Chapter 110
The bastard who pierced Instructor Kang Jae-seok’s chest and claimed the Heart of the Demon burst into laughter.
Because his entire body had melted from the Flames of Gehenna, the voice that came out of his mouth was nothing more than a phlegm-choked rasp.
That only made my anger surge even higher.
Just how was he still alive?
Even at a glance, the Flames of Gehenna had nearly killed him.
And it wasn’t as if the demon had done anything to him.
The resurrected demon had been pouring all of its attention into fighting us.
Yet somehow, the bastard not only managed to move, but even sneak up and pull off something like this….
Blood dripped steadily from Instructor Kang Jae-seok’s mouth.
“Y-you bastard… don’t you dare… pull that hand out….”
“Ghh… ghk, ghk!”
His vocal cords had melted, so I couldn’t understand a word he was trying to say.
At that moment, the Sword Empress’s blade, drawn like a ray of light, severed the bastard’s arm.
He swiftly retreated backward to widen the distance, and Instructor Kang Jae-seok’s body collapsed.
I rushed forward and caught him.
He had already lost an arm and was bleeding heavily.
Thanks to Instructor Mabel’s emergency treatment, he was barely maintaining consciousness, but that was all it was—barely. His condition was no different from a critical patient.
Damn it, if only I had even a fragment of Lia’s heart right now….
Instructor Mabel stepped closer and cast healing magic on him.
“Please don’t die… please don’t die…!”
At some point, tears had welled up in her eyes.
Instructor Mabel looked at me.
“What do we do… his stamina is already completely depleted, the healing magic isn’t working….”
Crunch.
Clenching my teeth, I looked at Berid.
The Sword Empress was facing him, but the situation was far from good.
No matter what he had done, the bastard was exerting some bizarre power.
As for the Sword Empress, she had already exhausted all of her stamina.
We were cornered.
What should I do?
One thing at a time.
The first thing I had to do was save Instructor Kang Jae-seok.
Gathering Infernal Flame into my hand, I pressed it against his wound.
Sizzle.
Along with the sound of flesh burning, a foul smell stabbed into my nose.
But this was nothing more than sealing the wound.
It wasn’t a way to truly heal him.
In the end, Instructor Kang Jae-seok’s breathing grew fainter and fainter.
Damn it, what do I do, what am I supposed to do?!
At that moment, a familiar voice came from behind.
“Instructor Kang Jae-seok…?”
When I turned around, the comrades who had gone out to capture Berid’s subordinates—including Yoo Iseo—had arrived.
Which meant—
“Lia! Liaaa!”
“Husband?!”
Startled by my desperate shout, Lia hurried over to me.
“The heart fragment, quickly!”
She looked confused, unable to grasp the situation, but realizing the urgency, she took out a fragment of her heart from her chest and handed it to me without a word.
I immediately began condensing the Power of Restoration into it.
His breathing was growing weaker by the second.
Please don’t die, please!
The moment the fragment finished storing the Power of Restoration, I shoved it straight into his wound.
The energy bursting from the fragment began restoring his body.
Berid’s arm that had pierced his chest was forced out on its own, and fresh flesh began to grow.
After confirming that his breathing had stabilized, I stood up.
Was it because I was so angry?
My mind felt strangely calm instead.
I fixed my gaze on the bastard facing the Sword Empress.
The grotesque, melted form that had stood before her was gone, and in its place stood a human-sized cocoon.
The Sword Empress, completely spent, was kneeling off to the side, using her sword as a support while gasping for breath.
A cocoon… no way.
Was that bastard planning to use the Power of Usurpation on the Heart of the Demon?
The Power of Usurpation devoured fragments of corpses and transformed the user into the appearance of the usurped target.
Then the Heart of the Demon could certainly be a valid target.
That must have been why he had suddenly exerted such power—he’d been waiting for this moment.
But really?
Demonic Authority was only a part of a demon.
