TGGCH 08

Chapter – 08

The Knights’ Graveyard (3)

Hidden Route.

Standing in front of the castle gate where the boss was located, he carefully mulled over that term.

[Hidden Route ‘The Nameless King’]

▷ Offer a name to the boss, ‘The Blind Knight’.

He knew about the ‘Blind Knight’.

A boss monster divided into two major phases.

‘The normal phase that begins immediately upon encounter.’

Then, after shaving off some of its health, came the—

‘Berserk phase.’

Naturally, the berserk phase was much more difficult.

Its attack power increased dramatically, and its attack patterns became far more ferocious.

Still, overall, it was exactly at the level of a C-rank Gate boss monster.

As long as he didn’t let his guard down, it was a monster he could defeat with his current level.

“Hmm……”

However, a variable had appeared here.

The ‘Hidden Route’ itself wasn’t difficult.

All he had to do was tell the boss the name that the Necromancer had uttered before dying.

‘What comes next?’

Would there be no change to the boss at all?

Of course not.

There was a high chance the boss fight would take on a completely different form from the ‘Blind Knight’ he knew.

If that happened, he wouldn’t be able to fully utilize his greatest weapon — ‘information’.

“It’s a choice between two options.”

Should he give up the reward and go for a stable boss fight?

Or give up information and obtain the hidden reward?

“……”

There was nothing to ponder.

***

Grrrrrk—

The door opened with a loud noise.

The interior of the castle was thickly covered in darkness.

As soon as he stepped inside, the torches attached to the walls all burst into flames at once, illuminating the space.

Directly in front was a dark, ink-black throne.

Sitting upon it in deathly silence was a single knight.

As if declaring that he was the boss, his size was enormous.

If he stood up, he would easily surpass 3 meters.

Blood droplets were vividly splattered across the midnight-colored armor that covered his entire body.

He slowly walked toward the center.

As the distance closed, the knight’s head moved.

• …Who are you?

As he had guessed after killing the Necromancer,

It seemed that after entering the hidden route, he could now understand the monsters’ words.

• I asked… Who are you?

“……”

He said nothing.

The reason was simple.

‘What am I even supposed to say?’

If he boldly said to its face, “I’m a Hunter who came to kill you. Hand over the rewards. And other things while I’m at it,” it would probably go berserk right from the start.

‘Hmm.’

After a short but deep thought, he selected an appropriate response.

“I came to deliver Wengrum’s words.”

• Wengrum…? That fellow was still alive?

A hint of emotion appeared in the Blind Knight’s voice.

A messy mixture of sorrow and complexity — an emotion that couldn’t be easily defined.

“He’s dead.”

• …I see.

The voice returned to being emotionless.

He continued.

“Knight King, Grempel.”

• ……

“That is your name.”

The name of the ‘Blind Knight’ that the Necromancer had left behind.

He delivered the name without any unnecessary words.

Contrary to his expectation that there would be an immediate reaction—

• ……

The Blind Knight remained silent for a long time.

Then suddenly—

• Khuhuhuhuhuhuhuhuhu!

He began laughing like a madman.

• What a ridiculous story.

“…What is?”

• Long ago, the one who pushed me into the abyss said the same thing.

The knight rose from the throne.

He reached out with his long, thick hand and roughly grabbed the greatsword that had been standing beside him.

• He said my name was Grempel. That I would inherit the name of that great ancestor. That he would give me such power.

Khahahahaha!

The knight let out a heavy burst of laughter.

He simply narrowed his eyes and stayed silent.

‘So who the hell was that?’

It seemed someone had offered a name to this knight before him.

• I fell for those sweet words and took in madness, and this is where it led me. All that remains are ashes and the stench of rotting corpses.

Suddenly, a bright red light flashed from the knight’s finger.

A familiar-looking ring emitted a dark red energy like flames.

• I lost everything.

The knight holding the greatsword descended the stairs step by step.

• My country.

One step.

• The loyal subjects who served me.

One step.

• My knights.

One step.

• And so, I have arrived at this point.

A heavy clanking sound echoed against the castle walls.

• Khuhuhu… Yes. I shall accept that name! However, I am not ‘Knight King’ Grempel.

A deep, heavy voice rang out as ferocious killing intent stabbed at his skin.

• I am…

His long-honed instincts were sounding the alarm.

A battle was about to begin.

• The Fallen King, Grempel.

