286th Chapter
Right after the news that Osiris Countdom had been attacked.
Ray was momentarily excited but quickly calmed his breathing and regained composure.
In a situation where the Empire was fully prepared for conflict, it would be impossible for large-scale forces to escape the Empire’s notice.
No matter how extraordinary the means used by the enemy, it was certain that only a small number of individuals participated in the attack.
Although the fact that they came through the coast was unsettling, it wasn’t entirely unexpected, and Ray had already made preparations for such an eventuality.
Jimy, Ulte, and Luna.
All three were high-level assets whose full capabilities were not even fully known to their allies.
Even if the enemies were well-prepared, the simultaneous deployment of these three would make retreat nearly impossible for them.
“…”
Perhaps, the attack on Osiris Countdom was merely a diversion.
This alternative explanation seemed more plausible to Ray as well.
Nevertheless, Ray demanded reinforcements from the defensive line.
In truth, this was a request that weighed heavily on Ray, but he was prepared to work hard afterward should things go awry.
Even if it turned out to be a shallow feint, Ray’s priority was to resolve the issue in Osiris Countdom, where his people resided.
Afterward, Ray headed toward Osiris Countdom with a select few Templars and a Healer who also held the rank of Cleric, just in case.
At first, they traveled on horseback.
However, as they approached Osiris Countdom, a powerful wave of mana swept past his skin.
Such a phenomenon could only occur if numerous high-tier spells were unleashed simultaneously.
Realizing the situation was more serious than anticipated, Ray activated the function of an Artefact, his expression stiffening.
“Follow closely.”
Without waiting for a response, Ray leaned forward.
Using the power of Dragonheart embedded within the Artefact as propulsion, Ray accelerated towards Osiris Countdom.
Kwaang!!
The scenery before his eyes began to distort.
Even an Expert Knight, constrained only by physical stamina, could run faster than a horse on foot.
With the Artefact in use, Ray’s speed was indiscernible to ordinary eyes.
Kuung!!
In the blink of an eye, Ray entered Osiris Countdom and moved towards the source of the massive mana disturbance.
Just as he was heading towards the coast, cries of weeping reached his ears.
He originally intended to ignore them.
Understanding the importance of assessing the situation, Ray didn’t have the time or luxury to attend to a crying child. However, the wailing sounded strangely familiar.
Turning his head, Ray spotted Lea sobbing alone.
Why… is she crying ‘alone’?
Ray felt uneasy at the sight of no one being around to protect Lea, despite the urgency of the situation.
Someone should have been guarding her, regardless of the circumstances.
So, Ray asked:
“Why are you crying here all alone?”
When Lea didn’t respond with what Ray expected, he repeated:
“Why are you alone?”
Despite her disheveled appearance, Ray’s voice remained unusually cold when addressing his sister.
However, Lea, unaware of this, ran into Ray’s arms and cried bitterly.
Worried that Lea’s overwhelming emotions might trigger her hemolysis condition, Ray first comforted her.
As Ray patted her back, Lea gradually calmed down and mentioned Karen.
“Karen-nee got hurt over there… She told me to come first!”
Following where Lea pointed, Ray froze, catching his breath sharply.
Only then did Ray realize that Karen had been the last person entrusted with Lea’s care.
An indescribable dizziness silenced Ray momentarily.
At that moment, the Templars arrived with the Healer on their backs, having fallen behind.
Seeing Ray rush ahead, they too had dismounted and hurriedly followed.
Regaining his senses, Ray gave them a brief order.
“Follow me.”
Ray stepped into a space filled with ash.
Holding onto Lea, she realized the ash-covered ground beneath her feet was where she had stood moments ago, causing her to burst into tears again.
Confused about how to find Karen amidst the ashes, Ray hesitated briefly.
If Karen were alive, finding her would be simple. If only she were still alive.
Breathing rapidly, Ray sharpened his senses.
If sharpening his senses revealed nothing, Ray had no idea what he would do next.
Just thinking about it made him feel nauseous.
Then.
A faint ripple of mana was detected from beyond.
Ray immediately sprinted towards it.
Uncertain whether he should quicken or slow his steps, Ray continued forward.
And, in the midst of the residual heat swirling among the ashes, Ray discovered Karen enveloped in a blue barrier.
“Karen!!!”
Ka-gek!!!
Setting Lea down, Ray struck the barrier with the hilt of his sword, shattering it.
The Templars and Healers rushed over upon seeing Ray’s emotional outburst, clustering around Karen who lay unconscious.
Seeing Karen’s pale complexion, Ray instantly drew a dagger from his coat.
