25
Chapter 25
Rake wasn't shaking.
To be precise, she was emotionally shaken, but she didn't let me see it.
Even as she curled up, she peeked her head out so that I could see the situation.
Thanks to her, I could see the darkness covering the sky and Abraham standing calmly beneath it.
The Dark Cloud Demon was approaching the city where Abraham was, slowly but steadily.
It wasn't just a dark cloud.
Dozens, hundreds, perhaps even thousands of flying creatures were accompanying the dark cloud.
Demons resembling birds and insects. Clutched in their legs were wingless demons.
George mentioned that the bat-like Mid-tier Demon he caught had five Low-tier Demons following it.
According to Rising Phoenix, the Cobra Demon Abraham caught also seemed to have three Low-tier Demons.
The Dark Cloud Demon, however, led over a thousand demons.
Just how massive is the difference between a Mid-tier and a High-tier?
I shifted my gaze to the community window for a moment. I wondered if they were seeing this too.
[Rising Phoenix: Abraham update!
He beat three Low-tier Demons and is now fighting a Mid-tier Demon for his life!]
This bastard has been broadcasting this whole time.
[Samurai Jackson: Stop messing around and run away. You'll get yourself killed.]
└ [Rising Phoenix: Who cares. We're all going to die anyway haha]
└ [Rising Phoenix: Since I'm dying anyway, I might as well watch a cool fight, right?]
└ [Rising Phoenix: Dying alone and lonely in a cave VS dying after seeing an epic battle]
└ [Rising Phoenix: Obviously the latter, right?]
Has he finally snapped from exhaustion? I feel a bit sorry for him.
[Melee-type Spy: Is everyone seeing this?
That thing has arrived.
Dig a hole or whatever, just hide.
Don't do anything for ten hours. Just stay still.
If you have to pee or poop, just do it right there.]
It was definitely massive enough to be visible from other regions.
Then again, it dyed the sky black even while approaching from a distance.
[Corrupted Power Knight: Fuck... what the fuck
That was the dark cloud? Is that why nobody said anything?
You bastards who arrived first... you should have given more details about that...
I was planning to try poking a Mid-tier Demon once I hit level 6 or 7, but that was a crazy thought...]
[I Trusted the Monkey Uncle: Melee-type Spy was right]
Fr;;]
While I kept glancing between the community window and Abraham, 'that thing' slowly approached.
Wuuuuuuum-!
Soon, it reached Tivera, emitting an ominous and horrific sound.
Flying-type Demons, who had arrived near the city before it, began dropping the demons they held in their claws.
Judging by their size, they seemed to be Low-tier Demons, smaller than the Cobra Demon.
Growl!
Snarl!
After tumbling across the ground and picking themselves up, the demons charged toward Abraham.
The moment the distance closed, Abraham raised his hand high into the air.
A long whip, shrouded in holy light, appeared.
Swoosh!
He lashed the whip toward the demons. He swung it with such speed that it triggered a shockwave.
Bang bang bang!
The demons hit by the whip exploded instantly, scattering into ash.
Overwhelming.
[Rising Phoenix: Oh haha Abraham just used a skill]
[He's swinging a switch made of light! The demons are just getting wiped out haha]
A comment was posted immediately.
[Melee-type Spy: That's the level 7 skill, Whip of Judgment. If you've seen that, please run away now.]
So that skill is called the Whip of Judgment.
Soon after, light erupted from Abraham's whip, intercepting the Flying-type Demons approaching nearby. It was the Light Burst skill.
I felt the same as Bramanda. If you reach level 7, you can do that much... did he really have to choose such an extreme path?
Of course, I'm only thinking this because I don't know Abraham's personality or the situation he's in.
Boom! Boom!
The demons exploded from a medium distance, unable to even reach Abraham.
A large Monster Parrot, seemingly a Mid-tier Demon, approached and tried to snatch him, but its leg was caught by the whip and it was flung away.
Abraham, facing dozens of demons alone, was the very image of a high-level user in [Holy Knight Survival].
But that was all.
When the number of demons surrounding Abraham exceeded nearly several hundred, I sensed his defeat.
Now, the demons rushing and flying in from all directions blocked Rake's and my view.
Bursts of light occasionally flickered through, but they were a mere handful compared to the demon army.
Before I knew it, the dark cloud loomed over Abraham.
It extended a massive tentacle downward and snatched up Abraham, who was buried under the demons.
"Aaaagh-!"