A black storm swirled around the knight.

[Route has been updated.]

[Hidden Route ‘Coronation of the Fallen Kingdom’]

▷ Defeat the boss, ‘The Fallen King, Grempel’.

“…Doesn’t look easy.”

He forced the corners of his mouth upward and picked up his spear.

***

“Ugh, I’m dying…”

Seong Ju-ah let out a groan as she drooped her brown hair.

She had an impressive track record, excellent work ethic, and natural insight.

She had lived the life of an ideal career woman, constantly called an elite wherever she went, but—

“Su-hyeok… I’m going to quit…”

“That’s the 230th time you’ve said that.”

“This time I mean it. I’m really quitting.”

“Sure you are.”

“…What?”

She was seriously considering quitting right now.

Dark circles hung heavily under her eyes, and her white shirt was stained with grime.

She had drunk so much coffee that her mouth felt unbearably dry.

“I’m so tired… Let me go home……”

The reason Seong Ju-ah was stuck in the middle of Daegu and couldn’t leave work was all because of that young master who had entered the Gate.

Thanks to the ‘B-rank Gate’ incident caused by Lee Tae-hyun, the Hunter Association had been thrown into complete chaos.

It was an unprecedented scandal where even high-ranking officials were at risk of losing their positions.

That tidal wave had also crashed into the once-peaceful life of Seong Ju-ah.

A barrage of work poured in every single day.

It was only natural that she was mobilized for damage control, and it was commonplace for her to be chased by reporters simply because she belonged to the Hunter Association.

Even though Lee Tae-hyun wasn’t even a Hunter she was in charge of.

She couldn’t even remember the last time she went home.

Did she even have a home to begin with…?

“That damn Lee Tae-hyun…!”

It had become a habit-like phrase at some point.

All the suffering Seong Ju-ah was enduring originated from that wastrel.

The murderous workload for damage control, and even the current staring contest with reporters here.

“Sunbae. But, do you think he can really come out within 5 hours?”

Kim Su-hyeok, who was checking documents beside her, asked.

The reason they were camped out in front of the Daegu Gate instead of leaving was exactly that.

Lee Tae-hyun’s declaration of clearing the Gate in 5 hours.

Of course, everyone dismissed it as nonsense, but the Hunter Association couldn’t just brush it off lightly.

After all, they were a government institution.

“He’ll probably come out.”

“…Really?”

“Yeah. By running away pathetically.”

Seong Ju-ah smirked.

“An F-rank Hunter solo-clearing a C-rank Gate? As if he’s some hero from a turbulent era.”

She had already finished analyzing Lee Tae-hyun long ago.

“He’s a hopeless case.”

His growth was completely blocked.

On top of that, his personality was terrible and he didn’t put in any effort.

He was born with many things, but he had no strength to hold onto them and would just let everything slip through his fingers.

“If even you say that, sunbae… he really must be a hopeless human.”

“Well… there might be a tiny bit of personal feelings mixed in.”

“…A tiny bit?”

“…A lot, actually.”

Kim Su-hyeok’s face was also ashen from several days of overtime.

The two simultaneously let out heavy sighs.

“I wish he’d just give up quickly and come out.”

The moment she muttered that—

Viiiing! Viiiing! Viiiing!

The device placed at their feet continuously emitted warning sounds.

Seong Ju-ah’s previously droopy eyes sharpened instantly.

“Wh-what…!”

Kim Su-hyeok, who was checking the graph on the device’s screen, lost all color in his face.

“What? What happened?”

“Sunbae… You need to see this…”

It was a device that analyzed magic power wavelengths to determine the level of the Gate.

The wavelength graph that had been drawing a steady flat line suddenly shot up sharply from a certain point.

“What the hell?!”

Even Seong Ju-ah couldn’t hide her shock.

As the two Hunter Association employees gave off an unusual atmosphere, the hyena-like reporters began gathering.

“What’s going on? Did something happen?”

“What’s the situation over there?”

“Please say something! What’s happening right now?!”

“……”

Replying here would lead to disaster.

Instead of answering, Seong Ju-ah bit her lip hard.

‘Just what the hell is going on inside that Gate…?!’

***

Grempel’s greatsword slammed down where he had been standing.

He sprang back like a spring and dodged the strike.

The ground shook and fragments flew everywhere.

• Your escape is quick!

The greatsword wrapped in blood-red energy swung wildly.

