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“The time limit is ten minutes. If your kids can’t finish cleaning up within that time, I win.”
“Then the deal is…”
“If you win, I’ll grant your wish, but if I win, there has to be a reward, right?”
“Reward?”
“I’m a little interested in you.”
Her sharp nails brushed against Se-un’s neck.
Along with a chilling feeling that his neck might be cut off at any moment, an alluring sensation tickled his skin, stimulating his mind.
“If I win, I plan to take you with me.”
Se-un involuntarily took a step back.
He could understand why Mammon and Leviathan kept saying she was dangerous.
Should he use the Authority of Jealousy right away?
Deciding after ten minutes might be too late.
However, as if reading Se-un’s thoughts, she gave him a playful smile and said,
“Are you perhaps hoping for help from the other Demon Gods? If so, you should give up on that.”
Although he didn’t show it outwardly, Se-un swallowed his surprise at having his inner thoughts exposed and looked straight into her eyes.
“Do you think they wouldn’t know the exact location of this place? I’m very careful about security when I create a territory. Even other Demon Gods can’t invade this place.”
She ran her nails over his body here and there as if Se-un were an amusing toy, constantly stimulating his wariness.
The most reliable insurance was broken.
Of course, he couldn’t be sure if what she was saying was true until he tried it, but she didn’t seem to be lying.
‘Let’s calm down.’
Se-un took a breath and organized his thoughts.
It was definitely a dangerous situation, but he wasn’t as impatient or anxious as he thought he would be.
The reason was.
“In the end, if my companions win, it’s my victory, isn’t it?”
“That look in your eyes, I like it.”
It was because of the content of the match she had proposed.
Although Se-un couldn’t directly participate, it was an opportunity to test the Diablo Guild.
Just like when they faced the Black Cross Guild, Se-un believed in the potential and power of his guild members.
He knew how they had grown, how they fought, and what kind of power they possessed, which made it possible.
‘Of course, it will be difficult.’
The image of the Diablo Guild was reflected on the amniotic membrane monitor.
From the door Se-un had entered, numerous monsters were pouring out like a waterfall along with the slimy amniotic membrane, and the amount didn’t seem to decrease.
Nevertheless, the Diablo Guild did not back down. Rather, they strengthened their resolve and stepped forward.
The thought of the Diablo Guild’s defeat did not even cross Se-un’s mind.
“Don’t worry. The role of a caregiver is important, but I also respect the role of a commander. It’s not just about giving birth to children and raising them, but also about helping them grow well, right?”
She raised one finger.
Even though he hadn’t heard it yet, Se-un could roughly guess what it meant.
“One chance. Direct participation is not allowed, but indirect help is permitted. How about it, is that okay?”
While Lilith continued her explanation, Se-un couldn’t take his eyes off the amniotic membrane monitor.
She thought Se-un was worried about the Diablo Guild, but the reality was different.
“I don’t think that will be necessary.”
Kwaaaang!!
A burst of explosion erupted from the amniotic membrane monitor.
The amniotic membrane on the floor rippled from the explosion, which was merely transmitting the sound, not actually connected to the battlefield.
Lilith, feeling her bangs flutter in the wind, slowly turned her head from Se-un to the monitor.
And there, the image of Kang Han-cheol, known as the immortal, was being broadcasted, his fist raised high after having smashed the middle head of the Hydra into the wall.
* * *
– Player Lee Ha-neul uses ‘Blood-Soaked Ward.’
Red liquid flowed down from the shared ceiling.
Lee Ha-neul’s wide-area debuff is powerful against enemies with high regeneration or those that cause division, such as those related to regenerative power.
The subsequent debuff is the same.
Her Authority becomes more powerful as she faces more enemies, like now.
“I’ll take care of the floor…”
Kwaaaaa!
The head of a scale-covered monster appeared behind Choi Su-chang.
His Authority had also developed further than before, and now he was exerting the power of his constellation ‘Forneus’ more perfectly.
Soon, the seawater shot from the monster’s mouth swept through the surrounding amniotic membrane.
As the amniotic membrane that had been grabbing their ankles with its sticky texture disappeared, the Diablo Guild members moved even faster.
Because the amniotic membrane was constantly being spewed out through the door, even if they stopped using their Authority for a moment, the amniotic membrane would pour out again and interfere with their movements, but Choi Su-chang did not stop using his Authority.
Even in the midst of all that, he didn’t stop helping the team by using harpoons.
“Push them in! Further inside! So they can’t get out of the door!”
“I’ll take the left side!”
“Seo-ah, the right side!”
“Yes, I’m there!”
Seo geogeogeog-!!
Since Baek-hyun mentioned the ‘plan,’ the Diablo Guild had been pushing the monsters towards the wall without thinking about the consequences.
Kang Han-cheol was marking the Hydra alone, and Yoo Seo-ah was looking around the entire battlefield, assisting so that the weak parts would not tilt.
Watching her stirring up the battlefield with her quick movements gave the illusion that there were several Yoo Seo-ahs in this battlefield.
“All Diablo Guild members have gathered!”
“Then immediately to Formation C!”
“Yes! I’ll join you right away!”
“Formation C!”
“Push through!”
The monsters that were rushing in like a waterfall could not stop the Diablo Guild’s footsteps.
Even though their numbers were increasing, the monsters that could not move forward were becoming entangled and clumped together, becoming a huge mass.
“Wall installation complete!”
“This side is done! It will never collapse!”
“Areum, here too!”
“Okay!”
What kind of strategy are they using?
A strategy focused on pushing rather than defeating monsters.
If this continued, they could be attacked and annihilated by the already mountain-like monsters.
The monsters right in front of them were screaming inside the mass as if they were aiming for that moment.
“Br, breath!”
