Chapter 106
Chapter 106
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 106
Chapter Title: Subjugating the Dark Griffin King
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“Lord Sein, how is he doing?”
The Black Sword members also showed deep concern for Sein’s injury.
“There doesn’t seem to be much improvement yet. I wonder what kind of poison he was hit with.”
It was already well-known that Rohan of Dante had declared his support for Sein.
Even if Dante’s fate was uncertain, his position was tied to Sein, so interest in Sein was inevitable.
“He needs to wake up soon.”
That wasn’t the only reason.
Sein was a legend in his own right.
There were plenty of successor candidates who had come from candidates, but none had received simultaneous support like him.
Moreover, all the candidates who had been with him served Sein as their lord.
-Sein Demorus… he’s a legend. You wouldn’t get it unless you saw it yourself.
They praised Sein.
-Sein?
Even Vallak, who had become the captain of the Black Sword.
-He’s on a whole different level from someone like me.
But it was hard to believe all of it.
He had conquered the labyrinth, but not alone.
There were opinions that it might have been collusion to hype up Sein, who was a candidate himself.
Even so, it was undeniable that curiosity and fondness arose.
“Anyway…”
The Black Sword members changed the subject.
“Rookie, this your first mission with the Black Sword?”
The Black Sword was on the move toward somewhere.
Since it didn’t require secrecy, they traveled with support from Dante’s carriage.
“Do you have any mission experience?”
“A few times, yes.”
“Yeah?”
A smirk.
Jane was the baby of the seniors.
-Would you like to hold the sword like this?
-Try adjusting your stance a bit like this.
There was a rumor that listening to Jane improved your skills, and they had experienced it firsthand.
“Sebu, you should learn from her too instead of acting like that.”
Sebu was the only one who hadn’t sparred with Jane yet.
“Why me?”
“Oh ho, this guy hates the rookie that much?”
“Who said I hate her?”
She was just annoying.
“Don’t be so jealous. She works hard too.”
Jane seemed to be a genius in combat.
But in everything else, she was such a klutz it was almost endearing.
-Jane, let’s eat.
The seniors even took care of Jane.
“Rookie. No matter what missions you’ve done before, Black Sword missions are on a different level. I acknowledge your genius battle sense, but once you’re in a mission, it’s a whole other story.”
The Black Sword seniors didn’t hold back advice for Jane.
“For now, just stick close and watch and learn.”
“Understood, seniors.”
“Good.”
Sebu completely turned his head away at the sight of Jane being doted on again.
“We’ve arrived.”
The carriage stopped, and one by one, the Black Sword members disembarked onto the island.
This was Jane’s first mission with them.
“The mission details…”
Vallak said, gazing ahead.
“Subjugate the Darkspawn.”
Darkspawn.
They were specially enhanced ones among monsters.
“The target Darkspawn is a single individual.”
The Black Sword’s atmosphere grew heavy at Vallak’s words.
A single individual.
What that implied.
“The specimen is a Dark Griffin King. It’s over ten times larger than a normal griffon.”
It meant one individual was powerful enough to summon the Black Sword.
“Three cities in Sector 6 have been attacked by it, and one city’s barrier was destroyed, leading to total annihilation.”
It was a monster among monsters.
“We have to subjugate it before the damage grows further.”
This was Underworld business, after all.
“Its projected path takes it right here where we stand. Set up the barrier and prepare to engage.”
“Yes.”
The playful demeanor vanished completely as the Black Sword members checked their gear.
“How many times has it been already?”
Among the Darkspawn, the special ones called Abyssalspawn—boss monsters.
A single one matched a city’s forces, and some were monstrous enough to destroy parts of a sector.
Such creatures had appeared four times in the past year alone.
The others had emerged in other Underworld sectors, so Demorus hadn’t needed to step in.
This was the first time Demorus had moved personally.
“I heard two of Akan’s strike teams were wiped out.”
Akan was a subordinate organization of the Immortal House.
Like Dante, a lower organization boasted by the Immortals.
Two of their strike teams were no small force.
“So we’re gonna scare them shitless?”
“You nuts?”
The Black Sword members chuckled.
“We gotta show them we’re not even comparable to Akan riffraff.”
Refined killing intent began to awaken one by one.
Dante’s Black Sword.
They were a force that wouldn’t yield even to the main family’s strike teams.
*
*
*
“It’s coming.”
Vallak stared into the distance, greatsword in hand.
The Black Sword stood in formation, waiting.
Nothing was visible in their eyes, so they furrowed their brows—that instant.
Kwaaaang-!
A deafening roar tore through the air.
A black dot appeared in the sky where nothing had existed moments before.
And that dot.
“……!”
