Chapter 587
[ You cannot use this. ]
Before long, Su-ho’s expression turned serious.
He called Guiyeong over and over, like flicking an empty lighter, but the response was the same.
Just in case, he tried using other skills too.
[ You cannot use this. ]
But the same messages appeared.
His expression crumpled.
Because the things he had just checked were things he had learned after becoming a Rage Crusader.
‘They’re really going too far.’
Shadow magic and blood magic, fine, but Rage Crusader skills still have Crusader in the name, don’t they?
Then why can’t I use them?
Isn’t this thing unable to distinguish friend from foe?
Still, thanks to that, he understood.
Just how much they must view Rage Crusaders as dangerous and seditious.
With his brow furrowed, Su-ho took his final card out of his inventory.
What he took out was none other than a sword.
It was just a somewhat sturdy sword with no special function.
It had been a very long time since he had held an actual weapon.
He carried a few around for emergencies, and as expected, it was important to be prepared in ordinary times.
Looking at the well-honed sword, Su-ho thought.
‘So all I really have left now is swordsmanship.’
Well, he did have other martial art skills and bloodline skills too, but with the two main pillars forbidden, it seemed fair to say his practical foundation was only swordsmanship.
That was fine.
I was someone who originally had nothing but a single sword anyway.
As Su-ho rested the sword on his shoulder, Silen, who had been watching, said,
“I do not wish to commit meaningless slaughter. Withdraw quietly.”
“You block off my hands and feet and still say quietly? Is that the holy knight way of negotiating? How petty.”
“Watch your words.”
“Why don’t you go eat shit? Acting all noble while you play errand boy for a Cleric.”
“You...!”
Silen furrowed his brow.
Even Wolfgang, the Monk who looked calm, narrowed his eyes ever so slightly.
As expected, for bastards who liked pretending to be refined, nothing worked quite like direct dirty talk.
That was enough checking. Instead of a whistle, Su-ho kicked straight off the ground.
Boom!
[ Heracles’s Lion Head Helmet is summoned. ]
[ Blessing is activated. ]
[ Paladian is activated. ]
[ Divine Aura is activated. ]
[ Mana Detection is activated. ]
[ Endurance is activated. ]
[ Enhancement is activated. ]
[ Eye of the Nightsmith is activated. ]
[ Sword Energy is activated. ]
Thankfully, Heracles’s skills activated.
He deliberately did not take out the club.
Heracles’s Club was certainly a good weapon skill, but in the end, since its form was a blunt weapon rather than a sword, even if the practical function fell short, a real sword was more comfortable.
While he was at it, he also used Eclipse.
[ Eclipse is activated. ]
[ You receive sunlight and moonlight. ]
[ The Rune of the Sun and Moon responds. ]
[ The power of the sun and moon is activated. ]
[ You receive the Blessing of the Sun and Moon. ]
[ All stats increase by 2%. ]
[ All recovery increases by 2%. ]
[ The light attribute is activated. ]
However, the only thing activated was the light attribute.
‘Can’t be helped.’
Still, this was something.
Seeing Su-ho’s preparations, Silen began preparing as well.
When he raised his hand, a cluster of holy light gathered and formed an enormous greatsword large enough to require both hands to swing.
“I clearly gave you a chance.”
Boom!
At that moment, the two of them shot forward at the same time, as if neither could be said to have moved first.
Antonio the Cleric and Wolfgang the Monk did not move.
Antonio was the one who had to be protected.
Because he was using a wide-range sealing holy spell.
So the attack would be handled by Silen, Antonio’s sword, and the defense would be handled by Wolfgang, Antonio’s shield.
Having grasped each of their positions at once, Su-ho snorted just before the collision.
‘They’re really doing every little thing.’
As if anyone needed proof they were religious fanatics. Seriously.
Someone once said it.
Sufficiently advanced religious fanatics were indistinguishable from politicians.
At that moment.
Kwaaaaang!!
The two who had dashed forward collided exactly at the midpoint.
A thunderous crash erupted, and a shockwave spread.
The Cardinals, the voters, silently watched the clash between the two Cardinals.
A clash of blood and silver.
Even amid the thick dust, the two of them could see each other more clearly than anyone.
Between the blades, Silen widened his eyes and said,
“Withdraw.”
“As expected of a religious fanatic. You sure love forcing things on people.”
Kaaang!
He shoved Silen away as if pushing him off, then immediately stepped back.
Then he closed the distance again and swung his sword.
[ Enhancement is activated. ]
[ Diamond Cut is activated. ]
[ Enhancement is applied. ]
[ The power of Diamond Cut grows even stronger. ]
Kwaang!!
The sword swung again and slammed into Silen.
However, the moment Su-ho’s sword touched Silen, a counterattack came in again.
He immediately widened the distance.
Silen’s sword could not reach Su-ho.
No, it could not even chase him.
It was the same after that.
He closed the distance and attacked, then closed the distance and attacked.
