Jung Hyun was wandering inside the artificial dungeon, searching for Won Hyuk.
Since he knew where Won Hyuk had started through the last footage, he predicted the path of movement and kept walking in that direction.
There was no problem clearing the stages. After all, he was the one who created this dungeon in the first place.
But there was another problem.
“Why is it so peaceful?”
There were no human corpses in sight. Nor were there any signs of battle remaining.
It was evidence that the second-year annihilation plan was not proceeding properly.
“This is bad.”
[Stage 7]
Jung Hyun arrived at a new rendezvous point.
Looking around, he saw several doors. However, only two doors were open. Something was definitely strange.
And Jung Hyun instinctively realized.
Some of the infiltrated demons had already been taken out.
The only ones who could win in a one-on-one fight against a demon would be Lee Seo-jun, Yoo Ara, and Kim Sunwoo… at most.
But even then, it would only apply against B-grade demons; even they would struggle against A-grade ones.
Ah, maybe Lee Seo-jun could handle it.
“Not good.”
If the demons had been taken down as he thought, then the plan would face a huge setback.
It seemed the plan was a failure.
Jung Hyun quickly revised the plan in his head.
With the students hiding, it would be impossible to annihilate all of them before the Association intervened.
Even though the Association wasn’t interfering yet, that wouldn’t last long.
In that case, he had to quickly clear the dungeon with Won Hyuk and escape.
“Won Hyuk…”
Though he was an unpleasant old man, he was one of the few S-rank demons.
For the sake of demon forces, he had to survive.
Steeling himself, Jung Hyun proceeded to attack the dungeon.
…Another 30 minutes passed like that.
Jung Hyun reached the center of the artificial dungeon. By now, he should have seen some trace of Won Hyuk.
And then—
Kuuuung…
A strong vibration was felt from somewhere.
As if a massive magical energy had slammed into something.
“…What was that?”
But he couldn’t sense any magic. With vibrations this intense, he should have felt something.
Jung Hyun suddenly felt a wave of anxiety.
Could it be… Won Hyuk?
Jung Hyun quickly ran toward the sound.
“Graaaah──!”
Dust billowed up around as the entrance to the stage partially collapsed.
Won Hyuk let out a scream of pain as he was pinned under it.
“Grghhh!”
Half his upper body was blown away, yet he glared at me.
I met his gaze while gathering my magic.
“So he really is S-rank.”
If it were any other demon, it would have ended with one hit.
But he didn’t die. Instead, he just glared at me with burning rage.
Still, fortunately, the first step of the plan was successful.
Now it was time to move on to the next.
“Yoon Hayoung!”
I called out urgently to Yoon Hayoung.
At my shout, she nodded and immediately activated the power of demon eradication.
Fuuuuung──!
Above her head, white glowing dots began to gather one by one.
Soon, they formed the shape of a giant arrow.
Seeing that, Won Hyuk’s eyes widened.
“…The Child of Prophecy?”
Although Yoon Hayoung was manifesting the power of Eradication, she was still incomplete.
Since the opponent was an S-rank demon, a stronger force would be needed to truly kill him.
In the original story, Lee Seo-jun had filled in that gap, but the demon’s ‘Hyper Regeneration’ ability was the worst matchup for me, who only got stronger for three minutes.
Thus, I had to buy time so that Yoon Hayoung could manifest a stronger Eradication power.
I compressed and shaped my magic again.
Magic swirled over my hand like a storm and formed into a sphere.
Won Hyuk twisted his lips into a sneer as he looked at me and Yoon Hayoung.
At the same time, immense magic power erupted from his body.
He had activated the demon’s trait, ‘Hyper Regeneration.’
Crunch. Crack.
Blood, bones, skin, and veins grew rapidly, filling in the missing parts of his body.
At that moment—
Won Hyuk’s body disappeared.
He sprinted toward his goal, the Child of Prophecy, at a speed almost impossible to track by eye.
But if I couldn’t follow him, I just needed to make it so I could.
I activated instant acceleration.
Time around me slowed down, and I could clearly see his movements.
Holding the compressed magic sphere, I charged straight toward him.
Normally, there would have been too big of a speed gap to catch up, but instant acceleration filled that gap.
And so, the moment Won Hyuk’s hand blade neared Yoon Hayoung’s neck—
I dove into his chest and unleashed my magic.
Paaaaang─!
“Graaaah!”
Won Hyuk’s body was blasted backward, crashing into the wall with a bang! A massive hole opened up again in the area hit by my magic.
