Chapter 161: A Battle Beyond His Rank (1)

Bzzzzzt! Bzzzzzt!

The crackle of electricity reverberated through the battlefield as I finally unleashed Overcharge at its full potential.

The crimson lightning erupting from the Legion Arm was insanely powerful, so much so that it completely overwhelmed the Knight Commander’s black flames!

My heart pounded even harder as a shiver ran through my entire body.

My attack had worked.

Aldebaran had taken real damage!

Serpents of crimson electricity ravaged his armor, leaving countless deep scars across its surface. And for a brief moment, through the damage torn into the black metal, I caught a glimpse of Aldebaran’s true body underneath.

Taking advantage of the powerful current still coursing through him, I immediately retreated and opened some distance between us. There was no way I could afford to remain within the reach of his sword.

The Knight Commander needed several seconds to recover from the lightning strike before turning his attention back to me.

His crimson eyes burned even more fiercely than before.

It seemed I had truly managed to piss him off.

Taking another step back, my eyes shifted between him and the Legion Arm.

Sparks of electricity were still pulsing across its surface, and unlike the Explosive Stake, Overcharge didn’t seem to have any usage limit. As long as I managed to land another ten consecutive hits, I could unleash it again.

Overcharge: 0/10

The counter had returned to zero.

But since the Knight Commander’s sword counted as part of him, any direct attack against it would register as a hit.

And for a moment...

That made me believe I could actually defeat him myself.

Defeat a monster nearing the peak of the Saint Rank.

It was a wild thought that suddenly invaded my mind.

Yet I genuinely believed I was capable of it.

"Release Storage."

Activating the blue rune of the Legendary Weapons Master, I released another ten weapons from my storage and made them float around me through Telekinesis.

I intended to launch them at the Knight Commander again and recharge Overcharge to its maximum output.

The damage left behind by a single strike had been severe.

From what I could tell, one or two more full-powered Overcharges would be enough to completely destroy that armor.

Once his real body was exposed, the Knight Commander’s health would begin dropping rapidly.

And that would be the end of him!

Getting rid of his armor seemed simple enough.

Or at least...

That was what I thought.

The Knight Commander shattered that assumption almost immediately.

Raising his sword high into the air, he released another monstrous howl identical to the one he had unleashed when we first entered the battlefield.

At first, I thought it was nothing more than an enraged reaction to the damage I had dealt him.

But I couldn’t have been more wrong.

In the blink of an eye, right before my widening eyes, every deep scar and crack left behind by Overcharge disappeared without a trace.

His black armor regenerated completely on its own.

In less than a second, he had returned to his original state, completely undamaged as though nothing had ever happened.

At the same time, a violent shattering sound rang out nearby.

My attention immediately snapped toward its source.

One of the knights that had remained behind Aldebaran suddenly collapsed to the ground, dead, as though the life had simply been drained out of him.

"Damn it..."

I cursed beneath my breath and activated Wise Raven Insight again, hoping to understand what had just happened.

And my fears were immediately confirmed.

Earlier, I had noticed several threads of dark Aura connecting the Knight Commander to his followers.

I had assumed he was using them to control the knights.

I was wrong.

The threads were still there.

But the dark thread connecting Aldebaran to the knight that had just died...

Had been severed.

Which meant...

’He can restore his defenses by transferring the damage to his followers!!!’

I immediately delivered the unpleasant news to everyone through telepathy.

Their expressions darkened at once.

"Impossible... A boss that restores its defenses using its own followers..."

"Not to mention how many of them there are! We’ll all die before we can deal any real damage to him!"

The reactions among the other Hunters varied, but one thing was common among almost all of them.

Tension.

Aldebaran had summoned close to a hundred knights.

Individually, they weren’t particularly strong, but their overwhelming numbers made them incredibly troublesome.

He had sent fifty of them forward to attack us...

And kept another fifty behind him as batteries to restore his defenses whenever he took damage.

It made him almost invincible.

"This is the worst kind of boss to deal with..."

To overcome this obstacle, we had only two options.

Either eliminate every knight surrounding him and strip away his ability to regenerate...

Or unleash an attack powerful enough to completely destroy his armor before he could restore it.

The second option was impossible.

I doubted any of the other Hunters could unleash an attack stronger than my fully charged Overcharge.

And even the crimson lightning hadn’t been enough to destroy his armor in a single strike.

Which meant...

There was only one option left.

Strip him of his knights.

’Everyone, focus on killing as many of his knights as possible! I’ll keep him away from you and buy as much time as I can.’

I transmitted my voice to everyone as I prepared to engage Aldebaran again.

’You won’t survive against him, Ethan! He’s an entire Rank above you!’

Raiden’s anxious voice immediately reached my mind as he tried to stop me.

But we had no other choice.

’If you’re that worried about me, then wipe out those knights as quickly as possible.’

’Because I won’t last long.’

Manipulating the swords, spears, and other weapons around me through Telekinesis, I kept Wise Raven Insight active the entire time to track Aldebaran’s movements while maintaining as much distance as possible.

The Knight Commander was terrifyingly fast.

And the dark flames covering his sword were especially powerful.

Perhaps they were a special ability he had obtained in exchange for making the sword part of his body.

That would explain their abnormal power.

A single swing of his sword carried force comparable to an explosion from my Explosive Stake.

Hell, those flames had nearly endured Overcharge itself.