Chapter 21 - At the Cost of Ignorance (7)

WHOOOOO!

Black mist bloomed from the blood the Demon Contractors shed by slitting their forearms. There were three of them.

"Draugr! Go!"

"We just need to buy time!"

Was it a relief that the summoned target was a Draugr? It was true that it was a somewhat tricky bastard to deal with, but that was only for me; in front of a Priest, it was no different from a candle in the wind.

"Consider it an honor... for I will personally send you bastards back to hell."

Still, I couldn't just sit back and leave everything to the Inquisitor.

I ran along the path that would take the least damage using the skill, 'Survival Instinct'. The Inquisitor, who wasn't as fast as me and lacked the knack for dodging skeletons, instantly fell behind.

"We must kill Gretchen too! He betrayed us!"

Just as I was about to be isolated among the skeletons, a familiar voice brushed my ears. It was that bastard who had one-sidedly acted buddy-buddy with me overnight.

"As expected, the Temple was in on it too."

"..."

"I should have struck your neck back then... shouldn't I have, you worm?"

I swatted away a skeleton reaching for me with my arm while quickly opening and closing the skill window. The one remaining point found its proper place and granted me new power.

WHOOOOO.

Just then, one of the Draugr had also closed in on me. Perfect timing.

"This time, I will cut off your head and comfort the dead...!"

"Sir, in front─!"

"Ground... Crash!"

I cast the higher-tier Breaker skill I had just invested in.

[Ground Crash | Dives rapidly immediately after leaping, smashing a magic-infused weapon into the earth. Upon landing, a shockwave spreads in all directions.

Effect: Consumes 60 Mana. Attacks the struck enemy with 700% damage. Enemies within the shockwave radius take 370% damage and are knocked back.]

The moment my body, having leaped into the air, slammed my reverse-gripped two-hander into the floor, pitch-black energy swept in all directions and made the earth ring loudly. Like an explosion, or a storm.

CRUMBLE!

"Demon Knight...!"

I thought I vaguely heard the Inquisitor's call through the scattering stone dust and rising dust storm. It wasn't very important.

"T-That's Gretchen...!"

"K-Kill him!"

"Draugr!"

Instead, I did what I could, and what I had to do.

CRASH!

"..."

Breaker-type skills only made it difficult to perform combo attacks because their movements were large; they didn't actually have a stiffness penalty. Because of that, as long as you used the skill well, consecutive strikes weren't that hard either.

By immediately pulling out my sword and slashing downwards, I cut down the Draugr in a single strike. Since the center of the target mark was slashed, it was at least a critical hit. Considering the attack that went in earlier, the chances were high that it was probably dead.

SWOOSH!

But I couldn't see the Draugr's mist well because of the dust storm.

I swung my sword and kicked up a wind to clear my vision. Then, I saw the aftermath of the Draugr I had split in half.

Its mist was collapsing downward and disappearing, indicating it had truly died.

"Eradicate evil!"

Just as a brief silence was about to take over the area, the Archmage, who had been chanting a spell in the back, finally launched an attack. A white yet golden-tinged flame swallowed the remaining skeleton and one of the Draugr.

BOOM!

At around the same time, the Inquisitor also finished off the last one. With this, their preparations were over.

I dashed out at once. Facing difficult enemies had its own thrill, but that didn't mean I wanted to give them time to summon.

"U-Uwaah─!"

"Damn it, abandon control!"

"What? Are you crazy─!"

By the time I reached the vicinity of the magic circle where the ritual was taking place, the Demon Contractors vomited blood and made a decision. It wasn't the welcoming kind.

"Do you think I'll allow it!"

The three bastards running interference wouldn't be able to stop me even if they threw their bodies at me, so putting them off, would the summoning stop if I killed the bastard conducting the ritual? That was how things usually went in manga or novels, but I didn't know about games.

Well, if it was a mandatory event, it would be summoned, and if it was something that could be stopped, it would be stopped.

"Come, death!"

SLASH!

"Keurk!"

Ignoring the three rushing Demon Contractors, I sliced the neck of one of the men conducting the ritual.

Since Demon Contractors were also classified as mages, there was no one who could hinder me. Physically, they lacked the ability, and skill-wise, their casting times were too long.

However, unfortunately, it seemed I was a step too late. Or maybe it was a predetermined event.

"It's done, succ─!"

FLASH!

Beneath the pile of corpses presumed to be the kidnapped people, the white-drawn summoning circle spewed out a red light. Suddenly, the tickling sensation in my right arm grew a bit stronger.

CRACKLE, CRACKLE.

Had my concentration broken for a moment due to the tickling in my right arm?

BANG!

