Chapter 197 – Demons’ Forest (12)

The Vestige Space started to shake. Phante and Edora crouched down to catch their balance.

“I said to let us know before you do things like this!”

Phante barely stopped himself from falling and shouted at Yeon-woo with an upset voice.

But when he saw Yeon-woo, his eyes filled with shock.

As the entire world was shaking, it was bending towards Yeon-woo.

Watching the space gather to one place was truly frightening.

And amidst all that, there were thousands of Demonic species that were running at them.

Kiaaacckkkk!

They were stretched like rubber and sucked into Yeon-woo’s left palm.

It was Bathory’s Vampiric Sword!

It was fitting of a skill that absorbed all types of energy. Messages continued to pop up for Yeon-woo.

[You have absorbed Demonic species91.]

[You have absorbed Demonic species1,021.]

[You are rapidly sucking up the Ceratopsian Dinosaur’s consciousness.]

…..

[Strength has increased by 2.]

[Dexterity has increased by 1.]

…..

[The Ceratopsian Dinosaur of De Roy Lake attempts the Curse: Hypnosis.]

[Your Cold-Blooded skill vanquishes it.]

[The Ceratopsian Dinosaur of De Roy Lake attempts the Curse: Confusion.]

From the Ceratopsian Dinosaur’s view, it might’ve been thinking about what a pleasant surprise Yeon-woo was when he entered its stomach.

Since it was a creature that wasn’t used to its physical body yet, it would be stronger in the Vestige Space. That was also the reason why the Heart Cores were all in here.

So the Ceratopsian Dinosaur had been planning on using the Demonic species it had absorbed so far to absorb them.

However, this was a mistake on its part because it didn’t know Yeon-woo yet.

Yeon-woo had the Cold-Blooded trait, which allowed an incredible immunity from mental attacks, and he also had a skill that he could use to fight back.

The Ceratopsian Dinosaur had basically revealed its own weakness. Even though it shook its body and continued to spew curses, Bathory’s Vampiric Sword didn’t let go of its prey.

Like it was trying to end the dinosaur’s shaking body’s life faster, it dug its teeth deeper and greedily gobbled things up.

Phante and Edora looked blankly at the sight for a moment. They felt that it was completely abnormal for an 80-meter-long creature to be so easily defeated.

Then, Yeon-woo sent out his Open Speaking. His actual voice wouldn’t be able to be heard because the cries of the Ceratopsian Dinosaur were so loud.

[Focus on what’s in front of you. What you have to do from now on is important.]

Phante and Edora snapped to attention and started to focus on what was in front of Yeon-woo. In the bending space, two lights were soaring up.

[You’ll see two points in front. That’s where the heart of the creature is, so retrieve it. However, there might be traps, so be careful.]

Phante and Edora’s eyes sparkled. Yeon-woo had been doing everything, so they wondered if it had been necessary for them to come with him.

But it seemed like Yeon-woo’s strategy was for them to retrieve the hearts why he was holding the Vestige Space.

“Leave it to me! I’ll neatly bring all of them.”

Phante pounded his chest with an amused face and moved towards the heart. Edora moved in the opposite direction.

Pat—

A few Demonic species in the unbent space ran at them.

“Hey hey hey! Move, you pieces of trash!”

Rumble!

Phante unleashed his full lightning for the first time in a long while and shot forward. The Demonic species were all flicked to the side with the smell of something burning.

Edora brought her sword down powerfully. It was Dancheon, of Eight Extreme Fists. Because she had trained with this from when she was young, she was a master in the sword.

Then, Shanon and Hanryeong appeared from behind Yeon-woo.

[Can’t you leave things like this to us? I don’t think you have to bring those two in.]

Hanryeong nodded like he agreed with what Shanon said.

The Yeon-woo they had seen until now wasn’t exactly the most generous person.

Even if someone was close to him, he hoarded all the hidden pieces for himself. He sometimes gave it to them, but since they were bound to Yeon-woo, it was all basically for Yeon-woo to get stronger in the end.

Yeon-woo spoke, looking at Phante and Edora, who were at the points of the hearts.

[Because I have something else to focus on.]

[Focus?]

