Chapter 163 Urgent Finish Line

"Cast: Heaven's Storm."

With acrobatic movements–flipping through the air and dancing around in elegant movements, all while carrying her momentum forward, Ma-Ri left a trail of light from her blade as she swiped it and pierced.

The result of the light trail was an explosive release of light that swallowed the darkness, leaving her continuing forward with Korain rushing just a bit behind.

"Nrgh–!" Jun-Seo watched in anger before shifting to a new assault.

This time, Jun-Seo opted to wield his blade again, engulfing it in a swirling mix of black and crimson energy before rapidly slashing it–FWOOSH.

The bands of spiraling darkness and flashing red cut through the bone-made domain; even blocking it with his claymore, Korain was blasted back and cut heavily.

Though Ma-Ri jumped up to avoid the volatile slashes, she was nearly caught by another, only deflecting it with her light-enhanced rapier.

"--!"

Using the ceiling as a foothold, she dived down like a ray of light–SWOOSH.

With her blade, she blasted the right arm of Jun-Seo, which wielded the blade, right off.

"Grrrgh…" Jun-Seo winced before smirking, "...Got you!"

Ma-Ri turned back in shock as the Artificial Devil's arm instantly reconnected, using the sword to swipe against her, sending the woman flying straight back as a trail of blood rained through the air.

"...Ma-Ri!" Korain screamed out, forgetting about his own injuries as he rushed over to catch her in the air.

Grabbing her into his arms, Korain found a massive slash left from her left shoulder, stretching across her chest, and reaching to her right hip.

"Damn it!" He clenched his teeth.

But, to his surprise, Ma-Ri moved out of his arms and landed on her feet, stumbling for a moment before standing straight with her usual, cold grace.

"Ma-Ri–?"

"I'm alright. It's just a scratch," she assured him.

"--A scratch, huh? Well, I guess my left arm was just 'scratched' too, then," he added with a massive sigh.

Ma-Ri smiled just a bit before returning to her resolved, straight expression, dripping blood onto her already torn uniform as the laceration had reached deep.

"We've got to end this quickly," she said, "He's adjusting to my speed."

"Aye, Boss," Korain nodded.

Beyond that, time was of the essence with the various wounds they had accumulated. But, she could tell as well–it was the same for the devil-turned man: he was slowly but surely being whittled down.

Jun-Seo stood there, huffing as his torso was covered in blackened blood, signaling for them to come, "I'm waiting."

Despite her lacerated state, she still exhibited her flashy speed, springing off of the heel of her golden-laced boot with a sound-barrier shattering step.

But, it didn't just stop there–

The speed belonging to Ma-Ri, or rather–the "flash" she possessed pushed her into a state of movement not far off from light itself.

Preparing for this, Jun-Seo utilized his monstrous body–flexing his eyes as veins strained around his ocular organ as he readied his stance before the flash approached.

I can see you! Jun-Seo thought.

The Artificial Devil swung his blade, managing to counter the thunderous impact of the flashing rapier that shot by him.

But, even if he managed to deflect the high-speed piercing, there were other factors he needed to consider, such as–

"Windbreaker!"

From Korain, a massive overhead slam of his claymore rained down from above onto Jun-Seo, who just barely managed to move his sword upward to guard.

However–it was an expected move, and a faulty one.

"--!"

Jun-Seo was left surprised as a massive gust of wind emitted from the incoming claymore–knocking his unprepared, sword-wielding arm back and leaving him open for the incoming strike that came in the form of a verdant wind that resembled the shape of dragon wings.

"...This is for…taking away from us!"

As Korain said that, tears built around his strained eyes before he finally swung the claymore against the flesh of the abhorrent entity.

TEAR.

"Raaagh–!"

A scream of pain came from the devil as the claymore cleaved through his right side, severing a chunk of the right side of his body, arm included, before Jun-Seo tried countering with his left-held sword.

Again, he was squandered by the picture-perfect teamwork he was faced against: FLASH.

The radiant flash hummed after having already passed by, filling the repugnant chamber with a warm light before his sword-wielding arm was also severed.

"Ghhh! Damn it…!"

Jun-Seo, left without both arms, attempted to reform but was left without a chance as from behind, Ma-Ri was already springing towards him once again–and from in front, the claymore-wielding man was roaring out as he rushed over.

