Chapter 539
Chapter 539: The Change of Strategy (1)
Sggak!
Yulien’s sword slashed through Helgenik’s body once again.
Kwaaaang!
Ghislaine’s sword tore through space, piercing Helgenik’s body.
Helgenik deployed his shield, but it was useless.
Yulien’s sword disregarded the shield and struck him, while Ghislaine’s sword completely destroyed the shield as it came in.
Pa-aaak!
Black smoke violently emanated from Helgenik’s body after the attack.
“Khuh…”
Helgenik pulled back, summoning Death Knights.
The Death Knights, imbued with his mana, glowed with eyes and rushed at the two.
“Yulien!”
Ghislaine called out Yulien’s name, releasing threads of mana.
Dulkh!
The attacking Death Knights were momentarily halted, bound by the mana threads.
Pahak!
Taking the opportunity, Yulien lunged forward, swinging his sword at Helgenik.
Sggak!
“Kuh-ook!”
He had attacked at the instant of summoning. Helgenik couldn’t perfectly evade and was slashed.
Kagagagak!
Ghislaine spun, tearing through the Death Knights.
Thanks to Helgenik’s mana, they quickly recovered, but Ghislaine ignored the Death Knights and charged back at Helgenik.
Kwaaaang!
Helgenik, pressured by Yulien’s persistent assaults, barely managed to create a wall of bones.
Kukuku-kung!
A gigantic wall of bones surged up from beneath the ground. At the same time, Helgenik reached out towards the sky.
Guuuuuh!
A black sphere formed high in the sky, emitting a Death Ray directed at Ghislaine.
Kwaaaah!
The ray emanated formidable magical energy. If it hit, even a superhuman would sustain serious injuries.
“Ghislaine.”
Yulien called Ghislaine’s name softly as he gathered his mana. He had rarely drawn forth this much power.
Yulien took a step forward and sliced through the air.
Sggak!
The diagonally severed wall of bones crumbled away. For a brief moment, the Death Ray aimed at Ghislaine ceased its light.
In that fleeting moment, Ghislaine charged in.
Kwaaaah!
Ghislaine placed his trust in Yulien, focusing solely on offense.
Drawing a red line, he flew towards Helgenik, gritting his teeth as he swung his sword.
Kwah!
“Kuh-aaaah!”
Helgenik’s left arm was severed at the shoulder. He immediately reached out with his right hand, expelling energy.
Kwah!
Ghislaine was hit in the abdomen and flew backward. Yet, Yulien, who had closed the distance again, swung his sword at Helgenik.
Sggak!
“Keuh-oooh!”
Helgenik’s neck was partially sliced open. With all his strength, he released energy once more.
Kwah!
Yulien, hit in the side, was also pushed back.
Dududuk!
He lowered himself to avoid falling, planting his sword into the ground to stabilize his stance.
Having rolled back up, Ghislaine observed and laughed.
“Ah, you actually hit the ground once? Now you’re starting to look human.”
“……”
Yulien didn’t respond, standing upright.
Ghislaine twirled his shoulders and said, “Ah, that one stung a bit.”
Despite allowing some attacks, the two remained unharmed. They felt the impact, but they were not the kind to be incapacitated that easily.
In contrast, Helgenik was a mere ragdoll at this point. He had endured numerous hits.
Black smoke seeped from his wounds, making it seem as if his body was ablaze with black fire.
“Khuhh… you bastards…”
Even one-on-one, victory wasn’t guaranteed against these two powerful adversaries. Yet, none were hesitating to join in cooperative attacks.
They were so in sync that finding a gap was impossible.
Even after losing an arm and half a neck, they only managed to land a single blow on each other. Nonetheless, they failed to inflict a fatal injury.
Paak!
Ghislaine and Yulien charged again towards Helgenik.
Helgenik was notoriously infamous for being scheming even in his past life. They had to strike when they had the chance to kill him.
Ggggggg…..
The Death Knights took flight, surrounding them. However, they couldn’t interject into the fight.
While the Death Knights were strong, they couldn’t intervene in a battle amongst the continent’s top fighters.
The three of them moved at a speed the Death Knights couldn’t handle.
Kwaang! Kwaang! Kwaang!
Helgenik was pushed back by their combined assault, gradually creating distance from the battlefield piled with corpses.
