Chapter 150: The Story of the Princess Escaping the Demon King’s Castle to Save the Hero (6)
Just a few meters away from the target suspension bridge.
Zzzip-!
Yuri felt his hair stand on end.
It was a warning sent by his instincts.
This was the same warning that had saved Yuri’s life countless times, and so his body responded immediately, saving him once again from danger.
Whoosh-.
Something fell diagonally above Yuri’s head with a rough sound cutting through the air.
Boom-!
With a tremendous explosion, a large cloud of dust billowed up directly in front of Yuri.
As the wind blew, the dust quickly cleared, revealing a sight that caused Yuri’s face to stiffen.
“A sword?”
What had fallen in front of Yuri was none other than a sword.
It was the sword that had been resting against the Demon King’s chair.
Retracing the path of the flying sword, Yuri couldn’t help but click his tongue.
“Wow, that’s just… reckless.”
The top of the castle.
The Demon King was throwing himself from there.
That absurdly reckless Demon King was diving at him from such a great height with nothing but his bare body.
Of course, Yuri himself had jumped down from the same place…
‘But I used the Cloud Step to soften my fall.’
Yuri had the Cloud Step technique, and he had carefully descended by using the walls as much as possible.
But the Demon King had simply thrown himself down without any of that.
No matter how advanced one’s mastery of body techniques might be, falling from that height without any form of defense would not result in a minor impact.
‘Well, if it ends up hurting him, that’s good for me.’
If the Demon King was injured by that, it would be a beneficial situation for Yuri.
However, this was Yuri’s hasty judgment.
Crunch-.
The Demon King, who had thrown himself out of the window, dug his hand into the castle wall.
Crack-.
With his arm embedded almost as deep as his elbow, the castle wall crumbled like a cookie, and the Demon King’s descent gradually slowed.
“…?!”
Yuri’s eyes widened in shock.
But that was not the only thing that startled him.
With one hand embedded in the wall, the Demon King started ripping pieces of the castle wall with the other hand and flinging them at Yuri.
Whoosh-!
Boom! Boom!
The Demon King tore off chunks of the wall at a speed so fast that his hands were almost invisible.
Each time a stone, as large as a human head, flew towards Yuri, powerful impacts erupted around him, raising clouds of dust.
‘This crazy…?!’
Yuri, who was about to run across the suspension bridge to escape, found himself stuck in place due to the sudden bombardment of stones.
While Yuri was busy dodging the incoming stones.
Crack-.
The Demon King, who had descended about halfway down the castle, slowly came to a stop.
He pulled his hand out of the wall, then kicked off the wall with both legs.
Then—
Creak—-!
Centered where his legs had struck, a giant circular crack formed on the castle wall.
Boom!
As if an earthquake had struck, the castle wall shattered, and the Demon King’s body shot forward diagonally.
Whoosh-.
The Demon King, shooting at an incredible speed, passed right over Yuri’s head.
Flying at tremendous speed, the Demon King reached out and grabbed the sword he had first thrown, which was stuck in the ground.
Screech-.
The sword, embedded in the ground, left a long trail as it slid, and the Demon King, while flying, twisted his body using the sword.
Soon, his two feet touched the ground.
Crouched low, he skidded backward along with the sword, reducing his speed.
Because of this, three grooves were dug into the ground.
One from the trail left by the sword, and two from the Demon King’s legs.
Those three tracks led directly to the front of the suspension bridge.
Crack-.
Seeing the Demon King rise precisely in front of the suspension bridge, Yuri froze.
“Ha… this feels a bit like cheating…”
Such movements, reflexes.
And that powerful physique and aura.
Yuri was certain.
The Demon King before him was at least a recognized 5th tier expert.
‘Not quite on the level of Greta Wigun, but he might even be a 6th tier.’
Though it was difficult to gauge the exact level of the opponent, one thing was clear: Yuri, as he was now, could not win against him.
