Chapter 749
Episode 184: Beyond Destiny (21)

“Ah, this little brat… Even though he insists on fighting alone, somehow I don’t feel the least bit uneasy.”

Jin’s stamina, restored by Numerus’s blood, must have already run dry again, and the Chaos God might still have a hidden trump card up his sleeve.

Yet, watching Jin stride boldly toward the Chaos God, there was no trace of worry at all.

In fact, the thought of Jin losing to the Chaos God was simply unimaginable.

Why? No one could say. It was an inexplicable certainty that came as a gut feeling. Jin’s Runkandel simply shone brighter than the Chaos God’s.

“He’s grown a lot since I last saw him.”

Murakan turned away, exhaling a breath that stirred a storm of spiritual energy.

That breath tore through the tempest like ripping paper, carving an exit for Murakan to leave.

[Once this fight ends, I probably won’t be around anymore. But we’ll meet again soon, so keep watch over Strawberry Pie and wait patiently.]

“Make your confession outside. Gili’s probably fighting too.”

[Confession? How childish… Wait, that crazy kid brought Strawberry Pie here? To this dangerous battlefield?]

“He insisted on joining the fight.”

[Still, that’s reckless! Ah, I better hurry!]

In truth, Gili hadn’t fully recovered from injuries sustained in the last battle and couldn’t join the fight.

Without seeing Jin’s smile, Murakan hurriedly slipped through the storm of spiritual energy.

[Strawberry Pie—!]

Murakan’s booming voice echoed across the entire battlefield, causing everyone on the outer front lines to look up at the sky.

With his two massive wings spread wide, Murakan glared down at the ground, overwhelming not only the enemies but even his own allies.

[Whoever harms my Strawberry Pie will never set foot on this land again! No one—this Murakan will never let them live.]

“What… what is he saying!?”

“Who—or what—is Strawberry Pie?”

“Why did he come out here alone, leaving the twelve riders behind?”

In the midst of life-or-death chaos, such an unexpected declaration would confuse anyone.

Sensing the situation, Murakan’s comrades awkwardly rubbed their foreheads, while the allies struggled to grasp the meaning of his words.

But Murakan’s power was real.

With a single roar, he pulled their forces back from the brink and mercilessly crushed the enemy.

When Murakan unleashed his furious roar again, the Chaos Knights collapsed in heaps, clutching their heads.

Though their bodies no longer felt pain, they were crushed under the might of the Black Dragon Murakan.

Even some of Murakan’s own troops, lacking strong willpower, were affected by his roar.

Some fell, bleeding from every orifice.

Yet this was not a setback for their side.

If anything, it was a kind of shock therapy. Those who collapsed had been losing consciousness under the Chaos God’s mental attacks before hearing Murakan’s roar.

Though painful, the roar was awakening them from the mental assault.

“Impressive force… Has he fully regained his prime strength?” Zephyrin said in a trembling voice, shivering at Murakan’s aura.

“No, he’s close, but still not at the level of a thousand years ago,” Orgal replied, suppressing his surprise.

“…Really, Master?”

“Yes. Now you understand why I always warned you never to fight Murakan when I was well?”

“I do.”

“Go assist Murakan, Zephyrin. Not to add power, but to protect our allies so he can fight more freely.”

Zephyrin’s eyes widened.

Orgal’s words implied that victory was assured if they did just that.

“Understood.”

Zephyrin flew toward Murakan, while on the Ziphl side, Veradin, who had reopened the Demon Stone, stepped forward.

He, too, had the same thought as Orgal upon sensing Murakan’s power.

Through insight granted by the divine power of Solderet, Murakan immediately recognized that Veradin was not Keliak.

Knowing how Jin regarded Veradin, Murakan gave him a brief but weighty warning.

“You’ll be able to return, Veradin Ziphl. So don’t commit too many sins before then.”

Veradin said nothing, instead spreading his magic widely to raise protective barriers.

‘After this decisive battle, I must confirm the conditions for the manifestations of the War God and Murakan as soon as possible and prepare for the war…’

It was unsettling. The War God’s manifestation alone had been shocking enough, but with Murakan still standing strong, Ziphl’s fate after today would be overwhelming.

[By the way, what about Strawberry Pie?]

[If you mean Jin’s nanny, she never even entered this battlefield.]

“Damn, I was tricked by that brat, and it’s a bit embarrassing. But it doesn’t matter. Actually, it’s good. Now that I know Strawberry Pie is safe, I can calmly deal with these bastards.”

From Murakan’s two wings, black chains made of spiritual energy extended—thousands of them, writhing like ominous tentacles in the sky.

