As he entered the secret chamber, a pitch-black shadow abruptly appeared and greeted Damon.
“You’re a little late today.”
The one who greeted Damon was a Death Knight. The blazing light burning within the eyeholes of its helm
gave off an eerie air, as though it were the karmic flames of hell, and the sight of it standing
in the darkness clad in jet-black armor was enough to call to mind a warrior of the underworld. But Damon merely looked back at
the Death Knight without expression.
“Nothing’s happened to the sealed orb, has it? Helbertron.”
“Of course not.”
Astonishingly, Helbertron’s manner of speech had changed completely. It was no longer the bizarrely resonant voice
peculiar to a Death Knight. Of course, it was still gloomy, as if flowing up from the netherworld,
but Damon could clearly understand what he was trying to convey. Now that he had reached the master class,
it seemed he could alter something like his voice well enough. After staring at him for a moment,
Damon grinned.
“Sorry I’m the only one who got to eat. When you were alive, you were quite fond of the dishes I made.”
The fierce light in Helbertron’s eyes dimmed a little.
“I was. But it doesn’t matter. I can no longer even taste anything.”
“True enough.”
Damon nodded as if that made sense. In truth, having Helbertron guard the sealed orb
had been an excellent decision. Even with only fifty percent of the ability he had possessed in life,
Helbertron was plenty strong. After all, he had been an exceptional warrior while alive.
One might say he had the skill to deal with an ordinary Sword Master quite easily.
“Wait just a little longer. As soon as I extract the power of darkness, I’ll make you even stronger……”
“Naturally, you should. Otherwise, there would be no point in having become a Death Knight……”
At Helbertron’s blunt reply, Damon grimaced.
“You damned…… I’m the master who created you lot, in name if nothing else, so show a little obedience.
You speak down to me from beginning to end, and now you’re even being sarcastic?”
“It can’t be helped. You made us this way.”
When a high-ranking necromancer creates a Death Knight, normally he maximizes its combat power
while suppressing a considerable portion of the intelligence it possessed in life. Only then will the Death Knight faithfully obey orders.
But Damon had not done that. He had restored the intelligence of the four Death Knights to almost
the level they had possessed in life. Combat power could be improved later in any case. He had expected
creatures with the judgment to respond according to the situation, rather than Death Knights that blindly obeyed orders.
But because of that, it was inevitable that the Death Knights’ attitudes had become extremely irreverent.
“I shouldn’t even bother talking.”
Damon clicked his tongue and headed toward the magic circle.
Clunk.
When the door opened, an enormous magic circle filling a large stone chamber came into view. Ancient,
utterly bizarre characters and diagrams densely filled the circle. Ordinarily, a magic circle
served to gather mana so that it would not disperse. As an exception, however, this magic circle
had a different purpose. It had been created for the purpose of continually drawing out a certain power
from its center.
At the very center of the magic circle lay a large sphere. From the fist-sized orb,
which gave off a dull black light, an unknowable energy continued to emanate.
This was none other than Nidelhark’s sealed orb. The Great Demon King Nidelhark, who had gathered the army of darkness
and set foot in the human realm, only to be forcibly sealed away by the dragons.
He was sunk in eternal slumber within this very sphere. Even so, the magical power
the Demon King had possessed was ceaselessly being emitted from the sealed orb. As though he were sending
a signal to his subordinates in the demon realm, asking them to rescue him. The magic circle was gathering that power
and concentrating it in one place. So of course it would take time to accumulate magical power…….
As Damon looked at the sealed orb with such a history, a strange expression appeared on his face.
“Can martial arts and magic truly not coexist?”
In truth, after settling here, Damon had made up his mind to devote himself entirely to cultivating martial arts.
His judgment was that if he became a Sword Master, it would be easier to deal with dragons. Moreover,
unlike before, when his dantian had been destroyed, it was entirely possible for him to learn martial arts with his newly acquired body.
The internal energy methods and the formulas of martial techniques were already remembered in his mind without omission.
