/
Bang! Fwooosh!
Leaving behind the pillars of flames in the city, Seo Jun-Ho dashed toward the river.
‘This time, I’ll succeed no matter what.’
The most persistent enemy Seo Jun-Ho had ever faced wasn’t the Frost Queen, Janabi, or even that damned Heavenly Demon.
‘It’s this bastard. This fucking bastard…’
It was Erebo. Seo Jun-Ho had fought this bastard for the longest time, and Erebo was a wall he couldn’t cross alone.
But now, it was time to overcome it.
“...”
The long river ran through the city, and there was a large bridge straddling it. Seo Jun-Ho stepped onto the bridge and closed his eyes. The thread of magic, which was like a fine spiderweb told him where Erebo was located.
‘He’ll never see the sneak attack coming.’
Right now, Seo Jun-Ho and Erebo were about five hundred meters apart. Seo Jun-Ho wanted to go closer, but he resisted the urge.
‘This is the limit. If I go any closer, there’s a big possibility that he’ll notice I’m hiding.’
He couldn’t just stupidly throw away this long-awaited opportunity.
Seo Jun-Ho’s hands fidgeted as he contemplated.
‘I want to greet him with a strong attack. I wonder what kind of gift I should give him.’
He looked at the dark river water with clear eyes. He had made up his mind.
‘Let’s start by freezing it first.’
Having made his decision, Seo Jun-Ho immediately summoned his magic energy. But then, another thought came to mind.
‘Moon Eye will probably be too much.’
With the current amount of magic he had, he could use Moon Eye once without repercussions. If he ever used it twice in one day, then, well, his body would be destroyed like the first time he used Moon Eye.
‘But Moon Eye should be used as a final blow.’
It was a technique he had developed to completely destroy the enemy with one hit. Moon Eye was that great, but it wasn’t exactly almighty.
‘It would be a waste to use Moon Eye right now. A very big one.’
He would use it without hesitation if it would instantly kill Erebo. However, Moon Eye wasn’t strong enough to do that considering there was a distance of five hundred meters between them. Moreover, his opponent was sitting at the bottom of a river.
‘Killing him with one shot of Moon Eye from here? Not a chance.’
Seo Jun-Ho knew because Erebo was the enemy he had fought the most and fought the longest.
Then, should he just freeze the river water?
No, simply freezing it wouldn’t do too much damage to Erebo.
‘...Moon Eye’s effects are really enticing.’
While it froze the target, it had a ruinous power that destroyed each and every cell of the enemy. In that case, there existed a perfect technique for this situation.
Seo Jun-Ho slowly raised his hands.
If Moon Eye was an attack that required him to pour his entire soul into it, this was a minor version minus the disadvantage of Moon Eye.
‘Bloom.’
Between each of his fingers, a total of eight flowers bloomed. Compared to Moon Eye, they were ridiculously small and insignificant. However, the power overflowing from each flower and each stem was undeniable.
“This is a garden for smaller things.”
Seo Jun-Ho spread his fingers like petals. When he did, the little primroses they were holding floated away.
They rode the winds and flew off like dandelion seeds. Seo Jun-Ho watched, then snapped his fingers.
Snap!
As the sound resonated, the eight flowers quietly sank into the surface of the river.
“This is my ‘hello’ to you.”
He hoped Erebo would like it.
Seo Jun-Ho’s lips curved into a vicious smile.
***
“...”
Erebo was sitting in the deepest part of the dark river. He couldn’t breathe underwater, but someone as powerful as him could easily hold his breath for a few hours.
‘This girl fights as well as always. It annoys me.’
Erebo observed the battle through the hivemind. Gong Ju-Ha fought well, and she was strong. This was Erebo’s judgment of Gong Ju-Ha.
‘It is almost as if—no, I would not say she is strong enough to be my natural enemy, but she has the upper hand against my natural defenses.’
The cockroaches’ exoskeletons were harder than most armor. They were so tough they could withstand any other type of damage, but unfortunately, they would melt easily under high heat.
