Chapter 129

Clang!

He blocked the fist of Ugkas, who was charging forward like a wild beast, with his sword.

There were no weak points on his metal body.

His body was like an absolute barrier with durability similar to that of a reinforced iron wall, but at the same time, it could play the role of a spear that could pierce through any obstacle.

Of course, this was natural.

If his body could be broken or damaged by normal weapons or attacks, he would have been defeated long ago.

‘At least his joints are relatively weak.’

It was difficult to pinpoint those spots during their chaotic melee, but at least this meant that he wasn’t invincible.

Nevertheless, the current situation was not good.

In fact, it would be safe to call it the worst.

Clang!

Ugkas’ fist and Kran’s sword clashed heavily once again. The blade creaked, and sparks flew in every direction.

Crack.

This sword, too, had been unable to survive more than 10 clashes before it broke.

Nevertheless, Kran didn’t feel any remorse for the weapons he lost. He simply threw away the broken sword in his hand before taking out another.

‘I brought a lot, but I’m starting to run low.’

When he was preparing, he’d thought he’d brought too many, but now, he regretted not packing a few more weapons.

Clang!

Clang

The fight continued.

Kran and Ugkas appeared to be locked in a toe-to-toe battle.

Or, at least, that would have been the case if they were the only ones there.

Guluk guk.

Sipakna.

With an appearance that perfectly suited the title ‘Monstrous Duke(1)’ constantly launching attacks at Kran with his tentacles and Sedi desperately blocking them.

Kran was so focused that he couldn’t afford to look away for even a second.

Nevertheless, he could tell that Sedi was nearing the limits of her stamina. After all, her breathing was so loud and harsh that he could hear it even without consciously trying to.

Suddenly.

“Ah!”

Juk!

Following Sedi’s cry, a tentacle grabbed Kran’s wrist,

This caused him to freeze for a moment, and naturally, Ugkas would not miss such an opportunity.

His thick fingers were instantly imbued with demonic energy, causing them to become even sharper than famed swords.

Warrior King Fist. Finger Sword.

Shuk.

Blood splattered, and Kran’s left arm was cut off in an instant.

The movement was so fast that it was almost impossible to see, but if his wrist hadn’t been restrained, he would have been able to avoid it by a narrow margin.

Sedi realised this fact too as her expression hardened considerably.

Suppressing the excruciating pain, Kran turned back to look at her.

“Retreat for now!”

“What? Where?”

“Anywhere!”

After saying that, Kran flew off first, seemingly not caring if she followed him or not. Sedi grit her teeth before destroying the tentacles nearest to her and going after him.

Fortunately, Kran helped to an extent.

“Do you think you can leave—?!”

Ugkas roared before charging after them.

But Kran and Sedi were already aware of his limited mobility. As long as they were mindful of his explosive charges, it wouldn’t be difficult for them to outrun Ugkas.

As expected, not long after they devoted themselves to running away, they completely disappeared from Ugkas’ sight.

Of course, this was only a temporary retreat.

After all, Kran had absolutely no intention of letting those two Dukes go.

“Hoo…”

After entering a dilapidated building, Kran collapsed against the wall.

He then touched the stump of his severed arm while Sedi looked at him with a complicated expression.

“…you… that arm…”

“It’ll grow back. It’ll only take some time.”

“…”

“You shouldn’t be able to fight them in your current state. So we’ll take a break while my arm regenerates.”

Krrr…

The sound of buildings collapsing could be heard in the distance. It was clear that Ugkas was wantonly destroying the buildings in the area.

“Sorry.”

Sedi clenched her small fists before speaking in a small voice.

“Why are you apologising?”

“You got hurt because of me.”

“I expected something like this to happen.”

Kran simply dismissed her apology before concentrating on regenerating his injury. If it was an ordinary injury, it would have only taken a few minutes to heal, but the surface of the wound was stained with Ugkas’ demonic energy. In this state, there was no way for him to forcibly regenerate his arm. Even if it would take much longer, he had to disperse the demonic energy first.

