Chapter 23: From the Herb Garden to the Quest Location
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 23: From the Herb Garden to the Quest Location
"I take back what I said earlier, Gray Horse Knight. You truly are more powerful than I imagined."
With those words, Julius no longer suppressed his aura.
A towering pillar of darkness erupted from within his body.
In an instant, the sheer pressure forced the Gray Horse Knight’s head down.
Julius had now fully unleashed his capabilities.
[Julius Lv.94]
[Class: Destroyer]
[HP: 202.7 Billion / 224.3 Billion]
[Mana: 10.8 Billion / 10.8 Billion]
[Strength: 205 Million]
[Constitution: 2.008 Billion]
[Intelligence: 108 Million]
[Agility: 43.96 Million]
[Talent: Star of Destiny - Warrior]
[Skills: Destruction Lv.1, Disaster Suppression Lv.1, Chaos Lv.1, Darkness Affinity Lv.13, Darkness Enchantment Lv.13, Shadow Collaboration Lv.13, Sin-Extinguishing Slash Lv.13, Battle Rhythm Lv.13, Indomitable Spirit Lv.13, Blood Battle Body Lv.13...]
[Equipment: Punishment of Sin (Mythic), Perfect Chaos Church Robe (Legendary), Necklace of Immunity to All Evils (Legendary), Mask of Reality and Illusion (Epic), Death Angel Amulet (Epic)...]
[Description: A warrior bordering on Demigod status and the most trusted confidant of the Cult Leader of Chaos. Blessed by the protection of the entire world, his strength is extraordinary. Fighting above his level is second nature to him. Under the aegis of Fate, he is destined to reach the pinnacle of the Warrior class.]
The moment Julius finished unleashing his aura, the Gray Horse Knight launched an immediate assault.
Clang!
Contrary to expectations, it wasn't Julius himself who repelled the Gray Horse Knight.
It was his shadow.
[Shadow Collaboration Lv.13]
[Effect: Your shadow has absorbed the power of the abyss. It can now possess you or act independently.
When possessing: All attributes increase by 20%, Shadow Faction skill damage increases by 500%, and 20% of Max HP is restored every 20s.
When acting independently: Inherits 80% of your attributes and can use your Shadow Faction skills and a projection of your weapon.]
[Cooldown: None]
The moment it repelled the Gray Horse Knight, Julius’s shadow surged back.
It re-merged with Julius.
Seeing that his attack had only struck a shadow rather than the man himself, the Gray Horse Knight quickly adjusted his stance and charged once more.
Once the shadow was back within him, Julius raised his pitch-black heavy sword and unleashed his ultimate strike.
[Destruction Lv.1]
[Effect: Unleashes a pitch-black sword wave at a single unit, dealing True Damage equal to 100x Strength and reducing the target's Max HP by an amount equal to the damage dealt.]
[Cooldown: 10 min / Cost: 150 Million Mana]
In an instant, an unavoidable wave of pitch-black sword energy hurtled toward the Gray Horse Knight.
-24.6 Billion
The Gray Horse Knight’s health bar plummeted.
Simultaneously, his Max HP of 200 billion was slashed down to 175.4 billion.
But it wasn't over.
Julius raised the pitch-black heavy sword again.
[Talent: Star of Destiny - Warrior]
[Effect: A being protected by the world, possessing an extraordinary destiny. As the Child of Fate on the Warrior side, all your skills have no cooldown. You cannot be subjected to crowd control or movement restrictions, and you cannot be targeted by Instant Death effects.]
A second later, another wave of pitch-black sword energy struck.
-24.6 Billion
"Urgh!"
The Gray Horse Knight was heavily wounded again.
For a moment, the giant spear nearly slipped from his grasp.
Even though he had braced himself, any defense was futile against unavoidable True Damage.
As the pitch-black sword energy drained the Gray Horse Knight’s health, it continued to erode his Max HP.
His Max HP was now down to 150.8 billion.
This immediately rendered the healing effects of his Apocalypse useless.
But that wasn't even the worst part.
Julius’s powerful talent allowed him to release skills without the restriction of cooldowns.
This meant that as long as he had enough mana, Julius could treat his ultimate skill like a basic attack.
Every single swing was a burst of catastrophic damage.
And as it happened, his mana reserves were immense.
With over ten billion mana in reserve, if Julius swung fast enough, he could turn the Gray Horse Knight into ash in seconds.
Of course, the Gray Horse Knight wasn't about to let himself be slaughtered so easily.
His gray horse let out a powerful stomp.
A golden ripple of light instantly blanketed the battlefield.
[Dusk Lv.1]
[Effect: All units within a one-kilometer radius have their Mana Value locked at zero. Duration: 300s.]
[Cooldown: 30 min / Cost: 1 Billion]
Everyone’s mana dropped to zero, including the Gray Horse Knight’s.
Without mana to fuel him, Julius could no longer use Destruction.
The Gray Horse Knight was in no better shape.
For a moment, the two sides fell into a stalemate.
The Gray Horse Knight knew full well that his opponent possessed many other powers beyond just powerful skills.
He, on the other hand, did not have many options.
Ever since he lost his True Name thirty million years ago, his Authorities had all failed. He had been forced to accept a demotion, becoming a being beneath the rank of a Demigod.
Currently, while he could still use some of his abilities, most of his truly powerful skills—those tied to his Authorities—were locked.
Not just his Divine Artifacts, but his talents and several Death-series skills were all unusable.
The Gray Horse Knight glanced back at the graveyard behind him.
That place was the key to fulfilling his mission.
According to the prophecy, the returning Void King would reclaim His property here.
Therefore, barring any accidents, this was a place the Void King was bound to pass through.
As long as he continued to hold this ground, there was a sliver of hope that he might receive the Void King’s aid.
Or perhaps, His amnesty.
This was the Gray Horse Knight’s small bit of selfishness, his one lingering desire.
But all of this depended on one major prerequisite: the tombstones there must not be destroyed.
The Gray Horse Knight had served as the Soul Guardian in this dungeon for thirty million years.
His role was merely to protect this place.
The true key to releasing all the souls was actually those unremarkable tombstones.
However, because the Gray Horse Knight had been such a diligent Soul Guardian for thirty million years, everyone assumed he was the key to releasing the souls.
Furthermore, because the history of this place had been hidden, no one would ever know—without guidance—that the key to releasing the souls actually lay within the graveyard itself.
Tap.
Julius’s footsteps drew closer.
The Gray Horse Knight resumed his combat stance.
As his gray steed let out a roar, the gray flames on the knight’s body flared up once more.
Clang!
Their weapons clashed again.
The Gray Horse Knight was forced back step after step.
Even while burdened by over forty different debuffs, Julius continued to trade blows with him aggressively.
Even without the influence of mana, there was a massive gap in their raw power.
The Gray Horse Knight could not tap into the true power of his Divine Artifact; he could only hold it in his hands, using it as an indestructible spear.
Julius’s weapon, while only of Mythic quality, could be utilized to its full potential.
He was slowly overpowering the Gray Horse Knight.
Clang after clang rang out as they exchanged blows.
Julius pressed forward relentlessly.
The Gray Horse Knight was gradually losing ground.
As the long confrontation dragged on, the duration of Dusk was nearing its end.
Just as Julius prepared to swing another Destruction...
An angry voice rang out, exactly as the Gray Horse Knight had hoped.
"You people..."
"Just how much longer are you going to keep breaking things in a place like this?!"
Julius looked over in surprise.
A petite, white-haired girl was staring at them, her eyes burning with fury.