Chapter 208
PABABABABAT!
The sword strike imbued with all his spiritual power burst out in all directions, piercing holes throughout the Blood Golem’s body.
The sword fragment must have pierced the core, as the Blood Golem’s body rippled before its form began to melt away.
KREOOOOH!
Transformed into a sticky mass of blood, the Blood Golem melted and lost its shape.
The sword fragments Zeke launched pierced through the Blood Golem and flew toward Garin, who was deploying blood magic.
PABABABACK!
The will of the bombardment penetrated the blood magic’s formation and embedded into Garin’s body.
[Kheuk!]
Garin, who had been preparing new magic while periodically empowering the Blood Golem, couldn’t avoid the sword strike and had holes pierced through his arms and legs.
Nevertheless, Garin didn’t stop his incantation and finally completed the magic.
Zeke caught his breath and turned his attention to completely eliminating the Blood Golem first.
However, the Blood Golem had already become a pool of blood like when Garin first summoned it, and was being absorbed toward Garin.
WOOOONG!
Just as Zeke was considering whether to stop it, blood, bones, and chunks of flesh erupted and mixed together from the blood-red magic formation.
Soon, a knight in red armor appeared mounted on a horse wearing similar armor, emanating an ominous aura.
Arataso let out an exclamation.
[Blood Knight! To think I’d see the cursed knights of Blood Keep again!]
The Blood Knight approached, wielding a long spear and shield.
Sinister runes were embedded in his armor and shield.
‘One mountain after another.’
Zeke quickly absorbed a mana stone to recover his mana.
He pointed his sword toward the Blood Knight and unleashed purification power.
Golden aura spread far.
TSUTSUTSU!
Simultaneously, red energy rose eerily around the Blood Knight. Then the red energy blocked the purification power, protecting Garin behind it.
Seeing this, Zeke imbued his Strong wave resonance into the purification aura.
WOOOONG!
The golden aura fluctuated, trying to scatter the Blood Knight’s energy.
That’s when Garin behind began chanting another spell.
PATSUTSUTSUTSUTSU!
This time, red mist rose from Garin’s shadow.
As the red mist gradually spread thinly, small red bats emerged from within it.
KIRIRIK!
Dozens of bats flew toward Zeke, obstructing his vision.
“CHAHH!”
Zeke calmly widened his aura’s range while eliminating the bats Garin sent.
That’s when the Blood Knight, who had been waiting for an opportunity, spurred his horse and charged toward Zeke.
KWAKWAKWAKWA!
The cursed runes embedded in the armor emitted sinister light as they resisted the aura Zeke created.
Having somewhat overcome the purification aura, the Blood Knight thrust his spear wrapped in red energy toward Zeke.
PACHING!
Zeke swung Bahamut to block the Blood Knight’s spear.
HUNG! HUNG! HUNG!
The Blood Knight’s spear thrusts were quite heavy.
Moreover, as the attacks continued, the speed of the spear flying toward Zeke gradually increased while adding weight.
Zeke gripped Bahamut with both hands and countered while deflecting the Blood Knight’s spear.
HWOONG!
The Blood Knight’s spear penetrated through Zeke’s counter first.
KWANG!
A massive collision sound rang out as sword and spear clashed.
Zeke stepped back while catching his breath.
‘Simply trying to overpower with force will only lead to the same result as before. Become one with the sword and read the flow.’
Zeke decided to trust in the realm he had pioneered.
‘Release Hersion which consumes too much mana and focus on the sword.’
CHWARALARAK!
Returned to his normal form, Zeke pointed Bahamut at the Blood Knight.
Soon his moving form swayed here and there leaving afterimages.
SHUSHUSHUK!
Using these illusions, Zeke evaded the lance and unleashed a Rotating Strike from the Infinite Chain technique once more.
PAPAT!
Zeke’s sword struck the horse’s flank.
KWANG!
The Blood Knight’s body staggered from Zeke’s attack.
Not losing the flow, he rushed forward stepping into a true stance and unleashed Strong Wave Resonance.
WOOOONG!
A powerful wave swept across the Blood Knight’s body.
[KREURUK!]
For the first time, there was a reaction from the Blood Knight.
