Chapter 535 – The Cursed Throne
“…It’s a shadow demon! Sena!! Wizard!! Fall back!!”
“Ah…Yes!!”
At the words of the paladin class, the wizards quickly settled in the back row and raised their wands. Not long after, shadow demons with blood-red eyes appear in front of them.
‘It looks a bit like the messenger of ruin, doesn’t it?’
The figure of a shadow demon with a human torso and the arms and head of a beast. They flash their sharp claws and charge at the party.
“Tch!! Eat this!!”
Seeing them charge, Sena takes out a sharp dart from her bosom and throws it. But, of course, darts do not do any effective damage to those whose bodies are made of negative energy.
“Muh… The weapon doesn’t work!!”
“Human bitch!! That guy is an evil spirit!! Ordinary weapons won’t work!! Keep quiet and stay behind!!”
Her words are harsh, but apparently worried about her Senna getting hurt, Bruno lets her stay behind him. He then picks up a warhammer the size of Senna’s head and jabs at it.
“Blow through the width of pure magical power…”
“Save the magic!!”
“Yes…? Is that okay?”
Lazaric tried to use ethereal magic to reduce their charge speed. However, when Bruno dissuades him, he is slightly embarrassed.
“It’s still okay! It’s a waste to use precious magic against just a few demons! Barbarian!! Come back!! I’ll bless your weapon!!”
‘Why?’
Bruno was shouting from behind, but Seong-il glared at the enemy with a sullen expression.
‘Those can feed effective hits without blessing from +3 weapons. And the cursed sword I’m holding is the symbol of the +3 weapon that appears in the beginning.’
Seong-il knew the enemy’s weakness as a deceased person. Because of this, he ignores Bruno’s cry and fearlessly charges towards the shadow demon.
“Hey!! You crazy bastard!! What are you doing!!”
Bruno and Ban panic when Seong-il suddenly charges at the enemy. Either that or not, Seong-il takes out his sword and gently swings his sword while stepping on the Taegeukgeomgyeol step for the first time in a while.
“Kreurreuk!!”
As if such a holy day is ridiculous, the three shadow demons jump in the air and pull out sharp claws from different directions and swing them at him.
‘Slow!’
However, Seong-il, who perfectly grasped even the square’s attack with his reaction, lightly evaded their attacks by gently stepping on his footsteps, and then swung his sword in all directions like a whip.
『Oh~! Are you moving better than before?”
‘How hard did I train in the misoloji world!! Of course!!’
After giving a short answer to the cursed sword, which exclaims at his movements, Seong-il puts a weak force on the sword that is unrecognizable to those around him, and swings the sword with a smooth movement like a whip.
“Keew!!”
A shadowy demon whose body is cut off with its claws after blocking the sword Seongil wielded with his sharp shadow hand. Seong-il steps on foot and instantly returns to the guy’s side, then strikes the guy’s torso down again with his sword.
“Kyaaaaa!!”
When the torso was smashed, a black liquid spurted out from within. As the liquid, whether shadow or blood, pours out of the body, the light from the shadow demon’s red eyes begins to fade.
“Come on!! You black mongrel!!!”
Seongil roars like a true barbarian. Even though he doesn’t have any particular skills, his voice overflows with chauvinistic energy, perhaps because he recently broke through the heavenly, yin-yang, and yin-yang technique thanks to a guru.
“Die!”
Seong-il slams the soles of his feet down, builds up his axis, and swings his sword like lightning. A seemingly simple gesture at first glance. However, thanks to the mysterious sword path unique to Taegeukgeomgyeol, it seems to the evil spirit that dozens of swords are rushing at him.
Sugeok!!
Seong-il succeeds in cutting off the demon’s arms in an instant and blowing off her neck.
“Justice!! Give me strength!!”
While swinging the sword at the other two, a voice heard from the side. Soon after, near Seongil, a sword with a soft glow like moonlight pierces the body of an evil spirit.
“You!! You didn’t even get a blessing, how!!”
“What do you mean? This is a magic sword!”
After a short battle, the party approaches Seong-il and is surprised. Among them, Lazaric, the wizard, asks Seong-il with an interesting tone.
“Even if the magic sword is of a lower grade, it won’t be able to attack evil spirits… It seems to be of a high quality? What grade is the magic sword?”
“I do not know.”
“…Yes?”
When Seong-il rushes forward and slices the evil spirit, Lazaric looks up at Seong-il with an absurd expression.
“How do I know what grade this magic sword is?”
“Then…Then what were you thinking about rushing?”
“Because Space Kitty whispered to me!! If I hit them with the sword, they’ll die!! Aaaaa!!”
“…”
Lazaric stared blankly at Seongil’s cry with an expression as if he were looking at a real madman. Seeing that figure, Sena cautiously approaches him and she whispers to him.
“…Just do it. Like Bruno said earlier, your skills are fine.”
“…”
Leaving behind the wizards who made trembling faces, Sena hides her body as if she melts into the shadows again and starts leading the way.
