Lily's Observatory

After putting distance between us once more, Hanuman and I locked eyes for a single heartbeat. In that instant, we both kicked off the ground simultaneously, the gap between us collapsing as if we were being pulled into each other’s guard. Without even a breath’s pause, Hanuman’s fist shot toward my face. …He stacked his enhancement skills. One look at that thrusting fist told me. He had likely activated non-time-limited enhancement skills like【Herculean Strength】,【Rampartification】, and【Dash】all at once. His movements were clearly sharper than before. I lowered my head and avoided the piercing punch by a hair’s breadth, slipping inside his guard. I attempted a body blow to his left flank-! No impact. Hanuman lightly hopped in place and instead wrapped his leg around my neck. Planting his hands on the ground, he used both legs to clamp and hurled me away with brute force. A flawless throwing technique. But I twisted midair, planted one hand on the ground to soften the impact, and lande...

Metidovan collapses to the ground, his shoulders trembling. “No… that cannot be. Are you saying… it is the same? That my plan for revenge… was about to repeat the same actions as that mad king and the humans who followed him, the ones who destroyed my kin?” I do not respond to his words. With the battle over, Vladgaria approaches him and speaks in my place. “I will not say it is entirely the same. However, if you allow yourself to be consumed by vengeance and press forward, even at the cost of unnecessary sacrifices, then its essence does not change. … Those who would be sacrificed would die bearing the same despair your kin once felt.” At Vladgaria’s words, Metidovan finally seems to reach his limit, and he begins to speak through tears. “I see… I was wrong, Demon King. In my desire to see my revenge fulfilled, I was about to trample even the wishes of my own kin.” As he breaks down in tears, I step closer and speak to him. “Everyone makes mistakes. I’ve made many myself. What matters...

After crushing every Infight Monkey that had filled the path to the throne, nothing remained between me and the King of the Brawling Monkeys, Hanuman. I casually tossed aside the head of the Infight Monkey I had just torn off. Shaking my hand lightly to fling away the blood clinging to it, I began walking toward the throne. With each step forward, the tension in the air intensified. The atmosphere grew heavier. This wasn’t hostility or killing intent, it was unmistakably the oppressive presence of a king. When the distance between us shrank to about five meters, the ape king, who had been lounging arrogantly on the throne, finally rose to his feet. Standing upright, his body should have been no more than three meters tall. And yet, the presence filling my vision was far greater than mere numbers… No, it was sheer existential pressure. “…I see. So this is the dignity of a king.” For a brief instant, I felt overawed. Even so, the reality that I was the superior one did not change. I kick...

Crackling sounds burst as my fist and Serial Killer’s fist clash against each other. Because they are powers of the same nature, neither can erode the other, and the energy simply collides and scatters. “Guhhh…! A filthy human like you…!” Metidovan’s fist presses forward, but I hold my ground and endure. “Humans are indeed ugly. We are consumed by our desires. We make mistakes over and over again. I can’t claim I’ve only walked the right path either.” As I respond, I slowly push his fist back. “Humans dominate life, harm others, and struggle to survive and be happy! That may be our true nature! But precisely because of that, the desire to live is real! It’s something everyone shares!” Step by step, my fist pushes back Serial Killer, pushes back Metidovan’s will. “And what of it?! Does that mean we can understand each other?! Such nonsense is nothing but an illusion! Empty words!” “Yeah, maybe it is! Just because we share the same desire doesn’t mean we can understand each other! That’s...

Like a gale, I charged into the pack of Infight Monkeys. The harder I kicked off the ground and closed the distance between us, the sharper my battle intent became. Without hesitation, I drove my right fist toward the one at the very front. The punch traced a sharp line through the air, only to be brushed aside by its palm. In the same instant, an elbow strike shot toward my face. But I was more than used to this by now. I caught the incoming elbow with my palm, redirected the momentum of my withdrawn right fist into a grip on the back of its head, and drove my knee straight through its face. A sharp bursting sound. Its head exploded, and the first one fell silent. At that moment, sensing their comrade’s death, the killing intent of the remaining Infight Monkeys surged all at once. With shrill roars, the second and third leapt forward simultaneously, closing in from both sides in the blink of an eye. A body blow digging deep into my right flank. A sharp kick slicing toward my left temp...

