Among all knight type characters in gaming, Arthur was one of the greatest anomalies in terms of combat technique.
Most knights were melee specialists. Whether they favored high damage heavy weapons, the balanced offense and defense of a sword and shield, or the devastating charges of a lance or polearm, their tools were designed for close quarters engagement.
Even the gender-swapped "King of Knights" usually relied on swords or spears to unleash her magical beams.
But the Arthur of Ghouls 'n Ghosts was a bizarre magical knight who specialized in mid to long range throwing.
Whether it was a spear, a dagger, a ball of magical fire, or even a shield, anything that touched Arthur's hand became a throwable projectile.
Naturally, having equipped a pair of Arthur style strawberry boxers, Chris now possessed the corresponding ability.
[Knight's Throw: Template Skill (Active). His notoriously fragile armor forced Arthur to become a master of mid range combat. This skill grants the ability to use almost any cold weapon as a projectile.
By consuming MP, you can condense a throwable 'copy' based on any weapon or shield currently in your Main or Off-Hand slots. The projectile perfectly inherits the damage and traits of the base weapon. The weight and specifications of the base weapon will influence the projectile's speed, flight distance, and rate of fire.
Each throw costs 5 MP. After a consecutive number of throws, the skill will enter a 5 second cooldown.]
Of the weapons Chris currently held, only the "Vampire Killer" whip failed the check for [Knight's Throw]. His newly acquired "Vampire's Gentleman Cane," while having the lowest raw damage, had already demonstrated its unique property when thrown.
A projectile based on the Gentleman's Cane had a small chance to cast [Polymorph] on its target. This effect could only be active on one target at a time and required no additional mana.
Whether it was a quirk of the spell itself or some other reason, victims of the polymorph retained certain traits of their original forms.
The foolish college student had become a normal, wide-eyed duck. The zombie had become a wizened, dried-up "zombie duck." And the Man-eating Plant that Chris had just sniped was now a "plant duck" that was still rooted to the ground.
Chris had thrown the cane with his left hand, and even he was momentarily stunned to see the plant transform. Then, his right hand blurred as he unleashed a spectral copy of the "Little Demon Cleaver."
The Proof of Arthur hadn't just given him the protagonist's template; it had also loaded Arthur's throwing expertise directly into his muscle memory. Like the Vampire Hunter template, these foundational skills were "hidden" and didn't show up on his status screen.
The cleaver's damage was similar to that of a single-handed axe, though its damage range was more volatile. The blade whistled through the air and neatly decapitated the plant-duck.
A closer look at the stump would have revealed a faint, sizzling burn mark.
Chris had successfully "stacked" the Vampire Killer's properties onto the spectral cleaver. Because the weapon types were so different, it only added a paltry 3 points of Holy damage, but those 3 points were perfectly replicated on the spectral projectile.
At this moment, Chris was genuinely powerful. If one ignored his stats and focused solely on his skills, he had already surpassed the "rookie" classification and reached a level where he could comfortably face a D rank dungeon.
If he were to face that hundred strong zombie horde again, he could likely wipe them all out single handedly.
New zombies were still crawling out of unsealed graves along the path to the exit, but since no more zombies were spawning behind him, they were no longer a threat. Without the fear of being surrounded, Chris could easily pick them off.
However, after experimenting with a few ranged throws, Chris stopped using the skill and switched back to his whip. He wanted to deal with the remaining trash mobs with as little effort as possible.
He was saving his strength because he knew exactly what was waiting for him.
Perched on a stone pedestal near the graveyard's side exit was a crimson-skinned, winged creature that resembled a gargoyle. It sat there in silent, brooding repose.
This was the culprit behind 90% of Ghouls 'n Ghosts players failing before they even finished the first level. It was a creature so iconic and so lethal that it had transitioned from a mere "trash mob" to the protagonist of its own spinoff series: the Red Arremer.
Technically, the Red Arremers were elite mercenaries within the Demon Realm's hierarchy.
While their relationship with the Demon King was more of a contract based one, their status as "regular mobs" in the games meant that most of them were still at the bottom of the food chain.
Creatures like zombies, crows, and man-eating plants were merely earthly objects corrupted by demonic magic, they weren't even considered part of the "official" Demon Realm forces.
But even as a "regular" demon, the Red Arremer was in a league of its own. Based on total player kills throughout gaming history, the Red Arremer clan had likely slain more heroes than all of their colleagues and superiors combined.
Because of their immense popularity, the Red Arremer had received its own trilogy of games and had even made cameo appearances as a boss in titles like SNK vs. Capcom.
It was likely this combination of popularity and its terrifying kill-count that had caused the Heaven's Selection Space to classify it as an "Elite" demon unit.
However, the Red Arremer's fundamental nature remained unchanged: it was a gargoyle.
True to its name, while in its non-combat state, the Red Arremer remained as a stone statue. As long as a player stayed outside of its guard zone, it would remain dormant.
The fact that the Heaven's Selection Space had categorized "Slay the Elite Red Arremer" as a side quest led to one clear conclusion: in this dungeon, it wasn't a mandatory encounter. A player could simply take the long way around and avoid it entirely.
According to the rules of the Space, main objectives always had a "correct" way to be completed. Side missions, however, often served as "Challenges," missions where the mortality rate was often higher than that of the main quest.
Slaying an Elite Red Arremer was not a task meant for a rookie player.
Chris, however, was currently crouched behind a tombstone, his eyes fixed on the sleeping demon. He began to draw in long, measured breaths through his nose, and his body began to vibrate with a slight, uncontrollable tremor.
Reason told him that bypassing the demon was the safe and smart choice. He needed to conserve his stamina for the Cyclops boss that guarded the main objective. Survival was the only thing that mattered... but his primal instincts had already given him a different answer.
'GIVE ME THAT FIGHT!'
The Red Arremer, stationed there on guard duty, had been sleeping soundly. Even the chaos of the earlier zombie horde hadn't stirred it.
Suddenly, it sensed a human presence.
Though somewhat lazily, the demon began to break its stone seal. It flapped its wings a few times, eager to see which "death seeking" human had decided to wander into its domain.
Instead of a person, the first thing the demon heard was the rhythmic, metallic clatter of armor plates.
'Arthur?'
In the demon's memory, the knights of the human kingdom were all dead, except for their strongest, Arthur. Arthur had stolen the map, survived his wounds, and fled into the graveyard.
'Could this be it? Am I finally going to be the one to finish Arthur off and get a promotion?!'
At the thought, a wide, predatory grin spread across the Red Arremer's face, its beak like mouth opening wide in anticipation.
Then, it saw a man in full armor charging straight at it. His helmet was open, revealing a savage, terrifying smile of his own. The demon didn't recognize him at all.
For some reason, the smile on the Red Arremer's face vanished.
[Translated and Rewritten by Shika_Kagura]