Chapter 64
Chapter 64
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 64
Chapter Title: Death Knight
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Death Knight.
The strongest undead said to have been created in the past by a legendary necromancer using the corpses of hundreds of knights.
Its form was pitch-black armor. But it wasn't made from ordinary metal.
It was a living metal crafted from numerous corpses.
And now, it had fallen into Damian's hands.
Even if he had drawn attention with the other undead and launched a surprise attack, he had severed Cadrel's hand in a single stroke.
There was no need to recall its power separately.
‘Come to think of it, the weapons used by undead are part of their bodies too.’
He issued a command to the Death Knight through the lich.
It was to create a sword that Damian could use.
Swooo. The Death Knight's gauntlet split open, and a new sword emerged.
Just like the one it held, it was a pitch-black sword made from corpses.
Damian readjusted his grip on the sword and thrust it toward Cadrel.
“““Groooar!!”””
“““Kieeeek!!!”””
At that signal, the horde of undead surged forward like a tidal wave.
Dull flames erupted from both of Cadrel's hands.
Most of the undead couldn't withstand the firepower and melted away on the spot.
Kwa-dud! Some endured it. There were simply too many for Cadrel's firepower to handle.
Of course, none of their individual attacks were particularly strong. They only inflicted minor scratches on Cadrel, which healed in no time.
The problem was that they disrupted his focus.
Shwaaak! The pack of ghouls receded like an ebbing tide, and the Death Knight's sword took their place.
He already knew from experience.
It shouldn't be evaluated on the same level as ordinary undead.
Back when it roamed the Empire, no knight could stand against it.
Though the level of knights in the current era was higher than before, it should at least be rated as an Imperial elite knight.
Cadrel dodged the pitch-black sword by a hair's breadth and drove his fist into the Death Knight.
Kwa-jijik!! Ripples formed in the air as the armor crumpled.
Clang. The Death Knight didn't retreat. Instead, it raised its sword again, aiming for Cadrel's head.
Gooo! Cadrel's mouth opened wide. A beam of compressed mana shot upward.
If it hit directly, it wouldn't be able to move for a while.
But the Death Knight didn't choose defense. Dozens of ghouls served as shields in its place.
Kwaaaang!! The beam collided with the ghouls, filling the surroundings with debris and smoke.
Chwaaak! The Death Knight's sword cleaved through it all, closing in on Cadrel.
“Grrrrrgh!”
The pitch-black sword sliced into Cadrel's dark red skin.
The blade cut into his shoulder and stopped near the heart. Cadrel's skin and muscles had blocked its entry.
Puuuuk!! This time, Cadrel's fist smashed into the Death Knight's helmet.
Taking a direct hit, even the strongest undead had no choice but to stagger back.
Cadrel tried to follow up, but another wave of undead blocked his path.
This wouldn't end anytime soon. Ariella and Ezekiel would arrive here before long.
But he couldn't abandon Damian. The boy was worth it.
So, he decided to push himself a little.
“Hahaap!!”
Cadrel's body swelled massively once more. He sacrificed part of his lifespan to greatly boost his current power.
Capturing Damian alive would make this sacrifice nothing.
The realm beyond human limits. It was not far off.
“There you are!”
Just then, Damian appeared through a gap in the undead horde.
Cadrel thrust out his enlarged arm. Fortunately, the target wasn't hiding—he was charging straight in.
It was luck for Cadrel.
He thought it was luck.
“Uh…. Graaaah!!”
Damian's sword bisected Cadrel's arm. The pain didn't register until after the limb fell, as his brain hadn't processed it yet.
It was impossible. He'd heard Damian handled a sword decently, but he didn't use aura.
Yet that strike was similar to—no, slightly stronger than—the Death Knight's.
‘The difference between having a sword and not is this huge.’
Damian ducked behind the undead horde to evade Cadrel's follow-up attack.
It was some kind of suggestion, perhaps. Wielding the steel pipe and using his body felt subtly different.
That difference had produced the result just now.
Seok! Seok! Amid the waves of undead, Damian and the Death Knight's swords ravaged Cadrel.
The severed parts regenerated soon enough, but the attacks came even faster.
Everything had its limits. His regeneration speed began to slow bit by bit.
Still, Damian didn't overextend with attacks.
A cornered rat is the most dangerous. You never know how it might bite back.
“Graaaah!! Uwaaaah!!”
But Cadrel resisted in an even more brutal way than imagined. He unleashed beams indiscriminately in all directions.
The destructive force crumbled the surrounding walls. Through the gaps, sewage and polluted mana from the sewers flooded in like a tidal wave.
‘This mad bastard!’
Perhaps because this was deep underground, the pollution was severe. The undead excluding the Death Knight melted away, their flesh dissolving.
Damian barely made it to higher ground via the lich-Xenon, but black blood oozed from him due to the contamination.
Dennis was nearby too, and his condition was even more pitiful.
He formed a safe zone using the lich. But this wasn't Xenon's specialty, so it couldn't fully block the poison.