Nothing could assist him now.
‘How did I end up in such a predicament?!’
The relentless pressure from the two made it impossible for the Necromancer to utilize his powers fully.
Long-term spells were out of the question. He could only focus on dodging and blocking.
‘At this rate, I will truly die.’
His injuries were typically fatal for a normal person. And he was moving around as if he was fine, yet his opponents weren’t even surprised.
It meant they were fully aware of the state he was in.
‘How on earth?’
It was incomprehensible. The Salvation Society allied with him must also know secrets.
Kwaang! Kwaang! Kwaang!
Thoughts didn’t linger long. His injuries continued to accumulate while mana drained relentlessly.
‘I can’t escape.’
And he couldn’t win either.
The colossal army of corpses would be pointless if he, the summoner, got caught.
He regretted underestimating the allied forces. No, he hadn’t anticipated how strong Duke Penris and Prince Turian would be.
At this point, only one option remained.
‘I’m not one to rely on luck, but…’
Now, he needed to rely on luck just a bit.
Helgenik braced himself for death, exploding all his remaining mana.
Kwaaaaang!
A huge storm of mana erupted. Ghislaine and Yulien were flung back before they could even react.
Ghislaine rolled as usual, while Yulien, for the first time, couldn’t hold his stance and fell.
Both were now covered in wounds, their clothes torn. This attack was incredibly powerful.
The moment Ghislaine got up, he looked at Yulien.
“You too can roll around on the ground? Now you look somewhat human.”
“……”
Yulien ignored him and lifted his sword, readying his stance. Ghislaine spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva while looking ahead.
Helgenik’s condition was peculiar. His body, reduced to rags, trembled uncontrollably.
And four orbs floated in front of him, beginning to shatter simultaneously.
“Orbs of Life?”
Ghislaine recognized their identity. They were tremendous items capable of creating superhumans.
He anticipated that Helgenik would use them to control an overwhelming number of corpses.
‘But there were still four left?’
Moreover, he hadn’t even used them to resurrect corpses yet.
Kwaaaaaah!
A tremendous energy erupted from the four orbs, surging into Helgenik’s body.
“Insanity.”
Ghislaine’s expression turned incredulous.
Helgenik was already at a superhuman level. If he absorbed even one, his body would exceed its capacity, endangering his life.
Let alone absorbing four. There was no way he could handle such immense power.
However, if he was bound to die anyway, one could understand his hopeful longing. If it played out well, he could deal with them in an instant.
“Gaaahhh!”
Helgenik, having absorbed incredible energy, screamed. A magical arm burst forth from the severed shoulder.
The power of the orbs didn’t fuse with his mana. Helgenik knew that much.
Yet, he absorbed them all, intending to pour every ounce of that power into this battle.
‘I will definitely kill them!’
Absorbing even one was equally dangerous. In that case, it was better to swiftly end the enemy with maximum power.
Grrrrr….
The Death Knights around him began to dissolve into smoke. The mana composing them was also being drawn into Helgenik.
Dododok! Dododok! Dududuk!
Helgenik’s body twisted violently. Bones shifted out of place, unable to contain the overflowing energy, causing his body to swell.
His body began to grow, just like the Holy Knights of the Salvation Society. If it continued this way, he would soon burst.
“Gguuuu….”
Instinctively sensing this, Helgenik promptly released his energy.
He merely clawed at the air, wildly waving his hands as he expelled mana.
Kwaaang!
Ghislaine quickly raised his sword to defend but was flung away.
It was an unimaginable power. Ghislaine could barely count the number of times he had faced such strength throughout his life.
Taking advantage of Ghislaine’s flight, Yulien moved. He rapidly closed the distance to Helgenik, swinging his sword.
Kaan!
Despite precisely aiming for his neck, the sword couldn’t penetrate. Helgenik swung his fist at Yulien.
Kwah!
Yulien was also sent flying, much like Ghislaine. It was truly overwhelming strength.
“Khuhuh… what overwhelming power…”
Unlike the Holy Knights, Helgenik was conscious. That indicated how high his realm was.
However, even he found it challenging to withstand the power of the orbs. The time he could maintain consciousness was growing longer, and he felt his body was on the verge of bursting.
He had to unleash this power quickly and continuously.
