The one who signaled the start of the fight was undoubtedly the Hell General Beck. True to his title, Beck charged head-on with a hearty laugh, swinging his axe. But that wasn’t the end of it.
Two Blood Demons surrounding Hans also surged forward alongside Beck. They seemed to be frontline fighters just like Beck, wielding massive greatswords and scythes.
Meanwhile, three others stood by, maintaining their encirclement of Hans, keeping a cold, watchful gaze on his every move. A total of six Blood Demons had surrounded him.
They controlled both close and far range. With such a trap set, even a Dragon Lord might struggle. At least, that’s what they thought. However, it was right then that it happened.
Suddenly, Hans vanished from sight. The Blood Demons, who caught every moment, found themselves bewildered. But at that instant, one of the Blood Demons swinging a scythe was caught off guard.
“Guh?!”
In an instant, his right arm was severed. But Hans didn’t stop there. Just as he was about to chop his neck clean off, Hans pulled back.
Thanks to that, he narrowly avoided the greatsword from the demon who was a bit further away; it was thrown to threaten Hans. The Blood Demon stepped forward to protect his comrade.
“Are you alright? Druyé.”
“Yeah, no problem.”
“If there is a problem, let me know.”
“Wow? If someone saw me, I’d look like a villain. Just because I’m an intruder invading our perfectly normal world.”
“That doesn’t matter anymore!”
Boom!! The massive axe sliced through the ground again, aimed to cleave Hans in two, but Hans easily dodged it. His gaze shifted sideways.
“The war has already dragged on for centuries. What’s left now is merely who will win. Don’t you think so, Royal Knights?”
“Can’t argue with that.”
The war had indeed stretched to a historical level. In such circumstances, discerning right from wrong was meaningless. Who would win this fight? That was all that mattered. Hans pointed his sword and said.
“But that right to speak belongs only to the strong, doesn’t it?”
“Are you saying I’m weak then?”
“You brought six with you, so you don’t seem very strong.”
“Oh really, fine. I’ll take the bait of your silly provocation…”
“Beck.”
The Blood Demon wielding the greatsword spoke while checking on the demon called Druyé. At that single word, Beck clicked his tongue and fell silent. Hans frowned. He had wanted to create a 1:1 situation through provocation.
It seemed that among the six Blood Demons gathered, there were some with ranks higher than Beck. So much for Demon discipline and camaraderie. Well, that must be expected.
If only Hans had witnessed them in the game before! Sadly, this was the first time he was seeing this version of the Blood Demons. As a result, he had no way of figuring out their abilities.
‘Besides, the ones behind are just watching. No, are they waiting for an opening?’
This made Hans’s situation all the more challenging. They might have taken the opportunity if he had let his guard down. However, right now they were too cautious, looking for an opening.
This, in turn, indicated that the Blood Demons were wary of Hans. Thus, they poured all resources they had left, only to ensure Hans was absolutely finished.
And at this moment, not a single Blood Demon thought it was excessive. They were in awe of the human before them. Especially the one with the greatsword, who thought coolly.
‘An unfathomable man.’
There was a dangerous aura that felt beyond just being human. Druyé had almost died, after all. Druyé was one of the prestigious Blood Demons, known as a god of death.
A beast of that caliber, at least in the upper ranks, had barely been able to do anything against Hans. No, if Druyé lacked the sturdiness of Beck and his regeneration, it would have meant certain death for her.
Rushing in carelessly was not an option. That would mean a 100% chance of dying. After all, they had already sacrificed four precious fellow tribesmen. The Blood Demons could not afford to suffer more losses. Soon, one of them shouted.
“Beck! You must hold him back!”
“I know!!”
“Tsk.”
The Hell General’s mighty roar shook the land and sky. However, even with such overwhelming presence right before him, Hans merely clicked his tongue, finding it annoying.
Finally, Beck moved.
The Blood Demons began to make their move. Slowly but surely. There was absolutely no sign of an escape from their encirclement. Hans frowned. Why were the Blood Demons acting so cowardly?
Now, it seemed he was going to die here. Rather than die, wouldn’t it be better to run far away? He thought that, but Hans shook his head. He should try everything he could do.
Boom!! Instinct kicked in like never before. The Dragon Heart sensed the danger. Thanks to that, Hans’s Divine Sword managed to block Beck’s axe, preventing his body from being split in half.
“Guh?!”
