Chapter 51: King of the Iron Mountains (7)

༺ King of Iron Mountain (7) ༻

“Gulp...”

Professor Deina of the Magic Department gasped while watching the scene unravel before her eyes.

Let alone historians and guardians, everyone regardless of gender and age would have imagined something like this if they had read about the great legends and the myths of the old times.

Unique Grades.

What would happen if the historical legends – those immeasurable monsters – were to fight against each other?

❰Combination Spell – Snow Flower❱

❰ᚦᚠ – Thurisaz Fehu❱

The absolute zero coldness that threatened to freeze everything in existence was swallowed by the exploding heat of mana.

Their mana output was in a whole different league.

Their fight was beyond the realms of human comprehension.

Even though the two Unique Grade demons were casually using these spells as if it was nothing, those spells were like a tempest of destruction.

If not for the <Blood Realm> that separated everything with a barrier that only allowed herself and her familiar to cross it, the aftermath of their fight would have reached the entire building.

Professor Deina was shocked by how each of their spells were powerful enough to easily destroy an entire floor of this building, and was relieved by the fact that it wasn’t leaving the Realm.

That was Unique Grade.

The legendary great demon, King of Iron Mountain.

Elder-rank vampire, Marie Dunareff.

⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛————–!!

The monster charged forward. The four-legged beast weighing 60 tonnes left an afterimage behind its path as it marched towards its enemy with gleaming fangs.

Even though it had simply kicked off the ground, the resulting gust was destructive in itself.

❰Multi-Shield: Blood Snow Barrier Fortress❱

The original combination spell, Multi-Shield, which was formed by freezing moisture, was supplemented with the blood of a vampire. It was truly as tough as a fortress but it wasn’t enough to stop the demonic boar.

– Kwaaaaaaaaang!!

One strike made the Blood Snow Barrier Fortress crumble to pieces. Even after destroying those tough fortress walls, the demon boar did not stop advancing forward.

“Uhk...!”

It seemed that even the girl with water-colored hair wasn’t expecting the monster to break through one of her strongest defense skills this easily, and gave a frown.

“...!!”

Right as the boar was about to collide with her, Marie’s body vanished from sight.

“...”

Using its insane dynamic vision, the demon boar’s gaze chased after her body and realized that it was a crimson dog that moved its foe away from its path.

“Doggo?”

‘What about the outside?’ Before asking that question, Marie instinctively looked outside and noticed that the laboratory was being splendidly burned down.

“Korin’s finally here.”

There was something Korin had requested of her while explaining his plan.

It was to feed a thousand pebbles and stones to the demonic beasts of the laboratory. Of course, those weren’t normal pebbles and they were stones that had the rune letter, ‘Kenaz’ engraved on them.

The plan was to feed those stones to the demonic beasts under the pretext that it was safer for her to feed them, and use Resonant Rune Activation to kill them all at once.

This disastrous scene of the burning laboratory was the result of that plan.

Higher-level demonic beasts like Grade 2 and semi-Grade 1 were able to withstand the attack somehow, but lower-grade demonic beasts were immediately scorched to death by the flames rising up from their innards.

That meant that most of the monsters outside that were keeping everyone busy had been dealt with.

“Krrhh...!”

At a corner of the Blood Realm, Doggo dropped Marie back down on the ground. Watching from outside the barrier next to them was Korin.

“Korin!”

“Thank you for your hard work, Senior.”

“I did my best!”

“Everything became a lot easier thanks to your help. Can you open this for us?”

Only Marie and her familiar were able to enter and exit out of the Blood Realm. That was common sense but there was an exception.

“You can just come in, Korin.”

“Hnn?”

In response, Korin reached forward with his hand as it easily passed through the barrier made of blood.

“You’re right.”

“You are always welcome, Korin!”

“Ohh~”

Korin walked back and forth out of the Blood Realm as if it was an interesting experience, but he soon stopped and opened his mouth.

“Can you still remove this for us though? Because we need to kill that guy.”

“Okay!”

