Chapter 218 – The Demon King Battle  

It went as expected—no, the Demon King was even stronger than I had imagined.  

Before I could even swing my sword at him, the Demon King waved his hand at us first.  

Crash!  

With just that single gesture, the shield Zahina had created shattered to pieces.  

Then, with another wave, all three of us were sent flying to the corner of the rooftop.  

If I hadn’t stood in front to block most of the impact, all three of us would have been flung off the rooftop entirely. Thanks to me taking the brunt of it, Zahina and Yerim weren’t seriously injured, but the armor I was wearing was completely crushed.  

It was definitely high-quality armor, bought at a steep price.  

Cough.  

The shattered armor pierced my lungs, and blood gushed from my mouth.  

“If I weren’t the Hero, we’d all have died in one hit.”  

Wiping away the blood, I let out a bitter laugh.  

The only reason I wasn’t dead yet was because of my enhanced physique and divine power after the baptism. Even though my lungs had been pierced and I was coughing up blood, my injuries were healing in real time.  

Despite being half-dead, I could still move as if nothing was wrong—all thanks to that divine power.  

Now that I’d experienced it firsthand, it was hard to see the Hero as just an ordinary human.  

‘Back in my past life, they called knights like me “zombie paladins,” didn’t they?’  

Watching my body recover in an instant, I remembered a nickname from the games I’d played in my previous life. It was a term for paladins who just wouldn’t die.  

I wasn’t a paladin—I was the Hero—and being called a “zombie” now was more of an insult, but the nickname fit my current state perfectly.  

The divine power flowing through my body kept trying to restore me to perfect condition as long as I wasn’t dead. It even maintained my peak performance while injured.  

It felt like even if a limb were severed, it would grow back immediately.  

Come to think of it, the most extraordinary thing about being the Hero was probably this regeneration. Fighting at full strength at all times, recovering from any injury—it was a cheat-like ability.  

Add the Saintess’s healing to that, and it would be even more incredible.  

Of course, if I took a hit beyond my regenerative capacity—like the previous Hero—I’d die instantly. But as long as that didn’t happen, I could survive through sheer tenacity.  

‘And yet, I still don’t feel even the slightest chance of winning. The Demon King is truly terrifying.’  

Even with this body and divine power, barely surviving was the best I could manage.  

And that was only because the Demon King was momentarily immobilized.  

“Tch! Whatever. At least I know I won’t die instantly. Zahina, keep going!”  

At my words, Zahina forced herself up, raising one hand to deploy another shield while summoning the wind blades she’d shown earlier with the other. Her body, bruised and battered from rolling across the ground, was already healing quickly thanks to Yerim’s help.  

Another wave of wind blades swept across the ground.  

The magic circle where the blades passed was slightly damaged again.  

Seeing this, the Demon King’s face twisted in rage as he unleashed another spell.  

“You insane bastard! You know damaging the magic circle won’t stop the spell! Are you trying to destroy the world with your own hands?!”  

Along with uncharacteristic curses, a barrage of magic flew toward us.  

The shield shattered again, and once more, my body took the brunt of the attack.  

But this time, I’d gathered my fighting spirit, so the damage was less severe than before.  

My armor was already destroyed, so I didn’t have to worry about being impaled by it again.  

Moreover, the Demon King’s fighting spirit dissipated upon contact with my divine power, vanishing before it could reach me.  

Of course, that didn’t negate the physical force of the magic itself, so I was sent tumbling back again.  

Covered in blood, I stood up and retorted:  

“Oh, so the Demon King who’s trying to destroy the world has the nerve to say that?”  

It was just a random remark to vent my frustration, but surprisingly, the Demon King responded.  

“Merging the three dimensions won’t kill everyone! Some will survive, and the dead can be revived as undead! But if the magic circle is destroyed mid-spell, the dimensions will collapse during the merge! The dimensions themselves will be annihilated!”  

Feeling the bleeding stop rapidly, I scoffed at him.  

The hypocrisy was astounding.  

“Either way, you’re planning to kill everyone and turn them into undead. Might as well all die together.”  

Truthfully, neither Zahina nor I actually wanted that.  

We intended to save the world until the very end.  

Zahina’s attempt to damage the magic circle was just a bluff—a tactic to provoke the Demon King.  

And it worked better than expected.  

The Demon King seemed far angrier than I’d anticipated.  

The Demon King I’d seen before wasn’t this emotional.  

Now, he seemed almost… human.  

Well, aside from the absurd amount of mana and fighting spirit he possessed.  

Still, in this hopeless situation, a glimmer of possibility appeared.  

The Demon King’s magic was a manifestation of overwhelming mana and fighting spirit—raw power meant to crush his enemies.  