“Kehehehe!! Not yet, not over yet!”
Cadrel was weakened from the battle too. The sewer poison was lethal to him as well.
Still, thanks to his demonic power, he seemed in better shape than Damian.
“Heh heh heh. Just hold on a bit longer. I'll deal with you soon.”
Cadrel swung his fist at the Death Knight. This time, it flew back with a whoosh.
Peeing! A beam chased after it. The Death Knight crashed into the wall, its armor pierced by the bright flash.
‘One-on-one is tough.’
Xenon was the greatest necromancer of the current era, but he couldn't match the one who created the Death Knight.
That was why he couldn't fully control the strongest undead.
‘No. Do I really need to rely on Xenon?’
Liches could move autonomously, but black magicians could control them too.
After all, they were connected by souls.
‘What if the Death Knight moved like me?’
Damian's swordsmanship. Implant it into the Death Knight via the lich-Xenon. Fortunately, he had the stamina left to do it.
“Urk!!”
Damian's vision shook violently. Everything he'd eaten at the banquet hall came pouring out. But it wasn't due to the sewer poison.
It was the shock from linking with the Death Knight.
‘This feels…. really creepy.’
Damian's vision overlapped with the Death Knight's.
Having two bodies wasn't pleasant at all.
Cadrel leaped forward from the front. Sharp claws flew toward the Death Knight like a spear.
Gooo. Damian assumed a stance, and so did the Death Knight. There was no difference between them now.
Space felt vastly expanded. It wasn't perfect, but this was enough.
‘Huh?’
It was only when his hand crossed with the Death Knight's sword that Cadrel sensed something off.
Something was dangerous. He needed to pull back now. His mind screamed that, but his body wouldn't obey.
So, he had to pay the price.
“Hah. Hah. Hah.”
No more screams came out. With his upper body diagonally bisected, Cadrel could only gasp for breath.
Black blood poured from the gash. This level of damage couldn't be healed immediately.
“How about…. cough…. we chat slowly? Reinforcements will be here soon.”
The Death Knight grabbed Cadrel's head and lifted it toward Damian.
“You…. What are you?”
“That’s what I want to ask. Did you experiment with chimeras on yourself? And you didn’t plan this alone, right? If you want an easy death, prepare your last words quick.”
“Hahaha. Don’t worry. I’ll come back for you soon.”
Paaak! Light burst from Cadrel.
He teleported to another space, just like at the banquet hall. This time, Damian let his guard down.
Dudududu. The aftermath didn't end with Cadrel's disappearance.
Residual mana from the spatial transfer drew aberrant lifeforms from the surroundings, gathering here one by one.
‘Who’d have thought things would chain like this.’
The hideout was mostly destroyed, so there wasn't much to salvage. But securing the Death Knight was a huge gain already.
He miniaturized it via the lich-Xenon and tucked it away. The undead still had plenty to show.
Thud. Thud. Thud. Aberrant lifeforms emerged through the gaps Cadrel had made.
But Damian leaned against the wall, unconcerned. His part was done.
[Still alive?]
[You’re a bit late.]
[Good. You look healthy, so that’s a relief.]
A transmission from Ezekiel. At the same time, the surrounding poison vanished without a trace. No need to maintain the lich-Xenon anymore.
Shashaak! The aberrant lifeforms approaching Damian shattered into pieces.
『Sword Dance』 bloomed brilliantly. It seemed to even slice through the dank sewer air.
“Lord Damian!! Are you alright?”
Agnes approached, flicking blood from her sword. Not a trace remained of her drunken sway from the banquet hall.
“Take the antidote first! Hurry!”
“I can hold out. Treat Duke Dennis first. He’s in real danger.”
He took the antidote from Agnes, extracted its effect, and used partial absorption on Dennis.
Gooo. As the medicine was directly absorbed into his body, color returned to his pale skin. His breathing normalized too.
“Cadrel escaped. We should send a pursuit team… Ah, no need.”
Damian’s fingertips trembled faintly. Ezekiel shrugged as he watched.
He had felt someone else’s immense rage too.
* * *
“Hah…. Hah…. Hah….”
In a forest far from the Mage Tower. Back in human form, Cadrel dragged his body along like he was crawling.
“Hurry, hurry up and send reinforcements!!”
He bellowed into a small magic device. To call those who shared the common goal.
“Damian Renekht. He’s the key. He’s the key to fulfilling our wish. I know it. My body knows it! So come help me now!!”
The receiver still showed no response.
“You damn bastards!! …Ah, no!”
Only then did Cadrel realize what force was preventing the receiver from working.
[Mage Cadrel.]
Ariella’s voice echoed in his mind.
Not her usual soft, leisurely tone, but a sharp one like a blade.
[In the name of Tower Master Ariella.]
Cadrel froze. He couldn’t even breathe.
It wasn’t that his breath was blocked. The space around him had stopped entirely.
[I judge you.]
High in the sky, hidden even from the moonlight.
Ariella floated in the air, looking down coldly at the petrified Cadrel.