The Chain Throne (4)
“Tsk. Interference from a dark god, huh?”
What a mess, Enaxagus.
Whoosh! Clang―
Dalen twisted his body, narrowly dodging the chains flying at him, muttering under his breath.
It wasn’t hard to piece together what was happening.
The events that unfolded after dealing with Calcas’s true form were enough to provide context with just a bit of thought.
The shards of the staff that had been pouring out dark magic—those were undoubtedly imbued with Enaxagus’s secret sorcery.
The conditions and effects of the spell were easy to deduce. The spell activated the moment Calcas met his end.
And its effect? Using the freshly deceased demon’s body as a sacrifice to summon the killer straight to hell.
“A multi-layered dimensional transfer spell, no doubt.”
[Hahaha! How long do you plan to keep running?]
Boom! Crash!
Ignoring the demon’s maniacal laughter and the thunderous noise chasing him, Dalen pushed off the ground, sprinting through the forest.
Snap! Crack!
Thick hell trees snapped like toothpicks as his agile form narrowly evaded the barrage of chains.
Then, a chilling premonition struck him.
“Tsk.”
Clicking his tongue lightly, he launched himself into the air.
Swish…
He sensed the spiked chain flying in from his blind spot and reflexively swung his sword in less than half a breath.
Clang!
The impact reverberated through his grip, heavier than anything he’d faced in the cavern. It was only natural. This was the Chain Throne, Calcas’s stronghold.
A hell forged by the demon’s power, where every condition favored the enemy.
Crack!
In the brief moment his feet touched the ground, a chill seeped in. His boots were already in tatters.
Thud! Clang…
Chains erupted from the ground without warning, slicing through the air like serpents.
Chains as thick as a man’s thigh to those as massive as ancient trees all aimed to capture Dalen.
”…”
Dalen, who had been carefully observing everything, suddenly stopped running and landed on the ground.
He had finished his calculations.
“This won’t be easy.”
Perhaps it was the grudge from being beaten by a party of humans, witches, and dwarves.
The demon was relentless, determined to leave not even a bone fragment behind.
Facing this relentless assault, Dalen calculated the remaining strength of his foe.
The number and power of the chains, the cold they carried, the flow of magic opening and closing spaces, and even the hidden variables the demon might still be concealing.
A phase 4 battle, something he’d never encountered even in games.
Especially since this was the Chain Hell, Calcas’s domain, he needed to fully understand the demon’s state and abilities.
“But it’s not entirely hopeless.”
A small silver lining.
While the demon succeeded in trapping Dalen, it couldn’t maintain its full strength.
Summoned with only 30% of its power, the demon had sacrificed its true form, leaving it with about 60-70% of its strength.
With that, the odds of winning with his current power were less than 10%.
In a game, just having a non-zero chance would be enough to dive into the fight with excitement.
But Dalen wasn’t satisfied with that.
This world was no longer a fictional realm beyond a monitor, and he had only one shot.
“It’s a gamble, but if it works, the odds are 100%.”
Inhaling deeply, he steadied himself, planting his feet firmly on the ground.
With a simple motion, he raised the holy sword with both hands, a whirlwind starting from his shoulders racing down the blade.
Boom! Rumble!
As the wave of chains crashed down, Dalen swung the holy sword imbued with sacred fire.
Whoosh!
It began as a thin arc of white flame, like a spark in the air.
Roar―
Then a storm of white sacred fire erupted, fanning out from the arc.
Crackle―!
The wave of chains clashed with the fiery storm.
The collision of power shattered the space around them.
Hounds that had been trailing Dalen were torn apart, and the deep roots of hell trees were ripped from the ground.
Even from a distance, the force was enough to carve deep grooves in the ground as Dalen was pushed back.
As the destructive clash subsided.
[Heh, have you given up?]
Calcas, now closer, sneered from his throne, his eyes gleaming.
[The Shattering Sword of the Knight King Laphantela, and sacred fire. Warrior, it’s clear the potential created in your domain is anything but ordinary. So, is that your best?]
The demon taunted. Dalen chuckled lowly.
For a warrior wielding a holy sword, this would indeed be the best.
The power of his domain combined with the holy sword’s ability had birthed the ‘Thunder Strike.’
And the white flame storm, a fusion of Laphantela’s Shattering Sword and the sacred fire obtained from the rift.
In most battles, Dalen had relied on these two abilities as his main techniques.
Few enemies could withstand even one of them. Often, they weren’t even necessary.
Dalen’s current state was like having used cheat codes multiple times.
Most fights were resolved with a few swings of his sword or a couple of axe strikes.
Of course, a higher demon like Calcas required a stronger remedy.
[Hahaha! Where’s that confidence from before, warrior?]
Ignoring the demon’s mocking laughter that echoed through the forest, Dalen inhaled the frigid air slowly.
