TL: Knight Errant
Dong- Dong- Dong- Dong-
Was it the sound of the statue trembling, or was it Dio’s own heartbeat resonating loudly?
The dazzling sky, which had not a single cloud, suddenly darkened.
No, it brightened again.
Lightness and darkness alternated once, and finally, it was engulfed in a dark shadow.
It seemed like a contrived demonstration of time rapidly passing by.
Dio didn’t understand this bizarre phenomenon, but it was certainly familiar to him.
‘This production must be from the OTF second trailer…’
The cracked surface turned into dust and scattered, revealing ‘that thing’ which was inside the statue.
The mercenaries started screaming and frantically running away.
“What… What is this?”
“Ru… Run away!”
Even as the mercenaries scrambled to escape, Dio, with his fists tightly clenched, was lost in thought.
‘I knew there was something unsettling about that statue…’
It was undoubtedly an unexpected crisis, but Dio’s mind, ironically, became calmer due to the ‘illogical’ nature of the current situation.
Dio’s gaze shifted to the now fully awakened statue. No, the Guardian.
He couldn’t comprehend why ‘that thing’ would appear in a 100-level area.
It wasn’t just ‘difficult’ but ‘illogical’.
‘Even if it wasn’t me at level 10, but a normal player around level 100, there would be zero chance of defeating that thing.’
Enveloped in pitch-black armor.
A cursed paladin who transcended death.
Death Knight.
A monster that appears as a boss in the mid-to-late episodes of the main story ‘Resurrection of the Ancient God’, which starts after level 300.
That was the identity of the Guardian awakened from the statue.
‘This is getting interesting.’
Had a Guardian of around level 150-200 emerged, Dio might have despaired.
Fighting a Guardian of that level range could have been a ‘planned intention’ in a 100-level area.
But that Death Knight was a monster even difficult for players around level 300.
‘Which means, this sudden event’s planning intention isn’t to fight that monster.’
After all, there had never been a quest designed to be unbeatable in this OTF game.
And the next moment.
Ding!
[You possess a ‘Class Change Scroll’.]
[Your class is ‘No Class’.]
[A forced quest has been triggered.]
[Type: Hidden Quest]
[You have satisfied the conditions to trigger the Hidden Quest.]
[Obtain the Death Knight’s sword.]
Discovering the consecutive messages that appeared, Dio’s eyes sparkled.
His heart was still pounding tumultuously, but the recent message seemed to have turned his speculations into certainty.
‘In that case…’
In Dio’s mind, all the familiar strategies and information related to the Death Knight began to emerge.
* * *
[Strategy] Super Easy Death Knight Takedown
[Author] LevelUpToTheMax
Views: 38394
I’ll tell you how to defeat the Death Knight like a piece of cake.
Those who have paladin class would know. This guy is unusually weak to holy power among the undead.
But do you need to delete your current ID and start over as a paladin?
Would I have written this guide if that were the case? LOL
Listen up.
It’s just. Just fucking super easy.
Just take one priest NPC with you.
You know about getting buffs when adding a priest to your party, right?
Boost your attack with that, and then bind the Death Knight.
Not a binding class?
No LOL, the priest does the binding.
What does that mean?
Let me repeat, the Death Knight is weak to holy power.
You know it can break through a warrior’s shield but can’t penetrate a paladin’s protective barrier, right?
So, you use the barrier spell cast by the priest on the Death Knight.
You know the first phase of the Death Knight is insanely tough, like Sans, right? (TL: Sans from game Undertale)
But doing this makes the Death Knight fumble and break the barrier, skipping the first phase LOL
If this gets good feedback, I’ll also share various gimmicks of the Death Knight’s second phase.
Likes: 1509 Dislikes: 4
-Wow! You know about Sans. If you put up a barrier, it’s really. really. easy.
– LOL LOL It’s crazy to think about casting a barrier on a monster
– For real LOL, but if you do that, even my puppy could defeat the Death Knight
-As expected from LevelUpToTheMax, I like you
-What are those 4 dislikes, are they Death Knights?
└ Seems like Death Knights and their apostles LOL
* * *
Whooosh-
With the appearance of the Death Knight, an ominous green fluorescent flame wall formed around the area.
A typical arena match setup found in hidden quests involving boss monsters.
It meant there was no escape now.
[How dare you step into the sacred ground…]
Despite the terrifying voice of the Death Knight, Dio didn’t flinch.
The situation seemed to worsen, but now Dio was completely calm.
He had realized something definite from the recent system message.
‘This quest… It’s designed to be undertaken by someone below level 10, not level 100.’
What Dio realized was not something extraordinary.
It was about the trigger that initiated this sudden event.
He recalled what it was.
‘The system said a hidden condition was satisfied. And that condition is owning a Class Change Scroll while being classless.’
Being ‘classless’ meant the same as being ‘below level 10’.
And a quest designed to be undertaken at level 10?
There’s no way Dio, a veteran player, couldn’t handle that.
So, what now for Dio?
It was to safely get through the first phase of the Death Knight.
The Death Knight is designed to rampage relentlessly until its first phase is passed.
If he can safely get past this, he can attempt to ‘talk’ to the Death Knight.
How to endure the Death Knight’s first phase at level 10?
No need to worry.
The first phase of the Death Knight is level-independent.
The official name for the Death Knight’s first phase is ‘Soul Erosion’.
