Second Life of a Dragon Raising Hunter

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Chapter 361: A Fight that Ended Absurdly Easy

Taken aback by the fight that had ended so easily, Yeon-woo didn’t let his guard down.

From the deep, cross-shaped scars on his body, filthy curses oozed out. However, there was something he needed to keep in mind: that it was a Lich.

You can’t overlook the existence of a vessel for storing souls, commonly referred to as a relic, if you intend to confront a creature like a Lich.

After all, Nephren-Ka was even called an Eldritch, making it impossible to disregard the existence of such a relic.

That should have been the case, but…

‘But this reaction…’

Liches aren’t significantly affected by physical damage if they possess a relic.

Of course, in Yeon-woo’s case, with his exceptional pure mana and the aura of White, he could inflict damage just by hitting the body. But breaking the relic directly was undoubtedly the more efficient option.

Thus, although he had struck the holy symbol, he thought he wouldn’t expect much damage. Yet, Nephren-Ka’s reaction was clearly that of something dying.

‘I’ve seen Liches die many times.’

He hadn’t personally killed one, but Liches always had this reaction when their relic was destroyed.

So, that concluded there might not be a relic with Nephren-Ka…

‘No, there’s no reason for it not to exist!’

What reason would the selfish Nephren-Ka have not to create a relic? Just at that moment, Yeon-woo’s eyes caught sight of something shining in the depth of Nephren-Ka’s body, where the heart should be.

It resembled a jewel with a red hue. However, its cutting style was quite odd. Normally, jewels are carved to enhance their beauty and balance.

But this jewel looked like a wooden piece carelessly hacked by a child trying to form a circle, lacking any symmetrical shape.

[Crack, ha! Ha-ha-ha!!]

As Yeon-woo diverted his gaze from the ominous jewel, Nephren-Ka erupted in laughter. The booming voice was unbelievable for something dying.

Feeling a wave of discomfort, Yeon-woo plunged White into Nephren-Ka’s body. Still, its laughter showed no signs of stopping.

[You fools, utterly foolish!! The grand scheme is already complete. Your future is replete with nothing but destruction!!]

“That’s quite an elaborate and pointless monologue for someone who’s dying.”

Of course, that didn’t mean his grand scheme was a lie. Yeon-woo sensed the ominous signs as well.

That was why he had left most of the main force outside, aside from himself and his friends. The schemes Nephren-Ka had employed were all out there.

Yeon-woo twisted White tightly. Nephren-Ka screamed in pain yet continued to laugh. It felt horrible. He thought it would be best if it just died already and brought forth the real Demon King.

Then it happened. With a noise just like someone throwing a water balloon against the wall, hot liquid splattered beside him.

The abrupt death, so sudden it left no room for a scream, caused the necromancers fighting the demonic monsters to say, “Huh?”

That was just the beginning. From Yeon-woo’s perspective, it felt like a tomato festival had come. Around him, the necromancers clashing with the demonic monsters began bursting one by one.

It was not a pleasing sight, but it didn’t evoke any feelings in Yeon-woo. After all, to him, the demons were no longer people.

What was evident, however, was that the situation was taking a bizarre turn. What was happening right now? As the thought crossed Yeon-woo’s mind, a painfully simple answer came to him.

Where is this place? It’s a sacrificial venue. From the very beginning, the choice of location had been odd. If they had barricaded the narrow path leading to the temple with sheer numbers, even Yeon-woo’s group would have to brace for a depletion of their forces.

Yet, Nephren-Ka hadn’t done that. Instead, it was holed up in the widest area of this underground temple.

So one had to think in reverse. Nephren-Ka must have had a reason to be in this place.

With that premise, an answer emerged.

“This is the ceremony itself.”

[Now, he shall descend! He will bring forth thick ruin and darkness to root himself in this land…!!]

Ugh, how noisy. Yeon-woo thought as he flicked the irregular polyhedron jewel with the tip of his sword. There was something ominous about holding it in his hands.

At that moment, the black shadows filling the sacrificial venue began to be drawn into the jewel.

“Whoah, what’s this!?”

“Dad, put that down quickly!!”

Startled by those words, Yeon-woo threw the jewel against the wall. He was worried it would break due to the force, but the jewel merely fell to the ground with a dull thud.

*

The curse that had rooted deeply beneath the ground began to vibrate slowly like a heartbeat. Thump, thump, thump, thump…

It was life. The divided souls of someone, as well as the heart of a living human, torn out while still alive. It was a ritual of sacrifice made of the most common form of blood and life.

In other words, the entire war itself was a sort of ceremony. Countless lives had perished. Even though Yeon-woo had tried to reduce the number, it was more than enough to offer to the Demon King.

Adding the lives of the Demon King and the necromancers following him, the price of those lives was ample. The sins contained would satisfy his appetite.

