Chapter 169
Chapter 169
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 169
Chapter Title: Black Dog
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The moment he brought his spear down, Arsen was certain of his victory.
Even with a bit of exaggeration, she was within arm's reach. No matter how fast Yerika's spells were, there was no way she could react in this situation.
But at that instant, the floor—or more precisely, the black substance coating the floor—bubbled up grotesquely, and something erupted from it, engulfing Arsen.
The black material surged up swiftly and shoved him back with all its might, altering the trajectory of his swinging spear.
“Urk!”
“Aaagh!”
Because of that interference, Arsen’s strike—which could have cleaved Yerika in two—only severed one of her arms.
It wasn’t enough to take her life.
‘Once more.’
Arsen tried to follow up with another attack to claim her life for certain, but the black substance had retreated to guard Yerika like a sentinel, morphing into sharp blades that surrounded her.
Considering the speed and force it had shown moments ago, charging in blindly to break through would be difficult, so Arsen pulled back for a moment to catch his breath.
“This……”
Yet even after pushing Arsen away, Yerika’s face showed no trace of leisure.
If anything, it carried the distinctive despair of someone who had committed a grave mistake they never should have.
“To awaken this thing……”
Arsen glanced around, carefully piecing together what she meant by “this.”
The building with its uncanny, almost living quality. The attacks using unidentified substances. Then its true nature must be…
‘No way. Is the entire palace covered in magic beasts? And ones under Yerika’s control!’
Shocked by the revelation, Arsen quickly issued orders.
“Everyone, get away from the walls!”
Even as he said it, he could guess his command wouldn’t be very effective.
The black substance coated every inch of the palace’s inner walls, and the ceiling and floor were no different.
No one could possibly flee from the floor beneath their feet.
So while giving the order, he used his earring to call for Eloise’s help.
[Eli, set it ablaze. Anywhere!]
[Got it!]
At the same time—making a mockery of his previous command—Arsen charged toward the wall. The wall, sensing his approach, bubbled up and extended several tentacle-like blades toward him.
He twisted his head and leaned back to dodge them, then spun his drill spear as fast as he could, slashing a long gash across the wall.
■■■■■■■■■-----------!!!
A low, gloomy scream like a voice from hell.
Since its source was this entire room—or perhaps the whole palace—the cry felt like the entire world wailing in agony.
Moments later, Eloise’s flames swept through the interior of Yerika’s chamber, and the screams grew even fiercer.
It was a stark contrast to the reaction when they had used magic inside the palace before entering the room.
‘Its magic resistance has dropped significantly now that it’s awakened!’
Then, attacks targeted Arsen once more. A bang, followed by blasts of compressed air.
“Guh!”
Yerika began gathering and firing wind again.
Her face burned with rage, and Arsen could sense her boiling fighting spirit.
It was a completely different attitude from before.
“I’ll kill you! Don’t expect any mercy! You dare—to take my immortality!”
As if her spell were the signal, black material burst from all directions, forming blades that assaulted Arsen and his group.
“Grah!”
“Everyone, dodge!”
Bazkal screamed in pain as his thigh was pierced, and Rino lost one wrist.
The soldiers, deemed non-threats, faced less harassment, but some had lost their mounts and were on the ground.
“I tried so hard—not to awaken that thing!”
Yerika’s hysterical scream pierced through the roar of the wind blasts.
Intense attacks battering their bodies, while they also had to evade blades erupting from the ceiling, walls, and floor—an utterly hellish situation.
No one could endure it, but Arsen held on.
His overwhelming physical abilities and reflexes made it possible.
‘A bit more, just a little longer!’
Moving unpredictably in every direction, Arsen instead hunted for openings in Yerika.
From the flow of mana, it was clear she was the one controlling this palace.
Killing or incapacitating the main body would undoubtedly have some effect.
At that moment, Eloise struck back.
One of her specialties, an explosion spell, slammed into Yerika’s face. Though the whirlwind around her body prevented direct damage, she couldn’t fully block the blast and shockwave.
Yerika, struck hard, cried out in fury.
“That bitch dares!”
Arsen noticed her enraged gaze had fully shifted away, that he was momentarily out of her sight.
The realization hit him just as he grabbed a javelin from beside the fallen black lion, loaded it into his javelin launcher—nearly simultaneous actions.
Yerika only noticed when something whooshed through the air with a boom.
“……Ah.”
If she had been prepared, she could have blocked it. She was a master of wind magic, adept at defending against projectiles.
But with her vision clouded by rage, blocking Arsen’s surprise javelin throw was impossible.
The javelin tore through the air with a deafening rip, piercing her whirlwind and then her body.
As if an armor-piercing shell from a tank cannon had fired, a massive hole opened in the center of her chest.
“Me, I…?”
Staring down at the hole where her heart had been, Yerika muttered as if being wrung out.
“My, my nest, immortality, I must live.”
With those final words, Yerika’s body collapsed like a puppet with cut strings. At the same instant, the floor rose up and enveloped her.
Like a boa constrictor swallowing prey, the palace magic beast began devouring its own master.
Crunch, snap—sounds of chewing and gulping echoed.
Bazkal stared in stunned disbelief.
“What the hell is this……”
At that moment, the black substance covering the surrounding walls began to recede.
More precisely, it was converging on Yerika’s body.
“Attack!”
One soldier pulled a firebomb from storage and hurled it.
It shattered with a crash, flames erupting and engulfing the black material.
Acrid smoke and the stench of burning flesh filled the air. Then, something emerged through the flames.
A creature with a pointed snout like a crocodile or beast, sharp fore and hind claws, its entire body writhing under a coating of something like black liquid—an unidentified organism.
