Bone King: Welcome the Birth of the King.

Chapter 473 The Deaths of 13 Heroes? An Accident? A Death Challenge
One hundred thousand troops!

It sounds like a huge force, but when divided among the troops drawn from the six noble families, the average number of troops mobilized by these six marquises was less than 20,000.

If we add the military forces controlled by the royal family, the number of people would be even smaller when spread out.

"The perfunctory troop strength and the slow pace of advance, does that mean the Azure Dragon King doesn't care?"

Tang Zheng, in the dark environment of the valley, stood with his arms crossed, casually leaning against the rugged mountain wall.
"Continue to monitor the movements of that Azure Sky Dragon King."

"Yes, Master," came Rena's clear and spirited voice.

Remove the "information"!
Tang Zheng pondered quietly.

In this absurd and sudden war, the kingdom certainly did not intend to exert its full strength.

It should be noted that in the future battle on the Katz Plain, Marquis Borolop alone will deploy 50,000 troops, and this is only a part of the left wing.

Left Wing Corps?

That's the army that was sacrificed by Ainz Ooal Gown's super-tier magic "Dark Abundance Sacrifice," with over 10 soldiers all being killed in one fell swoop.

"……what!"

Painful groans came from the darkness.

Tang Zheng looked up in the direction from which the sound came, and saw a "fire archangel" serving as a light source, which also possessed the ability of "night vision".

Deep in the pitch-black valley.

Under Tang Zheng's eyes, it was as bright as day, and he easily caught sight of the agonizing groans of the dying.

The magical ritual, covering an area of ​​nearly 100 meters, emitted a deep, faint blue light, continuously drawing out the cursed energy from the surrounding environment and converging it towards the center of Absolute Death!
"...What the hell is this thing?!"

Zetsumei, drenched in sweat, knelt on the ground, his fists clenched, his entire body covered in a black curse.
"Little Black Hair! You just wait!"

"Ugh, could you please try something easier...!"

Another painful groan.

Sweat dripped uncontrollably down his chin.

Despite the excruciating pain of her clothes being torn apart, she felt as if the cursed energy was gnawing at her skin like invisible ants, even burrowing into her bones.

"Your strength is recovering rapidly, isn't it?"

Tang Zheng's tone was anything but comforting.

"Strange? It has such a big impact."

Tang Zheng frowned slightly, thinking to himself, "It shouldn't be a problem with my profession."

The desperate situation he was facing surprised him.

He remembered that when he absorbed the cursed energy to upgrade his [Cursed Knight] class, he did not feel any pain.

Perhaps it's because he has [players]!

Iverie didn't encounter this situation either... Hmm, I almost forgot.

The one who destroys a nation is an immortal. He absorbs negative energy that resonates with him, and as an immortal, he does not experience the negative states of a normal living being.

"The energy of the curse is 'negative energy.' Forcibly infusing it into a living person's desperate struggle for survival, the pain... should be considered normal, right?"

Tang Zheng chuckled awkwardly, casually reached into the air, took a bottle of potion from his item box, and tossed it towards the direction of Absolute Death.
"Drink this medicine directly; it can relieve the pain!"

Zetsuki stared intently, his heterochromatic eyes slightly bloodshot, and snatched the potion, gulping it down. The pain throughout his body immediately lessened considerably.
"Why didn't you take it out sooner?!"

"cough."

Tang Zheng shrugged: "This medicine was just prepared."

This is one of several potions recently made by Enferea, a potion made from herbs with a paralyzing effect to relieve pain.

"Oh, I see."

Jue Si Jue Ming's angry voice suddenly turned sweet, "Then thank you, Lord Tang."

"You're welcome," Tang Zhengdao said.

Zetsuki's eyelids twitched, he closed his mouth, sat cross-legged, and carefully felt the changes within himself.

I've endured a lot of painful "training" during this period!
If it can be called "training".

Little Black Hair wasn't lying; he really was getting stronger.

"My strength should have been greatly reduced due to death, but I feel stronger than before?"

"It's amazing!"

"And this method of absorbing curse energy... how is it even possible to become stronger through such a special method..."

Jue Si Jue Ming was inwardly amazed, but could only attribute it to Tang Zheng, and was filled with excitement:
"As expected of the man who could easily defeat me, Lord 'Crown'!"

The curse energy is gathering and becoming increasingly concentrated!
After nearly a month of continuous infusion of cursed energy, the intensity of Absolute Death's aura has gradually returned to normal.

"Not even close."

Tang Zheng sensed the aura of absolute death and certain death, feeling both satisfied and somewhat surprised:
"The cursed energy that has infected this valley is still sufficient, so there shouldn't be any problems."

