The Demon King Who Draws

Chapter 25

Marus stood still.

He was alone with the demon, just like the night they had a conversation.

You’re not running away.

You’re beautiful.

The day the knights of the Lion Soul returned with their cold swords, Marus met the demon.

And he was completely captivated by that mysterious being.

That day, the demon did not kill Marus. He asked why, of course.

Why, do you spare me?

The demon did not answer.

That was a curse for Marus.

He devoted his life to chasing the traces of the demon.

“So you’re not going to meet me easily.”

“I’m busy!”

“…This won’t change the outcome. You know that too.”

“I don’t know, that kind of thing.”

Clang!

Phenex smiled and pointed her sword forward.

“I don’t get complicated things, Phenex. I won’t know them in the future either. Just…”

The smile disappeared from her face for a moment.

“Come on.”

“…You’re a headache.”

Marus was in a dilemma.

If he chose to flee from the battle with the demon, everything he had worked for would be in vain.

Even the death of his nephew, Mawen.

But choosing to fight was not a wise option either.

The opponent was a demon.

Even if he won, it would be hard to end without damage.

The answer came down.

Swoosh!

With a bitter smile.

“The young man 30 years ago would have surely died there. If it weren’t for the demon’s whim. How ironic, what has the past years left me?”

The life of a monster that crossed the line of morality and humanity.

Marus, who chased the demon, wondered now.

“Let me check if what I’ve been chasing since then was an illusion.”

[Cal Curso’s basic persistent ability: Unbeliever is activated.]

[In the state of unbelief, using the base ability of killing does not affect the faith ability.]

[Killing is a resource that rises when you deal or receive damage in combat.]

Shiiiiit…

A faint red light circled around Marus’s body. The power that only he knew, including the victims who were killed during the long time he left the Lion Soul.

It was a skill that he honed by constantly committing murder.

Thud.

Thwack.

The two narrowed the distance toward each other.

At some point, they accelerated explosively and collided.

“Uaaaaaa!”

“Haaap!”

The force that pressed down from above and the force that lifted up from below clashed violently.

Kwaaaaaaang!

Squeak!

Both sides gained a similar insight from the first collision with all their strength.

‘As expected, it’s a demon! A frontal battle is disadvantageous!’

‘This man, he’s strong… If I lose like this, Nari will be in danger!’

Of course, the thoughts and attacks happened simultaneously.

Kaang!

Kaang!

‘Two!’

One was missing.

[The dagger explodes.]

‘…Behind!’

Paaaaang!

Pipipipipit!

As soon as she felt the sign of the explosion, Phenex rolled forward.

She reacted quickly, but she couldn’t avoid the blade sticking into her back.

“Ugh…”

Paaah!

As she got up, the longsword’s energy came at her neck.

‘Heuk!’

Kaang!

She blocked the surprise attack, but the next move that followed was impossible to defend.

Whoo!

[Cal Curso uses shield bash.]

[It deals damage equal to the shield’s defense to the target and has a chance to stun equal to the shield’s perfect defense success rate.]

[Stun causes dizziness for 3 seconds, reducing the stats by 10% and making all attacks received critical.]

Thwack!

Phenex hit her head and fell to the floor. Fortunately, her shoulder touched the ground first, so she avoided the secondary damage, but that wasn’t important.

Beep!

Tinnitus in her ears.

She would die here if she didn’t come to her senses.

‘I can’t let that happen!’

Phenex clenched her teeth and improvised.

Kwaaaaang!

She caused an explosion from inside her body. She was Phenex, who could freely manipulate fire since she inherited the name, but this feat was a way of hurting herself.

Chiiii!

Marus retreated as far as possible.

Clang.

Whoo.

He took off his heavy armor and dropped it to the ground, then asked Phenex.

“Are you not using your abilities? If you’re confident…”

Flare.

The fire revealed Phenex’s burnt face.

Whoo.

But her features were restored in an instant.

