Chapter 41
Chapter 41
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Translator: Ruby
Chapter: 41
Chapter Title: Is It Gauriel?
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"Do not retreat!"
"Make the terror of the Holy Knights echo all the way to hell!"
"Make them never disregard Black Iron again!"
My single phrase shown at the vanguard became the trigger that extinguished everyone's fear.
The prowess of the Allied Knights, who had forgotten their fear, was far more impressive than I had imagined.
Even though their numbers were not that great.
Their momentum was transmitted to me intact as I stood at the front.
Kwagang!
As the vanguard, I leaped into the middle of the skeleton legion with black thunder leading the way.
Jjeojjeojjeong! Jjeojjeojjeong!
"Kieeeeeek!"
"Kagagagagak!"
The black lightning that swept in all directions instantly turned the skeletons back into remains.
"Sir Rohan has made a path! Break through!"
"Show those bastards clearly that Sir Rohan is not alone!"
From behind, the voices of Inquisitor Jefron and Knight Commander Vincent chased after me.
And.
Segeok! Segeok!
There was Diaz, who had already quietly followed right behind me.
'This... her growth rate is too fast, isn't it?...'
Normally, I would have been busy losing my reason and rampaging among the demons.
But after the mock duel with Romain.
I felt that I had grown even more, and became able to control my emotions.
That was why I was only now seeing Diaz's form that I had been missing until now.
But it seemed her skill had already chased up to just before surpassing me.
'Her talent is insane.'
How many unique skills did I have now?
And I had items too.
Yet she was catching up this quickly with nothing at all?
'At this rate, I might become a knight inferior to my adjutant.'
That could not happen.
Because it was too embarrassing just to imagine.
'The Great Invasion is one thing, but... I need to grow quickly!'
Once I smashed this place and bought some time until the Great Invasion, I suddenly thought I needed to grow even faster.
'In many ways, she's making me feel rushed...!'
Chwaaaak!
A long horizontal space-cutting slash.
The spine bones of the skeletons were cleanly severed by it.
Hudududuk.
Perhaps Diaz's growth was more frightening than the Great Invasion.
Kwagagagang...
At the sound of thunder that shook his entire lair.
Horacidon, the master of this space, flashed his hollow eyes.
From the eyes of the skull without a shred of flesh, crimson light flickered.
"How noisy."
A chilling voice flowed from his mouth.
He fluttered his robe and moved his body toward the direction of the sound.
And when he waved his arm once.
Seureuk.
One Specter Lord revealed itself.
Horacidon gave an order to the Specter Lord.
"Go find out what is happening."
"Siiiiii...!"
The specter turned and disappeared with a seureuk.
And even during that time, the roar continued.
The floor trembled.
The air shook.
Kugugugugung!...
Horacidon did not hide his discomfort.
"How dare they set foot in this place. In the end, they will become one of those many skeletons."
He turned his gaze back toward his masterpiece.
"Kieeeek..."
"Geureureureu!"
"Save me..."
A new specter mixed with 666 souls.
Three heads were attached to one body.
And the body looked crudely stitched together.
At that sight of twisting God's creations to his own taste.
Horacidon let out a satisfied laugh.
"Keukeukeuk. O specter. Your god has abandoned you. Only I am the god of specters... serve me and praise me!"
However, the specter pieced together bit by bit only emitted sounds of agony.
"Kaaaaaaak!"
"Kyeong! Kyeong!"
"I don't want this world anymore... kill me!..."
But those cries of pain sounded to Horacidon like the world's greatest music.
Just as he was savoring and feeling the world's greatest pleasure.
Suddenly, a chilling sensation passed through.
"...!"
The Specter Lord he had sent had been extinguished.
Horacidon turned his neck at the unexpected situation.
"Just what... is happening? Just what kind of bastard has set foot in my sanctuary for the Specter Lord to be so helplessly... could it be, Gauriel?..."
In that moment, the form of that monstrous angel came to mind.
An ominous sensation wrapped around all his bones.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
"It's a Specter Lord!"
A cry heard from somewhere.
I immediately turned my gaze.
In fact, the battle until now fighting with skeletons had been merely a warm-up.
In reality, not a single person among the Allied Knights personnel had been injured.
But from now on, things would be a bit different.
The true power of the legion led by Horacidon was precisely those bastards.
'Specter Lords and the Specter Legion...'
Those bastards were Horacidon's real terror.
"Shaaaaa!"
"Seuseuseuseu...!"
The specters rushing fiercely in their soul state.
Generally, physical attacks did not work at all against them.
Yet their attacks were also lethal.
"Th-they're flying!"
"Dodge!"
The specters' attacks that shot through the air were simple yet horrific.
Flying straight at them like body tackles.
Shuwing!
They passed through the bodies of the living.
Because specters were spirit bodies, the fact that they passed through did not create holes in the flesh or anything.
But.
Theoelssuk.
"Th-this can't be...!"
"He... died?"
