Leveling with the Gods

Chapter 109

Arthur.

He was definitely a friend of Yuwon’s ally Merlin for the longest time, and he was also the guildmaster of the mid-ranked guild The Round Table.

“King of Britain,” the “King of Knights,” “Master of the Knights of the Round Table.” “Genius.”

There were a lot of descriptors you could add to his name, but whenever Merlin thought back to Arthur, he would say this:

“The first time I saw my friend was when he was just a budding chick of a player.”

Although their difference in age was massive, Merlin thought of him as a friend.

“His skill with the sword was extraordinary, and I knew he would become incredible. He was close with his allies, and so was their trust in him… Above all, his sense of justice was stronger than anyone else’s.”

Whenever Merlin reminisced about his old friend, the wrinkles around his eyes deepened.

Arthur, his one of a kind friend that he acknowledged.

“I do miss you. Friend…”

Honestly, YuWon had heard the stories of Arthur too many times since Merlin’s stories would all usually be centered around him.

Arthur suddenly didn’t return after going out hunting one time. Apparently…

‘So you were here.’

…That Arthur had died at the hands of Susanoo and became trapped in this tower after becoming an Undead.

Clank—

The “King of Knights,” no, the Death Knight Arthur moved his body. He maintained his disturbing gaze as he moved towards YuWon.

Step—

One step.

Step—

Two steps.

Vwooong—

Mana nestled itself inside Arthur’s sword, and bluish light emitted from it. It was a freakishly cold mana, the mana of the ice attribute.

Shhkt—

Clang—!

With Arthur’s sword strike, the air around where YuWon was standing became frozen solid. The moisture in the air turned to frost and fell like snow to the ground.

Having jumped into the air, YuWon looked down at Arthur’s sword.

‘The legendary sword Excalibur. Even after becoming an Undead, his items are still the same.’

Well, for a Ranker as highly ranked as Susanoo, maybe something like 「Excalibur」 didn’t interest him enough. He most likely left it with Arthur to bring out his strongest potential even as an Undead.

‘Arthur was a High-Ranker similar in rank to Theseus when he was alive. He didn’t end up becoming one of the highest ranked High-Rankers in the end, but from what I heard from Merlin, Arthur’s rank had climbed quite quickly.’

Swoosh—

Crack—!

A slash flew at YuWon through the air. The speed of ice-attribute mana was fast, second only to wind-attribute mana.

[Hermes’s Treads]

Woosh—

Fortunately, YuWon had the capability to step once more on thin air, and after dodging Arthur’s two sword strikes, YuWon landed behind him.

‘Normally, I wouldn’t have any chance at defeating an undead Arthur.’

Wooosh—!

Arthur twisted his body and swung back at YuWon.

‘Should I dodge?’

While thinking of his next move, YuWon swung his sword.

[Holy Fire x Arcane Sword]

Fwoooosh—

The sword was enveloped by a purple flame.

Clang—!

The two swords of opposing attributes clashed, and the freezing cold air from the ice attribute was consumed by the fire and lost its edge.

Thankfully, the matchup wasn’t bad.

‘But the one that’s moving Arthur right now isn’t Susanoo.’

Cr-cr-crack—

He pushed back the sword.

‘It’s just a spirit of the damned.’

There was no way that Susanoo’s current strength, after being dead for hundreds of years, would be the same as when he was alive. Naturally, as the strength of the necromancer waned, so would the strength of his Undead.

Clang—!

After parrying Arthur’s sword 「Excalibur」 skyward, YuWon thrust his sword deep into his chest. He was planning on ending this in a single strike. However…

Fwoop—!

YuWon’s sword ended up getting blocked by a sudden clear sheet between him and Arthur. He succeeded in penetrating through the sheet, but the strength of his attack had decreased.

‘It’s ice.’

A sheet of ice stronger than steel.

It wasn’t that easy to break the ice created from mana because Arthur was originally more defensive rather than offensive as a knight.

