Shouting Duel at the Center of a Dead Game

Paimon couldn't understand. It was already the seventh time.

"Die!"

He swung his fist with all his might. There wasn't an inch of error in the trajectory of the fist flying towards the damned architect, AoDaiAshichi.

However,

─Thud.

What the fist hit while making a heavy noise was the floor. The targeted architect had once again deviated from the trajectory of the fist by a very small difference.

Paimon immediately spread his fist and tried to crush the architect with his palm, but the architect passed between his fingers like a fly.

And he swung the hoe towards his fingers.

─Tick.

The sensation like a mosquito bite was merely unpleasant. Paimon raised his remaining hand and tried to strike the architect, but.

─Crash.

Because of the architect who had evaded again, he ended up striking his own hand with his fist.

"Kuek."

This time, he felt a fairly heavy pain. Paimon withdrew both hands and glared at the architect. The architect, who had already stepped back a lot, was leaning against the wall and daring to glare at him.

'What on earth is going on?'

A fundamental question arose in Paimon's mind.

It has been 10 years since he was defeated by Deia's apostle and trapped here, since then Paimon has seen countless summoners. From the simpletons who trembled at even small monsters and gave up, to the ones who were interesting in their own way.

And there was one commonality among all those mortals.

That they were all at the amateur level.

They didn't have time to get stronger, and they didn't have time to get used to this world. The sight of those greenhorns moving desperately was always funny.

But the mortal in front of Paimon now is different.

"Just what are you……!"

No matter how heavy the shackles on his limbs were, no matter how much his powers were suppressed by Deia, no matter how far his current physical condition was from normal.

There is a difference in class.

But that mortal was evading his attacks by a paper-thin difference. As if he had seen the future, and as if he knew everything about Paimon himself.

'……Architect, is that mortal really seeing the future?'

Paimon shook his head violently.

'That can't be. That is something that even the greatest demon god cannot do.'

Paimon barely regained his composure. But even so, there was something he couldn't understand.

'Why are you not afraid?'

Paimon's eyes read the fluctuations of emotions. The tremors of the soul are seen as colors and tremors in his eyes.

But in the mortal in front of him, there were no tremors at all.

As if this was natural.

***

I leaned my back against the wall, calmly catching my breath, and thought.

'Wow, I'm really gonna die.'

The ground was dug deep like a bomb had exploded in the place I had just dodged. And the brick in the center was crushed into fine powder.

'If I get hit even once, I'll die for sure.'

Duel, and the goddess's blessing.

I chose agility, and to put it simply, it was noticeably faster.

The problem is that even then, it's slower than Paimon.

The speed increased by the goddess's blessing was 'enough to barely evade the attack' when 'predicting and moving in advance'.

In other words, every time Paimon attacked, I was gambling with my life. It was a gamble that would have been impossible without knowing Paimon's patterns in advance.

However, even then, there was something strange.

'Strangely, I'm not trembling.'

Unlike the rational warnings shouted by the head, there were no emotional fluctuations and the heart was beating regularly.

It was as if a mental barrier had been erected in my head, and thanks to that, I was able to continue making calm judgments and movements.

But unlike that calmness, there was one big problem.

'The damage isn't going in at all.'

In the game, Paimon, who has activated the struggle pattern, has low health but high defense.

Whether it's the same here, I couldn't pierce the thick leather with a simple hoe strike.

I'm inducing Paimon to attack himself, but I can't expect Paimon to self-destruct with this.

Hoping for such luck is not a strategy.

'Then…….'

I carefully looked around, putting everything into my eyes without missing a single thing.

'The collapsed bricks, the bent iron bars, the wreckage of the monsters I caught, the weapons that fell on the floor…….'

Since I don't know what will save me, I put everything into my head without missing anything. How to beat this opponent in this space, in this situation.

'Wait.'

The prison where Paimon was trapped, the iron chain on the wall was visible. The blue electricity was still crackling on the iron chain that was broken when Paimon broke out.

