Summoning the Holy Sword

Translator: AtlasStudios Editor: AtlasStudios

What in the world is this?

Rhode widened his eyes curiously at the twin daggers in his hands lost their original form and transformed into energy blades. Furthermore, the blades were no longer pure black as they spun in a dusky hue continuously. The strange blades extended to Rhode's wrist. Perhaps Rhode would have thought that the blades had blended with his arms if he couldn't feel the hilts.

Rhode was so flabbergasted that he could no longer read any data relating to the daggers after they had transformed!

However, this wasn't the time to care about something unimportant this.

"Heyah!" Anne pounced on the ant-like undead creatures that crawled out of the abyssal hole, brandishing her steel shield in her right hand.

The large, pitch-black shield whizzed under the glittering wind elemental radiance and swept the undead creatures away. In an instant, all the limbs scattered throughout the place. However, the undead creatures continued to advance without the slightest scruple even after Anne's attack slowed their movements.

It was finally Celia's and Celestina's turn to strike.

The Battle Angel brandished her silver-whitish sword while fluttering her wings under Anne's protection. She streaked through the air and along with her movements, a long line burning holy flames rendered the ground as though a fire serpent was slithering under Celia's guidance. The pitiful undead creatures were devoured by the scorching flames entirely.

Celestina stood behind both of them, feeling indignant. She gritted her teeth while gazing at Rhode with a dull expression. After a few moments, she stomped her foot and lifted her thorny whip. Then, the whip in her hand formed a circle that enveloped herself. The demonic young lady's left hand stroked several strange characters while she chanted softly. She opened her eyes as soon as she completed the final stroke with a downward swipe.

A huge scarlet ritual circle appeared above the abyssal hole. As though a saucepan lid, it sealed the opening that the Undead Keeper had created. The undead creatures shuddered as soon as they touched the ritual circle as though they were electrocuted. Then, white smoke began emitting from their bodies and the undead creatures let go of their hands and fell back into the bottomless abyss.

However, this only lasted temporarily. Although Celestina had sealed the abyssal hole, the Undead Keeper was charging towards them in large steps. Even though a portion of the undead creatures that crawled out of the hole were eliminated by Celia and Anne, the majority of the undead creatures continued to surround them. Meanwhile, the undead creatures's corpse piled up all around disgustingly like locusts.

"Be careful! Don't leave my side!" Although Delno had been following the group, he hurried;y stood up and fought the dangerous undead creatures alongside Celia. On the other hand, Metzel and Shirley stuck close to Delno and confronted the undead creatures that had passed him.

Metzel's abilities were rather decent. Although he was still a newbie as an adventurer, this young man's scrupulous attention to detail in battles and the radiance emanating from his blade showed how harsh his swordsman training was. At this moment, he brandished his sword to support Celia, who couldn't budge as she was maintaining the ritual circle.

Rhode had decided to not be in this tangle anymore. Although he wasn't sure of what his daggers had transformed into, any hidden technique wouldn't be a bad thing based on his gaming experience. Furthermore, he had to take things seriously in this current situation. In the game, although undead creatures would vanish as long as the Undead Keeper was defeated, who knew what would happen here?

Rhode charged forward swiftly and arrived at the Undead Keeper's side.

The Undead Keeper was surprised to find its prey at its doorsteps. It bellowed before swinging its blade to crush Rhode into bits.

And this was the worst flaw of an undead creature: it was brainless.

Rhode predictably its attack and evaded. Perhaps Rhode would be concerned about the Undead Keeper's 'earth-shattering' attack if he were on the ground all the time, but since he had fused with the Spirit Bird's powers, the Undead Keeper was less threatening to him.

Rhode streaked a perfect arc with his left dagger which was emanating with light and slashed into the Undead Keeper's arm.

However, he realized that something was amiss.

It was no longer the sensation of cutting into solid flesh; instead, Rhode felt as though his dagger was cutting through butter. At the same time, Rhode felt a strange suction from his dagger blade.

This odd suction was the same he felt during his fight with Barter in the Midsummer Festival.

The gash on the Undead Keeper's arm twisted violently as though it was sucked by a gigantic vacuum cleaner. The arm whizzed and whirled at the same time before finally twisting and shrinking. In a blink of an eye, it disappeared into the unlimited void of its blade entirely.

What exactly is this?

Rhode widened his eyes in astonishment. He had played Dragon Soul Continent for many years and he had never seen such amazing powers on a weapon. No, this isn't a weapon anymore. This is more like a product of a certain spell. Could this be the unique technique of this pai r of daggers?

However, the current situation didn't allow Rhode to think further as the Undead Keeper snarled fumingly after realizing it was missing an arm. It flung its other blade horizontally towards Rhode, but Rhode flew up and eluded its attack. Rhode repositioned himself and pierced his right dagger into the Undead Keeper's other arm.

Similar to before, there wasn't any resistance and the Undead Keeper's palm was absorbed swiftly. Even its powerful arm was ripped apart by the powerful suction and in the blink of an eye, it vanished into the chaotic, boundless darkness.

No matter what it is, it seems really powerful.

