CH 275

Soo-Jung’s face brightened considerably. Still keeping her eyes on Ha Song-Su, she telepathically asked El.

-Are you sure?

If her pupil had returned, their situation would improve significantly.

And…

‘I won’t have to use my last resort.’ Soo-Jung was relieved. The last resort was a do-or-die kind of thing, which would cost her the meaning of her existence and the burden her code name, Lucifer, carried.

-...

Disappointingly, El’s reply wasn’t as satisfactory as she had hoped.

- The connection is faint. I’m sure his situation is a bit better now, but that doesn’t mean he is in the clear. Or it could be that…

Soo-Jung suggested,

-It might be because of that barrier around Eden.

Maybe Baal and the rest had done something about the barrier situation. All in all, their situation was better than a moment ago.

Soo-Jung grinned and continued,

-You all heard El, right? My pupil will be returning soon, so from now on…

She kicked the ground; she had almost fully recovered from Ha Song-Su’s last attack.

-Just focus on dragging the fight until he is back.

All they had to do was buy him a bit more time, and Soo-Jung believed it was possible.

‘Now that Ha Song-Su is concentrating on defending himself… We can do it!’ Soo-Jung didn’t know why this was the case, but it was a good thing. She didn’t expect many problems in dragging this battle out a while longer.

***

With a frown, Gi-Gyu looked ahead. He was certain he had crossed the gate to enter Eden but found himself in a different place.

The world around him was pitch black, but familiar energy danced around him.

‘Sorcerous energy…’ 

The sorcerous energy in his body was enough to make him explode; horrifyingly, he had stepped into a place with even more of it.

‘Is it a barrier?’ 

Gi-Gyu suddenly realized that he must be at the border of the enemy barrier that surrounded Eden.

“Ugh.” Tao Chen was panting beside him. He knelt on the ground and grabbed his heart in agony. Gi-Gyu quickly helped him by grabbing the sorcerous energy around Tao Chen with his hands.

Gi-Gyu was already in pain, so absorbing even more sorcerous energy to help Tao Chen only aggravated his pain.

“How could there be a place like this?” Tao Chen whispered. He was confused, and for a good reason.

The presidential palace’s basement had thicker sorcerous energy, but Gi-Gyu had already absorbed all of it before Tao Chen had made his entrance.

Tao Chen finally rose and asked, “Is this Eden?”

Instead of answering, Gi-Gyu nodded.

“So it’s a barrier… Haa… How will we go through it?” Tao Chen looked at it hopelessly. Gi-Gyu could tell Tao Chen wasn’t doing very well. He sensed that Tao Chen’s shell was mostly empty, and his magic was very thin. No wonder Tao Chen had almost collapsed the moment he entered this place.

Gi-Gyu looked at the barrier before closing his eyes. Lou, who was wrapped around his leg, turned liquid again.

“What’s that?” Tao Chen seemed curious.

Instead of answering him, Gi-Gyu handed him Paimon and Bodhidharma.

Tao Chen was confused, but he quickly accepted them.

He obviously knew Bodhidharma, but the other man was a stranger to him. Tao Chen wanted to know his identity, but he didn’t ask.

Gi-Gyu’s voice cracked as he warned, “Please… step… back…”

Every time his mouth opened, vicious sorcerous energy climbed out of his throat to cause him pain. Swallowing it back down, Gi-Gyu picked up Lou, who had turned into a giant sword again. This time, Gi-Gyu needed to use both hands.

“Ugh,” he moaned. At the moment, Lou was basically the essence of sorcerous energy. On top of it all, Gi-Gyu had to absorb the toxin mixed into the barrier just now. Just holding Lou right now caused his sync to become more active, and all the toxins began flowing into him.

He needed to do this quickly.

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‘I need to open it!’ Gi-Gyu wanted to rip the barrier open.

When Lou tried to slice through the barrier, it created an abrupt scream-like noise. Naturally, Lou had to absorb the barrier’s sorcerous energy to create an opening.

Slice!

“Hup!” Gi-Gyu gasped. He had somehow managed to swing Lou in a full arc.

Tao Chen, standing far away per Gi-Gyu’s order, staggered.

The sorcerous energy’s vile pressure and scent had enveloped him. If he were any closer, he would have died. He looked at the spot Lou had attacked.

Lou’s attack on the barrier had even created an explosion; shockingly, the barrier looked unscathed.

“It didn’t rip…” Tao Chen whispered.

They were still surrounded by darkness, and the barrier was still there, whole and rip-free.

Gi-Gyu lowered Lou while keeping his eyes glued to the barrier.

Just then, the spot Lou had attacked began to split.

However, an opening still didn’t appear in the barrier. All Lou had managed to create was a tiny crack, which was spewing light.

Gi-Gyu hadn’t used his full strength, but he had believed that was enough. The resulting crack was tiny, not even big enough for a dwarf. So, he took another step toward the barrier and swung Lou.

Another scream-like noise was heard.

Crack.

“Oh my god,” Tao Chen groaned in disbelief. Another tiny crack appeared in the barrier, but nothing more. The barrier refused to shatter.

Just what was it made of?

Gi-Gyu furiously swung Lou over and over again until he coughed up blood. He crouched on one knee.

“Are you okay?” Tao Chen yelled.

Despite the many attacks, the barrier remained intact.

