Chapter 569
Episode 148: The Black Emperor (1)
The Black Sea, the land of the Five Kings.
Siron’s expedition and Kial had been locked in a fierce battle for over twelve hours.
Ozdok lay completely unconscious, thrown far from the battlefield by the aftermath of the fight, while Kial screamed relentlessly, unleashing waves of chaotic energy.
The chaos Kial emitted was on a completely different level from Gliek’s power. Unlike Gliek, Kial had long since fully awakened and was wielding his full strength.
Haah, ha…!
Luna exhaled heavily, glaring at Kial. She knelt on one knee, leaning on her axe-sword, Krantel, shielded by the Black Knights of the expedition.
“Just a little longer… please.”
“Don’t worry. Take this moment to recover your strength, First Knight.”
Vanessa Olson’s voice carried a hint of exhaustion despite her words. Through the cracks in their battered armor, the Black Knights bore dark bruises of chaotic energy across their bodies.
If it weren’t for Siron, they would have been wiped out long ago—even though each of them was among the strongest knights on the surface.
‘Father has been fighting these kinds of foes alone all this time?’
Since the battle began, Luna had lost count of how many times she’d been struck with shock.
Though Siron had given her some warning beforehand, stepping into actual combat left her mind reeling.
In fact, aside from Siron, none of the expedition’s attacks had landed a single effective blow on Kial. Luna and the Black Knights’ sole role was to protect Siron.
‘Sometimes I can’t even tell if we’re protecting Father, or if it’s the other way around.’
From behind her father, locked in combat with Kial, Luna sensed a growing impatience. Naturally, it was a feeling she had never experienced before.
Siron himself was struggling to keep his composure in battle—and for good reason.
Because, at this very moment, Gliek had awakened—not in the Black Sea, but in Inse.
Siron judged that there was no way to stop it here in Inse.
If he weren’t facing Kial, Siron would have retreated without hesitation.
The fact that Gliek couldn’t be stopped meant the family would be doomed.
There was the variable of Kinzel, but it seemed unlikely they would intervene to stop the disaster in Inse.
Siron believed that ultimately, it would be Runcandel, Ziphl, the Empire, the Hidden Palace, and the other factions who would have to deal with Gliek.
It was the worst possible scenario. But retreating in front of Kial was impossible—and even if it were, the problems that would follow were beyond anyone’s control.
[You seem anxious… Siron Runcandel.]
Kial’s eyes narrowed into crescent slits. He saw right through Siron’s heart.
“So you still have the luxury to worry about such things?”
Whoooosh!
Like a storm, Siron’s sword gathered the aura of creation.
But Siron wasn’t the only one feeling the pressure.
Kial himself was overwhelmed by the fact that Siron’s power had grown even stronger than when they last fought.
A monster.
All humans who had faced the kings of the Black Sea regarded them as monsters—and Kial had no choice but to see Siron the same way.
Just as the aura gathered by Siron was about to explode—
Kial sensed something from Inse that wiped the smug smile from his face. Siron also halted, his eyes widening.
‘This…!’
Just as they had sensed Gliek awakening at the start of the battle,
Siron and Kial now realized a new Knight of Creation had appeared in Inse.
Only the manifested light of Creation could send such energy across this far astral space.
Luna and the Black Knights did not feel that light.
‘Ron Hiran. It’s him!’
It wasn’t the aura of Thalaris, Rosa, or any other superhuman Siron knew. It was the radiant, righteous energy unique to Hiran, felt as if it were right in front of them.
Yet strangely, alongside Hiran’s righteous aura, there was a faint spiritual energy mixed in.
‘Why is there spiritual energy too…? Could the youngest sibling be helping somehow? There’s no reason for Solderet’s energy to be mixed with Hiran’s righteousness.’
It was too soon to jump to conclusions, and not the most pressing matter.
In any case, this gave Siron a clue about the situation in Inse.
‘Gliek’s awakening happened on Imperial soil, and Ron Hiran crossed the barrier to confront it. There’s no other explanation.’
Siron knew Ron Hiran was a knight who could reach Creation given the right opportunity. Though Siron thought it more likely he’d fall into demonic corruption like Smarion.
Either way, there was no reason for Siron to hesitate in his fight against Kial now.
Of course, just because Ron had reached Creation didn’t guarantee the defeat of the fifth King of Chaos, nor that the battle would end without damage to the world.
