Surviving on the Northern Front with Gukbap

Chapter 56 : Minor Demon Realm (6)

Minor Demon Realm (6)

Level 5 is highly symbolic in Belkhazium.

Compared to level 4, you get an overwhelming stat boost.

From the 5th-rank, warriors can use 'Aura'.

This aura is on a completely different level from Sword Energy.

For mages, the 5th-circle allows 'silent casting'.

Thanks to this, the biggest weakness of magic—casting speed—improves dramatically.

So I'd always thought of Plerine as a 5th-circle mage.

But I was wrong.

'She's 6th-circle.'

I'm familiar with all the famous skills that exist in Belkhazium,

but I'd never seen magic like that before.

In other words, Azure Flame Pillar and Flame Vortex were Plerine's unique magic.

Signature spells, a symbol of the 6th-circle!

I couldn't stop marveling inside.

'Just what the hell did I pick up off the street?'

I was so dumbfounded that I nearly despaired,

when Plerine's body slowly tilted to the side.

I shoved away my stray thoughts and dashed out to help her before she collapsed.

"... Thank you."

Plerine looked exhausted, but also strangely refreshed.

Maybe it was because she'd used a great spell after so long,

or maybe she just felt good after finally contributing after watching the whole battle from the sidelines.

"Honestly, you were awesome just now."

As the boss, how could I not praise such an outstanding employee?

Plerine, you're the employee of the month.

"I know. But I'm almost spent. Need to rest a bit."

"As much as you want."

I sat her down.

There wouldn't be any more fights anyway.

"Ralph. Look after Plerine for me."

Hicc!

"...?"

A strange hiccuping sound came from Ralph.

"Me? Take care of her?"

The shock must have been too much for him.

Cold sweat beaded on Ralph's chin.

Well, I needed a moment to get my head back on straight, so I couldn't blame him.

"W-what am I even supposed to do? Hic!"

"Just come and start with my shoulders."

At Plerine's words, Ralph rushed over immediately.

He slid on his knees like a soccer player who'd scored the winning goal, stopping just behind Plerine with a screech.

"Here?"

Knead, knead.

"......"

Anyway, with this the raid was a success.

Now it was time to enjoy the sweet reward.

'It's a relief everything went as planned, without any trouble.'

How long had it been since something went this smoothly?

Actually, maybe it's the first time.

I lightly walked over to the altar and picked up the green orb.

"Hey Ian! Shouldn't we use that together?"

Ralph shouted, worried I'd take the Spirit Orb for myself.

Though of course, his hands were still busy massaging Plerine's muscles.

"This isn't the Spirit Orb, so don't worry."

I tried to reassure him, but got no reply.

Plerine was saying, "Aren't you massaging properly?" instead.

I smirked and set the orb into a recess on the offering table at the end of the altar.

The orb, a perfect fit, glowed gently and then faded.

I grabbed my kitchen knife in a reverse grip and stabbed the orb.

Pook.

It looked hard, but felt more like stabbing flesh.

After all, this orb-like thing was really a demonkin's heart.

When I pulled the knife out, blood oozed from the hole.

'What a stench.'

The filthy blood flowed along the offering table, heading to the center of the altar.

Any moment now, the altar floor would open in a cross shape and the Spirit Orb would rise up.

Kugugugu.

The sound of the floor moving rumbled out.

I must have been looking very excited.

The 3rd-rank was drawing so near.

Thunk!

All the mechanisms had stopped.

But—

"......"

The space beneath the altar floor was empty.

There was no Spirit Orb, not even a single thing.

'What is this? Is there something different from the game?'

Maybe there was a bit of production delay, something like that.

"What's wrong, Ian? Is something off? It's not there?"

Was my expression that serious?

Ralph, unable to hold back his curiosity, started walking over to me.

'... Shit.'

The hair on my head stood up.

Goosebumps crept down my spine.

This is—this is...!

"Everyone out!!"

I shouted before my brain even processed what was happening,

but the barrier at the boss room entrance had already turned pitch black.

Zzzzzzt. Zzzzt!

*

Cold sweat ran down my back.

No wonder there'd been more Skels than normal.

And come to think of it, even the spawn location of this minor Demon Realm was strange.

'Goddamn.'

This minor Demon Realm isn't an ordinary one.

It wasn't created by the demonkin to expand their territory.

This minor Demon Realm was one of two things.

Either humans were worshiping demonkin,

or this place was artificially created to give birth to a Demon King.

In short, an irregular Minor Demon Realm.

'By the game's standards, it's a one-in-hundreds chance, even after raising that many characters. God, my luck is crap.'

Players who ended up here would post on the forums that they'd "been struck by lightning."

That's how low the odds are.

And—

'Encountering one was a guaranteed death flag.'

I almost cursed out loud, but now wasn't the time.

"Everyone out!!"

I shouted again, though it was late.

The boss room barrier had already turned pitch black.

Whoosh!

A dense, brown dust cloud rose right next to Plerine.

Kwaaang!!

A savage kick.

Plerine flew into the wall with a tremendous crash.

Debris rained down and buried her. Rumble.

'Damn. Of all times, why does Plerine have to be weakened now?'

The worst case.

I was so panicked my mind felt frozen.

But I couldn't give up. I couldn't stop thinking.

I had to keep thinking until I found an answer.

"Ralph! Get ready for battle!!"

