Chapter 146
Zeke read the demonic language translated by the system.
[We are separate, and also one. We are separate, and also one.]
As the eerie incantation continued, branches and roots began to sprout from the bodies of the green warriors.
‘What is this?’
The branches and roots sprouting from the warriors’ bodies began to intertwine with each other.
The merged trees began to take the form of a giant warrior.
The five warriors merged into one, with each becoming the arms, legs, and torso of the tree warrior.
RUMBLE!
The giant warrior made of wood rose up.
‘What is that?.’
Then the branches that looked like the tree warrior’s head moved and spoke to Zeke.
[I am one who serves the honorable ‘Clear Green Wish.’ I am called Arataso.]
Zeke realized that the green warriors had summoned a subordinate of the Clear Green Wish.
‘They talked about honor but immediately summoned a subordinate when they started losing.’
It didn’t make sense for demon worshippers to speak of honor in the first place.
Zeke spoke to Arataso.
“I was in the middle of an honorable duel with the five warriors who summoned you. I’m quite perplexed that another party has suddenly intervened. Would you allow me to finish my honorable duel with the five warriors?”
But Arataso shook his head.
[The servants of the Clear Green Wish are separate, yet one and the same. As those five are the same as my one, the honorable duel will continue through me.]
It was an absurd sophistry, but considering the opponent was a demon race subordinate, it wasn’t surprising.
‘They say lies and sophistry are the most useful weapons humans learned from demons, but experiencing it firsthand is quite unpleasant.’
Thinking further discussion would only anger him, Zeke pointed Bahamut toward Arataso.
Whether it was five green warriors or one demon race, he figured something would come out after beating them up first.
Seeing Zeke like this, Arataso stretched his giant body.
Then he thrust the wooden sword in his hand into the ground.
CRASH! CRASH! CRASH! CRASH! CRASH!
Tree roots imbued with green energy began to spread across the entire floor.
Zeke stepped back to avoid the tree roots.
‘This, this is?’
WOONG!
Vibrations resonated from where the tree roots had spread.
At the same time, sparks flew from Hersion.
A message window appeared before his eyes.
[You are affected by the demon race’s barrier technique.]
[System operations are restricted within the barrier.]
[Powers and skills cannot be activated within the barrier.]
[Physical stamina consumption increases due to the barrier’s effects.]
‘A demon race barrier?’
This was a completely different fighting method from the demon races Zeke had met so far.
Arataso rose up, leaving the sword planted in the ground.
A new sword grew from his hand.
In that state, he raised his sword toward Zeke.
[Raise your sword, mortal knight! Prove your bravery honorably with your blade!]
Arataso spoke flowery words after suddenly putting up a barrier without warning.
Since the system, powers, and skills weren’t working properly, he couldn’t use Hersion, Agamemnon’s mask, or light magic.
‘This is troublesome.’
Zeke pointed Bahamut toward Arataso.
“Honor my ass. I’ll make you crawl on the ground.”
WOONG!
Zeke’s sword was wrapped in aura.
At the same time, Zeke took a dragon-slaying stance and immediately charged toward Arataso.
SWOOSH!
Zeke’s sword strike flew toward Arataso.
CRASH! CRASH! CRASH! BOOM!
The wooden shield Arataso created deflected Zeke’s sword strike completely.
Wood fragments flew off but Arataso took no damage at all.
Only Zeke’s wrist stung from striking the shield.
‘It’s like hitting a chunk of iron.’
Arataso charged forward toward Zeke while holding his shield.
CRASH! CRASH! CRASH! CRASH! CRASH!
The shield swung by Arataso’s giant body flew toward Zeke.
“CHAHAAAT!”
Zeke deployed a field of water force to smoothly parry Arataso’s attack.
WHOOSH!
Arataso, whose attack was nullified by the wave sword, tilted to the side, unable to handle his own weight.
Zeke didn’t miss that opening.
“Will of Severance!”
He slashed Arataso’s shield with his soul technique.
SWOOSH!
Surprisingly, Arataso’s shield split in half and fell to the ground.
Seeing this, Arataso’s eyes changed.
