Chapter 931
Episode 231: Resolve (4)
The land where the Sacred King Star once stood was rapidly crumbling, turning into shattered bones beneath their feet. Jagged cracks split open grotesquely, and from these fissures surged sharp bands of violet mana.
Hundreds of them. They writhed like fingers, tearing mercilessly at the barely cracked earth. A sickening sound echoed—like the grinding of misaligned bones being forced back into place.
Peering beneath the surface, it was as if a sea of violet stretched endlessly—a sea of agony, ready to devour the minds of anyone who dared meet its gaze.
“Religious zealots…!”
It was certain that even the space where the Eternal Vault once stood had been swallowed by this mana. That meant Rani’s chances of survival were vanishingly slim.
The Sacred Kingdom was falling apart.
Over seventy percent of its territory was under indiscriminate assault, and the Sacred King Star had just vanished without a trace.
Even if this war ended with the Balmur Alliance’s victory, the damage was irreversible.
“Black Dragon Murakan, you actually live up to your name. I never thought you’d block my authority strike so thoroughly. But in the end, the Sacred King Star is dust, and though Lord Jito’s body, which you dared to imprison, has awakened…”
Now was no time to mourn Rani’s death.
Murakan’s eyes shone colder and harder than ever. There were still many alive in the Sacred Kingdom.
He had to protect every single one of them. That was still his mission. The only reason he had left the base and flown to the Sacred King Star was for that purpose alone.
Watching Murakan once again spread his protective barrier across the sky, Thalaris read his resolve. She steadied her breath and gripped her sword gently.
She decided not to use any techniques that would strain her exhausted body. Nor would she directly block the enemy’s attacks—after all, Murakan was there to protect her.
Murakan hadn’t even breathed a single attack toward Bideleuce. No dark onslaughts, no black chains. He was focused solely on defending his comrades and the people.
“Oh my, Lady Bide, your mood’s changed, hasn’t it? What, a secret trump card?”
“This isn’t a battle decided by power or authority. If it’s pure close combat, there’s only one person in this world who can defeat me.”
“What?”
“Then you should have dealt me a fatal blow before Murakan arrived, Bideleuce.”
Whoosh, whoooosh!
The violet beams Bideleuce fired at Thalaris were all blocked by the spiritual barrier. Unfazed by Bideleuce’s ranged attacks, Thalaris charged forward.
‘What? Murakan can protect Lady Bide this perfectly?’
Bideleuce hadn’t expected this at all. She was certain Murakan’s support would be limited to some degree of cover at best.
But as Thalaris closed the distance by over a hundred steps, not once did Bideleuce’s beams or authority threaten her.
Bideleuce was no comet blazing across the sky.
To pierce through Murakan’s fully unleashed spiritual energy, Bideleuce had to risk something herself. Her arrogant attitude and gaze alone could never break Murakan’s will.
Sssht!
Before she knew it, Thalaris’s sword had stabbed into Bideleuce’s chest. Bideleuce reacted instantly, throwing a punch and exploding mana in all directions.
She tried to shake Thalaris off. But even the mana explosion right before her eyes was no threat. The spiritual energy seeping into Thalaris’s shadow was shielding her.
“Hah!”
Bideleuce gasped. She should have created distance, but Thalaris only pressed closer, swinging her sword in a wide arc.
The blade carried an almost imperceptible chill. It caused no direct harm, but the sword itself sent a cold shiver down Bideleuce’s spine.
‘Lady Bide’s sword keeps cutting deeper than I expected. When I think I’ve dodged, it’s already there. When I’m sure I’ve parried, it’s just an illusion.’
Unrelentingly sharp.
Bideleuce felt it keenly. The power in the sword was far too weak to tear through her flesh, yet she couldn’t bring herself to fight openly.
So now it was Bideleuce who tried to keep her distance. Staying close felt like she’d be cut deeply at any moment, and Murakan blocked all her ranged attacks, making the fight frustrating.
‘But my exhausted body will only break down more over time. And Murakan can’t watch over Lady Bide forever.’
Still, time was clearly on the side of the Demonic Realm.
Jito’s newly awakened eyes hadn’t yet taken shape and weren’t attacking, but once complete, they would tear through Murakan’s barrier.
‘Besides, Paelito will soon kill those fiends and join us. No need for any sneaky tricks.’
At most, five minutes.
From Bideleuce’s perspective, Murakan and Thalaris could only hold a slight advantage for that long. Within that time, she would neither be fatally wounded nor killed.
“You’ve got good instincts. I thought you were just an arrogant fool.”
“Yeah, it’s frustrating, isn’t it? If you’d just fight me head-on, maybe something could happen. But you won’t. By the way, your Black Dragon is incredibly patient.”
Thalaris glanced around.
Jito’s energy, unleashed from the Sacred King Star’s ruins, thickened. Violet bands were embedded throughout Murakan’s spiritual barrier.
