The Duke's Son :Re-Chapter 219

“Such a horrible thing...!”

An ultra-long-distance teleportation that could span an entire continent was as rare as any ducal Bloodline Skill. Wilhelm, a master of black magic, had sacrificed the body of a relative to perform this miraculous teleportation. It was a magnificent yet cruel act, entirely against the principles that humanity should uphold.

Just what kind of monster is he?

Amidst the murmuring crowd, Do-Jin was overcome with horror.

Having played a pivotal role in killing the two Baus mages, Do-Jin had accumulated the second-highest amount of experience after Jae-Hyeok, not to mention the several achievements he’d earned along the way. All in all, the change to his stats could be called a metamorphosis...

But at the moment, Do-Jin regretted the boost to his Insight.

For it was his Insight that alerted him to Wilhelm’s monstrous power.

Do-Jin trembled violently, but when his knees gave out, and he hit the ground with a plop, the sound invited Wilhelm’s attention.

“Oh? Are you not the child of Do-Hwan and Su-Ryeong? You’ve grown up to be a precious ingredient. Good. Very good...”

The greed that flickered in Wilhelm’s eyes terrified Do-Jin. However, no one mocked him for turning pale and trembling. Although those gathered were elites of the Shinra family, most of them reacted as Do-Jin did. Some recognized Wilhelm’s true identity; others did not, but everyone felt it: the force of Wilhelm’s aura settled like a mountain on everyone’s shoulders and chests.

He was one of the world’s strongest players for a reason, it seemed.

Thick veins bulged on the Rakshasa’s neck—it wrestled against Wilhelm’s pressure for several long moments before saying with difficulty, “Are you trying to break the unwritten rules?”

Wilhelm inclined his chin toward Shinra Hyeon.

“Oh, but it was you lot who broke the rules first.”

Shinra Hyeon met Wilhelm’s gaze with a steady one of his own. He opened a silver fan, covering the lower half of his face as he retorted, “False. It was your people who struck at the Kang and Shinra families.”

“No, no. That wasn’t me, but my subordinates. My Baus family is very large. Reining in every subordinate can be quite the challenge, so their will does not necessarily represent mine. As for you people? Tsk-tsk. I didn’t expect to intrude upon two Korean ducal families just as they were scheming to attack me.”

Wilhelm shifted his gaze to Jae-Hyeok.

Jae-Hyeok's eyes trembled slightly, and the Rakshasa sighed. He is talented, but he still lacks experience.

Jae-Hyeok was clearly gripped by terror; in such a state, he’d be stiff in both body and mind. Jae-Hyeok would hardly be able to resist if Wilhelm were to strike. Thinking as much, the Rakshasa summoned its guando from its inventory and prepared to smash Wilhelm the moment he made a move on Jae-Hyeok.

This is the worst situation, but it can’t be blamed on Young Master Kang. National Treasure candidate or not, he’s still just a child, the Rakshasa thought.

“Insolent brat,” Wilhelm muttered. And, surprisingly, Wilhelm’s domineering pressure faltered.

“?!”

The Rakshasa was puzzled by this reaction, only to be surprised when he noticed the corners of Jae-Hyeok's mouth curling up slightly. The boy's ragged breathing and subtly trembling body took on new meaning when paired with his smile.

Could it be? Was he excited?

It was true. Jae-Hyeok was thrilled at the prospect of battling one of the candidates for the title of world's strongest player.

I probably won’t win. But it doesn’t feel like I’d lose easily, either.

This was not arrogance or misjudgment, but rather the result of what the Baus family had brought upon themselves. Jae-Hyeok had faced and defeated many assassins from the Baus family, each marked by a green skull brooch. He’d undergone a complete transformation since that morning.

As for Ji Cheon-Myeong? He wouldn’t even last a second against the current Jae-Hyeok.

Let’s just fight. This is a golden opportunity.

For Jae-Hyeok, the goal was to surpass his father. The title of the world's strongest was not just a vague ideal; it had to be a reality.

“Are you serious?”

Wilhelm frowned. He looked as young as a man in his twenties, but the deep crease between his brows suggested he was used to scowling.