Unfathomable curses, laid out in bizarre formations, soared into the sky like pillars. One could say they were drivers. They were the tools to loosen the screws of restrictions placed on this world, to unscrew the lid.

The sky opens up. Something black begins to flow down, something that looks like hands or feet, or perhaps akin to the dark matter that fills the universe.

It comes. Breaking beyond the edges of the world, an entity from the outer universe steps onto this planet. It is descending in the name of the Demon King to color the world with its existence.

Many humans gathered in that place were watching this whole sequence of events with their own eyes. It was an unspeakable, sacrilegious, and mysterious spectacle.

The unique dangerous scent of a Demon King, which hadn’t been felt from the existing Toyo’s Demon King, began to fill the surroundings.

Thick, sticky darkness engulfed the area. As everyone began to chatter in unease, two groups led by two individuals stepped forward.

“Cackle, if you’re gonna tremble like that, why not just go home and have a meal?”

An old man in hip-hop fashion mocked the hunters assembled in that place. To that, Baek Joo-han clicked his tongue.

“When do you plan on dying, old man? You’re still alive for quite a while.”

“Do you think I can die when you kids are so anxious? Why should I, this old man, have to come out here and suffer?”

At those words, the group led by Dooko-hyun, the warriors of Samiryun, began to laugh heartily. While some hunters blushed at the mockery, no one protested or got angry.

They all recognized how pathetic their trembling figures were before the Demon King.

“There’s nothing to worry about too much. I didn’t step in here without a good reason.”

Dooko-hyun pushed his sunglasses up with his finger and started to limber up, cracking his knuckles.

In this scenario where the leader of the group and its strongest members had all gathered, there was no reason for morale to be low.

“Haha, don’t poke fun too much.”

“Why are you even here? You can’t fight to save your life.”

Dooko-hyun gave a jab at the man standing beside him. The man responded with a hollow laugh, as if he had nothing to say. His vigor seemed insufficient to stand on the same level as Dooko-hyun.

“In a situation like this, how could I not come? You know what would happen if I hadn’t, right?”

“Oh come on. Just don’t die, alright?”

Everyone around inhaled sharply at the sight of Dooko-hyun and the man calmly exchanging greetings. That man may not have been able to keep up with Dooko-hyun, but he was a big shot nonetheless.

The guild master of the Hunter Guild, Reuters. Reputed for his charisma that drew people in and commanded rather than his personal strength.

“I don’t see the Martial Arts leader. What’s the matter? Is something wrong?”

“That guy went off to do something else. When weighing the importance of tasks, that one is pretty heavy too.”

“Well, if that’s the case, there’s nothing to be done. Let’s make it through this together, old man.”

“Just take care of yourself, you little brat.”

As Dooko-hyun scoffed at Reuters’ words, a metal pendant hung around his neck clinked. Something gigantic was coming down to the ground.

It was a giant, as if muscles themselves were alive and moving. Instead of a face, huge tentacles sprouted from where it should have been.

Each time it vocalized, rotten blood dripped from the holes all over its body. The horrific stench made the people cover their mouths.

[─────!!]

Was that a Demon King, or not? It was unclear, but it was undeniably a foe to humanity. Dooko-hyun breathed deeply and began to channel his energy.

*

“Phew, that should be enough. If left alone, Osiris will take care of it, right?”

Returning from an absurdly easy fight with the Demon King, Yeon-woo’s group had to contend with the demonic monsters of the netherworld.

Of course, killing was out of the question, so they could only tie them up and freeze them urgently. If they froze them haphazardly, they’d surely split into two while ripping their skin, so they had to pack their mana as much as they could and freeze them at once.

They dragged the frozen remnants outside the sacrificial area, bringing them up to the surface. The return journey was quite simple. The Ice Phoenix had cleaned out the interiors, and overall, it was smooth sailing.

‘I didn’t expect it to die without even thinking of using my powers…’

Perhaps it was due to this artifact. After all, certain parasites lead their hosts to death in order to find new hosts or to mate.

It was possible that the irregular polyhedron jewel had led Nephren-Ka to its death.

“Absurd. I thought I was the one using it, but in reality, I was being used while my will to survive was suppressed from the beginning.”

“There’s no cure for foolishness.”

Muttering that, Yeon-woo rolled the jewel on White. Whatever it was, it was undoubtedly a dangerous object.

At the same time, it could be the only clue. The sole lead tied to the black shadows that had not emerged even after Nephren-Ka’s death.

‘… For now, I need to get to the surface as quickly as possible.’

Nothing seemed to have happened in the sacrificial venue. Therefore, it was reasonable to assume something must have been happening above ground. Thinking that, Yeon-woo escaped the dim tunnel.

There lay only an empty base camp with no one present.

“… It seems something did happen, right?”

“Surely, I can’t say nothing has occurred.”

Baek In-hwa murmured. They hadn’t just left someone behind to guide them, they’d all vanished.

(To be continued in the next chapter.)