by Park Saenal
“Now, let’s go.”
“Yes…” Irene didn’t hesitate. She knew that Coke and the other knights would be in greater danger if she slowed down. “Thank you.”
Coke ignored the pains in his body and started running after Irene when he heard familiar voices in his ears.
“Your Majesty!! Prince Lord!”
“Prince, where are you?”
They were the Rebecca’s Daughter candidates. Lord tried to respond to the cries of those outside the banquet hall, but it was impossible.
“You won’t be able to take one step outside.” Yatan’s Fourth Servant, Silvenas, flew like the wind and blocked Irene and Lord’s way. She let out an ugly laugh as she pulled out a weapon and pointed her other hand at the entrance. Then she shot black magic toward the entrance, sweeping the Rebecca’s Daughter candidates waiting outside into an explosion. Through the smoke, Silvenas’ eyes focused on Irene. “I have been watching you while I was hiding. You are beautiful and speak well. Bah, whatever. Pretty things are just ugly.”
The courage Irene had garnered from her desire to protect Lord disappeared in a flash. Irene’s body trembled with horror as she confronted the Yatan Servant.
“Hahhh, your terrified face is very good.” Silvenas was ecstatic. Her cheeks flushed red, and she licked his lips with a red tongue that contrasted with her grey hair as she approached Irene.
“Your Majesty!” Coke defeated the black magicians following closely and came just in time. However, Silvenas’ sword moved at a speed that was too fast for Coke. A red energy blade cut Coke’s armor, and he lost a big amount of health.
[You have suffered serious damage!]
[The durability of the Grid Armor Made by a Craftsman has decreased by 47.]
[You have survived with less than 10% of your health.]
[As a result of the subquest reward, the stamina stat has permanently increased by 20.]
“K…uack…! Not yet…!!”
He couldn’t die, and his quest couldn’t fail. Coke tried to raise his body quickly. He had to somehow protect Irene and Lord until Royman’s group finished off the black magicians and joined him. However, it wasn’t easy. The bleeding status made him dizzy, and Coke eventually fell onto the bloody floor.
Silvenas gazed into Irene’s eyes. “Where do you want me to tear you apart? Huh~?”
Rose, Agnus, and the black magicians were tying up the enemies’ feet, so Silvenas could afford to take her time with Irene and Lord, who were helpless sheep. She was going to enjoy this pleasant situation slowly.
…At least that was until the little prince, whom she had thought of as a meek lamb, bared his teeth. “Storm Sword.”
“…?!” A storm of sword energy swallowed up Silvenas.
Chapter 865
‘What is this?’
It was an unpredictable attack from Silvenas’ point of view. Who would’ve expected the young prince to swing his sword? No, it wasn’t appropriate to call it just swinging his sword. This was a refined swordsmanship. It was a powerful, fierce, and persistent swordsmanship which cut off the flow of mana in the area!
“Kuk…!” Silvenas was trapped in the unfolding storm of sword energy and became helpless. The dark demonkin’s ‘assimilation with darkness’ and ‘conformity with the wind’ were closely related to the inborn mana circulation of the dark demonkin. The storm interfered with the circulation of mana, and it prevented Silvenas from exercising her full strength and made her lose her speed.
Unfortunately, Lord was young and weak and soon became tired.
“Hiyaaack!” Still, he managed to buy enough time for the Overgeared Knights, including Royman and Coke. The young swordsmen broke through the siege of the black magicians and bombarded Silvenas, who was trapped in the storm. In particular, Royman’s swordsmanship was brilliant. Her unique swordsmanship greatly constricted Silvenas’ behavior by continuing to freeze or knock her down.
“Ugh…!”
The never-ending CC made Silvenas burst with frustration, and she eventually pulled out her hidden card. To be exact, it was an eruption of wings made out of demonic energy. Once her demonic energy exploded, Silvenas entered a super-armored state and resisted all CCs. She regained her swiftness and flew upward before wielding her sword. A red light filled the air and aimed at the Overgeared Knights one by one.
