Chapter 557
Episode 147: King of the Black Sea, Gliek (1)
“Fall back!”
Talaris hastily steadied herself.
In place of the broken inner defenses, a massive wall of ice erupted in all directions—an almost full display of Talaris’s power, aside from the forces bound by Elona and Ziphl’s seals.
Yet the chaotic energy tore through even that barrier as if it were nothing. Though she managed to slow the advance of the chaos that had descended upon Jin and his group, that was all she could do.
“Kaahk!”
Talaris spat out a mouthful of blood, eyes wide with strain. A twitch ran along her eyelids, and her grip on the sword trembled.
It wasn’t fear that shook her—but she wasn’t without fear.
The tidal wave of chaos pouring from the White Stone was vast beyond even her comprehension.
—“It’s hard to believe, but if the White Stone could be refined and harnessed, it would be enough to power all the Empire’s magical equipment and instantly multiply its strength several times over.”
—Testimony of the traitor, Tion Hyraan.
—“The arrival of massive reinforcements just now proved it. The White Stone is indispensable to them. Yet we still don’t even know what it truly is.”
—Rosa’s assessment.
—“The previous Mistress Archers left records that Hyraan possessed a single item capable of threatening the world. Our archers suspect that item belonged to the witch Helluram.”
—Their speculation.
—“It’s a seal that even the absolute power of the Frozen Blade cannot break. Do you understand what that means? It means chaos beyond even my control is sealed within.”
—Talaris’s deduction.
All these theories were either wrong or incomplete. What slumbered inside the White Stone was far beyond their expectations.
The King of the Black Sea, Gliek.
The fifth ruler of chaos.
Only Kinzello knew his true identity. Even Keliak had never imagined that the being sealed within the White Stone was Gliek.
The Frozen Blade radiated a dazzling brilliance. Under normal circumstances, its light would have illuminated the entire battlefield, but before Gliek’s chaos, it flickered like a mere candle.
The Frozen Blade unfolded. Hesitation, even for a moment, would mean death—not just for Talaris, but for Jin and his companions as well.
Threefold Snow Avalanche, Fourfold Frost Drive, Tenth Glacier Cleave. The white sword, imbued with Talaris’s very essence, struck out at the encroaching chaos like a ghostly specter.
The chaos seemed to mockingly absorb the Frozen Blade’s assault.
“The White Stone was the King of the Black Sea…!”
Screeeech!
The Frozen Blade and Talaris merged further, emitting a fierce, roaring resonance.
Only then did the advancing chaos falter for a brief moment.
Frozen Blade Secret Technique: White Radiance
When Talaris drove the Frozen Blade into the ground, ice blossoms as massive as mountains erupted all around.
Sharp and unyielding, the icy petals spread rapidly, devouring the space at near-light speed.
Talaris trembled violently, black blood streaming endlessly from her mouth and nose. Alongside Elona’s seal, she had been the sole barrier holding back the White Stone’s rampage—no wonder even she was struggling.
Panting heavily, Talaris intensified the power of the White Radiance technique.
She was locked in a desperate struggle against the chaos, crushing the ice blossoms to block the chaos’s attempts to break into the White Radiance’s domain.
“Damn it… why is it here, not in the Black Sea?”
Her face was pale as death. Her hair was disheveled, sweat poured from every pore, and the sword forming the White Radiance trembled precariously, as if it might be yanked from the ground at any moment.
Talaris Endorma—the Mistress Archer, a peerless warrior even Siron acknowledged—was already facing a crisis the moment chaos awoke.
“Talaris!”
“Jin, listen carefully. That is the King of the Black Sea. Even if everyone on the battlefield combined their strength… damn it, where are the reinforcements?!”
The space where Talaris held back the chaos was but a tiny fraction of the battlefield.
Though the White Radiance remained unbroken, the chaos was already spreading beyond the ice blossoms, engulfing the entire field.
Talaris was merely buying time.
Time for Ron, Keliak, Runkandel, and Ziphl outside to push back the chaos even slightly. If the White Radiance broke, it would be over.
“And that bastard… ugh… he’s after you…!”
The King of the Black Sea’s grudge against the shadow.
Talaris felt that hatred vividly as she fought the chaos—not directed at her, but aimed squarely at Jin.
Jin felt it too.
The moment chaos awoke, he instinctively knew it was targeting him. The hatred was so thick it felt almost tangible, pressing down on his entire body.
A suffocating weight, like a father’s fierce, possessive rage.
If not for Talaris, Jin would never have survived this.
The power was beyond what he could handle alone. His comrades were exhausted, and even the guardian dragons meant to protect him were either past their prime or drained of strength.
