Chapter 65

Skill ‘Armament’ (1)

A group of fully armed Skeleton Warriors walked along a clean path with lights on their heads . Behind them, Hyrkan carefully followed, tightly holding onto his sword .

‘This design isn’t one where a spirit would spawn . ’

The moment Hyrkan opened the door and entered the instance dungeon, he had a feeling .

That the monster he would be facing wasn’t a pure spirit-type monster like the Salamanda .

It wasn’t a random feeling either . If the tunnel he was in before had a farm-like feel, the place he was in currently had a research lab-like feel .

The most important part of that the path was clean . If it was dirty, then it would have been likely for spirit-type monsters to spawn . It would have meant that spirit-type monsters who couldn’t endure the laboratory testing revolted and took over the lab .

But since the place Hyrkan was in was perfectly clean, it didn’t mean monsters took over the place . Then, the guardian protecting the dungeon must be waiting for him somewhere .

Such fine details were what made Warlord so charming as a game .

Unfortunately, it wasn’t a good news for Hyrkan .

‘Did I buy a fire-resistant set for nothing?’

Hyrkan had bought a fire-resistant set for higher than the market price because he thought he would have to face against spirit-type monsters . Although it wouldn’t be too big of a loss if he sold the set, he would still end up with a loss .

‘What a waste of money . ’

Hyrkan walked and calculated the loss in his head . After about 10 minutes, the path he was taking led him to a large room . 1000 square meter area with about 10 meters to the ceiling . It was a large area, and the walls were filled with sword marks .

‘Ah . ’

The moment Hyrkan saw the sword marks, he realized what the guardian of the dungeon was . When he saw the armor in the center of the dungeon, he was sure of his guess . The armor made for a large, 2-meter tall man looked like an armor from the medieval era . It was vastly different than the armor players wore, which focused on making them look better .

Of course, Hyrkan didn’t care how cool the armor looked like .

‘Bad memories pop up just when you think you forgot them . ’

The good news was that Hyrkan had fought against this monster several times before . The bad news was that he had been killed by this monster as well .

‘So this is the place was where they created Spirit Knights . ’

The moment Hyrkan discovered the armor, the armor had also discovered Hyrkan .

-Eliminating intruder

With a robotic sound, a stream of fire began to flow inside the armor .

Soon, the armor became filled with fire as it began to move .

Clack, clack!

The monster making the metallic sound and overflowing with fire was none other than the Spirit Knight . It was an artificially created monster that used the power of spirits to operate its armor . Its level changed depending on the spirit used as material . Since Hyrkan had killed level 80 Salamandas, the Spirit Knight here was likely to be above level 90 .

The important thing to note was the Spirit Knight’s special trait .

‘Just my luck . ’

Because it utilized the power of spirits, the Spirit Knight was immune to all debuff magic . That is, it was not affected by curse magic .

At the same time, there was no such thing as a critical hit . Just like how spirits had to be killed through continuous damage over time, the Spirit Knight had to be killed in the same way .

Finally, it was strong . It was one of the strongest monsters amongst the mid-small sized monsters of its level . The secret behind its strength was its high artificial intelligence . If most monsters fought like wild animals, the Spirit Knight fought like, its name suggested, a knight . Some players compared fighting the Spirit Knight as playing chess . Plus, the Spirit Knight used the high-tier skill, Sword Reinforcement . The cooldown time was 50 seconds, and it was an incredibly strong skill .

A battle with the Spirit Knight was sometimes used to estimate a player’s strength . Average players could not win against a Spirit Knight . It wasn’t easy for above average players either . Tankers especially hated facing up against the Spirit Knight . When players raised their shields, most monsters attacked on top of the shield . However, the Spirit Knight avoided the shield and went for any gaps the players had .

Hyrkan had been killed by the Spirit Knight as well . Of course, at that time, the difference between their spec was just too big . Hyrkan was around level 100 when he first ran into a Spirit Knight . The Spirit Knight he was facing was level 160 . No matter how strong Hyrkan was, it was impossible to cover a gap of 60 levels . The fact that Hyrkan was able to be its match for a while was impressive .

