Once every two weeks at the shortest, once every four weeks at the longest.

Kim Songcheol was confronting Lucifer like that.

The reason for the varying cycle was Lucifer’s satisfaction level.

If he was greatly satisfied with the battle with Kim Songcheol, the cycle would be longer; if he was moderately satisfied, it would be shorter.

What if he couldn’t satisfy him?

That was the end. There would be no second chance.

Kim Songcheol stood before Lucifer again today. His inexplicably clean white clothes seemed even more dazzling today.

“Has it been that long already?”

Lucifer said, pretending complete ignorance. He must have been calculating the time for Kim Songcheol’s arrival better than anyone, yet he always acted so playfully.

“It seems you weren’t really waiting for me?”

“Rather than that, the toys came to me on their own, you see.”

Lucifer gestured around him. There were several corpses near him.

Those who came to avenge a dead friend, those who just randomly picked a fight while passing by, and those who came to prove their strength, all died.

Lucifer’s strength was, from the beginning, something inexplicable in an A-rank Dungeon.

He was literally a natural disaster.

It was right to avoid him unless there was a special reason.

“…I should put up a fence around here. Or at least a signpost.”

“Why bother? So, what special dish have you brought today?”

“Shall I explain? It’s fresh light magic from Pioneer.”

“Oh, light magic. The purest and most powerful attribute.”

Lucifer showed a little interest. He was already getting tired of electric shock magic. At first, he found it fun with its tingling sensation, but that didn’t last long.

Lucifer was quickly adapting to magic and dungeon life.

He also got bored quickly. Accordingly, Kim Songcheol had to bring him something new, a new fighting style, as if reciting a thousand and one nights to prolong his daily existence.

The first time he caught Lucifer off guard and took a turn was a surprise attack, and he had only used cunning, despicable methods once or twice at most.

Now, there was no other way but to truly satisfy Lucifer.

‘Still, I should be able to get through today.’

Kim Songcheol deployed the magic formula he had obtained from Pioneer to create a magic circle. A large, ball-shaped magic circle appeared in the air.

It was three or four times larger than other magic circles.

It was ‘Invictus,’ a light attribute magic that applied Pioneer’s latest magic theory.

The golden light grew hotter, and the light it emitted gradually turned white.

Intense light radiated in all directions from the magic circle. It was as if another sun had risen in the sky.

The magic circle reflected and sparkled in Lucifer’s dark eyes.

“Shall we begin? Today, I’ll specially use 40% of my power.”

Lucifer’s body floated into the air. This was because he had learned how to fly.

He supposedly learned the principle from observing a certain Hunter, but since it wasn’t a method that used Mana, Kim Songcheol couldn’t even guess the mechanism.

‘40%.’

Kim Songcheol narrowed his eyes, preparing his magic.

40% of his original power.

Even when he used 30% last time, he almost died.

Since he had immediately increased it by another 10%, the battle probably wouldn’t go as he expected.

“Take this.”

The moment an even brighter light erupted from the magic circle, a thread-like beam of light shot towards Lucifer.

It was truly island-wide.

Whoosh!

With a faint sound, Lucifer’s head snapped back.

When Lucifer straightened his head again, a deep smile played on his lips.

“I almost had to wait another month.”

He hadn’t been hit by the attack. He had narrowly avoided it.

It was his full-powered speed, yet he had only avoided 40% of the power.

“Let’s do this properly.”

Lucifer charged at an incredible speed. Instantly, the light surrounding Kim Songcheol refracted and seemed to be sucked towards Lucifer.

It looked less like magic and more like a natural phenomenon.

Lucifer raised both arms and increased his speed even further.

The tip of a colossal light mass blocked his path. Lucifer looked as small as an ant under a streetlamp in front of it.

Whoosh!

The light grains that collided with Lucifer’s arms scattered in all directions. The white clothes wrapped around Lucifer’s arms turned to ash and fluttered away, and his skin glowed red.

“That’s hot!”

Lucifer shouted in a voice that was neither angry nor amused, and burst through the Invictus’s frenzy head-on.

It was Kim Songcheol who became urgent. He immediately created another magic circle, initiating Lightning God Transformation.

Thunderclap is a magic that even normal mages find difficult to use.

However, Kim Songcheol was simultaneously and perfectly controlling Invictus and Thunderclap.

And on top of that, Nehtual.

Boom!

Nehtual’s black tentacles poured out, thunderbolts sliced through space in a zigzag pattern, and Invictus’s light enveloped Lucifer.

But Lucifer shook off all the magic and finally reached Kim Songcheol.

Of course, Kim Songcheol didn’t stand still either.

He used the unique speed of Lightning God Transformation to once again put distance between himself and Lucifer.

He even created clones and split into multiple directions.

Lucifer’s eyes moved eight times in an instant, scanning all the clones.

“…Found it!”

Lucifer, who shouted like a child excited about a treasure hunt, immediately turned towards the real Kim Songcheol.

“As expected, you are the most interesting foe!”

Lucifer charged, overwhelming him with physical ability.

Unlike him, Kim Songcheol had to set up the board.

He began to subtly control Nehtual. He feigned missing Lucifer, even though he could have hit him.

At the same time, he adjusted the positions of the clones to cleverly block Lucifer’s vision.

In that gap, he prepared the Thunderbolt orb of Thunderclap. After setting up follow-up attacks, he calculated the Magic Formula of Magnilumen, Invictus’s most powerful attack.

Lucifer charged directly at Kim Songcheol.

Kim Songcheol retreated, widening the interval.

His speed had become considerably faster than before.

He was also rapidly growing through his battles with Lucifer.

Not only his mana operation and magic formula control, but also his movements and efficiency in combat had improved.

It seemed there was no more room for growth, but unexpectedly, human potential was limitless.

