Chapter 217 – The Dungeon  

From the beginning, I never thought I could defeat the Demon King in a fight.  

That’s how strong he was.  

Sure, he had fled to Earth after losing to the previous hero, but that hero had only won by setting a trap. And the new hero? The Demon King crushed him outright.  

On top of that, the Demon King had now gained immense mana, making him even stronger than before.  

There was no way I—a knight who had been ordinary until recently—could defeat such a monster.  

That hadn’t changed, even now that I’d become a hero.  

Of course, with divine power flowing through my body like mana, I felt like I could do anything.  

But I’d spent too long as a free knight to get drunk on that feeling.  

So instead of trying to defeat the Demon King, I focused on stopping the magic he had unleashed.  

Looking back, it seemed like I always resorted to underhanded tricks when facing him… but this time, there was no avoiding a direct confrontation.  

A knight like me, hardened by experience, only knew one way to fight overwhelming enemies.  

Still, becoming a hero had at least lowered the odds of dying the moment I laid eyes on him.  

“At least now that I’m a hero, I won’t drop dead the second I see him, right?”  

I flicked the rotting blood off my sword and muttered under my breath. Behind me, Yerim rolled her eyes.  

“What kind of weak talk is that?”  

A quick glance around confirmed no more undead were left on this floor. I answered her casually.  

“Before becoming a hero, I thought I might die before even luring him out, depending on my luck.”  

“That’s ridiculous.”  

Yerim scoffed at my words.  

Facing the Demon King, she wore an expression brimming with confidence.  

Was it because she’d received divine revelation?  

Or because she’d made me a hero?  

Either way, she seemed far more relaxed than I’d expected.  

“No, I’m just being realistic.”  

I gave her a stern look, hoping to snap her out of it. Unfortunately, my words didn’t seem to get through.  

She just tilted her head in confusion.  

“Really? After wiping out all these undead?”  

She gestured around us. The floor was littered with undead corpses, still burning from the remnants of divine power.  

No zombies in sight—just skeletons, ghouls, and other proper minions of the Demon King.  

Among the fallen was even a lich.  

Every single one of these corpses had been reduced to ashes by my hand.  

Not long ago, each of these creatures would’ve been a tough fight. That lich over there? I would’ve turned tail and run the moment I saw it.  

Even after becoming a swordsmaster, I wouldn’t have taken them down this easily.  

After this fight, I finally understood why heroes were called the natural enemies of the Demon King and his undead.  

This was nothing like when I’d borrowed the Saintess’s divine power to unleash sword energy.  

Back then, I’d relied on brute force, pushing through with sheer power.  

But now, the divine power felt like it had always been a part of me—just like my mana and other abilities.  

Yet against undead, divine power was completely different from mana.  

The undead still recoiled from a hero’s divine power as before, but now that I could wield it like mana, I was no longer limited to brute force.  

Of course, my sword still burned through undead flesh just as easily.  

The corpses around me were proof of that.  

But with full control over divine power, I could do more than just burn.  

The most impressive effect was how it disrupted necrotic energy itself.  

Whether inside an undead’s body or lingering in the air, the moment it touched my divine power, it dissipated.  

This was nothing like the Saintess’s power, which merely repelled.  

I didn’t even need to make direct contact.  

Just bringing my sword near a skeleton caused the necrotic energy to scatter, leaving the bones brittle.  

They looked ready to crumble at a touch—now, cutting through skeletons was no different from slicing firewood.  

The same went for ghouls and, absurdly, even a lich’s magic.  

My divine power nullified the necrotic energy fueling the lich’s spells.  

The bisected lich still burning nearby? I’d cut through its shield and body in one swing.  

I hadn’t shattered the shield by force.  

The blade, infused with divine power, simply sliced through the necrotic barrier like it wasn’t there.  

Though little more than bones, the lich’s gaping mouth—even as it burned—told me how shocked it had been.  

Of course, without a core, it wouldn’t truly die from this.  

But for that lich, death might’ve been a mercy.  

The divine flames wouldn’t fade until every trace of necrotic energy was gone.  

‘No wonder Yerim said that…’  

Looking at the smoldering corpses, I understood her confidence.  

Even I could tell I’d grown stronger.  

I’d underestimated heroes after seeing only the inexperienced ones, but their power was no joke.  

To think they’d fought so sloppily with this kind of strength.  

Maybe it was because they were just kids who’d barely sensed mana.  

This generation’s hero might’ve been particularly incompetent.  

Or maybe I was just that skilled…  

The thought crossed my mind, but I dismissed it immediately.  

I couldn’t afford to grow arrogant like Yerim.  

No—I shouldn’t let myself.  

These undead might seem impressive, but they were just the Demon King’s leftovers, guarding the lower floors of the Ryugyeong Hotel.  

