One Hundred and Fifteen: Battling the Black Duke Once More

Chapter 115: Rematch with the Black Knight

With a wave of Carlson's hand, the entire enclosed secret chamber instantly shattered into a digital wave of "0"s and "1"s, instantly submerging and dissolving me. Countless intricate characters surged back and forth like a torrent, tearing the sequence of numbers related to me into complete disarray. When I regained a human form once again, I had already appeared on the penultimate floor of the fortress tower.

"The battle warrior has also revived, our people are all here!" As soon as my consciousness returned, the voice of B-flat Nocturne entered my ears. Raising my eyes, I saw that all four of my adventure companions had revived, sitting scattered about, waiting for their mutilated vitality to gradually recover. I looked up and found that there was only a thin thread of blood left in my health bar, no different from the sky-farers who had just revived—Carlson's cover-up work had been remarkably successful.

"Ah, we've been longing for you to come..." Witnessing my "resurrection," the Paladin Bull Millions was the first to leap up, walking toward me with great excitement in large strides, and giving me an exceptionally enthusiastic Tauren-style hug. "...Where on earth did you die off to? How come you're only arriving now?"

Although I knew he was merely making a casual complaint, my heart tightened sharply nonetheless: it was blatantly obvious that the place I had "died off to" just now was quite different from theirs, and I still harbored some worry that someone might arouse suspicion.

"People aren't like you, capable of getting lost all the way to Java. Why are you in such a rush?" B-flat Nocturne gave him a sarcastic, sidelong glance.

Java? Where was that? It seemed my map did not mark the territory of this country. However, if Bull Millions could get lost all the way outside this magical map, I would not be surprised in the slightest.

"How can I not be in a rush? I've been waiting for you guys for ages. You're all acting so unhurried, am I the only one who had to wait the longest?" Bull Millions complained loudly with a grievance-stricken expression.

Just as I felt a deep sense of guilt in my heart for delaying everyone's time due to my unspeakable hold-up, the half-orc warlock Dingding Xiaoge muttered quietly:

"That's because nobody died earlier than you..."

Honestly, whoever said the half-orcs were an ignorant and violent race—this wise demonic warlock could always perceive the true essence of matters...

Standing at the stairwell, I saw Lady Dengogett standing with her back to us beside a crumbling wall less than half a person high, gazing distantly into the valley far away. The afterglow of the setting sun cast its reflection upon the tips of her silver hair, steeping them in a brilliant radiance, and the slanted rays of the setting sun drew her slender silhouette very long.

This was such a lonely woman; she had forsaken her own race, and her race had forsaken the justice she believed in. To be honest, I did not think her choice was wrong in this matter; I sympathized with her plight and even understood her hatred. If there were even a shred of possibility, I would not wish to be her enemy on this life-or-death battlefield.

Regrettably, she had chosen to use the most extreme method to exact vengeance upon this world, driving everyone to a point of no return—including me, and including herself.

Yet everything I had witnessed at Carlson's place told me that all her efforts might merely be a destined-to-fail attempt among countless pointless repetitions.

This was her unchangeable destiny—perhaps also the unchangeable destiny of all native beings living in this world.

Just as I was secretly sighing over this futile fate, the thunderous and incomparably booming voice of the old troll Carlson suddenly echoed by my ear:

"Hey, kid, stop standing there in a daze. Did you find that spot or not..."

"Aah..." This loud whisper caught me completely without psychological preparation. I shrank my neck in fright and subconsciously looked back—naturally, I saw nothing at all.

"What's going on?" Bull Millions behind me was startled by my reaction and almost spun around to bolt away downstairs with his head in his hands.

"Nothing..." I subconsciously patted my chest, half-truthfully covering up, "...Just now it felt like someone was talking right beside my ear."

"That's right, that's right. The only flaw with internet cafes is that it's way too chaotic with people coming and going, there's always someone shouting in your ear, and the soundproofing of the helmets is really terrible..." To my surprise, Dingding Xiaoge immediately expressed understanding for my predicament—though I understood not a word of the messy nonsense he was spouting—and the moment he finished speaking, I heard another sharp, piercing young female voice erupt from his mouth, "...Ah, I got rammed flying by someone again..."

