episode_0092

29. The Tower of Darkness and Archlich (1)

Even though Yeonseo has withdrawn its cold air, a chilly air flows from the front, making it seem like a famous tourist attraction before the tower appears.

The moon that should be floating in the dark night sky is not visible, and not even the ‘wheezing’ sound of the nuisance flying around in the hot summer can be heard.

As I opened the closed palace door, an army of countless skeletons, their jaws clicking and moving, turned their heads to look this way at the sound of the door opening.

” You two are resting. I’d rather deal with these guys anyway. ”

His ponytail swayed like a horse’s tail in the movement of the wind slowly gathering in his arms.

He walks forward as if he is ready, his coat fluttering as his hair sways.

As he moves, the legions in front of him also move in unison under the direction of the headless knight, ‘Durahan’.

” Hyunseok! Are you really okay on your own? ”

” Don’t worry. I’m okay, just like you fought without my help. ”

A fierce storm extends from his arms and begins to destroy the legions before his eyes.

The winds blowing from both the left and right sides gradually mixed together as if they were being drawn to each other.

The army of skeletons before my eyes are now nothing but bone dust to show that they were there.

But Durahan looks at his attacks as if they were laughable.

A curtain of black smoke surrounded him, protecting him.

[ Do you think you can take me down with just this level of attack? ]

A cracked, scratchy voice echoes through the air, breaking the silence after a storm has passed.

He was riding a gray, armoured horse with no neck, just like himself, and he swung a rough, cracked greatsword that extended beyond his body.

A tremendous amount of wind pressure came flying in, making a ‘whoosh! ‘ sound.

It was not just the wind pressure generated by swinging a huge sword, but the bone blade hidden inside was aiming at us.

Hyunseok seemed to notice it and quickly erected a wind barrier to block it, but was then struck by a huge flying sword.

The sound of ‘Tung, thud, thud!’ echoes from the barrier, and at the same time the wind forming the barrier disperses with a ‘Swaeaek!’ sound.

But then again, the sharp, compressed blade of wind flew towards Dullahan and disappeared with a ‘thud! ‘ sound, leaving only a slight scratch on his armor.

” Tsk! This is as expected…! ”

[ He is quite adept at handling abilities, but his power is disappointing. ]

” I know that! ”

The gravel and rock fragments scattered on the floor, swept away by the tornado that had been gathered in both hands and released a moment ago.

At Hyunseok’s gesture, the pieces float around him in the wind.

The wind, which was filled with solid pieces, began to move more violently than usual and took the shape of a sharp spear.

It flies straight towards Dullahan.

Although Durahan swung his greatsword left and right, he was unable to protect the horse he was riding, and the horse fell over after being pierced by the wind spear.

He jumped down from his horse just before falling and threw his greatsword at Hyunseok.

” Huh!!! ”

He deflected the great sword flying towards him with a hastily created wind flow, but in the meantime, he was thrown back by the body slam of the rushing Dullahan.

His body bounces back as if it had been protected from the impact by the wind he had created just before, and although it doesn’t hit the ground, he lets out a silent cough as if he wasn’t able to block all of the force transmitted to him.

” Hyunseok!!! ”

He ran straight to him, and Yeonseo, who was watching him, quickly opened her magic book.

” Summon! [ Septentrion, Big Dipper ] ”

[ He who received His gift. Why do you betray us? ]

” That’s not it! I didn’t even want that! ”

As soon as those words were spoken, the summoned creature ran towards Dullahan.

Big Dipper, the summoned beast holding a shield to block the greatsword wielded by Durahan, is split in two with the shield being cut off in vain.

Septentrion swings his greatsword at Dullahan from behind while Big Dipper is being cut down.

However, Durahan reverses the sword and stabs him in.

An undead that is already dead. That is why Yeonseo silently watches the tactic of passing through its own body and stabbing the enemy from behind, then summons the summoner again and creates a spear of ice at the same time.

[ Even if you struggle, you will eventually end up by his side… ]

” Shut up! ”

A fast-flying ice spear and numerous arrows from the [Cows Series] are shot out.

The approaching Dullahan blocks all attacks by spinning his greatsword.

[ No one can… defy His command . ]

Starting with those words, Yeonseo recalled the knowledge she had gained thanks to Arkrich as she watched the Durahan charging forward, deflecting the flying ice spears and arrows.

