Episode 1043
Chapter 249: The First Sortie of the Pluto Clan (10)
Whish—!
Sigmund’s strike, swinging like a whip, slammed into Luke’s side. Luke barely managed to raise his sword in defense, but the force sent him crashing into the rubble of the shattered sanctuary.
A sudden surge of heat rose in Luke’s throat as he spat out hot blood, hastily turning his gaze. There, approaching slowly as if in no rush, was Ban.
She was already certain of her victory.
More precisely, she had been certain even before the fight began. From Ban’s perspective, Luke was nothing more than a mediocre opponent.
Though he was called a Divine Warrior, his will had long since twisted; though he was a warrior, his swordsmanship was outdated. To Ban, Luke was an easier target than even the Twin Kings or the superhumans of the alliance.
“You, who don’t even understand what the Pluto Clan truly is… who do you think you are, trying to teach me a lesson?”
Luke glared at Ban and spoke.
“Cornered and desperate, you’re resorting to pathetic words. You’re getting worse, Luke. Honestly, before I kill you, I hoped there’d be something about you worth respecting. I wanted to think less poorly of the ancestors who believed in you.”
She spoke with sincerity. But Luke’s reply was nothing like what Ban expected.
“Ban, our Pluto Clan is fundamentally a people blessed by the Sun God.”
“And?”
“That means we owe everything to Kinzello, the Sun God. Do you really believe the power you wield is solely the result of your own effort?”
Before Ban could answer, she unleashed another bolt of lightning. Debris from the sanctuary scattered, thick dust billowing. Luke parried the strike and steadied himself.
“You have received the greatest blessings among the Pluto Clan. Your successor, Jin Runkandel, is no different. Even if I fall today, you will still move according to the blessings and will left behind by the Sun God.”
Ban blinked for a moment, staring at Luke. Then, suddenly, she burst into laughter, bending at the waist.
“Hahaha… a masterpiece, truly a masterpiece.”
Despite Ban’s unguarded laughter, Luke dared not attack recklessly. She was far from careless.
“Background, or environment, ultimately governs everything… So, you mean this, Luke: it’s true that our Pluto Clan is born with exceptional combat power compared to other beings. The hypothesis that it’s due to the Sun God’s blessing is plausible. But so what?”
Luke said nothing, focusing his mind, ready to counter if Sigmund struck again.
“Even without the Sun God, everything in this world is born with its own background. Some rise above life’s unfairness, others are born wealthy and strong but still curse the world. In the end, what matters is whether you can endure your own life or not.”
Ban no longer expected anything from Luke. To her, he was nothing more than a bug lost in madness.
“No matter what the Sun God gave us, we refuse to be his playthings. We never asked anything from him. I’ve faced a great failure in life and am now rising again—unlike you, lost in vain delusions.”
“Then let me ask you this: if I have the Sun God, you have Jin Runkandel. Aren’t you also achieving things you couldn’t overcome alone, with Jin Runkandel’s help?”
“That’s a pitifully weak excuse. But to answer you… relying on people and relying on a hollow existence are fundamentally different things.”
The conversation ended.
Ban’s eyes, now cold and hard, showed no trace of amusement. Luke sensed death approaching.
By now, the priestess must have realized the First Sanctuary was under attack, but sending reinforcements was pointless.
The Sun God’s military might was concentrated solely in Luke. The resurrected ancient heroes were no match for Ban or the Twin Kings.
Is all that’s left for the priestess to do is pray for the followers’ safe escape…?
Like a flash of light, Sigmund descended toward Luke’s forehead. This time, Luke reacted perfectly, raising his greatsword to block.
“Ugh…!”
But the moment their blades clashed, blood poured from every orifice on Luke’s face. Behind him, across the entire pocket dimension that made up the First Sanctuary, a vast scar was etched.
A strike condensed with the power of the Pluto Sovereign Sword.
Even Luke, who had ascended to Divine Warrior, could not have predicted the destructive force compressed into this small blade and a single downward slash.
No matter how well you know it, you cannot dodge it; no matter how well you block, you cannot remain unscathed—even if you are a Divine Warrior.
One knee buckled under the pressure. Trembling with effort, Luke barely managed to halt Sigmund’s strike.
The lightning that split the pocket dimension continued to generate shockwaves. Behind Luke, not a single intact object remained.
The space itself twisted into hundreds of strange whirlpools, endlessly swallowing the ruins of the First Sanctuary.
