Who designed this underworld dungeon?.

Chapter 729 Weapons and the Black Knight
"Alright, the known condition now is that we don't have any weapons. Although we can use some combat techniques with our bare hands, the power is very small."

"Another known condition is that we are in a narrow passage with no ventilation shafts above and no cells on either side, only a straight passage."

"The last known fact is that there is a Black Knight of at least elite level standing in the passage. He also has a shield, and his straight sword is not incapable of shield thrusting."

"so."

Hervé scanned the crowd before him with a serious gaze, and they returned his gaze with the same seriousness.

"Who would be willing to go and beat up the Black Knight empty-handed?"

Deathly silence.

"Who would want to go empty-handed and get beaten up by the Black Knight?" he repeated.

Hey, hey, hey, what you're saying sounds a little different from what you said before, doesn't it? Todd seemed to have noticed some insignificant blind spot.

The silence lasted for a while, then suddenly became somber.

"I'll go!" A Starfire Knight stepped forward and shouted with great enthusiasm, "I'm almost forty years old this year, and I'm still unmarried and childless. I'm also the weakest in the team, so I'm the most suitable to go!"

"Count me in!" Another person stepped forward, loudly proclaiming his own qualifications and arguing why he was the most suitable to go.

"Everyone." Hervé and the others were moved to tears, and some even hugged each other while crying.

Hey, hey, hey, you guys can resurrect at the campfire after you die, it's not like some other dungeon where you're sentenced to death if you die without a teleportation crystal, why are you being so sentimental? Todd didn't understand the point of these guys' antics at all.

Then he saw the Black Knight's pointed head emerge from around the corner.

"You guys are too noisy! You've attracted the enemy!"

No sooner had Todd finished speaking than the Black Knight charged forward, shield in hand.

Caught off guard, the Starfire Knights fled in disarray, heading towards the area where the campfire had been.

"I would respect you even more if you didn't act so weird!"

Todd shouted out his inner dissatisfaction.

It wasn't until the Black Knights were lured into that small room, which was practically a vast plain compared to the narrow passage, that the Starfire Knights organized a proper resistance and re-established their fighting stance—the same formation they had used when fighting the Undead Asylum demons.

"We can understand if it's useless against large monsters, but we can definitely handle humanoid enemies like you!"

The Starfire Knights called out confidently to Hervi, "Quick, Hervi, go find the weapons! We're all waiting for you!"

“Alright.” Hervi didn’t waste any words or pretense, and turned and ran away decisively, leaving the people here to confront the Black Knight.

"Hey, then I'll follow too!" Todd wanted to follow as well, but the next moment the Black Knight's straight sword suddenly slashed from the side!
If the Starfire Knight hadn't pulled him back, he would have been cleaved in two vertically.

"Master, you should stay in the back. This is not a place for you to join in the fun."

The Starfire Knight who saved him dodged the Black Knight's shield charge with a quick step, circled behind him, and punched him in the neck.

"Boom!"

The attack hit its mark, and the Black Knight's body even trembled slightly!

However, it was the Starfire Knight whose face turned grim; he said in disbelief:

"Why does it feel harder than any I've encountered before?"

The next moment, the Black Knight turned around and smashed his shield directly into the Starfire Knight's chest. The Starfire Knight was instantly sent flying backward and crashed into the wall, vomiting a large amount of blood.

"What happened to you?" Nearby teammates rushed over to help, their faces showing shock.

He had just splashed the healing potion on his companion when another person was sent flying backward.

Looking back, the number of people surrounding the Black Knight had drastically decreased!

"What's going on?" Starfire Knight was caught in a vortex of confusion, but when he faced the Black Knight himself, he suddenly realized what was happening.

"How come his power is even stronger than the previous Black Knight!"

Starfire Knight clutched his fist, which felt like it was about to break after exchanging a punch with his opponent, and his eyelids twitched wildly.

I'm so stupid, really.

If we had known the zombies were stronger, the Black Knight would definitely have become stronger too.

But why? What's the reason? Why are these monsters so much stronger than their counterparts in the old areas of the Sien Dungeon?

I don't understand, I don't understand at all.

Unable to inflict effective damage on their opponents, the Starfire Knights were forced to fight without taking any damage, because being hit by a decent attack would render them incapable of fighting.

Todd, who was standing nearby, tried his best to help, but his best magic was fireball.

The Black Knight happens to have the highest fire resistance.

His repeated attempts to throw fireballs finally angered the opponent, who charged straight at them, and the Starfire Knights couldn't stop him.

