Chapter 56
Enemy and Enemy (8)
After recovering, Helles began to move in earnest.
Snap!
When Helles snapped his fingers briskly, a long spear appeared. The spear was pitch black, as if it would even absorb light itself. Seeing this, Bella’s eyes showed a peculiar interest.
‘This is a form of magic I’ve never seen before.’
Generally, the form of magical attacks has no meaning. Whether lightning takes the form of a spear or a hammer, the essence remains the same. Unless the magic itself is focused on physical impact, penetration, or cutting power, the form is merely decorative. However, the spear Helles created was somehow different. It felt like looking at steel that had been forged to be extremely sharp and hard.
“Let us begin.”
As Helles spoke, she lightly flicked his hand. In response, the spear flew at tremendous speed, releasing a sharp tearing sound.
Whooooosh!
Bella, who was already prepared, quickly deployed a magic shield. It wasn’t a simple shield, but rather multiple shields layered to maximize defensive power. This level of defense wouldn’t break even if a meteor fell from above.
-Clang!
A fairly strong impact was felt as the spear collided with the shield. However, the spear ultimately failed to penetrate the shield and bounced off.
‘This is more trivial than I expected.’
Just as Bella was feeling relieved, thinking it was a less impressive magic than anticipated.
The deflected spear returned and began attacking the shield in earnest.
‘Ugh…!’
The spear struck the shield wildly as if it were alive.
An incredible speed that the eye couldn’t follow. Each strike was powerful enough to make the shield reverberate. The spear persistently targeted the same spot, trying to break through the shield.
Crack! Clang!
Every second, the shield cracked and broke. Yet all Bella could do was continuously regenerate the shield. An endless war of attrition. Bella tried to deploy other magic to turn the situation around, but conditions weren’t favorable.
If he took his eyes off the shield for even a moment, it was clear the shield would break and the black spear would pierce his skull.
“You’re holding up better than expected. Well then.”
Helles smiled wickedly as he watched Bella desperately blocking the spear.
“How about two of them?”
Helles snapped his fingers briskly again. Another spear identical to the previous one appeared and flew toward Bella.
‘He can cast this magic simultaneously!?’
Bella was shocked at this sight. The black spear that Helles wielded.
Within this seemingly simple magic was magical manipulation so excellent that even Bella, who had studied magic for thousands of years, was amazed.
‘It’s already challenging to control one spear, yet he brings out another…’
Bella shook his head while thinking.
‘This is no time for admiration.’
As he said, blocking one spear was already challenging. There was no way he could block two. It was time to make a decisive move.
Bella maximized his shield while simultaneously hiding within his undead army.
“Hahaha! Try running as hard as you can!”
The black spears closely pursued Bella, penetrating everything in their path.
Crash!
Skeleton bones flew everywhere, and the bodies of giant monsters were penetrated like jelly. The two spears tore through the battlefield, destroying everything.
The moment he was caught, he would meet the same fate. Bella fled with all his might. Yet he didn’t stop casting magic.
Whiiing!
Golden lasers extended from Bella. However, Bella’s magic was blocked and destroyed by the spears before reaching Helles. Nothing could stop the spears. The black spears seemed to exist above the laws of this world.
‘They’re catching up!’
The spears had come right up to Bella’s nose. The needle-sharp tips of the spears approached right before her nose.
‘Just when I thought my time had finally come…’
He had been careless. If he had prepared properly, he wouldn’t have been caught so helplessly. After Agon and Adraz disappeared, he had become arrogant, thinking no one could stand against him anymore.
‘How futile.’
Just before the spear pierced Bella’s head. Something blocked Bella’s front.
“Hyah!”
Kang Hyeon, appearing from somewhere, reached out with both hands and grabbed the two spears. The spears struggled like living beings, trying to break free from Kang Hyeon’s grip.
The tremendous force pushed back Kang Hyeon’s body, and red blood flowed from both his hands. However, the spears ultimately couldn’t escape Kang Hyeon’s grip and stopped moving. Kang Hyeon clenched his fist and struck the center of the spears.
Clang!
The spears that seemed unbreakable shattered into two pieces.
Hissss
They then turned into black smoke. For a moment, Bella’s thoughts stopped. When had Kang Hyeon approached? Why was Kang Hyeon helping her?
