Chapter 55_ Cork Island (8)

Hell Gao was furious. His body suddenly ballooned up to nearly ten meters tall. His strength, agility, stamina, and even his confidence increased greatly as well. It didn't matter what mental world he was in; no matter how special humans were, their existence paled in comparison to demons. When Gao spat out his breath, red-black flames erupted from his mouth.

Igris and Ainz immediately dispersed and scattered away when they were struck dead-on by the flames. Even they were just grazed by its aftershock. Parts of their bodies were blown away and they were rendered unable to continue fighting. The flames didn't end there; the second wave of flames spat out of his mouth in succession.

Having received a boost to his confidence, Hell Gao roared out at the top of his lungs.

"Do you still find this great demon funny now?!"

The calm and nonchalant reply came from above his head.

"Very."

Hell Gao flinched and raised his head, all the while hurriedly trying to chant a defensive spell, but…

100,000 Army Massacre Sword.

But, Madra was one step quicker.

POW!!

CRACK!!

Hell Gao's head smashed down into the ground. The floor shattered and spiderweb-like cracks rapidly spread out. Madra didn't even flinch. Lexus admired the way Madra fought. Then, he witnessed something incredible.

"My successor, remember this very well."

Madra spoke as he deflected Hell Gao's attacks with ease. Just like his original body, Lexus also had infinite stamina; so it wasn't that hard to adapt to his body, even though it was currently weaker compared to his own.

Aura.

Life, an omnipresent energy that could be used in various ways. It was the energy Madra was most familiar with, alongside sword energy. For normal people, combining aura and sword energy would be an impossible dream. Doing so would be a fatal mistake that would break the balance, but Madra was not normal. He was the one and only undefeated king among the legends of the previous generation.

Having the dragon heart within him, Madra was able to feel the dragon's blood that Nevartan had transplanted into this body. Combining both the aura and sword energy with the magic power of the dragon heart, he poured it all into the sword while emitting a devilish aura.

300,000 Army Stealth Sword.

Before Hell Gao could do anything, a gust of the combined aura and sword energy swept over the demon. He didn't know how much damage it caused or how badly he was hurt. All he knew was that, he couldn't move even the slightest bit, leaving him feeling helpless and desperate.

[300,000 Army Stealth Sword]

Rating: Myth

[Use a high level of concentration to release invisible cutting attacks. Deals 10 times the damage to all enemies in sight and exposes the targets' weaknesses. Critical hit damage is increased by 30 times.

This attack is bound to hit.

Skill Resource Consumption: 15,000 mana. 200 sword energy.

Skill Cooldown Time: 1 hour.]

As both aura and sword energy were condensed around Madra's sword, it stretched, revealing the true power unleashed in Hell Gao's eyes. A miracle brought about by the union of the two kings.

"It doesn't matter whether it's a great demon, a god or even a dragon. There's no one capable of defeating me in a fight."

A playful grin that never left his face grew even wider. This was the man who had lived his life filled with challenges, the man who had lived his life on the battlefield. This was Undefeated King Madra.

300,000 Army Massacre Sword.

Saying those words, Madra struck Hell Gao which made the demon collapse and fell to the ground.

[300,000 Army Massacre Sword]

Rating: Myth

[It is a single blow.

All enemies in view will receive damage that is equal to 120 times of your physical attack power. Each time a target dies, the damage applied to the next target increases by 2.5 times. There is no limit on the increase.

Skill Resource Consumption: 40,000 mana, 500 sword energy.

Skill Cooldown Time: 20 minutes.]

As he was struck by the strike of Madra, Hell Gao's expression was dark.

'I didn't have a single advantage.'

All his abilities were detected and destroyed with a sword. It was a reality he didn't want to believe. How did a human who hadn't lived even a hundred years...?

'I would rather wish he was a strong transcendent.'

It would have been more convincing if he had been surpassed by a transcendent who enjoyed eternal life, unlike ordinary human beings. What was the difference between demons and humans? It wasn't surprising if the other person was better than him after hundreds of years of training. The problem was that the human he met today wasn't a high-level transcendent that survived for only 17 years.

'I don't know... I don't know at all.'

He was analyzing the humans' swordsmanship with a pained expression. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't understand the swordsmanship since there were two different kinds that were deployed, even with all of his knowledge and understanding. He couldn't picture it because he didn't understand. As such, his efforts, common sense, and world seemed to be constantly denied.

"I lost. To think that Muller is not the only one who's special among humanity."

Hell Gao admitted his defeat. The body of the demonkin was destroyed and turned to fog.

[Hell Gao, the master of hellfire, has been successfully defeated!]

[You have reproduced the feat of Muller. The accuracy and power of all swordsmanship will slightly increase.]

[Young Hydra's Fang has been acquired.]

[39 Blessed Weapon Enhancement Stones have been acquired.]

[68 Blessed Armor Enhancement Stones have been acquired.]

[Your reputation in hell has increased by 2,000.]

[Your level has risen.]

[Your level has risen.]

[Your level...]

[...]

He gained ten levels all at once, but he didn't receive the reward he wanted. He was disappointed in not being able to receive the purpose of coming here. Not being able to acquire the Memphis' Egg. As it was the pet that Greed had obtained after raiding Hell Gao for the first time, he really desired to obtain one as well, and relied on his luck. However, since he didn't get it either, Lexus felt greatly disappointed.

[The duration of Assimilation is over.]

[You have regained the control of your flesh.]

