Chapter 102
Trudging along, Annetsha walked through the village with a slumped posture. Her heart was a tangle of emotions—pain from rejection, understanding that even mountains have reasons for their existence.
“Have you arrived?”
“Huh?”
Annetsha was startled.
All the demons were gathered, waiting for her.
“What are all of you doing here?”
“We have something to ask you.”
Artnekia asked with a gulp.
“Did you drink all the alcohol?”
It was an incredibly out-of-the-blue question, certainly not something for all the demons to gather and ask about.
Annetsha, puzzled, shook the alcohol bottle.
“Yes, I drank it, but why?”
“Phew!”
“That’s a relief.”
The demons visibly relaxed. Just as Annetsha was about to ask what they meant by that, a loud rumble echoed from afar. The forest was being destroyed, and the shockwave hit them.
“Ah?”
Annetsha’s face stiffened.
She felt a sacred energy emanating from the waves of power.
“Harmon…?”
A pursuer.
As she was about to shout for them to run away, she realized something was off.
The demons were calmly looking toward the source of the noise.
“He has finally arrived.”
“What, what are you all doing! We need to run!”
“Run? From whom, may I ask?”
“Whom? Obviously, from Harmon…”
Annetsha clamped her mouth shut mid-sentence.
Seeing the undisturbed gazes of the demons, she realized.
“Don’t tell me you all…”
“Indeed, it’s a god. To dispatch his angel so soon after being informed, just within a day.”
“Artnekia!”
Annetsha yelled. Artnekia gave a bitter smile.
“Princess. We are tired.”
The demons had sided with Harmon. Annetsha gritted her teeth at the realization.
“Do you think Harmon will just leave you be? He intends to kill us!”
“It’s okay. We will no longer be demons, you see.”
Annetsha gasped.
To forsake their demonic nature.
Artnekia raised his arm towards Annetsha, who looked at him with shaking eyes.
“Don’t you understand? If we rid ourselves of what’s inside us, we can no longer be called demons. This has happened a few times before.”
“You, you all…”
Annetsha was aware of this too. Not just her, but most demons knew about it.
But even in the throes of death, no one had done such a thing.
The reason was singular.
Forsaking their demonic nature meant forsaking the Demon God. It was an act of destroying their own unchanging sanctuary with their own hands.
“You’re going to forsake the Demon God?”
“Forsake?”
Artnekia twisted his lips. Unable to contain his anger, he raised his voice.
“We prayed towards the god! We devoted everything to the god! But did the Demon God offer even a word of comfort as we faced annihilation? When we cried out to her, did she offer any advice? Did she descend to embrace us herself?”
Annetsha involuntarily stepped back as Artnekia spread his arms wide.
“Look at this village!”
Houses on the verge of collapse were visible. A village so fragile, it would crumble at the arrival of any beast due to the absence of fences.
“Our glorious kingdom is gone, and we are left to live in a place where we can’t even stop the rain! Half of our kind, who once filled the world, are no more! Warm and historic cuisines have turned to grass roots and insects, and we start our days with despair, not prayers!”
Therefore, Artnekia had forsaken the Demon God.
As soon as Harvenec brought the princess, he immediately went down the mountain to find the temple.
The continuous rumbles eventually quieted down. Artnekia regained his composure.
“It’s over. Mortals cannot overcome an angel of god.”
Annetsha, suppressed by Artnekia’s force, turned pale.
The image of Taesan crossed her mind.
“Oh, no!”
As she attempted to run towards the source of the explosion, Artnekia caught her.
“Princess. Please become a sacrifice for us. We kindly ask you to sacrifice yourself for us.”
Artnekia spoke with a look of despair.
It wasn’t a good feeling for him. To forsake the Demon God he had believed in all his life and to offer Annetsha, whom he had cherished like his own daughter, to the god who had slain their kind. It felt like his heart was crumbling.
However, there were still those who believed and followed him. For their sake, he could not give up.
“Come, Princess. With us…”
Boom!
Once again, a loud noise erupted. Annetsha, who had been in despair, suddenly lifted her head.
The sounds of battle began anew from the location of the explosion.
“Is he still alive?”
“Taesan?”
Artnekia was visibly shaken. The booming sounds persisted.
Boom!
A golden angel swung its golden sword. Its movements were like an unstoppable freight train, endowed with matching force.
Crash!
The force was far superior to Taesan’s. Pushed back, Taesan readied his sword again.
[Your thirst for battle has been activated.]
A skill that grants buffs against unbeatable or impossible foes.
[You’ve activated disdain for the mighty.]
A skill granting bonuses in all judgments against difficult or impossible foes.
[You’ve activated a fair duel.]
Additionally, in a 1:1 situation, stats increase with this skill.
With these three buff skills, Taesan clashed with the sword again.
Clang!
This time, he wasn’t pushed back as easily. But still, it wasn’t an equal match. The angel’s power was clearly superior.
“Let’s test your defense.”
Taesan dived into the embrace of the angel. Erasing the brunt attacks with attack nullification, he thrust his sword.
[0 damage to Harmon’s angel.]
Buzz!
The angel swung its sword down fiercely. Taesan clicked his tongue, distancing himself.
“Wow.”
A foe immune to damage. Taesan cast a spell.
[You’ve activated confusion.] [Fail!]
“Mind attacks don’t work either.”
He then conjured and launched ice arrows. Fragments of ice struck the golden armor.
[0 damage to Harmon’s angel.]
“Magic attacks don’t work?”
Taesan tutted, and the angel moved. Its wings and sword drew explosive lines.
Dirt exploded, engulfing Taesan. He activated repulsion to deflect it and clashed swords again.
