Chapter 1485 – 1485. Paladin: The Journey Of Eradication
It was obvious what the necromancer Barbaroyaks intended.
To buy time.
He was trying to buy time so that the demons could sacrifice themselves and speed up the Great Demon’s resurrection ritual.
‘I guess I should play along.’
Undead rise from the ground. Most of them are low-level undead, skeletons. They are not even a match for me, but there are thousands of them.
‘Undead give less experience than the corrupted.’
This is because most undead are weaker than the corrupted. But experience is originally about gathering dust to level up. I kicked a nearby skeleton. The skeleton’s body shattered like a ceramic dropped on the floor.
‘It’s a waste to use the Holy Spear against these kinds of guys.’
I put the Holy Spear in my inventory and took out a greatsword, gripping it in my hand.
The skeletons, made of nothing but bones, charge at me. As they are low in intelligence, they have no fear of me. I spun around, swinging the greatsword like a top. The skeletons broke like straw, and bone fragments scattered into the air.
“Come, my servants. Bring down my enemy.”
Barbaroyaks thumped the ground with his skull staff. His magic spread. Some of the skeletons reacted. Hundreds of skeletons gathered in one place, compressed, and began to take the form of a human wearing armor.
I punched away the charging skeletons, watching it closely.
“…That’s no ordinary undead.”
I pretended not to know, even though I knew what it was.
“The former Paladin of Valentier was great. Character and skill. He lacked in nothing. But he was foolish. He dared to challenge the Great Demon Suton without knowing his place. I received the Paladin’s bones from Suton. The pile of bones in front of me, and in front of you, is the former Paladin of Valentier.”
“You don’t hesitate to do disgusting things.”
“Sometimes I find what I do disgusting. Especially when I’m fiddling with corpses. But look at my completed army! Your disgust will soon turn into fear of me! You too will become part of this army!”
“You called this the Plain of Death? You will sleep here forever with your bones.”
I unleash Holy Aura.
The undead that were approaching me from all directions were swept away at once.
Thump, thump, thump.
The Skull Knight, who was a Paladin in life, approaches. Made of hundreds of skeletons, it is quite heavy. Its defense also seems formidable. The Skull Knight moves, pushing away the skeletons in front of it like a tank.
As I took a fighting stance with my greatsword, the Skull Knight also took a fighting stance with its bone greatsword. Up close, the Skull Knight’s body was 2.5 times bigger than mine.
The Skull Knight swung its sword first. It was a clean strike, unbelievable for an undead. However.
‘A Flash.’
[Using Flash. Remaining stacks: 6]
I narrowly dodge the Skull Knight’s attack and launch a counterattack. My golden sword struck the Skull Knight’s neck. I intended to cut it, but… the Skull Knight’s body was harder than expected.
It immediately counterattacks. It was a counterattack only possible for an undead that feels no pain. I kicked off the ground and retreated.
‘The former Paladin… Judging by his movements, he certainly has excellent swordsmanship. No ordinary Holy Knight would be able to stand against him.’
The Skull Knight swings its bone sword. I tilted my greatsword to deflect the Skull Knight’s strike. The Skull Knight’s sword slipped, and sparks flew everywhere.
My combat experience is different from other Holy Knights. Swordsmanship? In this world, I doubt there is anyone who can match me in swordsmanship alone.
Then, the Skull Knight’s stance changed strangely as we exchanged blows. It retreated and pulled its sword back.
‘I’ve bought enough time.’
Crackling.
Golden lightning crackled from the blade.
Lightning Heaven Style (雷天流) Ten Thousand Thunders (卍雷).
Golden lightning gathers and rotates around the greatsword.
I haven’t used Lightning Heaven Style much in this world. The first reason was that I could deal with demons and the corrupted with pure swordsmanship alone, even without Lightning Heaven Style. I also preferred to overwhelm with power rather than technique.
The second and third reasons were that I didn’t have enough divine power to use Lightning Heaven Style freely, and it was inefficient in many ways to use Lightning Heaven Style with a greatsword.
‘But now, when I need a powerful blow, it’s a different story.’
The Skull Knight swings its sword. I also swing my sword, imbued with Ten Thousand Thunders, to meet it.
Kwarurururururung!
Thunder roared. Golden lightning spread in all directions. My sword cut through the Skull Knight’s torso. Electricity began to penetrate the Skull Knight’s bones. The evil energy possessed by the Skull Knight was devoured by the golden lightning and disappeared. Kuung! The Skull Knight fell to the ground.
I climbed onto the fallen Skull Knight. I gripped the greatsword in reverse and brought it down, finishing it off.
“Barbaroyaks! You’re next!”
I roared.
It was a cry meant to bring more skeletons immediately.
