Jin-Cheon relentlessly stomped the things crawling out of the ground, all the while swinging his fists to crush the ones flying his way. However, there were many that got beyond his reach.
Craackle! But those were engulfed by a ring of flames that swallowed them whole. The battle was at a standstill. Although the neoks had seeped into the mud and spawned monsters as soon as the heroes rushed in, their numbers didn’t seem to decrease. There were so many of them that they were still maintaining their momentum, but surprisingly, the expedition team wasn’t being pushed back either.
They even began to make gains little by little and tread forward. This was largely thanks to the team’s good balance. Jin-Cheon stood in the front and performed admirably despite not yet having a denomination. He opened the path for the rest of his team and stirred the battle. And Apoline, of course, worked her magic. She protected the team from the rear and supported Jin-Cheon so that he could focus solely on the front. She put on a textbook demonstration of the value of a magician in a team battle in real time.
But of course, one couldn’t forget the person who made all this possible and allowed for this process to sail smoothly. Ba-ba-ba-ba-bam! Every time Chi-Woo swung his club, a mass number of enemies burst without a squeak, and his firepower was greater than even Apoline. Although their enemies had gained physical form by joining with this land, they were still neoks originally; furthermore, the fact that they had been influenced by a great demon was detrimental to them when fighting Chi-Woo; Chi-Woo gained enormous boosts when dealing with the non-living and beings in the evil category.
In terms of destructive power alone, Chi-Woo could even match up to Chi-Hyun right now. Although the rest of the expedition team didn’t have the time to react as their enemies had been rushing at them like moths to a flame, they were all surprised by Chi-Woo’s performance. Jin-Cheon and Apoline could now understand why Nangnang had changed his mind as soon as he learned of Chi-Woo’s participation, and why Ru Amuh called this man ‘teacher’ and followed him around.
While Chi-Woo swung his club nonstop, he felt fortunate for his training and the space that his brother had made for him to focus on said training. Without it, he might have been able to fight well in the beginning, but would eventually lose steam. He would’ve been heaving for breath by now. With his dramatically improved physical skills and exorcism mana, Chi-Woo could push on and strike down the enemies rushing at him like a machine gun. The fundamental training he had worked his butt off on was finally paying off.
However, Chi-Woo couldn’t remain optimistic.
—You get why I emphasized real-life experiences so much now, don’t you?
It was as Philip said. A single mistake from him or anyone else could lead to the death of the entire team. To survive, Chi-Woo needed to rack through his head. He knew as well as everyone else that it wouldn’t be good if the situation continued like this. Even if they could endure it now, they would eventually reach their limits. Their body would tire, while their mana would run out. Furthermore, they couldn’t use their mana as they pleased since they needed to look for this place’s core. Thus, they had tried their best to preserve as much power as possible, but dozens of minutes later, the battle was tilting to one side’s favor.
‘Damn it.’ Chi-Woo gritted his teeth. Their progression was slowing down. Their enemies were building up bit by bit, and though it seemed they were gradually getting closer to their destination as the evil energy felt clearer than before, they couldn’t see it yet. Just when he was starting to feel hopeless, their enemies’ sporadic attacks halted.
“What’s going on?” Jin-Cheon raised his sweaty face.
—Eckkkk!
—Kiah…kiahhhh!
Their enemies became flustered. They suddenly returned to the place they had come from or rushed past the expedition team without fighting them, like they were running away from something. Actually, most of them were getting sucked away like dust near a vacuum. The expedition stared silently at this sudden turn of events and collected their breath. Then, Apoline spoke up.
“Let’s follow them.”
Everyone nodded. They didn’t know what was going on, but something might come up if they kept moving. After reorganizing their formation, the team chased after their enemies. As expected, the path was complicated, twisting and branching out like a maze; furthermore, it was very long. Nonetheless, they were sure that they would reach its end if they simply ran straight.