“Confidence? No, maybe because it’s unnecessary…”

“Hmm…”

Phenex was not ignoring her opponent. No, Phenex was actually slightly behind Cal Curso.

…In fact, she had no choice.

If this place was hell, she would have unleashed her full power and cut Marus in one blow.

But the existence of a demon is basically subject to a huge penalty when it crosses to another world other than hell.

This is as much of a difference as an adult’s body returning to infancy.

In addition, Phenex did not have much resources invested in the current dungeon.

It was Faust’s decision to prioritize the resources for the other lacking parts of the dungeon.

Phenex didn’t know if that decision was right or wrong.

She just focused on what she could do now.

‘Really, it’s useless…’

Phenex’s basic skill set was stronger as the number of opponents increased, but otherwise she couldn’t use much power.

Moreover, the opponent was a knight with high resistance to abnormal states. His combat skills were also solid, so he didn’t fall behind against her.

Unfortunately, the only abilities that would have a significant impact on the outcome of the battle were her massive regeneration and fire manipulation.

“As expected, you’re a demon. I almost forgot.”

“Those daggers, you don’t have that many, do you?”

“…”

“Let’s fight again.”

As the exchange of blows continued, Phenex thought that the demon, who was inherently stronger than humans, would gain the upper hand.

Until Marus pulled out a scroll from his pocket.

Zzzz!

He tore the scroll with mysterious symbols on it.

Whoo!

At that moment, the light flashed and his cloak changed.

[Cal Curso uses alchemy scroll: Acrobat’s Cloak.]

[Acrobat’s Cloak is formed.]

Swish!

The inside of the cloak was attached with countless daggers.

“How sneaky!”

“You’re a green demon. You haven’t been in Solaria for long.”

“…”

“It’s lucky for me, but unlucky for you.”

Marus was telling the truth.

If what was in front of him was not the newly summoned Phenex, but one of the Seven Deadly Sins, or another demon who had a long contract with the devil, he would have been a pile of meat by now.

In the end, luck seemed to smile at Marus. As if the whole world wanted him to get the demon he had longed for.

‘There must be a way…’

Whoo!

[Cal Curso uses Killing Intent.]

[For 30 seconds, the regeneration rate of Killing increases greatly, and the consumption of Killing when using the same skill decreases.]

Papap!

The daggers flew at Phenex again.

One, two, three…

It might not be all that he could see, so he was naturally tense.

Kaang!

Kaang!

‘…I missed one!’

He missed a dagger.

‘It exploded…’

But the dagger didn’t explode.

Instead, at the moment she looked at the dagger he missed, another set of daggers were fired.

Papapap!

She couldn’t fend them all off at once.

‘What should I do…’

Phenex had a flash of inspiration.

In that short moment, she saw the daggers flying at her and grasped the flow of the battle that would follow.

Pook!

Phenex didn’t fend off the daggers.

Instead, she dodged as much as she could and took one dagger in her shoulder.

“Are you cocky?”

Paaang!

The rest of the daggers exploded and spilled blades all over.

But Phenex’s reaction was different from before.

Kwaaang!

She hid his body in the smoke that erupted from the explosion.

This way, Marus couldn’t launch a follow-up attack until he located her.

‘Is this what he’s aiming for…’

But there was a clear drawback.

According to the records, Phenex’s regeneration was immense, but her life was not infinite.

This was Solaria, not hell.

Her regeneration also used the magic of the dungeon core. The regeneration would stop when she used up the magic allocated to her.

Flare!

“What are you doing…!”

Phenex started to do something strange. Instead of hiding in the smoke and recovering, she started to circle around Marus.

‘Is she aiming for suffocation? Or a surprise attack?’

Whatever it was, he wasn’t in a hurry.

He had seen a big wound on her body from the explosion earlier.

She was using her life force.

He couldn’t tell how much magic the dungeon had, but he could guess.

‘Maybe… this attack is the last threat.’

Whaa!