” Whoa, is this how you do it… [ Brinic Needle! ] ”

Ice thorns shoot out from under the running Durahan’s feet.

He quickly jumped back upon seeing it, but the ice thorns rising from below did not stop there, but extended their thorns towards him.

The light purple ice spikes that were freezing the surrounding area began to touch the knight’s armor, and from there, the armor began to freeze.

[ Ugh! The one who gave me this source of knowledge…! ]

” That’s why I never asked for it! ”

The movements of the armored Dullahan begin to gradually stop, and dozens of wind blades fly in between.

With a ‘thud! squeak! ‘ sound, the armor caves in, and the arm holding the greatsword is severed and pinned to the floor.

” Huh! You said you were going to do it all by yourself and that’s what happened? ”

” Haha… Sorry, I’m embarrassed. ”

When Hyun-seok, who confidently tried to do it on his own, failed, Yeon-seo teased him about his actions.

” But thanks to Hyunseok quickly taking out the other guys, that guy is the only one left. ”

” Huh~ Are you taking care of it as yours now? ”

” More than that…! It’s not over yet! ”

I looked at Durahan with Yeonseo mumbling, ‘Don’t change the subject~’ at my words.

Hyunseok used the wind to quickly paralyze his body, which had been slowed down by Yeonseo’s attack, but something strange happened to his body.

A sound of ‘thud, thud, thud!’ resonates.

Because of our attack I don’t hear any sound…

Durahan. The armor he was wearing began to crack, one by one, and the sound of it hitting the floor echoed throughout the palace, which was filled with the eerie night air.

His true form, hidden by armor… has arrived before us.

*****

With a ‘creak, creak,’ the last of the armor falls off his body.

And what appeared before our eyes was… a black shape with two eyes embedded in its belly.

” What is that? ”

Yeonseo pointed at the guy, shivering slightly as if feeling an inexplicable discomfort.

” Well… but maybe that’s the guy’s head? ”

Hyunseok said, sending Yeonseo back, gathering wind, and preparing to attack at any time.

” Head…? ”

” Huh? Yeonseo, don’t you know about Durahan? ”

” No, I know! Aren’t you talking about the knight with the beheading like that? ”

” That’s right. And it’s said that Dullahan usually carries its head. ”

” But I’ve never seen a head… No way…! ”

Yeonseo also seemed to have noticed and opened her grimoire to begin summoning, while Hyunseok also watched the black figure twisting its body strangely without saying a word.

I don’t know about the two, but… right now, in my eyes, the guy was… absorbing a disgusting aura.

The energy was flowing out of the armor the guy was wearing, and as the energy disappeared, the armor that had been lying on the floor also disappeared.

” What are you two doing! Let’s start by attacking first! We’re not the villains waiting for a transformation, are we? ”

At Hyunseok’s spit, Yeonseo creates hundreds of spears and throws them, then kicks the ground hard and a black figure appears. Thorns start to grow again from the floor where Durahan is standing.

Hyunseok looked at me and held out his hand, and I realized what it meant, grabbed his hand, made a sacred fire, and sent it flying in the wind.

The palace is covered in a pure white fog like dry ice due to the cold air of Yeonseo and the army of cold corpses.

Inside, a wind of flame begins to swirl, illuminating the night.

Durahan returned to his original form.

He just stands there, oblivious to the attacks pouring in towards him.

The spears and arrows made of ice shattered with a ‘crunch’ the moment they touched his body.

As the blast of flame reached him, he leapt out of the wall of wind surrounding him as if in pain.

” Did you see? As expected… It seems that divine power is the best for the undead. So… ”

” Just tell me anytime. I’m always ready. ”

” Thank you, Charlotte! ”

I feel the warmth in his hands that hold mine tightly, and I am once again enchanted by the wind he creates.

” Then I’ll defend just in case. Unfortunately… It looks like my attacks won’t work anymore. ”

” Yes, thank you. Yeonseo. ”

Yeonseo built a wall around us, and Hyunseok, with my help, hurled a blade of wind with a holy flame at the guy.

The guy uses the black smoke flowing out of his body to create a shield to block the blade, but even blocking it seems to be becoming too much of a hassle, and his body is pushed away along with the shattered shield.

Soon the air around the guy began to ripple.

That was the proof that the stage was set for the guy to die.