The Second Provision (11)

Merhen stretched her hand toward the Death Lord. The invisible pressure vanished, and Kim Minwoo collapsed to the ground.

At that moment, time stopped, and messages began to appear.

[Merhen manifests magic!]

[You have fulfilled some of the clear conditions! (1/2)]

[You have two choices!]

[1. Escape.]

[2. Resolve Merhen's ‘resentment.’]

'Some of the conditions, huh...'

Ever since the balrog and the Death Lord appeared, he had suspected that manifesting magic would be a clear condition. They were simply too strong. The player's skill mattered, of course, but this wasn't something designed to be solved through skill alone.

He studied the two choices.

'Resolve her resentment.'

Watching the Death Lord's behavior made it clear. In the past, the lich had used threats and deception as a matter of course. He had probably resorted to force when he found Merhen and turned her into an undead, too.

That seemed to be the source of her resentment...

'If she'd become my summon even if I just left, there'd be no need to give me a choice.'

Leaving without resolving her resentment seemed bound to cause problems. Merhen hated the Death Lord—and he had inherited the Death Lord's power, hadn't he?

Even if he had earned some goodwill in this past...

'There's no telling whether she'll actually become my summon.'

Even if she did, their relationship would likely be rocky.

He recalled the messages he had seen when he acquired Cedric.

[Perfect escape conditions achieved!]

[Cedric has overcome his regret!]

Compared with that, this still left far too much unresolved.

The conclusion?

'I'll have to resolve it, won't I?'

The question was how.

'Her magical abilities should be exceptional.'

Even the Death Lord coveted Merhen's abilities. The magic she unleashed upon manifesting it should be immensely powerful, too.

'She should be able to put up a fight against the Death Lord.'

Wouldn't fighting him help ease some of her resentment? For now, he wanted to believe so.

If he actually had to join the battle against the Death Lord...

'There's no way I can clear this.'

The Death Lord was in an entirely different league from Balkan. A single gesture had dragged Minwoo over and shattered his whole body. The difficulty made victory impossible.

Merhen would have to handle him.

'As for me...'

He looked at Balkan, frozen in place.

Once time resumed, Merhen and the Death Lord would clash, and Balkan would join the battle as well.

'I'll take him.'

He had to stall that balrog somehow and keep him out of their fight. That was the best he could do.

[You have selected option 2!]

As time resumed, a message appeared.

[Merhen's Hatred: 100%]

Kim Minwoo immediately gulped down potions. His battered body began rapidly recovering.

A brilliant cluster of lights blossomed above Merhen's hand.

[Merhen uses Accelerated Incantation (SSS)!]

[Merhen uses Thunderbolt Strike (SSS)!]

[Merhen uses Watery Hell (SSS)!]

[Merhen uses Wind Blade (SSS)!]

"Die!"

Hundreds of streams of magic poured toward the Death Lord.

"... How troublesome."

The lich clicked his tongue in annoyance, and a pitch-black barrier formed around him. The mage and the lich rose into the air and began bombarding each other with hundreds of spells.

'They're on a completely different level.'

Merhen was suddenly rampaging as though she had taken performance-enhancing drugs, while the Death Lord blocked her attacks and retaliated.

The outcome was obvious. Interfering would get him flattened.

Leaving them to handle their own fight, he summoned his undead horde and charged Balkan.

"... Hah."

Balkan gave an incredulous sneer at the charging Kim Minwoo and gripped his whip.

"You dare challenge me again? You've certainly got courage!"

In their earlier fight, Minwoo hadn't known anything about Balkan's fighting style. He had taken hit after hit while trying to read it, because Balkan was also astonishingly skilled with his flaming whip.

An overwhelming advantage in stats, plus mastery of his weapon? Of course Minwoo had gotten beaten up.

But things were different now. The potions had restored his body to full vigor, and after fighting Balkan once, he had a reasonable grasp of how the demon used his whip.

'I can stall him.'

The cut he had made earlier still hadn't healed. Targeting it might let him half-cripple one leg.

'That'll be my limit, though.'

He wouldn't win. But that didn't matter. His goal was to buy time in the first place.

Kim Minwoo and Balkan clashed once more.

[Merhen's Hatred: 90%]

He dodged the blazing whip and focused exclusively on the leg.

At last—

THUNK!

As the stacking attacks built up, the Death Spirit Sword tore through skin and muscle to reach bone. The blade sank deep, and Balkan's face twisted in pain.

Then it happened.

[The Death Spirit Sword absorbs the blood of a vastly superior foe! (5,020/10,000)]

'Huh?'

Didn't he have to kill an enemy outright for it to count as a kill?

Perhaps this unusual phenomenon was happening because Balkan was so strong. Whatever the reason, it worked in his favor.

He dodged the whip and retreated, thinking.

'Two thousand for one solid hit to the leg.'

He had killed roughly three thousand monsters in the wave. Yet a single taste of Balkan's blood had raised the count by a full two thousand.

'At this rate, I might reach ten thousand here.'

He had to fight anyway. He might as well power up the Death Spirit Sword while he was at it.

"You vermin!"

Balkan began rampaging in fury.

