Chapter 133 : The Tragedy in the Cave

Hakel, a mid-level (4-Star) Magic Knight of the Demon Cult, had been feeling nothing but irritation since yesterday.

Yesterday morning, when he received the incomprehensible order, ‘The time has come, so all of you go out and deal with any potential intruders,’ he just laughed it off as a matter of course.

Elder Sieran was famous, even among the elders, for his penchant for eccentric actions.

– Who would come all the way here?

Everyone in the organization stationed here had thought the same.

Wasn’t this a branch that had remained undiscovered even during the Empire’s great search for the Demon Cult 10 years ago?

Although, that was because all the personnel had been withdrawn at that time.

‘We even used magic to conceal everyone when we brought the sacrifices.’

It was the opinion of the higher-ups that it would be difficult to be discovered unless the famous Imperial Inspection Department decided to investigate with determination.

Furthermore, Hakel had heard a piece of top-secret information from the promising 5-Circle magician, Lord Beltran, with whom he had a contract.

– The organization’s higher-ups are certain that the Imperial Inspection Department is not in a situation to pay attention to other countries.

‘Even though this is the border, this is strictly the Iron Kingdom.’

He had been a little anxious when he heard the rumor a couple of days ago that the Erundel branch had been annihilated, but an incident caused by a single branch could not be the same as an operation personally directed by an elder.

Yesterday, too, he had just thought that Elder Sieran was up to his usual eccentricities ahead of a major event.

So even now, as he had unnecessarily left the safety of the branch hideout and deployed his forces everywhere, he had thought it was just a nuisance and that nothing would happen.

But.

“W-what is this!!!”

His bellowing shout was filled with the fear of an incomprehensible situation.

It began with a shallow sound of something piercing the air, which was barely audible even to his sensitive ears, honed by a sensory-specialized evolution.

Pew.

A faint sound that started from somewhere down the mountain.

He realized that it was the signal heralding the beginning of the pandemonium when arrows began to sprout from the necks and heads of the low-level magicians and Magic Knights who had been waiting perfectly fine, accompanied by a ‘pushuk’ sound.

Thud.

Thud.

Right after those hit by the arrows collapsed like logs without a scream, not even realizing they were dying.

As everyone’s gazes gathered, a fog began to form in the middle of the night.

Swaaaaaaah.

Soon, the screams of his subordinates echoed from within the dense fog that had settled below the mountain ridge.

– Aaaack!

Sgagagagak.

The sound of something being ground up was heard afterwards.

“Enemies!!!!”

When shouts belatedly erupted from all sides.

– Kwaaaaaaaang!

“Kuaaaaaak!”

The palisade and rocks in front of them exploded at once, and a figure clad in armor blacker than the darkness of this barren mountain appeared.

The only(?) enemy with a physical form.

“Kill him!!!”

They tried to concentrate all their firepower on such an enemy, but.

The owner of the bizarre and menacing black armor, who only revealed his eyes and lower face, seemed to take no damage from any attack.

Kwaaang!

Thud!

Clang!

Arrows, magic, and even the powerful strikes of Corporeal Arts users.

He would simply avoid or deflect the attacks coming at his face by slightly twisting his head.

“What kind of armor is that!”

“Unbelievable!”

The enemy, who showed none of the usual gaps in the joints or connections between the parts of normal armor, felt like a truly impregnable fortress.

“I-it’s a monster!”

And that wasn’t all.

Chwaaaak.

The black snakes(?) that shot out from his four limbs coiled around the surviving magicians.

Cruuunch.

The giant greatsword swung in his hands bent bizarrely, chopping up everyone who approached.

Sgagagaga.

“Aaaack!”

‘At, at least, a 6-Star.’

And the moment he confirmed that such a monster’s eyes had met his.

‘I, I have to inform the Elder…!’

Hakel instinctively tried to turn his body to flee.

However.

Kwaaaang!

The black knight, who had been a good 20 meters below, instantly rushed to his front.

And the moment Hakel’s entire body froze from the extreme fear that had welled up.

The giant greatsword flashed, splitting the night sky reflected in his eyes.

That was his last memory.

“Hmm?”

Muno tilted his head and examined the corpse of the enemy he had cut down.

‘He looked like at least a 4-Star…?’

It was strange that he had collapsed so futilely without any resistance.

As he looked at him, he suddenly felt something strange.

“Hm?”

A flow of demonic energy that had been buried in the chaos of the battlefield or had been completely absorbed until now.

That strange flow, felt from behind the mountain, was finally caught by his senses.

This is…

Damn it!

“The demonic energy of the dead Magic Soldiers is flowing that way! Ignore the small fries and run!”

They were not just forces deployed to buy time.

These guys were also a kind of sacrifice.

‘Like I’ll let that happen.’

Pabak.

Muno ran along the flow of demonic energy, absorbing it as he went.

Woooooong.

‘Hoo…’

As the energy wasted on dealing with the small fries was replenished at once,

his movements, using Acceleration, became even faster.

And.

‘The cliff behind, the middle cave.’

As soon as he confirmed the target location.

He roared at the pure white smoke that was rushing ahead of him like the wind.

“Fall back!!”

Was it because of those words?

The moment the white smoke that was about to enter the cave flinched.

Kwa-du-duk.

Unlike Victon’s fluid movements, who literally flew like smoke, Muno foolishly slammed his chains and fists into the cliff to slow his fall, and stood in front of the cave.

Kwa-duk.

Thud.

