Book 19 Chapter 35
Episode 169
The Arch-Nemesis of Destiny and The Vanguard, Shinchen Kaditpol Knights (1)
“<Suriganakus> Northeast face, Pampen Ruins. In the era before the Common Era, it was a place where primitive people were subjected to deadly labor under the name ‘Eternal Sand Dune’.”
Friede said.
“When Neigalas exploded the volcanic region in <The Comers>' counterattack… the volcanic force and lava swallowed the beings laboring here in the blink of an eye.”
The Hero Party was traveling with the help of a single yellow wyvern, and Friede flew alongside them on a 16-cylinder broom.
“Even though that was a thousand years ago… the scene of that labor was buried alive in volcanic ash, remaining vividly like stone statues. That's why it's called the Pampen (Fampen; buried alive) Ruins.”
“Surely <The Comers> wouldn’t have hidden something called the Ark of the Covenant in a place like this.”
“No, I understood it because it's this place. The abyss energy cast over this place is so intense that it's still designated as a forbidden zone where entry is strictly prohibited. It's perfect for hiding something.”
Lin craned her neck over the dragon's body and looked at the faint light of dawn soaring between the distant mountain peaks and ranges.
Of course, it wasn't real dawn.
However, the sacred presence held by that pillar of light gave the same feeling as the mystery of a sunrise, not just in color but in impression.
‘Compared to that…’
Yet, the shadow of tragedy and resentment cast over that area seemed complete, even a thousand years later.
The atmosphere was… somehow eerie.
Even the wind passing through the mountain range carried a grotesque melody, like the screams or wails of hundreds of people.
“Alright, then let’s land and retrieve the Ark of the Covenant───?!”
It was that very instant.
Something abruptly appeared as a blurry figure beyond the wildly raging sandstorm, then vanished.
Rista and Kies, who could observe beyond the sand, gasped in horror.
‘What was that just now?’
‘The head of the 황룡 (Golden Dragon)… in one bite!’
With the sound of flesh twisting and tearing, the wyvern's long neck, having lost control of its central nervous system, thrashed about, scattering fresh blood.
“Kies! Lin! Rista!”
The body, which had been circling at high speed for landing, also lost its high-level control ability and began to spin… Unmanageable inertia tried to throw their entire bodies in all directions.
“…!”
In the rotation of that surreal fall, Kies pulled out Serweborn from her back and fired an arrow.
The arrow, trailing a brilliant verdant trajectory, accurately pierced the mountainside that formed the Pampen Ruins into a basin.
The trajectory left by the arrow soon became a strand of magic, which Kies firmly gripped.
“Lin!”
Rista tightly embraced Lin with her left hand, then grabbed the strand created by the White Crystal Bow, but… the kinetic energy was not lost.
The three crashed directly into the slope!
Hero Party expedition, ending just like this!
To think that would happen, weren’t they forgetting one person? Friede, the Oracle of the Fire Dragon!
“Nice, Friede!”
The barrier Friede deployed completely protected the three from that impact!
Though they were precariously clinging to the slope, the fact that everyone was safe from a high-altitude fall that could have easily annihilated them was more than enough to glimpse their skill level.
However, without a moment to relax, they had to heighten their senses and quickly rotate their vision.
“Another attack will come! It’s dangerous like this!”
“I know! Kies, let’s go down to the ruins! Pull this strand longer!”
“No need for that.”
As Lin imbued her left hand with a formalized shape named 'Hand Seal,' the rosary tied to that arm danced dazzlingly.
The earth resonated with that dance.
Providence obeyed that command.
The slope and the ground strangely transformed, forming steps leading down to the ruins below! Though used instantly, this transformation of the crust itself was a 4-star magic! A master!
“Hah! So the rumors about his skill, starting from those [Seven Souls] scoundrels all the way to wiping out the Annihilation Squad, weren't exaggerated.”
But… it was strange. Wasn't an uninvited guest already waiting at the very end where the stairs met the ground?
For a moment, just one moment.
Kies drew the string of her White Crystal Bow, and Rista gripped the hilt of Surupin’s sword.
