In the unknown void.
Joo Hyuk’s party faced off against the monster that looked like a pair of testicles.
Was its name Sweeper? Doesn’t matter. It was a monster that needed to be killed, anyway.
There were still some members of the Death Night Clan left, but they were too terrified to focus.
It was difficult to expect any help.
Clang.
Delia took the lead. Even in front of a monster they had never seen before, she showed no sign of fear.
"Come!!"
Delia’s loud battle cry. The dozens of eyeballs on the testicle monster all narrowed at once.
Several tentacles were swung around in agitation.
Delia raised her shield.
Bang!!! Bang!!! Bang!!!
The shield bent and dented in several places. Yet, Delia stood firm, blocking all the tentacles.
Karin didn’t miss the opportunity and aimed the crossbow she had loaded.
Thwang!!!
The bolt, released from the string, flew toward Sweeper’s eye.
Thud!!!
The bolt pierced one of Sweeper’s eyes, causing the monster to screech.
"Kiiiii!!!"
Dozens of tentacles twitched and thrashed.
An opportunity.
Joo Hyuk rushed in and swung his sword.
From above, down.
Swick.
His sharp blade easily sliced through one of the tentacles.
Splurt!!!
Black blood poured from the severed tentacle, splashing onto the floor.
"Kiiii!!!"
Joo Hyuk’s party quickly coordinated, cutting away the tentacles and delivering their attacks.
Delia blocked the monster's strikes.
Joo Hyuk and Karin struck from the sides.
Barion supported the entire party with holy magic.
A solid formation developed through several coordinated party actions. The testicle monster, unable to find an opening, simply thrashed around, screaming.
A small smile appeared on Joo Hyuk’s lips.
‘At this rate...’
It’s possible.
They could win. Survive and get the party out safely.
Hope started to bloom in his heart.
“Hey!!! The weak point of that Sweeper is here!!!”
One of the Death Night Clan members shouted. Did he also see hope?
Joo Hyuk, who had been advancing with the wind at his back, froze for a moment.
Wait.
Something was off.
‘Is it really going this easily?’
He felt a strange sense of foreboding.
Just as Delia lowered her shield to swing her mace.
The testicle monster’s eyes narrowed. As if it had been waiting for this moment.
‘A trap.’
Joo Hyuk immediately realized it.
“Delia!!! Be careful!!!”
He shouted at Delia, who had dropped her shield.
“What...?”
[Sankrium Shikrel.]
Sweeper cast an unknown spell.
The bodies of the party members immediately stiffened.
Caught off guard by the unfamiliar binding magic, the party members froze in confusion, unsure of what to do.
Joo Hyuk's heart sank.
“Kiiiii!!!”
Tentacles shot out like beams of light, striking Delia, who was desperately trying to move.
Bang!!!
“Ugh!!!”
Delia was thrown through the air. In a single strike, her plate armor crumpled. The overwhelming power was completely different from before.
Crash!!!
Delia, tossed through the air, rolled across the ground. Her helmet had been knocked off, and her blonde hair was stained with blood, spread across the floor.
Delia stumbled as she tried to stand but coughed up blood and collapsed again.
The unknown binding magic was finally lifted.
Karin quickly aimed her crossbow and fired a bolt.
Thwang!!!
The testicle monster lazily swung a tentacle and knocked the bolt away.
Karin grit her teeth and drew a dagger, charging forward.
“Ha!!!”
The Red Wolf Tribe's unique dagger skills shone brightly.
Sweeek!!!
A straight line was drawn in the air as several tentacles were sliced off.
Sweeper immediately retaliated by using dozens of tentacles to strike at Karin.
Bang!!! Bang!!! Bang!!!
Karin moved nimbly, dodging all the thick tentacles.
The ground, made of flesh and bone, exploded.
Karin, moving quickly, slipped on Diego’s entrails.
“Ah!!!”
Karin staggered. It was a single moment of mistake, but the consequences were deadly.
Sweeper didn’t miss the opening and sent a sharp tentacle toward Karin.
Sweeek!!!
“Karin!!!”
There was no time to think. Joo Hyuk pulled out his longsword and swung it.
Just before the sharp tentacle pierced Karin’s forehead.
Joo Hyuk stood in front of her.
Crunch!!!
The tentacle tore through Joo Hyuk’s flesh and crushed his neck before embedding itself inside.
[Revenge]
The engraving activated.
Blue flames ignited in his eyes.
Joo Hyuk grabbed the tentacle embedded in his neck.
Another tentacle swung toward Karin.
Bang!!!
“Aagh!!!”
Karin was thrown into the air and crashed into the ground.
“Grr... Karin!!!”
He wanted to rush over and check on Karin. But he couldn’t move.
