Episode 605
Around the high tables, the Black Squad members, acting on Ingel’s orders, began to close in.
Nabu reopened his book, reciting an incantation to summon a sword imbued with spirit.
Seeing this, Ingel shouted to the Black Squad.
“Shields up!”
In response, a dark energy rose from the squad members’ arms, forming shields as hard as obsidian.
With their shields raised, they charged toward the swords Nabu had summoned.
Clang!
Nabu’s swords clashed against the Black Squad’s shields, sending a massive shockwave through the stone chamber. Unlike before, the squad members were only pushed back, not harmed.
It became clear that the spirit-infused swords couldn’t deal significant damage to them.
Nabu gritted his teeth, searching for another incantation.
But suddenly, a wave of dizziness hit him.
“Ugh!”
The continuous use of incantations had drained his mental strength to its limit.
Ingel, noticing this, smirked and addressed the high tables.
“Relics of a bygone era, cease your futile resistance and surrender. Our merciful god will grant you peace.”
Nigel, pointing her sword, retorted.
“Spare us your godly nonsense, you deranged zealots.”
Ingel’s expression twisted at Nigel’s words, her anger flaring like a devout follower whose deity had been insulted.
“Kill them! Kill that blasphemous wretch!”
At her command, the Black Squad transformed their shielded arms back into clawed hands and charged at the high tables.
Nigel leaped forward, swinging her sword at them.
Boom!
Her strike, fueled by all her strength, did impact them. Yet, even those who fell soon recovered, rising again, seemingly stronger than before.
‘Damn it.’
Already exhausted from previous battles, Nigel and the others were visibly weary.
Realizing the difficulty of the situation, Nigel glanced at Baron Draker standing behind Ingel, clenching her jaw.
‘Is there no other choice?’
Revealing her true power could stop them, but it would mean she could no longer remain in the mortal realm. If lucky, she might ascend to a higher plane, but if not, her soul could be obliterated by karma’s retribution.
With other high table members already lost to external beasts and their leader out of contact, Nigel’s disappearance would spell the end for the Highlanders.
She looked at the advancing Black Squad, then back at Nabu.
Despite their frequent bickering, Nigel trusted Nabu the most among the Highlanders.
Swinging her sword, she sent a message to Nabu.
—Nabu, I leave the rest to you.
Startled by the message, Nabu, who had been lying on a carpet due to dizziness, sprang up.
“What? You old hag! What are you saying!”
As Nabu spoke, a brilliant light flashed from Nigel’s direction.
Wooooong!
A noble silver light radiated from Nigel’s body.
Her true power was so immense that she had suppressed it by taking on the appearance of a child.
But as she unleashed her true power, her form reverted to its original state.
Wooooong!
Her tied-up hair came loose, cascading down in long silver strands. Her limbs elongated, her body becoming lithe and agile. Most strikingly, the horns on her head began to regrow.
Fully transformed, Nigel appeared as she had in the mirror of truth Nabu had once shown her—a goddess crafted from moonlight.
The seal broken, Nigel’s true power emanated a presence of an entirely different magnitude.
Baron Draker, observing from behind, raised an eyebrow as Nigel revealed her true form.
Before he could issue a command, Ingel shouted.
“What are you waiting for? Kill that blasphemous wretch now!”
Momentarily hesitating at her frenzied voice, the Black Squad charged at Nigel.
Swish!
They lunged at her from all sides, claws extended.
Nigel swung her sword at them.
Flash!
In an instant, the Black Squad around her vanished.
Thud!
With a single strike, they were reduced to pieces, their remains scattering across the floor.
Ingel’s single eye widened in shock.
“That… that power!”
Nigel’s sword, now wielding her true power, was unstoppable.
Her blade cut through the very essence of existence.
Whatever dark energy enveloped the Black Squad, it didn’t matter. Nigel simply sliced through it.
Ingel, seeing this, screamed at the Black Squad.
“Damn it! Attack all at once!”
At her command, a dozen squad members charged simultaneously.
Despite witnessing their comrades’ destruction, they showed no hesitation. Trained for absolute obedience, they moved without fear, now driven by madness.
Swish!
Like shadows, they rushed at Nigel, who raised her sword.
A gentle silver moonlight emanated from her blade.
She swung at the approaching shadows.
Moonlight Sword
Solo Spell
Will of the Slash
Nigel’s will imbued in her sword extended toward the Black Squad.
Swoosh—
The moonlit blade passed through them without resistance.
But within the moonlight, Nigel had embedded the will of the slash.
“Ugh!”
The charging squad members halted, their bodies collapsing simultaneously.
Thud!
A dozen Black Squad members dissolved into pools of blood, their remains scattering across the floor.
Splat!
Amidst the blood and shattered bones, a goddess of untouchable beauty stood with a cold expression.
