Book 9 Chapter 14

Episode 213

You were the pride of my life.

No, Dean.

The fact that I was a disciple of someone as great as you is the pride of my life.

'I feel good, better than ever……'

It feels like I've put down a heavy burden I'd been carrying my whole life. Though another burden has attached itself instead.

"Aki, it hurts too much, can't you stop biting?"

"Kuaaang."

"Miria, this one."

"Late, late, late. Tardy, tardy, tardy."

Pipi also landed on Rain's head and pecked at the crown of his head!

"This one too, please."

The sight of Rain shaking off the baby dragon and parrot from his head seemed ridiculous at first glance, but Ruelaya, facing him, could only flinch and shrink back.

"How did a mere human, without any divine power, break my nightmare on their own?"

"I didn't break it. Someone else broke it for me… I'll warn you beforehand, the same attack won't work on me."

Bell Curio.

Eyes that interpret all supernatural abilities.

I might not be able to interfere with an opponent's miracle, but it's possible to read the preliminary movements leading up to the attack and the trajectory of the attack, then dodge it.

'As long as Setsunen's power is here, there's no need to dodge. I'll end it with a counterattack.'

Veins bulged on Ruelaya's forehead. She began to pluck the strings of her lyre with frenzied movements.

At that moment, Rain also swung his hand broadly as if conducting a piece of music, then clenched his fist.

The sensation of concentrating all the magic power dispersed throughout the bridge area into one spot.

Charrrleung…!

A brilliant burst of light, chilling to the retina, a total of one hundred eighty lightning bolts intersect simultaneously. At a speed completely beyond limits.

"……!"

The sound of cracks spreading across the barrier rounded by sound waves; Ruelaya stopped playing for the first time and leaped into the sky.

'It's strange.'

The form of the chains that broke the barrier, crisscrossing chaotically, was both mystical and breathtakingly menacing.

'No, it's impossible.'

Ruelaya's breath quickened on its own. This isn't the lightning attribute that humans use.

The lightning attribute is characterized by lower power compared to other attributes.

But this, this power is……

"He wields the power of light? A mere human?"

Has a human entered the realm of the gods?

"It's not me."

As if showing off a precious treasure, Rain displayed the gauntlet wrapped around his left hand. A weapon emitting light more dazzling and brilliant than sunlight.

"It's Setsunen that wields it."

In that instant, the chains of Jeseoswaeran-yeon lost their form and crumbled into countless light particles.

The moment that was thought to have happened, the light particles intertwined and became new chains, ascending. They pierced Ruelaya's body, which was in mid-air.

Jeseoswaeran-yeon's chains, when they hit, can also bind the movements of the caster (with the exception of swordsmen or martial artists with excellent physical abilities).

'My strength……'

Ruelaya, whose soul rather than body was pierced by the chains, felt strength draining from her entire being. Like an ebbing tide.

My arms don't move. My legs don't move. My hands don't move.

I heard he wields the power of fire, and if it's fire magic speed, it shouldn't be that difficult to deal with. How…?

"Release the spell that mutated people strangely."

He was binding them with chains, but he didn't know how to release them. Perhaps because the music had stopped, the primitives had become tamer than before.

"You think I'm crazy— Ugh!"

"I can make electricity flow through the chains for a moment to directly inflict pain on your brain. I don't want to do anything harsh in front of the kids."

He was bluffing, but torture was not his calling. Nor was he experienced or seasoned.

As expected, it's common sense to leave such nasty work to the bad guy(?).

Though not specifically called, Valensidis, who seemed to know it was his turn, had already walked up to Ruelaya and placed a finger on his forehead.

"What are you plotting? Even turning the central part of the continent into a plague zone? What kind of influence are you trying to exert on the human world?"

The wicked aura flowing from his fingertip coiled like a vine and crawled into Ruelaya's nose, eyes, and ears.

Immediately, Ruelaya's eyes slowly rolled back, and saliva drooled messily from his mouth.

He uses a rather morbid spell… it certainly couldn't be said to be good for education.

"Aki, close your eyes."

"Aki eyes closed!"

[Aru.]

"Cover your ears too."

"Aki ears covered!"

[Aruu.]

"Aki."

"Abut?"

"?"

"!"

"……"

By the time Aki had slipped behind Miria's legs to hide from Rain's stern gaze, Ruelaya began to speak.

"The beginning of the purification work… by releasing the abyss trapped in human souls across the entire continent, light will…"

"……?"

"Solond is the beginning… We are opening the dawn of a new world…"

The dawn of a new world?

He had seen black mages spouting nonsense countless times, but this guy's words were somehow… somehow chilling.

Was it because he was a high-born fairy? Rain crossed his arms with a look of dissatisfaction.

"Valensidis, make him confess in more detail. I don't understand a single thing he's saying."

"I'm trying too."

At that moment, Miria pointed at Obin, who was hanging like a pack on Valensidis's shoulder.

"Hey, that prince's condition is strange."

Rain's eyes trembled slightly.

He couldn't wake up from his dream?

The mutation had stopped due to Valensidis's spell, but the delicate body seemed unable to withstand the high fever. If left like this…

"Valensidis, the interrogation is off. Make him release this spell immediately!"

"What I'm using isn't such a simple spell. And wait. I've accessed the core of the information."

"Being constructed in the royal capital… five magic circles… starting from the Solar City Barra… across the entire continent…"

"What's being transmitted? What across the entire continent?"

"Valensidis, look at Obin's condition. There's no time to dig for information! We can just catch another one of those brigade guys later!"

"Removing the light superimposed on souls… turning everything into abyss… Hehehe, huhohohohoho, all humans returning to a primitive state…!"

Primitive state?

