Chapter 136 : Legion Spawning Ground (4)
Chapter 136: Legion Spawning Ground (4)
Tighten!
The noose cinched firmly around their necks.
“Why are you doing this to us! You said we were going to fight together!”
“The pain will only last for an instant.”
The knight answered without emotion.
Machines that had sworn to obey the Emperor’s commands alone.
To them, good and evil didn’t matter in the slightest.
Because they didn’t judge right and wrong for themselves.
They simply carried out their orders in silence.
That was the conviction sworn by those belonging to the Imperial Central Army.
“Please spare me. Please!”
“Aaaaaah. I’ll kill every last one of you. You bastards!”
The shouts of those begging for their lives mixed with the curses of those hurling abuse.
“Hmph! This is quite an interesting event. So, this is how they test the hero’s character. Don’t worry. I may not look like it, but I’m the one and only savior of the world. I don’t harm allies.”
Even when the noose was placed around Seo Changhee’s neck.
Even while the monk in front of him muttered prayers, he refused to believe he was going to be executed.
Despite being fully capable of escaping, he denied reality.
“Execute them!”
At the Emperor’s command, the executioner approached the chairs on which the condemned prisoners stood.
Only then did Seo Changhee sense that something felt wrong.
This wasn’t some act. It was real.
The Empire truly intended to kill every last one of them.
“Damn it….”
Then suddenly.
He spotted a familiar face in the distance.
Kang Yohan.
A person he had met over numerous Runs who had given him various forms of stimulation and assistance.
And that person.
Was silently mouthing something.
-I’ll help you. Deal for a 1-day slave contract?
…That was what he said.
Tch.
Not a chance.
He was the exalted protagonist of this world.
The one and only savior chosen by the System when the apocalypse first descended upon the Otherworld.
Naturally, there was no reason to accept such a pathetic offer.
‘If I die, he’ll be in trouble too.’
He might be making an offer like that, but at the last moment, he would definitely save him.
Without a doubt.
But right at that moment.
Thud!
The executioner kicked the chair with his foot.
“Keuph?”
A strangled sound escaped Seo Changhee’s mouth.
That was dangerous.
He barely endured by putting strength into his toes.
However, that kick had pushed the chair halfway out.
One more kick and it would be over.
Up ahead, Yohan had his tongue sticking out while playing hangman.
He still didn’t look like he had even the slightest intention of saving him.
There was no other choice now.
“I’ll do it! I said I’ll do it! Isn’t that enough!”
Seo Changhee shouted.
At that moment.
Slash!
Blades of wind severed all the prisoners’ nooses.
“Wind Magic?”
“Who goes there!”
The knights and mages immediately surveyed their surroundings.
They raised their mana and entered a state of high alert.
However, Yohan had already grasped the Empire’s entire deployment.
[Unique Ability ‘Time of the Annihilating Moon(滅月)’ is activated!]
A Unique Ability capable of inflicting fixed damage by erasing a portion of an astral rank.
Cracks appeared across the moons and stars floating behind the knights and mages.
That was the beginning.
Crackle!
Fwoosh!
Brilliant Magic Circles appeared one after another.
Immediately, ‘Frozen Orb’ split into dozens of fragments and poured down.
Roooooar!
Ice fragments containing tremendous mana battered the knights’ shields and slammed into the Shields deployed by the mages.
Normally, they would have easily blocked an attack of this level….
“What is this power?”
“Everyone, be careful!”
Because of Time of the Annihilating Moon, its power had far surpassed the realm of Intermediate Magic.
Bang! Thud! Thud!
Holes were punched through shields. Magical Shields shattered.
It was a sight that made the title of the Empire’s finest elites seem meaningless.
[Intermediate Magic ‘Ice Explosion Spear’ is activated!]
Taking advantage of the opening, Yohan threw the spear he had summoned.
Boooom!
“Keugh!”
A gaping hole appeared in the shoulder of a knight guarding the flank.
One mage was likewise forced out of the battle by ‘Blood Arrow’.
“Protect His Majesty!”
Only then did they change their highest-priority objective to protecting the Emperor.
The conditions were finally in place to begin the real rescue operation.
‘Now.’
Yohan released all the mana he had gathered at once.
Thump!
His heart raced.
An exhilarating thrill stimulated his entire body.
He could feel power on a completely different level from before.
