novelEvan D. Sherden, Broke the Ice! (4)
| ← Ch.341 | Ch.343 → |
[Grrrrr]
"I'll call you later, sea worm!"
The Kraken floated away, and Evan's party landed on the ice zone. The Kraken was no longer to be seen. It would've been reliable to explore with the Kraken, but unfortunately, it could not travel on the ground.
"Huh...... it's pretty cold. I feel like a monster is attacking me."
"Don't overreact. If your dungeon level is 80 or above, you won't get any geographical damage here."
"Does that mean if your dungeon level is below 80, you could get some damage, Master......?"
It was obvious, of course. The Eternal Glacier was where the Demon King slept for eternity, and there would be the last Boss Battle. By the time the players came here in the original story, everyone had cleared the dungeon's 100th floor!
"But we can get really important items, artifacts, monster materials, so there might be people who want to get here before they fight against the Demon King. That's why there is such a restriction."
"I assure you, no one does. Furthermore, no one wants to fight against the Demon King."
"So, I put the dungeon level 80 limit on it, but some perverts still didn't listen. Some of them achieved the minimum conditions and tried to wake the Demon King up with a bug. Or some of them wanted to level up here armed with perv equipment that raises their status, saying it's better to take the penalty....... There used to be so many pervs."
"What kind of a future have you foreseen......."
It was the same reason that Evan did not bring the new members of the sub-party here. It could have been a great opportunity to show off the senior group's power, but the talented newbies could have frozen and died.
"I'm cold, Oppa."
"......."
Serena, who had been regaining her old self since Evan's declaration of engagement, entered Evan's arms, screaming that she was cold when she was wearing loose clothes on purpose. Belois quietly pulled Serena.
"Then, shall I use the Ghost Wagon again? If we get in there, we can avoid the damage."
"As expected, the wagon could also run on the ice......."
The wagon began to move fast as soon as the whole party got on and the door closed. At that moment, the coldness disappeared. Even with the windows open, there was only a little cool wind!
"Since the damage to the terrain of the Eternal Glacier is a geographical effect, if we're on the Ghost Wagon that doesn't have the geographical effect, the damage disappears, and we can only feel the pure cool wind."
"That reminds me of the Thunderbird Guild......."
There was a strange charm to the cool breeze that greeted the white ice field spread out in front of the window. But Evan was enjoying the scenery and suddenly said to Serena.
"Lucy won't be harmed in this terrain, will she?"
"She'll become stronger, I guess."
"Okay, then get her on the wagon. I'll give her a bunch of buffs."
"Okay!"
-Kuuuuuuu!
The ice slime elite Lucy was instructed and hopped vigorously on top of the wagon. Soon, a loud noise began to come from outside. Watching the blood and ice crystals flying in the air, the rest of the group roughly grasped the feeling.
"Is this wagon being attacked now?"
"Lucy has Ray's buff, so she can handle it."
"Then it's not too dangerous!"
"...... I'm getting scared of you again, Princess."
The Eternal Glacier was called the Last Stage in Yo-Ma Great War 3. Even the small mobs that appeared on the field showed off their monster-like hideousness to the same level as the ones at the bottom of the dungeon.
Lucy could handle them by herself because of Serena's buff, and it was an ice-attributed monster that was getting stronger under the Eternal Glacier!
"You can't be that scared with just this. Monsters guarding the treasure will be more vicious, so look forward to it."
"Yes, I look forward to it."
Shine didn't make a fuss about Evan's serious remarks but still responded seriously. Shine felt a sense of triumph when he saw Evan blow up the devil in one hit (feat. Matthew), who was summoned from the Mana Realm.
Moreover, although the meaning had somehow faded since Evan had increased his strength, Shine once firmly vowed to protect Evan. However, it was inevitable that Evan hurt his pride by solving issues first without giving him a chance to step up.
"This time, you can stay still, Master."
"I hope so......."
"Oppa, are there a lot of Demons out here?"
"Direct subordinates of the Demon King are usually asleep here, so you won't have to fight. There may be common soldiers down there, and some monsters tamed by the Demon Tribe might follow us."
However, they would not attack Evan unless he was close to the Demon King. It was like confessing that they were doing something suspicious here!
"Can't we just kill the sealed Demon King?"
"If it were possible, I would have already done it. Do you think I'm waiting for the Demon King to be resurrected because I want to meet him?"
Shine thought it might be just that. However, if he put the word 'first love' in his mouth again, he would be beaten by Evan, so he shut himself up.
"In the first place, the real body of the Demon King is not sealed here. There is a medium and a skill to bring the Demon King from the Mana world to this world. Can I find both of them and get rid of them? Yes, I can. But it's easy to be replaced."
"Are you saying that even if we kill him, he's going to revive?"
"Yeah, and next time, it'll be somewhere we don't know. It means it'll be twice the hassle. So, the best way to beat the Demon King is to wait for his resurrection."
Shine, who was still listening to the story, squinted his eyes and asked him.
"But Master, just killing the Demon King does not mean that he will be completely gone. So that means the Demon King will appear over and over."
"I just told you. He's in the Mana world. Even if you take down the Demon King, who has been summoned into this world, he will eventually return to the Mana world. And if he has huge damage on his body, he won't dare to be summoned back for decades."
However, in the original game, the Demon King would return to the earth in Yo-Ma Great War 4 shortly after the end of Yo-Ma Great War 3, breaking the rules observed throughout the series.
