Wandering Mercenary in an Open World
chapter-120

The demons fell from the sky like a sudden downpour of late autumn rain.

“Stick together!”

Someone shouted with a hoarse voice in the midst of chaos, and the group formed a circle with their backs to each other, facing the hungry beasts that attacked from all sides.

Amela was the first to react. The mage quickly chanted a spell and stomped on the ground, causing the earth to flip and shoot up high.

The demons that were swept by it were crushed like mashed potatoes. But there were so many of them that some survived or arrived late, and they soon tore through the stone pillars that rose like a wall and slashed at the group with their sharp claws.

“Get away! Scram!”

Colin yelled loudly, trying to shake off the fear that crept into his skin, and stabbed his sword. The flashing blade pierced deep into the vertical mouth of a demon that had stuck its face through a crack in the rocks.

But the blade that should have pierced through the back of its head was stuck by the demon that snapped its mouth shut. Colin gasped in shock as he saw the demon’s mouth glow red like a furnace, accompanied by a foul smell that stung his nose.

“Do you know how much this costs!”

He had been trying to push the sword further in, but he quickly pulled his arm back and drew a dagger from his waist with his other hand, striking the demon’s skull.

Squeak-ee-ee-

Only then did the demon’s jaw loosen, and Colin quickly retrieved his sword, putting all his strength into the hand holding the dagger.

As the thick blade mercilessly dug into its head, the demon finally stopped its violent movement and slumped down.

Colin looked around with satisfaction, proud of himself for taking down one of these crazy monsters. And he swallowed his dry saliva.

There must have been hundreds of demons swarming from all directions.

Squeak-ee-ee-ack!

“There are too many of them!”

Amela, who had used big and small spells all the way here, had her nosebleed start again, but she had no time to stop the bleeding as she gasped for breath.

The knights who had lost their divine power had fought as best as they could, but they looked exhausted from the constant battles without a chance to heal their broken bodies.

Kyle was the only one who showed an amazing amount of activity, swinging his rune hammer, but he seemed to be worried that the stone pillars that acted as a wall would collapse, so he didn’t dare to unleash lightning.

Just then, Aslan clenched his teeth and swung an ice axe in the air. The axe manifested his will, and transparent ice grew from the stone pillars that were standing upright, and soon they stuck together and completely blocked the gap.

The demons that had been squeezing and digging through the pillars were enraged by the ice that blocked their way, and they repeatedly slammed their bodies into it, but the hard ice didn’t break easily, even if it cracked.

Colin, who finally got a chance to catch his breath, quickly looked around and said.

“···It seems like someone is missing.”

“Some of our brothers who were fighting in the distance couldn’t make it inside.”

Aslan said that and lowered his hand holding the axe. His iron gauntlet was full of white frost, and his movement was unnatural, as if it wasn’t a normal state. It was obvious that he was paying the price for using the forbidden power with a body that had no divine power.

Then Amela, who had wiped her blood-stained nose with her sleeve, chimed in.

“That’s the same for Ruon. He didn’t seem to have any intention of coming in from the start···”

As if to prove her words, there were continuous explosions outside the stone pillars. Judging by the occasional screams of the suffering demons, it was obvious who was fighting alone.

“Ruon will always fight in his own way. The problem is us.”

Kyle finished his words and hung his hammer on his shoulder, scanning the surroundings. The demons that met his eyes screamed and pounded the ice more fiercely. Some of them were even trying to climb the wall.

Despite the chilling situation, Kyle’s face remained calm, but Colin muttered with a bitter tone.

“Shit. What the hell are those? Do the demons usually drop their offspring from the sky?”

Amela answered.

“If I’m not mistaken, Beolun has already become one with the god tree. He called himself a legion, so I guess he planned to create an army with the corrupted divinity···”

She frowned as she found a contradiction in her words and added to herself.

“No. That doesn’t make sense. He already has more than enough northern people to train as an army. Why would he waste his own power to spawn those demons···”

Did something come to her mind?

She lifted her head with wide eyes, muttering in disbelief as she looked at the demons falling from the sky.

“Could it be that he’s not spending his power?”

At that moment, the air trembled and the voice of the great demon echoed from within.

“You’re not very stupid. That’s right, you saw it.”

“···Bullshit.”

Amela growled lowly at the voice that filled the space, and got up with her palm on her knee.

Did he read her complicated expression?

Beolun continued with a sneer.

“You don’t seem to understand. I can’t blame you. The principle of equivalence not applying, that’s like the sun rising from the west in the eyes of a mage. Right?”

Meanwhile, the cracks that had appeared on the ice wall grew bigger. No matter how hard it was, it couldn’t withstand the weight of hundreds of demons. And the muffled screams of the demons became clearer.

“Nothing hinders growth more than rigid thinking. O enemies, let me rain down some wisdom on your pitiful knowledge. I am the only one who has succeeded in rooting myself in the abyssal sea through the divine, and I am the end-bringer who will dedicate that infinite power to the surface!”

Amela shouted with a fierce expression and swung her hand.

“Shut up!”

Then, the voice of the archdemon who had been whispering ominous words disappeared as if washed away by water. But the real problem was not that.