In any case, the Spirit Knight wasn’t an easy opponent as Hyrkan currently was .

“Hmph . ”

However, Hyrkan had no intention of avoiding the battle . He didn’t have a choice either . There was only one way to leave the instance dungeon . Hyrkan or the Spirit Knight . One of them had to die .

Since Hyrkan had no plans of dying, he could only kill .

‘Let’s do this . ’

Snap snap!

When Hyrkan snapped his fingers twice, the Skeleton Warrior that had been waiting for his order charged towards the Spirit Knight .

Powered by the Bone Armor and Madness Helm, the Skeleton Warriors fearlessly flew towards the Spirit Knight . The Spirit Knight did not waver either .

Chwing!

It pulled out its sword, and at the appropriate moment, it sidestepped the Skeleton Warrior’s vertical slash, and swung its sword in return .

Clack!

With the sound of bones breaking, the Skeleton Warrior’s Bone Armor broke apart around its shoulders . It was a frightening blow . However, with the effect of the Madness Helm, the Skeleton Warrior was unaffected, as it immediately attacked the Spirit Knight again .

However, its aggressiveness was a poison rather than a medicine .

Whish!

The Spirit Knight dodged the Skeleton Warrior’s sword and counterattacked . The Skeleton Warrior wasn’t able to fully dodge the Spirit Knight’s attack, ending up with another fatal injury .

‘This won’t work against that guy . ’

The battle style Hyrkan taught his Skeleton Warriors was the dodge-first-attack-second style . Since most monsters attacked aggressively first, this method worked well .

However, the Spirit Knight had the intelligence to dodge and counterattack, just like his Skeleton Warriors .

It only attacked first when it knew it had the advantage .

Moreover, the Skeleton Warrior’s evasive ability depended on Hyrkan’s stats, and as such, it was difficult for the Skeleton Warriors to dodge the Spirit Knight’s attacks like a slippery eel .

‘The Golem…’

Then how about the Golem?

‘would be useless too . ’

The Golem would be even more useless . The Golem was even slower than the Skeleton Warrior, and it would only serve as a punching bag for the Spirit Knight .

While Hyrkan was judging the situation, his Skeleton Warrior had become ragged . Even its Bone Armor couldn’t withstand the brutal assault of the Spirit Knight .

“Whew . ”

Watching this scene, Hyrkan made his decision .

‘It’s about time I do my job . ’

It was now up to Hyrkan . Besides him, no one could fight the Spirit Knight on the front lines .

After throwing two Skeleton Fragments on the ground, Hyrkan charged towards the Spirit Knight .

★★★

Hyrkan held his sword with both his hands and swung horizontally towards the Spirit Knight’s left side . On the other hand, the Spirit Knight, holding its sword single-handedly, swung its sword down diagonally to block Hyrkan’s sword .

The two swords met…

Clang!

And let out an ear-splitting sound .

Creek, creek!

The sound of the two blades grinding against each other was terrifying and hard to listen to .

During their clash, Hyrkan was the one to be on retreat . His sword was being pushed back in its path . Seeing the Spirit Knight win against him in power with just one hand, Hyrkan couldn’t help but feel a headache .

‘Geez . ’

It was a clear proof that his stats weren’t comparable to the Spirit Knight . This wasn’t the only proof either . The numerous cuts on Hyrkan’s body and armor also served as proof . Of course, Hyrkan wasn’t the only one in a sorry state . The Spirit Knight’s armor also had clear signs of a fierce battle .

What was certain was that this was the most fierce, intense battle Hyrkan has had so far .

‘I barely survived . Thank god I learned this skill . ’

The only reason Hyrkan was still alive was due to a body modification skill he obtained recently – ‘False Heart . ’ It raised his total HP by 20 percent, and together with Skin Sewing and Bone Armor, it greatly raised his survivability . Without them, he surely would have died .

While Hyrkan was drawing the Spirit Knight’s aggro, three Skeleton Warriors jumped towards the Sprit Knight . As soon as the Spirit Knight caught sight of them, it put more strength into its sword and pushed Hyrkan backwards . Then, it turned around to face the Skeleton Warriors .

