Weed does it again

Seoyoon’s salvo of meteor like attacks struck Kub.i.+.c.hya in rapid succession.

Peobeobeobeobeok!

The high paced attacks bypa.s.sed all defences dealing a huge amount of damage.

“Keueeek!”

With the onslaught of attacks, Kub.i.+.c.hya could do nothing but receive all of it.

Seoyoon, in a frenzied state, recklessly bombarded Kub.i.+.c.hya!

As Kub.i.+.c.hya continued to take dozens of hits, he slowly retreated.

A Berserker will continue to attack until all of its health and stamina are depleted. However, continuous use of the skill rapidly increased mana consumption as well as increased physical fatigue, yet Seoyoon showed no interest. Smooth and intense, the swordplay by which she poured all her might continued to remain active even though she was nearing exhaustion. And even in that state, Seoyoon still displayed agile movements which could already be considered to be at extraordinary levels.

The battle then turned into a match of endurance, with Kub.i.+.c.hya still at the receiving end of the successive blows however, Seoyoon was simply attacking in a fit of blind rage, not caring for her decreasing stamina, which could give Kub.i.+.c.hya a momentary opening for a counterattack.

“Life Drain!”

Weed continued to struggle to hold onto Kub.i.+.c.hya’s back while casting Life Drain.

He was scared of losing his life since Seoyoon was just rapidly and recklessly shooting off her skill at random. Added to that fact, Seoyoon bore the Murderer’s mark exposing her name, which was written in an intimidating red.

So each time Kub.i.+.c.hya’s body received the shock from the impacts, Weed felt sorely terrified.

Typical for a Berserker, Seoyoon never thinks when she attacks!

Due to the relentless attacks, Kub.i.+.c.hya was now in a precarious state, but even with that he still intended to retaliate.

“Fearless human! To think that you can drive me into such a corner.”

Though he treated Skeleton Weed as someone c.u.mbersome, annoying, and dastardly, the way he treated Seoyoon was far too different. The Chaos Daejeonsa Kub.i.+.c.hya venerated those that possess strength but clearly he despised the undead wizard. Weed was now a Lich and had very high Infamy, therefore it was normal for monsters to only show disdain for him.

At any rate, it was still necessary to avoid Daejeonsa Kub.i.+.c.hya’s attacks at all cost.

If a character were to be struck by either his axe or Dragon Sword, the only outcome would be death.

‘This is bad.’

Weed tried to warn Seoyoon but it seemed that she couldn’t be swayed and continued to swing her sword. Her onslaught couldn’t be stopped. Mana had been gathering in her sword which by now was emitting a blood red light.

‘She is about to do something.’

Seoyoon had been preparing for a large-scale attack.

And when her blood red sword slashed through the air it wreaked havoc to the surrounding area, as if a storm had just pa.s.sed through. Despite that, Kub.i.+.c.hya just took a step back and then swung widely his sword, producing a force capable of repelling Seoyoon’s attack.

“Female Warrior, I commend your courage. Killing you here would be a great honor.”

Kub.i.+.c.hya then kicked the ground and began running towards Seoyoon.

However, the blood red sword once again cut through the air slas.h.i.+ng both Kub.i.+.c.hya and Weed.

The blood red light had yet to dissipate and still she continued to attack.

A difficult skill yet easily executed!

Chaos Daejeonsa Kub.i.+.c.hya did not immediately panic from the attacks but instead tried to block them using both his axe and sword.

“Kuaaaaaah!”

Kub.i.+.c.hya screamed in pain but so did Weed.

“Euaaaaak!”

Upon seeing Seoyoon launching that many attacks without hesitation, Weed had been constantly regretting.

‘If I had known this was what would have happened, I should’ve cooked the long expired ingredients and fed that to her! No, I should’ve taken more of her loot, since every time we finish hunting monsters she just goes stealing my sculptures, this is so unfair!’

Seoyoon concentrated on her skill in order to deal maximum damage. The skill formed from the condensed red mana was then unleashed.