With movements as clean as a soldier who had trained thousands of times, he successfully landed several attacks and retreated.
However, Su-ho’s expression did not show much satisfaction.
‘Tch, this is why cockroaches are...!’
Cockroaches.
It was a derogatory nickname for holy knights, given because of their uniquely tenacious vitality.
Perhaps Silen was the strongest holy knight among the Cardinals here. That must have been why he had been chosen as the Cardinal representative of holy knights.
But that meant he was the greatest holy knight, not the greatest knight.
When it came to a fight that divided life from death, everything Su-ho had was superior.
The proof was that Silen had not blocked Su-ho’s sword with his own even once.
And yet, the reason there was no impatience on Silen’s face was because Silen’s defense was simply too solid.
It was then.
Craack—paang!
Su-ho’s sword exploded and shattered.
“Hah!”
The instant Su-ho’s sword exploded, Silen burst into laughter without realizing it.
That damn cockroach bastard.
He’d been making every kind of solemn face, but apparently he couldn’t hold back mockery?
Su-ho clicked his tongue and threw the weapon away.
“Why not just surrender quietly? No matter how strong the Blood Cardinal may be, you are not as strong as all our powers combined.”
Instead of answering, Su-ho reached into his inventory to take out another sword. Then he soon changed his mind.
“Yeah, I should have done this from the start.”
[ Heracles’s Club is summoned. ]
Because a sword was more comfortable than the club, he had chosen a random sword even if its function was inferior.
But a random sword was still a random sword, and in many ways, it was lacking when it came to cutting down a holy knight who was as hard and tenacious as a cockroach.
So he acknowledged reality and took out the club.
It was more uncomfortable than a sword, but when he thought about it, it did not matter much.
Long ago, when the Watcher of the Library had activated Battlefield of Faith and forcibly designated the weapon he had to use, he had even used that weapon like a sword despite the fact that it was a bow.
Su-ho glanced sideways to assess the battle situation.
Silen still wore a solemn expression, but he could not hide the smile leaking out at the weakness of an opponent who could not leave so much as a hairline scratch on him.
‘After exchanging a few moves, I won’t get killed by that bastard as long as I don’t get careless. Then the standard answer would be to attack Antonio first...’
Glance—
His gaze shifted to Wolfgang.
The man, whose narrow eyes left an impression, was guarding Antonio like a stone guardian post, and at a glance, his movements looked better than Silen’s.
Even if Su-ho avoided Silen and launched a surprise attack on Antonio, it did not look as though that would succeed easily either.
‘Then in the end, I have to deal with Silen first, then deal with Antonio.’
In other words, a frontal breakthrough was the answer.
But with his current strength, he could not even leave a scratch.
It was strange.
No matter how specialized this combination of priest classes was in enhancement buffs, how could he be tougher than a Demon King?
At that moment, Su-ho suddenly had an ominous feeling and checked one skill.
Then his expression crumpled at once.
“Ah.”
It was not that the opponent was strong.
It was that I had grown weaker.
Because White Zone and Sacred Zone had turned off the Dominion Core, which had been explosively increasing his base stats.
‘No wonder.’
It was a moment when he felt anew just how incredible the power of the Dominion Core was.
‘In the end, I have no choice but to pour everything in from the start.’
Since he had not checked every skill yet, he could not know which ones had been judged unusable, but for now he decided to mobilize everything he could.
Su-ho began checking his skills again.
[ You cannot use this. ]
[ You cannot use this. ]
[ You cannot use this. ]
Repeated failures.
In order, they were Foxfire, Dragon Mode, and Giantification.
He did not know why those things were being treated as impure and judged unusable.
But.
[ Heracles Mode is activated. ]
The corners of his mouth rose.
Heracles Mode activated.
Right.
Having even this much was something.
He immediately activated the second strength as well.
[ The first strength is released. ]
[ The second strength is released. ]
The first release granted an additional 50% of Heracles’s power, and the second granted 100%.
He did not release the third.
At that point, Heracles would possess him and fight in his place.
That would be difficult.
It was not that he doubted Heracles’s combat ability, but with two more bastards still behind him, he could not make a gamble that involved losing his reason.
Instead, he prepared another move.
Su-ho immediately activated the next skill.
[ Art of Storms is activated. ]
Rumble!
Rain poured down.
That was a relief.
If this activated, it meant other things would activate too.
The moment raindrops fell, Su-ho immediately closed the distance with Silen.
“No matter what you do, you cannot defeat me!”
Silen shouted as if giving a warning.
But Su-ho paid no mind and swung his club.
Kwaaaaang!!
The club slammed into the bastard’s greatsword.
At the same time, a shockwave rose from the club and pushed his greatsword away for a very brief moment.
Silen’s eyes widened.
What was this?
At the same time, Su-ho’s eyes widened too.
Right, you’ve never seen this before, have you?
But this will surprise you even more.
Su-ho swung the club once again.
At that moment.
Kwa-rururung!!
Lightning fell.
And it was aimed at Antonio.