Novel Bin Chapter 21: The Price of Ignorance (7)
Chapter 21: The Price of Ignorance (7)
Wuoooh!
Black fog rose from the blood the Demon Contractors spilled by cutting their forearms. There were three Demons.
“Draugrs! Go!”
“All you need to do is buy time!”
Fortunately, the Demons they called out were Draugrs. While a little tricky to deal with, they were nothing to me and like a candle’s flame in the wind before a Priest.
“Be honored… I shall send you back to Hell with my own hands.”
Still, I couldn’t just stand back and leave everything to the Inquisitor.
Using [Survival Instinct], I ran along the path that would cause me the least damage. The Inquisitor, who was neither as agile nor as good at dodging the skeletons as me, instantly fell behind.
“You have to kill Gretchen as well! He’s betrayed us!”
When I was about to be isolated because of the skeletons, a voice reached my ears. It was the guy who’d acted overly friendly with me the other night.
“As I thought, the Temple’s involved with this.”
“…!”
“I should’ve cut your head off then and there… Don’t you think so, worm?”
I quickly opened and closed my Skill Window, killing the skeleton reaching its arm out to me. There was only one point remaining until I could get a new power.
Whuuuuooouuu.
Coincidently, a Draugr was pretty close to me. What good timing.
“This time, I will be sure to cut off your head and comfort the dead…!”
“Mister, in front of you—!”
“Ground… Crash!”
I used the superior version of [Breaker] I had just acquired.
「[Ground Crash] │ Immediately after jumping up, you plunge down with your weapon wrapped in Arcane Power. On landing, shock waves spread out in all directions.
Effect: Consumes 60 MP. Causes 700% of damage to the enemy. Enemies in the shock wave’s range will be pushed back and dealt 370% of damage.」
As soon as I jumped into the air and hit the ground with my Zweihänder, which I held in a reverse grip, black energy swept over the place, giving off an earth-shattering sound. It was like an explosion or a heavy storm.
Whooooosh!
“Demon Knight…!”
I could vaguely hear the Inquisitor shouting out to me through the scattering debris and rising dust blown up by the wind. It didn’t matter, though.
“Th-that’s Gretchen…!”
“K-kill him!”
“Draugrs!”
Instead, I decided to do what I could and should do.
Baaam!
“…!”
Skills of the [Breaker] branch required very large movements, making it difficult to link them with other attacks, but there wasn’t any kind of paralyzing penalty for it. So, if one used the skill well, it wasn’t impossible to perform combos.
I cut down the Draugr with a single slash of my drawn sword. If one hit the center of the targets, it would at least become a critical hit. Considering that my attack just went in, it was highly likely that it died.
Whoosh!
However, because of the dust carried up by the wind, I couldn’t see the Draugr’s fog so well.
I swung my blade to create some wind and clear my view. That was when I could see what became of the Draugr I had cut in half.
It really died, its fog disappearing as it seemed to melt away.
“Destroy all evil!”
A brief moment of silence seemed to have taken over the place, but then the Archmage, who had been chanting spells behind us, finally launched an attack. A white golden flame seemed to swallow up the remaining skeletons and Draugrs.
Baam!
Almost at the same time, the Inquisitor finished off the last one. With that, their preparations were over.
I immediately charged in. I liked defeating tricky enemies, but I sure didn't want to give them time to summon more.
“U-uwah—!"
“Damn it, cut off the control!"Read lat𝙚st chapters at nov(𝒆)lbin.com Only
“What? Are you crazy—!"
By the time I reached the magic circle where they held the ritual, the Demon Contractors coughed up blood and reached a decision. However, it wasn't anything welcome.
“Do you think I'd let you?!"
The three who tried to interfere couldn't stop me even if they threw themselves on me, so I just let them be. Would the summoning stop if I killed those performing the ritual? That was usually how it worked in manhwa and novels, but I wasn't certain that was the case in this game.
Well, if this was a necessary development, it would just be summoned, and if it was something preventable, then I should be able to stop it. Easy as that.
“Death, descend upon this earth!"
Slash!
“Kuurrg!"
I decapitated one of the Contractors performing the ritual while ignoring the three rushing at me.
Demon Contractors were also classified as Wizards, so none of them were actually able to stop me. Physically, they were simply too weak, and in terms of magic, their casting time was just too long.
However, unfortunately, I seemed to have been a step too late. Or this might have been a fixed event to begin with.
“It's done, the ritu—!"
Flash!
Beneath the piles of corpses, presumably the abduction victims, the white magic circle emitted a red light. Suddenly, the itching in my right arm grew stronger.
Sting, sting—
I lost focus for a moment because of the intense itching of my arm.
