Chapter 87
The Knights' Order marched into the Forest.
The news spread fastest, of course, in the User communities.
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[They're finally going into the Forest]
Look at how thick that armor is wow
How much must that armor alone cost？
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[Didn't they usually just wear chainmail？ Suddenly wearing full Plate Armor;-;]
[ㄴ Given the location, it seems like they're prepared defensively as much as possible]
[Now that I look at it, their shields are super thick lol]
[ㄴ I guess they heard about the two-handed Axe splitting a shield]
[ㄴ Anyway, they sure do take care of their own lives]
[ㄴ Well, if it were you, would you not want to protect your one and only life？]
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[It's roughly 150 people]
Straight up 150 knights wow
Considering the Users will join in, Yor, he'll be going now too...
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[Now the balance is a bit better]
[ㄴ lol Is this really balanced？ The power difference is huge]
[But the number is a bit smaller than I thought]
[ㄴ Is 150 people small;-;]
[ㄴ No, usually when a Raiding Party opens, thousands of soldiers and hundreds of Knights come]
[ㄴ It's inevitable because of the Forest. Even if they all rush in, the damage will only increase because of the surrounding Monsters]
[ㄴ Instead, it seems they selected only elite troops. Looking at their gear, the support is generous too]
[ㄴ oh]
Naturally, various talks went around in the Community.
The Raid, as always, was a huge event, and even this time, the boss itself was unusual.
An NPC that had been messing around on Stream multiple times was suddenly designated as the boss.
There were several Users who disliked this situation, but there was nothing they could do.
The situation had already happened. It's difficult to go against the flowing current.
Although there were a few Users holding onto a sliver of hope, most were already considering his demise.
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[Forget everything else, upvote to the Demon fanboys excited about receiving 100 million won lol]
Me first lol
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[Upvote lol]
[The Streamer bitches must be grinning at the broadcast angle lol]
[You bastards, do you really need to make money like that？]
In the end, most of the Users were just trying to enjoy the Raid festival.
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The sixth day dawned.
And that day, the air itself felt different. How should I put it... it felt unnecessarily stuffy and murky.
When people gather, heat naturally accumulates and the temperature rises.
Especially on a hot summer day like this.
It might be my imagination, but it was a fact that I hadn't felt good since this morning.
And that Intuition wasn't wrong.
Thump- Thud-
As time passed, ominous sounds came from far within the Forest.
The clanking of metal clashing against each other, and the sound of hundreds of military boots marching.
And the various voices heard in between.
"This is..."
I could tell just by listening for a bit.
The Knights' Order had finally entered the Forest.
I frowned but carefully moved my feet towards where they were.
I needed to know the enemy's strength to do anything.
Moving through the trees to avoid being seen was also an option.
'Damn, there are so many.'
As I checked their strength, as expected, there were indeed a lot of them.
Of course, I had expected a large number, but seeing it firsthand was on a different level.
Seeing the engraved Tattoo on their metal armor, I could tell they were the Knights' Order at a glance.
There was another noticeable point.
They were all moving in groups of five.
One person held a Large Shield, and the remaining four each wielded a Sword. As if the five were one body.
Their appearance looked somewhat comical, but I couldn't take them lightly.
They looked incredibly difficult to break through.
To make matters worse, Otherworlders were gathered at some distance from the Knights' Order.
Some were walking comfortably without tension, and there were also Streamers.
They felt more like they came to watch the battle than to fight.
“Found him!”
“He’s there!”
Just as I was continuing my thoughts, those who spotted me pointed and shouted.
I wasn’t particularly surprised.
Being in the trees didn’t completely hide my appearance.
There were hundreds of pairs of eyes there, after all.
“...Tsk.”
Clicking my tongue, I rushed towards them. I had to clash with them to get an estimate.
I prepared my Spear in a thrusting stance and dropped towards one of the Knights.
“He’s coming!”
“Prepare your Shields!”
Unfortunately, he reacted in time.
Of the five, one held up their Shield, and the remaining four hid behind it.
Bang-!
“Ugh!”
As the tip of the Spear, imbued with Sword Energy, collided with the Shield, the Knight’s face crumpled.
Even with the Shield, the impact was heavy.
But that was it. The Shield didn’t break through, nor was it pushed back any further. The metal Shield was too thick to pierce with a simple Spear, and behind it, five Knights were holding their ground.
To make matters worse, it was difficult to continue the attack. As soon as my thrust ended, four Swords sprang out to attack me.