But a clear hope had emerged. And if Ron’s sword could destroy Gliek, one of Siron’s burdens would be lifted.
‘If he succeeds in stopping Gliek, I must thank him properly.’
Siron smiled this time.
“Maybe you should keep smiling, Kial. If you reveal your true feelings so easily, you don’t deserve to be called a king of anything.”
At that moment, Luna realized her father’s sword was regaining stability… and she was certain.
This battle would end in victory for the expedition.
Had Jin ever felt this calm at the brink of death?
Even as his breath stopped and consciousness faded, he felt a strange sense of relief.
He didn’t know why, but there was one clear reason.
The first thing the newly ascended ‘demigod’ did was to bestow a blessing upon Jin.
The light of Creation, floating in the void, slowly approached Ron’s chest.
It scattered light only he could see, spoke words only he could hear, and revealed meanings only he could understand.
Having overcome death, Ron had defied fate once more—purely by his own will.
Because of that, the magnitude of his pure power was already no different from Creation itself. That was why he could wield the Overlord Sword and fight for so long.
But after that—
Ron’s mind rapidly collapsed.
Drowned in sorrow and chaos, he became enslaved to the demon spirit.
As a result, like the old ghost captain Smarion Prochi, he was turning into a monster.
But meeting Jin had pulled him back from the abyss.
Those who gain the power of Creation all face the risk of becoming monsters, and that danger doesn’t disappear even after becoming a demigod. It’s like a disease that could erupt at any moment.
Because, fundamentally, even demigods are human—and cannot fully handle such power.
If the two hadn’t met in this astral space, Ron would never have reached Creation. Since the war began, his demonic corruption had been accelerating uncontrollably.
Therefore, the final push into corruption was caused by Gliek, and Jin was the one who stopped Ron from crossing the line.
Ron slowly reached out to the light of Creation resting before his chest.
It blazed like a roaring fire. As he grasped it with both hands, the light flowed between his fingers, returning again and again, imparting a final revelation.
Then Ron gently lifted a shard of that light and bowed to pour it into the fallen Jin.
Like ripples on a still pond, the light scattered and seeped into Jin.
But that shard of light could not be fully absorbed by Jin. Less than ten percent of its power could be taken in.
The rest dispersed somewhere, lost forever.
Ron didn’t regret it. He was simply grateful that such a price could heal Jin’s wounds.
The remaining light of Creation in Ron and the energy flowing into Jin were becoming one with each of them.
Ron’s rune-colored pupils, once blackened, regained their original hue, and the blood pouring from Jin’s wound turned red and began to slow.
The astral space trembled.
Gliek was furious. He couldn’t understand why a mere human, rather than the dreaded shadow of Solderet he had so feared, was ruining everything.
More than that, hadn’t he forbidden that human from entering here in the first place?
If Jin had stayed outside, he would have become a being close to the kings of chaos like them. Gliek had been certain of it, believing Ron was fully enslaved by the demon spirit.
The light of Creation had fully merged with both of them.
Hoo…
Then a breath escaped from Jin’s lips.
Not a dark, damp breath of death, but a clear, pure breath as if a new life had been born.
His wounds had all healed. Though the light of Creation was fundamentally different from the legacy of Numerus and didn’t heal internal injuries completely, Jin felt his body grow much lighter.
The chaos that had been strengthening his energy mixed with spiritual energy had vanished. Thus, Muui returned to normal—but it didn’t matter. The power had only been used to face Ron.
Though some blackened traces of chaos remained like spots across his body, they were not an immediate concern.
Jin never witnessed the moment of his own healing.
Yet, without needing Ron’s explanation, he somehow understood exactly what had happened.
“Jin.”
Ron reached out, and Jin took his hand, rising to his feet. A soft radiance—the same light of Changseong that Jin hadn’t been able to see moments before—now shimmered gently around Ron’s body.
“Sir Ron.”
For a long moment, they held each other’s gaze in silence.
It felt like the unspoken bond between comrades who had fought side by side for years, their souls laid bare to one another.
“If it weren’t for you, I would have become a monster and killed Dante with my own hands. And I wouldn’t have even felt the sorrow or pain that came with it.”
Jin’s pupils dilated at those words.
Because Ron spoke as if Dante were still alive.