‘But I can already see the end…’
Erebo was sure of it. After all, humans didn’t have an unlimited supply of magic energy. Actually, this girl would soon reach her limits.
‘It may have been different with those beings, but because these are insignificant humans…’ They had no chance of defeating him. Even now, he was growing stronger while digesting the World Tree. ‘I thought that support troops would be coming without a doubt, but I guess no one’s coming…’
He couldn’t understand it. If backup truly wasn’t coming, then why was she fighting such a lonely battle in a place like this?
‘Heh. Perhaps she has gone mad.’
His lower mandible opened as he laughed, releasing a few bubbles that rose upward.
But before they could even rise to the top, something faster came down.
‘...?!’
Erebo’s antennae stood on end. This only happened whenever his instinct warned him that his life was in danger.
‘What, what is—’
He had no time to react at all.
Those ‘things’ pierced him.
‘Guahhh!’
He thrashed wildly as he screamed.
‘A-an ambush?’
Just who was it? Where were they?
No, that wasn’t important right now.
‘This attack is dangerous.’
The moment he realized this, he cut off his left arm and right leg without hesitation. The places affected by Moon Eye were already starting to undergo necrosis on a cellular level.
‘I have to go up.’
Erebo was starting to grow impatient. If his opponent kept using attacks like this, he would die without even being able to lift a finger.
‘What?!’
However, something shocked him.
The river water above him had frozen over.
‘H-how did this…’
He didn’t notice it at all; however, it wasn’t because he had let his guard down.
‘It was too fast.’
The river water was frozen so fast it escaped his perception.
Had there been someone like that among the humans?
No, was his opponent even human in the first place?
‘Let’s retreat for now.’
Erebo made a decision and raised his right hand toward the surface, magic power then condensed in his palm, and he sent it out.
Shwaaaaa!
A giant pillar of water pierced the air, reaching for the sky.
“I think he likes his present. He likes it so much that he wants to die.”
Seo Jun-Ho gently held out his hand from where he was waiting on the bridge. Fat water droplets hit his body as if there were a downpour. However, he didn’t even blink when he retrieved a spear from his Inventory.
“Guaaah!”
And finally, the insect he had been waiting for had flown out of the river.
“...”
Erebo’s antennae stood on end. This time, he had reacted a moment too late as well.
“So this is how it is...”
An unfamiliar voice came from behind him. Erebo wanted to turn around, but he couldn’t do it.
Theft is never good, try looking at bit.ly/3iBfjkV.
“Guh…Ugh…”
It was because a spear was lodged in his chest. And at some point, it had frozen him solid.
“I have always been wondering about something. It’s almost like a delusion, actually.”
Erebo’s antennae started trembling. The man’s voice was so soft it felt like it was melting in his ear. And just as the man’s voice reached his ears, Erebo also heard the man roughly pulling out the spear.
“I have been wondering about who would emerge victorious if I fought you with my mental, physical, and magical energy unexpended.”
‘W-what are you talking about? Who are you? Why are you even wondering about such a thing? I have never met a bastard like you…’
Erebo had a lot to say, but he couldn’t move a single sound since his mouth had frozen over.
His senses stood on end. Even though he couldn’t see it, he could feel it.
Something heavy was falling down on his head.
‘N-no!’
He couldn’t even scream.
“Die.”
Slice!
And Erebo’s body was swiftly cut into two.
“And to think that it could have been this easy the whole time...”
A heavy shard of darkness shot out from Seo Jun-Ho’s sword. It raged as it started to consume Erebo’s whole body without leaving a single trace.
‘And I’ll use Night Walking…’
Dududududu!
The thick water droplets were still falling from the sky, and they dripped into the river.
He was still alive.
‘Did I succeed?’
Seo Jun-Ho closed his eyes. This was the first time he had killed Erebo and avoided his curse.
‘And…’
According to his sharp senses, Gong Ju-Ha was still okay. Even though she was huffing and puffing, he could still feel her fighting hard downtown.
“Contractor, you have finally done it,” the Frost Queen said. She looked very pleased.
“...Yeah.”
After he spoke, a few messages appeared before him.
[You have completed the third Quest.]
