A thick crack spread on the ground and crystal debris shot from the ground. The sharp edges of the crystal tore the skin and fresh blood splattered. But Ark and Alan didn’t blink once. They knew that looking away for one minute could mean the difference between victory or defeat.
“Evil Insight!”
A ray shot from Alan’s eyes. Ark rolled on the ground and avoided the ray.
“Inferno!”
Alan followed Ark’s movements while shooting flames from his mouth. Ark hurriedly placed his hands on the floor and kicked upwards, hitting Alan’s jaw. Alan’s jaw was pushed upwards and the flames gushed towards the sky.
‘This is a chance!’
Ark moved his body like a squirrel and rolled under Alan’s foot. He felt a pain in his side the moment he tried to kick Alan.
At that moment, Alan lowered his sword and attacked. Thanks to the unexpected attack in his side, Ark was hit by Alan’s counterattack and he fell. He rolled several metres before finally raising his body. However, he had no time to catch his breath. A sword with a black energy was descending on his head like a lightning bolt. Ark hurriedly lifted his sword and the shock felt like his shoulders had been hit by a hammer.
“Ugh!”
A moan flowed from firmly closed lips. However, Ark who was lying on the ground kicked out and hit Alan’s leg. Alan lost his balance and stumbled. Meanwhile, Ark grasped Alan’s leg and rolled along the ground. Thanks to Ark rolling on the ground while grasping his foot, Alan naturally fell as well. It was a chance to attack Alan!
“Alan! Matanyi Shooter no. 1, Devil Penetrating Arrow!”
Then a black shadow appeared dozens of metres away from Ark. It was the Dark Elf with black hair that fluttered like a cape! The Dark Elf Timosi! Ark reflexively turned to look at the voice. Then an arrow flew through the smoke to hit his shoulder. Alan instantly raised his body during that gap. Timosi shot another arrow at the same time.
“Matanyi Shooter no. 2, Devil Chasing Arrow!”
The arrow launched was the ones that would chase the target until it hit! Ark popped up in front of Alan the moment the arrow was shot. Then Alan who had got up swung his sword. Ark instantly used Dark Dance and rotated around Alan, changing their locations. The arrow that had been chasing after Ark lodged itself into Alan’s shoulder.
“Kyaaak! A-Alan!”
Timosi was startled as Alan was hit. Alan blocked Ark’s follow-up attack and shook his head.
“Ugh, I’m fine! Timosi, don’t worry about this battle!”
“B-but…..”
“Can’t you see? Your arrows aren’t helpful in this situation. Pay attention to the altar.”
“Altar?”
“Yes, I’ve left the altar to Jewel but then I got involved in the fight and haven’t contacted him. Leave me and dispose of the guy repairing the altar!”
“I understand!”
Timosi nodded and turned her body. When Timosi disappeared towards the altar, Alan pulled out the arrow from his shoulder and laughed.
“Come Ark! What will you do now?”
Ark’s eyes shook as he breathed harshly. In fact, the altar had also been weighing on Ark’s mind. In this confused situation, there was no way to predict who could get their hands on the Hell Stone. But there was a way for Alan to achieve his goal even if he didn’t obtain the Hell Stone. It was the Hell Altar! If anyone got rid of Wormer who was repairing the Hell Altar then it didn’t matter who obtained the Hell Stone. With the whereabouts of the Hell Stone unclear, the battle had started focusing on the altar. Now Timosi had received the assassination order and was heading towards Wormer. It was the most unbearable situation in Ark’s view. But a small smile still spread on Ark’s face.
“Let’s see? Will it really be as easy as you think?”
“That pig, I’ll catch you! Matanyi Shooter no. 1, Devil Penetrating Arrow!”
Then Timosi’s sharp voice was heard over the noise of the battlefield. He couldn’t see because of the smoke but Timosi had approached Wormer at the altar. But the next moment…….
“What, what the? That abnormal bastard……!”
“I knew this female would appear again.”
Alan’s face warped as he heard Shambala’s voice. That’s right. The reason Ark wasn’t worried about the altar was because of Shambala. The altar was one of the two keys required to stop the Hell River. How could he leaving Wormer who was repairing such an important key alone? Ark was able to roam the battlefield freely because he had placed Shambala who was the most reliable person to guard Wormer. This was the reason why Shambala hadn’t been fighting in the meantime.
