Chapter 1111
Episode 258: The Predator of All Dimensions (Part 1)
“We shouldn’t be worrying about Jin, but rather make sure Jin doesn’t have to worry about us. Fear not! No matter how many Changsung enemies there are, they are not invincible!”
Kaio drew back the divine arrow’s string as he spoke. Julian stood beside him, aiming his brainbow Harmila toward the sky.
“You’re a rookie, but you’re better than Feitel. Most would be intimidated by a pack of Changsung like that, yet you still hold your bow steady. Listen carefully—I’m going to open a path for you to strike with the divine arrow. That’s when you attack.”
Julian was barely holding his bow himself. Though cold sweat poured down his body under the pressure of the enemy Changsung, his grip on the string never wavered.
“Since you’re much stronger, Kaio, shouldn’t we switch roles?”
“No. Your arrows can’t break their formation, so this is the right way. Aim carefully. I’m about to start!”
Fwoosh!
A piercing blue arrow shot from Kaio’s great bow flew toward the shield of the white fleet standing at the enemy’s front line. The first arrow was swallowed by the enemy’s magic and vanished before it could hit.
But as the rapid-fire continued relentlessly, small gaps began to appear between the enemy’s magical defenses. Each time Kaio released the bowstring, the ground trembled with a heavy shockwave, and everyone watching—friend or foe—swallowed hard.
‘So this is the Mingwang clan,’ they thought. ‘To push so fiercely against the Changsung like this…’
‘Including the warrior god Ban, the Mingwang clan’s true power has never been fully revealed in any dimension. They’ve been holding back out of respect for Jin Runkandel, but still, it’s shocking to see arrows piercing through the Changsung’s magic.’
Though not as wide-ranging as cannon fire, the attack was far sharper. Julian gritted his teeth and nocked another arrow.
Within less than thirty minutes, blood streamed from Kaio’s mouth, ears, and nose every time he drew the bowstring. Julian’s eyes rolled back as if he might faint at any moment, yet their bows’ power never faltered for over an hour.
How many enemies had fallen? How many allies?
Even the Changsung themselves had lost count. Dozens still remained on the battlefield, but their sharp senses were focused solely on killing each other.
One thing was certain: many had died.
Far ahead on the front lines, Hedoh and Vanessa looked down at a comrade fallen with a staff piercing his chest.
Heijin Kriel—the black knight of Runkandel’s vanguard, who had fought alongside Siron for decades during the Black Sea expedition—was foaming at the mouth, his consciousness fading. Even in his final moments, his only thought was loyalty to his family.
“Vanessa… please… take care of the clan leader… the sub-leader.”
“You’ve done well, Heijin. Rest now.”
Even someone who had devoted so much time couldn’t be properly tended to. Vanessa planted his sword in the ground and turned her blade back toward the enemy.
She had already lost her left arm, and through the torn armor, her pale ribs showed. Hedoh, standing beside her, bore dozens of cuts and slashes.
“Hedoh.”
“Speak.”
“My time is running out.”
Hedoh couldn’t reply. In truth, Vanessa standing upright at all was a miracle.
“If nothing else happens in the time left, this battle will be ours. The rest depends on the sub-leader who holds the inheritance. Please, survive until the end and fight alongside them. Until everything is truly over…”
“…I will.”
Before them stood Elona from the Holy Water Division and a Changsung mage from the Demon Corps. Hedoh thought: Vanessa won’t be able to dodge their attacks twice.
But the moment the Holy Water Division and Changsung launched their assault, Hedoh stared in disbelief at Vanessa’s back.
“There’s no time, but it’s not over, Hedoh. I’ll probably die without becoming a Changsung. But as a superhuman who cut down Changsung, my name will be etched in the shrine.”
Her desperate fighting spirit struck a chord deep within Hedoh, like the day he escaped the Black Sea as a monster and met Sandra—a fierce desire to protect someone.
From a life spent protecting only Sandra, now a wish to protect Vanessa, and through her, to guard everyone.
“Even if I fall, I’ll make sure to take that bastard down. Let’s do this.”
Vanessa, wounded and dying, stood ahead of Hedoh, absorbing enemy magic. Hedoh tried to take more hits himself to ease her burden, but the more he did, the faster her sword tore through the enemies.
