Chapter 134

Chapter 134 – Chapter 23: Cross #4

Evian’s winter wasn’t far away . Due to the influence of the limit line, the closer to the east it was, the colder the air would be .

The fourth base was a mess . The barbarians hadn’t repaired the fourth base after occupying it because they hadn’t intended on staying for long . The walls were collapsed, and the smashed gate was literally on the ground . The moment the fourth base had been taken, the supplies warehouse had been burnt by the leader, so it was full of ashes . Nothing else could be found .

It would have been great to see snow . There were no clouds in the sky, and the blowing wind was as cold and sharp as an ice blade .

In-gong and Vandal left the base . There were many people who wanted to see the fight between the two, however, it wasn’t meant to be a spectacle in the first place . Moreover, the struggle could destroy the already shattered base . It was no exaggeration to say the strength of an advanced general was a moving disaster .

The soldiers climbed up onto the walls and watched from a distance . Only the 9th Prince’s aide and the party of the princesses were allowed to accompany In-gong and Vandal .

In-gong and Vandal stood facing each other in the wilderness . Evian was a wilderness, so it wasn’t necessary to choose a battlefield .

Felicia, who had been anxious on the walk here, was at a loss . It was because General Vandal was fully armed, like this was a battle .

“Excuse me, General Vandal . Is this really necessary?”

Felicia asked in a strident voice as she looked nervously at Vandal, who seemed bigger than normal . Her eyes were shaken .

Vandal liked Felicia . She was an upright person, so he wasn’t going to lie to give her comfort .

“I have to do my best . ”

Vandal said softly as he stared in front of him . 20 meters away, Caitlin was standing beside In-gong with an anxious expression akin Felicia’s .

“Do you really not need my help?”

She didn’t mean for them to fight together . Caitlin was asking him to take advantage of the penta-core .

In-gong shook his head . The penta-core was certainly a great force, but it couldn’t be established without Caitlin’s help . It didn’t fit in a fight against Vandal .

“It’s okay, this is a confrontation between Vandal and me . ”

It was a confrontation between only two people . If he was the In-gong who had encountered the orcs in the dwarf cave, he would have avoided the fight, rather than fight alone . When did he become so brave?

‘It is because I have to become the demon king . ’

He needed to become a person suitable for that position .

In-gong smiled as he thought about it . Then In-gong heard a voice, which was just as restless as Caitlin’s, in his ears,

‘Master, I can’t understand it . I am Master’s . ’

White Eagle and Black Eagle wouldn’t be used . In-gong had Black Eagle removed, and only attached White Eagle lightly to his arm . In-gong refused to have Green Wind’s help . She wasn’t a tool like Earth Quaker or Night Watch, and In-gong wanted to fight by himself .

Green Wind was grouchy from In-gong’s attitude and joined Caitlin . In-gong appreciated the worries of the two people, so he couldn’t help giving a small smile .

Carack didn’t mutter any words . He just stood far away and gazed at In-gong with calm and trusting eyes .

Felicia moved back so that only In-gong and Vandal were left . Vandal grinned awkwardly as he held the handle of a large battle hammer .

“I predicted you would be strong, but I didn’t think it would happen within a few months . ”

In-gong recalled their first meeting . At that time, In-gong had found it hard to deal with Villager A, let alone an orc . However, it was different now . Everything had changed .

“Isn’t this good?”

In-gong mock shrugged, while Vandal laughed silently .

In-gong’s growth was abnormal . It was even a surprise for Felicia, even though she knew the facts such as the dragon heart and Moonlight Core .

Vandal didn’t know about such processes, but he didn’t question it . He had already made up his mind .

“On that day, I was ready to die . Then Prince appeared in front of me . ”

Vandal had been caught by the pursuing barbarians . He had prepared for the end and dug deep into enemy territory . Vandal was about to say something, then he shook his head . Instead of clumsy words, he said,

“I don’t know if you are possessed by a ghost . Anyway, I am unfamiliar with expressing my feelings with long words . I am grateful for your time . ”

Vandal raised his battle hammer . The steel-like muscles, revealed between the partial armour, swelled significantly .

In-gong closed his eyes and refined his breathing . He formed fists and said lightly,

“Shall we start?”

“Let’s get started . ”

The next conversation would be with their fists .

Vandal poured his battle cry into the sky . Instead of feeling fear, In-gong stood against the battle cry which seemed to rock the heavens and the earth . He released his breath and activated all the things he had prepared .

The buff spells he had learnt from Green Wind, Felicia and Daphne wound around In-gong’s body, and sacred green flames rose from the Dragon Scale Greaves .

Then his aura hearts…

His aura revolved around the dragon heart and his two other hearts . The triple core swelled and produced a strong aura flow .

However, that wasn’t all .

A dragon heart wasn’t a heart with simple aura . The dragon heart—the symbol of a dragon—could be called a dragon’s essence . Powerful magic power sprang from the dragon heart . Separate from aura, it shone green as Ainkel’s symbol, and the dragon heart revolved aura and magic power .

The effect was like a quad-core . Then one last thing was added, and the power of a dragon was pushed to the utmost limit .

‘Dragon Blood . ’

Not just the dragon heart, but all three of In-gong’s artifacts responded . Earth Quaker growled angrily while emitting a red and yellow glow .

It was really a huge power . Faced with In-gong’s fearsome momentum, Vandal just laughed wildly and lifted his battle hammer .

Felicia’s eyes closed tightly like she couldn’t watch anymore, while Caitlin and Green Wind held hands .

Carack just laughed . As In-gong and Vandal rushed at each other, Carack spoke in a quiet voice,

“Win . ”

He didn’t say anything more . Carack then formed a fist and gazed at In-gong . He remembered the moment when he had shouted, ‘Faster than the wind!’ .

