One of the Four Heavenly Kings.
Druid, Kali.
Finally, I get to meet the one I’ve wanted to see so badly again.
“Shortcut opened up, punk.”
Uuuh?!
You didn’t expect me to punch a hole in the wall and go straight to the last room, did you?
Perfect ambush.
I draw my sword and jump down right away, preparing to strike down.
‘Is the weak point over there?’
As the Weak Point Trait activates, Kali’s weakness comes into view.
The spider’s body hanging beneath the upper half of the woman.
The poison sac inside is the vital point.
Uuaaaah!
Bang!
Unfortunately, Kali rolled away in a hurry, so I couldn’t stab the vital point.
Even though it was an ambush, her reflexes were incredibly fast.
Especially those spider legs—there are so many of them, and they’re so quick that it’s hard to follow with my eyes.
“Alicia. Stay up and cover me.”
“Yes, yep!”
Alicia, who had been scared the whole time, is starting to sound alive.
Soon Mi Jeong jumps down lightly as well.
“Here.”
“…Okay.”
I hand Mi Jeong Blin’s wooden club (+1), and we’re ready to fight.
But it seems the ambush effect has worn off, as Kali’s expression starts to show ease.
Ha… Haha… Ahahahaha…!
Maybe not.
Has she lost her mind?
I thought it was just a tall tale that Belphegor struggled! There’s no way there could be a strong human like this! I’m getting excited!
“Yeah, whatever. Thanks.”
Looks like she really has gone nuts.
Seeing her laugh like that, without a clue about her future.
Let’s move quickly.
Since Kali is the owner of this dungeon, the longer the fight drags on, the worse it’ll be for us.
I exchange glances with Mi Jeong, and the moment I step forward—
Accept my illusion!
“What?!”
Crash! Crack!
The cocoons stuck to the wall break open, and little spiders swarm out.
Cannibalistic spiders that feast on humans surge in like a wave, creating a spectacle.
Just when I thought, “Oh crap.”
Fwooom!
Huh?!
A flame ignites in midair.
At the same time, sparks scatter out in all directions.
The sparks blanket the ground, creating a ring of fire.
Eeeeeek!
Guhck! Uuuh!
As the wave of spiders is ignited, flames spread forth.
The screams ring out loud enough to burst eardrums.
But that only lasts a moment.
The screams die down.
The spiders are soon turned to charred remains.
Before I know it, a fire big enough to match a person is flickering and taking on the form of a spirit.
I’m taken aback when I check the mana stone; the red light has completely vanished.
That rascal Ifrit…
You hatched under the divine tree like a common insect, huh?
W-What?! An insect?!
The Great Spirit of Fire.
Ifrit has finally escaped the mana stone.
In fact, I was most wary of this situation.
If Ifrit were released, it would be clear he would want to set the World Tree and everything else ablaze.
But if he’s released inside the dungeon, it’s a different story.
In this confined space, what needs to be burned is limited, so there’s no need to deal with the World Tree, either.
Ifrit must be aware of this as well.
He probably quickly understood that if he just burns Kali, the situation can be resolved.
This no-name human. I’d love to burn you first, but… things are urgent, so let’s finish off the bugs first.
“Good idea.”
With that, Ifrit becomes our ally here.
Before I know it, our power has increased again.
The Great Spirit of Fire joins the fray.
And I have a top-grade mana stone back to the original state.
H-Hey! How about we have a little chat, huh? Kids…
Shut it!
Alicia is covering us with magic from above.
While Ifrit handles the mooks perfectly with flames below.
And Mi Jeong and I are closing in on Kali from both sides, beating her back into a corner.
Kali’s expression starts to change as she realizes what’s happening; the ease vanishes, and she turns pale.
But we can’t let our guard down.
Like with Belphegor, we have no idea what random traits she might have gained.
Kaak! Kaak!
With nowhere to run, Kali starts to fight back desperately.
The moment she opens her mouth, a web shoots out with a swish.
Fortunately, it seems Mi Jeong deftly jumps out of the way.
“Ao! What the?!”