Could using just that part really allow him to transform into the demon’s original form?
It was no different from trying to pour an entire lake into a tiny water bottle.
There was no way Berid wouldn’t know that.
At that moment, cracks began to form across the massive cocoon surrounding him.
At the same time, a pale hand tore its way out.
Rip, rrrip.
With a nauseating sound, Berid began to emerge from the cocoon.
His appearance outside the cocoon was utterly bizarre.
No eyes, no nose, no mouth—there wasn’t even genitalia—he looked like a single mannequin.
His pallid flesh, slick with mucus, was emaciated and dry.
For some reason, the aura coming off him sent chills down my spine.
It was different from the overwhelming pressure I’d felt from the demon.
It was more like the revulsion you feel when watching a gore film so graphic it makes you squint.
That bastard….
Should I call this a success, or a failure?
This ominous feeling emanating from him.
It was undeniably similar to the aura a demon exuded.
But that wasn’t all.
It was more insidious, a mixture of many different things.
I looked around.
The three instructors were already visibly exhausted from the battle with the demon, and the same went for Park Siwoo and the others who had just rushed over.
I spoke to Instructor Mabel.
“Quickly, take the instructors and cadets and run away.”
“What are you saying—”
“Now!”
After shouting at her, I immediately drew up Demonic Authority.
In an instant, I clad myself in armor of 【Dark Relic】 and swung my sword at him.
It was because the bastard had already closed the distance and come right in front of me.
The blade I swung cleaved through him.
However, the afterimage of Berid that had been split soon vanished, and I felt a presence behind me.
I immediately summoned a shield and blocked his attack.
Bang!
This ability was definitely a skill he had used when he switched to an agility-focused style.
Damn it—he’s using all abilities without any delay from target conversion?
On top of that, both the power and the way they were applied had been strengthened.
Before I could even finish that thought, a black magic circle appeared from the bastard’s outstretched hand.
At the same time, the surrounding area was swallowed by shadows, and the ground turned liquid-like.
My balance collapsed, and I was sucked into the land that had turned into black liquid.
Driving my sword into the ground, I unleashed the 【Flames of Gehenna】 in all directions.
Kwaaaaaaah!
The 【Flames of Gehenna】 began greedily devouring his magic.
After confirming that the magic had been broken, I scanned my surroundings.
But there was no presence to be felt.
Don’t tell me?
Was he aiming for the instructors whose stamina had already been exhausted?
I immediately turned my head and looked toward where they were.
But they were protected by Instructor Mabel’s magic.
I told you to leave the area quickly.
At that moment, Lia and Joo Sarang looked at me and urgently pointed to one side.
At the same time, murderous intent washed over me.
I instantly summoned Levatein and blocked it.
Clang!
With a powerful collision sound, an invisible slash collided with Levatein.
This was the Demonic Authority that had been left behind by the demon slain by the instructors—‘Power of Severance’.
When used by a demon, it had possessed such overwhelming defense-ignoring power that it could slice through even Kang Jae-seok’s body like tofu, but now it was at a level I could block with Levatein.
Of course, that didn’t mean it was an easy attack.
I poured mana into Levatein and increased its firepower.
Boom!
Soon, with a violent explosion, his slash and Levatein annihilated each other.
But Berid’s assault didn’t end there.
Using his tremendous movement speed as his weapon, he left countless afterimages and unleashed an overwhelming number of slashes from all directions.
Damn it, once he started fusing abilities, he became ridiculously troublesome.
I summoned the Giant’s Spear, drove it into the ground, and enlarged it to block the slashes.
Then, just like that, I summoned Levatein and embedded it into the Giant’s Spear.
The Giant’s Spear, wrapped in the 【Flames of Gehenna】, began to collapse all at once.
At that moment, his body—once like a white mannequin—began to deform.
Seeing his form start to grotesquely swell, I couldn’t help but gape in horror.
…So that was it.
