Chapter 370

M E M O R I Z E

In that moment, the energy rising from Caligo Abraxas reversed. The ravenous aura that had been blazing as if to tear everything apart now condensed within the blade, gathering into a single, orderly form.

Splash! Splash!

The clear sound of water echoed from all around. After roughly clearing away what was in front of me, I kicked off the empty air with a magic-infused leg. While I couldn't generate the same powerful thrust as kicking off the ground, it was enough to lift my body into the air. I could feel streams of water rising to follow me, but I paid them no mind and got into position.

Lowering my head, I saw the Spirit Summoner extending her left arm toward me. A cold smile played on her lips. It was the arrogant smirk of someone certain of their victory.

I felt the energy filling the sword churn within. Deciding to wipe that arrogant smile off her face, I reversed my grip on Caligo Abraxas and pulled my right arm far back. I made a quick calculation and concluded that it was possible.

Launching myself into the air had been a move of necessity, but now that I had my target in sight, the story changed. My goal from the start was to kill her quickly and get out, and there were ways to do that without getting close. I could return her smile because I, too, had a way.

Just as gravity began to pull my body down...

The exchange of attacks between me and the Spirit Summoner happened in a flash.

Just as the woman clenched her outstretched fist, I hurled the reversed Caligo Abraxas with all my might.

The instant I threw it, dozens of streams of water coiled around me, but they quickly dissipated into the air like watercolor paint. It was to be expected. Of course, the damage would accumulate, but I couldn't imagine it breaking through my magic resistance—a resistance acknowledged even by Mabolo with his 100 Magic Power—in a single blow.

“Got her.”

This time, it was I who was certain of victory. The sword, thrown with all my strength, plummeted in a straight line, spreading an ominous aura. At its destination was the Spirit Summoner. Her smooth brow was now deeply furrowed, perhaps after seeing her ability fizzle out so pathetically.

Kyaaaaaah!

Caligo Abraxas shot forward, drawing a straight line as it was about to pierce the Spirit Summoner. Suddenly, the woman waved her hand lightly and mumbled something. As a mass of water rose from the air like a phantom, I immediately shouted the incantation.

“Broken Fragments.”

CRASH!

In that instant, Caligo Abraxas erupted in a violent explosion. As if a grenade had gone off, finely shattered, jet-black fragments spread out and engulfed the Spirit Summoner. At the same time, I felt my body drop, followed by a massive boom that rang in my ears. As I fell, I glanced back and saw a hot wind of intermingled black and blue rising up.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Splash!

The wind, swaying back and forth as if dancing, finally rose up as if stretching its body. And in that fleeting moment, the jet-black color mixed in the wind scattered in all directions like blooming flower petals.

I landed on the ground and questioned the result at almost the same time. I quickly raised my head and looked toward the location I had noted earlier. There, I saw the Spirit Summoner, still standing on her own two feet, though her entire body was scorched. She was still alive.

“...Huh.”

The moment I saw the massive being standing in front of her, I understood the situation. What I had seen earlier wasn't wind. It was an optical illusion of a being taking form.

And the massive water giant before me, eight meters in diameter, announced the appearance of the Spirit King. Just as the satyr had appeared out of nowhere, the Water Spirit King had suddenly revealed itself.

“I had a feeling... Good thing I prepared this for you. You monster.”

But before I could get a good look at its majestic form, a calm voice flowed out from the misty fog that was creeping in and consuming the surroundings. It wasn't Korean, so I couldn't understand it completely. But seeing the Spirit Summoner smile at me, I didn't get a good feeling.

I sighed and composed myself. The Spirit Summoner's complexion was pale. It seemed she had exhausted her strength by revealing the Spirit King she had been saving. But the important thing was that my last attack had failed to achieve its objective. At least “Broken Fragments” seemed to have dealt some initial damage, but an aqueous light was flowing ceaselessly over the woman's body, healing her wounds.

My next worry became reality as I looked around. Before I knew it, the mages and archers, having reloaded, were all aiming at me. I bit my lip.

