NOVEL NEXT Chapter 197
Chapter 197
“What do I do?”
Si-hyun stared straight at the black flames rushing towards him at an alarming speed.
He could sense the tremendous power contained within them at a glance.
The attacks from the monsters up until now were on a whole different level.
The monsters in front of the black flames turned to ashes in an instant.
Not even a bone was left behind.
Seeing this, the other monsters screamed and scrambled away in panic.
Now, only Si-hyun remained in front of the black flames.
In that brief moment, Si-hyun deliberated multiple times.
Should he take it head-on, or should he evade?
As he pondered, the black flames drew ever closer.
Then, at that moment, Si-hyun made up his mind.
“Let’s proceed carefully at first.”
Si-hyun planted his feet firmly on the ground.
His body narrowly dodged the black flames at the last moment.
Renchik squinted his eyes in disbelief.
“How dare you dodge?”
The power he had experienced from that monster before could never have evaded such an attack.
It was clear that Si-hyun had acquired some new skills during this time.
But in the end, all it did was make him a newt that learned to crawl.
He could easily stamp on it.
“Pathetic fool.”
Renchik’s hand then conjured countless silver blades in midair.
“Keep squirming, would you?”
Renchik swung his hand sharply.
The densely packed silver blades then poured towards Si-hyun.
“I can’t dodge that!”
Si-hyun thought.
An impenetrable storm of blades was coming from all directions.
There didn’t seem to be any gap to evade.
Then.
“I’ll crash through it.”
With that judgment, Si-hyun threw himself into the downpour of silver blades.
Renchik looked on with a mocking smile.
“Hahaha! You must be out of your mind. You’ve lost it completely!”
Jin beside him couldn’t suppress his laughter, as if he enjoyed witnessing such a ridiculous sight.
It was no surprise; it looked like self-sabotage.
And at that moment.
“This better not hurt too much.”
Si-hyun was thinking that as he plunged his body into the countless silver blades.
It was a gesture of breaking through directly.
Renchik’s sneer deepened.
And then….
Clang! Bam! Bam!
Bam-bam-bam-bam!
“Huh?”
Renchik’s eyes widened.
In an instant, the blades that should have torn flesh and bone into dozens or hundreds of pieces made strange sounds.
As if they were hitting something solid.
Renchik, doubting his eyes, focused again on Si-hyun’s location.
Then his expression froze in disbelief.
“No way?!”
The movement of the blades was abnormal.
All the blades that had hit him were bouncing off.
This was impossible.
It was absolutely insane.
Si-hyun stood before Renchik, completely unharmed.
With a relaxed demeanor, he stretched his neck with a crack.
“Not too bad, actually.”
Si-hyun returned Renchik’s sneer with one of his own.
That was the truth.
It felt a little prickly, but nothing more.
Less painful than a shot.
And in that instant, an overwhelming confidence flooded his heart.
The confidence that he could repay all the pain and humiliation he had endured.
“You—what trickery are you up to?”
Renchik growled with a voice laced with malice.
He still couldn’t believe what had just transpired.
A mere human, one who didn’t even qualify for a single meal, had deflected all of his blades.
The mocking grin was gone from Jin’s face as he watched from the side.
However, his expression still retained some composure.
He seemed to think it was interesting.
To find someone among such humans with that level of ability was unexpected.
It didn’t seem like he was going to be bored after being dragged here against his will.
“What trickery, huh?”
Si-hyun raised Po-ahim’s Guard Baton.
“You are the King of the Demon Realm, right?”
“That’s right, you pathetic fool. I am a great king.”
“Great king or whatever, you’ve spilled the blood of countless people because of yourself. Yet you still tried to soak this land in blood again. I absolutely cannot forgive you. I will take the blood price myself.”
As soon as Si-hyun finished speaking, he threw another Guard Baton in his left hand with all his might.
The baton sliced through the air, racing towards Renchik’s face like a missile.
“Yikes!”
Renchik inhaled sharply and hastily turned his head away.
The Guard Baton grazed his face by a hair’s breadth.
“Ugh…!”
Just when Renchik’s anger peaked from the sudden attack, Si-hyun was already charging toward him, gripping the Lord’s Guard Baton tightly.
“You damn fool!”
Renchik yelled, swinging a circular black barrier around him.
Si-hyun immediately recognized it.
It was the dreadful defense barrier that could never be penetrated by any attack.
It was certainly so.
In his past self.
But now.
Without hesitation, Si-hyun swung the Guard Baton to the side.
Renchik regarded that action with disdain.
Having raised the Magic Defense Barrier, such a pathetic attack would never work.
“Hahaha!”
He laughed leisurely. However, that laughter…
Didn’t last long.
Bang!
“Hah! …Huh?!”
Renchik’s expression shifted dramatically.
It was the sound of the Magic Defense Barrier breaking.
No, it wasn’t just a sound; it visibly cracked all over from a single impact.
“What, what is this?!”
As he gazed in shock at Renchik’s face, Si-hyun struck the barrier with the Guard Baton once more.
Bam!
With a loud, sharp sound, the barrier shattered hopelessly.
And just like that, the Guard Baton soared towards Renchik’s side.
Boom!
The sound was as if it would rip through the very air itself.
“Th-this can’t be….”
Thump!
“Argh!”
Renchik screamed, having been struck in the side with the baton.