“Matanyi Shooter no. 3, Devil’s Stabbing Arrow!”
“Torrential Sword!”
Although it wasn’t intended, once again it became a confrontation between Shambala and Timosi. Ark raised his sword and laughed.
“Now, shall we start again? Or do you want a little break?”
“……This impertinent brat!”
Kwa kwang, kakakakak, kwa kwa kwa kwa kwang!
‘Damn, this bastard……’
Ark breathed roughly and glared at Alan. In fact, Ark had been confident that he could beat Alan. That confidence didn’t come out of nowhere. In the past Ark had been pushed back by Alan. But they were almost equal after using Purital’s Clad Armour skill. And he also had the legendary sword Shining Darkness. Once again, upgrading weapons in battle had a profound effect in games. That was why users would risk their lives to gain a stronger weapon. And Shining Darkness was the highest ranked sword, a legendary weapon! Of course he would gain the upper hand with the legendary sword. However, the results weren’t much different from the previous fights. Just like Ark gained the legendary sword, Alan had probably gained a new ability.
‘This is really irritating.’
Alan must’ve come here thinking the same thing. The situation really was very irritating. Alan must be in the same position…..Thus the frustrating and unyielding match between the two of them continued. But after a while, the balance collapsed in a way he never imagined.
Kwa kwa kwa kwang, kwa kwa kwa kwang!
The Hell River once again swirled and rose through the ceiling.
“Rocks are falling! Scatter!”
There was a violent roar and the crystal temple shook. At the same time, small and large rocks fell like hail. Although most of the rocks fell into the Hell River, around 100 of them struck the crystal temple. It just caused the battle between the two opposing sides to become even more confused. However, rocks weren’t the only things that came pouring in.
Patter, patter.
A drop of water suddenly fell onto Ark. At first he thought it was the river water. But when he saw the stain on Alan’s face, he realized that it wasn’t a simple water drop.
……Blood! Blood was dripping from above their heads. Ark wasn’t the only one surprised by the situation. Alan’s face also looked surprised after seeing the wet blood on Ark’s face. The two of them raised their heads at the same time.
‘What the, that is?’
Pukakakaka, pukakakaka!
The Hell River was swirling at a fast rate around the temple. And a large number of demons were being grinded into mincemeat in the water?
‘Demons? What…..?’
Ark belatedly realized the identity of the demons. It was the demons that entered the secret dungeon just before Silvana was recaptured! After contacting Boramae on the 60th floor, he had also talked to JusticeMan and told the allied forces to retreat. The allied forces wouldn’t be able to help with the Hell Altar and they hadn’t entered that long ago so they were able to escape from the secret dungeon. But the demon reinforcements had entered the secret dungeon a few hours earlier. While running through the dungeon, the ground had opened and they fell into the Hell River. That’s right. The blood of demons was pouring over the crystal temple! The site of thousands of demons bleeding above them was a terrible scene. However, the truly horrible situation happened afterwards.
-Kuram, kurama, kuram!
-Bahoguram, norun, kararara!
The voices came from among the rocks falling from the ceiling. They were the red eyed demons. 100 demons falling from the ceiling were fortunate enough to avoid the Hell River and fell onto the crystal temple. 10,000 demons had entered the secret dungeon but only 100 of them had fallen onto the temple. Alan had calculated up to here which was why he hadn’t ordered the demons to retreat……Anyway, both Ark and the soldiers battled were shocked. Meanwhile Alan smiled at the sight of the demons.
“Exterminate them!”
-Kurwarwarwarwa!
The demons began to rampage after hearing Alan’s order. Although the falling demons avoided the swirling water, they still lost between 30~50% health thanks to the fall damage. In particular, the Heavy Walkers that wore a lot of armour lost 70% of their health. But there were still 100 demons. That normally wouldn’t be a problem. However, the present fight between the two opposing sides had been almost equal. When the 100 demons appeared, that balance was broken. It was the same for Ark.
“Dark Strike!”