5: Devil’s Identity
ACT 5 Devil’s Identity
“I’ve found it!”
The gazes of the Fire Draconians concentrated on a hill as they heard someone’s voice. Then one man appeared on top of the hill and hurled curses at them.
“Damn. Yes, it’s me. What are you going to do? You stupid lizards! No matter how much your spirit has been eaten, how can you confuse me for the devil that trapped you? Huh? I’m a human! That guy called Lumines was whining so I came in to look for you!”
“Nonsense!”
“The fact that you entered here is evidence that you are the devil!”
“Kill him, get revenge for the Fire Draconians!”
The Fire Draconians immediately took out their weapons and climbed up the hill. When the herd of Fire Draconians came within 20 metres of him, the ground shook like there was an earthquake. Ark instantly turned his body around and ran off.
‘These guys use blunt weapons. While Resilience will allow me to withstand it a bit, if I am surrounded by those guys then I would be stunned and it will be game over! I have to keep the maximum distance while luring them!’
But just maintaining the distance was difficult. If he got too far away from them then the combat state would be released. Ark’s purpose wasn’t to lure 1 Fire Draconian to his destination. If even 1 Fire Draconian fell behind then it would cause a problem. For Ark’s plan to 100% succeed, all of them had to chase after him.
“Racard, if any of them fall behind or watches from a distance then use Taunt on them!”
“Okay!”
Racard flew to the side at Ark’s command. Then he cursed at any Fire Draconians that slowed down. The Fire Draconians became furious and caught up. However it wasn’t easy to lure 30 opponents. Ark controlled his speed and the Fire Draconians chased after him as one group. After about 10 minutes. The destination Ark was luring the Fire Draconians to was just beyond the hill.
“Racard, are there any Fire Draconians remaining?”
“Okay, I’ll check!”
“One, two…..all 30…..I’m certain.”
After finishing the personnel check, he lured them within a short distance and turned around. At the same time, the place covered with a hazy vapour appeared.
“That’s it, we’ve arrived! Ya, these stupid lizards! Try attacking me!”
Ark ran into the fog and shouted. Then he turned around and stared at the Fire Draconians chasing him. One of the Fire Draconians rushed towards him wielding an iron bar.
“Die, you demonic fellow!”
Ark quickly rolled to avoid the iron bar and pointed towards him.
“You’ve finally shown your true identity you devil!”
“W-what? Devil? Are you talking about me? The devil……”
“You.”
Ark’s confident answer caused the Fire Draconian to flinch and stop moving. Ark stood slowly and said with a decisive voice.
“Yes, the devil. The one who trapped the souls in Dragonian and slowly chewed on the souls of the Fire Draconians like a parasite is you!”
“You’re talking nonsense……”
“Nonsense? Heh, why don’t you look around before saying that?”
“……?”
The Fire Draconian looked around with a perplexed face. Until then the Fire Draconians had been chasing Ark. But now the remaining 29 Fire Draconians weren’t in front of Ark. They were on the outskirts of the water vapour and looking around absent-mindedly.
“What, what is this? This guy……”
“It is useless. They’re not going to come in.”
“What?”
“You still don’t understand? What happened to your cheerful expression?”
Ark tapped the ground and a noise like a splash could be heard.
“T-this……?”
“Yes, it is water. To me more exact, it is the hot springs underneath Dragonian.”
Ark laughed and replied. That’s right. Ark had been digging in order to find the hot springs. The reason Ark thought of the hot spring was because he remembered his fight with Valderas. Hundreds of people fighting at the same time couldn’t defeat Valderas, but Ark managed to fight him along because he used the Fire Draconians weakness to water. Since the Fire Draconians were spirits of fire, just touching water would cause them massive damage. In other words, it was like poison to the Fire Draconians! If there was a place with water than the Fire Draconians would instinctively stop walking. But if it was the devil? If the devil had been hiding among the Fire Draconians for hundreds of years then of course it would be aware of their weakness. But the devil’s excitement meant that it would continue forward.
Therefore Ark looked for the hot springs because he thought it would reveal the devil. There had been many hot springs drifting in the chaos space. And those pieces of land had all fallen off Dragonian. Naturally he thought that a hot spring would be somewhere in Dragonian. The problem was that it would be difficult to find the hot springs in the ground in an area that was 4~5 kilometres.
But the problem was settled surprisingly easily.
‘Elemental sword!’
