Chapter 295
When their feet alighted upon the ground, the angel summoned circular blades in both hands, their fingers gripping the handles. Only after the weapons were perfectly positioned in their hands did that ‘Celestial Being’ from another dimension–summoned by Ryu Hyerin–open their eyes. The eyes were pure white with no pupils.
Eyes now wide open, the angel stared silently over Ryu Hyerin’s shoulder. She turned her head quickly, looking around. “…What are you?”
A pale man carrying the skeleton she had seen earlier stood in the distance.
He wasn’t Seo Dawon. Soon, Ryu Hyerin remembered that she had seen the man’s face in the recent past–actually, she had never seen that face in person but she remembered those features in the information dossier she had handed over to Bae Jaemin. “Are you… Choi Lee-kyung?”
When Ryu Hyerin spoke, the angel spread their arms and quickly began to rush towards Choi Lee-kyung. The Priest squinted her eyes and looked towards the battlefront.
“…[Kim Olim].”
However, when a familiar name tumbled from the man’s lips, her eyes opened wide. An unbelievable sight unfolded before her.
* * *
After Ryu Hyerin used her [Holy Descent], a metallic, fishy taste began to surge into my mouth. ‘No way… Blood?’
I pressed a hand to my mouth just in case; I could feel Seo Dawon staring down at me. When I raised my eyes to look at him, I saw that his expression, which remained undistorted even in Ryu Hyerin’s presence, was unusually stiff.
“Lee-kyung-ah.”
“…Wait a minute. Summoning comes first,” I swallowed the blood and clenched my teeth. Meanwhile, the huge angel stared at me, spreading an enormous amount of bloodlust.
“[Kim Olim].” When I managed to call the Paladin’s name, the stomachache became worse, but nothing could be done. Kim Olim also looked back at me anxiously before looking straight at the angel that rushed towards us.
[A parasitic existence that lost its name…]
The angel, who ran at a high speed, smiled; even though it was quite a distance away, a strange voice permeated the air to reach my ears. I had no idea what those words meant, but I could clearly read the thick, viscous bloodthirst crammed into that voice.
Goosebumps raised over my arms briefly, but I regained my composure by looking at the Knight-like back in front of me.
“[Rho-Aias].”
Clank–!
As soon as Kim Olim was summoned, she called forth her divine instrument; the angel’s sword and her shield collided forcefully. A strong wind blew from the point of contact between those two; Seo Dawon quickly dragged me behind him.
Their match seemed to be quite even, but soon the Angel smiled crookedly and flapped their wings. Startlingly, Kim Olim’s feet began to be pushed back.
Furthermore, that front wasn’t the only issue.
“[Divine Hold]!”
[Clack Clack!]
[Master!]
Ryu Hyerin, who approached closer, reached her hand out to me! Fortunately, Lackey moved forward so I wasn’t tangled by that rope of light, but Lackey was caught on my behalf. The area underneath its elbow was shattered into black ash, which crumbled and scattered.
When our eyes met, Ryu Hyerin shouted, “Choi Lee-kyung! Answer me! What have you done?!”
I frowned at her–she seemed to have lost all reason. I couldn’t even afford to answer her questions. Though I spat out the blood pooling in my mouth, the ache at the pit of my stomach was getting worse.
‘…Is this a High Priest’s ability?’
Something was different about her compared to the other revenge targets. Her mere approach seemed to make my chest gradually crumple in on itself.
I turned on my status window; floating above me, the system sent several red warning alerts as if it had been waiting for me to activate the system.
[The current User, Choi Lee-kyung, is within range of high-grade holy attribute buffs.]
[This is the most incompatible attribute for those of your class.]
[Please exit the High Priest’s [Holy Descent]’s range.]
[The consequential debuff will greatly reduce your attack power and stamina.]
[Pain will continue to increase due to continuous decline in stamina.]
.
.
On the other hand, Ryu Hyerin looked fine. Rather than fine, actually, I should say her movements were vigorous.
She stared at me, raised her staff, and aimed towards me. Following that, the blue gems embedded in her staff began to sparkle. Instinctively, I knew I shouldn’t be hit by that skill.
“Lackey!” I mustered my will to call for Lackey; black smoke surrounded the skeleton’s body and it transformed into its evolved [Skeleton Soldier] form.
Lackey held a hitherto unseen humongous butcher’s knife; 1 The skeleton skillfully placed the blade diagonally across its body and blocked Ryu Hyerin’s path towards me.
However, Ryu Hyerin snorted before swinging her glowing blue staff vertically. “[Armor Break].”
The intense light from the staff almost hit Lackey, but the skeleton avoided being hit in the center of its chest by quickly raising its weapon.