He originally thought that the curse energy in the valley should not be enough for Jue Si Jue Ming to upgrade the [Cursed Knight] to the maximum level.

Tang Zheng even planned to secretly inject his own curse energy into the ritual.

The result is not required!
"Who exactly is the owner of that huge gray-black scale?"

"The cursed energy leaked from the scales alone should not be enough to pollute this valley so severely."

Tang Zheng initially suspected that the scales were from the Dark Dragon King or even the Decaying Dragon King, but he has now ruled that out.

I've seen the Dark Dragon King before. Although it wasn't his true form, I could still tell from the Golem clone.

More than 200 years ago, the Dragon King of the Decaying Pavilion had already transformed into an immortal, and there is no record of him appearing in the northwest corner of the continent.

There is another, even more important, piece of evidence.

The "Black Knight," one of the 13 heroes, died here!
"Speaking of which, the Thirteen Heroes are not only human. Even if we don't count those that the Theocracy deliberately erased, there are also elves, dwarves, giants, and other races."

"Based on normal life expectancy, these people should be alive today."

Tang Zheng's heart stirred, realizing something he had overlooked before: "So far, of the 13 heroes who have survived, apart from the Platinum Dragon King who disguised himself as a Silver Knight..."

"Only the 'Necromancer' Ligurite remains!"

"How did those thirteen heroes die?"

Tang Zheng's eyes suddenly narrowed as he remembered the tree spirit Pines, who had told him something before.

The first time the Demon Tree was defeated and sealed, it was done by the thirteen heroes, who also made a pact to defeat the Demon Tree and destroy the world again.

The tree spirit Pines witnessed this scene.

In the legends, there is also the story of "The Twisted Tree Man".

To know!
The Demon Tree broke free of its seal in this era, since the thirteen heroes made this agreement back then.

This shows that they have survived to this day and never thought they would die!
"The Platinum Dragon King?"

The thought immediately flashed through Tang Zheng's mind, but he quickly shook his head.
"The possibility is low. It's possible that player Rick died at the hands of the Platinum Dragon King. The hatred between the Eight Greed Kings and the dragons runs too deep, and the Platinum Dragon King has a reason to take action."

"It would be too blatant to deal with the other 13 heroes as well."

"Furthermore, the possibility is even lower if Ligulite is still alive and has a close relationship with the Platinum Dragon King."

boom!
Suddenly.

A surge of energy emerged, and the curse energy drawn by the magic device ceased at that moment.

"What the hell..."

Zetsumei's entire body glowed with a white light, her face filled with disbelief as she felt the powerful force suddenly surging within her, leaving her somewhat dazed.
"What's going on?"

The [Cursed Knight] had become stronger by absorbing cursed energy, and the extent of this improvement was quite noticeable, which had already surprised her. But just a moment ago!

It was as if she had broken through some kind of bottleneck, and the increase in her strength far exceeded her expectations!

Zesshi Zesshi was certain that she had not fully recovered to her previous level, but her overall strength was far greater than before.

Somewhere.

Zetsu Shitsumei sensed some kind of information, quickly calmed down, and began to carefully comprehend it again.

After a while!
Step~
Jue Si Jue Ming rolled over and got up, clenching his fists and casually swinging them a few times, then looked up at Tang Zheng:
"You knew all along, didn't you?"

"Oh."

Tang smiled and said, "You've already felt it. That's right. You should know better than most people that certain rare professions possess a killer weapon that can decide the outcome of a battle."

"And I happen to have fairly detailed information about the trump card you possess,"

“From the last battle onwards, I was certain that you hadn’t truly mastered the power of this class, otherwise the battle wouldn’t have ended so easily.”

As Zesshi Zesshi felt the surge of power suddenly increasing within his body, the corners of his mouth gradually turned up.

"I did guess a little bit."

"I just didn't expect it to be a unique way to improve my strength."

Zetsuki squatted slightly, her hands gripping the hems of her trousers, performing a somewhat unorthodox aristocratic gesture, her tone tinged with a hint of fanaticism:
"Thank you for your generosity, sir!"

next moment.

Jue Si Jue Ming lightly jumped and stretched his limbs in place.

A sudden change.

It's like transforming from a noble lady into a savage village woman—a completely different feeling.

"What are you doing?"

Tang Zheng was a little surprised.

"I was very unwilling to accept my defeat in the last battle, sir."

While moving his limbs and performing warm-up-like movements, Jueshi Jueshi's face shone with a sickly light as he stared at Tang Zheng with excited and fiery eyes.
"So, could you... fight me again!"

"This is not merely a challenge, but proof that I have become stronger, sir!"

The string of honorifics and rapid tone of voice proved that Jue Si Jue Ming was extremely agitated at this moment.