Swell instantly, blackening the heavens.
“…Insane.”
Its overwhelming presence was enough to instill fear even in the Black Sword.
Moreover, the fierce aura and darkness pouring from it.
Those eyes.
“Birdcage activate!”
Vallak bellowed, and the waiting support team frantically pressed buttons.
Wooong!
Black tendrils shot out in an instant, enveloping the surroundings like a birdcage.
-Kieeeek!
The griffon’s cry ripped through every eardrum that could hear it.
“Ugh!”
Even with magic protection, the sheer force shook their bodies.
That was the majesty shown by an Abyssalspawn, the superior breed of Darkspawn.
Kwaaaang!
The griffon slammed into the birdcage, twisting its body.
The birdcage, a barrier device made by the Immortal House, was the single highest-grade magic tool even in Dante.
The griffon king staggered from the impact.
In its pain, it raged, and that rage.
“It’s coming—!”
Poured toward the Black Sword.
Its spread wings seemed to blanket the world.
The creature.
Flap.
Merely beat its wings.
The Black Sword each assumed defensive stances with their weapons.
Kwajik!
Vallak plunged his greatsword into the ground, upheaving the earth.
Then came the bombardment.
Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwang!
Each one hit like massive steel weights, shattering the ground with echoes.
People of this era call them Abyssalspawn.
But those who played Sanctuary would say this:
-Raid boss monster.
After one storm passed.
“Injuries report!”
“None!”
Amid the devastated landscape, the Black Sword calmly glared at the griffon.
“Activate the Chains of Death.”
At Vallak’s command, the support team activated another magic tool.
The pre-embedded black pillars.
Charrurur!
Fired gleaming black chains in unison.
Cursed chains binding the griffon.
The moment they connected.
“Hunt begins.”
Vallak, demonizing, kicked off the ground and leaped.
*
*
*
Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwang!
The griffon’s resistance was ferocious.
Trapped in the birdcage, one wing bound by chains.
But with one wing alone.
Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwang!
It was a bomber in its own right.
-Kieeeek!
Its belly wounded by Vallak, in pain, it rampaged even more.
“Focus on defense! Wait for the moment and strike only when it shows a full opening!”
Vallak commanded the Black Sword flawlessly.
Like a seasoned veteran.
“Now!”
The instant the griffon paused its frenzy, Vallak demonized his arms and legs again and charged.
Attacks in demonized state turned everything into curses weakening the foe.
Kwadududuk!
The griffon’s hide, which had endured Vallak’s strikes several times, finally couldn’t hold, allowing a proper wound.
Chacha-cha!
Flying sword energy tore the griffon’s hide, as if to drag out its organs.
But that moment.
“……!”
Vallak’s eyes widened.
He sensed it instinctively.
‘The mana flow changed?’
Darker darkness erupted from the griffon’s body, momentarily swallowing the world.
Flash!
Its eyes gleamed within.
All time slowed, blurring as the griffon’s beak opened.
“Dodge…”
He knew.
“Dodge—!”
This is dangerous. Vallak fully demonized his body in an instant, gripping his greatsword as he leaped.
As if anticipating it, energy gathered in the griffon’s maw.
Kwaaaaa-!
Poured down toward the Black Sword.
Breath.
A power akin to the authority of top-tier monsters or the ancient dragons that once existed.
“Kuaaaaaak!”
Vallak strained to block it but ultimately failed.
Taaang!
Bounced away, unable to withstand the breath’s force.
But the Black Sword used the opening he created to form a defensive line.
“Come on!”
However, they had misjudged one thing.
They thought the griffon targeted their main unit.
“……!”
But its path veered toward elsewhere.
That place was the support team.
“It’s trying to destroy the birdcage!”
At that moment, Sebu leaped in.
-Your first mission, so just watch. Don’t butt in unnecessarily.
Jane!
She had been placed with the support team on purpose during the mission to gauge the seniors’ power.
“No, don’t!”
Sebu dashed madly.
But the griffon’s breath was too fast, reaching the support team just as Sebu arrived.
Sebu threw himself forward.
A massive aura he’d never unleashed before coated his sword, slashing at the breath.
But he shouldn’t have.
“Keuheuk!”
The incomplete aura devoured the breath’s power, twisting Sebu’s body.
Knowing what losing consciousness on the battlefield meant, he gritted his teeth and endured, but it wouldn’t last long.
Barely an instant—that was all he bought.
“Run…”
Sebu reached out his other hand toward Jane.
In that moment, Jane’s lips seemed to murmur something.
-Loyal, huh.
Or something like that—and then the astonishing happened.
Jane had drawn her sword unnoticed and swung it.
Thukong.
The breath split.