Chapter 174 : Chapter 174
Chapter 174
Nerjin hurriedly helped the Star Child up the stairs. To get to the first floor and escape outside.
But they were already a step too late.
“Hey, man! I grabbed this first!”
“Damn it, so what! It’s mine! Mine~!”
Two men were fist-fighting over a worthless wooden stick.
“Uwaaaaaaah!”
“Die! Die! Die!”
The children who had been playing just a moment ago, one was pinned down below while the other was on top, beating his face to a pulp.
Children and adults alike, everyone was fighting. How could every single person, without exception, be screaming and throwing punches.
As if by magic.
‘This isn't just a tiger's den, we’ve crawled into a demon's lair…!’
Seeing the scene on the first floor, the Star Child bit his lip.
“Endless Fury…, Kragach!”
“You mean, it wasn't just Joverka who came?”
“It seems so….”
He never thought this place would be a Demon Lord's lair. He belatedly focused his mind and sensed the Maki, but it was far, far too late….
‘It wasn't something like perception-disrupting magic.’
Because they were fellow Demon Lords. There was no reason for the laughing people to attack this place.
‘If only I were a Stellar Force user! If only I could have easily detected the Maki!’
I wouldn't have faced this crisis so futilely!
“Stop talking nonsense!”
“You listen to me! I'm right about everything!”
“Stop! Everyone just stop! It's too loud!”
The bodies of the angry people were abnormally red. Like bombs about to explode. I was afraid to go up to the first floor.
“Kyaaaaaak! Kyaak! Kyaaaaaaaaak!”
Just then, abusive language began to erupt from below. The people in the basement had also begun to be tainted by fury. Now they couldn't go down either. Then, they had no choice but to move forward….
“Bianca, Savo. Be careful. Try not to stand out as much as possible….”
“Yes.”
Huddled together, they came up to the first floor. With their gazes fixed on the floor, they walked towards the exit they could see over there.
Screams and violence came and went from all directions, but we just advanced towards the exit as if we were people from a different world.
‘Just a little more…!’
It was a relief. Those consumed by anger don't tend to look around.
“Hmm, where might you be going?”
My heart sank.
‘Of all the…!’
I rolled my eyes to look at Bianca. Her deep purple eyes were trembling with fear. Savo was a young boy, the Star Child was injured, and Miss Lilac and President Martin were not here.
‘I, must protect them!’
I had always been the one running away.
‘This time, I will protect them!’
I will not repeat the mistake of 100 years ago. I slowly lifted my head.
In front of me, I saw a middle-aged man with a potbelly. He was fat like a merchant who had struck it rich overnight.
“It seems there was something lacking in our guild’s hospitality.”
A prosperous-looking face. Droopy eyes. Upturned corners of the mouth. Even a wrinkle-free, oily face.
He was a person who looked like he had never been angry once in his life.
“Would you tell me? Perhaps the food was not to your liking?”
I could feel cold sweat running down my back. I knew he wouldn't just let us go. But I couldn't turn back like this either…!
“No. It seems we heard about the whereabouts of our other family. We are just going to find them…, we will never forget the guild's grace we received today for the rest of our lives.”
“Ooh…, no way. You will forget.”
The guild master, who had politely placed his hands on his navel, soon had his entire body turn red and began to emit heat.
“You’re going to forget anywaaaaay—!”
“Kugh!”
A wave of hot air blew in, pushing the group back. I hurriedly took out the card in my bosom and deployed a protective shield. At that moment.
Thwack! The sound of something bursting. I looked back to see that the head of a person who had been consumed by anger had exploded like a bomb. The people covered in that blood also soon had their entire bodies swell up and begin to burst.
‘D-Dangerous!’
The objects touched by the blood of the burst people were melting as if they had touched lava!
“Grandfather, beside you!”
The body of the person next to me swelled up like a water balloon and burst, splashing blood onto the shield, which began to take damage with a sizzling sound.
“Bianca! Savo! Don't move! You must absolutely not go outside the shield!”
Blood splattered continuously, and the shield grew thinner and thinner, until eventually, a hole began to form.
“Gyak!”
“Bianca!”
I hurriedly swung my arm to block the blood that was flying towards Bianca.
‘…!’
The enchanted defense magic activated, but it melted in an instant, and the blood touched my skin.
‘This is, Kgh!’
Rage surges. An irresistible anger. My blood grows hot.
‘Get a grip, Nerjin!’
I clenched my teeth and struck my leg. The dull pain brought back a little reason.
“Bianca, be careful!”
“Yes…!”
The rage explosion. The terrible and bizarre event where entire bodies swelled up and burst from anger that had reached its peak ended in less than a minute.
But… the merchant building that had been a refuge for the lost had become a cradle of blood.
“…”
Clap. Clap. Clap.
A slow clapping sound is heard.
“Ooh, I didn't think you would survive.”
The guild master stood perfectly fine, covered in blood.
“Then you will be able to see. Congratulations! You must be blessed!”
As the guild master stretched out his hand, the blood from all around began to gather. At the same time, it drew deformed symbols, filling the air. Nerjin's expression, having grasped their identity, crumpled violently like he had seen a mutilated corpse.
‘Those are cursed symbols!’
Magic. There are so many kinds.
Popularly, there is elemental magic. Fire, water, grass. In Nerjin's case, he prefers alchemy magic. Digging a little deeper, in the distant past there was druid magic, in the great forest there was shaman magic. And the most forbidden art, spirit magic, necromancy. And….
‘Demon Magic!’
I wanted to throw my body to stop it, but I wasn't confident. That even if I did, I wouldn't be able to stop the fiend before me…!