At this moment, three of the four Undead Keeper's arms had been completely scrapped. Two of its arms had disappeared due to Rhode's while the other arm was bloodied and damaged from Celestina's attack. The Undead Keeper who had lost its three arms seemed less threatening now and the strong suction on Rhode's daggers forced it to move a few steps forward. However, it wasn't enough to lure it into the abyssal hole that it had created.

An idea popped up in Rhode's mind as he witnessed the Undead Keeper's unstable movements. He gripped his twin daggers and laid them across one another in a cross-shape. Then, a faint dark hole emerged at the intersection of the daggers and at the same time, these two dagger blades became much more transparent as though the duration of their hidden technique was ending.

Rhode raised his daggers high while gazing at the Undead Keeper. At this moment, the Undead Keeper lifted its head and snapped its mouth wide open. It let out an ear-deafening roar before blasting two ice breaths from its mouths, enveloping Rhode instantly.

"Ai yai yai…" Gillian shrieked softly while Anne and Metzel exclaimed in concern.

"Leader!?"

"Mr. Rhode!!"

The raging cold breaths disappeared gradually.

Rhode continued to hover in midair, but the twin daggers had returned to their original forms without any magical radiance or strange flowery-patterns as though they were just ordinary weapons.

Rhode lowered his head and scanned the Undead Keeper before him. It was maintaining its stance from blasting the ice breaths. However, there was a cross-shaped gash that had punctured its body through its chest. Of course, such an attack wouldn't be lethal to the undead creatures.

The Undead Keeper extended its final arm towards Rhode gradually while Rhode analyzed its wound quietly.

There was a dark, circular hole about the size of half a palm moving continuously in the center of the wound.

"—!" It took place in just the blink of an eye.

The Undead Keeper's body twisted and shrunk in size abruptly as though a shapeless, gigantic hand was kneading a dough. Furthermore, its limbs and body were flattened before finally swirling and disappearing into the dark, circular hole. After a few moments, the Undead Keeper was nowhere in their sight.

"W-What was that…?" Metzel and Shirley gawked in disbelief. They thought that they had seen the world after being mercenaries for such a long time, but this scene had as though turned them into country bumpkins.

Compared to the two of them, Celia and Celestina had complex expressions. Celia heaved a sigh of relief while Celestina gnashed her teeth and gazed at the twin daggers on Rhode's hands with an ashen expression, as though they were the murderers of her father.

"That's cheating," Celestina mumbled fiercely before turning around in resentment while Gillian approached her with her usual, unreadable, and elegant smile. As for Anne, she was just glad to see that Rhode had defeated the Undead Keeper.

"Aiya? What's wrong with cheating? This shows that they love their Master a lot, so isn't that a good thing?" Gillian said casually.

"What's so good with that rude, vulgar, and perverted human." Celestina glared at Gillian before covering her chest with her arms. It was still hurting and if it weren't her master, she would've killed him without any hesitation.

The omnipresent undead creatures began to retreat. They didn't disappear on the spot just like in the game; instead, they cowered in fear and shuddered as they fell back.

And what is this all about?

Rhode landed on the surface and sensed an odd occurrence. He gripped his daggers while scanning the surroundings with puckered brows. At this moment, a strange silence filled the entire city ruins instantly. Then, the ground began to tremble while a bone-chilling aura spread.

This is illogical and something is definitely amiss.

According to the game, there shouldn't be any abnormalities after defeating the Undead Keeper. But now, these entire ruins seemed strange and Rhode had never experienced such an odd atmosphere in the game before. Rhode gestured and Anne strode forward with her shield, followed by Celia and Gillian. Celestina hesitated for a while but finally complied unwillingly and without sweeping him a glance. Although Delno refused to battle alongside a demon, this unexpected;y dangerous situation left him without a choice. Metzel and Shirley gathered towards Rhode's group under Delno's lead.

The earthquake stopped.

But only for an instant.

Boom! Several sharp, white bone splinters as huge as stelae rose from the surface abruptly. Everyone dodged and barely avoided the attack. However, they quickly realized that these lofty, sleek splinters weren't ambushing them. Instead, they formed into a solid bone wall that shrouded everyone.

Did we fall into a trap?

At this moment, a sinister and disturbing laughter sounded.

"Heh heh heh… So you are the ones who defeated my creation… Who would've known…" A figure clad in a black robe appeared before their eyes as it hovered behind the bone wall while gazing with a pair of flickering, ominous red eyes.

"Angels and Demon. What an interesting combination. But I'm surprised that there are so few of you… And I don't know how you people managed to defeat my lovely Undead Keeper. But before that, allow me to welcome you to my city. Please relax and enjoy your time here… Heh Heh Heh…" the figure that was hidden under the robe burst out in a creepy and giggly laughter. Everyone except Anne frowned as she covered her ears with her palms to block off the unbearable laughter that was worse than nails scratching on a blackboard.

"I-It's that Necromancer!" Shirley recognized its presence and pointed hurriedly.

However, Rhode puckered his brows and shook his head as he gazed at the floating dark figure. "That's not a Necromancer."

"Eh?" Metzel and Shirley were baffled.

Rhode's next sentence sent them into the deepest abyss. "It's a Lich."