…Shit! I won't be able to reform in time!...What is this?! They're in sync?! No…They just know what the other is thinking! How?! How long have they fought side-by-side?! It's only been a few months since all of this began–so how?! Jun-Seo questioned.

As a last ditch effort, the corrupted man parted his mouth, building an abyssal energy in his throat that was pointed directly towards the executive member of Gangcheori.

Ma-Ri saw it from behind, reaching out, "--Korain!"

In the girl's heart, no matter how cold or statuesque she may present herself–the last thing she wanted was to lose more on this horrible night.

But, she didn't stop, even as the howl of black energy shot towards Korain, he looked straight at her:

"Keep going! Skewer this bastard–!!!" Korian yelled out.

Just as he yelled, the abyssal, mouth-fired beam launched against him, blasting him back in an explosion.

In that moment, she took those words to heart, pushing past her anxious feelings and worries as she dashed forward with her flashing speed, pulling her rapier back and springing it forward with her utmost strength and speed just as Jun-Seo spun around to face her.

"Atonement By A Thousand Pierces."

The skill manifested itself through countless thrusts of the golden-enhanced rapier, thrust again and again in the span of a few seconds, yet hundreds of light-infused stabs swept through the air in a sharp turn–each landing against the devil's body.

"Grgh!"

Jun-Seo raised his arms as chunks of his demonic flesh were blown off by the power-back pierces, forming a shield of translucent darkness that quickly began to crack from the repetitive strikes.

It didn't take but a few seconds of the continuous, holy stabs to shatter the shield, forcing the Artificial Devil to counter with something else–

"Capra Maw!" Jun-Seo yelled out.

Through the golden rain, a shadowy maw in the shape of a demon head howled out, opening its abyssal mouth to swallow the holy strikes.

…You think I'm falling for it again?! Jun-Seo thought.

While the abyssal mouth swallowed the light, the devil turned around to catch Korain rushing him from behind.

As the Artificial Devil turned to the side, keeping his right arm holding the light-swallowing, horned mouth, his left was used to counter against the incoming claymore strike.

Korain strained himself with the physical amplifying effects of [Abandon], clenching his teeth and gripping his sword with the utmost strength of his one and only arm as he swung it downwards with all of his strength.

Even as it sharply carved through the grotesque air of the hellish corner of reality, the claymore's edge stopped as it crashed against the Artificial Devil's forearm.

"Huh?!" Korain let out through his clenched teeth.

Jun-Seo wasn't straining any less, having to focus on maintaining the demonic maw that kept Ma-Ri's attacks at bay while his left arm was shrouded in a swiftly-formed black exoskeleton as an armor against the blade.

"Ngh–!" Jun-Seo kept his teeth clenched as well.

Blood continues to pour out from the unhealing wounds in the devil man's chest, seeping out as black blood leaked from the corners of his mouth.

In the injured state of the Artificial Devil, who was sweating profusely with veins stretching across his body, it was clear that he was struggling to contest Korain's swing–beginning to have his forearm armor broken.

"--Just die already, you cockroach!" Korain grunted out.

"I could say the same to you!" Jun-Seo responded.

Just before the claymore could finally break through and cleave the devil's arm, Jun-Seo ducked away and attempted for a swift uppercut to the man's gut, but–

That fast?! Jun-Seo thought.

The moment the player-killing man turned his focus away from the magic-consuming defense he held, the black-haired woman was already coming up behind him with that overwhelming speed at her disposal.

A split second choice, or rather–a split millisecond choice came on whether he should commit to the blow towards Korain's gut, or turn an attack towards Ma-Ri.

The choice was made:

Giving up on the uppercut, he instead went for the best of both worlds, shifting the tail swaying behind his back into a much larger, thicker form with scales as he spun around, whipping the dragon-like tail around harshly.

It gathered a lofty amount of wind pressure, traced with potent shadows before it slammed against Korain's gut, but Ma-Ri managed to jump back in time to avoid it–though it was still the desired result of Jun-Seo.

Of course, the devil man only bought himself but mere moments, but for him, he sensed it was enough as he outstretched both arms–facing each palm towards the two opponents of his:

"Turn to ash."

