Forced Kill

"Impressive... In the world I lived in before, no youth my age could reach this level.

His fluid attack style would have killed any ordinary enemy by now. Cas's power is far beyond that."

This was Han Dong's first time witnessing the strength of a Knight-Errant.

Beyond his shock, Han Dong yearned even more for such Destiny power.

Cas, who had invested 3 Destiny Points into his primary talent, Crusader.

His physical strength and combat skills far surpassed the limits of ordinary people his age. He knocked the Ghoul, who was a head taller and more muscular, flying back, then seamlessly followed up with a series of slashes.

However...

Clang!

A crisp metallic collision echoed in the basement.

The moment his Crusader Slash broke through the Ghoul's chest, Cas immediately thrust his sword, aiming straight for the heart.

To his surprise, the tip of his sharp silver sword was blocked by a black substance covering the area around the heart.

"A fully mature Ghoul has constructed bone armor around its weak point?"

At the same time, Han Dong, from behind, made his move.

A wave of plague energy shot precisely towards the chest area's bone armor... Visibly, the plague was slowly corroding the black layer enveloping the chest.

Cas smiled, preparing to make a second thrust.

Unexpectedly.

The Ghoul, which had fallen and had its chest torn open, ignored its injuries. Using the explosive power in its waist and abdomen, it suddenly sprang up.

Its sharp claws scraped sparks off Cas's armor, and the immense force sent Cas flying backward.

Bang! (A dull thud of impact)

Cas slammed heavily against the wall, a trickle of blood flowing from the corner of his mouth.

Five claw marks marred the armor on his chest.

One of them had completely torn through the armor, tearing the skin on his chest... Within seconds, the wound had turned green and was oozing pus.

Furthermore, due to locking eyes with the Ghoul during the fight.

The black lines around Cas's eyes had deepened, and his mind was starting to falter, occasionally seeing terrifying illusions... This greatly affected his combat ability.

Han Dong frowned; the situation was turning unfavorable for his side.

This Knight Cas was upright and without malicious intent.

Earlier, when he sensed danger in the secret passage, he had let Han Dong stay in the middle while he went ahead to explore alone... This action alone demonstrated Cas's character.

"Cas, don't move! Moving will accelerate blood flow and spread the fungus to other parts of your body. If possible, try to burn the wound with fire to clear the fungus."

"But you can't deal with this thing! I have to..."

"Don't move!! I have a way!"

Cas flinched at Han Dong's shout, surprised that a frail Mysticism Apprentice could unleash such a powerful roar.

Han Dong stared intently at the Ghoul, or more precisely, at the Ghoul's chest... The plague attack was working; the bone armor protecting its heart had been significantly weakened.

Because of Han Dong's shout, the Ghoul's attention was once again drawn to him.

The battle had to be resolved here.

Otherwise, if he abandoned Cas, the knight would surely be devoured completely.

Aku... (Strange words came from the Ghoul's mouth)

The Ghoul crawled forward rapidly, its claws easily cutting through the cement floor.

Han Dong calmed himself and stabilized his mind.

He pointed the dagger in his hand at the Ghoul's eyes.

As a portion of the energy from his brain was drawn out, a beam of plague energy precisely hit the Ghoul's eyeball.

Loss of vision.

This caused the charging Ghoul's attack to deviate.

Han Dong dodged in one direction, narrowly avoiding it.

The Ghoul, having missed its target, slammed into a pile of debris in the basement due to inertia, its body buried by the clutter.

"Good opportunity!" Cas, seeing this, tried to get up and help, but a sharp tearing sensation in his chest made him brace himself with one hand and gasp loudly... He couldn't exert any force.

At that moment.

Cas, whose vision was already blurring, witnessed a terrifying scene.

A woman in red had appeared beside Han Dong at some unknown time.

This woman was enveloped in a viscous, liquid-like aura of malevolent resentment. The cleaver she held in her hand gave Cas a direct, fatal threat.

"What is this… a terrifying illusion I'm seeing? Or is it Andvar's summoned creature?"

As Cas was wondering… the woman in red moved.

Her speed was incredible.

Before the Ghoul could even climb out of the pile of junk, the Cleaver in her hand fell with swiftness.

How to put it… Chen Li, wielding the Cleaver, gave off a 'Berserker' vibe.

From afar, the first strike's 'afterimage' hadn't even vanished when the second strike was rapidly unleashed.

Even Han Dong was quite surprised.

Chen Li in the Destiny Space didn't possess this level of skill at all…

"Is this the ability enhancement effect brought by the 'Holy Grail'? The 'Combat Ability' alone, changing from E+ to D-, has such a significant improvement!?"

In a short period of time.

The Cleaver severed all four limbs of the Ghoul.

Simultaneously, using an iron chain found in the basement, she tightly wrapped it around the Ghoul's neck, preventing its fangs from posing a threat.

The final blow would be delivered by Han Dong.

The bone layer of its chest, where the heart resided, had been completely corroded.

He aimed the short blade precisely at the heart and thrust it in.

"Aaaah!!!~"

A strange cry echoed through the basement, even being heard by the security personnel guarding the building's perimeter.

After twitching a few times, the Ghoul stopped moving.

Han Dong quickly took out his syringe and, in Cas's blind spot, extracted the 'Cellular Essence' of this mature Ghoul… and secretly transferred one of the Ghoul's arms into his Brain space.

Cas, his vision blurred by pain, hadn't seen any of this.

Furthermore, he was so immersed in his astonishment at Han Dong killing the mature Ghoul that he completely overlooked Han Dong's subsequent 'small actions'.

"Andvar! You… you're amazing!"

"Didn't I tell you not to move… Huh? The infection has stopped?"

After finishing everything, Han Dong looked at Cas, and the infected wound on his chest had been completely disinfected.

As for the disinfection tool, it was a holy water bomb.

The holy water inside had a great restraining effect on the eerie fungi brought from the graveyard, proving more effective than cauterization by flame.

However, Cas was still somewhat weak and rested for a while before slowly recovering.

"Is this your 'summoned creature'!?

I've only heard that those who major in [Control] can command evil spirits, summon beasts, or form connections with void entities. I didn't expect [Mysticism] could do this too?"

"Just an unexpected gain."

Since Cas had said so, Han Dong could only go along with his assumption and keep it a secret.

"No wonder you're so weak, yet you have 2 Destiny Points allocated to [Mysticism]. It seems you've used them all for the enhancement of your summoned creature… Amazing!"

As he spoke.

Chen Li seemed rather shy. After getting Han Dong's consent, she quietly returned to the prison.

Cas had seen similar scenes of summoned beasts disappearing many times and wasn't surprised.

"Let's go! We must report the Ghoul nest situation as soon as possible… otherwise, this civilian area will be in big trouble."

Cas quickly took out a burlap sack and collected the Ghoul's remains as evidence for completing the "Bounty Order".

"Huh… why is one hand missing?"

"It was probably corroded by the 'Plague energy'." Han Dong said softly.

"That makes sense, after all, you have a Destiny Weapon."

Cas didn't suspect anything, and carrying the sack, he left the basement with Han Dong.

Shortly after, professional knights arrived and completely destroyed the small Ghoul nest in a short period.

For discovering and reporting the 'Ghoul nest', Cas's bounty mission received an additional 50% bonus.