“Kkwaeaeaek!”

Struck by the skill, Kub.i.+.c.hya was blasted through the air. The situation was now reversed, with Seoyoon doing the chasing instead of Kub.i.+.c.hya.

Kkwagwagwagwagw.a.n.g!

Whenever Kub.i.+.c.hya was. .h.i.t, the same applied to Weed.

Left and right, up and down, Kub.i.+.c.hya’s body was spinning like a top!

Weed then re-evaluated Seoyoon’s combat skills.

‘Very strong.’

She had been fighting together with Tori recently, but after experiencing countless battlefields alone, it had made her this strong.

‘Not good in cooking nor in creating sculptures, but she is extremely powerful at fighting.’

The characteristics of a Berserker, showing no hesitation in battle; the more aggressive she attacked the greater the increase in power to her skills.

Seoyoon was definitely in a league of her own!

As Kub.i.+.c.hya’s health continued to decrease, Weed also suffered the same fate. But even with that much damage Kub.i.+.c.hya’s remaining health was still at 11%.

“Save the Daejeonsa!”

Chaos Warriors that were blown away due to the detonated Fire Giant had then returned!

The devoted Chaos Warriors once again started teleporting towards Kub.i.+.c.hya.

From just 10 enemies, it suddenly reached 20. They were growing in numbers and went to target Seoyoon and the three now remaining Undead. Other Chaos Warriors also gave chase to Golden Bird and Eunsae by teleporting; however, the two did not come down to attack on the ground, instead they flew even higher.

Unable to hold out against the numbers of the enemy, the undead were wiped out by the Chaos Warriors. From the beginning, the situation was never favourable for Weed.

“Seoyoon, just run away already!”

Seoyoon received several wounds from the Chaos Warriors but her focus in fighting never once wavered.

“Tch, I’ll try this then. Animate Dead!”

The battlefield was overflowing with hundreds of corpses.

With every current undead destroyed, 15 newly produced undead Chaos Warrior were there to replace them.

Weed didn’t have to worry about the mana cost for he was getting a steady supply of it.

‘Because of Mana Drain.’

After being relentlessly attacked, Kub.i.+.c.hya was now unable to move his body and was in a state of confusion. Using this opening, Weed began casting his spells once again.

“Animate Dead!”

17 more undead Chaos Warriors were produced.

*Ttiring!*

Undead Summoning Skill was now at advance level.

But the current undead were produced while his skill was still at the Intermediate level.

It would be a complete waste of time to have them revert back and resummon them again.

“Fight! Kill all the enemies of your master!”

20 undead Chaos Warriors teleported to provide support for Seoyoon, the rest stopped the enemy Chaos Warriors in their tracks. Weed continued to absorb mana from Kub.i.+.c.hya in order to maintain the undead but still saved enough to cast his spells.

“Corpse Explosion! Corpse Explosion! Corpse Explosion! Corpse Explosion!”

Corpse Explosions with extremely high explosive power were activated in a row.

“Get in there and latch onto the enemy!”

The group of undead Chaos Warriors exploded one after another.

Using the high quality corpses of the Chaos Warriors as walking bombs to create more havoc was Weed’s plan of desperation. With the help of the undead Chaos Warriors, Seoyoon was able to break free from the enemies’ a.s.saults, and leapt towards Kub.i.+.c.hya.

Unfortunately, Kub.i.+.c.hya had already recovered from his confused state, and began chanting.

“O souls of the burning warriors that dominated this land! Give me the strength to fight!”

Warrior’s Rampage!

All of Kub.i.+.c.hya’s muscles suddenly bulged.

Due to the induced rage, his heartbeat will now be faster, increasing his strength, agility, and stamina recovery!

“RAAAAA!”

In a flash, Kub.i.+.c.hya struck Seoyoon a dozen times.

With his incredibly fast speed and power, Seoyoon was completely overwhelmed and her injuries from the previous a.s.sault of the Chaos Warriors added more to her disadvantage. Also, due to her skill consuming most of her stamina, she had become extremely weak.

