Chapter 97. The Encounter
Caron sprinted across the summit of the fortress, his gaze fixed ahead.
As the dark mage noticed Caron's approach, he flicked his wand slightly. With a sharp creak, two undead rose from the ground. Their eyes gleamed blue, and ominous mana radiated from their figures.
Caron immediately recognized them as Death Knights. They were once-proud warriors now enslaved by dark mages, unable to find peace even in death. The knights charged toward him, and he caught sight of the insignia of the Keath Kingdom etched onto their armor. They were once honorable knights who fought for glory, but had now become mindless pawns.
Poor souls, Caron thought. His sword, Guillotine, glowed with a cold blue light, steady and dark. Then he steeled himself to give them their final rest.
Caron gathered his mana while studying their swords. Death Knights used the sword techniques of their past life. These ones moved in the old Keasian style—a crushing stance, forward-weighted. It was the Keath Kingdom's hallmark Sword of Shattering, now sharpened to a lethal extreme. Additionally, fine black dust fell from their blades. It was a poison that would drain the life from any creature it touched. Caron had to end this fast.
With a sudden rush, both of the Death Knights ran toward Caron, wielding their cursed swords with skill and corroding the very ground they walked on. But Death Knights weren't the only threat Caron had to worry about.
Crunch.
With a grinding sound, black flowers sprouted from runes placed around the fortress, each bud opening to reveal ominous violet fruits. The fruits exploded in a burst of purple smoke, instantly obscuring Caron's vision. A faint burning sensation grazed his skin; the fog was laced with toxins. Caron held his breath, unwilling to inhale the venomous air.
From behind, Orion reacted swiftly, summoning a spirit of wind to clear the air. The spirit's gust swept the purple haze away, restoring Caron's line of sight. As Caron's vision sharpened, he saw the Death Knights aiming directly for his heart, thrusting their weapons forward with deadly precision. Their blades shone with a grim, dark gleam.
The dark mana radiating from the Death Knights was so intense that Caron could almost see his sword's edge distorting in the charged air. He quickly understood that taking on such a force head-on was impossible. Even if the Oceanwolf Sword Arts' techniques emphasized sheer power, directly meeting such dark mana would tear him apart.
I have to deflect it, Caron thought, formulating a plan. He'd executed such techniques countless times in his previous life, softening blows with precision rather than force. This time, he'd use the same finesse as his new self.
Caron angled himself slightly to the right, swinging Guillotine in a fluid motion.
Clang!
With a deft twist, he redirected the first Death Knight's strike, causing its blade to collide with that of its ally. Their swords tangled, leaving the Death Knight on his right unbalanced. Without hesitation, Caron swung Guillotine in a clean arc toward the undead knight's neck.
Clang!
The blow sent a jarring sensation through his hand as though he'd struck armor, not flesh. The dark mana cloaking the Death Knight acted like a barrier, momentarily resisting Guillotine's edge. But the sword pushed through, tearing through the corrupted mana until it finally severed the knight's head.
Since the creature was already a dead body, there was no spray of blood. However, writhing maggot-like creatures spilled from the wound. Caron turned, intending to face the next opponent, but something wrapped around his ankle. At the same moment, the other Death Knight swung a massive dark sword at him.
It was an attack he couldn't dodge. Biting his lip, Caron met the blow with Guillotine, bracing himself as their swords collided.
Boom!
As Guillotine and the dark sword clashed, a tremendous roar echoed. The shockwave created by the collision swept through Caron's entire body, mercilessly rattling his internal organs.
The shockwave also swept across the Death Knight, but it caused little damage to the creature's already lifeless body.
" Cough! " A mouthful of blood spilled from Caron's mouth, but the danger didn't end there.
Dark mana started to spread outward from the severed neck of the Death Knight Caron had just slain. Maggot-like, writhing remnants of corruption crawled out of the fallen corpse and latched onto Caron, their vile touch cold and unyielding. As he tried to shake them off, his gaze landed on the dark mage, who was smirking with malicious satisfaction.
The dark mage casually waved his wand, mocking Caron. "How pitiful," he sneered. "I'll take special care of your corpse, as a tribute."
Guillotine's voice rang out urgently in Caron's mind. "Owner! The Death Knight's remains!"
But Caron was already aware of the threat. He sent a surge of mana outward, casting a sea of power around him like a shield in an attempt to block the encroaching darkness.
However, the dark mage had finished his spell, taunting, "It's too late."
Boom!
The Death Knight's headless body detonated, the condensed black mana erupting into a deadly wave that consumed everything around it. Fragments of the Death Knight flew toward Caron like shards of dark glass.
Thud. Thunk.
The shrapnel punctured through Caron's sea of mana, tearing through his thick armor handed down through generations of the Leston family. Even such formidable armor couldn't shield him from every piece. Several shards buried themselves deep into Caron's flesh.
"Agh..." Caron groaned as his vision blurred and he reached the edge of unconsciousness. The world around him faded, his thoughts threatening to slip away as drops of blood escaped from his armor, falling heavily to the ground. Although his armor was blackened to hide bloodstains, the dark crimson of his own blood still visibly seeped through.
"Caron Leston!" Orion's voice echoed from behind, raw with desperation.
But the sound felt distant, dimmed by the relentless pain tearing through Caron. As the cursed toxins from the undead seeped into his veins, agony coursed through his body like wildfire.