‘“Guardian of the Round Table”…’ YuWon thought. ‘He was called that before.’

Just because his defense was good didn’t mean that his attacks were trash either.

Clang—!

The two swords clashed again.

The sword aiming for his vitals was quite fierce. Arthur’s icy blade just barely missed slicing YuWon’s neck multiple times.

At a speed too fast to follow with one’s eyes, it wasn’t irregular, it was as effective and quick as it was simple.

His nickname the “King of Knights” wasn’t just for show. His swordsmanship mirrored the orderly standards of knights, and he wielded it to near perfection.

Fwit—

His shoulder was cut slightly, and YuWon furrowed his brows.

‘I can tell why he’s alone here.’

Arthur’s skills indeed matched his stories. YuWon hadn’t taken a single injury since entering Susanoo’s dungeon until now.

Although Arthur was alone, it wouldn’t be wrong to say he was the ‘mini boss’ of this dungeon.

Crack—

Blades of ice littered the ground. This would be ordinarily hard to dodge.

[Activating Sensory Field.]

[Cinder Eyes reads the path.]

The space around him and Arthur was revealed to YuWon like the back of his hand. And…

Wriggle—

As if they were waiting, the ten blades of ice started to move. Their trajectories could be seen clearly, and YuWon moved his feet.

Shwaaaaa—

Fwoop, fwop, fwop, fwop—!

The blades smashed into the ground without slicing through YuWon.

Shwaaaaa—

But simultaneously, the cold energy came like a tidal wave and enveloped YuWon.

‘I can’t dodge this.’

It wasn’t a skill you could dodge. It was as big as a tsunami, and it was also a skill that followed the blades of ice.

The area of effect was too wide, so YuWon lifted his sword, and his body curled in on itself.

Shwaaaaa—

Crunch, cr-crunch—

YuWon’s body started to freeze pale white.

* * *

Translator – Jreaming

Proofreader – BringTheRayn

* * *

His body started to rapidly cool down, and it felt similar to when he ate an「Ice Crystal.」

Unsurprisingly…

[Your body temperature is dropping rapidly.]

[You are under the Status Effect: Frostbite.]

[The effects of Elemental Worshiper’s Garment are resisting the cold energy.]

He could feel his body becoming numb, but thanks to the effects of the Garment, his body didn’t fully freeze over.

YuWon shivered from the cold air, and as he lifted his head, he could see Arthur’s sword thrusting towards his neck.

‘Using ice-attribute mana and skills to neutralize the target’s movement, then coming in close to finish them off…’

It was a simple pattern, but it was flawless.

Arthur seemed to still perfectly remember his swordsmanship and fighting style that he had polished when he was alive as an Undead. Even though YuWon was fighting him head on right now, it was hard to believe he was up against an Undead.

‘Incredible.’

In that moment…

Fwoosh—

[Your body temperature is increasing rapidly.]

[Holy Fire is resisting the effects of Status Effect: Frostbite.]

[Succeeded in resisting.]

The flames drove out the cold energy, and as his frozen body thawed, strength returned to him.

Arthur’s first plan of immobilizing his opponent had failed, and after that…

Crackle—

[Your arm has been imbued with the power of a Giant.]

[Your Constitution is lacking.]

[Partial Gigantification will occur.]

The muscles in YuWon’s arm strengthened. With the new strength in his right arm, YuWon pointed his sword at Arthur, who was charging at him.

“This time…”

Clench—

“It’ll be a little different.”

Noticing the unusual change in YuWon, Arthur quickly retracted his sword and took a defensive stance. A sheet of ice enveloped his body like a suit of armor, and the ice even created lots of sharp spikes on the surface—a thornmail made of ice.

However…

Vwoosh—

YuWon didn’t pay it any heed and swung his sword.

Crack—!