I end up wearing that web like a coat.
I thought slicing it with my sword would do the trick.
But it’s so strong that it didn’t cut at all.
Eventually, wrapped in the web, I get thrown back and managed to saw my way out with the blade.
First, let’s kill the most dangerous one! If I take you down, Draken will be safe!
Rustle rustle.
Kali’s huge body moves swiftly toward me.
As flames spew from Ifrit and wind magic rains down from the ceiling, I zigzag to dodge it all.
I have to kill you!
“Why do you think I’d have a fair chance in a one-on-one fight?”
The sharp spider’s leg comes crashing down at my head.
In that instant, Kali’s eyes widen.
The place where the leg struck is already empty as I passed beneath her body.
Huh?!
With a thud, Kali’s body crashes down forward.
Thanks to breaking the sound barrier with Dakia-style 0 Defense Rush.
I’ve cleanly sliced off one of her front legs, well beyond her reaction speed.
What just happened? Didn’t see it! How? How could a human child?!
Kali is indeed fast.
True to her spider concept, she’s designed to be all about speed as a boss monster.
Even in the mid-late game, you wouldn’t catch up to her in speed.
And now, faced with her in the early game, I’m overwhelming her with speed.
I’m equipped with Tei’s mana stone, which has surpassed the high-end level.
On top of that, with the Guardian Knight stat boosted five times.
Having trained in magic, I have become more proficient in mana control, so it’s no surprise.
As long as my mana holds out.
Until then, I can suppress Kali in all stats.
Fast? And strong? More than me…?
She quickly recognizes her situation.
Realizing she has no chance, Kali limps back, losing her legs.
Then in an instant, she tries to escape from me.
Rabbit! Blow the wind!
“Got it, Great Spirit!”
But Ifrit’s unquenchable flames roar to life, and Alicia’s wind amplifies it, quickly creating a fire curtain.
The entrance is engulfed in flames.
Escape route blocked.
Fwoosh!
And just then, flames rise from the opposite side again.
Now another wall of flame covers my back.
The fire wall encircles us completely.
Now, inside that barrier, it’s just me and Kali.
“Let’s have an intimate date, shall we?”
No! I don’t want to!
Now that I know I’m overwhelming Kali, a one-on-one will definitely be to my advantage.
The other guys would only get in the way.
Alicia’s instincts proved correct.
“Let’s see how long you can keep this up.”
I don’t want to die! I can’t just die like this! I’m too ashamed to meet Draken!
But this girl seems to be panicking a bit too hard.
So scared she’s jittery, retreating more and more.
Her body trembles like it’s vibrating.
And webs are trailing from her rear end.
Then Kali suddenly curls up and jumps—
I need to take a companion with me!
“Hey!!!”
She doesn’t come at me; instead, she flies toward the opposite side.
Passing right through the fire screen, her whole body is ablaze as she dashes toward Mi Jeong.
I’ll take this kid at least! This kid!
“…!”
But Mi Jeong is no easy target either.
Kali swings her fiery legs around, but the small and agile Mi Jeong easily evades them.
Thank goodness she attracted Kali’s aggro.
If she went after Alicia up on the ceiling, I’d be dead in a heartbeat.
Soon, thanks to Ifrit extinguishing the fire, the path reopens.
I dash out to save Mi Jeong.
“Mi Jeong?”
“…”
Mi Jeong suddenly looks at me and stops in her tracks.
What’s she doing?
She needs to dodge.
I sense an ominous energy approaching.
“…Promise.”
“What? What are you—”
Whack.
Mi Jeong takes off the ring from her finger and throws it to me.
What the heck is this supposed to mean?
Just when I was about to get mad—
Heavenly Armor Plate!
Rumble.
A wall suddenly bursts up around Kali and Mi Jeong.
In an instant, both Kali and Mi Jeong disappear behind the spherical wall.
Kaang!
I try to stab with my sword, but the blade just shatters into pieces.
The sphere shows no signs of damage at all.
Even hitting it with my fist feels the same.
My fingers crack, and I bounce back.