But Barbaroyaks seemed to have interpreted my cry differently, as he began to gather the skeletons instead of summoning more. The skeletons that were piled up everywhere crumbled. All the bones flew to Barbaroyaks.
‘Is he planning to engage in direct combat?’
The flying bones took the shape of a giant elephant. Barbaroyaks’ voice was heard from inside the elephant.
“I admit it. You are strong enough that I have to show my full power. I will crush you myself.”
A large elephant, 10 meters tall, charged at me. Its long trunk was as sharp as a sword.
Facing it head-on would be madness. I ran to the side to avoid the elephant’s charge. The elephant turned. Because it was so large and heavy, its speed slowed when it turned.
‘Now’s my chance. Sprint.’
I activate the Sprint skill. It was similar to Acceleration or Flash, but different. When I used Sprint, it felt like an invisible force was pushing my body. In addition, I could do a double jump.
One double jump was not enough to get on top of the elephant. I kicked off the elephant’s body and used double jump three times in a row to get on top of the elephant.
“It’s useless!”
Barbaroyaks’ voice echoed from inside the elephant. Immediately, the elephant’s bones began to transform. Sharp thorns shot up, aiming for me. I ran across the elephant’s body, avoiding the thorns. Some of the thorns touched my body. Fortunately, they were not powerful enough to pierce my armor at once.
I didn’t just run away. I dodged the thorns and struck the elephant’s body with my greatsword. The elephant struggled, running across the dark ground, but it was easy to keep my balance.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
I struck down, and struck down again.
At some point, cracks began to appear in the bones. Sharper thorns closed in on me. Bone arms rose up, trying to strike me.
“Damn it! Just die already! Why doesn’t the curse work?!?”
“Curse? Did you curse me?”
“Yes, yes! A maddening curse! A curse that causes hallucinations! A curse that causes headaches! A curse that rots the whole body! I used every curse I could on you! Why doesn’t the curse work?! Tell me!”
“Do you think I’d tell you?”
Among the skills I had, there was no skill that completely ignored curses without resisting them.
I had a guess.
Holy Spirit.
‘I knew it had a big impact on me… did it also have the effect of completely ignoring curses?’
Whatever it was, it wasn’t a bad situation.
Clang, clang, clang!
I continued to strike down with my greatsword like a hammer.
The fruits of my labor came to fruition.
The cracked bones shattered.
Unlike its solid exterior, the inside of the elephant was empty. Instead, Barbaroyaks was located at its center.
Barbaroyaks was amazed when he saw me.
“Amazing. I never thought it would come to this.”
“Still pretending to be relaxed until the end.”
I looked down and gauged the distance. I could reach him with a double jump. I could kill him instantly using Flash. But I didn’t do it right away because I wanted to buy time.
‘The Great Demon’s resurrection ritual must succeed.’
“You have a lot of questions on your face. Are you curious about why I’m trying to speed up Suton’s resurrection?”
“…Are you willing to answer?”
Barbaroyaks laughed as I responded. He also had the same goal of buying time.
“Suton is trying to put an end to this tedious war.”
“Are you going to attack the Order? No matter how great a demon he is, he can’t do it alone. If that were possible, the Order would have already disappeared from this world.”
“What if he’s not alone? What if the Great Demons who were guarding their territories attacked the Order all at once?”
“……Nonsense. Do you think I don’t know the nature of demons? They would kill their own kind without hesitation for their own desires.”
“Isn’t that the same for humans? Yet humans unite when they need to. There’s no rule that says demons can’t unite. The plan to attack the Order is already underway.”
“……”
That’s a lie.
The plan hasn’t even started. The full-scale plan will begin after the Great Demon Suton is resurrected. And the plan will never be carried out. Suton will die by my hand.
“…That plan. Tell me about it in detail.”
“Hahahaha! You’re curious, aren’t you? But what a pity! The resurrection ritual has just finished! I don’t need to play with you anymore!!”
Barbaroyaks shouted. The bone elephant collapsed. The collapsed bones began to transform into the shape of swords.
“Good. That means I don’t have to listen to your disgusting words anymore.”
[Using Flash. Remaining stacks: 5]
I leaped using Flash.
[Using Flash. Remaining stacks: 4]
Then, I use Sprint. A double jump was formed, and I closed the distance in an instant. The greatsword pierced Barbaroyaks’ chest accurately.
“How can you be so fast…!”
“It’s because you’re too slow.”
I raised my sword. His head split in half.
He and I fell to the ground at the same time.
I did nothing and remained still.
Thud.
I felt a slight impact on my back. I got up. I was inside Grad Hall. Barbaroyaks’ corpse was sprawled out in front of me.
