Chapter 141
A night where even moonlight had hidden itself.
The sky was covered with black clouds.
These weren’t the ordinary rain clouds.
They were artificial clouds created from demonic energy.
The sticky demonic energy characteristic of the undead had become clouds, swallowing all light.
In this severe darkness, the only source of light was dark red glowing eyes.
The eerily glowing eyes indicated that countless undead were present here.
Hook! Crack!
Choi Hyun-seok threw a light punch.
With just a normal punch without any magical power, the skeleton’s skull instantly shattered.
“The key is conserving power. We need to save as much strength as possible until the controlling entity appears.”
They didn’t know how long this battle would last.
At least several hours.
Perhaps they would have to continue fighting for more than a day.
While it would be impossible for ordinary people to fight for so long, Choi Hyun-seok and Abelson were different.
For those who had transcended human limits, extended combat wasn’t particularly problematic.
However, this battle couldn’t be won by just enduring.
“Especially be careful not to let your holy power drop. Even if your physical strength drops, you can still fight with holy power, but if you have no holy power, there’s nothing you can do even with remaining physical strength.”
Their objective was to hunt down the dominant entity.
Therefore, while enduring, they needed to conserve power to prepare for hunting the dominant entity.
“This dominant entity. Can we know how strong it is?”
“No!”
Abelson answered while smashing a ghoul’s head with her mace.
The ghoul with its crushed head collapsed and stopped moving.
Though ghouls were a tier above skeletons, they couldn’t withstand the mace imbued with holy power.
Abelson caught her breath and continued speaking.
“During the five hundred years of fighting demons, there are barely any records of necromancy being used. Among those, the dominant entity appeared only three times. The last time was 200 years ago.”
“It’s surprising that even you know this, given how little information there is, Miss Abelson.”
“If we narrow it down to battles right after the dominant entity’s appearance, there’s even less information.”
“Are there any records at all?”
Suddenly, a rusted sword flew in from the side.
Abelson barely avoided the attack by throwing herself aside.
“Once!”
She shouted while swinging her mace toward the enemy.
Clang!
Abelson’s eyes widened.
The creature had blocked her mace.
‘This isn’t an ordinary skeleton.’
Not all skeletons were the same just because they were made of bones.
Its red eye light was much brighter than other entities, almost like it was burning.
Only then did Abelson realize what it was.
Death Knight.
Though it might be a low-ranked Death Knight, the mere fact that a Death Knight had appeared was significant.
‘Higher undead are starting to appear.’
The necromancy had strengthened enough for Death Knights, classified as higher undead, to appear.
This meant the dominant entity’s appearance wasn’t far off.
“Should I help?”
“I’m fine!”
Abelson’s mace shone brightly.
While they needed to minimize holy power consumption, being too conservative with power against higher entities would be inefficient.
It was better to use a bit more power and finish it in one strike.
Crack!
The Death Knight couldn’t block the holy power-imbued strike and shattered.
“Where was I!?”
“The records of the dominant entity’s appearance.”
“Ah.”
Abelson adjusted her grip on her mace and continued.
“The dominant entity has appeared three times so far. Among those, there’s only one record of dealing with it right after its appearance.”
“So, how strong is a dominant entity right when it appears?”
“I don’t know exactly. The records only say that four heroes worked together to defeat it at the time.”
“Four heroes…”
Choi Hyun-seok’s brows furrowed.
‘Too ambiguous. Even among heroes, their power levels aren’t similar.’
Choi Hyun-seok had met heroes several times before.
Heroes, equivalent to Division Commanders in the Demon King’s Army, covered a surprisingly broad range of power.
It was too vague to simply say âIt’s at a level that four heroes can handle!â.
‘What’s certain is that it won’t be easy. With four heroes, it must be stronger than our current forces.’
Choi Hyun-seok, Abelson, Bobo.
Even if the three of them combined their strength, it would be unreasonable to compare them to the four heroes.
While Bobo might be different, Choi Hyun-seok and Abelson clearly had inferior combat abilities compared to the heroes.
Could they really face the dominant entity that the four heroes had hunted together?
Choi Hyun-seok bit his lip tightly.
Anxiety swept over him.
The enemy before his eyes showed no fear.
