.
Ralph voiced his awe at seeing the Demon Realm for the first time.
"It's even creepier than I'd heard."
I wholeheartedly agreed with him.
It looked just like a space surrounded by a translucent glass wall.
It was hazy, but you could see inside.
Everything inside seemed to writhe, melt, and split apart like a shimmering mirage.
Even the word "bizarre" didn't do it justice.
'And that must have been outpost number 13.'
Beyond the glass wall, a small structure, barely even thirty square meters, was crumbling.
The soldiers stationed at that outpost were probably now wandering the interior of the Demon Realm.
'Or they might already be dead.'
Hank had gone at it all night to rescue them, but
in the end hadn't been able to enter the Demon Realm itself, so I'd heard.
It was true that, unlike mages, most warriors struggled against large groups of monsters.
In any case, unlike Hank, we'd made it this far smoothly.
Now it was time to go inside.
"I'll go in first."
Plerine reached out to touch the boundary of the Demon Realm, but—
"Wait."
I stopped her, opened my backpack,
and pulled out something yellow and round, then peeled it.
"What's that, Ian?"
"Fruit. Here, try it."
It was a 'Korean pear' I'd bought in advance from the [shop window].
Ralph was a bit mystified by the sudden snack but, since it was food from me, he took it without a word and bit in.
He seemed sure anything I offered would be good.
"Wow. That sweetness is amazingly refreshing! Fantastic."
I handed one to Plerine too, then peeled one for myself.
Crunch!
〈 Your anti-demonic power resistance has slightly increased. 〉
Back when I ate napa kimchi and oxtail soup, my anti-demonic power resistance rose too.
I'd subsequently tried eating each ingredient separately to check.
The results showed that pears alone boosted anti-demonic power resistance particularly well.
'And the Demon Realm is an area where your stats drop if you lack anti-demonic power resistance.'
Crunch!
Crunch, crunch!
Fruit really hit the spot after a workout.
〈 Your anti-demonic power resistance has slightly increased. 〉
〈 Your anti-demonic power resistance has slightly increased. 〉
〈 Your anti-demonic power resistance has slightly increased. 〉
〈 You have eaten enough Korean pears, and your anti-demonic power resistance will not decrease (30 minutes). 〉
After confirming the system message, I gripped my kitchen knife and utility knife and reached out toward the Demon Realm.
As my flesh touched the glass wall, it rippled and began to glow.
Svring. Ziiiing.
In an instant, I was sucked into the Demon Realm.
From my hand, to my arm, to my shoulder.
【 Into the Demon Realm 】
【 Entering. 】
What was this?
The system voice sounded different from usual, somehow alien, and
when I came to my senses, I was standing in a completely new space.
I was inside a damp cave where fireflies floated through the air.
I hastily took a combat stance and scanned my surroundings.
If I was unlucky, monsters could be lurking right at the entrance.
Plop.
Thankfully, there were only bones scattered across the ground instead of monsters.
The sound of water droplets echoed through the cave. Plop.
Relieving my stance, I checked my condition.
My body felt ever so slightly heavier.
If I hadn't prepped my anti-demonic power resistance, it would have been quite uncomfortable.
Ziiing. Ziing.
The other two appeared behind me.
"Boss, what are you doing going in without saying anything?"
Plerine's voice betrayed a hint of annoyance.
'Well, since I'd already confirmed this was a low-level Demon Realm, I knew you guys would follow in right after me.'
She really did have a habit of overprotecting people.
"If you were so worried, you should've moved first."
At my response, sparks almost flew from the blind woman's nose.
"Ian, come here for a second."
Ignoring Plerine, I walked over to Ralph.
He was pointing at a spot on the cave wall.
"It's a bloodstain."
There was red liquid—hard to tell if it was from a monster or a human—splattered about.
A trace of battle.
'Hmm. Plerine was right.'
I could feel the intensity of Plerine's glare burning through her blindfold.
Well, everyone makes mistakes.
"I'll take the lead."
Before I could reply, Plerine started marching deeper into the cave.
Sheesh, she really could be stubborn.
Following Plerine through the tunnel,
we soon emerged into a chamber that had clearly been artificially enlarged.
In the center stood a monstrously ugly demonkin statue.
Beyond it were three branching tunnels.
By this point, it was safe to relax a little.
This was definitely a low-rank minor Demon Realm—
more precisely, "Imprel's Burrow".
"That thing won't move or anything, right?"
Ralph approached the demonkin statue.
"Don't get too close!"
Startled by my shout, Ralph stumbled back and drew his sword defensively.
"Why! What is it?"
"If you get too close... you might catch the ugly."
"... Hey! You're making jokes at a time like this?!"
Annoyed, Ralph kicked me in the butt and stalked toward the statue.
Geez, some people just don't get humor.
Plerine quietly muttered to his back,
"Wasn't he already ugly to begin with?"
Ah, well, fair enough.
Plerine and I joined Ralph in front of the statue.
Ralph scowled at the thing.
"This is one hideously ugly statue."
He was right.
All my life—from the modern era to now—I'd never seen a face uglier than this statue's.
'It's like the uncanny valley come to life.'
But honestly, I felt more amused than disgusted.
Because—
'In the game, clicking this statue always gave you a unique-grade item!'
It was time to claim my reward for challenging the Demon Realm.
Where are you hiding in there,
'Goblet of Blood Iron'?