"Ugh man, we're doomed, what will we say to the count" Theo frowned deeply.
"Why are you smiling, were you hoping he'd die?" Theo gritted his teeth towards Kane.
"No way," Kane shrugged.
[Captain, what do we do now?] Theo was lost in thought when Rick's secret message came through.
[We have two options.]
[What are they?]
[One is to pin the blame on Rehinar.]
[But won't they still hold us accountable?]
[Count Dyer was hot-tempered. Even if it wasn't a child he particularly cherished, he wouldn't stay quiet when a member of his family died in another territory. He'd need someone to vent his anger on. Externally, it would be the Rehinar Family. Internally, it would be the Holy Sword Knights who went to find Rivan. No matter what, we wouldn't be able to avoid responsibility. That's why, without realizing it, I said we were doomed.]
[What's the other option?]
[The other option is to silence him and leave in search of the "Crystal of the Tree."]
Theo and Rick looked at Kane. He had witnessed Rivan's death. Therefore… the best scenario was to kill Kane, find the "Crystal of the Tree," and leave this place.
[Will you follow me?]
[Dyer doesn't care about us anyway. Continuing as mercenaries isn't a bad option.]
[Do the others think the same?]
[They probably do. If we leave now, we'll just slip out of Dyer's grasp, and with our skills, we can live as mercenaries.]
Theo nodded in agreement.
[Let's go with the latter.]
Once they had the Crystal of the Tree, they'd be welcomed anywhere. Becoming mercenaries and reigning as kings in neutral territories didn't sound too bad.
[Yes sir!.]
* * *
Meanwhile, Kane could easily predict Theo's next move.
"Have you calculated everything?" Kane taunted, prompting Rick to point his sword at him.
"You'll need to forget what happened here."
"So, you've decided to kill me after all."
"You're smarter than you look," Rick replied, making Kane grin, showing his white teeth.
"HaHa!" Kane laughed, unable to hold back. He covered his face with his hand, laughing loudly.
"Ha ha ha ha."
"Have you gone mad thinking you're going to die?" Rick asked as Kane stopped laughing and lowered his hand from his face.
"No, I'm just glad I don't need to act anymore. The timing is perfect," Kane said, confusing Rick.
At that moment, there was a loud crack!
The head of one of the Holy Sword Knights was torn off by something.
"Ugh, ahhh!"
"A monster!"
A giant spider descended on a web. It was 2 meters tall, just like the Mother Speeder, but this spider was entirely skeletal.
"D-Defensive positions!" Theo shouted, imbuing his command with mana. The Holy Sword Knights formed a defensive line in response to their comrade's death.
"Welcome the true horrors of the hidden territory.," Kane taunted Theo, who had no time to respond.
The faint poison in the air suddenly thickened, and dark miasma filled the area. Soon, visibility was obscured, and the air was laden with poison. One wrong breath could mean death.
This fog was much denser than what Kane faced while in the hidden territory.
"It's here."
[Lv.50 Speeder (Undead)]
A King Speeder could be handled by a mid-tier 3rd class, but an undead Speeder required at least a beginner-tier 4th class adventurer.
Even for them, it was a tough opponent, one mistake could lead to hell.
"We need to kill this thing quickly!"
Of course, there was no need for him to exhaust his strength now. There were others to deal with this creature.
"Huff!"
"Ugh…"
"Captain, the poison fog is too strong!"
Thud.
The weakest member of the Holy Sword Knights collapsed.
"We have some resistance to poison, so hold out as long as you can until we get out of here!" Theo commanded the Holy Sword Knights.
They retreated quickly to escape the poisonous fog's area. However, the undead Speeder wouldn't just sit back and let them go. It climbed up its web, and from the sky, dozens, hundreds of threads rained down to the ground.
Thunk, thunk, thunk—
The threads were as strong as steel, embedding themselves into the ground.
"Our retreat is blocked!"
"Damn it, switch to combat mode!"
The Holy Sword Knights, who had been retreating, drew their swords again. Meanwhile, five more members had collapsed, leaving 95 still standing.