There was no incantation released, causing the two to be surprised as a massive release of verdant flames spewed out from the palms of the Artificial Devil.

"--"

In a swift evasion, Ma-Ri leapt up, pressing the soles of her boots against the ceiling as she reared her rapier back, preparing for a counter.

I've got to finish this quickly–Korain won't hold up much longer. I won't, either. I'm losing blood quickly, Ma-Ri thought.

As the sea of green flames set into the chamber, she launched from the ceiling like a spring of light–flashing by as Jun-Seo looked up just in time to step to the side, forced to release the flames.

Korain, who was hiding behind his claymore, huffed, still taking damage from the heat as he caught his breath, witnessing the skirmish between the two.

The Artificial Devil was on the backfoot; forced to rely completely on defense as the rapier thrusts came in swiftly and with intent to kill, with each and every strike.

"...I'm ending this now!"

Jun-Seo stomped down, creating a daunting shock wave that took her off of her footing for a split-second.

It was ample time for the devil man to rear his hand back, coalescing a heaping amount of dark energy around his knuckles.

"--!" Ma-Ri looked up, watching the fist soar towards her.

My "Flash Step" requires meticulous footing…I can't do it like this! She thought.

The swirl of darkness filled her vision, imposing a density to the air as it became cold and clammy–closing in on her as her reflexes saw it coming, but in her stumble, she was helpless to evade it.

"Grrrgh–!!!"

Jumping in front of her, the one-armed, white-and-black haired man took the dark shrouded fist for her, receiving the blistering knuckles straight to his abdomen as it blew him back harshly.

"Korain…!"

It was a devastating blow, but–she knew rather than be worried, there was something else she had to do.

In that moment, she gathered her footing again, bringing her rapier back as Jun-Seo was still pulling his fist back for another blow.

"--!" Jun-Seo clenched his teeth in anger.

But, she was faster.

"Holy Railfire."

It was a single thrust of her rapier, enveloped in a swirling, angel-winged shape of holy energy, being cast forward as the moment the very tip of the needle-like blade touched the skin of the devil–

"--"

Blood spilled from Jun-Seo's lips as his arm fell to his side, limp.

The simple, gentle touch of the rapier's tip to the devil's chest resulted in a massive hole being bored through his torso–leaving no heart untouched.

"--" Ma-Ri stood, still holding her rapier forward as blood seeped from her wounds.

"...It doesn't matter…" Jun-Seo said calmly.

The small corner of Hell they were dragged into began to crumble away as particles of the walls of bones swayed in the wind.

Jun-Seo stood there with tired eyes as his body began to dissolve into black gunk, looking past her.

"...You'll all die soon, anyway. This changes nothing. I'll be on my way now…to Hell," Jun-Seo said.

With those last words, the personal realm vanished, returning them to the top floor of the hotel as Ma-Ri immediately fell to a knee, clutching her rapier for support as she coughed out blood.

"...Ma-Ri…"

She quickly turned around after having her name weakly called, seeing Korain leaning against the wall, sweating heavily as he held onto his abdomen.

"Korain!...Are you…?" She asked, getting up and going over to the man.

Korain chuckled before wincing, "...He got me good, but…I'm not too bad. You're way worse off than me…Find Eunji."

The wound that Korain had suffered to the abdomen completely shattered the armor on his stomach, leaving a swollen bruise on his gut that likely resulted in his organs being slammed as well.

"But, you…!"

"You're our new leader now, Ma-Ri," Korain told her, "...Go make a good first impression."

Those words brought her gaze to the body of Dae-Seong, which laid peacefully on the floor as just seeing it again made her want to cry.

"I'm sure I don't have to tell you this, but now's not the time for tears," Korain told her, placing his hand on her shoulder, "There's more of them here…and…Baek-Hyeon."

"...That's true. If Baek-Hyeon is really…I'll go," Ma-Ri nodded, making her way towards the stairwell entrance before glancing back, "...Korain."

"Yeah?"

"If you're going to tell somebody not to cry, you should follow your own advice first," Ma-Ri said before leaving the hall.

Left in the hall, holding his bruised stomach with his one arm, Korain chuckled to himself before slumping over in the corridor.

"I guess you're right…" Korain smiled, looking at the body of the silver-haired former leader, "...Get some rest, Boss."