Witnessing this, the Templar panicked and tried to stop him.
“Sir, please wait a moment…!”
Whatever Ray had drawn out was undoubtedly something akin to a holy relic.
Using such a thing recklessly might indeed revive Karen, but side effects and efficiency must also be considered.
Ray glared coldly at the Templar restraining him while the Healer nearby quickly shouted.
“No need to worry! It seems she’ll be fine! We can save her!”
“Can you guarantee that?”
“Though the bleeding is severe, the major wounds have been staunched. Fortunately, no critical organs have been fatally damaged.”
“So, can you save her?”
“If we had delayed, it would’ve been dangerous, but now there’s no need to worry. We can save her!”
The Healer answered quite confidently.
Other healers present also appeared convinced.
Had there been any doubt, they wouldn’t have shown such assurance.
The Healers, who were also Clerics, immediately poured divine energy into examining the wound in greater detail.
Lea, seeing Karen lying lifeless, started sobbing again.
“Eh-eh-aahng…!”
“…”
Ray belatedly embraced Lea once more, holding her until her crying subsided slightly, then placed her beside the Templar.
“Administer emergency treatment, and take both of them farther away from the coast.”
“…Are you planning to move alone?”
The Templar was aware that an enormous surge of mana was erupting beyond the coast.
“It’s dangerous.”
“Who? Me?”
“…”
“Rather than worrying about me, guard the surroundings. I’ll be back soon. Make sure to protect them properly.”
“…Understood.”
The Templar briefly bowed and stepped back.
Ray deployed all his equipment powered by the Dragonheart fragment and stepped onto the sea.
There, beyond, is Luna.
Presumably, beyond that, lies the entity that harmed Karen.
They must pay the price.
*
The rhinoceros whale was practically a massive storage unit imbued with the Blessing of the Dark God.
It possessed the ability to temporarily transform its vicinity into something akin to the Demonic Realm.
All of this was arranged to confront Ray, yet Benedict did not hesitate to draw upon the rhinoceros whale’s power.
Indeed, hesitation was not an option.
Trrrrd-deck!!
A thunderous sound echoed as if the sky itself was breaking apart, and lightning surged alongside the waves.
Benedict looked at Luna.
That being, far beyond comprehension, was single-handedly causing catastrophic disasters.
Even the rhinoceros whale seemed to sense the threat, as it forcefully expelled the dark energies it harbored without needing Benedict’s coercion.
Tsuz-zu-jik!
Black energy began consuming the sea, enveloping the area in a massive veil.
Luna had no intention of kindly observing the rhinoceros whale’s antics.
Pointing her finger downward, Luna moved her lips.
“Judgment.”
Cheeeeng!!!!!
A pillar of pure white light descended.
Once again, Benedict swung his sword at Luna’s magic, failing to neutralize it.
The black energy surrounding the rhinoceros whale was also pierced in one swift strike.
Having nullified all obstacles before it, the white light split the rhinoceros whale’s body lengthwise before slowly dissipating.
[Keeeekkkkk!!!]
The impenetrable hide of the rhinoceros whale, which even the toughest drills couldn’t penetrate, completely vaporized.
With its torso half-torn open, revealing its internal organs, the rhinoceros whale thrashed in fear, attempting to dive underwater.
Unfortunately, due to the restriction imposed by Arundel, it could not escape freely.
Meanwhile, Benedict tore off his sizzling armor from his flesh.
The battlefield still lacked a sense of reality.
Regardless of strength or victory, the scene on this battlefield defied realism.
Still, Benedict’s unwavering stance stemmed from his belief in transcendence.
Kkad-deuk!
The Blessing of the Dark God supplied by the surviving rhinoceros whale enhanced the Sword Energy bound to the Command Blade, making it even more formidable.
Benedict dashed towards Luna, stepping through the air.
Simultaneously, the tangible dark energy extending from the rhinoceros whale reached out towards Luna.
However, such tricks were insufficient to push Luna back.
Aaaaahhhh!!!
Dozens of magical runes emitted flashes of light, violently tearing apart the materialized dark energy.
Benedict broke through the heated air and approached Luna.
Yet again, Benedict’s obsession with cutting through the magic prevented him from reaching Luna.
Had Benedict abandoned this irrational fixation, he would have posed a much greater threat to Luna.
The situation was ironic, but Luna couldn’t laugh either.
Due to Benedict’s persistent self-destruction, he was still maintaining his power.
“…”
Among Devil Worshippers, those associated with greed had disgustingly resilient lifelines.
Luna frowned, once again understanding why Greed’s Demon was called the immortal Dark God.
