Chapter 201: Chapter 63. The Four-party Encounter (3)
As soon as the silver-white knight reached for his rapier, he disappeared. Then in the blink of an eye, the knight appeared again in front of Oswen, swinging his rapier.
Slash!
The attack was not sharp enough. Although Oswen was surprised by the sudden attack, he, too, was very powerful and agile. The blacksmith quickly moved aside and dodged the attack.
Even though Oswen successfully dodged the attack, he looked baffled, because the attack felt somewhat strange. However, he could not exactly tell what felt so strange about the attack.
“It’s going to be a tough fight,” Oswen thought.
Although the fight would be challenging, the blacksmith did not think that he would lose. Only a handful of people in the Underworld was stronger than him, and the blacksmith did not believe that the knight would be one of them.
Oswen then put his six swords together. The swords blocked the rapier.
“The knight is a mad cow,” he thought.
The silver-white knight’s moves were very aggressive. Despite the quick speed, the attack did not carry much weight. As a result, the knight’s swings felt somewhat out of balance. Although each blow was weak, when they were delivered successively, the overall damage could be great.
The silver-white knight was pushing Oswen hard, trying to break through even the smallest opening possible. The knight believed that he could crush his enemy through even the slightest chance.
“You got me wrong.”
After all, Oswen was a blacksmith, and blacksmiths were known for their competitiveness. Without a strong obsession, they could never create great swords. Although Oswen was not dealing with swords at the moment, his competitive nature was still there.
The blacksmith did not believe that the knight was good enough to be his enemy, and this feeling made him more competitive.
The knight was constantly attacking Oswen. The attacks gave the blacksmith an impression that the knight was underestimating him. The knight seemed to believe that it would eventually penetrate Oswen’s defense if he just kept on trying.
“The Sword of Hell,” Oswen thought.
There were some stories behind this skill. When Oswen recovered his ego, he created six swords, which were made out of the Iron of God. The swords were called the Swords of Hell. A skill was created upon their creation, also called the Sword of Hell.
When the blacksmith put his six swords together and used this skill, the Hellfire erupted. The black flame engulfed Oswen and they merged into one, which looked as aggressive as a lion that came from hell.
When the silver-white knight saw the transformation, he stopped making attempts to break through Oswen’s defense. Instead, the knight aimed his rapier at one spot and started concentrating on that target.
The knight was trying to muster all of his power and attack that one spot.
Oswen recognized the knight’s strategy immediately. The blacksmith knew that dodging the attack would be best, but he did not want to prolong the fight.
Oswen decided to confront his opponent head-on. Both the blacksmith and the knight were confident about their attacks, and they charged at each other.
Every footstep that Oswen took spread black flames, which made the battlefield look like hell. The silver-white knight gathered his mana on his rapier and shot them like bullets.
The two were about to collide with each other. Then, something unexpected happened.
Clang!
Oswen’s sword and the knight’s rapier flew away.
“That’s enough.”
The knight and the blacksmith were fighting each other on an island that was covered by snow. When they were about to clash, a female demon appeared between the two.
The demon had the horns of a goat, and she was dressed in flamboyant colors, which contrasted the white snow.
It was Ariel Diablo.
Looking indifferent, the archduke stood in front of Oswen and Krithli, as though nothing happened. It seemed that she did not want to harm any of them, but it was hard to tell what she wanted to do.
The two could not ask the archduke about her intention, so they remained silent.
Ariel then led them to her dungeon, and Oswen and Krithli followed her.
The dungeon was very quiet inside.
There was no sign of any monsters. It was said that Ariel defeated the previous owner of the dungeon and conquered it. However, it seemed strange that the archduke did not deploy any of her monsters to her new dungeon.
Oswen and Krithli were nervous because the archduke was unpredictable. She was neither hostile nor friendly. Although he remained quiet, Oswen was also shocked that Ariel could stop his attack at once.
In fact, the blacksmith was more surprised that he did not notice that the archduke was coming. If he was fighting the archduke, he would not have any chance.
“Did Randalf Bruciel send you?”
When Ariel reached the transportation magic square, she started to talk.
“You are correct. We are here to deliver you the invitation from Archduke Randalf Bruciel…”
“You don’t need to tell me all the details.”
It seemed that she only wanted to know if Randalf had sent them.
Looking indifferent, Ariel then activated the transportation magic square with a flick of her finger.
Then a bright light swept the dungeon and opened a small crack. When the light was gone, they were transported to a different place.
When they looked around, Oswen and Krithli could not help but be surprised.
There were about twenty silver-white knights in front of them, standing in two lines.
Although they were covered with armors, all of the knights looked different. Some of them looked very small like young children. Oswen and Krithli were able to tell that the silver knight who was guarding the gate was the most senior.
Not only were they covered in armors, but their strengths also could not be easily measured. Most of the knights seemed to be as powerful as high monsters, if not the highest monsters.
“Welcome back, Ms. Ariel Diablo.”
“Get the table ready. We have guests.”
“As you wish.”
The knights guided Oswen and Krithli to a giant table, and the two sat around it.
Until the dishes came out, the two could not speak a word. They wanted to figure out Ariel’s intention first, but it was hard to read her mind.
“You look puzzled.”
Ariel smiled slightly. The archduke was indeed very powerful, and she looked relaxed. Every one of her gestures conveyed her confidence that she was in control of the situation.
One cannot simply gain such confidence through effort. The archduke was an heir to the Dark Lord, and her confidence was something that she inherited.
Oswen realized that the Hell Lord, whom he had known, was also as confident as Ariel Diablo.
“I suppose Randalf Bruciel sent me a present?”