“Human female warrior, I shall have you die now!”

Kub.i.+.c.hya struck Seoyoon with his axe several more times and then dealt the last blow with the Red Star.

Weed regretted as he could only watch Seoyoon die!

Weed greatly roared.

“All undead attack Kub.i.+.c.hya!”

It was already a hopeless situation.

Before her death, Seoyoon was the only one capable of dealing a great number of injuries on Kub.i.+.c.hya.

Undead Chaos Warriors launched an omnidirectional a.s.sault against Kub.i.+.c.hya!

“Aim for the left side! Five of you attack the upper right!”

Due to Weed being positioned at the back of Kub.i.+.c.hya, he could see things from the same point of view. Thanks to Weed’s directions, the undead were able to put up a good fight against Kub.i.+.c.hya.

However, that did not last long. While attacking with their axes, Kub.i.+.c.hya counterattacked them by blasting a fireball, burning the undead.

“Blade Tornado!”

Tori charged towards Kub.i.+.c.hya using his ultimate skill!

Golden Bird and Eunsae also came down to the ground to attack, but they were all repelled by Kub.i.+.c.hya, and enemy Chaos Warriors pursued them while they retreated to the sky.

“Feeble skeleton, it is now your turn.”

Kub.i.+.c.hya gloriously announced this, now that all the hindrances had been removed.

Though his body might be battered and was full of wounds, Kub.i.+.c.hya still had amazing health regeneration.

With his life at stake, Weed continued to suck Kub.i.+.c.hya’s life just like a mosquito.

“Die, skeleton!”

The moment the axe was brandished, Weed immediately retreated to Kub.i.+.c.hya’s flank.

“Mind Hand!”

A Sculptor’s skill that enables one to create a third hand. With the hand grabbing Kub.i.+.c.hya’s arm, the attack was narrowly avoided. Though the attack was stopped midway through, Weed still received some damage so he once again started absorbing life in order to recover. So each time Kub.i.+.c.hya attacked with his axe, Weed would avoid it using tricks and movements just like a monkey.

“I’m going to continue hara.s.sing you until the very end!”

With Kub.i.+.c.hya’s relentless attacks, Weed’s bones began to crack and when they broke his health drastically dropped.

’Am I gonna die like this?’

If Weed were to be thrown off from Kub.i.+.c.hya’s back then he would definitely die from the spells that would come after.

“Golgolgol!”

In his near death state, Weed heard the familiar voice of Geumini.

Mooooooooo!

Even the cry of Yellowy was mixed in.

Weed remembered that he had ordered them to not to engage in battle and if things got worse, they were to retreat.

“I am Geumini. We will not let you kill our master, golgolgol!”

Riding on the back of Yellowy, Geumini charged in like a brave knight.

“You haven’t left yet?!”

“Halt!”

In order to stop them, hordes of Chaos Warriors went to tackle them.

“Charge, golgol!”

Geumini, swinging his sword, broke through the enemy lines.

Each time they pa.s.sed through the Chaos Warriors, cracks and scratch wounds would be engraved on his smooth body. Some parts were chipped off while some areas melted, but that did not stop him from moving forward.

Yellowy took on the fireball attacks and plowed through the hordes of Chaos Warriors!

Geumini, using his jewel attribute pulled out five s.h.i.+ning blue sapphires from his body.

They were high cla.s.s jewels that could pitch a high price in the stores of the continent.

“Jewelry Destruction, Sapphire Orb!”

A blizzard of ice and snow centering on Geumini swept away the surrounding Chaos Warriors!

The storm of icicle shards then slashed through Kub.i.+.c.hya.

“Keeek! What are these attacks…. Blink!”

Kub.i.+.c.hya tried to teleport away from the blizzard but due to Weed still clinging onto him, the skill failed!

Engulfed by the sapphire’s blizzard spell, Kub.i.+.c.hya incurred a high amount of damage. Weed was also included in the attack. In order to reduce as much damage as possible, Weed fastened himself on Kub.i.+.c.hya’s back.