Won Hyuk screamed in agony and glared at me in confusion.
He looked genuinely shocked at my speed using instant acceleration.
“Urgh! What is this…?”
I immediately squeezed out every last bit of magic.
Fuuuuung!
At the same time, dozens of spells materialized above my shoulder.
And then—
I bombarded him unilaterally.
Pang─!
Pang─!
Pang─!
Dozens of magic spheres shot at Won Hyuk.
Realizing that they lacked overwhelming magic power, Won Hyuk endured the attacks with his bare body.
However, each small magic sphere contained the light attribute, the natural enemy of demons.
As the damage accumulated, even he would eventually be burdened.
“Grgh! I’ll kill you first!”
As expected of an S-rank demon, Won Hyuk endured my attacks and regenerated his body.
And once somewhat recovered, he charged at me again.
But now, having consumed much of his life force and magic, his movements were noticeably slower.
I calmly activated my second skill.
Secret magic of the Rune Clan.
Rune’s Bind.
Uuuuuung!
Multiple beams of light shot out from the ground.
They quickly entangled his arms and legs.
Like a spider trapping prey in its web, the beams of light wrapped around Won Hyuk’s limbs, neck, and waist.
“Urgh! What the hell is this?!”
Won Hyuk’s face twisted in panic.
He had a look like he couldn’t believe such magic existed.
Well, it would seem strange. I’m the only one in this world who can use this magic.
At that moment, a wave of dizziness hit me as mana drained rapidly from my body.
I had felt it before—The amount of mana consumed by Rune’s Binding was staggering.
Even with the mana recovery from the Heart of Nature, it was barely sustainable.
“…Grgh! What the hell…”
Won Hyuk struggled desperately against the binding beams.
“No magic can be felt… and now this binding spell too.”
He glared at me and shouted.
“Who the hell are you?!”
“Sunwoo! It’s ready!”
At that moment, I heard Yoon Hayoung’s voice. Turning my head, I saw a fully formed Eradication Arrow floating in the air.
Just in time, since I was hitting my limit.
“Fire it!”
“Okay!”
Yoon Hayoung stretched out her hand toward Won Hyuk.
Soon, the Eradication Arrow released mysterious energy and shot straight at him.
“No, no!”
Fear briefly flickered in Won Hyuk’s eyes.
And then—
The Eradication Arrow pierced Won Hyuk’s body.
Swoooosh!
Kaaaaang───!
A fierce wind swept across the surroundings.
I narrowed my eyes and watched Won Hyuk’s end.
His whole body burned under the power of Eradication as he screamed in agony.
And then a message popped up.
[S-rank villain, ‘Won Hyuk’, has been defeated.]
[Causality increases by 1.8.]
[You have achieved the ‘Elimination of S-Class Demon’ achievement.]
[You receive 10,000 points as a reward.]
[You have achieved the ‘S-Class Raid’ achievement.]
[You receive 5,000 points as a reward.]
[You have successfully eliminated an S-Class demon using the Light attribute.]
[Your proficiency in Light Attribute Control greatly increases!]
[You gain additional proficiency through the Blessing of Nature effect.]
[Light attribute proficiency increases by 63%.]
[You have won the battle against the target!]
[You gain the ‘Hyper Regeneration (B)’ ability through the effect of the Victory Call.]
“Phew.”
I let out a sigh of relief as I saw the messages.
I had won.
The opponent was an S-Class demon. I had been worried about what would happen if I failed, but thankfully, I succeeded.
I checked the time.
Six hours had passed since the start of the test.
In the original story, it took ten hours before they managed to kill Won Hyuk, but thanks to my intervention, it was shortened by a full four hours.
This meant fewer students had died compared to the original story.
I didn’t know exactly how many fewer, but it should be a significant difference.
I wasn’t sure how this change would affect the future, but I hoped it would have a positive impact.
I stood up and walked over to Won Hyuk’s corpse.
There was a man who looked to be in his fifties.
Beside him lay a wooden mask, the Inpi mask.
“Sunwoo.”
At that moment, Yoon Hayoung approached me. Her voice calling my name sounded exhausted.
Yoon Hayoung stared at me quietly. Her eyes were full of questions she wanted to ask.
Questions about the magic that didn’t emit any magical energy, about the Runes Bind, and other spells I had shown.
I gave her a faint smile and said,
“I’ll explain everything to you slowly later.”
“Hmm. Okay.”
She then looked at the Inpi mask.
Since it was a Class-1 illegal magical item, just possessing it would count as a serious crime.
