Chapter 56 - Chapter 8: Excavation #5
Carack knew his role. He lifted his battle axe while Karma swallowed her saliva and glared at the undead skeleton knight in the sky.
Daphne was still shaking, but she was moving her mouth endlessly, pouring all her strength into a spell.
The dryad’s blessing covered the entire party, including Below the King’s Flag.
[Activation Lv1 has been learnt.]
Although In-gong hadn’t activated the magic, he sensed that the spell Daphne used was at a much higher level. It was like receiving Heal when Felicia had used Massive Heal. The magic being used was an evolved form for the Activation skill.
'Spirit Enlightenment!’
It was a buff skill that raised all the stats using the power of the most suitable spirit. In-gong felt the spirit of life and spirit of wind enter him. In Knight Saga, only one spirit could nestle in a body at the same time. However, thanks to Protagonist Body, the powers of two different spirits could rest in In-gong’s body.
The power of his body rose. It was the same for Ferocious Eyes, Carack, Felicia and the others.
As Carack was filled with strength, he grabbed the battle axe and stood in front of Daphne. Ferocious Eyes held a spear instead of a bow and activated his blue aura while the centaurs called out Green Wind’s name.
The giant undead, Balkarova, looked down at In-gong’s party and smiled. He had the face of a skeleton, but his emotions were displayed vividly. As he looked down on his prey, it was arrogance that was shown.
Balkarova jumped down from his ride and hit the ground. Thanks to the huge weight, the shaking of the ground was loud as the skeleton knight stood up.
In-gong could clearly see the height difference now that they were on even footing. Moreover, the purple energy around his body was much stronger than Mustafa. In-gong felt like he would be cut just facing him.
However, he had to fight. It felt like just yesterday that he had been fighting orcs, but now, he had to face this monster.
‘Indeed, a protagonist.’
In-gong didn’t hesitate to think nonsense in order to get rid of this excessive tension. Following Dragon Blood and Activation, the magic of Green Wind was added and he used Below the King’s Flag once again.
The flag of white light floated behind In-gong and a white light surrounded all the people in the vicinity. Daphne’s complexion became better and the centaurs, who had been barely able to face Balkarova, gained some bravery.
Using Below the King’s Flag twice exhausted him mentally but In-gong endured it. Now, there was only one thing left.
"Grassland warriors! Go!”
Ferocious Eyes shouted angrily and charged toward Balkarova. The centaurs ran toward the skeleton while Karma retreated to the rear with Daphne. Carack looked toward Felicia and Delia nodded from beside her.
"Karaha!"
Carack gave a war cry and joined Ferocious Eyes. Balkarova moved between the two of them while wielding his sword. The purple aura formed into dozens of sharp blades and stabbed at the two of them.
"Ohhh!”
The blue aura around Ferocious Eyes broke the purple energy. Carack, who had escaped behind Ferocious Eyes, quickly rushed toward Balkarova after the purple aura was broken. Meanwhile, In-gong sprang up from the floor.
Carack struck Balkarova’s leg with his axe, but the bones were so hard that, while holding the axe, Carack’s arms shook terribly. Moreover, the purple aura rose like it was going to swallow Carack.
At that moment, In-gong caught Balkarova’s eye. Balkarova’s eyes blazed and the violet aura chased In-gong, not Carack.
A ball of fire flew from Balkarova’s left arm. In-gong rolled on the ground to avoid the flames while Ferocious Eyes aimed at Balkarova.
“Kuoooh!”
The blue aura was concentrated on the end of Ferocious Eyes’ spear. Immediately after shooting the ball of flames, Balkarova turned his head toward Ferocious Eyes and opened his mouth.
It was a type of breath attack. A purple pillar poured out from Balkarova and hit Ferocious Eyes.
Kwaaaang!
Ferocious Eyes was pushed away, but he wasn’t hit directly by the violet pillar. It was thanks to the light pillar’s power being alleviated by the quickly swinging spear.
Karma sighed with relief as she watched, but it was too early. Ferocious Eyes avoided a direct hit but couldn’t prevent the additional effects of the violet pillars.
A wicked curse covered Ferocious Eyes’ body. Below the King’s Flag reduced the power of the curse greatly, but it did not eliminate it completely. The remaining bits of the violet pillars ate at Ferocious Eyes’ flesh and health.
Ferocious Eyes further resisted the curse by activating his aura. Carack shifted Balkarova’s gaze back to him by wielding his axe while In-gong attacked from behind him.
However, Balkarova swung his black sword at Carack. Carack ducked down to avoid the attack and struck Balkarova’s leg. Once again, he wasn’t able to do any damage but it was enough to break Balkarova’s balance.
Balkarova staggered for a moment. It was a movement that In-gong, who was behind Carack, cared about.
In-gong observed Balkarova. He turned his body to avoid five fireballs and activated Beast Authority on his left hand. As flames poured down, he evaded all five of them and aimed the explosive power at Balkarova’s feet.
Kwaang!
There was a loud roar and a part of Balkarova’s leg was broken. Balkarova staggered and Carack poured all the power of the earth spirit inside him into his axe. It wasn’t as good as the elves, but the orcs had a high affinity for spirits. Carack struck Balkarova’s other leg.
"Kuaaaak!"
Balkarova screamed and stumbled again. He burned the purple aura and Carack and In-gong moved urgently to avoid it. The grass, where they had been standing died, in an instant and the land itself turned completely black.
Balkarova gathered the energy and fired it from his mouth. If the first one was a pillar of light, then this time, it was a wave. Balkarova’s first target was Carack.
“Carack!”
Just before the purple aura swept through Carack, In-gong called his name and Carack appeared in front of In-gong. Call was a skill that could only be used once every three days, but now wasn’t the time to save it.
