WorldCrafter - Building My Underground Kingdom-Chapter 277: Ashking End

Draeven was thrown back like he hit a wall. He skidded across the stone, boots carving two deep lines.

His ribs screamed, but he still didn’t let go of the shovel.

Ben’s instincts screamed too. The Ash King’s claw flicked, and the slash appeared where Ben’s throat had been a breath ago.

Ben twisted his head and shoulders out of the kill line.

The slash still landed.

It did not cut his neck. It ripped across the outer edge of his wing instead. Blood sprayed, and the torn edge tried to stitch, but the dark light clung to it like rot.

Ben’s jaw clenched. He stepped forward, pickaxe raised.

Dark aether crawled over the weapon head, then the rainbow flame inside him flared and settled into the grooves like veins.

Elvira moved at the same time.

Her circles snapped into a layered stack, then spread outward like a net, locking onto the space around the Ash King.

"seal," she said.

The Ash King’s aura burst out. The air warped and fought her control, trying to tear the net apart.

Elvira’s face tightened, but she didn’t stop.

Ben took that opportunity.

He drove the pickaxe forward in a short arc.

BOOOOM!!!

The head slammed into the Ash King’s chest plate.

The impact should have blown him back, but the strange law around his body ate the force the moment it touched him, like the power was sinking into a bottomless pit.

Elvira’s mana flared trying to counteract the law.

Her mana circles pinned the space around the strike point for half a breath.

The Ash King’s torso finally shifted back a step.

Ben’s eyes narrowed. He followed instantly, taking the opportunity.

BAM!

He slammed his elbow into the Ash King’s ribs, dark aether hardening along the point like a spike.

The blow sank in, then got swallowed, but the swallow was slower now.

The plates on the Ash King’s side cracked with a dry sound.

Draeven roared and forced himself upright.

Purple mist rose around his arms and shovel. He spat blood and rushed in again, closing from the side.

BAM!!!

The Ash King raised a claw to meet it, but Draeven’s mist wrapped the claw and ate at the dark aura for a heartbeat.

The shovel smashed into it and forced the Ash King’s arm down.

Ben didn’t waste the opening.

He twisted his grip and slammed the pickaxe handle into the Ash King’s jaw like a club.

BAM!!!

The head snapped slightly, and black smoke burst out from between the plates.

The Ash King’s red irises burned. It snarled and spread its arms.

The air tore.

One split the ground under Ben. Another carved toward Elvira’s throat.

Another snapped toward Draeven’s chest.

Elvira’s quickly draw another magic circle.

She threw her palm out.

"Shift!"

A layered circle flared.

The slash aimed at her bent a hair to the side and ripped through a broken pillar instead, turning it into dust. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

Draeven dragged his shovel up and took the next slash on the flat of the blade.

The slash did not cut through, but it chewed into the metal, leaving a dark groove that smoked like acid.

Ben took the last slash head-on.

It opened his side from hip to ribs.

Blood sprayed.

Ben’s body tried to heal, but the dark line bit into the wound and slowed it.

"Be gone!" Ben roared.

Rainbow flame surged once, burning the chewing edge until it hissed and faded.

He stepped forward again anyway.

"Again," Ben said.

He swung the pickaxe aimed at the Ash King’s neck.

BOOOOM!!!

The Ash King’s upper body jerked.

A crack ran across the fused armor.

The Ash King roared and slammed its palm down.

BOOM!!!

A shockwave rolled out, ripping Elvira’s magic circles apart and throwing Draeven backward another step.

Elvira’s eyes were bloodshot now.

She rebuilt her circles even as they broke.

"Do not let him breathe," she snapped.

Draeven’s shoulders rose and fell hard. He forced his legs to move again, trying to draw the Ash King’s eyes away from Ben.

Ben lifted the pickaxe.

The Ash King’s eyes tracked him for a heartbeat.

Then its gaze snapped to Draeven.

Draeven pushed up, forcing himself upright.

Purple mist rose around him again. He spat blood and lifted the shovel.

The Ash King raised its foot.

The sole turned black. The air under it warped, like the space itself was folding into a point.

Draeven’s pupils shrank.

Elvira’s magic circle spun faster. "Move!" she shouted.

Draeven tried. His body did not respond fast enough.

The stomp came down.

A sword light cut in from the side.

SHIIING!!!

The raised leg split cleanly at the knee.

For a heartbeat, the stomp froze in the air. Then the severed lower leg dropped and smashed into the plaza.

BOOM!!!

Stone exploded outward. Draeven stumbled back, chest heaving, eyes wide.

Arthur stood on the cracked stone.

Excalibur edge humming with a thin red-gold glow.

The Ash King staggered one step. Black smoke poured from the wound, then snapped back into its body like it was being dragged by hooks.

Its red irises locked onto Arthur.

Arthur didn’t blink. "Pathetic King, I should finish you now so we can get to the main course."

The Ash King’s mouth split into a grin.

Dark aura poured off its claws until their edges vanished from sight.

Ben moved to Arthur’s side. He didn’t look at Tristan’s direction, and he didn’t waste time asking why Arthur was here, it’s clear he has finished them off.

Arthur glanced at Ben once. Ben nodded once.

Without need to talk, they already understand each other.

Arthur have spend a lot of time as Ben system, he know how he think.

It’s also the same for Ben, as he was once his host.

The Ash King’s claws spread, and the air around them gained scars.

Slashes began to appear like sudden wounds, some cutting the ground, some tearing walls, and some snapping toward Ben and Arthur without distance.

Arthur stepped in first.

SHIIING!

He slashed with excalibur.

The nearest slash split apart like it had been cut at the root, and the next one bent and died before it reached Ben.

Ben followed. He drove the pickaxe forward like a spear.