[So you’re no ordinary human.]
RUMBLE!
Green light rose from his eyes.
Trees sprouted again, creating an even larger and sturdier shield than before.
At the same time, green aura rose from Arataso’s sword. It felt subtly different from when he deployed the barrier earlier.
At first glance, it felt similar to aura.
‘A demon race using aura?’
An aura blade also surged from Zeke’s sword.
“HAAAAH!”
Zeke’s sword and Arataso’s sword collided.
CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!
Every time the blue aura blade and green aura clashed, sparks flew and the impact split the ground.
Their sword strikes clashed dozens of times.
Arataso burst into laughter and shouted.
[Human knight! Swing your sword more! And wail! Let your despair and fear become my strength!]
Arataso’s sword strikes were heavy and sharp.
‘KUGH!’
Zeke swung Bahamut continuously without rest.
Although Zeke had infinite stamina, even his strength had limits in a prolonged battle.
If things went wrong, the worst case scenario of losing consciousness during battle could occur.
Zeke blocked Arataso’s sword while stepping backward.
CRASH! CRASH! CRASH! BOOM!
Arataso’s sword strikes poured toward Zeke without stopping.
Zeke deflected Arataso’s sword using the wind storm technique’s swordsmanship.
But soon he had no choice but to be overwhelmed by the force.
CRASH! CRASH! CRASH! BOOM!
Hit by Arataso’s sword strike, Zeke was slammed into the wall.
“HUFF, HUFF.”
Zeke felt his strength draining faster than usual due to the barrier’s effect.
He barely managed to stand up again while gripping his sword.
Arataso pointed his sword at Zeke and spoke.
[For a human, your skills are pretty good. However, you are still far behind Arataso, who leads thousands of demon warriors.]
Rather than refuting Arataso’s arrogant words, Zeke caught his breath and calmly raised his sword again.
Zeke raised his aura blade again and charged at Arataso.
CRASH! CRASH! CRASH! CRASH! CRASH!
He swung the dragon-slaying technique and unleashed sword strikes, but they were futilely deflected after hitting his shield.
“Huff. Huff.”
Zeke held his sword while keeping his stance as low as possible, his body feeling heavy.
That’s when it happened.
CRACK! CRACK!
Suddenly sparks began flying from the ground.
Arataso was taken aback.
[Wh-what?]
The roots spread across the ground had been torn up by Zeke’s aura blade.
Arataso shouted at Zeke.
[You! Are you trying to destroy my barrier?!]
By the time he noticed, it was already too late.
Zeke launched Dragon’s Claw toward Arataso’s wooden sword planted in the ground.
CRUNCH! CRUNCH! CRUNCH!
The already weakened sword shattered and the barrier disappeared.
[System functions restored.]
SWOOSH!
Zeke equipped Hersion again and also equipped Agamemnon’s mask.
“Mace of Light!”
Zeke immediately cast light magic toward Arataso.
CRASH! CRASH! CRASH! BOOM!
He couldn’t give Arataso time to create another barrier.
Zeke had prepared by using the Purification skill beforehand so he could escape its influence even if a barrier was created.
This fight with Arataso had painfully taught him what to be careful of when fighting demon races.
RUMBLE!
As the dust cloud cleared, Arataso appeared with his wooden shell peeled off in various places from being hit by the Mace of Light.
He flashed his green eyes and spoke to Zeke.
[Human! I am impressed by your courage. I, Arataso, shall also use all my strength to protect my master’s honor!]
In that moment, Arataso’s body, which had been standing on two legs, began to change.
Like a centaur, Arataso’s lower body changed into a horse, with one arm becoming a shield and the other a spear.
As if he had truly become a horse, Arataso scraped the ground with his hoof.
Zeke raised the Blade of Purification.
As golden aura imbued with purification power wrapped around Bahamut, Arataso raised his front legs in surprise and shouted.
[How terrible! I fear my clear green soul given by my master will be tainted by that filthy light! Is this not also a warrior’s trial bestowed by my master! Cry! Wail! Today, I, Arataso, shall create a warrior’s feat with a new rhythm!]
