Chapter 207
Watching Zeke skillfully interrogate the demonkin using the Purification skill, Reyes wore a troubled expression and said,
"Good heavens, Saturn! It seems the noble knight has become tainted with a terrible venom after facing Siemens. Siemens's wickedness has become a poisonous thorn! Piercing the heart of my dear friend and turning him into a messenger of hell!"
While Reyes's impromptu sonnet filled with lament was being completed, Zeke had squeezed all the information out of the demonkin.
[Ughhh. I told you everything, so release me as promised. Hurry!]
Zeke nodded and drew Bahamut, stabbing the demonkin's heart.
Thwack!
The demonkin glared at Zeke before turning to ash and disappearing.
Picking up the magic stone, Zeke shrugged as he saw Reyes looking at him strangely.
"I did release him as promised. It just wasn't in the way that demonkin wanted."
Reyes clicked his tongue at Zeke's words and began to recite a new sonnet.
Having briefly relaxed, the two tensed up again and cautiously entered the tower.
* * *
Swish!
Zeke threw Annexie's dagger, connected to a chain, at a demonkin patrolling the corridor.
Thwack!
"Cough!"
The demonkin hit by the dagger was instantly entangled in the chain and became unable to move.
As Zeke pulled the captured demonkin towards him, Reyes immediately thrust his spear, killing it.
Tssstssstss—
Reyes and Zeke worked together in this way, killing the demonkin and moving deeper into the castle.
The attacks were working more easily than expected.
'It seems not all demonkin are strong. Was that guy who used the Six Demon Martial Art special?'
When Zeke asked inwardly, Arataso replied.
[I told you earlier. Except for the Tuuma, most of them either use magic or control demonic beasts.]
Most of the demonkin's magic was black magic of the curse and summoning type, so they could exert much greater power on the battlefield.
It wasn't for nothing that the Demon Lord's army put the orcs at the forefront to create their legions.
When the orcs' powerful physiques were combined with the demonkin's black magic, they could complete a legion of tremendous power.
But conversely, those demonkin who used such magic were weak in direct combat.
That was why Zeke's assassination skills worked so well.
Zeke and Reyes soon discovered the location of the boss.
However, orc warriors clad in sturdy armor stood guarding the door.
Reyes gritted his teeth and said softly.
"Those are the Tuskless Tribe. Damn it, of all the tenacious bastards, they had to be guarding this place."
Zeke, who had been quietly observing them, activated Hercyon.
Charrrrrk!
Reyes was startled to see the Hercyon of Theia that Zeke was wearing.
"Ah, no. Saturn, where did you find that?"
"Do you know this Hercyon?"
"Hercyon? What's that? Isn't that a treasure that Siemens cherished? It was the one he liked the most among the things Kaisir gave him."
Zeke was taken aback by Reyes's words.
'Master Kaisir gave the Hercyon of the Goddess Theia to Siemens?'
Just as Zeke was about to ask Reyes something more, the orcs noticed them.
"There's something over there! Capture those guys!"
Zeke shouted at Reyes.
"Charge straight ahead! I'll hit them from the side!"
Reyes immediately swung his net around as he ran forward and threw it at the orcs.
"Come on, you tusked bastards!"
Charrrrrrrk!
The net unfurled and tried to wrap around the charging orcs.
Then, the orcs threw the axes they were holding at the net.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
The net wrapped around the flying axes and fell to the ground.
Seeing this, the orcs drew the greatswords they were carrying and shouted.
"It's the fisherman! Capture him before he casts his net again!"
Reyes, still gathering his net, retreated.
"Cunning orc bastards!"
It was when the orc was charging towards Reyes, who was still organizing his net.
Thwack!
Zeke unleashed a sword strike infused with the Vibrating Force Resonance at the orc from the side.
"Kuaaaak!"
All the orcs were sent flying by Zeke's attack.
Immediately after, Zeke activated the Will of Spirit Energy 'Explosion'.
Kwakwakwakwa!
An explosion occurred where Zeke's sword had struck. Due to this, the orcs' sturdy armor exploded.
"Kerheoeok!"
While Zeke was dealing with the orcs, Reyes quickly finished gathering his net.
Then, he unfurled the net towards the panicked orcs.
Charrrrrrrk!
This time, the orcs couldn't block the net and were wrapped up as they were.