Pressing the momentum, Zeke unleashed wind slash toward the Blood Knight.
Dragon Slaying Technique
Wind Storm technique
Sky Slash
Zeke’s sword cut through the sinister energy the Blood Knight was emitting along with the air.
PACHIK!
Even without using Aura Blade, Zeke’s sword strike split the Blood Knight’s armor.
Zeke realized he was reaching a new realm of swordsmanship.
‘Aura Blade is merely materializing the energy within the body. What truly matters is the will of the sword itself.’
WOOOONG!
Zeke’s sword let out a roaring battle cry.
He stepped forward again.
Garin behind shouted at the Blood Knight.
[Kill that human quickly!]
With his command, blood-red energy poured out from the Blood Knight’s armor.
KWAKWAKWAKWA!
That energy wrapped around the Blood Knight’s spear.
The death rider charged toward Zeke while channeling the blood-red energy.
The crimson spear, compressed with sinister energy, was swung toward Zeke.
At that moment, the Blood Knight’s spear appeared to move very slowly in Zeke’s eyes.
‘What is this?’
Everything in the world appeared slow.
Zeke could feel everything – not just the Blood Knight’s spear, but his breathing, the horse’s movements, even the flow of the air.
Zeke moved his sword according to that flow.
SEOGE!
The Blood Knight’s spear was cut by Zeke’s sword with incredible ease.
The Blood Knight let out a monstrous cry and continued charging toward Zeke without stopping.
Zeke jumped up, rotated his body, and vertically sliced the Blood Knight’s head.
CHWAAK!
The helmeted head of the Blood Knight was split in half.
TUCK!
The Blood Knight dropped the spear he was holding.
Then his body soon crumbled into red liquid, flesh chunks, and bones.
Zeke unleashed purification power toward the crumbled Blood Knight.
CHIIIIK!
Exposed to the purification power, the Blood Knight turned to black ash and disappeared.
Only the armor emanating an ominous aura remained where the Blood Knight had been.
Zeke turned and approached Garin.
Garin raised red mist again.
HWOONG!
This time Zeke cut through the red mist with just a swing of his sword.
He cut it with just the will to cut through the mist that had no physical form.
[How dare a mere human challenge me, a noble Royal Vampire…?]
Without listening further to Garin’s words, Zeke rushed forward.
As if making a final struggle, red light rose from Garin’s eyes.
KUGUGUGUGUGU!
The red mist erupting from his body surged and gathered toward one point.
It took form and transformed into a massive spear.
Garin threw the red spear toward Zeke.
KWAKWAKWAKWAKWAKWA!
The red spear spun as it flew toward Zeke.
Zeke calmly took the stance of the Dragon Slaying technique.
Then he unleashed the True Dragon Sword Strike with his will in his sword.
True Dragon Sword Strike Secret Technique
First Form
Sun Moon Slash
Zeke’s sword cut through the red spear flying toward him.
SEOGEK!
Despite having no real physical form, the red spear was split in half.
Garin shouted in disbelief.
[H-How could you cut blood magic?! This is impossible…]
And at that moment, Garin noticed something strange.
[KHEUK.]
Small cracks began appearing on his body.
Garin reached out toward Zeke.
[N-No!]
The Sun Moon Slash had cut not just the red spear but also Garin who had thrown it.
TUDUDUDUK!
Garin’s body cracked and crumbled.
TSUTSUTSUTSUTSU!
His crumbled body emitted red smoke before turning to ash and scattering.
But Zeke didn’t stop there.
He continued swinging Bahamut.
As Zeke swung his sword in a trance-like state, something like a heat haze rose from his sword.
Zeke could see the hidden side of a new world he had never seen before.
‘So this is what I couldn’t see?!’
At some point, Zeke stopped swinging his sword.
The sensation of holding and swinging the sword was different from before.
‘A realm that surpasses Aura Blade where one can wield a sword with will alone. I’ve found the key to Astral Sword.’
At the end of Red Knight, Zeke was now truly on the verge of reaching the Black Knight stage.
Black Knights, of whom only eight exist on the entire continent.
At just nineteen years of age, Zeke had nearly reached the realm of Black Knights.
