Chapter 192
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 192
Chapter Title: Ambush at the Rift
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Before heading into the rift exploration, Farel came to see me, following Melissa.
"Big bro, we'll be off then."
"Yeah, take care of yourself. If things look bad, pull out right away. It's not like failing to clear it immediately causes any issues. You've got the face of someone who'd drop dead on the road somewhere, so be extra careful."
"I'll keep that in mind."
He chuckled while checking his staff.
He didn't seem offended at all, knowing it wasn't just empty cursing.
Though my words were a bit harsh, he quickly grasped the sincerity behind them.
"Melissa."
"Yeah?"
"Remember this. The ones who kept beating you down every time were me and Luna."
In other words, if it weren't for outliers like us, she wouldn't have been defeated so easily.
"Got it."
"This is a test of sorts. If you can't handle it here, for your own safety, I won't let you do any outside activities until you reach Sword Master level."
No matter her position issuing orders, this conclusion came from the perspective of a big brother and little sister, not family head and member.
Her life was the most precious thing to me, after all.
Trusting her was one thing; blind indulgence was another.
From the experience of dying hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands of times, death was a pain you could never welcome lightly.
"You know why I'm saying this..."
"I do. I'll explore it thoroughly and come back safe, so don't worry. Just handle things outside."
Melissa took a deep breath and returned to her spot. After checking her gear, she led a team of four—Farel, Linne Robel, Ospa Deacon, and Gale Travan—into the rift.
If any problems arose, the Death Knight hidden in the shadows would emerge.
If even that failed, I'd resonate with the Death Knight's position and head there myself.
It wasn't a sealed rift, after all.
Watching the exploration team enter the rift, I left a few knights to guard the entrance, then concealed my presence and hid.
The remaining ones had no idea what was happening, so none showed tension.
Bata's camp only had non-combat servants and a few knights dispatched from the royal family.
With just them, the enemy wouldn't dare let their guard down completely.
"I'll scout the area briefly, so keep watch."
"Leave it to us, Young Master."
Sharing my judgment, Luna fully concealed her presence as well.
I hadn't informed Hwayeong of Bata's conclusions yet, but it didn't matter.
We just needed to distinguish friend from foe on our side.
And about 30 minutes after Melissa's team began their exploration...
One Sword Master, numerous Expert-level beings, and significant other forces included.
A substantial number of Expert-level knights, including Coral's Sword Master Bachen, entered my sight.
Their movements split into two directions.
One team to finish off those emerging injured from the rift's penalty.
The other to assault Bata's camp, sensing the rift anomaly and preparing follow-up measures.
With Luna handling that side, I could clean up this one.
My body was officially inside the dungeon, so no issues there, but to avoid interfering with the ongoing raid, I needed to block their rift entry entirely.
About 30 in number.
"They're coming in force, huh."
Most of their troops were likely sent to the main camp.
Among those heading here, I spotted Gordon Rosbel and Karim Selbun, who had been thoroughly beaten by Melissa.
Hwayeong and Cheonryeong were absent, probably headed that way.
If war was inevitable anyway, smashing one of their forces outright wasn't a bad idea.
Shortening my breath while fully suppressing my presence, I activated the death spirit mana within me.
It hadn't been much of a burden at first, but absorbing memories from each hall had started taxing my body heavily.
The slowing restoration of recent memories was probably due to that.
My body was evolving rapidly in real-time through some adaptation phenomenon, but the pace was too fast now.
It hadn't even been a year since I opened my eyes.
Considering that, this wasn't entirely a positive development.
The shadow at my feet rippled.
"Varil, preheat your breath."
-Grrrrr...
The immense presence of Varil, the Shadow Dragon—the last undead I'd created—stirred within the shadow.
It'd be best to flip the table right before they were certain their plan succeeded.
Suppressing my presence to the max, I cast magic to distort the surrounding light and applied perception interference.
One person could trigger the penalty, but their numbers suggested they were prepared for any contingencies.
They believed Luna and I had joined the exploration team.
We'd even made it look that way.
Soon, the guarding knights sensed something off and quietly drew their swords, but the encircling forces nocked arrows faster.
"Coral!!"
Shock spread across the knights' faces.