‘How?’ Gi-Gyu wondered. If the barrier were made only of sorcerous energy, it should have been destroyed by now. He didn’t believe he had miscalculated.

Suddenly, his eyes widened. He knew the answer.

Someone inside the barrier was maintaining it. Consequently, it seemed like none of Gi-Gyu’s attacks damaged the barrier. As if to prove Gi-Gyu’s theory, dark sorcerous energy filled the tiny crack he had just created.

“Tao Chen…” said Gi-Gyu while swallowing the burning pain.

“Go ahead!” Tao Chen wasn’t doing much better, either. His injuries had only increased thanks to the sorcerous energy and the aftermath of Gi-Gyu’s attempt to break the barrier.

‘Will he be okay?’ Tao Chen looked at Gi-Gyu worriedly. He knew Gi-Gyu hadn’t been doing well since they entered this place.

It looked like Gi-Gyu was trying to prevent something from eating him alive. While struggling with that, he also had to use much of his power to break the barrier.

“I’ll create another crack, so… please don’t miss your chance. You must get inside…” Gi-Gyu explained.

Tao Chen nodded without asking any questions.

“Ugh…” Gi-Gyu groaned and stood up again.

Fwoosh.

Gi-Gyu summoned even more power this time. Lou was already a huge sword, but he became even bigger. He was now more of a battering ram than a sword.

The sorcerous energy inside Gi-Gyu moved. His Life kept him going while Death began surfacing. Right in the middle, he mixed Chaos.

And…

Whoosh!

Gi-Gyu swung Lou.

“Ugh…” Tao Chen stood as firmly as possible to keep himself from being blown away. He was about to become a ruler, so he had gained more power, but it was barely enough to keep him on the spot.

Finally, sunshine-like light showered them from the other side of the barrier. From the new crack, they could feel Life and Death.

“...!”

And it was followed by fire, ice, and madness. Tao Chen couldn’t even believe what was right in front of him. It was unlike anything he had ever seen.

“Hurry…” Gi-Gyu begged, keeping Lou stuck in the barrier. The boiling sorcerous energy had liquified to keep the crack open.

“You…!” Tao Chen stared at Gi-Gyu, whose body was breaking down. Every pore in his body was bleeding blood mixed with sorcerous energy, pooling around and beneath his feet.

Tao Chen could see inside the barrier thanks to the sunshine-like light.

“Hurry!” Gi-Gyu screamed.

“Got it!” Tao Chen carried Bodhidharma and Paimon over his shoulders and jumped into the crack. The boiling black liquid from Lou was slowly disappearing.

Gi-Gyu gritted his teeth and moaned, “Fenrir…”

For now, this was all he could do to help.

“Haa… Haa…”

After Tao Chen disappeared, Gi-Gyu collapsed to the ground. He was done.

***

“Haa… Haa…” Hal, who had never panted before, was huffing now.

Slash.

He swung his halberd toward a demon rushing toward him. His enemy's strength didn’t trouble him—their number did.

“Just where…” Botis whispered. “Did all these demons come from?”

Countless demons surrounded them. It was rare to see this many demons, even in hell.

“This reminds me of the Great War…” Botis seemed disgusted.

There were so many demons and monsters that killing them seemed pointless. Gi-Gyu’s creatures had gotten no time to recover, so most of them were exhausted.

Eden’s undead army had suffered such fatalities that it seemed unlikely it would ever be restored to its former glory.

“Kyaaaa!” Griffin King dropped from the sky. Hart quickly used his magic to rescue it, but things looked bad.

“At this rate, we’ll…” Hart whispered helplessly. More and more demons came at them in waves. Hal’s eyes wavered, wondering if this was how his grandmaster’s home would be destroyed.

Perhaps it was already too late.

The wall built by Brunheart shook, indicating that the battle occurring inside wasn’t going well either.

Just then, a familiar growl was heard. It came from a creature that had suddenly dropped in the middle of the enemy army. Everyone turned to see a puppy.

“Bi?” Hart called out the familiar name.

Bi, in its puppy form, was barking at the enemies.

“Bi!” Hal immediately moved his steed toward Bi. He didn’t even get the chance to wonder why or where Bi had appeared from. All Hal could think about was that his tiny friend was in danger.

Hal ran toward Bi while swinging his halberd when suddenly, a thunderclap rang.

Rumble.

A lightning bolt struck the puppy in the middle of the enemy army, and Bi transformed into a giant wolf.

Bi swung its front paw.

“N-no way.” Botis’ voice shook. A mythical creature he had only heard about stood before him.

It was the watchdog of hell’s throne.

“F-Fenrir?” Botis whispered, “Our powers are recovering…”

Hal’s eyes began burning brightly. It wasn’t just Hal—all of Gi-Gyu’s creatures felt power coursing through them.

At the same time, the skeletons on the ground began standing again. The mantises with ripped limbs started to heal as well. The death knights crawling on the ground rose.

Griffin King also stood up and flew toward Hart, who quickly got on top of the bird.

“Counterattack…” Hart mumbled.

But unlike Hart, Hal raised his halberd high and roared, “Grandmaster is back!”

Others began chanting loudly as well.

“Grandmaster is back!”

“Grandmaster is back!”

Their shouts filled Eden.

Hal ordered, “Now! It’s time to fight back!”

Dun dun dun dun dun.

The entire Eden shook as it made its counterattack.