The Greatest Estate Developer - Chapter 396: The Final Attempt (1)

Thwack—!

A blade glowing with a blue aura suddenly burst out of the Hell King’s chest.

– What?

The Hell King, who had been about to spring to his feet, hesitated.

He looked down at the blade that had pierced through his chest.

In that moment…

The sword moved.

Swish!

– …!

In an instant, the aura exploded into dozens of tendrils!

It sliced through his chest.

Cut through the air.

Divided everything in its path.

And the lich’s body, which housed the Hell King, was no exception.

Squelch!

The mummified, withered body was sliced into dozens of pieces.

Instead of blood, a cloud of dried dust burst out, scattering blackly in all directions.

Limbs detached from the body and collapsed.

The skull fell onto the shattered torso.

At that moment, Lloyd clenched his fist.

‘Got him!’

Javier’s surprise attack had landed perfectly.

He had been running his mouth to distract the Hell King for this very attack.

Thanks to that, Javier had been able to launch a stealthy assault.

‘This is it. Even if he is the Hell King, he’s done for if his avatar’s body is in such a state.’

At the very least, he must have sustained significant damage.

But then…

Orc Arosh sniffed the air and spoke.

“Did we get him, gweeek?”

“…Hey!”

“What’s the matter, gweeek?”

“Saying something like that right now…”

– Would be troublesome, if it turns out the ambush was a futile effort.

Lloyd tried to hurriedly cover Arosh’s mouth, but he heard the Hell King’s voice.

Startled, Lloyd turned to look at the Hell King’s shattered remains.

The skull atop the pile of remains was already looking at him.

Its eyes were as clear as ever.

Mocking, the lower jaw moved.

– I knew from the start that you were babbling to distract me. I was curious about what you were planning, but was it really just this level of an ambush? Hmm?

Shhhhh…!

A black dust began to rise and swirl around the broken body of the Hell King.

It formed into a shape standing on two legs.

The shape grew clearer.

The shattered avatar of the Hell King began to rise again, rapidly reassembling and restoring itself to its original form.

“Javier!”

Lloyd’s shout and Javier’s attack came almost simultaneously.

Javier’s sword flashed like lightning.

From every direction.

To every point.

Cutting, slicing, sweeping through the air.

But it couldn’t strike the Hell King’s body.

Even in its shattered state, the fragments of his body moved with a will of their own, quickly evading every slash.

“Everyone!”

Lloyd gripped his shovel tightly.

That shout was the signal.

The Queen’s sword flared with aura.

Sir Geo-Rexius, the Hell Knight, transformed his armor into his steed.

The fallen angel Raphael gripped the Hammer of Judgment.

Orc Arosh charged with his battle-axe.

Elf Muira drew her bowstring taut.

Yongyong and Bibeong raised their forepaws.

Boom—!

Yongyong’s forepaw and Bibeong’s forepaw. Their combined force, nearly 4,000 tons, smashed down on the Hell King’s body.

The Hell King’s fragmented body was completely crushed.

The platform floor shattered, creating a crater 5 meters deep and 60 meters in diameter.

But in the next moment…

Swish…!

“Bibeong?”

From between Bibeong’s massive foreclaws, which were pressing down on the ground, a single thread of black dust shot up.

It quickly gathered in the air.

It formed a shape.

The Hell King’s body, fully restored before anyone could even react.

– So, this is your attempt at resistance? Hmm?

The Hell King, having regained his complete form in midair.

He aimed his wand in their direction.

– Now it’s my turn.

The skull ornament at the tip of the wand emitted a sinister light.

At that moment.

Ding dong!

Suddenly, a red message appeared in front of Lloyd.

[Emergency situation detected!]

[Skill Exclusive Option ⑦: Instantaneous Foresight has been activated.]

[Due to the influence of the divine relic, Summer’s Eye, your body temperature increases by 1°C.]

Woosh!

Lloyd’s mana heart activated rapidly, without his conscious intention.

The divine relic, Summer’s Eye, had unleashed its power.

His entire body became scorching hot in an instant.

Simultaneously, he caught a fleeting glimpse of the future, just five seconds ahead.

And what he saw was…

“Everyone!”

Lloyd tried to shout.

To tell everyone to fall back.

But he was far too late.

Before he could even finish his shout.

Wham—!

A brilliant flash appeared above his head. It descended swiftly.

There was no time to react.

In a literal flash.

The next moment, something exploded from beneath his feet.

As if he had stepped on an anti-tank mine.

Or as if a bombardment had struck.

