The Player Who Eats Steel - Episode 210
210fury.
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"Now… … Let's start demolishing the Demon King's Castle.”
As Lee Hyun-wook said, heat-resistant clothing items began to be distributed..
Agaidica explained earlier that the 'heart of the earth', 4km below, inside that hole is an extremely hot area..
Therefore, players activated mana shields to protect against heat prior to infiltration, received magic shield support from wizards, and wore items with heat dissipation functions..
And the blacksmiths prepared to deploy a ‘walking magic drone’..
Before throwing yourself directly into that black hole, the purpose was to check what was below and then install a magic shield at the landing point..
We must enter the enemy's territory, a place called the Devil's Castle. Therefore, it was natural to take every precaution..
And after Kim Se-hee got everyone's attention, she raised her voice..
“Now, the wind is blowing out of that hole in the opposite direction, but I'm going to control it and make the wind go in the opposite direction, downward! Just like an elevator!”
Of course, it wouldn't be as stable as an elevator..
"And of course, the tanks will go in first, so come forward..”
"Write— We are the first on the Hwangcheon Road……."
But that was then.
"—Ugh!"
"—Pfft!”
Suddenly, almost all players were complaining of strange headaches at the same time..
"......."
A moment of silence followed that strange experience..
“……Well, I'm not the only one who felt that way just now.?”
"uh? What, you felt it too?”
“What is it, should I say something cheap all of a sudden??”
The feeling of goosebumps running down your back and your hair standing on end... … In other words, it would be the survival instinct of living things..
In other words, it was an intuition that a huge threat was approaching..
And Lee Hyun-wook also felt that..
‘This… … It's overwhelming.’
There is something of high rank nearby, like a dragon pier. And even though we didn't meet in person, he started to be so active that his presence could be sensed..
‘Currently, the only person of this level in this area is the Demon King.…….'
However, the fact that he was suddenly able to feel this way could be seen as a sign that his abilities had increased significantly all at once..
'……The question is, why has there been such a sudden rise?.’
Lee Hyun-wook guessed that the guy is currently putting all his effort into building the Demon King's Castle, so he can't move easily..
That may be why the corps under my command was helpless despite Lee Hyun-wook's successive air raids and was unable to come out..
however…….
- (!) The essence of the power of your nemesis 'The Demon King' has been completed.!
* Soon, an 'evil rampage' begins, and the Demon King gradually strengthens by absorbing the life force of humans..
Before his eyes, this warning system message appeared:.
"Damn, why already?……."
This was completely different from the time Lee Hyun-wook expected..
However, another system message came to mind..
- congratulations! As this begins in earnest, ‘Hero Perks’ will be strengthened to ‘Level 2’..
* The Demon King gradually evolves every time it takes a life..
Fortunately, this time it was positive..
Usually, in fantasy, a hero appears in response to a crisis called the Demon King. Based on that cliché, do the hero's perks also get stronger every time the Demon King gets stronger??
Lee Hyun-wook was wary of the turbulent ground and quickly examined the details..
1) All abilities increase significantly. (+400%)
2) Resistance to all status ailments increases. (+200%)
3) Can ignore the Demon King's special barrier.
4) You can ‘transfer’ the abilities of friendly players..
‘It just doubled.’
Once again, all abilities have been greatly improved..
And one more new feature was added..
'Hmm, you can transfer the abilities of a friendly player........'
But there was no time to experiment with it..
"You need to get away from this place right now.!”
It was Agaidika who shouted that. He must have sensed something and screamed at his men, and all the Ancient Red Drakes began to scatter in all directions..
“—Move quickly! Soon the ground here will collapse!”
「That's right! Now the whole thing under my feet is starting to shake! It'll sink in soon!」
Through Maru’s additional explanation, Lee Hyun-wook intuited what was happening..
"no way… … Is the Demon King rising upward??”
It was built down there, so I thought it would stay there..
But it seemed like it was about to rise above the ground..
「—Too fast, too late!」
Soon the ground began to crack, and a huge crevasse began to open around the drill hole Hyunwook Lee had drilled..
T-that-that-that——!
A column of heat like a gas explosion exploded from the gap..
pop--! pop——!
“Pfft!”
They soared into the sky like cannons, and even the airships floating hundreds of meters in the air were swept away by the column, lost their balance, and began to spin, eventually getting stuck in various directions..
Thump—— Thump——
“—Be careful above your head too!”
“evil! Damn it, we have to teleport away.!”
They were scattered here and there on the ground shaking from the earthquake, dodging the cracking ground and pieces of the airship raining down on their heads..
Qua—and—and—gwang——!
Still, since they were all skilled, high-level players, they were not left helpless and attempted an emergency escape prepared in advance by each party..
And those who got as far away from the scene as possible turned their heads and looked toward the crevasse..
From that wide and long gap, black smoke rose like a haze, and it soared up into the sky, creating a scene as if a huge blackout curtain had obscured half of the world..
Go—oh—oh—oh——
And something slowly flew out from within the black smoke, and its shadow appeared briefly above the black smoke.…….
"omg! What is that? Oh, it's so big?”
“……I don't know what it is, but it's ominous.”
