Chapter 269

Chapter 269

There was a place in the “Amusement Park of Dreams” known as the Demon King’s Castle.

Beyond the flamboyantly decorated amusement park that blinded the eyes, at the very edge of those ramparts, stood a gigantic castle. Those who had received official guidance in the “Amusement Park of Dreams” were also permitted to visit that place.

However, no one who went there had ever seen the owner of the dream.

“But is this really the Demon King’s Castle?”

“Rather than that, it feels more like a kind of theme park...”

Seo Seohui laughed.

“There’s a similar fellow here.”

He looked at the man wielding a greatsword before him.

Those two eyes dyed an alien gold held no focus. Tears of a deep shade, like molten gold, kept streaming down, hardening and then dropping to the floor. Each time they fell, a small, dull metallic sound rang out.

Seo Seohui read his existence with his skill.

[Ancient Wraith, Ather]

“The pain within eternity may also become mercy.”

“...Damn.”

It seemed the hero had fallen into the evil god’s grasp.

“The Saintess will be sad.”

“Wouldn’t she have expected this much? She seemed to know well how things were unfolding.”

“At that time, it was only one possibility.”

There was a vast difference between predicting a situation and living through the predicted situation.

“Still, it’s not a bad story for us.”

They had searched everywhere in the dungeon. In the ruins that seemed most plausible, and in the Black Forest, there was no main body of the Demon King. The only place left was the “Demon King’s Castle,” adorned with every kind of gold, silver, and treasure.

‘Up until now, the evil god was blocking entry, so we couldn’t get in.’

That was why he had come here just in case, only with the vice-guildmaster.

So the existence of a humanoid monster they encountered inside was something to welcome. Didn’t it mean something was finally moving forward? Of course, that too would be following the evil god’s intent, but it didn’t matter.

When dealing with mystery, matching its rhythm was always effective.

‘The Saintess also seemed to have roughly grasped the situation and was moving. That’s why she must have handed over every bit of information she could. Thanks to that, I even learned what kind of person that hero was when he was sane.’

And matching the rhythm was what Seo Seohui did best.

“...I don’t know exactly what the evil god is thinking, but it seems he’s set up quite an entertaining stage. Right now, he himself has forgotten everything, climbed onto the stage, and it’s turned into a chaotic situation, but...”

“...”

“I heard the bishop of the Moon Lady Religion has defected. Ah, of course, this is information only I and some of my friends know. It would be troublesome for my friends if bad news spread at a time like this.”

Information was being controlled safely. He hadn’t heard more because he had rushed back into the dungeon, but he believed the Saintess, awakened from the dream, would be handling the Moon Lady Religion’s affairs well.

If so, Seo Seohui simply needed to help the Saintess with what he did best.

“Judging by the greatsword you’re holding and your stance, you seem to have some strength.”

Seo Seohui playfully swung his one-handed sword.

“That’s something I’m confident in too.”

“...”

“Quite the taciturn one.”

He grinned and tilted his head.

“That’s fine too.”

Seo Seohui withdrew the vice-guildmaster.

“Support me.”

“Will you be alright alone?”

“Just look at those solid muscles. Our skinny vice-guildmaster would have a hard time enduring an opponent like that.”

“I’m not that frail, but... yes, understood.”

The vice-guildmaster’s true value wasn’t direct combat, but support. He was a healer, a buffer, and a debuffer. If Seo Seohui was injured, he would treat him, and he would place curses on threatening monsters.

In other words, he was Seo Seohui’s lifeline. He couldn’t drag someone like that into this harsh battle. Seo Seohui met the gaze of those golden eyes staring at him as they staggered.

“...”

“...”

The smile vanished from his face.

And the two blades collided.

* * *

Heaven and earth collapsed.

It wasn’t a mere metaphor.

‘...As expected, this building was an illusion. Seeing how easily it breaks, it must not have been cherished much.’

It was the same as that dazzling amusement park.

‘In the end, it was only one kind of stage prop.’

It could never truly be someone’s home or castle.

‘If the evil god truly cherished this place, it wouldn’t collapse so easily.’

Justitia’s vice-guildmaster, Kang Eunseong, cast a barrier to encircle himself without even a glance. He wanted to do the same for the guildmaster too, but it would only get in the way.

The sound of the world collapsing rang painfully in his ears. A thunderous roar that shook the brain. Amid thick dust like yellow sand and massive debris that blocked his vision, the vice-guildmaster watched the battle with bloodshot eyes.

