Chapter 257. Above the Frozen Land (8)

New Zealand was a nation 2.5 times bigger than Korea, but Australia was easily over 25 times bigger than New Zealand. Although I didn’t think this huge country would be filled with demons in every corner, I still expected it to have more demons than New Zealand. When I thought about facing them, I couldn’t help but hasten myself.

After leaving Daisy’s Laki to all aerial battles, we quickly began to recover regions of New Zealand. Unlike monsters that moved with their instincts, demons moved with a purpose and goal. It was to destroy human civilization and annihilate humans. There were practically no surviving humans in New Zealand with not a single building standing unfazed.

“Cruel... It’s only been two days too...!”

“Maybe I should have come even if I was alone.”

I began to feel rushed. I wondered if I made the wrong choice. If I knew New Zealand was wiped out, I should have gone to Australia immediately. At least, New Zealand and Australia’s population wasn’t too big... No, I shouldn’t be thinking this way.

I put away my useless thoughts. The only thing I should focus on right now was getting to Australia as quickly as possible.

“Australia might be in a better situation. Most of the population live in coastal areas. We won’t need to go deep into the continent.”

“I cleared Event Dungeons there, so I know that. But having the population close together means they’re easier targets. Damn it. I hope Guardian and Freedom Wing are doing well.”

Thinking about how unreliable those two groups were for things like this, I sighed. There were definitely troops deployed to New Zealand, but we couldn’t even catch a glimpse of them yet and we were almost finished. I didn’t want to believe they were wiped out, but... perhaps the damages they received this time were too severe.

As I boldly claimed, clearing New Zealand only took us a day. With most of the demons’ army stationed in Australia, we mercilessly bombarded the demons, only mindful of any potential survivors. We tried to melt the frozen land with Laki’s and Hwaya’s power, but there seemed to be no end to it. In the end, we decided to look for another way after eliminating the cause of this situation.

[You will all bow before Lespina-nim’s power!]

“And you bowed before mine.”

[The difference between me and Lespina-nim is like that of heaven and earth! Don’t think you can reach her level by easily subjugating us!]

“Yeah, yeah, goodbye.”

I severed the demon’s head and sighed. With this, we were done in New Zealand. However...

No matter how hard we looked, we couldn’t discover any specific details on this demon named Lespina. All we knew was that Lespina was female. When Hwaya found out, she wore a worried expression and looked at me.

“Shin, she’s a demon! Someone who executed a massacre of this level! If anyone finds out, Revival’s public image will plummet. Got it?”

“Hwaya, do you think I can seduce any and all women?”

“Eh...?”

Hwaya’s conscious-stricken face made me feel strange. I, who was once called an orc, was being treated this way by Hwaya Eleni Mastiford. Though, this was most certainly because of my charm stat.

“Don’t worry. I won’t let a demon live no matter what.”

“Y-Yeah. Good.”

“Huu...”

I swung my spear and dusted off the demon’s blood before looking up at the sky. The aerial battle was also coming to a close with Laki’s lava swallowing the demons. Every last demon in New Zealand was killed. It was the result of a tough day of work.

But what did it matter? There were too many irreversible damages. The land was still frozen, the buildings were crumbled, and the people were dead. No matter where I looked, ruin was the only word that popped up in my head. I asked in a murmuring voice.

“How many survivors are there?”

“There are still about 500,000 alive. New Zealand wasn’t their main goal.”

“... Let’s hurry to Australia.”

Thanks to us drawing attention here, by the time we cleaned up the last remaining demon, Guardian and Freedom Wing could enter New Zealand. We made contact with them and left them to take care of the aftermath before immediately heading to Australia.

Although there were many small islands, Oceania was mainly comprised of the Australia continent. This Lespina should also be there. The plan was to kill her and prevent future harm. If the demons pointed their sword elsewhere, there wouldn’t be disaster quite like it.

[Guaaaaaaa!]

Laki’s roar rumbled far and wide. It was because of the countless number of demons waiting for us above the coastal seas of Australia.

[He is this world’s Hero.]

[One who killed our kin.]

[Make it so that Lespina-nim doesn’t have to come herself!]

“Laki, clean.”

𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

[Guooooooooo!]

Daisy calmly commanded as she swung her whip. Immediately after Laki’s roar rang out, a large number of flames shot out from Laki’s mouth and attacked the demons. We also sniped down the demons dodging Laki’s flames and dwindled their number. Even so, more and more demons were popping up.

[Finish it here!]

[Let us decide the fate of Earth, Hero!]

Although Laki’s flames were endlessly scorching the demons, with their sheer number, we couldn’t stop them from casting their magic. Among them were special demons who gathered to create a giant magic capable of threatening us. In the end, I jumped down from Laki’s back and got on Lotte’s.

“You guys charge forward!”

