Chapter 192
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The Last Dance Before Midnight
A masked dragon asks the lanternwright for one slow dance
The ghoul monsters flew toward the expedition.
The sheer number of them surging across the open ground was intimidating, but one man walked forward.
It was Jonathan Sina.
“Come and get me!”
Jonathan Sina swung the axe he was holding in a wide arc.
That axe had been wielded by his ancestor, one of the Twelve Heroes, and was an heirloom carrying on the legacy of the North.
The runes engraved on the axe shone as it slammed into the ground.
Boom!!
A vibration spread outward in a cone.
The ghouls charging toward them had no choice but to take the full force of that vibration with their bodies.
Crack!
The ghouls at the front fell with their limbs broken, while the damage visibly decreased the farther away they were.
It didn’t matter.
All he had done was buy time.
He had been waiting for them to slow down and bunch together.
“Mana Bomb!”
The greatest weakness of monsters was pure mana.
Mana Bombs cast by mages of the Fourth Circle or higher were dense and swept across a wide area.
-Kieeek!
The ghoul monsters convulsed and collapsed with sharp cries.
The pure mana became poison, cutting off their tenacious lives.
The mages played the greatest role in the Demon Lands.
There were three of them: Platinum adventurer Erika, Regent Ferda Valdrova, and a Gold-rank mid-level adventurer mage.
‘Everyone is amazing!’
Since Erika was originally a Platinum adventurer, it was only natural that she could display such power.
Ferda, on whom expectations had been low, was different.
Even at a glance, the spheres he created were enough to leave one speechless.
As the saying went, there was no royal road to mastering magic. Even if someone advanced by achieving things easily, they could still collapse if their fundamentals were a mess.
But the spheres Ferda was displaying were so precise and clean that he must have honed his magic day and night to create them.
That polished magic struck its targets exactly and poisoned every monster in the area.
‘So he wasn’t just talking when he said he wouldn’t hold us back.’
It was enough to change the impression that he was merely an arrogant brat.
Despite how spectacularly Ferda was performing, inwardly, he was also struggling to the point of exhaustion.
‘This environment really does prevent mages from displaying their full abilities.’
The demonic energy constantly clung to Ferda’s body, making it difficult to maintain his concentration.
He wondered how Erika or Erdes had managed to defeat the Demon King in a place like this.
The advance that had stalled at the front line began again.
Erika assessed the situation and shouted.
“Rear guard attack finished! Mr. Lize!”
“Yes!”
Lize quickly drew a rune and brought his hands together.
A golden tree rose from his body, its lush leaves spreading as it enveloped the expedition in a hemispherical dome.
-Kieek!
-Kieeek!
The monsters could not break through the leaves.
The golden magic made the adventurers’ eyes widen.
“What is this!”
“It’s the Sacred Area we’ve only heard about!”
Though its form was different, the magic’s abilities were similar.
At the Alte Church, it was an advanced spell that could only be learned after attaining the Fifth Enlightenment, and it was rarely seen outside of church commissions.
“One minute, everyone!”
“Rear guard, regroup! Front and middle, eliminate as many as possible!”
Under Lize’s protection, the expedition began slaughtering the monsters.
Every time the adventurers swung their swords, monsters were cut in two.
The person who stood out among them was undoubtedly Jonathan.
“Hraaah!”
When Jonathan swung his axe in a wide arc, the monsters clinging to the barrier were sent flying backward.
Contrary to their expectations, their frail bodies were not dealt with quickly.
“Why does it regenerate so fast!?”
Even when their bodies were split in half, thick demonic energy clung to them and regenerated them.
Erika continued feeding them information suited to the situation so they would not panic.
“If you’re going to split them, aim for the heart! That’s the hardest part for them to heal!”
Barely listening to Erika’s advice, Jonathan focused solely on smashing the monsters at the front line.
“It’ll be over soon!”
A short while after Lize’s shout rang out, the golden branches shrank and returned to his grasp.
The barrier blocking the ghouls’ reckless charge disappeared.
The monsters approached.
Even after killing so many, plenty remained.
They had to buy time.
Erika brought out a decisive measure.
“Front line! Deploy!”
Jonathan and the Armored Knight had to advance and form a wall of people.
“Look at me!”
Jonathan’s voice was like a lion’s roar.
