Chapter 959 It's My Turn (Part 5): Challenge

...

Arthur was currently wearing a very dark expression as he stared at the cursed grand marshal standing a few distances away from them.

He then swept his gaze to the surroundings and saw that the state of the group was terrible. Most of them were already reaching their limits due to using everything they had earlier. But despite giving their all, they still couldn't deal much damage to the grand marshal, much less defeat him.

Even Leonard, Faker, Zero, and Lawless were also currently in their exhausted state. The first three had used their Elemental Spirit Possessions on top of using the Reality Manifestation, so the fatigue that they were suffering was definitely big. Lawless was not in a better shape either as the extended usage of the bloodline power was also starting to show some aftereffects.

If those four were in a such terrible state, then there was no need to ask about the others. They were in a much worse state than them.

Owen, who was fighting alongside those four on the frontlines, was already on the verge of collapsing after pushing himself too hard to match the pace of such monstrous individuals.

The beating that he got from the grand marshal was one time, but keeping up with Arthur and the others in the frontline was an additional problem since it was putting too much strain on his mental strength.

And to make it even more terrible, he was not like them who were aware of the existence of Reality Manifestation, much less use it in the battle.

It could be considered a miracle that he was able to hold himself up until now.

Seven and S.Tigris were also feeling the same. Ever since Grand Marshal Draco lost his mind and started attacking the others in the backlines, the two of them had no choice but to join the battle.

They only fought alongside those five gods for a few minutes, yet the mental burden that they experienced was no different from the beating that their bodies were suffering.

Fighting such a cursed monster with overwhelming stats was already a problem for them, but since they also had to consider not getting in the way of those Godlike Players during the battle, they had to expend more concentration by keeping their minds sharp all the time.

Ara and Alucard were also in a similar situation to them since they couldn't afford to accidentally hit the others with their skills. But fortunately for them, the grand marshal remained stationary most of the time aside from the situations where he suddenly disappeared during the outburst of his speed.

Ember and Ravier were in a slightly better state than them. After all, they were already used to these kinds of situations. After fighting alongside Faker and Lawless for a long time, they no longer need to be extra careful with their spells. Even if it was such a high-intensity battle, they would be able to adjust their rhythm after getting used to the fighting style of the others.

Charlotte was also the same as those two. And with her being a Godlike Player herself, fighting such a powerful enemy while keeping up with the others was not a problem here.

The combination of her unique combat techniques and class fighting style skills was also a great help in the battle. With her constant harassment of spells, the grand marshal's movements were greatly restricted.

Cloe also lived up to her reputation as the best healing within the game. She was able to keep her calm at all times and accurately help others whenever they were in danger. Whether they were on the verge of dying or receiving a deadly blow, her timely healing was always saving their lives.

What was even more amazing was the fact that she was doing it while being under constant pressure from their enemy.

Grand Marshal Draco was specifically targeting her due to her Holy Powers. It was because of that power that she became the most threatening member of the group.

Chaotic Luck, on the other hand, was the one who felt that he was the most useless member of the group. Without his Solaris Soldiers, he felt that he was nothing.

With his talent, he couldn't keep up with such a high-intensity battle. Forget about the fact that he might have some spells that could harm the grand marshal, he couldn't even bring himself to throw those spells due to his fear of accidentally hitting the others.

He felt that he was more of a burden if he joined the battle, so he could only stand dumbly on the side and be a spectator in the battle.

Even Black Hand, who was relatively performing a great job during the entire battle, couldn't find a good role for him aside from standing on the sidelines.

...

The previously beautiful plaza was now currently in its devastated state. The frozen fountain was nowhere to be seen while the surrounding houses turned into a pile of rubbles.

Arthur, with his solemn, expression couldn't help but cursed their luck. They didn't expect that the corruption of the curse would reach this level.

This so-called Power of Calamity was indeed powerful. It was not an exaggeration to say that it was a miracle that no one had died yet.

But at the same time, the group understood that it was just the beginning. The corruption of the curse was only at its initial stage, so the strength that they witnessed from the grand marshal was just the tip of the iceberg.

Given that, they could even imagine how strong this monster would become when the Power of Calamity fully took over the body of Grand Marshal Draco.

Sweeping his gaze at the others once again. Arthur knew that they couldn't let this continue. Especially when there was another problem that they needed to take care of later.

Immortal and the others still hadn't made their appearance, so the situation would be direr if those guys found them in their most exhausted state.

Arthur might not be the brightest but he knew that he couldn't let the worst-case scenario happen. For Shin's contingency plan to work, he needed to personally take this matter into his hand, alone.

They needed to have the others be in their best possible condition so that they could respond if some unexpected accidents occurred during the process.

"Tsk! I am planning to use this during the main event, but I guess I no longer have the luxury of doing it," he muttered to himself.

He shouted, catching everyone off-guard. "That is more than enough! You guys take a rest for now and recuperate. You need to prepare for the latter, let me take care of this for now!"

He didn't even wait for the others to respond to him and charged at the grand marshal. He even flapped his wings to propel himself forward, further increasing his speed.

He was already in front of the grand marshal when the others recovered themselves. And before they could open their mouths to say something, Arthur took out a stone tablet from his inventory space while yelling. "With the honor of the Dragon King, I, a successor candidate of the sanctuary, challenge you, a warrior of the dragons, in a duel!"

Seeing that Arthur suddenly appeared in front of him, Grand Marshal Draco followed his instincts and swung his greatsword.

Arthur quickly threw the stone tablet in the air when he saw those actions, letting it get cleaved by the grand marshal.

On the very next instant, a series of system notifications were sent to Arthur.

*Ding!*

System: You have issued the Dragon's Challenge!

System: Checking the target's constitution!

System: Searching for Dragon's Aura!

System: Basic conditions are met, searching for additional challenges-…

System: Blessing of a Royal-Bloodline Dragon has been found, increasing the stakes of the challenge.

System: Unknown powers have been detected.

System: Corrupted Powers has been confirmed to be the Power of Calamity! Increasing the stakes of the challenge.

*Ding!*

System: Dragon Knight Siegfried challenges the Cursed Knight, Dragon Rider Draco.

System: Establishing the new Quest Scenario.

System: The Ancient Battlefield is being summoned. You and the target of the challenge will now be transformed.

...

Swoosh! Swoosh!

Arthur hadn't read the whole string of notifications when his eyes were suddenly blinded by a brilliant light. And before the others understood the meaning of his words, he was suddenly swallowed by a pillar of light alongside the grand marshal.

When the pillar of light disappeared, Arthur and Grand Marshal Draco were nowhere to be seen, making the others stare blankly at the empty space in front of them.

"What is that idiot planning to do now?" said Cloe frustratedly after realizing what happened.

Leonard, who was the most familiar with him among the group, aside from Cloe, was currently wearing a solemn expression on his face.

He knew that Arthur was not foolish enough to pull that stunt if he was not confident, but he still couldn't help but worry given that they just experienced how powerful the grand marshal was.

Unfortunately, they could no longer do anything about it. All they could do right now was to trust Arthur's success and pray that he didn't show off too much this time, biting more than what he could chew.

Hu~!

After taking a deep breath, Leonard quickly recovered his composure before turning to the current state of the group. Without Shin and Arthur around, he felt that he needed to work extra hard for the next matter at hand.

"I need to recuperate as fast as possible and recover my peak state."

Clenching his fists tightly and bumping them together, he resolved himself to also give everything he had.

"The next one should be my turn."

...