I stretched my neck and looked all around: "What sound is that? What's going on?"

Carlson's nervous voice sounded quietly once more: "I don't know where this voice is coming from either. This should be some kind of miraculous sound-transmission magic, presumably transmitted from that half-orc through the other world."

Just as before, the volume was so loud it felt as though it was about to blow the top of my skull right off. I reached up and covered my ears in agony, but the hell of it was that it did this of no use whatsoever—the old troll's voice seemed capable of piercing through my ears and pouring directly into my brain.

"Sorry, my girlfriend just recently got hooked on playing kart racing..." Dingding Xiaoge evidently mistook my reaction as being caused by him, and explained with a somewhat awkward expression, "It's been almost four hours, and she hasn't won a single round..."

Seeing the knowing expressions of absolute certainty on the faces of the others, I could only assume this was the voice emitted through his soul by the otherworldly demon who had signed a soul pact with the half-orc warlock, and now we all knew that this demon destined to ultimately harvest his soul was female. I didn't know whether this was a good thing or a bad thing...

Taking advantage of the time they were all discussing, I turned around and muttered softly, "Stop shouting so damn loud, you're going to deafen me!"

"Sorry..." The thunderous rumble came again, making my scalp tingle, and I frowned, shrinking my neck tightly.

"Ah, sorry, sorry..." Finally, Carlson's voice lowered to a level acceptable to a normal person. "...Doing this for the first time, I forgot to adjust the volume just now..."

"Did you see that spot?" he reminded me in a low voice.

I poked my head out from the stairwell and saw the third wall breach to the left of the Black Knight. That breach was very ordinary, no different from the other few crumbling walls; it was neither larger than them nor the smallest among them. To be honest, if I didn't lock onto the location now, I might genuinely forget where he was later on.

"Is it that one?" I secretly stretched my finger forward from behind my back, hiding it from my companions as I asked—knowing full well that the old codger Carlson could definitely see my little gesture.

"That's the one..." Carlson's voice faded away.

In the exact same location, another round of dialogue was continuing:

"Really... do we have to try again?" Bull Millions braced himself against half a wall, cautiously poking out half his head as he looked somewhat troubled at the Black Knight's back.

"We've already run our corpses all the way here, why not try again?" B-flat Nocturne strode out proudly from... ah, from between Bull Millions' legs... "We still have enough potions anyway, let's use them up first and talk after."

"Can we... actually beat her?" The Elven Druid Fairy Descended also looked somewhat hesitant. "...Just a moment ago we only managed to consume half her health..."

"We just lacked experience earlier, getting forced into a corner right at the start without even a chance to catch our breath," the Gnome Bard mused. "This time let's pay attention to spreading out, and not all run in the same direction. There should still be a chance."

To be fair, if Carlson hadn't lied to me, the general direction of B-flat Nocturne's plan was correct. In the image fragments I saw at Carlson's place, the battle positions of most of the adventure teams that ultimately achieved victory were indeed relatively scattered.

However, there was first a decisive technical difficulty—their levels were all higher than ours.

Before long, we once again ushered in an extraordinarily grueling melee.

Taking the Black Knight's first hammer blow from the front, I knew instantly that the outcome of this battle would be even more miserable than the last. Although my "Defense" action accurately blocked the heavy blow of the iron hammer, the impact still ruthlessly shaved away over two hundred points of my vitality. I had to face a cruel reality: the level 30 "Earth's Protection" shield in my hands was after all far less sturdy than the "Library Wall," and its defensive efficacy was more than a tier inferior.

My companions also encountered the same dilemma as me—some of their equipment had sustained varying degrees of damage in the previous battle, and while some could still hold out for a while, others were gradually disintegrating under the Black Knight's fierce attacks.

And the most fatal part was that the equipment with the most severe damage tended to be the items they used most frequently and relied upon most heavily in combat, for instance...

"Crack!" In an exceptionally unfair weapon collision, B-flat Nocturne's dainty shortsword could finally no longer endure the heavy pressure of the great iron hammer. The blade, which was only a palm long to begin with, instantly shattered into fragments all over the ground, and the tiny scrap of rusted iron remaining on the hilt was probably too short even for trimming fingernails.

