Episode 1006
Chapter 246: The Battle for the Mitra Great Desert (16)
Ban’s sword energy sliced past Simat’s side.
At that moment, Simat instinctively clenched his fist. His heightened senses screamed that this was no ordinary sword energy—this was on a completely different level from the one he had just deflected.
Elona had already put considerable distance between herself and the rift, but suddenly, a sword energy came flying at her, and she whipped around sharply.
“Damn it…!”
She hadn’t expected the Meongwang tribe beyond the rift to be capable of such precise targeting. She had assumed that once she retreated behind the airborne fortresses, the enemy Meongwang would be forced to act as a shield.
Reflexively, she expanded her protective barrier.
But the shield she cast forward twisted and warped the moment the sword energy struck it.
Elona had poured nearly all her magical power into that barrier, yet she couldn’t comprehend how easily it shattered.
“It wasn’t even a direct strike… and yet an attack from beyond the dimension pierced my shield…?”
Layer after layer of protective barriers shattered in the blink of an eye. As the sword energy closed in, Elona screamed and thrust her staff forward.
At the tip of her staff, a massive concentration of magical power had gathered. Initially spherical, the power split in two the moment it collided with the sword energy.
For the first time, the sword energy halted between the two halves of the sphere. A tense tug-of-war ensued, with Ban and Elona’s energies pushing against each other.
In a way, it was a simple contest of strength.
Neither side held a clear advantage yet, but once the balance tipped, it would spiral uncontrollably in one direction.
Crackling and sizzling sounds filled the air.
The space right in front of the staff, where the two forces clashed, twisted like kneaded dough. Nearby Meongwang ships trembled violently, unable to withstand the gravitational and repulsive forces pouring out.
Without the airborne fortresses’ shield support, those ships would have spun wildly until their engines exploded.
“Ugh…!”
A low groan escaped Elona’s lips. Her arms trembled as she gripped the staff, cold sweat streaming down her body.
If she lost this moment, she would be cut down.
She was certain of it. She might not die, but she definitely wouldn’t be able to return to the Great Desert for a while.
“I should have dodged with full force from the start. A mistake. I’ll have to rely more on the Holy Water Pavilion.”
The Holy Water Pavilion.
Earlier, when she spoke with Jin, she had said she didn’t understand why she needed to rely on it, but in truth, Elona had been trying to avoid leaning on the Pavilion’s power for now.
She wanted to maintain her connection with the Tower of Stories. The more she depended on the Pavilion, the more the Tower seemed to distance itself from her.
Kiiing…!
The Holy Water Pavilion split, wrapping new rings around her wrists and ankles. The Milky Way flowing in her eyes darkened further.
Gradually, the sword energy that had been pressing in on Elona began to retreat. The magical sphere clutching the sword energy snapped shut like a beast’s jaws.
It wasn’t just sword energy anymore—it sounded like flesh and bone being crushed with a dull crack.
Malice.
The method the Holy Water Pavilion chose to strengthen Elona was malice itself. The sphere tore into the sword energy as if severing the arteries of a living creature.
Still, the sword energy held its form for a while longer. It neither broke nor scattered, continuing to target Elona.
Fifteen seconds—a brief span, yet long enough for something to be blocked.
Eventually, Ban’s sword energy lost its strength and scattered. Elona exhaled heavily, watching the shattered fragments fall to the ground.
The sudden surge of power from the Holy Water Pavilion brought dizziness and nausea. Her vision blurred briefly, and her hand gripping the staff twitched.
The malice implanted within her by the Pavilion didn’t subside immediately. Even after Ban’s sword energy dispersed, Elona had to endure the relentless rise of malice within.
She wanted to burst through the rift and kill everyone inside. Or slaughter the Meongwang fleet indiscriminately. If it weren’t for Kelliak’s order to focus on destroying the passage, she would have lost control right then.
In the brief moment she tried to calm herself, she missed it—a fragment of the sword energy she thought had completely vanished suddenly shot toward her heart.
“Gah…!”
That single shard pierced through her shield and into her shoulder. Had she reacted a moment slower, it would have gone straight through her heart.
Clutching her shoulder, Elona hurriedly infused magic into the wound, sealing the writhing brain energy inside.
“This is too dangerous here. I need to get to the Tower to recover…!”
Elona lifted her head and looked at Simat.
Fortunately, he had no intention of attacking her now.
If anything, he seemed even more withdrawn than before. Considering what had happened with Gaila and Us, Simat should have attacked her while she was injured, but the recent attack from Lafrarosa had made his stance clearer.
