Chapter 181

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Translated by Pratt

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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Two branching paths appeared before the Pegasus Raid Force. Scout captain Gesling closed his eyes and sent his mana outward.

Grrraaaah!

At that moment, undead soldiers appeared from both passages. They filled the corridors completely and came surging forward like a flood. Then Gesling opened his eyes.

“The right passage. There is a living reaction there.”

“You all heard him. Block the left passage and assault the right.”

Attack team leader Bronson immediately gave the order. The martial-type Awakened moved in perfect unison.

Kwaaang!

Under their attack, the left corridor collapsed in its entirety. Naturally, the undead soldiers there were buried beneath the rubble as well. Once they no longer had to worry about the left corridor, the Awakened focused solely on the undead soldiers flooding from the right.

“We need to find the core and destroy it.”

At this point, the most valuable people were Gesling and the other Awakened with detection skills.

“The core is hidden in the left side of the waist.”

While the martial-types held back the undead soldiers, those with detection skills located the position of the cores. Then the magic-types precisely launched spells and struck the cores.

Pubububung!

With explosions, the undead fell. And they did not move again a second time. Once the core was destroyed, they could no longer resurrect. That was the method the Pegasus Raid Force had found. Instead of attacking blindly, they found the core, struck it with precision, and eliminated any possibility of resurrection. After many trials and errors, they had finally found a method for taking the castle. All of it had been possible because Lee Ji-ryeong had bought them time with his overwhelming power.

“Hold the line!”

At Bronson’s order, the martial-types blocked the undead soldiers. While they held the line, the magic-types prepared their skills and destroyed the cores.

As the sequence repeated, defense and attack were carried out like a precision machine without the slightest error.

Lee Ji-ryeong watched the sight in silence.

This was why he had created the Pegasus Raid Force.

He could have swept everything away by himself.

But if he did that, the raid force would never grow any further.

Only if the Pegasus Raid Force grew could he himself look toward greater heights.

The Awakened who fought through such battles would grow quickly, become elites, and then become the solid footing beneath him.

No one could ever reach a high place alone.

There had to be those beneath, supporting him firmly.

He could not run alone.

They had to grow together.

That was why Lee Ji-ryeong stood one step back and watched the raid force attack.

Fortunately, up to now they had lived up to his expectations.

Though the casualties had been greater than he would have liked.

At that moment, Lee Ji-ryeong’s gaze turned toward Levin.

Levin, in his ghostified state, was releasing lightning.

Levin’s unique Purple Lightning not only destroyed the cores but also burned the undead soldiers’ bodies clean away.

Its precision was still lacking somewhat, but its power was far beyond ordinary lightning skills.

That was why Lee Ji-ryeong wanted him.

As a lightning-type Awakened himself, he was confident he could raise Levin well.

The problem was that Levin had no intention of following him.

Levin trusted Zeon deeply.

As long as Zeon lived, Levin would never follow him.

‘Levin and Zeon…’

At that moment, what floated into Lee Ji-ryeong’s mind was a heavenly balance scale.

He imagined Zeon on one side and Levin on the other and watched to see which way the weight would tilt.

‘Interesting.’

Contrary to the thought, Lee Ji-ryeong’s eyes turned cold.

Kwakwakwa!

Even in that moment, the Pegasus Raid Force kept taking the castle steadily.

The undead soldiers were no longer a match for the raid force.

“Good. We will take it quickly.”

“Push through like this.”

Confidence among the Awakened rose to the skies.

Just as the thought that they would conquer the castle soon passed through all their minds, Giiiiing!

As if to shatter that confidence, the corridor walls opened and figures in knightly armor appeared.

“Now what?”

“Undead knights this time?”

At a glance, they gave off a presence incomparably stronger than the undead soldiers.

Lee Ji-ryeong shouted, “Everyone be careful. These are on a different level from the ones we have seen so far.”

“Yes!”

Tension lit the Awakened’s faces.

They too could feel the strength of the undead knights.

In the next instant, the undead knights attacked.

Whooom!

Their swords split the darkness.

One martial-type Awakened, the target of the strike, shouted and swung his sword to meet them.

“Don’t look down on me, you rotten bastards.”

He was a C-rank martial-type Awakened whose main weapon was the sword.

In an instant, his sword split into three.

One sword to block, a second to create an opening, and the third to counterattack.

Slash!

But none of his swords ever touched the undead knight.

The undead knight’s sword severed both his sword and his body at the same time.

“Uh… uh!”

Unable to believe it, the Awakened opened and closed his mouth before collapsing to the floor in two pieces.

“Shit! That’s aura.”

“The undead use aura.”

“This is insane.”

As the Awakened shouted, ominous black aura was blazing upon the undead knights’ swords.

The fact that a whole flock of undead could use aura, something only B-rank and higher martial-type Awakened could use, struck the Pegasus Raid Force like a hammer.

At that moment, lightning flashed through the corridor.

Lee Ji-ryeong had fired lightning.