Babaam!
The intensity of the light rose for a moment before a tremendous physical force hit my body. It actually blew me away.
“Demon Knight!"
Bam!
Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, I landed on the Inquisitor's shield.
My HP dropped. I had no time to determine whether it was because of the shock or the Divine Power enveloping the Inquisitor.
Even though I had set the pain level low, I could still feel my back tingling.
“Those maggots…”
I slid off the huge shield and stepped onto the ground. I could feel my front and back aching.
However, I didn’t have any major injuries, so it was tolerable.
“Mister, are you okay?”
“Are your eyes there for decoration?”
My HP had fallen a bit, but I wasn’t really injured. So, I focused my eyes on what was in front of me.
Just as I had been blown away, I could see that the Demon Contractors were in a similar situation, screaming. That felt quite good.
Kiyaaaaaaa!!
Though, it was a bit disappointing that I couldn’t stop the summoning ritual.
“…They sure did a good job with their summoning.”
“Wh-what is that?”
But, well, I was still satisfied because the scene was quite breathtaking. I carefully analyzed the Demon they had summoned.
* * *
* * *
It was a Dragon-type Demon with fins and no wings.
「Knucker │ A Demon that freely swims in pools of water and preys on humans through wells. It is said that there’s a strong poison flowing from its teeth.」
“A Knucker. Its teeth are poisonous, so be careful.”
“…Even if it weren’t poisonous, getting bitten by that thing would be hella dangerous, don’t you think?”
The Thief was right. The Knucker they summoned was about 3m from its toes to the top of its head, even though it was walking on four legs.
This area wasn’t so spacious for no reason after all.
“Tsk.”
A Knucker wasn’t a mob that should appear at the beginning of the game. Of course, they should have adjusted its strength to fit the recommended level of this Quest, but still…
“Huh… with this, even the Hero…!”
I could see that the guy who had pretended to be close to me was still alive. It wasn’t a bad thing. That NPC's head was mine.
Kyaaaaaargh!
“…! It’s coming! Behind you!”
That was when the Knucker spotted us and began charging at us with its mouth wide open.
“…I offer thee, discard your reason and gain strength…!”
Kyaaagh!
Now it even went completely berserk thanks to that guy’s muttering, lying with his face on the ground. I wasn’t sure it was him, but seeing his eyes suddenly opening wide and that black energy flowing from his body, I was about 99% certain.
“Oh God, lend me the power to not succumb to evil…! Haaap!”
Even after witnessing that, however, the Inquisitor ran ahead to confront that thing directly. She should have just dodged to the side.
It seemed her straightforward personality also applied to battles.
“Uwaah, is that really the right thing to do?!”
The moment the Inquisitor spoke a prayer and got embraced by an even more intense brilliance, the Thief hid behind her. The Archmage did the same.
“Accumulate and rise, {Protective Wall}!”
“What are you doing, Mister?!”
“You—!”
No, well, I was going to dodge to the side…!
The Thief grabbed me and dragged me behind the Inquisitor. I had lost my chance and couldn’t get away now.
Baaam!
Immediately after, I heard a loud booming sound echoing all around us, making it feel like the cave was about to collapse.
“Th-that thing, how long will it hold on…!”
The shield the Archmage had set up broke instantly, while the Inquisitor’s shield and the dragon’s head began a fierce power struggle. She boldly confronted it without her shield being pierced or broken.
“Uwaargh!”
Even while shouting, she was never pushed back. While she initially moved a bit when the attack first impacted, she now stood upright on both legs, withstanding that extreme weight and strength.
I still didn’t want to party up with those guys, but I had to admit she was a really good tanker.
“Those Demons…”
If she held on, I could still maintain my position as a dealer.
This opportunity couldn’t be any better. Right now was the best time to go after the Knucker’s weakness, its head, which was really rare.
“All of them deserve to die…!”
Shiing.
I tightly held my sword with both hands and ran out from behind the Inquisitor.
In a single step, I moved right next to the Knucker’s head that was ramming into the shield. I then twisted my body slightly to turn toward it.
[Breaker]. An ominous energy enveloped my weapon, and my huge sword crashed down on it like a guillotine’s blade.
Spurt!
Blood shot up into the air.
“…!”
“…Was that the Demon Knight…?”
Kyaaaaargh!
I couldn’t really say anything when I looked at the Knucker; its snout and tongue were completely cut off.
During boss battles or elite mob hunts, few gamers aimed for 《Part Destruction》. It was already difficult enough to hit their weak spot successfully.
Even if they wanted to try accumulating the damage and destroy it as fast as possible, no one expected it to happen in a single strike. I was that kind of person as well.
