Raiding the Demon God’s Vault – Episode 634
The starting point of the 91st floor.
A coastline where earth and waves intertwined.
Or rather, a place that barely qualified as a coastline, constantly reshaped by the sea’s advance and the land’s accumulation.
Above this chaotic scene, Se-un floated, holding the blue ‘Contract’.
‘No monsters are appearing.’
This was likely because the number of monsters being eliminated was currently greater than the number spawning.
Still, as the trial progressed, it was clear that more monsters would appear soon enough.
“Not yet?”
– It’s almost time!
Kashalaka’s booming voice echoed through telepathy.
And moments later.
“Kroooooooo!!!”
A dragon’s roar reverberated from the distance.
The massive wings of a dragon emerged from the horizon.
It was a spectacular entrance, proving she wasn’t late, despite the horde of monsters clinging to her body.
‘She must have really hated being late.’
Ignoring the monsters, she barreled towards the location of the contract that Se-un had indicated, snatched it, and flew directly towards him.
She seemed too rushed to even bother with the pests.
Still, she was flying so fast that most of the monsters clinging to her body were flung off as she approached Se-un.
“I’m not late!!”
“Yeah, you’re not late.”
“A dragon could never be late! It’s only natural!”
Kashalaka wore a proud expression.
Before the regression, I had only perceived her as an endlessly dignified and fearsome Red Dragon, but seeing her like this, she seemed surprisingly relatable.
In fact, she seemed almost more human than dragon.
“The contract?”
“Here it is!”
Kashalaka opened her mouth.
Chunks of rock tumbled out, revealing that she had broken off the section where the contract was stored and carried it here in her mouth.
As the rock fragments were neatly cleared away by magic, the Earth Contract, resembling a wish-fulfilling jewel, became visible.
“Oh…….”
As soon as he saw the Earth Contract, an exclamation came from behind Se-un.
The old turtle had followed Se-un.
He hadn’t been carried; instead, he floated on a droplet of water, resembling a divine being riding a cloud.
“This is the Earth Contract… You’ve been tricked just like us…”
The turtle stroked the Earth Contract with a pitiful expression.
Kashalaka was muttering, ‘What’s this guy?’, so there wasn’t much time for sentimentality.
“What do we do now?”
“Just break it. Take the divinity, and we’ll handle the rest.”
“Just break it?”
“If you read the Divine Word in reverse, the barrier will be解除 [dissolved/released]. Then you can break it.”
Se-un, who was about to break the contract, hesitated.
“Read the Divine Word in reverse?”
“Just read it in reverse from what you read in the sea earlier.”
– The constellation, ‘The Bowing Crow,’ laughs.
Read the Divine Word in reverse.
Currently, Se-un’s Divine Word skills were only at the level of interpreting a few words.
In fact, he had only deciphered a small portion of what was written on the contract.
It would take ages just to read it as it was, but reading it in reverse was nearly impossible.
That’s why Mamon sent such a message.
“……Why didn’t you say so sooner?”
“Yes? What are you talking about? Didn’t you know how to read the Divine Word?”
Se-un rubbed his forehead.
It seemed they assumed he knew the Divine Word perfectly simply because he had interpreted the initial, small part of the contract.
Just in case, he took out Durandall and stabbed the contract.
Fzzzt!
A blue barrier materialized, blocking Durandall.
‘Was it impossible to break it from the start?’
It didn’t seem that strong, so I thought it would break easily, but I didn’t expect such a barrier.
“This is a barrier that only appears when two contracts are together. If only one contract is broken while separated, the barrier won’t activate, and the divinity will move to the other contract.”
“Ah…….”
Now I understood.
In other words, this barrier only appears in specific situations like this.
This could be considered a kind of hidden mechanic.
“Ahem, it seems there’s a problem. What are you going to do?”
Kashalaka glared at Se-un.
It was an unexpected situation, but he had no intention of giving up.
Fzzzt!
“G-Goheongja-nim [Mr. Goheongja]. If you don’t break the barrier…….”
Se-un stabbed the contract again.
Of course, this time as well, a blue barrier rose and blocked Durandall.
But Se-un didn’t stop there.
– The stigma reacts to the legend of the Blood Wolf.
– The third ability of the stigma, ‘Destruction,’ awakens.
The authority of Destruction.
If this power, which had shown its strength when attacking not only Outers but also divine beings, could it break the barrier made of divinity?
That’s what I was thinking when I struck.
Cheee!
“Oh, how can this be!”
The conclusion was a success.
As Durandall was dyed crimson with the power of Destruction, the part of the barrier that came into contact with the tip of the sword was being pierced as if it were burning.
It was fortunate for Se-un that he didn’t have to give up because he couldn’t read the Divine Word after coming all this way.
The power of Destruction finally pierced the barrier of the contract completely.
Clang!
It penetrated the contract.
The barrier was strong, but breaking the contract itself was not difficult.
The two contracts were pierced by Durandall simultaneously, and the divinity contained within them soared.
“Now is the time. Goheongja.”
Originally, if one was broken, the divinity would move to the other contract, but since both contracts were broken, the divinity was wandering around with nowhere to go.
Se-un immediately revealed the stigma and reached out to the soaring divinity.
Swoosh-
The divinity began to be absorbed.
The divinity, realizing that its power was being taken away, tried to escape, but with the medium already destroyed, it had nowhere to flee.
“Finally, the contract…….”
The divinity of the contract was all absorbed into Se-un’s stigma.
