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＜ 21. The strongest card (7) ＞ The
floor, ceiling, and walls were all made of red flesh. A pus-like liquid flowed from the holes that were drilled here and there, and there were large eyeballs embedded in various places on the walls .
A scene as if it had entered the insides of a monster .
Andrea and Trisha stopped salivating, but Emilia, who had a bad stomach, vomited again .
“ Woo-wook …. ”
“…”
In the middle of the space hung a large cocoon. Before hatching, there was a protective magic on it, probably worried that someone would touch it .
’ Ose said that he lost almost all of his body while fighting Marco last time. Was it made to recover from injuries ······.’
After taking a few steps, the cocoon started tossing around. A violent struggle as if it would break at any moment. And the narration came out as if I had waited .
‘ Ose the Great Devil. The demon, who governs madness and domination, lost most of his body because his reputation did not exceed the strength of a mere mortal. Those who signed a contract with him were disappointed with Ose’s ability, but decided to give him one last chance .’
‘ Ose, who shared the almighty power, has a powerful body that is incomparable to before and a lofty spirit. His ability will now be worthy of receiving the title of the Great Demon who reigns over all demons .’
‘ Challenger, shudder in fear and advance towards your preordained death. No mortal will ever be able to surpass the power of the Great Demon …’
“ What …?”
A word from Andrea that represents everyone’s feelings .
After hearing the narration’s explanation, everyone in the party hardened their faces. This was completely unexpected. Even when you met at Adsel, it was never an easy opponent, but you have a power that is incomparable to that time ?
The word ‘scheduled death’ brought out by the narrator did not sound like empty words .
Andrea struggled to hide her embarrassment, but managed to contain it. If he was shaken, the party would shake many times more. Andrea looks back and speaks calmly .
“ Everyone calm down. It’s only gotten a little stronger, but nothing has changed anyway. It goes exactly as originally planned. Mimic and I stand in the front line, Trisha holds back with a shot from behind, Emilia uses a card from the rear. Got it ?”
Just as a leader’s fear is contagious to his followers, calmness is contagious. The more they trust their leader, the more. The party all nodded their heads in unison with their faces softening even more .
Finally, the cocoon was torn, and Ose appeared. Dark red flames rose and evaporated all the sticky liquid clinging to Ose .
It felt like it was twice as big as before. The mask-like face with the patterns on it turned a dull gray color. The reddish armor turned to a black color without even a gloss .
the most positive
A posture that makes even optimists predict defeat .
[ I’ve been waiting for you, bug-like ones .]
As a terrible voice echoed through my skull, an unpleasant feeling soon spread throughout my body. Andrea frowned and replied .
“… I’ve already heard about what you’ve been through. There will be no need for useless conversations with each other .”
[ You are urging the people. If you really want that .]
With those words as a signal, Ose raised his giant sword. Andrea, Tricia, and Emilia also drew cards all at once .
The cards that came out are Amplify Mana, Defensive Strike, Shadow Strike, and Shadow Imprint. Andrea used Shadow Imprint and Shadow Strike and ran towards Ose. Mimic followed Andrea with both hands on the ground like a quadruped .
Ose’s sword cut through the air .
Whoo, whoa, whoa !
The sword pressure that made me shrink even though I couldn’t even reach it. The space was split in two at once by a blow that swung down in the longitudinal direction. Blood gushed like a fountain from the floor made of flesh .
It was an attack towards Andrea, but due to the formidable range, the people in the rear had to throw themselves to the side. Andrea easily avoided it by moving one step to the side and approached Ose right in front of him .
He raised the sword on the floor diagonally and cut it, but it was not a very agile movement. After digging a little deeper, Andrea kicks off the floor and jumps up. The fierce flames of the shadows rushed towards Ose’s chin .
Kwa-ang !
‘·······.’
The attack with Shadow Strike was properly hit. But Andrea felt a strong sense of incongruity. It was a quick and neat attack, but it was not an order that would be impossible to avoid .
There was only one conclusion to be drawn .
‘ He greeted me on purpose .’
There is only one reason why you deliberately hit the enemy while risking your life. When there is a significant difference in combat power to the extent that a few hits have no effect at all .
Ose tilted his head slightly to the side .
[ Not that strong. Is it on the same level as the man with the hammer he met then? No, it seems lower than that .]