This was Upper-Intermediate Magic used while ‘Time of the Annihilating Moon’ was active.
[Upper-Intermediate Magic ‘Wave of Bitter Cold’ is activated!]
Swoooosh!
A wave mixed with ice and water surged forward with terrifying momentum.
Strangely, cavalrymen wielding spears had formed at the front of the wave.
This wasn’t something they could block.
They had to dodge it.
No matter what.
Otherwise, even knights called human weapons wouldn’t emerge unscathed.
“Fall back!”
The Captain of the Guard screamed until his throat nearly burst.
＊＊＊
While the wave swept through the area.
Tap.
Yohan arrived in front of Seo Changhee.
He had cut off the noose, but the restraints around Seo Changhee’s hands and feet remained.
‘No wonder he couldn’t escape.’
The restraints were made from a special metal that disrupted the flow of mana.
No matter how powerful a Ranker was, once those restraints were placed on them, they couldn’t move freely.
Of course, breaking them from the outside wasn’t particularly difficult.
Clank!
Yohan removed the restraints in one swift motion before freeing the remaining prisoners as well.
“Th-thank you.”
“Wait! Ah, you’re that hero! The one who stopped the Outbreak!”
“I knew you looked familiar.”
The survivors expressed their gratitude.
It felt all the more miraculous because salvation had descended upon them at the exact moment they thought everything was over.
However.
“…….”
Only Seo Changhee lowered his head with a gloomy expression.
He looked deeply troubled.
Well, he had expected a glorious path to unfold before him as a hero, only to get stabbed in the back, so naturally he couldn’t help feeling depressed.
Well. I understand, but….
It’s none of my business anyway.
Yeah. A man should grow up tough.
And if he’s the protagonist, putting him through even more hardship is the standard approach.
Ah, more importantly.
“What happened to Evelyn? Why are you alone?”
“She said something serious had come up and left. She didn’t tell me the details, so I don’t really know either.”
“……!”
Yohan’s eyes narrowed at Seo Changhee’s words.
The Plague Lord.
She must have moved to strike him together with the Collector.
Depending on who won, it would have an enormous influence on how things unfolded from here.
It felt as though major events were about to happen one after another.
“After checking things out, it looks like the Emperor was infected by a Parasite. That’s why they suddenly started attacking us. It happened so secretly that anyone would’ve fallen for it.”
“Is that really true?”
Seo Changhee’s ears practically perked up.
Yohan could almost see his self-esteem increasing by +1.
He seemed particularly pleased by the part about ‘it happening so secretly that no one could possibly have noticed’.
“Yeah. I’m certain.”
“I see…. It made no sense for them to antagonize a hero like me, but now it all adds up.”
“So what are you going to do? Keep crouching there like this?”
“Of course not. There’s no way a trial could be properly resolved without the protagonist.”
Seo Changhee let out a smug laugh and rose from his seat.
Once again, fighting spirit burned in his eyes.
“The plan?”
“I’m not planning to drag this out. We’ll pull the Parasite out of the Emperor’s body right here.”
“You do realize this place is crawling with the Central Knights and Imperial Mages, right?”
“What are you worried about? I’ve got the strongest Ranker who can overwhelm all of them right beside me.”
“Well. You’re not wrong.”
Shing.
Seo Changhee drew his sword.
The runes engraved along the blade emitted dazzling light.
[Seo Changhee activates Unique Ability ‘Equivalent Exchange with the World’!]
The laws of the world were readjusted.
“The end of the path I walk leads toward everyone’s tomorrow.”
The power manifested through Words of Power created a white radiance.
“Do not doubt. I shall stand with you.”
Spirituality joined the battlefield.
＊
“Is it still not done!”
The Captain of the Guard raised his voice.
Even with several Imperial Mages working together, they had failed to dispel the surging wave.
To struggle this much against a single spell cast by some green brat in his twenties.
There could be no greater humiliation.
“It’s done! I’ve broken the combination formula!”
A mage with a long white beard answered.
He was ‘Opeyard’, a Battle Mage belonging to the Empire’s First Magic Corps.
At the same time as those words, the figures of the perpetrators of high treason appeared before them.
There were two.
The one in front was a man holding a sword.
It was the very same young man who had been their prisoner moments earlier.
“Instead of running away, he’s coming straight at us. How can someone be that foolish?”
“Haha! He’s saved us the trouble of chasing him. Sir Jamie.”