Spiritual Energy Release—Black Chains

Like a downpour, the chains plunged en masse into the upper part of Ram.

Despite the massive chains raining down, there was no sound of breaking.

Only the booming explosions of Ram’s upper hull being pierced and shattered echoed.

The Chaos forces scrambled to avoid the chains, and their formations quickly collapsed.

“Oh? Are those the resurrected former squad commanders?”

Among the countless chains, only four failed to pierce Ram’s upper hull, deflected or cut away.

The last four squad commanders had swung their swords to block them.

But their efforts were negligible. They only managed to cut one chain each from the countless ones falling on their side.

“Little brat… No, as the twelve riders of Runkandel and without a sub-commander, I’ll speak for you. I hereby strip you of the privilege granted by Runkandel.”

As Murakan finished speaking, Ram’s upper hull began to seethe with spiritual energy, bubbling up from the embedded chains.

“Those who follow the twelve riders, do not avoid the spiritual energy.”

Allied soldiers instinctively tried to dodge the bubbles but stopped mid-motion.

The spiritual energy caused no harm to them.

Meanwhile, the enemies trapped in the bubbles were melting away—like sand sinking into the sea and turning to mud.

The release of spiritual energy was both the beginning and the end of shadow manipulation.

Murakan was now demonstrating one extreme aspect of spiritual energy.

Without even engaging in what could be called a fight or battle, he simply made his opponents vanish into his shadow. The ultimate form of Black Chains held such power.

Among the Chaos forces trapped in the bubbles, the elite resisted the spiritual energy, maintaining their forms.

But it was only a matter of time.

If the Chaos forces failed to resist, they would soon be swallowed by their own shadows and reduced to nothingness.

It was as if a massive net was filtering out the impurities of chaos.

“Riders of Runkandel, listen well. It is your duty to take the heads of the former squad commanders. Move swiftly.”

Merry and the Tona siblings saluted the sky with their swords.

“We obey!”

“Hey, Merry unnie, can I join too?”

“Of course. Yona, you take that guy over there. Tona brothers cover left and right, I’ll take the center.”

“Hehe.”

The riders assigned to each squad commander didn’t need to fight fiercely.

The commanders were already trapped in the Black Chains, barely able to move.

Murakan’s order for the Runkandel children to kill them was symbolic.

It was meant to show everyone that the current Runkandel could cut away the rotten roots and move forward again.

The Black Chains showed no sign of stopping. Instead, they deepened endlessly.

Murakan didn’t stop at the Black Chains; he unleashed another ultimate spiritual energy release.

Suddenly, the center of Ram’s upper hull opened like an eye, revealing a main cannon thought destroyed.

The hidden cannon fired a jet of black flames straight at Murakan without even reloading.

Its power rivaled what Ram had shown before being shattered by Ban.

But Murakan calmly gathered his breath and exhaled with all his might, effortlessly blocking the blast.

His breath split the massive black beam in two.

Ram’s cannon fire cracked like rotten wood and scattered into fragments across the battlefield.

Zephyrin, Veradin, and the heroes of Inse raised protective barriers to shield their allies from the debris.

Murakan’s breath didn’t just tear apart the blast; it crushed the grotesquely towering cannon, leaving a huge hole in Ram’s upper hull.

Still, Murakan was not satisfied, thinking to himself:

‘That was all I could muster right now, and that’s all I managed to break? Tch, this’ll make me look weaker than the War God. Especially since the War God completely destroyed this ship when it was still intact.’

Despite Murakan’s inner thoughts, his allies were horrified, staring down into the gaping hole like a thousand-foot cliff.

“My time is almost up. Everyone, rise and fight again. Show that even if this Black Dragon Murakan leaves, you can still bring this war to a safe end.”

The allied soldiers, who had been frozen in place, raised their swords and staffs once more.

They spat out the blood that had pooled in their mouths, set broken bones, and roughly bandaged torn wounds.

Even before Murakan gave the order, they were already moving.

On every face, hope and fury burned side by side.

Murakan cast one last glance at the sky where Veil and Padler were locked in battle.

Their fight was taking place far from the central battlefield, just as Padler had intended.

“Padler Runkandel… I really wanted to spare him if I could…”

Murakan’s eyes revealed what others couldn’t see.

The chains of chaos bound to Padler’s heart.

Padler himself was now aware of the chains shackling his heart. He just thought it was too late to do anything about it, so he kept that knowledge to himself.

“…Give my regards to Sara, Padler.”

As Murakan’s eyes began to return to the realm of the gods, a deep sadness lingered within them.