This was all because the bloody Black Wizards amplified the Demon King's ability with the continental human sacrifice, the expression of artifacts, and the terrible magic of using the Rookie Tribe, a god race tribe.
And Yo-Ma Great War 5...... Evan was not sure himself because he had not played it before, but maybe it was the Devil Rune method. Indeed, Ctheasil had caused a global nuisance.
'Anyway, the Devil Rune is already free, so maybe the Demon King can take advantage of it. But still, he cannot be summoned...'
And that was why Evan was trying to keep the Black Wizards alive. He had to achieve the desired results.
He couldn't do anything if the Black Wizards' extermination didn't go as planned, but there was a conviction that it prevented the same tragedy as Yo-Ma Great War 4.
"Oh, stop here for a second."
Evan, who stopped the wagon, ordered Raihan to get out.
"Okay, Hyeong. Please activate the maximum protection over there!"
"Okay......?"
There was flat ice with nothing on it; Raihan carried a shield and activated the protection. As it was an expansive ice field with a wide view, the effect of protection was great. It was spreading out, and in no time, there were countless monsters!
"Wow, there are so many rare monsters."
"Should I kill them, Master?"
"No, your weapon sucks blood, so no."
Evan threw a space-moving scroll to Raihan. Already engulfed by monsters, Raihan accepted it but looked lost.
"You have to hold on there, and when I give you a signal, you stop the protection, tear it up and come back. Now, we need to pull the wagon a little farther back."
-Grrr!
-Boom!
-Grrrr....... Crrrrr!
The scene soon unfolded. The monsters filling the sky and the earth were coming after him! Evan's party had to evacuate as far back as they could to avoid getting involved in it.
"Oh, Master. Doesn't the ground look shiny where Raihan is standing......?"
"It's the right timing. Tear it, Hyeong!"
At that very moment, Raihan was disappearing from the ice field filled with monsters and was immediately summoned next to Evan.
Since the nucleus that was gathering the monsters disappeared, they were about to scatter in all directions, but Evan was not just watching.
When he stretched out his hands and took the motion of pressing down, the monsters filling the space were crushed to the floor all at once!
"Heaven's Press!"
"Wow, that's awesome. Thousands of monsters at the same time......!"
"Lua, if there's anyone who's around, push them with your magic."
"None. I can see some monster bones or spines flying around, though."
In a sense, it was a more surprising sight than it was when the Kraken had been captured, but it was not new considering he had been in the dungeon for a long time, leveling up and upgrading Heaven's Throw!
"Oh, the floor seems to be shining more and more......is that sucking blood?"
"That's right."
There was nothing to hide. A magic circle was formed where Raihan stood until a while ago. It was the magic circle that was satisfied only when blood was donated from more than a certain number of living creatures.
"Isn't this a way of waking up the Demon King?"
"No matter how strong it is, it doesn't wake him up. What we're trying to wake up is a little different from the Demon King."
Shortly after all the monsters' death by Evan's Heaven's Press, thousands of red-colored magic dust shone dimly and disappeared.
"Okay, you erased one. We just need to go around the eternal glacier and erase six more."
"Are you trying to wake the Divine Dragon?"
***
Evan and his companions wandered around in the Ghost Wagon and wiped out the ice field's magic circles.
Originally, in the game, he had to drag monsters to the designated area somehow and use magic or weapons to catch them. Now Raihan simply gathered monsters with his ability, and he killed them.
- Arghhhh!
Evan shook his hand as he neatly ground the giant rabbit, which had been crying out until the end, and put it into the magic circle.
The Magic Circle, satisfied with the tribute, was seen disappearing. No, technically, he had given ten times as much as he did in the game. There were so many monsters at once that he couldn't help it. If he wanted to blame someone, he should blame Raihan for his excellent protection.
"Okay, that's it."
"Maybe it's just my mood, but I feel like the horizon is clean."
"I'm sure it'll be cleaner after this."
Shortly after the last seventh magic circle was stained with blood, a terrible tremor broke out around the Eternal Glacier. Along with him, thousands of ghosts filled the atmosphere at the same time.
"It's open."
"The entrance to hell?"
"The entrance to the ruins, man."
It was rather dangerous to run in the wagon because of the vibrations that had caused crevices here and there. Evan ran fast with his party. Naturally, the group that ran faster than the Ghost Wagon reached the entrance quickly.
"Oh, it's bigger than I thought......?"
"Maybe it's because we caught more monsters than you have seen in your prediction."
It was a persuasive remark.
In the original game, the ancient ruins were broken and looked like Parthenon, and they had to be half-buried in the crevices to reveal the entrance. Still, now they were welcomed by a fine temple boasting a magnificent figure inside the giant crevice.
Maybe it was just his mood, but the temple's style seemed different from what he knew.
"It's different from what I thought, so I'm a little hesitant......."
"That's all right. I told you this before, but whether you're right or wrong, we'll still protect you."
"I agree with Shine, Master. Please trust us."
Belois said while punishing Shine for stealing her lines. Evan smiled at the sight and nodded.
"Okay, let's get in there. I don't think there's much to it. Originally, this historical site was also a dungeon that could be broken when catching the Demon King......."
Evan, who gained confidence, led the group into the ruins without hesitation.
Shortly after entering the hall, he realized that it was the remains of a new generation.
| ← Ch. 341 | Ch. 343 → |