The Devil’s Sacred Sword (13)
Boom!
With a deafening sound, the giant’s lower jaw shattered.
Flesh and bone fragments rained down.
Despite staggering, the undead giant swung one of its elongated arms.
A massive fist sliced through the air, aiming to swat Dalen, who was still suspended in mid-air.
Crash―!
The blow sent Dalen flying, hurling him dozens of meters away.
Even amidst the jarring impact that rattled his skull, Dalen managed to flip in the air, regaining his balance before landing firmly on the ground.
Screech―
Two deep grooves etched themselves into the earth beneath his feet.
At the end of the unintended furrow, Dalen lifted his head.
Hiss…
Steam rose from his forehead, shoulders, and forearms for the first time in a while. A fierce grin twisted his lips.
This bastard’s got some fight in him.
Boom―!
The mound of earth exploded. Dalen’s figure vanished once more. Almost simultaneously, his fingertips brushed his waist.
Whirr!
A large warrior and a disc of light sliced through the darkness of the labyrinth.
The disc of light reached its target first.
Crunch!
The hand axe, propelled by the momentum of his leap, sliced effortlessly through the undead giant’s shoulder.
The inhuman strength behind the throw severed all the blood vessels and innards connecting the giant’s shoulder.
Thud―
The giant’s arm fell with a heavy thud.
The massive arm, composed of nearly ten corpses, writhed even after being severed from the body.
Groan.
The head attached to the thumb rolled its eyes, spotting Dalen.
By then, Dalen was already pummeling the giant’s main body, darting between its remaining three arms.
The lone arm curled its fingers, ready to leap and attack the warrior from behind.
Just as it tensed to spring.
“Disgusting creature!”
A blade of light severed the thumb.
Screech!
The giant’s arm screamed. The severed thumb twitched before going limp.
Lucia’s sword, imbued with holy power, severed the sinister magic flowing from the undead giant’s core.
The holy power of a paladin was the antithesis of demonic magic.
This holy power, along with sacred tattoos, was another reason the paladin order could single-handedly guard the entrance to the labyrinth.
“Dalen!”
Lucia shouted after dispatching the arm with a few swift strikes.
Dalen was systematically battering the giant’s body, moving from shoulder to arm, waist to crown.
Thud! Thud!
With each light punch, blood and flesh burst forth.
Crunch!
A single kick sent tangled arms and innards scattering.
Groan―
As it lost parts of its body, the undead giant’s resistance waned.
Dalen kicked open a large hole in its chest, then finished it off by detonating the core with a fiery arrow.
Screech!
With a final, dying scream, the giant’s body exploded like a balloon.
Thud, thud, thud.
As flesh and blood rained down like a storm, Dalen landed naturally on the ground. He spoke.
“Did you call?”
”…No.”
Blocking the rain of flesh with her shield, Lucia shook her head.
She had called out, worried about what might happen as he charged alone at a skyscraper-sized foe.
Yet, she felt a bit foolish for worrying about a man who had single-handedly swept through a gnoll settlement.
As the rain of flesh ceased, Lucia surveyed the scattered carnage and spoke.
“Still, it’s concerning. We haven’t even entered the demon’s lair, and the resistance at the entrance is this fierce.”
“On the contrary, I think now is the perfect opportunity.”
Dalen said, brushing off the entrails clinging to his shoulder.
“For explorers, a demon driven to the first floor of the labyrinth is a challenging yet tempting prey. Plus, there’s a rumor going around that the demon is severely injured.”
Of course, that rumor was false.
In truth, even the survivors of the large-scale hunting party who spread the rumor were half-deceived.
The demon wasn’t as injured as they thought.
It had merely acted to provoke betrayal within the hunting party.
As soon as that plan succeeded, it snatched the sacred sword and slaughtered a third of the party on the spot.
But the image of the demon staggering after being stabbed by the sacred sword was too enticing to forget.
None of the survivors realized it was a ruse by the demon.
