Demon Lord's Castle (2)

"Is there a way to pass without paying?"

The fairy nodded at those words.

"Simple. You need to kill the Gatekeeper."

"…Gatekeeper."

"Yes. Gatekeeper."

As soon as the fairy's words ended, a fearful vibration started to ring throughout the ground.

The origin of the vibration was the door in front of them.

Kadududuk.

Udududuk.

The hundreds of thousand if not millions of bones that had made up the door mixed and intertwined as it turned into something giant.

"…Wolf?"

Somebody spoke out in dismay as they saw the giant wolf that stretched 50m long from head to its tail.

Grrrrrrrr.

Though it was made of bones, there were blue flames burning from its eyes.

And this was from 30m above them.

It was only 30m on paper, it felt like a building was standing up and growling at them.

It didn't even squeak like the weak skeletons.

Since the number of bones that its body consisted of was too many to do so.

The people made fearful expressions as they saw the giant black wolf made of bones that were polluted black.

The fairy laughed as it saw those people.

"Here. There isn't a moon anymore right? If you aren't going to pay then you just need to walk beneath it."

Grrrrrr

The people gulped their saliva as they gazed at the giant Wolf.

Before they could chicken out, Vicente unsheathed both katanas and sprang forward. This was the standard beginning of all their battles, him at the front and them running to catch up to support.

They were undoubtedly stronger together, they felt it more and more each battle, if the big boss thought it was possible then it must be. The clanless clan followed behind him to attack the Gatekeeper.

Vicente ran and did a high jump while crossing his blades activating their skills and attacking the beast's joints.

His special forces followed suit a,distance away from him, he couldn't lock it's movements and it rushed into the crowd to cause havoc, this actually gave him quite a few openings while it was occupied picking them off. He ordered his clan to spread out thinly and give room for the Clans to fight.

'Fuck what bullshit is this! We're obviously bait and what's with this bitch was she on his side all along?'

They looked at Minerva who was leisurely supporting from the distance with the clanless clans, her members were at the front but majority were at the back. It was obvious what this meant. She and that cunt were in this together.

'Fuck those cunts!!!!'

They could only obey as they would be killed if they didn't. They co ordinated their six clans as one to delay the beast while Vicente jumped up and around it from time to time.

The skill on his Second katana, Envy of Esrados, Corrosion infected the bones of the Gatekeeper with disease like symptoms making them weak and brittle.

He attacked its mouth and joints ferociously with monstrous levels of agility, his stats were around the level of Hansoo after ascending this stage, meaning he could face the demon lord but it would still be a stretch as even Hansoo had help, he continued roaming the battle field collecting runes from the dead.

'This guardian is worse than a raid boss in a game.... well from anime because I've never come across a raid boss before oh no never mind self you have.'

Like any boss its Hp was monstrous of course but they had numbers.

"Dodge the front leg!"

The special forces, who were scattering the bones apart below, scattered in all directions while shouting.

Boom!

Charuruk

Skaskkkkk

Vicente was poking at it's shallow ghastly eyes every now and again while applying his spells to his blade and jumping to its joints every minute, the beast, which was roaring and shaking its body in annoyance, swung the forelimbs at him. But this was all as Vicente planned.

He dodged and allowed a few clan members to be in it's wrath ful path, a few were swallowed by it's mouth,

Kirik. Kiririk.

He repeatedly slashed the joints that reattached every second each bone was beginning to corrode, he could faintly hear it's body start to creak from the pressure of its body on its brittling bones.

Kuuuuaaang!

The gatekeeper got even angrier because it felt like it became a mere skeleton but Vicente didn't care as he continued to twist around in the air while sending slashes its way, activating the set effect of <Sin> it used dissipating mana from the surroundings to fill up its bones which began to crack and break.

Each time it regenerated it cracked again and again.

'It's getting there'

Kudududk. Kududk.

"Hurry and smash its ankles first!"

"Since the bones come back to connect with each other, shove some things into the location where you smashed apart!"

As Vicente heard the endless voices from the clansmen of his clanless clan, he nodded his head.

'They're doing pretty good.'

The Demons use a variety of skills.

And because the special forces had gained a vast amount of experience, they didn't get flustered at the magical sight of the bones combining back and were neutralizing the ankles first.

Grrrrrrr

And at that moment, a weird shockwave could be felt from the gatekeeper's mouth.

And at the same time, the blue eyes in its eyes started to burn up.

'That's it huh hell fire I'd like to see it just once but- Dying is too far ahead for me'

If that thing were to burst out then at least half of them would become a mess.

<Hellfire>

A power that was granted to the doorkeepers in order to incinerate the intruders.

Charururk

Vicente continued to cut up pieces of the ground and shove it into wherever he could in and on the beast of Bones. His blades weren't boss oriented like Justice and Judgement of Dekrados which was a huge problem of suitability but that could be overcome with sacrifice and strategy.

Kururururu

The katana in Hansoo's hands started to drain his mana aggressively as it activated the skill, <Wrath>.

