152. Ifrit (2)

“S…. Status….. Denial……”

As if leaving a will right before passing away, I casted Status Denial.

As you know, Status Denial returns the body to a state the caster wishes.

However, it could only be used on targets that haven’t died yet.

It was most effective to use it right before death.

I didn’t intend for things to end up like this, but I was in a state where I felt like I was going to stop breathing any second.

What I spoke out with my last breath, Status Denial, completely restored by body.

The skill had returned by body to a state right before my battle with Ifrit began.

The spikes that pierced my body had disappeared as if they had never been there before, and my body that was ripped and pierced were spotless without injury once more.

It had a downside of a 24 hour cooldown, but with how powerful the effect of the skill was, it was something I could live with.

The current score was 1 to 1.

Using my Reflect Shield, I had cut its core in half.

Ifrit’s attack had destroyed all my shields and brought me at death’s door.

The score was the same, but it was in my favor.

After all, Ifrit only had half its core left, but I had fully recovered.

Jong Ho must’ve also seen how pathetically I was done in.

I could not turn around to face him.

Forget shame, I didn’t have the confidence to look at Jong Ho’s expression filled with heartache and worry.

Normally, our relationship was that of constant bickering, but during times like this, you can call it a love and hate relationship?

Only after completely destroy Ifrit and looking through the drops will I be able to meet his eyes.

I gripped the Butcher’s Sword tighter in my right hand.

I casted Reflect Shield and Iron Skin at the same time, since both their cooldowns had reset thanks to Status Denial.

This was the only way, since it absorbed all forms of attacks without leaving any openings.

However, since I had been taken down once, every time it changed forms I made as much distance as possible and focused on my defenses.

After all, if I was hit by that shockwave again, I didn’t have a future.

Ifrit prepared to attack again.

Its body began to separate itself into small marble shapes.

These marble shapes covered the core and spun around it.

These orbs seemed similar to the old musket balls used back in the past.

Since this was a different pattern of attack unlike anything I’ve seen so far, I kept my distance and moved away early.

“I just need one reflection proc or groggy status effect. Attack. Give me a strong enough attack to grind away your heart.”

“Keeee!”

As soon as I finished speaking, all the bullets flew towards me at the same time.

Just like gunpowder blowing up from gunfire, the bullets gave off sounds of gunshots nonstop.

The attack was pretty quick, but it wasn’t something that I couldn’t avoid.

There was no need to receive all the attacks.

I just needed to get hit enough until the special effects from the shields triggered.

Kicking off the ground, I shot off into the air.

It was to avoid the projectiles that were being fired at me in a straight line.

Observing the amount of projectiles still covering its core, I knew that Ifrit could continue attacking like this for a very long time.

Since I needed to get rid of as much of Ifrits body that was protecting its core as possible in order to deal more damage with my attack, I bid my time.

Ifrit wasted no time in changing its attack trajectory, aiming at me in the air.

If I freefell downwards, I would eat all of its attacks.

I casted Iceberg midair to create a massive iceberg.

Afterwards, I kicked it to increase my descent downwards.

Slowly but surely, its red core was showing itself.

The core kept burning to create more projectiles.

However, perhaps due to its urge to attack being greater, the recovery speed wasn’t able to keep up with the fire rate.

“Good…. A bit more. Just a bit more!”

“Now!”

Looking at the situation, I didn’t hesitate even for a second and charged towards Ifrit.

I took on its projectiles with my body, almost as if letting my body go into the water stream of a shower.

Was it because it had lost half its life?

Unlike before, the shield was breaking down at a slower rate.

This also meant the the damage reflected back at Ifrit was reduced, but that wasn’t a huge problem.

Just one groggy status proc and everything would be over.

Finally.

“It worked!”

Suddenly, my body gave off a bright light.

This light was from the visual effect Iron Skin let out if the special effect triggered.

The projectiles that kept coming in like rainstorm suddenly stopped as if time had stopped.

It was the same with Ifrit’s body.

This being was called a monster god.

I did not know how long the groggy effect would last.

Since it was incredibly strong, I could only guess that the effect wouldn’t last very long.

However, Ifrit was a monster that did not possess any resistances.

That’s why I still had some hope that it would stay stunned for awhile.

Either way, it didn’t change the fact that I needed to finish this fight with this attack.

‘Formless Sword Aura.’

“Kuwaaaaa!”

“……..”

While I was using Formless Sword Aura to crazily swing at the core with reckless abandon, my body glowed red and gave off smoke.

The Formless Sword Aura’s Beast effect had triggered.

The effect made one fiercely attack until the enemy was reduced to nothing but dust in the wind.

Unlike the time when I faced Ghost, I did not lose my ability to reason.

Thanks to using the Beast effect multiple times, I had become skilled enough to control it to my will.

The swings of my sword increased not only in speed, but the destructive force grew to unimaginable amounts.

Until the groggy effect faded, the fierce attack continued.

I wondered how much time had passed.

Ifrit perished without even being able to make a sound.

Its core literally became dust and disappeared.

