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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Prøks]
[Proofreader - Prøks]
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Chapter 228: Like a Flame
8-star knight.
A realm beyond what is called the human limit, a state revered with awe, known as Transcendence.
Many across the continent liken that realm to the stars in the night sky, beautiful and brilliant, but at least the ones gathered here knew just how hollow those words truly were.
Even with the blood of a Vassal Clan flowing in your veins and a lifetime of excruciating effort, reaching the realm of a superhuman was still an unattainable dream.
A knight who surpassed the level of a superhuman.
Such a being appeared perhaps once in a generation, if that.
And for those born of the bloodlines of the Six Vassal Clans, that very word brought only pure despair.
When such an unimaginable realm was belittled by an outsider, someone who hadn’t even properly held a sword, no one could suppress their rage.
Paaah.
As the Red Tyrant King Leonlight opened his mana core, the manifested force of his qi came crashing down on the outsider.
* * *
Rather than killing intent, it was a force that could only be called sheer domination.
A fierce momentum poured in, like divine judgment cast upon a blasphemer. But I merely scoffed and looked at the Red Tyrant King.
There was no way this level of pressure was truly the qi of a clan head competing for supremacy among the Six Vassal Clans.
Wiiing.
I opened the circle in my heart and instantly pushed back the torrent of qi pouring toward me.
"Too shallow."
It was at that moment that the Red Tyrant King's eyes twitched faintly.
Clack.
He gripped the hilt of the greatsword slung on his back with both hands.
At the same time, his fully released mana core radiated crimson and began to devour the space, as pure 7-star mana surged forward.
"Hup."
As the overwhelming qi filled the room, even the Deathly Venom Squad took a step back. The Battle Wolves, their expressions shifting, raised both hands to brace themselves.
The Lotus Swordsmaster, with a subtle furrow of her brows, reached for her greatsword and formed a barrier of qi.
Their gazes naturally turned toward me.
"……!"
Kwaaang.
As pure mana clashed with mana, a thunderous boom erupted like a drum shattering the air.
The Red Tyrant King's eyes narrowed slightly as he drew the greatsword from his back, fully opening his mana core.
The Deathly Venom Squad stepped back again, this time two steps.
The Battle Wolves placed their hands on each other's backs in formation.
Even the three Dominion Swords, including Altair, now drew their greatswords and strengthened their qi barriers.
Once again, their eyes locked on me.
I didn’t move a single step.
They might be expecting something, but I had no intention of indulging their assumptions.
"……!"
"What the…"
A murmur of disbelief escaped someone’s lips.
Wiiing.
This type of mana confrontation held no disadvantage for me.
Just before the Red Tyrant King's qi could fully converge on me, I concentrated all the mana circulating through my heart and detonated it forward, then immediately began preparing for the next stage.
"Heh."
In an instant, the Red Tyrant King's qi vanished cleanly, as if it had been washed away.
With a faintly intrigued look, he glanced toward Altair of the Dominion Swords, then turned his eyes back to me.
"You do have the right to speak your words aloud."
The Red Tyrant King's tone returned to normal.
Before I could respond, his gaze shifted toward the Ardehain side.
“I’d prefer if you forgot what I just said.”
As the Red Tyrant King returned to his seat, I also glanced back for a moment.
As if they had anticipated this situation, Clan Head Phroha and Loren showed not a single sign of wavering, remaining exactly as they had from the start.
‘So this was the goal.’
The elites of the Vassal Clans had gone completely silent.
From the beginning, the Red Tyrant King's qi had merely been a test. He may not have intended it that way, but the moment I blocked his pressure, the balance of power naturally shifted to Ardehain.
Phroha looked at Leonlight.
“You need not be concerned, Clan Head of Hyark. First Son of Samael, you may return to your seat as well.”
Right after, Loren stepped forward by one pace.
“From this point onward, Ardehain will begin outlining the proposal for the annulment of the Non-Aggression Pact…”
“Hey.”
I cut Loren off and looked at the Red Tyrant King.
“Did you not hear me properly?”
The seated Red Tyrant King raised his gaze, a hint of confusion in his expression.
“Do you still have more to say?”
“Hyark. You’ve lost your senses.”
“…What?”
The Red Tyrant King began to stare directly at me, and the three Dominion Swords on the first floor simultaneously drew their greatswords.
Even Altair looked at me, unable to hide his confusion.
“What did you just say to Hyark’s face?”
“You still haven’t come to your senses.”
“Ruin Samael, do you think I wasn’t serious?”
The Red Tyrant King's expression twisted sharply.
“…Ruin?”