If there was water nearby then he could add an ice attribute to his sword. Then it was natural for it to be influenced by hot springs buried in the ground. So Ark ran around Dragonian and continuously used Elemental Sword in order to find water. Then he dug at a place which showed the strongest effect and……bingo! The hot springs he was waiting for appeared.
“The fact that you entered here and didn’t receive any damage from the hot springs is evidence.
Now, how about it? Do you still have something to say?”
“Ugh!”
The Fire Draconian burst out with confusion and stepped backwards. Then it saw the group of Fire Draconians who had been gathered together and stopped. It scratched at its neck for a while before laughing creepily.
“Kukukuku, you saw through my act!”
“Hey!”
The crowd of Fire Draconians burst out with anger. The body of the Fire Draconian who entered the hot springs melted down and a black shape appeared. It was a slippery, black form that almost looked like slime. Maggots? Anyway it was a creepy, black monster with one red eye. Its name was Cell. Unexpectedly, it was only a level 300 monster.
‘Level 300? Is it similar to the wendigoes? Isn’t that strange?’
The look and level of the devil was completely different from what Ark expected. But he soon shook his head and concentrated on Cell.
‘This is a boss monster so I can’t be careless.’
“Kukukuku, this mischief ends here. You cheeky bastard! I’ll melt you slowly and make you wander around this place forever…… Nothing has changed even if you know my true identity. I’ll rip you apart and digest you!”
Cell shrieked and ran up to him. Then sharp projectiles rose from its skin. Ark threw his body out of the way and a wave of water rose into the sky as the projectile impacted with the ground. It was infused with tremendous speed and power. However, Ark was still composed. Ark rolled across the ground and stood up before shouting coldly.
“Hey, Pudding.”
“What? P-pudding?”
“I’ve already discovered your true identity. All the Fire Draconians also know.”
“Do you expect the Fire Draconians to help you? Those guys are scared of water so how can they come in here?”
“Oh, then you’re not afraid of water?”
“Kukukuku, scared of water? Does my appearance look scared? You sound like a fool talking.”
Cell’s whole body shook as he sneered at Ark. Ark’s body also shook like Cell’s and he scoffed.
“Kukukuku, you don’t understand the meaning of the word pudding. If you don’t want me to receive the help of the Fire Draconians then why don’t you come in deeper? You say that you’re not afraid of water? Let’s see if you can say that after a while. Racard, now!”
Ark shouted powerfully. There was a sudden bang and something approached at a tremendous speed. Kwa kwa kwa kwa! The roaring sound was a huge amount of water pouring down.
“Huck, w-water!”
The Fire Draconians screamed and stepped back. The hot spring water flowed down the hill into a pit that Ark had dug. Ark’s Excavation skill…..it managed to dig a hole 30 metres big. Both Ark and Cell were trapped in the pool of water.
“T-this is…..”
The slippery, slimy pudding like monster with maggots couldn’t swim in water. The pudding wriggled as it floated in the water.
“Now, shall I slowly release my resentment?”
Ark bit the ‘Mermaid Scale’ and laughed. Then Ark shot forward like an arrow. He didn’t use any special skills. He just ran forward and swung his sword. Cell freaked out and tried to avoid it but all he could do was wriggle in the water. There was a splash as the sword fell and Cell was cut in the side.
“Kuak, y-you bastard…..”
“Huhuhu, I’m slightly strong in water.”
In fact, the place where Ark discovered the hot spring wasn’t here but on the hill above it. However, Ark had been worried after finding the hot springs. Obviously he could reveal the identity of the devil using the hot springs. But it would be insignificant if he wouldn’t 100% defeat the devil. The idea Ark came up with was to use a ‘sacrificial rite.’ He found water after such a long time so shouldn’t he take advantage of it? The hot springs which appeared under the mountain was dozens of metres deep. By making a channel into the pit, he blocked it off to build a sort of dam. After luring the devil to the pit, he ordered the blockage to be broken which allowed the water to flow down from the top.
‘If it is an underwater battle then I have confidence against any opponent!’
Ark was already an expert at fighting underwater. He had the Guardian Armour of the Merpeople which invalidate the water penalty by 100%. Thanks to that, there was no opponent who could fight equally with Ark underwater. Once the pudding was in the water, it couldn’t even move let along attack.
“You’re screwed now!”
Kwa kwang, kwa kwang, kwa kwang, kwa kwang!
Ark hurled attacks at Cell like an evening shower. After a few minutes, Cell’s health had already reached the bottom.
‘What the? Even if it is a level 300 monster, isn’t this too easy?
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