Dark Struggle (2)
"Monsters incoming! Everyone, battle stations!"
The moment the horde was spotted, the knights hurriedly reformed their ranks and drew their weapons. The one small mercy was that most of them had already finished their battle preparations.
"What the hell is happening all of a sudden?!"
"Damn it, do I look like I know? Where did that many monsters that strong even crawl out of...!"
A monster's behavior bore no resemblance to that of ordinary living creatures. They appeared without warning to feast on human flesh and bone, or lurked in dungeons, smacking their lips as they waited for fresh prey. That was one reason they were called calamities — at any moment, without warning, one could cross your path and take your life.
But what was happening now was highly unusual.
"At least five hundred confirmed!"
Hundreds of monsters had appeared at once and were marching on a single point in perfect unison — and they weren't even of the same species, but creatures of entirely different shapes moving as one. There was something even stranger, too.
"The mana signatures... they average mid-high rank, with numerous high-rank individuals scattered among them!"
Ordinary animals and monsters shared one trait: the weaker the individual, the more it herded. As a rule, a monster above mid-rank lived alone, or in small packs at most. Yet the horde advancing on them now, despite averaging mid-high rank, had formed a colossal swarm of more than five hundred. This was no mere calamity — it was a living tidal wave of death.
"Black Moon Knights! Hold the garden at all costs!"
"His Highness is on this ground! White Sun! Every last one of you, fight without sparing yourselves!"
They were no longer each other's enemy. Moon and sun had to join forces to repel the monster legion.
"Kraaak!"
Soon the monsters' vanguard crashed into the garden, grotesque creatures pouring over the walls.
"Charge!"
Black- and white-armored swordsmen entangled together as they met the monsters head-on. These were monsters unlike anything they had ever seen — tentacles writhing from their backs, acid dripping in thick ropes from their maws.
"Aaaaargh!"
"Gah!"
Every time a blade-like tentacle lashed out, an arm or a leg came off. Flesh and blood spattered across the garden.
"They're coming from the flank too!"
A monster stretched out its long snout and ran several knights through at once. Every single one of them was powerful.
"I-I've never faced a swarm of mid-high rank monsters before...!"
Some lost their will to fight at the sheer sight of them. By rights, even a single high-rank monster demanded a coordinated team to bring down. The sight of such creatures herding and hunting humans in turn was grotesque beyond words.
"Hnngh... hnnnghaaah!"
The roles of prey and predator had reversed. The food chain, flipped on its head.
"Khough...!"
Lunan coughed up blood.
"Grrrrrr!"
The high-rank monster that had laid open her side glowered with crimson eyes.
"I got careless... I never dreamed a high-rank would coordinate with other monsters."
While she was engaged with one high-rank, another had cut in and struck her down. Such a thing should have been impossible — which was exactly why she'd been caught off guard.
"Pull yourself together. In a situation like this, we cannot afford to lose a single ounce of strength."
"That's rich, coming from someone in just as bad shape."
Lunan laughed bitterly. Even Chadwick, spitting out such cold words, was far from fine. Not as badly wounded as her, perhaps, but he had lost so much stamina that he could collapse at any moment.
"E-even the captains..."
The captains, many times stronger than ordinary soldiers, had been reduced to this.
"How are we supposed to beat this?!"
"Hck... ugh!"
Just as the knights' trembling hands threatened to drop their swords—
"ALL OF YOU, ON YOUR FEET!"
A valiant voice roared from far away.
"Brought low by such vermin?! And you dare call yourselves the Sun and the Moon!"
A white lion closed in at speed. He swung his greatsword.
KRAAAKAANG!
In an instant, space itself shuddered, and the high-rank monsters' bodies burst apart.
"Kireeeek!"
"Kraaak!"
With that single strike, he dispatched several of the high-rank monsters that had been toying with the captains.
"H-His Highness has come!"
"It's the First Prince!"
Theo planted himself before the monsters, white hair streaming.
"You damned monsters! Against whom do you dare raise those filthy claws!"
A storm of white mana raged around his greatsword. The presence of an overwhelming powerhouse swept across the battlefield.
"Forward, knights! Etch into these monsters who the true master of this place is!"
"WAAAAAAH!"
"Let's go!"
Watching him carve through high-rank monsters as easily as low-rank trash, the knights found their courage. At that man's side, maybe — just maybe — they would walk out of this alive. Maybe they could kill every last monster here.
"Let's kill them all!"
Morale restored, the knights raised their swords.
"Phew. Looks like nobody noticed."
Theo and Leo. And the other knights who had been in the Dark Palace had also come out to face the monsters.
"Honestly, you lot love startling people."
He smacked the head of a monster that had been alive moments ago. The severed head rolled and rolled before coming to rest on the ground.
"Hmm."
About time I quietly slipped into the ranks of the monster-battered. Otherwise someone was bound to ask — Why are you the only one untouched? Did you run away, you cowardly bastard?
I was watching for the right moment when—
"Kraaak!"
A monstrous shriek erupted behind me.
"Huh?"
Now that I looked, more monsters were climbing over the wall from the rear. While the knights held the line up ahead, they meant to strike from behind?
"Monsters can use tactics like this?"
If I let them advance, most of the knights would die. Even the survivors would leave the Shadow Garden a scorched wasteland.
I've only just gotten my first real lead. I couldn't let something like this throw off my schedule.
"Kyaaaaak!"
I planted myself in the monsters' path.
