Chapter 184

Chapter 184

His name was Trigion Mael Bryden.

He had been the ruler of a kingdom and had been called by the epithet King of Knights.

He was a ruler respected by all, and the great sword that protected his kingdom.

The kingdom prospered, and peace seemed as though it would last forever.

But catastrophe came suddenly, and the kingdom fell.

The king who had lost his people despaired, resented God, and hated him. Then he fell.

The fallen Knight King committed all manner of evil deeds, received divine punishment, and was sealed inside Warden’s Binding Rope. And all the knights he had led became undead.

The undead knights longed only for the resurrection of the great Knight King Trigion. But as the world of Kurayan itself perished, Warden’s Binding Rope, which had sealed Trigion, disappeared.

In despair, they waited for the day Warden’s Binding Rope would return. Then, as if by a lie, Warden’s Binding Rope returned, and Trigion’s seal broke.

Trigion was checking his new body when he regained consciousness.

—Have you come to your senses? Master.

Suddenly, an alien voice sounded inside his head.

‘Who are you?’

—Master, it is I, Black Tortoise. Do you not remember me?

‘Black Tortoise?’

—I am Black Tortoise, the AI that assists Master.

‘How fascinating. Another mind is parasitizing a human’s head.’

—Parasitizing?

At that instant, Black Tortoise sensed that something was strange.

Although it was an inferior version of the Three-Legged Crow, Black Tortoise was also an AI equipped with advanced intelligence.

It could judge and think for itself.

—Emergency inspection of Master’s consciousness.

Black Tortoise hurriedly began inspecting Cha Jin-cheol’s consciousness.

At that moment, Trigion, who had seized Cha Jin-cheol’s body, rose.

Clank! Clank!

At that instant, faint metallic sounds flowed from his arms and legs.

A strange light appeared in Trigion’s eyes.

‘What is this body? It has iron mixed into it.’

Cha Jin-cheol’s body, fused with machinery, was something Trigion had never seen before.

Trigion carefully moved his arms and legs.

‘Adding machines to a human body. What mage conducted such a wicked experiment?’

—Master’s mind is judged to be contaminated. As of this moment, all connections with Master will be severed, and auxiliary AI Black Tortoise will execute the Three-Legged Crow return protocol.

‘Three-Legged Crow? Return protocol?’

At that instant, Trigion’s eyes shone.

They were words he had heard for the first time in his life, but he had no difficulty understanding their meaning.

He had learned it by searching Cha Jin-cheol’s memories.

He was a knight, but he was also proficient in magic.

First, Trigion cast Search Magic and observed his own body.

The structure of his mechanical arms and legs came into clear view.

The next thing that caught his eye was his heart.

Something mechanical was attached to the human heart.

It was a mana engine.

The unique magitech engineering of West District, which amplified the mana of the heart.

The mana engine, conceived by Kim Hyun-su and completed by the Three-Legged Crow, was itself the crystallization of science and magic.

Trigion instantly grasped the structure of the mana engine and understood its principles.

The next place Trigion’s consciousness went was the central nervous system, where the head and neck met.

There was a small metal box there.

The metal box, about the size of an adult’s fingernail, had undergone all kinds of magical treatment, and he felt active movement inside it.

The consciousness of the AI called Black Tortoise could be felt inside.

‘What is this? Could it be a Golem core?’

Thinking of it as a Golem made it easier to understand.

A human had implanted a Golem core, and because of that, the Golem’s consciousness intervened in the mind.

The mechanical limbs displayed their best performance with the Golem’s help.

It was truly astonishing.

To Trigion, all of this felt like innovation.

‘But it has a main body, does it?’

If so, that meant what was inside Cha Jin-cheol’s body was only a part of the main body.

‘If only a part displays such astonishing power, what kind of world would the main body show me?’

Trigion’s imagination expanded without limit.

It had not been long since he took Cha Jin-cheol’s body, but he was already adapting to this body, this mind, and the culmination of a new civilization.

But he was not given any more time than that.

BOOM—!

With an explosive roar, his body shook violently.

He felt a great threat.

At last, Trigion opened his eyes.

Then he saw a man trying to attack him and others desperately trying to stop that man.

The man trying to attack was Zeon, and those trying to stop him were the West District Awakened.

“This crazy bastard dared to try killing the Captain.”

“Fuck! Everyone, all-out attack on this bastard.”

All the West District Awakened charged at Zeon.

Zeon let out a faint sigh.

“I told you, this really isn’t the time. Your captain isn’t normal.”

“Shut up.”

“Die!”

The West District Awakened attacked without pretending to listen to Zeon.

Zeon dodged their attacks and looked at Cha Jin-cheol.

Red light was wavering in Cha Jin-cheol’s eyes.

The red light brightened and darkened repeatedly, as if a camera were adjusting its focus.

Even at a glance, it was not normal.

Then Cha Jin-cheol’s gaze stabilized.

The red light no longer flickered and settled clearly in his pupils.

At that moment, Zeon was certain.

The being that had been sealed inside Warden’s Binding Rope had completely seized Cha Jin-cheol’s body.

“I was too late.”

Even so, he could not simply leave Cha Jin-cheol alone.

He did not know what had taken Cha Jin-cheol’s body, but he could not let it emerge into the world like this.

To reach Cha Jin-cheol, he first had to break down the Awakened blocking his path.

BOOM—!

Zeon’s fist struck the abdomen of the Awakened at the front.

The Awakened collapsed without even being able to scream.

Zeon leaped over him and attacked the Awakened standing directly behind him.

His physical ability was greater than that of most martial-type Awakened.

With that, plus the experience he had gained fighting while wandering the desert for eight years, the West District Awakened were no match for him.

CRUNCH!

“Kuhk!”

