DEMON CASTLE-Chapter 108

A battle had begun—two beings facing each other, neither armed with any equipment. With the first move, they started summoning their magic. However, both had two legs, and those legs were buried in the ground.

The battle's rules were simple: whoever died or moved from their spot would lose. Both fighters had to be stripped of weapons and all equipment.

This left only two colossal undead-like beings, buried up to their ankles in the dirt, launching magical attacks.

"You're already in your grave!"

Hazard shouted, forming a semi-circular shield with his miasma. He thickened it, reinforcing it with more miasma, and pushed it forward. The sheer power behind the magical barrier tore through the ground.

Meanwhile, the opposing creature cursed itself for facing an enemy specialized in magic. It was in a dire situation, as all its strengths lay in physical combat.

As the magical barrier, now three meters thick and spanning thirty meters in radius, advanced, its weight and energy shattered every gravestone in its path, hurling debris toward Dullahan. On the other side, Dullahan was struggling, seemingly summoning something with great effort.

"Come! Come! Answer my call! Come forth!"

As the barrier neared, suddenly, a bone sword emerged from a portal in front of Dullahan, meeting the magical barrier head-on.

"That's cheating!!!"

Hazard was shocked—only one meter away from victory, yet now, hundreds of swords, spears, and shields, empowered by their wielders, were firmly planted against the barrier's pressure.

"That's summoning magic!"

Hazard was furious. Summoning magic was by no means simple, and he himself had little mastery over it without a system. But for Dullahan, aside from his combat-oriented magic, summoning was one of his rare and most powerful abilities.

The barrier began to be pushed back. As Hazard reinforced it, he softened the back of the shield, shaping hundreds of solid spears and launching them forward. Opposing the barrier, skeletal knights, at the peak of a warlord's power, resisted fiercely. Every second, their numbers multiplied, some even attempting to flank the shield and attack Hazard directly.

"You won't beat me at my own game!!!!"

Who was Hazard? The Undead Demon King, born from the lineage of liches. Was he going to lose to a Dullahan in a magical duel? And with summoning magic, no less?

Rage at this insult. Greed for physical power. Hatred of defeat. Envy of summoning magic.

The four core emotions that drove undead to madness surged within him. His magic grew stronger as he penetrated the minds of all skeletal entities. Those with sentience suddenly fell to their knees as Hazard's golden eyes shone and his magic radiated.

It was as if a god was whipping their souls.

"Obey me!"

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Some skeletons resisted for a few extra seconds, but in the end, they all fell.

They could neither betray their master nor completely withstand the superior influence of their enemy. As a result, resistance against the magical barrier weakened, allowing it to surge forward faster, tossing the fallen aside.

"No! No! I won't lose! I am the General of the Kingdom—"

His words were cut short. His hands faltered for a moment, failing to hold back the barrier. The moment his feet slid backward, there was only one possible meaning—he had lost.

Despair overtook him as the spears impaled his skeletal body, launching him into a massive grave, shattering it entirely.

Hazard, victorious, roared in triumph.

"To all who are watching! You have seen my victory! I claim my rewards and safe passage through this land!"

The Nightmare Queen, still in shock from the miasmic surge moments ago, enlarged Hazard as he donned his equipment once more.

Even if she found the duel's conditions absurd, it didn't change the fact that he had defeated the legendary Dullahan—one of the beheaded cemetery's guardians.

A silence settled after Hazard's victory.

However, from the massive shattered grave where Dullahan had fallen, eight hands emerged, revealing a fifty-meter-tall entity with three empty spaces where heads should have been.

"The undead... They want you to put it back to sleep since you're the one who woke it up."

Hazard glanced at the Nightmare Queen, then at the colossal, legendary-tier monster.

"Exactly how am I supposed to—"

Before he could finish, the giant suddenly collapsed, three bone swords piercing its heart.

Dust filled the air. When it settled, Dullahan was standing before Hazard once again.

Meanwhile, the fallen giant, still alive, struggled to rise—only for a flood of skeletal fallen to swarm over it, riddling its body with countless holes.

Facing Hazard once more, Dullahan—headless yet burning with an unseen gaze—knelt on one knee.

"My Lord, you are the only one now, and I am now solely at your command. May this duel be blessed before the gods of the beheaded graveyard."

A knight who had honored the duel and its rules with pride, kneeling in loyalty to his new master.

Even if the duel's terms were not in his favor, it did not mean he would abandon his honor. He was the knight who had been beheaded for his unwavering integrity.

The brave and noble knight of a nation, once standing before the highest authority of his empire, raised his head with resolute eyes as he placed his sword upon his shoulder.

"To whom will your loyalty and sword belong?"

In a grand, radiant hall filled with thousands of nobles clad in fine garments and exquisite jewelry, a man knelt.

Unmoved by the greed for wealth and power surrounding him, he answered:

"My sword is for justice and honor! My loyalty belongs to the people who cannot defend themselves! May I be an arm for the oppressed, and may my sword shine only for righteousness!"

A knight who did not need the emperor to name him.

A knight untouched by the temptations of wealth and power, with his eyes set upon a crown higher than the king's.

The pinnacle of chivalry, the hero of his nation, had served with valor throughout his years in the army, protecting the people.

And when the time came, he stood against an army of one hundred thousand with only a thousand loyal comrades.

At the age of one hundred and ten—though his face showed no sign of age—he roared:

"To the last drop of our blood, we shall stand for the land beneath our feet and the people who pray for our protection! May the prayers of our people grant us the strength to emerge victorious from this battle!"

The soldiers' war cries, their cheers, the clashing of swords on shields, and the pounding of spears on the ground.

An army, standing behind their brave commander.

An army with a pure cause.

An army that carried the banner of honor.

They fought a battle that inflicted devastating losses upon their enemies.

A battle so fierce that, after their hard-won victory, the enemy beheaded the commander and sent his head to their king as proof of triumph.

A head worth more than even that of an emperor.

His body, trampled under the hatred of enemy soldiers, was cursed by sorcerers and banished to the Abyss.

Hazard then removed his hand from Dullahan's shoulder.

Since Dullahan had no flesh, reading his memories was possible.

If he had flesh, the process would have involved melting—which no living being would desire.

Having now understood Dullahan's past, Hazard knew that once again, he had encountered someone truly interesting.