“You dare to show battle intent in front of me? Young Loren really has tarnished the name of us necromancers.”

The mages serving the Baus family commanded armies of undead—but, in fact, they weren’t necromancers. Wilhelm bestowed the corpses they controlled, for they couldn’t create undead—unlike Wilhelm.

“Open your eyes.”

With those simple words, Wilhelm resurrected the freshly slain Schwazel and dozens of knights killed by Shinra Hyeon, transforming them into death knights.

Roooooar!

The chaotic scene of the earlier battlefield returned, as the death knights rose and charged the elite members of the Shinra family. Blood spattered, and screams and shouts filled the air once more.

“Holy Wind!”

Shinra Hyeon swung his fan, and a gust of divine wind buffeted the death knights, rapidly corroding them into nothingness. It was a rare sight to see the Baus family’s undead army, which had always secured them victory, reduced to such pitiful remnants.

Yet, it was Shinra Hyeon who was caught off guard.

“This!”

While he was preoccupied with the undead, Wilhelm had closed the distance to Jae-Hyeok.

"Ohhhh!"

Veins bulged on the Rakshasa’s forehead as it swung its guandao with tremendous force. The Rakshasa showed no signs of fear or hesitation in the face of Wilhelm when it came time to strike.

The guardian deity of the Shinra family unleashed its full combat power, and the light from its strike cut through the darkness, briefly illuminating the surroundings. However—

“Bone Shield.”

Wilhelm easily blocked the attack.

Hundreds of ribs flew from the surrounding corpses and morphed into a shield, which rebounded the Rakshasa’s guando easily.

“Die.”

The bone shield dispersed into countless floating bones before reassembling itself in a blur. A bundle of long, ivory barrels aimed directly at Jae-Hyeok.

Bone Gatling.

Bang bang bang bang baaang!!

“Damn!”

Hundreds of sharp bone fragments pierced toward Jae-Hyeok, leaving Shinra Hyeon shocked. At such a close distance and with such an unexpected attack, even a National Treasure like himself would have struggled to react—let alone Jae-Hyeok, a young boy with both less experience and a lower level.

Today, however, Jae-Hyeok had killed a great many powerhouses and earned who knew how many achievements—His current combat power was not something Shinra Hyeon could’ve guessed.

After all, both Shinra Hyeon and Shinra Kyeong were the same in that they had grown up leveling in family-owned gates. They delved into well-explored gates with perfect preparations, and the gates they chose were all selected for easy leveling. As a result, their path was one steady accumulation and learning; they had seldom experienced a rapid growth in their level or combat sense. So it was no surprise that Shinra Hyeon struggled to understand Jae-Hyeok’s third eye for combat.

Jae-Hyeok’s abilities were as much a product of talent as they were circumstance. As a fallen aristocrat and as one belonging to the Kang family—Jae-Hyeok had always lacked safe hunting grounds and had faced the threat of assassins repeatedly. The latter remained true even within Lion's Castle, a place he’d been forced to enter for a chance at life. All in all, he had spent his life fighting from disadvantageous positions. And through this, he had learned to learn and grow rapidly—because failure to do so meant death.

For Jae-Hyeok, the successive battles he had throughout the day were already more than enough to remake him, both in terms of stats and battle sense when it came to fighting undead.

Shinra Hyeon’s eyes widened in surprise as the hundreds of bone fragments flying at Jae-Hyeok were split in half by a single sword strike.

In contrast, aside from the slight raise of a brow, Wilhelm’s expression didn’t change. “You have impressive skills.” His eyes shone with a golden light, and the Bone Gatling gun morphed into a slender, pale blade.

“Bone Sword.”

Clang!

Jae-Hyeok’s transparent red sword and Wilhelm’s yellowish bone blade clashed rapidly.

Their two swords were locked together when a coffin appeared behind Wilhelm. A lich flew out and thrust out its bony palm. A beam of blue mana crashed into Jae-Hyeok.

“Cough!”

Jae-Hyeok flew back dozens of meters and hit a building. He struggled to come to his senses. Remnants of the lich’s mana roamed through his body and wreaked havoc on his organs. The pain was so excruciating that it blackened his vision.

