130th Episode: Unexpected Assault
The meeting finally ended after many twists and turns.
I was on my way back to Adrang’s mansion, stifling a yawn.
“Ah, shit. I thought I was gonna pass out from sleepiness…”
In fact, I immediately rushed over to talk to Grenade as soon as the meeting ended.
Of course. No one there would have been as curious as me. I had to ask – why were you sitting there as an honored guest of the Dragon Empire, yawning all the time?
“Dragon knights wouldn’t even let me get close enough to speak.”
Grenade also looked quite disappointed and complained, but the dragon knights were so intimidating that he couldn’t even utter a word. It seemed like his level was lower than the dragon knight women.
I had no choice but to exchange glances and postponed the conversation to another time.
“Adrang went with Elfride…”
Adrang sent me first, claiming he was going to split Elfride’s head.
Later on, it was quite an impressive scene where Elfride actually opened her arms and welcomed the charging Adrang, only to make him flinch in return.
Anyway, today’s meeting continued for a long time, but ultimately reached no meaningful conclusion.
“What a disorganized mess.”
If anything, the only takeaway was a small realization about how pathetic old people’s arguments can get.
The atmosphere had been rather serious until then, but once the strongest beings in the world began their verbal battles, everything turned into something like a South Korean political debate that makes one’s chest swell with emotion.
Well, politics is like that, I suppose.
“Mr. Berkel strongly desires the status quo. On the other hand, Adrang insists on the total eradication of witches.”
There wasn’t much else to do, so I participated actively in the discussions. I reported most of what I had experienced in Kern, and urged for some countermeasures.
Regarding the existence of an organization known as “Cassas’ Apostle.”
And the fact that the Resurrection Sect is merely a puppet, controlled by their dark magic.
As a result, I finally understood why Adrang had such a disdainful attitude toward Berkel.
“Knight Park Jeong-yong. I do not aim to diminish your achievements of eliminating the lingering evil of Mittelrand’s Eldritch and stopping the Resurrection Sect.”
“But are you claiming that an organization which has never once surfaced until now has been covertly manipulating the Resurrection Sect from the shadows? That feels like a massive leap.”
“The position of the Seven Sages isn’t one to be moved around by idle chatter. Please provide clear evidence of the existence of such an organization.”
Berkel dismissed it outright, behaving as though this was a story told by a complete stranger.
And that wasn’t the end of it.
“Eldritch Slayer. I’m even more curious about you. Are you aware of the rumor that you have a connection with the immortal Demon King? Why don’t you clarify that first?”
As expected, that sensitive issue started to be brought up.
Not just the other members of the Seven Sages but even Unterland and the Dragon Empire, and even Paek Eun’s knights and the Knights of Gold seemed to generally agree with that sentiment, even if they didn’t say so explicitly.
In the end, I had no choice but to keep quiet and hold my tongue after that.
“…Your interesting advice has been very well noted, Mr. Park Jeong-yong.”
In the midst of it all, the only person who vigorously agreed with my testimony was none other than Adrang.
He was nodding his head, seemingly deep in thought, though honestly, I couldn’t really tell what he was thinking.
“To be honest, it’s kinda infuriating.”
What you call ‘leaps’ feels more like a flock of baby chickens. I wanted to say something.
The numerous deaths I had experienced in Kern were mocked by that senile old man as if they were a joke.
If this old fellow were Korean, I’d explain his influence as a ‘backroom power player.’ But with the limited vocabulary here, I have no way to clearly explain the connection between Cassas and the Resurrection Sect, and it’s quite frustrating.
“Anyway, things have now become clear.”
Cassas’ Apostle. It won’t be easy to gain help from world leaders in wiping out those guys.
I either have to handle it myself, or get help from someone I can fully trust.
This is true of the incidents tied to the Wu Shin Festival as well.
“But, such a person has to exist, right…?”
The most reliable person, Adrang, was also in a situation where I couldn’t fully trust him due to the Ruci situation. With a heavy sigh, I walked down the grand avenue of the Wu Shin Church.
Just then, I heard hurried footsteps approaching from a distance. I abruptly turned my head.
“Jung Yong. You’re here! Are you hurt anywhere?”
Someone was urgently calling out to me.
It was Adrang. He was coming toward me with a terrifying momentum.
“Er, has everything already finished? Why was I suddenly…?”
I stopped mid-sentence, and my breath caught. My eyes slowly trailed downward to Adrang’s abdomen.
Involuntarily, my trembling voice leaked out.
“… What happened to your stomach?”
There was a faint scar on Adrang’s lower abdomen, and the area around it was soaked with blood.
It was hard to see in the dark, but now that I looked closely, the ceremonial attire he was wearing was spattered with bright red blood droplets.
Adrang shook his head instead of answering.
“No time to explain. Come with me right away!”
Adrang suddenly grabbed the sleeve of my robe and began dragging me. I followed along with a startled sound.
“Wait, what’s going on? What’s all that blood? Are you injured? What happened?”
“…”
Are you crazy? You need to answer me at least. Annoyed, I scratched the back of my head.
Just then, Adrang suddenly stopped in his tracks. Since I had been dragged along, I had no choice but to also halt my steps.
“Mr. Adrang?”
I called out sharply, but Adrang only stared ahead with fierce eyes.
“What are you… looking at…”
I also turned to look in that direction. And then I shut my mouth.
Several people were blocking our path ahead. Five in total, wearing masks I’d seen countless times at the Wu Shin Festival, and they were pointing various weapons at us.
It’s obvious they have no good intentions towards us.
“The Eye of Mimir.”
I checked their info windows with a sense of disbelief creeping up.