The amount was more than he had expected, and Se-un’s eyes widened.
Sizzle-
The divinity-less contracts shattered and scattered.
At that moment, changes began to appear below as well.
“Gyarung…….”
“Ah, my body.”
“Finally…….”
The enemies that Kashalaka had brought were kneeling down, putting down their weapons and sobbing.
The same was true for the enemies who had newly revived and were defying the sea and rising to the land.
The enemies, who had been rushing in without caring about their lives, were all regaining their reason.
Seeing that, Se-un asked the turtle.
“Is this place going back to normal now?”
“……No. They have only realized the meaninglessness of the fight that was being carried on by the contract.”
“Then…….”
“From now on, it is our job to do. To completely resolve the conflict, to establish peace. We must cultivate the land with our own strength, not with the power of God.”
What is already broken cannot be restored.
Even though the world is so broken, the world will not return just because they have reconciled.
It has only stopped the march towards the worst.
“Thank you. The next problem…… is a problem that we must solve among ourselves.”
– The trial of the 91st floor, ‘Conflict,’ has been successfully completed.
– Calculating contribution points…….
At the same time as the turtle’s greeting, a trial completion message appeared.
“Ahem.”
Kashalaka also seemed to have received a trial completion message, and a pleasant sound was heard.
“What are you doing not going?”
“Ah.”
At Kashalaka’s words, Se-un raised his head.
A world on the verge of destruction.
The appearance of the 91st floor was like seeing the Tower before the regression, and he was lost in thought for a moment.
Even if someone had said they would save the Tower before the regression, wouldn’t they have felt like this?
Although it was far from destruction, it was a world where he didn’t know where to start.
Thinking that he must defeat all the Outers before it gets to that state this time.
“Let’s go.”
Se-un and Kashalaka’s bodies disappeared from the 91st floor.
* * *
“Finally, I’m stepping on the 92nd floor!”
“Finally? How many times have you repeated the 91st floor?”
“Killing the earth guys. Killing the sea guys. Killing both. Just enduring. Hmm, I think I’ve been there about four or five times.”
“……But you never found the contract?”
“How can I find something hidden in such a place! If it had been a little shallower, it would have been blown away by my breath!”
“Yeah, it would have.”
Kashalaka.
After fighting the Outers, she even researched how to extract the power of meteorites, so I thought she would be smart like a dragon, but now I wonder how she even managed to extract the power of meteorites.
“Now! Where should we go now!”
“I don’t know either.”
“What?”
“Have you already forgotten? I’ve only cleared up to the 92nd floor. From here, I have to find it from the beginning.”
Well, even if I knew, I wouldn’t have told her easily. It was the same reason I gave when I started the 91st floor.
As they were talking for a while, a system message appeared in front of them.
– Welcome to the trial of the 92nd floor.
– Theme: Conflict
“Ahem, conflict.”
“This trial will be more direct.”
“What do you mean?”
“You’ll know when you get there.”
Se-un and Kashalaka walked towards the cliff closest to the starting point.
The terrain was similar to the 91st floor.
Stone fragments floating in the sky defying gravity, and streams of water flowing upwards against the order of nature.
The difference from the 91st floor was that this place seemed closer to a mountainous area.
Hills, mountains, and pits were visible everywhere, and strangely grown trees, grass, and rocks were abundant.
As the two reached the cliff and looked around widely.
“Ahem, I see. Conflict, huh.”
Numerous monsters were visible on the vast field of the 92nd floor.
A thorough world of wilderness.
No, could this even be called wilderness?
These monsters were fighting each other indiscriminately, ignoring the food chain.
Conflict.
I don’t know why they’re fighting, but this place was literally a battlefield.
A battlefield where the fighting never stops.
“If it’s a similar feeling to the 91st floor, does the trial end only when the conflict is stopped here?”
“As I said, I don’t know. I have to find out from now on.”
“Are you going to act separately this time too?”
“For now. I’ve received help, so call me if you need it.”
“I already received help on the 91st floor. If I call you, I’ll offer you a deal too.”
“Suit yourself.”
Flap!
Kashalaka spread her wings wide and flew into the air.
I was going to see what method she would use to get through the 92nd floor…….
“Everyone get out of the way! How dare anyone block the path of the dragon!”
Kwaaa!
“Haa…….”
Her strategy hadn’t changed at all from before.
She jumped right into the middle of the conflict and showed off her power.
I thought she had realized something on the 91st floor, but I guess not.
If I remind myself that she’s a dragon and that she’s thinking, then she’s trying to get a hint by jumping into the conflict.
Looking at her blasting breath indiscriminately, it didn’t seem like that was the case.
Shaking his head at her antics, Se-un was about to move his feet.
– The constellation, ‘The Bowing Crow,’ hears the word 92nd floor and raises its head.
– The constellation, ‘The Bowing Crow,’ asks if this is the place where the Hall of Ten Thousand Demons fell.
Mamon’s message popped up.
“That’s right.”
The place where the Hall of Ten Thousand Demons fell.
In other words, the place where Se-un regressed was this 92nd floor.
– The constellation, ‘The Bowing Crow,’ makes an unknown expression.
– The constellation, ‘The Bowing Crow,’ asks if she can go there once.
Mamon, who usually doesn’t say anything unless it’s related to treasure, made a sudden suggestion.
And somehow.
“……I understand.”
Se-un felt a strange attraction to her suggestion.
Episode 635