■■■■■■■-----!
Its roar dripped with viscous hatred. Murderous intent, rage—whatever you called it.
Under that overwhelming roar, the humans struck first.
“Hah!”
Eloise made the initial move.
Chill air extended from her hand, a pale blue mist that blanketed the thing and bloomed into ice flowers in an instant.
‘Did that do it?’
He hesitated to voice the thought aloud, lest he jinx it, but the creature burst through the spell with astonishing ease.
It shattered the ice like glass, suggesting its magic resistance was formidable too.
The soldiers fired a few crossbow bolts, but they were useless. The arrows lodged in its liquid-like hide, wobbled briefly, then clattered uselessly to the floor.
‘Wait, if that’s not Yerika…’
Arsen quickly extended his hand and focused. In an instant, the disc returned to his grasp.
With Yerika gone—the one who had commanded it to halt—the Naracal obeyed once more.
He infused it with mana and launched it; the Naracal flew like the wind, intercepting the monster before him.
A slicing sound, and its foreclaw was severed.
But like slicing water, the claw reattached itself.
‘Limb attacks don’t work. It has to be the heart?’
Arsen’s magic helm revealed the mana in its body. In the center of its torso, likely where the heart was, something burned white-hot.
Similar to what he’d seen in the previous raider lord’s heart.
■■■■■-!
Then, with a roar, the monster lunged at Arsen with ferocious speed.
It raised one foreclaw as if to swing—then in an instant, the claw morphed. Into three tentacles tipped with long blades.
The mutated foreclaw targeted his neck, waist, and shoulder simultaneously.
Arsen reacted in horror, raising his spear.
‘What speed!’
So fast he could only tilt his body to dodge the neck strike, block the waist one with his spear, but the shoulder attack clipped through—he had to take it on his arm.
Blood sprayed, and strength drained from his left hand. Seemed like a tendon injury.
“Urk!”
Having gathered its dispersed body into one, its speed was on another level from before.
Back then, surprise attacks from ceiling or floor were blockable or evadable. Now, even frontal assaults were hard to defend properly.
If even Arsen struggled this much, ordinary knights fighting it would be slaughtered like common infantry.
“Over here, you bastard!”
Then Bazkal bellowed aggressively and charged the monster atop Jin.
Brave beyond measure, yet utterly reckless.
Even a high knight like Arsen had taken damage; Bazkal charging in would just get him killed instantly.
Before he could stop him, Bazkal thrust his greatsword forward and shouted.
“Goaaaaaah—!”
With his battle cry, the greatsword erupted in white light.
‘Ah.’
Bazkal’s greatsword was a relic from the ancient city ruins, infused with unknown magic.
A one-use enchantment that destroyed the sword upon activation, so he’d used it only as a quality blade until now.
Bazkal sacrificed his cherished weapon without hesitation.
■■■■■■■----!
A wretched scream.
The white light from the greatsword poured out immense heat, incinerating the monster’s body in seconds.
Considering the magic resistance it had shown, the power was overwhelming.
‘Was it that strong?’
Had he known, he probably wouldn’t have yielded the sword so easily.
Seconds later, as the light faded, the monster’s form was wretched.
One arm, one leg, and half its torso—sliced away like someone had hacked off chunks.
“G-Good one!”
Stunned by the unexpected result, Bazkal cheered with a slightly dopey grin.
The problem was the monster hadn’t died despite losing half its body, and Bazkal—whose greatsword had exploded—was unarmed.
The monster mutated its remaining hand toward Bazkal.
“Eek!”
Arsen saved the endangered Bazkal. Gripping his spear one-handed, he shielded him and deflected all incoming blade strikes.
The slowed blade movements—aftermath of Bazkal’s attack—made it possible.
And peril often turns to opportunity.
The creature staggered, extruding blades from its wounded body. Arsen thrust his spear forward.
‘Now!’
He spun the drill spear furiously, aiming for its vitals. The heart glowing white through his helm.
■■■■■■■■■■■------!
As the monster screamed, Arsen felt something explode from its core.
The same sensation as when he’d finished the previous raider lord.
* * *
“……Is it over?”
Someone muttered an ominous spell, but this time, true silence filled the room.
In the center of the chamber, now free of black material, a white-glowing orb remained.
Guessing its nature was simple.
‘Essence.’
The substance he’d obtained after killing the raider lord in the mountains, though he hadn’t seen it with his own eyes back then—essence.
They already knew from prior explanations how precious and useful it was.
As everyone stared entranced, Arsen spoke first.
“……Bazkal.”
“Yes, brother!”
“Take it.”
In the final moments, without Bazkal sacrificing his greatsword to repel the black monster, they could have suffered massive losses. Given its power, total annihilation wasn’t impossible.
At Arsen’s words, Bazkal shook his head firmly.
“No way. If not for you, brother, I’d be dead just now. You take it.”
“I’ve already taken one before. No seconds.”
“You won’t know unless you try.”
Bazkal’s stance was unexpectedly firm.
He insisted he wouldn’t take it first—that he’d rather kick it outside for some random passerby if Arsen didn’t try.
“You might have to fight that Giant King in the south. Don’t you need to get stronger? You lost to Sir Kren, after all.”
Deliberately prodding his pride. Arsen wondered when he’d gotten so good at haggling.
Rino and the soldiers chimed in agreement.
“Enough, I get it. Cut it out.”
They still didn’t know the situation outside. With Yerika dead, the nooses had likely fled, but they needed to check.
Arsen approached the essence slowly.
“Fine. Let’s see, then.”
Arsen placed his hand on the essence.