“Finally got you, you little rat.”
“It’s best to hold on tight. Belphegor is a master of escape, so it’s hard to predict how and when he’ll run away.”
|Uwaahhh!!!|
Held captive by the Frost Duchess and the Murderer.
The Great Demon screamed wildly.
But no matter how much he flailed and emitted demonic energy, these superhumans simply suppressed the Great Demon with their sheer strength.
They didn’t seem to care that their skin was burning from the thick demonic energy.
Both had reached a level where they could brush off such pain.
To those two, the Great Demon’s demonic attack was just a tickle.
|Luna!!! Help me!!!!!|
“······?!”
At that moment, a commotion came from deeper inside the dungeon.
From within the darkness, red eye lights began to appear one by one.
At this, Transylvania’s expression darkened.
“Damn. They really look like my kin, but I can’t cut them down easily······.”
An undead army armed with old swords and shields.
Transylvania felt a moment of kinship with their pale skin and red pupils but quickly regained her smile at their grotesque, mummified appearance.
Blood ghouls are beings that live forever in their youthful and healthy forms.
If it’s such a bizarre creature, she thought she could take it down easily.
“Are they infecting people to multiply······?”
Yerina shivered at the sight of the mercenary mixed among the undead army.
Not only that, but they could infect people and multiply infinitely.
Now, she understood why Elvenguard had mobilized such a large army just to seal one dungeon.
“Dakia-style secrets.”
The undead army rushed in a mass.
Transylvania pulled out her sword and stepped back.
Her momentum gathered into her fingertips, causing her sword to tremble.
“Iron Blood Storm Slash!”
Swoosh!
A barrage of rapid slashes struck.
A sharp wind cut through, making an X as it swept over the undead army.
Limbs flew, and undead halves rolled on the ground.
Yerina’s face lit up at this, but as the pieces of the undead began to twitch and piece themselves back together, her expression hardened once more.
Where did the limbs originally belong?
Whose arms or legs were whose?
Whether their heads were attached or not didn’t matter; the pieces started to reassemble themselves chaotically, just enough to move and fight again.
Some undead swung swords with two upper bodies stuck together, while others hopped limply on just one leg.
There were even undead running with arms where their legs should be.
“Have I ever seen such disgusting things······!”
Yerina was horrified by the sight, which required no other embellishments but the word “terrible.”
Such things should not exist in the current world.
Now she understood why Yoo Jin had been so desperate to chase the Four Heavenly Kings and annihilate the dungeon.
|Hahaha!!! Go ahead and chop away with that fancy sword! The undead will infinitely revive until they turn to dust, overwhelming you!|
Crash!
At that moment, a golden flash burst through a crack in the door.
In an instant, the brilliant light enveloped the undead army, rendering them invisible.
The area swept away by the flash was left in ruins.
And the undead army vanished.
The demonic energy controlling the undead had completely been obliterated by the holy light, leaving them unable to revive.
“······.”
As dozens of undead soldiers disappeared in an instant, the remaining ones stared blankly at the spot where the flash had struck before fleeing into the depths of the dungeon without a glance back.
|What are you doing!!! Luna! Help me!!!!!!|
The Great Demon, face pressed to the ground, screamed desperately while Yerina held him down.
.
.
.
While the sounds continued to echo from the dungeon, I decided to focus and cut off distractions for now.
[To summon the God of Underworld, a ceremony must be performed. First, with your Longinus’ spear or whatever, you need to transmit ‘will’ to the Underworld and generate attraction through the ceremony, then wait endlessly.]
“So, is the ceremony all set?”
[It’s modest, but well, umm… It’s not bad for a rushed setup.]
With a sigh, Gui Ho straightened his back.
Looking ahead, I saw the complex formation drawn on the wide expanse of land.
Black iron wires were evenly spread over the ground.
Lines of white dust connected to the center of the intricate formation, which Seo Gong finished up with pure magical energy.
Towers resembling human-sized totems stood like pillars to the north, south, east, and west.
“What is this?”
[I don’t know either. It’s a formation related to the God of Underworld, and I only know that it creates attraction with him; everything else is unclear.]
“What the heck do shamans know? This is completely amateurish!”
[If we could set up towers like mages, collect people and funds for research, we wouldn’t be such a mystery! We’re being suppressed from everywhere and forced to hide to conduct secret research—what do you want me to do about it? If you’re really that dissatisfied, figure it out for yourself!]
“······.”
I joked and received an intense reaction.
Apparently, it was a sensitive question for shamans.