No, was it even physically possible to grab and break those spears in the first place? Her mind was in chaos. Then Kang Hyeon turned around and looked at Bella. On his face was a smile that was both mischievous and cruel.
“What are you doing? Now that reinforcements have arrived, let’s start round two.”
***
Ippotranslation
***
Helles frowned as she saw the spears break.
‘What kind of person is this?’
The appearance is clearly human. The race that once ruled the dimension called Earth. However, now they are essentially at the bottom of the food chain, barely managing to survive as a pathetic race. That was Helles’ assessment of humans.
‘Breaking my spear? A human?’
It was a spear made sharp with highly condensed magical power. To create that seemingly simple spear, Helles had worked for hundreds of years and poured an enormous amount of magical power into it.
‘A human broke that…’
And they broke it by striking it with their fist. If he hadn’t seen it himself and someone had told him this, he would have certainly been irritated, dismissing it as an unfunny joke.
“This might get a bit interesting.”
Helles smiled as he watched Kang Hyeon flying towards him.
A broken spear?
He had already made it tens of thousands of times. Currently, Helles could create spears as easily as breathing.
“While your physical abilities are remarkable, this time will be difficult.”
Another pitch-black spear appeared in front of Helles. It was slightly larger and even more solid than the previous one.
Swoosh!
The spear that flew at tremendous speed reached Kang Hyeon in the blink of an eye, and was about to pierce through his head.
“Hm?”
He certainly thought that would happen. But somehow Kang Hyeon had disappeared. Simultaneously, he felt an enormous impact on his head.
Thud!
Kang Hyeon had struck Helles’ head with his interlocked hands. Helles fell to the ground at a speed as fast as the spear he had shot.
Crash!
The impact resonated with the ground. A crater formed where Helles fell, as if a meteorite had struck. However, the attack did not end there. Before the dust from the collision could settle, golden beams of magical power flew from all directions toward the center of the crater.
Boom!
Bella continued to fire magical beams without rest, as if intending to end it completely. Some thought this might be the end of the battle. However, Kang Hyeon muttered quietly.
“Here it comes.”
Simultaneously, hundreds of tentacles began to extend from where Helles was. These were the same tentacles that had previously caught and devoured other beings of chaos. While Bella stupidly watched this sight, Kang Hyeon had no intention of staying still. They had already discussed this with their companions.
“Go! Han Se-yeon!”
Kang Hyeon extended his hand like a pocket monster trainer.
“That tone is a bit unpleasant!”
At the same time, Han Se-yeon, who had been waiting for an opportunity from behind, rushed toward Helles.
Swoosh!
Massive bundles of tentacles rushed to stop her, but it was useless.
Slash!
Every time Han Se-yeon swung her sword, the giant tentacles were cut down.
Han Se-yeon continued running past the tentacle pieces dropping to the ground.
“Since it’s dangerous, don’t get too close and just focus on cutting the tentacles!”
“I know!”
Han Se-yeon swung her sword frantically as blood sprayed in all directions. But the battlefield was wide, and the tentacle stems continued to extend endlessly. It was too much for Han Se-yeon to handle alone. Seeing the monsters being caught and dragged by the tentacles, Kang Hyeon rushed toward Helles.
‘We can’t give him time to recover.’
While the surprise attack using Blink had succeeded this time, there was no guarantee it would work again. They needed to end the fight when they had the upper hand. Breaking through the dust, he saw Helles spewing tentacles from his mouth.
“Damn. This is too disgusting to watch.”
Helles was still a life form with a form similar to humans. Seeing tentacles emerge from his split head wasn’t a pleasant sight for any normal person. Helles, whose head was tilted back from spewing massive tentacles, rolled his eyes to look at Kang Hyeon. Kang Hyeon approached Helles in an instant, kicking off the ground.
“What are you looking at!”
Kang Hyeon’s fist enhanced with magical power. His fist, harder than steel and powerful enough to crush a tank, struck Helles’ eye directly.
Crack!
Perhaps due to the connected tentacles, an enormous mass could be felt. But there was no problem in sending him flying. Helles couldn’t even scream before his head was slammed into the ground. The impact sent the monsters wrapped in Helles’ tentacles scattering in all directions.
“Going again!”
Kang Hyeon didn’t stop and kicked Helles’ head as he lay fallen.
Crack!
