Chapter 89

Leveling Up Alone: Ragnarok Chapter 88

The sudden appearance of demons sparked a three-way battle.

Shugo and Eshil exchanged a glance for a moment.

The moment their eyes flashed.

Bang!

Without a word, they leaped in opposite directions and began hunting the demons.

Shugo used Volcan's horn to split the demons' bodies, while Eshil impaled them with her spear like skewers.

There was a stark difference between the two.

The demons killed by Shugo disintegrated, spewing black blood, and the 'demon souls' inside were greedily devoured by Volcan's horn.

But the demons killed by Eshil's spear were drained of all their blood, drying up like mummies.

"Haa. As expected, demon blood is the best."

Radir's eldest daughter, the only remaining demon noble in the world, Eshil.

She smiled blissfully and continued to drink the demons' blood.

When she first set foot on Earth, Eshil's power was merely at the level of a C-rank monster.

The reason was that she had been chased by other demons for a long time, and her blood had been drained.

The only way to recover that lost power was through blood, just as it is now.

[You have defeated a low-rank demon!]

[You have defeated a low-rank demon!]

[You have defeated a low-rank demon!]

['Item: Volcan's Horn' is devouring the demon soul.]

...

"Will I level up this time?"

Shugo fervently hoped so.

He wished there would be more demons hiding here.

"Kyaah!"

[Such weak and despicable creatures. It is truly shameful that I once considered dealing with such beings.]

Quai looked at the demons as if they were filth and brutally slaughtered them.

It felt like erasing every bit of his sordid past.

And in the midst of this chaos, Im Do-kyun...

[...]

"..."

He was trembling behind the tiny Ver.

"Seong Shugo! Did you summon all these things?"

"What is this guy babbling about?"

Despite the chaos, Eshil only clicked her tongue at the sight of Lee Young-ho shouting at Shugo while killing demons.

But as the number of demons increased, he eventually realized the truth.

"No, wait! Could these be demons!"

He realized it a bit late.

But seeing the crows' masks on their faces, the information in his mind surfaced.

The Hunter Association was searching for the Stardust Factory with a vengeance.

And the culprits were demons.

"Yahaha! They're here! There's probably a bounty on them too?"

"Wow! We can make some pocket money!"

Upon confirming that the monsters were demons, the eyes of the Black Tortoise Guild members gleamed with greed.

They had been pushed here by the pressure from the old-fashioned section chief, but it was a good thing they wouldn't return empty-handed after killing a kid.

"Everyone, listen! Leave Seong Shugo alone and deal with the demons first!"

"We're already doing that!"

"Anyway, that kid will die on his own even if we don't touch him... huh?"

They noticed Shugo hunting demons and widened their eyes.

"...Why is he so ruthless?"

"Section Chief, didn't you say he's a C-rank summoner?"

"He's wielding two swords and slicing them up?"

Butcher.

That was the only word that came to mind.

Shugo, covered in black blood, was slaughtering the demons like a demon himself.

Then,

Rumble!

A bolt of lightning struck the sky above their heads.

"Huh...!"

Everyone's gaze turned upward at the sudden change.

To their surprise, a giant demon was looking down at them from above the dense jungle.

"Wait, what!"

"What's a D-rank dungeon doing with...!"

Section Chief Lee Young-ho was terrified and gathered his mana.

"Everyone, stay alert! At least B-rank! No, it's an A-rank monster!"

His judgment was accurate.

[Transcended Intermediate Demon]

"Unbelievable."

Shugo's senses were warning him of an overwhelmingly powerful aura.

'This is at least Quai's, no, Im Myung-sung's level.'

The current Quai, having become a Shadow Soldier, was weaker than the living Im Myung-sung.

But the aura emanating from the giant demon was on par with the former Im Myung-sung.

'But what does 'transcended' mean?'

"How could this happen..."

Grinding her teeth, Eshil was glaring at the demon more fiercely than ever.

"That demon has consumed the blood of a demon noble."

"Your blood?"

Shugo's eyes widened as he turned to Eshil.

"Even if not me, it must be the blood of someone from my family."

An overwhelming killing intent surged from Eshil's body, and she lunged at the intermediate demon.

Swoosh!

Eshil's spear aimed for the demon's heart, but the intermediate demon uprooted a nearby tree and swung it at her.

Boom!

"!"

Eshil's body was flung to the side, unable to dodge the attack.

The Black Tortoise Guild members were also caught in the attack. The nearby trees fell in a chain reaction, covering them.

"Ugh?!"

"Get out of the way!"

The Black Tortoise Guild members scattered in panic.

But even in this moment, low-rank demons were attacking them from all sides.

"Kyaah!"

Several Black Tortoise Guild members lost their heads.

Seeing this, Section Chief Lee Young-ho's eyes blazed with anger.