Soon, Muno, who had driven his four chains into the four sides of the huge, seemingly artificially created cave entrance, held his hand out into the air in a posture that made it seem as if he were floating in front of the cave.

As soon as he did.

Bzzzzzzzt.

Dark red sparks spread across the seemingly empty air, and a crack began to form.

At the same time, an immense demonic energy that even an ordinary person could feel spread in all directions.

“Huh?”

As Victon, who had revealed his face from within the smoke, hardened his expression at the intensity of the demonic energy, a twisted smile began to form on Muno’s lips.

‘Hah…. As expected, it’s not going to be easy, is it?’

The ones he had dealt with on the way here were honestly of a pathetic(?) level, with a mid-level Magic Knight being the highest commander.

But at the entrance of the enemy’s base, which was wide open as if inviting them in, a powerful barrier he had never seen before was resisting his ability.

However.

Tap.

“Sir Muno! Should I help!?”

“No! Save your strength!”

Rejecting the offer of Rauel, who had landed on his chain like a feather, Muno focused on shattering the barrier he felt in front of him.

He had seen a demonic energy that could resist the Demon Devourer’s ability before.

‘The quality is similar to the demonic energy embedded in the heads of the Demon Cult bastards.’

He was momentarily startled as he guessed the identity of the magician inside the cave.

But although its quality was similar to the self-destructing demonic energy that had slipped out of his control like a slippery eel with only a small amount of demonic energy, its level was lower.

It felt as if they had tried to meticulously imitate that demonic energy but failed, only reflecting its nature.

In other words.

‘The one inside is not that Seven-Star.’

Of course, it wasn’t a situation where he could just retreat without even facing a strong enemy.

“It’s not, hard, to break!”

Bzzzzzzzt.

Kwa-du-duk.

The powerful barrier that covered all who approached with curses and demonic energy began to scatter little by little with his hand gestures and the swaying of his chains.

Like an invisible giant hand peeling off a transparent vinyl.

Bzzzt.

The barrier, which had been layered several times, finally emitted a flash of light as if in a last-ditch effort, and then disappeared.

And.

Tap.

“A magical barrier that even I couldn’t feel…. I’ll leave the lead to you, Sir Muno.”

“Of course.”

Muno, who had landed in front of the cave, gave a light nod to Victon’s words and then quickly entered.

And.

‘Are these bastards mole hybrids? Why do they always dig their tunnels so deep!’

The moment his irritation flared up again, the true form of a huge demonic energy began to be revealed in the distance.

At that moment, Muno and his party ran even faster.

And what they faced was.

“This is…”

“Sir Muno, this is like that time…!”

“I agree.”

A situation that felt like déjà vu.

A huge, black, translucent protective shield was blocking the entrance of the underground plaza.

The difference from the cave in Erundel was that there were no Magic Knights blocking the shield.

And that there was only one ‘living’ human to be seen inside.

“That is…”

“They’re all corpses…!”

“Sir Muno!”

The party couldn’t hide their shock at the sight of the people, no, the corpses, lying in several layers so densely that the floor of the plaza was not visible.

Was it because of their voices?

The one in the center of the magic circle, who only revealed a lower face with a short golden beard from under a black robe, tilted his head at them, then snorted and looked up at the empty air again.

Bzzzzzzzt.

Above him, about 10 red stones the size of a human head were floating in the air, creating black sparks.

And every time that black lightning grew stronger, the corpses piled up inside the protective shield were disappearing little by little.

And Muno couldn’t help but harden his expression as he saw the flow of demonic energy felt from within the protective shield.

A considerably strong demonic energy was flowing out from the majority of those corpses.

He immediately understood why there were no strong magicians or Magic Knights outside the cave, but another question followed.

So much so that he paused for a moment even in the urgent situation.

“He killed all of his own subordinates and used them as sacrifices?!”

It was he himself who had been worried that he was becoming too desensitized to killing, even when killing those who were practically his enemies. No, that would be normal for an ordinary human.

Of course, whether one who repeats battles and killings is an ordinary human is another matter.

But this scene was enough to make even him feel a shiver.

“Sir Muno!”

“Sir Muno!”

Damn it.

“I know, so you prepare ‘that’! You too, Rauel! It’s just one guy, so it’s possible, right!?”

“…Understood.”

“Yes!”

Bzzzzzzzt.

Watching Muno place his chains and hands on the black protective shield, the party couldn’t help but nod their heads.

And.

Bza-jijijijijik.

Pssssssssss.

The moment his hand began to slowly penetrate the protective shield.

The black robe, who had been staring only at the empty air in the center of the huge plaza, flinched and turned his eyes to them again.

Soon, the lips revealed under the hood twisted with irritation.

Paaang.

With a simple hand gesture, one of the red stones floating in the air was wreathed in dark red demonic energy and flew towards Muno’s front.

In that brief moment, all sorts of thoughts came to mind.

‘What is that?’

The Red Iron Knights had shown something similar.

The magicians were said to have cherished them, but it was a red stone from which not a single point of demonic energy could be felt.

And in Erundel, he had even seen an old magician who had swallowed several such stones transform into a monster.

He naturally knew it was no ordinary object, but.

Bzzzzzzzt.

The moment that stone, engulfed in black demonic energy, stuck to the protective shield, his hand couldn’t help but pause.

The strength of the protective shield, which had more than doubled in an instant, was one thing.

– Kyaaaaaaak!

– Save me, please save me!

– Mom! Dad!

– Uwaaaaaaang!

“This, son of a bitch…!”

The auditory hallucinations that were heard along with the demonic energy spreading from the red stone made his eyes widen.

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