?Horatio didn't stay idle while Jonathan was protecting him. When the outworlder and the ex-relic marshall were clashing, Horatio picked up the book chained to his belt and opened it. By extracting power from the book, he drew a spell formation.
That book was the Book of the Damned. The legendary artifact Jack retrieved from Aubelard.
When Jonathan was sent flying by Archibald's earth swing. The spell formation above the book was completed. Horatio cast the completed spell without pause. A gigantic rune appeared on the ground.
The giant rune symbol was in between Archibald and Horatio. Archibald sensed great power from that rune. He chose to be prudent and stepped away. As soon as he did, flames burst out of the rune. With it, a huge and ominous-looking gate appeared.
Jonathan, who was still rising from the ground, saw the gate. He thought the gate looked very much like Warlock's Hell Gate, only much bigger.
Similar to Warlock's Hell Gate, the giant hell gate opened and spewed out a burst of infernal flame. Archibald sensed the attack but it was too late for him to dodge. A layer of hard rocks covered his body. The earth armor protected him as the infernal flame washed over him.
Archibald didn't suffer much damage due to the Earth Armor's protection. The infernal flame didn't trouble him. What troubled him was another obstacle that had appeared before him. Out of the gate, a towering demon-like creature emerged. The creature looked like a buff-up demon with two giant bat wings. It wielded a flaming blade in his right hand and a flaming whip in his left.
Archibald used his Inspect and found that the creature was a level 76 mythical-grade Daemon.
He snickered. "Hah! Summoning another weakling won't save you."
But then he noticed Horatio was forming another spell formation using the large book he held. Horatio had started casting when the giant hell gate came out and delayed Archibald. The spell was completed now.
Uncountable thin crimson threads shot out from the Book of the Damned. These crimson threads spread out to a large distance. They latched onto the vampire soldiers under Horatio's command. As they did, thin layers of crimson aura enveloped the soldiers.
The crimson threads boosted the soldiers' stats, making them faster and stronger. They already outnumbered Archibald's force. With their boosted stats, Archibald's soldiers were having even more difficulty fighting them.
"Considering your merit to Sangrod in the past, I will give you one chance to surrender, Archibald," Horatio said. "Surrender and swear your fealty! And I will forgive your transgression."
"Save your bluff! As long as I take you down, I still win!" Archibald said and lunged forward.
The daemon came in his path and swung its flaming blade.
"Move aside, weakling…!" Archibald yelled and swung his giant hammer empowered by Earth Strike.
While he uttered the same statement and used the same skill against Jonathan, the result of the clash was very much different. When his hammer and the daemon's flaming blade clashed, both of them were forced back from the impact.
The daemon was forced further back, so Archibald was still stronger. But the fact that he was also forced back meant the daemon wasn't as weak as he thought. Archibald couldn't believe this outcome. He used Inspect again and found that the level of the daemon had changed. It was now level 86.
He realized that attached behind the daemon was the crimson thread, the same as the ones that attached to Horatio's soldier. This was what caused the power-up on the daemon.
The crimson threads came from one of the powers of the Book of the Damned. It granted the book user's followers a demonic power-up. All the ones under this demonic contract received a boost in their stats. But if the one receiving the demonic contract was a demon-type creature, it received additional effect. Its level was increased by ten levels.
With this power-up, the daemon wasn't that powerless against Archibald. It swung the flaming whip in its left hand. The whip hit Archibald's legs when he was still in astonishment. The whip curled around his legs. The daemon pulled his whip and made Archibald fall to the ground. It then made a giant leap and swung its flaming blade down. An image of a giant flaming blade falling from the sky was conjured following his cleave.
Archibald uttered a roar. His body enlarged with Gigantify. The increase of his mass forced the whip coiling around his legs to unravel. It was not only his body that got enlarged, but his hammer also enlarged after he used the Enlarge Weapon skill.
Now a real giant, he swung his titanic hammer at the incoming flaming blade. The image of the giant flaming blade was destroyed. At the same time, the daemon was sent several meters back from the impact.
"This is still not enough to save you!!" Archibald exclaimed, but then he noticed Horatio had again cast another spell using his book.
Black flames enshrouded Horatio's body. The black flames formed an image. The image was a demon with a pair of curled horns and two pairs of bat wings.
The enchantment affecting Horatio was Devil Possession. An immense power up from Warlock's spell, demonic possession. With this enchantment, all of Horatio's stats were increased. All the damage dealt by his spells was also increased, and he gained massive damage reduction while the Devil Possession was in effect.
Horatio put the Book of the Damned back to his waist. He then lifted his emperor scepter. A spell formation was formed. Repeating Fireball was cast.
Archibald's strength might have multiplied from the Gigantify skill, but it also made him an easier target. Under the Devil Possession, the speed of Horatio's fireballs was increased. Archibald couldn't dodge the fireballs. He put his hammer in front of him to parry.
He couldn't parry all the fireballs but he still had Earth Armor protecting him, so the damage he suffered wasn't high. Horatio might have his spell power increased but his level was still only 76.
If Horatio was alone, he would still lose, but he was not. The daemon came in between Horatio and Archibald again. Jonathan also joined. Jonathan also had the crimson thread on him, enhancing his stats. At the same time, many of Horatio's other soldiers joined in surrounding Archibald.
Archibald looked behind him. The troops he brought were almost routed. They were no match for the soldiers under the demonic contract.
Archibald was now regretting his decision to attack. If he had known Horatio had such a powerful book, he would have waited longer for a better opportunity.