Marie removed the Blood Realm in an instant without any hesitation.

That was when the heavy thud of something falling down quaked the entire laboratory.

– Kuwwoooooo...!

The large body of the King Tyrant fell on the ground with a remorseful roar. Standing on that body and declaring its victory was an enormous golem.

“N, nice! We did it!”

“Defeating a Grade 1 demonic beast as two people... We got lucky!”

One by one, the named characters gathered together.

Golem Mage, Kranel Luden.

Druid of the Avelorn Forest, Yuel.

Mercenary of Flying Swords, Dorron Warsky.

Domain Wielder, Alicia Arden.

Unique Grade Vampire, Marie Dunareff.

The party was far beyond being simply good and was even extravagant, but they were still unsure of victory because the enemy was a great monster that befit its notorious fame.

And besides...

– Grrhh...

– Kiyaaa—–

The stronger demonic beasts that survived through Korin’s Resonant Rune Activation slowly gathered to form an army.

Those monsters that should have been fighting recklessly without any order or cooperation had gathered under the single flag of a Unique Grade. They were about 30 in numbers.

Fighting against 30 Grade 2 monsters at once was already a tough task and yet behind them, there was even the Unique Grade demonic boar.

“Krrrh...!”

A short howl echoed from the boar followed by Marie’s immediate shout.

“Everyone, scatter!”

Everyone reacted fast. Both knights and mages instinctively sensed danger and retreated. The only ones that did not listen to her advice – the demonic beasts – were caught up by the relentless march of the boar.

– Kaduduk!

– Pabak!

A tyrant.

The charge of the sole king that destroyed everything it touched like the blades of a blender had no regard for allies.

Its march that ripped everything into shreds without caring about the demonic beasts under its path reminded one of the poem from 80 years ago that was sung by a bard describing the tyrant.

King of Iron Mountain requires no minion.

Before him there can be no safe bastion,

For the king has no mercy for you all.

Run, o foolish mortals. We cannot stall.

Here comes the tyrant to devour them all.

“Luden Warrior!”

In order to fight against the enormous boar that was charging in a straight line, the Junk Golem started dashing forward.

“You idiot. You can’t go head-to-head against that!”

Korin’s shout was buried under the crushing footsteps of the golem.

The siege golem had proven its strength by defeating the King Tyrant. Its destructiveness was marvelous, even more so after receiving the enhancement of a druid.

Even a Unique Grade shouldn’t be unscathed after being kicked by this giant from the front.

⟪Forced Explosion of Elemental Core x 7: Flying Knee Kick⟫

“GOOOOOO!!”

The powerful kick was made by sacrificing most of the elemental cores that were left behind in its body. Even a Unique Grade demon boar would get injured if it received such an attack to its skull!

– Kajik!

The marching demon boar collided against the leg of the golem. The result was very obvious.

– Pang!

The leg of the Junk Golem, which was made by combining the remains of golems that weighed tens of tonnes, crumbled in an instant. Like a balloon, it popped and vanished when it reached the boar.

“This can’t be...!”

Kranel and Yuel were greatly astonished. They probably weren’t expecting the strongest knee kick under Yuel’s greatest support to be crushed this easily.

“Kranel, hold onto it as much as you can! You need to last 30 seconds at least! Go!!”

“Eeeek...!”

He hurriedly started moving the Junk Golem. Holding onto the demon boar that did not even slow down after destroying one of the golem’s legs, he tried his hardest to slow down the monster.

“Yuel! Grow your plants! You must hold it back somehow!”

“You make it sound easy!”

Despite shouting back, Yuel followed the order given by the party leader. She wrote an Ogham letter through her staff. Using the profound abilities of a druid, she grew plants from the literal bottom pits of nature.

“Dorron! Attack the sides! Don’t use the magnetic and the heavy iron sword! Focus all your mana on the lightning and fire spirit swords and go as fancy as you can to grab its attention!”

『Primal Rune – ó』

What would the monster choose?

What did it choose to allow, and what did it choose to resist?

“Huh...?”