Faced with this abrupt request!
Tang Zheng wasn't sure if Jue Si Jue Ming really just wanted to show off his strength, or if he was trying to get revenge for the painful training he had been undergoing.

"Ok."

Faced with those intense, heterochromatic eyes, Tang Zheng shrugged and smiled, "Don't cry."

boom!
Zetsuki stopped jumping, his feet firmly planted on the ground, and he raised his head: "I'm not a child!"

wow~
He lifted the corner of his clothes.

On either side of Zesshi Zesshi's waist hung a magic belt, and he wiped his hands across the item.

when! when!
A crisp yet heavy sound rang out instantly.

A full suit of pure white armor, radiating a soft glow and adorned with gold patterns, appeared beside Zesshi Zetsumei.

One of the six great gods, the "Wind God" Glorious Angel Cat Meow, wields the divine artifact-grade full-body armor "Radiant Dawn of Light"!
Followed by!

A matching golden longsword and golden shield appeared at his feet.

Legendary item "Glorious Holy Golden Sword"!
Legendary item "Dawn Wall Golden Shield"!
See this scene.

Tang Zheng paused briefly, then chuckled at the smug look on Jueshi Jueshi's lips, saying, "You were prepared all along."

Of course!

Zesshi Zesshi made no attempt to hide his smugness; on the contrary, his expression became even more triumphant: "Last time, I was easily defeated by you, sir."

"Besides my own carelessness, it was also because I wasn't fully armed!"

"This time..."

Wow!
Jue Si Jue Ming moved swiftly and nimbly, instantly equipping himself with all his gear.

"This time they're fully armed!"

Once the entire set of equipment was worn...

Zesshi Zesshi herself was like a radiant angel, her entire set of weapons emitting a soft, shimmering white light that illuminated the surrounding darkness.

"I'm going!" Jue Si Jue Ming seemed unwilling to give Tang Zheng any chance to react.

boom!
"Speed ​​up the flow!"

"Swift Wind Breaks Through!"

"Gale Speed ​​Break!"

The ground beneath Zesshi Zesshi's feet trembled, and his body transformed into a white streak of light as he charged forward.

The two were not far apart to begin with!
In the blink of an eye, Jue Si Jue Ming had rushed to within five meters of Tang Zheng. Such a close distance was a very dangerous situation for a magic caster!
"Monster Summoning: Cerberus!"

Tang Zheng reacted indifferently, waving his hand and chanting softly.

"Roar!" The massive figure of Cerberus appeared instantly, blocking Tang Zheng's path, baring its fangs and claws as it pounced on Jue Shi Jue Ming.

Sure enough!

Zesshi Zesshi's eyes lit up. The previous battle had also given her information about Tang Zheng. She quickly raised the Dawn Wall Golden Shield in her hand:
"Triple Heaven!"

Wow!
Golden light emanated from the Dawn Wall's golden shield, transforming into three phantom shields that surrounded Absolute Death and Despair.

The Cerberus's attack made contact with the shield phantom first. At the moment of impact, the massive figure was uncontrollably deflected by the rotating shield.

The three dog-head-shaped figures looked astonished.

Zesshi Zesshi and Cerberus passed each other in an instant, rushing towards Tang Zheng with an excited laugh: "At this distance, there's no way to dodge, sir!"

"Magic without chanting - Teleportation".

Tang Zheng's figure vanished instantly, reappearing a hundred meters behind Jueshi Jueshi:
"You're too smug. If they can't limit my teleportation ability, this battle will just repeat the outcome of the last one."

A calm and composed voice came from behind.

"Roar!" Cerberus roared, turned around and pounced on Death and Death again.

Tang Zheng's eyes already showed interest.

This time, Zesshi Zesshi was clearly well-prepared, not using the cross-shaped spear and scythe, but instead fully equipped with the "Wind God" Glorious Angel Cat·Nyan.

"Is this combination... a sign they're planning to use the [Chosen Knight]'s trump card?"

Tang Zheng grinned, thinking to himself, "He's not telling the truth, Jue Si Jue Ming."

Last time.

When Tang Zheng came into contact with the six divine equipment, he asked what the [Chosen Knight]'s trump card was, and Jue Si Jue Ming's answer was ambiguous.

In short, it means they didn't understand.

Regarding this answer...

Tang Zheng didn't think much of it. Jue Si Jue Ming's innate ability could unleash a trump card, but the specific effects were unknown, and he could only explore and judge for himself.

It now appears that the claim of a lack of understanding was not true.

"Judging from their usual reliance on the 'Death Bell,' a trump card that can decide the outcome of a battle, this is the [Chosen Knight's] trump card."

Tang Zheng quickly thought: "It shouldn't be the type of game where the outcome is decided in an instant."

(End of this chapter)