He looked utterly pained, unable to properly stabilize his body, his face twisted in anguish.
“Now it’s just beginning, you bastard!”
Si-hyun shouted.
Boom!
Smack!
“Ugh!”
This time, the Guard Baton fell upon Renchik’s shoulder.
It hurt like hell; it felt like his shoulder would break.
But still, Renchik somehow gathered strength in his legs, trying to retreat.
He instinctively realized that he needed to get out of the attack range and gather himself.
“Where do you think you’re going, you bastard!”
Si-hyun pursued after Renchik without a moment’s hesitation.
It seemed he would soon be caught again and subjected to another round of baton strikes.
“St-stop him!”
Renchik shouted urgently to his soldiers.
The surrounding monsters tried to block Si-hyun’s advance.
But.
Thud! Smack!
Every time Si-hyun struck down, the monsters fell like autumn leaves.
They didn’t even manage to buy time.
Renchik’s expression turned solemn at the sight.
Si-hyun had already closed the distance with ferocious momentum.
“Get lost, you pathetic fool!”
Renchik conjured black flames once more, sending them rushing towards Si-hyun.
But this time, Si-hyun didn’t dodge.
He crashed right into it.
Whoosh!
The flames blazed intensely, engulfing Si-hyun as if to turn everything to ash.
However.
“Ouch, that’s definitely a bit hot.”
Si-hyun frowned slightly but emerged unscathed from the black flames.
And then.
With a firm grip, he seized Renchik by the collar.
“Gah!”
Renchik gasped in shock, wide-eyed.
“Reflect on your mistakes in pain!”
Bam!
Si-hyun slammed Renchik into the ground and began the baton strikes anew.
It was a Guard Baton Technique that inflicted pain that could arguably be worse than death.
Smack! Smack! Thud! Smack!
“Grrrrrrrrr!”
Renchik screamed in agony, his pain-filled voice echoing.
It was immense suffering he had never felt before.
Like salt being rubbed into every wound or being scorched by fire.
“Repent before you die! You must repent, you bastard!”
Si-hyun continued his relentless battering.
Smack! Smack! Smack! Smack!
“Ugh! Argh! Ugh!”
Renchik curled up like a tortoise, seemingly without the will to resist against the maddening pain.
He squirmed helplessly, moving only like a worm.
His entire body shook violently from the agony.
Smack! Smack! Smack! Smack! Smack!
Si-hyun kept pummeling Renchik.
“Ahhh! Stop it… Please, just stop…”
Eventually, words of pleading escaped Renchik’s mouth.
It was a shocking statement.
The Demon King of a high status pleading to a mere human, one he considered cattle.
What kind of pain could make someone utter such words?
The Guard Baton Technique.
It was truly a terrifying skill.
“What a pathetic fool.”
Jin, who had been watching with his arms crossed, muttered coldly.
He would rather let the fool die than have him plead with a human.
But one would not understand unless they felt it firsthand.
The extent of that pain.
Not realizing that was why he reacted that way.
“Ha.”
Jin let out a short sigh.
He would much prefer to let that fool, who was a shame to his clan, perish. However, letting a human kill him would be an even bigger embarrassment.
It seemed it was time for him to move.
Bang!
Jin’s foot stomped the ground.
In an instant, his form was right where Si-hyun stood.
It was a speed like lightning.
His hand was filled with magic energy, of a different blue hue than Renchik’s.
He swung his magically-charged hand lightly towards Si-hyun’s back.
It seemed almost lackadaisical, but the power contained within it was terrifying.
Si-hyun had been on guard for any movements from behind, but it was such a sudden and fleeting ambush that he couldn’t help but expose his back.
Thud!
His magically charged hand hit Si-hyun’s back.
“Argh!”
Si-hyun screamed.
And his body was sent flying back like a loose string, crashing down to the ground.
Jin watched this all nonchalantly.
It was a sight that deserved nothing but satisfaction—it was only natural for a human of such minor prowess to end up like that.
No matter how usable he was for a human, that was as far as it went.
“Hey, you pathetic…”
Jin tried to turn his gaze towards Renchik.
Then it happened.
“…Damn it. That stings. It really stings now. I acknowledge it. Your attack hurts.”
A voice that shouldn’t be there reached his ears.
Jin turned his eyes to the direction of the voice.
There stood Si-hyun, grimacing and rubbing his back as he got up.
At that moment, Jin’s expression changed to one of genuine shock for the first time since arriving here.
“…What are you?”
“I’m the Security Department Head.”
Si-hyun replied while cracking his back, as if stretching.
“Security Department Head? What the hell is that?”
“I’m the one guarding this place, you bastard!”
Si-hyun said with a threatening frown.
“So, you mean you’re the watchdog? Well, whatever….”
Jin looked at Si-hyun with cold, murderous eyes.
“You’ve provoked my mood. The price for that is death.”
Before the word “death” could even finish, Jin’s form vanished again. Another blow charged with magic energy surged toward Si-hyun.
It was truly in the blink of an eye.
But this time, Si-hyun didn’t miss Jin’s movement.
Whoosh!
The magically charged hand sliced through the air.
Si-hyun had dodged backward.
Jin wore a shocked expression.
He hadn’t even imagined a mere human could evade his attack.
Si-hyun faced him with a challenging glare.
“Why are you so surprised? You think someone like you can keep hitting me without getting hurt?”