Phante and Edora disappeared in the light. The trap to protect the hearts had probably activated. The two had probably moved onto another Vestige Space to undergo another trial.

Yeon-woo realized that there weren’t any witnesses anymore, and turned his head to look at Shanon.

[Yeah. There’s a pretty big one.]

Shanon understood what Yeon-woo was saying and was taken aback.

Yeon-woo left three hearts for the two to find. Since he had already found one, there was one left.

And that one was probably…..

[The actual body?]

[Yeah. I’ll be busy focusing on the actual body, so how can I look for the other hearts?]

Then, the space that had been wrapped around Yeon-woo was completely shredded to reveal darkness.

Yeon-woo, Shanon, and Hanryeong all unwittingly looked down.

A dark and depressing atmosphere was floating up from the ground.

It was an intense vestige that wasn’t comparable to before. Yeon-woo forcefully pushed the curse that was piercing his brain away.

Two lines were drawn in the darkness, and opened into a large hole.

A large eyeball rolled to look at Yeon-woo. It was filled with fury. He could feel its hunger and desire to eat him.

That was the actual body of the Demonic being that dreamed of evolving in the shell of a Ceratopsian Dinosaur.

The Ceratopsian Dinosaur of De Roy Lake became so famous that everyone knew about it. And hunting the creature that appeared periodically became a tradition.

But did they know?

The Ceratopsian Dinosaur that they had all caught was actually the one and the same?

The Ceratopsian Dinosaur was an image that a Demonic species presented. Even if it was caught, it only lost a heart. As long as its actual body was left, it could make another heart and regenerate.

What the players had caught so far was only a small piece of it.

However, his brother had learned this with Vieira Dune’s help, and was able to put the Devil’s Blessing in his hand.

And now, years after that had happened.

The new actual body was exuding an energy fiercer than the one that his brother had caught.

‘Is it because of the guys who died from the explosion before?’

Since this was a creature that swallowed the remnants of Demonic species, it might’ve swallowed the Demonic species when his Wave of Fire and the Holy Punishment of Light clashed. Or it might’ve been the influence of Brahm nearby.

One thing that was for sure was that it was a pretty strong fellow. A satisfied smile grew on Yeon-woo’s face.

The creature must’ve been mad at being woken up from its sleep because it spoke in a boiling voice and glared at Yeon-woo.

[Who……are…..you?]

It growled like it was going to eat Yeon-woo.

But to Yeon-woo, it just seemed like it was throwing a tantrum.

“Territory Announcement.”

He attempted the 2nd step power. The dragon’s energy covered the creature’s head, and as Yeon-woo’s shadow stretched out, his Monsters, Rebecca, and Boo came out.

The creature exuded another burst of intense fury. It was because of its natural instinct in front of its mortal enemy, the Draconic species.

Yeon-woo brought Vigrid down. The Wave of Fire flamed around him.

The raid began.

***

There were three things Yeon-woo was aiming for fighting against the actual body of the Ceratopsian Dinosaur.

The first was the Devil’s Blessing, the second was De Roy’s demonic studies, and the last was fighting experience with the creature, as it was similar to a demon.

Of course, even though it was an actual body, it couldn’t be compared to a real demon.

For a Demonic species to become a low demon, it had to evolve and evolve, and hone itself for a long time.

So obviously, even though he fought with such a creature, it would be completely different from fighting an actual demon, but even this would be a huge help to Yeon-woo. To complete the Philosopher’s Stone, he had to have some experience with a demon, even though it was only a little bit.

Then, something black shot out and aimed for Yeon-woo.

The tentacles were sturdy, having existed for hundreds of years. It was way more tenacious than the Kraken’s legs.

And to Yeon-woo’s Draconic Eyes, it was all too clear what each of them contained.

They were things that caused Yeon-woo to shiver at a glance.

‘Devil Poison. I didn’t think it would make something like that.’

Devil Poison was a solution that demons released, and it was potent enough to kill an ogre with just a fistful. Also, even if you somehow endured against it, it would freeze your body, and enter your mind to make you go crazy.

It was extremely tricky to get, and it was sold for astronomical prices on the market.

But the Ceratopsian Dinosaur was releasing an immense amount of the Devil Poison, although it probably hadn’t even been that long since it had become a dinosaur.