So how did I manage to inflict a 《Part Destruction》 in just a single hit in this game?
I could understand if it was a Goblin. They were a staple weak mob one could find in any game, after all, but that guy was a Dragon, even if it was just a subspecies.
I was currently only level 15, so wasn’t that a bit too much?
“What─!”
“In a single hit…?!”
The Demon Contractor seemed to share my sentiments, but I couldn’t let it show on my face. As such, I just kept my lips tightly shut and adjusted my posture.
Even with its snout cut off, the Knucker was still very much alive.
“Fuuuh.”
I exhaled, slowly swallowed my saliva, and tightened my grip on the Zweihänder. I prepared to attack the next target.
“N-no! Stop!”
It was impossible to hit its head again, as I had already cut off its snout, and it had raised its head high. However, that wasn’t necessarily its only weakness.
The Reverse Scale. An inverted scale located close to its heart. It glowed red-hot, which was quite conspicuous.
Most VR games, at least where dragons appeared, implemented that weakness.
“S-summon more!”
“Th-there aren’t any more sacrifices!”
“Then use your blood…”
The other enemies behind the Dragon were talking about something after being thrown into a frenzy, but they couldn’t stop what was about to happen.
“Bind my enemies!”
Not to mention, the Archmage provided fire support. Completely ignoring the bound enemies, I took the next step.
It was a shame I couldn’t use the piercing skill, [Stinger], as I had gotten [Ground Crash]. I didn’t regret my decision, but it would have been a much cooler scene had I used [Stinger] at this moment
Whoosh
As I stabbed out my sword while holding such regrets, I saw black energy instantly rising from my blade.
“…?”
Kaboom!
As soon as I noticed it, my blade pierced through the Knucker’s heart. Because of that, I couldn’t properly check what had happened.
“Oh my, Mister. Your back is wide open!”
However, it was just too vivid and clear in my memory to have been an illusion.
As I was about to get lost in thought due to these doubts, I saw something pass by me and take my back. Thanks to that, I broke out of my thoughts in less than 0.1 seconds.
Crack!
Reflexively turning my head, I could see part of the Thief’s hood and some bone fragments. A Skeleton summoned by one of the Demon Contractors seemed to have gotten behind me.
“…Well, I don’t think someone who can take down a Dragon with two strikes would be defeated by a Skeleton, though.”
No, that Dragon was just set to be weaker than usual. Well, this feat might seem pretty amazing to these NPCs who had no idea this was the case.
Squelch
I pulled out my sword as the question I had barely managed to push out of my mind started to occupy it again. Pieces of its shattered spine scattered in all directions, disgusting chunks of flesh following suit. Copious amounts of blood spurted out from the piercing wound.
My body and face were completely drenched in dragon blood.
Thud!
「LEVEL UP!」
It seemed to have counted as a direct hit when I cut off its snout, and I had even pierced its heart, leaving the Knucker lying there motionless. Knowing it to be a high-ranking mob, I felt a little uncomfortable.
I mean, realistically speaking, it was obvious it would die after receiving such wounds, but… How should I put it? Defeating this kind of enemy after attacking it twice at level 15 was a little…
“Gretcheeeeeen!”
Suddenly, a title that was neither my nickname nor my real name but one I knew was referring to me echoed throughout the cavern. It was the one who had pretended to be close to me before.
“You really, really betrayed us—!”
What was he on about now? Wiping the blood from my face using the back of my hand—not that it did anything—I looked straight at the screaming NPC. I could see blood soaking the lower part of his face beneath his hood, and the Archmage’s spell had bound his body tightly.
It was the perfect posture for me to cut his neck.
“This foolish flapping mouth …!”
The Inquisitor looked angry, while I wore a cold expression to contrast her. Of course, that didn’t mean that I wasn’t angry.
“How could you…!”
“Right, you were still here…”
That expressionless face was only the first step as I coldly looked down at him, the corners of my mouth twitching!
“Talk more and see if you can handle my wrath.”
“…!”
I shook the blood off of my Zweihänder. Blood splashed on the floor of the cave. An eerie glow started to surround it again.
“What? Don’t want to talk anymore?”
One step. Two steps. I walked toward him, neither fast nor slow.
The hooded guy turned his head as though trying to avoid my eyes. Still, I didn’t stop getting closer to him.
“Demon Knight.”
The Archmage called out to me.
“Are you going to interfere again?”
When I asked him that, my mouth twisting into a fierce expression, the Archmage shook his head slightly.
“Kill him as cleanly as possible. There should be some evidence that the Temple is involved in this somewhere in here.”
He said he wouldn’t stop me this time.
“Hmpf.”
I raised my sword into the air with an accompanying scoff.