It was just a shadow, but I could tell that something very large, with a bunch of long, wriggling things hanging from it, was slowly rising into the sky..
But it soon became clear what it was.
- caution! The ‘Devil’s Castle’ has appeared in the area.!
* All abilities of beings who have pledged loyalty to the Demon King are greatly improved.. (+100%)
* Other than that, the abilities of all beings decrease. (-30%) However, warriors are excluded..
Soon, it began to emerge from the black veil..
Go—oh—oh—oh——
Kim Se-hee, who was watching this, tilted her head..
“……That's the devil's castle, now?”
Park Jun-mo, who was standing next to her, also tilted his head..
"Yes, but… … I don't know where I can tell it's a castle..”
It had a shape that could never be called a building..
Gurgling— Gurgling—
that… … It was a living thing.
Yes, definitely a living creature.…….
Among them, it seemed like the part corresponding to the head..
Gurgling— Gurgling—
A large head, as it must be described as such, a pile of dark red, shiny flesh measuring well over 2km in diameter... … There was a huge eyeball stuck in the center..
Gurgling— Gurgling—
The huge eyeball moved up, down, left and right, and the pupil repeatedly contracted and dilated..
In other words, they were scanning everything in the area..
“Oh my gosh it's crazy……."
The players who felt that gaze had no choice but to instinctively shrink away..
Also, there were countless small eyeballs around the big eyes, and each time they closed and closed their eyes, the red light disappeared and reappeared again and again, making it feel like lights were twinkling..
Next, below that is the mouth… … The large, toothless mouth was open, and the green lips, like rotten mackerel, were half-open and a sticky, thick tongue was sticking out writhing..
It took in air—that is, each time it breathed, a rough, phlegm-like breathing sound resounded..
And finally, at the bottom, dozens of tentacles wriggled..
At first glance, it looks like a mollusk, but it has clearly visible facial features... … It looked like the head of a one-eyed monster with a long beard..
‘That's the Demon King... … This is ridiculous..’
Even as Lee Hyun-wook, I was just dumbfounded..
No matter how I looked at that sight, it was beyond common sense..
Where do you see that it's a castle??
And something so bizarre was something that even players who had gone through all sorts of terrible experiences had encountered for the first time..
"......."
Perhaps they were overcome by a strange sense of intimidation, but they only looked at the terrible being with blank expressions and took no action, making it pointless that they were preparing to demolish the Demon King's Castle..
"—Everyone, we need to come to our senses and prepare for the attack.!”
The person who shouted that was Lee Seong-yoon, the gravity wizard..
"As of right now, we have no way of guessing what kind of attack it will make, so we need to prepare ourselves as best as we can.!”
As he said, since he could not predict what form the Demon King would take, he could not predict what kind of attack the Demon King would make..
Lee Hyun-wook also agreed with his opinion..
"Go to first defense! Prepare all available defenses right now! and… … Even a means of escape..”
The best plan Lee Hyun-wook came up with was to prevent the construction of the Demon King's Castle..
In other words, since the Demon King's Castle was completed and appeared before our eyes, it was necessary to check the plan rather than force the battle..
But at that time, small things began to rise from the hole from which the Devil Castle emerged........
Wow——!
They were all monsters.
Monsters such as titans, black orcs, and undead were drawn by an invisible power, floating in the air and flying towards the Demon King Castle... … I was soon sucked into the huge, wide-open mouth..
“uh… … What is that doing??"
"That's right, you're going to eat your own side.?”
At first glance, it looked like it was being swallowed up, but after Lee Hyun-wook looked closely with Hugin and Munin, it turned out that it was probably monsters... … So, it seemed like the army was being loaded into the devil's castle..
Lee Hyun-wook had doubts about that scene..
‘……Why are you loading it??’
If it's for battle, shouldn't we line up outside the Demon King's Castle instead of inside it??
'then… … I have no intention of fighting..’
His guess was correct..
The Demon King's altitude gradually increased, and the Demon King's largest eye looked upward and shot out a ray of light..
OK…….
Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh——
There was a hole in the sky.
“……uh? You opened a portal?”
A very large portal had been created. It was similar in size to the White Hall, but the difference was that its color was red..
The moment he saw that scene, Lee Hyun-wook was no longer focused on defense..
He immediately lifted the Mana Messenger.
“—Team leader Lee, please bring the Friedwen and Gauss over here right now.!”
- yes?
"We need to shoot that thing down, right now.!”
Now, the Demon King was clearly preparing for ‘space movement’. In other words, they were trying to postpone the battle with Lee Hyun-wook..
Hyunwook Lee reaffirmed that among the previous system messages, those related to the completion of the Demon King's Castle.
And I found that written at the bottom of the content was '* The Demon King gradually evolves every time it takes life.'.
‘……They want to go to the big city and take the lives of civilians..’
In other words, it was a rational and evil plan to gain as much life force as possible through massacre and then become stronger to face Lee Hyun-wook..
Soon, Friedwen and Gaussham came flying from the rear..
But then—
jing——!
A ray of light flew in and struck Prydwen..
bang——!
