19 – Making It Together – 5

Since this was an other world where all sorts of things had grades, items, of course, also had grades.

In the party to which the hero Gi-jun belonged, only the party leader Ye-min possessed a Unique-grade longsword, and even that was just good luck; hero parties without even a Rare-grade item were common.

Although Gi-jun had received priority in the distribution of items needed for defense because he was a tanker, only his chest armor, greaves, and one shield were Rare-grade, while the rest were all Uncommon.

Later, according to what he heard from the Demon King, he was given the rather convincing explanation that the tutorial originally focused on skills and titles that would remain in the hero’s body rather than items that would mostly disappear once they moved on to the main stage, Leta—but regardless, that was how it was.

“But this small thing is Rare, and it can even grow.”

“Most growth-type artifacts remain as they are for a lifetime because their owners don’t know how to grow them, so don’t expect too much.”

Even as she said that, the Demon King was glaring at the buzzer—no, the shock absorber—with eyes that seemed to ask how this was a growth-type.

Indeed, was it not the terrifying part of growth-type items that if one only succeeded in growing them, they would become at least Unique-grade, and if there was a path left after that, they could look forward to Legendary-grade or even higher?

“Even though it looks insignificant, its potential is certain, just like… no, scratch that.”

The Demon King trailed off.

Gi-jun chuckled and picked it up again.

“Anyway, there is no curse, right?”

“Right.”

Having obtained the Demon King’s confirmation, Gi-jun attached the shock absorber to the heart area of the cloth armor he wore underneath his heavy armor.

Even if the armor was ruined, it was detachable, so he had essentially obtained an auxiliary defense item that he could use for a lifetime as long as it did not break.

“But honestly, the defense of that thing is on par with your armor.”

“Don’t say it, it makes me sad.”

Gi-jun quickly and accurately extracted only the hearts from the hundreds of lesser demons scattered across the floor.

Even with his Uncommon-grade Butchering skill, which had stopped at level 99 and did not know how to grow, he could achieve a sufficiently satisfactory speed.

“Found it.”

“Ah, as expected—it was a key-unlocking type!”

And among them, one.

In the belly of just one, he was able to find a key that emitted a pitch-black and eerie light.

The use of a key that looked suspicious at first glance in the ruins was obvious.

The boss room.

Just as the Demon King said, the ruins were structured such that they could not have reached the end in the first place without triggering this trap.

Or if they broke down everything all the way to the boss room door.

“If you hold it and inject mana, you will be able to tell where the boss room is. Do you not know how? Should I do it for you?”

—Hold on, my contractor is concentrating.

While Lucy scolded the Demon King, who was going crazy wanting to leave the ruins as quickly as possible,

Gi-jun drew out his mana, which had already reached the Rare-grade expert realm, and injected it into the key to observe its reaction.

Because it was light-attribute mana, it caused a dramatic conflict with the key of these ruins, which was clearly dark-attribute overall; thanks to that, he was able to read the flow of mana even more clearly.

“I found it.”

“Ah, it has been a really long wait. I want to beat up whoever the boss of the ruins is, myself.”

“I need to raise my level, so please hold back.”

The path leading to the boss room of the ruins, which had caused them to suffer for a whopping four years, was now opening.

Fortunately, the power within the key guided him along a path that went straight to the boss room while ignoring the remaining traps; though Gi-jun looked at the traps that could grow his skills with slightly lingering eyes, he was forced to run forward, unable to withstand the stinging glares of the Demon King and Lucy.

“It’s here.”

Not long after, Gi-jun encountered a door made of pitch-black metal on a wall painted so black that it could not be distinguished from its surroundings.

Would the door to Hell not look like this?

The great Italian writer Dante Alighieri, in the Inferno of his Divine Comedy describing the appearance of Hell, stated that such an inscription was engraved on the gates of Hell:

‘Abandon all hope, ye who enter here.’

“In other words, no hope remains for the one locked inside here. As long as Teacher Dante is with me, I will not lose.”

“But we are also entering here now, aren’t we?”

“In addition, Teacher Copernicus and Teacher Schrödinger are with me as well.”

Gi-jun ignored the Demon King’s words and armed himself mentally, as always.

Fortunately, instead of the Demon King, Lucy played along with him.

—What about Nietzsche?

“Of course, he is also with me in my heart.”

Next, he checked his physical equipment.

One Rare-grade shield that the Demon King had repaired at least a thousand times, and an Uncommon-grade shield.

Likewise, his Rare-grade chest armor, repaired over a thousand times, his Uncommon-grade cloth armor, and the Rare-grade shock absorber attached inside it…

His Rare-grade greaves, Uncommon-grade gauntlets, and boots…

Compared to his sturdy mental armament, it certainly looked meager.

