Chapter 69 069

<Lesser Demon. Lv 81>

<Lesser Demon. Lv 83>

…

Demons swarmed the field like locusts; all of them were level 80 and above, a drastic increase from the other monsters on Churai Island. The boss could even be close to Level 100 considering that those lesser demons were just field mobs.

Haydall knew that they couldn't even deal with trash mobs at their level, and wasn't sure whether cycling all of his skills on repeat would deplete even half of their HP. However, the impossible soon became possible.

"Haydall! Get the kill!"

"On it!"

Haydall shot an arrow at the demon right between the eyes. The damage was terrible but enough to kill a half-dead monster.

Deadly Enemy Neutralized.

Acquired: Significant EXP.

"Roth! Next!"

"Okay!"

Now was the time to deal some AoE damage as the half-dead demon was gone. Suddenly, a vortex of wraiths broke out among the ranks of demons.

"Hahaha, idiots! Do you really think this darkness will do a thing to us?"

"I-it does! It does work! Argh!"

Normally, the tornado of wraiths wouldn't do a thing to the demons, most of the time, it would even provide protection, however, Roth was not a normal warlock now.

"Wow, I feel holy."

"You are holy."

The power from Seojin's necklace had been applied to Roth's mana, completely transforming the properties of his skills. The new 'Vortex of Holy Power' had overwhelming damage output compared to Haydall's arrows.

Roth's contribution skyrocketed thanks to that, and…

"That's it."

Seojin withdrew the energy from Roth.

"Okay, you're done. It's Haydall's turn now."

"When will it be my turn then?"

"Wait…"

"There aren't many demons left…" Odie muttered with a tearful face.

She was right, the swarming demons were on the brink of elimination thanks to Seojin's necklace and skills, plus Roth's AoE.

"Haydall. You'll get every demon left on the field now."

"Yes, but how about Odie…?"

"I said that can wait."

"Aye, sir."

Haydall decided not to ask again and risk Seojin just leaving the party. He drew his bow calmly and soon enough, a shower of arrows killed off the demons one after another.

Deadly Enemy Neutralized.

Acquired: Significant EXP Acquired

'The amount I'm getting is ridiculous…'

Haydall was appalled by the constant rush of messages. His EXP bar barely increased when they were hunting coconut crabs, but now, he could clearly see the gap closing whenever he killed a demon.

He leveled up three times after clearing the field, following Roth. Odie had to just watch on helplessly.

<LEADERBOARD>

1. Seojin: 336

2. Roth: 73

3. Haydall: 52

4. Odie: 0

'I'm the only one with zero!'

Odie was about to go mad out of frustration. She had paid a fortune of six hundred gold and now Seojin was treating her like she was deadweight?

However, even after the battle, Seojin didn't even mention her contribution.

"We're going to check the first tower now, then we'll move on. Let's keep this flow in future battles too. I'm not going to explain the same things again next time."

"All right."

"You're the leader."

'He'll let me join in the next battle.' Odie thought about how annoying would it be for Seojin to keep an eye on everyone's contribution score. There were a total of five towers, which meant there were still four left. Surely, she'd get one for herself, right?

However, contrary to her beliefs, Seojin neglected Odie at the second, third, and fourth towers as well.

'Is he ever going to let me join?!'

Seojin only acknowledged Roth and Haydall, leaving Odie behind like she was invisible. She didn't dare to ask him one more time as she thought he'd just tell her to wait again.

'He's really driving me crazy!'

* * *

'She must be crazy nervous right about now.'

Seojin could read Odie's mind like a book. He still hadn't changed his plans to carry her to the reward, but he also wanted to make her nervous for a little while.

'Why is she so anxious when all she has to do is sit and wait?'

Perhaps it wasn't about the money—Of course, six hundred gold was no small sum, but she showed no hesitation when she paid for the other two as well. The achievements must have been the thing truly bothering her.

'She must be power-hungry, then.'

The reason Odie played the game in the first place was because she wanted attention, which was also the reason she spared no money when it came to investing in her party. They would receive rewards such as achievements and strong characters once they finally cleared this quest.

'She can't even bother me since she's afraid that I'll just leave.'

It wasn't a big deal to Roth and Haydall as they had already had their contribution points. They'd get their rewards even if Seojin left the party, but Odie wouldn't even get a single coin.

'She's super nice when she's not running her mouth. How annoying would she have been if I gave her a share of the contribution already…? Oh, that aside…'

Seojin checked the message he had received from BunnyRabbit a little while earlier.

Current Progress:

Ironblood: 22%

Immortal: 15%

'I'm so proud of him.'

