Episode 1028
Chapter 247. The Liberation War of Laprarosa (16)
Simat’s trembling sword gradually steadied. The turmoil within him, bound by his mind, was settling back into place.
The price had already been set.
As Luna said, there was no need to drag others into this fight.
“Saving an enemy you could easily kill… you’re starting to resemble Cheongpungje more and more,” Simat said with a shrug. Even as the weight of defeat pressed down on him, strangely, he felt neither resentment nor humiliation.
Though eternal pain, unrelated to victory or loss, coiled just ahead, waiting to strike, he found himself oddly uplifted.
“When I reached Changseong, I realized something more clearly. Between Cheongpungje—the old man—and me, there was still a vast gap. But deep down, I was certain I was stronger than him.”
“Because you treated your enemies more cruelly?”
“Yes. Back then, I couldn’t understand how he had entered this realm, or how he could even be stronger than me. But now… I get it. Changseong is just one stage, nothing more.”
Luna nodded in agreement.
“What you carry on your shoulders matters more than any stage. In that sense, the realm I’ve reached, driven only by my desires for myself and my people, is nothing but humble.”
Swish—!
Simat’s sword lunged forward. The distance between them, which had seemed real, suddenly vanished as the blade shot straight toward Luna’s eyes.
Luna smoothly pivoted her body. Krantel spun with her, generating a heavy gust of wind. Simat didn’t dodge but thrust his sword again.
The violet blade surged toward Luna’s heart. She parried it with Krantel’s hilt, then used the recoil to shove Simat back.
“Dangerous for something so humble.”
Despite her words, Luna was strangely calm.
A new sensation was rising within her—a vibration deep in her core that stirred her heart with an inexplicable thrill.
‘I can see it. It’s becoming clearer.’
The direction of Simat’s blade, the spreading purple lightning, the razor-thin margin between life and death with every step and breath—they all sharpened.
Even as Simat’s blade grazed her neck or passed before her eyes, Luna no longer felt a chill run down her spine.
Instead, she closed the distance boldly. A mist of snowy white aura and purple lightning swirled around her like fog.
Inside the hull, chunks of metal were swept up in the mist, crumbling into fine dust. The gentle energy collided softly, expanding a circle of influence around the two.
The more this happened, the further Luna drifted from her familiar fighting style—no longer wildly swinging her sword, recklessly releasing energy, or charging fiercely.
But she hadn’t forgotten.
She was simply waiting for the right moment. Like a dance, she maintained a harmonious fight with Simat, planning to explode in a single instant.
She was just beginning to feel a new power stirring inside her. It pulsed like a mighty heart, ready to burst forth at any moment.
Simat read her moves perfectly.
But he had no intention of dodging. He planned to meet Luna’s new power head-on.
It was a mark of respect for an opponent who risked their life to challenge a pitiful version of himself—one who, if left alone, would soon fade away.
This was the final battle of a long, dark life stretching back to ancient times.
Like the days when he was abandoned without kin, without fortress or comrades, Simat fought alone, throwing his whole body into the clash.
“Come, Luna Runkandel. Show me what you have. It must be another essence of Cheongpungje I don’t yet know…”
Simat kept his thoughts on Eltiot. He expected the sword Luna had inherited from him.
“That sword will be beautiful. Even to my eyes, which have known only slaughter and conquest.”
Taaah! Prrzzzt…!
Suddenly, the hull tilted. The aftershock from the fallen King’s Reign Sword outside had shattered the Kree.
The hull beneath Luna and Simat cracked like an iceberg, plummeting toward the ground.
Through the fissures, Jin’s lightning flowed in. Golden thunder cascaded inside the hull like waterfalls.
As if on cue,
Both leapt toward each other simultaneously. Simat attacked with a thrust, while Luna swung Krantel from afar.
‘It looks slower, but it’s not.’
Simat anticipated Krantel would accelerate just before impact.
‘Is she planning to cut me down along with my sword? No… that’s not Cheongpungje’s way.’
Then what was this new realm Luna had attained? The question filled Simat’s mind.
What is seen and what is unseen.
Before the sword could strike, he had to find what hid in the gap. But even with Changseong’s insight, capturing everything in that brief moment was impossible.
‘Acceleration, definitely. But what Luna Runkandel will unleash after acceleration—no, it’s not acceleration! The Radiant Sword, was it…?!’
