Chapter 67
‘Two of them.’
Far too few to be the guards of such an enormous mansion.
Thinking it must be because today was an inspection day, Juhyuk blocked the modified demons flying at him from both sides.
KANG—!
He parried the one coming from the left, and immediately the one on the right rushed in.
Juhyuk deflected the attack and used the force to roll aside, narrowly avoiding the strike from the opposite side.
‘As expected, they’re strong.’
The modified demons tried to overwhelm him with cooperative attacks.
Their faces were blank, almost soulless, as they swung their swords and sharp claws, desperate to find an opening.
Their physical strength was slightly stronger than that of a Cerberus.
If the two of them fought Cerberus, they would probably overpower it easily—unlike him, who struggled back then.
Of course, Juhyuk was nothing like he used to be.
‘It’s so much easier to move now that I have more mana.’
Mana functioned somewhat like stamina.
Imbuing mana into his hands increased his grip strength proportionally.
Back in the academy, he barely had any mana, so he had to carefully divide and use every tiny bit as efficiently as possible.
Now, he had several times more mana than before.
And because of the Dreamweed, he could exert at least A-rank physical strength without consuming mana.
If his mana was fully depleted, he would still remain slightly above an average human—an enormous advantage.
Which meant—
KYAAAK—!
Being “slightly stronger than Cerberus” no longer meant anything to Juhyuk.
“You two sure have a lot of openings.”
Even while dealing with a flurry of coordinated attacks, he quickly spotted an opening and thrust at a wing.
He thought they lacked emotions, but the way it recoiled in pain proved they at least understood fear.
‘If my mana hadn’t increased, this could’ve been dangerous.’
With D-rank mana capacity, mana control became far easier.
Thanks to that, he could now use mana much more freely instead of sparingly, like before.
KIIIIK—!
The demon whose wing had been stabbed flapped weakly, then charged again.
The intact one: on his right.
The wounded one: on his left.
They darted around, then closed in at the same time.
A dual attack that was a pain to defend against.
They split apart, approaching from both sides as if telling him to at least get hit by one of them.
An ordinary person would panic against multiple attackers.
But Juhyuk had experienced countless situations like this in the training chamber.
‘Redirect and temple.’
He had already analyzed their physical capabilities completely.
There was no need to eyeball anything anymore—time to end it.
CHANG—!
With a clean metallic sound, he pushed away the blade.
He deflected the sword coming from the left and simultaneously twisted, redirecting the force toward the right.
KIIK—?
The demon’s body was dragged helplessly along the direction of the redirected force.
The movement was so sudden that it didn’t even think to release its weapon.
The injured demon was yanked forward and collided directly with the other demon that had been swinging simultaneously.
Juhyuk easily dodged the sword from the right demon and hurled the demon he had dragged toward it.
KYHEK—!
The two demons crashed into each other.
Without missing the opening, Juhyuk retrieved his blade and drove it into both of their temples.
KYAAAK—!
Like a skewer, the sword pierced through both their heads.
Their bodies immediately went limp.
Even demons die quickly when their heads are pierced—they showed no signs of moving again.
‘Ended faster than I thought.’
His sword was stuck in both heads.
He twisted the blade a few times to ensure the kill, then withdrew it.
The two bodies dropped to the ground lifelessly.
‘I really have gotten stronger.’
He felt it while training, but only in real battle did he truly understand.
He had reached D-rank mana capacity.
Back when he was F-rank, he could still clash with lower-mid S-ranks, but now—
‘If I fought again, I’d win immediately.’
He was confident he could win even against mid-tier S-ranks.
This wasn’t arrogance—it was objective analysis.
Defeating two modified demons stronger than Cerberus with ease made it clear he was capable of rivaling S-ranks.
‘Enough reflection. Time to head inside.’
He didn’t know when more demons would attack.
Just as Juhyuk was about to enter—
Beep—
A strange sound reached his ears.
Beep— beep—
Like the sound of a passcode lock when a door opens.
He thought it was hallucination, but the sound insisted on being heard.
The source: the bodies of the modified demons whose heads he had pierced.
He turned his head—only to see their bodies swelling.
Beep— beep— beep— beep—
The sound grew faster.
Their corpses swelled rapidly.
A terrible premonition flashed in his mind, and he dashed away without hesitation.
“Sh*t…!”
Two choices appeared instantly.
‘Reinforce my legs and run? Or reinforce my whole body for defense?’
A split-second decision.
Juhyuk saw the massive gate ahead and immediately decided.