Crunch, crack—

His sword broke through the ice barrier, and as the flames on his sword melted the ice, the sword made contact with Arthur’s armor.

Creak—

Unlike 「Excalibur,」 the armor around Arthur’s body had already been too worn and rusted to function as actual armor.

Crush—!

YuWon rushed past Arthur’s side and aimed for his back.

Clang—

And along with his armor, Arthur’s shoulder was slashed, and his parts fell to the ground.

YuWon turned and faced Arthur.

Even though his side, hips, and even half his body had been slashed away along with his sword, Arthur reached for his sword on the ground with his left arm.

Even if he was an Undead, it would still be impossible to continue fighting with just his left hand.

“…It feels bad.”

Flick—

YuWon slashed away Arthur’s left arm as he was leaning down to pick up his sword.

After losing both arms, Arthur lifted his head and looked at YuWon.

And then…

Crack—

Vwoong, bang—!

After grabbing Arthur’s neck, YuWon slammed him into the ground.

YuWon’s current strength that had been boosted by [Gigantification] was something that even the living Arthur would’ve had a hard time against. And after losing both his arms, he had lost all ways to fight back.

“Fuu…”

Only after confirming that the fight was over could YuWon breathe comfortably.

It was a short but intense fight, and if Arthur’s armor hadn’t been rusted, YuWon wouldn’t have been able to slash through it with a single strike. If that had happened, the fight would have definitely been prolonged.

‘Although, the results wouldn’t have changed.’

Clack, clack—

Arthur continued to struggle even while being suppressed by YuWon. It put strength into its remaining body and tried to somehow break free from YuWon’s grasp. But it was futile.

YuWon looked at Arthur with pity and ignited his [Holy Fire.]

“You can rest now.”

Fwaaa—

The fire flowed through his fingers and seeped in between Arthur’s armor.

Inside the armor, the flames burned away his bones and began to purify him.

Shhh, shwiii—

The burnt body became ash and floated into the air, and just like all the other times, 「Kynee」 produced a light.

[Resentment was absorbed by Hell.]

Shwooo—

「Kyneē」 absorbed Arthur’s freezing resentment that had been frozen for over a thousand years.

YuWon muttered to himself as he looked at Arthur’s body which had become ash and was now disappearing, “It would’ve been good for Merlin to be here.”

It was then…

“Mer… lin…”

Vwoooong—

Within the resentment being sucked inside 「Kyneē,」 a voice was heard.

YuWon immediately clasped 「Kyneē」 with his left hand.

Then the voice continued.

“Did you say… Merlin?”

“Arthur?”

It was a voice he was hearing for the first time, but it definitely knew Merlin.

This was the first time he was hearing the voice of a dead person after Susanoo. Although there were instances of Undead having self-awareness, Arthur currently wasn’t even an Undead. And the only ones who could hear the voices of such existences were specialty classes like necromancers or spirit masters.

“So you were a necromancer as well.”

He probably misunderstood after realizing YuWon could hear him.

“That’s not really…”

YuWon shook his head and stopped himself from refuting the ghost. In this situation where understanding had failed him, he couldn’t think of a method to make him understand.

“Let’s say that’s true.”

YuWon thought that maybe Arthur would despise necromancers since he had suffered here for at least a thousand years because of one. However, the words he heard next were completely different from his worries.

“Do you know Merlin?”

He was probably concerned about hearing the Merlin’s name from YuWon’s mouth.

“Yes. A bit.”

“If you’re a necromancer, could you let me meet with Merlin? If you accept this request of mine, I will even write a contract to become your slave forever.”

He was someone who had lived this entire time as an Undead. His resentment would be considerable, and his distress even more so, but he was talking about becoming an Undead again.

“Why do you go to such lengths?”

“I have a message I must deliver.”

A message he must deliver. That was probably the source of his resentment at not being able to return after his death.

The words that followed contained such strength that it was hard to believe it came from a dead man.

“Lancelot has betrayed Britain.”