“Ugh, huff!”
Ban’s hands gripping the sword did not move an inch. She simply pressed down, overwhelming Luke.
Then she struck Sigmund down once more. Luke struggled to rise and raise his sword again, but the moment their blades met, he collapsed once more.
The sound of his kneecaps shattering echoed. His clenched teeth cracked, and his brain felt like it was bouncing and colliding inside his skull.
His vision flickered in and out. Luke tried desperately to focus and read Ban’s movements, but she remained unhurried.
She neither attacked during his blurred vision nor exploited his broken stance.
Because she didn’t need to.
“You are a disgrace to the Pluto Clan.”
Crash!
The third strike landed on Luke’s greatsword. His knees were already shattered, and his spine was about to give out.
A will beyond the flesh, a fighting spirit beyond death.
Only now did Luke begin to realize: he had long forgotten such things. That was why his broken legs would not move, and he could not fight as he once did.
He was trapped by his limits—the limits of his faith as a follower of the Sun God. So his past ascent to Divine Warrior was meaningless in this moment.
Sigmund continued to fall relentlessly.
The battle was no longer a fight but one-sided violence. Ban’s dry expression as she swung her sword made her seem less like a person and more like merciless punishment incarnate.
“Hah, still breathing but you’re dropping your sword?”
After the twenty-sixth downward strike, Ban paused briefly, speaking with disbelief.
Hiss, wheeze, shhh—Luke’s breath came out harsh and metallic. He was barely alive, his face unrecognizable. The arm that had been sliced off earlier was gone, and only his legs above the knees remained.
His radiant heart was crushed like a broken watermelon, and through the cracks, the Sun God’s essence he had held before the battle was leaking out.
Then, he dropped his greatsword to the ground.
“K-Kinzello… will… find you…”
“Yes, it’s fortunate you sought the Sun God until the end. Had you suddenly remembered your forsaken brothers now, I would have been too disgusted to sleep tonight.”
The lightning of the Pluto Sovereign Sword converged into Ban’s radiant heart. She steadied the energy, then raised her sword one last time.
With a fierce twist, the blade pierced Luke’s radiant heart, and he met his end.
The Sun God’s energy that had been leaking slowly coalesced into the air. Ban, displeased, raised her sword to cut it away but stopped.
She decided to watch where the energy would go and what it would do. If it left the pocket dimension, it was likely heading toward another stronghold of the Sun God’s faith.
“Thank you for your efforts, Divine Warrior brothers.”
The Twin Kings approached Ban.
They were disappointed. Ban’s victory was expected, but it was absurd that an ancient Divine Warrior like Luke couldn’t even land a proper counterattack before dying.
“Hmph, he’s weaker than any of us here, isn’t he?”
“Indeed. While Luke may have been more skilled in inaction, any of us could have defeated him. He trapped himself within his limits… When you return, tell all the brothers not to forget this pitiful end.”
“Understood.”
Ban glanced between the condensed Sun God’s energy and the priests she had spared earlier. The priests were still searching for Kinzello.
She placed a hand on one of their shoulders.
“You’re not like the other three—you’re not one of the dead. And you don’t smell of blood.”
“Y-yes… I, no, I mean, I am—”
“If I tell you the way to the Sun God’s other stronghold, I’ll give you a chance. A chance to leave the cult behind and live a proper life.”
“There’s nothing in this rotten world that will reward us… Gah!”
Another priest tried to speak up, but Kaio flicked his fingers lightly, twisting the man’s jaw. He lost consciousness, his face half-distorted.
The battle was over. The fate of the Pluto Clan and the Sun God’s faith hung in the balance, but for now, Ban stood victorious—cold, unyielding, and merciless.
“Of course, as Brother Jin said in his speech, a proper trial will be held. If you haven’t committed murder or any other serious crime since becoming a follower of the Sun God, you have every chance to start anew.”
“Father, I’m sorry—”
“Ah—”
The other two priests, whom Ban had classified as lost souls, also lost consciousness.
“What will you do now?”
The remaining priest trembled, glancing back and forth between the fallen priests and Ban. With Luke’s mangled corpse lying right in front of him, for the first time, his faith wavered.
Even if he didn’t help, Ban could simply take the priests to Valeria and be done with it. The priest knew this all too well.
“I’ll… do my best to help, within what I know. There’s a path here that leads to the Second Temple. If it’s not destroyed…”
Ban nodded approvingly.
“Lead the way. We leave immediately.”