Chapter 312: Demon (5)

Yuri shouted, and everyone clung to the monster’s leg. It thrashed violently, but no one let go.

The monster’s thrashing tore up and destroyed the ground around it.

“Is… is just holding on enough?”

“Yes!”

“It’s shaking too much!”

“Attack it!”

Yuri, who had already climbed to knee height, drove Guilty in without hesitation.

“If we hit it, it’ll calm down!”

Then he unleashed the Whirlwind Sword technique, spinning mana from inside the monster.

The vortex, with an infinitely repeating fractal structure, shredded the beast’s leg into pieces.

Blood splattered everywhere.

Shaking his soaked hair, Yuri shouted.

“We have to buy time!”

Moyongchan, clinging slightly lower, also attacked. His sword energy, dyed in the colors of sunset, spread out, tearing chunks of flesh from the monster.

Everyone remaining was an expert, so the response was immediate. Blood pooled on the ground, and with the monster’s spasms, it splattered, staining the earth red.

“Everyone, watch out!”

At that moment, one of the Eastern warriors took a direct hit and was sent flying.

When his body hit the ground, his limbs were torn off and his entrails spilled out.

It was a gruesome sight, and the Eastern warriors shut their eyes tightly.

Yuri shouted.

“Stay calm! Master, tell them something in the Eastern tongue.”

Moyongchan reassured them in their language.

There were casualties, but most still held on as best they could. Soon, the Anti-Imperial Alliance, which had withdrawn, returned.

Among them was the person Yuri had been waiting for—Inariel.

His body hadn’t recovered yet, and he was practically being carried by Ainzer. The scowl on his face made it clear he wasn’t pleased with the situation.

Yuri regretted having to ask him for help again, but there was no other choice.

“Lord Inariel! I’m sorry! I’m begging you!”

With Dispel blocking the area, he was the only one who could use magic.

When Yuri saw Inariel click his tongue, he gave him a thumbs-up.

At that moment, a tentacle whipped hard, and Yuri had to cling on to avoid being flung away. His vision flipped upside down.

“Ugh…”

He barely had time to feel guilty at hearing Inariel’s weak cough, because soon he noticed the flash of magical light outside his field of vision.

“There!”

Yuri shouted.

“Jump there!”

On the ground, something like a passage had opened—large enough for several adults to pass through.

It was a teleportation circle Inariel had created by wringing out his mana.

It couldn’t transport them far, but for a mage of his caliber, sending a few people to a visible location was possible.

Yuri was the first to leap.

Tentacles pursued him, but he cut them all with Guilty in midair.

“This way!”

Laurent and Jared jumped without hesitation, followed by the others. The Eastern warriors also dropped down after Yuri.

Crossing through the passage, their vision filled with countless colors, as if they were passing through a world made of light.

And suddenly, the sky opened. They were above the monster’s head.

Upon falling through the circle, they appeared right above it. Having anticipated this, Yuri gripped Guilty in reverse and dove straight for the crown of its head.

With his awakened senses, Yuri could see beyond the realm of the soul—straight to the monster’s true essence.

And there, he saw the point that would be lethal to the enemy.

A crack.

The god from another world Cedric had summoned wasn’t complete. The proof was right before Yuri’s eyes.

As Cedric had said, the monster was the amalgamation of humanity’s vilest aspects—a mass of sorrow and screams accumulated over countless ages, so tangible that merely seeing it would corrupt the mind.

But there was undeniably a crack.

That fact would be his weapon.

“Ah…”

Those who fell behind Yuri lost their minds for a moment. Even catching a glimpse of the monster’s face while descending had a brutal impact.

“Snap out of it!”

Yuri barked harshly, driving Guilty in deeper.

Finally, his sword touched the crack.

Slash.

His energy cut into the monster’s crown and burrowed inside. The flow of its power climbed up the blade into Yuri.

His mind turned red. He activated his Court of the Soul and Heart technique and used the power of chaos to shield his body and spirit.

His energy shook the monster’s head.

“Snap out of it and attack!”

At his shout, the others regained their senses.

“What the hell was that…?”

“What is that thing?”

Yuri said.

“Don’t try to look at it on purpose. Don’t look it in the eye.”

He pulled out his sword and stepped back as everyone landed on the monster’s shoulders.

The creature, as if it had no joint limits, twisted its head to look at each of them.

But thanks to Yuri’s warning, no one made eye contact.

Even though avoiding its gaze didn’t completely dispel the dark energy, the damage Yuri had inflicted on its head had reduced its lethality.

Just looking at it was no longer enough to drive someone mad.

Even so, the discomfort was undeniable, and some couldn’t help but mutter under their breath. This was a being no human would want to face.

“Destroy the head!”

All combat power was focused. Warriors capable of toppling walls joined forces to crush the creature’s head.

Swords of all colors flew with a roar toward its face. The monster shook its head and body violently.

A massive palm rose and struck its own shoulder, producing a crash as if the earth had collapsed.

Some fell to the ground, others were injured by the attacks.

But the strikes to its head didn’t stop.

“We’ll help!”