Loren’s brows lifted slightly, clearly not expecting the situation to escalate this far, and Fichte urgently tried to stop me.
“Lord Ruin!”
They were sharp.
It was clear they had put significant effort into taking the lead in the Vassal Clan Banquet amidst the lurking threat of the Myriad Demon Assembly.
But that alone wasn’t enough.
If they forgot the essence, all that would remain was an empty shell.
“Please return to your seat, First Son of Samael.”
As if declaring I should now leave things to Ardehain, Clan Head Phroha spoke calmly.
What they didn’t yet understand was the weight carried by the name Samael.
Meeting Leonlight Hyark’s gaze, who still stared at me with unwavering eyes, I spoke without hesitation.
“The Demon Clan has colluded with humans and now hides in the shadows under the name of the Myriad Demon Assembly. Leonlight Hyark. Do you not know this? Or are you pretending not to? The Blue Magic Tower was destroyed. The Magic Tower Alliance had been taken over. The Myriad Demon Assembly has already infiltrated your clan. If you truly don’t know, you’re unfit to be Clan Head. And if you’re pretending not to know, then the title Red Tyrant King is wasted on you. Or perhaps…”
“…”
“Have you already been taken over, Red Tyrant King?”
A brief moment of silence.
The Dominion Swords on the first floor raised their greatswords and pointed them at me simultaneously, and the Red Tyrant King's pupils began to glow red.
“How dare you...”
Craack.
The moment the Red Tyrant King's grip crushed the armrest of his seat into dust, an overwhelming force erupted from his body.
"Are you insulting my clan?"
"……."
"Seventh Dominion Sword."
At the low command of the Red Tyrant King, one of the Dominion Swords leaped forward, greatsword in hand.
Paaah—
A concentrated sword aura surged violently along the blade, carving a destructive path straight through the center of the first floor.
His unwavering eyes held no doubt.
Like solid rock, his conviction was absolute—he believed without question that this strike would render his opponent powerless.
But then, for the briefest moment, a sliver of hesitation cracked through that solid rock.
Paaang—!
Right as he was about to cleave down, he came to a sudden halt, as if he had slammed into an invisible wall.
Sweat trickled down his forehead as he poured every ounce of his strength into his sword, but despite his efforts, he couldn’t take a single step forward.
Great Barrier.
A knight’s strength was often measured by the power of their sword aura, and the Seventh Dominion Sword was unquestionably one of the strongest among them.
But a barrier conjured by a 7th-circle mage encompassed and surpassed all of that.
With nothing more than an open palm, I had stopped the attack inches from my face. Slowly, I glanced around.
Doubt and confusion filled the air.
Paaang—
The moment determination flashed through the sweat-drenched eyes of the Seventh Dominion Sword, I rotated the circle within my heart once more and locked my right hand onto his greatsword.
Just before his sword aura could condense into a hardened blade force,
A fraction of a second faster, the rebound force of my barrier shattered it completely.
6th-circle, Reflection Shield.
“Urgh…!”
Screeech— The Seventh Dominion Sword staggered backward, his expression twisting with disbelief.
And he wasn’t the only one.
Every single person who had just witnessed a real battle application of chantless magic felt the exact same thing.
There was a distinct difference between my clash with the Red Tyrant King earlier and now. This time, they had witnessed with their own eyes the undeniable power of a mage’s manifested spells—strong enough to overpower one of Hyark’s top knights.
Thud—
The Red Tyrant King’s eyes narrowed sharply as he reached for his greatsword.
“Hyark isn’t the only one.”
I shifted my gaze and raised my voice.
“All six Vassal Clans are the same. You’re all so blind, you don’t even realize your clans are rotting from the inside.”
I stared down each of the six clan heads, one by one.
"It doesn’t matter who says it. What matters is that the Vassal Clans have failed in their duty. Watching you suffocate under the weight of your own hollow authority—it's like watching pigs choking themselves to death. You pathetic bastards."
"……!"
"You insolent—!"
The Clan Heads of Gaion, Ziek, Bellusia, and Solsar erupted in rage, their killing intent flaring simultaneously.
But Loren and Fichte’s gazes only grew colder.
Kwaaaaang—!
At that moment, a powerful sword blast shot toward me from the Red Tyrant King's greatsword.
Without hesitation, I caught it with my bare hand.
Brrrrr—
6th-circle wind magic and the raw force of the Dominion Sword clashed in my palm, creating a violent, deafening tremor.
"……."
From behind the Clan Heads who had risen from their seats like judges preparing to pass verdict, a vast open view came into sight.
The Vassal Clan Heads stood tall, with white billowing clouds behind them. It was as if gods were looking down upon the world.
