Chapter 137
“It can’t be!” The holder of the Earth seat, Marcus, exclaimed in disbelief. If Evergrant had discovered evidence of a ‘magic swordsman,’ then he could have accepted it.
However, Jerath dek Orbis was a different matter entirely. He was the whole reason why the Magic Tower had been studying magic swordsmen for decades, and his disappearance gave the Magic Tower the opportunity to study Battle Mages.
If he returned, then there would be no need for them to continue what they were doing.
“Jerath dek Orbis! It has been twenty years since he vanished, but he didn’t even show up when his kid died, so how could he still be alive?” asked Marcus.
“I am of the same mind, Tower Master.” Elisha supported Marcus’ words and said, “Aside from being the first Battle Mage of the continent, he’s the only human being who knows how to enter the Elven Forest. Every single influence on this continent has always been chasing after him, so information about his traces would be extremely valuable. However, I just cannot believe that the traitor Evergrant was the one who discovered traces of him.”
“You’re right, Elisha. Any knowledge about Jerath is extremely valuable,” Tower Master Ian said, “So let me ask you this. What if someone wants to make a deal with the Magic Tower using Jerath’s information, should I refuse the deal as the Tower Master?”
“That’s…” Elisha’s mouth fluttered, but she didn’t speak in the end.
The answer to the question was obvious. Information about the Elven Forest would always be valuable, no matter which organization had such information in its hands. There were many unique magical ingredients that could be found there, so mages would always be salivating whenever a research topic was about elves, a race loved by mana and spirits.
But was that really it? If one acquired Jerath dek Orbis’ research on battle mages, they would be able to fight A-Class Knights.
‘Yes, it’s completely understandable. No one will be able to resist once they learn about Evergant and Jerath’s ties,’?muttered Tower Master Ian.
“Theta’s mission and this transaction—I simply made the most logical choice as the current Tower Master of the Magic Tower. I put a great deal of thought into this and concluded that it was necessary.”
“May I ask a question?” asked Marcus.
Ian nodded without saying anything.
“Is the Tower Master sure that our Magic Tower will benefit from this deal?” Marcus asked, “Please tell us the truth.”
“Well, Evergrant’s request seemed fair, and…” After trailing off, Tower Master Ian said with bright eyes, “I’m Ian tun Murray, the current Tower Master of the Magic Tower as well as an Archmage, and there’s no way I would lead us to ruin, right?”
A deafening descended at that.
Marcus stared wide-eyed at Tower Master Ian, but no one else spoke afterward.
***
There was a black figure in front of him.
His instincts were screaming that power, along with other things, was sleeping in the black figure’s body. The most prominent was demonic power, which was unrivaled when it came to laying waste.
‘With this power, I’ll make that Death Knight kneel…’
Nothing else could force that Death Knight to his knees aside from demonic power tremendously more powerful than what the Death Knight itself was emitting.
Brrr.
The Death Knight was trembling in response to Joshua’s demonic power, but it finally responded by lifting its sword.
Wooooong.?
An abyssal light enveloped the blade as a humming noise echoed throughout the darkness.
Death Blade.
Death Blade—it was on par with the pinnacle of the Aura Blade, which was a unique ability of an A-Class Knight.
Flash!
The Death Knight disappeared in the blink of an eye before reappearing in front of Joshua.
However, Joshua seemed calm at the ambush as he thrust his spear forward.
The resulting collision between two tremendous amalgamations of magic filled the chamber they were in with loud noises akin to rocks crumbling to pieces.
“...”
The Death Knight was forced back five steps, and it swept its gaze around, looking for Joshua.
The demonic power leaking off his body gave Joshua a unique appearance—his deep blue eyes were stained black as night, and his unblemished white cheeks were marred with black veins like he had been struck by lightning.
“If you’re not going to attack, I will,” muttered Joshua, seemingly unharmed.
This was the first A-Class creature Joshua had ever fought since his regression. It was even an untiring Death Knight. Even worse, death knights usually possessed the swordsmanship they had while they were still alive, so they were definitely difficult to deal with.
A death knight was a difficult foe to vanquish—yes, but it mostly applied only to ordinary people.
The young man standing before the Death Knight was none other than Joshua Sanders.
Joshua’s muscles bulged. He lowered his stance and pointed the spearhead at the monster while concentrating his Aura Blade on the tip of his spear. The First Form of Magic Spear Arts Level 1 was the most concise and straightforward technique in Joshua’s arsenal. However, it should never be underestimated because it was Joshua’s quickest technique.
