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[Translator - Prøks]
[Proofreader - Prøks]
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Chapter 248: Unique Mindscape (1)
Unbelievable words.
Who on the continent would dare utter such reckless remarks?
Baltahar.
The position they held was supreme.
A clan whose mere appearance of a single rank-and-file Swordmaster could cause ripples throughout the region.
Before the Divine Clan of the Sword, to whom even the supposedly brilliant Vassal Families had no choice but to bow and show courtesy, no one had ever imagined someone displaying such words and actions.
Saying "the likes of Baltahar"...
Words that made one doubt their own ears upon hearing them, but...
In this moment, what everyone felt was a fear so terrifying it was almost violent.
"The Sword, the Sword Duke..."
"Ah, ah..."
Thump— Thuthump—.
People in the crowd unknowingly lost strength in their legs and collapsed to the ground.
Every one of them stared wide-mouthed, continuously shaking their heads.
But no matter how wide they opened their eyes and stared.
The swordsman entering old age, his right arm blown off, held by the neck, was undoubtedly the master of the Divine Clan of the Sword.
Sword Duke Julius, hailed as the greatest Swordmaster of his generation after reaching the realm of transcendence over a decade ago.
He was letting out suppressed groans before Dark Light.
"Kuhk..."
"Do not interfere."
"You..."
"Before I kill you all."
"..."
Step—
Dark Light, Ruin Samael, took a step.
Julius, his composure already shattered, watched Ruin's retreating back with trembling eyes.
No one could even breathe properly.
Thump—.
Ruin approached the Land of Death.
The Heavenly Swordmasters, who had instinctively stepped back, finally gritted their teeth.
With a signal from the Swordmaster Leader, the thirty Swordmasters simultaneously drew their swords and charged, but.
Paaaaang—!
They were simply thrown back by an intense shockwave exactly as they charged.
The very center of the Land of Death.
Ruin casually blasted open a section of the boundary formed by the Shield of Heavenly Pressure and walked inside.
＊ ＊ ＊
Shaaa—!
The scene that appeared the moment he stepped inside, having pierced the Shield of Heavenly Pressure.
The barrier set up by the White Magic Tower, Ragnarok, was already being consumed by darkness, its light fading.
Through the dim vision, as if in a dream, familiar faces appeared.
Loren and the Lotus Swordmaster were visible.
Black and Taylor were also visible.
And the Crazy Mage Squad.
Zion, Makan, Arin, Palge, Iron, Ain... all covered head-to-toe in blood.
Somehow, their conditions registered at a glance.
Their crazy struggle had stopped, purely because of me.
A lull.
Everyone was looking at me as if by prearranged signal.
"...Fucking Commander, took you long enough."
"The Clan Head is..."
Opposite the Crazy Mage Squad.
Hundreds of knights simultaneously formed the Shield of Heavenly Pressure.
Among them, four Black Knights exuding overwhelming pressure and the Ten Thousand Swordmasters were visible.
Beyond them, Markutan emanated a presence like Mount Tai.
Observing from the side, the White Dragon, Iris Seren, was also visible.
All of them were looking at me.
And he was there.
At the very center of the Shield of Heavenly Pressure, standing trapped without any resistance, was Kazen.
Though far away, I could see Kazen's eyes.
With eyes still as calm as a lake, he was looking up at the sky.
"...Ruin Samael."
It was then that a voice echoed from within.
As I took a step forward, the Black Knights and the Ten Thousand Swordmasters simultaneously stepped forward to meet me.
Four Black Knights.
Three Ten Thousand Swordmasters.
Suddenly, the corners of my mouth lifted.
〈White Heron〉 wasn't visible, but disguise is always possible.
There was no way White Heron wasn't here at this moment.
One of those three Ten Thousand Swordmasters is White Heron.
"Don't do anything you'll regret."
As the voice sounded again, an intense pressure filled the entire area.
The Guardian Star, Markutan Arihama.
