Chapter 31. Central Island (4)
The Clan Lords cautiously but quickly set up an arrangement to surround the demon.
But their opinions were split.
Some of them thought,
‘That…if we get it, it’s good’
The mini-crystal was good whether you used it or collected it.
There were quite a few nice items that could be bought with just two or three of them.
<The Flag of Ariknon Hill>
It created an aura around the person holding the flag which increased the speed of regeneration as well strength and stamina by 5%.
In the situation where the artifacts and runes didn’t have much difference between people, the artifacts that could be gained from the mini-crystals showed a clear difference from other artifacts.
An object that could create differences between Lords.
And five people per one mini-crystal.
This was a significant number even to a Lord.
If 100 were to be released and the clans were to distribute them, it’ll still be eight per clan.
It meant that during a serious emergency, they could move with enough forces to act as a basis for a new start.
And there were many other uses for it as well.
But some Clan Lords thought as such.
‘Damn.. They can’t be spread around.’
The people moving with the mini-crystal will be happy.
But then what would happen to the ones below.
And the clans weren’t the only ones here, there was no way for them to monopolize them.
They couldn’t make every one of their clansmen escape no matter how many they collected.
‘In that case… it’s better to defend instead.’
The fairy wanted them to suffer but it did not want them to all die.
This was probably set up so they could survive if they tried hard.
They had to decrease the number of people ascending prematurely as much as possible.
They needed to turn them into artifacts as soon as they got hold of them so they could get rid of other thoughts.
The two types opinion were different but the conclusion was the same.
‘I’ll obtain it no matter what.’
The twelve Clan Lords made a slightly anxious expression as they set up the formation.
If the clansmen thought as much, the non-clansmen’s thoughts were a bit different.
‘Fuckers. They just keep trying to suppress us. Do you think we don’t know what you guys are thinking?’
Hojin grinded his teeth.
The clansmen and non-clansmen got treated equally and received equal distribution if one were to look from the outside.
But this was only due to the fact that the situation around these few days was quite stable.
They could feel it when they looked at the hunts of the clansmen.
As soon as you receive that weird looking symbol, you start caring for each other.
On the other hand, the clansmen stayed together with them because they thought that the non-clansmen needed help seeing how they were doing but the way they treated them was almost like they were treating potential criminals.
They didn’t allow any form of communication between non-clansmen under different clans and they purposely separated hunting grounds between them to stop any form of meetings from happening.
In such a situation, who between their 90 family members and possible 70 enemies would be thrown off first in a dangerous situation.
Even if their battle strength were similar, the non-clansmen would be picked off one by one.
And no matter how one thought about it, this world didn’t seem like the difficulty was set such that it was ok for them to just defend decently.
Look at that demon at this moment.
There was no way that that thing would be weak and plenty of them would die from now on.
So they had a lot of opportunities during the next month.
So they had to take care of their own lives.
‘But…it would still be hard right?’
At this moment a lot of people, including themselves, had already gotten close to the demon.
Since there wasn’t anybody who wanted to charge towards the Demon they just saw.
And the people behind them were more of a problem than the demons.
There probably aren’t many who aren’t aiming for that crystal.
But they were only taking glances, nobody was able to charge at it.
Logically, they knew that the chances that a crystal drops to them was incredibly low.
There’s even a chance they would get stabbed in the back even if they manage to almost kill the demon.
Since even he would do such a thing if he could get the crystal by killing that guy.
‘…If somebody was fighting it already there might be a chance for me.’
At that moment something happened.
Kudududk
Something jumped out from the center of the defense formation.
The existence which was charging towards the demon at an incredible speed shouted loudly.
“Get back as much as possible!”
‘….that guy is?’
Hojin’s eyes shone as he looked at Hansoo who was charging at the demon whilst shouting so loudly to the point where it resonated throughout the whole battlefield.
***
“Get back!”
This guy extremely dangerous.
‘Yeah. Just look like that.’
