Surviving as a Barbarian in a Fantasy World

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Chapter 334: The Sword Demon Caliste (2)

Caliste swiftly raised his sword.

The axe blade and sword collided.

At that moment, Caliste realized—

The axe was incredibly heavy and powerful.

The sword wouldn’t withstand it; it would shatter.

So, he let it slide.

Ka-kak.

He relaxed his arm and pulled the sword back.

The axe blade grazed the sword and sliced through empty air.

Caliste swung the sword to target the neck.

“Hu-cha!”

Ketal tilted his head to evade.

He lifted the axe that had struck downwards and slashed upward.

Caliste did not retreat.

Instead, he stepped forward, twisting his body.

Boom!

The axe blade futilely carved through the air.

In an instant, Caliste dodged and closed the distance, stabbing toward Ketal’s heart.

Stop.

At that moment, the upward-slashing axe halted.

It shifted at a right angle, the handle targeting Caliste\'s head.

Even if Ketal’s heart was pierced, Caliste\'s skull would be shattered.

Thus, Caliste also shifted the trajectory of his thrust.

He tilted the sword to defend against the axe handle.

Clang!

Caliste’s body was pushed backwards.

He quickly straightened his sword and lowered his stance.

“Oho!”

Ketal exclaimed in admiration.

“Your skill is truly exceptional!”

Caliste\'s movements did not rely on powers or dark magic.

That was pure swordsmanship—

A miraculous swordsmanship capable of countering Ketal’s attacks.

“So this is the Demon of the Sword.”

Ketal was genuinely surprised, and so was Caliste.

“…Your movements are impressive.”

“Otherwise, you can’t survive in there.”

Ketal smiled faintly.

Caliste narrowed his eyes and glanced at the Tower Master and Helia.

‘Can I kill them?’

Could he dodge Ketal’s attacks and still ensure the deaths of those two?

The answer came immediately—impossible.

With Ketal here, the objective of killing them could not be achieved.

Caliste’s fighting spirit waned.

Ketal spoke without breaking eye contact.

“Is your body holding up?”

[I’ve lost limbs, but it’s nothing I can’t recover from.]

“I’m fine. …You are truly strong.”

Helia groaned softly.

She had never witnessed Ketal’s strength with her own eyes before.

She knew he was strong but had never fully realized it.

Now that she had seen his power, she could only be shocked.

One of the Four Lords of Hell—he was overpowering Caliste.

His strength was on an entirely different level than hers.

‘At this level…’

Could even the Sun God reach him?

The Saint of the Gods harbored a seed of doubt.

“…Ketal. One of Hell’s enemies. And the one who killed Necronovix.”

“He was your ally, wasn’t he? Do you resent me?”

“Hardly. I’m not foolish enough to resent someone for killing during an invasion. How did he die?”

“I think he died somewhat content.”

“That’s a relief, then.”

Caliste’s calm eyes focused on Ketal.

“There’s the Monstrosity inside you, isn’t there?”

[Don’t talk to me, child.]

The Abomination muttered irritably.

[Who are you? You’re not in my memory.]

“I was a weak demon during the war with the oldest ones. Of course, you wouldn’t know me.”

With that, Caliste suddenly stepped forward.

In an instant, he closed the gap and thrust his sword.

Ketal smiled, moving his axe.

The axe and sword collided, arms and legs restricting each other’s movements.

Hundreds of exchanges occurred within a single second, and Caliste’s body slid backward.

“…Unexpected. I thought you relied on the power of the Monstrosity, but you’re a remarkable warrior.”

To the point where he could stand against Ketal.

He wanted to fight.

A heat kindled in Caliste’s eyes.

He wanted to clash weapons with Ketal.

He wanted to fight to the death.

He wanted to prove that the swordsmanship he had honed was the strongest.

But Caliste suppressed that desire.

“Unfortunately, I am a Lord of Hell. I cannot move according to my own desires.”

He had to act for the sake of his plan.

Caliste snapped his fingers.

At the same time, the ground opened up.

“Oho?”

[This is!]

The Tower Master hurriedly looked down.

A deep, bottomless abyss, a hole with no visible end, had opened.

Their bodies began to fall into the abyss.

Ketal muttered with interest.

“A trap, is it?”

[Kraaah!]

[Kieeek!]

Monstrous, grotesque creatures swarmed up from the hole.

They were beasts—tens of thousands of demonic beasts filled the space.

[Chain Lightning.]

“Flames of Kallioros!”

Lightning and flames erupted, incinerating the creatures to dust in an instant.

Tens of thousands of demonic beasts were obliterated.

But more creatures surged toward them, covering the hole entirely.

“Is it your goal to smash us into the bottom? That won’t happen.”

Realizing the enemy’s intent, Ketal clenched his fist.

Mystery gathered within it.

“Open the way.”

With a short command, his fist struck downward.

Boom!

The bottom of the abyss dented deeply.

The air compressed into a vacuum under the force of the blow.

An explosion of power sent their bodies soaring upward.

The Tower Master and Helia quickly swept away the beasts blocking their path.

Crash!

They emerged from the abyss.

But there was no time to catch their breath.

Bombardment rained down on them as if it had been waiting.

[Shield of the Otherworld!]

“Shield of Hephaestus!”

Rumble!

Their defenses overlapped.

The defenses of two top-tier heroes.

Normally, nothing could scratch such a defense.

But—

Crack, crack.

Cracks spread rapidly across the shield.

Helia’s expression stiffened.

The quality of the attack was extraordinary.

No—its quality wasn’t the biggest problem.

The sheer quantity was.

The attacks filled the sky.

[Are dozens of high-ranked demons attacking simultaneously?!]

