Chapter 324
Sungyoon’s hammer had stopped in front of Kevil's hand, and it seemed that the hard scales covering Kevil's arm shone .
Hoohng!
Kevil moved its tail . Sungyoon quickly retreated as he put up his shield .
Kwahnnng!
The sound generated from the clash was on a different level .
Like a dead leaf, Sungyoon flew through the air .
Koo-oong!
“Koohk!”
“Ooh-ooht!”
Tim caught Sungyoon, who was flying through the air . As their armor collided against each other, a harsh sound rang out .
Tim slid backward for a while until his feet created a deep divot .
“Thank you . ”
“You're welcome . ”
Tim placed Sungyoon on the ground . Thankfully, both of them had come out pretty much unscathed .
“It powered up when it was in danger . Isn’t that a trope that shows up in movies or novels for the main characters?”
Tim jokingly spoke to Sungyoon .
“If this world were a novel, they might be the main characters, and the humans might be the main antagonists . ”
“I can guarantee such a novel won't sell . It’ll go straight to a warehouse or the dumping ground . Who would want to read a novel like that?”
“Who knows what will sell or not? It might become a cult hit for a certain segment of the population . ”
Grace, who had approached them, joined their conservation .
Emily also approached them alongside Grace and checked the condition of the two men .
“Thankfully, you two are fine . ”
“I’m quite sturdy . I would have to give up on raiding the Great Labyrinth if a blow of that magnitude could injure me . ”
As Tim spoke those words, he raised his shield again .
Kevil was slowly heading toward them .
“The power behind its attacks are no joke . Can my shield hold up against it?”
The overwhelming presence of his foe pressured Tim . His shield had always been sturdy and reliable, and it had been a while since he felt his shield was inadequate .
Sungyoon placed a hand on Tim’s shoulder .
“Let me fight it . ”
“Are you sure you’ll be ok?”
“Yes . I still have plenty of power to spare . ”
Sungyoon's heart was pumping and circulating an unprecedented amount of power in his body . At times, he felt all-powerful .
‘Of course, I’m not that strong . ’
He had barely blocked Kevil’s attack . If Tim hadn’t caught him, he would have been sent flying further . It was proof that he wasn’t all-powerful, yet he was still confident in his abilities .
Tuhk!
Sungyoon stood in front of Kevil, who had stopped after walking for a certain distance toward him .
“Are you really going to face me alone?”
“Yes . I think it'll be possible . ”
“Is that so?”
Kevil laughed . A smile appeared on its devil-like face, and as expected, the smile looked out of place on that face .
However, its next action fit its profile .
“Then die!”
Hwah-roo-roo-roo-roohk!
The fire sword burned once again in Kevil’s hand . However, the sword was different from before; it had grown in both length and width . Sungyoon was standing at a distance, yet he could feel the heat . It was clear the temperature had significantly gone up .
Puhl-luhk!
Kevil flapped its wings, and its enormous body rose .
Hoo-oohng!
It flew upwards, then brought down the fire sword toward Sungyoon .
This sequence of actions happened very fast .
Sungyoon held his shield with both hands .
Kwahhhhhng!
The flames exploded, and his feet sank . The intense heat had surrounded his body, but he had successfully blocked the attack this time .
Kevil’s expression fell . It didn’t like the fact that Sungyoon had blocked its attack so easily .
It kept pushing with his sword and swung its tail .
Sssk!
Hwee-chung!
Sungyoon’s shield disappeared . Kevil couldn’t pull back, so it lurched forward . Sungyoon turned to the side to dodge the sword and tail, then swung his halberd .
Kevil moved its wings .
Puh-uhnk!
The sharp horns attached to the wings aimed for Sungyoon, but Sungyoon was right on time as he deflected the wings with his halberd .
He used the momentum generated from the blow to retreat .
“Arms, legs, wings, and tail . You have a variety of ways to me attack since you have a lot of appendages . ”
“It's one of the many reasons we are superior to humans . ”
“I guess you guys determine superiority by how many appendages one has? I’ve met a monster with a lot of tentacles in the labyrinth . It must be superior to you . Was that Grenoid? He was weaker than I expected . ”
Kevil ground its teeth once again .
‘Mr . Sungyoon is on his A-game today . ’
The nervous Tim was prepared to act as Sungyoon’s shield when needed . Sungyoon’s demeanor impressed him .
‘No matter what happens, I must never fight him . ’
Whether it was in terms of strength or words, Tim had no chance against Sungyoon .
“Today will be the last day you can flap your mouth like this!”
“Grenoid made a trash tentacle monster, and you're trashier than that monster! What can you do!”
Kwahhhhhng!
The two clashed once again .
Tim, Emily, and Grace wanted to help in the fight, but they could do nothing .
“… There's no opportunity for us to join in . ”
Grace, who had been aiming at Kevil, lowered her staff .
“Is the battle too fast for you?”
“Yes . Is it the same for you, Ms . Emily?”
At some point, Emily had also lowered her hands .
“One needs to properly lock onto the target to use attack spells . If I’m not careful, I might harm Mr . Sungyoon . ”
“Aim doesn’t matter since I have to be close to use the healing spell . My problem is that I have to get in the middle of that fight . ”
Their problems differed, but at the end of the day, both of them were of no help to Sungyoon right now .
“We can only wait and trust that he can pull through . ”
“We should also make preparations . ”
The two of them kept their eyes fixed on the battle as they made preparations to immediately move if Sungyoon needed them .
It would be useless to worry more than it was needed, but Tim kept his shield up . He was ready to charge forward in case Sungyoon fell in danger .
Kwahhhhng!
