Final Destination (1)

“Everyone, don’t fall. Because it starts now.”

Following my orders, my colleagues stuck by my side and strengthened their defensive posture.

In particular, Erina was clinging to my side and being very alert.

In order to defeat the Demon King, you had to find three life stones.

The first is the devil’s castle’s treasury. The second is an underground maze. The last one is the throne room.

You must break through a total of three areas and destroy all life stones to defeat the Demon King.

The inside of the Demon Castle was very complicated, but there was no need to worry.

If I remember correctly, the path to the Life Stone was quite simple.

We entered slowly, putting Celica’s protection as our top priority.

The first place I came to after passing through the front door was the lobby.

There was a huge red carpet on the floor and decorated with statues.

At first glance, it appears to be an ordinary statue, but in reality it is different.

“Everybody destroy the statues!”

“Yes!”

Then Tyria, who was waiting, quickly fired an arrow.

At the same time, the statue’s limbs wriggled and stood up.

Gargoyles and Dullahan. A being made entirely of stone statues.

Did you say it was Machiela’s masterpiece? Even in death, he was holding onto my ankle.

“Kayla. Refrain from using fire magic!”

“…Yes! Okay!”

Since it was made of stone statues, flame magic was not very effective.

However, Kayla was not a wizard who only used fire magic.

Immediately, the red energy disappeared from the magic circle and the air swirled.

Air cutter. A magic that cuts off skin just by being brushed by the wind.

Of course, the stone statue could not avoid the wind with its slow movements.

When the long sword was pointed at the statues that were gradually worn out, they split along the gold.

Just as I was concentrating on the statue, Tyria let go of the bowstring and raised her voice.

“There’s an assassin on the ceiling! “They all carry throwing daggers!”

I don’t know how I realized it, but I knew she was right.

They also realized that their stealth had been discovered, so they came down from the ceiling and started throwing daggers.

“Erina! Assassin…!”

Before she could say anything, Erina swung her sword and cut the demon’s body into two pieces.

The dagger flying at us could not pierce the shield and bounced off.

“Cerica! “Never fall next to me!”

“Yes… !”

In fact, if it weren’t for me, there was no one who could protect Tyria and Celica.

While protecting the two people, I continued to attack while hiding inside my shield.

An assassin approaches very close. I lowered my stance to avoid the shield, but it wasn’t a good choice.

When he raised his knee and hit his head, he fell to the floor in pain.

I tried to cut off his head with a long sword.

The opponent immediately stood up and lashed out with a huge dagger.

He quickly raised his shield to block the dagger, then strengthened his left arm.

He swung his shield to parry, then plunged his sword into the stumbling opponent’s abdomen.

“Ugh…!”

An assassin who holds back screams until the moment of death.

Soon, he must have lost his strength and fell limp with his body pierced by the long sword.

Soon after, all the gargoyles and assassins fell, and the commotion died down.

After quickly reorganizing the battle line, we checked the direction.

The Devil’s Castle consisted of a total of three floors and a basement.

Among them, the first destination is underground. I had to go down the stairs of the Demon King’s Castle.

“Let’s all go underground. Because the Demon King’s lifestone will be there.”

“Yes. I understand.”

“…Ah, yes!”

Erina reacted a little embarrassed.

He obviously didn’t know about the Demon King’s Lifestone, but the way he naturally followed me was quite unnatural.

At least Tyria and Celica acted awkwardly, but it wasn’t very effective.

I gave the order again before I could sense it.

“Everyone, don’t get behind me. “Except for Erina, you must not come forward.”

He slowly moved forward, protecting his comrades with a shield.

The entrance became quiet, as if the battle just a moment ago was a lie.

As she headed towards the huge stairs, Tyria’s expression became even more determined.

“Seohyun. “I feel a suspicious energy under the stairs…”

“Suspicious energy?”

“Yes. It is clear that many monsters are gathered together. But it’s not a cry, it’s… “

It is said that he heard a sound that sounded like screaming.

When I heard her words, an experience immediately came to mind.

“Don’t worry. Tyria. Let’s go in right away.”

As I headed down the stairs, I felt a faint odor along with a damp atmosphere.

Normally, you would think that the Demon Castle would be full of monsters, but the basement is a little different.

A quiet basement, as if no one was there.

But as soon as I entered the stairs, I noticed something strange.

Psychedelic magic. It is a magic that distorts the space itself and makes you lose your way.

Erina seemed to know it too, as lightning engulfed her.

“Erina. “Just a moment.”

Instead of her, I drew my sword and imbued it with magic.

Soon, snowflakes began to flutter around and a strong wind began to blow.

In the gradually distorted space, hidden paths and walls were revealed.

