Chapter 34 - Ice Sword 2 (2/2)
“Am I able to control it as well?”
“It’s possible if you were protected by a certain set of runes.”
With the right combination of runes engraved upon his armor, he might be able to resist the sword’s influence despite his Spirit Stat being too low.
The biggest problem would be finding a blacksmith on the Eeth continent with such a mastery of runes.
Of course, Woohyuk himself wasn’t at all worried because he already knew where to find the very best blacksmith.
“It’s easier than I expected.”
[Runesmith Dexter]
If he had been able to survive until the very end, it would be difficult to say if Woohyuk would still have been able to keep his position as the strongest human, and that is after considering that he didn’t even have a Combat Class.
While thinking about him, he gathered the loot in the cave.
* * *
Isaac's death certainly led to a collapse in his group. Colton, who had been his second in command, tried to keep his forces united, but struggled because his Crown tier wasn’t high enough.
Within their camp, it was only Colton that was aware that Woohyuk was behind his leader’s death. This was because the fact that they had set out to kill Woohyuk was a tightly held secret that couldn’t be easily spread.
No one else could even suspect Woohyuk of any wrongdoings since he returned to the Fortress within a day’s time. The absence of any red marker was the biggest proof that he didn’t have anything to do with it.
Naturally everyone just concluded that Isaac and his subordinates had been unlucky and fallen to a pack of Griffons.
As the situation began to stabilize, Woohyuk sent Lee Jaesung to the left path. On his way back he had gone and activated the Guard Tower near the Bronze Rock Mountain, so now the only one remaining was the last one on the left path.
There were a few voices here and there that said that the center path wasn’t secure, but they were the minority. Currently Woohyuk was the one with the most clout in their faction, as rumors spread that despite having a small team, he was a Silver Crown leader with considerable skill.
That, combined with Hong Yuri’s full support and the fact that he was basically unopposed, he became the faction’s Commander in Chief.
“Is the food good?”
Woohyuk asked Leifina who seemed to be engrossed in her roasted Lizardman.
They had been together for two days now, and just finished their raid on the Banshee’s Temple. Now only the Naga Temple was left.
“Yes! It’s better than I had expected.”
“That’s good.”
“But Master, can I try cooking next time? I seem to struggle every time….”
“No, that’s impossible.”
Hearing Woohyuk’s harsh rejection, Leifina couldn’t help but be a bit confused.
Didn’t he really claim that she couldn’t ever cook?
As the situation became increasingly awkward, Woohyuk clarified.
“Cooking can also be considered a form of battle. A single mistake and the food won’t turn our well, which can negatively affect your allies.”
“That’s true, but…”
“Trust me, you are good with a sword and have a beautiful appearance, but God is fair and you simply don’t have any housewife skills.”
Leifina instantly blushed hearing the praise.
As she turned silent, Woohyuk continued to eat, enjoying the savory meat with chewy texture.
If it had been done by Leifina, it would never have turned out this way.
As he imagined what her burnt Lizard meat might look like, he heard the sound of someone approaching.
Based on their stride, height and footsteps, it was likely a player and not another Naga.
It seemed that they were a rather large party, and had decided to attack the temple as one.
Keeping an eye on them, Woohyuk handed Leifina the Banshee’s Cloak.
“Put this on for now, we have some visitors.”
A Hidden Piece that could turn the wearer invisible so long as you had enough Mana to supply it.
In order to obtain it, Woohyuk had to endure endless shrieks the other night. A situation where the average person would have long been driven mad.
If a group of adventurers were to encounter such shrieks, it was likely to result in a similar situation to what happened back at the Vampire bat cave.
However they were now at the Naga temple. A place infested with Nagas, a serpent-like creature with four arms.
“Oh, so it was Chun Woohyuk. Were you hunting here all by yourself?”
Colton said with a friendly smile.
A tier 1 Bronze Crown leader, but the number in his group far exceeded the maximum capacity of his party.
