#227
Undead King vs Hero Party (2)
Just crossing a single door, an entirely different quality of air rushed in from the outside.
As expected, the central building of Beorsen was no longer an ordinary space.
‘···This is unpleasant.’
Heinrich frowned and looked around.
The vast, high space was filled with darkness, and thick, dirty, and sticky energy wrapped around those who entered it.
It was like an abyssal pit trying to drag them into an endless void.
And at the center of that space.
There he was.
[It’s been a while. Hero Heinrich Saint Landgard.]
The mastermind behind not only this situation but the calamities unfolding across the continent.
···And an existence who, despite being the complete opposite of Heinrich, also served as another side of him.
“Undead King, Hannibal Strauss.”
At last, the Hero Party faced this immortal king.
*
‘Undead King.’
Pooduk—
Geos Karkin, a member of the Hero Party, gripped his spear tightly.
‘Finally.’
It was the moment he had long waited for.
Had it been a year since that tragic day? No, was it even a year yet?
It felt like an eternity ago, but he couldn’t quite remember.
‘Indeed, joining the Special Task Force was a smart choice.’
Otherwise, it wouldn’t have been easy to create an opportunity to confront the Undead King directly.
There was no way he could have faced him in combat otherwise.
Of course, he had slain countless black mages who might have been involved in the incident while defending against the Undead King’s assaults.
His priority had always been black mages, and after each battle, he never hesitated to take the survivors away for torture.
Heinrich, who understood Geos’s circumstances, allowed his actions without comment.
Considering his righteous nature, it must have been uncomfortable for him, but it was also infinitely grateful to Geos.
[Hehehe— How amusing…]
“Undead King! Right now······!”
Though the calls between the Undead King and the Hero were exchanged nearby, they didn’t reach Geos’s ears at all.
In his blurry vision, long-forgotten memories surged back as vividly as if they had happened yesterday.
-“Hoo hoo— How is it, Geos? Are you ready to become a dad?”
His wife, Anna, lovingly caressed her round belly.
From having no family to each other, the two found out they were having a child, and finally, they became three.
-“Oh my! So cute. Why is it that our daughter looks like an angel even when she can’t open her eyes?”
He remembered that child who had just been born, unable to even open her eyes properly, wriggling around.
-“Hoo— Hooeeeng—!”
-“What are you doing making the baby cry, Geos! You should stop teasing! Hush, it’s okay, Nia. Mommy is here.”
He recalled the moments when he clumsily handled the child, failing every time.
-“Daddy! Look at this! Kya-ha-ha—”
Their once mute child had grown tall and approached him with a bright smile.
-“Well, I’ll take my time going on a date with our daughter, so you can first go and work alone, Father of the Lord. Right~?”
-“Right~? Hehe! Daddy will hurry, so don’t cry and wait, okay? Got it?”
-“Is she even someone who would cry because she’s lonely? She’s just going to hide somewhere and dig the ground.”
-“Ah! I really think that’s it! Hehehe!”
···He still clearly remembered the moment they said their last goodbyes.
Geos slowly stroked the deep scar engraved on his chest with one hand.
After receiving the bad news, despite his hands being covered in blood and his muscles being torn apart, he desperately swallowed his tears.
All to uphold his daughter’s last words to not cry and wait.
Of course, no matter how much of a master-level knight he was, things wouldn’t go as planned all the time.
Still, he hadn’t shed a single tear since that day— perhaps that was something he could be forgiven for?
‘After all, you know me too well.’
Besides, the thought of hiding and digging was not entirely off either.
Even though he set a goal and came outside, it was true that he spent some time cooped up, idly passing the days.
With a bitter smile, he gripped his spear tightly, lowering his stance like a beast ready to hunt.
With his gaze fixed on the mastermind of it all, he engraved the enemy’s every move into his mind, ready to snap their life away at any moment.
‘But··· I’m sorry. I don’t want to wait any longer.’
A fierce flame coursed through his veins.
