334th Chapter
“?!”
Boluf momentarily felt a chill.
Ray’s gaze was traumatic, evoking that night’s nightmare even for an instant.
Instantly stiffening, Boluf belatedly noticed the high-ranking wind spirit Karga approaching from above.
Upon sensing Karga’s presence, Boluf hurriedly moved, but Ray swung his sword faster.
The worst!!
Ray’s piercing strike split Boluf’s shoulder.
Due to Karga’s interference, Boluf barely managed to distance himself in time.
Ray did not chase after Boluf and instead stood up, showing signs of exhaustion.
Breathing heavily, Karga pleaded with Ray.
“The ruler of your kind. We must stop that being you call the Spirit King of Fire…!”
Karga was extremely enraged.
Had the Spirit King of Fire really formed a contract with the Demonic Realm?
In essence, by using the Demonic Realm as a contract medium, it was akin to indirectly forming a pact with the Dark Gods who cultivated it.
Most spirits had never paid much attention to or felt any great concern towards the group known as the ‘Dark Spirits.’
Even if a few spirits fell into corruption due to alien powers, their dimension of existence would not be significantly affected.
Thus, in the spirit realm, the Dark Spirits were treated somewhat like aggressive drug users in human society.
However, the matter changed drastically when the ruler of the spirit race indirectly contracted with the Dark Gods and directly intervened in another dimension.
If the Spirit King of Fire continued to wield power from the Demonic Realm through this contract, there was a possibility that the contamination of the Demonic Realm could spread to the “Spirit Realm.”
The Spirit King of Fire was now endangering the very dimension where spirits lived due to his own greed.
“The ruler of your kind must be sent back!”
Karga revealed even more agitation toward Ray than when they first clashed.
But Ray shook his head after looking at the Spirit King of Fire.
“That is… impossible.”
[Please cooperate! Don’t you need to repel that entity too!!]
“…”
Karga’s plea went unanswered as Ray focused on calming his unstable breathing.
Watching Ray catch his breath, Boluf pushed away the chilling fear rising in his chest and regained his composure.
Even if someone could replicate Harshia’s techniques, it was clear this was a fake.
Reaffirming that obvious truth in his mind, Boluf raised the blade extending from his palm.
“How long can your resistance continue?”
Kagak!!!
Boluf clashed weapons again with Alexander, who had spiraled forward.
For a brief moment, the expeditionary force’s strike team gained the upper hand on this battlefield.
However, the closer the Spirit King of Fire approached the battlefield, the more rapidly the strike team was pushed back.
Kwaang!!! Kwaahang!!!
Vaporized rocks mixed with air, creating fiery explosions in the heart of the battlefield one after another.
Every time the massive presence of the Spirit King of Fire shifted its gaze, waves of heat surged without warning, overwhelming the strike team.
If it weren’t for top-tier artifacts, relics, and defensive magic formations, more than half of the strike team would have already perished.
Still, despite all these blessings, surviving in this seething inferno was nearly impossible.
Their throats burned, and their hands gripping their weapons were stuck fast.
Yet, the strike team roared almost like beasts and swung their weapons.
Kwaang!!!
The condensed heat kept exploding.
These sudden bursts of heat made maintaining formation impossible, no matter how desperately the strike team fought.
Relatively weaker demons ignored the physical damage caused by the heat and relentlessly pressed against the strike team.
This cannot continue. While the artifact still functions, we must somehow neutralize the Spirit King of Fire to turn the situation around.
But how?
Attacking the Spirit King of Fire’s true form to force him back into the Spirit Realm… theoretically possible, but splitting the already overwhelmed strike team to approach the Spirit King would be far too risky.
Then… should we focus on eliminating the Flame Spirits assisting the Spirit King to weaken his influence?
Would removing enough Flame Spirits sufficiently weaken the Spirit King of Fire?
No one in the strike team could answer that question.
Kwaang!!!
“Kraaaagh!!”
A knight of the strike team continued to slash at a demon even as his armor, having lost its protective function, melted and soaked his shoulder muscles.
Alexander grabbed that knight, tore off his armor, threw him backward, and blocked Boluf’s sword.
Ka-kach!!!
Having blocked the attack from an unfavorable position, Alexander staggered.
It still wasn’t time to use Absolute Domain again.
Moreover, even Absolute Domain couldn’t block the heat based on authority rather than mana from the Spirit King of Fire.
Pushing Alexander back, Boluf smirked.
“Well, what do you plan to do? Do you intend to burn to death while continuing this futile struggle?”
“…”
Alexander also didn’t know.
When it came to abilities and judgment related to battling spirits, Ray far surpassed Alexander.
That’s why the strike team was currently waiting for Ray to make some decision.
They were straining every effort to hold the battlefield until Ray finally voiced his opinion, ignoring the creeping sense of frustration.
And the first attempt to neutralize the Spirit King had failed. Ray remained silent, still catching his breath.
Seeing the battered remnants of the strike team, Boluf laughed mockingly.
Boluf’s harsh laughter echoed like a reverberation in the minds of the strike team.
At that moment, Ray finally spoke.
“We retreat. Fall back.”
Upon hearing Ray’s voice, the strike team members froze, their expressions stiffening momentarily.
Ray wouldn’t tolerate even that brief hesitation and shouted.
“Fall back, I said!!”
“Hahaha!!”
Boluf burst into laughter.
Retreat? That’s impossible.
While escaping this battlefield from the Spirit King of Fire might be possible right now, during that escape, all the expedition’s bases and outposts would collapse.
