Chapter 116. Death Knight (2)
Jeonghyeon's fist struck the Death Knight's chest plate dead-on.
The double-layered full plate armor, woven from mana stones and alloys with mana, could shrug off most attacks without a scratch.
But—
Crack!
It wasn't enough to block Jo Jeonghu's One Strike, infused with both Ignirn's and Mirtus's mana.
Splinter!
The Death Knight's breastplate cracked, then shattered into fragments.
Jeonghu's gauntlet pierced straight through its chest and out the back.
"Grk!"
The Death Knight twisted its limbs with a grotesque cry, morphing into something aberrant—just like Hain had. Black tendrils writhed within, forming a nightmarish hybrid of bugs and malformed flesh.
"Wha... what the hell!?"
Startled, Jeonghu leaped back.
Crunch! Squish!
'As expected.'
The second step in taking down the Death Knight: destroy its core, the mana stone itself.
The reason it kept reviving no matter how many times it was killed? They hadn't fully eradicated this core. Shaped like a mana stone, it sought a new host upon its current one's death, turning it into another Death Knight under its control.
Like a parasite.
"Come on, then."
And like a parasite, the mana stone now slithered from host to host, seeking stronger monsters nearby.
'Now!'
This was the Death Knight's most vulnerable moment. Strike now.
Spotting the mana stone heading for a nearby Minotaur Skeleton, Jeonghyeon dashed toward it.
Whoosh!
Not as fast as Jeonghu or Junseok Park, but Jeonghyeon leaped with tremendous speed, channeling mana into his sword.
Ignirn's and the Demon King's mana intertwined, roiling unstably as if ready to explode. He'd deliberately imbalanced the clashing forces, making it volatile enough to detonate at the slightest touch.
"Hya!"
The sword slash arced through the air, unleashing a blade wave.
Whoosh—Boom!!
You have acquired knowledge of mana distribution.
You can now mix different manas to produce new powers.
Skill: Unstable Explosion acquired.
Unstable Explosion – Ignirn's mana combined unevenly with other mana, causing a more powerful explosion.
Several status windows popped up before Jeonghyeon's eyes, but his focus remained solely on the Death Knight's mana stone.
The blade wave's explosion left acrid black smoke billowing, obscuring all vision.
"Huh... what?"
The signal came unexpectedly from elsewhere.
"Hey! These bastards are all crumbling to dust outta nowhere?!"
Nus, who'd been gleefully devouring monsters, yelled in frustration at the vanishing fodder.
'Success.'
It had been a surprisingly easy fight.
"What? That all? Way too many for no reason."
Nus, in pixie form, circled smugly around Jeonghyeon's shoulder.
'That's 'cause you're all strong, you idiots.'
A battle with a Death Knight was essentially a war.
They'd won handily thanks to Jeonghu and Philip, raised by Jeonghyeon himself, plus the walking disaster that was the Ethereal Slime Nus—and Garibaldi to boot.
Normally, you'd fight until exhaustion, chipping away until no hosts remained for the Death Knight to transfer to.
"Ended faster than expected."
But as Garibaldi noted, they didn't need to know that—or care.
"Thanks to everyone syncing up perfectly."
'Damn... our party's stronger than I thought?'
Jeonghyeon brushed it off casually, but inwardly he was impressed.
Philip and Nus drawing enemy attention with their AoE attacks.
Garibaldi opening paths with pinpoint strikes.
And Jeonghu's speed enabling boss hits.
Everyone excelling in their roles.
'Just need a healer and another tank... and it'd be perfect.'
Meanwhile, ever-observant Philip sensed the dissipating undead soldiers' mana flowing one way.
"Jeonghyeon-nim...! The mana's heading southwest nonstop...?"
The zombie cried out vindicated.
"See? I told you!"
"Got it, got it. It was on the way anyway. Let's keep going."
They gathered their weapons and headed southwest again.
"Hain Al Gul must know our position now... Expect nonstop attacks ahead."
"Probably."
Jeonghyeon nodded at Garibaldi's guess.
Sure enough, the surrounding mana flows felt ominous.
As if they'd breached a barrier, every mana source now watched their every move.
They walked for a while, but nothing happened.
"This is... the Andellia Kingdom."
They'd arrived at the old Andellia Kingdom site—now a barren wasteland.
"Looks like it."
Anyone could tell this was Hain Al Gul's lair.
The land stained pitch-black.
The sky under an eerie red sunset.