Unlike Zahina’s magic, which transformed natural elements, his spells were pure force.  

And that meant, as a knight, I had a way to counter it.  

Of course, I only realized this after taking a beating, but the Demon King’s magic wasn’t fundamentally different from a lich’s.  

In the end, it meant my sword could cut through it.  

Just as my divine-infused blade had sliced through a lich’s spells.  

Granted, the gap between the Demon King’s mana and fighting spirit versus my divine power was too vast to cleanly sever his magic, but I could still do something.  

Another crimson sphere, brimming with fighting spirit and mana, shot toward Zahina as she unleashed another wind blade.  

Naturally, I stood in front of her again.  

Having already blocked this magic twice with my body, I was now drenched in blood.  

My body was regenerating at an incredible rate, and I could still move despite the healing process, but the absence of a few recently severed fingers felt awkward.  

The Demon King was no fool.  

He’d noticed my rapid regeneration and decided to inflict damage faster than I could heal.  

Worse, he’d realized I wouldn’t dodge if it meant leaving Zahina exposed, so he aimed at her instead.  

After just two hits, my healing couldn’t keep up with his assault. A few more attacks, and I’d lose more than fingers—an entire limb or two would be gone.  

Even emotionally compromised, the Demon King was as sharp as ever.  

But what he didn’t know was that I was different from the previous Heroes.  

I swung my sword at the incoming spell—before it reached me.  

My blade, radiating sword aura, was saturated with divine power.  

The sword aura passed through the crimson sphere, and the fighting spirit within the spell wavered under my divine power.  

Unlike a lich’s magic, the spell itself wasn’t cut—just its fighting spirit slightly dispersed.  

But that was enough.  

I intercepted the now-diminished crimson sphere with my sword, channeling mana into the blade instead of divine power this time.  

Screeeech!  

The mana in my sword clashed violently with the spell’s, producing an ear-piercing noise.  

In that accelerated moment, I poured every ounce of swordsmanship, mana sensitivity, and hyper-awareness I had into redirecting the spell.  

It was like catching an egg on the edge of a blade—only hundreds of times harder.  

Whoosh.  

A soundless release, but I could’ve sworn I heard it as the mana sphere veered past me.  

The spell shot into the sky beyond the rooftop without detonating.  

My body creaked in protest, my head burning with exertion, but I’d succeeded—I’d deflected the Demon King’s magic.  

It was a monumental feat, a reward for all my training, but I didn’t celebrate.  

Instead, I took another step forward.  

The Demon King’s stunned face grew closer.  

“You deflected that? That’s impossible!”  

He fired spell after spell in disbelief, but I kept advancing, swinging my sword each time.  

My mind burned from overexertion, my body screamed in agony.  

Every joint shattered with each swing, tendons and bones rupturing relentlessly.  

Without divine power, I’d have collapsed after a single strike.  

But I kept going, regenerating my shattered body as I deflected the Demon King’s magic.  

Step by step, I closed the distance until I stood before him—within striking range.  

With all my strength, I swung at the Demon King.  

Whoosh.  

My blade cut through empty air.  

I’d given it my all, but I hadn’t hit him.  

Yet, I could still smile at the Demon King.  

In contrast, his face stiffened as he looked down at his own feet.  

The Demon King had taken a single step back.  

To evade my sword, he’d moved from the center of the magic circle.  

He wiggled his foot and let out a dry laugh.  

“Hah. No matter how much stronger I get, you’re still a Hero crafted by the gods, aren’t you?”  

Then he glared at me.  

“You made me move. But did you really think that would change anything? Pathetic. You have no idea I’ve been holding back.”  

With a flick of his hand, the glowing magic circle ceased its movement.  

“This spell can maintain itself even if I stop controlling it. Once I deal with you, I can simply resume.”  

With that, the Demon King raised both hands.  

A colossal surge of mana, different from before, gathered in his palms.  

It was obvious at a glance—this was a spell I couldn’t deflect or block.  

“First, let me show you what real magic looks like!”  

The overwhelming mana began pressing down on the entire rooftop.  

As the pressure bore down on me, I lunged toward Yerim and Zahina.  

Grabbing them both, I leaped off the rooftop.  

BOOOOM!  

A deafening explosion erupted behind us, followed by the Demon King’s furious roar echoing across the city.  

“You think you can escape me?! I’ll tear you apart piece by piece!”  

As I fell toward the ground, I could sense the Demon King’s massive mana chasing after me.  

The plan had worked—I’d lured him out.  

Now, all that remained was to buy time, to survive until the mages dismantled the magic circle.  

‘Hang in there.’  

Catching a glimpse of a figure in the hotel window, I plummeted toward the earth.