Finally, In-gong and Vandal clashed, and the roar shook the heavens and the earth .

&

In-gong spread out on the ground . His flaccid limbs spread out like a squid, but he didn’t feel like moving . No, it didn’t make sense .

In-gong was lying in a tent which was set up in the middle of the fourth base . Carack was sitting next to him .

“So, why did you act so recklessly . ”

Carack clicked his tongue and covered In-gong with a blanket . In-gong moaned and said,

“Victory . I wanted to win . ”

He hadn’t expected to level up . Although he defeated Vandal, it wasn’t reflected properly in the experience .

Carack clicked his tongue again . Even now, he could see In-gong’s last reckless attack when he closed his eyes .

Surprisingly, In-gong had allowed Vandal to strike him, and he hadn’t avoided it . In order to counterattack, In-gong had taken the brunt of Vandal’s attack .

Even more surprisingly, he had managed to endure it . The magic shield and aura barrier he created had been shattered with a loud sound, but he had been able to withstand Vandal’s left fist . Then In-gong had dealt the final blow on Vandal and won .

In the dream the Lucid Dream Pillow created, In-gong had experienced 32 deaths, and In-gong learnt many things from those deaths .

So far, In-gong had poured most of his additional points into strength . However, this time he spent a lot of points on durability as well as practicing a one-point aura defense .

For In-gong, the thing he was lacking most in was defense . He couldn’t rely solely on Green Wind to steer White Eagle . He didn’t forget that he had been driven to the brink of death by a single strike from the barbarian king .

He would have invested in agility, but this wasn’t a game . To In-gong, this was all reality .

Vandal was a rather arduous opponent for In-gong . In order to win against such an opponent, he needed to gamble . In-gong strengthened his weakness and endured Vandal’s hit instead of evading .

The result was a great success .

Moreover, it wasn’t just his defense . He had done it without activating the quad-core he shared with Caitlin . It was a true blend of aura and magic . It was still incomplete, but he was sure the direction he was moving in wasn’t wrong . It was in the distant future, but he would someday be able to add divine power and psychic power as well .

“Your eyes are burning with ambition again . ”

Carack laughed at In-gong .

“It is that obvious?”

“It is obvious . It is just burning . ”

Carack said with a smirk before looking at In-gong’s condition again . Thanks to Felicia using recovery magic while she cried, In-gong’s injuries were already better . The problem was the excessive use of aura and the exhaustion of his spirit .

It was at that moment that Carack got up suddenly . He looked at someone large who was approaching from a distance .

“Prince, it is General Vandal . ”

In-gong also saw Vandal in the mini-map . Dressed in leather pants, Vandal entered into In-gong’s tent and sat down next to the entrance .

“Prince . ”

“You came . ”

In-gong was lying down . Looking at their appearances, Vandal was the winner and In-gong was the loser .

However, In-gong was the victor of the battle . Vandal touched his belly and said .

“That was a nice blow . My stomach hurts even now . ”

“My whole body is hurting . ”

Vandal laughed at In-gong’s words . Then he looked In-gong up and down and said,

“As Prince knows, I am an advanced general of the Demon King’s Palace . It is a position that I can’t just leave . ”

The ten advanced generals of the Demon King’s Palace were pillars which maintained the army . It wasn’t a place that just anyone could rise to or simply quit after having attained it .

“But if Prince ever calls, I will run to Prince . ”

Vandal said in a gentle voice, before turning his head and coughing suddenly .

“Really . I’ve never spoken like this to anyone, even females . ”

Carack refrained from laughing, while In-gong smiled calmly and waited for Vandal’s next words .

Vandal sighed and looked back at In-gong .

“But I have to say it . I want to fight with Prince . I want to run behind Prince once more . ”

It wasn’t just because In-gong had won against Vandal . Vandal had already had the idea before today’s spar .

“On that day… I thought so when I saw Prince’s back . I decided so . ”

That day, he had been ready to die . Then at that moment, he saw the back of a king .

“It is tricky . Will this be enough?”

Vandal turned his attention to In-gong, who understood Vandal’s thoughts . In-gong forced his body upwards and said,

“It is more than enough . Then, I will appoint you . ”

Carack helped In-gong stand in front of Vandal, who naturally bowed to In-gong . Due to his size, Vandal was still eye-level with In-gong, but that didn’t matter .

In-gong stretched out his hands toward Vandal…

And Vandal was appointed as the fifth knight .

&

Zephyr raised his head and looked toward the south-east . He felt a pain in his heart, but it was just a short pain .

There was a hellish scene before Zephyr . Hundreds of bodies were on the ground, and the bodies were all destroyed .

Zephyr felt the movement of magic power . It was a magic which insulted the living and harassed the dead . Even shattered body parts were joined together again .

All of it was flowing from the heart of one man on the ground . The man, whose legs had been cut off by Zephyr, was still breathing naturally .

Necromancer Sektum…

The name was unknown, but Zephyr wasn’t stupid enough to miss the jewel before him .

Zephyr stood in front of Sektum, who had pale blonde hair and a pale face . Sektum’s blue eyes were filled with horror and terror toward Zephyr .

Zephyr stabbed a knife each in both of Sektum’s shoulders . Then he forcefully inscribed the subordinate magic on the forehead of Sektum, who thrashed and moaned with pain . It was a somewhat rough method, but it couldn’t be helped since he had no time .

After completely subduing Sektum, Zephyr looked toward the north . He could feel gazes looking at him from ridiculously far away .

Death and War…

There were things which could not be expressed .

Zephyr raised his sword and filled it with magic power . He blocked the eyes which were looking at him from a distance and lifted Sektum with telekinesis .

Once again, he looked toward the south-east .