Chapter 229: Andura Temple

[You have entered Andura Temple.]

Kang Oh saw a temple with a dome-shaped roof, as well as two towers that were taller than the temple itself. The hunting team had finally reached their destination.

They were forced into battle immediately.

Rat-a-tat-tat!

Skeleton horses forcefully stomped on the ground. Dullahans, monsters that carried their severed heads at their sides, rode atop them. There were more than thirty of them.

[You have discovered the Andula Dullahan, Medekman.]

[It is a named monster.]

The named monster, Medekman, stood at the forefront of the Dullahans.

"Prepare for battle. Attack!" Plum ordered immediately.

"Tanks, form around me."

"Fire arrows!"

"I'll distract them with my holy spells!"

The hunting team moved as one.

'We have to do as much damage as possible before the Dullahans use Charge of Death.' Kang Oh pointed Blood at Medekman.

Lightning Breath!

Sparks arose from the Draka set, and electricity gathered within Blood.

Spurt!

Boom!

A mighty lightning blast flew straight forward like cannon fire. Medekman swung his sword at the approaching Lightning Breath.

Dead Man's Strike!

Medekman's sword unleashed a purple blast, which crashed against the Lightning Breath.

Boom!

However, the Lightning Breath was superior. Kang Oh's attack pierced through the purple blast, and struck Medekman directly.

Bzzzzt.

The Lightning Breath pushed Medekman off its horse. But that wasn't all. The lightning spread everywhere. Three nearby Dullahans were caught in the lightning too, and fell off their horses.

This was the power of Lightning Breath! Kang Oh smiled in satisfaction. After that, Helena followed up with her own attack.

Ignite!

A Dullahan was engulfed in blazing fire. Helena immediately swung her staff, and the giant red jewel at the end of her staff glowed.

Arson!

The fire began to spread everywhere. What a beautiful fire show!

Bart added fuel to the fire.

Fusion!

He combined a basic wind spell, Gust, with a Magic Amplification spell.

Magically Amplified Wind!

The winds fueled the fire, causing them to grow violently!

Roar!

Helena and Bart's combination resulted in an inferno!

"Aim for those that pierce through the flames!" Plum's clear voice rang out.

Crackle!

Dullahans began escaping the flames one or two at a time. Obviously, they didn't come out unscathed. Arrows and various magical/holy spells mercilessly rained down upon them.

A short while later...

The fire died down.

Rattle.

The final Dullahan, Medekman, dropped his head and fell to the floor.

"Pick up the items that they left behind. It was a simple battle, so we'll keep going without rest."

Sometime later...

"We'll split up here," Kang Oh said.

The path was split into three. One led to the temple, another to the Sun Tower, and the last to the Moon Tower.

"Contact us when you reach the towers. When we're all in position, we'll engage Eclipse," Helena said.

"Alright. Then my comrades and I will go this way."

Bart, Viper, and Rohan headed north towards the Moon Tower.

"Main force, advance!"

The main force, led by Helena and Plum, headed for the temple. Eder was also a part of this force, equipped with the Hellfire Mace and the Dullahan set.

'Let's go!' Kang Oh ran south. His goal: the Sun Tower.

* * *

Kang Oh headed for the Sun Tower, avoiding battle as much as he could. However, he wasn't able to avoid it entirely.

Uoooh!

A giant flesh monster, pus flowing down its skin, swung its cleaver downwards. The monster was called a Butcher, and it was about level 300.

Kang Oh easily dodged its attack and swung Blood in response.

Slash!

Swish.

'It feels like I'm cutting through a lump of fat.'

He left behind a clear wound on the Butcher's body. Kang Oh swung his sword once more.

Uwoooh!

The Butcher swung its cleaver. However, Kang Oh was much faster than it.

Darkness Strike!

A red wave shot out of Kang Oh's blade.

Boom!

The Butcher reeled from the impact, and red shards of light spurt everywhere. Kang Oh didn't let up.

Blood Bomb!

Boom!

Scarlet energy exploded from his body. Unable to endure the blast, the Butcher fell to the floor. Its body was in tatters.

Switch.

Kang Oh swapped to Ubist.

"Huahp!" Kang Oh raised his weapon, and then forcefully swiped down.

Bam!

A refreshing 'bam' rang out. Kang Oh kept going.

Bam! Whack! Bam! Bam!

The end. Kang Oh picked up the items it dropped and continued onwards to the Sun Tower!

* * *

Bart, Viper, and Rohan were besieged by ghouls.

"I'm going!" The Fighter, Rohan, threw a punch.

Chi Torpedo!

His fist unleashed a sphere-shaped bomb. Once the Chi Torpedo made contact, the ghoul popped like a balloon. The battle had begun in earnest.

Kuaaaah!

The ghouls endlessly came at them.

"Let's have some fun!" Bart stretched out both of his hands, unleashing countless spells and skills.

Boom, boom, boom!

The ghouls were instantly swept away.

"Tch, I specialize in fighting people, not monsters." Viper clicked his tongue and raised his sharp dagger.

Swish. His body disappeared into the shadows.

Shadow Transfer!

Viper reappeared in between the ghouls and quickly swung his dagger.

Silent Slash!

His attack struck true, yet his dagger made no sound.

Splatter.

The ghouls fell to the ground like marionettes that had their strings cut.

"Let's keep going like this," Rohan yelled.

They quickly pierced through the net of ghouls, and headed for the tower.

* * *

"An enemy."

"Prepare for battle," Plum commanded, and her forces readied themselves.

