The Demon King Who Draws

Chapter 10

Phenex swung her sword-like front legs, which were as hard as steel, or maybe even harder.

[Agnea uses Stab.]

‘I have to dodge!’

Kwaaaaang!

She barely blocked the attack, but Agnea immediately counterattacked, showing that Phenex was at a clear disadvantage in this distance.

‘What do I do… what do I do?’

She remembered her previous contracts, which were like traumas to her.

So, is that all you can do? You have no talent. I’ll cancel the contract with a ritual. You’re annoying.
Phenex tried hard…

Ha, you’re not even funny. Really. Are you a demon? What do I do with this… Hey, you, I think I have to cancel the contract. Huh? Why? I need a strong demon, not someone like you.
You don’t belong here.

You’re a useless demon who only eats.

‘…No!’

Phenex is useful!

No, …she will be useful.

‘…Soon, soon.’

She had to shake off the negative thoughts.

She couldn’t stay here if she couldn’t even fend off the monsters that had corrupted the dungeon, let alone protect the dungeon from the experts.

She had no way to fight at a distance, and she couldn’t break through if she got close. Even if she trusted her innate regeneration, she would surely be torn apart by Agnea’s ferocious front legs before that.

‘What do I have to do…’

Don’t just rush in. Create a decisive moment.
Faust’s words kept echoing in her mind.

‘A decisive moment…’

A decisive moment to break through Agnea.

Hwurururuk…

‘I got it!’

[Agnea uses Acidic Venom.]

[A very fast venomous substance is shot at the target.]

[The target takes strong acid damage.]

Chwaaaaak!

Phenex barely dodged the acidic venom and started to do something strange.

Paaaaat!

She turned her back on Agnea and dashed in the opposite direction.

Chwaaaaak!

Chwaaaaaaaaak!

She finally pierced through one side of the dust that the baby spiders had woven and popped out.

Hwururururururuk!

Kiiiiiiii!
Phenex went straight ahead and started to set fire to the cocoons that had not yet awakened.

Hwururururuk…

Phenex’s flames woke up the baby spiders one by one, and without fail.

Her flames were intense, but not enough to kill the baby spiders instantly, so the enemy forces that she had to face increased explosively.

A hard-to-understand action.

“Good, you’re all awake, right?”

Kiiiiiiii!
Kiiik!
Kiiiiik…
Phenex stood with her back against the wall.

A black wave made up of Agnea’s offspring filled her eyes.

A dizzying situation.

But she was going to cut through this wave and head towards Agnea.

Suuuuu…

Phenex lifted her sword vertically and twisted it horizontally.

Hwururururururururururuk!

Then, the flames flickered and went in a fan-shaped direction with tremendous momentum.

[Phenex uses Pain Sharing.]

[Phenex fires a fan-shaped flame wave.]

[The flame wave deals 150% of the combat power to the enemies within range.]

Hwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

Kiiii?
Kiiiii!
150% of the combat power.

A very intuitive and vague performance, as befits a skill included in Phenex’s basic skill set.

But, the true value of this skill was not expressed by this alone.

Area damage.

It has a fairly wide range, because the damage is not much.

This alone made Pain Sharing a skill that even users who had trained Phenex to the limit often adopted.

The true power of this skill was revealed when it was combined with her basic persistent effect.

[Phenex’s basic ability: Heat Transfer is activated.]

[If you take damage from Phenex’s basic attack or ability, you will be in a Fire Seed state.]

…

Dozens… maybe hundreds of baby spiders became Fire Seed at once.

Fire Seed lasts for 30 seconds, and if the target dies in the middle, it transfers to the surroundings and refreshes the duration.

In Dungeon Defense, if the party includes a cleric, they can remove the Fire Seed state, but most monsters can’t resist.

[Basic ability: Heat Transfer affects basic ability: Burning Flame.]

[For each enemy in Fire Seed state, the life recovery effect of Burning Flame is enhanced.]

30 seconds.

The baby spiders that had been infected with Fire Seed made Phenex a god of fire for those 30 seconds.

“Aaaaaah!”

Paaaaat!

Chwaaaaaaaaa!

Phenex, wrapped in flames, cut through the black wave like a demon.

Kiiiiii!
Agnea’s scream rallied the baby spiders, but they were not enough to stop her.

A barrier that was easily broken.

Then, she had to face her directly.

Kiiiiiiii!
Whooong…

The grotesque front leg flew towards Phenex’s shoulder.

Squeeeak!

Kwajiiiiiiiiik!

She couldn’t avoid it.

Horribly, one of Phenex’s arms dangled like a piece of meat and was crushed.

But the punishment was not over yet.

[You took damage from Agnea’s Stab.]

[Additional damage occurs.]

Whooong!

Kwajiiiiiiik!

The front leg that pierced Phenex’s left chest.

She died!

The sensation of her heart being crushed was clear, reaching the peripheral nerves.

A sense of satisfaction filled Agnea’s body.

If she ate the demon’s flesh, her broken hind legs would heal too.

Surely, that’s what she was thinking at that time.

Paruru…

Phenex grabbed Agnea’s front leg.

“Uuuu… It doesn’t hurt…”

Phenex had a healthy arm wrapped in armor and a beating heart, as if the situation was a lie.

“Phenex is… a demon, so it doesn’t hurt.”

In fact, it hurts.

