24 – Captured All by Himself – 5

When nine years had passed since Gi-jun was trapped in the world where the tutorial ended.

At last, that moment arrived.

—The level of the Steelization (U) skill has reached 99 and reached the limit.

—The level of the Steelization (U) skill has reached 99 and reached the limit.

Since Rapid Regeneration had reached level 99 a month ago, and the Sleepless and Restless skill slightly before that, with Steelization as the last, all three of the rare skills that had supported him during his first round of the tutorial had grown to the maximum level of Unique rank.

Feeling a strange emotion that he had felt several times before, he slowly closed and opened his eyes.

The preparation to move on to the next stage was already complete.

“Demon King.”

“Why?”

The Demon King looked at him with a bright smile, her complexion clearly paler than before, as if she believed she could still deceive him even now.

Since they had been engaged in a fierce battle until just a moment ago, both of them were drenched in sweat and even had wounds here and there.

Gi-jun tossed his two shields somewhere and spoke to the Demon King, whose eyes shone with a peculiar light as she watched him.

“There’s something I want to try. I’ll only be blocking from now on, so could you attack me in various ways?”

“Sure—you don’t need any advice, right?”

“Of course.”

The last time Gi-jun had received advice from the Demon King was when he completed Salutaris three years ago.

The Demon King, who had taught him the mana circuit named ‘Freedom’ out of a desire for him to be free, realized that she no longer needed to worry about him after seeing him ultimately overcome even that and transform it into a form that suited him.

He had now realized how to walk his own path without worrying about others.

Even when the tutorial ended and he crossed over to Leta to face other people, he would be fully capable of doing things in his own way.

“Alright, then prepare to get hit to your heart’s content.”

“Come at me as much as you want—!”

Along with the destruction magic the Demon King cast, her fist, shrouded in thick darkness, flew toward him.

The Demon King had clearly weakened for some reason, but she was still strong enough to take Gi-jun’s life with ease.

That was just how the wall between grades originally was.

Something that could not be easily overcome.

Gi-jun had proved he could surpass that wall by killing the unweakened demon, but the Demon King, who had raised such a Gi-jun, must have also proved herself time and time again to stand where she was.

—Crack!

“Hero!”

“I’m fine, keep them coming!”

The moment his abdomen was pierced by the Demon King, he suppressed the Rapid Regeneration that was trying to activate immediately with his own will.

He quickly hardened his body with Steelization, preventing the wound from worsening.

With Sleepless and Restless, he infused his steelized body with the strength to endure without collapsing.

Finally, he wove Rapid Regeneration into it.

—Crack!

Steelization, which reformed his body no matter how many times it was shattered; Sleepless and Restless, which patched up its flaws; and Rapid Regeneration, which restored the entire thing.

He was recalling the transformation-type skill that the Demon King had briefly demonstrated in the past, which now felt incredibly distant.

It was something in which various high-level concepts that could not be understood at a glance were complexly blended, emitting an energy that was as strong and ominous as it was incomprehensible.

—Crunch!

He remembered the Demon King showing it to him and discussing the dangers of transformation skills herself.

Although Gi-jun could not fully read her mind, the anguish caused by it was surely tormenting her.

Therefore, he had pondered it deeply and finally reached this conclusion.

Since a transformation skill was something that changed oneself.

It had to resemble one’s own ideals.

—Boom!

Since it resembled oneself, there were no side effects of the transformation.

And since it pursued an ideal, it could become infinitely strong.

What he aimed for was a metal that could never be fully destroyed.

One that would never be easily shaken by external stimuli.

And even if a part of it was destroyed, it would quickly recover and regain its original, noble form.

If he were to become metal, he wanted to become such a perfect metal.

“Heh…”

Was it because Gi-jun’s earnest wish and his skills had begun to align?

Watching his body transform into something other than steel, the Demon King let out an exclamation of admiration.

He really was a genius.

To think he remembered every single trivial thing she had said without forgetting any of it.

