The Low-key Evil Wizard BOSS-Chapter 68 - 6: [Bloodline·Lower Ranks·Rat King Knight]
RUMBLE...
Deep within the sewers, where the torrents raged.
Inside a more secluded sewer tunnel.
The darkness was thick and suffocating.
Zorn and Isaac waded forward, one behind the other, through the knee-deep water.
"Just ahead, in a small aqueduct, there’s a hidden doorway. Passing through it will take us directly to the Border Region below."
Isaac explained the hidden passage they had discovered as he led the way.
As a trailblazer of the era, a being with a special Sequence...
Isaac had clearly made some special discoveries in these disaster zones.
But finding this "Boundary Gate" was a stroke of incredible luck.
"Mr. Zorn."
"If we kill the Rat King, can we really save my teacher?"
Isaac couldn’t help but turn and ask as they walked.
"Compared to that question, I think how we’re going to deal with that terrifying Rat King—who is Level Three and nearing Level Four—is more important."
Zorn, following behind Isaac, replied slowly.
Earlier, when Zorn told Isaac that the only way to save his teacher was to kill the terrifying Rat King...
...the young Rat Catcher had been utterly hopeless.
After all, the Rat King’s power was terrifying.
Even the Church had supposedly lost many powerful Transcendents to it.
And there had been several cases of Rat Catchers being devoured by the Rat King.
Basically no one dared to face the monstrous Rat King directly.
Just this time alone, three Rat Catchers had died.
For him to kill the Rat King was nothing short of a fantasy.
So, like a drowning man, he had naturally turned his hopeful gaze back to Zorn, seeking help.
Using the excuse of needing to buy medicine, Zorn had the other Rat Catchers watch over Bevis, then left with Isaac.
After returning to his own manor and grabbing his prepared supplies...
...the two of them set out again.
Their target: the Bloodline·Lower Ranks·Rat King Knight deep underground.
This time!
Zorn planned to take on Rat King Bucky alone.
Under normal circumstances...
...the Border Region underground would be crawling with Transcendents from the Church, officials, and Rat Catchers.
Zorn would have no chance to fight Rat King Bucky one-on-one.
But with the outbreak of the Evil Spirit Calamity and the torrential rain flooding the sewers...
...the situation had changed.
According to the information provided by Isaac and his group of Rat Catchers...
...after the sewers were blocked by the flood...
...the deep underground Border Region was now completely empty.
Not just official Transcendents, but even Rat Catchers were gone.
However, Isaac and his group had used a special, secluded passage—a so-called "Boundary Gate"—to reach the Border Region deep below.
This gave Zorn the perfect opportunity to kill the Bloodline·Lower Ranks·Rat King Knight at his leisure.
In his original plan, he would have had to wait at least another month or two.
Only after the Church’s crusade against the Rat King had heavily wounded the Bloodline·Lower Ranks·Rat King Knight...
...would Zorn have been able to pick up the scraps in the "Final Nest."
At that time...
...Zorn would have only been able to get the flesh and blood remains of the Evil Spirit Knight, along with some Forbidden Blood.
He wouldn’t have been able to get any of the other good stuff.
But things were different now.
With no one to interfere...
...if Zorn took on Rat King Bucky alone and killed him, all the treasures underground would be his.
The opportunity had arrived, and Zorn, long prepared, seized it immediately.
Of course, as the guide, Isaac would also be handsomely rewarded.
After all, without this "Boundary Gate" and this unexpected event...
...Zorn would never have gotten such a perfect opportunity.
Soon, the two passed through a narrow pipe and arrived at the "Short Cut Gate" Isaac had mentioned.
Zorn’s gaze swept over the dark doorway, which was about two meters in diameter.
It was a Boundary Gate, something Zorn was very familiar with.
[Boundary Gate]
It allowed one to cross a certain distance directly, arriving deep within the Border Region.
Putting down the black, monstrous suitcase, Zorn took out two masks.
One was a pale Witch’s Mask, the other an ordinary imp-like Demon mask.
Both could effectively conceal their faces.
Zorn put on the Witch’s Mask, but it didn’t change his features.
He then handed the ordinary Demon mask to Isaac.
"Put it on."
"This..."
Isaac froze for a moment.
"You think there’s no one in the depths below, right?"
Zorn stated in a calm voice.
"But most of the time, reality doesn’t go as smoothly as you’d think."
"Being prepared is the only way to ensure your own safety."
Zorn instructed.
Isaac swiftly absorbed this valuable experience.
"Do you remember what I told you in the carriage?"
"Yes!"
Isaac nodded.
"Killing that terrifying Rat King will cause quite a stir in Ogrande City."
"As the ones who kill it, we’ll get a good reward, but we’ll also become targets for many others."
"Heroes may enjoy glory and praise, but they also bear the burden of danger and prying eyes."
"So... we need to hide our identities and keep this a secret. It’s the only way to protect ourselves."
"No one can know that we were the ones who killed the Rat King."
After hearing Isaac recite his explanation in detail, Zorn nodded slightly.
"Mask on! Let’s go."
Isaac’s character was trustworthy.
Teaming up with Isaac to take down the Rat King...
...on one hand, it would truly win the young man over to his side, making them genuine friends.
