355th Chapter
Ray and Anthonyus.
After a continuous clash between these two powerful beings, they were embedded into a building.
The aftermath of the collision caused a wide spread of dust, making it difficult to secure visibility.
A brief moment of silence followed, then a flash of light burst out from the building where the two had been embedded.
The brilliant light that erupted pushed away the cloud of dust that had covered the vicinity.
At the center of the light, Anthonyus rose to his feet and clashed with Ray once more.
The Sacred Sword was now firmly grasped in Anthonyus’s hands, not Ray’s.
Everyone who had been observing their battle sighed in relief upon seeing this scene.
Ray had merely used deceitful tricks to control the Sacred Sword… The forced rationalization everyone muttered under their breath to make sense of the situation was proven correct by Anthonyus.
Those who had to oppose Ray reluctantly shook off the unease and doubts they could not openly express, picking up their weapons to fulfill their duties.
And Anthonyus, with a face contorted in rage, unleashed his fury on Ray.
“Are you trying to deceive me with illusions?!?”
“You’ll understand after today.”
“Ray!!!”
Anthonyus amplified divine power through the Sacred Sword he had retrieved from Ray.
Brilliant chains poured out, a semi-transparent wall of divinity formed, and a colossal spear-shaped divine barrier descended from the sky.
Amidst the storm of overwhelming light, Ray calmly clashed with Anthonyus.
Zzziiingggg!!!!!
A deafening sound erupted.
Along with it, countless miracles originating from Anthonyus shattered instantly.
Even without wielding the Sacred Sword, Ray overwhelmingly dominated Anthonyus.
The overflowing droplets of mana tore apart even the most robust divine barriers like paper.
Anthonyus realized once again that Ray had not exerted full power until just before handing over the Sacred Sword.
All of this had confused Anthonyus, and Ray swung Moros down upon him.
Kwaang!!!!!
Overwhelmed by sheer strength, Anthonyus slid across the ground while scraping it.
Although the surface beneath him was deeply gouged by Ray’s sword strike, Anthonyus himself sustained only minor injuries due to the protective veil cast by mages.
One of the officers of the legion shouted.
“Execute the empire’s traitor!!”
The imperial legions scattered nearby began to regroup to support Anthonyus.
Despite Ray’s still overwhelming force, Anthonyus managed to counteract part of it, standing against Ray head-on.
Thanks to Anthonyus acting as a powerful shield, the legions were able to form ranks and launch a coordinated attack.
Everyone spared no effort, pouring all their might onto Ray.
Sword Auras, Sword Energies, magic, divine barriers, and artefacts intertwined like nets and endlessly rained down, filling Ray’s vision.
Ray did not retreat. There was nowhere for him to retreat anyway.
Approaching Anthonyus, Ray dispersed the flowing droplets of mana.
Kwaaaaang!!!!!
The droplets of mana scattered everywhere crushed the raining hostility.
However, the net-like hostility eventually found a small gap and reached Ray.
Kwaaack!!!
A streak of light-like artefact struck Ray’s waist.
The artefact, which tried to pierce through his flesh, crumbled under the overwhelming flow of mana coursing through Ray’s body.
While pulling out the shattered artefact from his waist, Ray momentarily staggered, and more hostility took advantage of this opening.
“…”
Ray’s eyes stung.
No matter where he turned his head, sharpened hostility filled his vision.
In the midst of this vast landscape, Ray faced Anthonyus with his sword.
“Things have come to this… I regret it.”
Ray apologized.
I apologize for deceiving you due to my selfishness.
Then, Ray gripped the new sacred sword of the Empire with both hands.
“Our contract…”
“…!!”
“Forget it.”
Grrrrrrrrrrr!!!
Ray began to process the droplets of mana that had merely flowed out from the runaway core.
The droplets of mana forcibly suppressed by Ray’s will wriggled like sticky jelly and momentarily took the form of Sword Energy.
Due to the reckless manipulation of mana, the skin covering Ray’s arms completely burst open.
Still, Ray swung the sword to the end.
The trajectory of the sword swung from above to below erased the hostility that had enveloped the world.
!!!!!!!!!!!!
An earthquake-like tremor violently shook the ground.
Most entities that had approached Ray too recklessly disintegrated into dust.
The collapse of the landmass created a massive crater, and the condensed air, pressurized by the tremendous force, exploded once more, shaking the Imperial Capital anew.
Amidst the sweeping aftershock, Ray looked down at Anthonyus trapped in the crater.
Anthonyus was still breathing. Although severely injured, Anthonyus could recover quickly.
Perhaps within dozens of minutes, he might almost fully restore his body and return to the fight.
Ray knew this fact well but chose not to slay Anthonyus and left him there as he walked out of the crater.
Walking away, Ray smirked.
“…It’s tough.”
Due to the unruly core, nearly all of his ribs were broken.
His battered arms swayed as if they would snap off any moment.