I step forward, switching places with Vladgaria. Then I activate cursed sludge and miasma, deploying them around Serial Killer. “Useless, useless, useless! It won’t work, it won’t work!” As expected, perhaps because our powers share a similar nature, it doesn’t seem to deal much damage. However, the debuff itself appears somewhat effective, as its movements are slightly dulled. I immediately create a karambit knife made of dark matter and swing the blade along Serial Killer’s arm. The sharp edge slices through the surface of its arm. But it doesn’t seem to deal significant damage. Flesh rapidly overflows from the wound, filling it in and restoring it instantly. A true monster. A grotesque ability. “Hahahaha! Powerless, powerless, human! I will kill you here, and then lead the monsters of the Great Forest Autonomous District into human territory! … A horde of monsters led by the god known as Serial Killer will cast humanity into the depths of despair!” Metidovan speaks while counteratta...

I placed my hand on the heavy door of the boss chamber and slowly pushed it open. With a groan of creaking hinges, a stream of cold air flowed out through the gap. Crushing fallen dry branches beneath my feet, I stepped forward, one step, then another, into the withered forest. As I advanced deeper, the scenery suddenly opened up. That place alone felt like a domain apart. Not a single dead tree stood there. In the center of the clearing, a “ throne ” constructed from layers upon layers of piled dead branches, warped in shape yet radiating intimidation, sat in solemn presence. “…A boss room with a throne. That’s a first.” The unprecedented sight made my feet stop unconsciously. At that very moment, eleven spheres of light slowly descended from above. The orbs halted directly before the throne and began to intensify, shining so brightly that they swallowed my entire field of vision. I covered my eyes with my right arm and could only wait for the light to converge. And then- The brillian...

I had crushed the Infight Monkeys that attacked me time and again making use of nothing but【Martial Arts】. There was no exhaustion heavy enough to leave me gasping. If anything, my body felt sharpened, and only the exhilaration of battle remained. At last, I discovered the stone entrance leading to the boss chamber. Torches lined at equal intervals illuminated the neatly arranged stone corridor. The faint crackle of sparks bursting from the flames echoed strangely loud within the silence. I walked forward at an unhurried pace and arrived before the massive door. I could charge in immediately, but since I had the time, I decided to take a short break. Sitting down by the wall, I pulled out a two-liter bottle of green tea and some rice balls from my《 Magic Pouch 》. Every time I saw the tea still perfectly chilled, I was reminded how convenient the time-stop function of the《 Magic Pouch 》truly was. That was exactly why I made frequent stops at convenience stores during dungeon exploration...

After searching through the interior of the fortress, we found Metidovan barricaded inside the command room. However, he wasn’t simply hiding. The room was filled with unfamiliar machinery, and at its center, on an eerie seat resembling a throne, sat Metidovan. “So you’ve come, humans. And the Demon King as well.” Remaining seated, Metidovan fixes his gaze on us. “But you are one step too late. The activation of my ultimate homunculus, my connected-type enhanced bio-exoskeleton, known as ‘ Serial Killer ’… is already complete!” As he speaks, Metidovan presses a switch while still seated. Immediately, the surrounding machinery begins to converge on him, piercing into his body one after another. Countless tubes stab into him, leaving his form in a grotesque state. And yet, his expression remains a fearless grin. “Behold! This is the crystallization of my kin’s rage! An artificial god that will destroy humanity!” At the same time as his declaration, flesh-like matter begins to form along ...

Surrounded, with no escape routes, their defensive walls destroyed, and their supplies already depleted from the previous sabotage operation, there are few who can maintain the will to fight under such conditions. One after another, the rebels file out of the fortress as prisoners. Our forces restrain them, subduing them in rapid succession. Watching this increasingly routine process from the corner of my eye, I head toward the assault unit’s formation. The assault unit is composed of only the elite among elites. It is formed solely from Otogi Trading’s forces, with no personnel from the Demon King’s army. This is because only Otogi Trading is equipped with non-lethal weaponry. The Demon King’s elite forces are assigned to the rear, tasked with capturing any rebels that slip past our containment. Reaching the front of the formation, I find Vladgaria, the only participant from the Demon King’s army, and Otogi Trading’s top elites: Yairo, Tio, Tiana, and Joan. “Now, we will assign unit d...