I was tempted, but if I retrieved it, they might instead investigate me as a criminal rather than recognizing me as the demon slayer.
…Not that it mattered much.
Even if I didn’t retrieve it, Jung Hyun, who had infiltrated the dungeon, would probably take it anyway.
In that case, it was better for me to take it.
As I discreetly picked up the Inpi mask, Yoon Hayoung spoke.
“That’s the Inpi mask, right?”
“Yeah, that’s right. I’ll hold onto it, just in case. Another demon might try to recover it.”
It was an excuse, but Yoon Hayoung nodded.
“Oh, and you know today’s events need to be kept secret, right?”
“Of course.”
The Light attribute magic I used today. And the Rune Bindings and other special spells.
I didn’t want my abilities to be revealed yet. And it was still too early for people to know about Yoon Hayoung possessing the power to destroy demons.
“Sunwoo, what are you going to do now?”
At Yoon Hayoung’s question, I fell into thought.
Though I succeeded in eliminating Won Hyuk, the crisis wasn’t completely over.
Jung Hyun was still somewhere in the dungeon.
Given the fierce battle just now, it was highly likely that Jung Hyun would be heading toward this place, following the noise.
However, I had nothing left. My fighting spirit and the Heart of Nature had all been used up.
Yoon Hayoung had also expended a lot of her strength.
In our current state, we couldn’t defeat Jung Hyun.
“For now, let’s get out of here.”
Time passed, and Jung Hyun arrived at the source of the sound.
On the way there, he had heard constant screams and massive explosions.
One of the screams had sounded eerily similar to someone he knew. But Jung Hyun stubbornly denied it.
There was no way that person could be struggling against mere students.
“…What the hell?”
However, when he reached his destination, Jung Hyun’s mind went blank at the sight before him.
There was a grotesque corpse lying there. And a flood of complicated thoughts overtook his mind.
What is this? Am I really seeing reality?
Jung Hyun approached the corpse with trembling steps.
“Won Hyuk-nim?”
Won Hyuk did not respond.
Jung Hyun was in shock.
Won Hyuk was an S-Class demon.
His death had never been part of the plan.
The plan had failed.
No, it wasn’t just a failure.
It was utterly ruined.
Jung Hyun examined Won Hyuk’s body. Numerous wounds covered it.
He couldn’t even imagine what kind of battle had taken place.
“…Could it be the Child of Prophecy?”
There was no other explanation.
Without the Child of Prophecy’s power to destroy demons, Won Hyuk’s defeat would have been impossible.
Even so, the opponent was just an eighteen-year-old student.
It was beyond belief that Won Hyuk had lost.
“…Something’s not right.”
There had to be traces left on his body. Evidence of what kind of battle occurred, and how he had been defeated.
They needed to take the body back for an autopsy.
Jung Hyun quickly made a decision. He channeled mana into his hands and cast magic on Won hyuk’s corpse.
He burned the wounds and stitched them with mana to stop the blood from flowing.
This way, no traces would be left during transport. Then he hoisted the corpse onto his back.
Time to return to the Ten Demons Council.
Lee Seo-jun and Lee Hyun-joo were running quickly inside the dungeon.
They had felt a huge magical explosion from afar.
It was clear that a battle had occurred.
Judging from the strength of the magic and their past experiences, it was likely an S-Class demon had been involved.
Lee Seo-jun and Lee Hyun-joo finally arrived at the site of the battle.
They looked around — and were stunned.
There were clear signs of a fierce battle.
The walls and ceiling were shattered, and the floor was soaked with the demon’s distinctive black blood.
But something felt off.
With a battle this intense, there should have been a corpse.
Yet nothing remained in the area. It felt like they were standing in a crime scene straight out of a mystery novel.
“…What is this?”
Lee Seo-jun looked around with dazed eyes.
He crouched down and inspected the black blood on the floor.
“…It’s demon blood.”
He quickly checked the area again, wondering if there was any trace of human blood.
Thankfully, there were no signs that seemed to be human blood.
Which meant that the likely victor of this battle was human.
But the opponent had probably been an S-Class demon. Was there really someone who could defeat such a foe?
“There must have been a battle here. Judging by the destruction, it looks like a fight between beings above A-Class.”
“Yeah. But who could it have been?”
At that moment, a face popped into Lee Seo-jun’s mind.
The demons were looking for the one with the power to destroy them.
And that power was said to be a natural enemy to demons.
If someone truly had that power, defeating an S-Class demon wouldn’t be impossible.
…Could it have been Kim Sunwoo?
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