Wandering Mercenary in an Open World

Fleur swung his arm without giving up, even as his jaw snapped back from the heavy impact.

His sharp claws, comparable to a famous sword, left four long scars on Ruon’s chest. Despite the fierce counterattack, he stomped on the face of the fallen demon with his foot.

Bang!

The great demon, whose face was buried deep in the stone floor, did not get up, but instead poured out a spell toward the ground. His judgment was valid. Ruon, who lost his balance as the ground collapsed, had to retreat a step back and could not continue his attack.

Of course, Fleur fell to the lower floor and hurt his body badly, but it was much better than being beaten by Ruon’s hand. He was unlucky enough to fall into a hole that pierced straight to the lobby, but he had wings, so it was no problem.

-Who can belittle it as a simple punch that crushes the body of a great demon?

Fleur’s battered face was recovering quickly as if it had gone back in time. It was a disgusting regeneration.

That eye is the problem.

Ruon realized that the eye and the mouth-like, unidentified organ on his forehead were devouring the darkness inside the tower and restoring his broken body with that power.

He sensed that he would not see a good sight if he dragged on more time and threw himself into the hole. He reached Fleur’s nose faster than an arrow that left the bowstring and swung his ego sword without hesitation.

Fire-!

The demon opened his beak like a raptor’s toward the sword that shone more brightly than before. Kyaa- With a sharp sound, a destructive force swept the front.

Ruon braced himself with his legs, but failed to strike the sword as the floor began to crumble. He had no place to stand, so he had no choice. He was not free from the laws of physics, no matter what.

The demon, whose body was stained black, flew in with a tremendous momentum toward him who fell to the lower floor. The whole tower began to shake as the two tangled and exchanged attacks.

Fleur did not avoid close combat unlike before. He hit Ruon with his steel-like wings and said.

-I’m different from you. I don’t get tired or dry! I’m the bird of the end that will swallow even the lies that pervade this world!

Darkness poured out from his forehead as he roared. Ruon, who was pushed back to the wall, bent his body elastically and avoided the attack.

As the powerful force shattered the inner and outer walls of the tower at the same time, a furious wind blew into the building.

Regardless of that, Ruon kicked the floor and rushed again, cutting the flames that flew in front of him with his sword, and then punched the face of the demon who stood behind it. At the same time, Fleur also fought back with all kinds of spells.

──!

Ruon’s amazing physical ability and the great demon’s chilling spells and powers were fiercely intertwined.

The wall and the pillar were shattered by one collision, and the floor was crushed by two collisions. Naturally, the third collision took place on a different floor than before.

“···How do we get down later?”

Strabo, who had returned to his dwarf form, looked down at the hole and let out a hollow, bitter laugh. As he said, Ruon and Fleur’s successive collisions had completely destroyed the stairs they had to go down.

Kyle bit his lips as if he was angry.

“Do we have to wait endlessly for Ruon to smash that bird’s head?”

He had a complicated feeling. He was angry that he could not help Ruon directly, but at the same time, he wondered what he could do if he was thrown into that place where the bloodshed was unfolding.

How can that be the aftermath of a fight made by just two people? It seemed hard for hundreds of magicians to make a mess like that.

Then Igor said.

“We can’t be optimistic about Ruon’s victory. The situation is not good.”

At his words, Kyle and Strabo turned their heads almost at the same time. They buried their worthless questions in their hearts and waited patiently for the priest’s words. He wouldn’t have said anything stupid.

“Ruon seems to have decided to confront the demon inside the tower, fearing that he would fly up to the sky, but that was a bad move. There is still a lot of debris that the abyss has brought in there.”

“Are you saying that the bird still has the power to absorb in there?”

Igor nodded at Kyle’s question.

“That’s right.”

At that moment, the floor shook violently with a loud noise. It was the scream of the tower that was overwhelmed by its own weight as the shock accumulated.

But Kyle and Strabo asked in unison as if they didn’t care about that.

“Is there anything we can do?”

Igor smiled faintly at the unwavering eyes that stared at him.

“We have to beg our mother.”

“···Are you kidding?”

“No. I’m serious. We have to gather our strength.”

At that, Strabo slapped his forehead with his palm with a loud sound.

“Oh my God.”

Igor looked at the dwarf with a blank expression for a moment, then moved his gaze to Kyle next to him. He had a calm face unlike Strabo.

“Kyle.”

“···I know what you’re saying.”

“You finally sound like your mother’s son.”

Strabo cut in.

“Friends, I don’t know what you’re talking about at all···Are you really going to beg Tivella to save us?”

Kyle opened his mouth with a grin. His voice was still calm, unlike the increasingly severe tremor of the tower.

“Divine power is the power to borrow miracles from the divine being you serve. Naturally, if it grows bigger, the range of what you can pray for will also widen.”

Only then did Strabo realize something and opened his eyes wide. He pursed his lips.

“But I’m not a priest or a champion of Tivela like you guys. I’m just a dwarf who knows romance…”

Igor cut off his words gently.

“Who is who is nothing but a shell in front of true faith. And Strabo… have you forgotten? We all received the blessing of our mother. You have more than enough qualifications.”

