Episode 1087
Chapter 255: The Death of Keliak Ziphl, and Then… (Part 4)
The moment Malugia spoke, Pokal lowered his head and clenched his teeth.
“Your suspicion… was right, Jin. Malugia wanted me to help her.”
If that was true, then the immediate threat of total annihilation had likely been averted.
Yet Pokal felt no relief—not just because of an instinctive aversion to aiding Malugia, but because this might be the beginning of an even greater catastrophe.
To Pokal, Malugia was far more terrifying than Keliak. For now, he had no choice but to follow Jin’s lead.
‘…Did Malugia just smile?’
Jin, about to respond, suddenly felt Malugia’s gaze. Those eyes and that faint smile sent a chill down his spine, freezing him in place.
Meanwhile, Keliak was frowning for the first time.
From the start, he had no intention of eliminating Malugia outright. His plan was to push her to the brink of extinction to revive “Kinzello,” then capture her.
Based on his past battles with other Malugias from different dimensions, he thought this was entirely feasible.
“You were hiding your true strength, Malugia…”
The Malugia of this world was different from the others he had subdued before.
Stronger, more cunning.
The moment Malugia began to unleash her solar energy again, Keliak had no choice but to admit his mistake.
‘My initial decision to come alone to this world was a miscalculation. I was too hasty. Jin Runkandel… and the rapid growth of the Bamel Alliance made me overreact.’
Unlike himself, Malugia had prepared everything from the start.
She had used Ziphl of this world to lure the Bamel Alliance into a full-scale assault, ensuring that the power of the solar deity selves they had acquired flooded the battlefield.
That power, just as Jin predicted, interfered with the dimensional boundaries, allowing the 33rd-dimensional Keliak to cross over.
She had perfectly anticipated the plans of the Demon God Corps and Keliak—knowing they were preparing to invade this dimension directly to crush the Bamel Alliance.
“Ugh, grrrr…!”
A sudden scream made Jin flinch and turn his head.
It was Pokal’s cry. She trembled, clutching her head as her solar energy was being drained.
Malugia was pulling the solar energy right out of her.
“Graaah… Malugia! What trick did you use when you accepted my power?!”
“I merely merged with you briefly. Thanks to that, I was able to open the gate. You should be grateful.”
Pokal couldn’t resist Malugia’s power at all. Her knees buckled, and she gasped for breath as if she might collapse at any moment.
“Pokal!”
Jin instinctively swung his sword at Malugia. Though they needed to use her, being dragged around like this was unacceptable.
But before his blade could reach her, Jin had to deflect a sudden beam from Keliak.
‘He’s targeting Pokal?’
For some reason, Keliak prioritized attacking Pokal as soon as the situation unfolded. Jin soon understood why.
‘When Malugia said she could open the gate, did she mean a gate to another dimension…?!’
It was exactly that.
Malugia was using Pokal’s power to open a portal to another dimension—to strike at the main force of the unified Ziphl, which had sent only its leader and strongest warrior ahead into this world.
That’s why Keliak was desperate to take down Pokal first—to sever the connection between her and Malugia.
“It’s already too late.”
Crack!
A dull, sticky sound echoed, like someone tearing a beehive in half by hand.
Above Keliak’s head, a massive rift was opening.
Everyone on the battlefield—even Keliak himself, who had ruled as the victor across all dimensions—had never seen a dimensional gate of this scale.
Beyond it, the scenery shimmered like a flowing galaxy, mirroring Malugia’s eyes. Gritting his teeth, Keliak glared at her.
Malugia had already teleported a short distance to stand before the gate. Keliak matched her altitude and reached out with a hand imbued with some unknown magic, but Malugia no longer allowed such futile attacks.
Layers of golden shields instantly unfolded, pushing Keliak away as he clung to her.
Keliak tore through the shields with both hands, trying to close in again, but Malugia blocked him and continued pouring solar energy into the dimensional gate.
Jin and his comrades could sense the solar energy flooding into the gate without even seeing it directly. It was a power capable of erasing entire worlds.