And Vicente swung it like he was fighting a titan in coordination with his other katana and smashed them onto the lower jaw of the gatekeeper.

Boom!

Kwadududk

His neck bones were so thick that the attack, which he poured all his power into, just bounced off its cranium but still made it to face the front from it's original position of being ready.

His goal was the blue marble that could see seen between the bones he had smashed apart.

'Ignition Stone'

The hellfire could only be let out once the mana from deep inside its body reached up the cranium and met the ignition stone with a violent reaction.

Basically, as long as you ripped off the Ignition Stone then the hellfire wouldn't get completed.

He roughly shoved his hands between the regenerating bones and pulled out the bead.

Chiiiik

An extreme temperature which even made sounds of burning Vicente's flesh which was protected by his magic resistance.

Vicente threw the Ignition stone right under it and then continued to slash madly at it pushing it back into its body from the torso, the heat burned its own bones rapidly,

One of Sato's clansman, who was looking at him, asked through the message.

<He seems like he's having trouble. It feels like it'll work if we attack now. Shall we try attacking him right now?>

The clan member was making a bitter expression as well.

But Vicente was using all his power to suppress the wolf and was having a hard time.

A situation where there's a chance if they attacked.

But Sato shook his head.

<No. Focus on killing the gatekeeper.>

<Yes.>

The clan member was rather confused at the changed attitude of Sato but didn't talk back as he charged onto the giant gatekeeper again.

And soon the giant wolf started to get disassembled one part at a time from the long range skills and the Special forces who flew into it like a swarm of bees, along with its own ignition stone doing alot of igniting.

They killed it. He distributed a portion of the runes generously to his special forces as they were quite useful and naturally kept most for himself, he couldn't afford to be overly soft.

Vicente looked at the casualties with his still operating council and did a mental elimination of those he secretly killed in the chaos to collect the runes.

Even after that it was still a high number, the difference between him and Hansoo that he thought he narrowed was merely an illusion although he didn't actively try to save them and he didn't have that same set. Still it was quite the difference. He was a bit peeved but he didn't want to become obsessive so he let it go.

This was one of his strong points as a person, he blamed himself for any mistakes and he knew how to self reflect.

A thought popped up from his mind.

'Hm. I was on a roll a few times on the way, I was totally protagonist like and was in the zone, why didn't a battle trait pop up odd.'

Logically speaking of their was to be an outside or even innate catalyst for a trait he would have already triggered it. It seemed things weren't so cut and dry.

He was slowly understanding more about this world than those cut and dry laws. Fight and kill, a reward will be given. There was more going on here.

*******************

Kudududk

Minerva mumbled quietly as he saw the final Gatekeeper being eliminated.

'…It's finally here.'

A giant castle could be seen over the carcass of the final gatekeeper.

The <Demon Lord's Castle> which was only seen in the distance.

A ginormous crystal could be seen in the corner of the Demon Lord's Castle.

'Let's see. About 1000 people left.'

She checked her wrists.

5 miniature crystals. It was a pitiful amount, due to their relationship he allowed to keep the crystals her forces obtained.

'Tsk you can at least share it with me, after all we're..... wait what am I thinking, urgh its not like that Minerva, it's not like that at all, it's not like that....'

She looked at the depressed and few number representing the clans, they had been dying off in droves. She thought it was because they were weak from not gaining enough benefits which was indeed so but it was also from Vicente farming their members like crops to increase his strength.

They were taking a break right now and she found her gaze wandering over to him, he was cleaning his blade while eating.

'What is that pouch…'

While the people were cooking the strange plants which appeared on the road, food continued to come out from his pouch.

But they weren't really jealous because the food which came out from it was on par with the plants they cooked.

Nonetheless, his value was apparent if there was anyone she would rely on in this world, it would be herself, however if push came to shove, it wouldn't be bad deepening her relationship with him. She was aware of the worse case scenario- her being raped and killed by someone vastly stronger than her. Reports on the news went back to past a decade.

While this was an abysmal place, she couldn't deny they were getting stronger and stronger, someone who has lived for ten years in this world could probably kill her in a breath, skills were vast in number and mysterious too. She could be done in by one of them.

He always seemed to know strange things, so it wouldn't be bad to place her bet on him. She'd have to think it over for a bit but she'd come to decision after they went up.

They were here. The enemy castle.

The inner parts of the Demon Lord's Castle was empty.

And a red colored crystal existed within the deep parts of the Demon Lord's Castle.

'It is not… working yet.'

The aura of the Crystal was too lacking to say it was working.

And in front of that Crystal, in the large field which was enough to accommodate for the surviving thousand people, a statue which looked intimidating at a glance stood.

'Is that the Demon Lord?'

Gulp.

They were scared and looked to the front, at the front was a figure who commanded their hopes. They grew silent and were steadfast in preparation to fight for their survival with his guidance. He hadn't done anything to harm them and instead helped them, though he monopolized the crystals that was his right, they were glad to be with him.