The first one to let out a stupified gasp was Kranel, who had been controlling the golem. He was appalled after seeing the change that started from the butt of the demon boar. After him were Dorron and Yuel, who were likewise flustered upon seeing the new color of the boar.

“......Gold?”

Right.

Gold.

Covering the lofty King of Iron Mountain was neither blue nor red, but was the lustrous sheen of gold.

– Kang!

The spear bounced off. Unable to do any damage, the silver spear powerlessly bounced off the body of the boar, and the same was with the countless Blood Spears that were being poured on the monster.

Golden hair.

Its ability was purely absurd – complete resistance to both Physical and Magic damage.

The king grinned.

Satisfied, it contorted its lips. As always, the battle was decided by the last resort that it had been hiding from everyone’s sight – the ability that made it invincible for 5 minutes.

No-one was able to fight against the king in front of this power.

“Alicia.”

But the king’s vanity lasted only a second.

Next to where the spearman landed – 10 steps in front of the boar – was a swordsman with bent knees and a lowered head.

Amidst the confusion of the laboratory caused by everything being crushed, destroyed and crumbled was a swordsman keeping her calm like the tranquil ocean.

The king looked at her.

They were only 10 meters away. It would take 0.5 seconds for its current unstoppable march to reach her; another 0.5 seconds for its fangs to penetrate through her stomach, and 0.5 more seconds for it to be trampled on the ground after being shredded into pieces in the air.

Overall, it should take less than 1.5 seconds.

The opponent was just a feeble and tiny human that should be gone in less than 1.5 seconds. That should be it but if so... why was the swordsman making the king feel this uneasy and vigilant?

The king’s instincts and its speed were incomparably fast,

But its judgment and its change of plans were slow.

❰Singular Sword of Arden—

Facing off against the boar that was hundreds of times heavier than herself, the girl unsheathed the Demon-Slaying Sword.

—Domain Severance.❱

Sheek. The sword cleaved the dimension.

As the colossal body of the boar came crashing down.

****

The boar fell while splattering its blood everywhere.

I was probably the only one who saw what happened in that short decisive moment. Everyone who hadn’t been able to see her entry to the Domain and her slash inside the Domain doubted the scene before their eyes.

Alicia herself was barely holding onto her sword with her shivering right arm. That was probably the strongest strike she had ever pulled off in her entire life.

“Uhhh...”

I supported Alicia who was about to powerlessly fall to the side. It was very commendable that she was still holding onto the sword despite her condition.

“I, is it dead?”

Alicia asked me to confirm whether she had been able to deal the final blow to the monster or not.

“Not yet.”

She sent an astonished gaze at the fallen beast. Even after being hit by her strongest attack, the demon boar was still alive.

Golden hair.

The last phase of King of Iron Mountain, the demonic boar of the Dingle Peninsula, was where the final boss became invincible for 5 minutes.

It was truly a disgusting mechanic but there existed a secret way around this phase.

And that was none other than Domain Severance.

Domain Severance was like a killing move in a suspended world, but it had another effect in the game.

100% Physical and Magic Penetration.

The reason why Alicia Arden was the strongest counter to all the boss characters who loved having a bunch of physical or magic resistances was simple.

There was nothing in the world that could block her sword strike when she was staring into the gap between dimensions through her Eyes of the Boundary.

The normal way to go through that last phase was by running around for 5 minutes from that demon boar but Alicia could defeat it in one strike.

Her strongest attack as a result of the combination of the Domain and the Eyes of the Boundary were exceptionally overpowered. There was a reason why she was called the True Alicia after her scenario quest.

“As expected, one well-nurtured Alicia... is way better than 10 people~”

“W, what are you talking about?! More importantly, is it okay to leave that monster like that? Isn’t it going to run around again?”

Even after being slashed by Alicia’s secret move, the boar was still alive. That was natural considering the sheer amount of HP it had.

“No. It’s about time for Lady Josephine to get to work.”

– Swish!

It was then. As soon as I finished saying that, a grandiose magic circle appeared at the ceiling.