‘It’s the same as before. Kies and I, we didn’t even notice until it got this close…!’
The pitch-black full armor, even with a tail, was shaped like a lizard, reminiscent of the Annihilation Squad.
It was grotesque. It was bizarre.
However, unlike the Annihilation Squad, whose internal bodies were sand merely covered in armor, this opponent was a living creature. Friede shouted.
“Who are you!”
The entire surface of the armor absorbed sunlight, and that light quietly vibrated in a core on its chest, but something had pierced its heart area.
It was a Holy Spear.
Holy Spears, though differing in personality and appearance depending on the weapon, still possessed a similar aura, much like Holy Swords.
“Shinchen Kaditpol’s identification number Kadyn Kata (05), Bihkisada.”
“Bihkisa?”
“Who is Bihkisa?”
“He’s the strongest Paladin of all time!”
The records of Sunryong's Master Elsara and her Paladin Sneer were almost obliterated for unknown reasons, save for a few pieces of information.
But Bihkisa!
He was a legendary figure who rose from a wandering mercenary to the strongest Paladin, and he became famous among mercenaries to this day for bravely fighting the Slayers and dying.
“Str-str-strongest?”
Lin trembled.
“Can I ask one thing?”
“What is it?”
“Isn't it standard for the [Strongest Villain] to send their subordinates first to gauge skill?”
The spearman, who identified himself as Bihkisa, glared at Lin with contempt and disgust.
“I dislike that method. Why should I deliberately send capable subordinates to die by a powerful foe first?”
Lin shuddered!
Immediately noted in her memo pad! Master!
The spearman twisted and pulled out the Holy Spear that had pierced his chest.
“You all are said to be incredibly strong, aren’t you?”
The fresh blood that gathered on the spearhead, bubbling and bursting out to scatter across the sand, was not the blood of a living creature, but… horrifyingly, lava.
“Then, come on, try to kill me.”
The spearman assumed his stance.
Then, the heat of the lava furiously rampaged, bound under a single rule, and was forged into a colossal spearhead.
It was like a pressure that crushed one's shoulders with a massive rock… The entire atmosphere ignited with its murderous heat, and heat haze vibrated.
“Kill me, and prove to me! That God exists in this world!”
An attack is coming… Rista's instinct awakened her battle instincts and the will of the Holy Sword.
Surupin roared fiercely.
A mere second was enough for the dazzling sword light, racing across the blade, to take on a precise form.
Clash.
Immediately after a half-beat from the impact that felt like breaking wrist bones, a hyper-dimensional shockwave, born from the clash of the Holy Sword's light and the abyss's lava, raged.
The throb of her heart echoed.
The moment a single heartbeat provided the necessary pressure to reach all blood vessels from her heart, the chains of time binding Rista snapped.
‘The opponent is a fierce enemy.’
There’s no room to control power or anything like that. Finish it in one go with full power.
“Cutting Inscription Sword!”
Twelve fragments of time.
Each of these fragments 'engraves her own image of plunging the Holy Sword into the opponent,' making it truly Rista's ultimate secret technique for one-on-one combat.
It was a complete surprise attack. The opponent had not even recovered their posture from the stabbing motion.
‘I’ll end it. It’s a good thing he entered my killing range from the start!’
Even Jihit, her father's rival who amplified his power with [King's Flesh], could barely block nine of these slashes.
Just one.
Just one hit.
Victory is assured if even one of the twelve slashes directly hits. The opponent has jumped into this tiered structure themselves, making evasion impossible; victory is certain.
“───!”
The Hero Party's comrades only saw the afterglow of the Holy Sword and the residual heat of the lava chaotically overlapping in the next moment.
However, Rista, with her extended perception of time and concentration, could see everything.
She saw all twelve of her slashes parried by that Holy Spear with an unnatural yet naturally flowing trajectory.
“Hah hah hah hah hah hah! Splendid!”
It doesn't end there.
Despite the opponent clearly spending all their time blocking Surupin's twelve consecutive strikes!
“Ri, Ri, Ri─────!”
But why?
But how?
“─────Ristaaahhh!”
