I’m Here to End This Fight

Chapter 191.The Demon King’s Castle (4)

It was mid-December, with only about fifteen days left in the year, which had rushed by breathlessly.

One early morning, when the cold wave came along with heavy snowfall.

Creak-.

In the faintly brightening clearing, an old man with a wooden box on his back appeared.

Creak- creak-.

Johan walked, stepping on the freshly fallen snow, smooth as a white sheet of paper, and stared at the strange-shaped fortress before him.

“…What is this now? A chestnut burr?”

No, if one thought about it that way, it could also resemble a hairy crab.

The structure looked like a hairy crab with bristling spikes, holding up its claws as if in anger.

“Quite the bizarre thing to pop up in just a few months.”

It seemed that Yuri had been up to something strange again during the time Johan was too busy running around to visit.

Creak- creak-.

Johan walked toward the underside of the crab, which was the entrance to the castle.

Soon, a sign hung at the entrance caught his attention.

[If your hobby is suicide, you’re very warmly welcomed.]

[However, make sure you have enough passage money in your pocket for the journey to the afterlife.]

[The passage money will be used for corpse disposal expenses.]

The distinctive phrases, written in red letters, were as quirky as the appearance of the place.

It was too obvious who was behind this, so Johan wasn’t even surprised and just looked around, almost as if he were appreciating the surroundings.

“The atmosphere sure is something.”

The grotesque fortress and the eerie warning signs.

It felt like an entrance to the demon world.

Though it was a place filled with discomfort, Johan stepped into the darkness without a second thought.

Thud-.

As soon as Johan took his first step, he was greeted by five diverging paths.

‘Hmm, let’s see…’

Johan paused slightly, glancing over the five paths with his blurred eyes.

Then, as if he knew exactly where to go, he soon entered one of the five passageways.

As Johan took a few steps in,

Thud- click-!

The floor he stepped on slightly sank, and that was when the real welcoming began.

Fwoosh-.

Various traps designed specifically to catch Johan, crafted through the collaborative efforts of several minds.

Fsshh-.

From all directions, above and below, dozens of metal spikes shot out aiming for Johan. Yet, Johan easily slipped through the spikes, as if nothing had happened.

And then,

Clang-.

Even though Johan knew stepping wrongly would activate a trap, he calmly continued to walk, triggering yet another trap.

Whoosh-.

This time, it was a sharply cut log that flew straight at him.

However,

Tap-.

Johan lightly jumped and gracefully walked on top of the log instead.

This kind of situation kept repeating.

Endless traps activating.

Johan strolled lightly, as if on a walk, through the constant barrage of dangers.

By the time he reached the end of the passage,

Boom-!

Something distinctively faster than the previous traps shot out along with a small explosion.

“Hmm?”

For the first time, Johan’s expression changed.

The speed of the incoming object was astounding.

But the surprise lasted only a moment.

Johan instead grabbed the object that had aimed for him.

“Oh?”

Interest filled Johan’s eyes as he carefully examined what he had caught.

“This is quite interesting.”

What Johan held in his hand was a walnut-sized, dark metal ball.

Judging by the acrid smell, gunpowder had been used to launch it.

Given the expense of gunpowder, the speed of the metal ball was so fast that it would have been difficult to dodge unless one had reached a considerable level of skill.

While examining the hard metal ball in his hand, Johan continued to move forward without stopping.

Each time he took a step, another explosion would ring out, sending more metal balls flying toward him.

Boom- boom-!

But none of the attacks could stop Johan’s stride.

Dodging every trap launched at him from all directions, Johan vanished to the other side of the passageway.

Yuri stood still with his eyes closed, one hand extended forward.

Inhale- exhale- inhale- exhale-.

In the quiet space, only the sound of his steady breathing echoed.

Who knows how long he stood there.

Twitch-.

Yuri’s brow furrowed slightly.

Crinkle-.

His face crumpled, and he let out a frustrated voice.

“Damn it! This is fucking hard!”

Yuri scratched the back of his head irritably and then plopped down on the floor.

“Hmm…”

He folded his arms, his lips protruding slightly.

A habit that came out whenever things didn’t go well.

‘…This is really not easy.’

Over a hundred days had passed since the end of the joint quest for the first to third years.

During that time, he had repeatedly reviewed his fight with Gunther Ryder and continually researched using the clues he had stolen. But a clear result still eluded him.

Yuri rubbed his chin.

‘Is it only possible to use this if you’ve mastered the Sword Master’s magic body technique?’

According to Julia, the techniques Gunther used that day were Dominion, Black Blood, and Eclipse.

Each one symbolized the Sword Master and the Ryder family.

Moreover, these were magic body techniques that had been modified over many years to suit the Ryder family.

In other words, they could only be used by a Mana Lord of the Ryder family, which was a very obvious fact.

