Chapter 176 Upgrade Equipment

"What're you doing?"

Without looking back, he knew who it was that questioned him: Ma-Ri. He knew what he was doing was impractical to say the least, and Ma-Ri was somebody even more steel-like in her judgment than Dae-Seong.

"I saw a girl outside. She looked hurt…She was calling for help," he said, telling the truth concisely.

Ma-Ri's expression wavered a bit as she looked at him, "I understand how you feel, but we can't take a risk like this, Jeong-Hui. What if she's a GOETIA user?"

"What if she isn't?" He retorted.

Part of it wasn't simply the desire to help somebody, or at least not simply just that. After so much had been lost, he wanted to counteract that as much as he possibly could.

"Jeong-Hui. I know it's difficult, but the Tower is one day out now. We have to look after our own numbers," Ma-Ri told him sternly yet gently.

"--"

Standing so close to the door, he could hear the scraping of the injured girl's limping steps passing across the street.

"Jeong-Hui. Think about the group. All of us that have made it here…It's only thanks to the effort of those who have left us. If it all came to a close here, if we lose anybody else…What would be the point? I'm asking–no, pleading with you…Hold off," Ma-Ri asked him.

While he had his reservations on this, he knew what kind of stress the new leader was under.

"Jeong-Hui, I know…if it were Dae-Seong standing here, he wouldn't hesitate to bring that person in," Ma-Ri said, "But…I'm not him, and Gangcheori wasn't what it was. We have to survive–that's all we can do right now."

"--"

"So, please. Think about what we have–remember what it feels like to lose it."

Such words stuck true as he felt his fingertips against the cold brass of the door handle, knowing well what the biting frost of lamentation does to his heart.

And, for better or worse, he knew he had to be relied on.

He let go of the handle begrudgingly, "...Alright."

Against his own heart, he put his trust in rationale; his and the young woman who asked such of him. Still, it felt as though by letting go of that door handle, he betrayed some part of him–the feeble scraps of humanity he tried to cling to through Armageddon.

I'm sorry. I couldn't save you, he thought.

He placed his forehead against the cold wood of the door, listening to the growls of the prowling demons before the screams of the girl sounded out.

Soon, what came next were the sounds of an unsavory passing–one that he felt he had a hand in by staying out of it.

"--"

…Is this the first time? Since I resolved to be better…I betrayed my own promise to myself? Is this part of that promise, or did I lose today? Who knows…He thought.

As soon as he lifted his head from the door–something cracked.

"--?"

It was Ma-Ri and himself that looked towards the door, not knowing what it was that they just heard before suddenly–a line of cracks formed along the walls in a split-second.

"Get back!" Ma-Ri warned.

–Just then, he didn't need to be told so as his instincts flared like fireworks, instantaneously leaping back as the entire front portion of the building's entrance was crashed through by an outside entity.

It was a tall, humanoid demon dressed in shoddy, black robes without any sleeves to cover its white-skinned, scar-covered arms that wielded massive butcher knives. The three-meter tall entity possessed long, stringy locks of blakc hair that mostly obscured its face that was covered by a sack mask, etched into its head.

[Enemy Identified: "Man Butcherer" | Level 30]

As he leapt back, landing beside Ma-Ri as debris from the walls rolled across the floor, he readied his weapons, looking up at the tall, muscular entity.

"A demon…? How did it know?!" He questioned.

With such a devastating impact crashing in, it didn't take but a few seconds for all seven members of Gangcheori to rendezvous at the lounge, facing the butcher-titled demon.

"What the hell…?!" Yeong-Un called out, drawing his swords.

"It broke in…?" Sol questioned, pulling his spear out.

It wasn't just the one.

With the entrance busted wide open, more hellish fiends began to creep into the human-occupied space.

"There's so many…!" Xiaodan said, holding his fists up.

Korain looked around as the demons flooded in, looking over at the white mage in their group, "--Eunji!"

Having her name called, the young woman seemed to know what to do, "Cast: Radiant Barrier!"

Forming in the room and splitting it off into two halves, a light-formed wall blocked off the invading hell fiends and the members of the group.

"Will that hold…?" Sol muttered.

"It better, or else we're toast!" Xiaodan answered.

Being able to look past the translucent barrier, it was clear just how many demons had arrived–attracted to the very prospect of humans.

"There's way too many of them, Ma-Ri. We can't fight this many," he said, looking over at the black-haired woman.

Ma-Ri had drawn her rapier already, calmly analyzing the situation before nodding her head, "Up to the second floor! Eunji, can you maintain it while moving away?"

"Err…" Eunji had her hands held up, focusing on the integrity of the barrier.

