Chapter 230  

‘Is there a way to stop her?’

If Yu-Seong were to force himself and take action now, it would only deepen Helen's suspicions.

‘...Besides, she would not know the full extent of how to use it anyway.’

Yu-Seong decided it would be best to confiscate it and prevent any potential tensions. With his mind made up, he nodded and said, "I understand. I trust you, Helen.”

"I hope you don't have any strange ulterior motives," Helen replied with narrowed eyes.

Yu-Seong gave a wry smile in response and shrugged his shoulders.

Swoosh-!

As they walked through the alleyways, demonic creatures and demons began to emerge one by one from between the streets.

"The Guardian Demon may have fallen, but the path to the boss room is still blocked," Bernard remarked with a smirk while swinging his arm. "As always, the vanguard will be me..."

Before he could finish his sentence, an ax flew through the air and obliterated the head of a demon that was standing in the front line.

"Huh?" Bernard looked dumbfounded as he saw Rachel, with her red hair fluttering in the wind, charging into battle and swinging her hand ax randomly.

"Gyahahaha!" Rachel laughed maniacally.

Blood and flesh flew in all directions as she fought against the demonic creatures. Ironically, it was the demons who were cowering in fear and hiding from her fierce onslaught.

"...I can't even tell who exactly is the demon here.” With a dry laugh, Bernard turned to Yu-Seong and asked, "Can we really trust that woman?"

"At least until we defeat the Demon King?" Yu-Seong replied, drawing his spear.

"If she makes any sudden moves, I'll kill her immediately," Do-Jin declared, unsheathing his sword and joining the fray.

"Well, that's a reassuring thought." Bernard shrugged as he followed suit, and the three of them charged forward to join Rachel in battle.

Then, Bernard raised his eyebrows in surprise as he unexpectedly lost his lead. "Huh?"

"Everyone, take cover! Commence firing!"

Suddenly, following Helen's order to fire, bullets were shot everywhere on the battlefield from the Homunculus unit she had created behind them.

Baaaang-!

Amidst the chaos, Rachel found herself surrounded by bullets and sparks. Her eyes glowed red as she tilted her head back. She exclaimed, "Ahaha, this is so exhilarating, Grandma Helen!"

"Unfortunately, you haven't died," Helen replied.

As the bullets flew past them, Yu-Seong and Do-Jin found themselves facing each other. They couldn’t help but feel a strange sensation while listening to the conversation between the two women.

‘At least we're better than those two.’

Do-Jin nodded in agreement with Yu-Seong's unspoken thoughts.

In fact, the level of the women’s craziness surpassed that of a normal fight.

***

In the end, Helen took the lead, leaving Bernard with no chance to step forward. It was because her Homunculus unit was already in action, using their guns and gunpowder to melt away the demonic creatures that attempted to approach them.

‘Originally, ordinary guns wouldn't work against demonic creatures nor demons, but…’

Surprisingly, the Homunculus unit handled by Helen could shoot bullets with mana. The group couldn't help but admire how Helen was able to calmly coordinate such a large-scale unit while holding her own.

"Grandma Helen, you truly have a crazy amount of mana," Rachel praised.

Even Rachel, who was usually insane and battle crazed, had retreated from the battlefield. She realized that she would only get in the way. Thanks to this, it didn't take the group long to reach the collapsed Juseok Palace where the Demon King of Sloth, Acedia, was located.

‘The problem is that there are more demons in there.’

This problem was also easily solved with Helen at hand.

"Buy me some time," she ordered as she handed over the attacking demons and demonic creatures to the group.

She then recited a spell, causing her scattered Homunculus unit to reunite and float in the air as one. In a short amount of time, it writhed like a liquid monster before solidifying into a form that was strangely familiar to modern people.

"A missile?" Yu-Seong muttered to himself as he looked up at the sky.

"Correct. Everyone, step back," Helen replied lightly, gesturing from above to the others below.

Thuuuuuud-!?

Just as the group stepped back, they were freaked out by the heavy weight that subsequently fell from the air to the ground. A loud impact reverberated throughout Juseok Palace as the missile landed at its center, causing a massive mana explosion.

Thuud!

The resulting mushroom cloud of distinct blue-green mana rose up in front of the group, and the ruins that were once called Juseok Palace disappeared without a trace in the wind and dust clouds.

Rachel, who had furrowed her brow at the sight of the wind and dust clouds, laughed heartily and applauded. She exclaimed, "Wow, Grandma Helen! Why did you hold back for so long when you have such a hot technique? It's so cool!"

As the mushroom cloud disappeared, something began to wriggle from beneath the now-destroyed Juseok Palace.

Helen, who had become visibly tense, stepped back and said, "I shouldn’t waste too much mana on these small fries, since I of course need to rest for a while. Please take care of the rest.”

Once Helen was done speaking, something white sprang up from the ground and attacked her. Rachel was the one who stood in front of her and blocked the attack with a small fist and hand ax.

Bang-!

It was an unreal fight that caused a deafening noise. The two clashed before Rachel, who had never backed down from any enemy until then, flew up in the air. A white demon the size of a five-year-old child floated toward her in the air, trying to kick her chin.

