Chapter 59: The End of the 3rd Floor, the Heartless Army (5)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 59: The End of the 3rd Floor, the Heartless Army (5)
"Stop provoking me. If we fight in earnest, we will suffer heavy losses, but you won't make it out of here alive either."
Cadric struggled to suppress his rage.
Being provoked by a greenhorn whose voice alone betrayed his youth made his blood boil.
"Yeah, yeah, old man. I get that you have a massive undead army and did a lot of prep work, so stop grinding your teeth so hard. I hear dental implants cost a fortune these days."
"Y-You... you bastard! I'll kill you!"
Cadric's face flushed bright red.
At the same time, a massive surge of mana erupted from the staff gripped in his hands.
Rumble!
[Cadric activates his unique ability, 'Gravedigger of the Black Grave'!]
[The special skill, 'Guardian of the Pyramid', has been activated!]
"C-Cadric-nim! If you use that here...!"
"You won't have enough mana left to face the boss monster!"
The necromancers cried out in panic.
But it was already too late.
Consumed by the single-minded desire to tear his opponent to shreds, Cadric was deaf to their warnings.
"Shut up and follow my orders!"
Even if they failed the boss raid, as long as he could kill that masked bastard!
He would have a valid excuse for the Demonic Human Association.
There would be no problem.
Right now, he had to focus all his attention on killing this detestable wretch.
Ruuuumble!
It was at that moment that the ground began to split open.
"Graaaah!"
"Kieeeek!"
New undead rose from beneath the earth.
Mummies wrapped head-to-toe in bandages.
They wore ornate armor crafted from gold and jewels, and carried the crescent-shaped swords characteristic of Egypt.
"Haa... haa... haa..."
Cadric's chest heaved violently.
Though his face had turned pale from consuming a massive amount of mana, it was filled with a sense of accomplishment.
"An ability to summon the Pharaoh's elite guard, huh..."
Seeing things like this made Jinhyuk feel a bit of futility about working himself to the bone all by himself.
Necromancers and summoner-type players got to leave everything to their subordinates while they just stood back and barked orders, didn't they?
To be honest, he was envious.
If...
"...that is, if those subordinates actually consist of useful ones."
If they were just obstacles, gathering ten thousand instead of a thousand would still make them nothing but a ragtag mob.
No, it was actually worse.
Because the mana required to maintain such a massive crowd would be astronomical.
"Your arrogant mouth is as loud as ever. Fine. I will show you that this is not just a matter of numbers."
Cadric gathered his mana once more.
Crackle! Fizzle...
The staff flared with light, only to flicker and dim.
The mana wasn't gathering as he wished.
"Tsk! Did I overexert myself?"
Cadric clicked his tongue.
But only for a moment.
"Come here. I am quite famished right now."
Cadric grabbed the neck of the necromancer standing right next to him.
"C-Cadric-nim...? Arghhh!"
Ssshhhk!
Life force was absorbed through his palm.
The strangled necromancer writhed violently.
He struggled desperately to break free, but it was futile.
There was no way Cadric would let go of the prey he had ensnared.
"Be still... stay still. Struggling will only prolong your pain."
Ssshhhk! Ssshhhk!
"Guh... ugh!"
The screams gradually died down.
Soon, the completely desiccated body of the necromancer crumbled into dust.
"Disgusting. Weren't you on the same side?"
Jinhyuk frowned.
"Fufu. Of course we are. That is why he sacrificed his precious life for our victory, is it not?"
"You talk big for someone who killed him without even getting his consent."
"I'm sure he would have agreed. If you meet him in the afterlife, you can ask him yourself."
Having replenished his mana, Cadric caressed his staff.
Then...
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
The mummy soldiers joined the front lines.
The front line, which had been overwhelmingly pushed back by the Moai statues, completely turned around with the arrival of the new reinforcements.
Boom!
Crash!
Spears made of gold punched holes right through the stone bodies of the statues.
Their movements were precise, and their power was overwhelming.
'If ten of them gather, they'd be about as strong as a single Death Knight.'
No matter how powerful the Moai statues were—capable of destroying dozens of undead in a single blow—they couldn't bridge this massive gap in military strength.
"How about it? Can you still talk big after seeing this?"
Cadric wore a confident smirk.
Jinhyuk, on the other hand, bit his lower lip.
"..."
Seeing this, Cadric gloated even more excitedly.
"Bwahaha! Have you lost your tongue? It's fine. It's only natural to be afraid!"
"Huh?"
Jinhyuk tilted his head.
What on earth was this guy talking about?
"No, I lost my tongue because I was so dumbfounded. Did you seriously plan on taking on the boss monster with just this much?"
Even in the best-case scenario, they'd be wiped out in five minutes...
And that was a highly generous evaluation to spare his feelings; in reality, they wouldn't even make it to the boss monster before being annihilated.
However...
Despite the sincere advice, Cadric dismissed it all as mere bluffing.
"You spout all kinds of nonsense when backed into a corner. Well, fine. Let's end this tedious conversation here."
Cadric gave the command with a simple wave of his hand.
"Kieee!"
"Keek!"
The mummy soldiers roared savagely.
Their mouths tore open vertically, and black smoke billowed out.
"Kill him."
* * *
A forest slightly removed from the temple.
Atop the tallest of the densely packed trees, a man and a woman sat perched on a branch, watching the battle unfold.
They were Melena and Richao, sent by the Demonic Human Association.
"Hmm. He's much more reckless than I thought."
Melena tilted her head.
Richao immediately replied.
"His initial intention to destroy the base was good, but not escaping afterward was a foolish move."