'If that's the case…….'

The experience in the game, and the branches of thought that are not limited to it, spread out, and one path came to mind.

'I can do it. No, let's do it.'

I put strength into the hand holding the hoe.

***

"Khaaaaaap!"

Paimon screamed and slammed his head into the ground. The horns that were bent forward covered Han Hae-il.

─Crash, crash!

The floor, which was made of bricks, was as if a huge explosion had occurred every time the horns collided. And fragments scattered in all directions, some of which covered Han Hae-il.

"Haap!"

Paimon frowned. Again, a strange thing happened in Han Hae-il's hands. The heavy and sharp fragments that were flying were deflected along the grain of the hoe in his hand.

It was an application of 'weapon parrying', but Paimon didn't know that. He was just unhappy with Han Hae-il, who was stubbornly rampaging.

'But.'

A bitter sneer appeared on Paimon's lips.

'It's slowly becoming familiar.'

Deia's architect, skills that are not like a mortal.

No matter what kind of modifier you attach, the essence doesn't change. He is just a greenhorn who has just been summoned.

He had grasped how much speed he was dodging and evading by throwing his body around, and he thought he knew what he had.

"Try to escape as much as you want!"

Paimon swung his head towards Han Hae-il, who was dodging and escaping like a loach again.

─Crash, crash, crash.

Paimon's great power was fully concentrated on the horns that were violently and relentlessly striking down. Han Hae-il's feet were slowed down a little by the vibrations that echoed throughout the floor, and there were wounds on his body caused by fragments that he couldn't deflect.

'Yeah, this is the answer.'

Paimon thought so.

No matter how much he swings his fist with shackles attached, and no matter how much he strikes down with his palm, Han Hae-il only barely evades.

So Paimon decided to eliminate the space for the enemy to move. But since he had already summoned even the Elder Slime, he couldn't summon monsters against Han Hae-il. That is the 'restriction' that Deia had placed.

'But if I destroy all the floors, what can he do?'

If it is on a shattered ground, no matter how cunningly he moves like a fly, he will not be able to avoid the attack.

Paimon made that judgment and began to break the floor with his horns.

And that thought was somewhat correct. The space for Han Hae-il to move was gradually shrinking.

At that time, a change occurred.

Han Hae-il turned around and started running with all his might.

"Ha, did you think you could run away!"

Paimon naturally thought that Han Hae-il was running away to the door, so he threw a large fragment towards the door.

─Crash.

Han Hae-il's destination was not there.

"Huh?"

Paimon was dumbfounded when he saw where Han Hae-il was heading.

Han Hae-il had reached near the shelf full of weapons. The weapons were scattered here and there on the floor due to the heavy vibrations, but Han Hae-il quickly picked up the fallen weapons.

Paimon chuckled as he looked at the weapons Han Hae-il was holding in his arms.

"Spear, long sword, arrow…… Do you think those things will even pierce my body?"

Paimon shook his head greatly once and shouted.

"Do you think those things can harm this Paimon! Deia's architect, what a fatal misjudgment!"

And Paimon grabbed the wall. His sharp fingernails dug into the wall as if it was clay.

─Crack.

Paimon threw the pile of stones he had dug out of the wall towards Han Hae-il. At the moment when his vision was obscured by the earth spreading with dozens and hundreds of small debris.

Han Hae-il glared at the approaching debris and threw the spear he was holding in his arms.

─Clang.

The spear hit the side of a large rock and changed its trajectory. Han Hae-il was able to pull his body out through the small gap that was created by the change.

But.

"How far do you think you can evade!"

Paimon continued to dig into the wall and dig into the floor and throw it at Han Hae-il.

─Clang, clang, clang…….

Han Hae-il ran around, wielding weapons, and sometimes throwing them to deflect the attacks. While doing so, the weapons in his arms naturally revealed the bottom, and the space to move on the ruined floor also shrunk.