I looked at the massive silhouette reflected inside the Shield of Heavenly Pressure and spoke quietly.
"Release the Clan Head."
It was then that someone landed on the ground from above amidst a powerful mana wave.
The sound of Mages chanting came from the air.
Soul Mage Sirius, having descended from the Sky Sphere, looked towards the Land of Death with a grim expression.
"You two, please stop! The omens are the same as during the Kaplan incident. No, they are far stronger! Lord Markutan, please understand this misunderstanding..."
"This is not a matter for the Alliance to interfere in."
I looked inside once more and said.
"I'll say it one last time. Release the Clan Head."
"This is for humanity."
"Then die."
I turned my head.
The moment my eyes met the Crazy Mage Squad's, with a Paat— sound, the members simultaneously charged towards the Shield of Heavenly Pressure, beginning their chants.
As a shield of strong energy formed above the shields raised by hundreds of knights.
A tremendous roar sounded from behind.
Kwa-kwakwakwakwakwang—!
Dozens of magic stones embroidered the sky, creating massive explosions that pierced through the knights' strong energy.
While Loren and Black dealt with the Black Knights, I also charged straight ahead.
The three Ten Thousand Swordmasters visible before me.
I still had no clue which one was White Heron, but it didn't matter.
Wheeeing—!
As I reversed all the circles in my heart and exploded space, the head of one Ten Thousand Swordmaster flew off.
I immediately aimed both hands at the remaining two.
If I can't figure out who 〈White Heron〉 is.
Then I just have to kill all three.
A fleeting moment of distorted spatial sense.
The two bastards who had reached the realm of transcendence had simultaneously unleashed their Heart Void Style, but.
Paang—!
Just before that, I blew off the head of one more bastard and looked at the remaining one.
"...!"
That's him.
That bastard is White Heron.
The moment I pursued the last Ten Thousand Swordmaster hiding amidst the Shield of Heavenly Pressure, a pressure like Mount Tai bore down on me.
Markutan Arihama.
It was the moment his silhouette fully emerged.
"Stop here, Ruin Samael. I have no intention of seeing this to the end with you."
"..."
"If, as you say, the Samael Clan Head is not the mastermind, then nothing will happen. Wait."
From the black shield he raised, a translucent defensive barrier extended, emanating an overwhelming force that seemed capable of completely severing the space behind it.
A level incomparable to the Shields of Heavenly Pressure I had pierced through until now.
The Shield of Heavenly Pressure deployed by numerous Guardian Knights working together couldn't even touch the heels of the level created by this single man.
If Baltahar's Heart Void Style represents the pinnacle where strong energy is honed to the extreme to even cut space.
Then Arihama's Heavenly Pressure is the pinnacle where endlessly extending strong energy is completely compressed to dominate space.
The Shield of Heavenly Pressure, Ultimate Essence.
Divine Wall of Iron.
"Lord Ruin."
Before I knew it, the White Dragon, Iris Seren, also took her place to Markutan's right, her golden eyes gleaming.
She let out a faint sigh.
"Please wait and see. From Samael as well, I ask you to consider the greater good."
"Everyone everywhere keeps talking about the greater good."
Iris looked at Kazen, then gazed again towards the Land of Death beyond.
"Soon, the result will manifest."
"The Seren Clan has changed a lot too."
Her pride wounded, Iris Seren momentarily released a golden eye-light.
"As I said, the oath will be remembered."
"You trivialize the meaning of the oath."
I met Seren's radiating eye-light head-on.
"If not for Samael, Seren would be in the maw of the Demonic Dragon right now. We, Samael, sacrificed countless family members to slay the Demonic Dragon."
"..."
"The oath between Samael and Seren is not an equal pact. It is a promise Seren themselves offered to the clan that slew the Demonic Dragon."
In that instant, Seren's eye-light subtly wavered.
"You couldn't possibly not know. It means that Seren must stand with Samael, no matter the circumstances."
