Chapter 565
Episode 147: King of the Black Sea, Gliek (9)
Amidst the chaotic clash of swords and magic, a small space where Talaris began the sealing ritual shone with a pure, radiant light.
It looked like a pearl that never lost its glow, even in the deepest ocean.
As soon as Talaris started the absolute sealing ritual, Gliek focused all his attacks solely on her.
Despite his entire body being torn apart by the giants’ strikes, he didn’t even bother to defend himself.
The chaotic black wounds inflicted by the swords kept dissolving back into the blackened earth beneath them—not the kind of rapid regeneration humans were familiar with.
To the King of Chaos, ‘form’ was merely a convenient vessel.
Gliek’s true essence wasn’t the massive, increasingly detailed body shaped by the spreading black sea, but the chaotic energy itself, scattered and intertwined everywhere.
In other words, the giants’ attacks didn’t truly harm Gliek; they only distorted his form.
No matter how sharp a sword could cut through the sea, or how powerful a spell could blot out the sky in a single strike—
You can’t erase the sea or the sky itself. Even if the waves calm and the clouds vanish, the sea and sky remain, always present.
Gliek was no different. Despite enduring countless attacks, the chaos dispersed but never truly vanished.
“What the hell is that thing?”
Murakan transformed back into human form and stood beside Jin. Among the Balmel alliance, only Misha and Murakan stayed behind with Jin instead of escaping.
“Hey, demon. Is there really no way to deal with that thing?”
Misha shook her head. She was nearly exhausted, sustaining herself by absorbing Murakan’s spiritual energy.
“What do you think will happen if I regain all my old power? Can’t you do some kind of surgery or something? Even if it’s risky.”
“If that were possible, we’d have done it already. Stop spouting nonsense. Think and focus. Right now, Jin’s method is the only option. Kinzello, they need to have some means. They have to be willing to negotiate.”
“Ugh, then why did you stay? You’ve used up all your strength. You should’ve left with the others earlier! If things go south, Jin and I will have to take care of you too!”
“The situation’s been screwed since that thing woke up. I need to focus now, so just shut up.”
Misha remained on the battlefield despite her exhaustion for one reason:
There was still one thing she could do.
The Absolute Sealing Ritual of the Bow.
She intended to assist with it. When Gliek awoke, the only way she could think to respond was through the absolute sealing of the bow.
“Bowmaster, I will help with the sealing. The wall of chaos is thickening, so the bow’s seal alone won’t be enough for the ‘Eyebulb’ to open the path.”
Motte was a being of such high rank that he was almost a friend to Tess, but like Tess, he couldn’t fully use his original powers in the human world.
Moreover, Motte was still fatigued from repeatedly teleporting across dimensions since the start of the Sword Emperor War.
In such dense chaos, Motte’s dimensional travel might not even activate. Misha planned to compensate for that with her spiritual energy.
“I was too desperate to consider that. Then I will trust you, Misha.”
Talaris didn’t ask if Misha had ever performed a sealing ritual with the bow before.
The bow’s seal was impossible to participate in without understanding its flow.
Like ink dropping on fresh snow, the energy of the eternal ice began to mix with spiritual energy.
The combination of eternal ice and spiritual energy exceeded Talaris’s expectations.
‘She must have performed sealing rituals with previous bowmasters. That makes this much less burdensome.’
While the battlefield roared with thunderous noise, the space where the ritual took place was filled only with a chilling yet strangely pleasant sound of wind.
But that didn’t mean it was safe.
“Ugh…!”
Suddenly, Talaris coughed up blood.
It wasn’t Gliek’s swords, spears, or chaotic energy that struck her. All those attacks were being blocked by the giants, knights, mages, Jin, and Murakan.
“Talaris!”
The blackened earth was part of Gliek’s body. He wasn’t just striking physically; he was attacking using the black ground beneath Talaris’s feet.
Only the thick layer of eternal ice covering the black earth was holding back the assault.
But the ice shield was slowly cracking.
No one else could block the chains and spikes of chaos rising from the ground, and Talaris, immersed in the sealing ritual, had to remain perfectly still.
A black spike of chaos pierced through the top of her foot.
Talaris couldn’t respond to such attacks.
It meant she had to endure prolonged exposure to chaos.
If the eternal ice’s cold hadn’t immediately frozen the spike and the wound, even Talaris wouldn’t have lasted ten minutes in that state.
Jin, watching, felt like he was going mad.
But showing any sign of distress would only hinder Talaris.
