Chapter 642
Episode 164: Land of the Ominous God (4)
Krrrraaaang…!
Wherever Sigmund’s blade clashed with Silus’s, thunder roared like a storm unleashed. They stood firm, braving the lightning and thunderstorm unleashed by the Dark King’s Sovereign Sword, refusing to yield an inch.
If anything, they advanced toward each other with even fiercer speed and ferocity.
The shockwaves from their battle now battered the entire Sword Garden. The storm of lightning and thunder spread beyond the tombs where the family guardians’ swords were planted, reaching the outer walls and even the main residence.
Kaiyo, who resumed his assault, remained unaffected by the Dark King’s Sovereign Sword.
Instead, as if resonating with the spirit of the warrior, he seemed to be strengthening his divine killing energy based on Jin’s lightning.
Though the entire Kallon was still engulfed in chaos, the Sword Garden itself no longer bore any trace of that chaotic energy.
That was because the combined lightning strikes of Jin, Kaiyo, and Fadler had completely erased the chaos that once lingered there.
Yet, for Jin, the Sword Garden glowing with its eerie blue light was a far more agonizing sight than when it had been filled with chaos.
“Raaaargh…!”
Fadler roared in pain.
His body was breaking apart. A hole gaped in his left cheek, and his waist twisted and snapped repeatedly, bones cracking with sickening sounds.
Suddenly, a massive arrow of divine killing energy pierced straight through his chest. Through the gaping wound, the lightning behind him was visible.
Still, Fadler did not fall. He swung his sword again.
His body, which should have died more than ten times over and stopped, only unleashed even greater strength with each blow.
Where could one strike to finally end him?
Even if he lowered his head, it seemed he would never stop. To truly halt him, every part of his body—his blood, flesh, and even the last fragment of bone—would have to be destroyed.
“A relentless wraith…”
Kaiyo said as he drew his divine killing energy.
His words didn’t refer to the chaotic power that made up Fadler.
Instead, he was speaking of a very particular state Fadler was enduring.
Transcendence.
The transcendence of a warrior who surpasses his limits when facing a formidable foe—the reason Fadler could keep swinging his sword despite being shattered and torn apart.
Just as Ron Hiran transcended death itself during the Sword Emperor War… Fadler was crossing boundaries as he clashed swords with Jin.
‘Temar. Now I see it too… the next realm.’
With every passing moment, Fadler felt his body growing lighter.
The destructive power of the original Dark King’s Sovereign Sword, which had overwhelmed the thunderstorm from the start, no longer seemed threatening.
He shrugged off Sigmund’s strikes without a flicker of reaction, and even when the lightning cut through his body, he felt no pain.
“But even if you transcend the realm like that… what meaning does it hold?”
Another arrow of divine killing energy passed through Fadler.
“Nothing but hollow hatred that can’t even overcome chaos. You could never defeat the Jin brothers. Even if they hadn’t called me.”
Not everyone who transcends like Ron achieves the same outcome.
The heart that, despite being consumed by chaos, still sought to protect others, and the heart that sought only to kill—those values could never be equal.
As if to retort, Fadler plunged into Jin’s chest, leaving a long, deep gash.
Jin didn’t flinch. He pushed Fadler back again. There was a snap, as if something broke, and Fadler tumbled to the ground.
Then, he rose once more, aiming his sword at Silus.
The more battered he became, the more the energy of the thunderstorm intensified.
It grew without end. In sheer power, the thunderstorm had reached a level rivaling the Dark King’s Sovereign Sword.
It seemed to have spiraled out of control. The blue lightning was now surpassing the black clouds formed by the Sovereign Sword, damaging Ram, the Chaos Dragon, and even the Black Ships.
“He’s lost his mind and started hitting his own allies. Not that it’s bad for the Jin brothers’ side.”
“You’re wrong, Kaiyo brother. He hasn’t lost his mind.”
Jin thought the opposite.
“What?”
“Since this will be the end anyway, it seems he’s trying to destroy everything in Runcandel…”
Kuuuuung…!
A massive fissure spread like a cavern beneath Ram. The Chaos Dragon and Black Ships flying below instantly turned to ash.
The massive forces waiting outside caught their first glimpse of Ram’s instability.
A path was beginning to open in the sky.
“As the commander said, the Twelve Riders are damaging Ram’s power source…”
Berakt spoke, still dazed by the blue flames and the lightning illuminating the Sword Garden.
He was awestruck and trembling before the overwhelming force that only the commander, Siron Runcandel, or the late Ron Hiran might have witnessed.
“It’s not the Twelve Riders, but the old Ten Knights of Runcandel—the power of the Blue Lightning King. Rosa Runcandel and the Prophet have been too greedy.”
“…Are you saying there’s another warrior like the Twelve Riders in the Sword Garden?”
“Yes. But it’s a dying ember. All fleets, prepare concentrated fire. We can’t miss this chance.”
Unlike Ziphl, Kinzelro’s fleet had yet to suffer serious damage.
