Resurrection Chapter 52 - Nothing Went Wrong, Did It?

—The Golden Emperor warns you not to do anything reckless. He says that even the Golden Scales cannot block these flames. He advises you to quit immediately if you do not wish to be burned to death.

‘Your Majesty! But Heesoo hyung is on the other side…! Heesoo hyung can’t handle a 5-black-star on his own. No, even the two of us together can’t take on an archdemon-class being!’

I didn’t give up and tried to use Teleport, but the Golden Emperor stopped me from that as well.

—The Golden Emperor points out that since Seo Heesoo has been targeted by the Scorching Archdemon, you may be able to move inside, but you will not be able to bring him out with you. He sternly warns that if you jump in there too, you will die with Seo Heesoo without being able to revive him.

Being targeted by the archdemon meant that there was no way out of there until it was defeated.

In dungeons, there were isolated spots that, once entered, could never be escaped until they were cleared. It seemed this was just such a place.

I wouldn’t have come here if I had known.

I ground my teeth, spun around, and took out a potion, indiscriminately splashing it on Min Gongchan, who was thrashing about in pain from his burns. If I had my way, I would have thrown him right into the fire, but Min Gongchan might know a way to get Heesoo hyung out of there.

I grabbed him by the collar as his flesh began to heal and shouted.

“You son of a bitch, get Heesoo hyung out of there right now. Get him out!”

With his face blotchy from the burns, Min Gongchan chuckled. He spoke as if daring me to kill him, regardless of whether I shook him by the collar or not.

“Don’t worry, Seo Heesoo won’t die.”

“He can’t kill an archdemon like that even if he reaches level 60. Even an S-rank couldn’t kill it alone!”

“He may not be able to kill it, but he won’t die either. Because you’re here, Kim Yitae.”

“What did you say?”

“You can just revive him, can’t you? Wasn’t that your plan?”

I stopped shaking Min Gongchan’s collar and froze. As I grew cold, Min Gongchan, whose skin had now completely healed, looked at me and continued.

“As I said, I don’t make empty promises. I always keep the words I speak. If Seo Heesoo defeats the Scorching Archdemon, he’ll be able to surpass level 60. To do that, you’ll have to keep reviving Seo Heesoo here. Experience accumulates, so if you keep reviving him, you’ll eventually be able to defeat the archdemon. Nothing’s gone wrong, has it?”

The strength drained from my grip. I let go of Min Gongchan’s collar. My hand, suspended in the air, trembled, and I turned around.

The Scorching Archdemon had reached Heesoo hyung. Just from the heat it was emitting, Heesoo hyung looked to be in extreme pain. Smoke rose as his body began to burn.

The Scorching Archdemon raised a giant, burning mace, as if it had plucked the sun from the sky. It brought it down on Heesoo hyung.

👑

Heesoo hyung was killed instantly by the archdemon’s blow.

His body flew into the air, engulfed in flames, and he fell to the ground like a half-burnt stone and rolled. I revived Heesoo hyung without a moment to scream or cry.

“Resurrection!”

Fwaaaaaah!

A blinding light flowed from me and enveloped Heesoo hyung like a cocoon. The light was absorbed into him, and Heesoo hyung was revived. His fire-damaged armor couldn’t be regenerated, but there wasn’t a single scorch mark left on Heesoo hyung, who had died and come back to life.

He didn’t immediately come to his senses from the aftereffects of his revival. Seeing him sitting there in a daze, I shouted.

“Heesoo hyung! Snap out of it! You have to get up, get away!”

My shouts were in vain; the Scorching Archdemon immediately recognized the revived Heesoo hyung. It raised its weapon, which was again burning at a temperature of several thousand degrees, and brought it down on Heesoo hyung.

Heesoo hyung, realizing the situation a beat too late, scrambled to roll away. In doing so, the flames scattered on the ground transferred directly to his body. Without any time to put them out, the Scorching Archdemon lifted its burning foot.

Thwack!

“Aaargh!”

I screamed in his place and squeezed my eyes shut. Kicked by the archdemon’s foot, Heesoo hyung was once again engulfed in flames and sent flying.

I didn’t even hear a death cry. There was no mercy in any of the archdemon’s movements, and it immediately struck Heesoo hyung down with its weapon.