"Help!"

Forced into a corner with no way to retreat, Todd let out a scream. The Black Knight's sword slashed down towards his head!

In this moment of crisis, he suddenly felt something cut his body, and hot liquid was flowing into his body.

The next moment, the Black Knight's sword was struck by an external force, causing the blade to deflect. The original slash turned into a slap when it landed on Todd, sending him flying backward and crashing into the wall.

"Ouch, it hurts so much." He remained stuck in the wall, unable to move, and it was estimated that many of his bones were broken.

"Huh?" Starfire Knight exclaimed in surprise, "How are you still alive after taking a direct hit like that?"

"Yes, how am I still alive?"

Todd belatedly realized what was happening, stared blankly down at his own body, and suddenly burst out a curse full of surprise.

"How did I get so strong!?"

His typically lean physique, typical of a magician, had swollen into muscles, becoming so muscular it looked disgusting!
What's going on? How did he suddenly turn into such a muscular guy?!
But it was this muscular physique that helped him withstand the Black Knight's attack. Although some of his bones were broken, at least he didn't die!
"This ability... Hervi is back!"

The Starfire Knights recognized the changes in Todd's body. Before they could finish their excited exclamations, several streaks of burning red light flashed through the air and landed accurately on each of them.

Drew finally saw clearly that the red light was actually the scales of some kind of creature.

The moment the scales tore through their bodies, their muscles swelled up just like Todd's!

The bleeding from the cut wounds stopped, the broken bones were forcibly put back together, and their unconscious consciousness was stimulated to wake up. They all looked as if they had been transformed by some mad scientist, and all of them regained their ability to move.

It's the art style... It feels like they've gone from being members of a somewhat sophisticated and mysterious organization to cannon fodder super soldiers.

Suddenly, a large number of scales burst out from the tunnel, entangling the Black Knight, who brandished his blade within them, the sword clashing with the scales and creating intense sparks.

These scales are incredibly hard, and their number seems endless.

They seemed somewhat lacking in aggression, and it wasn't apparent that they had caused any visible damage to the Black Knight, but their sheer numbers and toughness temporarily trapped him inside.

"Hey everyone, I'm back!"

Todd swears that this is the first time he has ever found Hervé's flippant voice so touching.

The blazing flames illuminated the passage, and Herve, whose cloak had once again transformed into flames, finally appeared, looking somewhat different from before.

Red patterns suddenly appeared on the black armor, looking sharp like fangs. Eight stripes resembling phoenix tail feathers extended from beneath the cloak and swayed in the air. Upon closer inspection, these things were made up of the scales from before.

More scales flew from behind him, actually carrying everyone's weapons as they flew over. With the weapons in hand, the people's spirits immediately changed.

Todd carefully took his magic wand from the scales and couldn't help but ask, "What is this?"

Hervé habitually tossed his cloak and said:

"Weapon: [Dragon Fang Strangler]".

"Weapons!?"

Todd never expected to see such a rare weapon in Scammeron; in fact, it was the first time he had ever seen a weapon before.

No wonder Hervé said he fights with weapons; weapons can greatly enhance one's abilities!

"【Strangling Dragon Fang】, a weapon left behind by a hero who was once a dragon-blooded warrior. His divine weapon fused with himself, so after his death, the scales on his body fell off and formed this weapon."

Under Hervé's control, the scales appeared at will and were manipulated with ease, perfectly matching his temperament.

"The scales contain all the skills that the hero learned. Sometimes I can't even use them all, but thanks to so many abilities, I'm always able to escape from dire situations."

"Is getting stronger one of my abilities?" Todd asked.

"Yes."

Hervé gave himself a thumbs-up.

"Trust me, as long as we have the weapons and you believe in my abilities, we will be invincible!"

For some inexplicable reason, Todd felt that the man in front of him was very trustworthy.

"what?"

He suddenly looked down at himself, his brows furrowing in confusion.

For a fleeting moment, he felt his muscles swell, as if he had become stronger.
But this feeling was fleeting; perhaps it was just an illusion.

He saw that the Starfire Knights, now armed, had all regained their former vigor and were rushing forward. They must be going to kill the Black Knight and avenge their defeat.
It must be, right?
"Where are you all going?!" Todd shouted as he watched the group abandon the Black Knight and run towards the passage.

"Run away!"

Hervé turned around and called out, "Why bother fighting him?"

"."

On second thought, it seems to make sense.

So Todd pulled himself off the wall and hurriedly ran away with the others.

(End of this chapter)