The Awakened had no doubt the lightning would roast the undead knights alive.

But something happened that made them question their own eyes.

Saaaaak!

A black barrier appeared before the undead knights.

The barrier deflected the lightning barrage to the side.

Though it shattered immediately after, it had still protected the undead knights from the lightning.

“Aura… shield?”

“This is absurd. What corpse bastard uses aura shield?”

Among martial-types, only B-rank and above could produce aura shield.

That meant the undead knights before them possessed power on par with B-rank martial-type Awakened.

Their combat power was similar, but the advantage was with the undead knights.

Because they were undead.

So long as their cores were not destroyed, no matter how grievous their wounds, they did not die.

Even if their heads were cut off.

On top of that, the undead knights knew how to use aura freely.

Using aura for both offense and defense, the ones being overwhelmed were the human Awakened.

“Kraaagh!”

“Ugh!”

The Awakened standing in front collapsed with screams.

Killed by the undead knights.

The problem came after that.

Grrraaaah!

Those Awakened slain by the undead knights rose to their feet.

“What?”

“Why are they…”

The eyes of the resurrected Awakened were filled with black energy.

They turned at once and attacked their former comrades.

“Goddamn!”

“Those bastards became undead.”

“If you die to an undead knight, you become undead too. Shit!”

The Awakened were horrified.

To the raid force, death was like an untrustworthy friend.

It was always beside them, and if they relaxed for an instant, it could stab them at any time.

That was why they were always prepared for death, and why they had the confidence to accept it calmly.

But resurrecting as undead was a different matter entirely.

For the first time, terror appeared upon the faces of the Awakened.

Lee Ji-ryeong noticed their agitation and clenched his teeth.

‘Can’t be helped. I wanted to face the boss while preserving as much strength as possible.’

Even Lee Ji-ryeong did not possess infinite mana.

When he used powerful skills, he consumed enormous amounts of mana, and it took quite a long time to replenish it.

That was why he had stepped in only when absolutely necessary, and thanks to that, he had not overused his mana.

But now was no longer the time to calculate this and that.

Even at this very moment, the Awakened at the front were being killed by the undead knights.

And those dead Awakened were reviving as undead and attacking their comrades.

For now they were barely holding them back.

But once the number of dead increased past a certain point, the balance of power would break.

Their side would shrink while the enemy’s forces only kept increasing, and the advantage would reverse.

He had to end it before that happened.

“Hoo.”

Lee Ji-ryeong took a long breath and prepared to unleash his strongest skill.

Crackle! Crackle!

Sparks surged violently around his body.

Seeing that, Bronson shouted, “It is the Lightning God’s Punishment. Front line, everyone fall back. Now!”

Lightning God’s Punishment, the ultimate skill that had made Lee Ji-ryeong what he was today.

The Awakened who knew its power all hurriedly retreated.

Watching them, Levin wore a curious expression.

‘Just how powerful is it?’

That was when it happened.

Flash!

Lightning on a completely different level from anything before exploded from Lee Ji-ryeong’s body.

So powerful it felt like it would blind the eyes, the lightning struck the undead knights directly.

The undead knights immediately raised aura shields to protect themselves.

They seemed confident that since they had blocked it before, they could block it again now.

But the result was different from what they expected.

Pakaeng!

With the sound of shattering glass, the black aura shields broke apart into fragments.

With the protection of aura shield lost, the lightning struck the undead knights directly.

The lightning bored straight into their bodies.

Pubububuk!

The bodies of the undead knights exploded like firecrackers.

If that had been all, they might still have revived.

But the lightning destroyed their cores as well.

The undead knights ceased to exist.

Only black ash remained where they had stood.

It truly was like punishment descending from a lightning god.

Looking at the corridor scorched black, Eloy muttered, “That crazy bastard. How is that only A-rank? Isn’t he already S-rank?”

***

Psssss!

Dust as fine as sand was scattering through the air.

It was what remained of the beings once called Interrogators.

Zeon had ground them apart with Exium.

The Interrogators did not revive.

Their cores too had been ground away.

When the Interrogators died, the tortured Awakened quietly breathed their last as well.

Even as they died, they smiled.

Because only in death could they finally become free.

“May you at least go to a good place…”

There were no more undead left to block Zeon.

Even so, Zeon did not lower his guard.

This was the kind of dungeon that was counted among the worst of all, a dungeon where the dead moved about.

It was not merely hard to deal with, but because it threw such unpredictable situations at him.

That was when it happened.

Swoosh!

A ghostlike being tore through the wall and revealed itself.

It was the Grim Reaper, carrying a huge Scythe of Death.

As if warning Zeon not to come any closer, it pointed the scythe at him.

It was the Grim Reaper that had abducted Cha Jin-cheol.

The Grim Reaper fixed its robe and stared at Zeon as if declaring it would never let him pass.

Flames rose in the Grim Reaper’s eyes as it glared at Zeon.

“So you are the final gatekeeper?”