Watching Arataso spout embarrassing lines, Zeke quietly took the dragon-slaying technique’s basic stance.
WOONG!
Golden aura spread from Zeke’s entire body.
At the same time, deep green light burst forth from Arataso’s body.
RUMBLE!
Like an aura blade, the green light seeped into Arataso’s spear.
The already long spear felt even more massive as the green energy seeped into it.
Arataso leaped toward Zeke first.
THUD! THUD! THUD! THUD! THUD! THUD!
With ground-shaking sounds, Arataso thrust his spear forward.
CRASH! CRASH! CRASH! CRASH! CRASH! CRASH!
A vortex of green light flew toward Zeke.
Zeke also unleashed the dragon-slaying technique with Bahamut imbued with the Blade of Purification.
Dragon-Slaying Technique True Dragon Sword Form
Chapter 4 Section 2
Full Moon Slash
A massive full moon sliced through the green vortex and struck Arataso’s body.
CRASH! CRASH! CRASH! CRASH! CRASH! BOOM!
The full moon containing golden aura sliced through Arataso’s body and passed by.
[KUHURK!]
Hit directly by the unexpectedly powerful sword strike, Arataso stepped back.
Being a demon race, he couldn’t heal from attacks imbued with purification power.
His wooden body was almost split in half, broken from shoulder to side.
Green smoke rose from the wounded area.
[Insolent human…]
After taking the hit, Arataso’s earlier composure was nowhere to be seen as he spat out harsh words.
Zeke didn’t stop there and launched Mace of Light toward Arataso.
CRASH! CRASH! CRASH! BOOM!
The powerful Mace of Light fell on Arataso’s head.
THUD!
Arataso blocked the Mace of Light with his shield.
In that gap, Zeke raised a field of fire and unleashed Blue Flame Dance on Arataso’s body.
WHOOSH!
Massive spears of fire pierced Arataso’s body.
[KUGH!]
Being pure fire created from elemental force, it set ablaze even Arataso’s body made of demon energy.
Arataso hurriedly cut away the burning parts and regenerated new body parts.
On the fallen body lay a dead green warrior in a mummified state, with its life force completely drained.
Unlike before, Arataso shouted with a voice full of rage.
[For the master’s honor! I shall cut off your head and offer it to the altar!]
THUD! THUD! THUD! THUD! THUD!
Arataso charged straight at Zeke with his spear.
WHOOSH!
Arataso attacked Zeke while wielding the massive spear with mysterious skill.
WHOOSH!
Arataso’s spear technique was incredibly strange.
When it seemed he would thrust, he slashed sideways, and when it seemed he would slash sideways, he thrust.
When it seemed he would just graze past, his spear elongated and thrust forward.
‘This spear technique is hard to predict.’
It felt distinctly different from human spear techniques.
Zeke could personally feel that when facing demons or demon race opponents, one had to account for attacks that defied human common sense.
BANG!
The spear struck Zeke’s back from an unexpected angle.
“UGH!”
If it weren’t for Hersion, this attack might have inflicted a fatal wound.
While deflecting Arataso’s irregularly flying spear attacks, Zeke tried to learn the demon race’s spear techniques through physical experience.
At that moment, green haze started rising from Arataso’s body.
‘Seems the summoners’ life force is almost depleted.’
While deflecting Arataso’s spear, Zeke looked for an opening.
Then he pulled out a chain from his left hand and swiftly wrapped it around the legs.
THUMP!
As the legs were bound and restricted by the chain, Arataso lost balance and fell.
Then Arataso abandoned the horse part of his body and separated only the upper body to create a new form.
His body size had decreased significantly from before, now changed to about the size of a barbarian.
[To think that a mere human would corner me, a servant of the ‘Clear Green Wish’, like this. How surprising.]
Arataso suddenly regained his composure.
He created a shield and sword, pointed them at Zeke, and shouted.
[Before I return to the demon realm, I shall devour your soul and bestow eternal suffering upon you!]
Chapters cost 15 coins to unlock each.
Hi guys, please check out the new novel I am translating, "There’s a Monster Inside Me"
