Chapter 200
Crack!
Bahamut pierced through the armor worn by the one-eyed warrior and impaled his heart.
"[Gah!]"
The one-eyed warrior clutched the blade that pierced his body and shouted,
"[K-kill him!]"
The other Dark Elf warriors rushed towards Zeke.
Zeke let go of Bahamut and unleashed the Infinite Chain Binding.
Crack!
Clad in Hercyon, his punches and kicks were weapons in themselves.
The warriors, struck by Zeke's palm strikes and unorthodox techniques, were either embedded in the floor or flung away, crashing into the wall.
'Seven left.'
The one-eyed warrior, impaled by Bahamut, lunged at Zeke with his last remaining strength.
"[Die! Human!]"
Zeke turned his body and launched a palm strike imbued with Vibrating Force Resonance towards the one-eyed warrior.
Bang!
With an explosive sound, Zeke's fist blew away half of the one-eyed warrior's body.
"[Ugh!]"
Only then did the one-eyed warrior completely collapse and gradually turn to ash and disappear.
He glared at Zeke until the very moment he vanished completely.
'His grudge against humans is tremendous.'
Zeke shook his head at the sight and looked around. After assessing the situation, he deactivated Hercyon, took Bahamut, and faced the remaining Dark Elves.
With the one-eyed warrior dead, the morale of the other warriors seemed to have plummeted.
Nevertheless, the Dark Elves charged towards Zeke.
Slice!
Zeke cut down all the charging warriors with Bahamut.
Finally, Zeke faced the last remaining leader.
"[You are strong, human.]"
"Dark Elf. Why did you enter this place?"
"[We were on the battlefield. We were hiding to avoid the human army. It's been about two weeks since we stayed here.]"
"Two weeks?"
The Dark Elves were only aware of two weeks having passed, not 2,000 years.
'Were they staying here with time stopped in a spiritual state?'
Zeke recalled the message that appeared when he defeated the Orcs and Dark Elves.
'It said the cursed souls were released from the domain.'
As Zeke had expected, it seemed that the souls of the Orcs and Dark Elves were bound to this place to create this Trial Ground.
Then the Dark Elf leader drew her sword.
The sword she held in both hands felt different from the ones the other warriors were wielding. It was a misshapen sword made of a material like sparkling black gemstones.
The Dark Elf leader looked at Zeke and said,
"[Human. My name is Annexie. I am the strongest warrior of the Black River tribe. What is your name?]"
Zeke answered Annexie's question.
"Zeke Draker."
Annexie nodded at his answer.
"[Draker. Are you a descendant of the Sword Saint?]"
"It would be more accurate to say I'm his successor."
"[Zeke Draker, if what you say is true, and the Sword Saint's power has been passed down even after 2,000 years, then we must have lost the war.]"
"Annexie. Is the war you're talking about the battle between the Orc army led by the Demon King and the human army led by Kaisir?"
Annexie raised her sword and said,
"[I would prefer it if you didn't put us in the same category as those filthy Orcs.]"
She pointed the raised sword towards Zeke.
"[Whether your words are true or not doesn't matter. I, Annexie, will uphold the honor of the Black River as a warrior until the very end.]"
Whoosh
Annexie suddenly whistled again.
Zeke stepped forward and unleashed Vibrating Force Resonance.
Woooong!
The vibrations of Vibrating Force Resonance deflected the sound of Annexie's whistle. In that state, Zeke swung his sword towards Annexie.
Whoosh!
Annexie leaped into the air and swung her sword with strange movements.
Clang!
Zeke felt that Annexie's movements resembled the Mystic techniques of the Ishtar Clan.
Whoosh!
She spun her body in mid-air and swung the swords in both hands consecutively.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Using the rebound from clashing with Zeke's sword, Annexie continued her attack while floating in the air.
As the swift and unpredictable attacks poured down without rest, Zeke gradually felt his stamina draining.
'Such powerful anaerobic attacks.'
There was no time to breathe.
It wasn't a problem when he had the Infinite Stamina skill, but now, even a single breath was precious.
Then Annexie spun around in mid-air and unleashed a roundhouse kick with her entire body weight behind it.
Whoosh!
The powerful kick landed squarely on Zeke's chest.
"Ugh!"
Zeke, struck by Annexie's roundhouse kick, fell backward.
"Huff... Huff..."
