Chapter 1064
Episode 252: The War Begins (3)
Kraaaash…!
The combined fleets of the Alliance and Kinzelro resumed their bombardment. But unlike before, the artillery fire no longer shot straight toward the Tower of Stories.
It was as if something had malfunctioned.
All the main cannons on every ship—except for the Abyss Legion’s black fleet—were firing in curved trajectories.
Yet, none of the crews were alarmed. The reason their shots weren’t flying straight wasn’t due to any distortion of the Demonstone’s power.
It was because of Ban, the Divine Warrior.
She was projecting her energy, guiding and controlling the bombardment.
The Golden Fleet’s main guns fired using power generated by the Light Core—essentially the brainpower of the Pluto race.
Similarly, Kinzelro’s ships, except for the black fleet, used brainpower mimicking Pluto’s energy. Ban could easily control that as well. It was a task only she could accomplish.
“Though it’s a bit unpleasant to have some impure brainpower mixed in, since they’re fighting for my brother Jin, I’ll forgive them for now.”
Pzzzt, shhhhk—!
Around the Tower of Stories, the sky shimmered with waves of deep blue beams.
From afar, it looked like a dance of blue threads. Hundreds of beams wove together, unraveling and swirling in a mesmerizing display—like a grand fireworks show.
The fierce, beautiful storm of blue light blended perfectly with the massive flames of karma Jin had unleashed.
The two forces harmonized as if they had been one from the start.
Fire and lightning, sharp azure blue, the Demon Sword and the Pluto Sword.
The blue storm had grown vast enough to engulf the entire Tower of Stories.
Pluto Sword Divine Technique No. 10
Pluto Sovereign Sword – Kai
As soon as Ban began to unleash her secret technique, a sly smile spread across her face.
This was comfortable.
Her prime had long passed, and the Divine Warrior’s Blood and the Thunder Sword Sigmund had been passed on to Jin. Every time she wielded the Pluto Sovereign Sword in this state, she felt a twinge of regret.
The Divine Warrior’s secret techniques had originally been far more destructive.
It wasn’t impossible to recreate that level of swordsmanship, but her weakened body would suffer greatly. Besides, she hadn’t faced an enemy strong enough to push her to the limit with the Pluto Sovereign Sword in a long time.
But now, Ban was engulfed in a sensation as if she were wielding the Pluto Sovereign Sword at the height of her glory.
The Golden Fleet’s relentless barrage exploded ceaselessly.
If given enough time, that power could easily erase entire continents. To Changsung, it might have seemed like nothing more than a massive brainpower.
A force that couldn’t kill gods, couldn’t overturn fate, couldn’t counter the enemy’s distortions that defied the world—a power that was simply overwhelming.
Yet, that immense power was reborn through the Divine Warrior’s sword.
It became hers.
Will infused it, sharpening it with a keen edge no one had ever possessed before. Transcendence began.
[I have waited half a millennium to annihilate you.]
No sooner had those words fallen than the second stage of her secret technique began.
Unlike before, the outward appearance of the Pluto Sovereign Sword didn’t change much after the transformation started. But the brainpower pierced deeper into the enemy’s core, and the vibrating lightning grew fiercer, tearing the Tower of Stories apart piece by piece.
Jin, Luna, and Ban—the fake phantoms near the three Changsung had already vanished without a trace.
Even the real mages who had just launched from the tower’s center were already on their knees. Though they were over five ri away from the Changsung, they dared not rise again.
The eyes of the remaining phantoms burned with fury.
The heat of karma and the Pluto Sovereign Sword. Their bodies and faces turned to ash and scattered before they could even register the pain.
The massive illusion of the Tower of Stories was burning. Jiple was experiencing a catastrophe unlike any before.
“After all this, shouldn’t at least one of them be a real threat by now?”
Rune Kandel’s Magic Sword Secret Technique
Crimson Sword Style 1 – Strike
Amid the chaos, a streak of crimson sword energy shot toward the tower’s center.
Luna Rune Kandel, the White Light, was launching a fierce assault.
The illusion was collapsing, and the distortions were caught in the flames of karma, unable to function. With Jin and Ban pressing the Tower of Stories and binding the Demonstone’s power, she could focus solely on offense.
She moved like a beam of light, not a mere human.
Every time Luna stepped, a crimson afterimage lingered. Her irregular sword marks scattered across the ship’s hull weren’t random slashes but precise cuts opening a path.
Kiiing, clack, clack, clack!
Just as the enemy Pluto race had once formed walls with their psychic waves, solid magic surged near Luna as she charged forward.
