CHAPTER 643: CHAPTER 643 - THE DEMON, THE SPARK, AND THE DUEL

Chapter 643 - The Demon, the Spark, and the Duel

"Stay still."

After shattering the One-Killer, Enkrid lowered his sword, took a few breaths, and then spoke.

At his words, everyone seemed to hold their breath in careful silence.

In truth, even if he hadn’t said anything, their words would have been stuck in their throats.

After speaking, Enkrid briefly reflected inwardly.

There was a tremor in his limbs from the strain.

His muscles were fatigued, crying out for rest.

No matter how much he had poured his strength into maintaining his form.

’It’s tough.’

The fatigue pressing down on him was inevitable.

The battle had been that intense.

And now, he finally understood the parts of the fight in Oara that had seemed trivial before—those parts had entered the realm of understanding.

There was nothing left that he had missed from Oara’s dreams.

A rush of joy and delight filled his heart.

’Wavebreaker Sword.’

It wasn’t just a technique, but a style that incorporated meaning, implementation methods, and training methods.

It was like stepping into a new world, a feeling that couldn’t be avoided.

Some theories and things he knew mixed together, giving rise to something new.

’Not now.’

He instinctively knew.

This was something that needed time to be sorted out.

It wasn’t about sudden flashes of inspiration.

In other words, inspiration was sufficient.

Therefore, this wasn’t the time for it.

He needed rest.

Not only for his body but also for his mind.

Fighting while accelerating and dividing thoughts was mentally exhausting, no matter how much you dressed it up in words.

Regardless of his physical state, it wasn’t the time for rest just yet.

’The One-Killer is dead, but the Devil still remains.’

Shinar seemed to be indifferent on the outside, but internally, she was restless.

She tried to stand up but paused.

Enkrid had said "Stay still."

So, she remained seated.

The man with blue eyes and black hair, who had spoken those words, approached.

He no longer looked like a madman.

As those he had saved had experienced, Shinar also saw light in Enkrid.

With the death of the orange-glowing demon, the light source vanished.

Yet, even amidst the dull darkness that descended, Enkrid was still a source of light.

Crack...

The sword that had endured for two days shattered, leaving only the hilt, with the blade splintering and scattering.

Enkrid placed the hilt on the scabbard and wrapped it with cloth.

Meanwhile, the fairy Brisa, holding a new glowing stone, spoke.

"...He won."

It was a battle they had watched for two days.

A battle that exhausted them just by watching.

They had witnessed terrifying moments, sweat running down their backs like blood.

Only now did they speak because it was natural.

The man before them had seemed like he would drop dead any moment over the past two days.

If he had died, hope would have been as impossible to find.

Even with everything they got, killing the One-Killer would have been far from possible.

"Yes, we won."

It was Bran’s words, who had been more surprised than anyone.

Enkrid didn’t react to Woodguard’s words.

Having sorted his sword, he approached Shinar, who was sitting with her head raised.

The fairy looked at her savior with green eyes that could only be described as mysteriously beautiful.

He spoke, or rather, asked.

"Are you really four hundred and forty-eight years old?"

After a brief silence, Shinar laughed.

For the first time since those days playing with her sisters and hanging out with Aden, she smiled widely.

Then she said,

"You’re a bastard."

Though the words were an insult, there was affection in them.

Enkrid, having had his fair share of teasing from the fairy, felt a sense of pride.

Fel, who had been listening from behind, clicked his tongue.

"That guy’s really a madman, isn’t he?"

At that, Luagarne puffed out her cheeks.

It was like a human giggling.

"Just like you."

Instead of the broken Silver sword, Enkrid took out spark and slashed at the back of the chair.

Spark was also cracked and seemed ready to break at any moment.

Thud!

Scrape!

How many times had this day repeated?

It was clear that the chair wasn’t just an inanimate object.

When Enkrid had said "Stay still," he meant he would take care of the chair, so everyone had to wait.

While Shinar quietly waited, Enkrid’s spark relentlessly scraped at the stone chair.

Hidden veins inside the chair were severed, splattering bodily fluids.

The blood was a dark greenish-black.

"It’s a chair that drains energy."

Shinar spoke.

There were veins left on her back, but she had severed the connection with the one draining them.

"They said it was a suitor demon. I guess it doesn’t take your purity, though. Looks like I lost my chance to escape the old maiden status."

"Thanks for saving me, but I must say again, mocking women by their age, whether they are human, fairy, dwarf, or dragonkin, is truly childish."

"I guess I’m a bit childish."

Amidst the trivial banter, there was a strange undercurrent of emotion.

After cutting through the veins in the chair, Enkrid reached out.

Shinar took his hand.

One pulled while the other rose.

As Shinar rose, she seemed to get dizzy and collapsed into Enkrid’s arms.

The fairy’s small body, when embraced, felt delicate.

Enkrid held her with one arm.

"What are you doing?"

He asked as he held her.

"You held Esther all day, but this is enough for me."

Shinar said this and then broke free from his arms.

Even inside the labyrinth, her scent of grass and flowers lingered.

Even though she had moved away, her scent still subtly filled the air.

