Chapter 40
Chapter 40 - Just Imagined Myself Getting Knocked Out
"Death Bishops! This is troublesome!"
Lord Margrave growled with a frustrated face.
Of course, I already know their identity. Instead of unnecessary confirmation, I decided to devise a solution to the situation.
'Stay calm. The real fight starts now!!'
There are five Death Bishops blocking our path. The same number as in my previous life.
The Death Bishops raised their staff. They begin to chant the same spell from my previous life.
Swish. Something dark begins to gather and swirl in front of their staffs.
—El... Dia... Blo...
As they chant in unison, the dark energy starts flying toward us like arrows. Dark spheres from five directions press against me.
I quickly leaped with a knowing smile.
"Won't fall for it twice!"
Crack! The dark spheres made a distorted noise as they consumed the surroundings.
Fortunately, the memory of being hit before was so intense that I could dodge it, but the black spheres that incinerate everything without warning were still chilling to see again.
—El... Dia... Blo...
But the Death Bishops' chanting wasn't over yet.
I clicked my tongue and prepared to dodge immediately, but their dark bullets had already reached right in front of my nose.
Memories from my previous life overlap. My body freezes for a moment.
I'm going to die.
Damn, this situation again?
If I die here, I won't even be able to collect the remaining sentiments!
"Dispel!"
The moment I tightly closed my eyes was almost simultaneous with a translucent barrier forming in front to block the bullets.
Ping ping ping! Making a piercing high pitch, the bullets crumbled in mid-air like a lie. I quickly turned my head.
There was Lord Margrave, chanting with his staff pointed in my direction.
'... Again, the same?'
I suddenly felt déjà vu. At the same time, I felt nauseous.
Why?
I clearly improved much more than the previous attempt. Why is this familiar situation repeating itself?
As anxiety began creeping up while my heart was pounding, at that moment.
"Haste! Skyte Bless!"
Bang! Blue light kept bursting from my body, and my movements became surprisingly light.
I dazedly looked around my body, and Lord Margrave turned his staff toward the Death Bishops and shouted.
"I've increased your agility! Go! I'll handle these ones and follow!"
Without waiting for my response, he charged at the Death Bishops.
Dudududu! Countless light bullets pour from the tip of his staff, disrupting the Death Bishops.
In that moment, Lord Margrav , who had switched to a greatsword, thrust the blade hard into the chest of the foremost one.
"Hundred Sword Pierce!"
A hundred blade edges disperse in the air and rain down at once.
The Death Bishops all tried to block it with dark barriers, but. They couldn't withstand the last few.
Pak pak pak! As the magic swords pierce them, the Death Bishops stagger.
—Gr... aah.
Lord Margrave didn't miss that opening. He immediately rushed like an arrow to one of them and swung his sword down hard.
Kwang! The sword split the Death Bishop in two and struck the ground. The earth shook all the way here.
'... No. This is definitely different.'
I sighed in relief watching Lord Margrave's dynamic movements.
What's the same about this? Unlike before, Lord Margrave is still going strong.
This isn't a final suicide charge prepared for death.
He really is confident he can defeat all these Death Bishops and follow after me!
Leila's distraction and Seolbaek's support are clearly showing effect in reducing how much I hold Lord Margrave back!
'Even if that's not the case, I have to believe that!'
I clenched my teeth and made up my mind. Meanwhile, Lord Margrave shattered another Death Bishop's skull.
No sooner had he dealt with one than he turned his head toward me and desperately shouted.
"Hurry! Don't waste this precious time!"
"Ah, alright!"
Only then did I quickly nod and pass through the Death Bishops who had completely shifted their attention away from me.
My speed, enhanced by Lord Margrave's powerful magic, was beyond imagination. Even the undead failed to catch me as I moved too fast for them to attack.
—Gr... ugh. Flesh... breathing... flesh.
But even I couldn't ignore the sword strikes of the ghost knights.
There seemed to be dozens of ghost knights positioned ahead. They surrounded me from all directions and rained down sword strikes.
"Where do you think you are going!"
At first I dodged their strikes by moving freely in all directions, but there was a limit. They intelligently drove me in while gradually tightening their encirclement.
