Chapter 354: Against The Broken King of the Battlefield

“Shit… I don’t like the sound of any of that,” Riven muttered, rubbing his forehead before shaking his head again. He forced the thoughts aside and looked toward the distant forest. “For now, though, we have to conquer this place.”

“???”

“???”

Daniela and Label stared at Riven, genuinely confused by everything he had been murmuring. Neither of them had seen the vision, and from their perspective, he had coughed, fallen silent, and then started talking about brothers, clones, and Willheim’s army for some bizarre reason. They looked at each other for a brief moment before deciding not to question him yet then nodded along.

“Uh, yeah! Anyway… It’s over there,” Daniela said, pointing toward the center of the battlefield, where the largest concentration of undead soldiers had gathered around a ruined fortress.

“Did you conquer the Macabre Forest already?” Label asked, glancing at Riven as they began moving again.

Riven nodded. “Yeah, that’s already done. There was a certain… a certain guardian there, but he’s been taken down.” He hesitated, remembering Zephyrus’s voice and the body he had controlled, then tightened his grip around his weapon. “I’ll deal with the rest later. We need to conquer this place first.”

“And what about the other dungeon?” Daniela asked, glancing toward him. “The Abyssal Spider Nest?”

“Kagehisa is there with a Spirit Clone,” Riven explained. “He and his Ninjas can handle that dungeon on their own. They specialize in moving through places like that, and the clone can warn me if anything unexpected happens…”

Daniela nodded and sighed, then tightened her grip around her daggers. “Alright, then. This time, we’ll help!”

Label smiled as she adjusted the potions attached to her belt. “Yeah, I don’t plan on staying home and making potions forever, either. I’ve trained enough to fight beside you.”

Riven nodded, relieved that neither of them intended to back down. “Thank you. Then let’s begin.”

Noir was not with them because Riven had left him with Elisa back home. With that good boy at her side, Riven was sure she would be safe no matter what happened. Noir had become far stronger recently, and few enemies could approach Elisa without him noticing.

Now, Riven could focus on the enemy standing before them…

RUMBLE!

“MY SOLDIERS… MY… MY SOLDIERS… FIGHT… FIGHT FOR YOUR KINGDOM!”

Amidst the endless graveyard of swords, a giant rose from beneath a mountain of corpses. Broken bones and rusted weapons rolled from its body as it stood, revealing a massive skeleton over five meters tall.

Worn black armor covered its frame, marked by countless cracks and old cuts. It carried a gigantic sword in both hands, while a broken crown rested above its skull, held in place by a weak crimson flame.

[Broken King of the Battlefield – C++ Rank]

The Broken King of the Battlefield was the boss of the first floor of this dungeon, a two-floor C-Rank Gate known as the Forgotten Battlefield. Despite the dungeon’s official rank, the boss had reached C++ Rank after absorbing the resentment and fighting spirit left behind by countless dead soldiers.

Both floors shared the same scenery, an endless battlefield where dead soldiers, discarded weapons, and pools of blood covered the land. The sky remained trapped in a red sunset, and distant war cries could be heard even when no living army was nearby.

Undead rose from the ground regularly and attacked anyone who came close. Some fought alone, while others formed broken squads and repeated the same charges they had performed before dying.

The boss was usually found near the center of the battlefield, surrounded by the greatest number of corpses. Now, those corpses began standing around their king as he raised his enormous sword and pointed it at Riven.

CLAAASH!

The Broken King swung before the three could spread out, bringing his enormous sword down with enough force to split the earth beneath them. Riven stepped forward and caught the powerful attack with his bare hands.

He reinforced them with hardened skin, empowered cells, strengthened muscles, and layers of biological armor, combining everything with Ki and Mana that coalesced around his palms. The impact pushed his boots into the blood-soaked ground and sent cracks spreading behind him, but his arms did not bend.

Riven looked up at the flames burning inside the king’s empty eye sockets and tightened his fingers around the blade. “Not bad, but not enough.”

“SILENCE…! FIGHT ME…! GRAB A SWORD AND FIGHT ME LIKE A WARRIOR, SOLDIER!”

The King roared, opening his skeletal jaws and releasing a torrent of ghostly fire. The pale flames spread across the ground and swallowed Riven from head to toe, burning through the grass and melting nearby weapons.

Riven did not avoid the attack. He allowed it to strike his body and soul, remaining completely unharmed by damage at such a low level. When the flames dispersed, he stood in the same place without a single burn.

“TSK!”

The giant skeleton roared in anger after seeing that Riven was completely fine. He raised his gigantic sword and swung it again and again, each blow carrying enough force to tear through the ground.

CLANK! CLANK! CLANK!

Riven intercepted every attack and blocked the blade with his bare hands, refusing to give the King any distance. At the same time, he delivered powerful punches and kicks reinforced with highly concentrated Ki. Each strike blasted through bone and armor plates with ease, breaking ribs, crushing joints, and forcing the enormous undead backward.

BOOOM! BOOOM! BOOOM! BOOOM!

Countless skeletons were sent flying in every direction as the battlefield changed beneath their monstrous clash. The Broken King’s sword carved trenches through the earth, while Riven’s attacks left craters wherever they landed.

Explosions reverberated across the grasslands as the two continued battling without stopping. Undead soldiers tried to surround Riven, but the shockwaves alone shattered many of them before they could reach him.

“Now!”

Riven called out as he caught the King’s sword between both palms and held it in place. Daniela and Label immediately leaped from behind him, having waited for the opening he had created.