Time continued to pass. They all felt like they were continuously going downward, and a bit less than an hour later, they finally saw the end of the path. They weren’t sure where they were exactly, but they guessed it was the deepest part of this place. After passing a passageway that looked like a tunnel, the expedition team stopped walking. Before them was a cavity that stretched beyond their sight. But other than the sheer size of this place, it looked the same as the place they had passed. Water mixed with mud dropped down from above; the ground was damp and watery like a layer of ice had just melted. Above all, there was a mysterious warmth that filled them with negative emotions. They couldn’t explain the feeling, but it felt as if an evil religious ritual had just taken place.
“Who is it?” It was then they heard a low voice. “I don’t remember inviting any guests to my land.”
The expedition team immediately turned to the voice. They saw a figure standing beyond the sticky darkness, in front of a structure that looked like an altar.
—Tch.
Philip clicked his tongue as soon as he saw the figure. He had had the suspicion, but to think it was really him.
“I don’t know who you all are, but you are quite the lucky ones,” the figure continued. “Get out of here immediately, and I will let you all live.” Without even turning back, the figure talked lazily, like he was shooing away a swarm of mosquitos. The expedition team looked at one another. Did he really say they were going to be spared if they backed away now?
—It won’t be a bad idea to do as he says.
Chi-Woo was startled to hear Philip say that.
‘Mr. Philip?’
—Yeah, I know how it sounds, but the situation is…real bad. You could tell this one was a great demon, right?
Chi-Woo nodded. There was a possibility it wasn’t a great demon, but he knew it was rare for other beings to radiate this much evil energy.
—You’ve fought Andras and Vepar up to this point…but this guy is stronger than both of them combined.
This great demon ranked at least in the mid-tens.
—That’s not all.
When they fought Andras, Andras was at a great disadvantage; he was effectively fighting with his arms severed, and although their fight with Vepar wasn’t on that level, they had lured her away from her territory and received support from the Cassiubia League. They had none of those advantages this time. This opponent was stronger than the previous two combined, and he was inside his own established territory. It was basically a guaranteed loss.
Philip was right. There was a process to everything, and even though Chi-Woo had ardently trained for some time now, he was still not strong enough to deal with this enemy. Even if he reached his peak through training, he still might not be able to win. It was too early, way too early for Chi-Woo to deal with an opponent of this level. Their opponent had offered to spare them if they left the area peacefully. In a way, it was an opportunity.
“How generous of you to look out for us,” Jin-Cheon said antagonistically, “But we can’t turn around just because you offered to let us go. We came here for our own reasons.”
“Reasons? What reasons?” the demon said as if he couldn’t be more bothered.
“My companion’s neok was stolen when she came here.”
“Neok?”
“Yes, and we have to get her neok back.”
“Neok, a neok…” The demon sighed deeply. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I just used everything I could get my hands on when holding the ritual.”
“…What?”
“I’m telling you that I don’t know whether I used your friend’s neok or not. If you understand now, piss off. If those reasons you have aren't more important than your own lives, don’t test my patience any more than this.”
If Abis’ neok had been used for this mysterious ritual, there would be no way to save her. Jin-Cheon’s face hardened. He glared at the demon’s back and turned to the rest of his team.
“If you wish to leave, please do so. I won’t blame you. You have done enough coming all the way here,” he told them.
“Don’t make me laugh,” Apoline replied sharply, “Who do you think I am?”
“Well, I…”
“I know what you mean, but hightailing right now will be insulting my family’s name.”
Jin-Cheon’s face brightened. The demon seemed to have come to the realization that the expedition team had no intention to return, and he turned to address them.
“How foolish. So utterly stupid that it makes me want to vomit.”
The demon wore hard, iron armor from head to toe, and a red glow shone from inside his helmet. Zepar wasn’t in a good mood. He was annoyed. He had gone over a great obstacle and completed the resurrection ritual that he put great care into. The only thing left for him to do was to wake the witch—no, the saintess, Evelyn. And as he cheered with the thought of playing with her as he wished, these hindrances entered the picture. Fine. He would kill them mercilessly if they wanted it so badly.