“To think you fought me while wearing only such trashy equipment, Hero…”

“If you had said that while going easy on me, it wouldn’t have been so annoying. Here I go.”

After gesturing for the Demon King to back away, he inserted the key into the door and opened it.

Thinking that an attack might fly out the moment he opened it, he gripped the shield tightly, but the inside was quite quiet.

[Ah…]

A faint voice drifted out.

Raising his vigilance even higher at the voice that hinted at intelligence, the moment he threw the door open—

Boom—! Along with a roaring sound, the wind that swept in from the other side slashed at Gi-jun’s entire body.

—Contractor!

“Ugh!”

At the same time Lucy covered him with a protective shield of light, he activated Steelification to block the damage.

The faint beep that sounded indicated that the shock absorber in his chest was working properly.

[Too long.]

Thump.

It was too heavy to be the sound of a footstep.

However, at the sound of another heavy thump, Gi-jun also furrowed his brow as he guessed the enemy’s size.

[You made me wait!]

Crash!

Another wind blade flew at him, but this time Gi-jun’s response was in time.

Throwing his body without hesitation through the raging wind and the cold, sharp wind blades flying in between,

He injected light mana into the shields held in both hands and deflected all the wind—!

[But what is this! It wasn’t worth the wait, was it!]

The door Gi-jun had opened to enter was about to close.

Since the Demon King had not entered the room, if the door closed, Gi-jun and Lucy would be left alone in a pitch-black place where it was difficult to see anything in front of them.

After debating, she decided to block the door from closing, but Gi-jun looked back at her first and shook his head.

“Wait there!”

“Ah—you’re only brave at times like this! If you die, I will really kill you!”

Creak, slam.

The door closed without hesitation, leaving only Gi-jun, Lucy, and the boss inside the giant boss room.

With the light they emitted, they were able to discern the boss’s rough appearance.

Its size, of course, was incomparably larger than the lesser demons, but the crucial difference was that it had six arms, and each arm held a different weapon.

It was also that it possessed a much thicker, larger, and glowing horn.

[You threw away the only chance to save your life on your own.]

“Whatever.”

—Demons just love to put on airs like that. Just like the one outside!

The weapons held in the beast’s six arms flew toward him all at once from different angles.

Gi-jun moved his feet to dodge what he could and crossed his two shields to deflect all the rest, but he could not hold back the groan that escaped his lips at that moment.

The pure strength contained in the beast’s weapons was simply too strong.

“I went through all that effort to raise my Strength to Rare…!”

[Rare? I am a demon, a unique existence by birth. How foolish of a mere human to try to match my strength!]

—He’s just boasting because he’s Unique!

A raging storm of consecutive attacks flew at him again.

The only saving grace was that the understanding contained in each of the weapons it swung was slightly lacking compared to Gi-jun’s.

He developed movements to counter the beast moment by moment and tried to dissipate the shock every time their weapons and shields clashed—but if it hadn’t been for the shock absorber, he probably would have been knocked down long ago.

[I have been locked in here for a long time and have mastered all weapons! I am a Demon Weapon Master—! I will kill you, go out, and conquer the world!]

Crash, clatter, bang, crash!

Gi-jun neither advanced nor retreated, constantly parrying the beast’s attacks in place.

Meanwhile, Lucy fired a spear of light shaped from spiritual power, aiming for the beast’s vital spots.

[Ha! That doesn’t even itch!]

—It looks like it hurts!

[You’ve been annoying me for a while now, spirit!]

“Haah!”

In the brief moment when the boss—the demon—was distracted by Lucy, Gi-jun thrust his two shields forward simultaneously, releasing his spiritual power to the fullest.

A lethal Shield Bash that would grind something like a lesser demon to pieces in an instant.

That attack, filled with light, was certainly effective enough to push the demon’s giant body back, but unfortunately, it did not inflict a fatal wound.

[Did you do something?]

The demon sneered at him, tilting its head.

Lucy shouted.

—He’s just pretending nothing happened because he’s embarrassed about being pushed back!

[Kuaaaah! I will kill you, spirit!]

Lucy’s presence, reading the demon’s inner thoughts from the side and chiming in, was greatly provoking the demon.

Thinking that no matter how he looked at it, Lucy was much better at provoking than he was, he raised his shields again.

Due to Rapid Regeneration and working without sleep or rest, which had been steadily active since the moment the battle began, his body had become, at least in appearance, perfectly fine.

“Anyway, the damage is going through. That’s enough.”

[Do you think you can kill me with just a bug bite—!]

The demon discarded the weapon in one hand and slammed the giant scimitar he held in both hands down onto the floor with all his might.

The wind blade generated at that moment flew in with the momentum to split Gi-jun in half—

Only to be deflected by the two shields he thrust out with all his might.

“Pant, haah…!”

