Episode 315
Whoooosh!
As the magnetic force was unleashed, the steel plates attached to her armor detached, transforming her heavy armor into a lighter form. The thick, sharp-edged steel plates began to orbit around her.
Helen swung her Dragon Buster with a fierce shout.
“Haah!”
With a mere gesture, the plates flew off, piercing through the oncoming monsters. The advancing creatures shattered upon impact with her Dragon Buster.
The knights stood firm behind her.
“I’ll help too!”
The tiger beastman, the charge leader, joined Helen in fending off the monsters.
Thud, thud, thud!
While Helen and the charge leader held the line, the Song of the Crouching Flame ushered the others inside. Once everyone was safely through the gate, the Song of the Crouching Flame called out to Helen.
“Hurry inside!”
Helen continued to swing her sword at the monsters until the very last moment, then slipped inside just as the heavy door slammed shut.
Boom!
The monsters that had been charging were crushed beneath the thick iron door.
As Helen’s group headed for the main gate, Zeke made his way toward the western gate, where the monsters and beasts were gathering, accompanied by the barbarians.
Zeke summoned Bucephalus and mounted the steed.
“Let’s go, Bucephalus!”
Neigh!
With a powerful cry, Bucephalus charged forward with Zeke and the barbarians, heading straight for the beasts. As Zeke activated his Holy Light Device, a massive light ascended into the sky, exploding outward to attack the beasts.
Boom!
Dozens of radiant maces struck the beasts, while lightning shot from Bucephalus’s horn.
Crackle!
The beasts, startled by the combined assault of the Holy Light and lightning, attempted to flee, but the barbarians seized the opportunity, capturing the fleeing beasts and tearing them apart.
Roar!
The battle cries of the barbarians echoed across the battlefield. At that moment, the phoenix perched on Zeke’s shoulder spread its wings and soared into the sky, unleashing its Phoenix Song upon the beasts.
Wooooo—
The mystical Phoenix Song filled the battlefield, causing the charging beasts to clutch their heads in agony and stagger.
‘So it has such power?’
Zeke was reminded of the phoenix’s divine nature. He fired a volley of light arrows at the faltering beasts.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—
The beasts, pierced by the arrows of light, let out wails and collapsed. Zeke urged Bucephalus forward, charging toward the beasts attempting to breach the barricade.
As Zeke activated the Holy Light Device, Roland glowed brilliantly, concentrating the power of light.
Vroooom!
In that state, he brought down the radiant mace upon the beasts.
Crash!
The beasts struck by the lightning of light were reduced to ashes. Each time he used the Holy Light Device to slay the beasts, he gained a substantial amount of karma points.
‘This is quite profitable.’
But then, suddenly—
Whoosh!
New beasts appeared in the sky, flapping their wings.
Screeeech!
These creatures flew over the autonomous district, spewing something from their mouths.
Whoooosh!
What they expelled was none other than acidic liquid.
Sizzle!
The acid began to corrode the barricades and watchtowers. The sudden aerial assault by the beasts put the entire autonomous district on high alert.
Zeke watched, frowning, as more beasts appeared in the sky.
‘These aren’t the ones from the ice. They must be monsters transformed into beasts through the power of the Blood and Madness Rider.’
The empire had been excavating ancient monsters from across the continent, brainwashing them for use in their invasion wars. They had even discovered a way to artificially open dimensional rifts using the fallen constellations’ relics to control the monsters.
Ghetto was the first testing ground for this invasion war.
Zeke shouted to the barbarians.
“Take down the beasts and head toward the western gate!”
Seeing the barbarians nod, Zeke mounted Bucephalus and soared into the sky. From above, he saw that the number of beasts gathered in the air was greater than expected. They were heading toward the embattled western gate.
‘I can’t let that happen.’
Just then, several beasts flew toward Zeke.
Screeeech!
Up close, they resembled harpies. Zeke raised Roland against the approaching beasts, unleashing a torrent of light from his sword.
Crackle!
The beasts, struck by the lightning, shrieked and disintegrated into ashes, scattering in the air.
As Zeke surveyed the area again, he spotted a horde of monsters charging toward the main gate.
‘They just keep coming.’
It seemed they were deploying all their forces to end it here.
Zeke raised Roland and flew toward the main gate once more. The beasts had broken through the acid-melted barricades and were leaping over the moat, clinging to the earthen walls.
The sentry guards atop the walls swung iron rods and fired arrows at the beasts.
‘I need to put out the immediate fire first.’
He raised Roland high. As the Holy Light Device concentrated on the sword, an even brighter light spread in all directions.
“Haah!”
Zeke swung Roland, unleashing the power of light upon the beasts. The highest-level light magic, Celestial Thunder, used by Arina, rained down upon the beasts.
Crackle!
Reacting to Zeke’s radiant sword, a massive lightning bolt descended from the sky.
Crash!
Dozens of spears of light surged down, exploding in a wave of light where the monsters had been charging toward the main gate. The brilliant light scattered, obliterating the beasts.
The sentry guards, witnessing the spectacle, pointed to Zeke hovering in the sky.
“The messenger of the gods has come to save us!”
Having dealt with the beasts at the main gate, Zeke urged Bucephalus toward the western gate.
“What on earth is that…?”
William Siemens gaped as he watched the Celestial Thunder unleashed by Zeke sweep through the beasts from afar.
The sorcerer beside him ground his teeth.
“It’s the cursed magic of the Luverne!”