“Avoid it!” Royman cried out urgently as she blocked some of the sword energy flying through the air. Silvenas’ next target was Coke. He was severely injured after having protected Irene and Lord alone while the other knights were tied up with the black magicians. Royman was worried about him. Currently, Coke couldn’t defend against Silvenas’ attack, and he would die the moment he was hit.
Her judgment was correct.
‘This is the end.’ Coke’s health was only at 5%. His recovery speed from consuming potions couldn’t keep up with the rate at which he was being hit by black magic. Thus, Coke humbly accepted death. He had no confidence in blocking Silvenas’ attack which the other knights, apart from Royman, couldn’t even defend against.
As Silvenas flew through the air, her speed was beyond Coke’s perception. The hairs on his body hair shot up as the demonic energy neared him. Coke felt the hair tickling his nose and told Royman with a bitter smile, “Make sure that the queen and the prince are safe…”
“Sir Coke!” Royman was already using the ‘Farmland Walk’ that she had learned from Piaro.
She knew that Coke had a blessing which allowed him to revive, but she still didn’t want to see a colleague die in front of her. Additionally, she knew that those with the blessing experienced a large penalty when they died. Farmland Walk allowed her to leap half the distance of Blink. Royman repeated the jump and tried to narrow the 13-meter distance between her and Coke.
“Hihit!”
Nonetheless, it was too late. Silvenas had already taken control of the situation behind Coke and was just about to strike him.
[Prince ‘Lord’ of the Overgeared Kingdom wants to appoint you as his knight.]
[Would you like to accept?]
This notification window popped up in Coke’s vision that was flashing red. Coke didn’t delay his response. “I will be loyal to Your Highness!”
[You have become the knight of Prince ‘Lord’ of the Overgeared Kingdom.]
[Lord has summoned you.]
[Would you like to accept the summons?]
It happened in an instant. The moment Silvenas’ sword was about to touch Coke’s back, Coke responded to Lord’s summon and was moved to his side. Confusion filled Silvenas’ eyes as she cut empty air. “This is nonsense!”
She ignored Royman who had jumped in front of her as her target was now the young prince who had already interfered with her many times. Silvenas’ sword dropped mercilessly toward the young child who was sweating in the aftermath of using the sword technique. Simultaneously…
“Tearing the Sky.” Lord used the wooden sword his father had given him and used the counterattack limited to attacks coming from the top. It was one of the sword techniques that Kraugel loved using before he became a Sword Saint. The strength of the master was manifested through the disciple. It was like looking at the claws of a giant beast. The sword energy cut Silvenas’ body and the banquet hall continuously.
“Cough!” Silvenas suffered a serious injury for the first time, and blood flowed from her mouth. Tearing the Sky returned the attacker’s technique to them and was completely different from Storm Sword, which dealt damage in proportion to the user’s attack power. Lord could do great damage to Silvenas even if he was only level 60.
“Kuoh… Ugh..! You…! This little guy!!” Silvenas’ health gauge fell by one-tenth, and she lost her temper. It insulted her that she was disgraced by a little boy while the Vatican’s dogs, the royal families, and thousands of black magicians were watching. Silvenas had never experienced such great shame since she was born. In the end…
“Die…! Killing power!!” Silvenas threw off her mask o
f beauty and revealed the appearance of the dark demonkin that was ridiculed as the ugliest species in hell.
“Hiik!”
“W-What is going on?”
Her skin was peeled and twisted like it had been burned, and her eyes, nose, and mouth were jumbled together. Silvenas’ ugly appearance gave a huge shock to everyone in the banquet hall. Even the Yatan believers were either shocked, dismayed, or disappointed by Silvenas’ appearance. On one side of the banquet hall, Yatan’s Sixth Servant Cardiora displayed a meaningful smile. “Now, no one can survive.”
It wasn’t an exaggeration. Silvenas exposing her ugly appearance meant she would kill everyone around her—enemies, allies… everyone!
“Kieek! Kieeeeek!” Silvenas’ shriek inflicted great pain onto everyone in the banquet hall. The dark demonkin’s scream, which lamented their ugliness, made listeners feel uncomfortable and disturbed while also interfering with mana flow and damaging their hearing. It was dangerous! There might be no physical damage, but ordinary people like Irene couldn’t endure it.