What blocked the demon’s way was a mana circle that had suddenly been created in the air.

Thud-!

The demon, who was struck by the impact of his own kick due to the mana circle, slammed onto the ground. His fall raised a large cloud of dust.

“Little Demon King! This is so thrilling!” Rachel shouted, taking advantage of the gap to barely regain her posture.

“It’s the Demon King of Sloth, Acedia,” said Yu-Seong.

He ran forward without missing the opportunity, stretched out his spear, and created lightning and wind around his body.

The Demon King of Sloth, Acedia, who was trying to stand up and dodge, stiffened and grabbed the approaching spear with both hands.

Crack-!

With determined eyes that seemed to suggest that he wouldn’t lose in a power struggle, Acedia looked at Yu-Seong, who was surrounded by sparks of lightning. After making that direct eye contact, Yu-Seong felt his strength gradually diminishing. He was shocked, because this was what he had seen through the future with his Third Eye.

Bernard’s fist, wrapped in a burning flame, hit Acedia's chin hard.

Crash-!

Once again, raising a cloud of dust, Rachel's hand ax flew toward Acedia who was just slammed onto the ground. And as Acedia turned his head to avoid the hand ax, Do-Jin's sword touched his neck.

Slash-!

His cut neck immediately regenerated, but Acedia had a deep frown on his face. A part of his chin had been cut off.

However, that wasn't the end. Helen, who had recovered her stamina quickly, jumped into the battlefield and extended a giant armored palm.

Thuuud-!

Acedia's teeth chattered as he extended his arms to withstand the renewed power struggle.

“Now's the time! Kiddos!" Helen shouted.

Do-Jin and Rachel attacked from the sides, while Bernard struck from the front and Yu-Seong from behind. All of them delivered powerful blows. Do-Jin's sword and Rachel's hand ax severed one of Acedia's arms that was being held back, and Bernard's fist punched a large hole in his chest. As for Yu-Seong's spear, it pierced through Acedia's swaying head.

This entirely occurred within a single breath of time. Helen then summoned a giant palm that fell disastrously over Acedia's completely subdued head.

Crunch-!

Acedia's body cracked as he was flattened to the ground like a pancake.

‘It’s easier than…I thought...?’

All five of them had fought with the Demon King together, so it was not a one-on-one battle. Perhaps it was because they were aware that their opponent was a Demon King, so they had fought with all their might and best efforts.

Even though it was an incomplete attack, the group had managed to overpower the Demon King of Sloth, Acedia, who struggled to regenerate after their assault for a long time.

“Whoa...” Bernard approached Yu-Seong, who had stepped back to catch his breath, and spoke with narrowed eyes. He asked, “Did we get him?”

“Hey, that's...!”

Indeed, Bernard's words were dangerous.

Before Yu-Seong could finish speaking, Acedia, who was wriggling like a well-kneaded pancake, stopped moving.

‘Did he really die just from this?’

However, there was not even a level-up message to confirm that they had defeated the Demon King. Everyone in the group was looking at the milky white liquid with tense eyes when…

- ...Those bugs are so annoying.

As a voice echoed in their minds, the pure white liquid began to turn pitch black.

The desperate group tried to rush forward, but their bodies suddenly froze in place. They felt trapped in a lie. To be precise, their movements had become incredibly slow, like a scene in a slow-motion movie.

The black liquid flickered in everyone's eyes, slowly taking shape and growing like a tree. It soon formed a figure with black skin instead of pure white and black eyes that seemed to swallow an even darker darkness. The figure also had two horns above the head.

Acedia, who had looked like a mere five-year-old child, suddenly grew into a young adult. He slowly looked around at the group.

‘Finally...!’

An alarm went off in Yu-Seong's mind. He knew that there was only one meaning to the change in the Demon King of Sloth’s appearance.

‘His consciousness has completely awakened.’

Up until now, Acedia had been acting roughly, like swatting away annoying bugs, without any real purpose. As his nickname suggested, the Demon King of Sloth hated anything that was bothersome and didn't even like using his own strength directly.

However, having been bombarded with attacks that he could not handle, his consciousness that was once asleep had awakened completely.

‘I thought it would be better to knock him down in a way that he wouldn't even realize it...’

This happening was not just because of Bernard’s slip of the tongue.

‘It was too big of a hope from the start.’

As the group was shocked and tense, Acedia, who seemed to have regained full consciousness, smiled fiercely and spoke with a glint in his black eyes.

- You insignificant bugs. It would be best if you all just died quietly.

Then, Acedia, who casually stretched his neck as if warming up, took slow steps toward Do-Jin.

- You. You have been quite annoying since the earlier battle. You can die first.

Just as Acedia slowly raised his arms, sharp thorns shot out from them like a sword.

“Lo...”

Yu-Seong's lips, which had been trying to move since the moment Acedia reflected his will, let out an urgent voice.

“Ki......!”

Could a small voice and not a shout be heard? The question was answered as a purple lightning bolt rained down from the sky like a thunderbolt and struck Acedia on the head.

“Tada! I! Have! Arrived!”

Yu-Seong's secret weapon, the purple dragon Loki, had joined the battlefield.