After calmly organizing his thoughts and regulating his breathing, Zeke sheathed his sword and examined where Garin had disappeared.
Among the scattered ashes remained the ornate dagger he had possessed.
Zeke collected Garin’s dagger and the Blood Knight’s armor.
‘If I hadn’t gained enlightenment during battle, I might have been defeated.’
Then a message appeared before his eyes.
[You have perfectly cleared the third Hidden Stage.]
[The God of Combat’s Domain is amazed by the subject’s unbelievable capabilities.]
[Rewards will be given for successfully clearing the stage.]
[Determining rewards.]
[Rewards will be delivered to the subject.]
After the message disappeared, three random boxes were placed before Zeke.
Two were shining with golden light, while the other one was shining with a peculiar color.
‘What is this? Multiple colors like a rainbow?’
Another message appeared.
[You have been awarded 10,000 experience points for surviving the third Hidden Stage.]
[For clearing the Hidden Stage with incredible capability, you are awarded two Special Random Boxes and one Extra grade Random Box.]
“Extra grade?”
Zeke slowly approached the boxes.
He opened the two Special Random Boxes first.
Golden light poured out when the boxes were opened.
Zeke checked the artifacts inside the boxes.
“A medal and… is this a book?”
Zeke checked the information for the medal and book from the Special Random Boxes, along with Garin’s dagger and Blood Knight’s armor he collected earlier.
―Armor Information―
Description: Armor of the Blood Knight guarding Blood Keep
Unique Ability: Blood Field
Special Note: Living wearers will be cursed.
―Dagger Information―
Description: Royal Vampire’s Dagger
Unique Ability: Blood Golem Summoning
Special Note: Can summon Blood Golem using caster’s blood as medium
―Medal Information―
Description: Medal containing Royal Vampire’s power
Unique Ability: Blood Mist
Special Note: Can cast ‘Blood Domain’ using caster’s blood as medium
―Book Information―
Description: Ancient Blood Magic Tome
Unique Ability: Blood Magic Inheritance
Special Note: Secretly passed down only among Royal Vampires, contains ancient blood magic spells cast using blood as medium. (Can only be learned by Vampire race)
Zeke exclaimed upon seeing the artifact information.
“Artifacts containing Royal Vampire power – that’s incredible.”
Having faced Garin himself, Zeke understood how powerful the Royal Vampire race was, making these artifacts’ value even more apparent.
While organizing the items, Zeke showed disappointment looking at the blood magic tome.
“Blood magic. The power must be incredible, but it’s a shame only vampires can learn it. I’ll store it away for later use.”
The Blood Knight’s armor could be given to Richmond later for research.
Zeke examined the Royal Vampire’s medal and dagger.
“The dagger can summon Blood Golem… and the medal casting Blood Domain must mean I can summon that red mist he used?”
The red mist that provided both defense and offense had considerable utility.
Zeke wore the medal and tried casting the skill.
TSUTSUTSUTSUTSU!
Red mist rose from Zeke’s body.
He tried giving various mental commands. The mist moved naturally according to his will.
Zeke showed a satisfied expression.
“Mana consumption is quite high, but it’ll be useful in battle.”
After putting the other artifacts in his inventory, Zeke stood before the last box.
Looking at the random box with its surface rippling in rainbow colors, Zeke showed a tense expression.
Even Special Random Boxes produced incredible artifacts, so with this being labeled ‘Extra grade’, he couldn’t imagine what would come out.
Zeke carefully opened the box.
Multicolored light burst forth from inside.
“UGH.”
The light was so brilliant Zeke could barely keep his eyes open.
[Extra grade Random Box has been opened.]
[Obtained 500 Karma Points as achievement reward.]
Just opening the Extra grade Random Box earned Karma Points.
As the light faded, Zeke could see the artifact inside the box.
Surprisingly, what was inside was an ordinary object.
“A ring?”
Inside the Extra grade Random Box was a crude brass ring.
Zeke picked up the ring and examined its shape.
The ring had a unique seal engraved on it. It was a star-shaped seal with overlapping triangles.
Then a message appeared before Zeke’s eyes.
[Obtained Legendary Item Solomon’s Ring.]
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