“Here…”
“Here it is.”
When Krithli was about to hand over the item, Oswen stopped her.
The Dark Elf was not used to situations like this. She hadn’t had much experience dealing with those who were more powerful than her. Oswen wanted to give the Dark Elf a chance to get more used to such situations, but Ariel was a different animal. The blacksmith knew that the archduke was perhaps even more powerful than Ufa, and therefore, he took over from Krithli to pass the invitation to Ariel.
Ariel received the invitation and started reading it.
“Hmm…”
Unlike Ufa, Ariel did not seem to be annoyed. Instead, the archduke looked rather intrigued by the invitation.
It did not take too long for her to finish reading. After about thirty seconds, the archduke finished skimming through the invitation and looked at Krithli and Oswen.
“This is funny. I guess you also gave a similar invitation to other archdukes?”
“You are correct.”
Oswen did not reveal the truth that he had met with Ufa before he met Ariel, because he was concerned that Ariel might get angry about it. When Oswen answered, Ariel tapped the table with her fingers.
“This invitation is unprecedented. Ever since the previous Dark Lord had vanished, the archdukes in Devildom only fought each other. Never had they gathered together. Randalf had only defeated Oculus, yet he is bold enough to invite other archdukes to meet in one place. Haha…”
Ariel looked quite excited.
The archduke was on war with Ufa, so Oswen expected that Ariel might refuse the invitation. However, the archduke’s reaction was very different from Ufa’s.
It seemed that she did not care about Ufa’s coming to the meeting, despite them being at odds with each other.
“The food is going to get cold. Treat yourself. I have prepared these just for you.”
It was clear that the archduke was not hostile at least.
However, Oswen and Krithli were still nervous.
The two started eating, and thus, the long and quiet dinner began.
When Oswen and Krithli left Ariel’s dungeon, Oswen sighed in relief.
“Ariel is indeed on the ball. I heard she’s the daughter of the previous Dark Lord? No wonder she was so good…”
“The knights, they looked like a mix of many different sorts,” Krithli remarked.
The Dark Elf seemed to have paid attention to the knights guarding the archduke.
“Ah, they were no mediocre knights. They did feel somewhat strange. I don’t know what they were.”
“Perhaps they are Ariel’s best weapons. Just like how Ufa tamed the Wizard of the Moon, Ariel could have tamed them.”
“Our dungeon master will have to face those monsters someday. It won’t be easy.”
Oswen clicked his tongue as though he was overwhelmed by the knights. Every archduke was pulling strings behind the scenes. The blacksmith expected that the last archduke, Pandemonium, was no different.
“Let’s get this job done quickly and return home as soon as possible. There is so much to report.”
“We only have one more spot to stop by. Let’s go.”
The two got on the Griffin and soared into the air.
***
After Oswen and Krithli informed me about everything that they had seen, I could not help but wander around the Dungeon Core. The two did not look so bright after they had met with Ufa, Ariel, and Pandemonium. Furthermore, what they told me was beyond my imagination.
“What made them change, I wonder,” I thought.
All of the archdukes acted normally on the outside, but they were conspiring secret plots from behind. At least Ariel showed what she was doing, but I believed that what she showed was merely the tip of an iceberg.
Had it been normal times, the archdukes would have tried to increase the number of monsters and went on wars with each other.
“Oculus,” I thought.
I could only think of Oculus as the reason for the changes in the archdukes.
Oculus had crossed the line and threatened the other archdukes. Although I killed Oculus, it seemed that his voice was still echoing. Perhaps he wasn’t the only archduke who had crossed the line.
In addition, Oswen told me that Ariel was able to stop his attacks immediately. I had seen her statistics during the Auction of Devildom. According to what I had seen, the archduke was not powerful enough to stop the blacksmith as she did. Although he was off guard, Oswen was one of the highest and the strongest monsters out there. It would be extremely hard to step in without getting caught by him.
Everything and everybody was changing very quickly, and I was one of them.
“However, I am going to be the ultimate winner.”
The word winner sounded sweeter than ever. I claimed that I would be the winner out loud and promised myself. No matter how much and how quickly the archdukes changed, they would not be able to keep up with my pace.
I was alone after all, but I was powerful enough to confront all of them.
“I would not have imagined that Ariel was breeding the knights,” I thought.
Although she was the cleanest of all the demons in Devildom, Ariel was still a demon. However, the archduke was taming what seemed to be Pure White Knights.
It seemed that the knights that Ariel was breeding were not just simple white knights. They seemed to be a mix of many different breeds. The archduke was not familiar with life alchemy, so I could not fathom how she was able to make such a mix.
“This gathering will be fun,” I thought.
I anticipated that archdukes would try to boast about their power as much as possible during this meeting.
Unlike the Auction of Devildom, where there was a mediator, no one would stop the archdukes. In addition, there would be no penalty for provoking others. If an archduke wanted to fight with another, they would without hesitation. Once a fight started, the opponent, even if they did not want to get involved, would have to fight the other.
The meeting would be a huge wave and a tsunami, which would impact the entire world.
No one would dare stop the archdukes. I initiated the meeting, but I had never really thought about the consequences.
This meeting and the fights, which would start from this meeting, would be a disaster to humans. Unfortunately, no one could stop this from happening at this point.
Even demons could not stop the fights from taking place. I wondered if even the gods could stop it.
“I will need to get prepared for the last time,” I thought.
When I thought about seeing all of the archdukes in one place, the urge to crush them erupted from inside.
It had been only five years since this life had started. However, if experience was considered, I had dozens of years’ in experience.
I could not help anticipating who would lose or who would win.
Snickering, I moved to another location.
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