‘Whether you are level 1 or 500, if you can’t avoid the ‘Soul Erosion’ pattern, you’ll become ‘Soul Bound’.’
And Dio had strategized this phase so much that he could avoid it even with his eyes closed.
Even now, he had thought of a cheat-like method that didn’t require any struggle.
‘Clara has undergone her second class change to a Priestess. She must be able to use Holy Shield for sure.’
Dio recalled Clara’s information he had checked through the party window.
If the information was correct, Clara could use the ‘Holy Shield’ of the second class change, so there was no problem.
Dio’s gaze moved towards Clara, who was standing as still as a statue.
“Priestess, please prepare the Holy Shield!”
“Huh…? Yes!?”
As Dio spoke in a calm yet firm voice, Clara couldn’t hide her astonishment.
“Are you going to fight? No! We have to run away!”
Clara, who knew exactly who the being in front of her was, desperately shook her head trying to dissuade Dio.
“There’s nowhere to run.”
“But, that’s…!”
“There’s no time! Cast the shield on it!”
“Huh? That’s impossible. On a monster…”
“Before it makes a move, hurry!”
There was no time to explain to Clara.
Dio, unlike his usual demeanor, yelled at the bewildered Clara.
Under Dio’s urging, Clara reluctantly nodded and then clasped her trembling hands tightly and closed her eyes.
“…May the holy moonlight’s blessing protect us.”
As Clara began her prayer, her staff flickered with the energy of blue moonlight.
Perhaps responding to the holy power, the Death Knight’s eyes flickered as it turned to look at Clara.
Step- Step-
The Death Knight slowly moved towards Clara.
Dio, still seeing Clara’s hesitation, grabbed her arm and positioned her staff towards the Death Knight.
The target was the Death Knight.
“Now!”
“Ho, Holy Shield!”
Whoosh-!
Brilliant blue moonlight energy shot towards the approaching Death Knight.
Thud-
A chilly light-colored barrier enveloped the entire body of the Death Knight and it stopped dead in its tracks.
Clara, finally understanding why she was instructed to use the protective spell on the enemy rather than an ally, spoke with a trembling voice.
“It’s… a success!”
The Death Knight, being undead, was imprisoned rather than protected by the Holy Shield!
Clara was puzzled how he knew such reverse logic but was simultaneously overjoyed.
However, it was too early to relax.
Dio, with a tense expression, focused intently on every move of the Death Knight.
‘If the shield breaks too quickly, the phase might not be completely skipped. If there’s any sign of that happening, I must be ready to dodge immediately…’
Creeeak-
The Death Knight, surrounded by the shield, took a step forward with a creaking sound.
It was like a puppet fighting against the strings controlling its body.
“Mo… Monte-nim!”
Clara, terrified, clutched at Dio’s clothes.
‘Just a little…! Just a bit longer!’
Dio bit his lower lip hard.
As a mistake could lead to instant death, he didn’t want to drag the first phase into a physical challenge.
After all this struggle, there should be an easier way to get through it!
The Death Knight, its movements restricted as if bound by invisible strings, continued to creak and jerk.
After a while, a slight relief washed over Dio’s face as he kept his eyes fixed on the creature.
The Death Knight, having stopped moving completely, suddenly raised an arm.
This was a sign of the beginning of the second phase!
‘Got it!’
Black energy surged out of the creature.
The energy was so dense that the inside of the shield confining the Death Knight was covered in black smoke.
The shield, expanded from the inside.
And finally…
Clang!
The shield shattered, and the Death Knight’s restrictions were lifted simultaneously.
“Aaah!”
The backlash from breaking the shield was so powerful that it sent Clara flying far away.
And thus began the gimmick of the Death Knight’s second phase!
The black smoke emitted by the Death Knight soared into the sky, forming four spears.
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
The spears then landed to the east, west, north, and south of Dio.
Whoosh-
The energy emitted by the Death Knight spread from the spears erected like pillars.
Creating a space confined to just the Death Knight and Dio was instantaneous.
A gimmick designed for the melee expert, the Death Knight.
The Death Knight began to rush in with movements too fast for the eye to follow.
Its target was Dio, who had become the focus of the gimmick.
However, Dio was already prepared.
A way to initiate a dialogue with the creature before the second phase gimmick fully commenced.
Dio knew it very well.
Thud- Thud- Whoosh!
The Death Knight, like a whirlwind, rushed towards Dio and abruptly stopped right in front of him.
The abrupt stop of its violent motion caused the wind, defeated by the inertia of the Death Knight, to blow like a typhoon.
Had Dio’s judgment been wrong, the Death Knight’s sword would have fallen upon his neck.
But there was no sign of tension or anxiety in Dio’s demeanor.
* * *
In any game, a Death Knight is not just a common mob.
Especially in the world of OTF, which has a robust universe, even if they are just monsters, they have specific backgrounds and settings.
In other words, the Death Knights in OTF each have their own unique stories.
And these Death Knights, when their associated ‘story’ is mentioned, stop their second phase.
But Dio had already completely guessed who this Death Knight was.
At that point, there was no longer any need to be afraid.
Thus, Dio, looking straight into the creature’s eyes, said,
“Do you not recognize me?”
And the next moment…
[Conditions have been met.]
[‘Dialogue Phase’ has been initiated.]
The sword of the Death Knight, which seemed ready to split Dio in two at any moment, stopped abruptly in front of him, as if it was a lie.