Ian had landed a heavy blow on Lilith, but he couldn’t afford to be complacent.
She was a formidable opponent even among demons. Being Asmodeus’ right-hand, she easily ranked within the top 15.
How could one let their guard down against someone like her? From Ian’s perspective, it was incomprehensible.
Even after successfully landing an uppercut, he didn’t feel victorious.
Phew.
Ian took advantage of Lilith’s momentary distance to assess his own condition.
‘The wound is severe…’
From the moment the first strike was struck. Lilith began her attack in earnest.
Since the moment of her initial attack, Lilith had relentlessly launched assaults, using overflowing magic to shoot projectiles and intermittently swinging her scythe to claim lives.
Even now, the wounds she inflicted were numerous.
His body was filled with deep gashes, blood oozing out relentlessly.
“Sigh.”
Ian grimaced as he struggled to maintain his posture.
Each time he clenched his fists, a sharp pain shot through him.
‘To expect rapid regeneration is also problematic due to the magic flames…’
Normally, wounds like these would regenerate in an instant. However, the continuously burning flames of magic slowed down the healing process.
To heal these wounds, ample time was required.
But Ian didn’t have the luxury of time.
He looked at Lilith. Despite sustaining considerable damage, she was preparing to attack again.
Eventually, Ian came to a conclusion.
‘It’s difficult to kill her in this illusion.’
Naturally, in illusions, one doesn’t die. Even if one’s arm or leg were severed, returning to reality would result in psychological shock, but not death.
‘Of course, in my case, receiving damage close to death in the illusion would result in expulsion from the illusion…’
But what about Lilith, an irregular like himself?
‘Lilith doesn’t get expelled no matter how much damage she receives.’
In other words, in this illusion, she was practically invincible.
While inflicting damage was possible, killing her was impossible.
That was the biggest problem Ian faced.
‘Of course, in this situation, targeting the mental aspect rather than physical impact to expel her from the illusion is also a method.’
As Ian briefly contemplated, he shook his head.
Upon reflection, it sounded absurd.
After all, wasn’t Lilith a manipulator of illusions?
Attacking someone who dominates the mind as if it were easy was nothing short of foolishness.
Despite the challenging situation, giving up was not an option.
Swoosh!
“You foolish mortal!”
“Ether.”
Ka-boom!
“Argh!”
As the reinforced fist pierced her abdomen, Ian became certain.
She wasn’t in her prime state.
– Is she weaker than I thought? Did I misjudge?
‘No, you saw it correctly. Normally, without the buff from the Holy Sword Elysion, she’s an opponent I can’t handle. But the current situation is manageable.’
Lilith’s original level was equivalent to a Mana Master among humans.
For Ian, a mere expert, to face such an opponent was unreasonable.
However, Ian was currently holding his own against Lilith.
Was he growing strong enough to confront a master-level opponent? Ian didn’t think so.
‘It’s not that I’ve become stronger. It’s that Lilith has weakened. She must have intervened in the Middle Realm forcibly from the Demon Realm.”
To maintain their original power while crossing from the Demon Realm to the Middle Realm, significant sacrifices were necessary.
However, could Lilith have obtained sacrifices while participating in the war game?
It was impossible to devour dozens of lives while avoiding the overseer’s gaze.
‘Thus, Lilith must have crossed over with insufficient sacrifices.’
Based on his experience, Ian estimated Lilith’s current level to be between upper expert and top expert.
In that case, it wasn’t entirely impossible to fight her.
Ian didn’t want to miss this golden opportunity to defeat the Great Demon.
– But Ian, is there a way? Lilith won’t die in the illusion…
‘It’s fine. We can initiate an emergency stop.’
– Emergency stop? What’s that?
Ian, keeping his distance, pulled out a device.
Right beneath Ian’s fingertip was an activated emergency stop button.
‘With this, we can temporarily halt the training. Originally, it’s not a function I can use, but I gained authorization after the entire 3rd Platoon was wiped out.’
The original purpose of the “emergency stop” was simple: to create a gate to reality when individuals faced severe injuries yet weren’t expelled due to errors or when unexpected situations arose, allowing supervisors to enter the illusion.
