Chapter 158

Chapter 158

The Hero, Wrath's vessel, and those weak but pesky dogs of God.

Leviathan was caught off guard by this unmistakable encirclement. How did it come to this? However, there was no time to ponder over things like that.

“That wasn’t a breach of contract, right?”

> [How dare you...!]

At first, when this overwhelming mass of Divine Power came his way, he’d thought it mere coincidence.

However, when it continued to follow him even after he’d moved twice, he realized it wasn’t.

Somehow, those damn things had found a way to track his location in real time.

> [You mortals...!]

However, he never expected the source of this trouble would be that insignificant mortal he’d planned on using and immediately discarding.

No mortal had ever found a loophole in the contracts he’d forced upon them.

Of course, the number of mortals he’d forced into contracts was rather small, thus limiting the sample size. There was that.

However, as simple as it was, the contract should’ve been foolproof, so how?

No, more importantly, how did that mortal know his location? Even he couldn't pinpoint the location of his contractors with such accuracy, so how did they manage it?

And those damned fanatics had kept that mortal alive. They usually would’ve just killed him on sight, so why not this time...?!

“I’ll never let you leave this place alive...!”

“Kahaha! Berserk will join you. Can't let you have all the fun, buddy!”

He’d hoped that even if he couldn’t make that mortal betray them as intended, he’d at least instill his foes with the shock of a supposed betrayal. However, even that seemed to have failed miserably.

Leviathan watched as the dogs of God tightened their encirclement from a distance, perfecting their trap even further, while Wrath’s vessel slowly approached him.

This was a real crisis.

> [Hah, a fool who couldn’t even control a single vessel properly!]

“Victory to my blade.”

“Wahahaha!! This is my first time hunting a Great Demon!”

> [Do you really think I’ll be defeated by just this?!]

“Glory to the heavens.”

“Please entertain Berserk well!”

A crisis?

> [Do you really think I’ll be defeated by the likes of you?!]

Leviathan trembled as the thought crossed his mind.

He couldn’t admit it. The idea that mere mortals could endanger him. His anger was so intense that he refused to accept it as reality.

“Destruction to the Demons...!”

“Here I come!!”

So, Leviathan began to summon his power.

However, he seemed to have forgotten he wasn’t in his King’s domain or near water, meaning he couldn’t unleash his full strength. He’d also seemingly ignored the reality that the Hero and the vessel of Wrath, both formidable opponents even on their own, were now facing him together.

> [I am the throne of Envy, Moby Dick—!]

Boom!

A sword cloaked in black Arcane Power and a dark halberd clashed against his silken clothes.

At the same time, water surged from the ground like geysers, shooting high into the sky.

The sky whale, swimming far above the clouds where the air was so thin that breathing was only barely possible, uttered a resounding cry.

* * *

I silently pondered while watching water surge upward like an inverted waterfall and the Demon disappear, replaced by a sky whale—likely Moby Dick.

Why was it that every time I did raid, the enemy was never on the ground? Why did I always have to perform some kind of miracle and surpass a regular person’s limits just to kill them?

Sure, if you said, ‘That’s just how raids are,’ I couldn’t refute it, but wasn’t this still a bit too much?

Usually, raids like this at least provided some platforms you could use to reach the target, or the enemy would occasionally descend so you could attack it.

“I’ll block it!”

Not just bombard us from above like it’s doing now!

Boom!

I watched as a golden barrier blocked the stream of water that Moby Dick was spewing out. It was the work of the priests led by the Inquisitor.

“Lighten the Hero’s burden!”

“O almighty God, grant us courage to face this evil!”

Initially, I’d thought bringing along so many priests might be excessive, but now, it seemed to have been a pretty good decision. Although our plan to encircle and wear down the Demon had failed, at least they could help conserve the Inquisitor’s stamina.

“It went up. We can’t hit it now! Come down already!”

Meanwhile, Bers shouted in frustration. Her simplicity aside, I agreed with her, so I wasn’t about to argue.

“So, it really was a Great Demon... Are you doing alright?”

“Y-Yes. I can still manage for now.”

