SSS-Grade Cafe in Front of The Dungeon
chapter-177

“Yaaaaap! 10 consecutive rapid fire shots!”

Ta-ta-ta-ta! Joo Shinhee flew towards the Demon God’s back and quickly shot an arrow.

【Ugh……!】

The damage was done. The Demon God soon extinguished the arrows that pierced his body, but he staggered for a moment. Thanks to the buffs, the attack seemed much stronger than usual.

“Triple curse incantation!” In the meantime, Joo Shinwoo completed the spell. A huge stake slammed into the center of the magic circle, and the Demon God swallowed a shriek of pain.

【Humans, to do such foolish things……!】

【Come! Inhabitants of the infernal chaos!】

The Demon God did not stand idly by. Red light burst from his hands, and small monsters appeared.

[The Cursed Red Bat (A) has appeared.]

[The Cursed Red Bat (A) has appeared.]

[The Cursed Red Bat (A) has appeared.]

As expected, a Demon God is a Demon God. Even the summoned mobs were Grade A.

The number of bats was enormous. So many that the ceiling of the hall was covered in them and turned red.

“Watch out!”

A swarm of bats attacked the members of the party. The party quickly split up to take care of the bats, but there were so many of them that there was no end in sight.

Some of the bats lunged at me, who had retreated to the back.

“……!”

But nothing dangerous happened. The swarm of bats couldn’t penetrate Lime’s shield, and they all bounced off.

“Huk, Lime, are you okay?!”

“Kkyuuuu!”

Pow! Lime cried out as she bounced off the swarm of bats. There was not a single scratch on her translucent body. She was indeed a reliable slime.

“……Ice Storm!”

Choi Lona used the power of the Grimoire. A translucent shape of a book appeared out of thin air, and a huge ice storm raged.

Thud! Thud! The bats were instantly frozen by the merciless ice storm.

【Answer me! Demon Sword of The Abyss!】

The Demon God shouted in anger and raised his right hand high. Black energy surged into his hand, and a huge sword appeared.

The Demon God immediately swung the sword. Kang Hyunwoo and Jijon, who were in the front row, were unable to dodge the attack. However, thanks to the reflective effect of the mugwort latte, the damage was inflicted on the Demon God’s side.

“Yaaaaaaap!” This time, Jijon came forward with good timing, “Hahaha, guess what, you bastard!”

Using the ‘You Did Well‘ skill to stop time, Jijon quickly dodged the attack. As if teleporting, he appeared from nowhere to disrupt the attack.

“……The Healing Light!” Every time the party members’ stamina was reduced by the Demon God’s attacks, Kwon Jiwoon immediately used his healing skill.

“Heh, haa … thank you, Hunter Kwon Jiwoon.” After recovering his stamina, Kang Hyunwoo raised his sword and blocked the Demon God’s path again.

【Give up, human!】

“Ugh, who wants to……!” He was pushed back a little, but Kang Hyunwoo held his ground. Kwon Jiwoon continued to apply healing skills to him.

Everyone gave it their all in their respective positions. With their optimal buffs, they were strong, and they worked together to push the Demon God back.

This was different from the past. I had a good hunch that this fight would end in victory.

Then it happened. A moment of distraction and a slight gap in the Demon God’s concentration.

“I have no desire to prolong this fight. Let’s end it now.”

Fyaaah━ Tiny particles of light appeared in the air. The particles tangled with each other, spun threads, and formed a net to capture the black body of the Demon God. The power of white light. It was Ki Yoohyun’s skill.

‘That’s enough. If this is……!’

He was strong. This powerful skill, which could be called a miracle, should be able to defeat that Demon God. I clenched my fists and looked at Ki Yoohyun with desperate eyes.

“Don’t….”

Just then, I heard a muffled voice beside me. It was Ash.

“….Ash?”

“No, that’s…….”

Ash paled and muttered something incomprehensible. His eyes were shaking, as if he had seen a very frightening sight.

“Ash? What’s wrong?”

But I couldn’t hear his answer.

Something unusual had happened.

“Huh…..?”

【Kkkkkk …… kk, kkkkkk, HAHAHAHAHAHA!】

The Demon God caught in the net of light was ecstatic. As if he had been waiting for this moment.

“Wh-what, what is it? Is this a bluff?! It’s no use pretending to be carefree!” Jijon shouted with a shocked expression.

A pretence? Or the final act of a defeated being?

【Keueu, kk, hahaha!】

Although the Demon God was an invisible black mass with no visible facial features, his emotions were vividly conveyed. That’s …… joy. The Demon God was truly delighted as he looked at the net of white light.

【At last, it’s complete.】

【The web that connects the etheric realm to the real world.】

Swoosh━ The net of light was now fully formed. However, the net intertwined with each other and turned into the shape of a shackle.

One side of the shackles held onto Ki Yoohyun’s body, and the other side …… was beyond the ‘Ultimate Gate‘.

The Demon God didn’t seem to be hurt. On the contrary, the power that he had released had become even stronger. The hairs on my entire body stood on end from the mighty power that the Demon God emitted.

“….Yoohyun-ssi!” I screamed and tried to run forward, but Lime blocked me with her body.

“Stop, waeoolg.” Mieum also stopped me.

Why?

