The War God’s Sword (1)
A deep, resonant hum filled the air around the divine tree, born from the convergence of two realms. From the point where a bolt of lightning connected the skies, a brilliant blue wave radiated outward, dazzling to behold.
Standing on one of the tree’s branches, Daelon reached out toward the core of this phenomenon. A sphere of blue electricity flowed into his hand, and the earth-shaking resonance abruptly ceased.
A blinding flash of light seeped through his fingers, its mere presence disrupting the flow of magical energy around him. This was the essence of the two skies’ resonance, a power even Daelon couldn’t hold for long.
With a powerful leap, Daelon flipped in mid-air, launching himself off a branch of the divine tree. He thrust his fist toward the armored figure below, envisioning the form of a blue lightning bolt. The destructive force, meant to reside between the clouds of the stratosphere, was summoned and amplified here, between the two skies.
“Azure Thunderbolt!”
A second tree of lightning, inverted in the air, tore through the atmosphere, its branches spreading with relentless force. The blue lightning bombarded the area, leaving no room for escape, a testament to Daelon’s determination to leave no quarter.
In this realm, where the laws of the world were devoured, even a great demon couldn’t evade such an attack.
Yet, the dark armor stood firm.
“Talmar, my lord…!”
A red-eyed dragonkin appeared before the armored figure, absorbing the full brunt of the lightning storm meant for his ally.
“Surprising. You’re much better than those spellcasters from the Grand Tower I devoured earlier.”
Smoke curled from his slightly parted jaws, blue sparks dancing across the charred scales. His slit red eyes gleamed with a strange fervor, his forked tongue flicking out to taste the air, revealing two emotions: madness and hunger.
“This… might be tastier than I thought.”
The dragonkin’s form blurred.
With a thunderous crash, the ground erupted, and the dragonkin soared into the sky, wings unfurling to accelerate his ascent. Despite the overwhelming storm of lightning, his speed didn’t falter.
[Daelon, watch out…!]
There was no time for warnings. Daelon twisted his outstretched fist, redirecting the remaining energy into a defensive stance.
“Triple Layered Armor: Azure Thunder Armor, White Wind Armor, Flame Armor!”
The claws and fangs tore through the blue lightning storm, shredding the armor of lightning and wind before hesitating momentarily against the flames. But it was only a brief reprieve.
Daelon swiftly retreated behind the divine tree of lightning, but the dragonkin pursued without delay.
“Where do you think you’re going?!”
The first divine tree, born of the two skies’ resonance, was crushed effortlessly. Despite the hundreds of lightning strikes against his scales, the dragonkin seemed unfazed, baring his teeth with a grin.
This wasn’t a matter of being overpowered or lacking skill. It was a matter of perfect opposition. The attribute of lightning was ineffective against Talmar, the great demon and traitor of dragon blood.
‘The traitor of dragon blood. They say his ancient lineage was that of a thunder dragon.’
Dragonkin, by nature, are a race connected to the true dragons. With such powerful ancestors, it’s only natural that some of their strength would persist through the generations. Before his fall into demonhood, Talmar was known for his potent bloodline abilities.
Though he couldn’t wield lightning or summon storms like his thunder dragon ancestors, his resistance to lightning was nearly on par with them.
‘That’s why the Sky Fortress fell so quickly.’
Even as a great demon, he was alone, and only in an avatar form. Yet, one of the Grand Towers, with centuries of history, crumbled without resistance. The lightning crafted from the resonance of the skies could only scorch his scales.
In Barshabak, the sanctuary of lightning mages, no one could harm this descendant of thunder dragons.
“All bark and no bite! What’s going on?!”
With each clash between the transcendent and the great demon, the landscape changed in real-time. Daelon, drawing on the wisdom of the gray warrior, absorbed the lightning and summoned the power of flames.
Despite Talmar’s resistance to lightning and his weapon-sealing powers, he wasn’t without weaknesses. Daelon knew of two: fire and holy power.
The reason for opening the closed sky of the snowy mountains was not for lightning, but for the power of flames. Even after opening the realm twice, he refrained from using lightning directly against Talmar.
“Great Pillar of Flame!”
A towering column of fire erupted, but there was a problem. The second great demon, Tur Aradun, the Grand Duke of the Infernal Armory, had joined the fray. As a blacksmith and master of countless infernal weapons, even the hellfire of the Ruin Palace was familiar to him.
“Talmar, I’ll handle this!”
The dark armor, wielding a dragon-slaying spear, intercepted the fiery column, shielding the dragonkin from its searing heat.
The spearhead defied the majestic pillar of fire, leaving no room for escape. Having already expended his strength by opening the realm twice, Daelon couldn’t switch tactics again.