Vicente started to calmly give precise orders from his extensive experience in battles, he knew what to expect and when to expect it and now he knew how to respond with his men.

An enormous amount of undeads started to rise out of the ground in a crazy pace.

"Divide in the Scorpio formation, clans at the head, special forces diverge to the sting and claws, the rest form up!"

The demon lord was his responsibility and also his borrowed blade. He'd use it to kill all the clans. To grow stronger.

Soon the undead charged ferociously and chaos was created, but the formation held out.

And at that moment the fairy appeared above their heads.

"Wow! For one thousand people to have survived! Amazing! You just need to finish it off. First of all, the arrival point, even if you chose the same island, would be different from the mini-crystal to that of the giant crystal so you don't need to worry about getting revenged. Heehee."

"…"

It sounded like that they should attack from behind and leave without feeling any pressure since they didn't need to worry about being chased after running away with the mini crystal.

But everyone snorted.

Since they didn't have any mini crystals anymore nor did they ever really. The tyrant took all the crystals eventually.

But the fairy's words did not end.

"By the way, it isn't that the giant crystal turns on when you kill the Demon Lord!"

"…?"

"It will turn on after 30 minutes. So you just need to survive until then right?"

The fairy disappeared with those words and everyone flinched.

It was survival and not kill.

Which meant the clan which fought the hardest would have the greatest loss.

'It's perfect. Really.'

Minerva crumpled her face, they were under one banner now but against life or death the clan members would act out eventually.

For some reason, he ordered the to directly face the Demon Lord, he told them he had a skill that told him that it had an destructive AOE skill that they couldn't allow to activate.

It made sense. Why else would the fairy say survive? Obviously it was going to be really difficult. They saw it on the way with the dungeons and gatekeepers, he was always

right in these matters. Even the clans who hated him believed him and intended to fight ferociously against the Demon Lord while defending against the undead.

The Scorpio formation moved out.

"Oh everyone listen up. Those who don't fight whole heartedly will be killed wholeheartedly by your self proclaimed tyrant, me."

A chill went down the spine of everyone present.

They moved with a little more umph in their steps.

Towards the giant statue, no, towards the Demon Lord which was stretching.

And then Vicente, the scorpion the Demon Lord clashed aggressively.

Kuaaaaaah!

'No more than a hundred will survive, I can't control it nor will I stress to. I'll do what I can slowly but, the end result will be a failure as a group.'

Vicente muttered inwardly as he looked at the 15m tall human shaped Demon Lord. To get here each of them had to at least have a colorless rune normally but he didn't give them a chance to hunt and the mobs didn't give runes. This caused him to unknowingly remove the effects of his charm and charisma, stirring unrest. He only knew the extent of this unrest in this battle.

The Demon Lord threw a fist along with a rough scream while everybody was not fighting properly.

Hoooong

The giant body combined with the unbelievable speed generated a tremendous amount of wind as it created a humongous shockwave.

Boooom!

"Goddamit!"

"Kuaaaahk!"

Ironically, the Demon Lord, the king of the Evil Clan, wasn't using any skills.

The only thing it had was its overwhelming stamina, health, speed and regeneration.

But this was dangerous enough to the point that every attack from the Demon Lord crushed the people ruthlessly but this just suppressed the Clan Lords from taking action even more.

If he had used an area of effect attack then they might've attacked him because of fear but seeing that he was killing them off one by one, it seemed like they could keep quite a lot alive and then run away through the crystal.

But from The Tyrant's words it did have an area of effect skill, they definitely couldn't give it breathing room, they stuck to the Demon Lord aggressively.

The Demon Lord threw a fist along with a rough scream while everybody was fighting properly.

Hoooong

The giant body combined with the unbelievable speed generated a tremendous amount of wind as it created a humongous shockwave.

Boooom!

"Goddamit!"

"Kuaaaahk!"

He made a show of rapidly slicing it up but didn't use an ounce of mana in his blades, which took a while to cut without mana activating skills.

He leisurely collected the runes of the dead while an image of him fought the demon Lord.

<Phantom>

An evasion skill attached to cloaked that dropped while he fought, it formed a phantom of yourself that tricked even colorless perception, it fought the Demon Lord while doing absolutely no damage, he used the invisibility item he finally got to pick up runes leisurely from the battle.

No one suspected a thing, even the normally perceptive Minerva, as she was busy with the terror of the Demon Lord. He put her in the lower back of the scorpion which was the safest but she still saw a lot of carnage.

Though he had turned it into a mess, it was regenerating at an extreme speed.

Its true might came from that abnormal rate of recovery, ability to take hits, resistance and things like strength, agility and savagery were just the surface of it.

The special forces needed to shove their skills into it and destroy it faster than the speed of its regeneration while he tied it up.

There was a limit to how much one person alone could damage the Demon Lord. But though the Special forces were attacking it, they were doing so in a very passive way and were using safe tactics so the damage couldn't catch up to the regeneration speed of the Demon Lord.