Second Life of a Dragon Raising Hunter

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Chapter 417: The Chaos of Explosions and Cutting Sounds

“The chaos has started.”

I didn’t expect the Demon King’s hall to be so soundproof that it was challenging to catch with even a Master’s keen hearing.

Thanks to that, I could guess a fight was underway behind the doors, firmly shut by the Demon King.

“Then I suppose it’s my turn.”

No matter how I looked at it, taking on this many opponents alone was tough. If only I had Namgung Seong like when I fought Toyo.

Still, I needed to thin out their numbers a bit to support them. Guerrilla tactics while dragging them along sounded good.

Fortunately, Yeon-woo was confident that they could hold their own in such combat against any other Master.

“Kids, are you ready?”

[Of course!]

[We’ve been waiting for this moment!]

Yeon-woo had two lovely kids who loved playtime more than anyone else.

And the Demon King’s castle was the perfect playground. No matter what destruction they caused, the repair costs wouldn’t come out of Yeon-woo’s pocket.

Suddenly, a hand popped up from Yeon-woo’s shadow. A round object floated above that hand.

The mana construct formed the shape of Shar on Yeon-woo’s shoulder.

Shar playfully smiled at the demons behind them, raised their hand high, and snapped their fingers.

With a fwip, something started sizzling…

Whoosh!

“Domocha~~!”

As the demons were taken aback, Yeon-woo sprinted forward at full speed. The playful tone contrasted sharply with their serious expression.

Once the sound of sizzling ended—

Boom!!

“Wahaha! Fireworks!!”

“Uwaaaah!!”

Regardless of Yeon-woo’s scream, the kids were enjoying this moment to the fullest. Well, as long as they were happy, that’s what mattered.

Thinking this, Yeon-woo dodged away from the flames licking at them.

I wonder how many of them I’ll take out like this. Despite its cute appearance, this was a lovingly crafted holy grenade targeting the anti-orcs, so its explosive power was no joke.

I hoped at least a quarter of them would be put out of action.

*

“Hm.”

Yuri spoke in a relaxed voice. However, the situation was anything but peaceful. A salamander’s head, growing on the Demon King’s palm, was breathing fire.

“Master!!!! Breathe!!! Watch out!!!”

“Haha, it’s quite a noisy little thing.”

Amid Noel’s booming cries that echoed through the hall, Yuri muttered and swung their sword.

Swish, the flames parted, dodging both of them.

Noel dashed down the path formed by the forced flames towards the Demon King. The holy sword clasped tightly in both hands began to glow, with orange aura wrapped around their body bolstering the holy sword.

With a quick slash at the Demon King beyond the flames, she threw her body into the flames.

Slash!!

A beam of sunlight from the sword cut through the flames and rushed toward the Demon King, who effortlessly blocked it with a purple sword.

Even the power to create life according to their wishes was annoying, but having the Demon Sword too?

Not only their avatar was fearsome; their individual combat prowess matched the name of the Demon King.

Clang!!

Two swords, some of the strongest on the continent, collided with a clear sound.

Over the crossed blades, their faces could be seen. The indifferently mocking face of the Demon King met the composed expression of Noel for just a brief moment.

However, it was just that—a fleeting moment.

Noel swung their holy sword to bypass the defense of the Demon Sword, and the Demon King calmly parried.

At the same time, they moved to evade the octopus tentacles sprouting from their arm.

“Gah…!!”

[Are you running away?]

As the Demon King muttered, creeping vines sprouted ever so close to the tentacle that barely brushed against.

Noel swung their sword desperately, trying to escape from the grasps of whatever was coming. The brilliance of the holy sword cut through the Demon King’s left arm.

Yet, as if it were nothing, the Demon King aimed the Demon Sword at Noel. Reacting accordingly, something began to regenerate from the freshly severed stump of the Demon King’s arm.

It wasn’t something that could reasonably be called a hand—but it clearly looked like part of the Demon King’s body.

Fighting the Demon King was like this. You had to be careful not only of the sword but of the whole body. You never knew where a monster would sprout from and target you from.

Huff, huff…!!

As if to fill the gaps in Noel’s offensive, Yuri leaped above and swung her sword in the air. Dozens of sword beams rained down on the Demon King’s body.

Splurt, black blood burst out uncontrollably.

As if it had no intention of resisting, the Demon King yielded to the sword strikes. Simultaneously, yet again, a new body began to sprout from where it had been cut.

It seemed to regenerate rapidly, but that couldn’t be the case. The Demon kin slashed by the holy sword couldn’t regenerate their bodies.

That meant it wasn’t that it was regenerating. At every moment, the Demon King was reincarnating as a new being.

It was possible to add the body of another living being without needing to regenerate.

“How annoying…!!”

Noel spat out the dust that filled her mouth.