Unable to escape the area of effect of the sapphire spell, Kub.i.+.c.hya’s health was drastically falling as well.

Amidst the blizzard, an ice fragment struck one of Weed’s eye sockets. With one of his eyes gone, Weed watched Geumini as he cast powerful spells against the Chaos Warriors.

Geumini then suddenly exclaimed.

“Master, I’ll show the world how grateful I am to you. Golgolgol!”

He then once again casted the magic Weed had prohibited him to use.

“Jewelry Destruction!”

Risking his life for his master, Geumini pulled out 5 more sapphires and activated the skill.

Anymore use of the skill and his body will run out of jewels.

Finally, Geumini used his body to create an explosion that filled the area with golden brilliance blasting away the Chaos Warriors and Kub.i.+.c.hya.

This was his last resort; Geumini had blown up his own body just to save Weed and defeat the enemies.

At that instance, Weed’s head was filled with a kaleidoscope of memories of Geumini.

He then spoke his final words to him.

“Why are you so d.a.m.n incompetent? You have yet to earn your keep.”

Like a brother, Weed had shared his equipment with him. Weed was not required to wear his beginner outfit and clay sword anymore, so he handed them down to Geumini.

“Who do you think made you painstakingly…. For you to end up like this, pathetic.”

“Golgolgol.”

Even though he was always treated harshly, he had hunted and grown together with the Wyverns without being dissatisfied. With his handsome face, he was occasionally smug but he learned to be submissive, he did it in order to receive praises from Weed.

“Kuaaaaah!”

Geumini died but Kub.i.+.c.hya still lived.

“Kill, I shall kill you!”

Kub.i.+.c.hya howled like a wounded beast.

Yellowy was still rampaging around while crying, killing the already injured Chaos Warriors in the vicinity.

Desperate times call for desperate measures!

Weed immediately pulled out Zahab’s engraving knife and stabbed himself in the chest.

Personally reducing what little health he had remaining, but just before dying he took out his Copper Plate of Rest.

***

“Aahh.”

“How could this happen….”

The staff of KMC Media were devastated.

The last stage of the quest had failed and only genocide awaited Weed’s sculptures of life.

Tears of sorrow and sadness can be seen among the staff. Even Director Kang had a bitter expression.

“Weed’s undefeatable streak has come to an end.”

Even if it was Weed, the quest was still unsuccessful. Moreover, the difficulty of the quest was very high so no one could really blame him for the failure.

Being able to lead the undead in a fight against Kub.i.+.c.hya and treacherously using the corpses of the Fire Giants as his powder kegs. The way he challenged the army of Chaos Warriors was truly remarkable.

“Phew, I feel so empty though.”

Director Kang was still idly watching the video feed.

Kub.i.+.c.hya, having acc.u.mulated large amount of damage, fell to one knee and was resting, with Chaos Warriors gathered around him forming a heavily guarded wall.

The Inferno Knights still had sufficient numbers to resist the Chaos Warriors, though the Fire Giants were now weakened; but all in all, the situation of the war had changed little.

When Weed had joined the battle it was truly a breathtaking moment. As they continued to watch, more Chaos Warriors died in battle but many more would spring up and join the confusion later. As the Inferno Knights and Fire Giants continued to hold their ground, a lot of Chaos Warriors by then had gotten exhausted from the battle; some of which had even started to rest. This observation wasn’t that surprising; due to the game’s nature, such a situation was quite possible to happen.

“So this is how it comes to an end.”

Due to the dramatic moments, not only Director Kang but also the rest of the Operations Teams were all glued to the screen. In order to get everyone back to their senses, Director Kang clapped his hands.

“Wake up everybody. We still ought to finish our work. The quest has failed, we will have to put out this caption and choose an appropriate bgm. Programming Department, how is our viewer ratings at the moment?”

“Yes, please wait for a moment.”

The staff of the Programming Department looked at their monitors and surveyed the results.

“Right now, among the 17 game broadcasting companies we have 92.5% of the market share. Even with our program competing with news channels over the airwaves we still got 8.9% of the ratings.”

