Wandering Mercenary in an Open World
chapter-91

Ruon realized that he had fallen to the ground. As he quickly pulled his stretched body and got up, he saw the corpses of the limp genie monster and the witch.

Did he bounce out?

He didn’t understand why he came to his senses here, but he didn’t need to know. That wasn’t what mattered right now.

Kee-ya-ah-ah

He lifted his head to the scream that came from above. Far away, the whirlwind that rotated around the spire and the spirits inside it gathered at the top of the tower.

Kururu-

The dark cloud that was born by the countless grudges spewed out a crimson lightning bolt, and carved a deep crack in the sky.

It sounded like a sinister salute to celebrate the birth of a new being.

Ruon immediately ran towards the entrance of the tower. There was a black curtain that did not show the inside in the empty entrance where the door had already fallen off.

The curtain that wriggled like a living thing seemed to say this.

If you escaped by a miracle, just turn around and run away. You can’t handle what’s going on in here with your ability, so don’t be stubborn.

But Ruon drew his ego sword without hesitation. He was not standing here for the heroic narrative of stopping the ritual of summoning the abyss and the new great demon. The reason was very simple.

He had friends in the tower.

They were the only ones he could pour his heart into in this world that he didn’t like from one to ten.

As Ruon’s right arm became blurred, the blade of the ego sword cut the thick curtain in half. He looked at the curtain that started to regenerate indifferently and soon moved into it.

The inside of the tower that returned was bizarre and eerie.

The slime that swallowed everything was nowhere to be seen, and in the world that was dyed red, all objects defied gravity and floated in the air, and every time he took a step, he felt a chill that he couldn’t explain.

Thump-thump-

Ignoring the heartbeat that tore his ears, Ruon was greeted by a horrible monster as he entered the lobby.

What is that?

The monster, which seemed to have added oil, had a slippery skin and was chewing on the body of a corpse floating in the air with sharp teeth. He slowly turned his head as if he noticed the gaze looking at him. The honeycomb-shaped compound eyes of the insect glittered.

Ku-oh-oh!

The monster roared and rushed in.

Ruon lightly shook his head and avoided his front legs. The hook-like nails scratched his eyelids by a paper’s difference, but there was no falter.

As he swung his fist like lightning, he hit the monster’s side, and a sound of breaking under the slippery skin rang out.

Kieek!

The monster’s wrist, which had screamed a weak scream unlike the roar before, was cut off. The sword pierced deep into the face of the monster who was writhing in pain.

Ruon stepped on the monster’s body that collapsed weakly and pulled out the sword. He suddenly felt a tingling sensation in the back of his head and reflexively lowered his head.

With a whooshing sound, the wrist of another monster passed over his head. He succeeded in grabbing the wrist with only a feeling.

Bang!

The marble on the floor broke and the monster’s flesh scattered in the air.

Ruon, who had easily overcome the sharp attack, stomped on the monster’s head and burst it.

Then an unknown voice came.

-Although you were just born, you killed the by-products of the abyss ritual as easily as dealing with the back alley gang. What a marvelous strength.

Ruon instinctively raised his senses to find the source of the sound, but soon realized that it was meaningless. The voice was delivered to his head, not his ears.

The voice said.

-I think I know why Tarwen made that choice at the end. Even if he had his help, I didn’t think you could all resist the ritual… I made a mistake by focusing too much on you and neglecting the other three.

He was annoyed by the word ‘end’, so he slowly opened his lips that he had clenched.

“If you became a great demon, either attack me or get out of my head.”

His faint warning was mocked by the voice in his head, which let out a creepy laugh.

-You are afraid.

“What?”

-I can see it. The waves of many emotions that stir in you. The anxiety that you may have lost your comrades, the burning anger towards me, but also the chilling calmness that suppresses everything! I see it all! Is this the world that the one who stepped beyond the boundary sees?

Ruon retorted briefly.

“Get lost.”

As he immediately raised his concentration, [Great Demon Slayer] in his inner self emitted a bright light, and the voice that rang in his head gradually faded. He should have done this sooner.

Ruon slammed the floor. He pushed the witch and the countless corpses floating in the air with his hand and started to climb the tower. A new obstacle appeared in front of him.

Strictly speaking, it wasn’t ‘new’. They looked a little different, but the ones who screamed and ran at him were the monsters he met in the lobby. What did he say, by-products?

Ruon pushed back the short recollection and avoided the hand that looked like a mantis’s front leg and swung his sword. The monster whose upper body was cut in half fell down the stairs, writhing. He saw the experience coming in a beat late, so he must have died from the impact of the fall.

At that moment, a creature that had crawled up the wall pounced on him like a beast. But it met his steel-like elbow and its face was smashed into pieces.

Ruon fought his way through the flesh and blood that surrounded him from all sides, mercilessly crushing their resistance. He ran upwards without stopping.

The higher he climbed the tower, the more the monsters swayed. He felt like he would level up in the middle of the climb.

Kyaak!

