Chapter 205
"Chaha!"
The Fisherman Knight threw his net forcefully towards the demonic beast.
Whoosh!
The tightly woven net extended towards the demonic beast and, moving as if alive, ensnared its limbs.
Groooooooar!
As the minotaur-like demonic beast tripped and fell, caught in the net, the Fisherman Knight leaped into the air and pierced its neck with his spear.
Pah!
The demonic beast struck by the spear turned into ash and scattered.
The Fisherman Knight retrieved his net and casually slung it over his shoulder.
Then, he glared at the demonic beasts and aimed his spear again.
"You demonic fiends! Do you truly believe you can evade the shining spear of Reyes, the most honorable knight of Chronos!"
He raised his spear high, his voice growing louder.
"Behold! The shining helmet and sturdy armor! The array of sharp spearheads resembling scales! Witness! The majesty of these valiant knights, who quench their thirst with the blood of demonic beasts and take their screams as lullabies!"
Arataso, hearing Reyes's cry, spoke with a mocking tone.
[His grasp of rhythm is amateurish, merely mimicking without understanding. If it were me, I would refine the sonnet's rhythm to be more sophisticated...]
'Arataso, stop with the useless talk.'
The Fisherman Knight Reyes, one of the Clock Tower Knights, was a renowned spear master and a famous minstrel.
The epics and sonnets of the hero king attributed to him were still popular among the central nobles and knights.
Zeke, thinking he never expected to hear the famous Reyes's sonnets in person, observed him closely.
'But is that really Reyes's spirit? Who on earth created this tower that even the spirits of the Clock Tower Knights remain?'
If Reyes's spirit remained, there was a possibility that the spirits of other Clock Tower Knights also existed.
'The spirit of the hero Tyr might also be here. Could this be a good thing? I might be able to directly ask about the shield that's presumed to be a holy relic.'
As he organized his thoughts and watched Reyes capture and kill the demonic beasts with his net, he felt an ominous energy approaching.
Arataso, having also sensed the energy, spoke first.
[This is the energy of a Tuuma.]
Kugugugung!
The forest shook as if collapsing, and something approached.
Groooooooar!
A massive demonic beast resembling a yeti approached, roaring.
But what was surprising was that someone was riding on top of the demonic beast.
A being holding the chains wrapped around the demonic beast's neck in their hands.
An alien presence clad in solid black armor from head to toe, with red eyes gleaming beneath their helmet, looked down at Reyes.
[So, a human dares to enter this place. Do you seek your own grave?]
Since the system translated the language of the Demon Realm for him, Zeke could understand what the demonkin was saying.
However, Reyes didn't seem to understand the demonkin's words.
He swung his net and shouted.
"So, you finally show yourself, demon! Those eyes, like containing the flames of purgatory! It is ominous! It is sacrilegious!"
At Reyes's words, the demonkin leaped down from the demonic beast's head.
Kugung!
Zeke held his breath and tried to gauge the Tuuma's level.
'Strong. At least at the level of a Red Knight. Arataso, at what level among the demonkin would you say that is?'
Arataso then spoke dismissively. When Zeke asked inwardly, he also replied inwardly.
[That would be considered somewhat strong among the lower-ranking demonkin.]
Zeke frowned at Arataso's answer.
Lower-ranking demonkin were said to be able to come to the mortal realm without being restricted by karma. That meant that if a gate opened, hundreds or thousands of those strong individuals could pour out.
'It's astonishing that they blocked such beings during the era of the hero king and the liberation war.'
The lower-ranking demonkin glared at Reyes before silently raising both hands towards its chest.
Paching!
Black blades suddenly protruded from its wrists.
It glared at Reyes and opened its mouth.
[You human dare to defile this domain. Pay the price with your death.]
In an instant, the demonkin's figure disappeared, leaving only afterimages.
"Huh!"
Reyes, surprised, swiftly unfurled the net he had slung over his shoulder.
Whoosh!
The net spread out wide, lying low on the ground.
Swish!
The demonkin, which had charged leaving afterimages, stepped on the net and leaped upwards.