He glanced down at his left arm. The familiar blue tattoo was gone.
The spell embedded in the staff shard was designed to transfer only one killer.
Dalen tapped the blade of the holy sword. The faint vibration that had been present ceased.
[Yes. Mortal insects should keep their eyes on the ground, so where do you think you’re going…]
And in its place, the demon’s voice began to tremble, sensing the anomaly.
Dalen exhaled the breath he’d been holding.
Whoosh.
The exhaled heat drove away the cold surrounding him.
Whoosh!
The ground and trees covered in icy chains began to burn with a sudden crimson flame.
Dalen lifted his head. Calcas’s blue eyes met his.
Vertical slits of deep crimson pupils.
The demon gasped at the sight.
[How… Even if you could contain a dragon’s power, wielding its flame with a mortal body should be impossible!]
“Shut up.”
Thud.
With a step, the air around him shifted.
Chains within several meters snapped and shattered, scattering into the air.
Facing the demon’s eyes filled with shock, Dalen bared his sharp fangs.
I’ve got a phase 2 as well, you bastard.
Swish…
A rain of chains descended.
For an ordinary human, the cold alone would freeze their skin, and a mere graze would shatter their body into pieces.
Against the deluge that could wipe out an army of hundreds, a single sword was swung.
The blade traced a crimson arc.
And then.
Shatter━━━
The hellish chains shattered into fragments.
Amidst the falling metal shards, Dalen silently lowered his sword.
He steadied his breath and lightly pushed off the ground.
Thud―
In an instant, he soared dozens of meters into the air, reaching eye level with the giant seated on the throne.
[Impossible…!]
The demon, who had been so confident moments ago, rose urgently, drawing a sword from the throne’s backrest.
A blade several meters long, as if meant to cleave through buildings rather than people.
Chains entwined around the blade glowed with sinister runes, drawing in all the surrounding magic.
Rumble…
The mere swing of the sword made the air tremble.
In response, Dalen extended his own sword.
The holy sword, now more akin to a dragon’s claw due to the dense black flames.
Clash━
The moment of impact was brief.
━━━!
In the blink of an eye, it was Dalen who was pushed back.
Boom!
The shockwave swept the ground like a powerful bomb had detonated.
Dalen spread wings of flame, barely stabilizing his body against the force.
“Ugh.”
One clash had sent him flying nearly a hundred meters. The explosion of power left numerous wounds on Dalen’s body.
Meanwhile, Calcas remained standing atop his throne.
He bore a few minor scratches, but those were nothing his demonic regeneration couldn’t handle in no time.
“Ha! As expected, no mortal can wield that power without consequence!”
The demon let out a booming laugh. Of course, he wasn’t entirely unscathed either.
A third of the chains wrapped around his sword had been torn away, and the chain throne, a symbol of his power, was cracked in several places.
“Swinging around uncontrollable power like a child with a real sword—what a foolish endeavor!”
Yet, his words rang true.
The blood of the crimson dragon.
Among the dozen or so skills Dalen possessed, it was the highest-ranked, an A-grade power.
Unlike his other skills, the dragon’s blood was beyond his full control, and it had a history of trying to incinerate his domain with a will of its own.
For a long time, he had suppressed its consciousness with the power of the holy sword, and after meeting Bourbon, he had sealed it using a young azure dragon.
In truth, the reason he was fighting the demon now was due to a deal with Bourbon to obtain a mystical body.
Unless he reached a point where he could stand shoulder to shoulder with transcendents, managing this power with his current body and talent was impossible.
‘That’s why.’
Dalen had no intention of relying solely on his own abilities to wield this power.
‘True Dragon.’
He spoke inwardly, envisioning the massive ancient dragon curled atop a snowy mountain.
‘The spear of the dragon god, the nameless dragon.’
He reached out again, determined, to the silent presence that seemed to ignore him.
‘If I die, your last chance disappears too. Is that what you want?’
“Do not pretend to know everything, human. I have nested within your domain.”
A deep, resonant voice echoed within his mind.
“Even if your petty tricks worked on others, I know the source of your mind.”
A surge of irritation coursed through his consciousness, and his vision wavered.
“Ugh.”
A pressure like molten lava filled his head, his skin cracking and spewing black flames.
It was a sharp declaration of intent, as if to say it could tear his body apart at any moment.
The holy sword tried desperately to suppress the power, but Dalen placed a steady hand on its blade.
And he spoke.
“You should know better, having nested within my mind.”
He took a deep breath, carefully choosing his next words.
“I am your only hope of fulfilling your wish.”
Silence followed. But the dizziness in his vision subsided.
Dalen grinned. Alright. The bait had been taken.
Now, all that remained was to coax this ancient transcendent to his side, just as he had done countless times since arriving in this world.