Chapter 402
Episode 119: The Banquet at Sword Emperor City (7)
What burst through the floor of the duel arena was a monster unlike anything anyone had ever seen before.
‘What the hell is this… a demon beast!? Where the hell did something like this come from all of a sudden?!’
The creature’s massive size was almost unbelievable, even to those who saw it with their own eyes.
Jin and Lata were slammed into the air by the monster’s jaws, and in that moment, Ron slipped in and struck a blow.
The sword ‘Rashid,’ wielded only by the head of the Hailan family, glowed with a dazzling light.
Swish…!
Like a crashing wave, the space rippled along the path of Rashid’s movement.
Though it hadn’t reached the ultimate level of complete annihilation known as Siron’s realm, it was still an overwhelmingly powerful knight’s strike, nearly unmatched.
The mountain-sized monster that had just appeared was split cleanly in two as if it were a lie.
Black blood gushed out like a flood, and before the blood could even stain the floor, a flurry of follow-up strikes shredded the monster into hundreds of pieces.
“Knights of Hailan, prioritize protecting the guests! Assemble all knights on standby inside the city. Execute Level 1 anti-terror protocols!”
At Dante’s command, the knights moved with military precision, drawing their swords.
Screams of panic erupted from all corners of the arena.
The pleasant tension that Jin and Lata’s duel had created was instantly shattered by the arrival of real danger. Naturally, most of the guests had never experienced anything like this before.
Even the warriors present were no exception.
Who could have imagined that at Sword Emperor City—especially at a banquet hosted by Ron Hailan for the first time in 22 years—such a terrorist attack would occur?
Crack, crackle—!
It wasn’t just one.
Massive monsters kept emerging from the floor all across the vast duel arena.
Their sudden eruptions caused tremors, shaking the ceiling as if it might collapse at any moment.
Pillars, once as sturdy as ancient trees, snapped and fell, adding to the chaos amid the guests’ terrified screams.
Fortunately, more than thirty percent of those seated were warriors who had come as honored guests to Sword Emperor City.
“We’ll help too!”
“We’ll clear a path—Hailan knights, evacuate the guests!”
“Black King’s Order, protect the guests! We’ll settle the pay later!”
The warriors drew their weapons and shouted.
Under normal circumstances, Hailan would have refused outside help.
Their pride would never allow them to rely on external forces within their own stronghold.
But now, with so many guests at risk of dying senselessly, and the attack already underway, it was a humiliation they could not bear.
If those attending the banquet returned as corpses, the reputation of Hailan’s greatest sword family would suffer irreparable damage.
“Damn it… what is this…!”
Lata landed on the floor and looked up at the monsters.
Though Ron had already torn one apart beyond recognition, there were still a dozen or so visible.
And that was far from the end.
Strong tremors continued to pulse from beneath the floor. More monsters were relentlessly attacking Hailan.
“Dante!”
Ron tore through a second monster and called for his grandson.
“Yes, Grandfather!”
“The knights can’t all assemble. There are already monsters outside as well.”
“Outside too…!”
“As the future master of Sword Emperor City, take responsibility and evacuate the civilians.”
Only Ron was aware that monsters had spread beyond the duel arena.
Just as Jin and Lata seemed to live in a different world, Ron was a being on a completely different level from all the other warriors present.
Dante nodded gravely.
‘They’re attacking outside as well?’
The moment Ron mentioned the outside, two words flashed simultaneously in the minds of the warriors.
War.
Someone had declared war on Hailan—or on Biment—through a surprise attack.
No one could mistake this for a simple terrorist act given the scale.
And the only force capable of commanding such a large number of monsters was…
No one.
As far as anyone knew, there was currently no faction capable of controlling monsters. Humans simply couldn’t command them.
The only possible exception was Ziphl, but they had never waged war using monsters, nor did they have any reason to suddenly attack Hailan.
“Something about these monsters feels like demon dragons… could they be demons?”
Quikantel raised a protective barrier and spoke.
She, Murakan, and the other dragons present all thought of demons.
Unlike the warriors, dragons had at least once witnessed demons commanding monsters.
“Quikantel, don’t you think these monsters look a bit crude for demons?”
“Crude? They radiate a strong energy no ordinary high-level monster could possess.”
“It’s not about strength or weakness. The flow of their energy feels strangely unnatural, like something forcibly created. And I’ve never seen monsters like these before.”
“I get that feeling too. It’s rare for you to come up with such a plausible theory, Murakan. Either way, this isn’t a normal situation. You should help out and protect your contractor.”
Jin had already drawn the Dark King’s Sword and was fighting the monsters.
