The Indomitable Martial King

In the heart of Dungeon Kelte, located south of the Settelad Mountains, a demon was howling in agony.

“Graaaah!”

The demon had the upper body of a toad-like humanoid and the lower body of a lizard, moving on all fours. With a height over three meters at the shoulders, it was a massive creature. The demon swung a gigantic halberd with its long arms, sweeping the ground deeply.

Whoosh!

Boom!

The halberd, with a shaft length of five meters, seemed more suitable as a structural support beam than a weapon. Its blade tore through the ground, causing successive explosions. Amidst the billowing dust, two shadows swiftly emerged.

“This is the weak point! It’s our chance, Tassid!”

A human youth, holding a long sword glowing with a blue light, charged at the demon, shouting.

“Got it, Russ! I’ll take the left side!”

An orc youth, wielding a large sword, responded quickly, circling to the opposite side. The demon, glaring at the two men advancing from both sides, roared in fury once more.

“Kryuk! Tarov Marbizad Ruzari!”

In demonic tongue, it meant ‘You damn little things!’ Despite its rage, the demon couldn’t swiftly retrieve its halberd to counterattack. The powerful strike just executed required time to recover. Before it could reclaim its swung halberd, these ‘little things’ had already closed in from both sides, launching their attacks.

“Take this!”

“Go! Dakar!”

A blue-bladed aura deeply cut into the demon’s right arm. The thick orc sword sliced through the air, embedding itself in the demon’s left shoulder before withdrawing on its own. Blue blood spurted from both sides. Screaming in pain, the demon wildly swung its halberd in all directions.

“Arghhh!”

However, despite its formidable attack range, the demon’s assault merely grazed the empty air in vain. Before the demon could even return to its attacking stance, these small intruders had already moved out of range.

In his rage, the demon twisted his vicious face into a grimace.

‘What on earth are these creatures!’

He was a being of the highest rank among demons, along with Amon Knight and Grelbeast. Although he was bound by the power of the ruins to act as a guardian, he possessed immense power far beyond that of these small beings.

Yet, that small human and orc were handling him with such ease!

“Alright, the first attack is over, Russ!”

“Next attack, Seven Shredder!”

The human jumped back and swung his sword in the air. Seven blue flashes formed into crescents and struck at Amon Knight from a distance. Although he swung his halberd to deflect the attacks, cracks appeared on the halberd with each strike.

Next, the orc swiftly advanced, wielding a demonic blade, and dove into Amon Knight’s reach. The timing of his swing left no chance for a counterattack. The orc extended the demonic blade precisely.

Thud!

The upper body of the Amon Beast was deeply slashed, spilling blood once more. The orc quickly distanced himself, letting out a wild laugh.

“Hahaha!”

It was a laugh full of satisfaction. The Amon Beast, wounded once again, trembled with humiliation.

“Grrr!”

He wanted to throw away his halberd and fight these creatures bare-handed. The halberd was too large to effectively combat such fast and small opponents.

But Amon Knight could not let go of the halberd. The chains of magical power that bound his entire body and limbs would never allow it.

Instead, Amon Knight opened his vicious mouth wide, attempting his next attack.

“Depil Crad Lenkata!”

A blazing storm of phantom flames, the strongest dark magic possessed by Amon Knight, erupted within the cavity. The black flames of darkness, which burned everything, spread out in a fan shape, covering a distance of over 30 meters ahead. Normally, no matter how quick their movements, they wouldn’t be able to escape the range of these flames. But once again, the human and orc evaded the attack with ease.

“Ah, as expected, it’s coming.”

“The range is precise too.”

The reason was simple. Those small beings had been waiting outside the range of his attacks from the very beginning, long before the Amon Knight had started preparing his dark magic.

‘How on earth do they know my attack patterns in advance!’

He felt like he was about to explode with anger. If the Amon Knight had complete freedom of movement, would he have foolishly cast a spell on a spot where the enemy had already evaded? However, he was bound to the ruins and couldn’t escape the combat protocols imposed by them.

The highest-ranking demons bound to the ruins, known as the guardians of the dungeon, never fought by their own will. They were puppets, forced to fight as directed by the ruins, with all their movements sealed. The Amon Knight’s actions in combat were entirely devoid of his own will.

“Let’s go, Russ!”

“Alright, Tassid!”

An orc and a young human man attacked once again. The Amon Knight fought back valiantly, but there was no way to deal with opponents who knew his attack patterns so well. Wounds kept increasing all over his body.

“Damn it, if you’re going to make me fight this stupid battle, at least give me some autonomy!”

The Amon Knight shouted in frustration, but the malfunctioning defense system of the ruins wouldn’t hear him. After all, if he had autonomy, he would have broken the control mechanisms of the ruins and escaped in the first place, so in a way, the system was working as intended.

Moreover, there was something else that infuriated him even more.

“Wow, they fight well together, don’t they, Mr. Repen?”

