Chapter 54: Versus The Headless Knight

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BOOOM!!!

Riven’s powerful punch landed squarely on the giant spectral horse. The entire body of the spectral mount exploded completely, calcinating into scattered bones that clattered across the cold stone floor.

The Headless Knight fell hard to the ground, rolling several times across the freezing floor before quickly scrambling back onto his feet. He glared at Riven with clear disbelief in his empty eye sockets.

"You’re surprised. Could there be some rationality under that madness?" Riven asked calmly. "Let’s try to speak again. Can you listen to me this time?"

The Headless Knight only roared in response. His floating head released thick streams of pure poisonous ghostly slime while his giant sword swung down again and again and again with relentless force.

CLASH! CLASH! CLASH!

However, Riven easily tanked every single blow with his bare body. He had become so heavy and solid that he could not even be pushed back a single step anymore.

He stood like an unmovable and indestructible object.

"GRRRR!"

The Headless Knight roared even more angrily, growing furious as he spewed more and more poison in every direction. At the same time his massive sword began gleaming with blue ghostly flames.

"Netherblade. That’s your skill!"

Riven watched in mild awe as the sword overflowed with countless restless ghosts. The knight swung it at him in rapid succession. Riven felt real danger from the attack and swiftly shifted his form.

His appearance transformed into a half-werewolf state with long raptorial legs. He jumped clear of the deadly swing just in time.

"HEH!"

The Headless Knight smiled darkly, realizing that particular attack seemed to truly threaten his opponent.

"I dodged it mostly because I read that it can destroy weak souls. I won’t risk taking soul damage from that," Riven explained. "But... well, this is the end."

"?!"

The Headless Knight gasped in shock as he suddenly found Riven standing on his left shoulder. Riven’s large black sword sliced cleanly through the knight’s chest and pierced straight into the Mana Core hidden inside.

Crack, crack...!

CRASH!

"GAH?!"

The Headless Knight let out an agonizing scream as the energy from his body was sapped out instantly. Riven’s sword voraciously devoured every last drop of power.

In only a few seconds the entire body and the floating head collapsed and died... or rather, they simply ran out of energy completely. The soul inside still lingered, however, festering as a furious ghost until it surged outward and attacked Riven with pure hatred.

"INTRUDER! DIE!!!"

With a furious roar the massive ghost spewed ghostly fire in every direction. Riven quickly took a step back and swung his blade again, channeling his hottest and most volatile poison until he forced it to create flames through pure combustion.

Ding!

[You have created a new Poisonous Compound: [Explosive Poison]]

[Whenever this poison comes into contact with Oxygen and Mana, it will combust into deadly magic flames capable of burning anything.]

Riven had already read that Ghosts were immune to normal physical attacks, and his Ki was still not strong enough to fend them off properly. He also lacked true magic to hit them directly, so he decided to create his own makeshift magic attack using Explosive Poison.

FLUOSH!

SLASH! SLASH! SLASH!

Three potent fiery slashes proved more than enough. The ghost was cut cleanly three times. Its entire body and remaining energy exploded into blue motes of light before disappearing completely, leaving behind only a small azure orb that glowed ominously on the ground.

"Thankfully, that did it," Riven sighed in relief while carefully holding the core. "This is a Ghost Heart, huh? Interesting."

Once he confirmed there was no more immediate danger, he quickly walked back to the place where Daniela and the rest of the group had hidden. He found them still waiting for him, mostly because they truly did not have the strength left to climb two more floors on their own.

"How are the wounded doing?" Riven asked as he approached.

"Huh?! He’s alive?!" gasped one of the members of the group in pure surprise.

"D-Did you run away?" asked the second, still sounding doubtful.

"No. I killed it," Riven answered plainly. "Why else would you come into a dungeon if not to do exactly that..."

"A-Ah..." They suddenly lowered their heads in embarrassment as they glanced at their struggling companion, whose breathing remained heavy and labored.

Riven narrowed his eyes and decided to properly identify everyone present. He asked for their names and who they were.

The one who seemed to be the leader was a woman with long red hair tied into two thick braids. She carried a well-used bow. She introduced the group and their names carefully. Riven learned the red-haired girl was named Clair and was a Sniper Class under the Thieving Bowman Authority.

The tank of the party, the tallest of them and the only man, was a silent young man with short blonde hair and sharp blue eyes. He wore almost full-body armor and carried a massive tower shield. He was most likely a Heavy Knight Class under the Impenetrable Fortress Authority, and his name was Philip.

The third member was a girl with short hair and a tomboyish appearance. She held a pair of slender rapiers and appeared to be a Spell Blade Class Awakened under the Wandering Swordsman Authority. Her name was Emma.

And lastly, the unconscious one who was slowly dying after being exposed to the Headless Knight’s ghostly poison was a woman with long blonde hair and gentle green eyes. She wore white clothes and still clutched a wooden staff. She was Natalie, a Healer Class under the Holy Sun Goddess Authority.

They formed a rather well-rounded party all things considered, and every one of them was D Rank. Even so, they still clearly lacked the proper equipment and raw stats needed to safely fight the stronger monsters that appeared on the third floor.

Their severe lack of experience didn’t help either, and it seemed that their overreliance in a single guy to take all the damage was too much with three other glass cannons who cannot fulfill many roles other than healing or DPS.

Quite honestly, it was a party doomed to fail.

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