Chapter 188: Death Descends in Gold

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

My resolve hardened once again.

Then I stepped forward.

The surrounding auras crushed against my body without warning.

The pressure generated by Asterion and the Golden Dawn Knight's collision was horrifying.

Even inside the Night Armor, I felt as though my body might be crushed at any moment.

But I continued moving closer.

Because I knew my chances would only improve the nearer I got.

Asterion's bloodshot eyes suddenly twitched.

His senses had detected a third presence approaching.

"STAY BACK, BOY!!"

His savage roar nearly ruptured my eardrums.

"I don't have the capacity to babysit you!!"

Even his voice had become more monstrous after entering the Red Demon form.

He sounded furious.

And I couldn't blame him.

My interference would only make this battle harder for him if he had to protect me instead of focusing entirely on his opponent.

But this time…

Things were different.

"Sorry, old man!"

I kept moving.

"You're not winning this without me!"

The moment I reached as close as I possibly could, I immediately placed my hand against the ground.

Then I activated Legendary Weapons Master.

The blue rune across my skin erupted with light.

That same blue radiance spread beneath my feet before expanding in every direction, colliding and intertwining with the golden threads released by the Golden Dawn Knight.

The collision between the two Blessings caused a violent reaction.

Especially within the Golden Dawn Knight.

His instincts immediately forced him to turn toward me.

A terrifying crimson light burned from his eyes.

Under that gaze…

I had already died several times over.

The Golden Arsenal was no longer responding as it had before.

The Golden Dawn Knight could no longer summon weapons with the same freedom.

Every time he tried to create one…

I immediately interfered.

I couldn't shut the Blessing down completely.

But I could disrupt it.

And that was exactly what I needed to do.

The Golden Dawn Knight extended one hand toward me, clearly intending to erase me with a single attack.

But before he could…

A rusted sword nearly severed that arm.

Asterion immediately seized the opportunity and pressed him even harder.

"I have no idea what you just did, boy…"

The old man's bloody grin gradually widened as his attacks became even more savage.

"But you've definitely lost your damn mind!"

His laughter thundered through the battlefield.

"Don't blame me when you die!!"

He really was loud…

"Don't worry! I'm not planning on dying!"

I struggled to remain planted where I stood as the sheer pressure of their auras threatened to throw me away.

"And you look a hell of a lot crazier than I do right now!"

Then I remembered the most important thing the Golden Dawn Knight had told me.

"Focus on breaking through his armor!"

I shouted with everything I had, desperate to make sure Asterion heard me.

"Once you actually wound him, he loses!!"

"That's his weakness!!"

Asterion looked surprised.

His expression practically screamed, 'How the hell do you know that?'

But he didn't ask.

Instead, he chose to believe me.

And I was grateful for that.

After that, I couldn't afford to speak anymore.

Suppressing the Golden Dawn Knight's arsenal demanded every shred of concentration I had.

This bastard…

Just how much mana did he have?!

Every time I stopped him from creating one weapon, he immediately tried to create ten more, forcing me to focus on all of them at once.

It felt as though I were splitting my mind into ten separate pieces, each one struggling to deal with a different weapon.

This was an incredibly dangerous way to fight.

If Asterion hadn't been here, the Golden Dawn Knight could have ended my life in the blink of an eye.

Did he say Legendary Weapons Master could overpower his Blessing?

Overpower my ass!

I was barely holding on here, damn it!

At the very least, Asterion could fight much more freely now.

No more chains appeared from nowhere to restrain him.

No more swords and spears manifested behind his back to strike from his blind spots.

The battle had become a pure sword duel.

And even with only one arm…

I was certain Asterion was still the better swordsman.

"Wise Raven Insight."

My eyes sharpened.

Using my unique vision, I managed to see some information about both of them, including their levels and remaining health.

...

Golden Dawn Knight: ???

Level: 87

Rank: High King

...

Red Demon: Asterion Heart

Level: 88

Rank: High King

...

The difference between their levels wasn't large.

In fact, Asterion was unexpectedly the higher-level one.

But what caught my attention more than anything else was their remaining health and mana.

Asterion was barely clinging to ten percent of his HP.

His mana had fallen to roughly a quarter.

As for the Golden Dawn Knight…

My eyes widened when I saw that his HP was exactly one.

He really was a glass cannon in the most literal sense!

Exactly like me whenever I used Night Lord's Aura.

But there was another surprise.

His mana.

The bastard was also down to roughly a quarter of his reserves.

The problem was that his remaining quarter was almost equal to Asterion's entire mana pool.

In other words…

The Golden Dawn Knight possessed nearly four times as much mana as someone of the same rank.

That was insane.

His aura reserves could practically be considered a Blessing in their own right.

To win, we either had to destroy his armor or completely exhaust the aura reinforcing it.

Either way…

Victory would be ours.

Asterion had him completely pinned down now.

Their battle was still relatively even, but the Golden Dawn Knight could no longer attack me freely.

Any weapon he tried launching toward me, I immediately disrupted with my Blessing.

And if he tried to attack me physically…

Asterion would stop him.

We could win!!

As though he had heard my thoughts, the flow of aura surrounding the Golden Dawn Knight suddenly changed.

The shift instantly forced every thought out of my mind.

I turned toward him.

Because my Blessing had intertwined with his…

I was the first to notice it.

"This is bad…"

My throat trembled.

That horrifying flow of aura…

He had told me he still possessed a trump card.

A powerful one.

But I never imagined it would be something this enormous.

"You didn't tell me anything about this, you damn knight!!"

I screamed at the top of my lungs.

"How the hell am I supposed to stop something like that?!"

I immediately turned toward Asterion.

"Watch out, old man!!"

My voice thundered across the battlefield.

"He's trying to bury this entire cathedral with everyone inside it!!!"

"What?"

The Red Demon frowned.

Then his eyes widened the moment he sensed that enormous flow of aura.

His head snapped upward.

Mine followed.

The Golden Dawn Knight couldn't get past Asterion to kill me first.

So…

He had decided to kill both of us at once.

High above the dark skies of Old Ashvarn, a tremendous light emerged from nothingness.

Every monster and hunter alike turned toward it.

A magnificent golden radiance burned overhead like a second sun.

But upon looking closer…

Everyone realized that what they were seeing wasn't a sun.

It was a sword .. A colossal sword.

A blade of such horrifying size that it nearly rivaled the entire cathedral itself.

The Golden Dawn Knight poured an enormous portion of his remaining mana into that single weapon, making certain it possessed enough power to crush everything standing in its path.

Then without warning…

The sword fell.

It plunged from the heavens at terrifying speed.

Straight toward me.

It was so enormous that I couldn't stop it from forming as I had with his ordinary weapons.

"DAMN IT!!!"

I screamed with everything I had.

My Blessing surged as I desperately tried to stop it.

But it was useless.

And in those final moments…

Every hunter raised their head.

Raiden and Chai, where we had defeated Aldebaran.

Moon and Luna, where Morgus had fallen.

And here…

Asterion and I, standing against the Golden Dawn Knight.

All of us looked toward the heavens.

And saw death descending upon us…

Clad in magnificent gold.