333 Chapter
While the strike force was advancing, the expeditionary army’s bases continued to be constantly harassed by attacks.
Under the tension of not knowing when another raid might begin, their stamina quickly drained as they maintained vigilance.
The only solace came from the news that the strike force was successfully continuing its advance.
In this situation, Apostle of Hatred, Arundel’s intervention proved fatal for the expeditionary force.
Approaching a base while concealing his presence, Arundel began his assault by sniping command-level personnel.
Without anyone at the expeditionary force’s bases capable of stopping Arundel alone, the bases crumbled almost instantly.
Arundel wiped out two bases entirely and subsequently caused the collapse of thirteen more.
This time, without even bothering to conceal himself, he charged directly into battle, yet the thirteen bases still could not hold out for long.
Lucas resisted until the end, his limbs crushed, gasping for breath.
Crunch!
Arundel stepped on Lucas’ chest, gradually increasing the pressure.
Ribs broke one by one, piercing into his lungs and heart.
Amidst the pain, Lucas let out a final sneer.
“Enjoy… this moment while you can, cursed ones… In the end, it is you who will despair…”
Crack!!
Arundel coldly stamped down on Lucas’ chest and turned to gaze at the familiar landscape of the Demonic Realm.
Reports came in that nearby expeditionary forces were abandoning less important bases and consolidating at two locations and the forward base.
It was a desperate attempt to buy time, but it was futile.
After briefly pondering his next target, Arundel moved toward the nearest expeditionary base.
*
Volph.
He was a being belonging to the Demonic Realm.
As an ancient demon existing for countless years, Volph vividly remembered the scene from 600 years ago.
That nightmare shattered the power structure within the Demonic Realm where Volph belonged and etched an unwelcome fear into his soul.
And after 600 years, an elite force numbering in the tens of thousands invaded the Demonic Realm.
However, compared to the nightmare that had imprinted fear into Volph, these tens of thousands invading the Demonic Realm were nothing but insignificant pests.
Of course, the Demonic Realm itself had also weakened significantly over thousands of years, having lost much of its accumulated malevolence.
Currently, the Demonic Realm did not have the power to overwhelmingly crush the expeditionary forces of the continent.
Fortunately, however, the Dragon beloved by the evil gods timed perfectly with completing a ‘contract’.
‘Spirits’ are inherently curious beings.
But among them, the spirits known as ‘flame spirits’ were especially unruly and greedy.
For this reason, flame spirits accounted for the largest proportion of spirits that had fallen into darkness.
Evil forces took note of this and had been in contact with the Flame Spirit King, or the Lord of Fire, for a very long time.
Preches inherited this longstanding effort and finally succeeded in contracting with the Spirit King.
‘The right to burn the World Tree was promised, wasn’t it?’
From what Volph knew, the decisive factor for Preches succeeding in the contract with the Spirit King was the World Tree.
Although not the complete true form of a transcendent entity, obtaining a fragment or root of the World Tree was apparently highly alluring to the Lord of Fire.
Since no one in the Demonic Realm could individually contract with the Spirit King, who was fundamentally different from regular spirits, the Lord of Fire instead contracted with the ‘Demonic Realm’ itself.
Through the contract, the Lord of Fire anchored a part of its true form within the Demonic Realm.
However, even in the alien space of the Demonic Realm, it was difficult for the Spirit King’s true form to fully manifest.
Thus, the Lord of Fire forcibly squeezed other flame spirits into existence as conduits to maintain and relay its power.
Despite employing every means possible, the influence of the Spirit King was limited to within the ‘Demonic Realm.’
But even so, it was now enough.
The Lord of Fire was a being powerful enough to completely overturn the balance of the ongoing struggle.
The strongest reason Preches could confidently predict victory in the war was none other than the Lord of Fire.
“Struggle all you want. With Harshia’s techniques.”
Kagak!!!
Volph swung the sword extending from his clenched fist towards Ray, mocking him.
With the support of two Royal Guards, Ray could fight Volph on equal terms.