Kevil’s fire sword clashed against Sungyoon’s sword . Fire and lightning attacked each other . The two of them kept their swords locked in a contest of strength .
“I can tell what you're thinking . ”
Kevil taunted Sungyoon .
“You plan on dragging this out . You're waiting for your comrades to get here . ”
It was true Kevil would be at a disadvantage if reinforcements came for Sungyoon . Connectors like Russell and Bruce were troublesome foes even for Kevil .
“Why do you think you’ll last that long? You're being too arrogant just because you can use my master’s power!”
Puh-uhk!
Kevil kicked Sungyoon . Sungyoon blocked the kick with his elbow, but the force of the attack sent him sliding backward .
“I’ll just kill you before they come!”
Kevil’s fire sword burned hotter . The ground rang as he charged toward Sungyoon .
“Even if you can use his strength, you're a lowly being! You can't handle that power! I just regained a little bit of my power, yet you're losing! Just die!”
As Kevil had said, even though Sungyoon was putting up a good fight, he was at a disadvantage .
The flame sword swung toward Sungyoon to burn him .
Tuhk!
Sungyoon took a powerful step . He stared at the sword coming toward him .
Sssssk!
His armor disappeared, surprising Kevil .
‘What the hell!’
Puh-uhhhhhhhk!
“Koo-oooooooooooh!”
Sungyoon clenched his mouth shut . He tilted his body, but he couldn't completely avoid the attack . However, he hadn’t planned on dodging it . Kevil’s sword pierced his side . The heat from the sword melted his flesh outward in the shape of a circle . It was a critical wound . However, he was a high rank Connector, and it was very hard to kill a high rank Connector .
Duhp-suhk!
Sungyoon used his left hand to grab Kevil’s hard left arm and raised his ax with his right arm .
“Ooh-ahhhhhh!”
As if he wanted to forget his pain, Sungyoon yelled . His thoughts had turned white from the pain, yet he used all his strength to bring down his ax .
Puh-uhhhhhhhk!
“Koo-ahhhhhhk!”
The ax pierced Kevil’s shoulder . Nevertheless, Kevil was also a veteran . It pushed through the pain as it increased the size of the flames on its fire sword . Sungyoon felt as if his body would combust in a flash .
Sssk!
Even though he wasn’t wearing his armor, Sungyoon still had his wings . The wings unfurled as he flew backward .
As soon as Sungyoon put some distance, the ax disappeared from Kevil's shoulder .
Kevil clutched his shoulder .
“You… bastard!”
Kevil raged as it tried to track down Sungyoon . However, something clashed against its sword . That something wasn't Sungyoon's sword, but Tim’s shield .
Tuh-uhng!
“GET OUT OF MY WAAAAAAAY!”
Its rage-filled fist kept pounding the shield, but Tim just gritted his teeth and endured the attack .
At that moment, Emily started healing Sungyoon . Sungyoon's melted flesh regained its original appearance, and the hole in his side disappeared . Moreover, his organs, bones, muscles, and skin also returned to their original state .
Kwahhhhhng!
“Goo-oooohk!”
Kevil’s attacks finally broke through and sent Tim flying away .
Grace used this moment to hit Kevil with her spell .
Ooh-roo-roo-roong!
The yellow lightning that shook heaven and earth once again shot toward Kevil .
“Ggoo-hoohp!”
The last time, the spell had failed in injuring Kevil . However, something had changed now . Sungyoon had created an open wound, and the lightning flowed through that wound and scrambled Kevil’s innards .
“You fucking bastards!”
Kevil roared in anger as it ripped the lightning away from its body . It then tried to attack Sungyoon’s party . However, the first thing it saw after the lightning went away was a sharp halberd .
Puh-uhng!
It quickly deflected the incoming halberd, which immediately disappeared in the air .
Sungyoon once again stood in front of Kevil .
“Do you like the wound on your shoulder, you bitch?”
Sungyoon had already recovered and worn his armor once again . He raised his sword .
“Let’s start the second round!”
“You think you gained an upper hand because you wounded me once!”
“It isn’t just a wound!”
Sungyoon raised his ax . He playfully tossed it between his hands .
“How’s the poison? Normally, it would melt a normal monster . As expected of an officer, you're different . ”
‘It's indeed poison . ’
Kevil narrowed its eyes . It had realized that its wound was healing slower, and it was feeling more pain than usual .
The poison was doing its best in trying to reach deeper into Kevil's body .
‘I can get rid of this poison in short order . ’
If Kevil used its fire, the poison was no threat to it . It just had to burn the poison, but it needed a little bit of time to do that .
The only problem with that was Sungyoon wouldn’t give him the time .
“We knew you would power up in due time . We expected it, and we prepared for it . We meticulously searched for locations where the magical energies pooled . We couldn’t find all of the locations, but we had enough manpower to thoroughly search the sites where you might carry out your rituals . We knew you would regain some of your power in a place like this . ”
Sungyoon waved his arm and felt the flow of magical energy brush against his arm .
“That's why, as you surmised, the plan was supposed to buy enough time for reinforcements . However, I don’t need to do that now . ”
Sungyoon pushed off the ground . He approached Kevil in a flash and swung his ax .
Koo-oo-oong!
“Koo-oohk!”
Kevil groaned . Sungyoon’s attack felt much heavier than before, and it shocked Kevil .
“Unlike you, I don’t regain my original power here . I received a boost to my already-existing power . Of course, I couldn’t properly use it in the beginning . I was unfamiliar with it . ”
A hammer appeared in Sungyoon’s other hand .
“But I’m finally used to it now . ”
Kwahng!
The explosion from the hammer shook the ground .