Now was the time to join forces—with her and with Jiple.
“If that sword energy had targeted me instead of Elona or Jiple…”
Of course, the form of the sword energy would have been different, since it would have to attack multiple targets rather than just one, but Simat and the Meongwang tribe would have suffered far greater damage.
Letting such a monster roam free in Inse was unthinkable. Even if it meant making an enemy, it was wiser to join hands for now.
Gritting his teeth, Simat summoned brain energy. Centered on his crimson, glowing core, the airborne fortresses amplified their power.
Just as all brain energy had converged into Rekan when Ban unleashed his final strike, Tetalon swiftly absorbed all the enemy brain energy scattered across the Great Desert.
“Daring to threaten us while trapped! Before you come out of that dark dimension, I will tear you apart…!”
Meongwang Tribe’s Spirit Sword Secret Technique
Red Celestial Divine Sword – Red Tide
Simat lunged toward the rift in Lafrarosa.
It looked like a red meteor had fallen. The countless colossal forces clashing inside the rift sent out relentless, terrifying shockwaves.
Each time Tetalon emitted a red glow, the shockwaves were sharply cut off like solid objects. Simat boldly charged through the torn shockwaves.
He intended to unleash the sea of Red Brain energy inside Lafrarosa.
He was certain that even if Ban, the Spirit Warrior, survived, the lesser Meongwang would never remain unscathed.
“Since you are descendants of Cheongmyeong, you must be far from cold-blooded like us! Feel this—no matter how great your power, you cannot protect everything. Your kin will die right before your eyes!”
Ktsuzzuk!
Tetalon pierced the dimensional rift. The recoil caused veins to bulge across Simat’s body, sometimes bursting and spraying blood.
But Simat did not release the sword. Tetalon’s blade was stirring a tidal wave of Red Brain energy inside.
Even Ban in his prime, the strongest of the Stars, could not unleash a greater force than Simat now.
That was because Simat was not wielding the sword’s power alone. The four airborne fortresses connected to him were supplying brain energy.
The vast Red Brain energy filling the Great Desert was penetrating Lafrarosa through that tiny rift.
Simat envisioned what lay beyond.
He imagined the descendants of Cheongmyeong screaming in agony, coughing up blood beyond the dimension. Their spirits would feel rage and helplessness at the sight of their dying kin.
He was sure of it.
But suddenly, Simat saw the dimensional rift begin to close.
{Spirit comrades! The rift is closing.}
Rimagas, who had been analyzing the waves, communicated to Simat. The rift had already shut completely, and the Red Celestial Divine Sword’s brain energy was surging through the Great Desert.
“Damn it!”
Once again, only the descendants of Cheongmyeong had been blessed.
It was hard to regain composure. He had given up the chance to harm Elona, poured all his brain energy and the power of the four airborne fortresses into a counterattack, yet—
He never imagined it would end in such a futile failure. It wasn’t because the opponent was superior or because he failed to strike properly.
The gate had simply closed without warning.
From the start, Lafrarosa’s passage had been like this—opening unexpectedly to wreak havoc, then closing at the most infuriating moments.
Thud, crack!
The bulging veins shrank, and blood dripped from Simat’s lips. Clinging desperately to his sanity, he began recalling the brain energy spreading endlessly across the Great Desert.
“…Initiate immediate hyperspace tracking. And inform Jiple at once. We will not attack until Lafrarosa is destroyed, so ensure Elona and Jiple never get separated like today.”
{Understood.}
“Also, send more skilled fighters besides Elona and Jiple. Jiple and those vermin will have no choice but to prevent Lafrarosa’s liberation. Today’s events will make that painfully clear.”
{Acknowledged, spirit comrade.}
Simat spat out a mouthful of black blood and gazed toward the far side of the Great Desert where the Red Celestial Divine Sword’s Red Tide had been heading.
As if on cue, Srivi, Karmash, and Masalun emerged beyond the sandstorm.
“Oh, Simat. That sword just now was seriously something else, wasn’t it? But what are you gonna do? It was probably meant to stab Laprarosa. Such a shame.”
“Can’t we just keep those Red Thunder guys instead of retrieving them? We tried absorbing them as best we could, but there wasn’t enough time. Thanks to that, our flesh and bones have already fused this well. Look at this.”
“Masalun doesn’t care one bit. From now on, he’ll curse you all again—so be warned.”
Simat clutched his throbbing head and retreated back to the bridge of the Pibil. Those creatures were still terrifying phantoms—impossible to strike or kill.
Looking back on everything that had happened before the Great Sealing, he couldn’t recall many days as miserable as this one.