He currently had about 30 people with him, and if you accounted for those that had been left behind as lookouts at the guard towers, he had about 60 followers at the moment.
A situation where he had absorbed most of Isaac’s forces.
“One of my party members returned to the Fortress just now to take care of some stuff, but I have no qualms being alone here.”
Those manning the Guard Tower had seen him arrive with Leifina, so it wasn’t like he could deny her existence.
Colton, feeling something was off, looked at the surroundings in amazement.
“Did you handle all these monsters?”
“No way...”
Although Nagas looked similar to the Lizardmen, they were considerably taller with hard scales.
Not to mention that it was difficult to deal any damage to them in the first place because they could wield ancient magic spells like Shrink and Blink
Breaking out of his stupor, Colton continued.
“Would you like to join us? After all, we don’t know what’s behind there.”
At the end of the passage stood a large bronze door, with unique patterns on it.
Pretty much anyone that had survived this far could guess that a Boss monster resided behind them.
“It’s fine as long as you don’t get in my way.”
He didn’t know what his intentions were, but he knew that he was up to no good.
If he let him escape with a Return Stone, he might be back with reinforcements.
Woohyuk opened the bronze door, giving Colton’s group a friendly smile.
* * *
“Geuh…”
Colton spat out a mouthful of blood as he collapsed to the ground. Around there were countless corpses that had suffered the same fate.
A one-sided massacre.
Despite having attacked Woohyuk sneakily while he was supposed to be focused on the Naga Boss.
“Shit…”
He thought that he would be able to kill Woohyuk
Although he was busy because he needed a higher tier in order to properly unite the group that had begun to drift ever since their leader’s death.
Of course he still had to take revenge for his Master’s death.
At first he pretended to be weak, letting them attack him, but suddenly he seemed like a completely different person as he had burst out with his full strength.
‘I shouldn’t have tried going after him.’
At first he had thought that it was only due to being tricked in some way that Isaac had fallen to Woohyuk. There was no way that he wouldn’t be able to kill him despite their advantage in numbers.
‘Unbelievable.’
It was only as he drew his last breath that he realized the depths of Woohyuk’s strength.
A truly terrifying being, one that Isaac couldn’t even hold a candle to.
“How do you feel, being cut down by the one you used to follow?”
Woohyuk asked in a flat voice. Before him stood the pale undead Isaac, wielding a Bastard sword.
Class: Dark Knight Commander (Humanoid)
Abilities: Leadership (200), Death Templar (Can raise his victims as Dark Knights), Darkness Slash (Sends out a black wave of up to 100m), Aura of Death ( +10 to all stats of allied Undead within a 35m radius) Enchanted Darkness ( weapon gains the Darkness attribute).
Stats:
Strength: 116
Vitality: 98
Dexterity: 103
Intelligence: 58
Spirit: 72
The reason he summoned him was to test the Death Templar ability. It was quite the unusual skill and he wondered what the difference would be between that and his own Rise ability.
Puuk!
The Bastard Sword pierced right through Colton’s plate armor, stabbing into his heart. The sword sharpness had been greatly improved due to the Dark energy surrounding it.
Woohyuk watched the situation unfold, curious as to what might happen.
It didn’t take long for Colton to rise, a Dark energy likewise being emitted from his sabre.
‘There is an extra ability.’
His undead summons however didn’t gain that darkness attribute, and their Stats were also a bit lower.
As Woohyuk stood there with a satisfied expression, Leifina appeared from behind him.
“Master, allow me to fight next time. It is shameful for a knight to stand by and watch as their Lord is in danger.”
“This was nothing, we still have a long road ahead of us.”
Woohyuk said as he placed his hand on Leifina’s shoulder.
“Become strong enough to always stand by my side. Until that time comes, I’ll protect you instead.”
As their eyes ment, Leifina couldn’t help but shyly avert her gaze
“...Okay.”