Chapter 64
With hope riding on it,
A streak of blood-red lightning pierced the clouds, slicing through the sky as it plummeted downward.
Thud.
I landed lightly on the rooftop of a high-rise, spreading my senses wide to scan all of Beijing.
"It's obvious where it is."
A circular district was encircled by a lake like an island. Lavish buildings plastered in gold and crimson loomed over it. It was Zhongnanhai, Wang Chunfeng's residence, just as Choi Ah-rin had described.
A massive presence, like a boulder among pebbles, lingered motionless in one spot.
"What's a world boss doing holed up in a building so casually during a war? It's not like he's some prisoner locked in a cell."
The only path connecting the isolated Zhongnanhai, cut off by the lake from the outside world, came into view. Lower-tier boss-level headless knights and hulking, heavily armored skeletons stood guard, patrolling their assigned sectors like programmed machines.
But did I really need to go through there?
·····
I gathered mana at my feet. And leaped skyward.
Boom!
A sonic boom ripped through the air as my body soared, slicing through the cool wind.
"Output boost."
Rooooar!
Like a rocket engine igniting, tremendous energy erupted from beneath me. I angled my trajectory downward, hurtling toward Zhongnanhai like a missile.
The impact point: right where that overwhelming presence pulsed strongest.
Whoooosh—
KABOOM!
The building exploded on direct impact, no deceleration. The shockwave shoved the lake water encircling the island into massive waves.
"Grraaagh!"
In the deafening roar that left my ears ringing, I could've sworn I heard a scream.
·····A hallucination?
Thick dust clouds billowed like storm fronts over the ground. I emerged from the crumbling structure, landing on the cracked earth and glancing back.
"Where's Nevaros?"
Screeech—Rumble!
A tilting section of the building finally gave way, collapsing in a heap. Splintered wooden pillars and shattered stone debris piled high.
No movement detected. Nothing in sight.
"Must've dodged it. Figures a world boss can handle something like th—"
"Urgh... You bastard...!"
A hand suddenly burst from the rubble.
Oh. Didn't dodge after all.
Well, even I get ambushed and sent flying sometimes.
Whoosh—
Blue flames ignited around the protruding fist.
BOOM!
An omnidirectional explosion engulfed the area centered on the hand. I didn't bother dodging the flying debris, just kept my eyes locked on him.
"To think you'd waltz right in here!"
"Nah, I flew."
'Waltz? As if I had all the time in the world to walk.'
Blue flames surged across his entire body in rage. A pitch-black robe hid his face, chains draped his form. His massive scythe scraped the ground, sparks of blue fire raining down like a meteor shower with the grinding of metal.
It matched perfectly the image from that firepower fetishist's post. Still, to confirm:
"You're Nevaros, right? Something like... lord of something... undead, yeah?"
Thud—
The earth shuddered heavily as he slammed his hefty scythe down.
"Get my name right. I am the Necromancer Lord of the Four Kingdoms, sovereign of the undead."
·····Forgot.
Whatever. Does the exact title even matter? Close enough.
He paused, eyeing me, then stroked his chin as if struck by a thought.
"That unique hair... blood-red eyes... Yes, you must be Sertina."
"You know me?"
I cocked an eyebrow.
"Of course. Your infamy has spread across this continent. Protecting some country called Korea now, aren't you?"
Nevaros's tone rose like an interrogator.
'Picked it up somewhere. No idea how much he really knows.'
Well, I'd figured as much when they reinforced troops on the peninsula. They saw me as that big a threat.
"How utterly ridiculous. The one called 'End of Life' protecting life."
Nevaros sneered mockingly.
"That title belongs to me. I am the true harbinger of life's—"
Slash—KABOOM!
A blood saber streaked past him, shattering a decorative structure behind into pieces.
"What do you think you're doing?!"
Flames flared in Nevaros's voice. I shrugged curtly.
"So, you gonna fight or what?"
I wasn't showing it, but time was short for me.
Time attack. Clear conditions or kill the monster within a set time.
That was the situation. With undead hordes of unimaginable scale marching on every nation, dragging this out meant exponential casualties.
Any guarantee my guildmates were safe? Absolutely not.
I couldn't let my guild get hurt. No way.
