Chapter 123.A Royal Puppet
On the 6th floor, Marquis Rowan breathed heavily while looking around him. He was injured in various places but the wounds weren't life-threatening.
Right now, corpses upon corpses were piled on this floor. Dead bodies of humans and monsters. Some clerics had fled but most were now dead.
The battalion of knights, supposed to fight the necromancer's undead army, was all spent fighting the dungeon monsters. A few of them may be alive, he ought to kill them and end their misery.
The Grand Knight stood alone and walked among his fallen comrades. Rowan etched each one of their faces to his memory. As long as his life didn't end, he wouldn't forget them.
Rwarrrggh!
Rowan could hear the roar of that Wyvern from there.
''I must go help Ivan and Ar- Ack!''
A dagger suddenly pierced his heart from the back. Rowan spurted a mouthful of blood. He grasped the blade which came out of his chest and slowly turned around. As soon as he saw the face of this attacker, the Grand Knight's eyes widened.
''A…Ariel…''
He used all his strength to utter one word and fell on the ground, eyes open and unmoving. He was dead.
With a ruthless glint in her eyes, the fox woman pulled out the black dagger and licked the crimson blood on its edge.
''Master exactly knew where he was…'' She muttered and jerked the dagger in her hand. The fresh blood on it splattered on a corpse.
Jake had sent a piece of memory into her mind using Malefic Enchantment, letting her visualize the location and even the exact position of Marquis Rowan.
The old Grand Knight could usually react quick enough to protect his vitals. But this time, he was fatigued from the battle. Also, it was impossible for him to expect that his comrade would teleport and backstab him when he was the least defensive.
Ariel looked at the old man and kicked his face. Glancing around, she sheathed her blade and disappeared as a dark shadow.
…
Ivan Sol' Philips was absurdly talented in magic and had high mana. But his talent and aptitude couldn't compensate for the absolute difference in ranks.
Against a 5th Circle monster, he ran, he flew for his life. If both Rowan and Ariel were with him, he may have changed his mind. But with him alone, slaying this silver wyvern was impossible.
Even as an elite 4th Circle mage, all he could do was hide and defend. Ivan was trying to find a way to the 6th floor. He had sensed the crystal which Rowan had crushed. It meant the Grand Knight was caught in some kind of trouble he couldn't handle.
Rwaarrggh!
But the wyvern wasn't letting him get away. It had no care for whatever it destroyed while chasing after the human. From tunnels to chambers and chambers to open grounds.
The 5th floor was already large enough for the wyvern to fly around because of the dungeon advancements. That gave Droge more mobility.
The Court Mage had to use defensive spells all the time. He had already run out of potions and was quite panicked. One successful hit from that monster, and it was game over.
''Bones of Death!''
However, he seemed to have forgotten about Minerva. Hearing that voice, Ivan immediately tried to fly in a random direction. Large, white bone pillars rose from the ground and converged in his previous position.
If he hadn't acted quickly, he would be dead by now. With sweat covering his back, Ivan used Mana Sense to find the spellcaster.
'That's…' His eyes widened, seeing a man with horns hovering over a large hole with Countess Minerva.
''Caught you too.'' He heard a voice and instinctively flew sideways.
The dagger aimed at his chest pierced through his stomach instead. Various spells landed on Ivan's tall body as Ariel kicked him.
The powerful Court Mage was still not dead and used Mana Barrier. However, with Jake and Minerva using their best spells on him, that defense crumbled in mere seconds.
Shadow Spears pinned the man on a wall, and Bony Chains stole his magical staff. Before the mage could channel his mana again, Jake appeared before him and kicked his head.
Ivan felt his mind spinning. He was about to lose consciousness. But fortunately or unfortunately for this mage, Jake wasn't interested in killing him.
[Degeneration Halo]
The same process repeated. Jake felt a firm resistance this time which lasted for over 10 seconds even though Ivan was in his last breaths.
Indeed, mages had the highest intelligence. If not because Droge had already exhausted Ivan, and if Jake, Minerva and Ariel hadn't grouped on this Court Mage, he would still pose a major threat.
However, now that his mind had been corrupted, this talented Court Mage was a Demon's puppet.
'A royal puppet to conquer the Grimbow Kingdom…' Jake's eyes glinted as he withdrew a high-tier healing potion instead of using Blood Regeneration.
The Court Mage's injuries were too fatal. Jake leaned and made the dying man drink the potion. A drop of Life Elixir would have been perfect, but Jake was stingy with such a precious resource.
The high-tier healing potion wouldn't heal all of Ivan's injuries, but that was alright. Jake needed him to be functional, not fully healthy. He would let the mage recover slowly. For now, he was already very generous.
''My master.'' The Court Mage bowed regally after his most serious injuries healed.
Jake didn't even respond and went to calm down Droge. He told the wyvern that the battle was over. It was confused. Why wasn't Jake killing the human which had clearly been an enemy some moments ago?
''Go rest.'' Jake said. ''I'll bring some meat for you later.''
He pointed below, and a vast hole appeared again. Jake closed his eyes to concentrate. Droge flew down, attracted by the high levels of mana.
After it landed on the 65th floor, Jake finally opened his eyes and took a long breath. The tunnel spanning 60 floors closed. Jake felt extremely exhausted. But he wasn't done yet.
Somewhere on the 4th floor, he'd trapped that woman and the prince…