‘Okay . ’

After staggering for a brief moment, Hyrkan found his balance again . His eyes were fixed at the Spirit Knight’s left shoulder pad, which was already half-broken . Hyrkan didn’t hesitate . The moment the Spirit Knight used Sword Reinforcement and swung its sword at the three Skeleton Warriors, cutting them in half…

Crack!

Hyrkan cut off the Spirit Knight’s left arm .

Puhat!

Instead of blood, intense flame spewed out from where the arm was cut off .

Hyrkan immediately backed off . Meanwhile, two of the Skeleton Warriors that had been cut in half reformed themselves and stood up . Surrounded, the Spirit Knight stared at Hyrkan and turned to look at the Skeleton Warriors .

‘It’s time for the finale . ’

Hyrkan immediately made an estimation .

Sword Reinforcement was still on cooldown for some time .

He had two Skeleton Warriors left, and he could use one of them as bait to deliver one more blow . One attack for one Skeleton Warrior . Although it was a losing trade, it would be worth it if it meant he could finish the fight .

Hyrkan snapped his fingers and gave the signal . Having finished absorbing Hyrkan’s mana to recover, the Skeleton Warriors charged towards the Spirit Knight . The Spirit Knight stared at the Skeleton Warriors closing in on itself .

Watching this scene, Hyrkan estimated the timing .

‘Not yet . ’

Not yet, not yet, not yet .

‘Now!’

The moment he grasped the timing, Hyrkan charged . The charging power from his high strength stat and ‘Leg Strength Modification’ passive skill was unbelievably high . In an instant, he closed the distance between the Spirit Knight and himself .

Meanwhile, the Skeleton Warriors that had already reached the Spirit Knight raised their arms and swung down . It was impossible for the Spirit Knight to block all of the attacks at the same time .

At the same time, it had no intention to block the two Skeleton Warriors’ attacks .

It ignored their attacks and turned around, swinging its sword along with the centrifugal force from spinning .

Whish!

Its sword flew towards the charging Hyrkan .

In that instant, underneath the hahoe mask of Hyrkan and underneath the helmet of the Spirit Knight, their gazes met . Although not much had changed, it seemed like Hyrkan’s eyes were dark while the Spirit Knight’s eyes were bright .

‘You fucker…’

In its moment of danger, the Sprit Knight’s excellent artificial intelligence had ordered him to attack the most threatening target . It was something completely unexpected even for Hyrkan .

Of course, Hyrkan didn’t have any way of dealing with the attack . Although he reflexively moved his body, it didn’t have much meaning in such a situation .

Chwing!

The Spirit Knight’s sword destroyed Hyrkan’s Bone Armor and Skeleton Armor, pierced through his Skin Sewing, and sent Hyrkan flying towards the wall .

When he landed, he continued to roll on the ground several times .

The Spirit Knight didn’t stop there . It ignored the attacks from the Skeleton Warriors and flung its body towards Hyrkan . It planned to use this opportunity to kill the most fearsome foe .

Meanwhile, Hyrkan summoned the Golem .

Most players would have been taken out before they even understood what had happened .

However, Hyrkan knew what he had to do even amidst the chaos of battle .

The summoned Golem began to take shape, and became a wall blocking the path of the Spirit Knight . The single-armed Spirit Knight didn’t stop upon seeing the Golem, but instead raised its sword up high . It planned to finish off the Golem before it could fully take shape . The Golem would not be able to last more than a few seconds .

In those few seconds, Hyrkan had to recover as much as he could with his recovery items .

Hyrkan did so almost instinctively . He reached into the pocket on his waist and grabbed a hand-full of recovery clay . After applying it on his injuries, he took out an extremely expensive HP recovery candy from one of his hidden pockets and threw it in his mouth . Without savoring its taste, he chewed on it and gulped it down .

“Huuu…”

Hyrkan then got up and let out a long sigh . His expression was frozen and rigid . From his mouth which was barely visible underneath the hahoe mask, he mumbled .

“You’re fucking dead . ”

The Spirit Knight’s blow had awakened the sleeping Hero Slaughterer inside Hyrkan .