Why was Rista herself spitting out congested blood and being slammed into the slope amidst a deep, piercing pain in her abdomen?
‘Tail…?’
A tail, it was a tail.
‘…It wasn't just armor decoration?’
That very tail had slipped through the blind spot of the Holy Sword and Holy Spear's clash and pierced Rista's abdomen.
‘Humans are bipedal creatures. What they can achieve in the fleeting moment with two hands and two feet is extremely limited.’
The battles of peak individuals are determined by who can use that time more efficiently or for a longer duration.
But what if.
In a situation where skills are similar, one side has another means of attack?
“This bastard dares to touch Rista!”
The very possibility of power changes.
Melee combat is like a mathematical equation.
The combination of two hands and two feet is like substituting numbers into variables, but this is akin to having one more variable.
“Excellent!”
Bihkisa’s next move was truly the pinnacle of martial power.
“All four of you possess top-tier battle aura!”
He batted away Friede’s flames with his Holy Spear, and Kies’s arrows were all dodged by a hair's breadth with aerial acrobatics.
“Truly perfectly refined to the peak state!”
Not only that.
Lin's lightning, aimed perfectly at a weak point and flying at full speed, was struck by the tail, negated, and annihilated.
Bihkisa thought so, no, he was certain.
“What?!”
The moment the boy stretched out his left hand, targeting the point where the magic had landed.
“Rune carving alteration.”
The lightning, which had been shattering into particles, abruptly froze into a vivid blue, fixing that tail and body in the air for a moment!
It was a very weak force.
A fleeting interval, less than a moment, that Bihkisa could have shaken off instantly even without exerting full power. But that briefest of intervals was enough for the hero.
“────────!”
A direct hit squarely on the Holy Sword Surupin, the blade of the Holy Sword cracked his breastplate and shattered his helmet, revealing his face.
It was truly a difference of just an instant.
If Bihkisa hadn’t cut off his tail and retreated, it would have been possible to crush his heart and brain, settling the match—a momentary exchange!
“Strongest of all time? You’re kidding! Hey, buddy, all four of us here are called the strongest of all time, okay? Even Pipi here is the strongest sun parrot of all time!”
Friede shouted as a dust storm erupted from Bihkisa being slammed into the far side of the ruins.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah, Pipi is the strongest. Sval is the weakest.”
“Kyuuuuutt!!!”
Pipi shook her head and butt back and forth, left and right, dazzlingly, when Bihkisa’s silhouette reappeared from beyond the dust.
“As rumored, you are indeed an amusing oracle.”
“What?!”
“Hmm, that’s right.”
“Kyukkyung!”
“Why are you agreeing?! Do you both want to die?”
There was no time to catch their breath amidst their usual banter.
The body revealed within Bihkisa's shattered helmet and armor… should it be called a ghastly figure, or a jade body?
Bihkisa’s body was transforming with muscles and bones similar to those of ancient Reptilians.
“What is that body…!”
“The armor wasn’t modeled after a lizard; his body itself was changing into a lizard…?”
“No, look closely. He didn’t just turn into a lizard! His entire skin is [King’s Flesh]…!”
The Creator Parents created humans in their own image.
“Yes! All of these are [King’s Flesh].”
Did the True Kings of the Abyss want to deviate from the providence of creation, or imitate it, by bestowing their forms upon their servants?
“I can’t understand the idiots who swallow this stuff. If you implant it directly into your skin like this, it becomes armor harder than any steel!”
Thus, it was natural for Bihkisa’s body to transform like a Reptilian. He had implanted the body of the Lizard Lord Neigalas all over his body.
“You're called the strongest of all time? Interesting! This Bihkisa will evaluate which one is 'the strongest of all time' between the first and the last Feyquaier!”
But perhaps [King’s Flesh] was insufficient.
The area from around his eyes to the crown of his head remained untransformed, leaving his keen eyes and… ears, a symbol of fairies, as they were.
But is it possible that Bihkisa, with his skill, couldn't gather more [King’s Flesh] than just that much?
“Now, let’s start again! If I kill you, I can prove the absence of God, and if you kill me, you prove the existence of God… A ‘battle for proof’!”