Light of Arad: Forerunner

Chapter 53

Jinseong exhaled lightly and took out the .

He knew all too well about the monsters approaching him.

‘Melt Knight and Dibol.’

The Melt Knight, a knight whose body had melted due to Diregie’s influence.

The shockwave caused by striking the ground with its sword was certainly threatening.

If one got caught in it, the impact alone could make them stagger and fall.

For ranged classes like gunners, it might be manageable, but that didn’t mean it was easy.

“Uuuu…!”

Even though there was still a fair distance between them, the Melt Knight swung its sword with a loud hum, causing a shockwave to shoot toward Jinseong.

“.”

Jinseong lightly flung himself backward, twisting as he did.

He could feel the chilling breeze of the sword wind narrowly graze past his face.

‘As expected… it’s at this level. This is more of a problem.’

There was a clear reason why he didn’t use his skills to cancel out the attack.

It wasn’t just the Melt Knight that was present here.

“Kee-hee-hee-hit!”

“Kyaa, kyaaaa-!”

There were Dibol, creatures that were like little demons.

Although they were only about the height of Jinseong’s shin, they were not to be underestimated.

‘If this were a game, it might have been better—’

In this dark and desolate Reshpon, filled with the debris of crumbling buildings, Dibol were using the terrain to hide and take cover, rushing toward Jinseong.

‘-I need to keep track of their positions. If they get close, they’ll release gas that inflicts a darkness status ailment. But if I keep my distance—’

Jinseong began swinging the toward the open air.

Despite their small size, their leaping ability was something else.

“Kee-hee-hee-hit!”

“As if I didn’t expect that!”

They could leap as high as a human, and if they hit, they’d latch on and continuously deal damage.

With a sharp crack, Jinseong deflected one of the Dibol that lunged at him.

Feeling the vibration in his grip, Jinseong was certain.

‘The level difference is too great.’

This was the reason he hadn’t countered the Melt Knight’s attack directly or struck back immediately at the Dibol, only keeping them at bay.

It was because of the level disparity between the monsters and Jinseong himself.

‘Their level cap is probably around 50. That’s at least fifteen levels higher than mine.’

Even though they were just basic mobs, their level wasn’t low.

In some sense, they were on par with Jinseong, who was without any gear.

Despite this, Jinseong was able to analyze the situation with relative ease for only one reason.

‘Ugh, at least it’s not like before when they were at levels 70 or 80—’

“Uuuu…!”

“Kee-hee!”

The Melt Knight, which had drawn closer to Jinseong, raised its sword to strike.

The Dibol were also tensing their legs, preparing to leap.

“As if I’d let you!”

Jinseong shouted.

──────, ──────!

Two gusts of wind swept through.

At that moment, the Dibol leapt, and the Melt Knight’s sword struck the ground.

“Kyahaaa—!”

“Oof!”

The shockwave was so powerful that it even caused the airborne Dibol to flinch, but that wasn’t the only reason they were caught off guard.

“Kee-hit?”

“Kee? Kee-ik?”

The Dibol, which had been aiming to latch onto Jinseong, found that he was nowhere to be seen.

The monsters were suddenly thrown into confusion as they lost their target.

At that moment, a sigh of relief could be heard from a significant distance away.

“Phew…”

“Uuu…?”

“Kee?”

Hearing the sound, the monsters turned to look behind them.

Jinseong, gripping the , had a satisfied smile on his face.

“My last memory of the Artie Marpisa Set was when it boosted and , right?”

Jinseong muttered to himself.

The Dark Knight is a character similar yet distinct from the Male Ghost Knight.

Some skills carry over with only a change in name while maintaining similar performance.

Like how the Dark Knight’s , which could block Lotus’s attacks with momentary invincibility in the past, is akin to the Male Ghost Knight’s .

With that in mind, Jinseong had an idea.

“And since the Dark Knight is still a male Ghost Knight, he has those relevant skills… So, what happens when I wear the Artie Marpisa Set?”

He believed it would work on him too.

And that it would be highly effective.

The set effect of the item, obtained by sacrificing the increased skill effect of , was applied to Jinseong.

-5 Set Effect

Attack Speed +2%

Dark Knight:

: Dark Crasher Skill Lv +1

: Rapid Move Skill Lv +1

20% increased damage for Aerial Chain Cut, Ashen Fork.

This enhanced both the Dark Knight’s longest-distance movement skill, , and .

“Kee-eek!”

“Uu, uuuu…!”

The monsters resumed their charge at Jinseong.

The Melt Knights, stumbling as if to launch another sword wind from a distance, and the Dibol, now moving even faster than before, were on the verge of leaping toward Jinseong.

“, .”

──────, ──────!

Jinseong used the skills again.

He minimized cooldowns by configuring the [Mobility Skill Combo] without combining them into a single combo.

“Kee?”

“Kee-kee—kee-kee.”

The Dibol once again tried to locate Jinseong, who had disappeared from their sight, but by the time the monsters sensed his presence, it was already too late.

“Uu…”

“Uu—uuu…”

The Dark Knight primarily uses the ‘Combo Slots’ of ASDFG, but that’s not all. Like characters of other classes, he also has the ‘Expanded Slots’ of QWERT, which allow the use of skills that don’t necessarily have to be run in a combo.

This meant that Jinseong, now level 35, could use one of the skills he had recently acquired.