“They’ve memorized the strategy. It would be idiotic to get hit. Right, Sillan?”

“Oh my, Lord Repenhardt. This also seems to be quite a powerful artifact.”

“Yeah, can you put that in the infinite pouch too, Siris?”

A little away from the battle, under the communal wall, a muscular man with a bare upper body was walking around with two beautiful girls(?). The Amon Knight trembled with anger inside.

‘While the rest of us are fighting for our lives, don’t just go around collecting items!’

The number of explorers who had invaded the heart of Dungeon Kelte was five in total, but only two of them were actually dealing with the Amon Knight. The rest were ignoring the Amon Knight entirely, busy looting the artifacts from the start. There was no greater humiliation.

How could a demon among demons endure such disgrace?

“Grrrrr!”

As the Amon Knight’s hostility burned, the ruins’ combat protocols recognized those other explorers as enemies as well. Given the attack order, the Amon Knight twisted his head and spewed flames.

Craaaaack!

A roar reverberated as the spear of fire extended. Predictably, the muscular man shielded the other beauties and blocked the attack.

“Spiral Guard!”

A dazzling light spun and shattered the spear of fire. Despite his attack being nullified, the Amon Knight was not surprised at all. This wasn’t the first time he’d attacked those who were slacking off. And the result was always the same.

‘What on earth is that guy? He doesn’t care about being attacked at all.’

Seeing them return to examining the artifacts as if nothing had happened made him feel like he was about to collapse from frustration. However, the ruins’ combat protocols continued to issue commands regardless of the Amon Knight’s rising blood pressure.

-Repel the intruders!

Following the ruins’ command, the Amon Knight launched another attack and then resumed facing the sword-wielding human and the orc. It was a one-sided beating, and his wounds kept increasing, but the ruins used magic to heal the Amon Knight’s injuries each time.

‘This is really good practice.’

Dodging the Amon Knight’s halberd, Russ inwardly clicked his tongue. Even though he knew all the attack patterns, the demon’s destructive power and speed were truly terrifying. It felt like he was sparring with a formidable opponent.

“Wow! That was indeed a powerful strike! Letting your guard down would be disastrous.”

It seemed that Tassid was feeling the same way, earnestly engaging in the battle. Given that they knew the entire strategy, there was no real danger of dying. Having a sparring partner who earnestly released their killing intent in a planned duel was an excellent way to improve their skills.

‘But how does he know all this?’

Russ, who had explored many dungeons, couldn’t help but be amazed by Repenhardt’s knowledge every time they went on an expedition. Repenhardt proceeded as if he knew everything, telling them exactly where monsters would appear and where traps were located, and his information had never been wrong.

The same was true for Dungeon Kelte. It had taken Repenhardt’s party only half a day to reach the heart of Kelte. Considering that it usually took at least two weeks to explore a single dungeon, this speed was truly astounding.

‘I heard he got the information from his master, the Fist Emperor Gerard….’

Since the emergence of the new Fist King Repenhardt, people had been calling the previous Fist King, Gerard, the Fist Emperor. This title had become a tradition ever since Gym Unbreakable had appeared on the continent.

In the future, when Repenhardt taught a disciple and sent them out into the world, Repenhardt would be called the Fist Emperor, and his disciple would be known as the Fist King. One might think that if Gerard were still alive at that time, the titles could get confusing, but there had never been an era where three generations of Gym Unbreakable coexisted. It was a miracle that the teachings had continued as they had.

‘…Even though Sir Gerard was a master of dungeon exploration, this seems a bit excessive, doesn’t it?’

Russ glanced at Repenhardt with a hint of suspicion. Anyone with common sense would be suspicious by now. However, he soon shook his head.

‘Well, everyone has at least one or two secrets they want to keep hidden.’

Russ let go of his suspicion. He had received too much from Repenhardt to doubt him.

‘Someday, Brother will tell me everything.’

Repenhardt was still engrossed in artifact appraisal with Siris and Sillan. With Tilla absent, Repenhardt’s group now consisted of Siris, Sillan, Russ, and Tassid.

Repenhardt, who was diligently examining artifacts, turned around and shouted.

“Russ! Tassid! It’s about time! It’s going to shift to Phase 2! Get ready!”

Indeed, soon after, a complex ancient voice echoed throughout the ruins’ chamber.

Heppin Raltar Filoda. Ren Tu Bide Phase Taron.

-Current defense system is unsustainable. Transitioning to Phase 2.

The Amon Knight looked at the large human in astonishment. How could a man who had just arrived today know so much about this place, even things unknown to him, who was bound here?

‘No, that’s not the problem right now!’

The Amon Knight’s black eyes gleamed. As the voice resounded, the magical chains that had bound him were released. He was now free to move!

“Hahahahahat!”

The Amon Knight began charging fiercely, swinging his halberd. Although he was still a puppet of the ruins, his range of motion was significantly greater than when he was bound by chains. He would slaughter these arrogant humans right here and now!