The Duke's Son :Re-Chapter 287

“Denovine!... Good, very good.”

Wilhelm’s voice gradually regained its calm. He flexed his aura and shattered the tall window before stepping outside. A hundred paces away stood the Thunder Emperor.

“I spared you once when we crossed paths at the Shinras’, but you didn’t cherish it. Today, I’ll collect your corpse.”

Pale gold flickered in Wilhelm’s eyes. They differed from those of other Bloodline Skill users. Their color lacked vibrance, and they betrayed not the slightest emotion.

“I came prepared, and luck is on my side.”

Austria was the homeland of musicians, and Wilhelm did not disappoint; years of orchestra concertos surged through him, and he swept his hands through the air like a maestro.

“Arise, minions..

The ground heaved beneath the moonlight.

Kiyaaaaaah!

Hundreds of undead emerged from the ground.

Bellona watched in awe. Throngs of skeleton warriors, dozens of skeleton mages, and a few liches crowded the area. But even more surprising were the dozens of death knights that arrived at the front of the line. Their clothes and weapons were strangely familiar.

“The Demon Slayers?”

Bellona’s eyes widened with surprise.

The tengu masks were shattered, but the sword breakers in their hands confirmed it: Wilhelm’s death knights were none other than the Demon Slayers who’d died hours earlier.

“I told you luck is on my side.”

Wilhelm’s lips twisted.

The more corpses there were, the stronger a necromancer became. In that sense, the Sky Demons’ arrival—and subsequent death—was to Wilhelm a great blessing. In one night, he’d gained dozens of the most elite death knights.

“Denovine, this is the end.”

Wilhelm swept the air with his arm, and the undead jumped to life.

The liches unleashed mana spears, and the barrage tore gaps through the Thunder Emperor’s lightning aura; at the same time, the skeleton warriors paired off and prepared to intercept the Thunder Emperor’s counterattacks, while the death knights—shimmering with buffs from the skeleton mages—moved to encircle the Thunder Emperor.

Everything happened in the blink of an eye.

The power of an army under a candidate for the World’s Strongest title was extremely overwhelming.

“You, spare me?”

The Thunder Emperor lashed out with a whip of lightning, forcibly knocking away the death knights.

“You overestimate yourself!”

The bodies of the death knights convulsed violently. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

Clack! Clack clack clack clack!

Their teeth clacked, and their joints twisted and buckled as if their entire bodies would shatter at any moment.

Surprisingly, the undead, consisting of only bone,s were electrocuted.

The problem lay with the swords they held in both hands.

“Bah!”

Wilhelm reacted swiftly. The death knights dropped their equipment at his mental command. Then, he began to cast.

Legion Armament: Bone Sword.

Legion Armament: Bone Armor.

Bone armor encased the undead, while bone swords appeared in their hands.

Clang! Boom! Clang!

Lighter and more insulated, the death knights moved with speed, dodging the Thunder Emperor’s lightning with high success.

“Hm...”

The Thunder Emperor dodged the attack of a lich—only to have his arm sliced by a death knight. He turned his attention to Bellona’s group.

“Aren’t you going to help?”

“......”

Bellona remained silent.

Her mission was to protect Kang Jae-Hyeok from the Thunder Emperor, so a prolonged tangle between Wilhelm and the Thunder Emperor was to her—and Jae-Hyeok’s—advantage.

“You... are you working with Wilhelm?”

The Thunder Emperor frowned, and the night sky lit with roiling thunder and clapping lightning.

A flicker of curiosity appeared in Wilhelm’s eyes. The phenomenon in the sky was the precursor to the Thunder Emperor’s ultimate Skill, Thunderstorm.

At the same time, a pair of crackling lightning wings unfolded behind the Thunder Emperor.

“I’m curious,” the Thunder Emperor boomed. His mana amplified voice filled the streets of Seoul, rattling windows and shaking trees.

“What are you dogs from the Association doing in Kang Jae-Hyeok’s mansion? You dare scheme against this Emperor’s friend?”

The more the Thunder Emperor thought about it, the angrier he became.

In Reinhardt, when he’d confronted the Minister of Agriculture, Jae-Hyeok had guarded his back. But more than that...

“Thunder God... do you know what this title means? Do you? No, I can’t imagine you. You dare to scheme against him, even going so far as to side with a corpse-obsessed freak!

“...Know this, Kang Jae-Hyeok is a blessing to humanity. I will not abide the US crossing him.”

The revelations that came one after another were shocking.

The most arrogant, self-centered genius in the world had called another his friend? Moreover, he’d even praised Jae-Hyeok as a blessing to humanity?

It wasn’t just Bellona’s group—all of Seoul trembled.

Thousands upon tens of thousands of citizens had heard the Thunder Emperor’s words and would later spread them across the world through social media and online forums.

Bellona and the others returned to their senses.