He grabbed the neck of the one that aimed its sharp teeth at his face and slammed it into the wall. Ruon was about to move on when he paused for a moment.

He heard a familiar voice from beyond the wall that was cracking like spider webs.

“Fuck! What the hell is this!”

Then the wall collapsed and Kyle appeared, holding a hammer and a shield in both hands. He seemed surprised to see Ruon coming out of the broken wall.

“Ruon!”

Ruon answered by throwing his dagger with all his strength. The dagger flew past Kyle’s ear and pierced the mouth of the monster that was targeting his back.

Kwek-

Kyle smashed the chest of the twitching creature with his hammer and handed the dagger back.

“What’s going on?”

Ruon explained as briefly as possible.

“Fleur became the Archdemon. We should have been assimilated too, but thanks to Tarwen, we got a chance.”

“Yeah?”

Kyle looked at him with wide eyes, as if he had been hit on the back of his head with a hammer.

“How did you get out?”

Kyle answered hesitantly.

“I came to my senses when I killed the assassin who slaughtered the villagers… but looking back, something was strange.”

“What?”

“At that moment, I thought I was an ordinary woodcutter. Not like I am now… and my mind was blank and I only wanted to run away.”

His eyes burned with a hot fire as he recalled his memory.

“Then I heard Tarwen’s voice. A very small voice telling me to fight back. Thanks to that, I was able to snap out of it and not avoid that moment.”

I see.

Ruon nodded silently. It seemed that breaking the memory that was deliberately overlaid by himself was the key to regaining consciousness. Of course, if it weren’t for Tarwen, he wouldn’t have had such a chance.

He said.

“I hope the other two guys made it out like you.”

Kerheng!

Then, as if on cue, a threatening roar of a beast rang out. Both of them recognized the sound.

They ran towards the direction of the sound without hesitation. They leaped over six steps at a time and reached the upper floor, where they saw Strabo and Igor fighting against the monsters.

Even without them, the two were slowly pushing back the ten or so monsters, but the balance of victory tilted further when Ruon and Kyle joined them. Of course, in favor of their party.

The reunited party quickly exchanged information about the situation, while monsters crawled out from somewhere and attacked them. But they couldn’t handle the combat power of the party that had gathered together.

By the time Ruon finished his explanation, Igor muttered with clenched teeth.

“So the witch Fleur intended to make all the living creatures in the tower her sacrifices.”

“Yeah, except for us… it went according to plan.”

No one didn’t know the meaning behind the words, except for us. It was the last variable that Tarwen had created with his life.

Strabo’s eyes, stained with blood, trembled. Soon, hot tears flowed from his blinking eyes.

“Did Tarwen really die? If it wasn’t for his voice, I wouldn’t have survived.”

Tears poured out of the huge eyes of the beast like chicken droppings. Ruon lightly placed his palm on the beast’s forehead. And as always, he said what he could do right now, not a vain hope.

“We can at least avenge him.”

At his words, Strabo stopped crying as if by magic. He twisted his mouth as if he had replaced all his sorrow with anger.

“You’re right. Ruon.”

The beast growled fiercely and gestured to his broad back. Kyle and Igor quickly climbed on his back.

Igor said.

“I feel a sinister wave of power from the top of the tower.”

“Hurry up.”

Ruon put strength into his legs as soon as he finished speaking. The new form that started to sweep the stairs blurred. He reached the end of the stairs that had been cut off by Fleur’s spell and jumped over it with a tremendous leap.

Strabo, who had turned into a beast, also succeeded in jumping over it without difficulty.

At some point, the monsters that had been blocking their way disappeared. But no one was relieved by that. They all knew what was waiting for them above.

Meanwhile, Ruon reached the top of the tower and the first thing that caught his eye was the membrane that covered the entire floor. And they led to the last stairs that headed to the roof of the tower.

He stepped on the mucous membrane that spat out yellowish slime as he advanced, and finally reached the rooftop where a crimson lightning bolt struck. And he saw it.

A giant cocoon wrapped in blood.

As his companions who followed him to the rooftop prepared for battle, Strabo roared and charged at the cocoon.

Ker-hur-hung!

With a furious howl, his front paw swung and smashed the giant cocoon in an instant.

At the same time, Ruon shouted.

“Strabo!”

The beast’s eyes, burning with vengeance, realized too late that the cocoon was already empty.

A meteor fell from the dark sky.

Boom!

Strabo’s body disappeared as it shattered the ground with a blast that was beyond human hearing. The party had no time to worry about Strabo’s fate. The storm created by the impact pushed their bodies harshly.

Ruon crossed his arms and was the only one who endured it. A cracking sound came from his feet and the stone floor began to split.

He widened his eyes and glared at the huge creature in front of him.

Like a giant egg, the three pairs of wings unfolded, and a creature with a dragon’s head rose from within.

A terrifying glare that spewed white flames looked straight at Ruon. Then, a voice came into his head.

-I’ve been waiting for a long time. Ruon, the demon slayer.

The new demon lord, Fleur, greeted him.