Chapter 413: Undead (4)
Ariel shook her head.
"I don’t know. But they certainly don’t fall under creatures of light, do they?"
I considered that for a moment, then said to myself:
"Then this might actually work."
Ariel looked at me in confusion, but my attention was already fixed on the two undead as a plan began to form.
I stepped forward, and both of my hands began to glow, not with the violent orange flames of [Hellbrand], but with a brilliant golden radiance that steadily intensified with each passing second.
The heat was different from anything I’d felt before. It wasn’t wild or destructive, but pure... sacred.
A gentle warmth spread through my arms as I activated one of the divine abilities the Overseer had bestowed upon me.
[Hand of the Raging Sun].
The moment the skill manifested, everything changed.
The two undead knights froze.
Their bodies, which had remained unwavering throughout the entire battle, suddenly became rigid.
The purple wisps flowing through their skeletons flickered violently, as though disturbed by the golden light radiating from my hands.
I took another step forward, yet neither knight moved. Instead of charging or attacking as they had the moment I entered their range earlier, they remained rooted where they stood, their swords held at the ready as though waiting for something. And for the first time since the battle began, I sensed hesitation.
The creatures that had relentlessly pursued me without fear were now reluctant to advance.
My eyes widened. Then a smile slowly spread across my face.
Maybe...Maybe this would actually work.
Without giving the undead time to adjust, I burst forward. And the moment I did, both knights swung their swords in perfect unison.
Instead of closing the distance, they attacked from where they stood.
Two crescents of purple energy shot from their blades, tearing through the air toward me.
I still didn’t know exactly what those attacks did.
I’d already seen the strange purple aura restore their bodies, and I had a strong suspicion the slashes carried the same energy.
Whether they corroded, cursed, or ignored conventional defenses, I had no intention of finding out by taking one head-on.
I kicked off the ground, leaping over both attacks as they sliced beneath me. And at the peak of my jump, I activated [Warp].
The world twisted, and an instant later, I reappeared directly behind the two undead knights.
The reaction was immediate.
The moment they sensed the divine aura behind them, both skeletons visibly shuddered, and without a moment’s hesitation, they spun around, their blades sweeping toward me as they simultaneously sprang backward to widen the distance between us.
I leaned away, the twin swords passing mere inches from my chest.
The instant the attacks missed, I drove myself forward again, refusing to give them the space they were trying to create.
My target was the knight on the left.
I threw a punch toward its face, but the undead reacted instantly.
Instead of blocking, it bent its entire body backward to an almost impossible angle, its spine arching so far that it looked ready to snap in half. Using the motion, it pushed off the ground and leaped backward, creating as much distance between us as it could.
The second knight immediately followed suit, abandoning any attempt to press the attack. Instead, both of them focused solely on retreating, maintaining their distance while avoiding any direct confrontation with me.
A grin spread across my face.
That was all the confirmation I needed.
[Hand of the Raging Sun] was affecting them.
Whether it was fear, instinct, or simply the divine nature of the skill, the undead wanted nothing to do with it.
Without giving them a chance to widen the gap further, I lunged after the knight I’d targeted.
It continued retreating while swinging its sword repeatedly.
One purple slash after another tore through the air, forcing me to weave between them as I closed the distance.
It was buying time.
I wasn’t about to give it any.
[Warp]
I vanished from its line of sight and reappeared directly in front of it.
The undead’s hollow eye sockets widened ever so slightly, and before it could react, I grabbed it by the shoulder.
It immediately struggled to wrench itself free, yet my grip held firm as I drove my other fist forward, the divine radiance surrounding my hand erupting into a devastating punch that slammed straight into the knight’s face.
BOOM!
The impact exploded across the clearing.
Its skull caved in beneath my fist as fragments of bone burst outward in every direction. The force lifted the undead completely off the ground, sending it hurtling backward like a rag doll while pieces of its shattered head scattered across the battlefield.
It bounced several times, tumbling across the rocky terrain until its body finally came to a stop.
I remained where I was, my gaze locked onto the fallen undead as I waited for the answer to the only question that mattered: would it recover from that attack?
For a brief moment, nothing happened. Then the undead slowly pushed itself back to its feet.
As it turned to face me, I immediately noticed the difference.
Fractures spread across its skull from where my fist had landed, and unlike before, they weren’t closing.
The familiar purple wisps still flowed across its body, weaving between its ribs and limbs as they always had, yet something was different.
The energy avoided the damaged area.
It flowed around the cracks instead of into them, almost as though it refused to touch the wound left behind by [Hand of the Raging Sun].
A grin spread across my face.
"So that’s it..."
The divine energy hadn’t simply damaged it. It had prevented the regeneration.
I finally had a way to kill these things.
Without wasting another second, I exploded forward.
The injured knight was my priority.
If I finished it now, I could confirm whether divine power truly bypassed whatever was keeping these undead alive.
Before I could reach it, the second knight stepped in.
Its sword carved through the air several times in rapid succession, sending a barrage of purple slashes racing toward me.
I didn’t slow down.
Instead, I used [Warp], disappearing before the first slash reached me. Then warped again. And again.
Each time I reappeared, it was only for an instant before vanishing once more, weaving through the relentless barrage without allowing a single attack to touch me.
And the repeated use of [Warp] triggered another ability.
[Paradox Step].
Three afterimages...