Chapter 87 - 87: « Blue Blood [3] »
[Bonus Chapter for 90 Golden Tickets ~ refer to the Author's Reward system.]
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Leonhardt Weiss roared, a sound of pure, holy defiance. "Then I shall be the beacon! Europe Coalition, witness the light!"
He drove his claymore into the ground. "『Divine Bastion: Sanctuary of the Saint』!"
A massive, golden dome of light erupted from Leonhardt, pushing back the black sludge and the oppressive Abyssal pressure. Within the dome, the players felt their strength return, their wounds closing. The Blue Dragon puppets, however, shrieked as their blue skin began to sizzle under the holy radiance. Min-Gyu slammed his shield into the dome, but Leonhardt held the hilt of his sword with both hands, his muscles bulging, his face a mask of divine concentration. He was a pillar of sanctity in a world of rot.
"Hyeonwoo, now!" Leonhardt bellowed.
Hyeonwoo stepped to the edge of the dome. He didn't use fire or ice. He used the pure, raw manipulation of mana that Iron Aegis was famous for. "『Aetheric Blade: Thousand Cuts』!"
The air around the puppets filled with spinning discs of purple force. They didn't aim for the bodies. They aimed for the air three inches above their heads. The puppets, guided by whatever was pulling their strings, sensed the danger and moved with unnatural speed, parrying the invisible force with their own weapons.
"They're protecting the chains!" Hyeonwoo grunted. "Minseok! You said you see the nodes?"
Minseok stepped forward, his heart hammering against his ribs. He was a rookie, a mage who had barely survived the first two floors. But his eyes... his eyes were the key. "I see them! The nodes are at the base of the skull, but they're protected by a mana-shell! A normal spell won't break them—it has to be a physical cut with a mana-conductive edge!"
"Sasha! The blade!" Minseok shouted, turning to the assassin. Sasha parried Hana one last time and tossed a spare, high-frequency vibratory dagger toward him. "You're a rookie, Minseok! If you miss, we're all dead!"
"I won't miss," Minseok said. His fear was gone, replaced by the cold, calculating focus of a man who saw the strings of the world.
The Dance of the Strings
"Leonhardt! Give me a path!" Minseok cried. The Holy Knight looked at the rookie, then at Hyeonwoo. Seeing the elder mage's nod, Leonhardt channeled every ounce of his remaining holy power. "『Grand Cross: Solar Flare』!"
Leonhardt swung his blade in a massive horizontal cross. A wave of golden fire roared outward, blinding the puppets and forcing them into a defensive posture. Min-Gyu's shield glowed white-hot, and Sang-Hun was forced to cross his arms to protect his black eyes.
"GO!" Leonhardt and Hyeonwoo shouted in unison.
Minseok moved. He wasn't a warrior, but he was a mage with "Gifted Eyes." He used a basic 『Blink』 spell—a short-range teleport—to appear directly behind the vanguard, Sang-Hun. In mid-air, the world slowed down. Minseok saw the blue chain, thick and pulsing like an artery. He saw the shimmering shell protecting the hook. He channeled his own mana into Sasha's dagger, the blade vibrating until it hummed a high-pitched note.
SWISH.
The blade sliced through the mana chain. The effect was instantaneous. Sang-Hun, who had been a whirlwind of death seconds ago, suddenly went limp. The blue glow in his skin flickered and died. He hit the ground with a heavy thud, his sword clattering away.
"One!" Minseok landed, rolled, and sprinted toward Hana. Hyeonwoo was ready. "『Gravity Well』!" He pointed his staff at the zombie assassin. The air around Hana tripled in weight, pinning her lithe frame to the sludge for a split second. It was all Minseok needed. He leaped over her, his dagger trailing a line of silver mana.
Ting.
The second chain snapped. Hana collapsed mid-lunge, her body sliding through the mud until it came to a rest at Sasha's feet. "The chains! He's doing it!" the porters cheered from the safety of the dome.
The "Puppeteer" above seemed to realize the threat. The remaining four puppets—Min-Gyu, Eun-Bi, Tae-Woo, and So-Young—stopped attacking the players and turned as one toward Minseok. "Defend the boy!" Leonhardt roared. He charged, his heavy armor clanking as he intercepted Min-Gyu. The holy knight took a direct hit from the zombie's shield, the force of it cracking his breastplate, but he didn't move. He grabbed the rim of the shield with his bare hand, his gauntlets glowing with golden fire. "You will not pass!"
Hyeonwoo, meanwhile, engaged in a magical duel with the zombie mage, Tae-Woo. Tae-Woo raised his staff, a dark, corrupted 『Holy Nova』 gathering at the tip. Hyeonwoo didn't counter with his own spell. Instead, he used 『Mana Interference』. He reached out with his staff and literally began to unweave Tae-Woo's spell as it was being cast. "Your casting logic is outdated, even in death," Hyeonwoo hissed.