‘Of course, even if I press this, it’s unlikely the supervisors will intervene. After all, Lilith has probably blocked them all.’
Ian wasn’t unaware of this. The reason for using this function was different from its original purpose.
‘The moment I press this… a gate is created, temporarily breaking down the boundary between illusion and reality.’
The collapsed boundary. That was the crucial point.
Ian was able to momentarily kill Lilith, who was practically immortal.
Of course, it wasn’t without its drawbacks.
– Ian, but if you do that…
‘Yeah. I won’t be able to utilize the advantages of the illusion either. If I die here, I’ll suffer the same consequences when I return to reality.’
It was a situation where high risk equaled high return.
From the moment he pressed it, Ian’s injuries would also be transmitted to reality.
It was a situation where he had to avoid attacks as much as possible while trying to defeat Lilith.
Ian checked his status through the interface.
[Remaining shields: 2]
‘Only two chances…’
That should be enough.
***
Watching Ian withstand Lilith’s demonic flames, everyone in the grand hall was in disbelief.
“How… How is Ian able to…”
“I heard that if one has the buff from the Holy Sword Elysion, he can withstand the magical flames without any problems. But Ariel is here, isn’t she? Is Ian just enduring it? Is that possible?”
“Unless he has the Holy attribute. But I doubt that.”
It was generally known that withstanding demonic flames was impossible.
The demonic magic flowing from a demon’s body was polar opposite to humans, and the longer the exposure, the more severe the burns could be.
Moreover, Ian’s opponent was Lilith.
“To withstand the demonic power of a high-ranking demon so effortlessly…”
While opinions varied among scholars, some evaluated Lilith as strong enough to easily rank within the top 10 among demons.
For Ian Volkanov, who had no divine powers, to withstand the magic of such a high-ranking demon, and even exchange blows?
That was why.
‘What am I witnessing?’
Ariel couldn’t believe her eyes. Just moments ago, she had bowed her head as if in despair, but now she stared at the screen as if questioning when this happened.
Even though she continued to watch the screen, her doubts remained unanswered.
‘Is that even possible?’
The reason why Ian and her party, including herself, became a Hero Party and aimed to defeat the Demon God was simple.
It was because they were individuals who received the prophecy of the Holy Sword Elysion.
If the members of the prophecy gathered, they could exert a power two steps above their original abilities. That’s why the Empire pushed her, a Hero, forward.
The power of the Holy Sword Elysion. Without it, they thought it would be impossible to prevail against the demons.
However… Ian Volkanov was completely dismantling such thoughts of Ariel.
Although people momentarily felt hopeful due to Ian’s unexpected advances… it didn’t last long.
– What a stupid thing!
– Kwagwagwagwa!
– Hehehe!
Ian began to be pushed back gradually after his preemptive strike, his face turning pale and his body covered in wounds.
As his battle attire started to soak with blood, Igor clenched his fists, unable to contain his anger.
“The situation isn’t looking good. It seems like Ian is being pushed back.”
“Yeah, I agree. It must be challenging to face the enemy under the influence of demonic energy.”
“Damn it… To see him just taking hits like that without retaliating…”
Fueled by anger, Igor’s gaze intensified as he looked at Ian, and Eri felt the same frustration.
For the first time as a princess, she felt powerless.
Although Ian was currently holding his ground with his shields and regeneration abilities, she believed it wouldn’t last forever.
It was understandable, as unlike the beginning where he blocked attacks, he was now mostly dodging and only using shields when absolutely necessary.
‘There must be a limit to the number of times he can use it, or perhaps it consumes a lot of mana to materialize the shields.’
Either way, it was clear that Ian couldn’t use mana continuously.
Eri’s gaze, filled with frustration, turned towards the officers gathered.
‘How… how long are we going to have to wait.’
She felt like she was going to die of frustration.
If they didn’t help Ian immediately, a tragedy could unfold, yet seeing them do nothing made her feel incredibly frustrated.
