LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 185
From the very first meeting, things were awkward, but I didn’t actually dislike the human known as Leonis. He was merely a wizard faithfully carrying out his assigned duties.
My mood was unsettled. An unpleasant feeling, hard to describe, began to creep into my mind.
Bang! Crack!
Leonis’s fist slid along the blade of the flickering flames. His Mana Barrier, shattered by Kalbain’s hot mana, allowed the flesh beneath to burn, yet Leonis did not stop moving.
The body was dead, so there was no pain to be felt. It was the mana of dark magic that controlled the body of the deceased, and Leonis’s hands began to bend at impossible angles.
Crunch—!
From left to right, and top to bottom. The joints of his outstretched arms twisted in the opposite direction and even spun around a full circle.
Rotten flesh fell away from misaligned bones, revealing pure white skeletal structures. The dangling arms were swiftly regenerated by the ominous mana.
Now a wraith, Leonis had no care for his own body. In a short time, countless wounds were etched onto Leonis’s body by the fierce exchanges. His blood-soaked robe had become tattered, and his face was clearly visible through the large tear in his hood.
I remained vigilant while facing Leonis. I had controlled a strong wizard like him as an undead. This was not the work of an ordinary dark mage. He might even be a lich who had forsaken his human form.
Bang!
As I dodged the swiftly approaching blow, I thought to myself it was easier to face him now than before.
Of course, I had improved significantly from my past self. However, even if past me had faced him here, it wouldn’t have been all that difficult.
Leonis’s strength arose from unpredictable situations. The diverse artifacts and the various deceptions he utilized at unexpected moments were the sources of his power.
He pressed the assault without a moment’s reprieve, thinking ahead to his next move. He prioritized his own life and wouldn’t hesitate to flee if needed.
That’s why Leonis had been strong.
But now it was different. The attacks of Leonis, now a wraith, were straightforward and unyielding. He attempted bizarre attacks by twisting the joints of his arms, but that was all. With human arms, his movements were limited.
The magic Leonis used, Chaser, was the same. The bullets of contaminated mana showed much greater power than before, but they could not pierce my Mana Barrier.
Clang—!
I swung my sword hard, forcing Leonis back as he closed in. The moment his wraith body stumbled under the sheer force, I drew my second sword.
Leaving the intense heat coiling around my right hand behind, the cold chill enveloped my left. As the two forces intertwined, a hazy mist emanated, and within it, a flash of light sparkled.
Swoosh—!
The two swift strikes severed Leonis’s arms. The sharply cut ends glimmered in the moonlight, and in that moment, Leonis’s body lunged at me. If he had no arms, then it would be his legs; if he had no legs, then it would be his teeth.
The coldly calculating Leonis was no longer present. What stood before me was merely a wraith expressing hatred towards all living things.
Leonis’s movements were filled only with instinct. It didn’t seem like he was being controlled by someone else. In fact, I confirmed that no other traces of dark magic could be found around us.
He had either abandoned this place or was watching the fight from a distance. It was one of the two.
I couldn’t expose all my cards to an unseen, unknown enemy. I steadied my breath and wielded my two swords.
The rotation that began from my legs traveled up past my thighs and waist towards my shoulders.
Double Dragon Blade
Initial Form Taeguk
Softness overcomes strength. The moment Leonis’s straightforward attack met the tip of my sword, it gracefully twisted and warped the trajectory of his strike.
As one attack landed, my body prepared for the next motion. The transition from offense to defense flowed naturally, and strength was infused into my hands gripping the swords.
The two swords concentrated in one place, and the two forces began to intertwine. As the form shifted from initial to secondary, and my stance was ready, the gaping void of Leonis’s chest came into view before me.
Double Dragon Blade
Secondary Double Dragon Strike
Boom—!
With a deafening roar, Leonis’s body shattered and soared into the sky. Tattered remnants of his robe scattered while white bones rained down like a shower.
“Is, is it over…?”
“Well, who knows…”
I replied to Rain as I frowned looking down at the dispersed bone fragments. From the bones that surely belonged to Leonis, I sensed no mana. It signified the death of an undead, yet for some reason, it felt unsettling.