If Esther resembled the night sky, Shinar’s scent made one feel like they had entered the heart of a forest.

Enkrid casually brushed off his hands and spoke.

"I don’t think this is the end, is it?"

The devil of the magic realm had split its body into two.

One remained here to guard the place.

What had happened to the other?

Shinar knew the answer.

"Is that intuition? Or do you know something?"

It was, of course, information gathered from today.

"I just guessed."

"If it’s just a guess, it seems the goddess of luck has marked you. Yeah, it is not the end."

Shinar spoke, saying it wasn’t over.

"What’s left to do?"

Bran asked, stepping forward.

To him, it seemed like they had transcended reality itself.

He was so surprised that he couldn’t even think.

The other fairies shared the same sentiment.

Meanwhile, a fairy named Arcoyris carefully removed something from Shinar’s back.

Though there was a slight pain, Shinar remained indifferent.

The fairies, living long lives with restrained emotions, were still temporarily excited.

The Demon was dead.

That fact was enough to make their blood boil, temporarily forgetting the exhaustion from watching the battle for two days.

"The demon of the labyrinth split into two."

Shinar explained and pointed toward the back.

At the end of the straight corridor, there were three other passages.

This place was the center, and beyond it, there were tunnels leading in.

"One remains to guard here, and the other became a production-type demon that will eventually consume the city."

Were there demons that spawn monsters?

Yes.

In a place called the demonic realm, such beings typically exist.

And they are often guarded.

The One-Killer had been one such creature.

This place, called a labyrinth, was similar to the demonic realm near the city of Oara.

While the demonic realm in Oara contained a fragment of Beelrog, here, it contained both the souls of fairies and demons that thirsted for flesh and blood.

Shinar guided them to where the main body of the demon could be seen.

It was a massive mass of flesh.

There was no other word to describe it.

The mass was so large that, if it had a mouth, it could swallow a person whole.

The center of the mass split open, revealing a constantly shifting interior, with bits of flesh, black blood clots, and bones tangled together in a disordered mass.

"A demon that spawns monsters. It’s weak to fire."

The fairy tribe wasn’t stupid, and neither was Shinar.

As long as it wasn’t the One-Killer, there was a way to kill it.

Enkrid didn’t need to act.

Arcoyris took out a green stone from his chest.

"Chiavos, a stone that gathers energy. This is a refined version."

Bran spoke.

It was an explanation for Enkrid.

"What’s it used for?"

"It contains the forest’s essence we’ve gathered. If it bursts, it’s over."

Bran said as he struck flint together and lit a smoke.

He exhaled thick smoke.

Seeing this, Shinar spoke.

"You should stop smoking, Bran."

Bran was not only Shinar’s teacher but also the teacher of her sister.

The demon had approached with warmth, burning the city with flames, and the image of fire became a fear and torment planted in Shinar’s mind.

Since then, Bran had started smoking.

It was one of his efforts to erase the fear given by the demon to Shinar.

It’s rare for a tree giant to handle fire.

In fact, Bran was probably the only one.

Trying to break free from the situation where fire turned into fear was an act of desperation.

Even though his skin was strong against fire, Woodgard’s natural enemy was fire.

"I can barely last a day without it now."

Bran answered indifferently.

Between his restrained expressions, emotional signals passed.

The long years, the years held captive by the demon, were finally coming to an end.

"I’ll stay."

Arcoyris said with an expressionless face.

This was a moment where a human might speak in a tragic tone and manner.

To elaborate, the stone containing the forest’s essence, or more briefly, the Chiavos that would explode, needed someone to trigger it.

Luagarne puffed up her cheeks and stepped forward.

"Why not strike from a distance and run?"

"Though each maze’s structure is different, the master of this one is that demon. If it dies, the maze will collapse."

Arcoyris spoke calmly but with a firm determination not to back down.

Rarely, when a fairy showed emotions, it meant a resolve to follow through.

Inside there, the manticore and the drowned ones must have been created.

While speaking, a mass of flesh began to squirm, trying to spit something out.

Through a crack, a hand reached out to the ground.

It was the hand of a monster, blue and black with long, sharp nails.

"Disgusting."

Fel quickly approached and cut off the monster’s arm with a sword.

There was no scream.

It hadn’t formed a vocal organ yet.

That demon must have sensed its own crisis.

Did it never expect to be defeated?

It certainly seemed so.

If not, another monster would have appeared to block them, but there was nothing in their way.

Only the disgusting mass of flesh trying to create something.

Black blood oozed sluggishly over the protruding veins.

The one sensing danger was trying to create something, but destruction was always easier than creation, wasn’t it?

Even though fatigue from two days of fighting dragged at their feet.

’I’m not too tired to run.’

The others hadn’t even fought but were watching, so they all had enough energy to run.

"Lua?"

Enkrid called, glancing at the Chiavos.

His voice was charged with meaning.

The quick-witted frog immediately understood.

If she threw it with his whip, the distance would increase.

"I think I can do it. It’s meant to explode when struck."

The shock from a spell could also be delivered.

Luagarne took out her whip and wrapped it around her arm.

It was a magical weapon.

She could throw it from a distance to trigger the explosion.

