Grace raised her staff once again to end the monsters for sure . The winds whirled in front of her staff . She wanted the winds to cut apart the monsters and also fan the flames . However, she couldn’t finish her spell .

  Duhp-suhk!

  Sungyoon unfurled his wings . He grabbed Grace and got away from the fire pit .

  “Mr . Sungyoon? Why…… . ”


  Kwahng!

  A deafening roar rang out as the stalagmites fell apart .

  “They are still alive?”


  “I believe so . ”


  The flames continued to climb the wall of stalagmites as the heat became more intense . This made the spell more powerful than usual . However, it wasn’t enough .

  “Still, they suffered a significant amount of damage . ”


  The monsters finally broke through the wall of stalagmites, and it was a frightening sight . Their skin had melted, revealing their bones in some parts . Despite that, they continued to exude murderous auras .

  “They are resilient . ”


  “Their resilience is of no use . ”


  Sungyoon suddenly kicked off the ground .

  Kwahhhhhng!

  He dodged Kevil’s whip by moving to the side with Grace . The whip once again flew toward them, but this time, Tim ran forward to block the attack . An explosive sound rang out, and Tim’s shield turned red from the heat .

  “Are you ok?”


  “Yes . We are fine . ”


  Sungyoon put down Grace .

  “We wanted to kill the other monsters first, but it seems we failed . ”


  Tim looked at the two monsters that were still alive .

  “I don’t think they can fight anymore with those injuries . Even if they are tenacious, in that state, it’s not of much use—”


  Tim suddenly stopped speaking . The effect was slow, but he could see the injuries healing .

  “What kind of monsters are those?”


  These two monsters had large bat-like wings and horns like the devil . They also had sharp and dangerous eyes .

  In many ways, they resembled Kevil .

  “We have no records of these monsters . However, they appeared alongside Kevil, and we decided to call them Archdemons . Considering their appearance and strength, we theorized that they are elite troops under Kevil’s command . ”


  Sungyoon answered the question .

  “So we have to kill them first, right?”


  “I would prefer that . It’ll make our battle much easier . Therefore, I would like you to stall Kevil with Ms . Emily and Ms . Grace . Can you do that?”


  Tim didn’t even need to ask . He knew what Sungyoon wanted to do . Tim looked at Kevil . Like the devil it was, Kevil folded its wings as it approached Sungyoon’s party .

  “We can do it for a short period . We won’t last long . ”


  “I just need a moment . ”


  Sungyoon felt the power slowly rise in his body . He clenched his fist .

  “Then please take care of them as soon as possible . ”


  Tim took up his shield as he got in the way of Kevil . Emily and Grace moved behind him to provide support .

  Soon, the fight between Kevil and Tim started, and Sungyoon turned his back on the battle .

  The Archdemons were steadily recovering from their wounds . Their exposed bones could no longer be seen as their flesh had regenerated, and their melted faces had also recovered .

  ‘They are small, but according to the report, they are stronger than the likes of the Behemoth and the Leviathan . ’


  It was understandable how these two had survived Grace’s spell .

  ‘It doesn’t change the fact that they are weakened . ’


  Sungyoon grabbed his sword .

  Taht!

  He kicked off the ground . Even though he hadn’t unfurled his wings, he was astonishingly fast .

  In a flash, he appeared in front of the Archdemons .

  “Koo-roo?”


  The two monsters were taken aback, and this provided a good opening for Sungyoon . He immediately swung his sword .

  ‘Koohk!’


  Sungyoon groaned . He wasn’t used to the increase in his strength, so he had a hard time controlling himself .

  When he abruptly moved, he lost balance, and his sword shook . However, he had done enough .

  Kwah-roo-roo-roo-roong!

  An ear-splitting thunder rang in the air as the sword cut through half of the neck of the monster . Then, lightning poured in through the wound .

  Guwehhhhhhhh!