I snapped Ralph out of his frozen state.

Plerine was surely knocked out, so the two of us would have to—.

Rustle.

Surprise after surprise.

Plerine, who'd been slammed into the corner, pushed aside the rubble and stood up.

"Plerine! Are you okay?"

For the first time in ages, Plerine was bleeding as she sparked in front of her face and spoke.

"... This pisses me off."

She looked a mess.

But even so—

Thank god.

'Two versus three is a world of difference.'

The three of us focused as seriously as we'd ever done since entering the minor Demon Realm.

The dust slowly settled.

A new boss was revealed, the air humming with his presence.

"Ret-taaaaaa-nuuuun!!"

If I hadn't been holding my kitchen knife, I would've plugged my ears with my fingers.

Still, I kept thinking.

'To think I'd hear that here.'

Even if I wasn't into the lore, I knew 'Ret-tanun'.

Like a certain yellow electric mouse who can only say "pika," the barbarians would endlessly chant 'Ret-tanun.'

Ret-tanun was the god of madness and wrath worshipped by barbarians.

Meaning, this guy was definitely a barbarian.

'Who are you, among the barbarians, to be here?'

As soon as I figured out his identity, I'd plan a strategy and share the pattern.

Praying it'd be an NPC or boss I recognized,

I waited for the dust to clear completely.

"......"

Long, dark brown braided hair came into view.

A heavy beard covered his face,

and his eyes shone like burning lava.

"Ret-taaaa-nuun!!"

A body as huge as an Ice Bear—a mass of muscle nearly three meters tall—flexed and writhed.

'Hoo. Is this bad luck, or fortune?'

Either way, it was a famous character I knew.

One I often clashed with in the game.

'Mercenary King Gardoc.'

At least 6th-rank.

Basically a monster by my standards.

If Plerine were in top shape, maybe,

but with our current strength, we could never win in a fight.

And yet, I found myself oddly calm.

Somehow, I felt sure I'd be able to survive.

'Barbarians are just as stupid as their race's reputation.'

At long last, I'd be able to use my old motto.

'If you can't win by force, negotiate!'

A plan to trick a dumb barbarian, based on my game knowledge.

Now, to begin.

"Great warrior, Mercenary King Gardoc!"

As I walked toward Gardoc, Ralph's eyes grew as wide as saucers.

But by instinct, he didn't stop me.

He was trusting me to handle it.

"Ret-tanun! You know me, human? Who are you?"

Gardoc spotted me and asked,

and I answered as calmly as I could.

"How is Brahagan these days?"

I tried to play off a connection with Gardoc's foster father, Brahagan, to keep him talking.

But...

The look in Gardoc's eyes as he glanced at me was far from normal.

'Why is he acting like this after I brought up Brahagan?'

Thinking rapidly, Gardoc exhaled and spoke.

As though he recognized me.

"Black hair, black eyes, yellow skin. Heh heh. Outsider. So it was you."

Then, a surge of intense hostility targeted me.

Was he mistaking me for some other outsider?

I asked:

"Um, did you mistake me for someone el—"

"Ret-taaaaaa-nuuuun!!"

At close range, a barbarian's roar felt like being jabbed everywhere with needles.

"Black-haired human. I hate you! How dare you? Kuhaha. To think I lost to trash like you."

"......"

I had no idea what he was talking about,

but it was clear he had mistaken me for someone else.

Who the hell had gone around ruining the image of us Easterners?

"I'm going to take my time. I'll toy with you. I'll kill you when I'm bored. I'll devour you all."

Whooom!

"?!"

A fist flew at me with shocking speed—

a fist as big as a human head.

Tap.

I stomped the ground to back away as fast as I could.

But I reacted too slowly.

I thought I was done for when—

Boom!

A small explosion went off right in front of me.

The shockwave knocked me out of the way of the punch.

I tumbled ridiculously on the floor, but quickly got back up and shouted:

"Thanks, Plerine!"

Plerine didn't answer, instead dashing rapidly toward me.

As befit a 6th-circle mage, she sized up the situation in a flash.

'Time to kick off Plan B.'

If negotiation fails, then it's on to force.

Truly, nothing ever goes according to my plans.

Still, if there's any silver lining,

that guy isn't carrying his signature artifact—a giant axe.

Nor is he wearing any armor.

'Though, honestly, watching everything flop around is kind of gross.'

Still, I had to focus.

I joined up with Ralph and Plerine and shouted:

"Ralph! Don't try to block everything! Dodge what you can!"

"Goddamn it!"

Ralph seemed to grasp exactly what I meant, his face twisting.

It was an attack that rendered blocking worthless,

so it meant: beware of Aura.

'If we slip up, we die instantly.'

The barbarian closed in and swung at me again.

KWANG!

The floor shattered and chunks flew everywhere under the force of the blow.

What monstrous strength.

But—he wasn't using Aura.

This wasn't the true power of Aura.

'Why isn't he using Aura?'

It was a question that came naturally,

but after a few rounds of back-and-forth I understood his intention.

'So that's what he meant by "play around slowly".'

He didn't want to kill us instantly by using Aura.

Proof of this was Gardoc baring his yellowed teeth in a grin.

Truly the behavior of a battle-loving, dumb barbarian.

'That means... there's still a chance.'

If this barbarian was an artificially-born Demon King,

there was still a chance.