Chapter 1019
Episode 247: The Lafrarosa Liberation War (7)
“This is… the Reaper’s Dominion Sword…!”
Simat had already experienced the Reaper’s Dominion Sword once before. It was back when he hadn’t awakened yet, during the assault on Kinzello’s 7th Division alongside Rakhiman.
But the electric blue energy radiating from the sword before his eyes now was on an entirely different level—fiercer, more overwhelming than anything he’d seen then.
“This is different. It’s incomparably stronger than before…!”
The hostile brainwave interference was beginning to fade.
The Red Fleet was already vanishing, swallowed by the blue lightning of the Reaper’s Dominion Sword. The shields and armor of ordinary fleets meant nothing against it.
The air grew molten-hot, the light searing into his eyes.
Amidst it all, only Simat and his four aerial fortresses remained standing—neither melting, shattering, nor scattering.
The fortresses rapidly distanced themselves, and Simat instinctively took a step back, trying to get out of Jin’s sword’s range.
But there was nowhere safe. Every area within sight—and even far beyond—was bathed in the sword’s light.
He stepped back, glanced behind, looked forward again, stared into the fear swelling inside him, and gripped his trembling legs that wanted to run away in vain.
“Hah.”
Suddenly, Simat let out a hollow laugh.
The emptiness of it all being over, the crushing defeat of knowing he could never win, the loss of the fragile hope for survival he’d fought so hard to grasp even after enduring the Great Seal, the awe at power beyond comprehension…
All those emotions clashed like lightning in his mind.
Yet Simat refused to be consumed by despair.
He fought against it with everything he had. Even if there wasn’t the slightest chance, he couldn’t just collapse like a frightened stray dog.
So he tried to see it.
The fighting spirit that surely still lingered somewhere between despair and frustration—the feeling that had become all too familiar since awakening.
“All aerial fortresses, disengage support for me and focus entirely on defending the main body and striking Lafrarosa.”
His voice was low, filled with energy—not a message through the bracelet’s comms, but a command that pierced through the roaring lightning and echoed in every ear on the battlefield.
He was a Changsung.
One of those who had seized the possibility to transcend even the harshest fate.
The hostile brainwave interference that had surrounded Simat like a fortress began to thin. Finally, with a face freed from the mental fog, he faced Jin.
“Yes, I suppose you’re right. We stirred up trouble for no reason. But what can we do? We were born this way. From birth, we’ve had no path but to fight, destroy, and conquer, Jin Runkandel.”
It was the first time Simat had heard such an honest voice.
Inside both Jin and Ban, who had merged with the warrior spirit, that voice resonated. Jin was born into the Runkandel family, a clan of tyrants, and Ban, as a member of the Reaper race, had always lived as a conqueror.
[We know well. But the end for those like us is always the same, Simat. We conquer and rule the world… only to break in the end. Whether by meeting a stronger opponent like now, or simply fracturing over time.]
Simat immediately recognized Ban’s voice.
Now that the aerial fortresses’ support was gone, he fought clumsily. It was hard to believe he had once held the greatest dominance on the surface.
He rolled on the ground, wildly swinging his sword to fend off the surging lightning.
Yet to Jin and Ban, this roughness made him seem more like a true Changsung—not a monster lost in instinctual ambition.
[I had such days too. We were defeated in the Great War and trapped inside there. But we met our savior—the Jin brothers.]
“Haha! Is that so? Even with such absurd power, you needed a savior? Warrior of Lafrarosa.”
[No matter who you are, salvation is needed once you’re born.]
“We never had the chance to meet such a savior. And even if we had, we wouldn’t have taken it. That’s not the life of the Reaper race.”
[Then prove it. Prove that your way of life is right. But you will fail. Because power alone can never bring you to your destination—there’s already proof here. You are not stronger than me, Simat. And the rights held by Changsung are not omnipotent.]
Kraaaaaa—!
Simat roared, lifting Tetalon high. Lightning surged like a demon, tearing at his entire body.
Flesh and blood splattered. It seemed his body might vanish at any moment.
But Jin and Ban were certain he would only grow stronger the more he was cornered. He barely protected his vital points while drawing in the lightning of the Great Heart.
In response, Jin opened the Reaper’s Dominion Sword.
Reaper Sword Warrior Technique, 10th Sword: Reaper’s Dominion Sword – Advance
The energy reached even the brothers suffering in Lafrarosa. Across dimensions, the march of the Reapers echoed.
All their wills converged into Jin’s Great Heart.
Not only the hostile brainwaves but even the chaos engulfing the battlefield began to retreat, avoiding the lightning.