Though Ray temporarily gained infinite power, his physical form was far from infinite.
Self-destruction was drawing near, yet Ray could not afford to collapse.
There was something Ray must absolutely conclude.
He had to endure until then.
“…Yeah, I need to endure.”
Instead of the Sacred Sword handed to Anthonyus, Ray grasped a blood-stained sword that had lost its master and rolled around.
Recalling the lost heartbeat while walking out of the crater, Ray encountered Takaus outside.
Royal Guard, Takaus.
Someone familiar to Ray.
They met in Alimo, and during the stay in Izhise, their paths occasionally crossed.
The memory of greeting each other when Takaus came to welcome him at the Warp Gate also surfaced.
“…”
The encounter with a known face inevitably evoked a gloomy sentiment.
It kept bringing back memories of an optimistic future that could never be regained now.
This was true for Takaus as well.
The days of glory that could never be reclaimed flickered before their eyes.
Neither Ray nor Takaus deliberately revealed this somber sentiment when they faced each other.
Ray remained silent, and Takaus only exposed unpleasant hostility towards Ray.
“…”
The Empire had misjudged the remaining capabilities of Ray and the girl accompanying him.
The Empire assumed that the girl with blue hair could wield powers equivalent to or greater than a high-ranking mage without the aid of spirits.
That judgment itself wasn’t wrong. However, the girl’s power far exceeded what the Empire had anticipated.
The girl named Luna was already nearing the level of a grand mage.
Even after depleting most of her formidable resources accumulated during the Demonic Realm expedition, she remained so powerful.
Originally, Takaus should have focused on combating Luna.
But when Anthonyus stopped Ray, Takaus hurried here with great effort, aiming to swiftly incapacitate Ray first.
Surely, he believed he could withstand Ray…
Yet, Ray dismantled both Anthonyus and the supporting imperial forces without the help of the Sacred Sword.
“…”
Although failing to neutralize Ray, the sacrifices made by the imperial army were not entirely meaningless.
The combined assault led by Anthonyus and the imperial army further eroded Ray’s already crumbling body.
Once destroyed, Ray’s body did not heal. Now, Ray’s appearance, except for the gaping hole in his chest, was beyond recognition as a living human being.
As Takaus gazed at the grotesque and pitiful figure of Ray… he murmured upon sensing the resonance of mana emanating from beyond.
“…His Majesty the Emperor has made a decision.”
From afar, the Imperial Capital.
A massive storm of mana, dwarfing the previous assaults by the imperial army, began to swirl.
One of the last bastions protecting the Empire, capable of overwhelming even grand mages or the firepower of legions, was about to unleash its artillery.
Projecting the fortress’s firepower within the Imperial Capital would require accepting damage equivalent to at least half the city’s destruction.
But that was no longer an issue.
The capital was already in shambles. Bombarding the areas devastated by Ray wouldn’t make much difference.
“This is your final destination.”
The imperial legions had sufficiently worn down Ray.
No matter how infinite power Ray possessed, his physical form had limits.
Once the fortress’s artillery concentrated its fire, Ray wouldn’t last long before evaporating.
Takaus prepared himself mentally to vanish alongside Ray as he felt the typhoon originating from the fortress converge.
Takaus resolved his will.
And Ray shed crimson tears.
“I… Until the end… I keep hurting you.”
Hooooooowwwwwwwww!!!!!!
The fortress’s bombardment commenced.
Beams of light shot from the fortress, igniting the heavens as they advanced.
Continuously flashing lights so intense they could dim the sun itself persisted.
However…
Both Takaus and Ray remained unscathed.
Not a single beam of the fortress’s bombardment fell toward them.
Takaus couldn’t hide his bewilderment for a moment.
“…?”
The target of the bombardment wasn’t Ray.
Then… What exactly is the fortress attacking?
As confusion enveloped Takaus, a vivid sound of explosion echoed briefly in his ears.
“…”
The sound came from above.
Slowly raising his head, Takaus saw the sky.
The fortress’s bombardment was aimed at the sky.
And…
The blue sky began to shatter.
Through the cracks in the sky, Takaus saw starlight cascading from the night.
Ray quietly wiped away the crimson tears streaming down his bowed head.
There was a girl.
A girl born with a cruel fate met a boy.
The boy’s devotion rescued the girl who wandered in darkness.
The boy painted warm colors in the barren world of the girl.
The girl loved the boy.
She believed that when the boy’s arduous struggle ended, they could live a warm and happy life together.
The girl waited endlessly for the boy, but the boy never once looked back at her until the very end.
The girl who loved the liar of a boy now wept alone, gazing at the ash-colored world above the skies.
The one destined to ravage the Empire.
Born with a different form and different power than originally fated.
Nevertheless, harboring a deep-seated hatred in her heart.
Became the Empire’s nightmare once again.
Ultimately, it was the beginning.
The Empire’s Swordmaster (1)
