Chapter 393

Unlike the other undead monsters, death knights and archliches were divided into different ranks.

Since the power of those two highest-ranking undead depended on how powerful they were before they died, it was impossible to tell how dangerous they were just from the name of their species.

Those who were as strong as a novice level to intermediate Master were called low-class fiends, those between intermediate to advanced Master were called intermediate fiends, and the powerful undead above the advanced Master level were called advanced fiends.

Raon rubbed his fingers while watching the crimson light burning from the death knight’s eyes.

‘A low-class fiend.’

He could guess that a swordsman at the intermediate realm of Master perished, and he was lowered to a novice level Master upon becoming a death knight.

It’s not so simple.

‘I know.’

Raon nodded at Wrath.

‘Because this swamp isn’t an ordinary place.’

Despite the name Swamp of Death, there was no energy of death in the area—however, the undead in the swamp were enhanced.

The same went for the death knight. It was better to assume that it was going to be stronger than a novice Master.

‘Burren, Martha, and Runaan… The three of them won’t be enough.’

The three team leaders of the Light Wind squad managed to win against Warring Steel’s first vice division leader, Caman, without taking much damage. However, that only happened because they weren’t fighting to the death.

If Caman had been prepared to die, he would’ve killed at least one of the three.

Moreover, the death knight was even stronger than Caman had been then, and the entire Light Wind squad needed to face it together.

“Light Wind squad.”

Raon raised his finger and pointed at the death knight, who was drawing his longsword from his waist.

“Eliminate it.”

“Yes.”

The Light Wind squad kicked the ground without questioning Raon’s orders.

As they dashed towards the death knight, the only thing reflected in their eyes was their determination to slaughter their enemy.

“A-are you really leaving a death knight to the Light Wind squad?”

Prica’s jaw dropped as he witnessed the unreasonable decision.

“They should gain experience since it’s a perfect opportunity.”

“But none of them is a Master. How…?”

“It doesn’t matter whether they can win or not. There will be no path if they never challenge anything.”

“Uhh…”

He swallowed nervously. His eyes looked like he had been enlightened.

“Open formation!”

Burren raised his sword while advancing at the front.

“Open formation!”

Upon hearing his shout, the Light Wind squad nimbly spread around like snowflakes in the wind to create a circular sword formation.

It was the Great Light Wind Formation, which was performed with the entire squad.

‘W-we have to kill it somehow!’

‘I’m going to die if we don’t kill it!’

‘What we have in front of us is just a death knight, but we have a demon king watching us from behind!’

‘Everyone’s against us! This life is damned!’

The swordsmen fixed their grips and increased their aura’s output to the extreme while thinking about what was going to happen to them if they lost.

Rumble!

Once the entire Light Wind squad gathered their aura in unison, the energy wave bursting from them became as powerful as the death knight’s.

Whaap!

A crimson flame burst from the death knight’s long sword. It was the Sword of Purgatory, rumored to summon the fire from hell.

The Light Wind squad unleashed the Central Green Whirlwind, the first form of the Great Light Wind Formation. Their auras gathered at the center of the formation and engulfed Burren’s sword before being released.

Whaam!

The clash between the death knight’s Sword of Purgatory and the Central Green Whirlwind created a tremendous shockwave.

The Swamp of Death split apart, and a bunch of mud started to rain down from above.

Tap tap!

The death knight and the Light Wind squad were pushed back into the swamp at the same time.

“Convert!”

Burren ordered, and the Light Wind squad’s position changed. The third team went to the back as the first team moved to the front, and a powerful energy gathered around Martha.

They were as slow as a snail before…

Wrath rolled his lips into a smile while watching the Light Wind squad change their formation at the speed of light.

They’ve gotten better at switching their formation.

‘Indeed.’

Raon smiled faintly and nodded.

‘They’ve changed a lot.’

They took a long time to switch the positions of the teams in the past, and the displacement of their auras was too shabby. However, they were doing it as naturally as flowing water.

Raon could tell how hard everyone had been training.

“I’ll start by destroying your head!”

Martha screamed and twisted her sword while slashing downwards. She was momentarily activating Berserk. However, she didn’t run ahead on her own even though madness was engulfing her.

She slashed down to the best of her ability, alongside the first team who were supporting her.