An enemy that threw itself forward with only hatred for the living not only drained physical strength but mental strength as well.
‘Whew, get it together!’
Choi Hyun-seok focused his eyes.
‘The game has already started. I can’t forfeit and retreat now.’
Having fought countless battles, Choi Hyun-seok knows.
That nothing is more dangerous than having your spirit broken.
Even if the enemy is strong, there’s hope if your spirit remains unbroken.
If you seek a breakthrough, you’ll find ways and means somehow.
That was how Choi Hyun-seok had been winning against stronger enemies until now.
“Ki-kill the living…”
“Kill them… Kill them…”
Then voices that seemed to make the air tremble were heard.
A method of transmitting sound by vibrating demonic energy rather than using vocal organs.
‘Is it them?’
Looking in the direction of the sounds, he saw a group of skeletons wearing rusted armor.
They were clearly not ordinary skeletons at first glance.
Their eyes were blazing, and the demonic energy they emitted was considerable.
“Ms. Abelson. What are those things?”
“They’re Death Knights!”
“Death Knights?”
“They’re far superior to regular skeletons. Looking at their demonic energy and form, they seem to be bound by memories of their living days and have almost completed their awakening.”
“Explain it simply!”
“They’re knights who turned into undead! Be careful, they’re dangerous!”
The last sentence made it instantly clear.
Those who were knights when alive.
Knights who fought against demons to protect humanity had become undead.
Their rusted swords once protected humans, but now they were merely tools for indiscriminate slaughter.
“Kill them…!”
Twenty Death Knights, no less.
They all charged in at once.
Choi Hyun-seok ran straight toward them.
He thought to deal with them preemptively, as they might be dangerous if they got to Abelson.
Whoosh-!
The incoming sword strikes were fierce.
Not just simple sword swings, but containing considerable demonic energy that could seriously injure even Choi Hyun-seok if he wasn’t careful.
NobilraceÂ
Type 1 – King’s Walk
Choi Hyun-seok’s speed increased, leaving long purple afterimages.
Their swords only grazed the afterimages, unable to reach Choi Hyun-seok.
“Hyup!”
Choi Hyun-seok thrust his fist forward with a shout.
Unlike before, he was now using both magical power and demonic energy along with his physical strength.
Clang!
The helmet of the one he hit caved in, crushing its skull as well.
‘This is easier than I thought?’
He had been a bit tense because they were knights.
However, after actually engaging them, the enemy wasn’t that strong.
At this rate, it seemed he could handle them without pushing himself too hard.
[Level Up!]
After dealing with several Death Knights, he even gained a level.
“This is…! A high-experience group!”
His eyes sparkled involuntarily.
Excited, Choi Hyun-seok began seeking out and destroying the knights.
“Arghhhh!”
While he was absorbed in leveling up, a loud scream came from behind.
Turning around, he saw familiar faces.
‘Those guys…’
They were members of Nicolo’s hero party.
They were gathered in a group of five, just as they had been when alive.
Whoosh!
Ellis, with a hole in her chest, raised her staff and shot flames.
Clang!
Nicolo, with flesh torn off in various places, swung his sword.
Following behind were Irfan, Yakubu, and Park Sang-min, all with similar appearances.
They were all charging forward while letting out horrible screams.
Watching them, Choi Hyun-seok smiled slyly.
“You know what?”
He dodged the fireball and simultaneously grabbed Nicolo’s sword, then headbutted him in the forehead.
Crack!
Nicolo, whose forehead was instantly shattered, slumped down.
“I never liked you guys from the start.”
Choi Hyun-seok continued his attacks without stopping.
He broke Yakubu’s neck who was following behind, cut off Irfan’s legs, and then stomped on the back of his fallen head.
In that state, he kicked off the ground and instantly appeared in front of Ellis.
“Especially you… You know without me having to say it, right?”
In response to Choi Hyun-seok’s question, Ellis let out a high-pitched scream.
“Kyaaaaaah-!”
“This bitch is making a fuss even while dying.”
Choi Hyun-seok instantly snatched Ellis’s staff and thrust it violently.
Ellis, whose eye was pierced, crumbled lifelessly.
[Level Up!]
The notification sound was particularly cheerful.