That ominous feeling I had sensed for a while now.
A sticky, irritating presence I had felt before, in addition to demonic energy.
A massive size close to that of a building, and a grotesque appearance resembling a dragon.
Where hard scales should have been, smooth flesh reflected the light, glistening slickly.
A drake…….
He had used his authority to usurp the corpse of the drake hatchling we had defeated.
From the maw of the bastard as he let out a ferocious roar, black energy began to condense.
“This is insane……!”
Watching him begin to gather power, I looked toward my companions in terror.
They were just as flustered, seemingly at a loss for what to do.
If we couldn’t stop that, it would be the end for all of us.
But did I even have a technique capable of blocking that single strike?
Even during the field trip, a drake’s breath had been nothing short of a disaster.
And now his breath was further strengthened by Demonic Authority.
The calamity gathering in his maw was gradually compressed, beginning to take shape.
This time, even Helena’s power would be useless.
Because he wasn’t a real drake.
Was this how I was going to die?
The black breath gathered in his mouth poured forth, carrying death with it.
Gritting my teeth, I summoned the Giant’s Spear and drove it into the ground.
I knew full well that this couldn’t block a drake’s breath.
But I had to try something!
The Giant’s Spear embedded in the ground rapidly grew gigantic, blocking the torrent of the drake’s black breath.
However, it was soon pushed back, and before long, the massive stone pillar began to melt, unable to withstand the tremendous force.
Feeling the pressure surging from beyond the pillar, I wrapped my entire body in 【Dark Relic】.
But more than anyone, I knew it well.
That this would be of no help at all.
Was this really how I was going to die?
So absurdly?
Time slowed, and the drake’s breath filled my entire field of vision.
Waiting for the approaching death, I squeezed my eyes shut.
Just as my body was about to be swept away by the torrent of immense power—
The body that was about to be blown away came to a sudden halt.
It wasn’t my power.
And then, a beautiful voice tickled my ears.
“What a truly shameful disciple. To think that the one and only disciple of this lady would flounder so helplessly against a mere lizard.”
At the familiar voice, I opened my eyes and saw crimson-black hair fluttering wildly in the raging wind.
My gaze met her murky red eyes.
A small smile formed at the corner of the Heavenly Demon’s eyes.
She then took my hand and placed it atop her own hand that was blocking the breath.
“Feel it well. This is a special lesson bestowed for the sake of an ignorant disciple.”
Soon, the mana flowing from her reached my hand.
And then, I began to feel the energy she was using to block the breath.
Her energy was exceedingly delicate.
Like carefully untangling a knotted ball of thread, she precisely separated demonic energy and natural energy, returning them to nothingness.
I was momentarily mesmerized by that supreme level of mana control.
Then, Berid’s breath came to a halt.
The Heavenly Demon looked at Berid, who had transformed into a drake, and spoke briefly.
“Child, you truly made a grand mess of things. Thanks to that, it’s become quite a headache.”
“Krraaaaaah!”
Despite her words, Berid only roared fiercely, displaying hostility.
No—could that even be called Berid anymore?
It was nothing more than a mindless monster, created by mixing all kinds of energies together.
Perhaps the Heavenly Demon realized this as well, as she merely let out a sigh.
“To stir up all this chaos only to be devoured by demonic impulses yourself. And it’s always this lady’s disciple who cleans up after you. The more I think about it, the more vexing it is.”
As she finished speaking, her figure vanished from beside me in an instant.
When I turned my gaze back to Berid, the Heavenly Demon was already standing atop the bridge of his snout.
“To dare defy the will of the organization, to covet what you should not covet, to threaten this lady’s disciple, and even to look down upon this lady herself. Your crimes are grave indeed. Therefore.”
Koo-goong.
“Repay those sins with your life.”
As the Heavenly Demon unleashed her immense energy, the sky itself trembled.
The moment her single punch slammed down upon Berid’s head, his skull burst apart.