Regular archers could be handled by Expert-level knights, but with multiple Experts wielding aura-infused swords escorting them, charging in recklessly was impossible.
Some archers were already Expert-level. No easy suppression.
Leading them were young prodigies dispatched from Coral: Gordon Rosbel and Karim Selbun. Not quite mid-tier yet, but with records suggesting they could reach it anytime.
"Looks like they've all gone in. Bunch of idiots and losers."
"Why are you here?"
One knight asked coldly, and Gordon tilted his head.
An arrow flew from beside him toward a Bata knight.
Kaang!!!
Royal knights could deflect non-aura arrows, of course.
"Why? Obvious reason. We need what's inside the rift. Too much to lose by backing off now, so you'll understand."
"Think you can avoid Bata's protests like this?"
"Who cares? Once this is over, Coral launches a full offensive anyway."
Color drained from the guarding knights' faces.
No negotiating with those geared for war.
They were already outnumbered.
Little reinforcement expected from the tent camp.
Bata officially had only Duke Berli as Sword Master, hard to dispatch casually.
No Sword Master visible here either.
But Bachen wouldn't have left entirely; likely moving separately.
This situation favored them from the start.
"Surrender. Drop your weapons and run without pointless resistance. We won't pursue."
International optics be damned; they were set on pushing through.
Unlike my previous world, such incidents were common here.
We'd been complacent.
Even on Razeros Continent, with relatively high trust between nations and respect for human rights, this could happen anytime.
"We refuse. We're knights sworn to the crown. We'd die before selling our nation's future to Coral, you brats."
Tough words, but their stern expressions didn't soften.
Brats or not, their skills matched or exceeded the guards.
Gordon smirked.
"Fine. Can't be helped then. Everyone, nock!!"
Archers drew strings taut at his command.
As his hand dropped sharply, arrows rained toward them.
Not ordinary arrows—infused with aura.
Regular ones might be blockable, but these... Experts would struggle.
"D-Damn it!!"
"Block them!!"
Those with shields rushed forward desperately, but it was hopeless odds.
That much was clear.
Of course, I'd been holding position here to prevent exactly this.
Regulating my breath, I lightly propelled myself.
My presence reemerged instantly as the perception magic lifted.
Leisurely ascending, my gaze locked on the plain between Bata and Coral knights. At a certain height, I spun like an acrobat and plummeted headfirst.
Thud!!!!
The moment I landed, their arrows flew toward me.
Precisely, the ones aimed at Bata knights.
Immense speed, yet glacially slow to me now.
Missing even one would cause casualties from those arrows.
That'd be putting the cart before the horse.
Aura spun rapidly in my hand, like a massive ringing hum from super-high-speed rotation.
A ferocious momentum that could destroy anything it touched built up.
Tyrant's Apex - Radiance
Paaang!!!
But when the massive energy in my palm met the ground, it wasn't destruction—it rippled like a single water drop hitting a pond.
Kwajik!!!!
Of course, the aftermath wasn't weak.
Dozens of arrows were yanked downward as if pulled by the earth.
Insatiably, the surrounding space warped, inducing gravitational distortion.
Not mere intensified gravity.
More like mimicking phenomena through aura transformation and manipulation.
I hadn't fully attained Fierce Star realm yet, so this was my current limit.
Plenty sufficient for now, though.
"What?!"
"When did he?!"
The archers gaped at their arrows crushed en masse and my sudden teleport-like appearance.
Gordon, among them, widened his eyes and shouted.
"Y-You!!"
"Long time no see. No practice match this time, so no reason to let you off."
Rage flashed in his eyes at my smile.
"Weren't you... inside the rift?!"
"That rift's clearable by Melissa's team of five alone. You think I'd enter without countermeasures when I knew you'd pull something from behind?"
I'd known their plan from the start.
Gordon didn't hide his fury at my words.
Then, the silent Karim Selbun drew his dagger fluidly and stepped forward.
He didn't conceal his chilling killing intent.
"I owed you siblings a bit anyway."
"Melissa's busy, so handle your business with me."
"I told you before—you died once."
"Karim!! Wait..."
Gordon tried to stop him, but Karim bounced lightly and vanished.