Chapter 98 – Black Knight (1)

After escaping the lord’s village being smashed by the Bigfoots, the party kept running without looking back.

A little later, when the village disappeared from sight, the party slowed down. Fortunately, the monsters didn’t seem to care about the party at all.

Sun-woo led the party along roads people had traveled, unlike when coming.

“Will it be okay? If we travel by road, we’ll encounter contaminated humans… Even if Sun-woo-ssi can know in advance, won’t it be dangerous?”

To Daniel’s question, Sun-woo rather threw a question to Michael.

“Do you feel danger right now?”

At Sun-woo’s question, Michael shook his head.

“It’s fine? Don’t feel tense either. What’s going on?”

At Michael’s words, the party looked at Sun-woo with curious expressions.

Sun-woo took out the <Kraken’s Core> from his pocket.

“It’s because of this. Even at the target village, when we entered the village, the contaminated people ran away. Right now too, contaminated people and beasts near the road are avoiding us. They seem to recognize this gem, no, the core as a monster called Kraken.”

He didn’t know how this core made contaminated humans run away, but having learned they avoided it, using it was the right answer.

“I can know in advance about contaminated ability users or strong monsters this item doesn’t work on, so there won’t be major problems.”

“Alright! Then, we can go comfortably now?”

Michael immediately stretched and loosened his tensed body. And as if Michael’s words became a catalyst, the party began walking with somewhat relaxed appearances.

---

The next day, after spending the night in an abandoned house, the party stopped walking at Sun-woo’s signal around morning.

Because many people were caught in Sun-woo’s sorcery.

“Beyond the hill, numerous contaminated humans and ability users are fighting. Maybe because they’re fighting, they’re not avoiding us even after entering the range.”

Sun-woo pointed at the low hill ahead while speaking.

“If they won’t avoid us, we can just go around, right?”

“But if they’re fighting, we should help them?”

Opinions split between Michael and Hayden, but at Sun-woo’s mediation that followed, the entire party agreed.

“Let’s check the situation first then decide? Fortunately, they’re absorbed in fighting, so if we approach carefully, they won’t notice.”

The party carefully advanced toward the hill, and shortly after climbing up the hill, as soon as they confirmed beyond the hill, they immediately ran down the hill.

Because the opponents fighting contaminated humans were the summoner team that crossed to this world together with them.

Moreover, the numbers decreased with only two people visible, and at that, the gravity ability user Diane seemed injured, leaning against one side holding her arm.

And before her, the black knight alone was blocking contaminated soldiers. The opponents were dozens of soldiers holding spears and swords, with ability users visible in between too.

Against such enemies, the knight was displaying tremendous divine might.

The knight was blocking all their attacks and even counterattacking. With people fallen on the floor numbering as many as those attacking, they could tell how well he fought.

His sword emitted faint light, blocking and cutting down charging enemies, and his black armor reduced to rags was still blocking enemy weapons and even superpowers.

“Good heavens, what kind of monster is that again?”

While running down the hill, Michael grumbled. One person like Sun-woo getting insanely strong was enough. In a situation where he already felt irritated for continuously falling behind others, a human growing strong like Sun-woo appearing, even if an ally, couldn’t help but provoke jealousy.

The other party members also had very surprised expressions.

But fortunately(?), the knight’s abilities that became far superior compared to before didn’t seem to continue. The light flowing in his sword gradually faded even as the party watched, and his body was gradually being pushed back by enemies too.

Tang!

That was the moment the party jumped in.

With Michael’s shooting, as Sun-woo and Nan-seol jumped among contaminated humans, the fight reversed.

The two people began eliminating contaminated soldiers from both sides, and Hayden interfered with ability users with telekinesis.

And when Daniel who arrived late guarded in front of the knight and Diane, the black knight collapsed sitting right there as if crumbling.

The fight didn’t last long. Through missions until now, the party’s cooperation reached a proficient level, and the party’s abilities were incomparable to the past.

Sun-woo’s sword cut down enemies along with their weapons, and Nan-seol’s sword squeezed between numerous weapons and pierced holes in enemies’ hearts.

One problem was the opponents were merely contaminated humans, but the party suppressed unpleasant feelings and brought down enemies.

Because opponents were soldiers, they were trickier to face than ordinary people, but being soldiers meant less psychological burden.

After the fight ended, the party took the knight and Diane and moved to a place slightly away from the battlefield.

Besides the fighting soldiers, no contaminated humans were visible around, but there was no reason to remain at a place with over a hundred corpses.

Moreover, though the Kraken’s core had blocked approaches well until now, there might be exceptions like the fight just now.