Ingel, watching Nigel, trembled with rage.
“That damned half-breed…”
In truth, Ingel was an even more extreme racist than Castro Pollock.
Seeing Nigel, a unicorn, made her skin crawl, and she scratched her arms as if trying to rid herself of hives.
“Such vermin have no place in the new era. They must be exterminated.”
With a crazed expression, Ingel stepped forward.
As she lowered her arms, her fingertips turned black.
Unlike the other squad members, a dark energy flowed from her hands, dripping to the floor.
Ingel murmured as she looked at Nigel.
“I am the new humanity of the new era. The pure blood of Draker, Ingel Draker.”
The black liquid from her hands slithered, attaching to the necks of nearby squad members.
Crack—
As the liquid adhered to their necks, the squad members’ eyes changed.
Their whites vanished, their pupils turning entirely black, devoid of human reason.
They had become puppets, moving solely by Ingel’s will.
Raising her sticky, blackened hands, Ingel began to manipulate the squad like a puppeteer.
The black substance spread from their necks, enveloping their entire bodies.
Crack—
Covered in the sticky substance, the squad members appeared as if coated in tar.
Ingel raised her hands, and the substance hardened like obsidian, blades protruding from their arms.
She commanded them.
“Kill!”
Whoosh!
At her words, the squad charged at Nigel.
With calm determination, Nigel raised her sword and swung at them.
Crash!
The squad members struck by her blade shattered like black crystal.
Shatter—
In a surprising turn of events, the scattered fragments began to melt and coalesce, reforming into their original shape.
Creak!
The black-clad figures, now reformed into their ominous shapes, charged at Nigel once more.
No matter how fiercely Nigel swung her sword, shattering the figures into pieces, they would regenerate almost instantly, rendering her efforts futile.
“Damn it…”
Nigel furrowed her brow, bewildered by the strange phenomenon she had never encountered before.
And then it happened.
Crackle!
A backlash of causality erupted from the sword she wielded. The forces of karma had begun to take their toll on Nigel, who had unleashed her true power.
She realized her time was running out.
Just as she was about to regain her stance and swing her sword again, a creature suddenly emerged from her shadow.
Slash!
Nigel quickly turned and swung her sword at the creature. As expected, it shattered into pieces, only to regenerate back to its original form.
With each passing moment, the speed of their regeneration increased.
Watching from behind, Nabu shouted at Nigel.
“Damn it, Nigel! Stop! We need to retreat!”
To Nabu, losing Nigel was a far greater despair than abandoning this place.
But Nigel ignored Nabu’s plea, continuing to swing her sword, determined to prevent them from reaching the door.
The real problem was that even if she managed to stop them, Baron Draker still loomed behind them.
“Damn it…”
Nabu gritted his teeth, struggling to decide what to do.
Just then, Ivan, who had been receiving treatment from Mana, stood up. With his arm bandaged, he approached Nabu.
“It seems the leader has vanished.”
“The leader… vanished? What do you mean?”
“I can no longer sense his presence in the tower. He can’t leave the tower, so he must have perished.”
Nabu’s face fell into despair at those words. The leader had been their only hope, and with him gone, hope was all but lost.
Nabu clenched his teeth and spoke to Ivan.
“Ivan, open that door.”
But Ivan shook his head.
“We can’t let the Book of the Dead fall into their hands.”
Nabu shouted at Ivan in frustration.
“You fool! We should have opened the door and given it to Nigel from the start! Do you think that nonsense will work now?”
Grabbing Ivan by the collar, he yelled in anger.
“We need to retrieve it and escape! If we stay any longer, we’ll die, and they’ll take the Book of the Dead!”
Despite Nabu’s words, Ivan’s expression remained unchanged. He seemed to believe the tower would protect the book.
Realizing he couldn’t get through to Ivan, Nabu turned to Mana and shouted.
“Mana! Open that door, now!”
Hesitant, Mana finally clasped her hands together and approached the door.
Ivan tried to stop her, but Nabu held him back.
“Not this time. Get a grip…”
Boom!
Suddenly, a loud crash echoed through the room, and everyone turned to see Nigel being flung against the wall by an attack.
Rumble!
The black-clad figures had merged into a larger, more formidable creature.
Nigel’s body, pinned against the wall, was surrounded by a plasma storm caused by the backlash of causality.
Ingel shouted at the creature.
“Kill it! Kill that filthy half-breed now…!”
Slice—
In an instant, a sharp sound cut through the air, and Ingel’s head fell to the ground.
Thud!
His head rolled to a stop, blocked by something unseen.
Thump!
From the shadows, someone stepped forward, placing a foot on Ingel’s head and crushing it.
Splat!
Amidst the scattered remains of Ingel’s brain, a figure emerged, his golden eyes gleaming.
Nabu shouted as he recognized him.
“Zeke!”