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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Wjin
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Leaving the trial barrier, we hurried toward the 31st Demon Lord. Time was of the essence.
‘We have to hurry.’
The longer it took, the lower our chances of winning became. The Demon Lord was rapidly recovering and growing in size.
The closer we got, the more palpable its presence became in the surrounding air.
Fortunately, in this respect, the advantage of having Yuseora in the mage position became apparent.
A melee hero like Yuseora naturally had higher stats than mages. She could run faster and longer.
‘The mobility is different compared to having a mage tagging along.’
We ran without rest, closing in on the 31st Demon Lord. Along the way, we didn’t forget to pick up the relics scattered throughout the streets.
While visiting the Order headquarters, which served as a relic warehouse, would have been more convenient for resupplying, we didn’t have the time.
‘Even if we got high-level relics, there’s no guarantee we could use them immediately.’
It was different from 2-star relics, which were relatively versatile.
3-star relics had certain conditions attached, 4-star relics had fairly demanding conditions, and 5-star relics were practically unusable except by specific individuals, often referred to as exclusive weapons in the community.
Moreover, even if we could use them, high-level relics, with their high limits, required a considerable adjustment period to fully utilize their power.
‘So for now, let’s just focus on gathering relics for Yuseora to use as disposables.’
The purpose of gathering relics wasn’t to acquire high-performance ones, but rather to increase Yuseora’s ammunition.
Yuseora’s ‘Overload’ was classified as a trait, not a skill, so aside from the penalty of destroying the relic, it was practically penalty-free.
This meant that gathering relics directly translated to increasing her combat power.
‘With enough relics, she can unleash attacks stronger than most mages’ spells consecutively, without casting.’
Consecutively. That was the most important part. Demon Lord bodies had exceptional regenerative abilities, so it was necessary to inflict massive damage at once or pour on damage relentlessly.
“You understand, right? Yuseora.”
The swordsmanship I had taught Yuseora was a single-strike focused style, somewhere between a greatsword and a longsword style.
Compared to other swordsmanship styles, the movements were somewhat larger, and the time it took to attack was longer, but it was still nothing compared to magic.
However…
Yuseora hesitated slightly and asked,
“But are three strikes really enough?”
Although her strikes were powerful, the burden on her body was also considerable.
Therefore, she could only unleash three consecutive strikes. But there was a way to overcome that.
I took it out of my inventory and handed it to her.
“Right before the battle starts, when I give you the signal…”
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In a blind spot right near the 31st Demon Lord.
Yuseora was moving independently, according to Seo Yoo Rang’s, or rather, Allen Blake’s, strategy.
“Phew…”
To be honest, the current situation was a bit disconcerting. The sudden invasion of the Demon Lords and the destruction of the holy city, Hailen.
When she first exited the lake, she was overwhelmed by the carnage outside.
But even in that situation, Elsie calmly and persistently persuaded Allen.
Seeing her like that gave Yuseora courage, and she decided to trust Allen’s strategy for now.
‘Even though I was skeptical.’
That the world would come to an end.
She had already experienced the collapse of her merchant guild due to chaos beasts, but the collapse of a guild and the end of the world were different matters.
But seeing this scene firsthand, she realized,
‘If this continues, the world might really end.’
It seemed the 31st Demon Lord hadn’t even recovered half of its strength yet.
But its body was already gigantic, and dozens of tentacle-like appendages writhed from its massive form. The sight was enough to instill fear in her.
‘I feel like I’ve seen it somewhere before…’
She had actually encountered the 31st Demon Lord during the entrance exam.
However, the 31st Demon Lord she encountered back then hadn’t even begun its recovery, so it was much smaller than this, and because of that, she didn’t recognize it.
She just kept feeling a sense of déjà vu for some reason.
‘Still…’
Seo Yoo Rang, no, Allen…
Whatever. Even though Seo Yoo Rang’s true identity was Allen, the name Seo Yoo Rang was more familiar to her.
‘Seo Yoo Rang said that I could do it with my ability.’
Moreover, he had given her a pill. It looked suspicious, but apparently, it would temporarily enhance all her physical abilities. With this, she could increase the number of Overload strikes she could unleash.
So now, she just had to wait for the signal. The signal to start the subjugation.
And that signal flashed from across the Demon Lord.
‘Is it starting?’
The arrow Seo Yoo Rang fired, imbued with Overload energy on its tip, flew towards the Demon Lord.
However, the Demon Lord anticipated it and blocked it with a tentacle.
The power contained in the arrow was considerable, as the tentacle shattered upon blocking it, but it regenerated instantly.
‘Its regeneration is incredibly fast.’
