Chapter 2197 – 2197. Dark Moon
Ancient ruins are no different from dungeons. In other words, it means that the elements of a dungeon are present in ancient ruins.
In games, a dungeon signifies a monster lair. There are common monsters, and there is a boss monster, the leader of those monsters.
The monster before my eyes was different from what I knew, but it was definitely Baliak, the boss monster of Sebitseom. It didn’t make sense for a demon with this much power to suddenly appear on Sebitseom. The only explanation was that it had been there all along.
‘In the original game, the artificial demon Baliak is a monster you don’t necessarily have to encounter. The end of Sebitseom is a self-destruction, so you don’t have to fight it.’
I wouldn’t get the drop items from killing the boss, but considering Baliak’s difficulty and settings, I passed. I didn’t even look in that direction on purpose.
‘What kind of idiot released Baliak’s seal? Even if the corporations are greedy, they wouldn’t do something so stupid, would they?’
If it were a corporation, they would secure it without breaking the seal. Research? They would conduct it in a safe place. Was the seal broken by the corporation’s indiscriminate attacks? That didn’t make sense either. The supernatural creature research lab where it was sealed was in a much safer place than others.
‘In Great Korea, researching demons and angels is illegal. That’s why the supernatural creature research lab is in a safe and inconspicuous place.’
Something I didn’t know about happened there.
‘Thinking about Baliak’s settings and abilities… it possessed someone’s body and ate at least a few humans on its way here. Also, it knows it’s destined to sink with Sebitseom, so it’s running wild for its final amusement.’
I glared at Baliak hanging from the ceiling. It was still eating humans. It was probably stronger than the artificial demon in the original game.
“Damn it…”
The black mage muttered in a voice filled with despair. His hands were trembling slightly.
Crack.
I spread my senses to check the condition of Invisible Blade. She was breathing. However, she was unconscious. I didn’t know when she would wake up. Even if she did, I couldn’t be sure she would be able to fight right away. I had to consider her out of commission.
‘The best thing to do is to escape Sebitseom, avoiding that guy. It seems possible if Orsia helps… At the very least, I have to save Invisible Blade.’
Invisible Blade was my woman. No matter what, there was no option to abandon my woman and run away.
“Hey. You’re a black mage, so you know a lot about demons, right? It’s impossible to escape from that monster right now. We’re going to fight it. Cooperate.”
“…The idea that black mages are demon experts is just nonsense from ignorant people. Of course, I’ve researched the power of demons to some extent. That thing is a monster, just like you said. It’s not one of the 72 demons, but a special one. Its strength is at least level 8 or higher. How are you going to fight something like that?”
“Then die here.”
“That demon’s gaze is fixed on you. It seems like you’re the target?”
“I don’t know. I don’t think that demon will let go of a tasty black mage.”
“Damn it.”
If he had researched demons to some extent, he would know better than anyone that he wasn’t safe. Would a demon just let an unrelated human live? That’s nonsense. Why else would a demon be a demon?
The demon, having eaten all the humans, came down. I picked up Invisible Blade and created distance from the demon. The black mage also created distance and prepared a curse with black mana.
“Let me tell you in advance. Black magic doesn’t have much power against demons.”
“Is it because black mana itself is a power that imitates the power of demons?”
“…Yes. The power that is considered the opposite of demons is divine magic, which uses divine mana. Just in case, let me ask. Can you use divine magic?”
“There is no omnipotent god. Even if there is, they’d be an idiot.”
“We’re screwed.”
Baliak bent his knees and jumped.
[Barrier]
A transparent barrier appeared in the air, blocking Baliak’s path. But when Baliak swung his fist, it shattered in less than 3 seconds.
‘A level 5 barrier so easily… no, should I say it lasted 3 seconds?’
The black mage cast a curse. Baliak didn’t dodge and took the curse.
Boom!
There was a sound of an explosion from inside Baliak. But Baliak got up unharmed.
“What kind of curse was that?”
I asked the black mage.
“It’s a curse of internal explosion. If it were a normal human, their whole body would have exploded… It seems like its insides aren’t damaged because it’s a demon.”
“Why did you use such a useless curse?”
“I needed to figure out how much curse resistance it had.”
“So, what did you figure out?”
“You can’t kill it with curses. At best, you can only bind it. More importantly, aren’t you going to fight? Why don’t you drop some lightning?”
“I was planning to do that anyway.”
Did they think I was just watching all this time? Of course, I was preparing the incantation.
[Thunder Bolt]
The sky visible through the broken ceiling shone, and lightning illuminated the surroundings. Thousands of compressed lightning bolts, drawing the heat of a chaotic line in the air, struck Baliak.
The demon trembled as it was struck by the lightning. Black smoke rose from its body. But it didn’t fall. Its arms were moving fine.
“Ha, Han-nam…!”
Baliak said clumsily and rushed at me.