Whaam!

The tremendous noise sounded like a building was collapsing, and the death knight was pushed back. Anger appeared in his burning eyes.

Beef Girl has grown a lot in terms of willpower, even more than her might.

‘You’ve been watching her.’

She’s the King of Essence’s subordinate after all. He said this before, but he takes care of his subordinates!

Wrath was right. Martha’s willpower had increased even more than her might. That was how she managed to activate Berserk in the split second that she gathered her power and regained her sanity right after, preventing her team members from being harmed.

Crack!

The death knight’s chin opened up while creaking. Powerful flames burst from his eyes as he charged towards them. He seemed to be extremely angry.

Cring!

The Light Wind squad’s position changed once again. It was the most defensive formation they had, one with the second team at the front. It was the fifth form, the Snow Cat’s Descent.

Craang!

Runaan stepped forward and swirled Snow Flower. The coldness was unleashed like a ribbon and covered the space to create an elegant sword barrier.

Clang!

The head-on clash between the frozen blade and the death knight’s flaming sword created a huge amount of steam.

The silver blade soared from the intensified fog.

Swoosh!

It wasn’t the death knight’s attack. Runaan had thrust Snow Flower from the edge of the formation to stab the death knight’s cheekbone.

Pssh!

She failed to significantly injure him because of the aura of death he possessed, but a small trace of the blade was left on his cheekbone.

Oooh!

Wrath clenched his fists.

What a nice counterattack! Ice Cream girl has also changed!

‘Indeed. Runaan was only focused on defense before.’

Because of her kindhearted personality, Runaan had always protected everyone from the front by polishing her aura of ice.

However, her tendency had changed. Her shield was created in order to save her companions, but she didn’t hesitate to thrust her ice needle hidden behind it.

Creak.

The death knight looked extremely angry. He tapped on his scratched cheek and fixed his grip on the Sword of Purgatory. Flame burst from his dark blade and stormed around like a tornado.

Clang! Clang! Claaang!

The head-on clash between the death knight and the Light Wind squad shook the entire swamp. The fog filling the space was ripped apart, and the sky was revealed.

Whaap!

Under the orange sky signaling the sunset, the huge sounds of clashing blades resounded one after the other.

Raon smiled faintly while watching the Light Wind squad’s attacks.

‘The team leaders aren’t the only ones who have changed. Everyone has.’

It wasn’t just Burren, Martha, and Runaan—every single member of the Light Wind squad had become far stronger than before.

“Uaaaah!”

It wasn’t excessive to say that Dorian was the biggest coward of Zieghart, let alone the Light Wind squad, yet even he was clenching his sword at the center of the formation and fought without leaving his position. His eyes had become teary, but he kept supporting the team.

“Kweeh!”

Everyone was doing a great job, but one swordsman was sent flying while screaming like a dying pig.

“Damn it!”

It was Krein. He spat the blood from his mouth and returned to his position before the death knight’s next attack. Since he had always been the first one to fail, he returned as fast as a flying squirrel.

He’s hopeless. He’s the incarnation of bad luck.

‘He does have that side to him.’

Krein was the third team’s vice team leader, and he was one of the ten strongest in the Light Wind squad. However, he was always the first one to be defeated and collapse for some reason.

It wasn’t even the question of his willpower. He was just unlucky.

And you should get ready. After all, that skull is rather special.

‘I know.’

Raon nodded while looking at the death knight.

‘An undead that gets stronger at a tremendous pace…’

Undead monsters were normally slow in their growth. They were bound to be slow because they were human beings who abandoned life and chose death instead, but the death knight didn’t seem to be affected by that curse. He was getting stronger as he fought.

‘Moreover, it’s not just his aura of death that’s getting stronger. Even his swordsmanship is getting better.’

Raon could understand that the energy of death was growing because of the swamp’s power, but he couldn’t explain why his swordsmanship was improving so quickly.

Honestly, the death knight was getting used to the Light Wind squad a lot faster than the Light Wind squad was getting used to the death knight.

Claang!

He could predict that the Light Wind squad was going to receive internal injuries and be defeated soon enough.

“Vice squad leader.”

Mark Goetten clenched the Black Hermit Sword around his waist with a serious gaze.