The Radiant Sword was a technique Eltiot, at his peak, had prepared for Simat. Not the Red Blade or the Blue Blade, but a sword born from understanding harmony.
But Simat had left Eltiot before the Radiant Sword was completed and had since forgotten it.
Now, as vividly as if it were yesterday, the form of the Radiant Sword began to surface. Eltiot must have finished this unfinished technique for Luna.
‘There’s no sword better suited to cut me than this one.’
The Radiant Sword Simat remembered was honest and straightforward, matching its grand name. No sudden acceleration, no erratic changes in style—just a pure, straight blade.
Krantel flew at the same speed as before. At this rate, Simat’s sword would inevitably strike first.
But just as their blades were about to clash, Simat’s vision suddenly flushed red.
The crimson aura unique to the mind sword—but deeper still. A scarlet energy, unlike anything Simat had ever seen, wrapped around Krantel.
As he expected, Krantel did not accelerate.
Instead, like Simat had shown moments ago, it moved as if erasing space itself, instantly disrupting Simat’s calculations.
I am not your master, Simat.
The scarlet blade seemed to say. This is not Cheongpungje’s sword, but Runkandel’s—the sword of the White Mirror.
The power that had begun to resonate within her the moment she shook off the lure of the red aura.
Luna knew Simat was still projecting Eltiot onto her.
Thuk…!
Simat’s sword pierced Luna’s chest.
But the blade didn’t go as deep as he intended. It was a price paid for being trapped in the past.
He faced the past through Luna, while she looked only to the future of this battle.
The power to change fate.
Even with Changseong’s authority, one cannot alter a fate long passed.
And even without Changseong’s power, sometimes a person can transcend fate. Just as Luna was now overcoming the gap with Simat and dealing him a fatal blow.
Purely by their martial skill, such a thing should never have been possible.
Simat’s sword cut shallowly, while Luna’s blade struck deeply. Krantel grazed Simat’s neck, plunged into his chest, then struck down his left heart.
Zheeeeng—!
A roar and vibration shattered part of the scarlet heart, sending sharp fragments flying. From the cracks, thick, heavy blood-like red energy poured out.
“Ugh…!”
Luna groaned. Simat, retreating, detonated the red energy in the wound. Gritting her teeth, Luna pursued as he tried to create distance.
Despite the severe injury, her body felt light.
Luna realized transcendence was near. All her experience and insight—as the first of her clan, a member of the Black Sea Expedition, and Eltiot’s disciple—were exploding wildly.
She wanted to pour everything into Krantel without pause. If she did, she felt she could erase not only Simat but the entire Great Desert from the map in an instant.
‘Harmony.’
But Luna did not rush to seize the moment of transcendence now so close.
She needed to accept it delicately, tuning everything so nothing was lost or buried, so all could shine.
She immediately understood what was needed.
‘This is not just an evolution of red power—it’s a demon sword.’
Along with the scarlet aura, a gentle breeze of magical energy stirred near her. Luna stepped forward, treading that magic like a path.
Though not fast, Simat couldn’t easily escape. The scarlet aura pressed from the front, magic constricted from behind.
Fragments of the scarlet heart crumbled between the aura and magic. At last, the Red Celestial King was meeting his end.
[Little one. Surely, the curse of Lokia is weakening.]
Between Laprarosa and Inse, a dimensional rift shimmered like a crystal cave. The images of Jin and Murakan reflected on the dimensional wall flickered, fading and sharpening in turn.
[Yes, but it’s not gone completely. It seems the half-brothers have suffered problems from enduring both the curse and the dimensional distortion.]
Though their conversation was casual, both felt the relentless pressure of the surging dimensional storm.
Massive lightning currents flowed inside the rift. The currents starting from Laprarosa and those extending from Jin were steadily drawing closer.
[Hmm, if the pressure at the dimensional gateway to Laprarosa is already this intense, I’m worried that that chain-smoking guy’s release device might not hold up. Well, Ban should be guarding it, right?]
Jin chuckled softly and nodded.
[That’s something I can handle too, Murakan. There’s no way Ban and his brother can’t manage it. Still, let’s pick up the pace a bit—no matter how strong Ban is, it won’t do us any good if we’re late.]