“Ah. Fine.”

Sedi pouted slightly before taking a seat of her own.

Kran glanced at her for a moment, but he didn’t say anything. He never thought of blaming her. Because he knew just how tired she was.

‘This is a difficult situation.’

Nevertheless, it was going according to his expectations.

Kran had used a large number of soul crystals that he’d obtained in Africa to become even stronger than he was before. The true capacity of his demonic energy had increased by at least thirty percent.

Nevertheless, despite his increase in power, he was still only able to fight toe-to-toe with Ugkas.

The Five Dukes turned out to be much stronger than he’d originally thought.

This thought caused him to remember the things that happened in Africa.

‘…if it hadn’t been for that guy’s help, I would have died in my fight with Gullard.’

After thinking this, a question appeared in his mind.

Then why did Ringo send him to fight Gullard on his own?

Up until that point, she had never designated a target who was too much for Kran to handle.

Africa and Korea.

If he hadn’t met Lukas and Sedi respectively, then Kran would probably have died without a proper fight.

‘Did she know that there would be people to help me?’

…Unfortunately, he would never be able to think of an answer on his own.

Kran decided to put his questions aside for now and instead focused on the current situation.

A battle against two of the Five Dukes.

It was possible that this fight would become more disadvantageous the more time passed.

That was why he’d put all of his energy into the first battle, hoping to end things quickly.

‘And yet, Ugkas was able to perfectly block all of my attacks.’

He hadn’t expected his body to be so goddamn hard.

Krrr…

Once again, they heard the sound of a building collapsing.

They couldn’t stay there for long. So far, the Dukes were still focused on them, but Kran didn’t know if they would soon change their minds and slaughter the innocent civilians.

After all, there were still many people in Busan.

“If we go back and fight now, we will have to settle it as soon as possible.”

“You’re right. But the problem is that we can’t do that. We don’t have the firepower to break through the tin can’s defenses.”

Sedi bit her lip after saying those words, the feeling of helplessness making her shudder.

She never would have imagined that there would be a time when she became a burden for a human.

Kran didn’t notice Sedi’s inner turmoil as he suddenly spoke.

“I have a way.”

“…”

Sedi narrowed her eyes.

Why hadn’t he used it before?

This thought popped into her mind. Nevertheless, she didn’t say what she was thinking.

Kran was a seasoned fighter. His instantaneous judgment and combat sense were all at a high level.

If he hadn’t used it yet, then there was certainly a good reason for that.

“It takes about five to ten seconds of concentration before I can use it. It also doesn’t have a long range, so I’ll have to be close to him.”

“Ten seconds…”

Sedi frowned slightly at those words.

…Naturally, this meant that she would need to buy him ten seconds against two of the Five Dukes. Unfortunately, such a task sounded no better than suicide in her current condition.

Regardless of whether Kran was aware of that fact or not, he nodded his head slightly before continuing,

“It would be hard. So I was thinking about using a different strategy.”

“What is it?”

“That…”

Kran then detailed the plan he had just envisioned.

As he continued speaking, Sedi’s expression gradually began to change before finally settling on a strange combination of confusion and disbelief.

“…are you serious?”

“This isn’t the time for jokes.”

Boom!

As if to hasten Sedi’s answer, the sound of a building being destroyed came from a short distance away.

In the first place, she didn’t really have much of a choice. Ruffling her already disheveled hair, Sedi finally replied.

“Dammit. I guess I don’t have a choice. But don’t blame me if you die.”

“I definitely won’t die.”

At that moment, Kran looked down at his left hand. The regeneration was complete. Kran smiled for a moment before slightly shaking his arm, which was covered in a sticky liquid.

“Until I’ve killed every single Demon.”

“…”

Sedi frowned slightly before turning her head away.

(Note:

1. I like this title more compared to ‘Monster Duke’)