At the same time, the aerial fortresses loading their main cannons inside their shields stopped moving.
Even Pibil, who had finished loading first and was firing at Lafrarosa, came to a complete halt.
The shells fired at Lafrarosa hung frozen in the air.
This was the same sword that had stopped Ram’s bombardment during the Demon God War. The same scene was unfolding again on the Great Desert.
Only one person moved freely in the frozen battlefield—Jin.
And all that could be heard was the thunder of the Reaper’s Dominion Sword.
[You cannot transcend us, Simat.]
Countless thunderclaps tore through the sky, dyed electric blue. Wherever the warrior’s thunder struck, a heavy, sharp slicing sound followed.
It was the sound of aerial fortresses being cut down. Huge, blue blades fell from the sky, ravaging all four of Simat’s fortresses.
The shields were useless.
A shield formed by mere machinery, without will, could never withstand the warrior’s lightning.
Moreover, the Great Reaper Kings who should have been defending the fortresses were fighting outside, leaving the lightning to strike mercilessly.
The Reaper race was collapsing.
Their proud four aerial fortresses were breaking helplessly. At this rate, they would vanish without a trace in less than five minutes.
Swoosh!
Once again, Simat’s sword flew toward Jin’s neck. His heavy, bloodied body briefly blocked Jin’s view.
“No! I will transcend you! Even if I break, even if I die, even if our fate is utterly denied! That will all come after I surpass you!”
The moment Simat swung his sword again, the aerial fortresses began moving once more.
He had managed to scratch the Reaper’s Dominion Sword’s energy. Tetalon’s blade left a red afterimage in Jin’s domain.
Some of the wounds on Simat’s body were deep enough to expose bone.
But Jin and Ban saw it clearly. Even if those wounds deepened until only bone remained—or even if nothing was left—Simat would keep swinging his sword.
“Ending a life is easy, but killing the will is not. In that sense… he’s a worthy rival, Jin brother.”
Simat’s sword strikes continued to graze Jin’s entire body.
Yet not a single strike pierced deeply. The energy of the Reaper’s Celestial Sword seeped into the wounds but could not penetrate the Great Heart.
Every cell, every blood vessel pulsed with the brainwaves of Jin and the warrior spirit. The reason the Red Sea threatened Lafrarosa was only because Ban had to protect his brothers.
Crack!
Simat’s middle and ring fingers holding Tetalon exploded. Losing fingers didn’t affect his sword or will, but it only made the already closed door to transcendence shut even tighter.
The threshold for transcendence was rising higher and higher. All Jin needed to cut through Simat’s will was simply enough time.
The gap had been vast from the start.
“I’m abandoning defense! Withdraw all power from the shields! Concentrate all energy into offense! Even if we lose all four aerial fortresses, we must destroy Lafrarosa!”
Inside one of the aerial fortresses, Rimagas shouted.
He was regretting his decision. He wanted to kill himself for advising Simat not to use Kree.
“I should have brought Kree before this happened. Using the witch? What nonsense. The witch used us instead! The witch wanted Lafrarosa to be liberated… to destroy Kree!”
Kree, and the Light of Oblivion.
Rimagas was certain that was the witch’s true target. The Light of Oblivion was the greatest threat to the witch in any situation.
But even thinking that now was too late.
Lafrarosa was on the verge of liberation, and their warrior spirit hadn’t even been fully unleashed, yet it was already wreaking terrible havoc.
It was too late to fix mistakes now.
Hard as it was to imagine, even if Simat defeated Jin, nothing would remain for the Reaper race. Their comrades, including the warrior spirits, would be dead or in a state worse than death, and their aerial fortresses and fleets would be unusable.
In other words, the only option left was self-destruction. Even if it meant total annihilation, inflicting maximum damage on the enemy was the best they could do.
“Any news from Kree yet?!”
At the very moment the fusion of souls unfolded, Rimagas had already sent out the call to Kree. Since communication was impossible due to the chaos, he had dispatched part of the fleet.
But the comrades who had gone to summon Kree were likely already dead. Amid this overwhelming storm of psychic energy that was tearing apart the airborne fortress, the Great Battle Kings, and even Simat like sheets of paper, could they have possibly escaped the vast desert intact?
Rimagas shook his head. The crew who should have answered his shouted call were being swallowed and erased by the blue psychic storm.
The Reign of the Underworld Sword had pierced through Pibil’s armor and was beginning to advance inside. With a hollow expression, Rimagas fixed his gaze beyond the shattered bridge armor.
Among the enemy Akmyung tribe, only Simat was pushing forward through despair, moving toward Jin. Even if those steps were meaningless.