"Pfft! True, that's not courage, it's just stupidity. But what on earth was he thinking, staying behind?"
"He probably misjudged the difference in their strength. He might have thought he stood a chance after seeing only the skeletons and Dullahan, but that was a complete miscalculation. Cadric's unique ability is far more troublesome than that."
Black magic that resurrects ancient corpses is certainly useful.
That was why Cadric had been put in charge of this raid.
On the other hand...
The opponent their executive had been so wary of was surprisingly full of openings.
"With him being that stupid, there's no need for us to step in."
Cadric would be more than enough to handle him.
Just as they thought that...
Crackle...!
A strange energy began to ripple from the masked man.
"Hmm?"
"What is that?"
It wasn't the ice-attribute magic or divine power he had shown until now.
It was an ominous, dense energy.
At the sight of the sinister mana completely enveloping his dagger, the pupils of the two observers dilated rapidly.
"A-Are you kidding me? How can a skill be that absurd?"
Melena sprang to her feet in disbelief.
Richao was equally flustered.
"Could it be..."
Did he actually have the confidence to win against an army of that scale?
That was impossible.
No matter how strong one was...
No matter how confident one was in their skills...
Who could guarantee victory against such a massive army?
Gulp.
Richao swallowed hard.
Half of their forces were tied up in the battle against the statues, and three of their mana bases had already been destroyed.
If all of this had been a trap designed by their opponent...
If even provoking Cadric and allowing himself to be surrounded in the middle of enemy territory had been calculated...
...then they might be facing the worst imaginable outcome.
* * *
[Grave of Swords has been activated!]
A chill ran down his spine.
Goosebumps broke out all over his body.
'Yes, this is it.'
The corners of Jinhyuk's mouth curled upward.
A rush of exhilaration permeated every corner of his body.
While 'Ice Sculpting' and 'Blessing of the Stars' were great, this was exactly why he particularly favored 'Grave of Swords'.
'Standard magic or divine abilities just don't have this thrilling taste.'
This ability, which completely disregarded defense to pursue pure offense, was what truly made a veteran player feel like a veteran.
'Hmm... was it something like this?'
Jinhyuk swept his black-shrouded dagger from side to side.
A smooth trajectory flowed from a single point into a line.
And after a few attempts,
Finally...
'Oh! I got it.'
A fragment of the 'Soul-Chasing Sword Dance' that Cheon Yu-seong had mastered was recreated.
[Your understanding of the Soul-Chasing Sword has increased.]
Jinhyuk performed a sword dance incomparably more sophisticated than before.
If Cheon Yu-seong had seen this, he would have foamed at the mouth and collapsed.
Because it was an act that utterly disregarded the decade he had spent dedicating his life to the sword.
However, now that Jinhyuk had manifested the talent of the Sword Demon, such things didn't matter in the slightest.
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
The sound of cutting through the air gradually grew smoother.
Now he understood.
How the ultimate technique known as the Soul-Chasing Sword had been born.
[Your understanding of the Soul-Chasing Sword has increased to a high level.]
How to properly utilize the Soul-Chasing Sword.
All of it.
[Your understanding of the Soul-Chasing Sword has increased to a very high level!]
Along with the successive status windows, countless memories flooded into Jinhyuk's mind.
And at that very moment...
'Soul-Chasing Sword Dance.'
Black flames scattered in all directions.
'Fifth Form.'
The pinnacle of the sword that even Cheon Yu-seong had failed to reach.
And the realm of Demonic Transcendence that lay beyond that pinnacle.
'Soul-Chasing Heaven Annihilation.'
The fifth form, hailed as the essence of the Soul-Chasing Sword, unfolded right here.
"What in the..."
Cadric's pupils shook violently.
At the same time, the sword slashed horizontally.
Ruuuumble!
The first to arrive was the sword wind.
It was not mere wind, but a lethal weapon infused with mana.
Thus, the mummies at the very front were utterly defenseless against it.
"Kieeeek!"
"Keeeek!"
Their bodies were torn to shreds, spilling blackened chunks of flesh.
"Ugh!"
An immense impact was delivered to Cadric's shield as well.
Rumble!
"Ugggh...!"
The triple-layered barrier shook violently.
But before he could even catch his breath, the true strike of 'Soul-Chasing Heaven Annihilation' flew toward him.
This time, there was no heavy pressure felt on the shield.
Instead...
Slice!
A chilling sound of tearing flesh rang out.
Cadric's head slowly tilted downward.
The arm that should have been visible, that should have been there, was gone.
"T-This can't be..."
All the mummy soldiers had been hacked to pieces by a single swing of his sword?
And as if that wasn't enough, it shattered his shield and severed his arm?
Tremble!
His jaw trembled involuntarily.
Just a short while ago, he had cursed his disciple, Alex, who had died a futile death.
Because he couldn't understand how someone who commanded the undead could possibly lose.
But only now, in this very situation, did he finally understand why Alex had died without being able to do a single thing.
A monster like this was impossible to defeat.
Fleeing was the only way to save his life.
"Death Knight... stop him... immediately!"
He didn't care about the statues anymore.
Even if it meant losing all the remaining undead and necromancers, he had to escape this place right now.
Cadric picked up his severed arm.
And, forcing his near-collapsing body forward, he walked toward the northern gate.
Or rather, he tried to.
"If you wanted to exit the stage, you should have asked for your opponent's permission first."
The voice he least wanted to hear pierced his eardrums.
At that exact moment...
[Black Moon Night has been activated.]
A black moon cast its shadow over Cadric's face.