With just that simple charge alone, they could easily extinguish a life.
Although they had been pushing forward with good momentum until now.
At the first casualty that appeared in an instant.
The spirit of the entire Allied Knights cooled chillingly.
'This atmosphere is not good?...'
I raised my voice to give them a hint.
"The things you prepared! Take them all out now!"
The knights of the Allied Knights immediately came to their senses and deployed the countermeasures I had hinted at in advance.
"S-silver powder rounds! Detonate the silver powder rounds!"
"Damn! Wh-why won't this come out? Crazy!"
"Those who got them out first, throw them! Quickly! They're flying again!"
The specters that had achieved success once seemed to giggle, then shot toward the knights again.
This time, all the specters were even flying at once!
My eyes moved quickly.
'Foolish bastards! It's already too late...!'
Although I had swept through the surrounding skeletons, new ones that had crawled out from somewhere were running toward me.
If I blocked the skeletons, the knights would be hit.
If I didn't block the skeletons, I would be hit.
Just then.
Diaz quickly began to cover me.
"Sir Rohan! I will block them! Provide support..."
As expected, her combat sense was outstanding.
I nodded my head instead of answering.
At some point between us, a bond had risen where we could communicate perfectly with just this much speech.
I completely entrusted my back to Diaz.
Shwaaaaa!
And summoned a brilliant golden spear.
That light filled this underground space.
"Kadeudeudeudeuk!"
"Kiek! Kigeugeugeugeu...!"
A powerful light strong enough to make the skeletons hesitantly retreat.
A few bastards approached through that light.
"Where do you think you're going! Not a chance!"
Segeok!
But they could not pass Diaz's wall.
I drew up the power of my left arm and threw the golden spear toward the specter group flying at the knights.
Thanks to the knights dawdling.
The specters had clumped together instead, creating the perfect angle for annihilating them in one strike.
'If they clump together like that... it's a huge gain!'
Shuuuuung!
"Kiek?"
"Shaaaaaaaa!"
Beonjjeoeoeoek!
And.
No one was there.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
The golden spear that extinguished the Specter Legion in an instant.
Even I was dumbfounded by its power.
'Th-this was this powerful?...'
Did a skill exist that could extinguish specter-type undead in one strike like this?
I shook my head inwardly.
'There absolutely was no such thing... specter-type undead were among the highest tier in difficulty to deal with even in the original work.'
Of course, in the original game, they weren't to the degree of instantly killing players.
Nevertheless, they dealt lethal damage, and there still were no proper means of counterattack.
So the conclusion most users came to was...
'How to dodge without getting hit.'
I remembered that only such strategies were posted day and night.
I too avoided specter undead whenever they were in positions where I didn't have to fight them.
But...
'This is almost... cheat-level, isn't it?'
With this level of power.
Specter undead truly made of souls would no longer be my match going forward.
It wasn't at the level of discussing compatibility, but rather I could simply crush them.
At that moment.
I suddenly felt a chill down my spine.
'Hm?'
The door that the skeletons had been guarding like an iron fortress opened by itself.
It was like a scene from a horror movie.
Kiiiiiik...!
Through the gap of the opened door, an interior blacker than darkness was slightly visible.
Souls screamed as they came out.
"Kyaaaaaaak!"
Then.
Beonjjeok!
Crimson eyes like blood revealed their majesty.
And a voice filled with death itself flowed out.
"Mortals who have set foot in the Lich's nest. I showed mercy and gave you the chance to die comfortably... yet you ultimately choose suffering!"
At the roar contained in the last voice.
A storm filled with killing intent engulfed us.
"Keuuk!"
"Wh-what kind of energy is this?..."
"It's hard to breathe..."
It felt as if even the wind was giving the illusion of gnawing at life.
I knew the reason.
'It's a debuff.'
A mental-type area debuff magic, Lich's Song.
It broke the opponent's morale and lowered all stats for a certain period of time.
As they say, it's visible to those who know.
It was quite a lethal spell.
Though it seemed like a simple wind, it was already one magical attack in itself.
However, it had no effect on me.
'If you don't know, you get hit, but if you know, you can counter it.'
The moment the debuff was applied, I immediately used mana burning to cast a debuff counter.
However, unfortunately, due to the nature of mana burning consuming all mana, I would not be able to block a second debuff.
That was why I decided that a quick decisive battle was the answer.
Still, one fortunate thing was...
That the golden spear had no relation to mana.
Shwaaaaa!
Once again, a brilliant golden spear was gripped in my hand.
Using my left arm that gripped it tightly, I shot out a full-power spear throw.
Paaaang!
With the sound of tearing through the air.
A straight line of golden light was drawn in the void.
The golden spear melted all the evils on its passing path.
And laid before me a path like the miracle of Moses.
And at the end of that path, Horacidon, who had narrowly dodged the golden spear, ground his teeth.
"...!"
And flashed his eyes filled with killing intent.
His eerie eyes and my gaze intertwined in the void.