As the flagships led by Grnil gathered at the front, the fleet of nearly five hundred ships all loaded their main cannons.
Kraaaang…!
Like a meteor shower, cannon fire rained down on Ram and the Sword Garden. Over eighty percent of the fleet’s fire targeted the Sword Garden, so it seemed insufficient to strike Ram directly, but Zephyr’s breath struck Ram’s flank with force.
Seeing Kinzelro’s barrage from the opposite side, Ziphl also gathered his fleet. Their main guns all aimed at Ram.
“We must strike before Runcandel’s flagship recovers…!”
Behind Kadun, fireballs the size of mountains formed. Despite enduring Ram’s main guns and tearing apart the Chaos Dragon and Black Ships, he was now unleashing every last ounce of his stored power.
‘Damn it, the soul of the Ten Knights we gained from the tomb… I didn’t expect this.’
The Prophet bit his lip, watching Rosa’s expression carefully.
It was Rosa who had ordered Fadler’s summoning. So even if Fadler lost to Jin, Rosa wouldn’t blame the Prophet.
But regardless of whether Jin was killed, the Prophet’s failure to control Fadler stemmed from his own lack of ability.
If Rosa held him accountable later, the Prophet would be vulnerable once again.
‘Hoo, nothing’s going right. Judging by the situation, even Fadler probably can’t defeat Jin. I should have warned that using the Ten Knights’ souls now was too risky.’
The Prophet had expected Stam and Lionel alone wouldn’t be enough, but Fadler was truly unexpected.
Even with the variables of the Dark King’s summoning and the Sovereign Sword, he had believed Fadler could finish Jin for sure.
‘…Maybe it’s for the best. If even Fadler falls, Rosa Runcandel will have to act herself.’
If so, Rosa’s mental collapse might accelerate.
But the Prophet had no grounds to tell Rosa to step forward first. As he pondered this, Rosa spoke first.
‘I understand why Joshua of the past was like that. Retrieve Fadler’s soul.’
“Are you saying you’ll take action yourself?”
Rosa didn’t answer, instead deflecting Kadun’s incoming flames.
Fragments of Ram, the Chaos Dragon, and the Black Ships drifted chaotically through the black sky. Amid them, Kinzelro’s cannon fire struck the Sword Garden.
“You humans… do you intend to challenge the gods like us? I heard from the brothers that the outside was chaotic, but I never imagined it would come to this.”
Kaiyo fired a rapid volley of Sansi shots, intercepting the cannonballs falling toward Jin. Most were nullified by the Dark King’s Sovereign Sword and the blue lightning, but some shells broke through.
Jin was conserving his strength.
After Stam, Lionel, and now Fadler, he was facing a series of formidable warriors who would have been absolute powers in any era without Siron.
Naturally, unlike Jin, Fadler had no one to shield him from the barrage, nor the will to fend it off himself.
He neither dodged the incoming fire nor stopped emitting blue lightning in all directions of the Sword Garden.
A demon.
Through transcendence born of hatred, the destination Fadler was reaching resembled a monster like Smarion.
His form was no longer human.
His body, once softly glowing with indigo light, was now over seventy percent gone. Floating without legs, riddled with holes.
How he still gripped his sword with only three remaining fingers, with half his head missing and only one eye left, and how he remained filled with hatred—it was beyond comprehension.
Could this truly be called the result of transcendence?
The outcome had actually been decided the moment the Dark King’s Sovereign Sword was unleashed.
Jin’s failure to finish him was merely a matter of efficiency.
If he waited a little longer, the thunderstorm would fade and Fadler would self-destruct.
After that, even if he had one finger left, it would crawl toward Jin, but that posed no real threat.
The thunderstorm began to subside.
But then, just like with Lionel, the soul began to leave Fadler’s remaining body.
Unlike Lionel, however, Fadler’s soul resisted leaving his body. It was clearly fighting against the Prophet’s control.
“I’ve never seen such a grudge in my life, Jin brother. Brother? Why do you approach him? Your brother’s spirit sword can’t cut his soul yet. It’s not even worth cutting. He’s already a wreck.”
Jin’s intentions were completely different from trying to sever Lionel’s soul.
He simply wanted to approach Fadler to tell him one thing.
“Sir Fadler.”
Fadler swung his sword at Jin as he came closer.
But the strike was weak—less forceful than a child’s swing. Not even a scratch appeared on Jin’s body.
No matter how strong the lingering resentment, Fadler’s energy was truly depleted now.
“You will be summoned again. The one who summoned you now is only trying to reclaim your soul for that reason.”
Even then, Fadler kept swinging his sword, resisting the retrieval of the prophet’s soul.
“So when that time comes, instead of Runcandel and Temar from a thousand years ago… I ask you—take your revenge on me instead. Harbor your hatred toward me, not some distant past you barely remember.”
That, surely, would be better for you, Sir.
With those words lingering in the air, Jin watched as Fadler’s soul slipped away.