Home shopping, comedy, drama, these are what currently being aired on the tv channels but the ratings still reached 8.9%.

If you count only the ones doing game broadcasts then the ratings has reached a whopping 92.5%.

No other stations had ever recorded such high audience ratings, except for KMC Media that is.

Among a hundred people only 7-8 people were not watching the Royal Road broadcast of KMC Media.

“These ratings are absurd….”

Some KMC Media staff immediately checked whether there was some mechanical failure in their machines while the rest were already in an uproar.

A flood of calls was coming from advertising sales representatives of different companies, and even the International Division was having a field day due to the calls of broadcasters from other countries.

***

Users were now running out of control and were flooding every message boards.

CTS Media and other broadcasting stations were very jealous of KMC Media.

Short intermittent rises in ratings may be dismissible but once a big issue is created, the increased number of viewers is secured. KMC Media even added effects in their program garnering an even more increase in viewers.h.i.+p. Especially now that Royal Road was gaining more popularity to the public.

Initially, due to the high price of the capsules, people were reluctant in buying them despite the popularity and benefits of virtual reality. But right now, even if you have an expensive car and a good house to live in, it was still much better to have it, with the widespread recognition in Royal Road.

Families hunting together with their young children are now already a common sight in Royal Road. Royal Road had definitely brought great change, not only in Korea but all over the world.

With the increasing broadcasts of the game to the public, its influence in the media grew as well.

And on this day, Weed and KMC Media would be especially remembered.

Others stations were having increased difficulty trying to reverse their drop in ratings. This included CTS Media, Jachang and a certain number of other stations that were greatly affected. It’s because they chose to air the live broadcast of the expedition instead. At first, they held the interest of lots of viewers and had plenty to advertise. But as soon as Weed’s adventure was aired on television, the audience immediately abandoned them and flocked to KMC Media’s channel.

Everyone had payed close attention to the long awaited program of Weed’s adventure.

***

While continuing to watch the screen, Director Kang muttered to himself.

“It’s a pity that such a sensational quest ended up in failure.”

Weed just died a while ago after going through such an intense battle and with his death, took along a huge deal of the excitement away. But it was not yet the time to relax, not until Weed’s special program in Las Phalanx reached to the end of the live video feed. Though the battle had ended, many of the staff of KMC Media were still rooted in their seats watching the video.

As for the staff that went back to work, they once again glued their eyes towards the screen.

There was still plenty to watch in the race war that will determine who reigns as supreme in Las Phalanx.

Director Kang suddenly had a question.

“Weed already died, so why are we still receiving the video feed?”

The other staff had similar thoughts as well.

“Yeah, Weed definitely had died….”

“If he had died then the video would have been cut off by now.”

The staff that had become avid fans of Weed continued to watch the video without saying a thing.

Thump. Thump.

Their hearts were now racing.

Shortly after the scene, they had already guessed what was about to occur.

Ever since Weed took his own life, these anxious staffs had their eyes only at the screen with their chests beating loudly.

‘Come.’

‘Now is the time to get up….. Keukeukeukeukeukeu.’

***

Dense smoke was rising!

And then a huge beam of green light flashed through like lightning.

When Weed suddenly came to, he was looking down at Kub.i.+.c.hya who was relaxing far below him. Weed was revived through the skill Power to Reject Death but somehow the way he felt with his body was far too different than when he was revived as Origin of the Skeleton.

He had bones thicker than a building’s steel frame.

Had wings and a tail, and an enormous head with a snout.

Weed had revived as a Dragon.

‘Good, he’s not dead yet.’

Yellowy, nearing his imminent death was running amok. Due to his last ditch resistance, the Chaos Warriors could not apply the final blow.

‘I can’t let you die yet.’

Weed took a one step forward, which measured more than 10 meters in length.

Kkwaaaaang!

Extremely large footsteps.

The large steps resonated, shaking the whole dungeon. Just by moving his new joints showcased tremendous power. But even with just a walking pace, a significant amount of his health dropped.