The tentacle piercing his neck was becoming increasingly harder to stop.
Bang!!!
Barion rushed in and swung his warhammer.
The tentacle withdrew from Joo Hyuk’s neck and immediately targeted Barion.
Bang!!! Bang!!!
Barion swung the warhammer with all his strength. But it was futile. He was struck by the fast-moving tentacles and thrown across the floor.
The tentacle aimed for Mari.
In that instant.
Barion threw his body with all his might to block Mari’s path.
Bang!!!
Barion’s body shattered, scattering across the floor.
Mari, kneeling, stared blankly at the devastation.
“My... my fault.”
If only she hadn’t been so greedy.
If only she hadn’t longed for Kaal so much.
If only she hadn’t fallen for the lies and done something so foolish.
None of this would have happened.
Extreme regret tore at her heart.
“Ah... ahhh.”
In front of her, the black-haired man was desperately swinging his sword.
Despite blood gushing from his neck, he stood firm, facing the monster alone.
“I... I’m sorry.”
Mari muttered, tears streaming down her face.
Joo Hyuk, swinging his sword, didn’t hear her words.
Thwack!!!
A tentacle struck his head, sending his helmet flying. For a moment, his vision went dark, and his sense of balance was thrown off.
Joo Hyuk staggered backward.
He barely regained his bearings and looked up. The monster’s eyes had narrowed.
‘Shit.’
That bastard’s smiling. A grin that looked impossible to bear, as if he was enjoying this.
He didn’t even glance at the fallen comrades. He was only focused on Joo Hyuk, teasing him like a child playing with a toy.
Dozens of tentacles shot toward Joo Hyuk.
There was no way to dodge them all.
He had to give up something.
Bang!!!
The armor bent and caved in.
Joo Hyuk gritted his teeth and held his ground.
He unleashed every sword technique he had learned up to that point.
He sliced through dozens of tentacles. But more tentacles grew from the monster’s body. The fight seemed endless.
Nevertheless, Joo Hyuk did not retreat, continuing to swing his sword.
Bang!!!
A tentacle struck his shoulder, sending his shoulder armor flying.
Bang!!!
His knee bone shattered. It didn’t matter. He could still swing his sword.
Crash!!!
His left arm shattered. It didn’t matter. He still had his right hand.
Joo Hyuk swung his sword like a demon, fighting against the storm of tentacles.
How much time had passed?
Suddenly, Sweeper stopped attacking and laughed. The tentacles shook in rhythm with the laughter.
“Kikikik! Impressive. Human.”
A tentacle pointed at Joo Hyuk.
“Courageous. I’ll spare you. On one condition.”
“...”
“Kill all your party members. Bow down before me. Then I will let you go.”
Joo Hyuk’s face twisted in disgust.
Sadistic humor.
It was urging him to abandon his humanity while being in control.
How far would these bastards go with their mockery?
He spat blood, rising against it.
“Kaaa!!! Thwip!!!”
Blood splattered on the floor.
“I refuse.”
Joo Hyuk gathered his magic. His last gamble.
[Sacred Weapon]
Attribute bestowal.
Wind Slash.
Joo Hyuk’s new form vanished in an instant.
Swick.
The golden longsword cleaved through Sweeper’s body.
“Kiiiii!!!”
Sweeper, panicked. It wasn’t over yet.
Once again, [Sacred Weapon]
Half-Ogre Gauntlet.
Boom!!!
Sweeper’s body wobbled and was pushed aside.
Finally.
[Sacred Weapon]
Wind Slash.
The target was the center of the head.
The golden sword aimed to pierce Sweeper’s forehead.
Thwack!!!
A tentacle grabbed Joo Hyuk’s right wrist, preventing his arm from advancing as it trembled.
“How... How dare you!!! Disrespect my mercy?!”
Several tentacles gathered to form a drill-like shape.
“You insignificant thing. Die!!!”
Crack!!!
The drill-shaped tentacle, mixed with mithril, pierced through the plate armor and tore through Joo Hyuk’s heart.
“Ugh!!!”
The strength drained from his body.
The tentacle lifted Joo Hyuk’s body, shook it several times in the air, then threw it to the ground.
Crash!!!
Joo Hyuk, with his heart pierced, rolled across the floor, coming to a stop in a corner.
Everything in his vision seemed to flow sluggishly.
“Ah.”
A lantern light flickered in his mind.
This was it.
It had been a fight he could never win from the start.
Everything he had struggled to survive until now was for nothing.
The stars of the universe gathered above his fading retina.
Death.
Would he die like this?
Would he give up and surrender to the wall he could never overcome?
A pawn on a chessboard, a slave to the dice, even death would be no surprise.