‘It’s amazing no matter how many times I watch it.’
Looking at Sena like that, her Seongil begins to follow her quietly. Then, she repeats slicing the demons that have appeared again and walks to the very depths of the ruins for a long time. A strange plaza appears in front of the group.
“Here…”
‘It’s arrived.’
Collapsed buildings with dark shadows creeping up from the ground. And in the middle, you can see the remains of a huge collapsed stone statue of enormous size.
“The broken head of the giant stone statue seems to be the culprit behind all this…”
“That’s right. The fraud is flowing out of there.”
“I’ll have to purify it. Let’s go.”
As if there was nothing to see, Bruno took the war hammer and moved toward the stone statue. And the people who silently follow behind them.
“It’s fun.”
“What?”
Out of nowhere, Lazaric’s apprentice, Edwin, takes out a book from under the sphere of light that serves as a lantern, opens it, and mumbles. Seong-il responded to that voice with a passing tone, and he smiled and continued.
“That stone statue style is the same as the unique architectural style that Senator Verissa discovered while exploring the outback in the past.”
“…A unique architectural style?”
“Yes. Vereesa-sama passed away before reaching a high rank.”
‘The story before I became Argent’s slave.’
At Edwin’s words, Seong-il feels curious. Perhaps having read his feelings, Edwin calmly continues his story.
“Yes. Verisa-sama discovered something related to the ancient Mage Empire in the architectural style, and it is said that her skills greatly improved after that incident.”
“…What kind of discovery is this?”
“Well…Some say it’s a symbol of an ancient empire, some say it’s a symbol of an ancient extinct god, and some say it’s a human sacrifice altar. The exact details are yet to be determined.”
“…!!”
“Anyway… To think that we found the same ruins as Verisa-nim found when she was an anonymous adventurer. Haha… Is this a revelation that we can become great adventurers like her?”
‘…It wasn’t a coincidence.’
Seong-il thinks that it is not a coincidence that this ruin appeared for some reason at Edwin’s words and that Verisa asked him to explore it.
‘If I don’t intervene and proceed with the original story… I’ll seal the statue’s morale with Verisa, who joined the party as a temporary ally, and that’s the end of the mission.’
‘And Verisa will leave the party. Users thought it was a honey quest that the production team took into consideration so that a weak party could receive a pretty strong wizard’s bus because they hadn’t grown yet… But the truth is, what if that’s not the case?’
‘Yeah… Actually, it’s strange that Argent was located here. Why did he hide in this place where the temples of all the gods are located and where the most powerful mage tower in the Solon continent is located? If they get caught, there’s a high chance that even a demilich will die.’
‘In the meantime, the ruins where Verisa was captured by Argent in the past ‘accidentally’ appeared here? Is it really just a coincidence?’
As he thought so, Seong-il’s head started to cool. In addition, he unknowingly strokes the ring on his finger.
***
“Ban! Did you bring holy water and relics too?”
“Ah, yes.”
“Then let’s start purifying quickly.”
“Hey… Wait a minute! Bruno. My holy water is in my bag…”
Like a dwarf with an impatient personality, as soon as Bruno is furious that there are no enemies around, he scatters the holy water he brought around and approaches the stone statue.
“Hammer and anvil. Show your wrath to evil.”
Bruno drives away the unclean shadows around him by memorizing the name of the god he believes in and the sacred congratulatory message.
Bruno, like an experienced priest, quickly purifies the surroundings with skillful skill and approaches the stone statue.
Seong-il, who was lost in thought for a while, feels ominous when he sees the scene.
‘Ah… Fuck. Didn’t there be an event where a horde of evil spirits flocked to you when you approached that area!?’
Seong-il feels that his spirit is recovering and pulls out the sword from his bosom. Seeing that, Edwin was frightened and waved his hand.
“Why… Why are you doing that? Seo… A seizure?!”
After seeing Seong-il’s eccentricities from the sidelines several times, he heard about Seong-il’s madness from his colleagues. That’s why Edwin was scared.
Seong-il completely ignores Edwin, who is afraid of him, and shouts loudly as he runs to Bruno.
“Bruno!!! The enemy!!! They are coming!!!”
“…!!”
At Seongil’s urgent cry, Bruno stops sprinkling the holy water and throws the holy water on the floor. He then assumes a fighting stance with his signature giant warhammer and round shield.
It’s a completely different look than the usual Seong-il who gave me a face when he talked to me. Seong-il feels strangely inspired by the figure of him who believes in himself as a warrior and comrade.
“Keureuk…!! Kreuk!!”
“…!!”
The ominous voice of the beast spread from all directions starting from the stone statue. Thanks to this, the rest of the colleagues, who were dumbfounded by Seong-il’s cry, come to their senses and pick up their weapons.
“Bruno!! Wait!! I’ll be right there!!”
“You stay here!!”
“What!?”
Ban took out his longsword to save Bruno from being besieged by many evil spirits in an instant. When Seong-il brings out the order to stand by himself, he frowns and looks at Seong-il.