But in the end, it was something that could not be accomplished. That was because he was already an Archmage
who had reached the pinnacle of magic. Damon shook his head with a bitter expression.
“Magic and martial arts are the same in that they use mana, but there is far too great
a difference in the way they operate it. Because of that, cultivating both at once is utterly out of the question.”
Martial arts drew in mana of the same nature from the surroundings little by little, refined it through
an internal energy method, and stored it in the dantian within the body. Thus, the internal energy stored in the dantian
could be described as mana refined and condensed to an extreme degree. An internal arts expert used that
to emit sword qi or protective qi.
Magic, however, was different. It was the same in that it gathered mana from the surroundings, but
a marked difference in its method of operation emerged from the fact that it rearranged that mana outside the body
to bring about various physical and chemical changes.
In that respect, a magician and an internal arts expert were beings who walked entirely different paths. Practicing both
at the same time was impossible, even if Damon had once been a peerless master. Of course,
if he wished to learn, it was not that he could not, but if he did so,
he would have to accept a regression in his magical ability. Since he could not possibly abandon magic,
Damon was ultimately forced to give up on learning martial arts.
“In any case, I have four master-class Death Knights……”
Even if he could not learn martial arts, he had assistants who were in no way inferior
to Sword Masters. Though, of course, they were fellows who utterly refused to listen.
“I’ll have to forget about martial arts and devote myself only to magic. Though I must never neglect
physical training.”
In truth, even if he could not learn martial arts, Damon had sufficiently powerful movements and hand-to-hand techniques.
With those alone, he could deal with most ordinary knights, so Damon thought he should not be too greedy.
Then, he heard something loud.
Ring-ring-ring.
Realizing that it was the sound transmitted by the alarm magic, Damon sprang to his feet.
It was a signal that someone had intruded, and it was an alarm network Winterdale had originally installed
which Damon had restored. It had been a very long time since there had been an intruder,
so an amused expression rose on Damon’s face. It was the first time since he had dealt with Antros’s punitive force
two months ago.
“I was getting bored, so this is perfect.”
He quickly shot toward the entrance of the cave. He intended to gauge the intruders’ ability and composition
before responding.
“It is over there.”
The village chief raised a trembling hand and pointed at the distant cave entrance. Under ordinary circumstances,
he would never have come anywhere near this place, but the situation was different now. A punitive force
had come all the way from the distant Krosen Empire to capture the wicked necromancer, so there was no way
he could avoid taking some risk.
Even so, his gaze kept turning toward the cave. Extreme anxiety was plainly written on the village chief’s face.
As if he understood his feelings, Elkein reached out and patted the village chief on the shoulder.
“Chief, please take the people and return now. I will take care of the rest.”
“I-Is that all right?”
“Do not worry.”
After reassuring the village chief with a smile, Elkein turned his head. His face had already
become solemn. After confirming that the village chief and the villagers had disappeared from sight, he began
a lengthy speech to the members of the unit, whose nervousness was obvious.
Aside from the two Paladins, they were all inexperienced trainee knights, so before the operation
he had to firmly instill discipline.
“We will enter in the formation you have been taught. If anyone fails to find his place
or fumbles about in confusion, know that I will not forgive it in the slightest. And remember this.
This opportunity is the best chance you will ever have to obtain the qualification of a Paladin…….
As you know, becoming a Paladin is not something that can be achieved by skill alone.
Only by establishing merit and proving your own ability can you gain honor. Therefore, we must
kill him without fail on this occasion. Do you understand?”
After he finished speaking, Elkein looked over the faces of the trainee knights. The experienced Paladins
wore relatively relaxed expressions, but the faces of the trainee knights were filled with nothing but tension.
Elkein thought he needed to ease their nerves.
“If one among you captures or kills him, I guarantee on my honor that he will become
a Paladin immediately. Because I will actively recommend him……”
“Waaaah!”
Only then did the trainee knights let out cheers. For trainee knights, there was nothing more joyful
than becoming a Paladin. Seizing the moment, Elkein shouted like a thunderbolt.