“Dark Sphere.”
Kwarrrr!
Dozens of gigantic dark spears materialized in the air. Each one boasted power equivalent to that of a superhuman’s attack.
They were launched towards Ghislaine and Yulien.
Kwah! Kwaang! Kwaaaah!
Ghislaine and Yulien were busy deflecting and dodging the dark spears.
Overwhelmed with power, Helgenik unleashed spell after spell without interruption.
Dududududududu!
Countless bones began to rise from all directions. Eventually, the two had no place to stand as bones packed tightly filled the area.
“Original Explosion.”
Kwakwakwakwakwakwang!
The risen bones exploded simultaneously. The two couldn’t wholly evade the blast radius and endured the shock.
“Cough!”
“……”
Both Ghislaine and Yulien were severely wounded, filled with injuries.
In an instant, the tides of battle had turned.
Helgenik had completely transformed into a monster. He was even controlling that power to some degree with his superhuman will.
Only someone like Helgenik could achieve this. If a priest from the Salvation Society attempted this, their body would have immediately ruptured.
Nonetheless, no matter how strong someone was, there were limits. Eventually, their bodies would burst and die after all.
Helgenik, before that could happen, recklessly cast spells to kill the two.
‘If I exhaust all this power… there’s a chance I could survive if even a little mana remains!’
He was a necromancer. His talent for evading death surpassed anyone else’s. Therefore, eliminating the enemies was top priority.
Jiiing!
Numerous black spheres appeared in the air. Reaching level 8, one or two would be difficult to summon, yet now there were dozens.
They shot death rays everywhere like rain.
Kwakakakakakakwang!
Now, the two were solely focused on evasion. Blocking once or twice wouldn’t cut it.
No matter how they attacked, Helgenik would certainly not receive even a scratch.
As Ghislaine dodged frantically, he said, “There’s no escaping this.”
“…… We can only endure.”
They could try to escape. If they ran around and staved for time, Helgenik would eventually tire.
But the problem was the allies fighting the corpses.
Though they had moved quite far while battling Helgenik, if they fled, the allies would be immediately attacked.
In the end, the two had to endure until Helgenik’s power waned.
Kwah! Kwaang! Kwaang!
Ghislaine and Yulien, both masters of their respective techniques, minimized the damage as best they could while dodging the onslaught of spells.
Unavoidable magic was met with concentrated mana to absorb the impact.
Had it been anyone else, they would have been dead long ago. It was only because it was the two of them that they could endure this much.
“Haah…”
“……”
But even they were suffering deeper injuries. If this continued for even a little longer, they would certainly fall first.
“It’s time for a change in strategy. We can’t handle this with just the two of us.”
“…… Agreed.”
Initially, they aimed to finish off Helgenik together. If he hadn’t used the orbs, they would have surely succeeded.
With the situation altered, their responses had to change as well.
They needed one more person.
Since their attacks weren’t working at all, they needed someone who could weaken Helgenik’s power even slightly while boosting their own.
“Dark, hurry and bring them.”
Overhead, Dark transformed into a giant crow, watching the show unfold, and moved.
Kwah! Kwaang! Kwaang!
Helgenik’s attacks grew fiercer. To survive, he had to expend his power at all costs, unleashing every bit of magic he knew indiscriminately.
He was on the verge of destruction, blasting magic everywhere, making it difficult to dodge. Consequently, the two’s wounds only multiplied.
Just as they were becoming increasingly cornered, Dark returned, shouting.
“Nav! Heavy!”
Simultaneously, something bright shot down from the sky.
The light pierced through the darkness Helgenik had scattered all around.
“Khuh.”
Helgenik sensed the disturbing energy and looked up.
The one descending from the sky was wielding a gigantic mace. The brilliantly shining mace swung down towards Helgenik’s head.
Kwaaaaaaaang!
“……??”
The extraordinary force caused Helgenik’s head to be driven straight into the ground.
Kuung!
The one who fell from the sky immediately emitted powerful divine energy.
Pa-aaak!
The darkness that had engulfed the surroundings began to dissipate. Simultaneously, Ghislaine and Yulien’s wounds began to heal.
‘Destruction Princess’ Elena, the role model and ultimate goal, the nemesis of all evil.
Parniel had joined the fight.
