Raising A Hero – Chapter 71

Ch 71: Demon Genevy.

Ji-hyuk Team woke up a long time after the sun had fully risen. The rising sun certainly calmed the gruesome atmosphere a bit.

Fortunately, Grace didn’t cause a commotion like yesterday. However, there was a precariousness, like a cup filled to the brim with water, where it could spill at any moment. …Nevertheless, they had to move forward. They couldn’t just live like this, trembling with anxiety.

The team prepared to depart amidst a solemn tension. The captain made eye contact with each of his subordinate companions one by one before giving the signal to start.

They went down the slope again. Of course, even though the killing intent had somewhat subsided, it hadn’t completely disappeared. The chilling energy still remained, eerily licking their skin.

The sensitive Ya-el clearly felt the increasingly strong magical energy. Hngㅡ. Her body instinctively trembled slightly.

They walked for quite a while. The castle walls began to appear between the trees. Ji-hyuk stopped them before they went inside.

“Light the torches. Ya-el, light.”

The team members, who had been given a heads-up before departure, silently followed his command. They lit torches and created a light orb in the bright daylight.

“Now we go.”

Everyone firmly grasped their weapons. They went forward towards the castle walls, one step at a time.

Then, suddenly, the surroundings began to darken. The sun, which had been shining brightly just moments ago, disappeared as if it were a lie. The whole world became darker than night.

Ah…!

It was a change that was hard to believe if you hadn’t experienced it. The calm air began to run wild. An immense killing intent and magical energy, enough to choke them, swallowed them up.

Ugh. Ya-el pressed down on her stuffy chest with her hand. …Honestly, she was scared. It wasn’t much different for the others.

“Everyone, stay focused. Trust only me and follow.”

The captain said so in a stern voice. That one sentence was so empowering. He was a captain who had achieved almost miraculous things until now. He firmly believed that he would defeat the demon this time as well and return.

They gathered their strength again and went forward one step at a time. Inside the barrier was completely different from the outside. Now, they finally understood why they had called the old city a maze.

Grace and Grendal also began to recall memories from two years ago. This horrible darkness had not changed then or now. …And they knew what lurked in this darkness.

Hah, hah, hah.

The Healer was breathing roughly. She couldn’t tell if the emotion swirling in her chest was fear or hatred.

━ Aaaaaaackㅡ!

The shrill screams of her comrades struck her ears one after another. Ugh. She covered both her ears with her hands. But the screams didn’t disappear.

Hah, hah, hah.

Her eyes were bloodshot.

“D*mn it, d*mn it, goddamn it, hah, hah, d*mn it, bastard, f*cking demon, I’m going to kill you all, I’m going to kill you all….”

Grendal quickly grabbed Grace’s shoulder and tried to calm her down. However, she brushed his hand away irritably.

“Leave meㅡ! You son of a b*tch, I’m going to kill them. I, I’m going to get revenge. I’m definitely going to kill that bastard.”

Gruesome curses kept pouring out of Grace’s mouth. Ji-hyuk didn’t bother to stop it. Still, it was better to be enraged like that, as if she was going to kill, than to tremble with anxiety and be unable to do anything.

They slowly headed towards the castle gate. It was wide open as if it had been waiting for guests.

Ji-hyuk Team soon entered the castle gate. Gid spat out a thick wad of saliva on the floor and steeled his resolve.

“Yeah, goddamn it, let whatever demon or whatever come out.”

The dark city, with no one in it, was a complete ruin. It didn’t seem strange even if a ghost popped out from anywhere. It was impossible to guess how long it had been abandoned.

“Goddamn, it’s creepy.”

Goosebumps rose on their skin as a chilly wind blew.

The team members prepared to fight at any time. They didn’t know when or where a demon would suddenly appear.

Then, suddenly, they felt something crawling in the darkness. It hated the light to the extreme, so it only approached up to the edge of the boundary and didn’t reveal itself any further.

It was definitely an Evil Spirit. The demon bastard must also be watching them from somewhere.

Ji-hyuk stopped abruptly in what seemed to be a rather spacious plaza. And he called Ya-el.

“Ya-el, briefly reduce the power and then, when I give the signal, make it as bright as possible.”

“Yes.”

“Start.”