"Sorry, but this is as far as you go."
A horde that looked to number a good hundred or more. Sharp tentacles wriggled disgustingly.
"Kweeeek!"
"God, you are an ugly bunch."
No idea where these things had all suddenly crawled out of—
Szzzt!
—but this was no time to wonder. I gathered mana into the Pilgrim's Spear.
"As it happens, there's something new I haven't had the chance to test."
The new realm of the Nameless Spear Art I had ascended to after successfully mastering Baekho Banse in the Slott family's underground dungeon.
▷ Baekho's Fang — A trait born from the absorption of Baekho Banse. The spear art ignores the target's defenses and cleaves directly into their origin.
Baekho Banse — which seized an enemy's origin and split it perfectly in two — had been distilled into the very principles of the spear art.
[ The Yaksha mounts the tiger's back. ]
Baekho's Fang
An aura like a razor-sharp fang rose along the spearhead.
[ Baekho's Fang will accompany the next 3 spear techniques. ]
For the next three strikes, the Nameless Spear Art would be absolute.
"Krek?!"
Sensing my killing intent, perhaps, the monsters' movements faltered. Even the lowliest monster seemed to know instinctively that touching this spear meant disaster.
"If you truly wish to turn back, be my guest."
I reined in my vastly amplified stats.
"But if you cross my spear—!"
I swung.
Tiger Calamity — a word for disaster wrought by a tiger. A name that suited this technique perfectly.
The maw of a tiger hung upon the shredding spear.
Psshaaa!
Faint traces of severed space lingered along the spear's path. Power that ignored defenses and nature alike, cleaving the very space the enemy occupied — that was the result of Baekho Banse being inherited by the spear.
Pkeok!
The swinging spear met no resistance at all. Thanks to that, it never slowed, carrying its full momentum to the very end.
Seogeogeok!
The bisected monsters simply collapsed, dead before they even had a chance to regenerate.
"No matter how many times I think about it..."
I retrieved the spear that had turned dozens of monsters into a bloody mist in a single sweep.
"The Nameless Spear Art really is the strongest."
"Kraaaaa-!"
The Ink Spear's Stroke and Baekho Banse's Boundary converged at the spear's tip.
Even amid the surging power, traces of the Boundary swept through. Another few dozen monsters were cut down.
"Kweeeek!"
One monster used its fallen kin as cover and lunged at me—
Segegegegeok!
It never reached me. Its body shredded into pieces mid-charge.
"Nice work, Rir."
"Woof!"
Rir burst from my shadow right on cue, unleashing Wind Blades. Perhaps thanks to the Treasure of the Storm, their cutting power seemed far greater than before.
This time it bared its claws and wreathed them in a dark-crimson aura.
Bleed Strike
Sssak!
It wove between the monsters, tearing them apart with blade-like claws.
⬆ 'Rir' has leveled up!
⬆ 'Rir' has leveled up!
"Keeeek!"
A few monsters caught on that I wasn't the end of it and tried to flee—
Bleed Strike
"Not a chance."
I resonated Bleed Strike with the Flame Soul Spear Throw.
The Karma Flame spear stained itself deep crimson and reshaped into a colossal arrow.
"Go."
The arrow snapped loose and hurtled forward at blistering speed. It struck the fleeing monster dead-on, and blood erupted in a massive explosion.
The already devastating Flame Soul Spear Throw had grown even stronger with Bleed Strike layered on top. The two skills seemed to synergize beautifully. Last time, when I'd tested it alone with Wind Blade, the only change had been a slight boost to the throw's speed.
"Well, then."
That should be every last runner caught, too.
"Those who run die the most painful deaths. You know that, right?"
"K-Krek...!"
"There, there. It's all right."
I raised my spear and put on the most harmless smile I could manage.
"If a spear hits you gently, it doesn't hurt at all."
Meanwhile, in the underground prison of the Shadow Garden.
"What the hell...! What on earth is going on up there?!"
Phon stared up at the ceiling in bewilderment as groans and tremors filtered down from above. It sounded like a war — some massive battle had broken out.
"Damn it! Of all times to suffer this humiliation!"
He was currently imprisoned for assaulting a member of his own squad. Until his punishment was formally decided, he was stuck in this cell with no way out.
I have to protect the Captain... I'm the only one fit to stand at her side!
Until that strange con artist had shown up, he had been Lunan's right hand — a comrade who could watch her back on the battlefield, and perhaps, in time, something more. But then Lee Tae-hyun had wedged his way between them.
The Captain is just too kind and trusting. That's the only reason she fell for his schemes. I have to... I have to protect her!
Phon hammered at the magically reinforced bars, the thought looping obsessively through his head.
"Let me out! I have to get to her!"
He raged like that for a long while.
Thud... thud...
Someone was walking toward his cell. A man shrouded in a black robe, body and face hidden — suspicious at a single glance.
Phon's face twisted with irritation at the sight of him.
"Who are you?"
"My identity doesn't matter. What matters is that I am the one who can get you out of here."
The man grinned from within the darkness.
"You have potential. Rage, desire, greed... Unlike those 'failures' up above, you might actually be able to digest this power properly."
"What are you talking about?!"
"You."
He reached out his hand. The moment his grip tightened, the supposedly unbreakable bars crumpled like wet paper.
"W-what in the world...?!"
"Follow me, and I will give you the power to make that desire of yours real."
The man's hand extended toward Phon.