Ironblood would seize the prize first at this rate, but Merhen's guild was trailing behind them with threatening speed. He didn't even ask Seojin for help, which meant he was probably back to his former self.

'Not that I plan to yield, though.'

Seojin wasn't planning to give the quest up, even if Merhen was in the first place. In his eyes, that kind of concession would be belittling his opponent. Perhaps he could share the rewards after clearing it together, but he would never belittle such a close friend by simply letting him win.

'Let's get ready to end it.'

Seojin looked far off to the fifth tower, where the boss demon probably was asleep.

"The boss will probably come out now. Don't stray too far away from me."

"…Maybe we should when we're fighting a boss."

"Well, all five towers are untouched and the demons will keep flooding in. The towers seem to be acting as some kind of gateway. Will you be able to kill them off without me?"

"I'll stick right by your side."

Roth practically glued himself next to Seojin. The five towers were currently still intact as Seojin hadn't touched them. Rather than doing anything about trash mobs being summoned to the boss dungeon, he had only cleared a path to the final boss.

'A cornered rat will bite a cat.'

Seojin was confident that he could turn the demons back without shedding a single drop of blood.

* * *

Vales, a greater demon, awoke from his slumber as he heard one of his servants calling for him.

"Lord Vales! You must get up! Lord Vales!"

"…Noisy."

"Lord Vales!"

Soon enough, Vales opened his eyes to see his servant looking rather flustered. The great demon saw how his servant's soul was damaged due to strong holy power.

"Some…thing is there… it isn't human and it almost killed me."

"How that thing could be a threat to me when it failed to kill you?"

"It spared me on purpose. It also mentioned Lokan."

"…Lokan?"

Even Vales had to frown upon hearing the name, as he originally lived in Lokan's realm, as his subordinate at that.

"Was it a priest?"

"It wasn't. It used God's power, but there's no way it could be human."

"…"

Vales examined his minion's wounds and knew that he was telling the truth. Even priests weren't allowed to utilize pure divine power.

"The gate is not closed, so it must be a mere human that grabbed a piece of power. An angel would never do such a clumsy job."

Anyone who had a brief knowledge of demons would know they had to destroy the towers first.

Vales could sense that most of the lesser demons had perished, which meant the mysterious invader possessed the power to destroy the towers. Neglecting them meant that it was definitely a human or a being that didn't know what a demon was. However, the servant suddenly mentioned something unexpected.

"It asked whether you had forgotten the pain of the Hellfire Peninsula, my lord."

"…What?"

"I couldn't understand those words, but it said you would know those words mean…."

Vales stiffened in surprise. How could a man speak of a not in this world? The question, too…

'Maybe… no, it can't be. There's no way a mere human would know… but is it really human?'

A strange sense of anxiety crept up on him. He had to make the decision by himself, surrounded by uncertainty.

"I'll have to see for myself."

* * *

"So, should we wait here?"

"Yeah, it'll come out by itself. Don't attack it, just watch. Stay here."

"All right."

"Aye, aye, sir."

Roth and Haydall had no problem accepting his orders, and while Odie looked sulky, she kept quiet. Seojin was in a position where he could see the fifth tower with just a glance. It was close enough that those inside would hear his voice if he so much as shouted.

'Any moment now…'

Seojin wasn't nervous. The lord of these demons must have been resting there, and he was probably awake by now, being briefed by his subordinates.

'That's why I attacked his minion using the divine power. He'll once when he sees it. It wasn't just any holy power.'

Holy power could counter demons, but higher-level demons could resist it to some extent. The only exception to that was divine power. God's pure power was a denial of the devil's existence in itself.

'Of course, it also depends on the divine power in question. I should think that this necklace is as powerful as my stats.'

That meant Seojin's necklace was so powerful that any ordinary demon wouldn't dare to come any closer. He could even one-shot the boss if he launched a surprise attack while the boss was sleeping.

However, Seojin would not get the reward that he wanted, which only the boss could give at his will, if he did as such. That was putting the actual quest reward aside, of course.

Movement suddenly came from the tower.

"…!"

"…!"

"Here he comes."

Seojin remained calm in contrast to his other surprised party members. He briefly thought that he saw something black, and with that, a system message popped up along with a large thud.

Encountered: Field Boss

Great Demon Vales - Lv 105

The demon was about three meters tall, and its wings stretched out equally to match his grandness. It also had thick hair growing out all over its black body. Even the two horns above his head…

"Yeah, he does look like a demon…."

Vales spoke as Odie let out a dazed murmur.

"Were you the one that called me?"

His voice sounded terrible, almost like nails scratching down a chalkboard.