True to the nature of Northerners, he could not hold back his boiling blood and charged forward.
The monsters leaped toward Jonathan all at once.
A new rune formed in Lize’s hands and flew toward Jonathan.
Golden light wrapped around Jonathan’s body, forming something like a glass membrane around him.
The attacks of the ghoul monsters aimed at Jonathan’s body were stopped by that membrane.
Meanwhile, the Armored Knight had no protective measure at all.
But it didn’t matter.
Erika already knew how sturdy that armor was.
No matter how fiercely the ghoul monsters attacked, breaking through it was impossible.
Besides, no special countermeasure was necessary.
The Armored Knight, Valdrova, watched the ghouls surging toward them and recalled the role to be played.
‘Clench my fist.’
She held it slightly forward.
Thump!
A shockwave erupted, turning the ghoul monsters into chunks of flesh.
The bone fragments became bullets, stopping the ghoul monsters that were approaching.
Its power was comparable to the Fourth-Tier spell Force Rush—or rather, it was even more powerful.
‘Amazing.’
‘Was she some kind of monk?’
Every time she threw a punch, the air burst and the monsters were driven back, making her an impenetrable wall.
And yet it wasn’t enough.
Although everyone was carrying out their respective roles, there was no way a wall made of only two people could fulfill its purpose.
The smaller ghouls that slipped past the front line were held back by those standing in the middle.
They were all capable fighters, but there was no helping the fact that it was still not enough.
“Watch out!”
“Virgil! One’s heading your way!”
A monster that had slipped through sprang at the blond-haired Virgil, exposing him to the ghoul monster’s attack.
“Gah!”
It was already too late to prepare another attack.
Virgil reflexively squeezed his eyes shut.
Fwoosh!
It was the sound of something being pierced while completely defenseless.
Yet he felt no pain.
It had not happened to his body.
-K, k, k, k……
What had pierced the agile body was the Armored Knight’s gauntlet.
Clutched in her hand was a purple heart.
The Armored Knight threw the monster’s body toward the place where another monster was charging.
Rumble!
The ghoul’s body became a heavy cannonball and swept away everything in its path.
All kinds of thoughts raced through Virgil’s mind.
How had she rushed ahead of the middle line to save him?
And how could she smash those monsters so easily?
His mind was a tangled mess, and a dazed sound slipped from his lips.
“Th-that……”
“?”
“Th-thank……”
The words of gratitude would not easily leave Virgil’s mouth.
Before he could say anything else, Erika’s thunderous shout brought them back to their senses.
“Front line, return! Middle line, don’t lose focus! Everyone will die!”
“Yes!”
The Armored Knight merely nodded and returned to her role.
She was much slower than when she had rushed over to Virgil, but she was still agile.
Inside the armor, Valdrova thought,
‘Someone almost died.’
That sentence continued to echo in Valdrova’s heart.
Reacting to the brief scream, she had momentarily forgotten her role and run backward.
‘What I have to do is protect everyone.’
To do that, the answer was simple.
It was what she had always done.
‘Move forward.’
She had to make herself visible to every enemy.
Leaving Jonathan, whom the monsters could not easily break through, behind, she advanced.
Though she was wearing armor that nothing could pierce, advancing before the monsters like that was reckless.
Even so, the Armored Knight kicked off the ground and charged forward.
Her powerful leap swept through the hundreds of monsters that remained.
All she had was her body.
Yet that alone was enough.
Whenever the Armored Knight swung her fist, a ghoul died instantly, and even the speed of her punches surpassed the ghouls’ movements.
“Is she really going to take them all down by herself?”
“She really looks like she might……”
The expedition members were left speechless with admiration.
Even Jonathan, who felt humiliated at being outdone in strength, was so stunned that he lost himself in the spectacle.
‘What’s even more amazing is that this isn’t the limit of her power.’
Erika still believed that her strength was not yet at its limit.
Buoyed by the Armored Knight’s unstoppable assault, they drove the ghoul monsters back.
Contrary to their belief that the end would never come, the Armored Knight’s performance allowed them to save half the expected manpower.
“Please check for stragglers!”
“West and south, all clear!”
“East and north, all clear!”
“There are no more signs of life.”
“Good work, everyone.”
A single, violent storm had passed.