[Name: Henrik Ecos]
[Nickname: 98,593,375th Knight. Crimson Falcon of Su-Hwang. Apostle of Cassas. Warrior]
[Level 305]
[Name: Talik]
[Nickname: 131,485,563rd Knight. Apostle of Cassas. Expert]
[Level 259]
[Name: Jack Pepper]
[Nickname: 135,587,692nd Knight. Apostle of Cassas. Expert]
[Level 288]
Their levels and abilities varied, but all five bore the title “Apostle of Cassas.”
My senses snapped alert like a bucket of icy water had been thrown over me.
“What is this? Didn’t expect you guys to come to me…”
I immediately drew my twin swords and pointed them at them, instinctively reaching into my pouch for ether, transforming my body with a red, green, and yellow glow that made me into a literal traffic light Park Jeong-yong.
Clank! Beside me, Adrang loaded his gauntlet’s clip with a heavy expression.
“… I’ll leave two to you. I’ll take the other three.”
“Understood.”
After a brief discussion, we both leaped off simultaneously.
BOOM! The stone floor shattered as we surged toward the masked figures.
Swish! One of the thugs’ arms flew off from my swift slash. As it whizzed by my vision, I turned around immediately and began casting my skill.
“Lotus Blossom.”
Swish! I slipped behind the stunned thug and plunged my sword into him.
Swish. The black Vestark pierced effortlessly into the thug’s neck, and the sensation of killing someone was vividly transmitted.
“GGGGHHHH…!”
The sound of boiling blood filled the air. I discarded my sword and jumped back at the spot.
KABOOM! An invisible shockwave swept away where I had just been. I glanced back to see one of the masked men holding a spear.
Judging by his stance, it seemed something from his spear had hit me.
“Seven Sword Piercing.”
I cast my spell, sending magical swords flying in all directions around the thug. However, clang-clang! The spear wielder deflected them away gracefully.
“Look at that.”
Not bad. I chuckled mockingly and continued rapid-fire casting.
BOOM! Thirty thorn-like strands from my cloak flew in unison toward the enemy, and a hailstorm of magical swords followed right after.
“Haah!”
The thug roared, spinning his spear into a whirlwind forming a fearsome wall of cutting wind.
Rip! The thorny strands tore apart instantly, and the magical swords’ trajectories were forcibly altered, unable to even approach him.
“Showoffing, huh?”
If you want, go right ahead. I had already used “Lotus Blossom” to move behind him.
PUUUH! The spear of Vestark suddenly burst forth from the thug’s chest. Jets of blood spurted into the air.
“GUH! Ergh, rl…!”
An alarmed moan escaped. He must feel aggrieved not being able to react.
Don’t feel aggrieved. My attacks specialize in ambushes and stealth attacks. Not only do many passive skills trigger for my first attack like ‘Faster than the Eye’ and ‘Powerful Ambush,’ but when attacking from behind, I also have the ‘Rear Attack’ skill that enhances speed and deals extra damage.
Distract using Seven Sword Piercing or mine fields.
Infiltrate using stealth and “Lotus Blossom,” then finish with Rear Attack.
I’ve been using this attack combo since the castle of Hasenberg, and it still extracts the maximum single-target damage to this day.
“Mr. Adrang’s side…”
When I dealt with two and turned to him, a satisfying crunching sound rang out, and something flew in my direction.
Upon closer inspection, it was a thug whose face was completely mashed up, so much that there was almost no human form left to speak of.
“Wow…”
Observing Adrang’s state, such an exclamation escaped my lips.
Under the pale moonlight, with one hand, he firmly grasped the severed head of a dead thug, while with the other, he was preparing a punch aimed at a fallen thug.
“No point in keeping them alive. They would’ve just killed themselves anyway, so we save ourselves the trouble.”
Adrang concluded with that statement and threw a punch at the thug.
BOOM! An invisible shockwave burst out like a wedge from his fist. The surrounding air rippled, and the ground crumbled, sinking noticeably.
“K…!”
POOF! The thug screamed, but his body was immediately crushed and exploded under the shockwave.
HISSEDUDDUDUDDU. The thug’s scattered remains fell like rain in all directions.
“…”
In that moment, while Adrang stared blankly ahead drenched in blood under the moonlight, a panel appeared in front of me with a ding-ding sound.
[Skill Activation: Prometheus]
[Replication Target: Name – Bershults]
A special skill received from Minerva.
A skill so shamelessly ninja-like that just by observing someone else’s skill, I could steal it as my own. Prometheus had activated for the first time in a while.
“First time since Halsenberg…”
I almost forgot I had this skill. It’s just been so long since stealing someone’s move last happened.
Uttering an exclamation, I kept my eyes on the floating panel.
[Learned the method of using Skill ‘Stinger.’]
[Skill Details: Condenses mana into a weapon and fires it in the form of a Chi Pellet. The attack power is proportional to main stats, mana amount, and the mastery of the connected skill ‘Chi Art.’]
For Prometheus to successfully copy a skill, quite a few conditions needed to be met.
Firstly, since I wasn’t a mage, it had to be a non-magical, brawling-style skill. Secondly, it had to be a skill with an activation principle that I could mimic.
And most importantly, thirdly,
I myself had to strongly yearn and admire becoming like the person using it.
“…”
Adrang. A person still shrouded in mystery in many ways.
He goes around calling himself a witch hunter but occasionally zones out with an expressionless face, and who knows what he’s thinking then.
“Did I, want to be like that too?”
In the middle of the Wu Shin Church’s avenue littered with bodies and blood.
Standing proudly amidst the chaos, his figure was exactly as he said – like an Asura who crawled out of Hell.
I don’t know about the rest, but it was definitely giving off intense vibes.