Having lived as a monster and a warrior, Hedoh was experiencing a transcendence that touched his very flesh for the first time. Soon, he understood what he had to do.
“Fight with all you’ve got, Vanessa. I will inherit your transcendence.”
“Good. I like that.”
On the opposite side of the battlefield, Dante and Veradin stood back to back, glaring at the enemies surrounding them.
“Now, Dante. Jin’s rear is about to be exposed.”
“Understood.”
They pretended to be trapped by the enemy, waiting for the moment when the Changsung guarding Jin would falter, ready to rush in and fill the gap.
As Rashid smoothly sliced through the air, blood fountains erupted between the Demon Corps surrounding them.
‘Is that the Invisible Sword!?’
‘Dante Hiran has been holding back his speed all this time…!’
Every time Dante’s eyes flashed, unseen sword energy swept through the enemies. Though the Demon Corps were highly skilled, even the top knights couldn’t read the Invisible Sword’s movements.
Veradin’s scattered magic further disrupted the sword’s signature, making it impossible to track.
A group of elite Demon Corps soldiers turned into a pile of corpses in an instant. Before their blood could settle, Dante leapt toward Jin.
He had been feigning struggle all along. Normally, the Changsung would never fall for such a trick, but their senses were dulled now, and they were caught off guard.
“You thought you had a chance to strike Jin? Wrong. I was holding back while watching my comrades and allies fall!”
The Heavenly Slash, Hiran’s secret technique, grazed the back of a Changsung charging at Jin.
“Ugh!”
Though it was just a scratch, the sword energy sliced straight through the spine. The mage let out a pained cry and fell to the ground, where Veradin’s Hellfire raged beneath him.
The Changsung tried to disperse the flames with brute magical force, but as the fire cleared, the coldly glowing Orgal’s sword appeared.
Shing!
One strike severed the head. Orgal didn’t even glance at the corpse before turning left, where a beam from an enemy Changsung was flying in, aiming for the brief absence of Siron and Ban.
[No rest for us!]
After fending off the beam with Dante and Veradin, Orgal looked up at Jin. Jin clutched his pierced left shoulder, breathing heavily.
The Changsung and allied elite forces were protecting him with their lives, but the wound was irreversible.
He couldn’t afford to accept death—he had to survive.
Like always, and like Vanessa and the other superhumans on the battlefield, Jin couldn’t transcend reality.
If he accepted death, he could swing his sword even as his heart stopped and breath ceased. But trying to survive, he couldn’t do that.
‘My bones and flesh are rotting. It looked like light magic, but there was darkness in it too.’
It wasn’t yet debilitating, but the poison—unrelieved even by the warrior’s blood and the full-dose antidote—would become a serious problem if left untreated. He needed the healing of King Rani, but retreating to the rear was impossible.
‘Still, it’s clear the enemy is paying dearly for giving up on victory. The Changsung targeting me are being picked off one by one, and the fleet and ground forces hold their lines.’
But unease gnawed at him.
The future of victory felt too distant. Twenty hours left—plenty of time for some unforeseen disaster.
The worst variable was, of course, Keliak.
Normally, Jin would have prepared for the worst and acted accordingly. But now, if Keliak came, there was no way to stop him.
The thought of praying he wouldn’t appear sent chills down his spine.
Instinct, intuition.
The moment Jin pictured Keliak’s face, he was suddenly certain. That monster wouldn’t miss this chance.
‘Could he be delayed by the battle with Malugia? No way. He will come here. And when he does… what am I supposed to do?’
What can I do?
The Changsung, including Siron and Ban, were all severely exhausted. The Mingwang cannon might fire a few more times—maybe twice at most. Even if a miracle allowed more shots, Jin didn’t believe they could stop Keliak.
The questions kept coming, with no answers.
For now, he had to warn them.
“Father, Brother Ban. He’s coming.”
The moment he said those words…
A new dimensional gate was truly opening in the sky. Unlike the previous gates, which had flowed like the universe itself, powered by Malugia’s force, this one was simply a dark, endless cave.
The moment the gate opened, everyone on the battlefield froze as if caught in a play.
And from within, the devourer of all dimensions revealed itself.