Anyway.
With this, I would draw the God of Underworld into the current world.
Gui Ho had boasted about its success earlier, but looking at his face now, he seemed worried.
There was no certainty if it would succeed in summoning, or if it did, whether it could cause damage to the current world…
‘I’ll take full responsibility for this.’
It wasn’t just for me, but since I initiated this, I had to carry it out.
Having received help from so many people, it was my turn to take responsibility and make it succeed.
At the very least, I would not let any of those who helped me become casualties.
[Seo Gong. Is the ceremonial preparation finished?]
“Yes, Master. We just need to light the incense now.”
“······Right here.”
Upon hearing that everything was ready, Mi Jeong nudged me beside her.
Holding the Longinus’ spear, it revealed itself from her tiny fist.
Opening the lid, I saw a spot for a mechanism inside.
The remaining gears spun busily with ticks.
“Work, magic sword.”
|You’re finally dragging me out after such a long time!|
It had been quite a while since I had closed the scabbard and left it inside.
As soon as I grabbed it, the magic sword buzzed loudly, and when I placed it against Longinus’ spear, its form began to shift and pour into the spear.
It fit perfectly into the empty space, starting to rotate in sync with the gears.
With that, it could act as a signpost toward the Underworld instead of a navigator component.
“I’m starting.”
“······.”
Gui Ho, silently nodding, clapped his hands.
Matching that, white smoke began to rise as flames ignited on the incense sticks punctured into the formation.
In response, the formation shone with Seo Gong’s magic.
Seo Gong poured a drink into a small cup and placed it in the middle of the formation.
Simultaneously, I filled the Longinus’ spear with mana and activated it.
With all my ‘will’ gathered, I triggered it, warping the space before my eyes.
In an instant, a small light orb shot from the Longinus’ spear into the distorted space.
Right after that, the warped space returned to normal, and Longinus’ spear also stopped operating.
[Did it succeed?]
“Probably······.”
[What do you mean probably! What do you mean probably! The lives of how many people hang in the balance right now!]
Gui Ho was furious, grabbing me by the collar.
I wanted to respond reliably.
But even though I had gone through regressions, it was my first time using the Longinus’ spear…
Perhaps a minute had passed with Gui Ho tearing up and clinging to me.
Suddenly,Seo Gong’s avatar in the center of the formation jolted and trembled.
Gui Ho also clamped his mouth shut, going stiff.
“······.”
The moment we fell silent, silence enveloped us.
Surely there were no sound-blocking barriers or anything.
It was eerily quiet, as if only the three of us were left in this world.
“Ah······.”
When I regained my senses, everything around us was painted black.
All around us was nothing but pitch blackness.
The world outside the formation had vanished; we had become trapped in a deep abyss.
Or perhaps.
It’s not that we were trapped.
But rather, the entire world outside the formation had been erased.
“······!”
Thinking that way made a chill run down my spine, and goosebumps erupted all over my body.
Only the space where the formation was extended remained.
Voices of people, the sound of wind, the rustling of foliage—all natural sounds had disappeared into silence.
With the surrounding noise completely gone, even the sound of our clothes brushing together felt amplified, and Gui Ho’s nervous gulp seemed to echo.
[W-What the hell is this······? Seo Gong! Is the possession not yet complete?]
“Uwaah······. Something’s off······.”
Seo Gong frowned, tilting his head.
Normally, the God of Underworld, pulled by my ‘will’, should possess Seo Gong’s body and descend…
But Seo Gong expressed discomfort, saying the possession wasn’t working at all.
As Seo Gong noted, something was wrong.
No matter how strong the attraction was, the God of Underworld possessing that much power in the current world was unheard of…
I thought they could merely possess a person for a chat.
The calculations had gone seriously awry.
|Kyaahhh!!!|
“······!”
Thud!
At that moment, the cup placed in the center of the formation soared upwards, disappearing into the dark.
Then, from all directions, anguished screams rushed at us, forcing us to cover our ears until the sound ceased.
“What on earth did you put into that message that made it go wild?!”
In the midst of the raucous screams, Gui Ho mouthed to me.
What did I instill in it?
To grab the God of Underworld’s FULL attention, what needed to be said was clear from the very beginning.
“In short, it’s like this: Evil spirits wandering in the current world need to go to the Underworld. How incompetent is the God of Underworld that things are still like this—”
[You damn moron!!!]
I’d always known that to summon someone, making them angry worked best.
Apparently, I had made it a bit too furious.
