Chapter 874
Episode 218: The Cycle of Stronger Foes (Part 3)
Southern Delki, the area where the rift appeared.
“Ah, that’s cheating!”
“Mary just managed to take down the boss, and now there’s a new major rift? These demon bastards are really trying to make this war easy for themselves. How can they just summon a massive airstrike like this so casually?”
The Tona brothers shouted in frustration.
While Mary had been battling the boss-level demon moments ago, the two brothers and the family knights had been holding off the rest of the demonic forces from the True Demon Realm.
Mary was panting heavily, drenched in blood.
Most of it was the purple blood of the demons she’d just slain, but there was a hint of her own red blood mixed in.
“Sis, are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m not about to die. Damn it, if that bastard hadn’t pulled that cheap trick at the end, I could’ve taken another round. What the hell was that sudden self-destruction?”
“Don’t brag. It was a close fight. Honestly, I thought you might’ve been done for.”
“That’s right. That guy introduced himself as some big shot in the True Demon Realm, so no need to get cocky. Something about being a general from a noble house in his thirties, or something like that. Anyway, you fought well, sis.”
“Enough noise. Let’s just hold out until reinforcements arrive. Whoever comes out of that rift in less than a minute is definitely way stronger than the one I just cut down. The energy I’m sensing is on a whole different level…”
Mary, the Tona brothers, and the knights sharpened their senses, tense and alert.
The fierce battle they’d just endured had already drained them all.
If backup didn’t arrive soon, many of the knights would fall, even if the riders managed to survive.
Mary wrapped her aura around her like a venomous snake and narrowed her eyes.
The Tona brothers and the knights formed a protective circle around her.
Suddenly, a violet magical energy exploded from the rift, sending shockwaves rippling outward.
The explosions came in rapid succession—about ten times—shattering the knights’ protective barrier.
Then, a demon emerged from the rift.
He wore twin swords at his waist, and though his long hair obscured his eyes, a fierce demonic aura radiated from him.
The moment he took a step forward, massive buildings and structures erupted all around the battlefield.
A fortress from the True Demon Realm had been summoned through the rift.
The knights staggered, struggling to maintain formation as the ground trembled violently.
“Hah… So Saikal’s dead, huh?”
The demon glared at Mary, who was regaining her footing.
Before Mary or the knights could respond, they scanned their surroundings.
The summoned fortress was packed with demon troops, who had already completely encircled the knights.
“Making such a noisy entrance again, demon. Yeah, I killed Saikal.”
“What’s your name, human?”
“Mary Runcandel, Seventh Rider of Runcandel.”
“Ah, Runcandel… The top sword family in the human world. I am Plex Kaluga, Grand General of Kaluga. Saikal, whom you killed, was my subordinate.”
“Is that so?”
“No matter how many times I kill you, this emptiness won’t fade. But I can only kill you once, so I’ll make sure it’s as painful as possible.”
Just as Plex drew his twin swords—
[Whoooom!]
A white dimensional portal suddenly opened above the battlefield, and a large-eyed toad-like creature called Mote let out a cheerful croak.
Thud!
Three people landed atop Mote.
Siris, along with Luna and Luntia.
The knights breathed a silent sigh of relief at their arrival.
Of course, they showed no sign of fatigue and immediately saluted.
“Sis!”
“Oh, sisters!”
“Glad you’re not late.”
“Mary’s a bit hurt.”
“What? Seriously!? Who the hell did this to our Mary?”
“I killed that bastard myself. I was about to rest, but now this new demon is trying to kill me?”
Luna and Luntia both snapped their heads toward Plex, glaring fiercely.
“I’m Luna Runcandel. You’re the one threatening my sister?”
“You’re lucky, Mary. If you’d been even slightly harmed, I’d have made you suffer a painful death. I guess I’ll just cut you down properly.”
“S-Sis, Heitona and I are here too. We almost got caught up in this.”
“First and third riders. I have to head to another area immediately. Please, dismount.”
“Oh, right. Sorry, Lady So. Let’s go!”
“Thanks for the quick transport. We’ll handle things here. If you need backup elsewhere, come back.”
“Understood. Good luck.”
[Whoom. Whoooom.]
Mote leapt back into the white dimensional portal and vanished.
Luna and Luntia stretched, raising their weapons—the axe-sword Krantel and the twin sword Sharl.
“Where were we? Anyway, the price for messing with our Mary is going to be huge. None of the demons gathered here today will survive.”
“I’ll let anyone who runs away live. If they can even manage that…”
The Tona brothers tried to say, “Sisters, we—” but Luna and Luntia were focused entirely on Plex and the demons, not hearing them.
Feeling awkward, the Tona brothers laughed nervously and joined in cursing Plex.
“Now that the sisters are here, you’re done for!”
Plex was momentarily speechless, stunned by their confidence.