Even so, Yuri was clinging to it for a simple reason.

“Ugh… It felt like something would definitely work, though.”

When he got the clue, he had a strong hunch.

That this could be useful.

That if he dug deeper, something would definitely be revealed.

Like when he uncovered the secret of Chwisung, it was a strong gut feeling.

He believed in that feeling and continued his research, but the answer was still elusive, leaving him feeling a bit stifled.

“If only I could have seen a bit more…”

As he mumbled his regret,

“What do you wish you could’ve seen more of?”

A warm breath blew on the back of his head, making Yuri jump up.

“Damn it!”

He quickly drew his sword and slashed behind him, but it hit nothing.

Instead, he saw Johan a little distance away, squatting with a wooden box on his back, snickering.

Annoyed, Yuri shouted.

“Can’t you at least make some noise when you come in!”

“If you can’t even notice someone who opened the door and came in, isn’t that your problem?”

“…Damn it.”

Yuri couldn’t argue with the truth, so he muttered a curse under his breath.

‘Why does it feel like the distance between the old man and me is widening instead of closing?’

Yuri had not noticed Johan’s presence until he was practically breathing down his neck, and he felt helpless.

‘It used to be so natural that I didn’t even think about it much…’

But as his skills improved and his level rose.

Even as he learned more and saw more, the gap between him and Johan remained unclosed.

No, if anything, he now fully realized the distance, making it feel even further away.

‘I need to catch up before the old man dies of old age…’

Yuri sighed inwardly, feeling that the road ahead was long.

But what he didn’t realize was that being able to sense the gap between himself and Johan was already a sign of his remarkable growth.

As Yuri sighed, Johan frowned.

“Hey, kid, sighing right in front of someone… So, what were you saying earlier?”

“What?”

“You said something about wanting to see more of something?”

At Johan’s question, Yuri tried to dodge.

“…Yeah, something like that.”

He wanted to solve the clues he had stolen on his own.

Yuri wanted to accomplish something entirely through his own abilities.

‘I want to have at least one thing that I’ve achieved purely on my own.’

There was also a slightly childish desire to surprise Johan with it.

“Hmm…”

When Yuri seemed to be hiding something, Johan’s eyes narrowed.

Yuri quickly threw a question in return.

“But the fact that you’re here… means you made it past the traps I set up, right?”

“I did.”

“How were they?”

“What do you mean?”

“Were the traps effective?”

Yuri’s eyes were filled with anticipation, but Johan just snorted.

“Effective? They were nothing more than child’s play.”

“Tch, I guess I need to work harder on improving them.”

“But what were all those traps for, anyway?”

“What else? They’re there to catch an old thief who keeps sneaking around.”

“Are you calling me the thief?”

“Isn’t that like saying the thief’s hat is on fire…”

Yuri didn’t get to finish his sentence.

Thwack!

A crisp sound rang out from Yuri’s forehead, and he rolled backward.

“You son of a…!”

He jumped up and was about to shout when—

Thud-.

Something whizzed past his head and embedded itself into the wall.

And that wasn’t the end.

Thud- thud-!

Black metal balls fired from Johan’s hand flew toward Yuri, grazing both his ears before sinking deep into the wall.

Yuri didn’t even have time to react.

“Hic!”

Yuri glanced behind him and hiccupped at the overwhelming force, and Johan, seeing this, smirked sinisterly.

“Son of a…”

“……”

“The trap that fired those metal balls was somewhat decent, but it was a bit slow. If you want to crack a skull, it needs to be at least this fast. Well, do you want to see more?”

Rattle rattle-.

“……”

Johan rolled the remaining two metal balls between his fingers, and Yuri bowed his head.

It was only natural that his hands came together, rubbing like a fly’s.

“Have you eaten, sir? Allow me to prepare a grand meal for you!”

Johan was satisfied, smiling at Yuri’s sycophantic display.

Some time passed.

Having emptied his bowl, Johan sat on the box he had brought, picking his teeth.

Slurp slurp-.

Yuri grimaced as he watched Johan slurp up bits of food stuck between his teeth, disgusted by the sight.

“Aren’t you leaving?”

“I’m not.”

“When are you going to leave, then?”

“Is that how you treat someone you haven’t seen in months? Wanting to kick them out so soon? Harsh kid.”

“If you understand, then get lost right now—”

“Don’t forget, I still have two metal balls left.”

“Please, feel at home! Stay as long as you like!”

“Fine, I was planning to stay a few days even if you didn’t say so.”

“…How many days?”

“About a week?”

Yuri looked at Johan with a puzzled expression.

His eyes seemed to say, ‘What’s gotten into this old man?’ Johan chuckled.

“I’ve got something to do.”

With that, Johan got up and kicked the box he had been sitting on.

Then—

Crack crack-.