He gritted his teeth and focused entirely on fending off the attacks pouring in from the front.
Two hours passed.
The eternal ice had grown into a vast, powerful light far beyond the small area it had initially covered.
It was complete.
Talaris was pierced by countless chaotic spikes and bound by chains, drenched in blood.
‘If it weren’t for Misha, I might not have succeeded.’
For the first time, Talaris reached out toward the eternal ice floating in midair.
The light of the eternal ice surged toward her all at once.
The Eternal Ice Sword Demon Sealing Ritual
The Great Icefield
The moment Talaris opened her eyes,
All movement on the battlefield froze.
Hundreds of weapons wielded by Gliek, the giants fighting him, the knights and mages—all paused under the power of the bow’s absolute seal.
True to its name, the vast frozen plain left no unfrozen area in sight.
The chaotic energy that had been raging against the humans was frozen solid, shattered, and scattered like dirty sleet across the icefield.
Talaris stood like a tree in the midst of it, radiating a dazzling white aura.
Gliek’s form froze and cracked under the seal’s power. Like a sandcastle collapsing, the chaotic energy that shaped his figure dripped away.
To those unaware of the King of the Black Sea’s nature, it looked like he was finished.
But this didn’t truly destroy Gliek’s chaos.
When the seal’s time ended, the scattered particles of chaos would reform his shape.
Moreover, Talaris was far from satisfied with the seal’s results.
‘Damn it, even after drawing on the power that sealed Elona and Ziphl once more… is this really the limit?!’
The Great Icefield had been properly formed.
But Gliek was not completely sealed.
Talaris’s gaze fixed beyond the icefield, on a single object lingering like a black star.
A white stone.
Amid the frozen, shattered chaos, the cursed stone that had awakened Gliek pulsed with a dark glow.
Everyone could feel it.
The white stone was spreading chaos, cracking the icefield.
This was the moment when the three-day timeframe Talaris had predicted lost all meaning.
At most two days, maybe just one.
Talaris concluded that was all the time she could maintain the seal.
The only consolation was that, thanks to Motte’s abilities, they could still travel to Kinzello’s main hall within that time.
“There’s only one or two days left. Misha, open the path.”
Whoooosh!
Motte emerged from the eternal ice. As Misha formed a seal in the air, her spiritual energy created a circular portal like a dimensional gate.
Motte immediately recognized the portal as an aid to open the Otherworld Snowfield.
Stam and Octavia climbed onto Motte’s back. Keliak used the Fire Seal to send a message to Octavia, informing her of the temporary alliance between Runcandel and Ziphl.
“Bowmaster, how long until the Eyebulb reaches the beastmen’s land?”
Rosa asked.
“With Motte’s current condition, it should take about three to five hours.”
“If Stam doesn’t return within twelve hours, we’ll assume negotiations have failed. Good luck, Sir Stam.”
“Please be careful, Acting Governor.”
As Motte departed, the spiritual portal closed.
Meanwhile, Ron continued to charge at the white stone, swinging Rashid relentlessly.
Clang!
Ron’s sword was blocked by the stone’s barrier, but he kept striking it without pause.
No one dared stop him. Since his resurrection, he seemed like a vengeful spirit determined to fight until his body gave out.
The clashing of blade and barrier sounded like Ron’s anguished roar.
As Talaris had said, Motte reached the beastmen’s land after five hours.
Unlike those suffering in the very depths of hell, Kinzello and the beastmen’s land were no different from usual.
Kinzello had even stationed operatives throughout the beastmen’s territory to ensure they could reach the main hall without getting lost.
As soon as Stam and Octavia arrived, they followed the guidance of the Scarlet Clan members they encountered, heading toward Kinzello’s main hall. The maze-like layout, seemingly built by the Myeoin tribe, made it impossible to memorize the path.
“So, if I understand correctly, the Runcandel and Ziphl factions have temporarily sealed the Black Sea King, and if we don’t join the fight, you’re saying you’ll abandon him and send all your forces here instead?”
It was Zephyrin, representing Kinzello, who stepped forward to hear Stam and Octavia’s proposal and verify the Seal of Fire.
“That’s right.”
For a moment, Zephyrin’s eyes didn’t smile, but the corners of his mouth lifted slightly as he looked at the two.
“Hmm, this might sound a bit rude, but you really don’t know what you’re dealing with.”
“What do you mean?”
“Do you honestly believe it’s possible to run from the Fifth King of Chaos and then strike us down?”
As Zephyrin trailed off, the smile faded from his face.