Then, it swung its swords downwards at Reyes as if to crush him.
Clang!
The demonkin's swords and Reyes's spear clashed, and a powerful shockwave spread in all directions.
The armored demonkin retreated with incredibly light movements.
Reyes's expression, holding his spear, was grim.
Zeke noticed that Reyes had sustained internal injuries.
'Arataso, is that demonkin using the Vibrating Force Resonance?'
At Zeke's question, Arataso chuckled.
‘How could a low-ranking demonkin use the Vibrating Force Resonance? It’s just mimicking the martial art. Of course, it’s a higher level than the aura humans use, though.’
Zeke didn’t like Arataso’s arrogant tone, but since he couldn’t use the Sacred Flame skill, he had no choice but to let it be for now.
'So that's considered strong among the lower-ranking demonkin.'
'Hmm, well, since it's a Tuuma. I guess so. Among the demonkin, there are those who only use magic or sorcery depending on their race, and as you go higher in rank, there are tons of guys who use bizarre techniques depending on their master's power, so it's hard to really categorize them.'
While Zeke was talking with Arataso, the demonkin was unleashing a barrage of attacks on Reyes.
"Kuh-uk!"
Whenever Reyes tried to retreat, the demonkin stood its ground and blocked his movements.
Groooooooar!
Seeing Reyes being attacked from both sides, Zeke stood up.
'He might be a spirit, but I should save him for now. He might be of some help.'
Zeke drew Bahamut and charged towards the demonic beast that the demonkin had ridden.
Whoosh!
The aura-infused sword sliced through the demonic beast's legs.
Kroaaaaak!
The demonic beast let out a shriek of pain.
Zeke drew chains from his left arm and wrapped them around the demonic beast's other leg.
Crack!
Its movements restricted, the demonic beast panicked and thrashed to break free from the chains, but it couldn't escape the Soul Sealing Technique.
Kroaaak!
Zeke pulled on the chains, dragging the demonic beast's body downwards.
"Chahaaaat!"
He adopted the Dragon Slayer Art's preparatory stance and swung his sword towards the demonic beast's head.
Dragon Slayer Art
Chapter 7, Section 2
Dragon Head Piercing
The powerful sword strike pierced through the demonic beast's head.
Thwack!
The demonic beast, caught off guard by the unexpected attack, collapsed.
Reyes was startled to see Zeke suddenly appear.
"Good heavens! Saturn, Knight of Nobility! As expected, you would come to my aid!"
Zeke was taken aback by Reyes's words.
'Saturn? Is he mistaking me for the Sword Saint?'
Reyes approached Zeke and took a stance.
"You demonkin with blue blood! Behold the swords and spears of the shining knights! May nobility vanquish the darkness that has descended upon this land!"
Reyes swung his net around, preparing to throw it.
Seeing this, the demonkin looked down at the fallen demonic beast and then at the two humans with cold eyes.
It took a step forward.
At that moment, something suddenly protruded from the back of the demonkin's armor.
Paching!
Four black blades moved like insect legs.
Kugugugugu!
An ominous energy emanated from the demonkin's body as it deployed the blades.
It was an energy that seemed to be a mixture of demonic energy and the shockwaves of a martial art.
Arataso then exclaimed in surprise.
[Huh? Six Demon Martial Art? That's a lost technique in the Demon Realm, how is it still around in the mortal realm?]
Zeke asked Arataso.
'Do you know that technique, Arataso?'
[It's a rather difficult martial art for a low-ranking demonkin to use.]
Before Arataso could even finish speaking, the demonkin moved first.
Whoooooom!
The demonkin moved even faster than before, leaving afterimages as it circled around Zeke and Reyes.
Whoooooom!
The faster the demonkin moved, the greater its speed became. At one point, Arataso shouted.
[The Six Demon Martial Art is a swift martial art! If you don't stop it now, it'll get even faster!]
Hearing Arataso's words, Zeke stepped forward, holding Bahamut.
Chwarrrrrrrrk!
At the same time, chains extended from Zeke's left hand.
Whoosh!
As if it wasn't just fast, the demonkin dodged the chains Zeke threw and charged towards him.