Judging by the loud beeping sound, the shock absorber had already reached its limit.

Still, it had held out well enough.

Gi-jun clenched his teeth and endured as strength kept draining from his trembling arms, raising his shields once more.

Compared to the helplessness he felt when he first faced the Demon King, this could not even be called a crisis.

[So persistent!]

—Contractor, hang in there!

“I’m fine.”

‘I can do this all day.’

Spitting out blood-mixed saliva, Gi-jun gripped the shields tightly once again with his arms, which were slowly regaining strength due to Rapid Regeneration and working without sleep or rest.

—Contractor, let’s sharpen our spiritual power a little more.

It was then that Lucy’s advice came.

—Shields are somewhat dull and small to deal with that huge guy. We will make up for the lack of finishing power with my strength.

“Then it’s not even a blunt weapon technique.”

—Who cares? It’s about time we give the turtle some real teeth.

That was true too.

Originally, the Twin Turtle Fangs—no, Dual Shield Mastery was practiced without considering spirits—strictly speaking, a defense-oriented weapon technique.

Since it had now obtained a new name and the assistance of a spirit had been added,

There was no need to be bound by identity.

He just had to fight well.

It was a very simple matter.

—Since you’ve already tried it several times, you just need a shift in perspective. You can do it, Contractor.

“Good…”

[What are you muttering about!]

Throwing his body to avoid the wind flying at him once again, he adjusted his posture.

Gripping his two shields more aggressively, he poured in his spiritual power and light mana, which were still overflowing.

Following the spiritual power he emitted, Lucy channeled her seemingly infinite light spirit power into the shields.

At the sight of him holding what looked like two small suns because it was so bright, the demon, who had never escaped the darkness in his entire life, frowned.

[Annoying! So annoying!]

Wind blades that were uncannily shot out whenever the distance widened slightly.

The constant tremors, and the barrage of weapons from the six arms that flew at him when the distance closed.

Meanwhile, the beast’s horn was continuously drawing in and accumulating the surrounding darkness, and at a glance, it clearly looked like it was preparing a powerful move.

“Let’s do this.”

Gi-jun rushed head-on against such a monster, glaring with wide eyes as he swung his shields.

With just Lucy’s brief advice, the light, which had already gone beyond the realm of shields to take on its own unique shape, blocked the enemy’s weapons pouring down along with the wind blades.

Of course, it had the disadvantage of heavy spiritual power and mana consumption, but if his strength ran out, he could just tank it with his body and wait for it to recover.

[Now, die!]

Before long, that moment arrived.

The dark mana filled in the horn was spewed out as a straight beam of energy through the beast’s mouth.

Gi-jun, who caught this movement quickly, threw his body to dodge the trajectory, but the beast turned its head and fired it again.

“Kh!”

—It’s okay, you can block it!

As the two shields came together again, a single huge shield was formed through the medium of light.

Even as he thought that Lucy must have helped him, he instinctively controlled the shield just as he envisioned.

His training was not in vain.

The beam that flew in with the momentum to grind him to pieces was deflected—reflected by the shield of light—and, surprisingly, struck the demon’s face directly!

[Kuaaaah!]

—Contractor!

Lucy’s voice was clearer and sharper than ever.

Gi-jun’s body, filled with light, sprinted forward, drawing a long tail like a comet racing across the ground.

Against the demon who noticed Gi-jun approaching despite being in pain and repeatedly slammed down its weapons, Gi-jun frantically swung his shields, which were split into two again, to deflect them.

The two shields held in his hands, emitting light and cutting through the air, were, without a doubt, sharp fangs themselves.

To preserve his focus while he was still in an awakened state, Lucy squeezed out her remaining spirit power to create spears of light, blocking the attacks he could not deflect in time.

[Kuaaaah!]

“Hyaaaaap!”

And Gi-jun.

Climbing up the beast’s body as if pinning it down with the shield of light, he finally reached its face and slammed down the giant tusk of light created by merging the two shields.

[Kuaaaaah!]

The demon, left vulnerable as the wound from its own reflected attack had not healed, had its vital point pierced cleanly; it rolled on the floor while screaming in pain.

Gi-jun rushed to finish it off, but immediately after, the light disappeared from his shields.

—Both my spiritual power and your mana are bottomed out, Contractor.

“Yeah.”

Gi-jun regained his composure and backed away, protecting himself with his shields without leaving any openings.

As he breathed calmly, he could feel his energy rising within his body slowly, if only by a tiny bit.

Was it because of his naturally massive spiritual power? Since his mana had converted to light mana, its recovery speed also seemed to have accelerated.

“Let’s finish this quickly.”

—Cool…!

Lucy whispered.

Twenty minutes later, the tusk of light embedded in the demon’s forehead tore its majestic horn off raw.

It was the moment Gi-jun conquered the ruins.