Betrayal Knight's Joyful Faith

Chapter 260

“Keeeeeek!”The dragon roared loudly, as if it were writhing in pain.

It was strange, considering that ghouls and homunculi couldn’t feel pain.

Laius sat up, catching his breath.

‘It’s not alive.’

There was no sign of life, such as breathing or a heartbeat, that should be felt in a living thing.

However, that dragon was not a ghoul-like being that only thirsted for blood without any reason.

He could feel it after exchanging several blows.

This dragon homunculus harbored obvious hatred and murderous intent.

And it was dealing with Laius not just by relying on its reflexes, but also based on rational judgment.

‘There is a distinct self.’

It was a real miracle soldier made using spirit stones or fairly high-quality counterfeit ones.

The ghouls that fought with his subordinates also seemed to be difficult to deal with.

These were higher-level beings compared to the ones that had appeared so far.

“…!”

There wasn’t much time to get lost in thought.

“Keeeeeek!”

Laius quickly evaded to avoid the poison flying towards him again.

The ground where he had just stood was blackened and rotted by the poisonous breath.

Laius glanced back, clicked his tongue, and raised his sword.

The power of the artifact, ‘Shadow of the Strong’, was added.

The dragon that had just sprayed its breath turned its head towards Laius.

The large maw lunged at him, trying to tear him apart.

But Laius spun around in midair and stomped on the dragon’s face.

The recoil caused Laius to jump even higher, and he thrust his sword with force into the dragon’s neck as it swayed, losing its balance.

!

The sword, infused with a sharp, clear blade of energy, pierced through the tough hide.

“Keeeeeeeek!”

The dragon opened its mouth wide in shock and started to rampage.

Laius held onto his sword tightly, clinging to the dragon as he pulled out another dagger from his bosom.

A blue blade of energy was infused into the dagger that was raised high.

Laius then plunged his dagger into the dragon’s neck.

.

The dragon began to thrash more ferociously as the dagger dug into its tough skin.

“Keeeek! Kkeeeeek!”

The dragon shook him off and writhed.

Rider struggling below found him hanging from the dragon and cried out in surprise.

“Captain!”

“Focus on the enemy in front of you!”

Laius shouted and pulled out his sword while hanging onto the dagger.

A faint light came out from the large scar left where the sword had been pulled out.

As expected, the scar inflicted by an artifact did not seem to heal easily.

‘This light is…’

It was a little different from the ominous color of the fake spirit stone that Arendt and his group had once recovered from the scene.

Maybe what was inside was a real spirit stone.

At that moment, the dragon spread its wings and flew towards Laius.

Laius, trying to avoid it, ended up dropping his dagger.

“…!”

Laius, who had fallen to the ground, rolled over to gain some distance.

But that wasn’t enough, as in the next moment, a large claw flew in and tore at his shoulder.

Blood burst out with severe pain.

Although his blue uniform began to turn red, Laius was completely unfazed.

!

The dragon’s teeth and claws flew in alternately and clashed head-on with Laius’ sword.

Despite the tremendous shock, Laius stood firm.

‘It can’t be compared to a real dragon.’

Although it was difficult to face alone, it was a much more tolerable opponent than the attacks that Lexion swung around playfully.

The blood pouring from his shoulder stained the ground at his feet.

However, Laius didn’t even glance in that direction. Instead, he locked eyes with the dragon, breathing heavily right in front of him.

A pair of red eyes glared at him with hatred.

The dragon seemed eager to unleash its breath attack at any moment, but it was clearly frustrated by the sword that blocked its path.

Facing the eyes that revealed nothing but anger and intense violence, Laius calmly opened his mouth.

“Do you understand what I am saying?”

The blood-soaked eyes reflected nothing but Laius’ image, like a mirror, capturing him in full.

!

The shock that hit his whole body felt like all his strength was being sucked out of him.

But Richt gritted his teeth and persevered.

He deflected the attack he had received and cut off the monster’s long arm.

But the wound quickly healed within seconds.

“Tsk.”

Arendt landed nearby as Richt readjusted his grip on his sword.

Even in this situation, his movements were fluid and graceful, without a single unnecessary gesture.

A white frost settled where Arendt’s feet had touched.

White breath flowed out of his mouth, and cold air swirled around him.

Despite the considerable magical power consumed, Arendt’s golden eyes remained fixed on the homunculus without wavering.

It was an incredible level of concentration that no one could dare imitate.

“How’s your magic power?”

“There’s no problem yet.”

In response to Richt’s brief question, a calm answer came back.

The homunculus was still looking down at Arendt with an expressionless face.

Even while dealing with Richt or Arthur, his attention was solely focused on Arendt.

Arendt also seemed to have realized this fact.

“Let’s start coming up with a strategy. At this rate, it will never end. The only ones who can face something like that head-on are monsters like the Captain.”

“I agree.”

Richt nodded.

Arthur, who was hanging on to the homunculus, soon landed next to Arendt.

“What do you want to do?”

“The spirit stone will be in the head or chest area. Its defense has been focused on that area since a while ago.”