He stretched out his palms to both sides. It seemed like he wanted them to hold them.

“What if I become a dwarf and pray to the goddess, and Duermyr hates me?”

“If you didn’t want to look bad, you shouldn’t have run away from the forge in the first place. Right?”

Strabo and Kyle, who exchanged frivolous words, held Igor’s hands and also held each other’s hands.

“There’s no need for anything else. Just do your best and that’s enough.”

Igor said that and closed his eyes, adding a small word.

“I’m happy to have met you all.”

Strabo laughed out loud.

“Oh, Igor! This is my favorite thing in the world! What could be more romantic than that? Yeah, I could die for you guys.”

Kyle snorted.

“You look really pathetic when you say that naked.”

He didn’t bother to say the embarrassing words out loud, but he closed his eyes slowly with the same mind as the previous two.

Immediately after, a bright light began to burn from their bodies. As if Tivela was smiling.

****

Ruon gathered the strength from his toes and punched the devil’s head. The bastard’s head, which seemed to have exploded more than ten times, burst open for the eleventh time.

And he regenerated for the eleventh time. Crazy bastard.

-Get out of here!

Fleur, who recovered faster than before, screamed and spread his wings wide. The fierce wind pressure pushed Ruon back, and the devil’s kick flew into his chest.

Bang!

Ruon, who hit the wall with his back, coughed dryly and lifted his head up.

Ki-ah-ah-ah!

An intangible force poured out of the devil’s beak.

Crack-the sound of cracks going along with the thick stone wall being pushed in, Ruon clenched his teeth and pulled his body forward.

He escaped the pressure with amazing strength and ran towards the devil like a comet, leaving a long trail behind his back.

The warrior’s fist and sword moved without stopping, and Fleur, who was in a mess in the blink of an eye, swayed greatly.

But in the meantime, he succeeded in sweeping Ruon’s upper body with the darkness that emanated from his forehead and jumped back to create a distance.

-How many times do I have to be surprised today? You keep your human form even after taking that… are you really a being that engraved your name in the world?

Fleur’s eyes widened. He saw Ruon’s figure crossing his arms over the rising dust. Blood was dripping from his torn arm, but his eyes were still sharp.

His unwavering appearance looked like a divine warrior who judged the devil who came out of the abyss. Well, that was actually the case.

The wicked archdevil knew.

If he hadn’t been able to absorb the remnants of the abyss fused with the tower, he might have been killed by the warrior in front of him several times.

Of course, he had only awakened as an archdevil for half a day, so he could have made an excuse that he couldn’t use the given power properly, but that was the same for the other side.

Ruon had also just discovered the way to heaven, so to speak.

-Pure physical strength that is not divine power or magic. I can’t deny that you are the worst enemy.

The darkness melted away from the devil’s forehead. The teeth that surrounded the edge of his pupils gnashed disgustingly.

-But here, that’s meaningless.

The archdevil slowly began to recover his broken body. He smirked. He would win in the end.

But the next moment, he turned his head, feeling something was wrong. His broken wings were not recovering.

At the same time, he was seized by instinctive chills and hatred and lifted his head up.

-Tivela!

There was a dazzling light there.

Like an aurora that covers the clear night sky of the polar regions, the beautiful curtain of heaven descended slowly but surely, devouring all the darkness in the tower.

It would have been a heartwarming sight for someone, but for the archdevil, it was no different from God’s hammer.

-The bitch of heaven is trying to stop me?

Fleur cursed the goddess with a foul word, and Ruon kicked the floor and rushed in.

He didn’t care about the glittering curtain of light or the power of the goddess contained in it. He just swung his fist with all his might as usual, towards the damn devil in front of him.

The devil hastily folded his five wings forward. As if that was the only way to protect his body.

Bang!

A loud noise like a gunshot erupted from his fist, and the devil’s wings snapped with a crack.

-Kyahak!

Ruon climbed on top of the devil who had lost his balance and fallen backwards. He then began to tear off the layers of wings that were stacked like onions, looking for Fleur who was hiding inside.

-Stop! Stop it! You brute!

Darkness pierced through Ruon’s face as he finally ripped off the last wing from its base.

Fleur, who had landed the final blow despite trembling with pain, reached out his arm and grabbed Ruon’s neck. His hand, resembling an eagle’s talon, clenched with force.

-You worm! If it comes to this, I’ll take you with me…

At that moment, the devil’s wrist snapped with a crunch.

His wrist, dangling at a grotesque angle, was torn off by the immense pressure that followed and dropped to the floor with a thud.

-Kyaaaaaak!

Ruon raised his hand, soaked with black blood as if he had squeezed a fruit, and said.

“Is it over?”

Even though his face was melted to the point where his gums and cheekbones were exposed, there was no trace of hesitation in his eyes. Fleur, who saw Ruon’s face emitting a faint steam as his wounds began to heal, said.

-What the hell…what the hell…are you.

At that moment, Ruon felt his friends’ wills embedded in his fist and said.

“Ruon.”

His fist, imbued with light, smashed the great devil’s head.