Chapter 804 – To the Devil’s Ear

A beautiful waterside where a babbling brook flows. A voice echoes from the altar in the middle.

“About eight divisions. The investigation seems to be going pretty well with the ears of that not even funny group.”

Soo-ryun looked down disapprovingly at the two women who were soaking water by the pond.

One of them. The woman called the priestess laughed afterward.

“Is that so? The rankers seem to be working hard~”
“…”

Seeing Su-ryun’s disapproving face, the priestess giggled.

“I understand Soo-ryun’s anxiety about wanting to take action right away for the sake of the future, but isn’t it time to be considerate now?”
“Are you considering it? Why?”
“Why?”

The priestess raised her face.

“Mr. Dre got mad about the last incident and started looking for the headquarters, right?”
“…”
“Mr.

The time when Su-ryun was crying and trying to say something.

“No. He will be patient.”

Another girl who dipped water in the stream.
1st place in the user rankings, called the two priestesses.
Faithful Machia said in a graceful voice.

“Oh my, is there a reason?”

The priestess asked in a pleasant voice.
Su-ryun… Made an even worse face.

‘What does he know who hasn’t known her face for less than a year?’

She must have read Su-ryun’s displeasure, but Makia didn’t care.

“It’s just… I get it. Mr. Su-ryun ignored the warning, so he’s just finding a location for later. Wouldn’t he put up with it for the next two or so?”
“Aha. Actually, I think so too~”
“…”

Annoying women.
Soo-ryun opened her eyes to the two women who couldn’t read their minds.

“… I know he’s dangerous. He’s not going to get on his nerves for a while.”
“Oh my goodness.”

Why are you being honest?
The priestess was slightly surprised.

“But. Shouldn’t other users besides him have to use their hands? Especially the users who investigate the magic bullet’s way home.”
“Ah. There’s nothing to worry about.”

The priestess said as if singing a song.

“I’m rather worried about them.”
“Worry?”
“Yes. To the point of sympathy.”

Woo-hoo-hu-hu, a priestess with a bad laugh.
Seeing Makia and Su-ryun’s gaze, she immediately opened her mouth.

“At least. I’ll have to face the Plague Dragon Malachia~”

Can people with common sense really do that?

***

Aaaaa

Serenity is broken.
As soon as they heard the word plague dragon, people started running away like ants.

The huge dragon looked down at the humans from the sky and then opened its mouth.

Maya hurriedly closed her eardrums with her chi.

‘Peer? Breath?’

The time when strangers fought dragons was a long time ago.
Users of the present age, at most, were dealing with the Bone Dragon.

However, as long as they are the same dragon, the big picture won’t be different.
Now that you open your mouth, breathe or breathe. I figured I’d definitely use one of the two.

And the magic was cast.

Good luck! Puff puff puff puff!!

Thousands of magic circles formed just by opening their mouths, and the deadly poison that bloomed from the magic circles completely dyed the sky black.

“…!!”

Maya shuddered.
To that power.
And even though it seems irrational… To that existence that took the most reliable measures.

‘That child. I put my mana around this kingdom.’

At least, a prison was created from which ordinary people could never escape.

Maya thought there was nothing left to see.
Concentrate power into fists…

“Calm down!!”

He hesitated at O’Brien’s shout that his eardrums were bursting.

“Everyone stop using your power! Come on! Come on!!”

His remarks, which were even urgent, made the users hurriedly save their energy.

I completely forgot about Malachia’s presence, but if I emitted more power than the energy I installed as a ‘bait’, the evil spirit that sensed the energy might come running.

O’Brien exclaimed, looking at Maya.

“Let’s run towards the next way home!”
“Ha?”

How are people doing? At Maya’s gaze, O’Brien shook his head.

“Don’t you know? This is welcome. Welcome!”
“…Illusion?”

Tuk tuk. The mass of people passing by after hitting Maya while running. Fear. Panic. Air.

It looks so real, but…

‘Certainly yes. Welcome is right.’

Currently, these sights are probably the illusions that gave power to that Malakian body. It is a kind of freak phenomenon.
The reason why I bump into these illusions now… Is because they are ‘monsters’.

Maya shut her mouth.

“This was a few hundred years ago. It must have happened on the day the magic kingdom was destroyed.”

I don’t know what the principle is, but the day’s work is being reproduced.

A lot of strange things happen with Elyunar, but there are also some kinds of phenomena that you don’t want to see.
Now was just that kind of thing.

“Even if we miraculously stop the black dragon, it will probably just start the illusion again.”
“Tsk.”

That’s when Maya nervously scratched the side of her head.

Fuhuaaaaagh-!!

“!?”
“!!”
“This…!”

Dense poisonous clouds bloomed beneath their feet.
Not just under them, but throughout the Magical Kingdom. On the way, a poison cloud was created.

