I had to make a decision quickly.

- Shin Kyung-Ah… No… Kwon Seong-Il. Kwon Seong-Il.

- Okay.

As soon as I heard Yeon-Hee’s response, I could barely see the biggest doll-like shape among the three begin to move.

“Worship Doom Arukuda… Aaah… That’s bullshit… I’m going to squeeze out all the ink in your eyes, you fucking moron. Gahhhhh.”

When Seong-Il collapsed next to me with a groan, a notification message popped up.

[The trait Explorer has been activated.]

[About the Grand Ritual of the Baclan Corps (Explorer Reward)

The Baclan Corps hopes that Doom Arukuda will solve their problems. But don’t worry. Your hometown is safe.

Content: If you remain alive until the end of their ceremony, the hidden quest ‘Worship Doom Arukuda’ will be completed.]

I could clearly see the message, and the bolded letters looked more obvious than ever. It was telling us that the descending incarnation wasn’t a sign that we had been discovered by the Baclan.

A few hours later…

[Congratulations. You have completed the hidden quest ‘Worship Doom Arukuda.’]

[Power Resistance: 5%]

“Ugh.”

My blurred vision had finally returned to its original state after the messages. The headache that had been trying to tear my brain off also vanished at that time. When I came to my senses, I was lying down on my back, looking up at the sky. Doom Arukuda’s eyes, which had filled the sky, had disappeared, and the sky was clear.

On the other hand, I could feel a wild murderous intent toward me. Lee Soo-Ah and Shin Kyung-Ah were looking down at me with glistening eyes. They were about to attack.

I quickly rolled to the side, stabbed Indra’s Sword at Lee Soo-Ah and wrapped Hanuman’s Tail around Shin Kyung-Ah. Then, I continued attacking them with my skills that had the same attributes. I squeezed Lee Soo-Ah with Odin’s Wrath and smacked Shin Kyung-Ah’s head with Ra’s Sun Sword.

Bzzzz- Swoosh!

I didn’t allow them to resist because they had become monsters as soon as the Seven Demon Kings took away their souls. If I kept them alive, especially Shin Kyung-Ah, who had the potential to be one of the Eight Evils and the Eight Virtues, they could grow into a more dangerous monster.

The moment their shields were destroyed…

Bang!

One of Shin Kyung-Ah’s breastplates shattered like glass. While the lightning and flames were gnawing their lives, something huge flew in over the two.

Sheek-

Seong-Il had stepped in. There were skills that didn’t allow the user to kill a team member like Road of the King of Hell, but there were skills that did the exact opposite. Odin’s Wrath and Indra’s Sword were like that. Seong-Il knew what would happen when he jumped into the area where lightning streaks were dancing and flames were blazing.

I immediately canceled the skills, and the last lightning bolt bounced off Seong-Il’s back. He flinched, but he was still hugging the two women. It was obvious that he was protecting them from me.

“What the hell are you doing?” I snapped.

He begged, “Look at me. I’m fine! I know what’s going on, but I’ll take care of these two and make sure they don’t cause any problems. So please, Odin!”

Seong-Il flinched even when he was talking. He did his best to keep the two womens’ faces and upper bodies under him because he knew how Devi’s Sword worked. It would have been easy for me to blast Seong-Il away and snap the two women’s necks, but the desperate look in his eyes stopped me. He reminded me of the old Yeon-Hee.

I stated, “You are fine because of Mary.”

Only then did Seong-Il see Yeon-Hee.

“Is she okay?” he asked.

I shook my head. “Of course not.”

I moved toward Yeon-Hee and lifted her up. Meanwhile, it seemed like the Baclans had also stopped moving when Doom Arukuda’s gaze appeared in the sky. When I looked down, the time seemed to have begun to flow again. I laid Woo Yeon-Hee down neatly while looking at the Baclans’ movements. Fortunately, she had no lasting trauma. Her mind voice sounded exhausted.

- The Seven Demon Kings are… strong… I just made eye contact with them, but…

- Can you move?

I heard a loud banging sound.

Smack! Smack!

Seong-Il was hitting the top of the two women’s heads. He gave me a thumbs up when I looked at him, but his smile looked awkward with fear intertwined in it. He was scared that I would behead the two instantly.

When I heard Yeon-Hee’s voice in my mind, I took my eyes off Seong-Il.

- That was a grand ritual.

- Yes. It didn’t happen because of us. Also the sentence ‘your hometown is safe’ probably means that during the Stage of Advent… Woo Yeon-Hee! Are you sure you are okay?

- Yeah, I’m fine.

If she was actually okay, she wouldn’t have responded that way. She needed a break, so we sat down on the ground.

“I will knock them out as soon as they wake up, so don’t worry. Also, I’m not the only one who completed the monster eyes quest, right?” Seong-Il said while he was next to the two women.

He also mentioned he had been rewarded Power Resistance and that the detailed category had been added to his status window. However, he had clearly been shaken by what had happened.

He blabbered, “That was insane. He indeed is the boss. Ah, I remember there was one who was more powerful than the Arukuda. Umm… sorry. Was it Doom Kaos? Haha, I’m out of my mind.”