Moreover, the enemy was unlike anything Jin and his group had faced before—immense, overwhelming, and far stronger. Talaris’s endurance wouldn’t last much longer.
After the White Radiance ended, she would need time to recover and reclaim some of the power used in Elona and Ziphl’s seals before she could fight properly again.
If the Emperor hadn’t made a deal with Ziphl, if Ziphl hadn’t shown such greed, if the world hadn’t cornered Hyraan and the Sword Emperor… this terrible being would never have awakened in the mortal realm.
Drip, drip.
Blood from Talaris’s face fell onto the frozen ground, leaving bright red spots.
And within the White Radiance’s domain, another problem was emerging.
[Kraaak! Kraaah!]
Suddenly, Amela’s eyes rolled back as she convulsed violently.
The chaos within her was reacting to Gliek’s power, spiraling out of control.
If Yona hadn’t crushed that chaos once before, Amela would have gone mad within seconds and attacked her comrades.
[Please, someone… do something… aaah!]
Even Rata and Fey groaned and collapsed, overwhelmed. The faint scent of chaos inherited from Smarion was also reacting to Gliek’s power.
“My lord, if I attack my comrades, please don’t hesitate to cut me down. I… I can’t hold on much longer…!”
Thud!
Rata forced herself to stab her own thigh and Fey’s shoulder to stay conscious, but she could no longer continue fighting.
“Captain of the Ghosts!”
“Rata! Fey!”
The White Radiance was breaking.
Jin had to decide what he could do.
‘If this continues, Talaris and everyone else will be in danger. I have to find a way…!’
He still couldn’t use his special sword technique, the Black Call.
‘But behind me are Lord Stam and the Black Knights.’
Just outside the shattered inner defenses, Stam and the Black Knights were no longer fighting phantoms but responding to the chaos. There was no time for them to point swords and staves at each other.
‘Lord Stam was ordered by his family to protect me. And given his position, he’s also receiving help from Talaris.’
As expected, Stam was struggling to break into the White Radiance. He judged that the moment the technique broke, no one among the comrades would be able to protect Jin.
“Talaris, is it possible to withdraw some of the forces spread out in the rear?”
Talaris immediately understood. She had sensed Stam and the Black Knights before Gliek awoke but had been too overwhelmed to think about it.
“Stam and the Black Knights, but Jin… it’s a gamble. The moment the ice blossoms in the rear vanish, chaos will flood in as well.”
Before she could answer, Jin formed a summoning circle with desperate hope.
To call forth his phoenix, Bradamante, whose true power he had partially restored last year and who was now recovering.
It wasn’t a blind gamble.
‘The moment chaos awoke, the blue flames within Bradamante reacted strongly. It’s like when Tess forcibly manifested my power in the old Oterium.’
Jin’s desperate wish was answered in less than a few seconds.
From the start, Tess had been preparing to manifest the moment Gliek was freed from the White Stone.
Though not yet fully recovered, now was no time to hesitate.
Graaahk!
Tess emerged from the summoning circle, radiating the majesty of the Flame Lord.
Unlike in the old Oterium, he did not draw on Jin’s power to manifest his true abilities. Instead, he purified some of the chaos scattered around using the Flame Lord’s power, using it as a medium.
He couldn’t use chaos as a medium indefinitely. Even Tess risked exposure to chaos this way, but it was better than endangering his contractor’s life.
“Tess!”
“Tess, sir!?”
“Oh, how wonderful to see you again!”
Jin, Misha, and Murakan all shouted at once, and as Tess appeared, the chaos pressing down on the ice blossoms receded.
At the same time, Talaris broke some of the ice blossoms behind her, and Stam and the Black Knights entered.
Octavia and the Phantom Corps were nowhere to be seen—they had retreated toward the main force to avoid the chaos.
“Twelve Riders!”
“We’re safe!”
Clatter, clatter—
The ice formations in front shattered and broke apart, and the momentary lull in the chaos surged inward.
Stam and the Black Knights stepped forward without hesitation, swinging their swords in place of Talaris—but it wasn’t an act to save her or the others. It was simply a desperate move to buy time.
Thanks to that, Talaris was able to catch her breath for a moment, while Jin and the others outside could hear the two voices shouting orders amid the chaos.
“All Runcandel knights, hold the 12th division at all costs!”
“Secure Jin Runcandel! He must not be consumed by the chaos!”
Rosa Runcandel and Kelliak Ziphl.
Following their leaders’ commands, every soldier from Runcandel and Ziphl threw themselves into the fray to protect Jin.