Jae-Hyeok fumbled for a potion with trembling hands, but—

Kikik!

Before he could do anything, a death knight covered in black armor arrived and thrust its spear into his belly.

The death knight was another one of Wilhelm’s Unique undead—at some point, another empty coffin had appeared behind Wilhelm.

“Kuack!”

Jae-Hyeok couldn’t hold back and let out a scream.

Jae-Hyeok couldn’t hold back and let out a scream. It was impossible for him to handle the joint attacks of the lich and the death knight, both of whom were on par with Wilhelm. In fact, they might even be more specialized in combat than Wilhelm himself.

“Jae-Hyeok!”

“Young Master Kang!”

His companions immediately stepped forward. Roh Jun-Yeop and the other members of the Shooting Club opened fire on the death knight, while the Seed team, along with Jang Yeon-Ju, launched a surprise attack on the lich. Park Chang-Cheon and the Guardian Guild members cleverly targeted Wilhelm.

The lich responded with a top-ranked AOE Skill—Meteor Strike.

Dozens of small meteorites rained down, disrupting Roh Jun-Yeop’s, Jang Yeon-Ju’s, and Park Chang-Cheon’s formations.

“You’ve crossed the line.”

“You’ve crossed the line.”

Shinra Hyeon stepped forward then, raising a divine wind that extinguished the fires caused by the meteorites. Then, he aimed his glowing fan at the death knight. The pressure he emanated was entirely different from before.

“Wilhelm, don’t you understand why the Baus family has feared the Shinra family for generations?”

A magnificent white energy burst from the tip of Shinra Hyeon’s fan, passed through the death knight, and flowed into Jae-Hyeok. The death knight rattled like a broken doll, while Jae-Hyeok's complexion noticeably improved.

“Indeed, your divine power is tricky,” Wilhelm said with a smile. “Well, I of course knew that.”

It was too late by the time Shinra Hyeon sensed the danger. The death knight let out a terrifying scream as it writhed like a human in pain. Then a dazzling white light burst from its eyes, nose, and mouth.

“The higher the undead’s level, the stronger their rejection of divinity. Eventually, they fall and are purified, but the energy released in the process is beyond imagination. The explosive energy is stronger than most formal spells.”

Wilhelm’s smile deepened as he snapped his fingers. causing the death knight’s frame to swell dramatically. It looked like it could explode at any moment. Shinra Hyeon suspected that if it did, the entire Shinra estate would be devastated.

Jae-Hyeok shared Shinra Hyeon’s tension. He had to cut the mana core—the source that had reanimated the undead. If he could strike and destroy it before the dark and divine energies reached the critical threshold, then he might be able to prevent the death knight from exploding.

With quick determination, Jae-Hyeok drew his sword with all his might. His strike was as flawless as ever, the red blade slicing through the armor worn by the death knight and grazing its skeleton, which was harder than any metal in the world—however, the sword couldn’t break through; he simply lacked the power.

Thunderbolt Sword hadn’t activated at this crucial moment.

Wilhelm had been taken off guard by the speed of Jae-Hyeok’s sword strike, but relaxed upon seeing the result.

“Arrogant brat! Do you really think that a mere can cut down my masterpiece?”

“Wilhelm, don’t break the rules.” Suddenly, a thunderous voice resonated across the sky. Then there was a deafening roar and a lightning bolt struck Jae-Hyeok’s sword, but it was different from usual lightning; the lightning was a faint blue instead of bright yellow.

The energy was familiar to Jae-Hyeok.

Thunder Emperor?

“Can you handle it?” the Thunder Emperor questioned playfully.

Reading the confidence in the Thunder Emperor’s tone, Jae-Hyeok roared and swung his sword with all his might.

The Thunder Emperor’s lightning was a power that he’d already wielded once before in Reinhardt. Jae-Hyeok knew well what it was capable of. And indeed, wreathed in lightning, Iyarugt sliced through the death knight and split its glowing mana core.

“What?!”

“Raaah!”

The death knight’s scream drowned out Wilhelm’s cry of horror.