The hotel had 100 floors.  

We still had over ninety to go before reaching the Demon King.  

Unfortunately, we couldn’t scale the exterior to the rooftop.  

The magic circle covering the building’s surface—its immense mana, necrotic energy, and the dimensional fusion spell itself—made that impossible.  

The dense miasma also prevented flight magic.  

So we’d entered through the front door, clearing each floor one by one.  

Ironically, the magic circle had altered the hotel’s interior.  

Staircases no longer connected seamlessly—we had to cross each floor to find the next ascent.  

Worse, the magic circle’s effects blocked even my divine power and Zahina’s spells from breaching walls or ceilings.  

And then there were the undead on every floor.  

This was just like the place heroes were said to face…  

‘That bastard turned this hotel into his dungeon.’  

The Ryugyeong Hotel had become the Demon King’s dungeon.  

Technically, we could’ve rushed through, avoiding unnecessary fights—but we couldn’t.  

People were following behind us.  

Our team was just the diversion. The real players were the two mage-priests.  

We had to clear the path so they could reach the rooftop safely.  

After clearing the dungeon, we’d lure out the Demon King—no, we’d fight him to do so.  

This Demon King, now a true Lord of Death wielding godlike mana, wouldn’t let us escape alive if we let our guard down.  

“Don’t worry. I know when to get serious.”  

As if sensing my concern, Yerim focused properly in the connected floors, fighting as she should.  

And so we climbed—20th, 30th, 40th…  

The undead grew stronger with each floor, but none could stop us.  

Zahina’s magic intercepted ambushes, while Yerim’s prayers dispelled curses from liches and evil spirits.  

And my sword reduced every undead in our path to ashes.  

Like a hero’s party from legend, we cleared floor after floor.  

Hours later, the door to the rooftop came into view.  

Hundreds of undead had fallen to us in this building alone.  

Most were elites, and even the “ordinary” skeletons wielded Earth’s weapons.  

Bullets rained down as magic flew through the air, ghouls lunged, and grenades exploded amidst bursts of rotting flesh.  

The sheer volume of attacks in such a confined space was terrifying.  

If we’d been ordinary heroes—or even just swordsmasters and mages—we might not have made it.  

Luckily, I was both a hero and a swordsmaster, and our group was familiar with Earth’s weapons.  

We blocked the undead’s gunfire while Zahina even pulled out a sniper rifle, helping us reach the top unscathed.  

Making it to the Demon King alive was already a feat—but the real plan was just beginning.  

I channeled divine power to heal my fatigue and checked on my companions.  

Zahina and Yerim.  

Both seemed fine.  

“Shall we go?”  

There was much I wanted to say, but I held back.  

We’d already said our piece before starting. Anything else could wait until after.  

I pushed open the rooftop door, still sealed tight despite the chaos below.  

And there he was.  

The Demon King stood at the center of the rooftop, surrounded by a massive magic circle.  

A young man in appearance only—the mana and necrotic energy radiating from him were anything but human.  

He frowned at the sight of me.  

“A hero?”  

Was that the ancient empire’s language?  

The words were unintelligible, but magic translated them instantly.  

Of course, as the Demon King, he recognized my new status immediately.  

“And the Saintess too? Strange. There shouldn’t be two heroes or saints in one dimension.”  

He’d spotted Yerim as well, though her presence seemed to confuse him.  

I decided to enlighten him.  

“You’re merging three dimensions, yet you’re surprised? Heroes aren’t exclusive to Ea.”  

“Hah. This planet’s hero? I sensed gods here, but none capable of creating a hero.”  

From what I’d seen while creating safe zones, that god hadn’t acted alone—but I wasn’t about to share that.  

My reply was just to gauge the situation.  

And now, my assessment was complete.  

The massive magic circle, the withered human corpses in the corner, and the Demon King himself.  

No other enemies.  

I signaled Zahina.  

As she prepared her spell, the Demon King laughed.  

Arrogant in his absolute mana, he didn’t realize—this was our chance.  

“You think your magic can touch me? I am the Death King, the God of Magic.”  

He wasn’t wrong.  

The mana saturating his body would shrug off most spells.  

But our target wasn’t him.  

Instead of raising her hands, Zahina pressed hers to the ground.  

And declared:  

“Erase it. Cleanly.”  

A blade-filled whirlwind erupted across the rooftop—as if trying to shear off the floor itself.  

Yet the magic circle and reinforced structure remained intact.  

Except for one thing.  

The magic circle’s lines began to warp.  

Faint scratches at first, but enough.  

“How dare you?!”  

The Demon King’s rage erupted.  

Now, it was my turn.  

I raised my sword, brimming with divine power, and charged.