As Iris Seren, her golden eye-light completely faded, looked at me with troubled eyes.
Markutan spoke again.
"Ruin Samael. I will say it one last time. Stop. Too much blood has already been spilled. If this goes further, there will be no other way. We, Arihama, even if only to eliminate a danger to humanity beforehand, have no choice but to kill the Samael Clan Head now."
I briefly looked around.
It was still a gruesome battlefield.
The magic stones detonated by the Elders had torn the Shield of Heavenly Pressure to shreds.
The Crazy Mage Squad and the White Horse Knights who had entered through the gaps were engaged in a bloody battle with the knights of Baltahar and Arihama.
Other Vassal Families, appearing before anyone knew it, joined the side of the Divine Clans, turning the bloody battle into pandemonium.
Loren and Black were confronting the Black Knights, keeping an eye on the situation over here.
I briefly met Markutan's gaze.
I didn't avoid his eyes, which still stared piercingly at me.
"Insolent."
"...What?"
"Arihama doesn't have the right."
In an instant, Markutan's presence fully expanded.
The moment his shield turned towards the opposite side, the Divine Wall of Iron compressed as if to swallow the space where Kazen stood.
Wheeeing—!
I reversed all the circles in my heart.
It wasn't that I didn't know Markutan had already reached the level of the past Guardian Stars, but...
...the same was true for me.
The intense mana of the Yin dimension, created by the insane negative energy flowing from beyond the Land of Death.
Beyond the seven circles instantly reversing rotation as if burning, one final circle formed.
Mana of the Yin dimension.
8th Circle, Supreme Transmutation Spell.
Overlapping Explosion.
An explosion bloomed from within the Divine Wall of Iron that was compressing as if to crush Kazen.
As if dismissing it, Markutan pressed the Divine Wall down even harder.
Simultaneously, golden eye-light was added, and just as the explosion seemed about to be controlled.
Ten consecutive explosions igniting space overlapped simultaneously, creating a single, intense wave.
Grrrrk—! Kwaaaaang—!
The shattering Divine Wall.
Waves of intense strong energy, breaking apart and scattering, instantly covered the sky.
"Kuhk!"
Another silence fell.
As if by signal, the bloody battle halted, and everyone looked this way.
Dark blood streamed from the mouth of the mountain-like physique that had seemed immovable.
The golden eyes of the half-human, half-dragon Seren widened to an indescribable extent.
"...!"
"...!"
I slowly approached Kazen.
He was still looking at the distant sky with eyes as calm as a lake.
"Have you come, Ruin?"
He spoke to me without turning his head.
"...I apologize for being late, Clan Head."
"Truly, the end is approaching."
Suddenly, Kazen's voice sounded too calm.
Beyond the sky of the Land of Death he gazed upon, an insane darkness was gathering.
With an expression like someone awaiting destiny, Kazen looked at the sky.
"Clan Head."
"Ruin."
Only then did Kazen Samael look at me.
"I still cannot reach an answer. There is still too much I do not know."
"I will resolve it."
Kazen didn't even flinch.
Somehow, I couldn't properly meet Kazen's eyes.
"Is there something that you know?"
"..."
Kazen looked at the sky again.
Though it didn't fit the situation at all, a calm smile played on his lips.
"It feels like a moment where, if I wait, I might somehow understand."
The silence was broken in an instant.
The moment the Mages' quiet chanting from the air concluded, an intense curtain of light filled the area before us.
And surging from beyond it, materialized demonic energy.
The moment an insane scream, echoing throughout the Land of Death, erupted, everyone looked straight ahead.
"Cough!"
"Kuuuuhk!"
Kwaaaaaang—!
Ragnarok burst apart in an instant, and simultaneously, one hundred Mages fell from the Sky Sphere.
Slowly turning his head, Kazen met my eyes.
"Son, I believe in you."
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[Translator - Prøks]
[Proofreader - Prøks]
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