It hurts so much that she could faint.

But she had suffered enough.

A body without a scar, maybe it was a curse.

She just hid the way she had walked.

She always fell, and always got up.

Kiiiiiiii!
Agnea let out a chilling scream. It was a distress signal.

Flock! Protect the mother!

Kii!
Kiiii!
The baby spiders rushed in to save Agnea. They had to block her even if they had to throw their bodies.

But they couldn’t stop her.

Phenex doesn’t die.

Euk…

She chewed and spat out the leg of the baby spider that swung at her head.

Kwaaaaang!

She slapped the baby spider that stuck to her back and bit her shoulder.

Eujijik!

And she stepped on it lightly.

With that one time, the fire seed spread again.

[Enemies in fire seed state die in flames and transfer fire seed to the surroundings.]

[The target that fire seed has transferred to, refreshes the duration of fire seed and bears the remaining fire damage of the dead target.]

Fire seed renewal.

She was still a god of fire.

The smell of burning was too cruel.

Agnea, who had already dug into the gap of her front legs, desperately spat out acid at Phenex.

[Agnea uses Acidic Venom.]

[A very fast venomous substance is shot at the target.]

[The target takes strong acid damage.]

Chwaaaaak!

Phenex’s body looked distorted for a moment as she wore the acid.

“It’s useless.”

Phwahaaaaak!

Phenex stabbed her sword into Agnea’s belly.

Kiiiiiiii!
Phwahak!

Phwahaaaaaaaaak!

Phenex swung her sword roughly. She cut everything that got caught on the sword.

Her mind, eroded by pain, ordered her to keep cutting and forget everything.

Agnea’s entrails.

Agnea’s legs.

The resistance of the baby spiders.

Sometimes, her own limbs that were restrained.

She laughed as she burned.

“Ahahahahat!”

She kept laughing and swinging her sword until there was no sound other than her laughter.

“Haha… ha…”

Like, a demon.

She was the demon of resurrection.

* * *

Jeok…

Jeok…

The fierce smoke had gone out once, but there was still a smell of something’s flesh burning horribly in the tunnel.

Faust walked along the path where the embers remained.

Uduk…

He stopped when he found something and stared at it piercingly.

It was the cocoon where the adventurer Chamar, the cause of all this trouble, was bound.

He would probably die like this. Chamar’s pale complexion proved it.

“…Lucifer.”

“Yes.”

“Bind him in the abyss.”

Lucifer didn’t answer right away.

She asked him after a moment of thought.

“May I ask why…”

“…?!”

Faust noticed the intention of Lucifer’s question. She was doubtful.

Whether the action that followed would spare the life of the intruder who had disturbed the dungeon.

…Surely, she could think that way.

If she wasn’t sure what kind of person Faust was.

‘Yes, if it were me… if it were the whole me…’

If it were Kim Seo-jin’s judgment, not Faust’s, Lucifer’s concern might have been right.

“There is nothing to worry about.”

“…As you wish.”

Swoosh…

Lucifer carried the cocoon on one shoulder and returned to the abyss.

The only ones left were the protagonist who made this scene and Faust.

Tadak…

Tak…

There were only two of them in this place where the flames still burned here and there.

“…Nex.”

“…”

“Phenex.”

The creaking head turned stiffly and looked for the owner of the voice.

It was Faust.

And Kim Seo-jin.

‘…It’s terrible.’

The blackness was full.

The surroundings were full of blackness.

Like the horrible abstraction she had created.

Kkik…

Kkigik…

Phenex looked at the charred Agnea.

“…Nari.”

“…”

“Phenex… did you do it?”

Being chased away was scary.

Even if this body didn’t get hurt, it couldn’t bear the loss.

Phenex was rather afraid of that. The desire to be recognized by someone someday. That was the lack that captivated the demon of resurrection.

There was not a scratch on her body, but the words she uttered were engraved with wounds that she forced to hide.

“Phenex… were you useful?”

In the scene that looked like hell itself, Faust was always calm.

A cold heart that didn’t match this place where the flames swept once.

But, to Phenex’s question, Faust was indifferent, but Kim Seo-jin couldn’t.

Someone had fought for his life according to his command.

Kim Seo-jin, who was inside him, was moved by the desperate struggle that Phenex, who was nothing but a game character, showed, but Faust, who was possessed by him, didn’t show much reaction.

That was, Faust and Phenex.

The way to save them both.

The preparation to not back down from the trials that will come.

…But, he gave her a word to save her from the pain.

This was still Kim Seo-jin, Faust and the demon.

“Not bad.”

Phenex smiled with tears in her eyes.

“Uuuu… Heh…”

[The dungeon defense mission is over.]

[Mission result: Chamar (captured)]

[You get the intruder’s belongings as a reward for the dungeon defense mission.]

[You were lucky. You get 1,500 magic stones from the intruder’s belongings.]

[You were lucky. The intruder’s news was not heard by anyone.]

[The boss battle with the neutral boss ‘Leggy Agnea’ is over.]

[You get 4,500 magic stones from the swords of the adventurers who died long ago, tied to Agnea’s web.]

[The monsters that belonged to Agnea’s territory are weakened by her death.]

[There is an anomaly in the boundary line of the territory due to Agnea’s death.]

…

[Agnea had a great treasure.]

[You need to check the items that are bound to the abyss.]