Arendt looked up at the homunculus.

The last time they faced it in the Dragon Lair, it showed a sensitive reaction to its head and chest.

He briefly thought that the core’s location might have changed after its modifications, but fortunately, it seemed that wasn’t the case.

“But anyway, even if the seniors attack, it’ll recover immediately, so targeting the core is meaningless.”

“That’s true, but it hurts.”

“But if I were to blatantly target only its weaknesses, it would think of killing me first and then seeing what happens. That’s absolutely unacceptable.”

Arendt continued calmly, ignoring Richt’s brief grumbles.

“So… first, we reduce its size so that it can’t recover, and then we freeze it entirely. What do you think?”

“…Is that a strategy? It doesn’t seem much different from simply being ignorant and charging in head on.”

Arendt shrugged his shoulders, still holding his sword, as Richt responded in a weary voice.

“Sometimes, being simple and reckless is the best approach. You should learn a bit from the Captain in that regard.”

“…”

It was quite funny to hear that from a guy who was known for all kinds of tricks and schemes, but he couldn’t really deny it.

It was obvious how Laius would fight against the dragon homunculus.

Instead of speaking more, Richt pulled out the magic stone attached to his sword and tossed it to Arendt.

Arendt grabbed it out of the air and looked at him with raised brows.

But that only lasted a moment, as another magic stone flew in from a different direction.

This time it was Arthur.

“What is it?”

“I don’t want to have to carry you back.”

Arthur answered curtly.

Arendt put the magic stone in his pocket, though he made a displeased expression.

Just then, the homunculus, armed with sharp thorns on both hands, attacked again.

Kwaaang!

A fist that had transformed into a hammer struck the spot where the three people had gathered just a moment ago.

Dust and rocks flew everywhere.

They quickly scattered, each holding their swords and rushing at the homunculus again.

Although it wasn’t something they discussed beforehand, the three of them naturally found their positions.

Arthur, who had stepped forward, repelled the attack flying towards Arendt.

It was Richt’s job to cut down the black parts that had lost their way and were flying off in the wrong direction.

And Arendt, taking over, stabbed his sword into the severed section.

.

The arm that was severed at the elbow was frozen white.

The severed part began to wiggle as if it were trying to return to the main body, but Arendt, who had landed on the ground, froze even that.

The black part that had been thrashing like a lizard’s tail stiffened and then soon shattered into pieces with a crunching sound.

“Good.”

Arendt blurted out, trampling over the pieces.

Too bad it consumed too much magic power.

One of the three magic stones embedded in the sword had already lost its light.

Richt and Arthur had anticipated this situation and gave him their magic stones.

It wouldn’t be easy for them to deal with it without the magic stones either.

‘I have to finish this as quickly as possible.’

If he dragged it out for too long, it would only cause trouble for both of them.

The operation was simple.

By gradually chipping away at its massive frame like this, the plan was to freeze it all at once in the final moment, causing it to die instantly.

Its attack came again.

As if it had figured out the knights’ intentions, the bastard was blatantly targeting Arendt.

Arendt, who noticed this, chose to take the attack head-on.

!

Arendt’s sword clashed with the monster’s outstretched arm.

“Ugh!”

He felt as if his insides were being shaken by tremendous shock.

However, the enemy was also suffering damage in the process.

The place where Arendt’s sword touched was quickly freezing.

As the homunculus hesitated, Arthur, charging from the side, cleaved through the frozen spot.

!

The cut surface fell to the floor again with a clean sound.

While Arendt stepped back to catch his breath, Richt stepped between them and smashed it into pieces.

The monster, having lost an arm and unable to retrieve the part extending from its torso, looked quite bewildered.

The homunculus, who had been hurriedly looking back and forth between Arthur and Richt, curled up into a ball when he saw Arendt quickly approaching him again.

“…!”

The three people who noticed the change quickly distanced themselves.

In the next moment, sharp thorns shot out in all directions from the homunculus’ back.

As Arthur and Richt quickly ducked, the attack passed just above their heads.

But it was difficult for Arendt, who was the closest, to completely avoid it.

Instead of running away, he swung his sword.

!

The broken thorns were covered in pure white ice, then soon shattered into pieces with a clear sound and scattered into the air.

A few thorns that he had not been able to cut pierced his arm and tore his cheek, but Arendt did not even blink.

Arendt, who had easily cut off the thorns embedded in his body, leisurely distanced himself and then charged at the monster that was slowly trying to raise its body.

Arthur and Richt also quickly followed suit.

“Hey, are you okay?”

“If you know I’m not okay, don’t ask questions unnecessarily, okay?”

“Oh my, this bastard!”

Arthur, who had ended up with nothing after his unnecessary worry, exploded with frustration.

The homunculus, which had once extended its thorns, slowly raised its torso.

With Arthur and Richt’s protection, Arendt kicked off the ground and jumped.

The place where his feet touched was frozen white.

Just as the homunculus raised its head to check Arendt’s location, a sword covered in white frost was thrust deep into the monster’s neck.

“…!”

The homunculus’ unfocused eyes widened.