There were Elite Skeleton Warriors, Elite Skeleton Mages, Elite Skeleton Archers, and a Skeleton General! The warriors were heavily armed and wore Viking helmets, the mages carried around staffs, and the archers wielded bone bows. And if it wasn't obvious already, the general was responsible for leading the troops!

There were 500 of them. They were keeping the main force from advancing.

Rattle.

The Skeleton General pointed at the hunting team with its emaciated hand. Then, the skeleton army charged at them.

"Everyone, forward!"

The hunting team kept formation and charged at the enemy.

And...

Clash!

"Tough Unnis, please get up there and form a wall."

"Long-range attacks!"

"Oh light, punish the wicked!"

Whizz, whizz, whizz!

Countless arrows flew towards either side. The same went for magic as well. Fireballs and water spears crossed each other, lightning fell, and wicked curses were let loose.

Rattle!

The team's warriors and the skeleton warriors clashed.

500 versus 22!

However, a numerical advantage had no sway in this battle. The players crushed the skeletons. Of course, Helena did the most. To the skeletons, her magic was akin to a catastrophe. The main force was akin to an irresistible force, crushing the opposition and advancing forward.

Now, the temple was right before them.

* * *

The temple was huge, and had a dome-shaped roof. Realistically, it was about as large as an Islamic temple. However, the temple's entrance was extremely large. It was as if it were constructed with a giant in mind.

'It'd be scary if two Bone Dragons came through there.' The Blue Knight, Plum, imagined two Bone Dragons coming through the entrance.

Then...

"Plum, Mr. Kang Oh and Mr. Bart have reached the towers," Helena said.

"Alright. Then we'll enter the temple now."

"Yeah."

"We'll begin the battle with Eclipse now. Everyone, keep up your guard. Let's go!" Plum took the lead and walked through the giant entrance. The Eclipse hunting team followed behind her.

There was a giant hall inside. Old, faded murals covered the ceiling and the walls.

Plus...

"It's the Lich."

"It's Eclipse."

Lich Eclipse proudly stood at the center of the hall. He was so skinny that only a thin layer of skin was left over his bones. His eye sockets were empty as well.

Even from a first glance, it was clear that his equipment was first class. His belt was studded with skulls, his robes were patterned with the sun and the moon, and a showy crown lay atop his head.

He held a scythe in one hand, and a giant, transparent orb, which was as large as an ostrich egg, in his other hand. A black soul swirled round and round within the orb. That was its life vessel!

Eclipse's empty eye sockets glowed with purple light. "How dare the living trespass into my domain," Eclipse said angrily. "I won't let a single one of you leave here alive!" Eclipse raised his hand, which was carrying his life vessel.

Flash.

The life vessel disappeared instantly. Eclipse had transported its life vessel to either the Sun or Moon Tower.

Helena immediately sent Bart and Kang Oh a message.

- The Lich just hid its life vessel. Please climb the tower.

"As we've discussed before, maintain formation and attack!" Plum yelled.

Their main priority was surviving. So long as its life vessel remained intact, they wouldn't be able to kill it. The true battle would begin only after Kang Oh or Bart destroyed the life vessel.

"Bow before my immortal army!"

Thud.

Eclipse slammed his scythe onto the ground.

Large-Scale Summon Undead!

The ground cracked open and out came countless undead monsters.

Skeletons, ghouls, Dullahans, Butchers, and even a Death Knight!

"Master!" A Death Knight, wearing jet-black armor and eyes glowing with blue fire, bowed reverently towards its master.

"Wipe out the living," Eclipse ordered.

The Death Knight stood up and began commanding the undead.

"Charge."

"Charge."

"Get a move on!"

The undead army, commanded by the Death Knight, rushed at the hunting party.

"Maintain formation, and protect your comrades!"

Honorable One's Command!

A bright ring of light appeared behind Plum.

The battle had begun.

* * *

- The Lich just hid its life vessel. Please climb the tower.

Helena sent the message he'd been waiting for. Kang Oh immediately used Devil Trigger. Large, beautiful bat wings protruded from his back.

"Tasha. Take me to the window in the middle of the tower."

"It feels like you're overworking me lately. Why don't you do it yourself sometime?" Tasha's complaint resounded through his head.

"I don't have much time, so I want to get up there ASAP."

"Hmph, this is the last time. Try doing it yourself next time."

"Thanks."

Kang Oh began soaring into the air; he noticed that he was flying much faster than usual.

'It must be because of the Draka set.' One of the Draka set's abilities substantially increased his flight speed.

"It's an enemy," Tasha said.

"Yeah, I see it too." Kang Oh tightly gripped Blood.

Once he began flying, the evil spirits, which specialized in curses and ice magic, came out of the tower. They created ice spears and threw them at him.

Whizz, whizz, whizz!

"You can dodge it, right?"

"Of course I can."

Tasha's control was tremendous. Because of her, Kang Oh was able to fly through the barrage of ice spears unscathed.

"My turn." Kang Oh softly swung Blood.

Fresh Blood Wave!

The fan-shaped red aura swept through the evil spirits.

Kyaaahk!

The evil spirits shrieked.

Kang Oh pierced through them while they were distracted. They weren't nearly fast enough to catch up to him. There wasn't anything left to stop him...

'Huh?'

However, the evil spirits fused together, and eventually transformed into a crow.

[You have discovered the Bringer of Misfortune, Kiba.]

[You are the first to discover it.]

It began chasing after Kang Oh at incredible speed!