“Don’t tell me…”
Heavenly Armor Plate.
A trait that generates an area that deflects all impacts from the outside.
If that’s truly Heavenly Armor Plate, then no matter how strong the force I apply, breaking it would be impossible.
“Great Spirit! Shoot it!”
I’m firing! Damn rabbit girl!
Despite the fierce flames and wind pounding against it, the sphere remains immovable.
Trapped inside are Mi Jeong and Kali.
Suddenly, a ring on the ground catches my eye, reminding me of the words I once told Mi Jeong.
“If you think you’re going to die, take off your ring and then die.”
“That’s worth more than your life.”
“Damn it…!”
Realizing it, I find myself pounding on the sphere mindlessly.
With no regard for the fact that my fingers are breaking and my legs are twisting awkwardly.
*
Having been given the name Mi Jeong.
I’ve lived a life too good for me.
I went out to pick flowers and got bitten by a wild dog with red eyes, bringing a plague back to the village.
I’m the one who ruined the peaceful village.
I’m the one who turned the village into a living hell.
When I came to my senses, the village was engulfed in flames.
Screams echoed everywhere.
People were all shining with red eyes, devouring others.
I started to fear, thinking I was the only one sane.
The blood on my hands and mouth, and the sight of my family lying there, covered in blood.
The shocking reality was thrust right before my eyes.
I couldn’t believe that this was what I had done.
So instead of accepting reality, I decided to separate my mind from it.
I forgot how to speak, forgot how to think.
I lost my emotions.
I no longer wanted to live.
Just a walking corpse, unable to die, wandering around the mountains.
That’s all I was.
Before long, I was captured by a slaver.
Even though I hadn’t been sold for ten years.
Someone appeared who wanted me.
“I want someone who is completely useless and has an absurdly low price.”
Ahahaha. I’ve never had a customer like this before. Come this way.
Yoo Jin.
He was a strange person.
He bought a hollow shell like me and asked for nothing in return.
He just followed behind me.
Sometimes just draining a bit of blood.
His approach, treating me like an object, oddly made me feel at ease.
It seemed like he cared for his belongings; his touch was soft and warm.
Slowly, my frozen heart began to thaw.
I wanted to face the reality that I once had no desire to see or hear properly.
Emotions I thought were lost began to return.
Even as a dead corpse.
Even as the murderer who killed my family with my own hands.
I finally had the courage to live again.
I thought I could rise again with Yoo Jin.
But that was just a wishful thought.
Objects eventually break.
Truly, I’ve lived a life too good for me.
Hahaha! Ah, ahahaha!!!
“…”
In a closed, sealed space.
As my whole body burns and my skin melts away, the spider woman before me keeps laughing madly.
How can I, one of the Four Heavenly Kings! End up in a situation where I’m allied with these blood ghouls?!
Is there a more valuable death than sacrificing myself instead of Yoo Jin?
The person who warmly embraced me and brought me back to life, like a corpse that was essentially dead.
Since I came back to life thanks to Yoo Jin, I must dedicate this life to him.
I’ve continued to think that way, and even now, I feel at ease being able to sacrifice myself like this.
Still, that human child seems to cherish you quite a bit!
“…Wrong. Mi Jeong’s an object. Yoo Jin… cares for me. He doesn’t.”
Is that so?! Ahahahahaha!
I don’t get what she’s saying.
I’m just a somewhat useful object to Yoo Jin.
If I die, he won’t shed a single tear.
He’d just think, “What bad luck,” and move on.
Killing this powerful monster is a bargain.
Yoo Jin will surely think that way.
And that statement is absolutely correct.
In exchange for other precious lives, I’m the fortunate one.
I’m really glad I can die.
That’s how I felt at that moment.
So many thoughts! I wonder how to kill you to make that human child feel worse! First, let’s take off your arms and legs… Huh?!
Crash!
With a clear sound like glass shattering.
A bright light pours down from behind me.
Surprised, I turn around.
“…Yoo Jin?”
“Don’t touch my possessions.”
Yoo Jin stood there, looking more irrational than ever.