Swish- Whoosh-!
I quickly pulled my body back. Fortunately, the Swords didn't touch me.
Although their swordsmanship was sharp, their range seemed limited.
As if they were determined not to step outside the protection of the Shield.
Extremely defensive movements.
This would definitely make it difficult for them to catch me, but it didn’t matter. There were a lot of Knights here.
Sure enough, while I was dealing with one group, the other Knights were stealthily approaching me. Slowly, like turtles encircling their prey.
“Huh, his appearance is truly outstanding as I’ve heard… Why was such a child born with Demon's Blood…”
“Hey, who taught you to chatter during a mission? Get a grip. Our opponent isn’t human, it’s a Demon Seed.”
“Ah, y-yes. S-sorry.”
I could hear the Knights chattering amongst themselves.
Ignoring them, I frowned. The current situation felt incredibly suffocating.
I needed to do something before the encirclement was complete.
I now knew that a simple attack wouldn’t penetrate that Shield.
Then my answer was simple.
‘I just have to hit harder.’
It was a crude method, but at the same time, the most effective one.
This wasn’t a situation to aim for a long fight. The opponent wasn't alone, but hundreds.
I was the one who was pressed for time and stamina.
Pierce-
So I stabbed my own fingertip. A slight pain accompanied the Blood seeping into the Spear blade. This Blood would protect the blade, making it sharper and stronger than Sword Energy.
“He’s using his Ability!”
“Confirmed! Prepare the Holy Water!”
I thrust the Spear towards the Shield once again.
By then, they were ready. They took out Holy Water from somewhere and sprinkled it on the Shield.
To use that precious Holy Water so carelessly… I felt it was a bit of a waste, but the effect was remarkably good.
As soon as it touched the Shield, the Blood flowed down.
As if purifying something evil, the Demonic Power contained in the Blood quickly evaporated.
As a result, this attack stopped halfway through penetrating the Shield.
This time, I couldn’t hold back my curses.
“Fuck, they're so annoying to fight.”
Not only was there an overwhelming difference in numbers, but even my attacks wouldn’t connect properly.
They were incredibly cautious and methodical. It felt like a massive power was pushing me down.
If attacking wouldn’t work, I only had one option left: to run.
“He’s trying to escape!”
“Stop him!”
As expected, the quick-witted Knights tried to tighten the encirclement faster.
A Large Shield, the size of my height, blocked my path.
But there was one thing they didn’t expect: I still had one usable trick left.
I used Seere's Arm from my waist. My target was the bothersome Large Shield in front of me.
Although it had a 10-minute cooldown after a single use, making it unsuitable for large-scale battles,
it was more than enough to create an opening to escape by exploiting the enemy's weakness.
“What!?”
“Damn it, at a time like this!”
The group that lost their Shield panicked.
I discarded the Shield that was teleported to my waist and swung my weapon at the five Knights.
Swoosh-!
“Ugh!”
With a chilling sound, the Knights suffered minor and major injuries.
At a glance, there didn't seem to be anyone critically injured.
It was partly because I attacked five people while in an unstable state, but also because they were all wearing thick Plate Armor.
However, it was enough to create an opening to escape.
“Catch him!”
“Yes!”
So I started running, breaking through the Knights. Moving my feet quickly, I asked myself.
‘Where should I go?’
The answer was set. I had to head to the Deep Layer.
Naturally, the Knights' Order didn’t just watch me escape.
They began to chase me diligently in their groups of five.
However, the distance didn't close easily.
I was faster from the start, and it was difficult for them to chase in full armor.
Swish-! Whoosh-!
Arrows flew towards me from time to time. But they didn’t hit me.
Aiming was difficult in the Forest, and shooting a bow while running required considerable skill.
Good. In this situation, I could escape.
...Leaving aside what I would do after entering the Deep Layer.
But there was one thing I overlooked: among them, there was one person who could catch up with me.
“!”
Suddenly, a chilling Feeling swept down my spine.
The alarm bells in my head began to ring loudly. I stopped running and looked back.
Slash-!
A Sword was hurtling towards me at a fierce speed. A single, refined, clean strike.
I hurriedly turned and blocked the attack with my Spear.
Crack-!
With heavy pressure, the opponent's appearance came into view.
The one who calmly observed and gave orders while I attacked.
A blonde-haired man who looked to be in his early thirties.
“You will not escape from here.”
The Fourth Knights' Order Commander said, looking at me.