But it was no match for the crimson power she wielded. The blood-red blade of Krantel shattered the magical barriers before even touching them.
Like a lead rider charging ahead, every step Luna took toward the ship’s center was followed by the Pluto Sovereign Sword and karma.
At this rate, the tower would soon vanish without a trace.
[Wow, what a spectacle. Ban—when I fought across so many dimensions, I never saw him fight this well. And with Jin Rune Kandel and Luna too, it’s giving me chills.]
Orgal, watching from the Grnil’s bridge, spoke.
He trembled with overwhelming emotion.
“Show some decorum, master. Ever since you learned the truth of the world, you’ve been acting strange.”
[Zephyrin, you fought alongside me all this time. How can you not be moved by this?]
Zephyrin shrugged. She was indeed moved, quietly relieved. If Kinzelro had continued fighting the Balmel Alliance without knowing the truth, they would have been the first to fall. And the one who would have gained from that was Jiple—the enemy of countless worlds.
“Impressive, indeed. Though I wish Jin had gotten proper revenge at least once. He always seemed to be on the losing end. But now’s not the time to dwell. What do you think? They won’t just stand still, right?”
[Jiple is clearly at a disadvantage. But they won’t just take it. I think that damn Bligiet will show up soon.]
No sooner had Orgal finished speaking than a small orb, like a miniature sun, rose at the center of the Tower of Stories.
It was Bligiet.
The moment he appeared, all the energy enveloping the tower was swallowed by a blinding white light.
It lasted only a blink of an eye, but in that instant, Bligiet alone blocked the power of the three Changsung.
Jiple hurriedly activated the Demonstone, partially restoring the damaged hull. Originally, he wanted to teleport out of the battlefield entirely, but that was impossible.
[Bligiet… Seems he regrets not finishing me off last time.]
Once again, karma, the Pluto Sovereign Sword, and the Crimson Sword dominated the ship.
But this time, they couldn’t advance quickly to the center. Just like the first battle with Ban at the Sun God Temple, Bligiet had already formed a solar shield around the tower’s core without any warning.
The Changsung’s energy pressing on the Demonstone was blocked by the shield. That meant Jiple could summon new troops inside the shield using the Demonstone.
Three seconds.
It took only that long for the three swords to tear through the shield, but Jiple had already opened the Demonstone to its maximum, summoning the archmages.
The forty-year-old head of the family, Kimallos Jiple, and five previous heads resurrected from hell, along with their phantom troops.
If only they had been summoned, the Alliance would have torn them apart instantly. But with Bligiet’s protection, they could hold out a little longer.
Skreeek—!
Ban’s sword energy struck the shield directly in front of Bligiet. He thought he could handle mortals more easily than at the Sun God Temple.
Thanks to the relaxation of most of the ‘Airan Bimment’ restrictions in exchange for fighting for Jiple, Bligiet had regained more power than when he first met Ban.
‘Kelliak Jiple said it would take at least half a year to lift Airan’s restrictions. Lies, as expected. Well, that’s good. From today on, he can’t make me wait any longer. If I completely lift Airan’s restrictions through the Demonstone…’
Just as he thought this, Bligiet had to watch helplessly as the frontal shield shattered like glass.
It was Ban’s sword energy that had just struck. The blade broke through the shield and didn’t stop until it grazed Bligiet’s cheek.
A golden drop of blood splattered. Bligiet glared fiercely, ready to counterattack. But what entered his vision wasn’t Ban—it was the crimson sword energy of Luna’s follow-up strike.
Bligiet veered sharply downward to dodge, and the blade struck the troops Jiple was protecting.
Like Siron’s sword, the mages hit by the blade scattered into particles, drifting away somewhere. The Crimson Sword didn’t just pass through them—it ricocheted wildly inside Bligiet’s shield like light reflected in a mirror.
“Graaah!”
“Ugh!”
Bligiette’s shield had backfired. The Crimson Sword exploited every angle except the shield’s gaping front, ricocheting off and continuing its relentless slaughter.
Bligiette couldn’t react quickly enough to deactivate the shield, especially with Ban and Luna’s sword energies still raining down relentlessly.
Meanwhile, as the Changsung fought atop the tower’s hull, the allied fleet steadily closed in on the Tower of Stories, providing artillery support.
They were preparing to deploy a newly developed unit, introduced alongside the Golden Fleet.
[Yellow 2, launching. We’ll make sure the Changsung’s blades never have to waste a moment on those worthless phantoms.]