Then that guy must have known everything after all.

“You could probably leave the mountain now.”

“Not yet. There’s still one year left.”

“True, there’s still a year left.”

Gi-jun’s body was nearing completion.

Feeling that the effect of her attacks, which possessed the same power as before, was reduced by half, the Demon King thought.

Perhaps this guy would have done just fine even if he had dropped into Leta right after the first round.

How delightful it was that she could now boast of having played a part in it!

“But I still can’t acknowledge you so easily—!”

The Demon King unleashed her full power.

At the same time as she bound Gi-jun with chains made of darkness, she spread her mana in all directions, creating thousands, even tens of thousands of spears of darkness that filled the sky.

Lucy cried out as she watched the darkness densely packing the narrow sky.

—You’re crazy, you devil!

“Lucy, it’s fine right now!”

—What?!

Gi-jun held back Lucy, who was hurriedly trying to deploy a barrier of light.

The spiritual power burning in his eyes resonated with the metal he had fashioned from his body, strengthening it.

At that point, he had basically already succeeded.

“Trust me and leave it to me.”

—Ah—! I really can’t figure you out, Contractor!

When Lucy finally gave up interfering and backed off, the Demon King grinned and spoke.

“Are you ready to die?”

“I won’t die. It’s the metal of a god.”

The Demon King shook her head.

“How grandiose.”

But he had chosen the correct answer.

The Demon King’s full-power attack poured down.

Gi-jun endured them all, merging his skills into one.

To survive, he had no choice but to do so.

The spiritual power infused with his intense will forged the metal even sturdier.

—Rumbleeeee!

The ground was practically devastated by the bombardment that poured down with enough force to split a planet.

Lucy simply watched, relieved that her connection with Gi-jun had not been severed.

The Demon King, who had actually unleashed the attack, watched the center of the bombardment with a serious expression, pulling out a glass bottle that he had never seen before from her inventory to prepare for an unexpected situation.

Eventually, the darkness vanished and the dust cloud settled.

Inside, Gi-jun was revealed, standing firm on the ground with both legs.

Though he appeared normal at a glance, a faint metal was covering his entire body.

—Contractor!

“Ah—I feel like I’m going to collapse, so catch me.”

It would have been nice if he had delivered a cool line, but it was because he had truly squeezed out every ounce of his strength to complete it.

As Gi-jun muttered some excuse and fell backward, the Demon King, who had approached his back before he knew it, caught him.

She chuckled as she looked at Gi-jun’s haggard face.

“To think you survived this.”

“It would have been extremely embarrassing if I had died.”

“Too bad.”

—Don’t joke around, I was really worried…

Lucy, who would normally have lightened the mood by babbling nonsense about how the Demon King was indeed a devil or was trying to kill him given the chance, was now flying toward him with an expression that looked as if she were really about to cry.

He gathered her into his arms and checked the system messages.

—You have encountered your ideal, created by combining several skills that you have polished and grown over a long period. [Rapid Regeneration], [Steelization], and [Sleepless and Restless] transcend their limits and harmonize into one. You have obtained the Legendary-grade skill [Adamant]! Due to the effect of the [Skill Creator] title, the effect is amplified by 20%.

—Having created a Legendary-grade skill, a highly positive modifier is applied to [Skill Creator]. The growth of the title is not far off.

—You have encountered your ideal, created by combining several skills that you have polished and grown over a long period. [Rapid Regeneration], [Steelization], and [Sleepless and Restless] transcend their limits and harmonize into one. You have obtained the Legendary-grade skill [Adamant]! Due to the effect of the [Skill Creator] title, the effect is amplified by 20%.

—Having created a Legendary-grade skill, a highly positive modifier is applied to [Skill Creator]. The growth of the title is not far off.

Adamant, the iron of a god.

In Greek mythology, it was said that the scythe Scythe, which the goddess Gaia made and handed to Cronus, the god of time, was made of adamant, so it was truly the metal of a god.