The two new riders were notorious figures even in the True Demon Realm.
“Luna Runcandel and Luntia Runcandel… The White Scales. I hear you can wield the Red Sword Qi. Show me if that’s true.”
“You know a lot. Well, I’ll use it if I have to, but I think I can handle you without it…”
“Sis will take you. I’ll wipe out the troops. And Mary, Tona…”
“Oh, finally you said our names.”
“Retreat with the Silver Knights and rest. You need to recover quickly to fight again.”
“Got it. Then, please take care of it. Oh, and watch out for those guys. The one I killed tried to self-destruct when he was cornered.”
Plex immediately unleashed a sword aura toward Mary and the knights as they retreated.
The demon troops surrounding them fired sword auras, magic, and installed cannons.
But Plex’s sword aura was blocked by Krantel, and Luntia, leaping into the air, scattered sword auras in all directions, neutralizing the attacks.
“Some fools are distracted while facing me and Luntia. No matter how ignorant you are of the human world, that kind of mistake will get you killed…”
Clang!
Krantel clashed with Plex’s twin swords.
With a single strike, the ground beneath Plex collapsed, and he glared fiercely, pushing Luna back.
Meanwhile, Luntia plunged into the enemy ranks, slaughtering demons.
Most were impaled so cleanly their heads vanished without even a scream.
Only a few commander-level demons managed to exchange blows a couple of times before falling.
Bang!
Clang!
Krantel relentlessly hammered Plex’s twin swords.
Every swing Luna made left massive sword scars on the earth and clouds.
Mary had described Plex as a level above Saikal, but to Luna, he was just a slightly special opponent.
“Your arrogance against my exhausted sister is laughable, demon. If this weren’t a continuous battle, you wouldn’t have been able to pressure Mary like this.”
Plex said nothing, instead recalling the moments of defeat he’d suffered before becoming Grand General.
Among them, one person who had completely overwhelmed him stood out—someone who resembled Luna.
Faelito Belgassium, the greatest swordsman of the True Demon Realm.
‘White Scale… so it wasn’t just a name. Since Faelito and Raiset, I’ve never been so thoroughly dominated.’
Plex quickly came to a conclusion.
Retreat.
There was no point risking his life fighting; the outcome was already decided.
If he self-destructed like Saikal, he could inflict some injuries, but a fatal wound was impossible.
Luna would recover soon enough and slaughter the demons as if nothing had happened.
‘I’ll postpone the duel with White Scale until Lord Jito grants me more power.’
Unfortunately for Plex, Luna saw right through his intentions.
His sword lacked the desperate edge he’d shown against weaker opponents before.
Though clearly weaker than her, Plex was still one of the Grand Generals of the True Demon Realm.
If he escaped today, he’d kill and torture countless humans in the future.
So Luna chose not to let him slip away.
She wouldn’t allow him even a moment to open a dimensional portal or use spatial teleportation.
“As you wish. I’ll show you.”
The Crimson Sword, Jeokwol.
Krantel glowed red.
At that moment, Plex attempted dimensional teleportation, just as Luna had predicted.
Luntia was using the demon troops she was slaughtering as a sacrifice to cast a dark realm spatial leap spell.
Plex believed he could escape even if Luna used the Red Sword Qi.
He’d fled like this before when facing Faelito.
—If it’s true that she uses the red energy, then this Luna is, along with Siron Runcandel, the most dangerous person to Lord Jito right now.
But Plex didn’t know that Faelito had spoken about Luna and the true nature of the Red Sword Qi.
He didn’t understand the essence of the Red Sword Qi like Faelito did.
So he assumed that since he’d escaped Faelito, he could also get away from Luna.
The dimensional portal opened.
With just one step, Plex could enter it and instantly reach the outpost where Jin and Sachiel awaited.
And Fleck thought he had taken that one step.
But that was the last conscious moment of Fleck Karuga, the Grand General of the True Demon Realm.
Contrary to his awareness, the moment the dimensional gate opened, his body was completely torn apart by the crimson sword energy, disintegrating into particles.
“Phew!”
Luna wiped the cold sweat from her brow, staring at Fleck’s fading form and the spot where the dimensional gate had vanished.
‘Maybe it’s because I used it repeatedly after the last great rift… I’m pretty drained. I should hold off on using it for a while. Still, I worry that the limit my father mentioned might shrink even further if I keep pushing it.’
Meanwhile, Runtia, who had been busy smashing through the demon forces and their fortress, shrugged and glanced back at Luna.
Because Fleck had used them as a sacrifice, the enemies had vanished in an instant.
“Huh? Sis! Are you okay?”
“I pushed myself a bit too hard trying not to lose him. This area’s cleared for now, so let’s get back in touch with the youngest and check on the situation elsewhere. I’m heading back to Tikan to rest for a bit.”