“W, what is that?”

“That’s the repaired version of the broken grand magic circle...”

I had asked Lady Josephine to repair the grand magic circle of the laboratory while we were stopping the boar. That was the normal approach to the boss fight back in the game as well.

“She finished repairing it that fast?”

Everyone seemed surprised by the works of the great witch, but this wasn’t the end just yet.

“The golden hair pattern is a strong ability, but it can’t use the Primal Rune again for some time after that’s over.”

In other words, now was the only chance to kill the demonic boar. It was very rare to even get a chance to kill someone or something that contained a Primal Rune.

We would gang up against the monster together in the original game to barely beat it but... we had a Unique Grade mage in our hands.

“Senior Marie.”

“I’m ready.”

Marie started using her grand spells against the demon boar that was powerlessly being pushed down by the magic circle of suppression.

The spell of pure destruction of a Unique Grade vampire was exceptional. Several members of our party that recognized the intensity of her attack immediately retreated to the stairs in a hurry.

“Professor Josephine! I leave this building in your hands! It’s all you!”

[...Damn it.]

A rare profanity left the mouth of Lady Josephine. After gathering all the energy inside the laboratory that came from the leylines, the great mage started using her spell and—

“Goodbye.”

❰Grand Magic of Blood – Pure Crimson Spear❱

The spear of the strongest output that she had been building over time struck down to kill the King of Iron Mountain.

The nightmare from 80 years ago.

The Killer of Heroes.

During the last moments of the demonic boar of the Dingle Peninsula...

The spearman did not miss the Primal light that shot out of the crumbling body of the monster.

****

– Kugugung!

The empty plot of land behind the laboratory – that barren land with no passersby – echoed with the sound of a mechanism as a path appeared out of nowhere.

A man was walking out of that secret passage which should only be known by two people of the Academy.

In his hand was a well-polished magic stone. The letter engraved on that was the Primal Rune [ó], the rune swallowed by the demon boar which was the root cause of this incident.

Primal Rune.

The eight letters leading to the Paradise.

They were the remnants of the divine ages of gods in the past that could not be broken by anything in the world, but it was possible for the ‘rune stones’ that served as the shell to break at times.

88 years ago, that rune stone had been swallowed by one of the boars of the Dingle Peninsula. Because it just happened to give semi-immortality to its owner, no-one had been able to take it out of the monster until now.

But today, the unsealed demon boar was subjugated and the rune stone in its body ended up breaking.

Where would the Primal Rune go after losing its shell?

The answer was simple. After roaming the air and finding the closest rune stone, it would land inside it, and the closest rune stone this time was the one being held by the man who was hiding nearby.

He had finally achieved his goal.

It was a joyous event after 10 years of hard work, which he had been aiming for ever since he first infiltrated into this Academy following the command of his master.

– Has everyone evacuated from the building?

– There are still some monsters coming out of the entrance! Kill them!

– Don’t let any of them come out!

Everyone was focused on the entrance of the building, which was on the complete opposite side of the empty plot of land. The man simply had to leave this secret passage and leave both the Academy and the city.

“That wasn’t very difficult.”

The monster had been defeated with more ease than he expected considering its fame as the King of Iron Mountain, but that made sense because it had been sealed for over 80 years.

The man with afro-hair walked out of the opened doors of the secret passage out of the laboratory, and walked onto the empty plot of land behind the building.

For some unknown reason, at the center of the land were traces of a campfire and... a log chair which was being occupied by a man.

The man sitting on the chair was a famous freshman who was known by everyone in the Academy – the Grade 5 Knight whom he had intentionally sent outside the city during this time.

Surrounded by a cold and sharp breeze, the man gazed back with a wild sneer on his face.

Korin Lork.

Grade 5 Knight.

An irregular who defeated the Unique Grade vampire Marie Dunareff, as well as the great demon, King of Iron Mountain.

“How is my Senior Brother Valtazar doing? My dear nephew Fermack?”

He greeted the long-awaited ‘King’s Subject’, Fermack Daman.

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