“...As always...”

You don’t spare your body.

‘When will that bad habit ever be fixed.’

With careful gestures, the vice-guildmaster remotely healed the guildmaster’s injuries.

His superior preferred getting hurt and then fixing it, rather than not getting hurt in the first place. Because every talent he was born with made Seo Seohui hard to kill.

Since minor injuries didn’t affect the battle, he always put his own defense and recovery last. He said it was better to swing his weapon one more time with that time.

‘Even though you know full well it worries the people watching...!’

His grip on the staff tightened for no reason. Remote healing was not an easy task. Even more so in a battle this enormous.

‘You’re not rampaging like that because you trust me, are you.’

Guildmaster Seo Seohui trusted his friend too much. He hoped that wasn’t it, but it felt like he was doing that now because he believed Kang Eunseong would fix him. He couldn’t refuse to heal him out of spite, so it looked like only the guildmaster’s habit would get worse.

“...”

Still, he’s no easy opponent.

‘They said he was an ancient hero...’

Ather was a human who hunted dragons. A hero who fought the Demon King. A chosen champion among humans.

Having gone mad, his instinct grew fiercer, and his destructive handwork was not only enough to smash the “Demon King’s Castle,” but to shake the world itself.

‘It’s refined swordsmanship, yet bold enough that it almost feels barbaric.’

His greatsword was even larger than Ather’s body. “Overgrown” suited its size well.

The edge of that absurdly huge greatsword was so rough it felt merciless. If you were even grazed by that blade, most people shouldn’t expect to live.

‘Is that meant to inflict pain?’

The vice-guildmaster soon understood.

‘Well, it’s a weapon meant to slay dragons.’

Recalling the enormous body of the evil god he had first seen and those horrific curses, it made sense. To seize even a little advantage, it must have required being as destructive as possible, without regard for means and methods.

‘But to handle such a weapon that nimbly... that can only be called a miracle in another sense.’

In the blink of an eye, he pressed dozens of attacks. His defense using the greatsword was also excellent. And even so, his strategy using the terrain was outstanding. Falling debris, the flow of air, even the tremor of the ground—he used none of it wastefully.

‘There isn’t even a sound...’

He was deliberately breaking the castle. Using the falling rocks from it, he was practically continuing an aerial battle. As if he had no weight, he leapt between the falling stones, flexibly evading attacks, or countering.

“...Even among humanoid monsters, this is a very troublesome type.”

He wasn’t merely destructive—his intellect was considerable. The Saintess said he had once been a royal librarian, and he truly seemed to have the ability for it. But that wasn’t the only problem.

The curses surrounding him at a terrifying density.

“...Ugh...”

“Eunseong!!”

“I’m fine!!”

The vice-guildmaster was pouring out mana so that those curses would not reach his superior.

Blood flowed from the holes in his body. Flesh rotted, and an alien sensation formed in the mind. While caring for the guildmaster, his own body was being eroded, but it wasn’t to the point of death anyway. If it was pain he could ignore while maintaining the status quo, ignoring it was efficient.

It was a thought fitting for the vice-guildmaster of that guildmaster, but it was none of his concern. Justitia’s basic attitude was like that. A guild where people who valued “the right cause” over their own safety gathered. They debated endlessly and looked upon the world for that.

‘If I didn’t think I could be of help, I wouldn’t have followed you this far in the first place.’

He watched the guildmaster through his glasses. Blood vessels had burst so badly that it looked like he was shedding tears of blood, but he couldn’t let go of supporting his guildmaster for even a moment. His guildmaster trusted him and entrusted him with his body.

‘...Detect the curse. It’s a corrosion-type curse. The destination is equipment and weapons. It’s specialized in metal. Counter it. Reflect it back. An excessively cunning monster. Even while rampaging like that, does he still have enough brain left to spare to pinpoint the curse? Injury—this time it’s the neck. Stop the bleeding first. Reconnect the vessels. He must not feel pain. After anesthesia, yes, there—at the largest branch...’

Remote healing was an art only three people on Earth could perform. If you compared it to a civilian doctor, it was like operating with forceps on a patient who was fully conscious and not anesthetized, from more than a kilometer away. It wasn’t a simple matter that was solved with the press of a button.

But the vice-guildmaster did it. Rather, he was used to it. Because the superior he supported always demanded that the friend he kept close “do a second job.”