And that powerful being was blocking the only escape route, the suspension bridge.
Yuri grumbled at him.
“Is it really okay for the Demon King to leave his castle like that?”
“…It is.”
“Come on, there are supposed to be rules, aren’t there?”
“You’re the one who broke those rules.”
The Demon King’s expression remained calm, his eyes cold.
He raised his sword and pointed it at Yuri.
“Return the Force Crystal to its place.”
“Why?”
“That’s a reward to be given in this quest. It’s not something for you to take.”
“So, why?”
“Didn’t you hear me?”
“I heard you, that’s why I’m asking. Is there a rule that says the princess can’t escape from the Demon King’s castle in this quest?”
“……”
“Or, is there a rule that says the princess can’t steal the Demon King’s treasure and run away?”
“……”
“It’s a ‘Rescue the Princess’ quest, so as long as the princess makes it back home alive, isn’t that all that matters? Isn’t it? Does the princess really have to wait for the hero?”
“…Nonsense.”
“Wow, this Demon King doesn’t know anything. Not all people are the same; some princesses are weak, others are strong. Some prefer finding their own way to survive rather than waiting to be rescued by others.”
“……”
“Of course, some princesses have sticky fingers, too.”
With that, Yuri clutched the Force Crystal tightly.
Yuri’s argument was, without a doubt, nonsense.
However, the Demon King couldn’t outright deny it because, in truth, there were no such rules in this quest.
It was nonsense, but it wasn’t wrong.
Therefore, the only thing the Demon King could do was take one action.
“If you won’t return it yourself… I will take it back.”
He would simply restore the rule that was broken by force.
Wooosh-.
A fierce aura erupted from the Demon King’s body, his red hair fluttering wildly in the turbulent air.
Sensing the ominous energy emanating from the Demon King, Yuri carefully measured the distance.
No matter how much he racked his brain, he couldn’t envision himself breaking past the Demon King and reaching the suspension bridge.
At this rate, it seemed inevitable that he would have to hand over the Force Crystal to the Demon King.
Even so, Yuri remained calm.
“Do you know something?”
“……”
“I never hand over what’s in my hands once I’ve got it.”
With those words and a sly grin, Yuri started to run.
But his direction was completely unexpected.
“……?!”
Even the Demon King, who had maintained a stoic expression until now, couldn’t help but widen his eyes at Yuri’s sudden move.
Tap-tap-.
Yuri wasn’t running toward the suspension bridge.
Nor was he fleeing backward to escape.
And he wasn’t heading back to the castle either; he was running toward the cliff’s edge.
Tap-tap-tap-.
Yuri, running swiftly, slightly bent his body to pick up a few stones from the ground.
Then—
Zap-!
As Yuri’s speed gradually increased, lightning flashed through his form.
Bang!
With a burst of sound, Yuri disappeared.
The place where he reappeared was none other than the empty space between the cliffs, suspended in mid-air.
In this dizzying situation, he would fall straight down if he didn’t do something.
At that moment, Yuri threw one of the stones he had picked up.
At the same time, he activated the Cloud Step at full power, stepping on the stone and propelling himself forward.
Tap-.
This was the moment when the secret behind Yuri’s record-breaking performance in the Mechanism Breakthrough Quest was revealed to the world.
‘You don’t have to cross the entire cliff.’
He only needed to land on the suspension bridge halfway.
Yuri stepped on the second stone and propelled himself forward again.
In an instant, he flew about 10 meters.
But his expression was tense.
‘This is… cutting it close.’
His Cloud Step skills had only improved since the Mechanism Breakthrough Quest, not declined.
However, the distance he covered while stepping on the stones was shorter than during the quest.
The reason was due to the surrounding environment.
‘The wind is too strong.’
The Mechanism Breakthrough Quest had virtually no wind, but here, strong gusts were blowing.
The fierce wind shook Yuri’s body violently, and the strong resistance shortened his jump distance.
Whoosh-.