Of course, this was nothing to be happy about. I didn’t know the extent of the damage that Resurrection could undo. Fearing that I might not be able to save Heesoo hyung with Resurrection if something went wrong, I quickly drank a potion and refilled my MP. I immediately revived Heesoo hyung again.

“Resurrection!”

This time, I started shouting even before Heesoo hyung was revived.

“Heesoo hyung! Get away, get away! Run!”

Perhaps my frantic screaming, to the point of my throat becoming hoarse, had an effect.

This time, the revived Heesoo hyung came to his senses a little faster. He immediately got up from where he was, lunged forward, and picked up the greatsword that had fallen some distance away. As soon as he did, the archdemon’s mace came flying at him, but Heesoo hyung somehow managed to block it with his greatsword.

Claaaaang!

My sound, whether it was a cry of shock or a sigh of despair, was drowned out by the deafening noise. I watched as Heesoo hyung blocked the archdemon’s attacks a few times.

But his opponent was a 5-black-star!

Expecting Heesoo hyung, who hadn’t even reached level 60, to defeat it was nothing more than wishful thinking. When its simple-minded attacks with the mace didn’t work, the archdemon resorted to trickery.

Around its head, not one, but three burning wheels appeared. They flew toward Heesoo hyung, burning the air as they went.

Ruuuuuumble!

Heesoo hyung dodged one wheel. He blocked another, but the last one he could neither block nor dodge.

The wheel that hit Heesoo hyung clamped onto his body like a shackle. Heesoo hyung let out a scream of agony as his flesh was torn and his body was split in two.

“Aaaaaaaaargh!”

A blaze erupted from the wheel that bound Heesoo hyung, and he was turned into black ash.

I couldn’t properly watch the sight of him becoming a pile of ashes and squeezed my eyes shut. A terrible pain washed over me, as if my own soul was being incinerated along with him.

When I opened my eyes again, the wheel was gone, and where Heesoo hyung had been, there was only a blackened, burnt lump.

I used Resurrection again. Heesoo hyung was revived, and I yelled. Heesoo hyung came to his senses and gripped his weapon again. His greatsword blocked the Scorching Archdemon a few times, but in the end, he was engulfed in flames. I used Resurrection again…

How many times did I do that?

Suddenly, with the sound effect of fireworks exploding, an alarm rang out.

「Congratulations! You have used Resurrection on the same person 10 times consecutively! The target, Seo Heesoo, has achieved the 10 Revivals accomplishment! The target, Seo Heesoo, has acquired the title <He Who Lives Even When Dead>! The target Seo Heesoo’s HP and MP will increase. The target, Seo Heesoo, will be given bonus experience points. The MP consumed when casting Resurrection on the target, Seo Heesoo, will decrease. The effective duration of Resurrection on the target, Seo Heesoo, will increase. The activation time of Resurrection on the target, Seo Heesoo, will be shortened.」

As a reward for dying and being revived ten times, Heesoo hyung was given a considerable reward, but I couldn’t be happy.

‘Heesoo hyung has already died and come back to life ten times?’

Despite that, defeating the Scorching Archdemon seemed a distant prospect. The time Heesoo hyung could hold out against the Scorching Archdemon was gradually increasing, but that was all. Even after being revived ten times, he seemed busy just avoiding the archdemon’s attacks.

By now, my MP was also depleted, and the potions I had to refill it were all gone. If Heesoo hyung died again, there might be no way to revive him.

My heart pounding with urgency, I turned to look at Min Gongchan. Recovering from his burns, he seemed to guess what I wanted to say and gestured toward me with his chin as he spoke.

“There’s fairy dust in the Dimension Pocket. Sprinkle that on first. It’ll speed up your MP recovery. Then, if you drink a potion that over-recovers MP…”

I couldn’t find the items in the Dimension Pocket one by one just by listening to his explanation. I handed him the entire Dimension Pocket, and Min Gongchan found what I needed.

In the meantime, Heesoo hyung died.

I hurriedly refilled my MP and looked back toward Heesoo hyung. Then I flinched and quickly covered my mouth with my hand. It was to hold back the vomit that was rising in my throat.

I don’t know what had happened to him while I wasn’t looking, but Heesoo hyung’s severed and blackened head had rolled to near the pillar of fire where I was standing.

Its contents had all burned away, leaving the outline of the skull clearly visible, with two black holes gaping. I forced down the rising bile and used Resurrection.