So, despite the failure of the large-scale hunt, young explorers swarmed to the labyrinth’s entrance, eager to hunt the wounded demon.
“Judging by the pile of corpses, it seems the demon has lured and disposed of hundreds of explorers. There must have been a reason.”
“Demons corrupt human souls and use those tainted souls as their power. That wretched demon needed more power.”
Lucia replied. Dalen nodded.
“Indeed. It must have been injured in the battle with Paladin Barrett, so the souls of naive explorers would have been a good source to heal those wounds.”
”…And also a source of power to corrupt the sacred sword.”
“Exactly.”
To heal the wounds inflicted by the sacred sword and to corrupt the sword itself.
For that power, it would have needed at least hundreds of sacrifices.
The cunning demon lured explorers who sought it out, hunting them in turn to gather the necessary sacrifices.
So what does it mean that the entrance is now completely blocked by a massive undead giant?
“The demon believes it has secured enough sacrifices. It’s likely in the midst of a ritual to claim the sacred sword as its own.”
“And since the ritual isn’t complete yet, now is the best time to attack.”
“Precisely. You’re quick to understand.”
Dalen chuckled softly as he opened his status window. He invested the additional stat points he gained from defeating the undead giant into his health.
This brought his level to 11, with a health stat of 22.
With this, he was ready to face the demon wielding the sacred sword. He spoke.
“Let’s go. We have a comrade to avenge.”
The entrance to the cave resembled a typical natural cave.
Uneven ground, stalagmites, and stalactites growing up and down.
As they walked, listening to the drip of water from the stalactites, the surroundings began to change.
The pillars blocking the path and the piles of fallen rocks from the ceiling disappeared.
The once uneven ground was now paved with well-crafted stone slabs.
The cave’s width expanded significantly, enough for five grown men to stretch their arms side by side.
A space reminiscent of an ancient ruin’s passageway.
Lucia, walking beside Dalen, broke the silence.
“Do you know how such an environment is established inside an uninhabited labyrinth?”
“That’s typical of a demon’s lair. A maze of traps and ostentatious corridors.”
Dalen replied dryly. Lucia hesitated for a moment before speaking again.
“That’s true. But to answer the question, it’s not the demons who create the lairs, but the goblins under their command.”
Dalen glanced at Lucia.
In the darkness, he could see her face with his night vision.
The faint smugness on her face made Dalen chuckle inwardly.
So, she wants to show off her knowledge, huh?
“It’s widely known that goblins are creations of the demon god Enaxagus. But people are usually just annoyed by these pesky little devils and don’t know the details.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. In fact, goblins were Enaxagus’s attempt at creating a more productive and powerful demon, based on the most common imp of hell.”
And fortunately, the plan ended in a half-success, Lucia added, her blue eyes gleaming.
“Enaxagus originally aimed to mimic orcs. Initially, it seemed successful. So goblins inherited the orcs’ incredible reproductive ability. But in exchange, they had to forgo the orcs’ strength, and for some reason, they ended up with a stature even smaller than dwarves.”
“I see.”
“Interestingly, orcs have been capturing goblins that emerged on the surface and enslaving them for centuries. From the orcs’ perspective, goblins, with their green skin, incredible reproductive ability, dexterity, and small size, made perfect slaves.”
Lucia laughed to herself, and Dalen joined her with a low chuckle.
Her sudden chatter wasn’t without reason.
Facing a major battle, she was trying to steady her own heart.
Immersed in gloom and sorrow, one cannot perform at their best. So, in an effort to lift his spirits, he resorted to flaunting his knowledge, however uncharacteristic it might be.
“This lair wasn’t built by the current nameless demon. I read in the Palcion library before we left that another demon constructed it thirty years ago, only to be vanquished.”
“So, the one squatting here now is just a petty thief.”
“Exactly,” he chuckled.
His blue eyes curved into a noticeable arc.
Despite the smile plastered on her face, Lucia’s posture and breathing remained steady. She was ready to counter any sudden attack, a testament to her potential as a future hero.