The others lowered their weapons and caught their breath.
Unlike them, the Armored Knight still stood motionless with her fists clenched.
“Knight?”
“……”
Erika called out to her, but there was no response.
Erika cautiously approached her and spoke.
“Knight, the operation is over. Now, take a rest—.”
Whoosh!
The Armored Knight’s form vanished in an instant.
When it appeared again, a fierce gust of air slapped Erika’s cheek.
The gauntlet had stopped right in front of Erika.
The two stared at each other for a long while before Erika asked,
“Are you all right?”
……Nod, nod.
“Thank goodness. You did well on the front line.”
Erika encouraged the Armored Knight before turning away.
She pretended to inspect the surroundings while turning her back to everyone.
‘This is bad.’
Her emotions were spilling out.
Emotions she had failed to suppress were plainly visible on her face.
That emotion was fear.
‘What…… is that?’
Though the Armored Knight had the appearance of a human, Erika’s eyes had received the blessing of a dragon.
She had experienced countless hardships and prided herself on her reaction speed, yet she had been unable to respond in the slightest.
By the moment she perceived it, everything was already over.
Though the attack had fallen short, Erika had felt it clearly.
‘If I had been hit by that attack, I would have died without a doubt.’
Even if she had been lucky, Erika would not have remained as she was before.
Even so, she could not reprimand the Armored Knight.
The Armored Knight herself had been even more flustered.
That much was certain.
Though Erika could not see through the armor and therefore did not know her expression, her body language spoke for itself.
She could see the hesitation that appeared when someone made a serious mistake.
As a leader, Erika pushed aside the fear her instincts had raised and had to act as though nothing had happened.
Having regained her senses, Valdrova raised her head and looked behind her.
Everyone was safe.
After defeating more than three hundred ghoul monsters, a path had opened before them.
Even after reaching the entrance to Gyeonghuigung, no one rejoiced or could easily step inside.
“Could there be even more of them in there?”
“I don’t know.”
“I hope this was the greatest trial we’ll face……”
Even with fear in their hearts, they steadfastly moved forward.
The first place they saw upon entering was something like the entrance hall of a grand mansion.
Its layout made it perfect for someone to lie in wait and ambush them, making this the most tense moment yet.
“No monsters detected.”
Hearing the mage’s report, they breathed a sigh of relief.
“Let’s use the entrance hall as our base and do a quick mapping. There are three branching paths, so we’ll split into three groups and first get a rough idea of each route.”
The paths branching off from the entrance hall divided into three main directions.
The longest was the one straight ahead, with two relatively short paths to either side.
The most dangerous route consisted of four people: Erika, Virgil, Jonathan Sina, and an unnamed swordsman.
They were all people who had worked alongside Erika during the monster subjugation campaign.
“Mr. Lize, please take the left with these people. Everyone else will take the right.”
The remaining group consisted of Ferda, two unnamed adventurers, and the Armored Knight.
“I look forward to working with you.”
“We look forward to working with you as well.”
With the groups formed, they began exploring the right-hand route of Gyeonghuigung.
Thirty minutes.
The purpose of this mapping was to see as much as possible in a short time and report what was there.
Since this was their first time entering an unknown place, they only needed to report the approximate number of rooms and any notable features that caught their eyes.
That was why the two seasoned adventurers said this to Ferda and the Armored Knight.
“Just follow behind us.”
“Please make sure you don’t touch anything.”
Since it was dangerous, the veteran adventurers decided to rely solely on their own abilities.
Ferda and the Armored Knight had no choice but to walk side by side, three paces behind them.
They had never been close to begin with, but Ferda was already uncomfortable.
“Is there a problem?”
Shake, shake!
The Armored Knight could not hide her tension.
She had seemed fine up until they entered, but after standing beside Ferda, every one of her movements seemed stiff.
Even her furtive glances made him wonder whether she was waiting for a chance to strike him in the back of the head.
‘I’d better go over to Lize’s side.’
He thought he would talk to Erika about it.
The two veteran adventurers inspected the traps and the shape of the passageways as they drew a map.
Following behind them along the path they were opening up, Ferda’s eyes caught sight of a room.
It looked like a library filled with countless books.
Ferda sensed it instinctively.
Perhaps the answer was waiting in there.