Chapter 208: Clock Up

It was no longer in humanoid shape.

Resembling an entity resurrected from the myth, extracting only malice and bringing it into the present, it could be called a demon or perhaps a malevolent god.

The fear Lutz felt was not just because his opponent was eerie and terrifying; it was a fundamental despair that made his soul tremble. That was an existence humans should not confront.

However, Lutz regained courage and sanity as he looked at a certain point on the monster. Even now, as the monster continued to change and regenerate, the right hand he had cut off hadn’t healed. It was an ugly treatment, just cauterizing the severed part and applying a blood coagulant to this immortal monster.

…If you cut it down, you can kill it. Yeah, that’s it.

Previously, when the enchantment on his beloved sword “Kyouka Suigetsu” was completed, the enchantment specialist Gerhardt had jokingly said, “If the conditions are right, you might be able to kill even a god.”

It was probably meant as a joke. However, those words now seemed more reassuring than anything else.

…Even if not a god, at least a failure of an evil god.

The monster crouched down, and in the next moment, it charged at incredible speed, scraping the cobblestones. It was a rapid, powerful, and stable charge, using legs that grew like those of a spider. It was like a two-horse chariot rushing across the great plains.

Even a slight graze could be fatal. Lutz desperately avoided the charge.

The monster crashed into a pillar. The beautifully carved pillar was brutally destroyed, and the entire temple shook violently. A king standing amidst the rubble, a flaming monster. Lutz struck from the side before the dust settled.

The arm that had grown from the monster’s shoulder swept away Lutz’s sword.

…It wasn’t there just a moment ago, that arm!

There was no point in complaining; it wouldn’t change anything. Lutz gritted his teeth and distanced himself from the monster.

The hand that had swung the sword was crushed and mangled, but the monster seemed not to care.

Everything except the main arm was inconsequential. And that main arm, which Lutz had cut off, couldn’t be forgiven.

The monster used the arm that grew from its abdomen to crush and tear off the crushed arm, throwing it towards Lutz.

Lutz tried to bat away the thrown arm, but the blood, like concentrated sulfuric acid, splattered, burning his arms and legs again.

The pain, reminiscent of piercing the skin, reminded him of the pain in his side.

“Fu, fufu…”

And then, he snapped.

The exchange of pain throughout his entire body, fatigue, and the brink of life pushed Lutz into a state of endorphin release.

At this point, he was in no condition to care about his eerie smile.

The monster looked at Lutz, who had an inexplicable smile, with a tense expression. What kind of man was this who, despite being tortured, marked with fear, and still confronted the monster?

The monster watched Lutz with a distorted face. The man who had endured torment, engraved fear, and still come at him was something beyond comprehension.

Whether it was rage or a scream, the monster let out a roar and swung its left arm down at Lutz. But there was no way such a wide swing would hit the current Lutz. He saw everything.

As if predicting the super-fast punch, Lutz smoothly avoided it, and he ran his sword through the vulnerable left arm. With a satisfying sensation at the tip, Lutz shattered and destroyed the monster’s left elbow.

“Gu, uuuu!”

In desperation, the monster extended the arm growing from its abdomen to catch Lutz, but even that arm was vertically cut open from the front.

Attempting to shower Lutz with blood from the wound, the monster threw it at him. However, every drop of blood in the air was clearly visible to Lutz. Without getting soaked in the blood, he slipped through it, elegantly slashing off the leg extending from the monster’s waist.

Another strike, one more. It was like a meteor scattering in the dim darkness. The silver blade swung at high speed, cutting the monster’s body one after another.

“What is the hell is he doing?!”

Kevin was astonished at Lutz’s reckless fighting style, stopping and slashing at the monster, but at the same time he was also excited. He felt he needed to provide some support, so he sped up his arrows even more.

Several steel arrows were fired in succession, and after Lutz started the head-on confrontation with the monster, Kevin noticed a strange change.

The arrows that struck didn’t melt away. And the entire temple was slightly dimmer.

“Lutz, its flames are weakening!”

There was no time for a reply. But it seemed that Lutz nodded slightly.

Whether it was a delusion or not, they were getting closer to avenging their comrades.

A loud, unfamiliar noise, a crash, was heard. They didn’t know what it was, but they understood that something had broken.

The crossbow had broken. Kevin, who had been standing and pulling the string with one hand, was putting too much strain on the main body due to the unconventional use. Kevin almost fell backward, but he managed to endure it by stepping on the anvil.

Almost simultaneously, Lutz’s movements lost their brilliance, and his knees buckled. He had plenty of mental strength, but his body had reached its limit first.

It was unclear what had happened to the enemy, but the monster understood that the tables had turned.

His entire body covered in blood, with many arrows still piercing him, the flames that had surrounded him were now smoldering. Nevertheless, the last one standing was still the Flame Demon!

…I’ve won.

The monster grinned, raising its right arm to crush Lutz’s head.

…No, I made it in time.

Lutz also had the confidence of victory, a smirk appearing at the corner of his mouth.

A shadow leaped from behind. It was the hero Ricardo, wielding the cursed blade “Sakura.” The monster, surprised, quickly shifted its focus to Ricardo and tried to strike him. Ricardo kicked that arm away, leaping up in front of the monster.

It was an unbelievable move. However, it was happening in reality. In the monster’s mind, memories of fear resurfaced. It was the memory of this man stabbing his left eye, an incident that led to treatment in the labyrinth.

That scene was now trying to repeat itself.

“I’ve come to deliver something you forgot.”

Ricardo murmured in the leaden-colored world.

He couldn’t win, he was underestimated, and it was regrettable. That was unbearable. Everything led to this one strike, and he had come deep into the labyrinth for that reason.

The tip of the thrust-out Sakura pierced the monster’s eyeball, reaching the brain and destroying it.

“Gyiyaaaaaa!”

The monster’s scream echoed throughout every corner of the temple. Ricardo swiftly withdrew Sakura and landed.

The monster had its mouth half open, wearing a face as if its soul had left. Slowly, as if time had stopped, the monster’s body fell backward, making a heavy thud on the ground.

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