Murakan didn’t utter a sound, but Bideleuce knew how excruciating the pain must be.
“Lord Jito’s true energy is piercing his entire body. Looks like he’s going to enjoy this torment for quite some time.”
Murakan said nothing, focusing his mind.
He could avoid Jito’s energy if he wanted, but if he didn’t bear it himself, the violet bands would strike those he was sworn to protect.
Fighting to protect something against those who only seek to destroy, steal, and trample could only be like this.
Unless you were overwhelmingly stronger than the enemy, you had to keep retreating under pressure.
Murakan’s scales trembled and fell one by one. Each fallen scale turned violet before flowing back to the source of the bands.
Jito’s eyes were draining Murakan’s strength. At this rate, permanent damage would begin within minutes.
He wasn’t afraid.
Even if he lost his power again like before, he could recover step by step. Besides, Jin was no longer so weak that he couldn’t protect himself without Murakan.
What troubled Murakan now was Jito’s eyes taking shape. Though he didn’t fully understand their exact power and abilities, his instincts screamed danger.
‘There’s only one chance. I have to fully unleash my spiritual energy and unleash the true Dark Onslaught. Even if I succeed, I’ll need at least five hundred years to recover.’
Murakan made his decision.
He might have to fall into a long slumber like a thousand years ago. But that was better than losing everything Jin was trying to protect. That was how Murakan saw it.
‘Strawberry Pie, saying goodbye will be difficult…’
Just as Murakan reached that thought—
Suddenly, the violet bands soaring into the sky snapped and began to fall. The one severing them was a sword—Sharl.
“Sorry I’m late, Murakan.”
Luntia had just broken through Paelito’s mana and arrived at the Sacred Kingdom. As soon as she entered the airspace, she sliced through the bands embedded in Murakan’s spiritual barrier, knocking them down.
“Are you alright? And the youngest?”
Luntia didn’t ask anything else.
The fact that Jin and Murakan were apart—and yet Murakan hadn’t shouted for Jin to be saved first—meant only one thing.
“It seems the Sovereign Lord has ordered us to protect the Sacred Kingdom. I will carry out the order.”
Luna’s request to ‘take care of Jin’ was not above the Sovereign Lord’s absolute command.
[We were short-handed anyway. Did you come alone?]
“Yes. But many superhumans, including the First Squadron, will join as soon as the main base’s defense is secured. What I need to cut down is that.”
Luntia aimed Sharl at the land where Jito’s energy surged.
“Hey, friend? Do you even know who you’re trying to cut down? Ugh!”
Manbing grazed Bideleuce’s neck.
“You seem to have forgotten who you’re facing. Let me remind you—and that will be your last memory.”
Luntia didn’t even glance at Bideleuce or Thalaris.
Not out of disdain, but because she trusted Thalaris. In this kind of close combat, there was no way she would lose to Bideleuce.
Besides, she had no time to watch them.
From the moment she faced Jito’s eyes head-on, Luntia too was engulfed in pain similar to Murakan’s.
[Hold on a moment. I’ll focus on Lady Bide while I recover. Until then, don’t overexert yourself.]
“Understood, Murakan.”
“Earlier, you said you felt strong again for the first time in a while?”
Paelito approached the fallen Jin.
Jin hurriedly got to his feet, but Paelito had no intention of killing him immediately. He had already had many chances to finish off Jin and Dante, but he kept them alive—to give them a more agonizing end.
“You probably don’t feel that way anymore. This is the gap of innate destiny, Jin Runkandel.”
Paelito turned his head, briefly casting his gaze far to the left. Dante had been blasted by the third Heavenly Annihilation Slash, sent flying all the way into a distant forest, unconscious.
“Looks like your friend’s running out of steam. And you’re not far behind.”
Paelito unleashed a blade strike toward the forest where Dante had fallen. Jin had no strength left to block it. The slash tore through the entire forest like a whirlwind before vanishing into a single point.
“Dante… Hedo, Kyungdo—they won’t die that easily.”
“Think whatever you want. But despite your words, you wear a rather telling expression. I sense your sorrow. You know, deep down, that they’re already dead.”
In fact, the faint energy that had lingered from Dante after the blade strike was now completely gone. All the citizens hiding in the forest had lost their lives. Jin could feel it all vividly, as if it were happening right before his eyes.
Unaware of it himself, tears were streaming down Jin’s face.
“There’s still one answer about you I haven’t found. Why do you grieve so deeply? I understand your hatred for Dante Hiran and the remnants of the old order, but the others I killed today weren’t exactly precious to you. Yet you’ve been trembling at their deaths since earlier.”
“Because I bear responsibility.”
“Responsibility? I heard your excuse before—that insignificant bugs like you have no place in the battles of the powerful. That’s not enough. There has to be another reason.”
Paelito saw right through him.
The heavy emotion weighing on Jin was the guilt of a ‘Returner.’
“So now, tell me the truth. If you do, I won’t kill any more powerless bugs today.”