In-gong and Carack were then forced to split apart. Not only did the land, that was swept by the wave of light, turn black, poison had also started to rise from it.
The centaurs, who were fighting the creatures near the area of the purple energy, had their bodies melted down. It was horrible enough to be called a poison rather than a curse.
He finished spewing out the light wave and raised his sword toward In-gong. Receiving Balkarova’s gaze, In-gong gathered his white aura on Earth Quaker.
It drew the focus of Balkarova’s eyes and he didn’t look anywhere else. He was only concerned with In-gong.
At that moment!
As Balkarova rushed forward, wielding his sword, Felicia finally used a spell. After casting the flame barrier, she had spent all that time preparing this.
Felicia was a magician who was unsuitable for direct combat, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t use any attack spells at all.
"Triple Blast!”
It was a powerful synergy attack that combined three properties.
A dazzling blue, red and yellow light emerged in a magic circle from Felicia’s stretched out hand. It swirled and headed toward Balkarova.
‘That’s right.’
The moment that In-gong thought so...
Balkarova’s body suddenly disappeared. Triple Blast penetrated through the air as In-gong looked back hurriedly. Delia, who was next to Felicia, screamed.
"Blink!"
It was a close range space jump magic!
Balkarova had never lost sight of Felicia. He was able to share the gaze of every monster that was surrounded by the purple aura. While Felicia had been preparing her magic, he also prepared Blink. He then activated it the moment Felicia unleashed her spell. He moved 10 meters from his original position and opened his mouth toward the defenseless Felicia. A purple pillar of light stretched out toward her!
Kwaaaaaang!
Once again, there was a deafening sound. The purple light scattered into many pieces as Felicia and Delia stared helplessly at a person in front of them.
“Ferocious Eyes!”
Instead of responding, Ferocious Eyes knelt down. His injuries were separate from the curse as he had to raise his aura hastily to prevent the urgent moment.
Laughter burst from Balkarova’s skull. Instead of aiming the sword directly at Felicia, he turned to In-gong while dozens of geists dived down from the sky. Their goals were Felicia, Delia, Karma and Daphne.
It was too reckless.
He couldn’t do anything, yet he couldn’t give up. In-gong continued gathering his aura on Earth Quaker. He still had Gigantic Piston remaining.
Balkarova laughed at In-gong. The casios and drake ogres were already gathered beyond the flame barrier that Felicia had created.
Carack grabbed his axe quietly and In-gong took deep breaths before his last rush.
It was at that moment...
‘Master!’
He heard Green Wind’s voice. However, it was strange. Her voice was too far away. It felt like she was barely reaching him from a distance.
In-gong touched his waist with his left hand reflexively. He couldn’t feel Green Wind in the small piece of wood. There was only a mere bit remaining.
When had she left and why?
‘Master! Activate Ainkel’s power! Shoot her power into the air!’
Her voice was too far away. It felt like she was using all her power just to reach out with her voice.
In-gong observed Balkarova and smiled for no reason. He closed his eyes and concentrated on the power of Conquest. It was crazy to close his eyes for a few seconds in front of an enemy.
However, he didn’t care. In-gong just concentrated. He recalled the power he had felt when he became a dragon humanoid as well as the illusion of Ainkel that he had seen.
Watcher Ainkel.
The elder dragon with the power of life. The words she had said and the power she had given In-gong...
In-gong opened his eyes and Balkarova was charging right before him. In-gong unleashed the Gigantic Piston that he had gathered and stopped Balkarova’s rush. Then he roared towards the sky.
It was similar to Aura. No, he honestly didn’t know if he did it properly. The roar of a dragon humanoid filled the sky as Balkarova appeared before In-gong. He gave an eerie laugh and swung the black sword.
Then at that moment...
A terrible rumbling noise was heard from afar. A pure white and green light rushed through the air like a blade of wind.
They couldn’t help looking back. Balkarova and everyone on the battlefield looked in the direction of the sound. It was preceded by wind. Traces of white and green moved in the air and passed by the geists attacking Felicia. Red blood spurted in the air from their necks and wings as the geists fell to the ground.
It was a beautiful trajectory. It fell to the ground at In-gong’s and Balkarova’s feet, causing Balkarova to retreat with surprise from the huge power of life it was emitting.
It was located in front of In-gong.
It was a shield. Pieces of white metal spread like wings while a green glow emitted from between the metal plates!
‘Master!’
Green Wind's voice was heard clearly. Her voice was heard clearly from White Eagle and In-gong was the only one who understood the situation.
Shortly after the battle began, Green Wind had left In-gong’s side. She had headed for the tomb where White Eagle was buried and entered it.
It was unreasonable and reckless. There was a possibility that they would have been defeated before she reached White Eagle.
However, she took the chance and found White Eagle. She succeeded in awakening White Eagle and making it recognize its new owner by having In-gong activate Ainkel’s power.
“Green Wind!”
‘Praise me later! Instead, you have a lot to do! A lot!’
In-gong laughed coolly. He could feel Ainkel’s strength of life pushing at Balkarova’s aura.
The antithesis.
In-gong knew instinctively what he had to do to fight Balkarova. He didn’t delay any further and reached out toward White Eagle.
Green Wind and White Eagle flew over to In-gong’s left arm. A gauntlet made of a white piece of metal formed on In-gong’s arm and White Eagle, reminiscent of a kite shield, settled on top of it.
He didn’t have to wait for the golden crowned white woman to speak. In-gong formed fists and invoked the power of Conquest.
Earth Quaker and White Eagle.
The strength of two elder dragons emanated from him.
Author’s note:
In-gong doesn’t know the name of the undead yet. As the author, I specified the name for the readability of the readers.
Mustafa is a similar case, but In-gong knew the name after the boss clear message came out.