[A new Save Point has been created.]
“Mm.” He nodded. The other Players were designed to receive a Save Point after they cleared fifteen of the total thirty Quests.
‘So I guess I get one after completing three out of five.’
It really was over. He had finally killed that disgusting monster.
‘Finally, my routine will finally change.’
He closed his eyes. For eight years, he had lived the same life with the same people, the same training, and the same battles.
The years had caused his emotions to wither.
‘I should start practicing again.’
Even though it had been eight years for him, it had only been two and a half months for his friends. Now, he had to start remembering and practicing the way he used to speak, laugh, and chatter.
“Still, this is nice.” If he worked hard, he should be able to achieve that in eight days rather than eight years, right?
A new message appeared.
[The 4th Quest has been revealed.]
[The 5th Quest has been revealed.]
“Hm?”
This was the first time that two Quests had been revealed at once.
[Fourth Quest]
Requirements: Win the war in the second city.
[Fifth Quest]
Requirements: Kill Erebo
The last two Quests had been revealed.
‘As I thought, the last Quest is defeating Erebo.’ However, the Fourth Quest was a little unexpected. Win the war in the second city? ‘Is this talking about the war my friends and Ju-Ha mentioned?’
He had already heard a few times about the cockroach army launching a siege against the Players. But to be honest, even though he had heard about it, he had never paid much attention because it wouldn’t matter if he couldn’t kill Erebo.
‘But I should start paying a little more attention from now on.’
Now, it was his own business rather than others.
“Contractor, let us make haste. I think that little fox is at her limit,” the Frost Queen said, worried.
Seo Jun-Ho laughed. “It’s fine. If she dies, we can just go back to—oh, can we not do that anymore because of the Save Point? We should hurry, then.”
“...”
As Seo Jun-Ho rushed back to the city, the Frost Queen looked at him with pity.
“...How are we supposed to fix that?”
***
“...”
Gong Ju-Ha waved her hand. The flame she created incinerated dozens of cockroaches.
‘There’s no end to it.’
It was her first time killing so many cockroaches by herself. Even though she kept killing and killing them, they just kept coming. Plus, the special entities that would occasionally participate were particularly difficult to kill.
“Ugh.”
How many hours had it been already? Four? Five? It had been one hour since Erebo brought in a new horde of cockroaches, so it had probably been around five hours.
‘Specter…’
A little while ago, she had sensed a huge spike in magic near the river. As such, she was hoping that there would soon be good news.
‘Huff. Huff.’
Gong Ju-Ha’s legs buckled. The cockroaches weren’t decreasing. In fact, she wasn’t sure if she was imagining it, but why did they seem like they were actually increasing?
‘My mental, physical and magical energy…’
They had reached rock bottom long ago. Now, all she could do was exhale roughly with great effort.
“You fought well.”
But just then, a low, strong voice reached her ears. Seo Jun-Ho caught her just as she was about to collapse, and then he raised his hand.
“I’ll take care of the rest.”
He used King’s Breath. And with just a single breath, the thousands of remaining cockroaches froze into ice.
Seo Jun-Ho smiled at Ju-Ha. She managed to hold out for five whole hours. “I don’t think I lasted that long when I first fought them. You’re amazing.”
“...And Erebo?”
“I killed him. Thanks to you.”
What a relief…
Gong Ju-Ha settled on the ground and gulped down potions.
Seo Jun-Ho noticed that her left arm was missing.
“How did you lose your arm?” he asked.
“I was hit with a special entity. An alligator one.”
Seo Jun-Ho directed an empty gaze at her and let out a sigh of relief. “Still, I’m glad you’re still alive. Because of the Save Point, I can’t go back anymore, you see.”
‘...Glad?’
Gong Ju-Ha trembled furiously. However, it wasn’t because she was offended that he wasn’t worried about her.
‘...He’s changed.’
Was this really the same man who had screamed and run at her when she was stabbed? Was this really the same soft-hearted person who couldn’t look her in the eye because of guilt?
“...”
Gong Ju-Ha gulped when she realized it—the man before her eyes was missing something big.