Though he couldn’t instantly turn giant monsters into chunks of meat like Ron, Jin and Lata holding the center helped reduce casualties among the guests.
[That’s right.]
Murakan transformed into his true form and soared into the sky.
By then, the ceiling had already collapsed, and massive boulders were falling everywhere.
“Murakan! Help Dante! More monsters keep pouring in!”
[I am Murakan, guardian dragon of Jin Runkandel. By my contractor’s will, I will protect you—fear not.]
Murakan’s deep, dark voice echoed as the sky turned black.
A veil of spiritual energy spread behind his two wings, covering the heavens.
Since the banquet was held in Biment, many imperial contract mages were present.
Their guardian dragons followed Murakan into the sky.
Murakan naturally became the center among the dragons.
The other dragons, unlike the monsters, were too afraid of this black dragon—awakened after a thousand years—to show any arrogance.
[Gwaaargh!]
The giant monsters opened their jaws toward the dragons.
Magical energy gathered in their mouths, resembling magical cannons.
The spheres of energy collected in their jaws had the same effect.
However, unlike ordinary magical cannons, the energy they wielded was of a different, more sinister nature.
Though it couldn’t compare to Kozek’s artillery, the destructive power was nothing short of catastrophic.
Twelve giant monsters gathered their magic like this.
When they fired simultaneously, a blinding white light filled the air, so intense it stung the eyes.
It seemed capable of pulverizing a small fortress without a trace.
[These insignificant pests don’t know their place.]
Murakan easily blocked their magical barrage.
His veil of spiritual energy swirled, swallowing the blasts.
But the shots fired inside the duel arena were only part of it.
Outside, monsters were bombarding the outer walls of Sword Emperor City with magical cannon fire.
The impact of the collapsing walls reverberated inside the city, and from that moment on, there was nothing anyone could do.
Unless one was an all-knowing, omnipotent being.
Casualties were inevitable.
Outside, even more monsters were firing than inside the arena.
Even if Siron himself were here instead of Ron, it would be impossible to prevent all damage perfectly.
But this was only the beginning of the assault.
Suddenly, fragments of the giant monsters torn apart by Ron and the warriors began to mutate in strange ways.
Like lumps of clay, the flesh stuck together, merging into new forms.
No one could tell what they were becoming.
Before the transformation finished, lightning crackled continuously as Sigmund swung his sword to cut them down.
But it was impossible to destroy every single piece of flesh.
‘Humans…!?’
The writhing flesh gradually took on a more human shape.
They were bio-golems created from monsters.
The masses of flesh filling the warriors’ view were exactly that.
Even the battle-hardened veterans present momentarily lost their composure.
It was as if the gates of hell had opened inside Sword Emperor City.
Dante, Lata, the other warriors, and the mages all gritted their teeth as they fought back the relentless bio-golems.
Regardless of rank or status, everyone was horrified by this unfamiliar and terrifying situation.
Among the warriors, Jin’s gaze was the calmest.
He had faced these damn bio-golems more than once before.
He even felt a strange sense of déjà vu.
‘Kinzello, Ziphl, Biment. One of those three created these giant monster golems.’
He had confirmed that all three factions were developing bio-golems.
Which faction was behind this, and why they chose this moment to strike Hailan, remained unknown.
One thing was certain.
No matter which of the three was responsible, Hailan would suffer significant damage.
For Jin, it was like a bolt from the blue.
The disaster had struck just as he was dueling Lata.
The central duel arena of Hailan, once as beautiful as a white desert, was no longer recognizable.
It was now filled only with writhing bio-golems and giant monsters.
Crack, rumble…!
Eventually, the far wall collapsed entirely, revealing the chaos outside.
The scene was even worse than inside the arena.
Knights and dragons were holding the line, but corpses were scattered everywhere—servants and ordinary soldiers.
Casualties were mounting inside the arena as well.
Jin instinctively turned his head to check on Veradin’s position.
His magic was nowhere to be seen yet.
That was what unsettled Jin. A sudden, nagging doubt crossed his mind—could it be that this assault was being led by the one whose mind had been manipulated?
If it was Veradin, someone Jin knew well, then in a situation like this, he would be the first to fight desperately to save people.
There was no time to confirm Veradin’s presence.
The number of bio-golems kept swelling, and Jin had been breaking through their encirclement nonstop.
Every time Sigmund unleashed his lightning, swarms of bio-golems were wiped out. Jin kept cutting them down, again and again, until the moment he suddenly stopped.
Far off, beyond the wreckage of bio-golems and monsters, a familiar robe came into view.
A group of humans clad in plain gray robes, bearing no insignia.
The instant Jin saw them, a chill ran through him.
Those gray robes belonged to the Wraith Legion.