It was to be expected, considering the rate at which the Demon Lord’s body was growing. However, the arrow Seo Yoo Rang had shot wasn’t meant to inflict damage.
It was simply meant to divert the Demon Lord’s attention.
‘Overload.’
She imbued the pill Seo Yoo Rang gave her with Overload.
A dark energy began to emanate from the pill. It had gone from a somewhat suspicious pill to an extremely suspicious pill, but its effect must have been greatly enhanced.
‘Overload was originally an ability used by the Crow Merchant Guild on consumables like this.’
She swallowed the pill. Soon, her senses began to change. It was because of the rapid increase in her physical abilities.
‘With this…’
Did the pill also have a confidence-boosting effect?
For some reason, she felt a surge of confidence.
‘Let’s do this.’
While the Demon Lord’s attention was focused on Seo Yoo Rang, she emerged from the blind spot and started rapidly approaching it.
Even though her attack could inflict wide-range damage, the closer she got, the greater the damage would be, so she had to get as close as possible.
The Demon Lord seemed to notice her approaching but didn’t turn its attention towards her. It was going according to Seo Yoo Rang’s plan.
‘If Elsie and I draw its attention from the opposite side, it won’t pay much attention to you. Your Overload doesn’t show any signs until it’s activated.’
Seo Yoo Rang and Elsie apparently possessed traits that could draw the Demon Lord’s attention.
It seemed to be the unique authority she felt from both of them. Although she was still a little concerned about it, it was true that she was able to approach the Demon Lord more closely thanks to them.
‘Overload.’
She imbued the 2-star relic she was holding with Overload. The relic started to glow with a black light.
At the same time, the Demon Lord seemed to realize it needed to block her and swung a tentacle.
But it was already too late.
‘A shout, was it?’
Due to her Overload trait, she still had the habit of fighting cautiously, and correcting that was her biggest challenge.
Don’t hesitate, and swing the sword with the conviction that you can definitely cut it.
One of the methods Seo Yoo Rang had devised for that was a shout.
‘What was it again?’
Not just any shout, but a specific one Seo Yoo Rang had jokingly mentioned. She remembered him asking her not to do it because it was embarrassing when she imitated it.
But who cared?
‘I like it.’
She just happened to remember the shout. She stopped running and planted her feet firmly on the ground.
And just as Seo Yoo Rang had taught her during the vacation, she swung her sword wide and shouted,
“Sky Splitter!”
At that moment, the world seemed to split in half. No, it felt that way. Was she hallucinating because of the pill?
That couldn’t be it. The world hadn’t split in half, but the tentacle flying towards her had been split in two, and a diagonal line was drawn across the Demon Lord’s main body.
The pill seemed to have increased the power of her attack as well.
‘With this, I could really split the sky.’
She suddenly recalled something Seo Yoo Rang had said before.
‘Why think about the aftermath? No one will be able to stop it anyway.’
He was right. She dropped the sword, which crumbled into dust, leaving only the hilt, and took out a new one from her inventory.
The Demon Lord was now completely focused on her, but she wasn’t afraid.
“Sky Splitter!”
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My head spun at the sound of that “Sky Splitter.”
“I specifically asked you not to do that.”
Of course, it was my fault for jokingly shouting it out in the first place. But if that shout gave her the conviction to swing her sword, it was fine.
More importantly, I didn’t have the luxury to worry about such things right now.
“Now it’s our turn, Elsie.”
Yuseora was doing well. Her strikes were clearly inflicting damage, smoothly slicing through the Demon Lord’s tough tentacles.
Thanks to that, the Demon Lord seemed preoccupied with repairing the damage it received from Yuseora.
But that alone wouldn’t be enough to deal a finishing blow. While Yuseora’s strikes were powerful, they wouldn’t be able to deal a decisive blow to the Demon Lord’s main body.
What did I mean? The gigantic body covered in tentacles that we saw wasn’t its main body.
Its main body freely moved within that massive outer shell.
That was the information I had heard from Stella. Unless we completely destroyed its main body, the outer shell would just keep regenerating.
‘So no matter how much Yuseora attacks, she can’t destroy the main body inside the shell.’
Yuseora’s attacks were powerful, but compared to speed-type heroes like Elsie, they were definitely slow.
Unless by some stroke of luck, the main body inside the shell wouldn’t be hit by Yuseora’s attacks.
That meant there was only one way.
To directly enter the outer shell and cut down the main body. Yuseora’s role was to draw the Demon Lord’s attention and damage and weaken its outer shell.
Elsie and I had to penetrate the shell and get inside during that time.
‘Overload.’
I imbued all five Awakening Pills in my hand with Overload.
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