William, confused by the sorcerer’s words, asked, “Luverne’s light is magic? Does that mean Zeke Draker… Zeke Draker isn’t injured?”
William Siemens turned to glare at the man beside him. The man in glasses, dressed in a suit, was sweating profusely.
“What is going on? I distinctly remember you saying you sent Six to injure Zeke.”
Rahim, the leader of Six and an executive of the Nostra family, waved his hands in panic.
“Th-that… The information from the escaped intelligence agents and those two should have at least inflicted serious injuries, if not killed him…”
William shouted at Rahim’s vague response.
“Do you know who Zeke Draker is? How could you make such assumptions?”
William glared at Rahim, grinding his teeth. He wanted to execute him on the spot, but killing one of the Nostra family’s key assets was not an option.
‘If only he weren’t a unique ability user with spatial manipulation, I’d just kill him.’
Suppressing his anger, William assessed the situation again. He turned to the sorcerer.
“Signal the snipers. Zeke Draker must be eliminated first. If we lose him, even if we wipe out the autonomous district, this plan is only half a success.”
William felt a twinge of fear toward Zeke Draker. If they failed to capture him here, irreversible events might unfold.
The sorcerer sent signals to the special snipers positioned throughout the area. However, the number of responses was alarmingly low.
The sorcerer, pale-faced, turned to William.
“Half of the snipers aren’t responding!”
“What?”
Cold sweat trickled down William’s back at the sorcerer’s words.
‘No response… Could it be…?’
The Night Killers, whose positions had been exposed, were already dead at the hands of the ghost soldiers Zeke had dispatched. They had been instructed to eliminate the Night Killers, the nemesis of knights, first.
William urgently shouted to the sorcerer beside him.
“Find out what’s happening immediately! We must kill Zeke Draker as soon as possible…”
But at that moment, a massive lightning bolt struck from the direction of the western gate.
William was taken aback by the sight.
“Wh-what is that?”
As the enormous light spread again, the fear that had taken root in William’s heart began to creep up.
William clenched his teeth, steeling his resolve.
‘I can’t back down now!’
He turned to the sorcerer beside him.
“Deploy them.”
The sorcerer’s eyes wavered at his words.
“Are you sure? They haven’t been fully adjusted yet…”
“Damn it! If Zeke Draker wasn’t injured, this wouldn’t even be a challenge! Deploy the remaining snipers and send in the rest of the troops!” William barked, his voice sharp with urgency.
The mage nodded anxiously, his face a mask of worry. “Understood. I’ll deploy them immediately.”
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The western gate was a cacophony of chaos, filled with the roars of monstrous beasts, the thunder of explosions, and the shouts of knights locked in battle.
In the midst of this pandemonium, a moment’s lapse in focus could mean losing your head. Something was relentlessly pounding against the thick stone wall Jason had erected.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The knights watching from behind were aghast.
“What the hell is that?” Cloné muttered, his tongue clicking in disbelief.
Felix shouted over the din, “Deputy Commander! Those are Barbarians! Only an Aura Blade can even scratch them!”
Five brainwashed Barbarians, conditioned by the Empire, were hurling themselves at the wall with reckless abandon.
Cloné hefted his mace, swinging it with a determined flourish. “Even a Barbarian’s skull will crack if you hit it hard enough. Let’s see if this does the trick.”
And then it happened.
Boom!
The stone wall crumbled under the Barbarians’ brute force.
Xeros, witnessing the breach, unleashed a lightning spell at the charging Barbarians. He shouted to Jason, “Jason! Double up the wall!”
Jason, looking like he was at his wit’s end, yelled back, “I’m not a monster like you, senior!”
Despite his protests, Jason began casting again, summoning another stone barrier.
The five Barbarians charged once more, intent on smashing through Jason’s new wall.
Seizing the opportunity, Claire led the archers up onto the wall, raining arrows down on the Barbarians.
Whoosh!
The arrows struck, causing the Barbarians to look up at the archers above.
“Raaaargh!”
The Barbarians roared their battle cries, their sheer strength threatening to bring down the stone barrier.
They charged at the next wall.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Xeros unleashed a torrent of fire magic at the advancing Barbarians, but their resilient bodies shrugged off the flames as if they were nothing.
One of the Barbarians, instead of breaking the wall, punched through it and began climbing up.
Seeing this, the other Barbarians followed suit, scaling the stone.
Decker, commanding the Black Sword Knights, rallied his men. “Blue-ranked knights, step forward and hold the Barbarians back! Archers and mages, attack from above to keep the monsters from breaching the wall!”
Decker himself charged at the Barbarians, his Aura Blade gleaming with deadly intent.
Whoosh!
His blade sliced through the air towards a Barbarian.
Clang!
The Barbarian’s arm, as solid as a shield, blocked Decker’s strike. But Decker was no ordinary knight. He bashed the Barbarian with his shield, then retreated, slashing at the Barbarian’s leg with his Aura Blade.
Slash!
The Barbarian’s thigh was cut, forcing it to its knees. Yet, driven by drugs and brainwashing, it ignored the pain and lunged again.
From behind, Cloné swung his mace, imbued with the power of light, at the Barbarian’s head.
Thud!
Even Cloné’s mighty blow couldn’t crack the Barbarian’s skull in one hit. The Barbarian, muscles taut and resilient, sprang back up and swung its fist.
“Whoa!”
Cloné tried to block with his mace.
Crash!
The Barbarian’s punch was heavy and unyielding, sending Cloné flying backward.
Felix rushed towards Cloné, shouting, “Deputy Commander!”