Its black form that was essentially its body turned to smoke and evaporated.

The place that it last was, only bloodstones, jewels, and artifacts were piled up.

Only after I saw the pile of loot was I sure that Ifrit had breathed its last.

It was then. As if they had been waiting for me all this time, I could hear Jong Ho and Karin’s voice.

“What the? What are these artifacts?”

“Keruruk? Min-Cheol. What happened?”

“Whew….. It was a difficult battle.”

“Is walking even hard for you nowadays? You little!”

“Kel kel kel. Min-Cheol. I think we got lucky getting all this free this time. Kel kel.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Keru…. You walked forward to defeat Ifrit and suddenly all these artifacts spilled out.”

“Was Ifrit a monster that died just by waking it from slumber using one’s killing intent? If that was the case, I should have been the one to fight it. I don’t have to thank you for your hard work this time, right?”

“What. What nonsense…. I went through hell to defeat Ifrit….. Sigh….. What a headache.”

“Kuhut. Did I not say that it will be a battle only between you two……”

“……”

“Karin.”

“Speak, Jong Ho.”

“For now, please start organizing the pile of loot for us.”

“Kerururu. I understand. Now, I can do this with my eyes closed. It’ll be done soon, so wait just a bit.”

“Yeah, you’re the one putting in the most amount of effort. Min-Cheol, why are you just standing there blankly?”

“Did….. time stop or something…..”

“If we can defeat these monster gods so easily, shouldn’t we hurry and find the rest?”

“Hyung-nim, did you really not see anything?”

“What do you mean?”

“Did you not see my body being torn apart like old rags, my body thrashing against all the spikes and bullets stuck to my body. Did you not hear the sound of gunfire….. I nearly died!”

“Did you watch a war film before you came over to the demonic realm or something? Do you have narcolepsy? How did you dream in between that time.”

“Belkoseu, did you also not see anything?”

“Kuhut. Of course, I also didn’t see anything. You simply walked towards Ifrit. Afterwards, the materials that you all desperately need were piled there.”

“Ha…… I think I’m going crazy.”

“Karin, where is Barun right now?”

“Kerut. Since he headed towards Earth in the afternoon, it won’t take long before he returns. And he’ll be back with plenty of steak. Kel kel kel.”

“Looks like we’ll need more employees? Just look at how much loot is stacked here.”

“Keruruk. I shall let them know.”

“As expected, you defeated the Demon God Ifrit.”

“……..”

“No one here has seen your battle with Ifrit. Once you are selected by the Demon God, you are dragged into their own personal dimension. It’s a dimension that is completely isolated. Until only one is alive, the barrier separating the dimensions will not dissipate. For those observing outside of the barrier, time flows differently. It flows so differently that they aren’t able to even imagine what you just went through.”

“Actually it’s better this way. There was a scene in the middle of it that I didn’t want to show anyone.”

“Kuhut. The Demon Gods we’ll be meeting from here on out will be stronger than Ifrit. Can you handle them?”

“Do you see what Karin is sorting through right now? I’m not sure what is in there, but if I hit the jackpot, defeating the rest of the monster gods won’t be even a challenge, so don’t worry.”

“Good…… It is as I had hoped.”

“Kel kel! Look at this. The sorting is already done.”

“Nice. As expected of Rin. Hurry over here and check out what we got, Min-Cheol.”

“Yes….. The one who has done nothing is coming.”

“Right. Hurry over. Whew. Just look at how much Rin worked up. Good work. Let’s have a party with steak today as well.”

“Kerururuk.”

“I don’t know why, but I feel sad and resentful…… Am I just imagining it?”

****

“I expect that you won’t stand against my decision to release the Chimera any longer, Ladin.”

“It is as you say, Demon King. To think that they’ve taken down a Demon God…..”

“It is my fault for not being decisive earlier. I must summon the Chimera immediately…..”

“However, Demon King, humans are unable to use magical energies, yes? And the Demon God Ifrit does not even have any magical energies…. Even if the human and Belkoseu worked together to take down the monster god, there’s nothing for them to gain from it, is there not?”

“Ladin…. I have seen him. The human that took down the Kelvecore.”

“What do you mean…….”

“The human took something from the corpse of the Kelvecore. For that prize, he even took one of my attacks. I concluded that whatever he took was worth risking his life for.”

“………”

“For whatever reason it may be, that is probably why the human is going after not only monsters, but Demon Gods as well.”

“So you’re saying that this human is not hunting for bloodstones, but something else?”

“That’s right, Ladin.”

“Yes, Demon King.”

“In a brief moment, I shall be undoing the seal on the Chimera.”

“Ah…. It is as you say.”

“Until then, hide your magical energy signature as much as possible.”

“Yes.”

“We cannot become targets of the Chimera, after all. All we need to do is wait and see the Chimera take care of the problematic humans and Belkoseu completely.”

“…….”

The demon king waited, giving time for Ladin to hide his magical energy signature.

Just like Berdan had done, Ladin hid as much of his magical energy as possible.

The Demon King then raised both his hands and spoke.

“As Demon King, I command……”