“Your Majesty!” Chucksley immediately noticed this and tried to run to protect her.
“Where are you going?” Unfortunately, Rose didn’t let him go. She blocked Chucksley using the magic accumulated in Belial’s Staff (Myth Reproduction) that she had gained in exchange for the 32nd Great Demon Belial summoning episode.
“This is a mess…!” Chucksley cried out as he fell. He blamed himself for being unable to do anything while Queen Irene was in danger. In fact, there was no reason to blame himself. The fact that he could face Yatan’s Eighth Servant for a while was already sufficient. The same was true for Isabel and Kasim. They were doing a tremendous job.
“Kikikik!” Baal’s Contractor Agnus recalled all the undead he had summoned outside the banquet hall. Agnus couldn’t cope with Isabel and Kasim alone, so he brought the death knight and demons to his side to defend himself. There was a difference in strength. Baal’s Contractor might be hostile to humanity, but he had a clear limit to his abilities as a player.
What if Baal’s Contractor was an NPC? He would be able to threaten everyone in the Vatican simultaneously, instead of just Isabel and Kasim. As a player, Agnus had all types of restrictions until a number of class quests were cleared.
“Shadow Soldiers!” Kasim raised his shadow soldiers from various places and concentrated the offensive on Agnus. Meanwhile, Isabel stabbed her spear in this gap and killed a demon.
“Kik…! Kikikik! More! More! More! Moreee! Kuhahahahat!” Agnus’ madness was getting out of control. To him, this was a sweet dream that made the terrible reality disappear.
“Your Holiness!”
“Prince Lord!”
“Imperial Prince!”
Agnus recalled the undead, allowing the paladins, Rebecca’s Daughter candidates, and soldiers from many countries to enter the banquet hall. They started to dispose of the Yatan Church’s black magicians and gave hope to Damian and the royalty of the other kingdoms.
However, this hope was short-lived.
“There are more small-fries.” The Third Servant, Aliburn, started to act. Aliburn burned the mana of the priests and paladins and jumped into the front lines. The mana he stole from others was converted to magic, and he was like a weapon made for the purpose of killing as he shot black magic everywhere. Dozens of priests and paladins lost their lives in a flash, while several Rebecca’s Daughter candidates turned to gray pillars of ash.
“Lea! Anne!!” Lord was in despair after losing his precious girlfriends. He wanted to run toward Aliburn but couldn’t. By now, he was already exhausted, yet Silvenas was threatening his mother. The first thing he had to do was protect his mother.
“Kiyaaaaah!” Silvenas’ screams grew louder.
“Uh…!” Irene stumbled from the pain. Lord supported her with his small body while Coke blocked her ears with bloody hands, despite him also bleeding from the ears.
“This can’t continue!”
“Shit!” Irene was Kasim’s top priority. He no longer clung to Agnus and switched targets to Silvenas. Thanks to this, Agnus regained his freedom and was able to breathe. Then he belatedly discovered Irene and Lord. “Huh?”
Were they Grid’s wife and son, whom he had seen on the news previously? Yes, they were Grid’s precious people. Agnus frowned. There was a certain memory he wanted to forget. However, the unforgettable memories stirred his mind. The sight of the woman he loved being abused by angry men…
“…That jerk, Grid.”
Unlike how Agnus was previously helpless, Grid was currently brimming with strength. So why was he neglecting those precious to him? Would he only realize their importance after losing them? Agnus’ wrath shot upward. Then Agnus’ eyes widened, and he summoned the trump card he had been saving—Lich Mumud.
His magic power struck Silvenas, who was floating above Irene’s and Lord’s heads.
“Agnus! What are you doing right now?” The puzzled Rose shouted.
“Kik? So what? Is it normal to hurt a weak woman?” Agnus abandoned the ‘Vatican Invasion’ quest that was in progress.
“You dog-like bastard… I want to rip you apart.”
“You are crazy!!”
Overwhelmed by the repeated explosions, the ceiling of the banquet hall started to collapse. Agnus flew toward Irene and Lord.