"Tch!"
Finally, I gripped my sword in reverse.
And searched for the shortest route to the center of their formation.
'There it is.'
For a moment my mind flashed. I saw an opening.
I wanted to conserve magic power since I was running low, but this leaves me no choice!
'Lotus Flower!'
I immediately activated the skill while staring intently at one ghost knight.
With a whoosh, my body feels pulled along as the scenery suddenly changes. Before I could even process that sensation, I drove the reverse-gripped sword into the ground.
"Tremble!"
Rumble!
The earth shook mercilessly. All the countless ghost knights around staggered at once.
I took that chance to weave through them. Thanks to using the stealth skill, they struggled to chase me.
This was my hidden ultimate skill combo.
The name: Stealth Pants Run Combo.
—Won't... let you... escape…
-Chase... Going to... that person....
The ghost knights began chasing me with their helmets gleaming with an ominous light. Behind them, numerous undead were following. Their numbers exceeded well over a hundred.
Completely looking like an aggro-pulling bait in a hunt. Even in this serious situation, I couldn't help but smirk.
-Protect... the master....
-My servants... rise....
And finally, I stopped my frenzied running pace.
"These guys...."
In front of me stood a line of skeletons wearing pitch-black robes.
Without checking, I gripped my sword with half certainty.
These must be the liches.
-Kill... the breathing... flesh....
The liches seemed unable to tolerate my presence infiltrating this far.
They immediately swung their staffs, and undead creatures with mountain-like bodies burst through the ground. The traces of their bodies being stitched together here and there were creepy.
-......
And in the center of the lined-up liches. I scattered my gaze before widening my eyes.
There was one that was notably larger than the other skeletons and emitted an unsettling aura.
'... That's the one.'
The light in its eye sockets glowed particularly red, and the skull decorating its staff gleamed white as if made of crystal.
Just looking at it made my knees weak and triggered an instinctive fear that made my bladder lose strength.
I immediately activated Mimir's Eye.
[Monster Information]
[Name: Eldritch (Elder Lich)]
[Health: ??? Magic Power: 3085/3085]
[Strength: 3 Agility: 22 Intelligence: 335]
[Details: A lich who possesses exceptional magical power even among the undead leaders. Having lived for a long time, it possesses knowledge and wisdom surpassing that of a sage.]
As expected. It looked like a final boss, and it was indeed the final boss.
I checked the others one by one. I could identify the stats of all liches, but only the health stat remained unidentifiable.
Perhaps because the Lifeforce Vessel that the Border Duke mentioned needs to be destroyed to kill them, the exact health value couldn't be determined.
'Think easily, Park Jeong-yong. This is a gimmick boss.'
Gimmick boss.
In games, it refers to bosses that aren't vulnerable to normal attacks and can only be easily defeated through specific methods.
These bosses are extremely difficult to defeat through conventional methods.
However, because of this, their difficulty drastically decreases once you figure out the gimmick.
Think simply.
It's just a gimmick boss that can be easily killed once you find and destroy the weakness called the Lifeforce Vessel.
I kept trying to overcome my fear through constant self-hypnosis.
As I was building up tension anew, suddenly the Eldritch flashed its eye light and slowly rattled its skull.
-... Breathing flesh, what exactly is your identity.
I was surprised at first.
It wasn't the characteristic wood-scratching sound of the undead. A fairly clean and clear voice rang in my ears.
As expected of an Elder Lich, unlike the others, it doesn't stutter its words.
Since it kindly initiated conversation, it was a thank you for me who had no intention to fight. I replied to those words with an uneasy smile.
"Me? I'm a hired thug called to kill you, bastard."
-Are you a pawn of the Second Realm... No. That's not all. Breathing flesh. The scent from you is similar to ours.
"......"
-An extremely familiar... and awe-inspiring... and also, nostalgic energy. Breathing flesh. What exactly are you hiding?
How surprising.
It had almost figured out my identity.
Or more precisely, it had figured out the identity of what I possessed.
No wonder it noticed early and didn't counterattack.
'Then it would be easier to converse.'
I smirked and took out the problematic egg from my backpack.
The egg, which had grown to the size of my torso, appeared there.