"Can someone support me with a weapon, hurry up!" The Gnome Bard wailed wildly as he retreated from the combat group, shouting anxiously toward us.

"Are there any attribute restrictions?" Bull Millions asked loudly as he released the protective skill of Holy Light to desperately hold off another wave of the Black Knight's berserk onslaught, turning his head back.

"I can only use one-handed weapons, and the weight cannot exceed 30 pounds, otherwise I can't equip it."

"I only have one item, come over and get it... ah..." Bull Millions checked his magical pouch, and was caught unawares by a hammer strike to his rear end from the Black Knight. He clutched his backside, wailed as he retreated to the side, and didn't forget to toss the weapon onto the ground at the same time.

B-flat Nocturne took the weapon in his hand, and tears of agony instantly welled up in the corners of his eyes: "Don't you think this contraption isn't quite suitable for me to use?"

Bull Millions stretched his neck out to look at him while fleeing in panic, then revealed an approving expression: "There's nothing wrong with it, I think it's great. The style of this weapon is very handsome, and the attributes are quite good too. It suits you just right..."

"Then why didn't you use such a good weapon yourself?!" the Gnome Bard retorted indignantly.

"I just felt it seemed a bit too long, not very convenient to use..." Bull Millions wore a matter-of-fact expression without a trace of shame.

"Just 'a bit' long?" B-flat Nocturne almost choked to death on his own saliva. "If I stood at the bottom of the valley and stretched out my hand without paying attention, I could poke a hole in the sun! What can this thing be used for? Handing bricks up to the roof when rebuilding the World Trade Center?"

Honestly, this "Flying Dragon Knight's Honor Banner Lance" was a rather fine weapon. It radiated a soft silver luster all over, and an engraved pair of spreading dragon wings adorned the handguard of the banner lance. The entire weapon was bright without being dazzling, gorgeous yet restrained, looking less like a murderous weapon that tasted blood and more like an ornamental piece of art.

That did not mean this longspear was merely for show without practical utility, however; a damage value of 126 points was even slightly extravagant for a newly-minted level 50 Bard. Although its attack speed was relatively slow, the 20% hit bonus and 20% critical strike chance it provided were sufficient to make up for this deficiency. What's more, it came with a skill called "Charge," which could launch a fierce, sudden assault over a certain distance. The farther the attack distance, the higher the skill damage, providing up to a 30% attack bonus at maximum.

However, I feared we wouldn't be able to witness the power of this skill here: judging by my visual estimation, the length of this longspear was only slightly shorter than the radius of the tower-top platform. In this "narrow" battlefield, it probably wouldn't leave B-flat Nocturne any room to charge. In fact, when Lady Black Knight stood in the very center of the tower top, our bard would likely have to be careful not to fall off the edge if he wanted to use the spear tip to attack her.

Someone once described a battle like this: When the opponent's weapon pierced into my body, I hadn't even clearly seen his face.

Now we all knew that whether such a situation could occur depended not only on how fast your speed was, but also on how long your weapon was...

The second to suffer was the half-orc warlock Dingding Xiaoge. After firing his final shadow bolt, his two-handed staff exceeded its maximum tolerance load and finally shattered into a pile of dry firewood.

"Does anyone have a spare two-handed weapon to lend me? I need one that boosts magic power and magic damage!" Fortunately, minions were stepping in to help Dingding Xiaoge absorb the Black Knight's attacks, preventing him from suffering a fatal strike immediately due to the sudden destruction of his weapon.

I immediately remembered a piece of loot I had scavenged from the corpse of a troll warrior after entering Gravel Fortress. Although its attributes weren't high, it fit Dingding Xiaoge's requirements remarkably well, so I casually fished it out and generously tossed it before Dingding Xiaoge:

"Take it and use it, no need to return it to me!"

Seeing the weapon I tossed out, a flash of angry dark red gloss flew across Dingding Xiaoge's greenish cheeks, and he spoke to me as if having been insulted:

"I am a magical warlock with dignity, I will never use a crude weapon like a battle-axe!"