Since he had severed Uranus, the god of the sky, with that scythe, it was also a metal that could harm gods.

In Greek, it meant ‘untameable,’ and after being absorbed into English, it was also a word that came to mean ‘indomitable’ and ‘unrivaled in firmness.’

It could be said to be Gi-jun’s perfect ideal.

“Are you satisfied?”

“Very.”

—Still, that was too much. I don’t ever want to see something like that again.

“Sorry.”

The contrast between the Demon King, who looked somewhat relieved along with Gi-jun, and Lucy, who was frowning deeply because she had worried about him so much, was truly amusing.

“Let’s have a party.”

The Demon King said.

Gi-jun, who had been smiling, briefly grimaced at those words, but.

Ultimately unable to resist her gentle smile, he ended up nodding.

“Sure, let’s have a party.”

He felt that the end was approaching.

The fact that he could not prevent it was terribly painful.

* * *

The second round had started, and probably.

A little less than ten years had passed.

“A conflict.”

The leader of the party of four men and women, whom no one disputed was the strongest party in the world.

Hero Ye-min said in a cold voice.

“The heroes are fighting among themselves; is that how I should interpret it now?”

“…Yes.”

Ji-hye, who had brought this news directly to the party leader, said with a frown.

Could there really be such a foolish thing?

Had the heroes not already experienced defeat—annihilation—once due to their own shortcomings?

And yet, a conflict?

At a time when pooling their strength would barely be enough, they were clashing and consuming each other?

“The reason.”

“Do you remember that man named Choi Kang?”

“No.”

Ji-hye, who gave a bitter smile at Ye-min’s prompt response, explained about him, who had visited their party house in the past.

“The man whose innate Strength was Uncommon. It seems he managed to grow it to Rare in the end, and I heard he gathered a Demon King subjugation force.”

“…? And yet, a conflict?”

Ye-min, who had expected some story like him gathering an army to establish a nation somewhere, furrowed her brow.

Ji-hye, hesitating to continue, finally let out a sigh and spoke.

“They were talking about…… not subjugating the Demon King.”

“……What?”

“Some say that provoking the Demon King will only lead to annihilation again…… while others are anxious because, just as you said, Min-ah, they don’t know what might appear if the Demon King is subjugated.”

Ye-min blinked.

For what on earth had the million heroes summoned to the Other World been building up their strength?

Besides, was this even a matter of choice where they could just not do it because they didn’t want to subjugate the Demon King?

Holding her forehead as her head spun, Ji-hye’s continued explanation reached her ears.

“Since our annihilation during the first round was ultimately because we attacked the Demon King first, they want to avoid provoking the Demon King in vain this time and just…… just live on the continent like this.”

“Does that even make any sense?!”

Dumbfounded, Ye-min let out a shout that was close to a scream.

“Just by the Demon King being alive, the monsters grow stronger and the land rots every year and every month. Even the NPCs are saying that fifteen years is the limit! That’s why we gathered our strength until the very last moment to attack the Demon King in the first round!”

“Uh…… well…… an ability user who can purify that rotted land has appeared.”

This time, Ye-min ended up wearing a dumbfounded expression.

“So now, they’re relying on that purifier, and whether the Demon King ruins the world or not…… they want to purify the land in a small area and just make a living…… is that what they’re saying?”

“They’re talking about joining forces with other ability users to somehow expand the purified zone, but yes. That is the conclusion.”

“Are they stupid? Do they seriously think the Demon King will just overlook such a cheap trick?”

Spitting out curses filled with venom, Ye-min thought of something else.

If Gi-jun oppa had been here, such a thing would not have happened.

He would have comforted the fearful people, united them, and successfully subjugated the Demon King this time.

Ah, Gi-jun oppa…

“Maybe Oppa left because he was sick of dealing with people like this.”

“Min-ah…”

“So, did that man named Choi Kang die? At the hands of the people who don’t want to fight the Demon King?”