‘Magic Spear Arts Level 1…’
‘First Form: Lightning Flash.’
Swoosh.
Rather than the typical pure white color of Joshua’s lighting, the coin-sized mote of mana drew a beam of black light as it tore through the air.
It was so fast it broke the sound barrier.
The Death Knight reluctantly lifted its blade.
Clang!
An incomparably loud noise boomed through the chamber, and dust fell from the ceiling as though the entire room was about to collapse.
“...”
In the blink of an eye, Joshua traversed the room and arrived on the other side while holding Lugia. A dark afterimage traced his movements, confusing the death knight.
Brrrrr.
The Death Knight didn’t manage to escape unscathed from Joshua’s Lightning Flash, and it staggered because there was a gaping hole on its right shoulder.
However, dense smoke was rising from the wound.
Joshua's eyes brightened as the smoke in the room slowly dissipated.
A death knight would have an extraordinary regenerative capability, and it was one of the reasons why they were incredibly hard to deal with. It hadn’t even been half a minute since the Death Knight was struck by Joshua’s Lightning Flash, but its injury had already healed.
Fortunately, a death knight had one fatal weakness. They could regenerate endlessly as long as they had magic, but once their mana was exhausted, they would lose their regenerative ability. It also meant that there was a considerable distance between the Death Knight and its summoner.
This only meant one thing for Joshua.
Joshua knew that as well, and his eyes brightened upon realizing it.
“Mine,” a greedy creature muttered in his head, “Don’t let anyone steal that away from you.”
The greed was gnawing away at Joshua’s consciousness.
“Hooo.” Joshua took a long breath to vanquish the desire that had risen to the top of his head.
Meanwhile, the Death Knight seemed to be busy with something. Could it be that it became afraid of Joshua because it was now preparing to use its trump card?
The Death Knight struggled to gather all its power, and the dense, black smoke around it started to coalesce at one location. The black smoke eventually gathered and enveloped its sword. The sword was a manifestation of Death Blade, and it looked like an ordinary longsword. However, it was slowly transforming into something else.
“...!” Joshua’s eyes widened at the sight. He could recall that death knights had a special ability called ‘Sword Transformation.’ It was an ability that turned a death knight’s weapon into something similar to what it had been using while it was still alive.
The Death Knight’s weapon emitted a black, abyssal glow as it grew in size and length. It looked like an ordinary longsword just a few moments ago, but now, it seemed to have become a broadsword.
However, it seemed that the Death Knight wasn’t done transforming its weapon just yet.
“What is this…” Joshua muttered blankly while staring at the Death Knight’s weapon.
The blade of the Death Knight’s weapon transformed into a unique sword that looked like a sawtooth sword. It became a weapon that closely resembled a carpenter shark’s rostrum, and hence how it got the name “Neptunus’ Tooth”.
There was only one person who wielded such a unique sword.
“This doesn’t make sense. He—” Joshua started muttering, but his eyes suddenly shot open.
The Death Knight was standing still, but it had assumed an unusual stance. It was holding its sword in both hands on the right side of its body, but the tip of the sword was touching the ground.
Upon seeing that, Joshua became sure of it.
“An individual who should soon take part in the Masters Battle came here? And even ended up dying and becoming a Death Knight?”
Joshua had no time to wonder as the Death Knight’s sword struck the ground, causing a rumbling that made it seem like the earth was about to split in two. Sparks flew as well as the sword’s serrated edges scraped against the stone floor.
Each serrated edge of the sword was imbued with Aura Blade, and the shockwaves it made as it collided with the floor kicked up a cloud of dust before crashing into Joshua, seemingly wanting to tear him apart.
There was only one place in the continent where such esoteric swordsmanship was famous. It was none other than the distant reaches of the Swallow Empire’s northern region.
Even between the lands of the three great powers of the continent, one could only count those who were truly powerful on one hand. The Death Knight standing in front of Joshua was a vanquished foe of His Highness Ulabis of the Principality of Thran, but he truly deserved the title of ‘Master.’
It was the Unique Skill of the Wild King.
“Wolf Fang’s Sword… Howl of the Wolves.”
When the words left his mouth, Joshua swung Lugia in an arch, causing yet another massive boom to echo throughout the entire castle.
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