While the barrier was up, the abhorrent entities on the other side scraped their blades and tainted fingernails against its seraphic form, watching the humans on the other side.

There were ogre-like creatures with singular eyes and flesh-made clubs, drooling at the sight of the girls, and hellish spider-like creatures, scraping their many legs against the barrier.

Eunji gulped, "...It won't last long if I do, but I'll try!"

"Okay," Ma-Ri said, looking over at him and Yeong-Un, "--Focus on protecting Ma-Ri while we head up to the roof! We'll clear out any enemies above!"

Given this order, he stood still for a second before nodding, standing beside Eunji as Yeong-Un did the same, holding both of his blades up.

While the rest of the group moved up to the roof, the two young men had to stay with Eunji, who had to move slowly to maintain the barrier. The white mage was already sweating from maintaining the barrier, holding it as some of the fiends began to attack the wall of light.

"Ghh…!" Eunji struggled.

"Keep it together!" Yeong-Un called out.

"It's hard…! I can feel all of them pressing against it–! I won't be able to move while holding this!" Eunji said, sweating profusely now.

It was clear even to the two that had no hand in maintaining the barrier that it was being pressed by the array of demonic monsters, slamming against it and clawing at its seraphic form.

Even though the divine nature of the barrier caused the demons to be met with a seraphic burn as they touched it, it hardly deterred the savage fiends.

"--I'll take some of them out!" He called out, moving forward.

"Wait–!" Eunji called out.

"How do ya' plan to do that–oh," Yeong-Un realized as he asked the question.

Just as he stepped in front of the barrier, drawing his daggers back, he swung around and unleashed a swipe. By all means, his blades shouldn't have been able to pierce the barrier, yet they phased through–cutting through the flesh of the drooling fiends behind it.

"Void Shift."

It was a skill he had acquired not through leveling up or placing skill points into specific slots, but by different means.

–

[One Week Ago, An Angel Shop]

After already picking out his gauntlets, he ended up at the blacksmith's divine forge, looking at his daggers.

They weren't in a pretty shape after the tough battles he'd put them through, and by this point, any new weapons would prove to be much more effective.

But–

–

[A Time That Feels Like Forever Ago]

[Craft: [Stygian Daggers] | Resources Needed: Stygian Ore x10.]

"Ten…?"

He was disheartened by that prompt, only having four of the required ore himself as he slumped his shoulders.

"What's the matter?"

Turning around at the question, he was surprised to find Kamou and Myung-Hee standing just behind him, looking curiously.

"Ah…Nothing, I just don't have the right amount of ore," he sighed out quietly, defeated.

Glancing between one another, the two women then looked back at him with smiles that made him perplexed.

"System, transfer three "Stygian Ore" to Jeong-Hui," Kamou called out with a smile.

"Same here; I already have a good weapon, so I don't need my ore–give it to Jeong-Hui, System!" the muscular woman commanded her interface with a smile.

He was completely taken aback by this gesture, trying to stop them frantically, "No, no, you don't need to–"

Kamou stopped him, "Please accept it."

"Huh?"

"...You helped us, don't you remember? No, you've been helping us. So, please, accept this," Kamou looked at him with her big, azure eyes.

Looking at Myung-Hee as well, he could tell he didn't have much of a choice in the matter, wearing a smile of his own in return as he nodded his head, causing his curly, vermilion locks to bounce somewhat.

"Thank you," he nodded in gratitude.

[Received: [Stygian Ore] x3 from Player [Kamou]. Received: [Stygian Ore] x3 from Player [Myung-Hee].]

As he now had the proper amount of resources, he returned his attention to the inhuman, silent blacksmith, accepting the prompt to forge the daggers he had his sights set on.

It was a mystical forgery; the lankly, tall creature used its multiple arms to heat the ore up, hammering away at it in an efficient manner before the request was done within a minute.

"This it…?" His emerald eyes almost sparkled behind his glasses at the finished result.

Retrieving the dual daggers, his sheath naturally replaced itself with two, much smaller ones that sat at both of his hips.

"Those look pretty strong," Myung-Hee commented, looking over his shoulder.

"You can give those a try at the subway," Kamou smiled.

He nodded, sliding the daggers into their new sheathes before adjusting his azure scarf a bit, picking his bag of groceries back up, "That's right, I forgot we were going into the city today!"

–

Recalling such memories, resurfaced by the twin blacksmith chamber he stood in within the Angel Shop, he looked at the daggers with soft eyes.

…I can't. They helped me craft these…Kamou and Myung-Hee...this was their gift to me, he thought.

With that conviction, another choice made itself known to him by a prompt issued by the multi-armed, Defect blacksmith.

[Upgrade weapons?]