"Ha."

Paimon smirked as he looked at Han Hae-il, who was finally cornered. Han Hae-il was cornered to the wall of the prison that Paimon himself had torn down while running out.

Paimon knew that although he could see the fighting spirit in the eyes glaring at him while panting, it was a difference that could not be overcome with fighting spirit alone.

"In the end, you're just a mortal who's a bit bothersome."

Instead of answering, Han Hae-il raised the weapon he was holding in his right hand. It was none other than a thin and long spear.

"Even if it's not that pathetic hoe, it won't change anything. Accept death."

Paimon said that, but.

"First, one."

Han Hae-il's mouth opened.

"You talk too much."

And Han Hae-il threw the spear with all his might.

─Swoosh.

The spear didn't reach Paimon and fell at his feet. Paimon was about to open his mouth to ridicule him when, at that moment, a change occurred.

─Crackle.

Paimon looked at the place where the ominous sound was heard. He could see the blue lightning flowing through the shackles he had broken out on the floor of the prison. And…….

'That is?'

He could see the lengths of the weapons that were connected to those shackles with a slight gap. Spear, sword, long sword, bow……, the metal weapons were creating a path through the walls and the floor, and at the end of it was the spear he had just thrown.

─Buzzzz.

The blue lightning that stretched along the metal path spread through Paimon's feet to his entire body.

─Zzzz.

"Kueeeeueueuek!"

Paimon felt a terrible burning pain that was burning his whole body. The weapons couldn't withstand the intense lightning and exploded in an instant, but in that gap, Paimon's body lost its balance for a moment.

At that time, Han Hae-il threw something towards Paimon's feet.

─Splat.

It was a lump of mucus from the Elder Slime's core. Paimon, who lost his balance due to the heavy shackles and momentarily paralyzed body, slipped and leaned forward for a moment.

And.

─Clang.

With a heavy noise, he was caught in the bent iron bars on his neck. Then the lightning that was flowing through the iron bars swept through Paimon's body again.

"Kueeuek!"

Paimon tried to break the bottom of the iron bars with trembling hands, but perhaps because of the overused body and allowing the intense current twice, he couldn't put any strength into it.

'Could it be, am I trapped? This Paimon?'

The lightning connected by the scattered weapons, the mucus of the Elder Slime that slipped, the bent iron bars in the place where he fell.

'Did he…… calculate this?'

Paimon's instinct shouted danger. He tried to struggle desperately, but his body didn't listen to him as if the senses of his limbs had been shaken.

At that time, Paimon felt Han Hae-il climbing behind his head.

"Mor…… tal, how dare you……."

"And two."

Han Hae-il took out the hoe from his arms. And he began to strike the place where Paimon's skull and spine met.

─Thwack, thwack.

Han Hae-il struck the same place without any error and said.

"There's no tree that doesn't fall after ten chops."

"St…… op……!"

Paimon felt the blunt hoe slowly digging into his skin. The feeling of slowly crumbling, as if an ant was gnawing on a hard walnut.

─Thwack, thwack, Splat.

When the touch changed, he heard Han Hae-il speaking.

"Ah, and three. You lost to a level 1. You should be ashamed."

And a sharp pain that something was digging into the back of his neck continued. That was the last thing Paimon remembered.

***

─Splat.

When I pulled out the hoe covered in black blood, I felt the heartbeat that was felt in Paimon's body subsiding.

"Wow, seriously……."

Those were the only words that came out of my exhausted mouth.

Relief, fatigue, and pride washed over me at the same time.

At that moment, a phrase appeared in front of me.

[You have won the duel.]

[You have defeated the demon of violence, Paimon. He will be resurrected someday, but it is still a great achievement.]

[You have acquired experience.]

[Your level has increased.]

[Your level has increased.]

[Your level has increased.]

…….

[Your level has increased.]

And at the end of that, another phrase also popped up.

[Duel victory, acquired rewards.]