“I’ll join the fight.”

“Hmm, so…”

Raon was about to give his permission when Yua ran into the battlefield from next to him.

“Yua!” 

* * * 

Mark Goetten tried to stop her, but Raon shook his hand to stop him.

“Vice squad leader?”

Hey! Stop Pineapple Girl!

“Let’s watch them for a bit longer.”

Raon shook his head while circulating the heat inside his mana circuits so that he would be able to save Yua at any moment.

Whir!

Yua gathered her hands and controlled her aura. The blue flow emanating from her looked like antique silk.

[Aaaaah!]

Yua’s choice of weapon wasn’t a sword but her voice. The holy voice that sounded like the descent of a white-winged angel created a new wave in the swamp.

Creak…

The death knight’s face distorted in pain, even though it was simply angry when it was attacked by a sword. His evil eyes were directed at Yua instead of the Light Wind squad in front of her.

“Wh-what…?”

“Are my internal injuries being healed…?”

“I thought I was running out of stamina, but I can last longer now.”

“I was going to faint until a moment ago…”

“Is this Yua’s power?”

On the other hand, the Light Wind squad had a better complexion. Their internal injury seemed to have healed.

It was Yua’s ability that Eden was trying to obtain, the Siren’s voice that was capable of damaging enemies while granting vitality to her allies.

Kuaaah!

The death knight roared while clenching his sword, and multiple ghouls and skeleton warriors emerged from the swaying swamp.

Kieeh!

Kiaah!

The ghouls and skeleton warriors dashed toward Yua while completely ignoring the Light Wind squad.

Slash!

When the poisonous claw was about to pierce Yua’s neck, the deadly light of a blade sparkled.

Kieeh!

The ghoul lost its entire arm and got smashed into the swamp.

“I won’t let you be the only one who gets a highlight!”

Yulius gritted his teeth while standing in front of Yua.

“I’m also doing it since you did this!”

He unleashed the straightforward swordsmanship that he’d learned from Roenn, the Crimson Sword Art, and cut down all the undead approaching her.

He was drenched in cold sweat because of how nervous he was, but he endured by gritting his teeth.

Rumble!

The swamp on the right surged like a tidal wave and a dullahan surfaced. He immediately ran towards Yua, clad in with even more power than the previous one.

‘He can even summon a dullahan!?’

Death knights could summon different species depending on their rank.

Considering the fact that he had just summoned a dullahan, he must’ve grown into an intermediate fiend in that short period of time.

“I’ll take care of that one.”

Mark Goetten unsheathed Black Hermit Saber and ran ahead. He blocked the dullahan’s path before he could stab Yua with his long spear.

Claang!

The powerful saber strike from Mark Goetten pushed the dullahan’s huge body back. He scattered the Anarchic Lightning Saber’s technique to shatter the long spear into pieces as if he was trying to tell Raon that he didn’t need to worry about his side.

He looked so unsightly in the past because of how dirty he was, but he’s gotten a bit better now.

Raon agreed with Wrath. Mark Goetten’s Anarchic Lightning Saber used to be all about power and didn’t provoke any emotion. However, a frightening amount of sharpness was dwelling in his saber strike.

Crack!

Mark Goetten’s saber struck down like lightning to sever the dullahan’s body in an instant.

Dullahan sank under the swamp before it could even groan in pain but the Light Wind squad’s battle turned even worse in that short period of time.

Whaam!

They couldn’t overcome the death knight’s strike, and the intermediate Expert swordsmen were pushed back while coughing up blood.

Even the ones at the advanced Expert level were bleeding from their lips because of their internal injuries. The only ones who were still standing with difficulty were the three team leaders and Dorian, who were at the highest level of Expert.

[Aaah…]

Yua’s face was also becoming pale because the death knight’s energy was becoming stronger and stronger, while Yulius was catching his rough breath in exhaustion.

“Vice squad leader.”

Mark Goetten returned after killing the dullahan and furrowed his brow with a serious expression.

“I was wondering, but is that death knight actually getting stronger?”

“Yes.”

Raon nodded.

“He was at the novice level Master in the beginning, but he’s about to ascend to the intermediate now.”

“I’ll join the fight in that case.”