Arriving at the forest edge quite far from the road, the party first gave emergency treatment to injured Diane’s arm, then fixed her arm with a splint. Though the injury wasn’t major, her arm seemed broken.

“Is the man okay?”

Next, Nan-seol asked toward the black knight who seemed struggling, but the knight only shook his head at her words.

Fortunately, he didn’t seem unable to hear. Having been continuously silent until now, they wondered if he had a hearing disability, but perhaps he just couldn’t speak.

And the answer came from beside the knight. Instead of the knight, Diane answered her question.

“Don’t need to worry about Hexen. If he rests a bit, he’ll be fine.”

The knight’s name seemed to be Hexen.

Diane was saying he was fine, but the party found it hard to believe her words. Because her face looking at the knight was full of worry.

But as long as the two people didn’t speak separately, Sun-woo’s party had no way to interfere.

Diane struggled from her arm injury and ability use continuing to limits, but fortunately she could tell the party about the situation until now.

Meeting a giant earthworm while breaking through contaminated humans, where the gunslinger was eaten by the earthworm, and the remaining two people couldn’t advance further and returned.

And while returning, receiving contaminated soldiers’ attacks and fighting until now, she told them everything.

“It didn’t only happen where we went.”

“Then does that mean giant monsters are all positioned near places where that neidan thing and amplification stones are installed?”

Sun-woo thought the same as Hayden. Probably around the contamination generation devices (the facility name with neidan installed that Sun-woo arbitrarily decided) created in various places, monsters from every corner of this world gathered and positioned themselves.

While the party was lost in thought, Sun-woo told Diane and black knight Hexen about the party’s trip. Though the black knight’s expression couldn’t be seen so they didn’t know, various expressions appeared on Diane’s face.

Surprise and admiration, envy and jealousy, all sorts of emotions passed through her face, and when Sun-woo’s story ended, she ultimately only sighed.

“But why did you run away having such abilities? No matter how big and strong the earthworm was, wasn’t it worth fighting once?”

Michael seemed moved by knight Hexen’s performance. He thought like how Sun-woo alone defeated the Kraken, Hexen could also sufficiently face the earthworm monster.

For that reason, Michael poured out his own praise toward Hexen and Diane, but his words brought out without thought ended up sounding like mocking Hexen.

Hearing Michael’s words, Hexen showed no particular reaction, but instead Diane burst out at Michael.

“When you don’t even know! Do you know with what feelings he used his ability?”

At Diane’s intense anger, Michael couldn’t throw a tantrum back and only huffed heavily.

“Can’t punch an injured person.”

While muttering alone, there was no one who didn’t hear his words… It seemed like words somewhat considering the injured person, so the party came to see him a bit differently, but the reason Michael didn’t talk back to Diane wasn’t for the injured person but because his sixth sense kept sending warnings.

Even without sixth sense, if he threw a punch here, sufficiently predictable was becoming pounded flour dough when her arm healed.

Ultimately, the party began returning to underground city Eden without hearing about Hexen’s ability that amplified his power several times.

As Diane said, Hexen could move fine after time passed. In Sun-woo’s view, his movements looked slightly duller unlike before, but there was no problem at all following the party’s steps.

Rather, injured Diane slowed the party’s steps, and when delayed because of her, Hexen carried her and moved.

And that appearance of the knight carrying a woman brought Michael’s grumbling.

“Ah, two couples taking turns rubbing salt in the wound.”

Though Nan-seol and Sun-woo were hit by stray fire from nowhere, only Nan-seol reddened her face slightly.

Because Sun-woo didn’t hear Michael’s words while looking at the phone photo he took of Hexen. The photo displayed Hexen’s whole body along with the skills he possessed.

Having confirmed the contents, Sun-woo learned why he hadn’t used his ability from the start and why Diane looked at him with pitying eyes.

Pity naturally oozed from Sun-woo’s expression looking at the photo now too.

Fellow dimension knight Daniel seemed to know his abilities. His expression glancing at Hexen wasn’t very different from Sun-woo’s expression now.

Dark Empire Knight Hexen Barboa.

Except for one skill, knight Hexen’s skills displayed on the phone weren’t very different from Daniel’s. No, didn’t look so ordinary either…

Anyway, the content of the first-seen skill called was enough to draw a groan from Sun-woo’s mouth.

<Burning Life: Powerful black magic the Dark Empire’s mage granted to modified bodies. Magic that uses one’s life force as fuel to strengthen existing abilities several times over>

It was a skill Sun-woo absolutely never wanted to learn.

Between the half-broken helmet of the black knight carrying Diane, white hair sparkled.