‘This isn’t something that was caused by just Brahm and me. It’s like someone intentionally raised it to…..!’

And the biggest problem was that Devil Poison was especially fatal to Draconic species. It was because the demons had created it to make the hunting of Draconic species go easier.

So Yeon-woo wasn’t able to easily combat the creature.

He quickly spread his Fire Wings to move where he could. His piloting was a lot smoother than in the past.

The three additional types of magic that Yeon-woo had engraved for his Magic Equip were Levitation, Fly, and Lift and Drag Control.

He had intentionally carved in magic that was related to flying, and he had even made a formula so he could control his speed and resistance in the air.

He had to touch a lot of the surface of his bones because of his, but the results were definite.

Yeon-woo avoided the attacks into areas where the tentacles couldn’t attack, and spewed out his Wave of Fire from there.

Boom!

Kwakwang! Kwang!

When he swung Vigrid on top of that, the tentacles were cut off and burnt one by one.

Then, the creature regenerated its tentacles, and Yeon-woo avoided them again.

The same went for Shanon, Hanryeong, and Boo and the Monster Army. They actually contributed more. They would hide in the shadows caused by an explosion, and appear again to cut the creature.

Rebecca, especially, was doing the most.

[Cernunnos, light!]

She used the holy power of Cernunnos and her arrows spilled out. As an apostle of the god of hunting, she was skilled with multiple weapons.

Everytime she flicked an arrow out, light poured down like rain and pierced through its body.

If there was a problem, it was that she couldn’t use her holy power to the fullest because this was the creature’s Vestige Space, but that was enough to cause damage to the Ceratopsian Dinosaur.

Kooong!

The creature moved again. It was shaking in pain.

Then, above its shuddering skin, a small hole opened. A human-like figure with coppery skin stood up. It didn’t have a face, but Yeon-woo got the impression that it was glaring at him.

There were flaws along the creature’s body. Magic Core. It was the heart.

Suddenly, a pair of wings grew from its back and a long sword appeared in its hands. And around it, there were shields like Aegis.

[Hm, looks like it’s copying you.]

It had probably realized that it would never win if this fight kept on. So it had appeared with a similar appearance as Yeon-woo with similar data and fighting patterns.

Shanon laughed. It was like they were on the 21st floor and saw Yeon-woo’s shadow.

But Shanon’s laughter didn’t last long.

Its tentacles suddenly gathered to its body and turned into things similar to Shanon and Hanryeong. Even Boo, Rebecca, and the Monster Army were imitated.

[It’s even copying us.]

[Mm. I don’t like that.]

The problem was that imitations were continually being created, like it was some kind of factory.

Shanon’s laughter was cut off, and annoyance was mixed in his voice. The same went for Hanryeong. Rebecca nodded her head like she agreed.

They were able to once again realize that this was a Vestige Space.

The more beings like those were created, the more disadvantageous they would be.

But Yeon-woo thought things had worked out well.

The fact that he had revealed his last heart meant that it was prepared to die.

The creature was fighting like that because it knew this was the end.

[Sword Purification]

[Spear of the Goddess]

The air was filled with emanated murderous intent towards Vigrid’s enemies, and with the god’s blessing of Athena, the vestige of the Ceratopsian Dinosaur was overpowered.

[A seizing of the Vestige Space is attempted.]

[Resistance is extreme.]

[Resistance is extreme.]

…..

The Ceratopsian Dinosaur realized its mistake too late and tried to resist as much as it could, but the more it poured out vestige, the more Vigrid’s fighting spirit amplified, so it couldn’t stand against it.

Kwooooo!

The creature cried out.

[You have dominated the resistance and succeeded in seizing it.]

[You have become the new owner of the Vestige Area.]

The Vestige Area that had been filled with the Ceratopsian Dinosaur instantly fell under Yeon-woo’s control.

And.

[…..!]

He could feel the creature in shock.

Yeon-woo smirked at it.

Then, he licked his lips.

The creature was tricky to deal with in its Vestige Space, but since the owner changed, it was like a fish in a barrel.

Everything in here looked like a buffet to Yeon-woo.

His eyes shined with greed. When he licked his lips, his sharp canines were visible.

Now, it was time to enjoy the buffet.