Simultaneously, in the capital of the Overgeared Kingdom…
“Quickly!” Grid urged Sage Sticks. Having received a whisper from Coke a few minutes ago, Grid wanted to fly to the Vatican immediately. However, things weren’t so simple.
“Just a bit more…” Due to the academy lessons, Sticks had consumed a large amount of mana and was lacking mana. In order for him to be able to use Mass Teleport, Sticks had to use Mana Drain for 5 minutes while also taking mana potions. For Grid, these five minutes felt like 10 years—no, 100 years.
Chapter 866
The Vatican Invasion was a hidden quest with huge rewards, and the clear probability of a story unfolding from it was very high. Yet Agnus was now abandoning the honeypot that he had been certain to win. It was a craziness that no one could understand.
“You are crazy!!” Rose screamed. It was already too late to stop Agnus. Lich Mumud attacked Silvenas, while Agnus flew through the gap and reached Irene.
“Agnus…!”
He was the man who was called a mad dog. Coke was frightened when the man everyone called crazy approached the queen and prince. He didn’t know that Agnus had stopped Silvenas’ scream and squeezed his sword with trembling hands. The sight of a weak person determined to defend someone caused Agnus’ eyes to flash with emotion.
Recalling his past helpless self who hadn’t been able to protect the woman he loved, Agnus felt regret, anger, resentment, and sadness. Agnus’ face distorted in a terrible manner as he hated his past self. It was a face that induced sympathy rather than fear.
“Who are you?” The little prince asked. He was aware of the sad face of the man who was protecting him and his mother.
Agnus barely suppressed his anger and replied, “Just a fool.”
“…”
He was obsessed with the past that couldn’t be reversed and was forming new regrets at this moment. Wasn’t he a fool? That’s right. Agnus was clearly aware that it was wrong for him to give up the hidden quest just for old memories. He knew he was going to regret it.
In fact, Yatan’s Third Servant Aliburn was threatening him right now.
“Baal’s Contractor…!! Have you forgotten the grace we showed you by giving you the Stone of Life? You will regret this!” Aliburn was furious, misunderstanding why Baal’s Contractor was trying to betray the Yatan Church. “It is always Baal’s Contractor…! You always pester us!!”
The Yatan Church served the evil god, Yatan, and the great demons were Yatan’s children. Originally, the 1st Great Demon Baal was the second highest subject of respect for Yatan’s Servants. However, Baal had an incomprehensible side. Hundreds of years ago, he cont
racted with the legendary Pagma and gave him a mighty force, interfering with the descent of the great demons. It was on a mere whim, but Aliburn was forced to doubt Baal’s intentions when his contractor betrayed the Yatan Church.
“Baal wants to betray God Yatan!” Aliburn knew that there was no limit to the desires of a great demon, so he interpreted it as the 1st Great Demon Baal wanting to pull down God Yatan and become a god.
Agnus laughed. “That jerk’s intentions aren’t important.”
“What? You..?”
“I am me. Do you think I will act for others? Kik!” Agnus didn’t care if this was the wrong move. He pointed to Coke and Irene. “I want to save these people. That is the desire in my heart.”
He was like a heaven-sent savior to Irene and Lord, but Coke was still vigilant toward him. Watching Agnus, Aliburn became speechless. Then he made a blatant threat, “Someday, you won’t be able to protect them with your present strength. You will surely be defeated, and they will die.”
“…”
“Then you will have the Stone of Life stolen from you.”
This was Agnus’ last chance.
“Now, wake up and change your mind.” Aliburn reached out to Agnus.
A notification window asking if he wanted to accept the Vatican Invasion hidden quest once again appeared in front of Agnus, and once again, the rewards for the hidden quest were amazing. He would be able to secure a large amount of demonic power, intelligence, dominance and also gain a 50% resistance to divine attacks. There were quest rewards which maximized the strengths of Baal’s Contractor while overcoming the weaknesses.
It was a temptation that couldn’t be refused unless the person was a fool… and Agnus was a fool.
“I am still going to fight. Kik!”
Agnus’ desires were different from ordinary people, and he didn’t want strength, power, or wealth. He just wanted to recover the past. That’s why it was impossible for him to turn a blind eye to this scene due to his regrets of the past, even if new regrets rose.