He tore off or broke the mechanical arms of the West District Awakened entirely.

In an instant, the Awakened who had blocked Zeon’s path collapsed.

The other Awakened tried to stop Zeon, but Briel stepped in and interfered.

“Yap!”

She took something out of her pointed hat and threw it between Zeon and the Awakened.

The ball-like object was a kind of bomb.

POP!

The bomb exploded, and thick smoke rose.

“Kuh!”

“What is this?”

The West District Awakened who inhaled the smoke looked bewildered.

That was because strength had suddenly left their arms and legs.

Briel smiled triumphantly and said,

“Heh! Your throats hurt, and you can’t put any strength into your bodies, can you? I made this special bomb just in case something like this happened.”

There was one substance that mechanized Awakened, who had abandoned the human body and fused with machines, absolutely needed.

Lubricating oil, which made machinery move smoothly.

Whether the amount was small or large, lubricating oil was essential for mechanized Awakened.

The bomb Briel had made had the property of hardening that lubricating oil. Even inhaling a little made the lubricating oil harden.

At most, the effect lasted only about one or two minutes.

It merely slowed the movements of mechanized Awakened for a short time. But that alone was a great help to Zeon.

While the West District Awakened faltered, Zeon reached Cha Jin-cheol.

Trigion, who had taken Cha Jin-cheol’s body, made his red eye-glow shine and said,

“Who are you, to dare interfere with this body’s resurrection?”

“You don’t need to know that.”

Zeon threw a punch without hesitation.

BOOM—!

Trigion, struck by the fist wearing the Gauntlet of Extreme Heat, flew backward. Trigion’s chest was deeply caved in.

It was an injury that would have killed an ordinary person instantly. But Trigion stood up as if nothing had happened and brushed himself off.

“That was quite a powerful attack. But this much cannot deal any meaningful damage to this body.”

“We’ll see if you can keep running your mouth until the end.”

Zeon spoke coldly and charged.

The dragon’s eye embedded in the Gauntlet of Extreme Heat emitted powerful light.

At that instant, Trigion’s red eyes shone savagely.

“It is the eye of a cursed dragon. One who uses the energy of a dragon can never be forgiven.”

His voice was filled with resentment toward dragons.

It could not be helped. The being that had carried out God’s will and sealed him inside Warden’s Binding Rope had been a dragon.

FLAAARE!

Gray energy burst from Trigion’s entire body.

It was the gray aura unique to mechanized Awakened.

The gray aura spread like a spiderweb and struck the West District Awakened. The Awakened whose bodies had stiffened because of Briel’s bomb could not avoid the gray aura.

“Kuhk!”

“Urgh! Captain, it’s us.”

The West District Awakened’s faces turned deathly pale.

That was because, from the moment the gray aura encroached on them, their mechanical bodies went out of control.

Cha Jin-cheol’s will had intervened in their bodies.

No one had taught him.

The moment he took control of Cha Jin-cheol’s mechanical body, he naturally realized it.

How to make this body even stronger.

A mechanical body could be made stronger as much as he wanted, as long as there were parts. And right now, bodies that could serve as parts were scattered all around him.

They were the West District Awakened.

At that moment, four keywords rose in Trigion’s mind.

Disassemble, extract, combine, amplify.

Disassemble the mechanical bodies of the West District Awakened and extract the parts. Then fit them into Cha Jin-cheol’s body and amplify its power.

His imagination became reality.

BOOM, BOOM, BOOM—!

“Aaaargh! Captain.”

“Save me!”

With the screams of the West District Awakened, their mechanical bodies were disassembled into pieces. Usable parts were extracted from the disassembled bodies.

The parts flew at terrifying speed and combined with Trigion’s body.

In an instant, Trigion’s body doubled in size.

His arms and legs thickened, and his upper body swelled greatly.

He looked similar to a gorilla.

It lacked dignity for the body of a king, but that could be corrected later.

A tremendous amount of mana flowed inside the metallic body created from countless combined parts.

Trigion felt immense power and liberation.

“Who dares stand against me?”

His shout echoed through the ancient castle.

—Oh! The king has been resurrected.

The first to respond was the Knight Commander who had been fighting Lee Ji-ryeong.

—Oooooh!

—The king has returned.

At his cry, the undead knights went into a frenzy.

“What?”

“What’s wrong with these things?”

Lee Ji-ryeong and the Awakened looked bewildered.

That was because the knights’ combat power had suddenly soared.

Lee Ji-ryeong hurriedly looked at Trigion.

“So the real boss was over there?”

He wanted to pull himself away immediately and face Trigion. But the Knight Commander would not let him.

—Without my permission, no one may approach the king.

Seeing the Knight Commander, Trigion said,

“Gregoric. My loyal vassal.”

—Oh! My king.

“Sweep all of them away, and let us go out into the world. I shall plant my banner in Neo Seoul.”

—Neo Seoul?

“It is the kingdom built by the humans of this place. I will place that land beneath my feet.”

—Everything shall be fulfilled according to your will, my king.

The Knight Commander’s momentum amplified.

He had received a buff with Trigion’s resurrection.

The combat strength of the undead knights also rose.

Lee Ji-ryeong’s eyes trembled.

“What the......?”

“You need to pull yourself together. If we let them out, Neo Seoul will be in danger.”

Zeon’s voice snapped Lee Ji-ryeong back to his senses.

This was not simply a question of whether they could clear the dungeon or not.

If they failed to stop them, Neo Seoul’s very existence would be in danger.

Lee Ji-ryeong said to Zeon,

“Fall back. Without sand, you can’t face them.”

“Who said there’s no sand?”

“What?”

At that instant, subspace opened behind Zeon.

SHAAAA!

Red sand poured from subspace like a river.