Ch.198198. Kagan (6)

After a while, as the otherworld based on Robo’s mystery collapsed due to time expiration.

‘…This is a really bad situation.’

Holding my slightly dizzy head from the simultaneous backlash of the otherworld collapse and the end of soul resonance, I gradually summarized my current situation within my accelerated thoughts.

First, my otherworld completely collapsed because the time had expired.

Of course, this is unavoidable given the nature of otherworld power, but feeling regret about it is probably inevitable.

Meanwhile, the end of the soul resonance duration could be considered somewhat fatal.

Unlike during my intermediate days, when the termination of soul resonance would render me incapacitated due to mental strain and pressure, the current pressure is still in an indescribably intense realm.

Perhaps if whatever is consumed during soul resonance—something other than mana—were completely depleted, I would self-destruct from damage as fatal and violent as death itself.

But I’m not the only one who has suffered losses.

In reality, the body of the Orc Khacan, El-Temur, standing before me not only bears numerous small wounds, but is clearly more depleted compared to his perfect condition.

The problem is… considering the effort and resources I poured into wearing down El-Temur that much, the current situation was clearly turning unfavorable for me.

Slash magic enhanced with complete incantation, with cold mystery imbued in it—at least 8,000 times. Extreme-level natural magic utilizing the environment (cold) of the otherworld—at least 87 times.

In addition, Robo, who temporarily became advanced-rank within the otherworld, and all the other animal friends risked their lives to wear him down, but…

After enduring all these attacks, El-Temur was still flaunting his intact condition.

It’s an undeniable fact that Orcs, as a race, possess top-class durability among humanoids thanks to their thick muscle layers, tough skin, and hard bones, and their recovery ability and vitality are also excellent, making them second to none in terms of tenacity.

In particular, the unique variant melanin cells that give their skin its green color resonate strongly with aura when activated, allowing intermediate-rank or higher Orcs to easily recover from moderate wounds.

But that… that was beyond what could be explained by mere toughness.

I hit, struck, and pounded again and again. I fired magic, thrust blades, and tried every possible means to kill him.

Even after Sophie returned from dealing with the monster-rank wild boar and unleashed all sorts of anti-personnel celestial magic, Khacan El-Temur still stood there without injuries severe enough to impair his life or combat ability.

‘…What on earth is that?’

Therefore, his durability, which was so persistent it was frightening, could only be a subject of caution…

[Gregory, that… I don’t think it’s just toughness.]

‘Did you figure something out?’

Sophia, who had been ‘seeing’ something with the night sky reflected in her eyes, suddenly spoke to me as I kept my distance.

[Yes. It’s a kind of immortality. The type seems to be… a form where you can’t inflict wounds unless you satisfy certain conditions.]

‘…What? Isn’t that completely unfair?’

When I heard the word immortality, I couldn’t hide my thought that this was too overpowered, considering the various examples that came to mind.

The special ability commonly referred to as “immortality” in this world can be easily understood by thinking of Achilles from “The Iliad.”

This hero, famous for appearing in Homer’s epic “The Iliad” from Greek and Roman mythology, was coated in the waters of the underworld’s River Styx—not a human tanghuru, but an immortal.

As a result, he became literally unkillable except for his heel, which his mother had held while dipping him in the river, leaving him with that fatal weakness.

Thus, “immortality” is often a power that makes one nearly invincible until certain conditions are met, but once those conditions are discovered and exploited, it becomes a penalty for the target.

And if that Khagan possesses this, it explains why he doesn’t die no matter how much we attack him.

I’m guessing his immortality grants him near-invincible durability—somewhat weak for immortality, but in this era where divine blessings have become extremely rare, it’s an unbelievably precious and rare power.

Of course, judging from the fact that he’s not completely immune to damage, this immortality isn’t some extraordinary ability, but it’s still not something to be taken lightly.

‘…The conditions?’

[I don’t know that much… even I can’t tell.]

‘I see. Can’t be helped then.’

With that, I concluded our conversation and released additional equipment I had been saving—

—KWAAANG!!!

With a thunderous sound, the two forces collided once again.

※ ※ ※

In the past, when I fell on the new continent and hunted large numbers of primitive magical beasts.

At that time, I obtained an overwhelming amount of primitive magical beast byproducts, which I used to craft various weapons and equipment like the ice greatsword.

While the ice greatsword is the most representative and excellent in performance, I actually mass-produced at least dozens of… equipment pieces with mechanisms that could be linked to wild magic.

Of course, most of them are relatively low quality or have become disposable now that I’ve reached advanced rank, but I’ve been collecting them like a collection without dismantling them because the materials and effort used were too precious…

Given the life-threatening situation, I’m now deploying them generously in battle.

I resonate my soul with Gretel, who focuses on extracting large amounts of aura and physical strength, and with Lancelot, who is our group’s most technically skilled aura handler, to assist with aura control and movement.

Unlike soul resonance with other animal friends, resonance with Lancelot focuses entirely inward, functioning almost like a dual personality structure, making this possible.

Anyway, feeling the pair of wings protruding from my shoulder blades, I naturally leaped while accessing the “storage” in my possession, and began consuming weapons like expendables to push back the Orc El-Temur.

—KWAAANG!!!

Thrusting a giant spear made from a rhinoceros-like primitive magical beast with horns full of flammable material to cause an explosion was just the beginning.

—KUUUNG!!

I swung massive hammers made from some primitive magical beast’s thigh bones, delivering consecutive strikes powerful enough to shatter the hammer heads, and committed the outrageous act of using weapons made from primitive magical beast materials with extreme mana conductivity as disposable shields.

As I continued pouring attacks with the mindset that there was no turning back, El-Temur was struggling to properly respond to my attacks that were like throwing money into the air…

—HWUNG!!

“…?!!”

No, that wasn’t it!

With a bone axe in one hand and a tail bone club in the other, I was startled by a sudden sword strike and hastily pulled my body back, simultaneously flapping my wings to create distance and desperately deflect the enemy’s offensive.

The powerful strike, deceptively smooth yet forceful, shattered my bone axe, and the complex sword path, too intricate for me to read, split my club in half.

I was shocked to see the club—made from the tail bone of an Ankylosaurus-like beast and focused solely on durability—break so easily, and tried to draw a new weapon, but…

—KUUNG!!

“—Kuh—hack!”

Before I could, El-Temur’s straight punch hit me precisely in the abdomen, causing me to feel pain as if all the air in my lungs was being crushed out, and I was thrown backward with an unsightly sound.

—KWAAANG!!!

And in this brief moment, a streak of platinum light fell from the sky due to Sophia’s magic and struck him, but El-Temur shrugged off even that magical attack as if it were nothing…

“—Release!”

At that moment, I pulled out one secret weapon I had been saving all this time.

A weapon made using an enormous amount of bone fragments and remains from the nest of Kechak’s biological mother.

I had been hesitant to use it until now because of its direct connection to necromancy, but given how the situation was unfolding, I had no choice and was about to take it out of my possession when…

[Hihihihihing(Let’s gooooo)—!!!]

Suddenly startled by an undeniable presence and voice that had somehow approached, I turned my gaze.

—Flap!

There, on a flapping Pegasus, was a knight in pure white—the Knight King of the Frankish Kingdom, the reinforcement I had been desperately waiting for.