“Are you cutting them, believing that there won’t be much left?”
Seogeok!
The moment the heads of the Hydra, who were confronting Kang Han-cheol, turned their heads to spew out their breath, Arcana jumped up with all her might and cut off eight heads.
Kang Han-cheol, who appeared immediately after, pushed the remaining middle head and smashed it into the wall.
The severed cross-section of the Hydra bulged and grew two new heads, but no one said anything about it.
If they had been exposed to the Hydra’s breath while they were united and pushing the monsters, they could have suffered damage close to annihilation.
“It’s done!”
“Baek-hyun, it’s over!”
They pushed the monsters into the planned area.
Thanks to the twin sisters setting up the walls, the monsters were trapped in one corner of the shared space.
They were struggling to escape through the narrow gap in the center, but Diablo was desperately blocking them to prevent this.
The monsters inside the wall had already swelled up as if they would touch the ceiling, and it seemed that if they were left for a few more seconds, they would burst out with the wall and cover the shared space.
And then.
“I’ve been waiting for this!”
Baek-hyun held out his trembling right hand.
It was clearly an empty hand with nothing in it, but it was as if he was holding something heavy, as if he was desperately wrapping something dangerous.
Slowly.
Very slowly, he twisted and clenched it.
“Corpse Explosion.”
At the same time as Baek-hyun clenched his fist, the zombies that were entangled among the monsters swelled up.
While Diablo was pushing the monsters, what Baek-hyun did was not pushing the monsters together, but planting zombies among the monsters.
The zombies were interfering with the monsters’ movements, resisting, and struggling to maintain their existence within them.
Until this moment, the number of zombies that Baek-hyun had planted among the monsters was dozens, no, close to a hundred.
Those nearly a hundred zombies, following Baek-hyun’s instructions, grabbed onto the door connected to the Territory of Lust and resisted the incoming amniotic membrane and monsters….
Kwaaaaaang-!!
– The Constellation, ‘The Horse Trampling Death,’ watches the exploding soldiers and smiles ecstatically.
In an instant, a huge explosion erupted.
“Ugh!”
“Ah, Areum! That wall, can it withstand it?”
“How can it withstand something like this! It’s not even properly built, it’s just a temporary castle wall stuck in the ground!”
“It can’t withstand it, it can’t withstand it!”
“Everyone, this way!”
The walls set up by the twin sisters could not protect the Diablo Guild from the aftermath of the explosion.
Fortunately, Baek-hyun had anticipated the impact of the explosion and summoned a huge undead to act as a shield, and the guild members spread out their respective Authorities on top of it, managing to block the explosion to some extent.
“Crazy……”
“Is this, is this okay?”
“If it collapses……”
“Ah, I didn’t think about the maze collapsing. I’ll have to think about that next time.”
“……”
Tremendous power.
If Choi Su-chang hadn’t spread out his water barrier, their eardrums would have burst from the explosion alone.
Due to the heat generated from the corpse explosion, the amniotic membrane evaporated completely, leaving only black scorch marks.
By the time the unpleasant sticky steam in the shared space disappeared, the aftermath of the explosion was revealed in their vision.
“Is this…… real?”
“Haha, they were zombies made by mixing biogases and some flame-attribute monster organs for corpse explosions. Still, their physical abilities are inferior, so there’s room for improvement.”
Was the shared space originally this wide?
The ceiling collapsed, revealing the passage on the upper floor, and the walls were torn down, leaving only the door leading to the Territory of Lust.
Kang Han-cheol had broken the maze before, but the terrain of the maze was basically close to indestructible. To blow up such terrain like this.
The power of this explosion had already far exceeded the bounds of common sense.
“They were difficult works to mass-produce, but the explosion itself is satisfactory because it had the expected power.”
– The Constellation, ‘The Horse Trampling Death,’ praises his reserve commander.
However.
“Th, there!”
There was one monster that did not die even in this explosion.
The Hydra.
Its body, which had endured even Se-un’s sword and Arcana’s attacks due to the corpse explosion, was torn and crushed, its entire body blackened.
Except for one of the nine heads, the shapes of the others had disappeared without a trace. And that blackened skin began to crumble and fall off like a shell.
“……Uh?”
“That, could it be!”
“Poison! It covered its body with poison to reduce the damage!”
“G, get ready for battle!”
“Keura rara rara rack-!!!”
The surface of the Hydra exploded.
The explosion tore off all of its skin, but its flesh wriggled and created new skin and new heads.
The middle head, which had survived this tremendous explosion, opened its eyes and let out a roar towards the Diablo Guild.
However, the Hydra was not the only one who survived this explosion.
Right in front of the Hydra.
Likewise, a man stood alone, his whole body blackened, his armor completely shattered, raising his fist.
From the alligator skin covering the man’s head, the reptile’s unique eerie pupils flashed, and a green aura covered his entire body.
– Player Kang Han-cheol uses ‘End of War (終戰) [a skill].’
At the same time as the man slammed his fist into the ground, the head of a giant alligator rose from below the Hydra.
At that moment, the Hydra’s body, which had been determined to take revenge, was swallowed up by the alligator’s head.
Kwajik!
A sound like something exploding was heard from inside the alligator’s shape.
The alligator’s shape, having finished its hunt, leisurely disappeared below the floor as if it were entering the river.
There was no need to confirm the Hydra’s death.
“It’s over.”
Kang Han-cheol, who had finished his mission of taking care of the Hydra, got up from his seat and raised his right arm.
His body, which had endured the corpse explosion with his bare body and unleashed Agares’ Authority to its limit, had not even a trace of energy left.
In the end, Kang Han-cheol did not kneel down even until the moment he fainted.
The raised fist was signaling victory to Se-un, who might be watching from somewhere.