Andrea, who had been backing away, inevitably gnashed her teeth and charged again. Unexpectedly, instead of swinging the sword, a kick came flying, but Mimic took the attack instead and was able to avoid it. Andrea jumps on Ose’s arm and clings to his face .
Arm muscles hardened like steel as they burned hot. I clenched my fists and pushed them back, then twisted my back and fired a series of blows with all my strength .
bang – !
bang – !
Kwa-ang !
Andrea sighs in despair. There was only one scratch on Ose’s face .
[ Is this over ?]
Ose snapped his fingers with his left hand, which was not holding the sword. Then Andrea’s figure disappeared .
Mimic turned her head around with a puzzled expression .
“ Lord, Master ?”
Andrea felt her consciousness fade away. When I woke up, I was in front of the door when I first entered. I looked at Ose with a dumbfounded look, but the scratches on his face were gone .
” What the hell is this …”
[ Now, what I can control is not limited to the mind of a mortal. I can control the lives of mortals, the actions of all beings lower in spirit than I am .]
“… What ?”
[ Let me explain briefly. The ‘incident in which you attacked me’ has just been erased from this world .]
Silence came. It wasn’t long before Andrea realized what that meant .
Even if she, Trisha, and Mimic used all their strength and sold their souls, they couldn’t inflict even the slightest wound on Ose .
And that with just a snap of Oze’s fingers, everyone inside could be wiped out of existence .
“ Andrea, why are you sending only Mimics and you aren’t going ?”
Trisha asks in a puzzled voice. Andrea realized that her guess was correct. The incident of attacking Osei is now a memory that only Osei and himself know about .
‘ This would mean that if all traces of life are erased, that person’s very existence will disappear .’
I couldn’t even figure out how to deal with it. Of course, in the game, even Arfan couldn’t handle such an abstract and ridiculous power. An ability that I never thought I would be able to withstand .
However, Andrea did not stop thinking .
‘… But as soon as Ose entered, he didn’t get rid of us all at once. That means …’
It means to see Andrea and the others struggle to survive .
Then there was a chance of winning. If only I could struggle as desperately as possible to keep Ose from paying attention to Emilia .
Right now, the mimic was struggling, narrowly avoiding Ose’s sword strike. Right now, I’m somehow surviving, but I don’t think I’ll be able to last long alone. Before leaving, Andrea asked Emilia .
“… Emilia, how is the situation ?”
“ Uh, uh… As you said, I didn’t pick up ‘that card’ on the first turn, and I didn’t even draw. But on the second turn, only ‘that card’ was drawn without a draw card …” The condition for using
” that card” is that there are no cards left in the deck to be drawn next .
It doesn’t sound too difficult if you just listen to it, but it’s quite a tricky condition to meet. Since only 3 cards are drawn each turn, there are not many cases where the number of cards in the deck does not match neatly, and if you draw ‘that card’ without emptying the deck, you have to circulate the deck and draw again from the beginning .
For this reason, Andrea built the deck so that even if ‘that card’ was drawn early, the number of remaining cards could be set to 0 with draw cards. However, since I couldn’t even pull out that draw card, I had no choice but to start again from the beginning .
‘ No matter how fast it is, it takes 5 turns… to stably measure it, it needs to be 6 turns to be possible .’
Will I be able to hold out until then ?
Andrea shook her head excitedly. Now was not the time to consider if that was possible. It was a moment when I had to run unconditionally, whether it was possible or impossible .
Andrea tightens her fist and runs towards Ose .
A melee ensued. No, in fact, it was a fight that could not be called a melee. One was desperate, but the other was just entertainment .
Andrea, who had consumed all of her damage nullification, was trampled by Ose’s foot and broke her leg. Mimic was grazed by the blow of the giant sword, and half of the cover was blown off. Trisha’s arrow was reflected and stuck in her abdomen .
[ I haven’t even shown the convenience of my strength yet, is it more than this ?
]
Limping, Andrea stood up again. I managed to cut off Ose’s giant sword with a counterattack, and screamed at the shin’s griev .
Chow-ang !
Knees trembled, but Ose kicked Andrea as if nothing happened .
Puck !
A Mimic who runs in place of Andrea who is falling out. Ose grabbed Mimic’s arm with one hand and smashed it to the floor. Limbs snapped, jewels fell out, and boxes splintered .
A mimic that ends up falling to the floor with twisted limbs .