“Ah...”

Contrary to the American Association’s judgment, the Thunder Emperor wasn’t jealous of Jae-Hyeok at all. To the contrary, he respected the boy’s Thunder God title more than anyone else. The reason he had rushed to Korea ahead of anyone else was probably to congratulate Kang Jae-Hyeok on overcoming his tribulation.

Bellona hurriedly waved her hands. “Your Excellency, I can explain—”

“No need.”

Thunderstorm triggered, and the ramping lightning energy came crashing down.

"Kuaaaak!"

“Gasp!”

Bellona and her group screamed with rolling eyes.

Even the top members of the American Association, clad head to toe in excellent items, couldn’t withstand the power of Thunderstorm.

Was this what it was like to face a tribulation?

The lightning persisted, and black smoke started rising from their bodies...

Meanwhile—

Bone Mountain.

Wilhelm was unscathed. Not a single thunderbolt touched him as he hid beneath the mountain of bones.

He said, “We’ve only just greeted each other, and you’re already using Thunderstorm. It looks like you’re quite anxious.”

“I’m not the one hiding under bone piles, like a rat.”

“You!—You spoke of respect when it came to that brat, but you don’t know the first thing about it.”

“Hmph. That’s not for you to say.”

Boom!

The Thunder Emperor beat his wings and pierced the undead vanguard like a low-flying jet. Around him, shattered bone formed a spray cone, while in his wake—

Boom! Boom, boom, boom!

...A barren haze of ash and soot.

This was the true power of Thunder Wings. They not only enhanced speed—they scattered explosive, feather-shaped clusters of lightning energy.

Strictly speaking, the Thunder Emperor’s pair of beautiful wings were weapons of mass destruction. Whether the undead could resist electricution made no difference. The heat and pressure of the explosions turned the undead to flying dust.

Boom! Boom!

......

Butler Hwang peeked over the windowsill with a pale face.

Good heavens...

The scenery outside was apocalyptic.

Thankfully, the torn earth and settling ash marked a clear boundary around the mansion’s walls. Even the explosions seemed like special effects—they churned the earth and obliterated swaths of skeletons, yet the expected pressure waves never reached Butler Hwang’s ears.

These Americans are truly good people.

Butler Hwang bent and gathered the Yaksha in his arms with a grateful heart[1]. Even in the heat of battle, the Thunder Emperor was controlling his Skills and manipulating his mana to avoid damaging the mansion.

Of course, Butler Hwang wasn’t the only one to notice this.

“Cheeky bastard... Daring to control your strength against me?”

Wilhelm laughed while finely shattered bone fragments rose from the ash.

“Bone Gatling.”

They shot toward the mansion with the speed of bullets. Of course, the fine fragments were lighter than bullets, so their power was less. Nonetheless, what they lost in power they recouped in number.

The volley spanned the whole mansion.

“This!”

Butler Hwang hugged the Yaksha and turned his back to the window.

“Avoid it!”

Bellona threw herself in front of Butler Hwang—true to her role as a captain in the security forces, she had an exceptional ability to react to danger.

And she wasn’t alone.

The American mages moved in tandem. Their hands flickered with spell light, and overlapping magic shields surrounded Bellona and the others. The bone fragments shattered on contact with the magic shields, too weak to penetrate.

Bellona and the other players exchanged numb looks.

Everyone was safe, which was more than they could say for the mansion...

The windows were shattered, while the walls, especially the front-facing ones, were left a porous ruin—chock-full of drill-bit-sized holes.

A building with a two-hundred-year-old history had been reduced to a wreck.

“This guy!”

The Thunder Emperor bit down his fury, conjured another lightning whip, and began swinging wildly.

Bang! Bang!

Wherever the whip swept, scorched bone and ash clouds trailed its path.

Wilhelm laughed.

"Have I hurt your pride? Ah, but why throw a fit over a building when next comes your life?”

Thump!

Wilhelm summoned a coffin. He’d worn down the Thunder Emperor enough; now it was time to seize the advantage.

“I’ll wipe out you and the Kang family—”

Tremble.

The earth shook.

Wilhelm frowned. And his frown only grew deeper when he saw that the Thunder Emperor was also frowning.

Tremble.

The earth shook again, and the fabric of space began to twist.

The Thunder Emperor and Wilhelm had been so absorbed in their battle that they’d forgotten a crucial detail—mana waves from a clash between transcendents could stir the world itself.

A sound like glass shattering split the air, and a yawning mouth opened under the moonlight.

[An unexpected gate has occurred!]

[Beware of a monster wave!]

“......!”

Hordes of monsters poured out from the dark void, and the faces of both the Thunder Emperor and Wilhelm paled.

1. I’m going to assume Wilhelm intubated the Yaksha with some sort of mobile respirator. I don’t see how else he could’ve moved the Yaksha without killing him otherwise. ☜