“I'll kill you.”

It was then. A voice filled with killing intent, unbefitting the speaker's neat appearance and calm tone, echoed through the area. And that became the signal to resume the “Concentrated Fire”.

Boom! Boom!

Countless spells shot into the sky, then rained down on me. Seeing that, I deeply regretted leaving my other sword behind.

But as the countless magical spears and blades plummeted toward me, I raised my one remaining sword, not even thinking about retrieving Caligo Abraxas. I knew it would be difficult, but I began to swing my sword at the incoming, simultaneous attacks.

Bang, bang, boom! Bang, boom!

The moment the clash began, a faint tremor ran through my body. I was swinging wildly to block everything, but these were the same spells I couldn't completely block even with two swords. Even if I could knock down three or four with each swing, I didn't have the skill to block dozens at once with just a single sword.

I was cutting down as many as I could see, but there were attacks I missed, ones that were outside my field of vision. As proof, the ripples of impact across my body grew stronger with each passing moment.

Swoosh! Swoosh!

But as if they wouldn't allow even the slightest opening, the sound of innumerable arrows tearing through the air followed. I didn't have to see to know that a volley of arrows was next. I cursed inwardly and, with no other choice, activated Phase Shift.

In an instant, the scenery before my eyes changed, and just as expected, I saw dozens of aqueous beams of light striking the spot where I had just been. They were the same beams I had seen the water spirits use against Vivian's demonic beast army. But their thickness and intensity were incomparable. I held Victoria's Glory in front of my head and wrapped myself tightly in the Blue Dragon Knight's Cloak.

Poof!

A beam grazed my shoulder. And with that as a start, a rain of light beams poured down mercilessly into the circular space I had created.

Poof! Poof! Poof! Poof!

My magic resistance flared instinctively, clashing with the relentless downpour. Countless ripples of impact erupted in every direction, and the scattered water soaked my body.

This is...

Poof! Poof! Poof! Poof!

It felt like standing in the middle of a downpour. I felt dull impacts on my shoulder, thigh, and foot. I even felt something tear across my back, followed by the cool sensation of water running down it.

A moment later.

As the rain of light subsided, leaving the ground muddy, a great cheer erupted from the surroundings. Amid the cheers (though not for me, of course), I slowly pushed myself up. The artificially created mist began to clear, and at the same time, the cheering stopped abruptly.

For some reason, my back felt strangely exposed. But I calmly shook the water from my hair.

Blessing of the Battlefield, Glory of Heaven and Sun, and the Blue Dragon Knight's Cloak. The magic resistance created by this trifecta had blocked the Spirit King's attack.

I shook my head once more to get rid of the remaining water and roused my magic again.

“Phew.”

The current situation was clearly a crisis. My magic resistance was solid for now, so I could somehow endure it, but if these coordinated attacks continued, there was no telling when it would break. The damage I had accumulated so far was probably nothing to scoff at either.

It was time to make a decision to find a way out.

“The distance is about 60 meters...

“——, ——, ——.”

“Sons of bitches.”

But the sound of incantations and arrows being nocked on bowstrings made me cut my thoughts short. I poured the magic I had raised into Victoria's Glory.

To be honest, there was nothing left to think about. My attempt to snipe her with Caligo Abraxas had failed. In that case, the only path left was to charge. If I could just get into the middle of their ranks, I would be somewhat free from the “Concentrated Fire” like before.

I let my sword hang low and paused for a moment. I began to clear my mind of everything but a single thought.

“60 meters left... 60 meters left....”

I artificially heightened my concentration. I could feel my breathing lengthen. At the same time, Victoria's Glory, imbued with magic, began to emit a mystical light. And when the energy began to spill over the blade in waves, I kicked off the ground without delay and charged.

From now on, I had to use my speed to move as much as possible. Having started a charge into an organized formation, the moment I stopped, I would be bombarded. The thought that I could die the instant I stopped moving made me raise my sword, more tense than I had ever been.