Because Ray had inherited Harshia’s techniques, the two Royal Guards’ assistance allowed him to face off against Volph, who possessed the strength of a Swordmaster—but only just.
Hwarrrk!!
As the Lord of Fire approached the battlefield, flames erupted everywhere.
A massive presence seemed to cover the sky, turning the already hellish Demonic Realm into a seething inferno.
Ray used his authority to gaze upon the Lord of Fire, feeling the heat that threatened to engulf his entire body.
An indescribably enormous something cloaked in flames was approaching, impossible to fully discern even with his authority.
The influence wielded by the ruler of fire beyond dimensions was incomparable to even the highest-ranking spirits.
Wherever the Lord of Fire’s gaze fell, the ground boiled instantly, exploding into steam.
The members of the expeditionary strike force, all peak warriors, realized instinctively:
Neither deceiving nor ignoring the Lord of Fire’s gaze nor advancing despite its influence was possible.
Somehow, the Lord of Fire needed to be neutralized.
Moreover, the time given to the strike force was running short.
“Alexander!!!”
Losing his composure, Ray called out Alexander loudly for everyone to hear.
Alexander immediately withdrew from the front line and swung his sword at Volph.
Kaddeuk!!!
Blocking Alexander’s attack, Volph disengaged from Ray.
Alexander needed more time to re-establish his Absolute Domain, so he couldn’t dominate Volph alone.
However, even delaying for a moment would suffice.
Hwaak!!
The moment Ray disengaged from Volph, Luna’s high-ranking wind spirit, Eira, lifted Ray onto her back.
The other strike team members quickly understood the situation and pushed forward to prevent the demons from hindering Ray.
Since Ray possessed the most effective means to neutralize spirits, everyone’s focus should now center on supporting him.
The Lord of Fire was turning the battlefield into a boiling hell of lava.
Though the demons suffered as the battlefield heated up, their ability to regenerate far surpassed that of humans.
At this rate, the strike force would have no choice but to retreat.
Upon mounting Eira, Ray immediately shouted.
“Get closer to that bastard!!!”
Hwaak!!
Following Ray’s command, Eira flew upward, pushing aside the boiling steam.
Her wingbeats carried both fear and intense anger directed at the Lord of Fire.
The demons did not ignore Ray’s attempt to approach the Lord of Fire.
Even as the expeditionary strike force pressed forward desperately, the demons stationed at the rear attempted to interfere with Ray.
At that moment, Luna, standing behind Ramenta, quietly muttered.
“Judgment.”
Energy pre-condensed and fixed in A-Space was released.
The wildly fluctuating energy converged into the concave A-Space, focusing on a single point.
Subsequently, a pillar of pure white light descended towards the demons.
“?!”
Zzeng!!!!!!!
The demons in the rear, attempting late defenses, were blasted away with half their bodies vaporized.
The sudden manifestation of a spell powerful enough to collapse the terrain left even high-ranking demons unable to react properly.
While the demons’ formation was momentarily disrupted, Ray ascended safely to the skies and used his authority to investigate the Lord of Fire.
“…Damn it.”
Ray grasped that the Lord of Fire was maintaining its influence through other spirits forcibly squeezed into existence within the Demonic Realm.
However, he couldn’t figure out how to neutralize the Lord of Fire.
‘If I kill the flame spirits the Lord of Fire is using as conduits, its influence might weaken…’
But there was no way to know how many needed to be killed, and if the Lord of Fire could continuously supply more flame spirits, it would all be for naught.
While Ray was conflicted for a moment,
The Spirit King’s gaze, which had been observing the ground, shifted towards Ray.
“?!”
Hwaak!!
The Spirit King did not emit heat.
Simply by concentrating its gaze, heat condensed at the focal point.
As the atmosphere rapidly heated up, Eira urgently accelerated to evade the heat.
The surging heat followed Eira and Ray wherever the Spirit King’s gaze led.
Watching his distorted vision due to the swirling heat, Ray clenched his jaw.
“Can’t do anything about it…”
The Lord of Fire exercised its power as if everything within its sight was under its dominion.