The light gradually dimmed. Naturally, the distance it reached also grew narrower.

It felt as if they were being strangled. Everyone was gasping for breath, holding their weapons, and guarding their surroundings.

Soon Ji-hyuk gave the signal.

“Nowㅡ!”

Ya-el immediately poured mana into the light orb. The dim orb suddenly brightened up, illuminating the surroundings.

━ Kiyaaaaaaahㅡ!

ㅡㅡㅡㅡ!!!!

An enormous number of Evil Spirits approached them a little more along the shrinking boundary of light, and then, upon being exposed to the suddenly expanding light, began to writhe.

“This goddamnㅡ!”

Gid didn’t know that so many Evil Spirits would surround them in complete darkness. He immediately raised his thick shield and prepared to defend.

“Prepare for battleeeㅡㅡ!!”

Ji-hyuk shouted. Everyone assumed a battle stance. At the same time, something that revealed an enormous presence appeared in the darkness.

Even though they couldn’t see it, they could tell.

It was Demon Genevy.

ㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡ!!!!!

The guy screamed. Then, the Evil Spirits began to rush towards them, disregarding the fact that their bodies were burning in the light.

“Blockㅡ!”

Ji-hyuk also shouted as if screaming, “Kill!” The team members swung their weapons at the rushing Evil Spirits. The number of Evil Spirits was large, but because they were small like Goblins, they would fall with a single blow from a weapon.

Everyone was wildly swinging their weapons. Ya-el prepared for a big move, leaving the low-level fire magic aside.

Grendal also shot arrows with rapid fire. Each arrow contained enormous destructive power, so even if he shot only one, he would penetrate five or six Evil Spirits at once.

Mahushu and Kayak also unreservedly stabbed and hit the Evil Spirits. Gid, too, roughly swung his large shield and crushed the Evil Spirits one by one.

But, of course, the one who was still displaying brilliant activity was, naturally, Hero Gang Ji-hyuk. Each time he swung the Cursed Holy Sword, the surroundings were swept away all at once.

Demon Genevy, who was looking for an opponent, slowly approached the hero. The demon bastard looked like a viscous, black, glutinous substance. His entire body was densely packed with eyeballs, and in the middle of his body was a mouth with sharp fangs densely packed.

The two tentacles that were dangling on both sides grabbed anything they touched and threw it into the mouth. It was no exception even for the Evil Spirits.

Aaaaaaㅡ.

Then Grace had a seizure upon seeing the demon bastard. It wasn’t just a simple seizure. She screamed and covered her head with both hands and fell forward. She even trembled and peed herself.

…This f*cking s*itㅡ!

However, Ji-hyuk didn’t have time to worry about her now. Ya-el threw a ball of fire into the midst of the Evil Spirits and then supported Grace, who was having a seizure.

“Get a grip. Get a gripㅡ! Yaaackㅡ! Get a gripㅡㅡ!! If you’re like this, someone else will die againㅡㅡ!!”

Ya-el, who couldn’t stand it, eventually slapped Grace’s cheeks hard. …There was a bit of self-interest in the slap. How much attention the Captain had given her, and she still couldn’t pull herself together and was showing such a disgraceㅡ.

Ah, ahㅡ.

Because she had been swinging her hand so frantically, she even bumped into Grace’s nose and blood was flowing profusely. Still, fortunately, the Healer regained her senses a bit.

“Ah…, Ya, Ya-el….”

“Quickly regain your senses and cast the Healㅡ! Do you want to see us die tooㅡ?!”

Grace’s body was still trembling. However, she forced herself to use the Heal. She was in a complete mess, but she didn’t have the presence of mind to check her own condition.

Evil Spirits were still pouring out from all sides. But the rest of the team members, excluding Grace, all performed admirably. Ya-el also returned to this gruesome battlefield again.

In the meantime, Ji-hyuk faced Demon Genevy. The dozens of eyeballs that were stuck in the viscous body stared at Ji-hyuk all at once.

Suddenly, enormous magical energy enveloped the surroundings. Ughㅡ. Ya-el failed to chant the magic spell due to the magical energy that rushed in. If she hadn’t quickly poured mana into the orb, it almost would have disappeared too. Seeing the light dimming briefly and then gradually brightening again, Ji-hyuk shouted at Ya-el.

