Episode 1103
Chapter 257: The Demon Army’s Assault (7)
“Is that so? It’s a shame you’re not what you used to be.”
It wasn’t sarcasm. Siron deeply lamented that Ban’s prime had passed.
Because the future of this war still looked bleak.
Sure, Siron was currently overwhelming the enemy single-handedly, but this battle wouldn’t end here. Even if they wiped out ten new Changsung and the entire fleet, the enemy would just send out an equal number of reinforcements.
The Bamel Alliance had to hold out for five days.
But not even a full day had passed yet. And even if they managed to survive those five days, there was no guarantee that Solderet’s plan would turn the tide.
“Well, win or lose, with or without reinforcements, fighting to win is how people like us operate.”
“Many will die.”
“That’s true.”
“…But you and I must survive until the youngest arrives.”
“Yeah… of course we must.”
Siron’s sword strikes swept across the battlefield like a blizzard, continuously dismantling the White Fleet. Now, their allies had fully shaken off the effects of the Void Mirror, regaining clear sight to locate and attack the enemy.
Jin and his comrades had retreated to the right flank, barely escaping death as they faced the Demon Army’s Changsung.
One of them had already lost an arm to Siron’s blade and suffered a fatal wound to the abdomen. His face was hidden beneath a hood, making it impossible to identify him. Without a word, Jin and his companions plunged their swords and claws into his body.
“Ugh…!”
Jin neither wondered which dimension this warrior came from nor felt any strange emotion at how easily a Changsung could fall here.
This was a battlefield where Changsung died like ordinary soldiers.
Which meant the Alliance’s Changsung could just as easily meet the same fate. Not to mention the superhumans and other powerful beings.
“Murakan, fall back and focus on protecting Veil and our forces. Our troops will push forward and strike Jin’s position.”
[Understood.]
The Void Mirror technique, Siron’s sword, couldn’t be maintained forever.
At most, a day—and even that required Siron to overexert himself so much he wouldn’t be able to fight for a month afterward. After finishing the technique, they could only sustain combat for about three hours.
Jin tracked the Changsung who had fallen into the Void Mirror with Luna, glancing up at the dimensional gates whenever he had a moment.
The Demon Army was still sending reinforcements. The pressure from the Void Mirror slowed the White Fleet’s escape through the gates, but the scale remained roughly the same.
‘The enemy commander hasn’t changed their strategy at all. Do they really have enough troops to keep using as cannon fodder?’
Tens of thousands of ships, nearly dozens of Changsung.
That alone was an unimaginable force for the Alliance, but it wasn’t the Demon Army’s “core.”
The completed Demon Stones and the Keliak Ziphl from the 33rd dimension.
Having already faced Keliak, the Alliance considered even these overwhelming enemies less threatening by comparison. If the Demon Stones and Keliak appeared on the battlefield now, it would be nearly impossible to respond.
‘No, speculating now is pointless. If we assume the worst, there’s no end to it. We just have to hold out for five days.’
Cut, stab, crush.
While Siron kept the enemy forces tied up, Jin and the Alliance members tirelessly roamed the battlefield, cutting off the enemy’s lifelines.
Still, the Demon Army stubbornly maintained about six hundred White Fleet ships on average and consistently sent out more than seven Changsung.
Two hours passed. Until then, the battle was clearly one-sided, with the Alliance centered around Siron crushing the Demon Army.
But for the first time, one of the Demon Army’s Changsung struck back effectively against Jin and Luna inside the Void Mirror.
Lady Elona!?
Jin almost shouted as he blocked a magical spear flying at his head. The attacker was an Elona Ziphl from another dimension.
And it wasn’t just one. Another Elona spear was already flying toward their rear.
These Elonas were different from the other Changsung the Alliance had killed so far.
Not because they were as elite as Siron or Ban, or had a special will like Jin. They simply felt like war machines with combat abilities beyond Changsung.
Both Elonas looked identical. They wore a slightly different form of the sacred crown Jin had seen, and the numbers 24 and 89 were branded like marks on their left cheeks.
Their eyes were lifeless, but even standing still, they radiated immense magical power and solar energy.
‘…They turned Lady Elona and Malugia from other dimensions into weapons!’
Exactly.
The Demon Army’s Keliak hadn’t just been killing Malugia across dimensions—they had used completed Demon Stones and their own powers to turn some into living weapons. They were called the Sacred Order within the Demon Army, and the numbers on their cheeks indicated their original dimension.