Beep— beep— beep— beep— beep— beep—
He reinforced his legs with mana and sprinted toward the gate.
He dove behind the massive gate—just big enough for one person to hide behind.
BOOOOM—!
The explosion went off exactly as he hid.
Fortunately, the solid gate shielded him completely from the blast.
“…Ha.”
Inside, the mansion grounds looked like a meteor had struck—a huge crater in a perfect circle.
Judging from the blast radius, if he hadn’t hidden behind the gate, he would have been gravely injured.
‘Grenades look like children’s toys compared to this.’
Now he understood why Mephisto hated coming here.
Not only did they modify demons—they stuffed bombs inside them strong enough to cause this.
Who wouldn’t hate visiting this place?
‘I really don’t want to meet him.’
Garisto—the demon who was clearly not sane.
Anyone who experimented on their own kind couldn’t possibly be normal.
‘Well, demons are all like that.’
They seemed human when you talked to them, but somewhere—something was always off.
Even among such demons, Garisto was considered insane.
No wonder Juhyuk already felt overwhelmed at the thought of meeting him.
“…Alright. Let’s go.”
With a deep sigh, he stepped into the mansion, passing the explosion marks.
He was greeted first by a garden overflowing with black roses.
They looked rotten at first glance.
But up close, their petals were fresh and strikingly beautiful.
If they weren’t flowers grown in Hell, he would’ve asked permission to take one home.
After walking for several minutes through the rose-filled garden—
He reached the end.
‘I expected traps…?’
Besides the first modified demon, the mansion was very different from his expectations.
He tread carefully, watching the floor in case it collapsed suddenly—but the garden was strangely normal.
Once he exited the garden, he came across a bridge.
Falling from it would lead straight into an endless abyss—certain death.
The bridge was old, or was designed that way—filled with holes.
‘…Psychological pressure, huh?’
He looked around, searching for another route, but the bridge was the only path forward.
A sign stood beside it.
[ Precautions When Crossing the Bridge ]
Hold the safety rope firmly as you cross.
Be careful not to fall into the holes.
There are exactly three precautions.
“…What?”
The second precaution was blank.
Of course it was a trap.
Juhyuk stared at the bridge, certain there was more than just holes.
‘Is it really safe to just walk across?’
The bridge felt wrong.
One misstep and he might never return.
‘But going back isn’t an option.’
If he didn’t finish today, he would have to live a whole year carrying an artifact like a ticking time bomb.
And there was no guarantee the traps would disappear after a year.
Retreating wasn’t an option.
‘Hmm…’
He stared at the bridge and the sign for a long moment.
Then, noticing the bridge’s length, he had a thought.
‘I think… I can jump this.’
The bridge was about fifty meters long.
With the boost from the Dreamweed and his increased mana capacity, he could easily jump that distance with a running start.
Thinking that, he slowly stepped back, sprinted—
TAP—
And leapt cleanly over the bridge.
He held his sword tightly, ready for anything—
But nothing came.
THUD—
He landed perfectly on the other side.
“…Seriously?”
Getting through that easily?
The trap ended so anticlimactically that it felt wrong.
But no matter how long he waited, no enemies appeared, and nothing felt amiss.
‘Though… I’ve had the feeling someone’s watching me since earlier.’
The same presence he sensed at the mansion entrance—aside from that, he felt nothing threatening.
‘Well… good enough, I guess.’
He continued walking.
Soon, he arrived at the front door of the mansion.
He pushed it lightly.
Unlike the front gate, it opened smoothly.
Inside was a medieval Western-style interior befitting the mansion’s exterior.
On the staircase leading to the second floor stood a demon.
“Welcome, intruder.”
His deep voice echoed through the vast, quiet mansion.
The demon stared at Juhyuk with a blank expression.
“I don’t know how you managed to cross the black rose garden and the bridge… but congratulations.”
He began clapping—
And suddenly applause echoed from all around the mansion, as if from a crowd.
But the only ones present were Juhyuk and that demon.
“So you’re Garisto? You look different from what I heard.”
“The esteemed Count Garisto is currently occupied, so I, the butler, have come to greet you.”
The demon bowed politely.
Dressed in a refined suit, he carried himself with impeccable etiquette.
After a brief pause, stroking his chin, he spoke:
“And so, if I may ask… would you consider retreating for today?”
“After coming all this way?”
“…I thought I’d at least try. I assume that means no.”
He reached into thin air.
After rummaging for a moment, he pulled out a simple longsword adorned with a single red gem.
“I’ll make it quick. The Count is sensitive to loud noises.”