There was no damage to the users, but people a few hundred years ago were different.

“Aaaaagh!”
“Save me!”
“Oh ahhhhh!”

Residents holding their necks or heads, stretching their hands toward the sky and falling down.
Boiling skin, rotting body.

“…What is that?”

Maya stared blankly at Malachia.
I didn’t do anything, but a wide-area magic of this scale?

“As expected, the magic-controlled dragon… It’s absurd.”

O’Brien clicked his tongue.

After seeing the Shinnok of Kaiwang Bulgoe with his own eyes, he thought that there would be no more surprises, but the dragon’s potential was truly amazing.

“Let’s hurry. This is also an opportunity.”
“What? Chance?”
“Have you not noticed? Right now, even if we have ominous imaginations, the grotesque phenomenon is not being realized.”
“…!!”

As O’Brien said, he was frightened by the power of Malachia and the terrible sight of people melting in that power, and even though he had a terrifying thought, he did not realize it.

Aaaaang!!

The good news was also fleeting.
I heard the sound of something collapsing in the distance.

It was the sound of Malacia flying into the palace.
The huge castle is corroded and collapses helplessly.

The defense magic that skillful wizards cast was useless.

‘That’s an old dragon…!’

It can’t even be compared to anything like the Bone Dragon.
O’Brien broke into a cold sweat and pointed to the royal palace, saying that it might be comparable to the demon king of Jin Purgatory.

“Let’s go!”
“What? Let’s go to that palace?”
“Unfortunately. That looks like a passage leading to the next homecoming.”
“…Chit.”

As O’Brien said, the system window pointed to the palace as the next point.
Knowing that Maya was convinced, O’Brien immediately grasped the current number of people with his perks and shouted.

“Thirty people! Follow me!!”

O’Brien ran forward.

“We must hurry! It’s just a fantasy right now, but you never know when this poison cloud will become a reality!!”

Users believed in the trustworthy leader and ran forward.

Melting people.
People reaching out for help.
A woman who wants to save her baby.
A man who fell backward while running and was trampled to death by people.
People praying.

Users turned away from all that spectacle.
Because that’s just an illusion.

So, I turned away.

The place where Maya and the others passed by.
The people of the Magical Kingdom, who must have collapsed, slowly got up.

The entrails dangled from the molten corpse, but they were not in pain.

“I told you to help.”
“Why… Why is no one helping me…”
“Why are you leaving me…”
“Are you going to live alone?”
“Why?”

“”Why?””

Glee.

Thousands of people all at once looked at the direction the users were moving.

Kuaang.
Tuqwaaang.

Remnants of the palace, which would have been splendid and magnificent before it was destroyed, are scattered here and there.
Also, black scams were burning like fireworks all over the place.
The walls that came into contact with the morale quickly corroded and collapsed.

“Why did they say that only the royal palace is yellow…”

The youngest frowned as he recalled the real palace, not a fantasy from a few hundred years ago.

“Why did that dragon attack magic bullet?”
“…I don’t know.”

Maya gave a rough answer.
The people who still reached out to help were clear in their eyes.

The youngest noticed that and giggled.

“True. My sister is weak, so she’s wearing a mask.”
“What are you saying? Do you want to die?”

The youngest sighs as Maiya pinches her ear. She is a dark-haired girl who looks at Haken from the side as if he is pitiful, and longs for her.

“Thirty people!! Follow me!!”

O’Brien urges people to rest.
He glared at Maiya as if he was asking if it was time to talk nonsense, and Maiya clicked her tongue…

“…Uh?”

Maya felt a sense of incongruity for a moment.
…What? What was it
Her discomfort soon disappeared.

Maiya tilted her head, then just ran forward, ran again, just as O’Brien said.

And…

Slither.

The royal palace is gone.
No.

Everything is gone

“…?!?!?”
“What, what?!”
“Ai-san. What else?”

Bored users.

Even so, if it’s fortunate among the misfortunes, it’s that after coming here, I’ve experienced this kind of bizarre phenomenon several times, so I’m not embarrassed.

Thick fog all around.
The sound of footsteps echoes everywhere.

“Why won’t you save us?”
“Why are you leaving me?”
“Mommaaaaa.”
“Save me, save me.”
“Grandma yi yi.”
“It hurts.”
“Scared.”
“Lord, I will kill you.”

Words full of resentment that follow.

“Ahhhhh…”

And footsteps heard from the front.
Maiya, who clenched her fists, was taken aback.

That appeared on the front.
It was… A baby.
A baby dragging a pregnant woman with her belly cut in half and tied to her intestines.

The pregnant woman who had been neglected earlier.

“…”

Maya hesitated, and O’Brien acted.

“Hmm!”

In order to unleash destruction, at the same time as the eyes light up, it rattles!! The woman twisted her face grotesquely.