‘...Each of us does what we do best.’

And the one with leeway bears the remaining burden of a “friend.”

‘The guildmaster has already done his role just by checking and dealing with that monster. My role is to prevent him from losing focus or being seriously injured. The role of supporting him so he can fulfill his role.’

Even so, he also had to keep blocking the attacks that kept flying toward him. If he died here, who would support the guildmaster? This wasn’t a situation with enough leeway to leave the guildmaster alone.

‘They never said the hero would be this strong...!’

Thinking about it, it was only natural. He was good material that had fallen into the evil god’s grasp. That horrific curse aura surrounding him must also have been granted by the evil god. In many ways, it was chaos.

“Ugh...!”

If I’d known it would be like this, I would’ve dragged a few more bastards here!!

‘...Now that this commotion has broken out, someone will come soon. The guildmaster is not someone who will lose. If we can just maintain the status quo, support will arrive and we’ll seize the advantage. But if some mediocre bastard barges in, there’s a high chance they become baggage or get taken hostage. That would only cause the opposite effect.’

He wanted to send a message. As a capable mage, he was also skilled in telepathy. He could even contact people on the other side of the globe. But right now, he had no leeway to do that.

Telepathy was nothing like words spoken aloud. If you slipped, you could remotely crush someone’s skull. He wanted to avoid that.

But even if he found a gap to request support, who could he call?

‘If I have to select talent like that, how do I even explain it? Only strong ones come? Only A-rank and above? No, the one who joins this battle can’t just be A-rank. They need to be top-tier even among A-ranks. It’s a battlefield where curses run rampant, so humans weak to that need to be excluded too. Damn it, are there no other S-ranks?’

For a moment, he thought of the red-haired collector, but dismissed it at once.

‘That man won’t help!’

He wasn’t someone who would come here willingly to begin with. His personality was a problem, but that wasn’t all. Bisavol was weak. It might sound absurd—how can an S-rank be weak—but he really was weak.

‘As the manager of bizarre treasures, he’d be well-versed in curses, but in a battlefield this dense, the chances he gets injured are high. His way of fighting is ultimately using his collection. He excels more at defense and command than attack. If the formation is already this set, he might even cause the opposite effect.’

And he wasn’t trustworthy. There was a strong chance he would pull some stunt about art and such. Bisavol was among the S-ranks who especially did not respect life. The only life he respected was his collection.

‘Above all, he hates the guildmaster.’

On the surface, their relationship wasn’t bad. But Bisavol unilaterally despised Justitia. Simply put, he thought they were a bunch of suckers. And yet he still supported them faithfully.

Seeing that, the collector’s feelings seemed closer to love-hate. So even now, if begged earnestly, he would click his tongue and come help, but—no. No. No matter how you thought about it, that was truly not it.

The Collection Merchant was not a place to rely on.

‘Damn it...! If only Hunter Seo Gio were fine, I would’ve asked him for help!’

A secret S-rank, and also called a saint: Hunter Seo Gio. He was also a priest who served the Black Cloak. There was no way he wasn’t familiar with curses. He was an all-rounder who could tank, deal, and heal.

‘And even his character is good.’

Unlike my parents. It was a relief that he nearly became a massive calamity and didn’t, but anyway, Kang Eunseong’s situation right now wasn’t that relaxed.

‘We can’t expect support from the Collection Merchant. The collector himself is a man who came to this dungeon to play. The Collection Merchant guild members will be busy supporting him. Is there someone among the A-rank hunters participating in this subjugation who’s the most suitable? No? There isn’t. Damn it, there’s no one.’

The conditions for a person who could join here and seize the advantage were strict. Strong, smart, versatile—and it had to be close to S-rank level.

“...!”

Even so, as always, Kang Eunseong found the answer.

“Excuse me—!!”

The vice-guildmaster slammed his staff into the ground—BANG!! A huge pure-white magic circle spread out around it, and soon a pale figure, similar to him, appeared.

Pop!

“Huh?”

The girl dragged here by Kang Eunseong’s teleport looked flustered for a moment.

“Uh, ah.”

Then she nodded.

“Y-yes... as much as you need.”

“I will apologize properly for this rudeness.”

“I came back to the dungeon and wondered what kind of commotion this was, but...”

The Saintess, Aram, lifted a silver moon.

“You called me well.”

The advantage was theirs.

(Continued in the next part)