Even getting closer wouldn’t help—Eira would turn into a ball of fire first.
Even so, Ray resonated his Circle and Core despite the considerable distance from the Lord of Fire, spinning his twin swords.
Jjak!!!
Leaping Sword Energy split the space like rain and fell, injuring the Lord of Fire.
However, compared to humans, the Lord of Fire was too colossal and mighty to sustain any critical injuries from Leaping Sword Energy.
Annoyed, the Lord of Fire intensified its focus on Ray.
Heat surged around Ray and Eira, beginning to concentrate into a prison-like formation.
Trapped in the heat prison, Eira stopped flying momentarily, trembling in fear.
At that moment, Ray tapped Eira’s head and pointed forward.
“We’re breaking through that.”
[…]
Eira executed Ray’s command.
As Eira accelerated, Ray compressed Sword Energy at the tip of Moros, transforming it into a spherical shape.
Just as the heat enveloped Ray and Eira,
The white sphere attached to the tip of Moros was launched towards the Lord of Fire.
Udddeok!!!
Distorting space as it traveled, the white sphere absorbed even the residual heat of the Lord of Fire, contracting it into its core.
Absorbing all the lingering heat in the air, the sphere rapidly expanded and plummeted towards the Lord of Fire.
Ray watched with bloodshot eyes as the sphere created its result until the very end.
Zzeng!!!!!!!!!!!
A burst of light erupted.
The energy concentrated within the sphere exploded, creating a massive storm.
No matter how mighty a Spirit King might be, surviving a direct hit from that technique was impossible.
Realizing this, the Spirit King summoned all the flame spirits it had brought into this world to use as a shield.
Seeing this, Ray twisted his expression and cursed.
“That damn bastard…”
In a single instant, countless flame spirits evaporated.
As a result, the Lord of Fire’s influence shrank considerably.
However, the influence wielded by the ruler of fire beyond dimensions remained transcendently powerful.
Seemingly extremely upset, the Lord of Fire focused all its powers on Ray.
Kwaang!!!!!
Eira blocked a heat so intense it could vaporize thick steel in an instant.
Fortunately, the defense was successful, but Eira couldn’t withstand the backlash and plummeted.
Boluf, exchanging blows with Alexander, confirmed that Ray ultimately failed to neutralize the Spirit King and was falling.
The moment Ray started falling, Boluf shoved Alexander aside and accelerated towards Ray.
Alexander chased after Boluf, shouting.
“Ray!!!”
“…”
Hearing Alexander’s voice, Ray identified the approaching Boluf and signaled to Alexander with his hands.
Frowning at Ray’s signal to return to the frontline, Alexander reluctantly complied with Ray’s request.
Upon landing on the ground, Ray swung his sword towards the approaching Boluf.
Kwaang!!!
Outmatched in strength, Ray was pushed back.
Suppressing Ray, whose respiratory tract was scorched causing him to groan, Boluf grinned cruelly.
“Really… Pathetic!”
“Guh… Khah…”
“You’re nothing more than propaganda created to incite humans and terrify us.”
While pressing Ray’s sword, Boluf relentlessly wore him down.
The fear carved into Boluf’s soul by the nightmare of 600 years ago still haunted him.
Therefore, Boluf berated Ray even more, revealing the fear and anger he had tried to suppress.
“Just because you can barely mimic a few techniques of Harshia, do you truly believe you are Harshia?”
Ggudeuk!
Boluf pressed down even harder on Ray.
It was akin to a desperate struggle for Boluf to escape the old nightmare.
Ray smirked as he felt his muscles twisting further.
Boluf’s reproaches didn’t bother him.
Boluf was evaluating Harshia more accurately than anyone else.
It was just that Ray found it slightly irritating that someone who lacked the courage to properly cross blades with Harshia 600 years ago was now acting so arrogantly.
“Coward…”
The remaining black eye of Ray gradually turned red.
“Only good at talking.”
Just like the nightmare of 600 years ago.
With both eyes glowing red, Ray faced Boluf.
Reenactment (5)