It would take too long to drag this into a war of attrition.
Unable to remain fixated on Benedict alone, Luna began devising a new spell formation linked with spatial magic.
At that moment, Benedict accelerated towards Luna without showing any signs of fatigue.
With the help of the high-ranking Spirit Karga, Luna maintained distance from Benedict while continuing to restrain him with simple spells.
Benedict, still unable to regain his senses, desperately intercepted every incoming spell.
However, at that instant.
Luna’s completed spell manifested as blue chains in the air, launching towards Benedict.
Benedict predictably attempted to cut through the approaching chains.
Trrr-deck!!
“?!”
Even with the Sword Energy-infused Command Blade, the chain could not be severed in one stroke.
It was a chain designed to absorb shocks by overlapping dimensions temporarily.
Instead of cutting it, it should have been evaded.
But Benedict persisted in trying to sever the chain until his limbs were caught.
Edu-dug!
The chain swiftly restrained Benedict’s movements.
Benedict writhed, drawing all his internal strength to break free from the chain.
Kru-drr-dek!!!
The chain began to crack.
No matter how skillfully crafted by Luna, it couldn’t withstand the struggles of a near-Lord level entity for long.
However, the chain had fulfilled its role by buying enough time.
Luna deployed magic circles in all directions, concentrating immense firepower towards Benedict.
Caaahhhhh!!!
It wasn’t a meticulously constructed high-tier spell.
It was simply a reckless barrage of fireballs created by pouring mana indiscriminately.
Luna intended to burn Benedict into ashes purely through brute force.
Shriveled muscles consumed by flames wouldn’t be able to break the chains either.
“Disappear already.”
Hwaaak!
The vision blazed.
Through the flames engulfing him, Benedict still tightly gripped the Command Blade.
There was nowhere to escape. But it was fine.
If he could step into the realm of transcendence, such flames would be incapable of singeing even a strand of his hair.
“I am…!!”
Sensing his skin boiling, Benedict screamed in rage.
“I will place my foot beyond that…!!!”
The Command Blade remained firmly clutched in Benedict’s hand.
Still, Benedict hadn’t fully awakened as an Apostle.
Because the Apostle of Greed had already appeared and been slain in the current era.
Achieving consecutive Apostolic awakenings within such a short period was almost impossible.
However, even without the Dark God’s response,
The ancient history of malice and greed contained within the Command Blade reacted to Benedict’s grotesque and blind longing.
Though their desires differed, their essence mirrored each other perfectly.
Under the resonance bridging time,
A red light arose and settled upon Benedict.
For a moment losing his vision, Benedict glimpsed the terrifying history etched into the Command Blade.
The corners of Benedict’s mouth, which were burning away, twisted.
A tiny fragment of transcendence…
Finally touched Benedict’s grasp.
Trrr-deck!!
The chains snapped.
The mana forming the chains began flowing chaotically, drastically reducing their strength.
Benedict shed the crumbling chains and opened his eyes again.
Hwaaak!!!!
A crude domain mimicking Absolute Domain unfolds.
Though it fell short of the true Absolute Domain wielded by genuine Lord-tier entities, the mana entering the space where Benedict stood began wildly fluctuating and losing form.
Benedict laughed maniacally as he swung the Command Blade.
Chaac!!!
For the first time, Luna’s previously uncuttable magic split in half and lost its form.
Overcome with ecstasy, Benedict clawed at his falling face.
After repeatedly making the wrong choices,
Benedict finally grasped the clue to transcendence and understood the direction he needed to take.
Though he hadn’t fully achieved transcendence yet, he could no longer be overwhelmed by magic.
Mages could no longer stand above Benedict.
“Be afraid and worship me.”
Kka-drr-dek!
The landscape split along the trajectory of Benedict’s sword.
The bombardment Luna launched no longer properly hit Benedict.
Now, Benedict could advance directly towards Luna in a straight line.
“Prostrate yourself!!!”
Benedict erased the final fireball obstructing his vision.
In that instant.
Beyond the disrupted magic, another spell in the shape of a tetrahedron descended.
Benedict extended his charred hand forward.
Even the tetrahedral-shaped magic began losing form upon entering Benedict’s domain.
Benedict easily peeled away the space that had been severed by the magic.
Within, Benedict saw a black light.
Benedict attempted to annihilate it as well.
“…?”
But.
It was not a substance composed of ‘mana’.
The moment Benedict realized this fact,
The reaction between antimatter and matter triggered mutual annihilation.
A colossal flash of light swallowed Benedict whole.
Outer (7)