The sound of bones breaking came from Helles’ neck. But Kang Hyeon didn’t stop.
“Disgustingly tough!”
The scene of Helles flying from the kick and Kang Hyeon chasing after him to kick again repeated.
Gradually, Helles’ neck began to tear as it couldn’t withstand the impacts.
“I wanted to be a striker in middle school too!”
Perhaps he was trying to vent his frustration from not being a starter in inter-class matches during his school days. Kang Hyeon put all his strength into the final strike.
Helles’ grotesque eye, half-regenerated, captured the approaching Kang Hyeon.
“This is the end!”
Just before Kang Hyeon’s foot could kick Helles’ head.
Bang!
An explosion occurred from Helles’ body, and black smoke burst forth.
***
Ippotranslation
***
Kang Hyeon and his companions had no choice but to dodge.
This was because the smoke emanating from Helles’s body filled the battlefield.
“What is that now?”
“One thing’s for certain – it’s harmful to the body.”
Han Se-yeon spoke while raising her arm.
“What’s happening to my arm!?”
“Kyaa! Heal it quickly!”
The companions were horrified seeing the skin decay like an undead’s.
“Healing magic isn’t working.”
Her tone was casual, as if discussing someone else’s matter.
“Wait a moment!”
Yoon Na-rae frantically cast healing magic on Han Se-yeon’s arm.
Though the arm was gradually recovering, the process was far too slow.
“Ms. Yoon Na-rae. Can you regenerate severed body parts?”
“Yes, that’s possible, but…”
Before Yoon Na-rae could finish speaking, Han Se-yeon swung her sword and cut off her own arm.
“This might be easier.”
Everyone kept their mouths shut seeing Han Se-yeon behave in a way typical of Kang Hyeon.
“You’ve gotten quite clever.”
Only Kang Hyeon nodded in satisfaction.
“Anyway, we need to figure out what this smoke is now.”
Magic had no effect when shot at it, and it wouldn’t move even when blown by wind. They couldn’t approach it either, leaving them feeling frustrated.
“Could it be dead?”
“That’s not it.”
Strong magical power could still be felt from within. Helles was certainly alive.
“Hey Belli. Got nothing to say?”
“It’s Bella.”
“Whatever, do you know what this smoke is?”
When Kang Hyeon asked Bella who was standing nearby, Bella shook his head.
“The chaos attribute magic they use existed only in legends and theory. Even I am seeing a proper one for the first time.”
“If you don’t know just say so, why give such a long explanation?”
Previously, Bella would have threatened to turn his head to gold for being impudent as a human, but Bella didn’t do so now.
They had lived for a very long time, but still wanted to live longer.
“Oh oh? The smoke…!”
Just then, Yoon Na-rae shouted excitedly.
“It’s decreasing!”
As Yoon Na-rae said, the black smoke was gradually disappearing.
Or more precisely, it was gathering toward the center.
“Ugh.”
Yoon Na-rae frowned looking at the ground where the smoke had disappeared.
The monsters and corpses that were there had all decayed, giving off a terrible smell.
“Looks like the transformation is finally complete.”
Kang Hyeon said with an indifferent expression.
“Transformation?”
“Yeah.”
The smoke that had finally gathered in the center.
It began to take some form as it condensed, and soon achieved a complete appearance.
“Kyaaaaaaaa!”
Even just the roar brought forth a tremendous magical wind.
‘In terms of pure magical power, it’s almost Adraz level.’
It was far more powerful magical energy than Ulkall, the chaos being they fought before.
If its combat ability was also comparable to Adraz, it would be impossible to win in their current state.
“Let me say one thing before the main game begins.”
However, running away without fighting wasn’t an option for Kang Hyeon.
Kang Hyeon stepped forward.
“Don’t any of you die.”
Then Yoon Na-rae thrust out her fist and shouted.
“Iki masho-!”
“What nonsense are you suddenly speaking? I, ike?”
“Ikimasho. It means ‘Let’s go!’ Don’t you even know that?”
“How would I know that, you weeb!”
After hitting the back of Yoon Na-rae’s head, Kang Hyeon ran forward.
“Kyaaaaa!”
Helles, transformed into a giant monster, roared again upon seeing Kang Hyeon.
Looking at it, Kang Hyeon grinned.
“Let’s ikimasho to hell!”