"Slay that undead with your holy swords," Theo shouted, raising his green-aura sword high. The mana flowing from the sword radiated with a wood aura. They chose to stand and fight.
* * *
The number of fallen Holy Sword Knights were increasing rapidly over time.
"Units 1 and 3, keep attacking with sword energy! Units 4 and 5, keep healing us!" Theo commanded as he led from the front, emitting sword energy.
Their festering wounds from the poison were slowly healing.
At the rearmost position of the knights, the green haze emanating from Units 4 and 5 was gradually providing healing.
The 'holy sword' skill was part of the Dyer family's healing skills.
Despite being a low-grade healing skill, it was still extremely effective. This enabled the knights to move freely through the poison fog, improving their healing and resistance.
Slash!
Theo sliced off an entire leg of the undead Speeder.
It's leg, harder than steel, fell victim to the combined assault of over 90 knights.
"Shreeeek!"
The undead Speeder roared, releasing poison in all directions.
"Ugh!"
"My eyes!"
A dozen knights fell, but the healing aura of the 'holy sword' skill lingered around them, gradually easing their pain.
Now it was the knights' turn to counterattack. They fiercely targeted the legs of the undead Speeder.
Slash—
Another leg was torn off.
As the Holy Sword Knights engaged in fierce combat with the undead Speeder, Kane moved leisurely through the poison fog.
'One down.'
Thunk.
At the rearmost position, Kane smashed the head of a knight who was using healing arts.
The thick poison fog made it difficult to see even an inch ahead, making it hard to notice a fallen comrade.
'There's no tactic as effective as this for reducing enemy numbers,' Kane thought. He first used this tactic as Ray Hatzfeld, and it proved insanely efficient. Whenever he faced numerous enemies, he always employed this strategy to reduce their numbers.
As he continued to eliminate the knights one by one:
"Why isn't the healing working?"
"Stay focused and draw out the 'Holy sword' skill to the maximum," Theo shouted from the front lines, fighting the undead Speeder. His self-healing ability reduced his damage, but other knights, without proper healing, quickly fell.
"Ugh!"
"Rick!"
Rick was stabbed in the shoulder by the undead Speeder's leg.
Rick's face turned black in an instant. Theo swung his sword with all his might to save him.
Clang—
The leg was as hard as steel, deflecting Theo's sword. However, after several attempts, another leg of the undead Speeder broke off.
"Rick, are you okay?"
"Ugh… Captain…"
"Hang in there, we'll heal you in the back. Take Rick back and treat him," Theo ordered. Some knights supported Rick and retreated with him. Frustrated by Rick's injury, Theo shouted, "What's happening at the rear? We can't fight without healing!"
The knights looked exhausted. The undead Speeder, now with more broken legs, was enraged.
"It's tired too. It won't be long before it falls. Hang in there a little more."
"Yes, sir!"
The front lines mustered their remaining strength to attack the undead Speeder, relying heavily on the healing arts from the rear.
But Theo had no idea.
He couldn't imagine that a completely unexpected person was sabotaging the healing from behind.
Kane moved like a ghost within the poison fog, completely erasing his breath and presence. He methodically took down those using the 'holy sword' skill.
Thud!
"Ugh…"
For those who didn't die instantly, Kane would grab their heads and twist, avoiding damaging the expensive armor.
Crack!
Their necks snapped, and they died. Kane focused on their heads to ensure the armor remained intact.
'The number of knights I can eliminate while moving smoothly through the poison fog is ten. After that, I need to do mana breathing in areas where the poison is thinner.'
As the boss of the Forest of Deadly Poison, the undead Speeder exuded a tremendous amount of poison. Without protecting his body with mana, Kane's skin would have quickly necrotized.
This was an opponent he couldn't afford to underestimate. Fortunately, Kane knew how to deal with it.
Even within the dense poison fog, there were safer spots. Finding the areas with the thinnest poison made it much easier to breathe and move. That was the first method.
The second method involved feeding the undead Speeder.
If it consumed 50 humans, it would begin its transformation, entering a preparatory stage to evolve into a higher undead. This was the moment to strike and easily eliminate it. This was also why the area hadn't been fully eradicated before. Capturing the creature required either exceptional skill or sacrifices from allies.