In other words, they were Malugia transformed into bio-weapons in Elona’s form. Being essentially immortal, their bodies were torn apart inside the Void Mirror but frantically regenerated, reaching Jin and Luna.
Even now, standing before them, their bodies were continuously decomposing and regenerating in real time within the Void Mirror.
There was no time to be shocked. Jin and Luna simultaneously thrust their swords at number 24. The head fell to the ground instantly, but it regenerated without a scratch.
Moreover, while regenerating, it unleashed solar energy explosions all around—a terrifying force that could easily engulf the entire battlefield if not suppressed by the Void Mirror.
‘The pure depth of the Void Mirror surpasses Changsung. But their firepower and regeneration… this is a disaster.’
Each member of the Sacred Order was like an incarnation of the Sun God’s essence. They truly were Malugia in Elona’s form.
Destroying them outright was less effective than sealing them. Jin immediately saw through their nature and issued orders to the fleet.
“Prepare the restraints! Until they’re fully secured, the superhumans aboard the flagship Sara must hold the Elona Ziphl and buy as much time as possible!”
It was a decisive command for Jin.
These weren’t Changsung. Facing the Sacred Order’s Elonas, the superhumans could die at any moment. But if the Changsung got tied up dealing with the Sacred Order, the losses would be even greater. And no one knew how many more Sacred Order Elonas might appear.
Jin’s order could cost his comrades and allies their lives. That thought stabbed at him like a blade, but this was the battlefield, and everyone fighting the enemy was a warrior.
At last, Jin steeled himself, just as his comrades had long ago.
Jin and Luna didn’t engage the Elonas directly. Instead, they bypassed them to track the other Changsung trapped inside the Void Mirror.
Of the ten Changsung, only three were still breathing. They had to eliminate them all before the next one appeared.
‘The Demon Army will likely keep sending at least ten Changsung at a time. Once Father’s secret technique ends, more survivors will emerge. We have to match their numbers as much as possible!’
Matching the superhumans one-to-one was impossible. But their combat could be leveraged through the fleet’s numerical superiority.
The Sacred Order couldn’t pursue the two. The Alliance’s superhumans, including Hedo and Vanessa, were already blocking their path.
“I heard our stray cats and even I have the Sun God’s power strongly within us, but luckily we met a good lord and didn’t end up like those things.”
“Talking about cats even here, Vanessa.”
“You responded so well with your meows earlier, but now you’re disappointing me. I have a favor to ask, Hedo.”
“What is it?”
“Awaken. If you grow stronger, I think it’ll ease the pain our lord feels, even if just a little.”
Vanessa, a Changsung, believed Hedo could reach that level, unlike herself. The entire Black Knight squad thought so.
“I was planning to, for Sandra’s sake.”
“Hearing you say that like you could become a Changsung anytime is ridiculous. You’re just a cat—who do you think you are? And your lady wouldn’t shed a tear even if you died.”
“If that ever happens, I sincerely hope she won’t be too sad. She’ll have to live well even without me.”
“You take jokes too seriously—I’m sorry. Don’t worry, I’ll protect our cat.”
The Elonas only watched Hedo, Vanessa, and the superhumans and said nothing.
[…Initiating elimination of key enemy figures. Lord Rondo, sharing your vision now.]
‘That’s… not a Changsung? And it’s Hedo?’
The Demon Army was stunned again as they viewed the shared vision from Elonas 24 and 89. They had expected the two Sacred Order members to inflict meaningful damage even inside Siron’s secret technique, but the superhumans on screen fought like Changsung.
It wouldn’t be surprising if they became true Changsung at any moment.
Of course, Hedo existed in every dimension. He was among Rondo’s subordinates now. And as far as Rondo knew, Hedo had never reached Changsung status in any world.
Most either died after meaningless betrayals and resistance or were converted into weapons like the Sacred Order by the Demon Stones. From the Demon Army’s perspective, Hedo’s innate solar energy made him an easy candidate for weaponization.
‘We have to assume this guy will become a Changsung. Damn it, all the intel and data we’ve gathered across dimensions are basically useless here.’
Despite suffering massive losses since the battle began, the Demon Army was still intact.
That fact gnawed at Rondo’s nerves. He clenched his anger and kept staring at Elona’s screen.
“Still, the terrible sword that Siron unleashed is finally starting to wane… Now, it’s time to truly show why we rule over all dimensions.”