I couldn’t see his face. I grew anxious.

This was weird. Surely the future had changed, and we could all go home together. That was supposed to be the situation, so why did I feel so scared and uneasy?

The scene before me seemed to slow down, as if in slow motion.

Bam.

“….Ugh.”

With a short scream, Ki Yoohyun collapsed. A bluish light escaped through the net of light that enveloped his body.

I didn’t know what it was, but I had a feeling it was something important.

However, the blue light was dragged straight into the Ultimate Gate.

“Uh …… What happened?!”

“Guild leader-nim! Come to your senses!”

He was unconscious. No matter how many times they called him, he didn’t even stir.

Screech, bang! At the top of the stairs, the sound of an old-fashioned door slamming shut could be heard with horrifying clarity.

【Ah, this moment has finally arrived……!】

The Demon God’s body, which had maintained its human form until just now, collapsed. Then, he turned into black smoke and engulfed Ki Yoohyun’s body.

The party members tried to block it, but to no avail. The black smoke burned the flesh of anyone who got too close.

“Ugh……!”

Flinch. The black smoke completely covered the unconscious Ki Yoohyun’s body, and the smoke was absorbed through his eyes, ears, and mouth.

It all happened in an instant, without a chance to do anything.

“…….”

“…….”

Blink.

In the eerie silence, he opened his eyes.

“Huk, Yoohyun-ssi! Are you all….!”

I cried out desperately and started to run to him, but stopped in my tracks.

Revealed beneath his beautifully curved eyelids were …… hollow, emotionless eyes.

***

“What’s going on …. Hunter Ki Yoohyun Hunter, wake up!” Kwon Jiwoon shouted sharply.

But everyone in the room instinctively realised that the man in front of them was not Ki Yoohyun. It was a Demon God who had taken over the body that once belonged to him.

Those hazy violet eyes, pale skin that looked more like blue than pale, and a black energy that seemed to be emanating from him …. it was impossible for something like that to be human.

【Haha! Hahahahaha!】

【At last … I have obtained this body.】

His eyes, tainted with a strange aura, glowed sinisterly. The Demon God tugged on his lips and chuckled. Black energy flowed out from between his parted lips, and every time he laughed, goosebumps prickled all over my body.

The Demon God had grown stronger. An otherworldly, powerful force that was incomparable to the one he had just displayed was felt from him.

No one spoke easily in the face of the unthinkable situation. The sight before them was simply unreal.

At that moment, the system displayed a despairing notification.

[The power of Demon God ████ has been strengthened.

The estimated summoning time will be readjusted.]

[Gate of The Demon God ████

Time Remaining until Full Summoning 00:10:00]

“……!”

Ten minutes? Only ten minutes? Is this how it’s going to end?

This is all going to be over in ten minutes, everyone was devastated.

“No way….” Kwon Jiwoon groaned as he looked at the rapidly decreasing numbers on the system window.

But I couldn’t just despair here. I stepped forward from behind Lime’s shield. There was something I wanted to check.

“Kkyuuuu….” Lime tried to stop me until the end. But when I persisted, she finally returned to her original form.

Tap, tap, tap…..

I walked forward. Then I stood and glared straight at the Demon God in Ki Yoohyun’s body. I summoned all the courage I could muster and forced my voice out.

“Who are you? What did you do to Yoohyun-ssi?”

【Kkkkkk … what a dull face you have.】

“Answer me!”

【I do not know.】

“What?”

The Demon God shrugged his shoulders in an exaggerated pose. Then, with a leisurely smile, as if he was being exceptionally generous, he spoke.

【The owner of this body. His soul was finally captured by the completed web of light and taken to the etheric realm.】

【What happens after that is unknown. It will either wander the etheric realm forever, or … it will perish.】

“……!”

I chewed my lips. An indescribable despair welled up in my heart.

Looking back on it now, everything happened so smoothly.

The occurrence of the Gate, the quest, the party made up of strong and outstanding Hunters, the Demon God unleashing enough power to make the party victorious if they gave it their all, and…….

Even the twist that happened at the exact moment Ki Yoohyun used his skill.

It’s like…….

I let the chilling speculation slip out of my mouth.

“From the beginning … was this planned? To target Yoohyun’s body?”

Translator’s Corner:

OMG MAKE SOME NOISE IF YOU’RE STILL HERE WHEN WE REACHED THIS POINT 😀

Okay explanation time. The word used to describe Yoohyun’s power actually could mean “web” or “net”. I used “net” more often because not only it looks more sturdy, I didnt want to make Ki Yoohyun a spiderman wannabe, I didn’t want to give away the plot :). If you forget about the plot already, I really recommend to reread the Chapter 90 where he mentioned that his power is given by the Spider Goddess. What spider makes? web. And what is the function of those web? :)))))

I really like this story because of small detail like this, even though this seems like a cute healing simple story ….

Anyway, I found out that the “Irwin Award” previously mentioned is the parody of the “Darwin Award” (an award given to someone who dies in an absurd way or loses the ability to reproduce. This is a parody of the Nobel Prize, and was established by American journalist Wendy Northcutt to create a collection of stories about human stupidity. It is named after Charles Darwin, the founder of evolutionary biology.

ANYWAY PREPARE YOURSELF FOR THE ANGST RIDE