“Well, thanks for the experience points at least.”
“Graaah…!”
“Ah, Sang-min is still left.”
Even though he is undead, hurting Sang-min didn’t feel quite right.
“Sang-min. In your next life, choose your friends more carefully.”
Choi Hyun-seok instantly moved behind Sang-min and twisted his head.
Crack!
His neck didn’t just bend oddly – Sang-min’s head was completely pulled off from his body.
Choi Hyun-seok smiled bitterly.
“… Sorry. I didn’t mean to pull it off completely.”
He placed Sang-min’s head near his body and started moving again.
“Guooooooo…!”
“Haa, what’s that now?”
How long had it been there?
A massive undead, easily 5 meters tall, was charging towards them.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Every time it stepped on the ground, thunderous sounds rang out.
“Be careful! It’s Dzek!”
“Are there any special abilities or weaknesses?”
“No! Its sheer mass of corpses merged together is its weapon!”
“Understood.”
Dzek’s appearance is extremely grotesque.
Its body, made from countless bones and flesh merged together, was nauseating just to look at.
Even Choi Hyun-seok, who had a pretty strong stomach, couldn’t help but grimace.
‘Surprisingly, targeting big guys like this is easy.’
Target the lower body to break their balance and deal with them from their blind spots.
Unless they have special magic or abilities, they’re nothing more than big sandbags.
Choi Hyun-seok ran straight towards Dzek without hesitation.
As their distance closed, Dzek swung it’s fist.
“Gwaaak-!”
Choi Hyun-seok’s eyes widened.
It was incredibly fast for its size.
‘How is it this fast!?’
It was too late to dodge.
Choi Hyun-seok protected his body with magical power and braced for impact.
Whoosh, Crash!
Hit by the fist, Choi Hyun-seok flew into a civilian house.
The log house collapsed from the impact.
“Ah, I almost got pulverized in one hit.”
Choi Hyun-seok got up while rotating his shoulder.
Thanks to his magical power defense, he wasn’t seriously injured, but it was a crisis that could have shattered all the bones in his body.
“Guooooo…!”
“Alright. Let’s fight properly!”
Choi Hyun-seok charged forward.
Seeing this, Dzek pulled back his massive leg.
‘Here it comes!’
Choi Hyun-seok watched the monster’s movements with wide eyes.
The leg came flying at incredible speed.
Between the bones and flesh making up the leg, human faces could be seen.
“Aaaaah-!”
A face that seemed to be screaming barely grazed past him.
Choi Hyun-seok immediately twisted his body and gathered demonic energy.
Reidrun-style Fighting Technique
First Form – First Battle KillÂ
He threw a punch toward the opposite leg supporting the monster’s body.
Crash!
Bones and flesh chunks flew off, and the giant body started to tilt.
“Guooo!”
Dzek struggled to maintain balance, but Choi Hyun-seok wouldn’t let that happen.
“I’m going by the book!”
The basics of striking.
Hit where you’ve already hit.
He rapidly punched the monster’s wobbling ankle.
Finally, Dzek lost balance and fell face-first onto the ground.
Boom…!
Choi Hyun-seok quickly got behind the fallen monster’s head.
Then he drove his fist down with full force toward the back of its head.
Reidrun-style Fighting Technique
Form 7 – Crushing Strike Wave
A shock wave rang out, and Dzek’s head-forming bones and flesh scattered everywhere.
He had predicted that the roughly assembled body would be weak to the internal-disrupting Crushing Strike Wave, and he was exactly right.
[Level Up!]
“That’s what I’m talking about!”
Another level-up notification rang out.
Choi Hyun-seok smiled happily.
It felt like he was breaking through the growth plateau he’d been stuck on.
‘This is an opportunity. These guys aren’t the only ones getting stronger from demonic energy.’
While this would be disadvantageous terrain for normal humans due to the dense demonic energy, that wasn’t the case for Choi Hyun-seok.
The denser the demonic energy, the better his condition became.
Without him noticing, horns were gradually growing from his head.
Even though he hadn’t intended the physical transformation, his body was automatically responding to the demonic energy.
“Today, let’s properly level up.”
By now, his worries about combat had disappeared.
Only the desire for leveling up completely filled Choi Hyun-seok.