The suffering of a large monster!

Weed used his jaws to catch Yellowy.

Yellowy, not knowing what just happened was lifted into the air.

- Golden Bird, Eunsae, if you guys are still alive then take Yellowy away with you.

Jjaejaejaejaek!

Golden Bird and Eunsae burst out through the smoke with a loud cry. Flying in the air and navigating through the gaps, they both rescued Yellowy by swiftly grabbing him away. Weed then lifted his claw to shoulder height to help Yellowy, who he spit out in order to make him fly up even higher, as he blocked the path of the Chaos Warriors that might have taken to give chase.

‘Now it’s Kub.i.+.c.hya’s turn.’

Weed then turned.

Inferno Knights and Chaos Warriors were stunned as they continued to look up.

Though Weed was hesitating for a bit, he must not waste more time. He must not give Kub.i.+.c.hya time to recover, and it would be very effective to use his current body to fight against him now. But since there was a ceiling blocking him, Weed was unable to fly.

- Kuoooooooo!

Dragon’s Roar!

Weed moved instinctively, taking advantage of the stunned state of the Chaos Warriors.

Using his hind legs, he suddenly trampled Kub.i.+.c.hya. It was an attack that he had put all of his weight in. Due to his severe injuries, Kub.i.+.c.hya was unable to use his teleportation skill, giving him no options for escape. However, he did not die after being trampled and was slowly recovering.

But Weed then tossed him into the air like a ball before chomping him with his jaws.

“We must save Daejeonsa!”

“Attack the Dragon!”

The Dragon’s Roar effects did not even last for five seconds.

Chaos Warriors raised their axes, teleporting towards Weed and started hacking away at his body.

Neck, spine, flanks, and legs, all were being hacked by the Chaos Warriors’ axes.

The whole body of the Bone Dragon was burning!

Large monsters were strong due to their high strength and health. But being born with a huge body also had its drawbacks. Though they had enough power to kill enemies in a single swoop, they had slow attack speed. And their attacks were so full of openings.

In addition, Weed was still not used to the current state of his body.

‘It would have been nice if I could have practiced using this form first…’

He was feeling strange due to having a tail and a pair of wings.

Wrapping his front limbs around his body and covering his head with his folded wings, Weed hunched over.

This can be called as the best defensive position for a Dragon!

Enduring all of the attacks and unable to counter, Weed focused only on his goal.

‘The front fangs and molars seem to be pretty strong.’

Just like chewing a rock there were a lot of cracking sounds, but Weed didn’t care whether his teeth broke.

Becoming a toothless Dragon or not, he was desperate to finish off Kub.i.+.c.hya!

Due to receiving simultaneous attacks, Weed’s health rapidly declined.

Since Kub.i.+.c.hya was unable to use teleportation, he was still being grinded in Weed’s jaw.

And in the midst of crunching through Kub.i.+.c.hya, system message windows popped out.

*Ttiring!*

But Weed quickly realized that his remaining health was only 12%.

“Master, I shall to come to save you.”

“I can’t bear to watch anymore.”

Golden Bird and Eunsae came back for Weed after moving Yellowy to a safe location.

But Weed stopped them with his whisper.

- There is no need to worry about me. Go back to Yellowy. That is an order.

Weed knew that even if Golden Bird and Eunsae came back for him, he still cannot be saved. All of the remaining Chaos Warriors were now coming for him. Though the Inferno Knights were still busy fighting some of the Chaos Warriors, the group of Fire Giants changed their target and aimed to take Weed’s life.

Weed’s demise was inevitable but he had no regrets. Weed has already prepared himself for this.

- d.a.m.n b.a.s.t.a.r.ds! I’m taking you all down with me!

Weed took a deep breath. He inhaled as much as he could. His Dragon chest bloated hideously.

After pouring all of his mana into it, he then unleashed his skill.

Acid Breath.

The Bone Dragon’s Acid Breath surged through the Chaos Warrior-ridden battlefield.