“My…!! More than a baby!! I want to live!!”

Kwadeuk.

A woman pulling out the neck of a walking baby and throwing it.

The raised face was no different from that of a zombie, with the eye sockets wide open and the skin discolored green.

The baby’s head flew off like a rocket and her harken came out and held out her chi around her arm.

Whoa! Bang!!

“Keukssuk…!”

Haken was horrified, conscious of her broken arms.
It’s her arm that didn’t break even in an open fight with an ogre champion…

“Ah… Seriously… Why are the things near the Kaiou so unexpected?”

Haken forced her to the bone.
He couldn’t use the recovery skill because he needed a lot of mana.

…I wanted to somehow prevent the possibility that the monster who was causing this phenomenon would come here.

Even in such a situation, footsteps sounded, and the residents of Matan rushed toward the users.

“Plague Dragon…!”
“Malachia!”
“Lord, jujujujuju, die.”
“El…Tuhummmm”
“Malachiaaaaa!!”
“Me, nana…Nana…Le?”
“I still have a lot of things I want to do!”
“Me too!!”
“There are many things I haven’t done…!”
“Body!! I need a body!”
“…For a moment.”

“There is a fresh body over there.”

All the dead beings who had been howling uncontrollably looked at the users all at once.
The users reflexively froze like ice at the terrifying sight.

“There!! There is an exit!!”

In the meantime, one of them pointed far away.

“Run-go!!!!”

It was almost at the same time that they all started moving toward the exit at O’Brien’s booming voice, and the dead came upon them.

Charging! Keying!

Although they were clearly human bodies, a few pitiful users got caught in their mouths that turned into bugs’ jaws.

Square square square square.
Pudeudeuk.

“Oh ah ahhhhh!”
“Uh, uh? Aaaaa!”

They are quickly eaten away and become skeletons.
Although they were high-ranking users, they were helpless.

The sight of those who would survive even if they were crushed by a huge mountain were easily ripped apart was resounding.

“Kidukkiduk.”
“Baby, it’s delicious.”
“It’s delicious”
“Try some of this.”
“Khehehehehehe.”

The demons, which were no longer human souls, glared at their next prey.

Tring!

The system rang, but no one thought to check the contents.

Rumble.

Users running and running to avoid the bee-like ghosts flocking from all sides.

The desire to fight back was like a chimney, but I held back.
Be patient and run… To that shiny exit over there.

“Uh, uh, uh, uh.”
“Ah ah ah ah ah.”

Does it hate the light as much as it is a being of darkness?
The demons did not dare to approach the exit and hesitated.

In the meantime, users were able to easily escape through the exit.

Wow.

After all the living have escaped, only the sound of the demons consuming the remaining ‘dregs’ can be heard.

After the noise stopped… Some muttered.

“Why did you go over there?”
“It’s a scary place.”
“It’s scary…”

“Heh-uh… Heh-uh…”

Everyone took a deep breath and caught their breath.
Their stamina was close to infinite, but the consumption of their mental power was enormous.

“…But, fortunately out of misfortune… Somehow, you came across.”

Everyone nodded at O’Brien’s words.
The youngest of them didn’t even have the strength to nod.
No, I was trembling.

“Daddy, move quickly.”
“…”
“This is it, everyone will die…”

Kwajijijijijik-!

“…Uh?”

Before he could finish his words, something appeared in front of the maknae’s eyes, like thousands of arms joined together.
Seeing the bizarre face that appeared in the middle, the youngest froze.

The bizarre face gave a smirk and a voice mixed with ridicule.

[Everything, everything… Everything… Dying…?]
“Hick.”

Pew!! Patter.

“…Ah.”

The ghost, which exploded right in front of its nose and became flesh, soon reconciled with the fog and disappeared.
Only then did the youngest raise her head in a daze.

Maiya didn’t even think to retract her swinging fist, she said firmly.

“I’m here. Don’t worry.”
“…Nu, nuniim…!”

Impressive youngest.

“It seems that the grotesque phenomenon has started again. Everyone be alert… No wait.”

O’Brien was taken aback.

“Outside area?”

The map of the system… The way home was floating, saying ‘outside area’.

“What are you talking about…?”
“What? Then where is this place?”
“Outside? What is it?”

O’Brien and Maiya’s embarrassment was short-lived.
Leaders shouldn’t panic. Their embarrassment is contagious to everyone.

Even Haken, whose arms are tattered, pretends nothing is wrong A. Came by way he said, seemingly insignificant.

However, anxiety that could not be hidden was creeping up throughout the expedition.

“…I will request support from Mr. Paltra.”
“…Okay.”

No one raised an objection.
O’Brien deliberately turned on the communication so that others could hear it in order to reassure him by telling him about the situation outside.

And, Paltra received the communication.