The sixth sense I had gained through transcending humanity spoke to me. It warned that the fight was not yet over. It told me not to lower my guard and to keep a keen eye on my surroundings.
It felt like a sense of foresight. I lifted my sword, relying on a sense that had never once betrayed me.
Thud—!
In that instant, a massive tremor resonated from deep within the earth. Something was coming closer. The moment I noticed, ominous mana began to surge up from beneath the sands sparkling in the moonlight.
Whoooosh—!
Like a tsunami, waves of sand rose up. Emerging from the depths was a giant whale. The False Whale, known as the ruler of this Burning Road. Yet, it looked slightly different from what I knew.
Its skin seemed to have decayed and melted, just like Leonis I had just fought, with its vacant eyes emitting purple flames.
“Oh no…!”
Rain gasped in shock at the sudden appearance of the giant skeletal whale. The moment a massive light flared from her staff, a gigantic ice formation surged towards the whale.
Crash—!
I frowned as I scanned my surroundings. I endlessly moved my eyes to locate the source of the ominous mana surging from beneath the desert.
Then, at some point, I sensed an odd presence from below.
“Se, Seris…!”
At that moment, Rain’s urgent voice came, and the desert surged once more. This time, what emerged was an army of skeletons made of pure white bones. Hundreds, thousands of skeletons began to rush together like waves.
As the wave of skeletons descended upon us, the dispersed bone fragments of Leonis began to slowly gather around the area. The bone fragments, steeped in the ominous mana unique to dark magic, began to conjoin and reclaim the form of the deceased.
At that moment, from among the army of skeletons, an odd presence surged forth.
What appeared was not fundamentally different from a common skeleton. A bare skull. One distinction was that it clutched a thick Magic Book in its hand.
I immediately sent the swords I held in both hands flying. The two speeding swords incinerated the unusual skeleton’s body and the Magic Book, yet the army of skeletons did not stop moving.
Despite dealing with the source of dark magic—the dark mage—and the Magic Book, the undead didn’t vanish. As I gazed up at the massive army with a frown, I glimpsed the ominous mana gathering among the skeletons.
As if a soul were entering an empty shell, at that moment, one skeleton was infused with slightly more mana than the others, revealing the Magic Book.
Had it switched bodies? No, did it ever have a body to begin with?
I bit my lip while glancing at the re-emerging dark mage and Magic Book.
Similar scenarios repeated afterward. I controlled the two swords I had sent flying to burn the dark mage’s body and the Magic Book, but after some time, as if nothing had happened, they reappeared in pristine condition.
With a sigh, I drew my third sword. The moment the golden sword, which had been lodged in my back, emerged, I felt a certain power fill me.
Gold. Control over it itself.
[Golden Fragrance of Greed]
If it keeps switching bodies, then I must destroy every skeleton it can switch into. However, I couldn’t fully reveal all my cards. I had to prepare for the possibility of not being able to handle it perfectly.
Just before the gigantic wave of skeletons reached me, I connected with the massive golden entity floating in the sky. It was at that very moment.
Boom—!
A golden flash descended right before me. With a mighty shockwave, the moonlit sand and white bone fragments were scattered everywhere.
And following that, golden flashes began to pour down from the sky like rain. Pure physical shock began to cover the skeletons.
The massive airship’s hull began reconstructing itself, retaining only the minimum functions. What emerged was a multitude of golden swords.
Bang—! Clash! Crack-crack-crack-crack!
At my summoning, the golden swords rained down. Waves of gold spread out from the sky around me.
Without a single exception, every undead in the vicinity was crushed beneath the gold. It was at that moment I let out a long sigh.
Among the shattered bone fragments, a massive Magic Book floated up, completely alone, without a user.
Flap-flap—
The pages of the floating Magic Book quickly turned. Then, suddenly, a dark figure materialized beyond the book.
Eyes staring silently at me. A familiar gaze that glowed red.
“Skasha…?”
As I uttered the name of the being beyond the Magic Book, it was engulfed in flames, turning to ash and scattering away. A gentle breeze blew, scattering the ashes of the Magic Book.