“Return to the Abyss: Fourfold Shadow Step!”
He narrowly evaded, creating shadow clones, but it was futile. The infernal weapon and the great demon’s spear technique met, and the dark spearhead split into dozens of afterimages.
The relentless assault tore through the shadows and sliced through the space, leaving a deep gash in Daelon’s side.
“Ugh!”
His legs gave out, and he barely managed to kneel, blood pouring from his side. Though white steam rose from his dragon blood, the wound wouldn’t close on its own.
The weapon used by a demon known as a dragon hunter was cursed to harm even true dragons. Daelon, who hadn’t fully mastered his dragon blood, couldn’t resist.
“Impressive, but your skills are too meager to insult my lord’s honor.”
The dark armor retrieved his spear, flicking Daelon’s blood from its tip.
“Even an ancient dragon would struggle to heal from a wound inflicted by this spear. Unless you’re a dragon god, it’ll take at least a week to recover.”
“Too bad. It was an entertaining hunt, but it looks like it’s ending soon.”
The dragonkin, eyes gleaming with madness, approached, licking the blood from the spear.
“Red Spear… fascinating. To think you’d obtain the blood of a being sealed over a thousand years ago. I heard the dragon god sold the traitor’s blood to Enaxagus, and it wasn’t just a rumor.”
”······.”
“The offspring of the Red Spear and a blue-scaled dragon… all that’s left is to savor the young dragon’s flesh. Young dragon meat is tender and delicious.”
The dragonkin, blood smeared across his snout, grinned wickedly. Daelon steadied his ragged breath and rose to his feet.
“Still want to fight?”
The dark armor murmured, surprised. It wasn’t a favorable situation by any means. Fire and lightning, the two strongest powers Daelon had gained in this cycle, were countered by the two great demons most resistant to them.
But Daelon stood firm. If it were a fight he intended to give up, he wouldn’t have started it in the first place. Besides, he wasn’t the only one with allies.
“One thing, though.”
“What is it?”
“You snake-headed bastard, I get that you’re a parentless wretch, but there’s a limit. Didn’t anyone teach you not to insult someone’s child in front of their parents?”
“Come to think of it, it’s no wonder you turned out so uncouth. Without parents, who would teach you any manners?”
The barrage of insults twisted Yongin’s face into a grimace.
It was hard to tell if it was the snake-head comment or the mention of his lack of parents that got to him.
“Quite the mouth on a man about to die. Do you really think lightning and fire can pierce our scales and armor? A father’s love? Is that the nonsense you’re spouting?”
“No. I think you misunderstood. That wasn’t about me at all.”
His words were baffling. Yongin’s expression grew even more contorted.
His face, reminiscent of a snake trapped in a zoo cage, made Dalen chuckle softly as he added, “Unlike you, he has a mother.”
──────Thud.
There was no dramatic sound of impact.
Just a strange dissonance in the air, and then something sharp protruded from Yongin’s chest.
“Gah…!”
It was the tip of a gleaming sword.
Whoosh.
White flames ignited along the pristine blade, flaring up instantly.
“Aaaaargh!”
The flames began to consume Yongin’s body from the inside, erasing the smirk that had been on his face moments before.
Ssssh―!
The sword, having set his insides ablaze, swiftly withdrew and returned to its master.
A paladin, who had approached Dalen unnoticed, caught the flaming sword with ease.
“Why the delay?”
“My apologies. Given the opponent, I was waiting for the perfect moment to strike.”
“I’m joking. It was a wise decision.”
Dalen chuckled softly, ruffling Lucia’s hair.
His thick, bloodstained hand met her already blood-soaked blonde locks.
The paladin savored the touch for a moment before flicking the blood off her sword.
Vwoom…
A ripple of silver light spread from the simple motion.
It was proof that her power had blossomed beyond merely hunting demons, to piercing the very heart of evil.
“Domain Unleashed: White Blade of Evil’s Bane.”
This was the power that earned Lucia the title of Demon Slayer in the game, and made her one of the heroes players would rely on until the very end.
The inexplicable force that had manifested as instant damage, ignoring all defenses on the other side of the screen, had finally come to life in this timeline.
Hiss―
The tip of the flame-wreathed sword pointed at the two archdemons.
Her blue eyes, burning with a holy radiance, glared at them.
The divine glow of sacred tattoos shone through the gaps in her armor.
Perhaps this was what the legendary saintess looked like, a figure that could banish all darkness.
From the center of the radiant light that seemed to drive away all shadows, Lucia spoke.
“As a member of the Paladins who guard the continent’s rift, and as an Inquisitor purging evil within the order, I, Lucia Castachald, hereby execute the avatars of the archdemons Taalmad and Tur Aradun.”