The symbols of anger spread by the guild master filled the entire building, and then….
“Now! Now! Come! Come forth!”
Flames begin to spread to various parts of the building.
“Aah! O, Fury! Master of the hellfire that heats hell! The Demon Lord of Endless Fury, Kragach!”
Soon, a fierce pillar of fire shot up. The floor of the merchant building collapsed, and hell began to rise. First, a hand.
“Dodge!”
We threw ourselves as one body to evade the spot. Because a reptile's foreleg, larger than most buildings, had shot up from the basement and trampled the merchant building.
Looking again, it only felt like it was trampled… it had merely propped itself up. To come up.
[Oh, ooh! I can feel the moonlight! Another heat source besides me! It's not the sun, but how long has it been since I felt such warmth!]
And slowly, its head rises to the surface. It was a black dragon. It had shabby black scales that looked as if lava had been hardened and plastered all over its body.
[Keltu! Look! How easy a task this is! Brahmus! You foolish fellow! To think you were taken down by insects even after descending to the surface, haha! I will never be like that!]
The head of a body of inestimable size slowly rose, eventually trying to reach the very end of the sky.
[Ooh, moon! How beautiful!]
From the head to the neck, and then the entire upper body propped itself on the ground and moved towards the surface and then the sky. But it knows. That it cannot reach.
Then suddenly, the black dragon Kragach looked down. The brilliantly developed civilization of the insects had beautifully decorated the surface. This was.
[Ooh! Ooooh! Ooooooooooh! A paradise—!]
It was worth burning.
[The last dragon! Kragach has returned!]
Soon, flames erupted from Kragach's entire body. From between its hideous black scales, an intense heat that could rival the sun erupted in all directions, showing off its existence.
The capital of the continent? No. It was the advent of a living sun that could be seen from the very ends of the continent.
“Keoheok!”
I was flung far away, blown back along with the shield that enveloped the group.
To Kragach, it was merely an act of appreciation, but to Nerjin, it was a disaster. The Demon Lord's power was so immense that I had to use more than half of the cards I had to cast a defensive spell.
“Kgh, oof!”
I was thrown to the ground, bounced several times, and then rolled on the floor before I could regain my balance.
‘Wh-where is the Star Child!’
When I came to my senses, everyone was scattered. I could barely see the Star Child who had rolled on the ground nearby. I hurriedly ran to him and supported him.
“Star Child! Are you alright!”
“I'm, fine….”
He was clutching his abdomen. I could see blood slowly spreading over the potion-soaked cotton. …He was not alright. The wound inflicted by the Demon Lord Joverka had opened up.
‘We have to escape now while he has just come to the surface!’
I feel sorry for the Star Child whose injury has worsened, but we have to force our way…!
[Ooh? Aah! I wondered who it was!]
If the head of a giant dragon hadn't suddenly blocked the path ahead, I would have. My whole body grew cold as if it had frozen.
[Ha! Hahahahahaha! To see you in such a weak state! It’s ridiculous! Ridiculous! Star Child of Cosmos!]
“…Better than a granite lizard.”
[Hehe, yes! Taunt me with that insolent mouth of yours all you want while you can! Before you’re burned to a crisp by the hellfire of hell! No, no! I should make a plaything out of you along with that precious Cosmos of yours! From then on, I'll let you live as a songstress singing in the depths of hell!]
“Oh dear, I’m not confident in my singing…, cough!”
[Hmm, this is rare good news. To think Kragach's first expeditionary prey would be you, Star Child!]
Crack! Crash! The building collapses. With just a trivial action of Kragach raising his hand.
[I am satisfied.]
And, the dragon's foreleg, with its claws extended, falls towards the Star Child.
‘Ah.’
The dragon's claw is reflected on the Star Child's pure white pupils.
***
‘What a futile end.’
I had received the revelation rashly. I thought I had completely understood Keltu. To think the Demon Lords would suddenly act on their own.
If only my Rosary had been filled with Stellar Force. Then the story would have been different.
No, even before that. If only my sister had been alive….
[Die!]
“Star Child!”
At that moment, another law of power came into play. The Star Child's body was violently pushed to the side like a kite with a broken string.
When I turned my head, Nerjin was in the posture of having pushed me with all his might.
“Survive!”
He was smiling. And also crying. And also being sorry.
The claw pierces Nerjin.
“Nerjin—!”
Blood splatters, reaching even the Star Child's face.
[Hmm? What is this.]
Kragach stopped midway. Then he retracts his foreleg as if displeased.
[Tsk, to suddenly intrude on a sacred place. The level of an insect is truly….]
Nerjin's body slumps forward.
[Hmm, unclean!]
While Kragach casually wiped the blood on his claws against a nearby building.
“Nerjin!”
The Star Child crawled. He crawled until he reached Nerjin and checked his wound.
‘Aah!’
The claw was so big that nothing was left in his pierced abdomen. To the point where it looked like arms, legs, and a head were attached to a thin circle.
The abdomen and chest, the internal organs were cleanly removed as if they had never existed from the beginning.
“Get a grip! Get a grip!”
It was an unbelievable story.
“Nerjin!”
This was not a child who should die here.
“Little brat!”
The price of the lives of precious members formed his heart. Along with the price of my sister's life.
“Star Child….”
“Yes! Hey! Are you conscious?!”
“You call me… a little brat, you do….”
“What does that matter! Open your eyes!”
At the Star Child's loud voice, Nerjin's eyelids trembled and slowly opened.
The eyes with wrinkled corners held deep remorse.