“We’ll take half too, Shin. You take care of the left side!”

Hwaya and Ina seemed to be thinking the same thing, as they both shot up into the air. I trusted the two of them. I nodded and began to charge forward.

“Uoooooo! Try killing me!”

[The Hero has come forth!]

[Focus your magic on him!]

I roused Absolute Soul’s power to the extreme. Peruta Circuit’s spin created a whirlpool of aura enveloping my body, weapon, and even Lotte. A countless number of elementals and a boundless amount of mana layered the whirlpool as if to protect it.

“Wind King’s Rage!”

I added wind and lightning on top of it. The demons sent innumerable magic flying towards me. Some of them looked powerful enough to make me depart this world, but I simply grinned and charged into the storm of magic.

“Haaaaaap!”

I clashed with them. When these destructive masses of mana detonated, the mana I absorbed with Absolute Soul overwhelmed the life force I lost.

“Lotte, you can withstand it, right?”

[I’m fine! Let’s kill them, Hero!]

When the demons saw me charging continuously without a pause, they became flustered and lost their formation. Although there were demons that continued to shoot magic towards me, unless they used a mass chant magic, none could pierce through my fierce whirlpool of aura. In fact, the moment they touched it, the mana composing them were absorbed by the whirlpool, only strengthening it.

[He’s absorbing our magic!?]

[Could he be our kin?]

[He’s too quick... Kuhuk!]

“I’ll pierce right through you all!”

I shouted vehemently, coursing through the air with Lotte. We were like a giant spear. Looking from the outside at the whirlpool of aura centered around us, we would probably look just like it.

On the other hand, Hwaya and Ina’s magic power raged and disrupted the demons’ magic. This was also a good method, and a much better method if one didn’t plan on directly fighting with his body like me. However, for someone like me who was born stupid...!

“Come, you blue monkeys! Where did your spirit from earlier go!?”

[That guy is crazy!]

[The magic of the demon race isn’t working!]

It worked. It was just that I was using their magic power to regenerate myself! Peruta Circuit restored the parts of body destroyed from resisting their magic and energized all bodily functions. Just this wasn’t enough to fill up my lost life force. Although I never learned it from anybody, I came to understand my body’s state, and when I became more skilled in Peruta Circuit, I could do this as easily as breathing!

“Uoooooo!”

My charge became more and more intense. The whirlpool of aura whirling around me became so big that it was getting harder to manage it. The wind and lightning created from Wind King’s Rage also empowered the whirlpool. Now, average magic was ripped apart the moment they touched this whirlpool. The demons were no exception.

[Stop his charge.]

[He’s truly the Hero! Contact Lespina-nim!]

“You’ll all die before that!”

The amplification of Wind King’s Rage already reached its peak, but I had no intention of stopping it. I tightly grasped onto the spear enveloped by the extreme energy that I might miss in a moment of carelessness. I fluidly changed my direction in the air and charged towards another group of demons with Lotte. It was at this moment.

[Stop!]

My body halted. At the same time, it felt like the energy pivoting around me was shaking. Why? I knew the exact reason. Was it because I became so used to feeling and wielding mana?

The corner of my mouth curled up into a smile. I urgently gathered the dissipating energy and scattered it in all directions. A thunderous sound rang out.

[Kuaaaaak!]

[Lespina-nim!]

[Damn... Kuaaaa!]

It was only then that I realized how immense the energy I was wielding was. It felt like a piece of the sky was being ripped apart.

The seemingly infinite number of demons filling up the sky disintegrated without leaving a trace, and my companions also fell back in shock.

It didn’t take long until the great explosion of mana subsided. It was because Peruta Circuit’s intense rotation didn’t leave the scattering mana alone and pulled it back in.

The energy created from the explosion was also sucked in, gathering in a single point, the tip of the spear I held out. With that, I regained a clear vision of the surrounding.

I was facing a demon. She was beautiful just like the power she held in her body.

“I didn’t think I’d meet you so soon. I thought you would be waiting for me deep inside Australia.”

[I can’t let you freely decimate His Highness Demon Lord’s army any further. I planned on taking care of you lot when you were still in that tiny island country, but...]

“They were all too weak. I’m not done yet though.”

I grinned. I compressed the mana gathered at my spear tip even smaller. The long-haired female demon gritted her teeth. She was also capable of wielding massive energy equaling me. I could tell just by looking at the longsword in her hand.

Furthermore, I could tell from the ability she used before that it was fatal to me, who had gotten my power from the dungeon. Since I was hit with it once, I could tell what kind of an effect it had, but I couldn’t quite understand the mechanism behind it. Could she use her ability without knowing the principles behind it just like how I used the skills I had?

[Arrogant human... Someone who only relies on power that does not belong to you!]

“Come, Lespina. I’ll let you know whether this power belongs to me or not.”

It was the start of a boss fight.