  After receiving the attack, the Archdemon let out an odd scream . However, the scream lasted only a moment . The lightning fried its vocal cords and stopped its screams . The thunder had drowned out the scream in the first place, and now, the Archdemon couldn’t scream ever again .

  The other Archdemon attacked Sungyoon, who had yet to regain his balance . It sent its claws toward his face, but he didn’t feel any sense of danger .

  ‘Slow . ’


  Sungyoon raised his halberd . Even in his unbalanced state, he was as calm as ever when he swung his halberd .

  Suh-guhk!

  The Archdemon’s arm flew high into the sky, and its partially melted face distorted further . Sungyoon lowered his halberd and rotated his body to stab the monster’s thigh with the spear blade .

  Puh-uhng!

  Goo-ehhhhhhhhk!

  Its thigh basically exploded .

  With a scream, the Archdemon fell .

  Sungyoon repositioned his feet to regain balance, then grabbed his hammer . However, he wasn’t planning on using it to deal the final blow on the Archdemon .

  Hoo-oong!

  He threw the hammer, and it spun as it headed toward Kevil, who was about to bring his fire sword down on Tim .

  Kwahng!

  The hammer collided with Kevil’s fire sword . The fire from the sword amplified the explosion that erupted from the hammer .

  Kevil glared at Sungyoon as he summoned his ax . Sungyoon raised his ax in the air as if he wanted Kevil to see it . Then, he brought it down on the Archdemon that was flopping on the ground like a fish out of water .

  Ggeeeeeeek!

  He severed its arm, and the poison spread through the wound .

  Kyahhhhhhhhhhk!

  The Archdemon trembled on the ground due to the pain, and the poison continued spreading .

  Ggoo-roohk!

  Soon, a foul stench emanated from the Archdemon, and its body started to decompose .

  Sungyoon left the corpse as if he were avoiding a foul item . He walked toward Kevil and glanced at his watch .

  “That was forty seconds . I’m not too late, right?”


  “Of course not! You came really quickly!”


  Even though his face was scrunched up due to the throbbing pain in his arm, Tim enthusiastically welcomed Sungyoon .

  Unlike Tim, Kevil’s eyes turned dead serious .

  “You have become pretty good at using that power . ”


  “I’ve used it once or twice . ”


  It was said that experience was the best teacher . Sungyoon wasn’t like before when he wielded this power in ignorance . He had gained too much experience to do that .

  ‘Still, I can’t bring out the power on command . ’


  In order to use this power, Sungyoon needed a catalyst like Kevil .

  “You’re using Master’s power, yet you’re so confident . How cute!”


  Kevil mocked Sungyoon . However, Sungyoon had no plans of losing a battle of words .

  “In the first place, Grenoid’s power isn’t the source of magical energy . I’ll concede that your master uses it better than others . However, are you saying it’s your master’s power just because he uses it better than others? Even a five-year-old making such a braindead argument would be berated by an adult . ”


  Sungyoon let out a burst of small laughter .

  “You serve a malformed monster created by humans . Is this conversation too hard to follow for a mentally-challenged child like you? I’m sorry! I should’ve considered your mental capacity before speaking . ”


  Ooh-doo-doohk!

  Kevil ground his teeth . This lowly human dared to make fun of his master .

  Despite Kevil’s furious state, Sungyoon didn’t stop .

  “You can grind your teeth like that? That’s surprising . It seems Grenoid did give you a modicum of intelligence when it created you . ”


  “Die!”


  Kevil lengthened his fire sword and swung it, but Sungyoon retreated backward .

  Too-hwahk!

  The sword continued to increase in length as it chased after Sungyoon like a snake covered in fire .

  The tip of the sword glistened like poisonous fangs .

  Kwahng!

  Sungyoon blocked the sword with his shield .

  Zzuhk!

  Kevil opened its mouth, revealing red flames rolling within .

  Puh-uhhhhhhhhng!

  Flames shot out of its mouth . They weren’t the regular flames that could be swayed by the wind . They shot straight toward Sungyoon without facing any obstruction . Sungyoon didn’t even think about it as he dodged to the side .

  Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwahng!

  Kevil turned its head, and the flames moved according to its movements, burning everything in their path .

  Thick black smoke rose into the air as the fire melted the ground .

  “Hoo-ahhhhhhp!”


  Suddenly, Tim approached Kevil from a blind spot and struck its jaw with his hammer .

  Kwahng!

  “Koo-ooh-ooh!”


  An explosion occurred within Kevil’s closed mouth .

  Kevil groaned in pain as it swung its fist down on Tim . However, Tim raised his shield .

  Boom!

  “Oooooooh!”


  His elbows and knees bent, but Tim withstood the attack . He was about to bash his shield and counterattack, but Kevil’s tail grabbed his ankle .

  “Oooh-ahhhhhhhhhk!”


  Kevil lifted Tim into the air .

  Tim was large in stature, and he had worn heavy armor, yet Kevil swung him around like a piece of paper .

  Hoo-oong!

  Kevil sent Tim flying away .

  Kwang!

  Tim slammed into the floor .

  “Cough!”


  He coughed .

  “Tim!”


  Emily dashed toward him .

  “I’m . . . I’m fine . I’m not hurt thanks to the armor . ”


  Tim was telling the truth; he had not suffered any wounds . Of course, his armor couldn’t reduce the force of the attack, and he was having a bit of a hard time breathing .

  However, he knew this effect was temporary . Therefore, he stopped Emily from using a healing spell .

  Kwahng! Kwahng!

  An explosion rang out as weapons clashed . After Kevil had thrown Tim, Sungyoon had charged at Kevil . He kept alternating between his sword, ax, hammer, and halberd to attack Kevil .

  However, Kevil deflected all the attacks . Then it flapped its enormous wings to generate wind . The wind managed to slightly push back Sungyoon .

  Chahng!

  Kevil’s nails grew longer by almost half a meter . As if they were scythes, the nails came crashing toward Sungyoon’s neck .

  Kwahng!

  Sungyoon raised his shield to block the nails . Kevil’s snake-like tail had been biding its time for this moment . Dodging the shield, Kevil shot its tail, which contained a sharp barb at its end, toward Sungyoon .

  Boom!

  Sungyoon fixed the shield in one hand and used the other to hold the sword and block the tail .

  Pah-jee-jeek!

  Lighting erupted from the sword, but it showed little effect on Kevil .

  ‘As expected, the lightning is useless unless it goes through a wound . ’


  At a glance, Sungyoon could tell that Kevil’s skin was covered in hard scales .

  ‘I just have to create a wound, and it’s game over . ’


  Sungyoon pushed harder . He made Kevil retreat a step by pushing with his sword and shield . Then, he suddenly changed his weapons . Now, he had a hammer in one hand and an ax in the other .

  Kwahng!

  The hammer clashed against Kevil’s fire sword as it caused an explosion .

  Chahng!

  The ax stopped Kevil’s nails . Surprisingly, Sungyoon and Kevil were pretty even as they fought one on one .

  No . Sungyoon held a slight edge .

  “You…… bastard!”


  A bit of desperation was evident in Kevil’s voice . Unlike it, Sungyoon inwardly rejoiced .

  ‘It works!’


  His amplified power was beyond imagination . He realized there was a possibility he could defeat Kevil by himself .

  Sungyoon dodged the nails coming toward him . Kevil’s tail shot forward to encircle Sungyoon’s ankle, but Sungyoon brought his foot down on it . His counterattack left Kevil defenseless .

  “Hah-ahhhhhht!”


  Sungyoon used his hammer .

  Kwahhhhhng!

  A massive explosion erupted when the hammer struck Kevil . Sungyoon’s party members, who were watching the fight from a close distance, clenched their fists . They all thought that it was a clean blow, which should also be a mortal blow .

  However, Sungyoon’s face scrunched up .

  “Whew! That was dangerous . ”


  His face crumpled even further when he heard Kevil’s annoying voice .