A violent explosion erupted, sending a storm of dark purple flames roaring upwards.

“…!”

Lloyd instinctively tried to leap to the side.

He narrowly avoided losing an entire leg.

But the explosion’s range was far too wide.

“Argh!”

He was thrown nearly 20 meters.

The ground and sky swapped places dozens of times.

A proper landing was out of the question.

The impact was too great.

His mind was spinning, teetering on the edge of unconsciousness.

He just curled up, shielding his head.

Fortunately, that decision proved to be effective.

Thud! Bang! Crash! Grind! Thud!

He landed on the ground at an angle.

Rolled another twenty times.

Finally, he collided with a rock.

“…Huff! Cough!”

His whole body felt like shattered Lego pieces.

Were his limbs still attached?

Was his head intact?

Or had his body been split in half?

In a daze, Lloyd desperately felt around with his hands.

Grabbing the shovel he had dropped, he lifted his head.

A message appeared before his eyes.

Ding dong!

[Warning: The efficiency of your Mana Heart and Mana Circles has decreased by 20%.]

‘…What?’

His eyes widened in shock.

More warning messages followed.

[You have taken simultaneous physical and spiritual damage.]

[If you receive two more hits like the one you just took, you will lose 60% efficiency of your Mana Heart and Circles, and you will immediately enter a severe panic state.]

[If you receive three more hits like the one you just took, you will lose 80% efficiency of your Mana Heart and Circles, and the connection between your body and soul will weaken, resulting in an out-of-body experience.]

[If you receive four more hits like the one you just took, you will lose 100% efficiency of your Mana Heart and Circles, leading to irreversible death.]

‘What the hell is this?’

The contents were shockingly unbelievable.

But he had to believe them.

Because he could actually feel the efficiency of his Mana Heart and Circles plummeting, just as the messages indicated.

Screeeeech…

“…Cough! Gah!”

His chest tightened suddenly.

His once-vibrant Mana Circles felt rusty and sluggish.

The sensations made one thing clear.

‘That attack from the Hell King… whether it’s magic or something else, it’s an attack that directly targets the soul and the mana within. Just a few glancing blows, and you’re dead.’

The moment he realized this.

He saw the Hell King, aiming his wand at them from afar.

At the same time, he sensed something flashing in the sky, far away.

It was another attack like the one from before.

‘D-Damn it!’

He hadn’t even caught his breath yet.

He hadn’t even gotten back on his feet properly.

He hurried to get up.

Or crawl away if he had to.

Red messages popped up in front of his eyes.

[Emergency situation detected!]

Despite his battered state, his body heated up again.

And he glimpsed a flicker of the next five seconds.

But then.

“Hold on tight.”

“Huh?”

A hand suddenly reached out.

Grabbed his shoulder. Pulled him away. Leaped.

Right after that, something fell from the sky.

Wham—!

A massive explosion erupted from the ground, narrowly missing him.

Only then did Lloyd realize who had pulled him out of the blast zone.

“…Javier?”

“Are you alright?”

“No. Not at all.”

Lloyd shook his spinning head.

And shouted to everyone around him.

“Everyone! Be careful! The Hell King’s attacks hit both the body and the soul! Even a few glancing blows, just a slight impact, could kill you!”

Everyone nodded at his warning.

Especially Queen Alicia, who smiled fiercely.

‘It doesn’t seem like we could withstand many hits from that anyway.’

Her palms were drenched in sweat.

Fear and excitement.

Two conflicting emotions.

The fighting spirit that emerged from between them.

She infused it into her sword.

Charged forward.

Wham—!

‘Quickly! At a speed that his magic can’t catch up with!’

She surged forward.

The distance between her and the Hell King closed in an instant.

Three meters, the perfect range for a split-second, double-swing attack with a greatsword aura.

Queen Alicia’s favorite attack range.

Thud, swoosh—!

As she leapt into her attack range, she swung her sword horizontally.

The enlarged aura, now five meters wide, swept through the space as if to tear it apart.

But her attack was effortlessly thwarted.

By a casual hand raised by the Hell King.

Thunk—!

“…!”

The aura was blocked by a mere outstretched palm.

The Hell King tilted his head slightly towards her.

Queen Alicia’s eyes widened in shock.

‘It didn’t work? This?’

It wasn’t just blocked.

It didn’t even make the Hell King flinch.

And the palm that had blocked her blow, half-destroyed as it was, was quickly regenerating!

‘Grrr!’

But she didn’t panic.

The moment she sensed her attack being blocked, she was already pulling her sword back.