"Damn it! You damn fisherman!"
Reyes's net, enchanted with dragon magic, couldn't be broken even by the orcs' strength.
Reyes threw his spear at the orcs caught in the net.
Thwack!
"Cough!"
The spear that pierced the orc returned to Reyes's hand on its own.
While dealing with the remaining orcs, Zeke could understand how the knights of the Hero King's era fought.
'They actively used enchanted artifacts to fight. They could exert sufficiently strong power without having to train their aura so painstakingly.'
Even for the knights of the current era, the age of aura, the Dragon Slayer Art Form of the Sword Saint Saturn Draker was difficult to master.
For the knights of the Hero King's era, who were accustomed to such magical armaments, the aura training method must have felt like a rather cumbersome technique.
"Dieeeeee!"
Zeke deflected the orc's axe that was charging at him with his sword and immediately counterattacked, stabbing its neck and killing it.
Tssstssstss—
After clearing the surroundings and collecting the weapons dropped by the dead orcs, Zeke turned to look at Reyes.
Reyes shouted at Zeke.
"Saturn! I'll hold this place! Go and kill the master of this castle! May your nobility wash away the blood of the filthy demonkin!"
Zeke watched Reyes jump into the horde of orcs that were now swarming in from behind.
'There were more things I wanted to ask... It's a shame, but there's no helping it.'
Zeke left Reyes and approached the boss's room.
He raised his hand and opened the door.
At that moment, a message appeared before Zeke's eyes.
[You have entered the third hidden stage boss room.]
Stepping inside, there was a magnificent throne in a vast room.
And a demonkin with red eyes was sitting there.
It was a man with pale skin and sharp fangs, dressed in flamboyant attire that nobles might wear.
Arataso, who had been constantly observing the outside, suddenly exclaimed in surprise.
[Good heavens, Garin? Why is a Royal Vampire here?]
'Do you know that demonkin?'
Arataso swallowed hard and said.
[Yes, we used to belong to the same legion. But... I thought that guy was annihilated during the first invasion of the mortal realm...]
It seemed that not only Reyes but also the boss demonkin were spirits of those who had disappeared long ago, moving according to the scenario of the hidden stage.
Zeke asked Arataso.
'Is that demonkin strong? There are vampires in the mortal realm too, though.'
Arataso then sneered and said.
[Garin is a member of the Royal Vampires. He's on a completely different level from those pathetic vampires remaining in the mortal realm.]
If Arataso said this much, it seemed that the racial status of Royal Vampire itself was high in the Demon Realm.
At that moment, Garin, who had been sitting on the throne, rose from his seat.
[You lowly human. How dare you enter my domain, harm my loyal servants, and bring in the scent of impure humans?]
Zeke didn't wait for Garin to say more and dashed forward.
He took out a dagger from his inventory and threw it towards Garin, imbued with the Will of Explosion.
Garin raised his hand towards the dagger Zeke threw.
Pzzzzzzzt!
A red barrier formed in Garin's hand, blocking the dagger.
Bloodlust flickered in his eyes.
[Impertinent human! I'll extract your soul and make it my plaything!]
In an instant, a blood-red mist surged from Garin's body.
Krrrrrr!
The blood-red mist rushed towards Zeke as if alive.
"Chahat!"
As Zeke retreated, the blood-red mist followed like tentacles.
Crack!
Then, the blood-red mist grabbed Zeke's leg, which was covered in Hercyon.
Whoooooom!
Instantly, Hercyon, reacting to the blood-red mist, automatically began to deploy defensive magic.
[External intrusion and attack attempt detected]
[Automatic defense magic field deployed]
[Attack range calculation]
[Sixth Circle Magic 'Plasma Field' executed]
Whoooooom!
Plasma with purple and blue light erupted from Hercyon.
Pzzzzzzzzzt—
The Plasma Field that had been deployed when facing the Lord of the Swamp earlier was deployed again.
In an instant, the inside of the castle was filled with plasma that had sprung from Hercyon.
Pzzzzzzzt!
The blood-red mist struck by the plasma turned to ash and scattered.
Garin retreated, avoiding the plasma that was rushing towards him, and summoned mist to wrap around his body.
Tssstssstss—
Zeke saw this and immediately dashed forward.
"Haaaat!"
With that, he swung his sword towards Garin, unleashing the Vibrating Force Resonance.