Crack, crack, crack!

The shield shattered under the pressure.

They quickly erected new defenses, but even those began to crack. Bombardment rained down from the sky while beasts and demons swarmed from the ground.

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Their numbers filled the entire field of vision.

Meanwhile, Caliste stood far away.

A high-ranked demon approached him, bowing respectfully.

“You have done well, Lord Caliste.”

“I’m sorry. I should have killed the other two while you held him off, but I failed.”

“No. Just holding him off until the trap was ready is enough. Leave the rest to us.”

“…I want to fight myself.”

“Please endure. Your strength is needed when the gods begin to intervene.”

“…How unfortunate. Very well.”Nôv(el)B\\\\jnn

Boom!

Power exploded.

Beasts and demons pounded against the defense, breaking it piece by piece.

[Kaaah…]

Crunch.

The head of a beast charging forward was sliced clean off by Ketal’s axe.

“There are so many!”

The sky and the earth, every direction within view, were filled with beasts and demons.

“It’s a wonder they haven’t shown themselves until now!”

“…It was a trap from the start.”

Helia bit her lip.

Hell had collided with the surface, and yet the demons did not move.

Nor did a response come from the heavens.

That meant someone from the surface would inevitably come to investigate Hell.

And since no one knew what awaited them, the strongest of the surface would likely be sent.

Ketal was naturally among them.

The plan was to let them venture deep enough into Hell—so far that they could not easily return—and lure them with the bait of a god’s corpse.

Then, while the most troublesome one, Ketal, was held off by demons, Caliste would slay the surface champions.

Left alone, Ketal would eventually be overwhelmed by the demons.

That was the demons’ goal.

“We’ve been caught good and proper.”

Ketal muttered cheerfully.

Kaah-aang!

“Ha! Ha! Ha!”

A voice resounded.

A demon with twisted horns smashed down violently with a double-edged axe.

The Tower Master gritted his teeth.

[The Demon of Ferocity. Mevaus!]

“Good to see you again, Tower Master! It’s been three hundred years!”

Crunch!

The Tower Master’s defense, struck by the double-edged axe, shattered instantly.

The demon brought the axe down toward the Tower Master’s head.

The Tower Master snapped his fingers.

[Crimson Beam.]

Kiiiiiing!

A beam pierced through the demon.

Mevaus twisted his body hurriedly, but his shoulder was skewered.

“Grrk!”

Mevaus groaned as he staggered back.

The Tower Master prepared to unleash magic to finish him off.

“I won’t let you do that!”

Another demon charged at the Tower Master.

Annoyed, he leaned back, dodging it.

[The Demon of Enchantment. Shevios!]

“Ahahaha! Tower Master! This time, I’ll make you mine!”

The Tower Master chanted a spell to repel Shevios.

But in that opening, yet another demon lunged.

The Tower Master shouted irritably.

[There’s no end to this!]

And it wasn’t just the Tower Master.

The others faced a similar struggle.

Ketal was shredding through anything that came at him, but there was no end in sight.

“…Wait a minute.”

Helia groaned.

The sheer numbers were staggering.

Over ten demons of rank had shown themselves, and there were hundreds of named demons.

As for the demonic beasts—there were simply too many to count.

It was an army that could fill all of Hell itself.

“You are strong.”

From afar, Caliste muttered.

“Even without Ketal, the Tower Master and Helia alone are enough to face anything in Hell short of the Lords. But what is targeting you now isn’t individual demons.”

It was Hell itself.

Every entity that existed in Hell was swarming to kill them.

“Power is finite, after all.”

Ketal was undoubtedly strong.

That monstrous strength could even kill the Lords of Hell.

But ultimately, he was mortal.

If he didn’t replenish his nutrients, his strength would wane.

If he fought for too long, his muscles would fatigue.

If he didn’t sleep, his mind would slow.

“There’s no need to fight such a beast head-on.”

Herding him, exhausting him—that was the answer.

“As much as I want to fight you at your peak… I can’t let my personal desires take precedence. Disappear before Hell.”

Kwoooom!

“Ghh!”

Helia was pushed back.

The individual demons were no match for her, but their numbers were overwhelming.

Her divine power, once limitless, was slowly being depleted.

The same went for the Tower Master.

His mana was nearly infinite—during his fight with Necronovix, he had never once come close to running out.

But against enemies of this number, and with so many demons of rank, he truly risked reaching his limit.

It was a crisis.

The Tower Master and Helia’s expressions hardened.

Helia glanced hurriedly at Ketal.

“…You?”

She froze when she saw him.

Because his expression was absurdly relaxed.

“Y-you…”

“What is it?”

“…The situation isn’t good. Do you have some kind of plan?”

“No. Not really. It’s a crisis.”

“T-then…”

Then why was he so calm?

Her face said it all, and Ketal answered leisurely.

“We knew there would be a trap from the start. You must have known that too.”

“…That’s true, but…”

“So why panic?”

Hell had not moved.

After smashing itself into the surface, it had remained silent, clearly plotting something.

Thus, it wasn’t difficult to predict that demons would ambush them here.

Ketal had come despite knowing this would happen.

The reason was simple.

Because it didn’t matter.

No, in fact, it was exactly what he wanted.

“Though I didn’t expect all of Hell to come after us. Well, no matter.”

Ketal bared his teeth.

In fact, he was enjoying it.

That Hell was after him—it was exhilarating.

When else would he get to experience something like this?

An unrestrained wave of emotion burst out, sweeping the surroundings.

The demonic beasts that had been charging forward hesitated momentarily.

The demons’ expressions hardened.

“Let’s have some fun, demons!”

Ketal burst into roaring laughter and stepped forward.

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