She stepped, spinning her body clockwise.

The Hell King’s wand extended into the empty space.

Barely grazing her coat.

Queen Alicia shouted.

“Fallen Angel!”

Thwoosh—!

Her shout was simultaneous with the swing of the Hammer of Judgment.

The fallen angel, who had leapt high into the air, descended like a thunderbolt.

“Haah!”

Burning his ring of flame.

Pouring all his angelic power into it.

He struck the Hell King’s head directly from above.

Thwack!

The Hell King’s skull, half-crushed and caved in.

Three arrows from Elf Muira embedded precisely in his forehead.

In the next moment, Orc Arosh rushed in and struck the Hell King’s leg with his battle axe.

The Hell King staggered.

Yongyong’s massive tail swung in.

Whoosh, boom—!

It slammed into the Hell King, lifting him off his feet.

As the Hell King floated in the air, Bibeong struck him.

As the Hell King fell, Sir Geo-Rexius, the Hell Knight, was waiting.

– Graaah!

Crack!

Sir Geo-Rexius’s greatsword cleaved into the Hell King.

And without a moment’s hesitation, Javier’s explosive strike followed.

Thwack!

The blast obliterated his head completely.

At that moment, even headless, the Hell King flicked his wand.

Above everyone’s heads, a flash burst out.

Something fell.

A massive explosion erupted.

Wham—!

“…!”

Everyone, except Javier, was blown away by the explosion.

Queen Alicia, the fallen angel Raphael, Sir Geo-Rexius, Orc Arosh, Elf Muira, Yongyong, and Bibeong—all of them.

They were all caught in the blast and blown away, tumbling across the ground.

Only Lloyd, who was standing a distance away, could vaguely witness the entire scene.

‘Is that a meteor strike? It’s a full orbital bombardment, isn’t it?’

It wasn’t just a small rock falling from the sky.

Even as a Swordmaster, he could barely see the outline of the falling object.

Just a tiny mass for a brief moment.

Then a flash of light.

The reason was simple.

‘It was too fast.’

Suddenly, he recalled an intercontinental ballistic missile descending from satellite orbit.

They say it enters the atmosphere at speeds over Mach 25.

But the attack that just struck everyone.

It looked exactly like that.

‘That… it’s moving at a speed of over 8 kilometers per second.’

His shoulders trembled unconsciously.

The Hell King, who had fully recovered from all the strikes, looked back at him.

Their eyes met.

A chill ran down his spine.

‘Our attacks aren’t working at all. None of the attacks from earlier, not even Javier’s earlier strike. He recovered from them like they were nothing.’

It was probably because he was inhabiting a lich’s body as an avatar.

Fundamentally, a lich is an immortal being.

And with the Hell King’s powers added on top.

‘That bastard won’t die. No, we can’t kill him. And he’s bombarding us with meteors that fall at over 8 kilometers per second without any warning or preparation… Getting hit directly means certain death. Even just grazing those explosions a few times means death for sure.’

How could they win against that?

Or was it even possible to win?

He had asked the Truth Jewel about the outcome of today.

He had already heard the answer.

But he didn’t expect it to be this bad.

His vision darkened.

Meanwhile, he could see Javier charging alone at the Hell King.

‘Could Javier do it?’

If anyone could, it would be him.

Maybe, just maybe.

He could finish off the Hell King.

He allowed himself a brief moment of hope.

But that hope quickly faded.

Flash, thwack—!

Flashes fell in quick succession, targeting Javier.

Javier barely reacted to the consecutive strikes that resembled an orbital bombardment.

But he couldn’t completely escape the blast radius.

Barely holding his defensive stance.

He was thrown back dozens of meters.

He staggered to a halt, barely managing to land on his feet.

Had he taken a hit?

He probably had.

‘Then what about me…’

His heart pounded.

He kept recalling the final answer the Truth Jewel had given him.

‘There’s no other way. Nothing else will work… So, should I have used that method from the beginning?’

But he hated that.

He didn’t want to do it.

Even though he knew the Truth Jewel always gave the right answers, he wanted to deny the last answer he received.

Was there really no other way?

Shouldn’t he at least try something else?

He thought that maybe…

But perhaps that was just false hope.

‘No matter how I look at it…’

There was no other way.

Clinging to false hope would only put everyone in greater danger.

Grit!

He gritted his teeth.

The last answer he heard from the Truth Jewel.

The conclusion of this battle.

To smile at that moment.

Lloyd steeled his gaze.

He finally made his decision.

‘I’m sorry, Javier.’