Seong-Il kept on chattering following that. It was obvious that he wanted to distract me as much as he could.

I sighed and asked Yeon-Hee, - Is there even a slight chance for them to get better?

- No, it’s too late.

Yeon-Hee didn’t hesitate one bit when answering, which meant we had no choice but to abandon them.

- Their entire mental systems were taken down. I was barely able to save Kwon Seong-Il.

Yeon-Hee sounded as if she had been fatigued after a long journey.

- If you want, we can take them with us. Put that into your account, too.

I nodded as I had figured out Yeon-Hee’s capacity. According to her explanation, Isis’s Gaze couldn’t be simultaneously used on multiple targets. The conversion process was fast so sometimes it looked like she could, but that was the truth. Yeon-Hee could use it as a blade and shield by quickly changing her targets as there was no limit on cooldown time in this case, but there was a three-minute cooldown time when the skill was only aiming at one target. Therefore, she could alternately use the skill on the two, but she would be exhausted by doing that.

- Can you save both if you raise your Empathy?

S-class or above Empathy allowed the user to access the mental world of others. In other words, Yeon-Hee had used her Empathy to turn Shin Kyung-Ah into a fearless human sword by using the other woman’s combativity and respect toward me.

Yeon-Hee answered after a brief pause.

- Maybe if I also raise my Mental capacity…? But Seon-Hu, we would need lots of challenger boxes. I can’t guarantee how high I would need to upgrade my ability to do that.

- Ah, there’s no way.

That was why Yeon-Hee had asked me whom to save.

***

The Demon King Doom Arukuda had taken two team members away from me just by glancing at us. However, I soon realized that Awakened in S-class or above wouldn’t be overwhelmed by its power. Well, it nearly incapacitated us, though…

[Power Resistance: 5%]

This also could be an important factor in dealing with the Seven Demon Kings.

I approached Seong-Il, and he stood in my way again with an awkward smile.

“Hahaha.”

His tight, bunched muscles were quite tense, betraying the fact that he was ready to move toward the two women at a moment’s notice. However, he was still a few beats too slow. Devi’s Sword sprung out from me, crossed over the two women’s thighs, and only then did Seong-Il fall over them.

I commanded, “Stand up, Kwon Seong-Il.”

He moved awkwardly as he couldn’t give up their necks to me.

He pleaded, “It is so unfair for them to die like this. They are too good to die like this. Please, I beg you. Please, Odin.”

I responded, “I’m not going to kill them.”

He blinked. “Then… why?”

“We will return to the Stage of Advent after catching the Baclan King.”

“Huh?”

“We will go back together after killing the King. Who knows. Doom Arukuda’s power might not be able to reach there.”

When I walked closer to him, he carefully moved away. I straightened my back after collecting the two women’s items, and Seong-Il got up after me. His eyes were filled with surprise as he couldn’t understand why I kept them alive even though he had wanted this in the first place. I was well aware of how he had looked at me so far.

Anyway, Seong-Il would have Lee Soo-Ah and Shin Kyung-Ah at the end of the Stage, just like how Yeon-Hee and Jonathan would be next to me. We would go together until then. Saving the two was a question for later.

“Just cutting their legs off would have been better than smacking their faces over and over again. Wow, your decision is great as always, Odin.”

“...”

“Thank you…”

I interrupted, “Then survive for those two.”

Seong-Il swallowed as if he had a hunch as to what was about to happen.

“Are we starting?” he asked.

“Yes, follow Mary’s command.”

***

Odin’s skeletal dragon soared into the sky, and Seong-Il rushed towards Mary.

“I don’t care if you treat me like a combat slave, noona. You can use my body as a sword or shield. Do whatever you want!”

He glanced back at the two women whose legs had been cut off, then continued, “I know you don’t like me, but I hope you won’t hate me after today. Please. We should trust each other, and that’s our only hope. We are literally putting our heads into the lion’s mouth together.”

Mary thought carefully as she looked at Seong-Il. Rather than drawing out his fear of the hideous monsters, it seemed better to use his feelings of desperation. There was no fear of death in him. In fact, his heart was full of the desire to win and return to the village ‘together.’ It was the most touching sensation she had ever felt since entering the stage. His feeling was the same as Odin’s in terms of hoping for victory, but it was certainly different from Odin’s hard and cold heart.

Then, the warmth filled Mary’s entire body. Not only did she feel excited, but her blood circulation also began to accelerate. Seong-Il’s and Mary’s hearts thumped. When their hearts pounded in unison, Mary looked up at the sky. A skeletal dragon that was carrying Odin was diagonally heading down from the sky toward the ground while splattering streaks of lightning in all directions.

She finally said, “I can trust you, but can you?”

“Ah!” Seong-Il’s eyes lit up.

“Are you done talking?”

“Yes, noona!”

“Let’s go, Seong-Il.”

Seong-Il felt like he could do anything if he could kill all of those fucking monsters and go back to the Stage of Advent.

“Yes! Yes! Let’s go, noona!”