“Ya-elㅡ! Just focus on the orbㅡ!”

She was already thinking the same. Because if the orb went out, they would really all die.

The demon also seemed to think that it would be enough to kill the Magician, and the Evil Spirits began to rush towards Ya-el intensively. Lizardman Kayak shouted at Mahushu to protect Ya-el no matter what.

Everyone exhaled rough breaths. The number of enemies was too large. Their bodies were already covered in wounds. Grace was giving the Heal, but it wasn’t as refreshing as usual. It must be because her mental state wasn’t good.

Grendal couldn’t waste arrows, so he put his bow on his back and picked up the iron club. And he swung it unreservedly. Actually, it suited him better than shooting a bow.

Ji-hyuk also slowly approached the demon, snapping his neck left and right. This was the second time he had clashed with this guy. Of course, at that time, the genius Magician had blasted magic spells, so he could deal with him somewhat easily. But this time, he had to defeat the guy with his own power alone.

…But there’s nothing I can’t win against.

More than twenty years had passed. Naturally, his skills had improved much more than before. If he was going to whine to this kind of demon bastard because there was no magic support, he might as well give up on the thought of capturing the Great Demon King early and live leisurely, just f*cking around, a hundred times better. Then, if the continent collapsed, he could just regress again.

Ji-hyuk stopped abruptly when he thought he had gotten close to the guy to a certain extent. He lightly slashed and killed the rushing Evil Spirits. The Cursed Holy Sword vibrated in his palm. His fingers, as if riding the waves, rippled and then firmly gripped the handle again.

Ji-hyuk killed his emotions. He recalled the old sensation. The sensation he had then, when he was unreservedly slashing through countless demons in the war against the Great Demon King.

Demons also knew fear. They just forget it for a moment, because they are existences far from death.

In the face of real death, those guys became as ugly as humans. It was normal for them to struggle to stay alive. Like Demon Shaiya.

Demon Genevy, after observing the human guy for a moment, began to pull out long tentacles from its body. The tentacles, as many as the number of eyeballs, each moved like a living creature.

Without warning, they suddenly moved like lightning and flew towards Ji-hyuk’s body. Ji-hyuk, as if doing a trick, dodged and cut them and jumped forward.

ㅡㅡㅡ!!!

The demon was slightly flustered. Because he failed to make a kebab and swallow the guy at once. He was much faster than he thought.

The guy kept pushing the human. But Ji-hyuk, despite the fierce offensive, came forward to the guy and slashed his torso with the Holy Sword once.

━ Kiiiieeeeeeeeㅡ!!!

Demon Genevy screamed in pain for the first time in his life. It was so gruesome that the team members, who were fighting mindlessly, were also startled.

The tentacles were now writhing wildly. They indiscriminately struck and swung.

He’s flustered nowㅡ.

It was impossible for a demon, who had nothing but the act of greed, to fare well against Ji-hyuk.

Of course, that didn’t mean Genevy was weak. The guy’s tentacles were definitely powerful. And they had paralysis poison as well. But no matter how powerful the attack was, it eventually had to hit to have meaning.

However, Ji-hyuk, who had an overwhelming skill in adjusting the distance in the continent, was a very bad opponent for the demon. Even if an A-class Hero came, they would be helpless if they were touched by the monster’s paralysis poison, but for Ji-hyuk, who wasn’t hit, it was all useless.

…Of course, it wouldn’t be a demon if it ended here.

As Genevy’s torso was cut several times by Ji-hyuk’s Holy Sword, it seemed that the situation was serious. The guy, as if struggling, wildly swung its tentacles. Ji-hyuk stepped back for a moment.

Then, the guy suddenly began to squirm. Ji-hyuk knew what this guy was going to do.

The viscous substance was instantly divided into several. They each transformed into a certain form.

Genevy created, in order, the strong existences he had devoured so far. There were four in total. There was also a person who was presumed to be Hero Reig.

Of course, Grace didn’t recognize it. The distance was also far, and it was also hard to distinguish them because of the black, viscous substance.

…It’s a relief. If she had recognized it, she would have caused a commotion again.

The guys acted as if they each had an individual self. The four slowly surrounded Ji-hyuk.

Soon the second round started.