Nevertheless, he couldn’t shake off the 40% Lucifer. The 10% increase in physical ability already overwhelmed Kim Songcheol.

The moment Lucifer’s hand, which had approached right in front of him, completely filled Kim Songcheol’s vision.

Rumble!

Behind him, an enormous stream of electric shock tore through space.

Crash!

Five electric shocks passed through Kim Songcheol and directly struck Lucifer. Due to his Lightning God Transformation, he was unaffected by the electric shocks, and the moment they touched him, they assimilated, allowing the electric shocks to pass through.

The electric shocks didn’t just strike. The moment they touched Lucifer, they condensed, temporarily stopping his movement, then exploded greatly, pushing Lucifer back.

“Should such a trick be called a skill at this point!?”

Lucifer, who seemed to be pushed back for a moment by the unexpected attack, stomped on the air, endured the explosion, and began to push forward instead.

And that location was exactly where Kim Songcheol had expected.

Nehtual, which was below, grabbed Lucifer’s ankle, and the light that filled the surroundings quickly gathered to a single point in the air.

All the light was absorbed, and even the surroundings became dark for a moment.

Not only the light created by magic, but even sunlight was pulled in by gravity.

Thanks to this, a light source containing more power than its limit was formed.

A gigantic sphere of light pushed away the darkness that had settled everywhere and plunged down towards Lucifer.

Lucifer was pushed down and began to descend.

He looked as if he was holding the sun.

Boom!

The sphere of light slammed Lucifer into the ground, and not only that, it pierced through the ground and went deep inside.

A bottomless pit formed on the ground. If it were Earth, lava might have erupted.

Kim Songcheol looked with an uneasy gaze into the deep darkness where Lucifer had disappeared.

With this, he had gotten through today. Lucifer cleanly admitted what needed to be admitted. He wouldn’t pick unnecessary faults.

But the problem was what came next.

This is the last one.

There was no more magic to bring, nor any stronger magic left.

The Invictus he brought out today hadn’t even been properly evaluated for stability.

But Lucifer showed no sign of faltering.

Only 40 percent done.

There was still 60 percent left.

In that case, Kim Songcheol would be the first to fall.

No matter how optimistically he tried to look at it, that was the conclusion.

Nothing will work like this.

Lucifer was just a means to an end. The real goal was separate.

It was the World’s Annihilation.

He couldn’t let Lucifer hinder him from stopping something much bigger.

Kim Songcheol was in a hurry. He was also annoyed at himself for not being stronger.

He had put in more effort than ever before while fighting Lucifer. One could say that all his previous efforts weren’t even efforts compared to this.

He truly did his best against Lucifer, and at times, he even used magic with his life on the line.

It was no exaggeration to say that this was the most intense battle he had ever fought.

Despite all that, it was still only 40 percent.

It was an absurd thought, but he felt as if he had become a dunce at magic.

Whoosh!

Lucifer soared out of the deep pit. He was completely unharmed. Even his burned white clothes were perfectly regenerated.

“Hmph.”

He chuckled once, as if he was impressed.

He truly did think Kim Songcheol was impressive.

His growth was beyond words.

Even Lucifer hadn’t expected there to be so much fun left to extract.

“I’ll give you a month this time. Since it’s a month in your world, I’ll generously add an extra day, making it 31 days. Come back with something more interesting.”

Kim Songcheol simply nodded and turned his body.

And immediately contacted the Celestial Spirit Maiden.

[Where did you say it was? The place where I can enter that trial?]

***

At a certain teahouse.

It was decorated in a medieval Chinese style.

It was a seven-story pavilion, and at its very top, on the seventh floor, the Celestial Spirit Maiden sat alone.

She had tea in front of her but didn’t drink it, only gazing out the window. By the time the tea had cooled to lukewarm.

Kim Songcheol appeared.

He walked up the stairs and sat in front of the Celestial Spirit Maiden.

“It’s been a while.”

“Are you ready, Sorcerer?”

The Celestial Spirit Maiden asked,

“You’re getting straight to the point.”

“I’m already prepared.”

“No matter how much I think about it, I’m still bothered by the Trial, which no one has ever conquered.”

The Final Trial of the A-rank Dungeon.

It was called by various names, but all of them implied ‘the Trial of no return’.

Because truly, no one had ever returned.

No one knew what happened inside, or what kind of place it was.

There was no such information.

“You’re already determined to go in, yet you’re speaking weakly.”

The Celestial Spirit Maiden snorted. It was Kim Songcheol who brought up the topic first, after all.

The Kim Songcheol she knew wasn’t someone who spoke carelessly.

He must have contacted her because he had already made up his mind.

“I know too much about you now. What about you? Is there a reason you absolutely must go in?”

“If I say I’m not going, are you planning to go alone?”

“Of course.”

“Me too. If you had contacted me a few days later, I would have gone in alone.”

“Sometimes you’re a bit of a braggart. You waited until I brought it up first.”

“Because I couldn’t miss the chance to go in with you.”

Kim Songcheol looked at the Celestial Spirit Maiden for a moment.

She doesn’t know about the Apocalypse of the world. Yet, she is fiercely dedicated.

In a way, it’s admirable.

Revenge against the Divine Demon. A life driven solely by that.

Kim Songcheol didn’t have the confidence to live so fiercely for such a personal matter.

“So, the two of us are decided…”

Kim Songcheol looked out the window, then shifted his gaze back to the Celestial Spirit Maiden.

“How about we keep it a complete secret from Setsu?”

At that, the Celestial Spirit Maiden tilted her head.

“I already told her we’re meeting today.”

“What?”

Just then.

“Hello.”

Setsu came up the stairs and waved at the two of them.

Kim Songcheol looked a little troubled. He had never intended to take Setsu along from the beginning.