BXBX NOVEL Chapter 97: The Missing Princess 2
Chapter 97: The Missing Princess 2
The Spiritual Society was a secret group of theologians, and its sole objective was to fight against evil organizations.
They researched holy magic and tried to find the source of evil by studying history.
You could say that they had inherited the will of Eteria Rodinus, but the problem was that they were unaware that Eteria Rodinus was still active in the world.
They were just a watered down version of Eteria Rodinus.
They weren’t qualified enough to join the group of wisemen, and they had secularized themselves by affiliating themselves with the royal family of the Izuna Kingdom.
However, all the members of the Spiritual Society somehow were high-ranking priests.
Their strength and advantage were in their holy magic that could fight off monsters and face the Witch Cult.
‘Their equipments’ levels are also quite good.’
As he led the subjugation forces on his warhorse, Woohyuk was doing an interim check.
The Spiritual Society’s members were all equipped with plate armors and maces.
They looked very resistant against physical attacks, especially against monsters.
Meanwhile, he had called Choi Kayoon back before the departure, and she was equipped with leather armor and a whip. While her equipment seemed a bit shabby, she was being protected by the Spiritual Society.
‘Should I have lent her some armor of mine?’
While the Berserker’s Plate Armor Set was too much for her to handle as it would continuously drain her vitality, the Basilisk Scale Armor Set would fit her perfectly.
However, he was worried of its ability to inflict poison damage with a certain probability.
‘It would be problematic if she hits an ally with her whip while wearing that set.’
That was the downside of the Basilisk Scale Armor Set.
She would have to pay extreme attention to her surrounding allies.
If he were wearing the scale armor set during his battle against Tinia, she would definitely have died.
That was why Woohyuk preferred to wear regular plate armor at most times.
But he could always switch his armor set by using one of his belt slots.
In either case, the demonic energy he wields could reinforce his body and protect him, so defensive armor was pretty much useless to him.
“About the Witch Cult, do they have different factions since there are 7 witches in total?”
“You could say it that way.”
Pride, Lust, Greed, Gluttony, Envy, Sloth, Wrath.
Lilith’s witches represented the seven deadly sins chosen by the Creator, and the executives below the head of the cult led seven different factions and sects.
However, that was but just a small problem. Each faction believed and revered the same being, Lilith, as the others.
The differences between them was which sin they felt more connected to.
“That’s terrifying. To think that such a pseudo-religion is rampant on the Eeth continent…”
ChoI Kayoon trembled as she recalled the events that had transpired at Count Oswald’s mansion.
The woman had slaughtered the members of the Pitbull clan, a clan with quite the high ranking.
The executives of the Witch Cult were most likely as powerful as Amy was.
“If the world descends into chaos, the Witch Cult will gain a lot of influence.”
“What will you do if the Witch Cult takes the princess as a hostage? They look very proficient with evil methods and immoral actions.”
“We just need to rescue her before that happens.”
Woohyuk was quite knowledgeable of the wasteland’s structure.
He had investigated and scouted the area many times in the past to fight against hostile forces.
So he more or less knew where Princess Lizbeth was likely to be imprisoned.
‘The underground laboratory.’
He had heard that it was a torture chamber before Lucas changed its use.
It was located in the 3rd underground floor.
Woohyuk had to infiltrate it on his own if he didn’t want to get discovered.
‘I’ll put Ronald in charge of leading the forces.’
The cavalry’s movements were key to blocking off the Witch Cult’s escape, and he had already told Ronald the details of his plan.
Choi Kayoon would be fine without him as she was being protected by the Spiritual Society. And if, for certain reasons, she were in danger, he could simply summon her using the Call to Arms skill.
There didn’t seem to be any problems.
“Umm… Lord Chun Woohyuk.”
During Woohyuk’s interim check, Ronald carefully spoke to him.
“What’s the matter?”
“I would like to ask for your forgiveness for my rude behavior earlier.”
Ronald was worried that Woohyuk would hold a grudge against him.
Woohyuk had been ordered by King Henry himself to command the Witch Cult subjugation forces.
While it was a temporary position, Woohyuk was still higher ranked than himself and was also the king of the Rhine Kingdom.
He would be in trouble in the short term and the long term if Woohyuk held a grudge against him.
“The past doesn’t matter. But you’ll have to prove your worth during this expedition.”
“I understand. Princess Lizbeth’s life is on the line…”
“And I will not allow any objections, whatever the situation may be.”
“I would not dare to object. I wholeheartedly trust your skills, Lord Chun Woohyuk.”
As he observed Woohyuk as the head of the Spiritual Society, he knew that the man was no ordinary human.
He had been victorious after battling the Demon King Volak, and used the chaotic internal affairs of the nation to his advantage to single-handedly obtain it and become its king.
Ronald had many questions about Woohyuk’s skills, but one thing was certain.
‘There has never been a hero like him ever since the War of Gods and Demons.’
If Woohyuk failed his current mission, nobody else would ever succeed either, including himself.
Therefore, he obviously had to show his absolute obedience to Woohyuk.
It was better to ignore his meaningless pride for a short while.
As Ronald stared at the commander, a dark mist began to form in the distance.
“Wha, what’s that?”
“Is it the Witch Cult?”
The soldiers began to get nervous and a commotion rose.
The enemies numbered 20 thousand.
It was not a small army. The enemies had most probably noticed the movements within the city in advance and had prepared their own forces.
“Prepare for battle!”
Woohyuk pulled on his reins and shouted.
He had noticed the mist’s true identity through the demonic energy within him.
‘It’s an army of mixed monster species.’
Just like the monsters back in the Corcas mountains, the monsters were being led by an elite monster.