「 It's already time, huh. Well that's quite a fun exercise anyway. 」

Hearing Madra's voice as he regained control of his body, Lexus saw another series of notifications. His disappointment gradually faded as he saw the completion of the class quest.

[Class Quest: Completed]

[You have acquired 'Control Sword' skill.]

[The level of Complete Sword Mastery has risen.]

[Number of sword skills that can be created has increased to 5.]

Now that he successfully completed the class quest of the legendary Sword Saint class, he was sure to become more powerful. He swiftly checked the details of the newly acquired skills.

[Control Sword - Lv.1]

Rating: Epic (Growth)

[A Sword Saint is able to remotely move and control up to hundreds of swords from the inventory without using hands.

* The attack power of Control Sword is proportional to the weapon's attack power.

*The number of swords that can be controlled will increase according to the rating. Number of available swords to be controlled: 10

Skill Resources Consumed: 500 Mana per Second.

Cooldown Time: None.]

Having read the description, Lexus somehow recalled the details of this ability from the novel. It is more powerful to understand and apply the controlled swords as a general attack skill. The most important principle behind it was maintaining focus on both controlling his body and directing the swords simultaneously, which consumed a significant amount of mental energy.

It is more important and powerful to wield a single sword with full concentration, cutting faster and more accurately than to use many swords whose effectiveness decreases proportionally to the concentration. An ordinary person can hardly control more than his own body. In extremely exhausted mental states, this becomes a disadvantage.

A delicate command system is required in order to make high-quality movements such as pushing forward, swirling, or stabbing without being monotonous. The swords can unavoidably attack from every direction or block attacks for defense. In other words, manually controlling the swords in combat is quite difficult for a person, even if they are a talented one. If your focus and attention are dispersed during a battle, it may be the reason why you would miserably lose.

"Solomon. Can I leave the matter of controlling the swords to you?"

However Lexus was not a normal person. He had one of the greatest skill in the world.

« Yes Master. It is possible. »

Hearing Solomon's soft and feminine voice, Lexus was really relieved. He wasn't really confident in his ability to control the swords during a battle. Now that he could leave that matter to Solomon, Lexus checked the skill that he had plundered from Hell Gao.

[Hell Fire (Enhanced) - Lv.1]

[The magic that symbolizes the 9th Great Demon, Hell Gao. However the spell was developed further by the legendary great magician who has completely overturned the activation formula.

Cast and summon the flames of hell. It burns and purifies evil beings. The damage dealt to the enemy is 20 times the caster's magic power. Deals more damage to the demon race.

Skill Resources Consumed: 2,500 Mana.

Cooldown Time: 1 Minute.]

Seeing how awesome the skill was, Lexus smiled.

「 Mas.ter. 」

Just then, Lich Mumud popped out from his shadow. His aura and presence that radiated around him also became more intense than before. As the two of them were connected through the Sage Link of Solomon, Lich Mumud had also gained enlightenment on the Limitless Magic, which was a combination of his master's, his own, and a dragon's magic.

Apart from his magical abilities having grown stronger since his death, he was also a great help whenever needed. Although he hadn't had the opportunity to use them yet, Lich Mumud possessed the innate ability to summon several undead creatures as an intrinsic ability of a lich.

As an Undead, Mumud possesses all the basic abilities, skills, and powers the undead race has by default, combined with his knowledge in magic, allowing him to create and control legions of undead. More than anything else, his loyalty is outstanding.

Despite being currently weak, he bravely displayed his hostility against Hell Gao every time the demon insulted his master; however, as the demon was so focused on Lexus, he didn't notice that he was greatly suffering from the magic of the magician of death. It was a lunatic kind of loyalty. The kind that any subordinate should have and what Lexus truly liked about it was that, Lich Mumud had finally attained the status of a legend!

Yes, Lich Mumud had become a legendary great magician while also being a lich. As he was now using the magic formula that Solomon had developed, which greatly surpassed the realm of legends, his status had increased and it made him a legendary lich.

「 May this servant of yours, ask your next destination? 」

Lich Mumud politely kneeled and prostrated in front of Lexus.

"...Hmmm...Let's see..."

Hearing Mumud's question, Lexus held his chin and wondered what he should do next. Although Lexus wanted to visit the Behen Archipelago, he was still too weak for that.

"Reidan. Let's visit some friends there."

Lexus replied with a smile towards Mumud.

「 I understand, my master. 」

Hearing Lexus' reply, mana fluctuations surrounded the body of the legendary lich as Lich Mumud swiftly cast Mass Teleport without any delay. In an instant, the scene from a dungeon that had many melted lava on the walls, changed to the desert somewhere at a certain distance away from the city of Reidan.

This was the last time Lexus had visited the western part of the Eternal Kingdom. The west was completely a desert and it was infested with monsters. If he took a step, he would be confronted by monsters. If he moved a little bit, he would be completely isolated.

But now the situation has changed. The scale of the desert had been reduced, and there were fewer monsters than before. It had turned into better hunting grounds. Lexus speculated that Greed had destroyed several giant worm nests after becoming Lord of Reidan, just as he did in the novel.

Step, step.

With Lich Mumud following him from behind, Lexus was crossing the fields to enter Reidan. At that time, an NPC holding a rake in one hand and a hoe in the other appeared and asked him.

"Who are you?"

Looking at him, Lexus' eyes made a glint of surprise. It was because he encountered the person who was filled with a desire to become a sword saint.