Which of them belongs to the Myriad Demon Assembly?
It’s impossible to uncover everything right now.
That was never the goal to begin with.
Perhaps, if it were before I met Vassago, I might have agreed with Fichte’s approach. But not anymore.
What I had forgotten.
What they have forgotten.
It is the history of humanity’s struggle, the unrelenting fight against evil.
The fight of the Vassal Clans and the Divine Clans, who threw themselves without hesitation against the demonic forces that surged like hell itself.
Not a struggle of cold reason, but one where we set ourselves ablaze with the fire in our hearts, forging forward through that flame.
I hurled the Red Tyrant King's blade aura from my palm straight past the high seats.
A shockwave erupted as the clouds beyond the high seats were ripped apart, torn like fragile paper under the force.
"Hear me, all Six Vassal Clans."
I fully opened all the circles in my heart, pushing back against the killing intent pouring toward me.
"Has your true honor disappeared, leaving only hollow prestige behind? You have eyes, but you do not see. Ears, but you do not hear. If so, cast away the name of Vassal Clan this instant. While ordinary people, who entrusted you with that prestige, now sway like candle flames in the wind, you don’t even realize it. Where is the honor of the Vassal Clans?"
The seven circles burned as they spun fiercely.
The elites of each clan instinctively stepped back, and the pupils of all six Vassal Clan Heads, including the Red Tyrant King, widened in shock.
"This is..."
Even without casting a single chant, the overwhelming surge of mana swirling in the air was something they could all sense clearly.
If they can't understand it with reason, then I’ll show them with power.
"Silence."
A voice rang out at that moment.
When I turned my gaze to the high seats, I saw the Clan Head of Bellusia, Alshura, glaring at me, his vertical-slit yellow pupils fully exposed.
His facial muscles trembled as if he had just barely shaken off the pressure by fully opening his mana core.
I slowly met Alshura’s gaze.
"Alshura. Have you become a dog of the Myriad Demon Assembly?"
"Your arrogance pierces the heavens, Ruin Samael. You are unworthy."
"Unworthy?"
"I know full well that you assassinated your own clan’s heir in the Demon Realm."
"So you mean that dog of the Myriad Demon Assembly."
"Are you trying to disgrace Bellusia? I was going to deal with you after this banquet was over, but I can no longer hold back. You dared to disgrace the Vassal Clans with your filthy tongue, and now you will pay the price."
Loren lightly leapt from the high seat and landed beside me.
But Alshura’s eyes showed no sign of hesitation.
"Ruin Samael, how long do you think Ardehain can protect you?"
A cold smirk curled at the edge of Alshura’s lips. Every venomous serpent coiled around his head raised its neck in unison.
Looking at Flora, Loren, and the Lotus Swordsmen one by one, Alshura spoke.
“Clan Head Phroha. I express my gratitude for bringing a criminal to this gathering.”
Alshura then turned his gaze toward me.
“Bellusia hereby declares war on Samael. The other five Vassal Clans are not to interfere, in accordance with the Non-Aggression Pact.”
"……!"
It happened without warning.
Loren narrowed her eyes slightly, and Fichte let out a short sigh. After briefly locking eyes with Clan Head Phroha, he rushed out through the main gate of the manor.
The many serpents atop Alshura’s head writhed ominously. He looked at me with a cold smirk.
“What’s wrong? Surprised, Ruin Samael? If you have any sense, you should know what you need to do.”
Alshura glanced at his subordinates.
“Deathly Venom Squad. Restrain the criminal who assassinated Bellusia’s heir.”
As I watched over a dozen members of the Deathly Venom Squad charge forward, their bodies radiating toxic energy, a certain figure came to mind.
‘So that bastard planned this all along.’
All eyes from the Vassal Clans were fixed on us.
Just before Loren could raise her sword and speak, I moved.
Before she could react, I shot forward and stretched both hands toward the oncoming Deathly Venom Squad.
Alshura scoffed.
“Still don’t understand your situation? Bellusia’s forces are already gathered in Kaoto…”
I couldn’t help but laugh.
The moment I clashed with Vassago. The moment I decided to attend this Vassal Clan Banquet.
Even now.
Not once did I plan to settle this quietly.
6th-circle, Spatial Acceleration.
7th-circle, Blink.
In an instant, I vanished, leaving only a faint afterimage, fast enough to escape the very limits of perception.
I reappeared at the high seat, directly in front of Alshura, who still wore that sneering expression.
Our eyes met as I brought my face close to his.
Crack.
“Alshura. Have you become a dog of the Myriad Demon Assembly?”
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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Prøks]
[Proofreader - Prøks]
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