In an instant, the wooden box split open, revealing the items inside.

Yuri tilted his head in curiosity.

“…A bronze cauldron?”

Inside the box was a dark bronze cauldron about 30 cm in diameter.

Johan gently lifted the lid, and the moment he did, a cool and sweet aroma wafted from the cauldron.

“Hmm…?”

Like a bee drawn to a flower, Yuri staggered toward the cauldron, enchanted by the scent.

Upon closer inspection of its contents, his eyes widened in surprise.

“Oh, oh?!”

The cauldron was filled to the brim with various roots and odd stone-like fragments.

Each item radiated a distinct, extraordinary aura.

Yuri couldn’t help but gasp in astonishment.

“C-Could it be? Are all of these elixirs?!”

The cauldron was brimming with raw, unprocessed elixirs, different from manufactured potions.

Realizing this, Yuri’s hand automatically reached for the elixirs in the cauldron.

Of course, a wrinkled hand swiftly smacked his hand away.

Smack-.

“You little brat, where do you think you’re reaching with those filthy hands? You’ll ruin everything!”

Johan glared at him, and Yuri, holding his reddened hand, gave him a pitiful look.

“M-Master… no, Master!”

“What?”

“Please give me just one!”

Yuri stretched out his arms and lunged, but Johan’s wooden leg pushed against his forehead.

“Back off!”

“Just one!”

“Nope, I’m not giving you any.”

“Just one! Just one! Just oooone!”

“Ugh, just wait! Once the mix is complete, I’ll decide if you get anything!”

At those words, Yuri finally lowered his arms.

With a round red mark on his forehead, he tilted his head.

“A mix? What do you mean?”

“What do you think? Just a mix.”

“You don’t mean… you’re going to throw all those elixirs in and boil them together, do you?”

“Why not?”

“Old man, have you lost your mind?!”

Yuri freaked out, jumping up and down.

‘Those expensive things?!’

Even finding one elixir was difficult, and here he was, planning to boil them all together in a cauldron.

Even Yuri, who was a novice in potion-making, could tell that it was an ignorant and ridiculous idea.

Johan chuckled as if he had expected such a reaction.

“Unfortunately, I’m still in my prime. I haven’t gone senile.”

“But you’re really going to do something that crazy? Throwing those precious things into a cauldron and making a stew!”

“Pfft, did you really think I was talking about an actual stew?”

“…?”

“Well, dumping them all at once and boiling them may sound like a stew, but what’s crucial here is ‘where’ you’re boiling them.”

With that, Johan tapped the cauldron.

“This is an item called the Harmonious Thunder Cauldron.”

“Oh? That sounds impressive.”

“Of course, it’s impressive. It’s an heirloom of the great Redner family!”

“Wow, an heirloom!”

“And this Harmonious Thunder Cauldron is the only thing that can create the Redner family’s elixir, the Harmonious Divine Water!”

“Wooooah, the family elixir!”

Johan puffed up with pride at Yuri’s excited exclamation.

Puffing out his chest, he continued,

“So, while I brew the Harmonious Divine Water, I’ll be using your place for a while.”

“Please, do as you wish!”

“And while I’m brewing the Harmonious Divine Water, you will stay by my side and attend to me!”

“Ah, that’s impossible.”

Yuri’s response was immediate, not hesitating for even 0.1 seconds, causing Johan’s eyebrows to twitch.

“You little punk. Don’t you want to get some of the elixir? Huh?”

At Johan’s outburst, Yuri waved his hands dismissively.

“Hey, it’s not like I wouldn’t do anything for the elixir. If I can get some, I’d obviously do it!”

“Then?”

“I have stuff to do.”

“Stuff to do?”

“Yeah, a quest.”

“If it’s a quest, can’t you postpone it?”

“It’s a joint quest, so I can’t delay it.”

At Yuri’s words, Johan furrowed his brows.

He tried to recall something from decades ago.

‘Hold on, if there’s a joint quest in December… could it be?’

Back when he was in his fourth year.

Around this time, there was a joint quest involving all cadets from the first to fifth years.

The name of that quest, still vivid in his memory, was…

“…Muryong Daejeon?”

Yuri’s eyes widened at Johan’s mutter.

“Huh? Did they have that in your time too?”

“I was the winner of the first and second Muryong Daejeon, you punk.”

As Johan boasted, Yuri nodded with a face that said ‘Yes, good for you.’

Johan looked at Yuri with dissatisfaction.

“Tsk, if it’s Muryong Daejeon, then I suppose it really can’t be postponed… So, when does it start?”

“Oh, that would be…”

Just as Yuri was about to answer Johan’s question,

A booming voice came from outside.

“YUUURIIII! ALL PARTICIPANTS, ASSEMBLEEEE!”

Upon hearing that, Yuri smiled and replied.

“Right now.”