Still, Fridwen was not pierced by the blow because it was equipped with the strongest magic shield generator, but it bounced far away like a bowling pin hit by a bowling ball and fell to the ground..
A strand of the devil's tentacle fired a light attack..
‘shit.’
Then, a voice began to echo in the air..
「Stillane, you were quick to notice, but you were late..」
It was the voice of the devil.
"......."
「You and all of you... … You will pay the price for making the wrong choice by rejecting the offers I repeatedly sent you. Everything you love and know will be my nourishment, and if you try to stand against me again... … You will encounter family members, lovers, and friends who have become undead..」
After that curse-filled intimidation, the Demon King quickly increased its altitude........
Hung—
In the end, it disappeared into a black portal..
Couldn't stop it.
"Uh, what, what……."
“……Where did it go?”
"He ran away?”
The players looked blank..
I couldn't even guess what the situation was..
Lee Hyun-wook thought for a moment and came to a conclusion..
“Team Leader Lee, check the Seoul area right now..”
And his guess is........
- Chik - It is said that the devil, the devil, has appeared in the skies over Seoul.!
unfortunately it was correct.
The devil chose Seoul as his first victim. The idea was to completely destroy Lee Hyun-wook's foundation..
- Now, it is said that a system message has appeared before the eyes of players defending Seoul, telling them to be careful of soul harvesting! what does this mean.......
Soul Harvest. The Demon Lord was trying to take the life force..
That's the entire population of Seoul…….
Lee Hyun-wook hurriedly gave an order..
“……There is only one way. I'm going to use 'World Bridge' right now to open the wight hall to Seoul and track him down..”
however…….
- Well, but… … Seoul sky... … Like this place before, it is said to be sealed with some kind of wide-area magic, but damn it! If this happens, won't you be able to open the portal??
Squitte. was saying that.
But that should have not expired yet..
'……As expected, there was one more.’
The squite used here was brought by a necromancer. And the named Titan ‘Kronos’ obeyed the Demon King… … He had one more Squitte..
The bad news continued..
- And since the immunity of the sealed area is about 30km, if you use the Wight Hall to return to the Korean Peninsula, you must choose Suwon as your destination..
If you arrive in Suwon, drill a hole using Park Jun-mo's electric current, cross 30km and arrive in Seoul.…….
- ……You'll be late.
There were already countless casualties..
Lee Hyun-wook took a moment to catch his breath, then lifted up the Mana Messenger..
"Team leader... … There is no other way. Please prepare to return to Suwon right now and contact Seoul that you need this..”
- Yes, we have already moved on from there. Operation Fire Dome will begin soon..
Lee Hyun-wook predicted this situation to some extent..
‘The Demon King has a wide-area space movement skill..’
When he first appeared, he used it to escape, and he also used it to travel around the world and subjugate monsters..
Therefore, Lee Hyun-wook anticipated that the bastard would attack the Korean Peninsula while he was away and made some preparations..
‘The easiest way to shake up the enemy's lines is to disrupt the rear..’
And there are a total of two places he could target..
Taebaek Arsenal, where key facilities are located.
Or, Seoul, the heart of the Korean Peninsula, where Lee Hyun-wook is based..
Among them, the Taebaek Arsenal was filled with all kinds of magic engineering turrets..
Then Seoul was the problem.
How best to defend such a large area??
Of course, there are many AMT troops and players, but that alone was somewhat unsettling..
So what I prepared was…….
- Operation ‘Fire Dome’ has now begun. I will send you a video from Seoul..
Soon, a magic drone flew towards Lee Hyun-wook..
yes——
The magic drone was equipped with a crystal projector..
It floated a hologram in the air, and the video showed…….
“……It's Seoul.”
I saw a very familiar cityscape..
Even the appearance of the devil’s castle encroaching on the sky there..
And from the Demon King's mouth, something was pouring out, like vomit..
Ku—gu—gu—gu—
It was an undead army..
They dropped like paratroopers and began to spread throughout the city..
Like a virus moving through blood vessels, it started moving along the roads and alleys and attacking humans..
"Damn, if this goes on, Seoul……”
Seoul would be consumed by death..
But then…….
Qua—ah—ah—ah——!
With a loud noise, the hologram screen was filled with red light..
And out of nowhere, a ridiculous being appeared..
“……uh? What is that again??”
"Yo, it's a dragon.?”
An Eastern dragon, not a Western dragon. It's also a red dragon.
As many as seven such-looking beings appeared and filled the screen. They stood upright and moved menacingly, looking at the Demon King's Castle. Then he laid down and scanned the roadside..
The undead who were marching on it were completely swept away..
Quaguaguaidae——!
"oh my god……."
But upon closer inspection, they weren't real dragons..
They were pillars of fire that writhed and moved like dragons..
It was moving as if it was alive and devouring the undead, so at first glance it had to look like a dragon. And it was so threatening that it wouldn't be strange to call it that..
"Who on earth is doing this??”
What Lee Hyun-wook secretly prepared to protect Seoul was…….
"……Inferno.”
The player who was evaluated as having the best firepower before the advent of Steele Rain..
Inferno, the savior of Busan.
The so-called person broke his long seclusion at an important moment..
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