Hansoo looked at the Lords who were also looking at him from around the battlefield and then dashed out quickly.
‘I’ll get it.’
The medium-sized Greatsword in Hansoo’s hands sliced the air as it made a heavy noise.
Kuuuaaangg!
The Demon, which had been standing still, made a beastly noise as it intercepted Hansoo by swinging its fist.
Keedddddk.
Hansoo’s greatsword sliced the skin but could not make a deep injury.
And if that wasn’t enough, the area that had been injured was healing rapidly.
‘As I expected… even when it’s a weaker version.’
Demons.
Clansmen of Evil.
Their appearances were similar to humans.
If you discard the fact that they were 4m tall and had horns growing out of them.
But this guy was an entirely different species from humans.
‘I can’t let down my guard even for a moment in order to kill this guy.’
It was rather ok until now.
The cloud snack gained as the hidden piece had been thrown out after being used out cleanly.
One had been left over since his runes had been all changed to colorless but he had smoked it deliciously as well so it had been taken care of cleanly.
He had increased his defense and resistance with Nurmaha’s ring and the Rune Eater Snake.
Now there wasn’t going to be a situation where he would die accidentally from a skill.
But this still wasn’t enough.
‘Attack power is lacking.’
Showing off his attack power against humans who had low resistances and who couldn’t really take hits well as a race was merely a childish act.
Most Humans here were close to being superhuman but their ability to take hits and their defenses were the same as normal humans
A situation where they would die if they got stabbed in their vital parts.
On the other hand, the things he needed to slice apart in order for him to get to the Demon Lord’s Castle were Demons. Even if they were weaker versions.
Defense and Resistances aside, their ability to take hits were on a different dimension because they’re from a different race.
These guys even had two hearts so they would continue to fight even if you stabbed one of the hearts.
‘I need to fight it for around half a day just like the Carnivorous beast.’
rephrase. ‘
In order to beat it using the decent weapon he was holding that could be picked up in the dungeon, he was holding, he basically needed to wrestle it.
That was why he needed to raise his attack power.
Using the crystals he would get from killing the thing in front of his eyes.
Runes will increase steadily as he hunts but the thing that dictated the attack power were artifacts.
‘Hooh’
Hansoo ruthlessly charged at the Demon while swinging the medium sized greatsword in this hands.
All of Hansoo’s senses were focused on the Demon.
And the Demon’s movements started to form a three-dimensional image in Hansoo’s head.
And soon Hansoo and the Demon started to fight whilst creating noises like the storm.
But just a short moment after he started to fight, a movement that he expected but didn’t wish for, happened outside of Hansoo’s senses.
‘Tsk’
Hansoo slightly frowned.
***
Hojin mumbled as he slowly approached Hansoo.
‘Though it’s strong…’
The Demon’s physical ability was not something he could go up against.
Since Hansoo, who was going against it, looked like a monster.
But aiming for the crystal wasn’t something that one needed to be strong for.
‘Looking at the situation… don’t go too close…’
It wasn’t the time to drop his guards yet.
Since it would be dangerous if that thing decided to go for the weaker ones first.
But then there won’t be space for him to interfere if the demon died, or was about to die, if he was too far away.
A few people who had similar thoughts as Hojin started to close in the formation that surrounded the demon slowly.
Which meant that they would look for chances whilst Hansoo was fighting.
‘Hoo.’
Hansoo mumbled inwardly.
Their thoughts weren’t wrong.
Since there was definitely a chance that they could go for i.t
But how could the demon’s physical abilities be all it has.
There was another frightening thing about Demons other than their physical abilities that was on a different dimension compared to those of humans.
<Racial Skill>
The problem was that there was no way for him to know what this racial skill was.
Basically, it was random.
Because of this, even Hansoo wouldn’t have had thoughts of attacking it without his resistances and Nurmaha’s ring.
‘It seems like it’s not using it yet… it’s definitely an area of effect attack’
If it was a single target skill then it would’ve already used it.