Even though the attack missed the vital point, its residual power still completely smashed the skeleton from its left shoulder to its cheek.
Ryu Hyerin stopped attacking for a moment before staring at me with narrowed eyes. She looked a little nervous, “Necromancer… Has this class always been like this…?”
“……”
She then looked back at Kim Olim, who was still clashing with her summoned angel.
Kim Olim was still on the defensive, barely paying attention to this side of the battlefield. Ryu Hyerin turned to me and Lackey again, looking between us as she smiled viciously, “You summoned Seo Dawon, too, right?”
“……”
“Can all the [Red Lotus] members be called?”
Although I didn’t answer, Ryu Hyerin seemed to have already made her own conclusions. She looked me up and down before smiling again, “Aha! So you must also be able to summon Jung Garam.”
“……”
“Then it all makes sense. That’s how you deceived Bae Jaemin.”
Though my body shrank from nervousness, I managed to lift my chin. Ryu Hyerin still stared at me cautiously as she continued to speak in a derisive tone, “By the way, it’s very strange. If you really signed a contract with all of the [Red Lotus] members, it would be best to summon them all right now to counter me…”
“……”
“Don’t tell me–you didn’t think you could stop me with that pile of bones, did you? Bring Seo Dawon back.”
Thwap–!
When my silence continued, Ryu Hyerin flicked her finger lightly; she was done with asking nicely. The crosses, which hovered around her like satellites, changed positions. They stopped moving around, disappeared before my eyes, before reappearing in a tight circle around my skeleton soldier.
Lackey flinched and retreated one step. However, as soon as it stepped back, white light exploded from one of the crosses.
Slice–!
After being hit by that ray of light, Lackey’s head and neck were separated. Before I could even respond to her attack, the crosses teleported above my head.
Ryu Hyerin coldly said, “Summon him if you don’t want to die.”
When, once again, I gave no answer, she mumbled almost to herself, “Or… Can he only call one out at a time?”
It felt as if she were asking me, but her tone already indicated that she was certain of her hypothesis. I couldn’t refute the Priest and could only clench my fists.
Instead of making my head fly away, Ryu Hyerin approached with cat-like steps. Seo Dawon needed to clutch my shoulder so I didn’t stumble; the Priest had approached so close she could simply reach out and touch me.
She looked at my tense eyes and asked with a smile, “What will happen to Seo Dawon when you die?”
“……”
“Is it the end for him? …Mmm. Well, judging from your expression, that seems to be the case.”
“……”
Ryu Hyerin muttered contemptuously, “Haah… What is this? Is he bluffing or something? He’s totally nothing.”
“……”
“It’s funnier the more I think about it. If he revived as an undead, he should live out of my sight. With what confidence are you all appearing before me?” As she said that, Ryu Hyerin completely ignored me and turned to look at Kim Olim and the angel’s battle. She must have perceived that, without a servant’s help, I couldn’t penetrate the protective aura surrounding her.
And, Kim Olim’s situation wasn’t so different from mine. Though the angel she was confronting also suffered small wounds, the two were completely covered with black ash, which was akin to her blood in her undead state.
The angel bled from both their cheeks and arms, but Kim Olim had black cracks all over her body. The two fiercely rushed at each other now, but one could anticipate a victor to arise soon.
And, at that moment…
While flexibly avoiding the heavy shield swings, the angel suddenly lowered his center and launched an irregular attack. Kim Olim tried to change her posture, but the Angel was faster; their blade struck her wrists.
With that attack, Kim Olim’s shield–and the hand holding it–clattered to the ground; she tried to step backwards, but even that wasn’t possible.
The angel dug into her chest, gathered together both hands, and broke through her armor; their hands protruded out her back.
“……!” Kim Olim opened her mouth, pained…but, perhaps she swallowed her tortured groans; no sounds came out of her mouth.
The anger stirred their hands around, in her body, as if they were enjoying her pain. Eventually, Kim Olim fell to one knee. The angel knelt with her, whispering mocking words.
[Your dirty, evil, last-ditch effort ends here.]
Then the Paladin’s body, which shook and trembled, paused before falling towards the angel. Like a mimicry of a hug.
At that moment, I made brief eye contact with Kim Olim… She closed her raging, blazing eyes slowly. Only when she fell completely into the angel’s arms did I breathe out the breath I had been holding.
“What to do, Choi Lee-kyung? It looks like I’ve won.”
“……”
Ryu Hyerin looked back at me with a wide smile on her face.
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TL: Jeez, the entitlement. Asking someone to call out his summon just so you can get some time with Seo Dawon. And I know the Servants are essentially immortal, but….Ooof… I had sympathy pain for Kim Olim.
Also, omg, Lee-kyung’s grown a lot. T_T I’m so proud.
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