Would he fall before the evil of the labyrinth?
“Shit.”
Joo Hyuk, trembling, reached for his sword.
Even if he was going to die, he would do it with the sword in hand. His last defiance.
At that very moment, a small beam of light pierced through the vast universe and struck his heart precisely.
Ping!!!
An unknown alien power connected the [Revenge] and the [Death Delay] engravings.
Ding.
A bell rang in his head.
Engraving link activation.
[Death Delay]
[Revenge]
Joo Hyuk’s fading eyes reignited.
A power from outer space.
Was this another alien force?
Were they watching from up high, enjoying the spectacle?
There’s a limit to how much you can mock someone. These bastards had no line.
It didn’t matter. He would show them.
The sword of a mortal.
Joo Hyuk rose again, having been granted a reprieve from death, grabbing his sword once more.
Tearing off his broken armor, he slowly walked forward.
The monster’s eyes widened in shock. It was so surprised that its tentacles were trembling.
“Kikikik!!! H-How?!”
“Cock! Thwip!!! To the ones up there, playing among the stars. Watch.”
In the corner of another world, inside a cage made of flesh.
The eyes of a man standing on the boundary between life and death burned brightly.
“There are stars that never fade, even on the earth!”
The testicle monster screamed, swinging its tentacles.
“This... this is!!! Impossible!!!”
Dozens of tentacles stormed toward Joo Hyuk.
In one hand, he held the longsword, and in the other, the dagger of light. He stepped forward, moving like the wind.
Bang!!! Bang!!! Bang!!! Bang!!!
He dodged all the tentacles with divine speed, reaching Sweeper in front of him.
He swung his sword, following the path of the stars his master had taught him.
Blood erupted from the cut, and he danced around like he was in a waltz.
“Kiiiii!!! Stop! Stop!!!”
Joo Hyuk, dancing with his sword to the monster’s screams, suddenly snapped to attention.
‘Enough.’
He started to worry about the remaining party members.
This would be the end.
Bang!!!
He leaped, kicking the ground.
His sword shone for a moment.
A swordsmanship that only someone whose mind had broken past its limits could show.
It had no name.
Swiiick!!!
With a single swing, multiple lines of light appeared in the air.
Dozens of tentacles were cleaved into pieces, falling to the floor.
Sweeper’s eyes widened. It desperately tried to create more tentacles, but it was already too late.
Joo Hyuk’s sword pierced Sweeper’s forehead.
Thud!!!
With his full weight, Joo Hyuk drove the sword deeper.
“Kikikik!!! How... How dare you, a mortal!!!”
Sweeper’s voice was filled with disbelief.
“This is the end.”
He drove the spear made of light into Sweeper’s forehead, piercing his brain.
“Kikikik!!!”
Sweeper, who had been thrashing, immediately fell silent.
Quest completed.
The long battle had finally come to an end.
Crash!!!
The universe-like background shattered like glass, and they were back in the original room in an instant.
Joo Hyuk collapsed to the floor.
“Phew. Fucking hell.”
He should have died originally, but with the Death Delay, he was kept alive, and with the healing effect from Revenge, he came back to life.
He lifted his head and looked around.
The party members were in sight. Mari was there, as well as the Death Night Clan members. They all seemed to have lost consciousness.
He had to clean up the mess.
Joo Hyuk slowly got up, moved his body, and gathered the party members in one corner of the room, feeding them potions. Barion, unsure of what to do, just gathered the pieces of his armor.
Karin woke up first, then Barion followed. Mari ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) was unconscious, but her condition was fine.
He took a moment to comfort Karin, who had been crying, telling her she was safe now.
Finally, Delia remained.
“Sca.”
Delia slowly opened her eyes and looked up at Joo Hyuk.
“C-Come closer.”
As Joo Hyuk approached, Delia whispered softly.
“I... I’m sorry.”
“It’s over now. Rest easy.”
“No, it’s not that.”
Delia shook her head.
“My... my curse...”
She whispered something, and Joo Hyuk’s eyes widened.
“What...?!”
“I... I barely held on, but now I can’t anymore. Please.” Sёarch* The NovelZone.fun website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.
With those words, Delia closed her eyes.
Thud!!!
A loud sound echoed throughout the shelter, like something being smashed. The source was Delia’s backside.
Joo Hyuk, trembling, turned Delia over.
The back of her pants bulged out.
“Uhh...”
Karin and Barion, who had arrived, stared at the bulging pants.
“...”
They all stood silently, unsure of what to say.
And then.
Something started wriggling inside Delia’s bulging pants.
What?
A cold bead of sweat rolled down Joo Hyuk’s forehead.
‘W... What kind of curse is this?!’