"I still have one trick left hidden. Arcoyris. There’s no need to sacrifice yourself."

Bran tried to persuade him again.

"It must be destroyed for good."

Arcoyris shook his head.

His stubbornness was firm.

His attitude made sense.

The obsession was from years of suffering.

If there was even a tiny chance the demon could survive, he couldn’t let it go.

"If not, we can always come back and kill it. A one-killer is hard to recreate."

Enkrid intervened.

Staying behind and sacrificing oneself was a sure way, but it wasn’t the best.

"Then let’s do that."

Arcoyris quickly changed his stance.

Enkrid was about to speak but stopped.

How could he be so obedient all at once?

Even a four-year-old wouldn’t be this obedient.

"Then let’s go."

Bran turned around, and Shinar followed.

Luagarne measured the distance with her whip before trying to receive Chiavos, but Arcoyris hesitated.

This was a chunk of energy that the fairy clan had concentrated for decades, hiding from the demon’s eyes.

If they failed, recreating something like this would be difficult.

Enkrid was thinking of using his will to cut down the demon with his sword.

From his experience with the one-killer, it seemed it would take months of swordplay to kill it.

The one-killer had its body torn apart but hadn’t died and kept wriggling.

Still, in the present state, it would be hard to do so because of the physical and mental exhaustion.

"Give it to me."

Enkrid said to the hesitant Arcoyris.

Once again, he became an obedient child.

Arcoyris manipulated the green crystal and handed it over.

The necessary preparation to activate it was made.

"Here."

Luagarne received it, wrapped it around her whip, and swung it in the air.

"You’re just like Rem."

Enkrid commented while watching. Luagarne’s whip twirling above her head resembled Rem’s sling toss.

"Are you asking for a duel?"

Luagarne asked with confusion.

Was he one of those who was obsessed with duels even at a time like this?

"No, it just looked that way."

"Oh, it’s not an insult."

Luagarne said as she activated the spell.

A red light swirled around the whip’s tip, and flames erupted.

Whoosh!

It was the flame aimed at the demon that had burned the fairies with fire.

Poetically speaking, a demon risen by fire, killed by fire, perhaps.

The flames wrapped around Chiavos, and the surface of the stone cracked.

Luagarne quickly threw it.

The whip snapped taut, and the green crystal, a chunk of stone, was hurled forward.

The burst of energy flew and struck the fleshy demon.

Thud!

"Run!"

Shinar called.

Though she had seemed idle all day, she had actually been draining energy, and inside the maze, she couldn’t use her essence.

Her steps lagged behind.

Enkrid naturally picked her up.

Bran, despite his size, ran surprisingly fast.

He thundered ahead, and surprisingly, he was faster than he looked.

The others were no different.

Enkrid glanced back.

A green flash, and light surged from behind them, pushing through like a wave.

The gathered energy was erasing the demon.

Rumble.

And the maze began to collapse.

Enkrid, who had spent hundreds of days like this, lost track of the way.

Even with his good memory, he couldn’t memorize the maze’s paths.

He moved ahead, but when he hesitated for a moment, Fel passed him and spoke.

"This way. Trying to imitate Ragna now?"

Enkrid involuntarily spoke his thoughts out loud.

"Once we’re out, we’re having a duel."

Stones broke apart above their heads.

Fel chuckled and quickened his pace.

By the time they reached the entrance, there was no light filtering from outside.

The entrance itself was part of a spell, and so was the maze.

But it didn’t change anything.

Running out was all they had to do.

Fel and Zero went out first, and when Enkrid followed...

’Leave my bride behind!’

The demon’s lingering shadow, or what could be called embers, engulfed him.

Just before the entrance, a small, burning blade fell.

There was no sign of life or movement, so the realization came late.

Mental fatigue had taken its toll.

The demon had prepared one last strike, aiming for Shinar’s skull.

Enkrid’s sense of time slowed down.

His high-speed thinking fragmented everything into scenes, as though seeing the future unfold.

’It’s too late.’

He was holding Shinar, unable to prevent what was happening.

But was that an excuse to give up?

No, not at all.

There was no hesitation.

Enkrid threw the dagger strapped to his back upward without aiming.

Throwing it was the limit, aiming was too difficult.

It was just a flick of the wrist to release the dagger.

He had been wondering if Aetri would be disappointed since he hadn’t used the dagger he gave him.

This thought triggered his current action.

The dagger, "Fortune," blocked the incoming blade prepared by the demon.

Cling!

The blades clashed, causing the demon’s weapon to veer off course.

The blade barely grazed Enkrid’s cheek instead of striking Shinar.

A small cut appeared with a brief hiss of pain.

Enkrid realized as soon as the blade grazed his skin that it was similar to the one that had been wielded by the "One-Killer."

The pain radiated from his cheek and spread throughout his body, draining his strength.

Then, everything went dark.

How long had it been since then?

The first thing he noticed was the sensation of swaying.

The water flowed gently.

Enkrid soon realized where he was.

A dark river flowed beneath him, resembling a river leading to the underworld.

A figure holding a violet lantern stood on the river.

As expected, a ferryman came to greet him.

The ferryman’s face was clearer than it had ever been before.

***

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