Even knights crossed Inariel’s circle and attacked as they fell, but their strength wasn’t enough.

Though blows to the head piled up, they couldn’t defend themselves.

Most who appeared died crushed by the monster’s fists or plummeted to the ground to be smashed to pieces.

It was like building a bridge of corpses to advance.

Yuri clenched his teeth.

He couldn’t let their sacrifices be in vain. Too much blood had already been spilled.

If there was something he could do, he would do it.

As he gripped his sword tightly, Jose shouted.

“Let’s tear it apart once and for all!”

His energy burst forth like a dam breaking. It was an indiscriminate attack, with no thought of retreat.

His determination spread, and everyone struck with everything they had to destroy the head.

Little by little, the wounds accumulated, and the darkness inside began to seep out.

Yuri also raised his Cut of the Soul and Heart.

“Kill it!”

“Don’t look at it!”

“Finish that bastard!”

Suddenly, something moved. It was the monster’s face, staring directly at him.

The noise around him vanished, and everything out of focus became blurry. It was as if only he and the beast’s face existed.

Its horrific form no longer felt so repulsive.

Rather, he felt the urge to examine what was inside.

Yuri leaned in to look more closely.

Something moved.

And suddenly, he was in an empty space.

There was nothing.

No oxygen, no components of air—absolutely nothing.

Void.

And darkness.

He was at the center.

He looked up toward the black core.

Inside, something was flowing.

Something indefinable and indescribable, crawling like a snake, watching him from all directions.

Yuri thought he recognized the owner of this place.

“The god from another world.”

The entity Cedric had summoned was there.

Yuri, as if speaking to a human, reached out his hand respectfully.

The presence in the darkness took the shape of a hand and passed over his palm.

A strange handshake.

“What’s your name?”

[…]

It responded with something, but Yuri couldn’t understand it.

It wasn’t just a matter of having different vocal organs—its very form of existence was different, impossible to interpret.

“Were you the one who called me?”

With his senses and the domain of the soul, Yuri understood that the monster’s origin was half black magic and half otherworldly power.

And between the two, there was a crack.

What he had seen through the creature’s face was horrifying, but within it, there was also a form—small, but uncorrupted.

It seemed on the verge of extinction, yet it did not disappear.

It wasn’t Cedric, so it was clear—it was the god from another world.

It hadn’t completely fused with Cedric.

“Why did you call me?”

The god remained silent for a moment, then conveyed its will.

[…]

An idea, closer to a concept, flowed into his mind.

He couldn’t fully grasp it, but he sensed it—the entity wanted to know what it had been given.

“Show me.”

The god conveyed it to him.

Yuri gave a wry smile.

“I doubt you’d understand even if I told you…”

Adopting a more relaxed tone, he asked:

“How are things outside?”

The entity calling itself the god from another world turned out to be more accommodating than expected. Following Yuri’s request, it transmitted the situation of the others to him through mental images.

The world was frozen.

Not completely still, but time flowed so slowly it was almost imperceptible.

He and the god from another world were in a crack between moments.

“Thanks. Now I’ll answer your question.”

Yuri conveyed his answer to the god from another world.

In that instant, the darkness stirred.

Its movement had a sinister nuance, as if it could crush Yuri at any moment in that enclosed space.

From within the folds of the darkness, a red mist emerged.

Red and black.

Two colors covered the surroundings.

Yuri raised Guilty, invoking the Cut of the Soul and the Heart.

The darkness receded.

Even the god from another world reacted sharply to the energy radiating from Yuri.

Like a calm dog suddenly baring its teeth and growling, the air around began to vibrate.

Yuri smirked.

“Why are you so afraid?”

[…]

“It’s too late. You’ve been tainted.”

[…]

“I think differently.”

[…]

“If that’s what you call corruption, then you’re already corrupted. It’s too late for you.”

The god from another world exploded in rage.

The darkness slithered like a snake toward Yuri. But he didn’t stand still.

He swung Guilty, cutting the attack apart.

The darkness split, and from within it poured an unfathomable void.

The god recoiled, its movement betraying its confusion. Yuri advanced, speaking firmly.

“You’re not someone I can reason with either, so in the end, we’ll have to fight.”

From the start, that entity had drawn him in out of mere curiosity, not friendliness.

And after hearing his answer, all it did was grow furious.

Yuri glanced around.

The place where the god resided was filled with its presence. It was a battlefield entirely in its favor.

Of course, that would be a problem for any normal person. But Yuri smiled again.

Drawing it to this place would be a mistake for his enemy.

He lifted Guilty and heightened the intensity of the Cut of the Soul and the Heart even more.

“The name of this technique is Cut of the Soul and the Heart. It means cutting through to the heart and the soul.”

A weapon engraved with sin.

A sword that could tear mind and spirit apart.

And he, Yuri Briol, who even in the midst of chaos had never let go of his will.

Everything was ready to kill that entity.

[…]

The god conveyed its will.

Yuri nodded.

“Alright. Try to kill me. I’ll kill you too.”

In the void, where time and space were distorted, Yuri and the god from another world began their battle.