The distant Andellia Castle mountains rotted black, exuding dark aura.
And above all, hundreds—thousands—of undead awaiting them.
All jet-black.
Even for undead, such utter blackness was rare.
It was the color unique to Hain's undead.
"So, zombie—what do you want now?"
Staring straight at Jeonghyeon, the zombie replied.
"Stop Hain. Let me... wash away my Andellion royal family's sins."
"Yeah. That was the plan anyway."
He might've doubted if she'd begged to kill Hain and revive herself, but for now, she seemed genuine.
Gripping his Blood Dissector tighter, Jeonghyeon poured mana into his Demon King's Eye.
"Alright, then..."
His voice brimmed with maximally compressed mana.
In response, the Domination Circlet floated above his head like a halo.
"Tell your boss to come out."
Uldran's mana reacts with Shout.
Domination Circlet reacts with Shout.
Special Skill: King's Proclamation activated.
Shout's power rises via King's Proclamation.
Jeonghyeon's darkened eyes gleamed red, the Domination Circlet hovering like an angelic ring.
As he walked slowly, undead bowed instinctively.
Those rejecting his aura burst apart between Hain's and Jeonghyeon's mana.
"Jeonghyeon-nim...?"
Even Philip, who'd followed him longest, felt overwhelmed.
'Even with power dialed back.'
He'd moderated it to spare the trailing zombie, forcing just enough submission.
The space, once thick with Hain's sticky darkness, now drowned in Jeonghyeon's mana.
"Not coming out? Guess we'll go to you."
Hain Al Gul hadn't appeared.
Intense mana pulsed from distant Andellia Castle.
She was there.
"No choice. Let's go, everyone."
At Jeonghyeon's nod, the others advanced slowly.
Step. Step.
Undead bowed and parted before him.
Kieeeek!
One barely resisted and charged.
Jeonghyeon met its eyes with ice-cold lethality.
The instant their gazes locked—
Kii... eek...!
It strangled itself.
Crunch!
It collapsed.
He hadn't commanded suicide.
Pure terror from the true Demon King's power in his eyes drove it to end itself.
Deeper in, near the castle grounds—
Grk...!
Grrk!!
Numerous Death Knights and hordes—hundreds of times more—blocked them.
Yet they couldn't rebel against King's Proclamation, merely bowing.
'Gotta fight at the castle.'
To spare the zombie, he couldn't unleash more.
Weaker foes died on eye contact and scattered. Thus, tough opponents awaited at the castle gates.
"Whoa, never seen these before."
"Me neither..."
Hell Serpents, Asura Centipedes, Plague Scorpions, Death Worms.
Monsters from Jeonghyeon's southwest Afraksas encounters.
Each bore deadly venom, tricky to hunt.
Worse, their low intellect made them immune to mental attacks or Shout's pressure.
"Gonna have to fight from here. Go get 'em, kids."
Jeonghyeon crooked a finger casually; Philip and Jeonghu shot forward.
"Hup!"
"Storm Dragon Fist!"
Philip targeted a Hell Serpent, Jeonghu an Asura Centipede.
Kieeeek!!
Buried and guarding monsters swarmed Jeonghyeon's group.
"Nus."
"Y-... yes?!"
As his familiar, Nus slipped into formal speech under the overwhelming Demon King aura.
To Nus, Jeonghyeon was Malekith incarnate.
"Can you shield this zombie with mana?"
"...If I encase him in a barrier, I can manage somewhat."
Nus bowed respectfully.
"Good. Do it."
"Gladly!"
With a This is the Demon King! grin, Nus morphed around the zombie, enveloping him.
Rumble!
A thick barrier formed.
"Alright, now..."
With the Ethereal Slime here, he could cut loose a bit.
Jeonghyeon raised Blood Dissector like a staff and slammed it down, mana surging wildly.
"Time to show the gap in our levels."
Shout at its peak—Jeonghyeon, once Solgaleh's awakener.
Releasing his restrained mana, swarming monsters exploded on approach.
Pop! Boom! Kaboom!
Shout, empowered by Mind Dragon Uldran, unleashed its true might.
The survivors? Those bug monsters.
Jeonghu and Philip were massacring them anyway.
Jeonghyeon deliberately held position before the castle, letting undead self-destruct.
'Hain treasured her undead like children.'
Mindless puppets praising her beauty—her only companions.
She couldn't ignore them exploding before her.
"What are you doing to my children... with that filthy voice right now!!"
Just like this.