Chapter 501 - 497: Toying
"His life is in danger," the High Duke exclaimed as he understood the meaning of this shaking. That's right. We need to get to him fast and help him.
"I'll go and help him. You stay here," High Duke Oris said as he smiled.
"No, I'll come with you as well," Rale said, refusing to agree.
"No. It's unsafe for you. It'll be easier for me alone," High Duke Oris shook his head.
"It's my duty to be there to help him. I'll go with you at any cost," Rale insisted.
...
"Sigh, fine," After a bit of back and forth, High Duke Oris agreed, even though a bit unwillingly, all because he didn't have much time to waste here.
Each second wasted here is a second lost that could have been used to save Ryder.
High Duke Oris caught the hand of Rale as he disappeared.
...
In a different place, Ryder was running towards the Corpse with the Scythe in his hand with the intention of cutting it in half.
While Ryder closed in on the distance, the Corpse-like being stepped out of the coffin, revealing its shriveled-up legs that were nothing but bones.
The part below its waist seemed to belong to a skeleton, while the top half seemed like a bloodless body. The only object on its body was a silver Armor that was covering its chest.
"This is unexpected. I thought it was more like a zombie, but it's like a hybrid of skeleton and Zombie," Ryder exclaimed as he clenched the Scythe even tighter after reaching the being.
He swung his scythe towards the waist of the hybrid, which seemed like the weakest part of its body. Nothing but a few bones were there.
The blade of the scythe acutely moved towards the bones, cutting even the winds themselves in its path, moving as fast as it could.
As the blade of the Scythe reached closer to the bones, the Armor started shining slowly. A beautiful silver light came out of the Armor, shrouding the whole body of the skeleton, including the part of his waist that was being targeted by Ryder.
Tuck!
A metallic sound was heard as Ryder, the blade of the scythe, hit the silver barrier. It seemed like the two of them clashed with each other for supremacy. Unfortunately, in the fight of the sickle and the Armor, the Armor won as it managed to defend the wearer against the attack.
The scythe couldn't move even an inch forward.
"This freaking barrier!"
Angered, Ryder mixed them Scythe back. He had thought that he could easily cut that guy in half. That's why he hadn't used any skills. Unfortunately, it wasn't that easy.
Deciding to use his skill since it wasn't going to be easy, he used his <Enraged Slash>
The attack was stronger than last time now. Unfortunately, the outcome was the same. Nothing happened. The defense of the barrier was a bit overpowered.
"Flame Blast!"
"Enraged Slash!"
"Ranging Flames!"
"Dark Strike!"
"Blazing Thunder!"
"Defense Reduction!"
"Arcana Blast!"
Ryder used skill after skill, but he didn't achieve any success. All he got was failure after failure. Each of his attacks failed to harm the hybrid even in the least.
It was as if he was a kid, hitting at the wall, trying to break it with his meager strength.
The hybrid still, simply gazing at Ryder. There was no expression on its face, so Ryder didn't know what his silence meant. Was it just a puppet that couldn't do anything?
"That's right. Why didn't I think of it? Could it be that it's not an enemy?" Ryder wondered as he finally stopped attacking. He simply gazed back at the hybrid as well, wondering if his line of thought was correct.
The being wasn't attacking him. It seemed like this guy wasn't the enemy here.
Also, even when Ryder stopped attacking, that thing still didn't do anything. What was it doing?
"It might be that it's simply a puppet that does nothing? That's right. Why would this Armor be placed on it is? The only one who had the map was Rale. No one but the Demon King heir would come here. The one that hid it here wouldn't do anything to harm me. It might be that the puppet is also a gift?"
"I should ask Rale what it is. But first, I need to take that Armor and the fragment. Since he does nothing, I should be able to take the Armor even without needing to kill it."
And with that line of thoughts, Ryder decided to step forward. The scythe once again changed back to the bracelet that wrapped around Ryder's hand as he stepped closer to the being.
Raised his right hand, he touched the Armor to take it off, not expecting the drastic change that was going to follow his action.
As soon as his hand touched the Armor, the wind seemed to have stopped moving. The gentle silver light that was surrounding the hybrid changed color to the red. Its eyes also changed color to dark red.
The being that had stood calmly like it was a thing that knew nothing moved its hand, striking Ryder's chest.
The force behind that punch was so powerful that it made Ryder fly back like a tossed stone.
He uncontrollably fell inside one of the holes that he had dug himself.
"That hurt," Ryder muttered as he held his chest while looking at his health bar, which was showing red color.
A single punch from a thing that had no level was enough to bring his health down so much that it was already in the danger zone.
Fortunately, he also saw his HP instantly replenishing to the fullest, all thanks to Nature of Healing.
"This guy, I thought it was a gift for me. I guess I was wrong. It doesn't seem like it'll let me take the Armor easily. But I can't injure him either? Is there something I can even do?"
Sitting inside the pit, Ryder wondered what he could even do.
"Sigh, I came so far. I can't leave without taking what I want. Going empty-handed is impossible. The only thing I can do is take what I want even if it's impossible," Ryder muttered as he flew out of the pit, only to get shocked once again.
As soon as he came out of the pit, he found the corpse in front of him. Another punch landed on his chest, once again sending him flying.
"This annoying Bastard!" Ryder once again found his HP dropping by more than ninety percent. It again replenished as well.
"He is toying with me! This Bastard! He's lucky he has that Armor to protect him, or I would have smashed him to pieces!"
Once again, standing up, he flew out of the second put he had fallen in, only to have the same thing happen again.
"Argh! This thing!"
Before he could even know anything, he found himself in a third pit that he had dug.
It was making him furious, especially when he couldn't do anything about it.
This time, he didn't act hastily like before. After suffering the same thing thrice, he had realized how wrong he was.
He didn't jump out of the pit this time. He knew that whenever he jumped out, another first was going to land on him. That being was just probably again waiting outside for him this time as well.
Instead of going it, Ryder decided to wait inside as he again called forth Moon Scythe, but this time in the shape of a bow, ready to shoot that thing as soon as it came over the pit.
He was sure that it was going to come after it when tired of waiting. This thing was especially targeting him again and again. There was no way it wasn't going to come down if Ryder didn't go up.
That was his assumption. He was completely prepared to take that thing by surprise. Unlike last time, he was going to get back at it. He was going to teach it how it felt to be tossed back.
Just as he had expected, the hybrid flew above the put since Ryder didn't come out, probably to check if he was dead.
As soon as Ryder got the view of the hybrid, he fired the arrow, which actually managed to hit the forehead of the hybrid.
Surprisingly, the barrier didn't act this time. It didn't protect the being as its head was penetrated.
Seeing the arrows to be effective against the barrier, Ryder once again attacked, but he didn't target the forehead this time.
Since this thing was already dead, targeting its head was useless. It wasn't going to die. As for his HP, Ryder couldn't even see it.
The only option he saw was attacking his waist that was going to break it in half. It didn't have any flesh, and the area seemed like a weakness. A single attack was probably going to be enough to finish it.