[Merhen's Hatred: 65%]

Kim Minwoo grinned.

In battle, the first one to give in to emotion had already half lost. They started making more and more unnecessary movements.

Balkan was doing exactly that. Instead of precise attacks, he began unleashing area attacks that swept through his surroundings.

Every moment Balkan spent keeping him at bay like that was more time gained. It also gave him ample time to drink potions.

Of course, he couldn't avoid overloading himself.

[Warning!]

[You have consumed too many potions in a short period! Overload is beginning!]

He threw summons into Balkan's path, weaving back and forth as he waited for an opening. The whip had a long reach, but it was slow to retract. Dodge long enough, and...

'One more hit.'

THUNK!

An opening would present itself, just like that. This time, the blade plunged deep enough to shatter part of the thick bone.

[Merhen's Hatred: 41%]

[The Death Spirit Sword absorbs the blood of a vastly superior foe! (7,020/10,000)]

Having cut into the bone, the human promptly slipped backward with infuriating agility, evading the whip.

"..."

Balkan's expression gradually turned serious. The human's physical abilities were clearly pathetic compared with his own. He had expected to finish him easily.

'It was easy enough before the Lord dragged him away...'

That was certainly how the earlier fight had gone. At least one out of every five swings of his whip had landed without fail. Each time, the human had tumbled away vomiting blood, then gulped down a potion.

Now, though, things were different. The human evaded his attacks with uncanny skill, as though reading his movements. Even ten swings barely scored a single hit.

And the number of swings needed kept increasing. His movements had been read completely.

'Damn it.'

His leg was already badly injured. He couldn't afford any more carelessness.

To think he would have to use his full strength against such an insignificant human!

It hurt his pride, but what choice did he have? Whipping alone wouldn't solve this.

So...

BOOM!

Balkan stamped his foot.

[Balkan uses Hellfire Terrain (EX)!]

The surrounding terrain buckled violently. As if that weren't enough, terribly hot lava seeped through the cracks.

He saw the human hurriedly summon a golem and climb onto it. That would only buy a little time. Not even a golem could withstand this heat.

With a cruel smile, Balkan swung his whip again.

* * *

Lava filled the entire area. There was nowhere to stand.

[Dolsoe is melting!]

The summoned Dolsoe's body began melting rapidly in the terrifying heat. What would happen if Minwoo's feet touched the ground was obvious.

[You consume a Fire Resistance Potion (Top Grade)!]

He drank another potion before the searing heat could roast him alive. This should at least buy him a little time.

'I'll have to take this fight into the air.'

[Summoning ‘Skeleton Mages’!]

A group of mages appeared on Dolsoe's shoulders.

[‘Miles’ issues orders!]

[Skeleton Mage 2 casts Bone Shield...]

[Skeleton Mage 3 casts Bone Shield...]

Shields of bone appeared in midair. Minwoo leaped up and summoned Cedric. Appearing on a shield, Cedric activated every skill he could and launched himself at the whip.

It would buy a moment.

The skeleton mages were already rising to their feet on the Bone Shields. Like a spreading viral infection, Bone Shields appeared in every direction.

Minwoo stepped from shield to shield, closing in on Balkan. Apparently not expecting him to approach this way, Balkan looked flustered and hurriedly lashed out.

[Merhen's Hatred: 21%]

Despite that, the distance kept shrinking. That half-severed leg must be starting to ache by now.

[You use Death Spirit Sword Art (S)!]

[Consuming 6,000 Mana...]

Pouring out sword energy without pause, he leaped at Balkan.

The whip's trajectory had shifted entirely downward, as though to protect the leg. Balkan's attention was wholly focused there. That was why Minwoo had relentlessly slashed at nothing but the leg to begin with.

'I won't be cutting it off.'

Balkan was already on full guard. Going for it would only get Minwoo killed instead.

Merhen's hatred was nearly depleted. Before leaving, he ought to land one good, heavy blow.

While leaping toward Balkan's leg, he planted a foot on a newly summoned Bone Shield and abruptly changed course.

"...!"

Balkan's eyes widened. The impudent human was hurtling toward his face.

He hurriedly swung his whip, but he was already a moment too late.

SHUNK!

The eye Minwoo had never once attempted to attack—the Death Spirit Sword plunged deep into it.

[The Death Spirit Sword blooms!]

[A new effect is unlocked!]

[It is imbued with the blood of a vastly superior foe!]

[The effect is greatly enhanced!]

The moment he left Balkan with only one eye, countless messages appeared. He had no time to read them. With a sword buried in his eye, Balkan went berserk.

The whip grazed Minwoo, and burning pain engulfed his body. He was sent flying into the distance.

'A small price to pay.'

For taking an eye from a being like Balkan, that was.

A newly formed Bone Shield caught his body. Indomitable Soul hadn't even activated.

Then more messages appeared.

[Perfect escape conditions achieved!]

[Merhen has overcome her regret!]

[Merhen unlocks her potential!]

[She can now use more types of magic besides death magic!]

[You have won the heart of the Death Lord's legion commander, the one known as the Banshee Queen!]

[Merhen will now fight for you!]

[The Death Lord's power, Summon Merhen (SSS), is activated!]