“.”

─, ─, ─, ─, ─, ─, ─……!

Dark energy, inflicting shadow damage, slammed into the ground around Jinseong.

There was no way for the slow-moving monsters like the Melt Knights to evade each of the numerous attacks.

Golden light cascaded down onto Jinseong’s body.

“Whew, level 35 skills sure are strong, aren’t they?”

With a single skill strike, Jinseong had taken out several Melt Knights.

As he wore a satisfied expression, Tako flicked its tongue behind him.

“Gulp.”

Jinseong smiled as he tapped on the ornament encasing the .

wasn’t the only level 35 skill he had learned.

Though Jinseong’s level might be considered quite low for someone without equipment, when viewed from the perspective of himself, who was wearing level 45 items thanks to , even with set effects applied, it wasn’t that much of a disadvantage.

Then?

“Tako, are you ready?”

“Gulp!”

It was definitely worth the effort.

Above all, the level disparity meant that Jinseong would gain an overwhelming amount of experience.

“Let’s go, .”

Swoosh—!

As Tako unleashed multiple tentacle whips forward, Jinseong triggered combos utilizing the new level 35 skills.

A small commotion broke out in the quiet village of Reshpon, a place overrun by the deceased or those who were half-alive under the influence of the Sixth Apostle, Diregie, the Black Disease.

* * *

Back when he was following the Male Priest user in the Kingdom of Pennes, Jinseong had barely reached level 35, but after defeating the Melt Knights and Dibol here, he had already reached level 38.

‘This is way faster than spending hours hunting ghouls. Haha, hit the jackpot.’

Jinseong’s delight wasn’t solely due to leveling up.

Nor was it just because it didn’t take long to kill the monsters.

‘I didn’t get hit. No damage, perfect clear!’

Jinseong felt proud of himself because he had faced a combination of monsters with diverse attack patterns, both melee and ranged, such as Melt Knights and Dibol, and hadn’t taken a single hit!

‘Considering I even got hit once on the way to Sky Castle and Underfoot… indeed….’

Having reached level 35, Jinseong’s combos became more diverse with the newly acquired skills.

And most importantly, the had finally shown its true value.

‘ even follows through with an attack. If you use to swiftly get behind and then as an attack skill, it’s not just a simple movement. With just these two skills forming the combo, the cooldown is only around 6 seconds.’

The set effect that enhanced skill levels allowed Jinseong to use mobility skills not just for movement, but offensively, which was a huge advantage.

‘Well, eventually I’ll only start learning the main Dark Knight skills

after reaching level 60, so until then, this’ll have to do— hmm?’

While contemplating his future growth, Jinseong noticed a monster’s corpse.

Unlike the Melt Knights and Dibol he had encountered so far.

Jinseong recognized the form, short and stout, like a demon.

‘Shaman Najarlo. Took down the named monster easily. And judging by the direction it fell—’

After confirming the direction the female Ghost Knight user was progressing based on the named monster’s corpse, Jinseong slightly increased his speed.

“Eeeeek, my food! My food…!”

A hideous cry echoed from not far away.

It was obvious that this was the death wail of a ‘Scar.’

Shaman Najarlo, Scar.

Then on to Greedy Doomperion and Duke Yurice of Restraint.

Would it be right to say that all named monsters had been dealt with now?

Jinseong’s sight soon fell upon four figures.

The female Ghost Knight user, Louise, Michelle, and Azelia Lot.

All four halted their steps.

So did Jinseong.

“This… this stench…”

“It’s so suffocating—”

The dark purplish aura, now vivid enough to be seen clearly, began to overwhelm the space with its fierce presence.

It wasn’t gas, nor could it be called vapor, but it was unmistakably visible, and its source was obvious.

“You’ve come, Hilder’s puppets…”

A voice, low and menacing, came from the beast that was spewing the dark purplish aura.

Its body was like that of a racing hound, yet larger than a large dog, displaying an unnaturally balanced, massive maw as it calmly approached.

His description in the was ‘One Who Bleeds Filthy Blood.’

“Diregie…”

The Sixth Apostle, Diregie of the Black Disease.

Azelia gripped her wand with both hands, tensing up.

Michelle, too, swallowed dryly.

“This is… Apostle Diregie?”

It wasn’t just his beastly form that was intimidating.

Michelle could sense the sheer power that could be effortlessly wielded by such a ferocious entity.

Among them, only Louise stood firmly before Diregie.

“How dare you… in the back alley…!”

Her comrades had either perished or mutated due to Diregie’s influence, becoming grotesque flesh that could neither die nor live.

Louise wanted to unleash her full fury, but Diregie spoke first.

“What amusing words.”

Diregie’s voice pierced through to their very cores.

It also penetrated their reason.

“Why blame me for the deaths that occurred without me lifting a finger?”

What had Diregie done?

Though he could have moved to other regions, he hadn’t bothered.

He hadn’t deliberately tried to infect specific targets.

He simply remained here, in Reshpon.

Everyone here knew that.

Thus, Diregie had this to say.

“Do not attribute your own weakness to me, you foolish beings.”

Who was right and who was wrong?

Who was good and who was evil?

How do you distinguish and judge that?

Diregie’s words resonated with the sentiments once expressed by Apostle Lotus, leaving everyone momentarily speechless.