What would happen if the strike team requested support for a retreat under such circumstances?
Could the command center possibly control an expeditionary force that had realized certain defeat?
The expeditionary force would disintegrate and be wiped out.
Rather than contemplating retreat, the strike team should fight until the end, even if it meant self-destruction.
As Boluf reveled in triumph, the strike team poured all their strength into retreating step by step, trying to escape the chaotic battlefield.
And Ray remained alone on the battlefield.
Tzzz-tzz!
Top-tier defensive magic began to layer over Ray’s body.
All the mana available for casting high-level magic was invested solely in protecting Ray.
The final arrangements for the one left behind on the battlefield to buy time for the retreating allies.
Mocking this predictable move, Boluf and the other demons moved to eliminate Ray before pursuing the retreating strike team.
Ray stared at the approaching demons and the Spirit King of Fire beyond them with red eyes.
*
What was Preches’ hidden trump card?
There was no way to know beforehand, but Preches must have been confident enough to attempt this dangerous gamble.
Therefore, the expeditionary force’s command anticipated something unexpected might emerge from the Demonic Realm.
But even those who had exercised their imaginations couldn’t have imagined the Spirit King of Fire would intervene in the war.
The Spirit King of Fire appeared on the battlefield, and the demons’ offensive targeting the rear of the expeditionary force intensified.
A total assault began to annihilate the expeditionary force, and Ray silently watched the strike team being pushed back unilaterally, unable to maintain formation because of the Spirit King of Fire.
‘Besides self-protection methods… has he used up all his prepared cards?’
If only the Spirit King of Fire could be taken down, the expeditionary force could secure victory.
But neutralizing the Spirit King of Fire was not easy at all.
Even though spatial blades are advantageous against elemental beings, it was difficult to inflict fatal wounds on a Spirit King.
Ultimately, focusing on intercepting the Flame Spirits while gradually weakening the Spirit King would take too much time.
‘If the strike team uses all its remaining tricks, this battle might become winnable…’
Even if the Spirit King of Fire were successfully neutralized, if the forward base were destroyed in the meantime, survival would be difficult.
“…”
Until entering the Demonic Realm, Ray often indulged in daydreams.
The forces of the Demonic Realm were far less formidable than expected, and the expeditionary force easily swept through, securing victory.
Ray stood with folded arms, sharing in the glory and accomplishments of the expeditionary force, even without doing much.
Well… he often smiled to himself while indulging in such pleasant fantasies. If only things turned out that way…
“…”
The last fragment of Harshia’s residual traces within Ray shattered and was absorbed by him.
A temporary assimilation occurred, pressing down on Ray’s body and mind, yet Ray smiled calmly.
“You stood on the final battlefield just beyond here…”
Whispering to himself, Ray finally stepped onto the battlefield.
“We retreat. Fall back.”
Ray commanded the struggling strike team.
However, Ray was not the one with the authority to decide the advance or retreat on the battlefield.
Thus, the previous command was one of the pre-agreed signals.
All members of the strike team understood Ray’s signal but hesitated to move immediately.
Most of the strike team members only knew the signal meant “create distance” and hadn’t received detailed explanations.
“Fall back, I said!!”
As Ray shouted, the soldiers finally began to retreat.
And as agreed, layers of defensive magic were cast over Ray’s body.
Ray paused for a moment in place.
Back then, when facing the World Tree, Harshia’s residual traces guided Ray onto the right path.
But not now. Compared to that time, everything Ray had was insufficient.
“…”
Facing the advancing demons, Ray recalled the sedimented landscape he had looked at with Alexander, retracing 600 years of history.
Mulling over that day’s scenery, Ray slowly lifted the Empire’s divine sword.
He compensated for his lack of mana and strength using Moros’ amplification effect.
He counteracted the backlash and aftershocks causing bodily collapse using defensive magic.
And he adjusted the flaws in his techniques caused by insufficient talent and mastery using the power to pierce through all things.
“…”
Ray’s crimson eyes began to glow fiercely as the power overlaid them.
Taking a short breath of heated air, Ray knew this would be the last time he could use this technique, whether it succeeded or failed.
So, it had to work.
“…”
No one on the battlefield understood what Ray intended to do as he lifted Moros.
Only Boluf, rushing toward Ray, saw Ray’s eyes and remembered the terror etched into his soul.
Boluf rejected that fear. It was a rational decision.
Boluf tried to overcome and conquer the hallucinatory symptoms caused by the terror imprinted on his soul.
Kkdeg!!
The blade extending from Boluf’s palm, imbued with the Blessing of the Dark God, vibrated violently.
Boluf aimed to shatter the defensive magic surrounding Ray in one swift motion and lunge to pierce his neck.
However, Boluf realized something was amiss before he could extend his arm.
“…”
It was silent.
Too silent.
The moment he approached Ray, all flows suddenly ceased, and time slowed down.
Impossible. Boluf silently screamed in horror.
Harshia was an existence that transcended Swordmasters, reaching an undefined realm.
Only after reaching that realm did Boluf witness the completed techniques.
And now, the Ray standing before Boluf was not even a full Swordmaster but a half-formed version.
Yet, why… how dare you…
Tzt-
In the time that seemed stopped, flowing so slowly.
A single sword began to fall.
Do not deceive me by claiming impossibility; denying you as a fake—only then did Boluf look into Ray’s eyes again.
Looking into those familiar eyes, Boluf lamented.
“I ultimately…”
The myth forgotten by the continent, the nightmare the Demonic Realm tried to erase…
“Could not escape that day.”
It is being recreated.
Recreation (6)