In an instant, the intensity of the light surged, and a tremendous physical force slammed into my body. It was to the point where my body didn't just float, but flew backward.

"Demon Knight!"

CLANG!

Was it a misfortune or a relief that the place I flew into happened to be right on top of the Inquisitor's large shield?

My HP plummeted. There was no way to know if it was due to the impact of the collision or the divine power the Inquisitor was radiating.

Even though I set my pain threshold low, my back was tingling.

"These maggots..."

I slid down from the large shield and stepped onto the ground at the same time. With both my front and back aching, I wasn't in a great mood.

Still, well, since I wasn't seriously injured, it was bearable.

"Sir, are you alright?"

"Are your eyes just for decoration?"

My HP had gone down a bit, but there was no actual wound. Therefore, I fixed my gaze forward.

Just as I had flown back, I saw the Demon Contractors thrown in all directions, staggering about. That was a bit satisfying.

ROAR!!

It was a little sad that I couldn't stop the summoning, though.

"... You managed to summon it well."

"W-What is that?"

Well, I had gotten a thrilling scene out of it, so I was satisfied. I slowly observed the summoned demon.

It was a demon in the shape of a dragon, wingless but with fins.

[Knucker | A demon that freely swims underwater and devours humans through wells. It is said that a powerful poison flows in its teeth.]

"It's a Knucker. Its teeth are venomous, so be careful."

"... Isn't it big enough to be dangerous to get bitten by even without poison?"

The thief's words were correct. Even though it walked on four legs, the summoned Knucker's height alone, from its toes to the crown of its head, was roughly three meters.

The cavern wasn't designed to be this large for nothing.

"Tsk."

More than that, from what I remembered, the Knucker wasn't a mob that should appear in the early game. Of course, it was probably scaled to fit the quest's recommended level, but...

"Heh... With that, even the Hero...!"

In the midst of all this, that bastard who acted close to me was still alive. That wasn't a bad thing. I was going to sever that NPC's neck myself.

ROAR!

"...! It's coming! Get behind me!"

At that moment, the Knucker spotted us, opened its maw wide, and began its charge.

"... I offer... abandon reason and gain power...!"

SCREECH!

Thanks to one of the guys muttering while lying face down, it even entered a berserk state. I couldn't be entirely certain, but seeing its eyes suddenly turn red and black energy flowing from its body, I was 99% sure.

"Oh God, please lend me the strength to not yield to evil...! Haaah!"

But upon seeing that, the Inquisitor deliberately tried to take it on head-to-head. From my perspective, it looked like simply dodging to the side would have sufficed.

It seemed her stubborn personality applied to combat as well.

"Uwaah, is it really okay to block this?!"

Right then, as the Inquisitor recited a prayer and emitted an even more intense radiance, the thief hid right behind her. The Archmage did the same.

"Coalesce and stack, a wall of protection!"

"What are you doing, sir!"

"You─!"

'No, I was going to dodge to the side...!'

The thief grabbed me and dragged me behind the Inquisitor. The timing overlapped so awkwardly that I couldn't even slip away now.

CRASH!

Immediately after, a deafening roar echoed, as if a mountain were collapsing.

"T-To withstand that...!"

The barrier the Archmage had set up shattered at once, and the Inquisitor's shield and the dragon's head began a fierce clash of strength. Without being pierced or broken, she confidently entered into a head-on confrontation.

"Uraaaah!"

In fact, after the Inquisitor let out a battle cry, she wasn't pushed back at all. At first, she had been pushed back a little due to the impact of the collision, but now, she stood upright on both legs, enduring that weight and power.

I still had no thoughts of forming a party, but she was undoubtedly an absolutely amazing tank.

"Demons..."

Then, as someone in the damage dealer position, could I just stay still?

The opportunity was perfect, too. A timing to aim for the Knucker's weak point—its head—this easily was not common.

"...all deserve to die...!"

SHING.

I gripped my two-hander firmly with both hands and stepped out from behind the Inquisitor.

In a single step, I stood next to the Knucker, which was grinding its head against the shield, and with a single twist of my ankle, my body faced it.

Breaker. Ominous energy gathered on the sword, and the massive blade slammed down like a guillotine.

SLASH!

A stream of blood skyrocketed into the air.

"..."

"... Is that what a Demon Knight is..."

SCREECH!

I couldn't bring myself to speak as I looked at the Knucker, whose snout and tongue had been sliced off entirely.

When fighting a boss or hunting an elite mob, it was rare for gamers to expect part destruction just because they successfully landed a hit on a weak point.

Even if they wanted it, they just hoped the damage would stack up quickly for the destruction to occur; it meant no one expected it to happen in a single hit. I was one of those people, too.