To be honest, the "Blue-Blooded Scum's Battle-Axe" I gave him was truly a rare and unorthodox weapon. As a close-combat two-handed battle-axe, it actually managed to increase the user's mana by 220 points, spell damage by 60 points, and granted a 5% bonus to shadow spell attack power. It was practically tailor-made for a demonic warlock, functioning essentially as a two-handed staff wrapped around a massive chunk of iron. I had never seen a weapon more suitable for a warlock to use, yet this green-skinned ugly fellow was actually picky with me.

"I only have one staff left here, you pick whatever you want..." I tossed the sole remaining "Damaged Blue Round-Headed Stick" in my inventory—which only added six mana—onto the ground, and turned to plunge into the combat group once more.

Our half-orc warlock, filled with professional self-esteem and pride, immediately snatched up the battle-axe without a second thought, spun around, and skillfully cast a curse spell, showing not the slightest trace of aversion...

When Bull Millions' armor was completely pulverized under the Black Knight's heavy hammer, our group's bad luck had reached its absolute peak. The four of us took turns rummaging through the loot in our inventories, only to astonishingly discover that the items providing the highest increases to vitality and defense attributes were actually Fairy Descended's "Tasselled Green Wood Vine Dress."

It was hard for me to say whether a male tauren wearing only briefs or a brawny male tauren bulging with muscles while wearing a dress looked more offensive to public decency. I could only tell you that after changing into the dress, Bull Millions displayed a shocking, unprecedented battle frenzy, recklessly exposing his physique to the Black Knight's brutal weapon. The obsidian pillar in his hands slammed ruthlessly toward the seemingly petite enemy, as if he desperately wanted to perish together with his opponent right then and there. Looking at his ferocious expression, I suddenly began to worry that if we truly managed to defeat the Black Knight by some fluke, we might still face the danger of being silenced and killed by Bull Millions.

However, in the face of absolute disparity in strength, such worries were clearly redundant. Even when fully armed, we hadn't been able to triumph over the Black Knight's hammer, let alone in our current state of battered remnants and broken gear. Five minutes later, our efforts reached the critical threshold of collapse. Finally, Bull Millions—who had fought desperately against an opponent with fearless heroism for the first time in his life—met his end as desired (I discovered that Bull Millions wearing a skirt was far more valorous and reliable than Bull Millions wearing knight armor; if possible, I hoped to have him wear a skirt every time we went on adventures together in the future). Then, the defense-fragile B-flat Nocturne also fell beneath the hammer. The situation became increasingly precarious, and it looked as though we were once again stepping onto the path of total annihilation...

"Old codger, are you ready?" I muttered in a low voice, wondering if Carlson could hear me.

"Almost, I'll take a risk and gamble my life with you!" Carlson's voice came through my ear.

"What the hell are you risking? The only life being gambled here is mine!" I said resentfully in a low voice.

"..." The old troll was choked into speechlessness by my retort and could only change the subject. "Alright, alright, get ready quickly. Oh right, remember to tell your friends to stop attacking; the data is too complex and I might not be able to handle it!"

"What? You old bastard, you didn't mention this to me just now." I cursed bitterly.

"Didn't I just tell you now?" Carlson's voice sounded somewhat awkward.

"Take a look for yourself, how am I supposed to make them stop in this current situation?" Fairy Descended face-planted while Dingding Xiaoge were locked in fierce combat with the Black Knight. When someone is completely consumed by the frenzy of battle, it is very difficult to make them extricate themselves from the fierce fighting.

"Ah..." With a miserable shriek, Dingding Xiaoge was also hammered squarely on the forehead and collapsed straight down onto the ground.

"Good timing!" I cried out inwardly, charging straight up from behind, savagely slashing the Black Knight with my sword, then turning tail and running while shouting to the Elven Druid, "Restore your health quickly, I can't hold out for long!"

Though knowing it was futile, Fairy Descended face-planted habitually obeyed my suggestion and temporarily ceased her magical attacks against the Black Knight. Stabs-wounded by the sword, the Black Knight immediately abandoned her current target and pursued me relentlessly.

Behind me was the howling storm of the iron hammer, and I had no way out; I could only push forward bravely.

Right ahead was a seemingly ordinary crumbling wall breach...