Chapter 187: Interference

My eyes followed the golden threads running across the battlefield.

"All I have to do is touch these golden threads and activate my Blessing against them…"

Then a realization struck me.

"Wait a second."

I looked back at him.

"Can't I just run to the edge of the Domain and activate my ability there? At least that way, I can avoid the possibility of your body attacking me."

I had to make the suggestion.

I was standing far too close to their battlefield.

If I started interfering with the Golden Arsenal and his body decided to attack me, I doubted I would be able to respond in any meaningful way.

Putting some distance between us would at least give me a chance.

But the Golden Dawn Knight shook his head.

"No."

"If you want to affect my Blessing, you need to remain at least this close to the center."

"Any farther away, and whatever you do will be meaningless."

"Ha… hahaha."

A hollow laugh escaped me as I sighed.

"Nothing ever comes easy, does it?"

Unfortunately, his explanation made sense.

The golden threads spreading outward from the Golden Dawn Knight's body were incredibly thick where I stood.

But the farther they traveled from him…

The thinner they became.

"You'll have to rely on the old hunter to keep you from being attacked."

"Easier said than done. Asterion can barely protect himself, and now you want him to worry about me too…"

I wasn't exactly optimistic.

The Golden Dawn Knight, however, didn't share my pessimism.

"Don't underestimate him. That old man is the strongest hunter I have ever seen in my life."

His crimson gaze shifted toward Asterion.

"If he were still in his prime and age hadn't taken its toll on him, he probably wouldn't need your help to defeat me."

Wow…

The Golden Dawn Knight respected that drunken old man's strength far more than I had expected.

More than even I did.

"I guess this battle is closer than I thought."

Then something occurred to me.

"But wait… why isn't he using a Flask? I'm sure he has several of them. If he drank one, most of his injuries would recover."

The Golden Dawn Knight gave me a strange sideways glance after I asked that.

Then he answered.

"He wouldn't be able to use one."

"Or rather, I wouldn't allow him to."

"If he tried taking one out and drinking it, I would cut him down immediately."

"Ah…"

I fell silent for a moment.

"Sorry. That was a stupid question."

Damn it.

I felt like an idiot for even asking.

Trying to use a Flask in a battle moving at this speed was basically the same as asking your opponent for a break so you could drink some water.

I was starting to miss the days when Ordeal was still just a game.

Back then, creating some distance from a boss gave me enough time to drink a Flask and restore my HP.

But a game and reality weren't the same thing.

That was precisely why hunters fought in teams.

If one of them was injured, their companions could cover for them while they healed.

"I guess talking time is over…"

I took a deep breath.

I finally understood what I needed to do.

All that remained was to give everything I had to make this plan work.

"I'm starting."

My body lit up.

Dark mana erupted around me, swallowing my entire figure.

In less than a second, my body disappeared beneath a layer of dark armor almost identical to the armor worn by the Golden Dawn Knight.

At least in appearance…

The two of us now looked remarkably similar.

The Night Armor would give me a better chance of surviving if something went wrong.

Though I doubted it could withstand even a little against monsters like Asterion and the Golden Dawn Knight.

The Golden Dawn Knight stared at me in silence, studying my new armor.

For a moment, it almost seemed as though the sight had awakened something within him.

But he made no comment about it.

Instead, he brought up something else entirely.

"Before you begin, there is something you need to know."

"I possess an enormous reserve of aura."

His voice became more serious.

"So be careful. No matter how close I may appear to falling, I will still be capable of unleashing powerful attacks."

"That's… not very encouraging."

"I know."

The knight paused.

"But in exchange, I possess a severe weakness."

Those words immediately captured my full attention.

A monster like him had seemed nearly invulnerable.

If he truly possessed a weakness and was willing to tell me what it was, then that information would undoubtedly be useful.

"My weakness comes from the Fourth-Level Mark Curse I carry."

"Put simply, it gave me the body of a malformed creature."

"A frail, extremely weak body that can fall to even the slightest damage."

His gaze moved toward his own physical body.

"That is why I hide myself behind such powerful armor."

His explanation caught me completely off guard.

I didn't fully understand what he meant by a malformed body, but the weakness itself sounded similar to my Night Lord's Aura.

In other words…

Extremely powerful offense.

Extremely weak defense.

A glass cannon.

"Once my armor is destroyed, your victory is guaranteed."

The Golden Dawn Knight paused.

"That is what I wanted you to understand."

His words gave me some hope.

From what he had told me before, his Curse came from one of the Night Lords.

The one known as the Wisdom of Night.

The Curses of Wisdom were somewhat similar to those of Balance.

Balance granted an equal benefit and drawback.

Wisdom, on the other hand, made the benefit and the harm one and the same.

A horribly deformed, fragile body…

But one capable of producing an enormous amount of aura.

That was the Golden Dawn Knight's Curse.

Of course, the Fourth-Level Mark Curse carried many other consequences.

But there was no point discussing them now.

"If we make it through this…"

I smiled beneath the helmet of my Night Armor.

"There's a lot I want to talk to you about."

"We will certainly have that opportunity if you emerge victorious from this place."

The Golden Dawn Knight's body began gradually fading.

He had reached the limit of how long he could communicate with me through our Curses.

"I'm going to disappear now."

His form became increasingly transparent.

"But I'll interfere whenever I can to help you."

"Good luck, my hunter descendant."

He hesitated for the briefest moment.

"I'm counting on you…"

"To put an end to this eternal nightmare."

Something changed in the Golden Dawn Knight's voice at the very end.

I could hear a heavy mixture of emotions behind those words.

Despair.

And hope.

A great warrior who had spent countless years possessed by a filthy creature, forced to slaughter his own kind with his own hands.

I had never once seen the face of that ancient golden hunter.

But I was certain of one thing.

He had suffered enough.

"Looks like I've got one more reason not to lose today…"