Since sacrificing his own allies wasn't an option, Kane decided to use the Holy Sword Knights as sacrifices.
"Huff…"
He returned to a spot with thinner poison to breathe. Filtering the poison with the Blue tiger's breath, he filled his lungs only with clean air. Despite the poison fog making visibility nearly nonexistent, Kane used mana detection to sense the presence of the Holy Sword Knights.
'I've reduced their numbers sufficiently. It's time to make my move.'
Even though he had the 'Blood Dance' skill, he had brought Cedric's spear for a reason. Now, it was time to reveal that reason.
[Blue Tiger's Breath has been deactivated.]
[Phoenix's Breath has been activated.]
Kane switched his breathing technique. The Phoenix's breath not only filtered the air but also enhanced his physical abilities, preparing him for the next phase of his plan. He began to advance toward the battlefield, where the Holy Sword Knights were still struggling against the undead Speeder.
Using the Phoenix's breath, he moved with increased agility and strength, ready to unleash the true power of Cedric's spear at the critical moment when the undead Speeder would be most vulnerable.
He changed his mana breathing technique. Purple flames began to waver around the spear..
Boom.
He firmly planted his foot on the ground and pushed off with great force. His body soared high into the air. Perched atop the tallest tree, he looked down, gaining a faint view of the battlefield that had been invisible from the ground.
In the meantime, the purple mana flowing from the spear grew even more intense. He began to count silently.
'One.'
The undead Speeder spat out its webs. A Holy Sword Knight, entangled in the threads, struggled before collapsing.
'Two.'
Theo, a High-Tier 3rd class knight, fiercely fought back. Climbing up one of the spider's legs, he plunged his sword into its back.
"Shriek!"
The undead Speeder screamed in pain and fell. Theo withdrew his sword and roared in victory. However, complacency was dangerous. He was caught up in his premature victory.
The undead Speeder made a final desperate move. Its remaining legs extended, stabbing a knight in the abdomen.
"Ugh."
In that moment, life returned to the dying creature's eyes. The severed legs began to regenerate, moving toward Theo's body.
"Captain, it's dangerous!"
"Whoa!"
Theo leaped off the creature.
A moment's delay, and he would have been stabbed by its legs. Simultaneously, Kane counted the final number.
'Three.'
The undead Speeder vanished, leaving behind a large egg.
'Now!'
Kane aimed his spear at the egg, muttering under his breath.
"Third form of the Phoenix Spear Technique: Meteror of the Exploding Phoenix."
With precise timing, he launched the spear. The spear, enveloped in a purple flame, streaked through the air like a blazing comet, heading straight for the egg.
[Warning! Unacquired Skill.]
[Warning! Unacquired Skill.]
[Warning! Unacquired Skill.]
The warning messages kept ringing. Kane was trying to use the third form of the Phoenix Spear Technique, bypassing the second form.
The system was alerting him because he hadn't officially acquired the skill. He was Kane Rehinar, not Ray Hatzfeld. Attempting to master Hatzfeld's spear technique instead of the Rehinar's dual swordsmanship caused the system to conflict.
[Warning! Unacquired Skill.]
He continued to ignore the warnings. His mana breathing and movements were flawless. Then, the faint aura emanating from the spear began to split, forming five small entities. Although they appeared as mere worms due to his current mana level, they would eventually transform into fierce phoenixes at a higher level.
[You have flawlessly executed an unacquired skill 'Meteor of the Exploding Phoenix'.]
The notification confirmed his success. Despite not having formally acquired the skill, Kane's execution was perfect. The worms of energy around the spear signalled the beginning of their deadly flight. The egg, containing the evolving undead Speeder, lay directly in his path.
With impeccable timing and precision, Kane thrust the spear towards the egg.
The energy worms coalesced into a fiery meteor, streaking through the air with unerring accuracy, aimed to obliterate the Speeder before it could complete its transformation. The battlefield, veiled in poison fog, bore witness to a decisive strike that would determine the outcome of this deadly encounter.