Hansoo, who had been pondering for a moment, made a cold expression.
‘Well. Their purpose is clear.’
It wasn’t bad to increase the level of alert on others by killing a few of them.
No, it was better to clean off people like these by borrowing the Demon’s hands.
Since he wouldn’t have any surplus power to escape from fighting the Demon.
Even before Hansoo’s thoughts could end, the body of the Demon, which was standing still until now, started to heat up.
It started to prepare this skill because the number of people around it had gotten sufficient.
Huuuuuukk.
And soon the surrounding air started burning, then it became a ring as it exploded outwards from the Demon.
The black flame, which haad spread out in a reddish blackish manner, radiating outwards as it scorched the air.
Hansoo, after staring at the black flame for a while, applied Nurmaha’s power, power destruction, onto the sword he gained in the underground, <Karkil’s Medium sized Greatsword> and then swung.
Hoooong.
The Nurmaha had split the black flame just like that.
‘As I expected… it isn’t something to laugh at’
But Nurmaha’s power was not something that one could use for free.
Hansoo frowned as he felt the mana drain out from his body.
If his magic, which increased the might of Power Destruction, didn’t reach the colorless stage then he might not have been able to cancel it out and may have just been covered with it.
The wave in front of him had been split but the other parts were ruthlessly charging as it headed towards the others.
“Goddamit! Get back!”
“Uurk!”
The people who had seen the waves of black flame started to hurriedly run back but some unlucky people had been swiped up due to the fast speed of the flame.
The bodies of the non-clansmen that could not escape to the back slightly touched the wave.
Slightly.
But the people who had been touched by the flame cringed as they screamed.
“Goddamit! Uuaaaak!”
The flame instantly enlarged as if it swallowed the person whole.
And the person covered in flames screamed as he rolled about on the floor.
The fairy had only thrown one at two thousand people.
How could such a thing be weak?
The only reason why it had thrown it was because it could still damage them greatly even if it went up against two thousand.
He hadn’t raised his resistances for nothing.
But attacks like that which covered a large area was much weaker in comparison to single-target skills.
But this was only the case for him, who had resistances as well as Nurmaha’s ring, and the other adventurers who did not have magic resistances had a lot of strength but didn’t differ much from ordinary people when it came to flame resistance.
Which meant that there wasn’t much difference between them and an ordinary man being swept up by a gas container explosion.
‘He was from the blaze descent huh.’
<Blazing Inferno’s Three Ringed Demon>
This guy’s Type was the worst thing possible for people other than him.
It might be different if he was of a different descent but the other adventurers basically had almost nothing they to do against this guy.
The clansmen and non-clansmen hurriedly backed off as they saw the attack that had bursted out.
They had realized that its Advantages were too horrid to do something with numbers.
‘Just stand like that.’
Hansoo, after looking at the people who weren’t approaching him anymore, charged at the Demon just like that and the others made a reluctant expression as they looked at the Demon and Hansoo
***
Kududuk.
Hansoo breathed out roughly as he cut off the Demon’s head.
‘Hooh…’
As Hansoo cut off the Demon’s neck, a few runes and a small crystal came out.
When Hansoo grabbed the runes with his right hand, the rune eater snake zealously ate the rune as it distributed the runes evenly.
And as he grabbed the crystal with his left hand it turned into a small symbol and got engraved on his left hand.
The eyes of the people who were watching changed slightly.
They couldn’t kill it.
But there were no rules which said the person who killed it had to take it.
As everyone’s expressions turned grim, Hansoo, who had seen this, smirked.
“Woah. Don’t stare at me in such a scary way.”
“…?”
As everybody looked at him from those words, Hansoo smirked as he spoke.
“If I go up because it’s too scary then who’s going to fight that thing from now on?”
Of course they could kill it if they charge it with numbers.
Since they could use a special method which would supplement their resistances with skills.
But the fact that casualties would increase was definite.