“No, he’s holding out, but apparently he’s struggling. That’s why I came to ask for your opinion.”

“Is there even a need to ask? Of course we have to go.”

Ye-min stamped her foot with a cold smile.

The Strength and Mana that had reached Rare grade aligned, and with the addition of a certain power only she possessed, they produced a loud rumble that shook the entire party house.

“I don’t care whether the guy who was after Gi-jun oppa’s empty spot lives or dies, but I won’t tolerate trash trying to kill a ‘proper’ hero who wants to slay the Demon King.”

“My goodness, Min-ah! What a shame the house didn’t collapse!”

“Did you call, Noona!”

Smiling brightly at Mok-su and Eun-shin, who came running up in response to the violent gathering signal, Ye-min declared.

“Let’s go clean up the trash. Everyone has reached their targets, right?”

“Of course. It suits me perfectly now, perfectly.”

“My mana circuit is also running quite well.”

“Good. Then, let’s also take down the Demon King while we’re at it.”

“……While we’re at it?”

Ye-min turned around, briefly picturing someone who wasn’t here in her mind.

“Let’s head out.”

After that, it was smooth sailing.

The heroes were already divided into the subjugation faction and the opposition faction, and Ye-min dashed forward, dragging all of them behind her with overwhelming power.

All the way to the scene near the field where the Demon King was presumed to be, where the battle between the man Choi Kang and other hero parties was taking place.

“It’s Ye-min!”

“Damn it, didn’t they say she had no interest in the Demon King and was just looking for some guy……!”

Ye-min’s massive presence was not something anyone dared to ignore.

Faced with the threatening aura she radiated, the heroes present quickly realized which side she was on.

Some of them tried to retreat in fear of her, while others drew their weapons and glared, claiming it would be different this time, but.

“Aaargh!”

“W-What? Paul is dead……!”

“Steve—!”

The necks of the heroes at the very front were severed one after another in silence.

“Who do you think you’re trying to cast magic in front of?”

“My mana…… my mana is being drained……!”

“T-They said our grades were on a different level, and it was true. No, spare me!”

And before they could even mount a proper counterattack, dozens were burned to death by the flames that swept across the area,

“Ha—I don’t like us fighting among ourselves, but this is the end!”

“Kahk!”

“What the, how can a person be this bi—!”

Since their remaining will was entirely crushed by the axe swung by the handsome man boasting a muscular body so massive it was unbelievable he was human.

“……Any last words?”

Nodding in satisfaction at the sight of just three party members overwhelming hundreds of heroes, Ye-min shifted her gaze to the leader of the crowd that had been pressuring the man named Choi Kang and spoke.

“We lost. I didn’t think you would actually step in. We surren……”

“There is no surrender. And no escape.”

Ye-min declared in a cold voice.

“Win or die. There are only those two. Nike’s Twin Wings.”

The sword, holding a strange light, split into two and flew freely in the sky.

In the first round, that wing had surely been a single wing.

The hero who represented the weak died with his head severed, that thought being his last.

“Ah…… oh……”

And the man who had been pushed to the brink of death by them, Choi Kang, watched the scene and clapped while letting out a foolish exclamation in his daze.

“So cool…… so cool! And she’s seriously, insanely pretty……”

“You.”

“Y-Yes!”

Snatching the sword that returned from the sky, Ye-min spoke without even looking at Choi Kang.

“We are going to slay the Demon King now. If you want to land even a single blow on the Demon King, keep up with us.”

“O-Of course! Then are we in the same party now?!”

“Do you just want to die? I’ll kill you if you want.”

“No, of course not……”

The man fell silent.

Releasing a snort, Ye-min rejoined her party members and immediately set off to hunt the Demon King.

Whether they agreed with her wishes or opposed them, all the heroes who had survived until then had no choice but to follow in her wake.

And upon arriving at their destination, they finally realized that they might not have just regressed.

Because the Demon King was a man.