"Expel the dark mana first..." Guillotine urged him, audible alarm in its voice. But as the sword realized the extent of the corruption spreading through Caron's body, even it fell silent.
Suddenly, however, the dark mana that had surged so fiercely into Caron's body halted, as if it had met an immovable barrier.
"With this pitiful level of dark mana... You were trying to play tricks?" Caron murmured, a faint smile spreading across his lips as he glanced at the dark mage. "That bastard... the Malevolent Emperor... His dark mana was much nastier."
"Are you... controlling the dark mana?" Guillotine asked, almost in disbelief.
"I have experience, don't I?" Caron replied. He would never allow himself to be overtaken by something as low-grade as this. The dark mana the Malevolent Emperor had once bestowed upon him was leagues stronger, a true force of malevolence. So compared to that, this diluted dark mana was nothing.
"...Not bad at all," Caron said as he channeled the dark mana into Guillotine, who eagerly absorbed it and began purifying it.
"Owner, are you a demon?" Guillotine asked.
Caron spat out a mix of blood and answered, "My past life was no different from that of a demon."
"So there was a reason why you teased me, calling me a demonic sword. It was just the usual disdain for your kind, right?" Guillotine remarked lightly.
Ignoring Guillotine's joke, Caron checked his physical condition. The first task ahead of him was to neutralize the toxin's effects. However, as the dark mana had been purged, the poison quickly started to dissipate as well.
Caron chuckled dryly and muttered, "Good to be born with the right bloodline, huh?"
An ordinary knight would have died of the toxin instantly. But the blood of the Ducal Family of Leston, meant to annihilate anything touched by darkness, quickly purged it from his body.
" Phew, " he exhaled as his vision sharpened. Glancing to the side, he saw that the Death Knight had been reduced to shreds from the explosion, possibly even caught in a chain reaction.
"Shall we begin again?" Caron asked as he fixed his gaze back onto the dark mage.
"So... You know how to control dark mana..." the dark mage said, his tone now tinged with recognition. "That aura, and that sword... Now I know who you are. You are Caron Leston, the youngest of the Leston family. Your family has a knack for clinging to hopeless causes."
Sizzle.
Black flames flickered into life around the dark mage, casting an ominous glow as they lashed out toward Caron.
"I've heard stories about you," the dark mage continued, his voice laced with malice. "But I never imagined you could wield dark mana as well. Did you make a pact with a demon?"
"You wouldn't believe me even if I told you honestly," Caron replied, his voice laced with sarcasm.
"No matter. I believe your flesh will make a perfect masterpiece, and I'll see to it that your soul serves a special role in this ritual," the dark mage sneered.
Screech!
In a twisted display of dark magic, a wall of bone surged up in front of the dark mage, a grim barricade that loomed ominously between them. Along with it, many undead rose from the ground. They filled every corner of the battlefield, with creatures such as the dreaded Dullahans among them.
"For us, the battlefield is a sweet paradise," the dark mage said. "We pick the materials, craft the soldiers however we want—that's all there is to it."
Once again, the dark magic swarmed, conjuring spears of bone, hellfire, and other necromantic spells. From a magic circle etched into the ground, spell after spell erupted without pause, each one carrying lethal force. And yet Caron pushed forward, his sword cleaving through the darkness.
Swish.
Guillotine sliced through dark magic as if it was nothing, tearing apart flames, spears, and even unseen curses that darted toward Caron. Before his relentless blade, every attack fell.
"Finally, a real feast," Guillotine muttered with grim satisfaction.
The dark mage's painstakingly crafted magic circles lay before Caron as fuel. Each one was consumed as he fought onward, filling him with an unnatural strength. Blood trickled from Caron's wounds, and yet an energizing power surged through him as the dark mana filled his core unceasingly.
Crash!
Orion quietly backed Caron by summoning spirits that dismantled magic circles across the battleground. The spirits hurled many of the undead from the fortress, making room for Caron's advance.
Boom!
A wave of energy surged outward from Guillotine, parting the throngs of undead. Shards of dark magic bombarded Caron, and blood crept outward from the corners of his mouth again, but he only grinned.
"Heh." Caron laughed, welcoming the pain as it coursed through him. The taste of blood on his lips, the sting of wounds across his body—this was a true battlefield. His heart thundered with adrenaline, his pulse racing like a war drum.
Crash!
Undead splintered and flew as his blade crashed through them. Eventually, Caron reached the wall of bone the dark mage had erected. With a powerful leap, he launched himself skyward, locking eyes with the necromancer.
"Futile," the dark mage murmured, flicking his fingers. Blackened skeletal hands shot out of the wall toward Caron. Undeterred, Caron thrust his sword toward the necromancer's throat.
Crack!
The wall of bone moved like a living barrier, shielding its master. Guillotine, filled with dark energy, pushed forward with relentless force, but—
"Ah, close call," Caron said, his sword stopping inches from the dark mage. With one foot on the wall, he quipped, "How about you just give up and let me devour you?"
"What amusing words," the dark mage replied. "But I'm not the one who's caught here—you are."
From the wall, several spiked bones shot out and pierced Caron's thigh. However, he only smirked before taunting, "Don't you think you're a little too focused on me?"
"What?"
"I'm not the only one with friends, you know."
At that moment, a voice rang out: "Feel the wrath of fire."
The black chains binding Ifrit shattered and torrents of flame rained down, an endless inferno pouring over the battlefield. With all-consuming fury, the Spirit King's flames engulfed the top of the tower, scorching everything in their path.