If I had gone down the stairs, I wouldn’t have ended up in a dead end.

If you first arrived at the Demon King’s Castle, you would have wandered around without being able to find the entrance to the underground.

“Tyria. Please check carefully to see if there are any enemies.”

“Oh, yes!”

Now that the illusion magic is gone, tracking will be a little easier.

There was no point in constructing a complicated maze to hide the lifestone.

Anyway, all we have to do is clear the way by force.

Since all the troops will have been dispersed to construct the maze, all you have to do is organize them one by one.

As I walked along the newly appeared path, the maze unfolded in earnest.

A space where you can’t see the surroundings properly because it’s blocked by walls on all sides.

Originally, I would have invested a lot of time wandering around and looking for the lifestone.

“Everyone follow me.”

The road was already in my mind.

There was no hesitation in my steps, perhaps thanks to my already tiresome experience of wandering.

The moment you take the wrong path, you may fall into a trap or be attacked by surprise.

If I followed the path I remembered, I could find the life stone right away.

‘The structure of the maze probably hasn’t changed.’

Even if that were the case, there were many ways to respond.

I was confident because I had already experienced numerous crises.

“My lord. “I can’t sense any sign of the enemy.”

However, contrary to expectations, the enemies did not appear.

No matter how much I knew the route, it was a little strange that there were no ambushes.

But Erina was different.

“…Seohyun. Please wait a moment.”

I stopped because I felt a strange energy.

While I calmly closed my eyes and concentrated on my senses, no one opened my mouth.

How long had passed? Erina slowly opened her eyes, pulled out her long sword, and was struck with lightning.

“I don’t want to be the victim of this kind of prank.”

Then he struck the long sword at the blocking wall.

Quagwagwang!

In an instant, the walls of the maze collapsed.

Seeing that, all my colleagues could not keep their mouths shut.

No matter how powerful you are, isn’t it unrealistic to collapse the terrain in one hit?

The astonishment was doubled when I realized that Erina hadn’t even tried her best.

At least I opened my mouth and lightly stroked Erina’s head.

“What were you going to do if the basement collapsed?”

“…I didn’t think that would happen.”

Erina muttered as if she hadn’t even thought of that.

Anyway, I guess it’s okay since I saved myself the trouble of wandering around and finding my way around.

Blood stains and corpses were mixed in the remains of the collapsed wall.

They must have been preparing for a surprise attack while wandering through the maze, but they didn’t seem to know that they were going to destroy the wall.

And as soon as the wall collapsed, the underground space shook once.

“…! Seohyun! It’s the presence of a monster!”

I could feel the hostile gaze along with Tyria’s voice.

I wasn’t nervous or nervous because I had already received countless looks, but it felt strange.

A life that cannot be felt even by ordinary monsters or elite demon lords.

It felt like dozens of monsters were glaring at me at once.

‘Was it still there?’

Even in the first round, there was one monster guarding the life stone.

Among them, the underground enemy was the most bizarre of all the enemies I had ever seen.

As I walked along the broken road little by little, the appearance of the monster hiding in the darkness was revealed.

“Seohyun… “That is…”

“Tyria. “Go away.”

I thought it was creepy when I saw it on screen, but it was even more bizarre when I saw it in person.

A round being that moves slowly with numerous monster legs.

In fact, its appearance was so distorted that it was difficult to even call it a living thing.

The only way to describe it would be to say it was a huge lump of flesh.

Fusion body. A monster created by gathering numerous monsters.

Although it was Makiella’s failure, ironically, its strength could not be ignored.

“That… !”

Kayla’s voice was filled with astonishment.

No matter how cool she was, she couldn’t help but be horrified by the terrible appearance.

At least Erina and I stayed calm and aimed our weapons while keeping an eye on the monster.

Likewise, the other person’s legs stopped as if they recognized us.

“Everyone, get ready. “I have to deal with it all at once.”

A monster slowly approaching with a gloomy howl.

Don’t be fooled by its slow and sluggish appearance.

“… ! It’s magic!”

Kayla must have felt the energy of magic and quickly drew a magic circle.

Immediately, Serika put her hands together and performed a miracle.

“… !”

At the same time, black flames that appeared in the darkness began pouring down on us.

Black salt. The magic Katrine mainly uses. Even the terrible odor was the same.

‘Was the fusion able to use black salt… ? ?’

Because it was such an anomalous enemy, I couldn’t know all of its abilities, but I was painfully aware of how dangerous black flame magic was.

“Master… !”

Kayla tries to protect me with a voice full of astonishment.

But Erina was faster than him.

When I pointed my long sword at the black flame, it quickly died down.

At the same time, Erina glared at the fusion with a voice full of anger.

“…Never leave my side.”