"How dare they!"

Lee Young-ho's sword tore through the demons with ease.

Despite the sudden situation, these demons were only C-rank.

As a B-rank, he was confident he could handle any number of them.

Moreover, it was shameful for the Black Tortoise Guild to be defeated by such creatures, even if he had brought the second team.

"That's why I always told you to train hard! Dying to these things is just being an idiot!"

He blamed their weakness even as his subordinates died.

But the problem was the giant demon.

'I can't take it on alone.'

But if his subordinates could buy him some time, it was possible.

Cooperating with multiple hunters against a strong monster.

That was the essence of a raid, and the most crucial blow would be his.

However, he needed tanks to take the brunt of the attacks.

"You bastards! Attack all at once!"

"Wh-what? Against that thing?"

"Then I'll do it! Just hold on for a minute!"

As he gave the order, Lee Young-ho began to focus all his mana on a single point.

Although it would take some time, he was confident his skill could sever one of the demon's legs.

'With such a large creature, targeting the legs is the basic strategy in a raid!'

"Uaaaaah!"

As Lee Young-ho's body began to concentrate mana, the Black Tortoise Guild members charged at the 'Transcended Intermediate Demon' with all their might.

At that moment,

Rumble!

Another bolt of lightning struck the sky.

And it was not just a strange weather phenomenon.

The lightning, as if with a will of its own, struck Lee Young-ho directly.

"Ugh...!"

A powerful electric shock ran through his body from head to toe.

If it had been a real lightning bolt, he would have died instantly.

'It's a skill...!'

Lee Young-ho instinctively realized this and abandoned his attack skill in favor of a defensive one.

He also instinctively sought out a healer and dashed towards them.

At that moment,

Boom!

"!"

The intermediate demon began smashing the ground with the tree it held.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

"Uaaaaah!"

The Black Tortoise Guild members who had charged forward were exposed to the attack.

They were flung in all directions like bowling pins.

Those who were not tanks had their necks broken upon impact.

'I have to run!'

Seeing this, Lee Young-ho immediately turned around.

His body was still trembling from the aftereffects of the electric shock, and the number of subordinates who could act as tanks had been halved.

'There's no way we can win! I need to escape and request support from the first team...!'

But the moment he turned his back,

Swoosh!

The low-rank demons, hiding in the jungle, cut off his legs.

"Wh-what?"

Tilt.

His balance was lost.

Swoosh!

This time, the other leg was cut.

...What?

Thud.

His body fell to the ground.

And the mad smiles of the demons closing in on him.

That was the last thing Section Chief Lee Young-ho saw.

Kyaah! Kyaah!

Why?

Why did the words he had said to Shugo in front of the dungeon come to mind at this moment?

-If you let your guard down even a little, you'll become monster food and leave no corpse.

And that was true even for high-ranking hunters.

Everyone had only one life.

"..."

He died without even a scream.

* * *

Meanwhile, Shugo, who had been fighting the demons frantically, suddenly realized the Black Tortoise Guild was no longer in sight.

"Did they all die? Do-kyun!"

"Hey! I'm fine!"

"..."

To his surprise, Im Do-kyun was unharmed and running away.

Unlike the Black Tortoise Guild, who had been fighting the demons, he had focused solely on escaping.

'Seems like I picked a good guild member.'

Indeed, having even one skill was enough to make someone reliable.

Shugo smiled and called out to Eshil.

"Eshil! If you're done, come over here!"

"Got it!"

Swish!

Eshil, who had been pinned down by the intermediate demon earlier, was now up and hunting nearby low-rank demons.

She pulled her spear from the demons' bodies and ran towards Shugo.

Together, they looked up at the 'Transcended Intermediate Demon' that was rampaging.

"We've taken care of the minions. Let's hunt the boss now."

Did the demon understand his words?

The intermediate demon, which had been destroying everything in sight, suddenly stopped.

Then it slowly turned its head and looked down at Shugo with a terrifying gaze.

[Khh... Hunt me, you say?]

For the first time, understandable words came from the demon's mouth.

The demon, finding Shugo amusing, summoned all its low-rank demons.

In an instant, the field was filled with demons.

But the demon's gaze suddenly widened as it noticed Eshil standing next to Shugo.

[Wait. Could you be... from the Radir family?]

Having gathered all the demons, it finally noticed the distinct aura emanating from Eshil.

[Khhahaha! What a windfall!]

The intermediate demon's eyes gleamed with greed as it laughed and gave the order to its subordinates.

[Capture her! Drinking Radir's blood will make me stronger!]

Kyaah! Kyaah!

The demons, drooling, charged at them.

But Shugo smiled faintly.

He was confident in a numbers game.

Shugo also gave the order to charge.

"Rise."

At that moment, black shadows began to ripple from the dead bodies of the Black Tortoise Guild.