The angel spread its wings. The light overflowing from its entire body intensified. Plants around it died, unable to withstand the strong light.
[Your second attack nullification has been activated.] [Your third attack nullification has been activated.] [5 damage to you.]
Suddenly, attack nullifications dropped. Tiny damages began to pour in continuously.
Taesan tutted, stepping back.
“Divine power, huh.”
The strong light from the angel caused the plants to wither and die, showing an unyielding will to permit nothing but itself.
One of the few drawbacks of attack nullification: it disappears against attacks too minor to block. Until now, this downside had not been evident.
The angel flew with its wings, then accelerated towards the ground. The sensation was like a massive meteor falling. Taesan quickly retreated.
Boom!
The angel’s sword pierced the earth, exploding. A huge crater formed as if a meteor had indeed hit.
“It’s like a tank.”
Dusting off, Taesan thought.
‘What if I change weapons?’
Taesan possessed a weapon that could bypass all defenses with fixed damage. Switching to it might inflict damage.
Yet, Taesan didn’t switch weapons.
The weapon with fixed damage was a dagger, too short to be effective here. The angel in front of him was not a foe that could be beaten with such a weapon.
Moreover, the angel’s health wasn’t low. Facing a foe like Jagan in the labyrinth, where countless attacks were possible, wasn’t an option here.
Dragging out the fight would result in Taesan’s death from the divine power.
Boom!
The angel kept pressing. A large clearing appeared in the forested mountain.
The golden sword grazed Taesan’s neck.
[342 damage to you.]
Grazed, yet this damage. Taesan noted the damage from divine power had also quickly surpassed a hundred.
Continuously receiving damage just by fighting, and hundreds of damage from a mere graze.
That was the angel.
‘What about this?’
Fizz.
Blue aura surged on Taesan’s sword. He activated acceleration and dove into the angel’s embrace.
[59 damage to Harmon’s angel.]
‘Bingo.’
Taesan smiled slightly. It was confirmed: the aura had a defense-penetrating effect.
The first condition was cleared. Dodging adeptly, Taesan gradually wore down the angel’s health. The angel’s eyes then glowed red.
Light fell from the sky.
“Ugh!”
Caught off guard, Taesan retreated, but his hand was engulfed in light.
[420 damage to you.]
The flesh burned beyond simple scorching, bits falling off. Taesan quickly regrouped, gritting his teeth.
“This cursed creature.”
The angel, with red eyes, charged. Light continuously fell from the sky. Taesan had to block both the angel’s and the light’s attacks, naturally becoming disoriented and pushed back.
Harmon’s intent to kill him was evident.
Light struck again, synchronized with the angel’s ferocious sword swing.
Taesan didn’t dodge the light but blocked the sword instead. Just as the light was about to crush him, he activated a skill.
[You’ve activated a forced duel.]
The moment the light touched Taesan, it split. Scattering hither and thither, it dispersed into the forest.
The angel, momentarily disconcerted, faltered in its sword strike.
Taesan didn’t miss this opportunity and launched a barrage of attacks. In a blink, he struck more than twenty times.
The angel, recovering too late to counter, found Taesan had already created distance.
This confirmed it.
Harmon was unaware of the skills within the labyrinth.
Whether due to a lower divine status or simply not entering the labyrinth, this presented a solution.
[You’ve activated acceleration.]
Taesan charged directly at the angel. The angel pulled its arm back fiercely, thrusting its sword. Taesan slightly tilted his head.
[You’ve activated evasion.]
The sword brushed past Taesan’s cheek.
Evasion skill proficiency had improved significantly, reducing damage from non-direct hits to negligible or none. Taesan dove in, sword swinging.
Crash!
A cacophony of damage notifications appeared.
The angel counterattacked. It swung its sword and moved its feet, launching attacks hard to dodge.
[You’ve activated counter.]
The body moved. Maneuvering in trajectories that didn’t exist in his mind before, Taesan dodged the angel’s attack.
He stabbed the angel’s side with his sword, now gleaming with aura.
[112 damage to Harmon’s angel.]
Light struck down again.
Taesan used forced duel to ignore it.
The angel swept the ground. Taesan kicked off the air, soaring, and thrust his sword at the angel’s neck. The angel, in response, threw a punch. In mid-air, with no room to dodge, it seemed Taesan would be hit.
[You’ve activated aerial dodge.]
He kicked the air again, ascending further. The punch missed, hitting empty space.
Taesan pierced the angel’s head with his sword. Utilizing strong impact and continuous attack skills, he dealt significant damage.
Crash!
He blocked the swinging sword and counterattacked.
[112 damage to you.]
It wasn’t possible to dodge every attack.
Aiming for perfection would mean death from divine power damage. Even evasion and counter couldn’t prevent minor injuries from getting through.
‘I can’t use solidity.’
A skill that reduces all damage by half, extremely useful but single-use. Given the ongoing minor damage from divine power, activating it would only halve minor damages.
Taesan didn’t dodge everything. He had endurance, so some risks were acceptable. Narrowly evading while penetrating the angel, he finally brought it down.
“Phew.”
The angel was indeed powerful. His health had dwindled to a critical point, despite the life-stealing touch that healed him with each damage dealt.
The angel’s health wasn’t as high as expected. He had planned to force endurance activation if necessary, but managed to defeat it before that.
Taesan steadied his breath and withdrew his sword. The beautiful form of the angel faded.
The golden energy within was absorbed by Taesan.
[Your level has increased.] [Your level has increased.] [You have triumphed over a divine messenger. You’ve acquired a special always-active skill [Demigod].] [Your heroic stature has been activated. Permanently increased strength by 32, agility by 22, and intelligence by 1.] [Your heroic stature has been activated.] [You’ve acquired [Divine Power].]
