‘This is the third phase... I hope it is the last phase.’
Grid had no intention of dragging out the raid. The penalties of h.e.l.l had disappeared after meeting Pagma’s soul and writing the epic, but his endurance was lacking compared to Marchosias. Since ancient times, the advantage of a defensive type monster was its near infinite endurance. This was h.e.l.l and Marchosias was a great demon. The a.s.sumption that someone who continued to be supplied with demonic energy would become exhausted couldn’t be established unless the person was an idiot.
‘I need to force a conclusion before I collapse from exhaustion.’
Grid sought to speed up the fight. Most of his skills, including magic and the sword dances, as well as his items and t.i.tle effects, were poured out from the beginning of the raid. However, divinity and the five fusion sword dances were left behind as a trump card.
In other words, he pushed the 29th great demon into a crisis without the need for divinity or the five fusion sword dances. An opponent who was weaker than Beleth in the human world—Grid still had some room. Of course, he didn’t intend to be careless. The reason Marchosias was relatively weak was due to his simple attack patterns. In fact, his stats were the best among all the great demons Grid had fought so far.
Furthermore, Grid knew from previous experience how powerful the great demons were in their final phase. Maybe in the worst case scenario, there would be a fourth phase after the third phase.
‘Still, it is unlikely.’
Marchosias’ remaining health was only 10%. Considering the fact that other great demons entered the final phase when they had 10-20% of their health left, the probability that Marchosias’ third phase was the final phase was almost 100%. Grid judged and approached Marchosias, who was standing still. Then he started dancing.
Transcended Linked Kill Wave Pinnacle—a mental picture of doom manifested itself and the entire s.p.a.ce was filled with a sense of deterrence. The overbearing feeling grew even more with every step Grid took. Of course, this didn’t weaken Marchosias’ willpower. Named bosses wouldn’t be caught in a confused state.
Just then, Marchosias’ skin and muscles that had swelled to the fullest started contracting. They dried up like a squeezed rag. There was an illusion that all the blood and moisture in his body had evaporated. The moment the changes caused by the third phase started to appear on the surface, Grid was wary, but he didn’t shrink back.
Transcended Linked Kill Wave Pinnacle was one of Grid’s most powerful moves. Grid judged that Transcended Linked Kill Wave Pinnacle wouldn’t be broken no matter what Marchosias did. It was as expected. The fierce momentum of Transcended Linked Kill Wave Pinnacle wasn’t affected by Marchosias’ change.
There was just one problem. Marchosias’ muscles contracted to the limit and at the same time, his health gauge that was at 10% started filling up. Strictly speaking, his health wasn’t restored. It was something other than health because it was displayed in white instead of the red of health. The ident.i.ty was...
‘s.h.i.+eld!’
The sword of Kill had a physical attack power coefficient of 5,000% and was reinforced with Braham’s Enchant Weapon. It struck Marchosias’ seven times. Wind Cutter made a sharp cutting sound as it was also fired and the targeting effect of Wave meant it all hit Marchosias’ vital spots. Then Pinnacle descended.
Originally, it was a powerful linked attack that would’ve made Marchosias scream. Yet Marchosias didn’t even moan. It was because s.h.i.+elds were layered all over his body. They were s.h.i.+elds created by Marchosias scattering his own blood and petrifying it. The amount of s.h.i.+eld loss identified by the gauge was only 6%...
It was a result that made Grid fl.u.s.tered. ‘The ignore defense effect wasn’t activated because Transcended Linked Kill Wave Pinnacle didn’t touch the body?’
The final phase of the boss monster was a type of berserk phase. This was the usual behaviour. Regardless of the style of battle, all boss monsters showed explosive aggression the moment they entered the final phase. They poured out all their power to wipe out the enemy in front of them before their life was extinguished.
On the other hand, Marchosias’ final phase was too static. He petrified his own scattered blood to surround himself with layers of s.h.i.+eld, and just stood still. There was no sign of obsession with the enemy in front of him.
‘He is just focused on not dying.’
The will to live was too intense.
‘Is it impossible to raid him?’
It was a question of whether he could defeat Marchosias in time even if he used the Blue Dragon’s Boots and Belial’s Power to minimize the consumption of stamina. Maybe Marchosias was a ‘target that can’t be killed’ like some hidden NPCs...
It happened as Grid was thinking...
-I’ve already suggested it to you many times.
A voice rang directly in his mind. Just like Baal, Marchosias delivered his thoughts to Grid and Yura. His mouth was dry like a mummy and was still from the petrification.
-You will die regretting that you ignored my proposal and became my enemy.
“?”
They would die when he made himself a statue and did nothing? Was there a hidden hand? The moment Grid was feeling anxious...
An army of monsters that covered the ground and the sky appeared—all sorts of demonic beasts cried out strangely as they poured in like a tsunami.
-What can two humans do against the lord of the 29th h.e.l.l who rules over the 22nd army?
It was the moment when the essential reason why the great demons were stronger in h.e.l.l compared to the human world was revealed—all the great demons ruled their own h.e.l.l and they had armies, and fighting a great demon in h.e.l.l meant going to war with hundreds of thousands of demonic beasts.
‘d.a.m.n, he is a tricky opponent.’
The march of hundreds of thousands of demonic beasts was enough to cool Grid’s fighting spirit. The demonic beasts of the 22nd army played the role of tearing and devouring Marchosias’ enemies and they didn’t hesitate to strike at Grid.