But Zeke quickly got back on his feet, Bahamut in hand.
He had already consumed a lot of stamina and mana.
'I have to settle this here.'
Zeke focused his mind and raised his sword.
Woooong!
Zeke's sword let out a faint cry. Annexie also aimed at Zeke with her twin swords.
She charged towards Zeke first.
Whoosh!
In an instant, her body multiplied, creating afterimages.
A clone technique created with pure skill, not magic.
To Zeke's eyes, trained in the Gale Sword, the true nature of Annexie's clone technique was visible.
'They're all the main body.'
All three clones were the main body, not afterimages.
Zeke poured strength into his sword.
Crash!
An Aura Blade, infused with his remaining strength, surged from his sword.
Zeke, having squeezed out all his power, carefully focused the Aura Blade.
The surface of the Aura Blade, which had been flickering like flames, calmed down.
Then, Zeke's Aura Blade became like a thin coating over his sword.
Like a calm lake, it was compressed and compressed again.
Rustle!
The three Annexie clones swung their swords towards Zeke simultaneously.
Zeke took a stance and unleashed the Dragon Slayer technique.
But it felt different from usual.
'What is this sensation?'
It was so serene that it felt as if there was no one there.
Zeke didn't follow the True Dragon Sword Art, but swung his hand as the sword led him.
Whoosh
He couldn't feel the sensation of cutting at all.
As if he had cut through empty air, there was nothing in Zeke's hand.
'This is...?'
When Zeke withdrew his sword, Annexie, holding her daggers, was standing before him, looking at him.
She said to Zeke,
"[That was a splendid strike. I'm glad I could uphold my honor as a warrior until the very end.]"
Swoosh
Annexie looked at Zeke and gradually turned to ash, disappearing.
Only after she disappeared did Zeke relax and collapse on the spot.
A new realm glimpsed after exhausting all his strength.
'I've found a clue to advance to the Black Knight realm.'
Zeke felt like he finally understood what Rex Turunn had said.
He caught his breath, then got up again and examined the spot where Annexie had disappeared.
Two daggers and a flute remained where she had been.
―Flute Information―
Description: A flute made from an ancient Spirit Tree.
Unique Ability: Spirit Subjugation
Special Note: The better the performance, the greater the effect of Spirit Subjugation.
―Dagger Information―
Description: A dagger made of an unknown mineral.
Unique Ability: Indestructible
Special Note: A dagger passed down to the strongest warrior of the Black River tribe among the ancient Dark Elf race.
Zeke was surprised to see the dagger's information.
"Indestructible? I didn't know there was another weapon with this attribute besides Bahamut."
It was also strange that even the system couldn't identify the material of this dagger.
Zeke, curious, examined the dagger closely and felt like he had seen this material somewhere before.
'Could this be...?'
He took out the dragon statue, the Elder Dragon's artifact, from his inventory.
The blackish dragon statue.
Zeke compared the dragon statue and Annexie's dagger.
"They're made of the same material?"
The indestructible dagger and the dragon statue were made of the same material.
If the dagger was made of the same material as the dragon statue, which housed the soul of the Elder Dragon, it was unlikely to be an ordinary artifact.
'Would Master Golin know what this is?'
Zeke gripped the dagger and swung it around.
It was a bit heavy, but the balance was perfect.
"It's a bit different in shape from the daggers I use... but I'll get used to it with practice."
Zeke put both the dagger and the flute in his inventory.
Then, he went around the battlefield and collected all the misshapen swords left by the other Dark Elf warriors.
Unlike the Orc's axes and armor, the Dark Elves' swords were made of good material and had a good weight balance.
After some thought, Zeke decided to keep two and sell the rest.
[You have gained 220 points.]
Unlike the Orc weapons, which gave him 10 points each, the Dark Elf weapons gave him 20 points each.
'Not bad.'
Since his inventory space was limited, it was better to sell them for karma points than to leave them behind, as he couldn't take them out anyway.
Then Zeke found something else where the one-eyed warrior had been.
"I thought one was missing... This is armor, Hercyon."
It was similar in form to the Hercyon he had obtained from the goblin warrior.
Zeke tried on the Hercyon left by the one-eyed warrior.
Clank!
Similar to the elf armor, but the Dark Elf's armor was black and felt more form-fitting.
Zeke checked the armor information.