The Demon King was thoroughly on the defensive. Defending only their heart and head with the Demon Sword, while ignoring everything else in a “who cares” attitude.

In reality, it didn’t matter much. As the wounds increased, the means to attack for the Demon King would increase too.

The head of a lion roared. The fangs of a snake gnawed at the air, and the smooth head of some indescribable creature settled where it wasn’t supposed to be.

Seeing arms, legs, tails, fins sprouting from inappropriate places was enough to make one’s stomach churn just by looking.

But still, I must cut. I must fight. Even if it takes an eternity to kill, I must keep cutting until it’s dead.

That was the weight of life and death she had decided to bear.

*

Huff.

It felt like it was about time to say I had more or less cleaned it up.

Naturally, Yeon-woo was quite exhausted. Especially the Holy Bomber took a toll. But physically, they were still in decent shape.

“Truly, the holy grenade is exceptional. What an unbelievable effect!”

As Yeon-woo exhaled with relief, they surveyed the demons writhing like bugs in the ruined Demon King’s castle.

Of course, they hadn’t dealt with all of them yet, so there was still a need to invest time.

Still, “I’ve only done half” and “Wow, I did half!” were two different mindsets.

“Honestly, I could probably leave it at this point.”

Surprisingly, many of the demons had lost their fighting spirit. Not just the ones they’d taken down, but even those watching had given up the will to fight.

The reason was simple; they all sensed something was off.

“Nothing is as effective as fear.”

Of course, that Yeon-woo was qualified as a hero meant they couldn’t come back to life upon dying, something they’d only realize once they had died.

There would be a sensation of their soul going somewhere, and only when they stopped feeling that, would they recognize they were dead.

But while the dead can’t speak, those dying often do.

The demons, who had been deliberately wounded and made to die slowly, began to doubt when they saw themselves uttering “Huh?” with blank faces, instead of burning with curses and hatred.

Such seeds of doubt spread easily. Especially effective among the self-centered and selfish demons.

To put it bluntly, the reason they were following Yeon-woo was that they feared dying if caught by the Demon King, and now they were beginning to realize the Demon King was preoccupied.

“Hey, you punks. Are you going to stay quiet now? Or should I kill you?”

[You better listen! Our dad really kills!]

“Ugh, that sounds a bit too trashy coming from me.”

More than anything, it didn’t feel good to say children would kill. I want to make sure there’s no need for my kids to ever fight the Demon King when they grow up.

As Yeon-woo sent that warning in the ruined castle, they sensed the presence of something nearby vanish. Perhaps their warning had been effective.

Well, there was no guarantee they wouldn’t ambush them when they brought the Demon King down, but they could deal with that then.

“Well then, time to go help our hopeless priest duo!”

With that thought in mind, Yeon-woo began climbing the stairs of the Demon King’s castle.

Ideally, the Four Demon Generals, including the cruel Malchut, would have been waiting inside the castle to confront the arriving heroes.

Unfortunately, the sole survivor of the Four Demon Generals was presumably out on the battlefield, and such a scene would be unlikely. This somehow made things easier.

Yeon-woo stared at the enormous iron door before them. It looked like a mass of living flesh, with no discernible seams, and didn’t appear inviting at all.

Going full power with skills surely consumed too much energy. On the other hand, cutting through with the Aura Blade felt like a bother.

[Then let me try!]

As Yeon-woo contemplated how to open the door, Shar shouted up to them. Stopping for a moment to think.

“That’s not a bad idea!”

*

At first, I was so excited about the battle with the Demon King that I thought my heart would leap out of my chest. Thump, thump, thump, thump…

But I realized that wasn’t the case when the iron door started shaking.

No, the firmly shut iron door, which had definitely been sealed tight by the Demon King’s mana, was now banging and trembling.

“What’s going on!? Scary!!”

Ahead was the Demon King, and behind loomed an unknown entity. Even while battling the Demon King, the fact that I could still scream out in terror surprised Noel herself.

Especially since the Demon King’s abilities seemed to be affecting that door too, blocking even the sense of ki, fueling her growing anxiety.

I had no idea whether it was Choi Yeon-woo or reinforcements coming to assist the Demon King beyond that door.

Finally, the iron door crumpled, and the figure of a gigantic wolf began to emerge from it. Seeing that, Noel’s face lit up in excitement.

“…!! You’ve come, Choi Tae-sik…!!”

Boom!! The iron door was ripped off, and the golden wolf stalked into the arena.

The shockwave sent the door flying toward the Demon King, but the Demon King simply sliced the fragments with their Demon Sword as if it were nothing.

[…welcome, second hero.]

‘What on earth has Noel been doing on Earth all this time?’

Even the Demon King’s greeting couldn’t change the thoughts racing through Yeon-woo’s head.

(To be continued in the next chapter.)