"Quite the fighter under that delicate face. Fine. If you crave death so eagerly, I'll grant it."
Blue flames enveloped Nevaros's body completely. His necromantic powers grew with the number of minions. With billions backing him, he feared nothing.
"Come forth, Death Knights!"
Nevaros thrust his right hand skyward.
"Grk."
"Groooar!"
Dozens of massive skeletons clad in armor, shields, and swords poured from ominous purple magic circles on the ground. Easily over 3 meters tall, their bones far thicker and denser than any human's.
No reason to hesitate. The moment I saw them, I kicked off the earth.
Boom!
Nevaros reached for me simultaneously.
"My minions, sever his lifeline!"
"Raaargh!"
The hulking skeletons charged with thunderous roars, stomping the ground. Expression unchanging, I gripped my sword hilt and unleashed a horizontal slash.
Slash-slash-boom!
The Death Knight horde cleaved apart in one strike. Beyond them, Nevaros's stunned face appeared.
"Impossible—Death Knights in one hit?!"
—Ankle lock. Boom!
I planted my foot, twisting my waist as the pivot, channeling centrifugal force into my fist. Power drawn from my dantian surged into it, smashing straight into Nevaros's oblivious face.
KABOOM!
"Gaaargh!"
Nevaros rocketed across the lake like lightning, crashing into a distant building. White foam erupted on the water, parting left and right from the gust.
"No time. Gotta pursue now."
I shredded the topsoil with my leg strength, leaping toward him. Nevaros painfully extricated himself from the embedded wall and shouted.
"Urgh, come forth—Dullahans!"
Headless knights mounted on flaming warhorses boldly blocked my path. Normally, enough for a world boss raid.
I charged with a hundred blades sprouting from my back, no slowdown.
BOOM-slash-boom!
My blood swords ravaged the Dullahan and the buildings behind. Nevaros's voice grew frantic.
"Come forth, Banshees!"
"No chance."
Boom!
"Hollow Knights...!"
"Think that'll work?"
Craaack!
Every swing of my blade erased Nevaros's summons pathetically. Cornered in seconds, he cried out.
"Soul of the Death Dragon, Karvas!"
'Huh? Different incantation this time...'
Intense mana condensed in a black magic circle in the air.
Crackle!
Black lightning flashed; wings sprouted as bone shards and rotting flesh layered on. A colossal dragon of bone and decayed meat unfurled its wings and roared.
—Roooaaar!
Just its wingbeats uprooted firmly planted street trees. Arms spread wide, Nevaros bellowed triumphantly.
"How's that? Witness true necromancy!"
"That's true necromancy? Meh."
I spat my cold assessment. Gripped my sword straight and raised it to the heavens.
In an instant, Blood Eater erupted with explosive energy piercing the sky's end.
"Gasp—what is that aura?!"
Nevaros staggered back a step. I fired it at the dragon he'd summoned.
"Karvas, was it?"
The raised blade tore the sky as it descended. The technique I'd used to finish the world boss Ketehon in Busan.
[Annihilation Blade]
"Back you go."
The earth quaked as the blood-red blade devoured Karvas. Beijing's buildings crumpled from pressure kilometers away.
"What are you—Gurk!"
"Shut up."
Blood Eater's edge whipped Nevaros. I relentlessly pursued, shredding him with merciless strikes.
Rumble! Crack!
Each slash boomed like thunder, slicing massive buildings apart.
'Die already.'
Only his death would bring world peace. My guildmates wouldn't face more danger.
I hounded him to his limits as his HP plummeted. Then, blue glow flared in Nevaros's battered face.
"I didn't want to use this, but you've forced your own doom!"
I instinctively knew it was his ultimate.
'Damn, and I'm in a rush.'
A technique summoning an undead empowered by his minion count. In Astria Online, lacking minions, he'd only called death skeleton knights. Now, with billions, unimaginable mana swirled, dwarfing before.
"Awaken, primordial beast...!"
Storm clouds gathered; thunder cracked. The atmosphere shifted entirely. An entity incomparable to Nevaros's power outlined itself in the mana storm.
Nevaros murmured its name lowly.
"Taitaronz."
In that instant.
A wall appeared.