―Armor Information―
Description: Light armor favored by Dark Elves.
Unique Ability: Stealth
Special Note: Very light and easy to move in.
Although it had lower defense than the elf armor, it seemed advantageous for nighttime activities.
"It's a decent artifact. Since I can't use stealth here, this will be useful as a substitute."
Zeke put the Dark Elf's armor in his inventory as well.
Just then, a bright light flashed from somewhere.
Zeke headed towards the light.
Moving quickly now that there were no Dark Elves, he could see that the light was rising from the floor to the ceiling in a place that looked like an altar.
"This must be the destination."
Zeke went and stood where the light was emanating.
Then a message appeared.
[You have perfectly cleared the hidden stage.]
[The Fighting God's Domain is impressed with your abilities.]
[Rewards will be given for clearing the stage.]
[Determining rewards.]
[Rewards will be delivered to the target.]
A light flashed in front of Zeke, and four random boxes were given.
However, one of the random boxes looked different from the usual ones.
"Gold?"
The random boxes he had seen so far were bronze, but only one was shining gold.
[1,000 experience points are given as a reward for surviving the hidden stage.]
[Three normal random boxes are given as a reward for surviving the hidden stage.]
[One special random box is given as a reward for clearing the hidden stage with amazing ability.]
"A special random box."
He didn't know what it was, but it seemed good.
Zeke first opened the normal random boxes. Two medals and a bow came out.
―Medal Information―
Description: A medal containing the power of the ancient Orc race.
Unique Ability: Battle Cry
Special Note: Can boost the morale and abilities of allies depending on the user's ability.
―Medal Information―
Description: A medal containing the power of the ancient Dark Elf race.
Unique Ability: Taming
Special Note: Can tame creatures that are difficult to tame.
―Bow Information―
Description: A bow favored by the ancient Elf race.
Unique Ability: Penetration
Special Note: Can pierce targets even with small arrows.
A bow with magic on it, along with medals containing the power of Orcs and Dark Elves, came out.
"Not bad. The Orc medal has a buff function. After absorbing it with Gluttony, I might be able to amplify its ability even more when using Area of effect buffs. And let's see... Taming? Did they tame the Hellhounds and Wyvern with this ability?"
Zeke recalled Arthur Draker riding a Wyvern and flying through the air.
Bucephalus could also fly, but it couldn't travel long distances, and the monsterized Richmond couldn't maintain his transformation for long.
If he could tame monsters, it seemed like he could significantly reduce travel time.
"Alright. The only thing left is this special random box..."
Zeke gulped and slowly opened the golden box.
A dazzling light flashed from within.
'How flashy.'
After a while, when the light completely disappeared, Zeke examined the item that came out of the box.
"What's this?"
What emerged from the special random box was a strangely shaped necklace.
Zeke picked up the necklace and examined it closely.
A pattern resembling an eye was engraved inside a circular metal pendant.
Zeke immediately checked the necklace's information.
―Necklace Information―
Description: The Third Eye of Shambhala
Unique Power: Eye of Truth
Special Note: The wearer of this necklace will awaken their spiritual eye and be able to perceive the truth.
Zeke was surprised to see the necklace's information.
"A power to perceive the truth?"
Even Zeke had never seen an artifact containing a power before.
Zeke tried wearing the necklace.
Perhaps because powers couldn't be used inside the Inverted Tower, there was no change.
'I guess I'll have to go outside to see what it does.'
With an excited heart, Zeke stored the necklace in his inventory.
Just then, a new message appeared.
[The structure of the Trial Ground is changing.]
[Moving to a hidden stage corresponding to the trials of the 51st to 90th floors.]
[As the difficulty is arbitrarily adjusted, corresponding rewards will be given upon clearing the hidden stage.]
Once again, the Fighting God's Domain changed the stage on its own.
Zeke's body was enveloped in light.
The scenery changed in an instant.
'Where am I?'
Zeke, who was getting used to this after experiencing it twice, looked around. The atmosphere was completely different from the ruins where the Dark Elves were.
A labyrinth with all sides blocked unfolded before his eyes again.
As Zeke opened the map and grasped the structure of the labyrinth, he heard something approaching from down the hallway.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
The heavy footsteps that shook the ground. It could be a large monster.
After a while, the figure approaching from the end of the hallway was revealed.
Zeke was horrified at the sight.
'Is that... a demon?'