Chapter 68
Chapter 68
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 68
Chapter Title: How the No.1 Ranked Hero Saves the World
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It was the appearance I had expected.
A massive wyvern came flying swiftly through the sky high above my head, the red moon at its back.
And atop that wyvern's body sat an evil knight in a black cloak, hood pulled low, looking down at us.
I gripped my sword tightly.
The Demon King ruled the Demon Realm, but each territory had its own separate guardians.
In the Demon Realm, those guardians were Death Knights.
They were the same undead type as the lich I'd fought recently, but whereas liches specialized in magic, Death Knights were monsters optimized for physical attacks.
Undead created through highly advanced dark magic, their helmets and armor were empty inside. To truly sever their lifeline, a priest's holy power was most effective.
That said, even though it was S-rank, a Death Knight wasn't as threatening as a lich because it couldn't act autonomously aside from combat—it only followed its master's orders.
In other words, the Death Knight riding the wyvern had been sent out by the boss monster ruling this territory after detecting the commotion, for reconnaissance purposes.
Which meant I'd made quite the racket if the boss mob had noticed my presence.
Well, the barren wasteland had been transformed—scattered with chunks of monster flesh and soaked in blood.
The moment my eyes met the knight's empty sockets, I flashed a grin.
"Pretty demonic now, huh? Like it?"
A Death Knight was nothing more than an empty husk moved by dark magic, devoid of will.
Even knowing there was nothing inside that helmet, I still wanted to taunt it—because I knew what was controlling it right now.
"Putting on airs, are we?"
According to Hunter Yang Tae-won's report, there was a massive swamp about ten kilometers away. Massive enough that no scouting seemed necessary.
If this place matched the Demon Realm I knew, then the Demon King ruling this region was someone I'd met before.
Why stand on ceremony with an acquaintance?
And even if this was somewhere I'd never visited, it didn't change a thing.
First impressions were best made flashy.
Screwing over a Demon King was a hero's duty, after all, wasn't it?
I raised my sword toward the dead thing on the wyvern.
"Relay this: we're waiting for His Majesty the Demon King to show."
The Death Knight glanced east for a moment after hearing me, but soon turned its head back my way.
Dark energy began to swirl around the Death Knight's hand.
It looked ready for a fight too.
Music to my ears.
"Intruder... eliminate..."
The voice echoing from the empty helmet space layered over itself like an echo, making it even more ominous.
Following the sinister knight's words, the wyvern—infuriated, its body swollen—roared from the sky.
I watched the wyvern fold its wings for a dive and pondered briefly.
If this were a normal dungeon or Earth, I'd shoot it down with arrows right away. But this was the Demon Realm.
My hero class buffs worked because the system recognized them as power effective against fallen beings.
The Demon Realm was different. This world denied my will and my strength entirely.
With my class turning into a handicap, shooting arrows would probably do as much damage as a cat hair stuck to its sole.
Trying to nock an arrow might just end up costing me without payoff.
In short, to deal with those two monsters, all I had was my own body.
Not exactly hopeful odds.
A house-sized beast loomed in the sky, with another monster riding its back.
Yet my limbs felt heavy, and my arsenal was meager.
This was more like it.
I curled my lip into a smirk.
All within expectations.
The wyvern plummeted toward the ground where I stood, crashing down like a meteor.
Just before the shooting star struck, I activated Nymph's Wind and leaped high.
Boom!
The desert sand sank around the wyvern's body like a pit.
Watching from midair, chills ran down my spine. If I'd been under that, I'd have been flattened like a pancake.
"Not that I planned on dying!"
Dodging the initial crash wouldn't help—the wyvern could stretch its long neck and swing its head right into me. One hit from that solid snout, and I'd burst like a dumpling in a single bite.
But before the wyvern could recover from the impact, I triggered Nymph's Wind again. The downward blast kicked up a sandstorm.
As the wyvern lost sight and shook its head amid the dry sand.
A brief opening appeared.
I didn't miss it.
With my left hand, I plunged the manticore's stinger I'd gripped tightly into the wyvern's eye as hard as I could.
The thick scorpion tail embedded in the wyvern's most vulnerable spot.
Screeeeech!
The wyvern writhed in agony, shrieking. I released the stinger and dropped to the ground.
In that instant, at the suddenly closer range, I saw the empty helmet's sockets.
I grinned right into those hollow eyes.
Maybe the guardian's master was watching from beyond those eyes.
Skreeek! Skraaaaw!
Blinded in one eye, the wyvern thrashed its long snout wildly in pain.
The motion whipped up gale-force winds.
The manticore poison was vicious, and I'd coated it with 'Petal's Death' from my inventory—no wonder it hurt.
Yet the Death Knight gripping the wyvern's reins remained indifferent to its mount's suffering.
The dead knight leaped from the writhing body.
The poisoned wyvern shook its head madly, rolling on the ground.
"Intruder... eliminate... interference."
By now, a massive poleaxe had appeared in the Death Knight's hands. The heavy axe blade and pointed spear tip gleamed grotesquely under the red moon.
The axe severed the wyvern's neck in one stroke.
The thrashing wyvern went silent, dead.
What the hell.
I'd figured it'd just use a sword or something, mildly underestimating it—but I was shocked.