Valensidis felt a chill run down his spine. Was their target not just the Solond Kingdom, but the entire continent?

"When is that supposed to start? How far has it progressed already?"

He couldn't hear the answer. And he wouldn't be able to hear it in the future either.

Suddenly, space-time shattered, and Ruelaya's body was torn to shreds. Fresh blood, bone fragments, brain fluid… elements of death scattered.

Pipi, recognizing the true nature of the slash that had just torn space-time, flapped its wings twice in a daze.

"Real, real, real, real."

Before Rain could even gasp, before the smell of blood could permeate the sea breeze, a shadow rushed forward.

Cha-aeng!

A massive blade stopped right before Valensidis', no, Obin's face.

What blocked that sword in mid-air was a crimson blazing blade, the Demon Sword.

The opponent wore a helmet, so his face couldn't be seen, but the form of that greatsword was clearly recognizable.

'It's Rhystar's holy sword, Shirupain.'

They say each of the supreme holy swords possesses a unique beauty, so Shirupain's beauty must be a blunt beauty.

A solid form, as if bedrock had been carved and held in the shape of a sword. A majesty that heavily repelled all light.

The dragon's head ornament attached to the end of the long hilt was slightly worn compared to 300 years ago, but it still shimmered with ripple patterns in the sunlight.

"Genuine, genuine, genuine."

Did they come back knowing Obin was alive?

Even with her physical abilities greatly amplified by the Demon Slayer's power, Miria couldn't gain an advantage in the power struggle.

She could barely hold her own…

'Impossible, such a monster?'

It wasn't just physical.

This sensation of my mind becoming hazy while clashing swords is…

Just as Miria's concentration was about to break, a flame seal was etched onto the assassin's abdomen.

"Aki Marking & Punch."

The karmic flames rotating within Aki surged out like a fierce tsunami, engulfing the assassin.

The aftershock of heat shook the world, and heat haze wildly burst forth.

The assassin, who seemed to have been pushed far back, instantly plunged the greatsword into the bridge, forcibly braking his body.

Kagagagagak!

The ground was deeply gouged, and the bodies of the people who had fallen on it were minced into flesh by the blade.

As if unfazed by such a grim spectacle, the assassin calmly stood up and swung his sword to shake off blood and fat.

'Immense killing intent……'

Miria adjusted her grip on the sword several times, wiping the cold sweat from her forehead.

'That feeling, like my life was in someone else's hands, which I only felt when facing the Dragon Slayer……'

Taking the stance of the staff technique Rhystar had taught him, Rain asked.

"Where did you get it?"

"Where, where, where."

It was a sword that protected people and delivered hope. It was not a sword meant to be used so cruelly.

Unacceptable.

It must not be tolerated.

"I'm asking where you got that sword!"

It was then. Something glittering in the blue sky rained down countless times onto the bridge.

Arrows… splitting?

Wedges shimmering with dark blue poison; Valensidis immediately tore through space to blast the aerial threat into another dimension.

Most were annihilated, but unfortunately, the primitives exposed to those wedges melted away like mucus with screams that ripped eardrums.

"Ah, gua-aa-aa-aa-aa……"

There was no time to even be flustered by the situation.

In an instant, the assassin, who had closed the distance with a speed too fast for the eye to follow, drove his foot deep into Valensidis's abdomen.

Gasping for breath along with stomach acid, Valensidis tumbled across the bridge.

"Valen, Valen, Valen."

Losing Obin, who he had been holding in his hand.

"Miria!"

The assassin and Rain each stretched out their sword and hand towards Obin almost simultaneously.

Once again, the holy sword stopped in mid-air, scattering sparks, just before slashing its target.

In front of the red sword energy forged by the power of the Demon Slayer.

"……"

The next moment, Shirupain erupted from the assassin's hand with a hazy sword light, dancing like a flash.

The speed of the slashes was too fast to even discern their outlines. And a continuous series of red flashes followed the stream of that light.

They were so fast that one could only implicitly guess that the two swordsmen were vying for supremacy just from the reflected light and bursting sounds emanating from all directions.

'I don't know the details either.'

Whether the Demon Slayer was teaching her how to fight, or if it was because of that dream from earlier, her body moved as if possessed, freely and flexibly.

'What happened to that guy?'

Even Rain, holding Obin, couldn't believe those movements. That series of actions was like…

'Is this not the time to worry about that?'

Obin's condition was clearly the worst at a glance.

And once again, wedges from the abyss poured down from above.

Also, a dozen or so members of the Dawn Brigade had appeared, surrounding them.

"Glory to the Firstborn."

All of them were armed with spears and shields, as befits fairies.

"Obey the Great Will."

Fairy warriors sanctified the spears and shields their ancestors used during the War of the Gods, and were famous for dismissing swordsmanship and archery as trivial.

"Setsunen, no time to deal with these small fry."

First Lightning.

Jeseoswaeran-yeon: Lightning Styles, which had been holding the primitives, deployed into the sky, intercepting the wedges.

[Aru!]

Second Lightning.

He then plunged those chains back down to the ground, specifically like lightning bolts onto the brigade members.

'Completely sealing the movements of top-tier warriors with chains is difficult, but…'

If the chains are corroding in the abyss like they are now, it's a different story.

"Aki, Miria, step back!"

As those entangled in the chains let out death throes mixed with screams and refined Elvish, Rain had brought his hands together to form a mudra.

"It's a change!"

It's the first time he's trying this, but he has no choice. He had learned something from the previous encounter with the Demon Slayer.

"Constructing a mental image."

That in a fight against a swordsman who has reached the peak, what's important isn't power, but speed.

"Lightning Manifestation: Flowing World Venerable."