Chapter 145:
Demonic Realm.
As the name suggested, it was a realm overflowing with those of demonic race and monsters.
With demonic energy that will drive most living beings mad just from breathing it, monsters that can easily annihilate a hundred people lived here tearing each other’s throats.
The ones who know of the demonic realm all said this.
No matter how strong one might be, they would never survive in the demonic realm.
Even the demons who have been bestowed a rank by the demon lord can be easily seen fighting. In the demonic realm, duels were an everyday occurrence.
Nothing could defeat the ferociousness of the demonic realm purely based on logic of power.
Even the most experienced warriors deem the demonic realm as something that should not exist in the present.
Even with the holy sword, it was not something a young man with amnesia could handle.
But
“Just… what…. Is this……”
Sometimes, it existed.
“How come his movements have improved after losing his memories……?”
The beings that surpass the unthinkable.
‘Did he really lose his memories?’
To Allen, it was the existence of that black haired young man, calmly slicing open the monsters.
Neal.
A long time companion and the strongest hero of humanity…….
By sacrificing his memories, he managed to manifest a single strike surpassing the limits against an elite demon a month ago.
In return, he lost all memories on top of every power from the dragon lord.
All that he had left was a single holy sword, and companions that he could not remember.
Even the hero of salvation could never fight with calmness in this situation.
The years of experience in battles were gone, and yet they were pushed into battle after battle without a rest.
Allen, no, even Daisy and Zerva all thought this.
That Neal would no longer have the power of a hero.
―Neal has forgotten about us. There’s no way that he can fight anymore. All he is now is just a normal human.
The day Neal opened his eyes again, Daily spoke in conviction.
That Neal is so broken that he could no longer be the hero of salvation.
So the decision that they have so cunningly agreed upon was not wrong.
‘……back then, yes, back then we thought like that.’
But not anymore.
Allen swallowed down staring at the battlefield painted with blood.
Shnnngg─!
The holy sword continued to emit starlight to overturn the corrupted soil.
And the monsters the size of buildings fell without a shout.
At a glance, it would seem that this was an annihilation from using one of the abilities of the holy sword ‘starlight’…..
But that was not correct.
‘Rather, it’s the opposite…….’
The black haired young man was carelessly cutting down the monsters like tofu with shining eyes.
As if the abilities of the holy sword were entertaining and testing it out.
And the monsters that carelessly allowed him to approach were cut down with an unknown technique.
Even Allen, with great skills in swordsmanship could not figure out what was happening.
The movement of the sword can be seen, but the results were just incomprehensible.
‘Why does it look like the sword is pulling the space around it……?’
Allen continued to dazedly stare at that dumbfounding annihilation.
But that was the same for Daisy and Zerva as well.
Just based purely on techniques alone, the hero became stronger after losing his memories.
“……Is that even possible? Even after sacrificing all the powers and even memories to the dragon lord?”
Daisy murmured in disbelief.
“……Looks like they were on a battlefield for a few decades. Neal only has a few years of experience. Even without the memory loss, it’s rather incomprehensible.”
Zerva replied in bewilderment.
Both of them were in a state of perplexity of that unexplainable ability like Allen.
Of course the potential of a hero for fighting the demon lord was never set in place, and it was a positive sign for the skills to improve so drastically.
Since the hero was the only one who can slay the demon lord.
‘And that’s the issue.’
But, the only issue was that among all the companions, no one wanted the hero to succeed.
Allen’s face was filled with despair.
“……Damn it. Why, Neal. Why did you become so strong now, of all times?”
This situation completely deviated from the original plans…….
This could not result in the happy ending to the end that would eventually come.
Not to the companions, but also to the rest of humanity.
»————- ★ ————-«
IT was not too difficult to figure out the abilities of the holy sword.
While implicitly pressuring the companions and asking them where the enemies are located, they immediately replied.
And once we entered the demonic realm, monsters the size of buildings were tearing each other’s throats.
After that, I stopped calculating and headed straight into the battle.
And won each battle by using every ability of the holy sword.
「You got the achievement ‘Monster Annihilation’.」
「+4 on durability.」
「Currently, every stat has been locked due to the penalty of the special trial.」
「Permanent raise of stats can not be applied currently.」
「The stats can be increased normally after the competition of the trial.」
Even with the lowered stats, I found that it was not difficult to defeat the monsters.
None of my skills nor powers were locked away, and I had countless techniques that I learned over time.
Even the martial arts that I learned from watching over the shoulder of Nam Gunghyuk and White Crane Sword Saint performed as it should too.
So there was no way that the battle would be an issue.
‘How befitting of the name demonic realm.’