But what was this game lacking that it was programmed for a part destruction to occur in a single strike?

I understood for goblins, since they were historically trash mobs and were often weak no matter what game you played. But that thing was a dragon. Even if it was a subspecies, it was still a dragon.

I'm only level 15 now, so wasn't this a bit too much?

"What─!"

"In a single strike...?!"

I felt like the Demon Contractors' feelings mirrored mine, but since I couldn't break character, I kept my lips tightly shut and adjusted my stance.

Even though its snout had been cut off, the Knucker was still alive.

"Huu."

I let out a breath and swallowed slowly, readjusting my grip on my two-hander as if pulling it. It was the preliminary step to attack the part I had targeted next.

"N-No! We have to stop him!"

Since its snout had been cut off and it had raised its head upward, striking its head was impossible. However, a dragon's weak points weren't exclusively on its head.

Reverse scale. A scale growing backwards, closest to the heart. Glowing red and incredibly visible.

It was a weak point that most virtual reality games—the ones featuring dragons—implemented.

"S-Summon!"

"W-We don't have a sacrifice!"

"I offer my blood..."

The enemies plotting something behind the dragon went crazy, but from this distance, they absolutely couldn't stop me.

"Bind the enemies for me!"

Furthermore, the Archmage even provided covering fire. I completely excluded the tightly bound enemies from my interest and took the next step.

Suddenly, I felt regret that I couldn't use the thrusting skill—Stinger—right now because I had put my point into Ground Crash. I didn't regret taking Ground Crash, but it would have made for a great picture if I used Stinger right now.

SWISH.

As I thrust my sword while letting those regrets flow, black energy suddenly bloomed from the blade in streams.

"...?"

STAB!

The moment I noticed it, the blade pierced the Knucker's heart. Thanks to that, checking it again was impossible.

"Goodness, sir. Your back was wide open!"

However, the image was burned into my memory too clearly to just dismiss it as a mistake.

Just before my mind completely fell into that doubt, someone brushed past me and crossed behind my back. Thanks to that, my thoughts were broken in less than a fraction of a second.

CRACK!

Turning my head reflexively, I saw the hem of the thief's hood and fragments of bone. It seemed it was a skeleton that a Demon Contractor had squeezed out their power to summon.

"... Well, I don't think someone who slays a dragon in a single strike would fall to a skeleton, though."

No, the dragon was probably just programmed to be weak. Though it made sense that it looked impressive from the perspective of an NPC who didn't know that.

SHLUCK.

I barely pushed aside the questions that had instantly begun taking over my mind and pulled out my sword. Broken fragments of the reverse scale flew in all directions, and a shower of blood sprayed from the end of the pierced flesh.

My face and body were completely drenched in dragon's blood.

THUD!

[LEVEL UP!]

Perhaps having its snout sliced off and its heart pierced was a fatal blow, as the Knucker also laid its body down. For someone who knew the Knucker was a high-tier mob, it was a somewhat unsatisfying end.

Realistically, it made sense for it to die upon receiving these wounds, but... how should I put it, thinking that it died after taking two hits from a level 15 felt a bit...

"Gretcheeeeen!"

Suddenly, a title that filled the cavern rang out—it wasn't my nickname or my name, but I knew it was referring to me. It was that bastard who had acted friendly.

"To truly, truly betray us─!"

Whatever. Wiping the blood flowing down my face with the back of my hand—which wasn't very effective—I stared straight at the wailing NPC. The lower half of his face visible under the hood was similarly drenched in blood, and his body was tightly restrained by the Archmage's Binding.

It was the perfect posture for taking his head.

"That dimwit keeps running his mouth...!"

The Inquisitor wore an angry face, and in contrast to her, I put on a chilling expression. The concept wasn't that I wasn't angry, of course.

"How could you do this to the King...!"

"Right, you're still left..."

My expressionless face from a moment ago was merely a prelude to violently twitching my lips and rolling my eyes back!

"Keep babbling. I'm getting curious to see just how much of my rage you can handle."

"..."

I swiftly flicked my two-hander. Blood splattered onto the cavern floor, and a macabre gleam began to flow off it once more.

"What, can't speak anymore?"

Step by step. I walked neither fast nor slow.

At that, the opponent turned his head and avoided my gaze, despite wearing a hood. Even so, he couldn't stop me from getting closer.

"Demon Knight."

The Archmage called out to me.

"Are you planning to interfere with me again this time?"

When I asked with my mouth viciously contorted, the Archmage gave a slight shake of his head.

"Please kill him as cleanly as possible. We need to have some evidence to provide to the Temple, don't we?"

It meant he wouldn't deliberately stop me this time.

"Hmph."

With a snort, my two-hander raised into the air.