The scream of him being dragged away echoed all the way to where I was.
"S-stay back! Get away from me!"
Rising Phoenix, who had been watching, was also discovered and attacked by the demons, literally being torn apart.
"I can't take anymore of this."
Before Rake whispered and hid her head, I saw it clearly.
Abraham's helmet, armor, and weapons falling to the ground.
Every single piece was horribly damaged.
He met a gruesome end without even getting a chance to fight the Dark Cloud Demon.
Could I even defeat such a being...?
...No, I have to.
Calmly, and waiting for the right moment.
***
At the same time, in the Necromancer's Tomb.
"Sigh... Who the hell covered this with grass? Took me forever to find it."
A bearded man in armor finally found the entrance to the tomb that Nyx and the Barbarian Warriors had concealed.
His nickname was Rino Johnson. He was a Holy Knight who specialized in hunting down Hidden Pieces.
Having recently reached level 4 and acquired the Purification skill, he had returned to a dungeon he had previously given up on.
'Did someone else already take it? No. Then there would be no reason to hide the entrance. Why on earth would they cover it?'
As Rino Johnson was lost in thought, a cold wind brushed past him.
"Huh?"
He looked up to see the sky suddenly turning dark.
"What... what is this?"
A word flashed through Rino Johnson's mind.
Dark cloud.
The reason George's Raid Party, which had been doing so well, vanished without a trace.
"Dammit...!"
He hurried inside the tomb to hide.
'Well, since I'm already in, might as well check for any Hidden Pieces.'
After closing the coffin that served as a door, he raised his bracelet. The light from the bracelet illuminated the dark tomb.
Crown. Bracelet. Necklace. Talisman. Everything he wore was a Hidden Piece.
Having lived as a gaming addict for decades, he was a heavy user who had written numerous strategy guides for [Survival as a Holy Knight].
Because of that, he knew the locations of hidden dungeons from a game that had failed ten years ago.
He stepped over the zombie corpses that Nyx and the warriors had previously dealt with and entered a room filled with murals.
He was able to arrive quickly thanks to a necklace that functioned as a Special Object Detection Radar.
"What? It's not here?"
No matter how much he searched through the pamphlets, the Book of the Dead was nowhere to be seen.
'Then why did the radar even go off?'
"Could there be a new Hidden Piece other than the Book of the Dead?"
He had experienced something like this during previous dungeon explorations.
Thrilled by the possibility of a new discovery, he searched the room thoroughly and soon found a wall that sounded hollow when tapped.
'It's protected by magic.'
He used the 'Protection Removal (Mid)' skill, obtained from another dungeon, to dispel the magic protecting the wall.
Since it was magic from a long-neglected tomb, it was easy to remove.
Then, using the 'Grave Robber's Skilled Hand' skill from another dungeon, he carefully dug into the wall.
Inside the wall, in a space small enough for a child to fit, sat a jar.
And that jar was shaking.
"What the...!"
Rino Johnson instinctively felt a sense of danger and tried to step back, but it was already too late.
His body was being pulled toward the jar by an unknown force.
"Gah! Get off!"
He screamed and struggled to escape, but before he knew it, his hand had ripped open the lid.
A red spiritual entity surged from the jar and invaded Rino Johnson's face.
"Ack! Hack! Cough!"
It was Karon, a being who had transcended the physical form to become an Evil Spirit.
The final resort prepared by the Necromancer, which even the power of a god had failed to erase, had finally awakened.
A man tapping a keyboard in the corner of his room, and a man wailing while clutching the corpses of three children.
The memories of Rino Johnson and Karon merged, and Karon's soul began to consume Rino's.
A continent on the brink of extinction. Humans corrupted by demonic power. A goddess who summons humans from another world to be sacrificial lambs. The silence of the Loa.
"Are you... merely a human whose fate was toyed with by a god?"
Rino Johnson's voice turned low and ominous.
A sinister red light filled his eyes.
He stepped calmly out of the tomb and looked up at the blackened sky.
The dark cloud, hovering in the distance, came into view.
"...Non-human entities are mocking the world. As they always do."
He silently gazed at the High-tier Demon.
"Do not worry."
He was no longer Rino Johnson.
"I shall save you all."
An Exile who had mastered the forbidden arts that govern death.
The disaster that had brought about a zombie apocalypse.
A Transcendent who had gained the power to dominate both body and soul.
The adversary of the gods.
The ancient evil that had been slumbering in the continent had awakened.