Mark Goetten bit his lip and went around the right side of the Light Wind squad to join the fight. He unleashed the exact same saber strike that severed the dullahan in a single strike, but the death knight effortlessly fended off his blow.

“Hmph!”

Mark Goetten seemed to have expected it to happen, as he turned his body mid-air to unleash a second strike. The Anarchic Lightning Saber’s technique had a complicated trajectory that was difficult to read like lightning falling from the sky.

“We should join him!”

The Light Wind squad transitioned into the eleventh form with the strongest attack and granted their auras to Martha.

Whaap!

Powerful energies surrounded the death knight from both sides, and it slashed diagonally with its Sword of Purgatory. The powerful energy dwelling in his simple strike spread around like a wave.

Whaam!

The death knight couldn’t win against the Light Wind squad and Mark Goetten’s combined attacks and was pushed all the way back until he hit his back on the three pillars.

The way he was creaking showed that he was significantly damaged, but the aura of death was burning even more fiercely than before.

Whaam!

The crimson blaze in the death knight’s eyes became green. At the same time, the aura of death rising from his feet soared to reach the sky.

He’s surpassed the wall.

‘Yes. He reached intermediate Master.’

Raon narrowed his eyes while looking at the death knight. He’d clearly reached the intermediate Master after the previous impact. In fact, he had taken another step from there.

‘It looks like he gets stronger the more he fights.’

The King of Essence agrees. It’s been a long time since the last time he’s seen an undead like that.

Wrath licked his lips, saying that it was a rare species even in Devildom.

Whaam!

Because the death knight reached the intermediate Master, his Sword of Purgatory slammed the Light Wind squad and Mark Goetten into the swamp.

“Ugh…”

“Kuah!”

“Da-damn it…”

“That skeleton, it feels like he became unreasonably strong!”

“I-I can’t last any longer…”

Mark Goetten and the Light Wind squad stood back up even though their shoulders were trembling from the intensified energy of death.

“Ouch…”

“Hey! Hang on! It’s not over yet!”

Yua fell on her knees in exhaustion, and Yulius’s hands were also trembling for the same reason.

“It looks like…”

Raon put his hand on Heavenly Drive’s hilt for the first time after he entered the swamp.

“I need to finish him off.”

The death knight in front of him was dangerous. Since the Light Wind squad managed to gain some experience from the fight, it was better to finish the battle as fast as possible.

He advanced while controlling the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation and the Divinity Blooming from the Underworld.

Step.

Even though he was walking on a liquid swamp, his heavy footsteps sounded like he was stepping on dry land. The Light Wind squad immediately withdrew without hesitation upon hearing his footsteps.

Creak.

The death knight’s green flame of destruction and anger turned to look at Raon. His mind and soul were being tightened by a frightening amount of energy of death. The death knight was continuously getting stronger.

“I’d like to test how strong you can become, but I have many people that I am responsible for. Let’s put an end to it now.”

His declaration must’ve enraged the death knight, since he immediately kicked the swamp. He rushed like a green flash and swung down Sword of Purgatory.

The blade’s trajectory looked simple at a glance, but profound principles were seeping into it. The single blade multiplied into ten and surrounded Raon from all directions that could be blocked.

The flame of hell from Sword of Purgatory was causing a pain that felt like his skin was melting down.

The Blade of Requiem around his waist warned him of the incoming danger, and Raon clenched Heavenly Drive with his right hand.

Heavenly Drive’s blade was quietly unsheathed, and the flame bursting from it was even more intense than the Sword of Purgatory. The line of fire soared like the tail of a shooting star and created a majestic trajectory.

Crack!

The crimson blade severed the Sword of Purgatory that was brimming with the energy of death and pierced into the center of the skull. Raon strained his arm to stab all the way in.

Whaam!

The energy of death that had seemed impenetrable was cut apart, and the death knight’s hellfire heart was shattered.

Raon caught the death knight’s skull that was falling from its neck and turned around. He smiled at the stunned and bewildered people who stared at Raon with dropped jaws.

“Let’s go back.”

‘It’s time to take care of the pigs now.’

***

If you find any errors or have suggestions, please feel free to provide feedback.

Thank you for reading!

[Author – Writing Ant, 글개미]

[Translator – Kyangi]

[Proofreader – Harley]