On the other hand, it was because a Rat Catcher who killed a Rat King could gain a large amount of "Experience" through the "hunt," allowing Isaac to level up faster and activate his [God Hunter] trait.
Once he mastered the [God Hunter] trait, he would be able to sniff out the scent and aura of other Evil Spirits.
Perhaps someday in the future, Isaac could bring Zorn information, traces, or even the remains of other Evil Spirits.
Passing through the [Boundary Gate], they arrived in the dark Border Region.
A dull, deathly silent world slowly unfolded in Zorn’s Perception.
Because this was a Border Region formed between the sewers and the Dark Realm...
...the area had a structure similar to the sewers.
It was just on a much larger and more complex scale.
Some of the characteristics of the Dark Realm were present in the Border Region.
Strange cracks lined the walls, and from a distance, you could see black shadows dwelling within them.
But upon getting closer, those eerie shadows would vanish.
Occasionally, strange, dark "shadows" would slip by, and some would even pause to stare at the intruders.
Some of these shadows would even attack intruders.
These so-called "shadows" were Shadow Creatures.
Where reality and darkness meet, shadows are inevitably born.
The Border Region between the Dark Realm and the sewers of Ogrande City.
The entire world was permeated by a strange aura of desolation and death.
The two of them now stood at the center of a crossroads.
Zorn’s gaze slowly swept across the intersection.
’Slowly exploring would eventually reveal Rat King Bucky’s current location.’
’I could also use food to lure Bucky over.’
’But both would take too much time.’
But Zorn had a better way. He looked at Isaac and lowered his voice.
"Isaac... try to sense the Rat King’s location."
"Huh?"
Isaac was taken aback.
"How do I do that?"
"Calm your mind. Use your Rat Catcher Sequence to carefully feel the veins of the darkness. You should be able to pick up the direction of that powerful Rat King."
"It’s a unique Talent and Ability that belongs to you Rat Catchers."
Following Zorn’s instructions, Isaac stood in the darkness and began to carefully sense his surroundings.
Every Sequence has its own hidden tricks and latent abilities, waiting to be discovered and developed by Transcendents.
This place was the "sewers," but more importantly, it was the core area of the [Rat Plague].
With his Talent for the [Rat Catcher] Sequence already at the ceiling, Isaac would definitely be able to sense the Rat King’s location once he mastered the method.
And just as expected...
...after a dozen breaths, Isaac’s eyes shot open, his face a mask of astonishment.
He looked at Zorn in pleasant surprise and said hurriedly,
"Mr. Zorn, I can feel the Rat King’s aura and location!"
Zorn nodded lightly.
"Good. Maintain that state. Let’s go catch a rat."
...
About fifteen minutes later.
The two arrived in a wide area, as vast as an underground cathedral.
But... what should have been a majestic and solemn "cathedral" area...
...was now covered by a small "Skeleton Jungle" of piled bones.
The "Skeleton Forest" of the Dark Realm, one of its most iconic areas.
This was also a Treasure Land for "Undead Wizards," though Zorn preferred to call it an "Undead Wizard’s Boneyard."
When Zorn used to play his max-level Undead Wizard character, he had buried countless enemy corpses and skeletons in the Skeleton Forest. He would even build death traps in the dark and eerie Border Regions, waiting for Human Transcendents to walk in and deliver themselves to him.
At this moment, Bucky, the Bloodline·Lower Ranks·Rat King Knight who had already ascended to his throne, was dragging his mountain-of-flesh body deep within the Skeleton Forest, CLATTERING as he dug through the bones, searching for something.
As he searched, he muttered in a low, delirious voice.
"So... hungry..."
"I’m... going... to... starve... to... death..."
"Damn it... Isn’t there anything good to eat? It’s just bones and more bones. I hate these bones."
"Mmm... Uncle’s taste was still so sweet and delicious..."
"Un... cle... Mor... ri... son... I miss you so much..."
The creature still couldn’t forget his delicious uncle.
However, from his mutterings, it was clear that this creature... was becoming more and more sentient!
From time to time, it would toss a bone high into the air, catch it with the Rat King’s head at its front, and then lick it rapidly, absorbing the faint remnants of Spiritual Essence within.
Its craving for flesh, soul, and Spiritual Essence would only drive it crazier.
If the Church didn’t come down to crusade against it...
...once its Spiritual Essence deprivation reached a certain point, the traits of the Evil Spirit Sequence would compel it to burst out of the sewers and hunt on the streets.
However!
The Spiritual Essence of ordinary humans could not satisfy its increasingly warped desires and greed.
Eventually, the Bloodline·Lower Ranks·Rat King Knight would launch a charge against the Holy Fierce Sun Church.
Not until the Church’s Holy Flame purified its will and soul, completely igniting that mountain of flesh...
...would it finally collapse heavily to the ground, ending its frenzied Knight Charge.
At the same time, the flames from its own burning bones and flesh would light up the night sky of Ogrande City.
It would write a tragic end for the Chapter of the [Rat Plague], and for itself.
Zorn gave Isaac a look.
Isaac took the hint and hid off to the side.
In Zorn’s plan, Isaac was a crucial part, but also a part that needed protection.
Next...
...it would be time for a boss battle between the [Evil Spirit Wizard] and the [Bloodline·Lower Ranks·Rat King Knight]!