[Mu, Mush Hun … ♡ Il ♡ Hui ♡ Oh, Oh, 오 흣 ♡

“…?”

What.
Are you being tortured?
No way… Attack?

Anxiety flared up… Several women blushed.
I hope this…

“Huh? What are you doing?”

Maya didn’t know what she was talking about and she asked.

[Hey, wait a minute haaaaan♡♡♡♡♡♡]

Rustle rustle. And the sound of something gurgling.
Even after that, it wasn’t until a while later that Maiya spoke again.

[What, what the hell… What’s the matter…♡]
“…That.”

O’Brien was at a loss as to what to say.

At least he knew that Paltra was high-handed and had dozens of male slaves, but in fact was strict with the concept of chastity and was picky about men.

‘If the girl with high pride is someone who would do that right now… Isn’t she the only one right now?’

Said O’Brien, showing no embarrassment.

“…Requesting reinforcements. Dre-sama is also here, so please send them along…”
[Reinforcements?]

Faltra’s voice returned to that of the queen’s businesslike voice.

[Hmm. Hasn’t it arrived yet?]

It was an amazing sound.
Maya screamed.

“Hey. You eat fruit comfortably in that air-conditioned place, so the situation here looks ridiculous!! Because we’re about to die right now?”
[What? Did you dare to shout at her?]
“This is real…!”
“Mr. Maya, calm down.”

O’Brien, who stopped Maya, spoke to Faltra in a calm voice.

“I don’t think it’s already. Thirty out of fifty people who came to Matan have already been killed, so there are thirty left…”

O’Brien feels uncomfortable talking.
What?

And Paltra said.

[Fifty? What are you talking about? And thirty out of fifty, what thirty?]

A questioning voice.
The moment a chill filled O’Brien’s chest, the Queen said.

[In the first place, there were 20 people in Matan.]
“…Yes?”
[I confirmed that two people died yesterday, and two people just died and were resurrected. Truly the braves. It’s a remarkable performance in that dangerous place.]

No one answered
There is only a flood of thoughts that something is wrong.

[It seems very difficult, but I got it. Send reinforcements I’ll give you a leisure reward when I come back, so just cheer up a little more.]
“Wait… Twenty…”

…Okay. Twenty is right
For sure. Twenty people came in.

However.
Why now…

Are there sixty people?

Creepy.

Goosebumps rose, and O’Brien shouted at the top of his voice.

“Raise your hand and call out the number! Anyone who doesn’t call out will be killed!!”

O’Brien’s eyes shone brightly, and the players raised their hands one by one at the ranker’s sharp momentum.

“Ha, one!”
“Two!”
“Three!”
“Four…!”
“Five…”

It took some time and everyone standing here shouted a number.
Before long, the last person also raised his hand and shouted.

“Yu, sixty!”

Why sixty?
Only then did the users find out the identity of the sense of incongruity.

“…What is it. You guys.”

O’Brien gave up his honor and burned his eyes.

All he sees is within range of his attacks.
Players get scared and step back.

No one can believe
No one…

“Hey.”
“Yes yes?”

Maya saw a man.
And she said

“You died in the morning.”
“…”

He was the man who died washing his face in the morning.
He has the same face, so why didn’t I notice?

“Who are you.”

No. Now I see it wasn’t that man either.
He’s just wearing that similar hide.

The embarrassed man laughed, revealing his teeth, until his mouth caught in his ears.

“Ah~ I heard you.”

Whoo!!

Force.

Poo-!!

The man’s head was broken.
At the same time… Perception was broken.
Awareness of the unidentified beings that everyone thought were allies!!

“Chit.”
“A bitch like a gorilla.”

Now enemies and allies are properly separated.

O’Brien… Saw the men with ghostly embroidery on their gray robes, and they instantly disappeared as if they melted into thin air.

There was nothing to be afraid of.
They are human
No matter what method was used, the rankers would not be pushed back by force.

So now…

[Ba ~ pressure…]

…Now.

What was it

I couldn’t think.
The sight seemed to flash.
O’Brien and Maiman were the only ones standing, and the rest collapsed.

…What was it now?
Voice?

The two rankers looked around in awe.
Even Haken, the second-strongest lieutenant after the two of them, sat stunned and drooling.

Their drink?
No. It wasn’t like drinking.

Oh oh

Enemies who had disappeared into the air let out shouts of emotion and knelt with their hands together.

“Oh, oh oh!”
“Ooooo!!”

The appearance could be called fanaticism.
O’Brien guessed who they were.
In this magical world, there was only one group that could be called believers.

‘They’re probably members of the Exile Church.’

They were cheering and enthusiastic.

“Poem, God is coming!”
“God! God is coming!”

Cheers boil over.
In an incomprehensible situation, he hesitates while stepping back. A believer shouted loudly.

“The evil spirit is coming!!”