Chapter 175 : Chapter 175

Chapter 175 - Mop-up (1)

Anyone well-versed in dimensional knowledge would know that spirits and demons are sworn enemies, their relationship so bad you could call them irreconcilable.

It wasn't that they were entangled in some grand cause, but rather a phenomenon that occurred because they frequently fought over their right to exist.

Demons extract and absorb the souls of living beings to increase their power, while spirits maintain their existence by attaching themselves to substances in the material plane.

In other words, the former targets the creatures of the material plane as ‘prey’, while the latter wishes to preserve the material plane as a ‘host’.

Since neither side's reason could be considered particularly noble, it meant their relationship was more like growling at each other while drooling over the material plane. Rather than taking the lead to punch each other in the face.

“...”

Of course, that being said.

It wouldn't be so easy for Selpas, the ‘Spirit Queen’, to feel sympathy while looking at the demon legion.

Highest-tier magic, which could well be called a nuclear warhead, flew as if it were breathing, and,

“Excuse me. Excuse me, Your Highness.”

“...What is it, Your Majesty?”

Selpas spoke to Lee Si-yeong, with whom she had grown rapidly close during her stay in the Spirit Realm, in a fretful voice.

Of course, it would be more accurate to say that Selpas was unilaterally clinging to her rather than that they had become friends.

Spirit society was a strict class society. For Selpas, who had a hard time finding someone to open her heart to, a person of ‘equal standing who listened well’ was like an oasis in the desert.

So, in a situation like this that was completely beyond her comprehension, it was plausible for her to cling to that person and whine.

“That human, what on earth is he...?”

Selpas asked in a bewildered voice, watching the demons who were still screaming and being mercilessly swept away.

Of course, the subject of her question was the human who had instantly gathered a group that turned a legion capable of swallowing the entire material plane into a small boat adrift in a storm.

Despite defeating a disaster that the whole world was trembling over as if he were cleaning his house, his expression remained peaceful.

Does that guy even have emotional highs and lows?

“The King of Flies is famous even among the spirits. An ancient demon whose seal must never be broken...”

“Ah, I know something similar to that.”

“Pardon?”

“There is. It’s called Kim Gyu-sik who has started looking at his watch.”

“...?”

As Lee Si-yeong muttered that with narrowed eyes, a massive question mark popped up above Selpas’s head.

In contrast, Lee Si-yeong just stared at Kim Gyu-sik, who was occasionally looking down at his wristwatch, with a tense expression.

“Please, just do something crazy within an acceptable range this time...”

In truth, she herself knew very well that it was a futile hope.

***

Several highest-tier magic spells, which could be called nuclear warheads, were cast in rapid succession.

[If you had remained quietly in the demon realm, you would not have suffered such a fate... Why do you bring this calamity upon yourselves?]

With a heavily resonating voice, an overflowing mana manifested with a terrifying presence.

As expected of an ancient dragon. Each spell was on a scale that could be called a natural disaster. Just watching such spells pour down from its house-sized body carried a resonance that made one's chest swell, but.

“NG.”

[...Hm?]

The dragon, which was about to fire its magic at the demons, blinked stupidly and looked down at me.

[Is there a problem with the spell formation?]

“No. There’s no problem with the spell formation.”

The strike range is wrong, the range.

I clicked my tongue and personally re-designated the range calculation.

“Here, like this. If you hit here like this, the efficiency increases by 15%, doesn't it?”

[...]

“With just this, you can shorten the time attack record by 4 seconds. If you're an ancient dragon, you should have the sense to figure this out on your own. Yes?”

[...]

The ancient dragon nodded its head reluctantly.

As a master of magic and spell formations, it must have quickly realized that there was nothing wrong with what I said.

-!

-!!

The fired magic mercilessly ravaged the demons.

“Aaaaaaaargh!”

“Save me!”

“...”

Hey, you guys are demons.

Your main job is to extract such sentences from others, so what are you doing running away while screaming them yourselves?

-Everyone, annihilate the enemy at once!

And pouring down on top of that was the charge of the Round Table's forces.

The cavalry, mounted on synthetic creatures made of mana, charged with the force of a collapsing mountain.

Knights in colorful armor advanced through the black fog. It was a scene reminiscent of a heroic tale from the medieval era. It made one's chest swell.

But.

“You guys are NG too.”

-...

The Knights of the Round Table, who were about to charge the enemy, stood blankly and looked back at me.

I clicked my tongue and held out my hand to the side. Seo Ah-in, who had been quietly following me, placed a magitech projector in my hand.

When I projected it into the air, a diagram depicting the formation of the Round Table's forces appeared.

“Move the cavalry to the back and don't make the distribution thick and narrow, but wide and thin. It looks cool that way, but the encirclement shrinks.”

-...

“What are you going to do if you fail to catch a few mobs because of that and the clear time gets longer? Huh?”

-...If we miss a few like that, how much longer would it take for you to make such a fuss?

“Let’s see? About 2 seconds?”

-You're nagging us like that over a mere 2 seconds...?

I glared back at the incredulous reply.