Of course, that did not mean that the level of battles was low…….
In the trials with the hard difficulty, this kind of level would be considered to be a bonus stage.
From the corpses of the monsters that look like it was made by a five year old’s play dough project, a black smoke appeared.
As usual, the mark of necromancy appeared.
Without hesitation, I absorbed them all.
「You have absorbed the soul of the monster ‘Luderune’.」
「You have absorbed the soul of the monster ‘Maiyah’…….」
「You have absorbed the soul of the monster ‘Mimiruk’…….」
「Proficiency increased by 0.19%.」
But I did not immediately convert the absorbed souls into stats.
After all, seeing the speed of the proficiency increase, it wouldn’t really do much to convert it into stats anyways.
I was planning on keeping it, and use it later as the necromancy barrier.
And it was not like increasing the stats would benefit me at this point.
“……i guess this is it for this area’s monsters.”
After confirming that there were no more enemies to fight, I slowly reviewed the situation from before.
Starlight, Desire, and Punishment.
Among the three abilities of the holy sword, I tried out two of them.
Starlight and Punishment.
And since Desire was making an offering to a god, it felt uncomfortable.
So I did not bother using it, let alone checking the descriptions of its abilities.
‘But that gave me more time to do extensive testing of other abilities.’
Through the battles with the monsters, the ability of starlight was akin to an explosive attack.
Once starlight is activated, lights like stars will flood out of the holy sword to cause an explosion.
……To be honest, an area technique this efficient was a first for me.
Almost to the point that it would be more efficient than using Light Saber through counter shield.
However, the only issue with the starlight was that it was uncontrollable.
I could not stop the starlight from being emitted, and I could not choose the direction that it chooses to burst out to.
Once the starlight is created, it bursts forth to explode without an exception.
‘Maybe it’s because the holy sword is the medium…… How difficult.’
Punishment had an ability no less than the Starlight.
I could feel the effect of every stats being raised, and I could also understand the description stating that I could use the power of the dragon.
Once Punishment is activated, during that time, mana is not depleted.
I could not activate any techniques surpassing my overall mana quantity, but anything and everything below that.
Furthermore, when using the power of the dragon, my body was also considerably enhanced.
The quality of mana was also different from before.
As if to say that the power of the dragons from the legends are like this.
‘But the only issue is that this ability can only be used towards monsters and demonic races.’
If I were to absorb this skill through Sword Sense, its limits would also be duplicated.
So it was difficult to decide on which exclusive effect to choose to absorb,
Starlight could not be controlled, and Punishment had too many limits.
Of course, I’ve only used these abilities only once each, so I did not yet make a decision…….
‘I need to make a decision before this trial ends.’
I will have to make a quick decision in preparation of the time that I will end up having to make a decision.
‘Well, I bet with a few more battles, I should figure out which ability to absorb.’
I walked towards the rest of the companions after shaking off the blood from the holy sword.
They were all staring at me in disbelief.
‘Understandable. Since it’d be difficult for someone with amnesia to go around killing monsters like that.’
It was an expected reaction.
However, in my companions’ expressions, it was not only disbelief that was included.
Repulsiveness, Nervousness, Guilt, Tension, etc…….
In their unstable expressions, I could read multiple negative feelings.
To the point it was rather unpleasant.
But even in that uncomfortable situation, I pretended as if nothing was wrong and looked towards them.
To be honest, it was nothing more than just a face…….
But the ones who got deceived did not think that this was not fake.
“……Neal. Did you, perhaps, not lose your memory?.”
Allen asked with a shaky voice shifting his eyes to avoid mine.
“……D,did your memories return through the blessings of the Holy Sword? And those new battle abilities are from the Dragon Lord?”
And at the same time, Zerva spoke, stroking his beard in an attempt to appear collected.
“……W,what a relief it is, Neal. N,now you can finally go fill the demon lord. The Dragon Lord must’ve blessed us for the sake of humanity.”
Followed with Daisy trying to change the mood while playing with the handle of her bow.
At that, the other two companions must’ve realized their mistake and smiled to act naturally.
But
「Multiple hostile enemies detected near the user.」
「Activating ‘Automatic Tracking’ the exclusive effect of Tracking Blindfold(B+).」
The companions seen through the Tracking Blindfold were showing hostility stronger than ever before.
“…….”
Seeing those repulsive smiles filled with lies, I thought.
‘……Now I finally see what this quest will be about.’
I could no longer hesitate to decide on which ability to absorb from the holy sword.
“……How interesting.”
I felt as if I could predict the ending of the 16th floors’ trial.
[To be continued.]
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