Fueled by sorrow and despair— a fire ignited in the name of revenge and fury.
‘If you won’t come no matter how long I wait, then I’ll have to go to you.’
The intense heat caused a distorted smile to form on Geos’s face, which had already turned to ash.
And soon, as he had been waiting for.
The battle began between the Hero Party and the Undead King.
*
Shiiiik—!
Swaaak! Swaak!
Heinrich charged at the Undead King, slicing through the abyssal serpents attacking from all directions.
The Holy Sword activated the “Blessing: Radiant Blade,” which was no less than a natural enemy to the abyss, but they continued to rush endlessly despite being cut down.
‘Kugh, the situation is more serious than I thought.’
Fortunately, Geos, a bit further back, continued to support him with his refracted spear, providing him with some breathing room.
He gritted his teeth while using “Blessing: Weight Increase” to heighten his holy power even further.
In fact, the conversation Heinrich had with the Undead King wasn’t very important.
It was just the usual banter between a Demon King and a Hero.
What truly mattered was the silent brain conference that needed to occur.
He thought Hans would reluctantly lift the barrier preventing communication if they reached such a direct confrontation…
‘He must have no intention of conceding.’
Even now that combat had begun, the avenue for dialogue showed no signs of opening.
I will not back down here. I will do what I want; if you want to retreat, then you should be the one to do so.
It was no different than an unyielding ultimatum.
‘Hans···.’
BOOM—! Kwang! KWAANG—!
At that moment, an arrow shot by Lydia, who was with the party members, rattled the Undead King’s barrier.
The arrows, made from the dry branches of the World Tree that Howard had been using as firewood, unleashed a barrage infused with both the elemental power and the holy power of Liesta.
[Zzz, how annoying.]
The murmur ended, and the darkness filling the area writhed, suddenly sharpening its edges to cover the party members from behind.
“Holy God— please protect us from evil!”
As Liesta’s prayer spread out, the light dispelled the darkness surrounding the area, shielding the party.
Although they were still engaged in a strength struggle against the pressure coming from all sides, she was a saint, so she would not crumble easily.
Crackle—! Crackle—!
And around Isea, sparks arose once again.
“Kugh, even in this chaotic moment, you still have the luxury of focusing on us? What a ridiculous monster…”
She bit her lips, sweating profusely.
The magical energy densely concentrated around her, threatening to collapse at an alarming rate, repeatedly exploded with sparks.
It was as if the high-level magic that even high-ranking mages only used against utterly weak foes was being utilized against her, a grand mage.
And not just once, but dozens of times while she was busy confronting others.
[Ridiculous.]
That wasn’t even the end of it.
Whoosh— KWAANG!
Before she could react, the high-level black magic, the pure black flames of Hell, crashed against the light barrier maintained by the saintess.
“Ugh!”
In the shock, Liesta, who was maintaining the blessing on her party members, let out a low groan.
While she disrupted others’ magic, she casually unleashed high-level magic herself.
Isea gritted her teeth in frustration at the absurdity of the situation.
Whether she succeeded or failed didn’t matter; if she let go entirely, the enemy would have all the freedom to rain down high-level magic like a storm.
But even amidst everyone’s struggles, the hero at the front was gradually taking damage, and the burden was increasing.
[Kuhuhuh! Why is that? Hero? If you want something, then seize it yourselves!]
The Radiant Blade activated by the Holy Sword was supreme even against the Undead King.
After intercepting numerous incoming attacks, the sword could easily slice through the enemy’s solid barrier, but the opponent wasn’t just some doll who would take all the hits.
‘···How annoying. Would it have been different if Harley was here?’
Even if he succeeded in breaking through the barrier, in the time spent getting caught up in the ensuing counterattacks, the distance had opened up several times again.
But he couldn’t stop until he delivered a fatal blow to the Undead King, and the damage he had to endure in the process continued to accumulate.
‘Although I’m a knight, I won’t face significant problems immediately. But having attacks mixed with the abyss is troubling.’
No, the real question was whether his companions could withstand it until then.