“…Hm?” But then Zepar found his anger subsiding a bit. “Humans?” He was first stunned by the fact that human beings had managed to come to this place. Then he was surprised by the appearances of two of the four people in this area. Meanwhile, Chi-Woo also expressed his surprise. Although he couldn’t see too well, there was somebody lying on the altar behind Zepar. Seeing the hair flowing down from the structure, he recognized who it was. It was Evelyn’s living form.
‘Lady Evelyn.’ Chi-Woo’s grip around his club tightened. Now he also had a reason he couldn’t turn around.
“Hm…” Zepar involuntarily expressed his admiration. His eyes were locked on the two women in the group, ignoring the two men entirely. He looked back and forth between Apoline and Hawa and smiled as his mood soared. He hadn’t expected much, but these ladies were beautiful enough to catch a great demon’s attention and melt away his annoyance. Although he had Evelyn, Zepar knew that one could tire of even the greatest delicacy when eaten enough, and he could use side dishes to stimulate his taste buds when necessary.
“Oh my…we have some precious guests.” Zepar’s tone changed as his mood improved. Hawa frowned, and Apoline looked outright appalled and disgusted. They felt as if bugs were crawling all over their skin as Zepar looked at them.
“You two.” Zepar pointed at Chi-Woo and Jin-Cheon with his index finger. “I’m still willing to let you both go, but…”
“You think we will—!” Before he could finish his sentence, Jin-Cheon got thrown into the air and smashed into the wall.
“Kuh!” He collapsed and coughed, staggering as he got back up. He forcefully maintained his composure, but blood was streaking down from the corner of his mouth. It was an astounding display of power on Zepar’s part with just a flick of his finger.
“Hm. I was trying to kill you with that. I suppose you aren’t an ordinary human.” Zepar shrugged and continued leisurely, “Well, it’s fine. I have something very important to take care of right now, and I don’t have time to play around with you. So—”
—Hey, let’s swap places.
Philip said. Chi-Woo bit his bottom lip. He knew Philip would be of much more help right now. He was aware of this, but he had been training hard exactly for situations like this.
—I know how you feel. If this weren’t his territory, I would have told you to give it a try.
Philip knew what was going through Chi-Woo’s head. After all, he had watched Chi-Woo grit his teeth through training day by day for a better tomorrow. However, this was too dire a situation. They had to fight with too many disadvantages, and even if Ru Amuh had been with them, they would have struggled to put up a fight. Swapping places was imperative to tip the scale for even a little bit.
“Haa…” After exchanging positions with Chi-Woo, Philip appeared a bit anxious, unlike his usual self.
“You said your name is Jin-Cheon, right?”
“Huh, what?”
“I know you have quite the skills, but you won’t be of much help against that guy.”
Having staggered to Chi-Woo’s side, Jin-Cheon blinked hard. The air around Chi-Woo had suddenly changed.
“I know, but—”
“If you must help, stay put for now,” Philip said while looking warily at Zepar. “I will deal with him. Don’t try to do anything unnecessary and look for an opening. When you see one, grab his ankle. Even for one second is good.”
After listening blankly, Jin-Cheon nodded. “Yes. But only one second is fine?”
“It will be good if you can buy that much time…you will have to do it at the risk of your life. And the magician.” Philip turned to Apoline. “The same goes for you. Don’t try to test him, but pour everything in one blow. I will try to create at least one opportunity.”
“…I understand,” Apoline said, also visibly taken aback. Usually, she would’ve snapped back at him for trying to order her, but there wasn’t a trace of the geeky guy she had been with until now. She suddenly felt the air of a great veteran from Chi-Woo, and she couldn’t help but follow.
“Remember. There’s going to be one chance and nothing more,” Philip warned them and looked back at Zepar. “Here I come.” He lowered his body slightly and shot out like a bullet. Unlike before, Philip was going to give it his all from the beginning.