“Everyone, prepare for battle!”
The fifteen trainee knights began to make preparations busily. The adjutant, who had been standing leisurely
with his hands behind his back, approached him. He was one of the two Paladins who had accompanied him.
The adjutant, whose name was Walter, smiled as he whispered into Elkein’s ear.
“You truly are remarkable. To think you could instill fighting spirit in them in such a short time……”
“If you serve as an instructor long enough, you naturally learn how. More importantly, this time
we can definitely catch him, can we not?”
Walter, too, had been a member of the first punitive force. As though there was nothing more to consider,
he nodded.
“Do not worry. As long as he uses black magic and summoning, he will never escape this time.
We have even prepared scrolls to track his familiar.”
“You are certain?”
“Of course.”
Elkein nodded, then turned to the sorceress this time.
“Sarina. You prepare as well. Preventing him from escaping is clearly your duty……”
“Don’t worry. Even if he is a necromancer, he’s only a fourth-circle Expert at best.
You think I can’t suppress that much? I am a fifth-circle Master.”
“Very well.”
Elkein nodded and immediately ordered the advance. As soon as the order was given, the fifteen
trainee knights all rushed into the cave entrance at once. They had those wearing anti-magic armor
at the front. The two Paladins supported them from behind, while Elkein, the Sword Master,
and the sorceress followed close behind.
“A Sword Master…… It seems they’re a punitive force dispatched by the Krosen Empire after all.”
After grasping the identities of the intruders, Damon smiled faintly. Even before he had learned magic,
he could estimate an enemy’s level well enough. And since he had now even used magic to detect them,
it could be said that he had perfectly grasped the abilities of the intruders.
“Then shall I begin preparing to receive my guests?”
The existence of a Sword Master was somewhat unpleasant, but it was no matter. After coming here,
he had learned about the difference between Paladins and Sword Masters. That was because Zengart had explained
all manner of knowledge about Arcadia to him.
The fact that only those who could use sword force were called Sword Masters. All others who wielded only sword qi
were called Paladins in Arcadia. Of course, there was no need to pay any attention
to mere sword qi, but a Sword Master could not be underestimated under any circumstances. Their aura blades
could cut through even a ninth-circle shield cast by Damon……
Of course, if Damon went all out, it was obvious that even a Sword Master would not be his match.
No matter how skilled a Sword Master was, a single Hellfire would turn him to ash on the spot…….
But because of the Sevenfold Golden Severance Art, Damon could never kill his opponent.
If even one of them died by accident in the midst of battle, an unimaginable result would surely follow.
For that reason, Damon decided to obtain the assistance of the Death Knight guarding the sealed orb.
“This time, I suppose I’ll have to use Helbertron. I can leave the two Paladins to Winslot……”
Having devised his response strategy, Damon went out without delay to greet the intruders.
The punitive force advanced into the cave with high spirits. Since they already knew that the necromancer
was a low-level black magician of about the fourth circle, the knights did not seem particularly worried.
Rather, the commander, Elkein, considered it more important to find the necromancer who was hiding himself away.
“Once we enter the cave, immediately spread out and block any possible escape routes. If we use the scrolls,
we should be able to find his traces without difficulty……”
“Understood.”
They assumed that the necromancer would not dare resist and would be hiding himself away. But that
was their greatest miscalculation…… The instant they entered the cave, countless clusters of light shot toward them
as if they had been waiting.
Boom-boom-boom-boom!
The scale was enormous, and the complexions of the knights at the front turned pale in an instant.
“A-A preemptive attack!”
“It’s Magic Missile! Hurry and form a defensive formation!”
When Elkein’s order fell, the knights hurriedly adjusted their formation. From the disciplined way they moved,
one could easily guess how harshly they had been trained.
The knights wearing anti-magic armor stepped forward and raised their shields, while the others braced them firmly
from behind. Of course, it went without saying that Elkein and the two Paladins, who possessed strong resistance
to magic, came to the front. At some point, Sarina had cast a spell, and a blue veil of light
was already covering her entire body.