After more than thirty minutes of trading blows, I finally brought down the first Infight Monkey. I felt a slight trace of fatigue, but what I gained far outweighed it. The sensation of polishing not strength, but pure technique itself… that was the true thrill of training. Catching my breath, I glanced around. Three Infight Monkeys had appeared atop the nearby trees. It seemed this training session was far from over. The three dropped soundlessly to the ground. In the next instant, two of them dashed forward at the same time. One closed the distance in a flash and drove a sharp punch toward me. I parried it with the back of my left hand and slipped into its guard. Just as I stepped in to counter-! The first monkey’s stance sank slightly. From directly behind me, the second’s kick sliced through the air. I twisted my upper body to evade and grabbed its ankle, pulling it toward me. As I moved to drive a backfist into it, the first monkey shrunk the distance and thrust a full-power right...

The next day, the operation finally began. Riding in armored vehicles, we had our forces make a wide detour and position themselves behind the fortress. Meanwhile, the Demon King’s army deployed openly from the front. Due to differences in movement speed, both sides completed their deployment near the fortress at the same time, forming a perfect encirclement. From the rebels’ perspective, they suddenly saw the Demon King’s army appear, and before they knew it, another army riding unfamiliar vehicles had surrounded them. It must have been overwhelming. In fact, as we observed through binoculars, they were struggling even to organize their defenses. Their formation was in complete disarray as they rushed to deploy. “Shall we attack before they finish organizing?” As I say this, I send orders to the troops using coded signal communication. The defense forces encircling three sides, and the Demon King’s army holding the fourth, all begin their assault using evenly distributed siege weapons...

A fleeting silence filled the space. The next instant, the Infight Monkey and I kicked off the ground and dashed forward simultaneously. The distance between us vanished in less than a blink, and I thrust my right fist toward its chest. But the Infight Monkey evaded it by a hair’s breadth and slipped inside my guard. A sharp right punch aimed beneath my jaw. I reflexively caught it with my left palm while driving a kick into its right flank at the same time. Even that, however, it evaded lightly, springing away as if weightless. It immediately fired a kick at my face. I ducked beneath it and countered with a roundhouse aimed at its left temple. But-! The Infight Monkey’s tail wrapped around my leg. From an unbelievable posture, it stepped onto my leg and leapt upward. Its fist drew back above its head. “…【Ki Martial Arts】, huh.” The fist thrust forward from a distance that should not have reached. What was launched was not flesh, but another “ fist ” formed from its fighting spirit. I ...

Two days after the sabotage operation, the army assembled by Otogi Trading finally arrived at the Demon King’s Castle. Loaded with cutting-edge equipment and riding in armored combat vehicles, the elite defense division led by Joan lined up before the castle gates. “Th-This is an incredible army.” “Yes. We’ve also brought the latest siege equipment. With the rebels’ current gear, it would be difficult for them to defend against this.” “No, even if it weren’t the latest, with this many troops, it would be enough regardless.” That’s true. The amount of weaponry loaded onto the armored vehicles is far beyond what could be transported by carriage or manpower. Compared to a normal army, the carrying capacity is likely several times greater. “In any case, with this level of weaponry, we can overwhelm the rebels through sheer force. … Most of the equipment we brought consists of non-lethal weapons, so suppressing them while minimizing casualties should be realistic.” “Indeed, that is reassuri...

Passing through the silent plaza where not a single hunter could be sensed, I stepped straight into the dungeon entrance. My vision shifted instantly, revealing a somewhat desolate world. Withered trees stood in rows, and not even fallen leaves remained on the ground. It was a field best described as the “ remains of a dead forest ”. Just to be certain, I surveyed the surroundings both visually and with my detection skills. As expected, there were no hunters in the middle of a clear. Crunching over dry branches, I moved between the trees. Then, from a high branch ahead, a single monster dropped down. Thud! With a sound that betrayed any sense of weight, a lone ape blocked my path. Roughly two meters tall. A lean, muscular body covered in black fur. At the center of its red face, two golden eyes gleamed, eyes that held intelligence far beyond that of a mere beast. At first glance, it appeared smaller than the S-Rank monsters I had defeated so far, and its presence was not overwhelmingly...