The reason he’d been able to approach several times so far was thanks to Lydia’s supporting fire, Liesta’s holy power, and Geos intercepting some of the attacks aimed at him.
‘Thanks to Isea, the frequency of Hans’s magical bombardments was also substantially reduced.’
If Harley was here too, he would certainly have been able to land a decisive blow.
Well, if that were the case, Hans might have summoned a few of the remaining upper ranks still left in the Undying Castle.
Crack—
Heinrich shook off his disappointment and gripped the Holy Sword tightly again.
Now that Hans was facing him alone, this was the chance.
Whether it was due to habit or simple arrogance, he didn’t know, but.
‘This isn’t the time to hold back.’
If he could land a decisive hit on him just for a few days so that he could sit still, he could buy time until the main body awakens.
Heinrich didn’t hold back even using “Blessing: Leap,” which he reserved for critical moments, and swung the Holy Sword.
With all his heart, to split this thick-headed skeleton apart.
*
Throughout the battle, Geos calmly analyzed what he could and couldn’t do.
The refracted spear he inherited from Chehai was the pinnacle of aura manipulation that struck the desired spot beyond space, but it had its limitations.
‘My attacks can’t reach beyond the Undead King’s magical barrier.’
In fact, this problem applied not only to the Undead King but to any substantial means of protection, so it wasn’t particularly surprising.
If he ascended to transcendence, it may have been different, but he was still a long way from reaching that.
‘Even if I were to wait for the moment the barrier is broken… it probably wouldn’t be effective, I suppose.’
As he continued analyzing the enemy obsessively, Geos began to sense the secrets surrounding the heart of the Undead King while using the refracted spear and his intuition regarding the accumulated space.
‘There’s an immense level of spatial distortion surrounding the heart. Simply using the spear tip to pierce it wouldn’t mean anything. I’d need to intervene within the space itself to strike beyond it, perhaps.’
But that was a level of skill that was currently beyond Geos’s capabilities.
‘···Not through normal methods, at least.’
Naturally, the techniques he had mastered were anything but ordinary.
That an existence not yet ascended to transcendence could manipulate space purely using aura was the epitome of extraordinary.
And that technique, made from Chehai’s hands, came close to being “psychic powers using aura.”
Through Geos, who inherited it, it developed further into a more ‘aura technique’ shape.
“Phew—.”
He swung his spear to deflect the dark magic rushing at him, taking a deep breath as he observed the surrounding situation.
Crackle—! Crackle! Crackle—!
Several sparks erupted from the Isea side.
Perhaps fueled by determination, she was trying to simultaneously construct multiple magic spells, gathering her overwhelming magical energy.
It was a risky attempt that could easily lead to a magical frenzy, but it drastically reduced the frequency with which the Undead King used magic.
Lydia and Liesta continued to support Heinrich.
How many arrows did she have? The continuous arrows pierced through the abyssal serpents.
Now, the holy power radiating from the saintess, shining with the light itself, burned the darkness surrounding them, empowering their side.
Geos’s gaze returned to the front.
Heinrich desperately charging and the Undead King leisurely responding to him.
Indeed, it seemed no hope was in sight.
If they weren’t careful, both the hero and saintess could lose their lives here.
And that would indeed be a truly dangerous… crisis for the world.
‘Yes, so··· this is unavoidable.’
A subtle smile curled on Geos’s lips.
As if he was eagerly anticipating something.
‘Undead King.’
And as a master-level knight who had ascended to the peak, Count Geos Karkin of the Resk Kingdom thought.
‘Even so, I probably won’t be able to kill you.’
Without hesitation, he twisted, strained, and pulled out the aura within him, squeezing it until the very last drop.
“Ku— cough—!”
From that, he extracted a single blade of crimson aura, representing his life, prestige, and deeds.
‘But this will definitely··· hurt a lot.’
Just as the hero’s Holy Sword pierced the barrier.
Geos’s spear thrust forth— its tip pierced through the fabric of space.
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