The distance to the enemies closed in an instant. I brushed past a man who was beat too slow in raising his shield and swiftly thrust my sword into his neck. Then, I released a wave from the tip of the piercing blade, and a pure white sword aura swept over the enemy's front line.

Stepping on the enemies who fell with short screams, I swung my sword without rest. They were packed so tightly that they just ran into my blade as I swung.

Slice! Slice!

Like running a weed whacker through dense grass, several heads flew into the air in an instant, and bloody threads trailing from my sword's tip embroidered the air.

Perhaps not expecting such a reckless charge from me, the archer in front of me stood with his mouth agape. As I faithfully thrust my sword into the opening, I felt the presence of melee fighters charging from both sides. I twisted my sword to pull it out, sent out a couple of light waves, and immediately threw myself forward.

There was no time to check what happened. It was a scene of utter carnage. A battle of simply killing and killing whatever came my way. With every swing of my sword, blood and flesh scattered in all directions.

Thwack!

It was then. As I pulled my sword back to swing again, I felt something slam into my back. The pain wasn't great, but it was incredibly annoying.

Still, it couldn't be helped. Assessing my surroundings and responding to each threat was a luxury I couldn't afford. I only minimally defended the vital spots on the parts of my body not covered by armor. Leaving the attacks from my blind spots to my senses alone, I charged, and charged again, toward the Spirit Summoner.

In this situation, what helped me keep moving was the authority of my Secret Class.

The Authorities “Can cut through anything” and “Grants a positive effect to all actions related to the sword” were truly incredible. No matter how hard something was, I cut through it like paper. On top of that, the combination of Victoria's Glory, which already had outstanding cutting power, and my 96 Magic Power stat amplified those Authorities even further.

Although it was a reckless charge, it was certainly effective. The distance to the Spirit Summoner, which had seemed impossible to close, began to shrink. Her figure, which I had only been able to glimpse before, was now slowly coming into full view.

But such a charge, which disregarded all defense, was bound to have its price. It's difficult to throw an organized formation into chaos again, especially when I was alone. Although I had escaped the barrage of magic and arrows, I couldn't ignore the attacks from the countless weapons raining down on me.

Pang!

As I hurriedly raised my left arm to block a strike from behind, a spear that slipped past my side pierced the enemy in front of me. Feeling grateful, I kicked the man in the chest and was about to leap over him.

“Guh!”

But someone must have kicked him back; because for a moment, the man's back arched like a bow and he flew back toward me. Following that, a sword shot out, grazing the corpse's ear.

“Ugh!”

I managed to twist my head away quickly, but the unexpected attack that had obscured my vision forced me to stop. And the price for that momentary pause was paid in full, just as I had feared.

Swoosh! Swoosh!

As if to take revenge for having struck nothing but empty air until now, countless weapons came for me without mercy.

I immediately twisted my body and somersaulted through the air, but I couldn't completely evade their attacks.

The spear that grazed my neck was a stroke of immense luck. But I felt faint impacts on my stomach and thigh, and a stinging pain on my back.

And I instinctively frowned at the throbbing pain that began to radiate from my left hand, though I didn't know when it had been injured. Something warm was trickling down. But that was only for a moment. I grit my teeth and kicked off the ground with renewed force.

Thankfully, my various pieces of equipment were blocking the critical hits, but a physical defense that relied entirely on gear had its limits. If my Durability stat hadn't reached 92, I would have been pierced somewhere long ago.

I let out a deep breath and quickly gauged the distance. The initial 60 meters had been halved, leaving only 30. But the further I went, the more solid the enemy formation became, and most importantly, the Spirit King stood guard in front of the Spirit Summoner.

What choice should I make here?

“30 meters left... 30 meters left...

“......”

“This is it.”

Deciding it was time to make my move, I came to a dead stop. Then, borrowing the power of my boots, I kicked off the ground with all my might.

It was a leap using the Orthos Boots, signaling the first of the three-stage flight I was about to perform.