“ Kkeu, kkeuee… You, it hurts so much… I can’t fight anymore …”
Tricia, realizing that the arrows do not work, also helped in close combat, but had long since fallen out. In the first place, from the time I was hit by an arrow in the abdomen, it was difficult for me to fight more .
Emilia was overcome with a terrible sense of guilt. Rather than having her own arm broken or being shot by an arrow herself, having to hide in the rear alone watching her colleagues suffer was a huge torture for her .
A desperate feeling of helplessness. It would be nice if we could run out and fight together .
However, it was thanks to a girl who was suffering in Adsel and Andrea who always encouraged her that she was able to keep her mind strong without running away .
The people who gave me the mission and the right place for myself, who felt like I was out of the world. People who never hesitated to protect themselves. People who always believed in themselves who felt infinitely useless .
If you run away from here, you are rather betraying that trust .
[ I don’t think there’s anything more to see. Let’s finish it soon .]
Ose’s gaze turned to Emilia. Emilia didn’t care about that gaze. Draw cards while looking only at your hand, and adjust the number of cards remaining in your deck .
Finally, when the number of cards in the deck was reduced to zero, pure white light flowed from the cards in my hand. It was a sign that it could be used .
Emilia read the description of the card one last time .
‘[ Divine] Archangelization (3 cost): With the power of divinity, God raises the status of the spirit for a certain period of time and gains the power of an archangel. (Can be used only when there are no cards left in the deck )’
Then, he used the card without hesitation .
A dazzling feeling of dizziness arose, and the dazzling brilliance engulfed Emilia’s vision .
[ Are you here, my child? ]
It was a vast meadow whose end could not be measured. I turned around and saw a handsome old man with his hands behind his back. Emilia recognized at once who the old man was .
Emilia knelt down and bowed her head .
“ A humble servant dares to meet the father of the great earth .”
[ Raise your head and raise yourself up, child. I don’t have much time. Didn’t you come to say hello to me ?] It
was as Andrea had said. If you use ‘archangelization’, you will meet the god you serve. He said that he had to convince God in a short moment to get the power he wanted .
Emilia had practiced hundreds of times on how to speak out when she received Cleitos. However, when the situation came to a close, I was speechless and unable to open my mouth easily due to the blood-drying tension. Blaming her own immaturity, Emilia tightly closes her eyes .
Claytos turned around and smiled benevolently as if he understood everything .
[ Yes, child. I can hear what you’re thinking You have always served me faithfully. If you want to gain the power of an angel for a while, I’ll give it to you as much as you want .]
“ Thank you, Clitos .”
[ However, the power of an angel is to raise your most intense aspirations through the medium. Depending on what the aspiration is, the abilities and powers obtained vary widely. Can you honestly tell me what your aspiration is ?]
There was no way that Clitos, who had divine insight, was unaware of his own aspiration. If so, this was a kind of test .
Emilia gulped and answered Clitos’ question .
“ It is to gain the strength to protect me and the people who are important to me. Mo, from all threat and pain .”
Claytos shook his head as if the answer was not correct .
[ No, kid. Didn’t I tell you to be honest? Not an honest and moral answer, but right now, tell me the strongest boiling desire within you. Otherwise, I cannot give you strength .]
Emilia sank into herself. The wish he had just uttered was also desperate, but as the Great God said, it was not the strongest boiling wish. Right now, the urges that consumed most of her inner world were more destructive and primary .
Emilia gently closed her eyes and let out her honest wishes .
“ I want to gain the power to tear and kill that demon .”
Claytos raised an eyebrow. As if very satisfied .
[ It will be your will .]
Ose was looking at the pillar of light in doubt. What kind of trick did he use, his control did not work inside that pillar of light .
‘ Have you received God’s protection? Well, even if I did, I wouldn’t last long .’
Ose calmly waited for the pillar of light to fade. Indeed, as he predicted, the pillar of light soon faded .
However, the existence that appeared in it was not within his prediction range .
It looked similar to the priest who had just been there, but it was hard to see it as the same person .
Her bright blonde hair had turned to a blazing red color, and in her hand she held a tall bottle that looked like she had pulled out a pole instead of Arpan’s staff. On top of that, she had a terribly distorted impression as if she had gone through all the storms and storms of the world .
The existence that was once just a weak priest spat on the floor and looked up at Ose and said .
” It’s time to pay for your sins, you dirty devil .”