However, what made Eri even more furious was that despite knowing, they couldn’t do anything about it.
– Boom!
– Now die, Ian Volkanov!
– Kwoaaang!
– Ugh…
Ian began to fall behind gradually. His face grew pale, and his wounded body was filled with exhaustion.
As his combat attire started to be stained with blood, Igor rose abruptly from his seat, as if unable to bear it any longer.
“Damn it. Do we just have to take hits like that? Why aren’t we fighting back…?”
“It’s not just taking hits. It’s the only option we have.”
“What do you mean? What’s that supposed to mean?”
Seeing Igor’s face full of doubt, Eri bowed her head deeply.
She wanted to reassure him that Ian was prevailing in the battle and not to worry, but knowing that such words would be futile.
Eventually, she had to be honest.
“What I mean is, Ian can’t kill her.”
“Can’t kill her? You mean Ian can’t defeat that demon or whatever she is, Lilith?”
“That’s not it. What I’m saying is, killing her is impossible as long as Lilith remains in a illusion.”
Unlike Ian, who returns to reality after taking a certain amount of damage, Lilith does not return. So even if she gets wounded, she’ll recover and attack again.
She can kill Ian, but Ian cannot.
In such a truly selfish situation, Igor spat out futile words.
“What! So Ian is holding out against an opponent who won’t die?”
“That’s right… The officers believe that the intruder will attempt to break through, so they’re holding out. They don’t want to miss the perfect opportunity to kill Lilith…”
If Ian holds out, they can get one step closer to eliminating humanity’s nemesis, the demons.
But… is that an easy task?
Eri couldn’t even bear to think about how difficult it must be to fight alone while enduring the pain of his body deteriorating.
She wanted to tell him he could stop, but…
– Sigh…
‘Please stop…’
Without him knowing of her thoughts, Ian stood up again.
After a while of standoff, Ian took out a device from his pocket.
Just as everyone was puzzled by Ian’s sudden action, Ariel stared blankly at him.
There was one fleeting thought in her mind.
‘No way… No, emergency stop…’
She wondered if Ian was about to stop holding out and confront Lilith, using the emergency stop function.
If he uses the emergency stop, the boundary between reality and illusion will collapse, and he could also inflict damage on her.
‘But that would be the same for Ian too.’
In other words, the moment Ian activates the emergency stop…
It felt like each of Lilith’s ruthless attacks would become fatal.
Ariel couldn’t understand why Ian would make such a choice.
‘Why.’
She couldn’t understand why he would go that far.
‘He could just run away like he always does…’
At the time when facing the Demon King of Sloth, Ian suddenly gave up the plan and disbanded the party.
At that time, Ariel thought Ian was scared and ran away.
It seemed like he got overwhelmed by fear in front of such a formidable enemy and tried to break up the party.
Thinking that way, Ariel couldn’t understand Ian’s actions.
If it was the Ian in her memories, the one who was incomparably cunning, he would never make the choice to press the emergency stop.
He seemed like he wouldn’t even dare to challenge.
At that moment, Ariel remembered the words Ian told her right before he was about to kill her in the war game.
‘You won’t understand. Why I did such a thing.’
Was there something she didn’t know? Perhaps she was misunderstanding Ian?
Honestly, there were still parts she couldn’t understand.
Why did Ian give up in front of that Demon King?
She was curious, but they had already grown too distant to have a conversation, and after closing off her heart, she didn’t speak to Ian again.
But… if there was a reason she didn’t know…
‘Then what should I do…?’
In that moment of contemplation…
– Whoosh!
Beside Ian, space began to warp. Soon, a portal appeared.
‘He used the emergency stop…?’
At that moment, Ariel threw away the towel that was covering her from the people’s sight.
The sight of others didn’t matter to her.
The only thing in her eyes was Ian.
Boom!
With a deafening sound of mana bursting, Ian was shot out like a cannonball.
Ariel could only stare blankly at his figure.
‘…’
He was usually so dark, but now, it was different.
“Ah…”
To the extent that she, the Hero herself, felt pathetic… Ian was shining brighter than anyone else.