“100,000 Army Ma.s.sacre Sword!”
The transcendent swordsmans.h.i.+p of the Undefeated King—the invincible existence who had never been defeated in his lifetime—formed at Grid’s fingertips and cut through the sky, killing the thousands of demonic beasts that filled the sky in one blow.
The problem was that these thousands of demonic beasts were only a part of the army. Hundreds of thousands of demonic beasts were still in good condition.
Grid took his gaze away from those accelerating with their wings and looked at the ground this time. The monsters filling the ground were running in droves. There were more and more coming from beyond the horizon.
‘It is a dog’s death.’
A physical ability that could endure attacks without dying and an army that actively utilized that physical ability—Marchosias was a powerful being, just like Yura had warned. Grid’s expression was dark.
Glant had evaluated that Marchosias should be 22nd ranked. This meant there were at least 20 great demons stronger than Marchosias. Grid couldn’t even get rid of this guy right now. He couldn’t figure out how he’ll be able to defeat great demons stronger than Marchosias, let alone Baal, the final boss who was at the peak of the great demons.
‘No, what is this d.a.m.n game where there is another mountain after crossing one mountain?’
There were few things he could do no matter how much he grew and became stronger. Therefore, he felt a sense of loss. Grid was feeling dazed when a jade-colored flash shot past him.
“......!!”
Grid’s spirit recovered. The flash that exploded as soon as it hit the army of demonic beasts turned hundreds of them into ashes. Additionally, the flashes were constantly being fired. It rained all over the battlefield and cleaned up the monsters.
Kieeeek!
Kaaack!
The demonic beasts screamed as a whisper arrived.
-Leave these small fries to me and focus on the opponent in front of you.
It was Yura. She was a bit excited to see the continuously arriving army of monsters and her tone was a bit rough unlike usual. It reminded him of old memories.
-Is it the resurrection of the Blood Witch?
Grid recovered thanks to Yura and he made a joke that caused Yura’s ears to turn red. She didn’t like the nickname Blood Witch.
Yura’s rifle started firing again. It was already far from the actions of a sniper. Yura skipped the aiming process because there were so many enemies she could hit a target no matter where she shot. She used buff skills suitable for rapid firing and bullets that caused splash damage. Therefore, her ma.s.s destruction power wasn’t inferior to the Undefeated King’s swordsmans.h.i.+p. Of course, this was a result that was possible because h.e.l.l strengthened the Demon Slayer. Even so, Yura was a really good partner. It was just like Mercedes when facing h.e.l.l Gao.
‘It is like this so I must kill him.’
He found that the raid was impossible alone, but it was a different story with two people. In the first place, it was his heartless greed that made him attempt to defeat a great demon alone. Grid regained his motivation and used Divinity. He elevated his existence to a level close to a G.o.d. This was contained in the details of Divinity.
Grid’s hair started to flutter from the intense air waves and the atmosphere around him was completely different from before. He wouldn’t be too out of place when sitting beside the G.o.ds in heaven.
“Open Potential.”
[The casting time and cooldown time of Open Potential is removed due to the influence of Divinity.]
“Dragon.”
[Pagma’s Sword Dance, Dragon, has temporarily evolved into Grid’s Sword Dance.]
“Sword Dance Creation. Drop Dragon Pinnacle Kill Wave.”
Grid soared high into the sky, disregarded the monsters attacking him, and started dancing. There was no need for Grid to worry about it. The monsters trying to tear at his skin with their teeth and claws were all shattered by Yura.
-Don’t you know that it is pointless?
Marchosias scoffed. The momentum of the blue dragon falling from the sky was quite fierce, but he already had hundreds of layers of s.h.i.+elds around his body. Just like the sword dance a while ago, the dragon’s advance would also be blocked by the s.h.i.+eld.
Marchosias’ eyes widened as he had this thought. It was because the blue dragon smashed through hundreds of layers of s.h.i.+elds and reached his body. It was the power of Dragon which had its penetration effect maximized by linking Drop, Pinnacle, and Kill.
Grid’s sword penetrated Marchosias’ body and his health and s.h.i.+eld were cut by 2% and 20% respectively.
“Divinity.”
Then Open Potential and Drop Dragon Pinnacle Kill Wave were repeated again. Grid’s sword penetrated Marchosias’ body once again and his health and s.h.i.+eld were cut by 2% and 25% respectively. Now the defense of Marchosias’ s.h.i.+elds were weakened due to the loss of a significant number of s.h.i.+elds.
“Divinity.”
-Kuoh...
Jjeejeeeong!
“Divinity.”
Jjeejeeeong!
-...This!!
“Kuaaaaak!”
Eventually, a scream burst out from Marchosias’ mouth as all his s.h.i.+elds were lost and even the petrification was released. At the same time...
Kiyaaaaaah!
The demons who barely escaped from Yura’s bombardment and were biting or aiming their claws at Grid or Yura scattered in all directions.
[The raid of the 29th Great Demon, Marchosias, has succeeded!]
Grid was left with 13% of his health while Yura’s immortality was consumed. The Marchosias raid, which felt longer than any other raid, was over. The pillar of light that symbolized leveling up surrounded Grid four times and Yura one time.
The two people faced each other with their exhausted bodies and laughed as they b.u.mped their fists together.
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