Whoooooom!
A powerful shockwave spread towards Garin.
Then, Garin also extended his hand, and the blood-red mists vibrated minutely, neutralizing Zeke's shockwave.
'The Vibrating Force Resonance isn't working?'
Arataso then said.
[The Royal Vampire is a high-ranking demonkin who is an excellent blood mage and can also use martial arts. Since he's been summoned to the mortal realm, he can't exert his full power, but he's at least around the level of an intermediate demonkin.]
Whoooooom!
Garin shook the shockwave gathered in his hand and then unleashed it towards Zeke.
Thwack!
A powerful shockwave flew towards Zeke.
Clang!
Zeke also unleashed a sword strike, offsetting Garin's shockwave.
Since he was wearing Hercyon and had even deployed the Plasma Field, the mana consumption was quite high.
The Infinite Stamina skill wasn't recovering it quickly enough, so Zeke took out the magic stones he had obtained from killing the demonic beasts and absorbed them.
They weren't as good as Balrog's magic stone, but they were enough to recover the mana consumed by the Plasma Field.
Zeke took a breath and then charged forward, holding Bahamut.
Thwack!
Zeke's sword strike flew towards Garin.
Garin, with a relaxed posture, controlled the red mist and blocked Zeke's attack.
'That mist is quite annoying.'
The mist, which hovered around Garin's body, defending whenever an attack came and immediately chasing after and attacking when Zeke retreated, was a highly efficient weapon and armor.
Zeke raised an aura blade and attacked Garin's mist.
Paching!
The mist and the aura blade collided, but just as the Vibrating Force Resonance had been neutralized, the mist temporarily dispersed and then returned to its original state.
'This won't work.'
Zeke retreated and then equipped Agamemnon's Mask.
"Hoo."
Since he couldn't use the active skill, Blade of Purification, he had no choice but to use the Purification skill through the mask, even though the mana consumption was high.
As Zeke activated the Purification skill, golden aura erupted from his body.
Zeke, emitting the aura of purification, charged towards Garin.
"Chahaaaat!"
Garin's red mist turned to ash and scattered as it touched the light of purification.
Tssstssstss—
Garin, his blood magic losing its power, panicked and retreated.
Even so, he moved quickly and took out a flamboyantly shaped dagger from his chest.
Garin stabbed his hand with the dagger he had taken out, drawing blue blood.
The blood dripped onto the floor.
Whoooooom!
In an instant, the puddle of blood expanded greatly, and a grotesque 'Blood Golem' appeared from within.
Zeke, without stopping his charge, sent the aura of purification towards the Blood Golem.
Pzzzzzzzzzt—
Groooooooar!
The Blood Golem pushed its body forward, blocking the aura of purification.
Even as its entire body burned, it faithfully played the role of a shield.
In that gap, Garin prepared another blood magic spell.
Whooooooom!
Soon, a red magic circle with an ominous aura hovered around Garin's body.
'I have to stop it.'
To prevent it from advancing further, Zeke took out his chains and wrapped them around the Blood Golem.
Krrrrrr!
However, the Blood Golem's body turned into a viscous liquid and passed right through the chains. Then, it solidified its viscous arm, creating the shape of a red spear.
Kroooooooar!
The Blood Golem threw the red spear formed from its arm towards Zeke.
Thwack!
Zeke unleashed the Vibrating Force Resonance and then fired an explosive force with the Infinite Chain Binding, shattering the Blood Golem's spear into pieces.
Then, the Blood Golem's body gurgled and created small blood-red arrows.
Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!
Dozens of blood-red arrows flew towards Zeke.
Zeke raised his sword again and deployed the Infinite Chain Binding.
Infinite Chain Binding
Rotating Strike
Wall Building
Due to the technique he deployed, Zeke's sword rotated, creating a sword barrier.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
The blood-red arrows were blocked by Zeke's sword barrier and fell in a shower.
Gurgle!
As its attack was neutralized, the Blood Golem now charged directly at Zeke.
Zeke also pointed his sword at the Blood Golem and rushed forward.
And he drew upon the power of his Spirit Energy.
Feeling a powerful spiritual energy activate, Zeke imbued his will into his sword.
Spirit Energy
Double Spell
Explosion Strike
Kwakwakwakwa!
Zeke's sword strike scattered like an explosion and poured down on the Blood Golem.