The dark nova imploded, stunning Tae-Woo. Minseok surged forward, vaulting off Leonhardt's back like a springboard. He reached the apex of his jump, eyes locked on the chains of the archer and the mage. With two precise, flicking motions of his wrist, he sent mana-waves from the dagger.
Snap. Snap.
Eun-Bi and Tae-Woo fell like puppets with their strings cut. Now, only the giant Min-Gyu and the young healer So-Young remained. Min-Gyu let out a silent roar, his black eyes burning with a sudden, intense blue light. He threw Leonhardt off and swung his shield in a massive arc that threatened to decapitate Minseok.
"『Divine Hand』!" Leonhardt appeared in front of Minseok, his own shield—The Sun's Reflection—materializing out of pure light. The two shields collided with the force of a falling star. The shockwave blew the sludge away, revealing the white stone beneath. "Now, Minseok! End this!" Leonhardt strained, his boots digging into the floor.
Minseok didn't hesitate. He ran up the length of Leonhardt's shield, using the Holy Knight as a ramp. He flew through the air, the dagger glowing with a fierce, silver intensity. Min-Gyu was too slow. Minseok severed the chain above the giant's head. As Min-Gyu fell, So-Young, the youngest, stood alone. She wasn't attacking. She was simply standing there, her hands raised, her mouth open in a silent, eternal scream. The blue mana was pumping into her small frame at an accelerated rate, her veins bulging. She was being used as a mana-battery for the entire connection.
Minseok approached her slowly. He saw the way the blue mana was searing her skin, the way her small body was being forced to contain more power than it could hold. "Rest now," Minseok whispered. He cut the final chain. So-Young fell gently, her body folding like a flower. Minseok caught her before she hit the sludge, laying her down with a gentleness that brought tears to the eyes of the watching porters.
The silence that followed was absolute. The only sound was the heavy breathing of the players and the distant dripping of water from the cavern roof. One by one, the black voids in the elites' eyes receded, revealing the dull, clouded white of the dead. Their skin lost its sapphire translucence, turning a cold, waxen gray.
Leonhardt Weiss approached the bodies, his claymore lowered. He looked at Sang-Hun, then at So-Young. He let out a long, heavy sigh, the divine radiance of his armor fading into a soft, mournful glow. "They are no longer breathing," Leonhardt said softly. "They were never alive to begin with. Just husks for the Abyss to play with."
Hyeonwoo walked over to Minseok, placing a hand on the rookie's shoulder. "You did well, Minseok. Your eyes saved us from a battle of attrition we could not have won." Minseok just nodded, his hands still shaking as he handed the dagger back to Sasha.
Min-ho and Han, the Blue Dragon porters, crawled forward. Their faces were pale, their eyes red. They looked at their former captains, their friends, lying in the dirt like discarded toys. "They're... they're really gone now," Min-ho whispered, reaching out to touch Sang-Hun's cold hand. "The black is gone. They look... peaceful."
Gunnar stood over them, his axe resting on his shoulder. He wasn't laughing now. He looked at the bodies with a grim sort of respect. "They fought well," Gunnar said. "Even as puppets, their martial spirits were formidable. They deserved a better end than being meat-puppets for a coward in the dark."
Leonhardt looked at the two Blue Dragon porters. "Min-ho. Han. Gather them."
"What?" Han blinked, wiping tears from his eyes. "We are on the last floor," Leonhardt said, his voice firm and kingly. "We are not leaving them here to rot or be turned again. We will carry them. Wrap them in the spare tarps. We're taking them back. The Blue Dragon Guild will give them the funeral they earned. It is a matter of honor."
The porters nodded solemnly. Along with the Iron Aegis team, they began the grim task of preparing the bodies. They moved with a newfound sense of purpose. This wasn't just about hauling gear anymore; it was about bringing their brothers and sisters home. Hyeonwoo stood apart from the group, his eyes fixed on the path ahead. He adjusted his glasses, his staff sparking with a residual purple energy.
"Minseok was right," Hyeonwoo said, his voice echoing in the vast cavern. "If there are puppets, there is a puppeteer. And whoever—or whatever—was pulling those strings just lost their favorite toys."
Leonhardt stepped up beside him, his golden armor reflecting the darkness. "Then we shall go and meet this artisan of death. Europe Coalition does not take kindly to those who desecrate the fallen."
They looked down the long, dark path that led to the very center of the third floor—the "Heart of the Sinkhole." For a long minute, there was nothing but the sound of the porters working and the rustle of the tarps. Then, from the absolute darkness ahead, two lights ignited.
They were eyes. Gargantuan, glowing blue eyes with vertical, serpentine slits. They were spaced ten feet apart, suggesting a creature of impossible proportions lurking just beyond the reach of their light.
The eyes never blink.