That power was aimed at the headquarters of the unified Ziphl, whose branches spread like limbs between dimensions. Jin couldn’t confirm this, but seeing Keliak desperately trying to stop it gave him a grim idea.
Though Keliak wasn’t losing the fight or suffering fatal wounds, the initiative had completely shifted to Malugia.
Keliak’s spatial explosions and unknown grand magic occasionally struck Malugia directly, but she ignored them and kept attacking beyond the dimension.
On the surface, it didn’t look so terrible.
Not a drop of blood spilled. Malugia’s body and shields, which resembled a massive structure under Keliak’s power, were repeatedly destroyed and regenerated.
But everyone watching—Jin, the Changsung, and all others—could instinctively sense the truth.
While Malugia poured solar energy into the dimensional gate, somewhere in real time, a dimension existed that was being destroyed—or suffering damage equivalent to annihilation.
Those dimensions surely resembled this world. Though ruled by the Demon God Corps, not everyone living there was evil.
There would be innocent deaths—countless ones.
Malugia carried out this mass destruction with a calm, indifferent expression, as if pouring oil on an anthill and setting it ablaze. As if she didn’t even need to acknowledge how cruel and horrific it was.
The kingdom of the Demon God Corps, everything Keliak had built, was being destroyed. Anyone who experienced such devastation would have their spirit shaken and broken.
Yet Keliak showed no sign of despair or sorrow. Not because he believed the Demon God Corps’ main force could easily repel Malugia’s sudden assault—they would undoubtedly suffer devastating losses.
“If you think this will torment me, Malugia, you’re mistaken. You might as well have used that power to strike me directly. It seems you can’t use it twice.”
After all, once this world was subdued, it would be over—even if countless conquered dimensions were destroyed.
Moreover, Keliak felt that even with that power, it was impossible to eliminate all the intact Demon God Stones. Unless it happened right before his eyes.
“Still, I’ll admit you landed a blow. So, what’s next? How will you surprise me again?”
The shockwaves from the solar energy intensified. Keliak’s magic amplified in response, and the aftermath began to bring down the stationary golden fleet one by one.
“Ugh, gasp…!”
“Pokal, are you alright?”
Pokal barely nodded. Jin tried repeatedly to contact the falling golden fleet, but all communications were dead.
Now was their only chance to retreat.
‘Keliak stopped the fleet’s power… The fleet’s power source must be able to suppress his strength even briefly for them to return.’
There were two choices.
Abandon the fleet and crew, retreating with only the key figures—or gamble everything by attacking Keliak to escape together.
The decision was quick.
Shing!
Sigmund’s sword sheath slid open. Jin’s blazing heart burned fiercely. Ban was the first to sense the surge and immediately understood the brothers’ decision.
“Right. If we retreat now, there won’t be a next time. Let’s go, Jin.”
“The power will return soon. All fleets, prepare to evacuate!”
Ban and Jin shouted.
There was no need to hide their retreat from the enemy. What mattered now was the belief that they could all survive.
No matter how terrible or powerful the enemy, they had the will to strike back.
The Changsung began moving toward the dimensional gate. Each step brought a crushing pressure that felt like their bodies were being torn apart, but the more it hurt, the more fiercely they pressed forward.
They walked, ran, surged.
Jin, Ban, and Luna quickly closed the distance to Keliak. Until then, Keliak had been too occupied with Malugia to pay attention to the allied Changsung.
But the moment the two Meiwang Dominance Swords were unleashed simultaneously, Keliak had to start dividing his power.
Amid the solar energy and Keliak’s magic filling the battlefield, two storms rose like nuclear cores.
Meiwang Sword Manifestation No. 10
Meiwang Dominance Sword – Ketsu
Shzzzt… crackle…!
The sea of gold shifted to blue and pure white. From the two secret arts, blue waves rippled outward.
Between them, the darkness of Murakan’s spiritual energy and the sharp crimson light intertwined. That power was already reaching the point where Keliak and Malugia clashed.
Though smaller than the solar energy and magic colliding there, the Changsung stood firm—neither repelled, broken, nor scattered.
He was striding confidently between Malugia and Keliak.