Why a poleaxe of all things? Getting hit by that hurts like hell!
Sure, the end result felt similar to a spear piercing your gut, but having that axe blade flash before your eyes while impaled made it worse than a spear.
One wrong move, and your head's gone! Only those who've experienced it know the fear.
And against a human, a poleaxe's weight would make it slower, something to match speed-wise—but this was a monster.
After decapitating the wyvern in one clean cut, the Death Knight slowly straightened from its crouch.
The poleaxe in its hands looked as light as plastic.
Cold sweat beaded down my spine.
Ah, shit. Didn't I need an axe instead of a sword?
As I debated striking first, the Death Knight raised the massive poleaxe's blade and swung at me.
"Whoa, straight for the kill, no hello?"
Dead guys had zero manners, as expected.
Instead of blocking the incoming axe, I sidestepped just enough.
The heavy blade cleaved empty air and slammed into the ground.
Given the swing's momentum and force, that was inevitable.
Now's my chance.
While the axe was stuck, I'd pin the shaft with my foot, leap, and cleave the helmet.
That's what I thought.
But the Death Knight's movements were shockingly fast.
Before I could plant my foot, the axe was already rising.
Why so fast?!
No—my speed was slow right now.
"Damn it."
Without class buffs or blessings, this was my true current stat line.
This time, the Death Knight swung the axe horizontally. I couldn't dodge that speed.
No choice—I blocked with my sword.
The moment I parried the horizontal swing, immense strain hit my hands and arms.
I managed somehow, but the Death Knight didn't let up.
The axe swings came horizontal, then overhead—simple patterns.
But each one heavy and fast. That alone made it threatening.
"Urk!"
Continuously parrying the madly swinging axe overloaded my arms with pressure.
Especially the overhead blows—strong enough to split rocks.
Clang!
As I blocked an overhead axe with my sword, a sinister screech echoed from the clashing blades.
My arms, taking the monster's power head-on, trembled violently.
Damn, this much?
I stared at my shaking hands in disbelief.
Total disadvantage.
Sure, it was an S-rank monster, and I'd used some strength against the manticore earlier.
But to be this outmatched in pure power?
"Where the hell did all my muscle go?!"
Heartbreaking.
Blocking the axe's force head-on was impossible, so I kept angling my sword to deflect.
Deflect and wait for an opening?
But I was at a stamina disadvantage too. Dragging it out wasn't smart.
I was already breathing raggedly, while the Death Knight didn't breathe at all.
Whoosh.
The axe blade I'd deflected just grazed where my head had been.
A split-second slower, and it'd have taken my head.
Damn, at this rate, no clear win.
But there was definitely an opportunity.
A poleaxe had the drawback of being hard to recover if a committed swing missed.
Just once—that's all I needed.
One chance, and I could kill it.
That's when it happened.
The Death Knight, about to swing again, suddenly changed patterns.
I'd expected another overhead axe, but it pulled back, spun the axe once in its hand.
Then thrust the pointed spear tip straight at me!
"Whoa, pattern shift!"
Of course an S-rank would mix it up!
But this was my chance too.
The spear tip flew faster than an arrow.
Dozens of thoughts flashed as I watched it come.
Ah, really don't wanna do this.
But no other sharp option.
Stab!
A gruesome tearing sound, and I bit my lip.
If frontal victory was impossible, sacrifice something.
Now, a spear tip pierced halfway through my palm.
The Death Knight holding it had its entire front exposed.
Because its weapon was stuck in my hand.
My pierced palm burned like fire, but I couldn't pass out.
I'd sacrificed my palm for this opening—couldn't waste it!
I roared through the pain and slashed at the helmet's neck.
"That hurts, you bastard!"
The Death Knight's helmet sheared off clean.
It clanged and rolled across the ground.
Head gone, but the armored body holding the spear just froze—didn't collapse.
Now, finish with a core strike to the torso!
Thud!
Anyway, unless its master repaired it, it wouldn't move anymore.
"...Hoo."
I yanked my pierced palm off the blade in one go. Better quick for this stuff.
"Ah, ah, ah! Better my ass?!"
No room for decorum amid the raw tearing pain.
I dumped every curse while chugging potions. The blood-soaked spear rolled on the ground. Healing was slow, amplifying the hurt.
"Intruder... eliminate..."
The rolling helmet still muttered ominously. Up close, the voice echoed three times more, looping.
Should I finish that off properly? I kicked the still-upright body, toppling it.
Crash!
As the empty armor fell and I planted my foot on it.
"Halt."
The moment that voice rang out, the Death Knight under my foot froze completely.
In the wasteland plain, devoid of any living presence.
A man suddenly tore through the air and appeared.
"Whoa."
He whistled upon recognizing my face. I grinned back at his.
A face so welcome it brought tears—me glad to see a demon.
I strode forward without hesitation. Then kicked the wyvern's severed head on the ground hard toward the man.
The head flew, splattering green blood everywhere.
"A welcome gift? This is my turf, you know."
The blood-soaked man's eyes were the same deep green as monster blood. His reptilian pupils contracted upon spotting me.
I smiled.
I already knew that demon's name.
"Hello, Belial."
The wickedly beautiful man grinned ear to ear.
"Ah, my death has descended here."