[Phase Shift]
I changed the current astral and mana road, which were under strain, to phase astral and mana road.
[Using Moment. Remaining stacks: 11]
I was about to weave the spell for Thunder Bolt in the slowed world, but I stopped. Baliak was moving fast even in the slowed world.
‘I can’t time it with Thunder Bolt.’
What I needed wasn’t an attack, but a check.
[Air Boom]
KWA-A-A-A-A-ANG!
An air explosion occurred between me and Baliak. Baliak and I were pushed back. I used telekinesis to grab Invisible Blade and myself.
“Han-nam!!!”
Baliak, who had been thrown back, roared. The guy who had rolled on the floor a few times got up again and charged aggressively.
‘Does it have almost no reason? That’s a relief. If that damn body had a cool head… it’s terrifying just imagining it.’
It’s doable.
That’s what I thought. And it was a misjudgment.
The battle that followed was one-sided.
Its intelligence was like that of a beast. That judgment was wrong from the start. It was less than a beast. At least beasts feel emotions. They also know that their own body is the most precious thing. If it seems like they can’t win, they run away. But what about Baliak? It had no retreat. It didn’t back down. It just moved forward for greed.
We poured out magic as much as we could. We bombarded the target that didn’t dodge with magic. Even so, we couldn’t inflict any significant damage. Even after dropping Thunder Bolt five times, we couldn’t stop its limbs. What about other magic? If Thunder Bolt didn’t work, would anything else work?
Among the magic I could use, the one with the highest pure power was Thunder Break? I could use it if I could.
‘There’s no time to use it. There’s no vanguard to buy me time. The black mage is buying time with curses, but… all I can do is use Thunder Bolt. And even that opportunity is rare, so I have to check it with other magic.’
“Beep. 50 minutes left until self-destruction.”
The Sebitseom AI announced. Right. The self-destruct system had been activated, and only 10 minutes had passed.
If we stayed like this, the only future I could imagine was getting defeated.
I had to reveal my trump card.
The black mage, who seemed to have come to the same conclusion as me, said in a cracked voice.
“30 seconds. I’ll bind that guy for 30 seconds. If it’s you, you can prepare a powerful blow to finish him off in that time, right?”
“Just do it. If you can’t, we’ll both die.”
“Damn it. Why am I going through this trouble…!”
The black mage’s body floated upwards. Black mana overflowed from his mouth and nose.
Baliak, who had been slammed into the wall by wind magic, raised his body and tilted his head. For the first time, its gaze was directed at the black mage, not me.
“Hell, I offer you my left hand’s middle, ring, and pinky fingers. With your touch, caress my enemy!”
Crack!
The black mage’s three left fingers broke at once, rotted in an instant, and disappeared. That was probably impossible to heal.
‘It’s a kind of human sacrifice. Is it a secret black magic?’
A level 6 black mage offered his own fingers. A sacrifice more valuable than offering hundreds of humans.
Tzzzz.
The space around the black mage distorted, and hundreds of hands popped out like tentacles. No, they were curses with the form of hands, with a high concentration.
The hands of hell stretched out and grabbed Baliak.
“Han-nam! Han-nam…! I will become Han-nam!”
Baliak struggled. I wished it would just be buried in the curse and die… but that would only be for a moment. It would move again after time passed.
“Now!”
The black mage urged me.
I took out a [Plasma Battery] from my pocket and threw it into the air. The metal ball shone with a blue light and floated in the air. A total of seven plasma batteries resonated with each other in the air, exchanging current.
I gathered the prepared power and drew a magic circle on the ceiling. The [Plasma Batteries] moved to the main positions of the magic circle.
“…Sebitseom AI. Can I use the power of Sebitseom?”
“Beep. Those with a special resident card can request it from the administrator. The current administrator of Sebitseom is absent. Based on the special situation, Eugene’s request has been approved.”
“Gather all the power of Sebitseom.”
“Beep. Only the power excluding the minimum power to maintain Sebitseom can be used.”
“Bring all the power you can.”
Crack.
Power gathered from all directions. The AI seemed to have a sense of things, as the gathered power converged into the magic circle on the ceiling.
I rotated the magic circle and the current at the same time. The current began to amplify using the Man-Lei method.
“Hey, is it not ready yet!”
“It hasn’t even been 15 seconds.”
“The situation is not good. This guy is already trying to move!”
“You were the one who said you’d hold out for 30 seconds. If you hold out longer, I can attack him more surely.”
“Damn it. I’ll offer my left hand’s index finger and thumb, hell!”
The curse that was holding Baliak became more intense.
I focused my mind on the magic circle. It had already exceeded the amount of energy I could handle.
There were no brakes. All I could do was step on the accelerator and adjust the direction. If I let my guard down even a little, a major disaster would occur.
“Is it not ready yet?!”
“……5 seconds have passed.”