“That’s good, but just in case, you should stay back. We can’t be sure what that Demon could do to you.”

“Got it.”

“Oooh!”

However, how long would it take to get up there using steps like this? Wouldn’t her Divine Power run out before we even made it?

I closed my eyes, thinking of how I would’ve usually skipped over this part in a game. I began to doubt whether this plan of mine was really such a good idea.

But the moment I stepped onto the barrier, I dismissed that doubt. Our kimchi dumpling was a very smart dumpling, after all.

Whoosh!

The barrier pushed us upward. Since the barrier itself couldn’t freely move, it only moved a little bit to give us a small boost into the air.

“Hah!”

Just as we were about to fall, a new platform formed mid-air. It was exactly as I had imagined.

The three of us gradually moved higher and higher.

Buooooh!

Perhaps sensing danger, Moby Dick let out a long cry and began gathering water in its mouth. Although I called it water, it was filled with Demonic Energy, glowing with a sinister light.

“W-Will we be able to block that...?!”

“A frontal assault! Good! Berserk can take it!”

Maintaining the barrier we were standing on was challenging enough, so simultaneously blocking an attack from above would be even more difficult. Even though Bers was acting tough, withstanding that attack with nothing to protect us was honestly impossible.

And even if we started hopping around hastily made platforms like grasshoppers, Moby Dick could just change its aim, making it totally pointless.

Usually, games wouldn’t resort to such unfair tactics, but this place had never been fair from the start.

So, I raised my sword. There was no particular reason; it just made it easier to visualize.

“First, I’ll somehow—”

“Ignore it.”

“What?”

“Your job is to create platforms we can step on.”

I’d used some Arcane Power earlier but recovered a bit while Moby Dick’s attack was on cooldown.

“What are you trying to do?”

“If you have even a shred of sense, move.”

“C-Come this way!”

Recalling the technique I’d used in the Great Forest, I stretched out lines of Arcane Power in all directions, starting from the tip of my sword. My goal was to create a dome constructed from those lines.

“Buddy, what are you going to do with those?”

“Demon Knight, that’s...”

Don’t even think about touching it, and keep your head down, you rascal. I was quite relieved when I saw the Inquisitor pull Bers behind me. I slowly began to channel my Arcane Power.

The lines started spinning like a pinwheel.

Boooom!

And just as those lines were spiraling rapidly enough to resemble a dome, Moby Dick fired his water cannon.

My Arcane Power and the whale’s water cannon began a fierce power struggle. It was like trying to drill through the water cannon, or trying to hold it back.

“...!”

“Oooh!”

“Demon Knight, that’s...!”

Frooshfrooshfroosh!

Incidentally, this sound reminded me a lot of those old automatic car washes. They always made that sound when spraying high-pressure water, then applying soap, and finally scrubbing the sides and top with brushes.

Urgh.

Also, my arm seriously hurt.

I clenched my teeth hard when some water droplets that had slipped through splashed me. Not only was my body soaked, but my sword arm was in so much pain that it took all I had not to let out a groan.

Well, it made sense, since my arm was bearing all the pressure being unleashed against my entire body—no, against everything.

“Hmm! I can do this, too! I’ll do it next time!”

“T-To think something like that was possible...”

Still, I had to maintain my character’s pride. Showing weakness or collapsing right now just wouldn’t feel right, especially after proving I could defend against it like this.

So, I gritted my teeth and held on, and finally, the water barrage ceased.

Bang!

Water droplets, reflecting the light, scattered in all directions as if shattered into pieces. Against the backdrop of the hazy sky, the sparkling droplets filled with Demonic Energy almost seemed like jewels.

“We did it!”

“Ooh, the guys down there are fine, too!”

Face flushed, the Inquisitor confirmed this matter once again. Bers, using her hand to shield her eyes from the light, checked on the people waiting below.

According to her, those below seemed pretty much unharmed. It was probably because we’d tanked the whole stream.

“Let's keep moving.”

Let's hurry up! This attack pattern was killing my arm, and I wasn't sure I could handle three more rounds of it.

____