Crack!

The ice wall began to collapse. The brief respite was over. The demons seemed to be saying that.

“Just hold on for a moment, everyone.”

Amela said that and raised her left hand up. Then, all the air nearby began to rush into her palm.

The party, who could not breathe due to the sudden vacuum state, flinched in panic, but they trusted the only mage among them and entrusted their bodies to her.

As the demons’ screams that had been ringing in their ears became inaudible, a blue light bloomed in Amela’s eyes that were gathering air.

Soon, as the ice wall crumbled, the demons rushed in with glee. She clenched her palm that had been spread out.

***

Ruon grabbed and tore the neck of the demon who was trying to bite his arm. The spine that came out like a root vegetable had nerves and tendons attached to it.

He threw it away and swung his elbow to smash the face of the one who was attacking from behind, then spun his body with the momentum. Immediately after, he swung the sword in his other hand and cut off the head of the demon. Ruon kicked away the twitching flesh and walked forward.

On the ground, there was a corpse of a knight that was so damaged that it was hard to recognize. He was someone who could not resist properly because he was exposed to the demons that poured from the sky.

Ruon remembered how he had swung his sword until the end in pain of having his flesh torn by the teeth. He took off the helmet of the dead knight and wiped off the dull eyes that had lost focus.

He had already made up for the experience that was lacking after killing the chieftain. But there was no sign of joy on his face. He only saw the people who kept dying.

Then he felt the air around him being sucked somewhere and turned his head. At the same time, a huge explosion sound and fragments of rocks and ice burst out.

The demons around him were torn apart by the flying debris without even screaming. Ruon found the party who were coughing dryly behind the thick smoke from the impact and walked towards them.

Even then, dozens of demons ran at him, but they all fell to the ground with some part of their bodies smashed by his relentless punches.

As he approached, Amela spoke to him. Her face was pale as if her blood was not flowing, like her palm that had clenched her wrist.

“…This kind of attrition war is meaningless. The divine tree is now rooted in the essence of the abyss, not the phenomenal world, and has gained infinite power.”

As soon as her murmur ended, a huge something roared. He looked closely and saw a different form of demon shedding its sticky skin and getting up.

Amela shook her head sharply as if trying to regain her senses and pointed her index finger at the giant tree. It was hard to see clearly because of the harsh snowstorm, but there was a dreadful power surging there.

“The only way is to destroy the divine tree. You feel it too, right? He is still growing.”

“Indeed.”

Ruon nodded in agreement. As she said, the tree had grown a foot more than when it first showed itself. Judging by the distance, it was an incredible growth rate of tens of meters.

“We don’t have time to waste. Let’s hurry.”

But contrary to her words, Amela was already losing strength in her legs and swayed greatly. Kyle, who supported her from the side, said.

“…I think it’s too late.”

All kinds of monsters formed a circular siege and slowly closed in on them. Not only that, but disgusting mucous roots were wriggling from the cracked ground. It was a situation where there was no hope even as much as a speck of dust.

Then Amela said to Ruon.

“Just go… If you get tied up because of us, it’s really over.”

Everyone in this place knew very well that her words could not come true. Even Amela herself who said them.

The moment Ruon, who could be called a superhuman in this place, left, the rest of them would not be able to stop the flood of demons and eventually die.

The demons were not rushing in directly because they instinctively feared Ruon’s tremendous presence. It was not because they were taking it easy. In fact, they were steadily narrowing the distance.

If he did not step up, the corrupted divine tree and his army would continue to grow stronger. If he did, the party would not last long and die.

Neither situation was good for Ruon. In movies, reinforcements usually come in such situations, but that’s all nonsense.

Ruon, who had briefly hoped for a childish cliché, silently gripped his sword. He decided to split that big tree in one breath rather than wasting time. As he was about to put strength into his legs, Aslan suddenly walked forward. His staggering gait looked like he was possessed by something.

“It’s strange.”

He came next to Ruon and muttered as he looked somewhere.

“It’s strange. Really.”

“Aslan. Why are you suddenly…”

Kyle, who had lightly touched Aslan’s shoulder, who looked like he was in a bad state, quickly pulled his hand away as if he had touched a hot iron. Then he muttered with a candle-like eye.

“…Divine power?”

By then, Ruon had also noticed Aslan’s change. A golden light shone in his eyes, which could see through the inner side of the opponent after engraving his name in the sky.

Meanwhile, Aslan continued his words.

“It was not a mere intuition. It was a longing. A longing for the embrace of a mother whom I had never seen…”

At some point, he threw his helmet to the ground with a deep sigh. Contrary to his expectation of seeing a melted face, a man with thick lines on his neck and golden eyes was shining above his neck.

That was not the only change. The faces of the knights who started to take off their helmets one by one had all returned to their appearance before they burned their holy power.

“W-what is this? Why are you all fine?”

As Colin muttered in confusion amid the sudden series of changes, Aslan said.

“The holiness of the divine tree that has not been completely devoured by the great demon is calling us. I can hardly believe it myself…”

He finished his words with a determined expression.

“It seems to be Ganax.”