“Kh!”

He was swinging that massive greatsword like a dagger.

They exchanged many blows, but he was the only one getting tired.

‘I can’t block them all!’

Swords were coming at him from every visible direction.

Simply blocking wouldn’t work.

“Suuh!”

He took a deep breath and relaxed the strength in his entire body.

If he couldn’t block it, he just had to let it flow.

[Ten Thousand Streams Under the Moonlit River Dance]

His body became blurry like flowing silk as he gently redirected the ferocious sword strikes.

It was an incomplete spear dance.

He avoided having his limbs sliced off, but he couldn’t do anything about the large and small wounds left on his body.

• You have quite the mysterious skill.

Grempel sneered and swung his greatsword widely.

The dark red energy exploded and devastated the area.

Kwaaaaaaaa—!

The castle collapsed helplessly.

Thick clouds of dust rose.

“Haaahk… Haa… I almost died for real.”

Fortunately, he wasn’t turned to ashes along with the explosion.

Thanks to his enhanced senses, he had managed to escape just outside the blast radius.

“He’s more troublesome than I thought.”

The red energy wrapped around Grempel was clearly the ‘Berserk’ effect from the 「Mad Blood Ring」.

Normally, using Berserk should have caused him to lose his sanity at the same time.

‘Did receiving the name change something?’

He wasn’t wildly swinging his greatsword like a madman, nor was he exhausting himself by pouring out power and revealing weaknesses.

He was completely controlling the wild berserk power as if it were his own limbs.

Just that alone had raised the difficulty of the subjugation significantly.

• To dodge that. You have quite useful senses.

“I’m decent at that.”

Beyond the thick dust, Grempel’s burning eyes were visible.

Swish!

His eyes disappeared for a moment.

He lost track of Grempel’s position.

Meanwhile, his own figure was completely exposed.

It wouldn’t be strange no matter when, where, or how an ambush came.

A drop of cold sweat ran across his forehead.

“No time to be picky about means.”

A smile formed at the corners of his mouth.

Yes, this kind of situation suited him.

Not a ruler, but a challenger.

The habits of a life lived that way were ingrained in his body.

He closed his eyelids and recalled the sensations from his previous life.

The time when he wandered the ruined Korean Peninsula.

When the Iron Blood Lord’s army swept through and death rolled everywhere his eyes could see.

He had self-taught quite a variety of things there.

Reading unburned secret manuals and somehow increasing his meager talent through sheer persistence.

‘No matter how ordinary a person is.’

If they struggle desperately, even if only faintly, they can reach it.

‘Spreading magic power in a circle.’

And melting his senses into it.

A pure white flow of magic power gradually occupied the surroundings centered around him.

Eventually, a white space formed around him.

Domain Art (領域術).

Eve (前夜).

It blocked all senses except within the domain.

Instead—

Whoooooooong!

He poured extreme concentration into anything that invaded the domain.

‘I can feel it.’

Upper right.

A heavy strike cutting through the domain was coming.

Lan (攔)!

The swinging spear met the greatsword.

Clang!!

The shock of deflecting the greatsword sent a stinging pain through his hand.

• …Keuk!

Grempel, who had been counterattacked, spat out a mouthful of dead blood.

Ignoring his screaming hand, he gritted his teeth and aimed his spear.

There was still one more strike left.

Zha (扎)!

He connected the two movements smoothly like flowing water.

Lan-Zha .

If you deflected, the next was to thrust — that was the principle of the spear.

Crunch!

The rapidly extending spear tip pierced through Grempel’s shoulder.

• You bastaaaaard!

Grempel, who had corrected his deflected greatsword, tried to bring it down.

If he took that hit directly, his body would be crushed.

…But.

“My attack isn’t over yet?”

He channeled magic power through the hand holding the spear.

[Reinforcement (D) has been used.]

[「Spear of Radiance Blessed by the Sacrament (B)」 has been strengthened!]

The spear emitted a brilliant, radiant light.

• Kraaaaaaaaah!!

The sensation at the tip of the spear felt soft.

The strengthened holy power was exponentially lowering Grempel’s defense.

“Khrr!”

He gripped the spear shaft tightly with both hands.

“Haaaaaaaah!”

He had to cut through like this.

From the left shoulder to the right waist.

‘Cut him in one strike.’

Crreeeeak!

The spear blade advanced, slicing through the body of the Fallen King.