Whoooooom!
In an instant, four blades hurtled towards Zeke.
Clang!
Zeke retreated and used the Vibrating Force Resonance with his sword.
Whoooooooom!
The shockwave erupting from Zeke's body shook the space and deflected the demonkin's attack.
Crack!
At the same time, the demonkin's black blades scraped across Bahamut's blade and grazed past.
Then, it changed direction and charged towards Reyes behind him.
Whoosh!
Four blades, carrying an even greater speed than before, descended upon Reyes.
Seeing this, Zeke leaped forward with a dismayed expression.
'Damn it, too late.'
At that moment, Reyes faced the charging demonkin. Simultaneously, his armor flashed brightly.
Charrrrrrrk!
The surface of Reyes's armor instantly rose up like scales.
Shushushushushuk!
Countless scales flew towards the charging demonkin.
The demonkin, which had been moving at tremendous speed, couldn't block the scale fragments fired at close range and had to collide with them head-on.
Pabababak!
It tried to block the scales using the four blades that had sprouted from its back and the blades that had emerged from its arms, but there were too many to block them all.
Sharp scales embedded themselves in the demonkin's limbs.
[Kuaaa!]
The demonkin let out a painful sound and staggered before collapsing on the spot.
Immediately after, Reyes rushed forward and threw his net at the fallen demonkin.
Whoosh!
As the net wrapped around its body, the demonkin's movements were restrained.
Reyes wore a triumphant smile.
"Got you, you bastard!"
It was then.
The demonkin's eyes glowed as if burning red.
Whoooooom!
Zeke felt an ominous shockwave gathering from the demonkin's body.
'Self-destruct.'
Zeke urgently imbued the Vibrating Force Resonance into his sword and threw it at the fallen demonkin.
Whoosh!
Bahamut pierced the heart of the demonkin, which was trying to self-destruct by causing its demonic energy to run wild.
Thwack—
[Cough!]
The demonkin's body slumped, bleeding blue blood. The fluctuating shockwave also gradually subsided.
Soon, the dead demonkin's body turned to ash.
"Hoo."
Thanks to the Infinite Stamina skill, the fatigue was much less.
Zeke took a breath and approached Reyes.
"Fisherman Knight. Reyes."
Reyes then removed his helmet.
A man with long hair and a beard.
Surprisingly, Reyes looked very similar to the descriptions passed down.
Reyes spread his arms wide and embraced Zeke.
"Saturn Draker! Knight of Nobility! As expected, I knew you were a knight who valued honor."
For some reason, Reyes seemed to recognize Zeke as Saturn Draker.
'Did using the Dragon slayer Artmake him mistake me for the Sword Saint?'
Reyes patted Zeke's shoulder and then smiled as he gathered his net.
"Ever since Kaisir left, everyone has felt like they've lost something. Even Tyr went back to Crete."
Hearing Reyes's words, Zeke realized that the current situation was after the Hero King Kaisir had departed for the fairy realm.
Zeke decided to play along with Reyes's tune.
"Reyes, I did come here because I was worried about you, but why did you come to a place like this in the first place?"
Reyes looked at Zeke and said.
"Someone had to come, wouldn't you agree? Even though we crossed swords with them."
"What are you talking about?"
"The dark elves. They were clearly our enemies. But that doesn't mean it's okay for them to become sacrifices for summoning demons."
Hearing Reyes's words, Zeke was startled by the completely unexpected information.
'The dark elves are sacrifices for summoning demons?'
Zeke pretended not to know and asked Reyes again.
"That's not wrong, but... yes, who used them as sacrifices to summon demons?"
At those words, Reyes looked at Zeke with a strange expression.
"Are you alright today? You were the one who found out that the dark elves were being sacrificed."
As Zeke, not the real Saturn, he had no idea about this.
At that moment, Reyes ground his teeth and spoke.
"It's a hard thing to believe. Siemens went so far as to dabble in forbidden magic, and in the end, he even joined hands with the orcs to summon demons."
Reyes continued with a heavy expression.
"To think we'd pay such a price for ignoring Bahamut's warning."