They were most likely the monsters who were migrating that Choi Kayoon had noticed.
As there was no time, Woohyuk quickly pulled out Grandia.
“Ronald, I’ll leave you in charge of the command.”
“Wha… Where do you plan on going right now?”
“I’ll be back with the enemy’s commander’s head.”
It would be problematic to lose time by fighting against the monsters.
Therefore, it was better to just kill the elite monster without touching the others.
Woohyuk had thought of a strategy that no ordinary commander could have ever imagined.
Before long, the rhythmic pounding of hoofbeats rang out as a white warhorse galloped forward.
Woohyuk bent down on his horse as he ran towards the army of monsters.
‘I’ll need to fight my way through quite deeply.’
The army’s scale was extremely large as the monsters from all corners of the kingdom had gathered.
However, he couldn’t use too much energy right from the beginning.
He had to reserve energy to fight against the executives of the Witch Cult.
Swoosh!
Woohyuk released his demonic energy and his white warhorse got covered by the dark energy.
His ride would not get hurt by ordinary attacks anymore.
Crash!
The warhorse ran with all its might before crashing into a dumbfounded orc.
The monster flew into the sky with a few broken ribs before crashlanding face-first into the ground.
Boom!
Crash!
Boom!
No monsters could stop the white horse. It was a literal hellish slaughter.
A road appeared within the dense cluster of monsters, just like how Moses had performed his miracle. The surrounding monsters could only stare with astonishment at the scene before their eyes.
“Kreegh?”
“Groagh…?”
The distance between the human and the commanding monster, an ancient ogre, was now only 500m.
Woohyuk’s eyes shone as he ignored the spears, arrows and magic spells that flew at him from all four directions.
‘I just need to get rid of him.’
The monster was as big as a mountain due to its nature as an ancient monster, but that was the extent of it.
Woohyuk could easily cut its throat by wielding Grandia. He didn’t have to use Verserios as of yet.
And if he wielded his demonic energy as aura, he could also end the battle just by using the Vampiric Dagger.
“Krrrrrr…”
The distance between the two commanders shortened and the ancient ogre raised its slaughter sword.
Soon, an orange energy began to wrap around the blade and it began to burn like a fiery flame.
‘An exclusive ability of its species.’
If one evolved like the ancient ogre, they could also use aura with their weapons like this monster had done.
Actually, they could do it with any object.
Indeed, it was a cheat-like species-exclusive attribute.
However, the aura they wielded were generally only at the beginner’s level, so Woohyuk wasn’t very worried.
Slash!
Woohyuk’s attack halved the slaughter sword in a satisfying way.
Soon enough, Grandia pierced the rugged skill of the ancient ogre.
Boom!
The demonic energy around the blade incinerated the monster’s brain in a matter of seconds.
No matter how big they were, the head was a vital weak spot.
With its central organ lost, it could no longer move on its own.
Boom!
Dust was raised along with a thunderous sound.
As the monsters began to escape after losing their commander, Woohyuk rode on his horse and turned the ancient ogre into an undead.
[Undead Ancient Ogre]
- Class: Dark Berserker (Monster)
- Traits: Leadership (3,000), Blood Craze (Increases strength and dexterity and accumulated the rage gauge the more it slays enemies. Strength and dexterity can only increase up to double their original amount), Berserker’s Fury (Attack the ground with a weapon to lift all foes within a 250m radius into the air and affect them with the shocked status. If the rage gauge is full, power gets doubled), Aura of Death (Increase all stats of undead allies within a 35m radius by +10), Enchant Darkness (enchant a weapon with the darkness attribute)
- Stats
Strength 216
Vitality 248
Dexterity 203
Intelligence 58
Spirit 172
‘Looks decent.’
Although it couldn’t compare to the fallen hero Sieg, its Leadership skill at 3,000 please Woohyuk quite a bit.
Blood Craze and Berserker’s Fury were satisfying.
Their effects would work well in a war.
The only drawback was that the exclusive attribute it had back when it was alive, the orange aura, had disappeared.
It was most likely replaced by Enchant Darkness, but was still an unfortunate loss.
Woohyuk cancelled the summoning of the Undead Ancient Ogre and captured an orc that had failed to escape in time.
Thump! Whack! Boom!
“Groek!?”
Although he couldn’t understand its words, it was most definitely asking Woohyuk to spare him.
He could probably talk with it if he used Asura’s power, but that would unnecessarily drain his vitality.
As Woohyuk continued to terrify the orc, Ronald arrived along with the rest of the Spiritual Society members.
“Thank goodness you’re safe! Do you know how much I was worried about you?”
“Your attitude has greatly changed compared to when you were taking me to the palace.”
“Oh, that was a misunderstanding. If I knew you were Lord Chun Woohyuk, I never would’ve done such a thing. Just how would I act as such to the hero who defeated Demon King Volak…?”
Ronald spoke quickly as he wiped off the cold sweat.
He was skilled at acting in a proper manner in front of a king, most likely due to his experience as King Henry’s closest aide.
Woohyuk ignored him and walked before Choi Kayoon, dragging the orc behind him.
“Try talking with it.”
“Wha, me?! I don’t think I can do it yet…”
“Have you ever tried to?”
“No… because I don’t really want to converse with monsters…”
“Then this is your chance. Do you not want to show us your skills and abilities?”
If she could converse with the orc, they could learn of the Witch Cult’s current schemes and plans.
Once Woohyuk finished explaining, Choi Kayoon sighed deeply.
“I’ve got no choice then. I owe you a lot, so I’ll try.”
Choi Kayoon took out her leather whip and stared at the orc.
Soon, the orc’s cries resounded along with the cracking noises of a whip.