Fortunately, no attack came.
The two walked down the long, straight corridor until they were stopped by a thick stone wall blocking their path.
“No door,” Dalen observed.
Lucia examined the wall closely. “Judging by the marks, it seems to open only with a spell.”
Dalen tapped the wall, his keen senses and intelligence calculating its thickness and solidity from the vibrations and sounds.
“Thick. About two meters, I’d say.”
The faint magical aura suggested additional enchantments, making it even more formidable than the secret vaults of the Telia Trading Company.
Even for him, breaking it without using dragon blood would be a challenge.
“Step back,” he instructed.
With the demon’s lair so close, turning back because of a single wall was not an option. Dalen loosened his shoulders and moved Lucia aside, setting down his bag and chest against the corridor wall.
He inhaled deeply, the breath reaching the tips of his limbs, awakening his muscles and nerves.
His heart pounded, sending hot blood coursing through his veins, and his steel-like muscles twisted in response to his will, ready to unleash their full power.
“It’s been a while.”
Since his battle with the Grandmaster, he hadn’t gone all out. The thought of using his full strength again filled the warrior’s body with eager anticipation.
How much could his body, which had grown beyond human limits, handle now? And how far could his newfound ability, the “Domain,” extend his control over that power?
After hearing about the Domain from the elder mage Felber, Dalen had pondered its implications countless times.
“Using the Domain means bringing forth possibilities to perform miracles on this earth.”
He closed his eyes and recalled the snowy mountain landscape he had once faced. The first cold breath he took there, and his body, resilient and warm despite the chill.
The computer in the cabin was no longer visible. By confronting and overcoming that past, Dalen had proven the capacity of his strength.
Instead, the abandoned cabin’s fireplace roared as if to consume the stove, while the table and chairs in one corner were frozen by the hovering cold.
Outside, where cold and heat coexisted, thunder rumbled without a flash of lightning, shaking the cabin and the snowy mountain.
Feeling the thunder’s vibration in his physical body, Dalen opened his eyes.
He drew his axe.
If using the Domain meant realizing possibilities, there was no need to rely solely on his fists.
The axe, crafted with Reberon’s effort and care, was already worn from Dalen’s rough handling.
“It should hold for one more strike.”
The axe vibrated in resonance with the thunder that shook the snowy mountain in his mind, as if urging him to unleash it and shatter the wall.
Dalen grinned and raised his hand.
He focused his will on the seam of the wall, poised to strike with the axe over his shoulder.
All he needed was a single blow to break through the demon’s barrier.
As his unwavering will distorted the surrounding magic, the unexpected happened.
The massive stone wall began to open on its own.
“Come forth, warrior of the frozen plains and the young paladin yet to bloom,” a voice rumbled.
Through the half-opened wall, a demon with four arms and a towering frame, as tall as a three-story building, glared with black eyes.
Aside from its dark skin and the horns on its head, it resembled the giant corpse they had encountered at the cave entrance.
“Hmm.”
Dalen hesitated for a moment.
The wall he intended to break was gone, and the demon he sought stood before him.
The Domain was already manifesting its power in reality.
The axe trembled, ready to spring forth.
His regenerative cells began to emit steam.
He wasn’t yet adept at retracting this unfolding miracle.
The best he could do was slightly adjust his aim.
But in this situation, that was more than enough.
“I see the stars have revealed your deeds in the labyrinth. You’ve dealt with Enaxagus’s pawns, the living forest created by Lapilem, the frogmen of the swamp Belzebub sought to use, and… hmm?”
The demon’s gaze shifted to Dalen, listing their accomplishments with a smirk.
Realizing the twisted flow of magic and the axe resonating in Dalen’s hand, the demon’s expression turned to shock.
“Talks too much,” Dalen quipped with a smirk, mocking the demon with a few words.
A vertical beam of light, without a sound, sliced through the darkness like lightning, engulfing the demon.
And then—
A colossal thunderclap shook the lair’s corridors and chambers.