“Hey! This person is saying something that could get him in big trouble! A mere? A mere 2 seconds?”

Apologize to all the players around the world who spend a month holed up just to shave off even 1 second from their time attack lap records!

“...”

Of course, that wasn't the only reason I was giving these people a hard time.

“The shorter the time it takes to clean them up, the easier it is to take down the final boss. So the faster we catch them, the more comfortable it gets.”

Well, the system was structured that way.

If even one of them remained, it would be impossible to enter the ‘next stage’.

Considering that the difficulty of the final phase, the ‘Heart of the King of Flies’, increases with time, it was a rather valid reason.

-...I see. I can accept that.

“If you understand, then hurry up and spread the encirclement wide to finish this quickly. Ah, by any chance, do you guys eat?”

-Eat...? It is possible. Why do you suddenly ask?

“No, I was thinking we could all have a meal together after we're done. The snack you eat after a session is just so delicious.”

-...

Even as they tilted their heads with a gesture that contained the thought, is this really the right atmosphere for hunting a legendary archdemon?, the Knights of the Round Table faithfully followed my instructions and scattered.

“Mr. Kim Gyu-sik.”

“Hm?”

“The allied forces gathered under your leadership right now. You do know they are all mythical beings that can only be found in old books, right?”

“...I guess it feels like that?”

“But is it really okay to order such beings around like a foreman bossing around workers on a construction site...?”

I tilted my head as I listened to Seo Ah-in's strangely life-like impression.

To be honest, if you only considered their name value, she was right.

But from the position of the one giving orders, it was also true that it didn't feel that real.

I mean, come on.

“Well, they don’t seem to be doing that well. I don't really get the feeling that they're all that amazing?”

“...”

“There’s a lot that needs correcting. I thought that since they’re mythical beings, they’d at least be a little better than me...”

“...”

I muttered in a lonely voice.

Sigh, what a shame.

Since they were the ones I had worked so hard to gather, I thought they would at least show a performance that would satisfy me. To think it was only this much...

“...Is this bastard the real archdemon?”

Why would you say something like that, Ms. Seo Ah-in?

***

So, while the mop-up of the demons on the outskirts of the city was proceeding smoothly.

Before this matter was completely wrapped up, there was something I needed to announce in advance and get cooperation on.

Mainly from two people.

“...Uh, um...”

Ms. Meirin fidgeted with her hands and feet and looked at me awkwardly.

Next to her was Seo Ah-in, staring at me with a glare.

“Open your mouth properly and say that again. What did you say, you scoundrel?”

“...”

Strange.

I was sure I hadn't been nervous even once while the King of Flies raid was in full swing.

But standing in front of Seo Ah-in, who was emanating a frosty aura, I felt strangely shrunken.

Why was this? Could this be... ‘fear’...?

“Hmm, it seems his vision of his own future is finally starting to open up, even if just a little... This man will definitely live a henpecked life...”

I ignored Ms. Meirin, who was muttering incomprehensible things, and calmly continued the explanation I had given just before.

“The synchronization I used to do with Evangeline often before. I'm going to need you to do that with me this time.”

“Then that means you and Ms. Meirin have to stick together like that for a long time?!”

“That could happen.”

Of course, Ms. Meirin might feel a little uncomfortable, but I hoped she would overlook it as a collateral damage incurred in subjugating a disaster-class archdemon.

“That can’t happen! What does this man think a person's heart is...!”

“...”

The problem is with Ms. Meirin, so why are you the one throwing a fit?

I desperately wanted to ask that, but instead, I glossed over it with a sigh.

I was in a position where I needed her cooperation as well, after all.

‘Let’s see...’

There were several steps that must be taken to successfully complete the King of Flies raid, and a representative one was the ‘mopping up of demon remnants’ that was currently underway.

And as far as I knew, what came after this was the ‘event battle’ that led to the final boss fight...

The way to proceed here was a bit of a headache.

Either way, the King of Flies was still one of the final boss candidates, so there were a plethora of gimmick-laden stages to progress through.

Among them, the section that shattered the mentality of numerous Conqueror users was the ‘Corridor of Pitch Darkness’ that appeared after this.

For now, the most suitable people for it were these two.

Seo Ah-in and Ms. Meirin.

The selection criteria were...

“...”

Because both of them... if they were to suffer ‘mental corruption’, they seemed less likely to try and kill me.

Ms. Meirin was mostly gentle, and in any case, Seo Ah-in had been with me for the longest time and I had seen her face the most.

Even if we went through ‘that’ event in the Corridor of Pitch Darkness, I would be able to survive on my own somehow.

“In that respect.”

Sighing, I placed a hand on each of Seo Ah-in’s and Ms. Meirin’s shoulders.

“Could you both trust me and do just one thing for me?”

“...What is it?”

Suspicious expressions simultaneously appeared on Seo Ah-in's and Ms. Meirin's faces.

“Hey now. Why the faces? Have you only ever been deceived?”

“You are the living embodiment of a scam.”

“...”

What’s with my reputation?

That's really harsh.

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