“Ban!! Who will protect the wizard here if they charge at you!! Sena?!”
“…!!”
“I will help Bruno!! Stop talking nonsense and protect the wizard!!”
“But…”
“If we go all the way to you, who will use holy magic to protect the remaining comrades!!! Be cool!”
“…”
When only the right sound comes out of the mad barbarian’s mouth, Ban only twitches his lips, not knowing what to say.
“Aaaaa!! I’ll gouge out your eyes!! Eyes!!”
“Ugh… That man is starting again… Isn’t it scary…”
Seeing Seongil fearlessly rushing at dozens of evil spirits with a familiar line, Senna muttered quietly with a tired expression.
“Kreukreuk…!!”
In the meantime, the voice of the beast can be heard from their side. Seeing that, Ban blesses her own weapon and calls out to Sena.
“Sena!! Hand me the shortsword!! I’ll bless you!! Protect yourself!!”
“Yes…!!”
Senna quickly handed over her shortsword at Ban’s determined cry. The time Van blessed her weapon. The wizards behind them quickly regain their composure and cast spells.
“Prepare for crisis!! Activate!!”
After the short shout, the skin of the two wizards turns to stone, and a strange circular barrier begins to surround them.
‘Hmm… I’ve prepared stone skin, non-magical weapons, and protection from negative energy in advance to prepare for a crisis. Is that a good decision?’
Thinking so, her holy day roars like a real barbarian and wields a sword cursed by the evil spirit.
“Go away!!!”
Instead of being soft and colorful, Taegeukgeomgyeol did not have fast steps. Therefore, in order to quickly approach Bruno, Seong-il steps on the strong footsteps of the bankrupt priesthood and swings his sword at the shadow demon.
“Crak!?”
The shadow demon shouted a grotesque shout and stretched out its hand to block Seongil’s sword, which swung obliquely like lightning. However, Seong-il’s sword attack was so fast and strong that he couldn’t even properly defend himself and his body was cut in half, and he died instantly.
“Who will stop me!!!”
Seong-il enjoys role-play to her heart’s content, shouting the battle lines of Balak, a barbaric warrior she liked.
“Flame, burn my enemies!!”
And the intense magical powers she felt behind her own back. However, Seong-il realizes that they are not aimed at her, but a supportive attack by magicians, and she doesn’t care at all.
“An arrow of pure magic, pierce the enemy!!”
“O spirits made of air! Kill my enemies according to the contract!”
Powerful magic that spewed out after that. Seong-il realizes that it was a good choice to comfortably bring the wizards to the depths without bothering them.
‘To call the summoned number. That way, the wizards won’t have to worry about getting hurt.’
Lightly avoiding the attack of two evil spirits brandishing teeth and claws at him, Seong-il puts a longsword into the enemy’s chest with one hand and smashes the head of another evil spirit with his fist with the free hand.
“Spiritual Guardian!! Protect me!!”
“God of the hammer and anvil!! Praise thee great!! Drive the holy storm!!!”
As Seong-il approached him in an instant and subdued the surrounding enemies one by one, Bruno took a breath and put down his hammer and poured out divine spells like a storm.
『Praise!』
A pure white soul appeared next to him. He wields the Warhammer, symbolizing the god of hammer and anvil, and unleashes ruthless violence on the evil spirits around him.
Shuwaaaaa!!
In addition, a purple cloud containing electricity suddenly occurred on the ceiling of an underground cavity.
‘Oh… That’s the divine bombardment spell that only kills the beings of the malignant species or the undead. Seeing it in person is a new feeling…?’
Seong-il smashes the skull of the evil spirit approaching him with his fist while watching the divine storm spell.
‘…I didn’t live a good life, but the spell doesn’t hurt me either, right?’
Seong-il, who was slightly embarrassed. Fortunately, however, the storm selects only the demons except for holy days and starts to burn them to death with purple fire.
“Damn it…”
The party managed to annihilate dozens of shadow demons that were pouring in. Bruno swears harshly and sits down under the statue.
‘You’re blaming yourself.’
Since he was a deceased person, Seong-il knew very well that Bruno was blaming himself because he did not like the fact that Bruno put his allies in danger because of his hasty habit rather than an enemy attack.
‘However, if I give useless consolation, it will be more difficult… In this case…’
Seong-il silently picks up the holy water thrown on the floor and hands it to Bruno.
“What?”
“What the heck! I have to finish what I was doing. A demon crawls out of there!!”
“Hmm…?”
In the midst of blaming himself for a while, Seong-il’s words turn his head and look at the direction he is pointing at the stone statue. Then, a gap in the musical scale was visible. An ominous shadow was creeping in from there.
“Fucking bastard. Got it. I’ll finish it.”
When Bruno puts up with his gloomy feelings in an instant and approaches the stone statue, Seong-il nods his head expressionlessly on the outside and approaches the statue with him.
‘I see… What is the true identity of that stone statue?’