The surroundings were surrounded by smoke.

It was a toxic smoke, but he could recover later if he was careful not to inhale it.

‘Where is she… which way is she?’

Pap!

Phenex let out a sound.

‘There she is!’

Pipipip!

Three daggers flew.

Kaang!

He confirmed her position.

He heard the sound of the daggers hitting the smoke.

He was about to explode the remaining daggers in the direction where the sound came from.

Flare!

A ball of fire burst out of the smoke from the opposite side.

‘How…!’

He realized.

It wasn’t the sound of the sword hitting.

‘My daggers…’

He didn’t see the dagger that was stuck in her body.

She had pulled out the dagger that was stuck in her and threw it to knock down the one that was flying at her.

‘How is that possible in the smoke?’

It was a monstrous combat performance, even for a demon.

“Haaaaaa!”

The burning body of Phenex rushed at Marus like a meteor.

Papap!

Three daggers shot from the front.

Should he explode them?

Should he have to?

…He couldn’t.

If he exploded the daggers, he would be swept away by the blast.

‘Is this the moment she’s aiming for!’

But he would have time to react while defending against the daggers.

So…

Peppeok!

‘What a madman!’

Phenex broke through by taking the daggers in her body.

A dagger stuck in her chest, left thigh, and left arm.

She tripped over as the dagger dug into her thigh muscle, but she accelerated and swung her sword with her intact arm.

She was crazy.

A lunatic.

“Uuuuaaaa!”

He screamed involuntarily and clashed his sword with Phenex’s.

Kaang!

The swords flew out of their hands with one blow.

Phenex didn’t stop either.

Marus felt the same emotion he had felt that night long ago. Awe and greed!

“Haah!”

He had to fend her off with his left arm’s buckler.

Teoong!

He pushed Phenex’s head, but her burning body was already stuck to Marus’s chest.

As they fell, they both thought the same thing.

Paaah!

Puhwaaak!

A dagger pierced Phenex’s heart.

She bled and giggled.

She had achieved what she wanted.

The dagger that was stuck in her arm was in her hand at some point.

Marus’s left arm, which held the buckler, was cut off below the elbow.

And Phenex’s terrible fire spread, burning half of his face.

“Kuaaaaak!”

Marus kicked Phenex and knocked her over.

He got up and tried to heal.

Whoo!

[Cal Curso uses Light of Grace.]

[Light of Grace heals the recent wounds and restores life.]

Chiii!

The fire went out, but his severed elbow and burned half of his face did not heal.

No, this was a miraculous level of healing.

As he healed, Phenex’s flame went out.

Her body disappeared from the end.

She had used up the dungeon core’s magic allocated to her.

“Huek… Huek… Puhuhu…”

Marus approached Phenex, who was smiling.

“…I’ll tear your master to death.”

“Nari?”

She was scared.

This knight was strong.

Could Nari handle him with his skinny body?

She was a demon, but she had a hard fight.

Phenex suddenly remembered the last conversation she had.

“Aim for the arm.”

“The arm?”

Cutting off one of the limbs. That was the best she could do in the dungeon defense. The curse linked to her name forced it.

She did her job somehow, but she felt regret and fear.

If she had been a little more powerful demon, she would have cut off the knight’s throat here… she lamented.

And cutting off one arm was so hard, she feared for Nari’s future, who had to subdue this knight.

Maybe, really…

‘…Ah.’

Phenex remembered as she disappeared.

Nari’s personality.

If she asked him about the future with worry, he would answer like this.

…That’s a presumptuous thought.

Yeah.

He would say that and reassure her.

“Hehe…”

“I survived even from the demon. I will… I will…”

Nari won’t give up.

Phenex left her last words as she turned to ash.

“…Try it.”

[Phenex is forced to lose because she inflicted enough damage to the party.]

[Phenex returns to the fire. She will resurrect soon.]

[The gate does not have enough magic.]

[Phenex does not resurrect.]

[The boss battle is over.]