‘I can’t afford to run out of stones.’
Gritting his teeth, Yuri continued to leap forward.
At that moment, something happened that made him even more uneasy.
“Stop!”
The Demon King, who had been watching the situation unfold, started chasing after Yuri, crossing the suspension bridge.
Seeing this, Yuri broke into a cold sweat.
‘It’s a race to see who gets there first.’
With time running out, Yuri pushed his legs even harder.
As he threw his last two stones.
‘Oh no, I’m out!’
He had used up all the stones he had picked up.
‘Damn, I’m one short!’
He was just one stone away from making it, but he was short by one.
And then Yuri pulled something out of his pocket.
‘Oh, this?’
It was the key that had fallen out of Goetz’s pocket when he rolled forward earlier.
Yuri had quickly picked it up and stuffed it in his pocket, thinking it looked important.
He had planned to check it out later, but…
‘Forget later! I need to survive first!’
Yuri threw the key without hesitation.
Tap-!
He stepped on the key for his final leap.
The key, having sacrificed itself…
Splash-.
…fell into the turbulent waters below and was swallowed up.
Meanwhile, Yuri, having used the key to cross the void, landed safely on the suspension bridge.
From there, he spread his Thunder Wing and, in an instant, sped across the suspension bridge to the opposite cliff.
The first thing Yuri did upon arriving was to cut the ropes of the suspension bridge.
Slash-.
The ropes were cleanly cut, and the suspension bridge, losing its support, collapsed rapidly.
At the same time, the Demon King, who had crossed more than half the bridge, fell along with it.
To anyone watching, it was undoubtedly a scene that would make them shout, ‘I did it!’
Normally, one would celebrate having dealt with the Demon King here, but…
‘I’m not that naive.’
People who celebrated too early often ended up getting beaten badly by villains who came back to life.
So Yuri immediately looked down below.
And, as expected.
“Wow, seriously, he’s still alive?”
The Demon King, whom Yuri thought had fallen, was already clinging to this side of the cliff.
He must have used all his strength to jump and barely reached the cliff when the bridge broke.
If given time, he would soon climb the cliff and chase after Yuri.
In response, Yuri took off his jacket, wrapped the Force Crystal in it, and tightly tied it around his torso.
Determination flickered in his eyes.
‘My goal isn’t to defeat the Demon King.’
His goal was to finish the quest and claim the Force Crystal for himself.
Engaging in a brawl with the Demon King here was less advantageous than completing the quest with Theresia.
With that conclusion, Yuri was about to dash away when—
“Oh, right.”
Stopping abruptly with a look that said he’d forgotten something, Yuri glanced around.
Then he picked up a few stones the size of a human head and…
“Take this, you bastard!”
He hurled them forcefully toward the bottom of the cliff.
It was a petty revenge for what he had just endured.
Crunch-.
A crashing sound echoed from below the cliff, but Yuri didn’t even bother to confirm it and dashed away.
On his way to find his hero, Theresia.
The moment the Demon King leapt out the window.
The princesses clung to the windows, watching every moment unfold outside the castle.
Then, seeing the suspension bridge break and plummet into the water, one of them muttered in a dazed voice.
“…If that’s cut, how are we supposed to get out?”
“Maybe there’s another bridge?”
“What if there isn’t?”
“Well……”
As those who were watching from the window began to voice their concerns about what would happen next.
One person spoke in a curious tone.
“…Thunder Wing?”
Goetz Röthen, who had mumbled softly, watched in amazement as Yuri’s figure disappeared into the distance.
A long time after Yuri had left.
Only the fierce wind lingered in the empty spot.
Thud-.
A large hand suddenly appeared over the edge of the cliff.
As the veined hand trembled and exerted strength, a bloodied face abruptly rose over the cliff’s edge.
“Grr…”
The Demon King, groaning like a beast, blood dripping from his head.
“I… I’ll kill him.”
A cold blue killing intent flashed in his eyes.