The knights drew their weapons and advanced.
A few exchanges.
That should be enough to subdue them before resuming the executions.
However, the moment sword met sword.
Clangclangclang!
“Keugh!?”
“Wh-what is this?”
Every prediction proved wrong.
The blade moved like flowing water, weaving freely through the knights.
The skill with which it slipped between gaps in their armor and precisely severed only their joints went beyond admiration and made curses spill out involuntarily.
Three were taken down in the blink of an eye.
But that wasn’t the end of the problem.
[Void Magic ‘Black Predator’ is activated!]
[Void Magic ‘Black Gale’ is activated!]
[Bloodline Ability ‘Blood Bind’ is activated!]
A crimson hand shot upward and grabbed a knight by the ankle.
Immediately afterward, the power of the Void swallowed the knight’s upper body.
“Aaaaaagh!”
It didn’t take his life, but it was more than enough to completely remove him from the battle.
“Kyaa. I’ve only been dealing with Champions of the Abyss and Bosses lately, so playing around here feels great!”
The mage cackled as he indiscriminately unleashed spells.
His flippant behavior was obnoxious and irritating, but his power was genuine.
“What is the Magic Corps doing? Neutralize it or dispel it. Isn’t your role to support the knights until they can close the distance!?”
“W-we need to understand something before we can counter it… Even I have never seen magic like that before.”
Opeyard’s face turned pale.
He had supported the Hestia Empire for decades. Yet he had never encountered such ominous and sinister magic.
It was a realm impossible even for a Dragon.
Putting aside its power. The very roots of the magic were different.
“To think something like that is possible without a Tanker, Supporter, or any other support role.”
Jamie also bit his lip hard.
A swordsman who held the enemy’s attention at close range.
And.
A mage who completely demolished the battle line from the rear with overwhelming firepower.
They had far surpassed the limits of what the most basic two-person Party should have been capable of.
They were monsters.
Judging by talent alone, Jamie wanted to recruit them into the Imperial Central Army immediately.
‘Even so, it’s only a matter of time.’
A mage was ultimately a ranged damage dealer.
Once the distance was closed, it was over.
Tap.
Tatap.
After more than 15 casualties, two knights finally reached the rear.
“We finally meet.”
“I’ll avenge our comrades!”
They would cut him down in a single stroke.
That was the plan.
However.
[Immortal Art ‘Willow Body Fist(柳體拳)’ is activated!]
Just when they were certain they had severed his arm,
Yohan avoided the sword with a bizarre movement that was as supple as a willow branch.
Creating the illusion that the sword had passed straight through his body.
“You shouldn’t look down on me just because I’m a mage. I’m on my 1,000th Run.”
“1,000th Run? What… does that mean?”
What else could it mean.
“It means I’m a veteran.”
An Irregular capable of ignoring even the absolute metric known as astral rank to a certain extent.
One capable of creating gaps and variables within the System.
Yohan smiled and placed his hand against the knight’s pauldron.
Wooooong!
Dark crimson energy gathered around both hands.
‘Crimson Blood Asura(赤血修羅)’.
The mana reprocessed through [Blood Vessel] rotated violently.
Third Form.
Wriggle.
The shape of a dragon with razor-sharp teeth formed across his palm.
‘Twin-Fanged Black Dragon Hand(雙牙黑龍手)’.
Boooom!
“Kegh!”
A black dragon erupted from behind the knight.
The black dragon formed from energy completely ravaged the inside of his body, leaving him foaming at the mouth as he lost consciousness.
“Don’t let your guard down! He’s skilled in close combat!”
Jamie shouted, but the momentum had already completely shifted.
Booooom!
Bang! Bang!
Yohan and Seo Changhee mercilessly tore through the Knights and Magic Corps.
There was no need to defeat all of them anyway.
They only needed to rampage until the Parasite inside the Emperor’s body felt threatened enough to reveal its true power.
Only until then.
But right at that moment.
Something unexpected happened.
“I’ll face you!”
A blonde, blue-eyed girl intervened.
Claaang!
A sword streaming with cold energy knocked Seo Changhee’s sword aside.
“Not bad. Are you a knight?”
Seo Changhee looked at his opponent.
“No. She’s not a knight.”
Yohan answered instead.
It was someone he had met once before.
Evangeline von Hestia.
The Imperial Princess through whose veins flowed the blood of a Dragon.