But in terms of power, he couldn’t escape the loss. The axe swung at full strength resounded with a shock that felt as if it could tear his arm off.
Only Yuren could resist that kind of power, and even then, it was nearly impossible.
This meant Beck’s raw strength was likely far beyond that of a Dragon. It made sense why he was called a Demon and a Hell General. Hans clicked his tongue and swung his sword.
Swish! With an eerie noise, the axe shattered. Hans’s Divine Sword had managed to nick the axe. However, even with the Divine Sword, he couldn’t completely sever Beck’s axe.
“Impressive! You’re the first to damage my axe!!”
“Damn it!”
“Such splendid swordsmanship!!!”
Beck roared with joy. His axe was the ultimate weapon made from a Dragon Heart and bones obtained through hunting Dragons. Yet, it had been scratched.
‘There is no weapon that exceeds my axe. That means you’ve purely cut through it with skill!!’
That was not wrong. With the Dragon Heart, bones, tendons, and everything used to forge that weapon, none had surpassed it until now—except Hans’s.
However, Beck, not knowing that, believed that Hans purely achieved it with skill and that made him more invested in Hans along with everything else he saw.
Thanks to that, Beck’s movements grew faster. Just as he was about to time-stop and attempt to take down Beck, another greatsword swung in.
It may have lacked the power of Beck’s, but it had considerable might.
So, time couldn’t be stopped, and Hans was knocked back violently. He grit his teeth. Up until now, he had never failed to stop time. Naturally, it was expected.
No one had been able to sneak through even the slightest moment against him. But the current foes were different. Each of them was a powerhouse capable of facing an army.
Still, Hans was able to endure until now due to the automatic time-stop triggered by danger and the Blood Demons’ excessive caution of him.
“Hey, Zaiha. How long are you going to just stand there like a thumb-sucking fool?”
“Wait. We mustn’t lose anyone here.”
“I’m too excited to hold it in!”
“Calm down, Beck.”
‘Zaiha…?’
That was definitely an unfamiliar name. Originally, only 12 Blood Demons survived in the timeline of the source material, and even those were mostly described as in poor condition…
The Blood Demons didn’t rush. They were only aiming to attack in clear attack openings. And each time that happened, the time would stop for Hans. It was an attack that threatened his life.
Thus, he was unable to use time-stop. If time-stop had a cooldown, he would surely lose his life. His only available option was using it for less than a second…
“Damn it! This is frustrating!”
Thanks to the Dragon Heart, he had gained a lot of options for using it for less than a second. But using it to inflict a critical wound on the Blood Demons was nearly impossible. At least a second or more was required.
And every time he tried to create an opening for a critical hit, the Blood Demons at the back would retaliate with long-range attacks to block him. He had no time to deal with the ones behind him either.
It was truly a dire situation. Just then, Beck’s axe slammed into Hans’s shoulder. In reality, he blocked it with his Divine Sword, but he still felt overpowered.
“Guh?!”
“Ah, this is boring. I wanted a fair 1:1 fight.”
“Beck.”
“I know, I know! It’s because I need to finish this without casualties!”
“……”
Beck didn’t particularly like this situation, but he had no choice. He couldn’t sacrifice his fellow tribesmen for his personal desires. Meanwhile, Hans, now sitting down, sighed and said.
“I see; so that’s how it is.”
“Yeah, it’s a shame, but what can you do…”
“If that’s the case, I’ll go all out too.”
“……?!”
In that moment, Hans vanished. Beck was startled by the speed beyond his imagination, but he was a seasoned warrior who had survived countless battles; he was already reacting to Hans’s sword.
‘What speed…?!’
However, while his eyes reacted, his body could not keep up. It felt like swimming sluggishly in water. In an instant, Beck’s head separated from his body.
Time Deceleration.
Time Acceleration.
Techniques with high risks just to use them.
But…
“First, one down.”
Hans realized. It was impossible to suppress the Blood Demons without injuries. Then, it was necessary to inflict damage on them without hesitation, even if it meant losing his life here!
My site has received a lot of DMCA notices, lol. From now on, I will update the MTL on https://darkmtl.com/.
The site is fast and lightweight because there are no ads yet. However, the theme is different from Cybor-TL, so take some time to familiarize yourself.
Support me by donating at least $10, and you'll have the right to request any novel from Novelpia (excluding 19+ content) using a newly developed tool.