Chapter 220
I lay comfortably on the bed.
I chose the bead that would let me travel for a week.
I spoke to Donnie.
"If anything happens, wake me up."
"Wouldn't something go wrong if we wake you?"
"The osu tree will protect me. I have a feeling it will send me back at the time I want."
The osu tree is the tree of souls, connected to Apeon. What I did when I went to the past has already been reflected in history. I just didn't know that history myself.
"Be careful."
Eilin held my hand.
"Yeah."
Rod had already met me a few times, so he must have been prepared for me to come again. Maybe I gave advice further in the past, but this was my first time going.
Everything was ready.
Eilin seemed intent on staying by my side.
She held the spirit bead.
I closed my eyes.
Then I called upon the osu tree, present in my mind and consciousness. I asked it to send me to a certain time.
A short while later.
A light appeared beyond the edge of consciousness.
And then drowsiness began to overwhelm me.
* * *
Kwaaaang—
I heard a tremendous roar.
The air was freezing cold.
"Hon! Get a hold of yourself!"
Someone slapped my cheek.
It felt like sleep paralysis—it was difficult to open my eyes, but I struggled with all my might. Then my eyes snapped open.
A man was waking me up.
Amazingly, he was a Holy Knight.
The spirit knight from Rod's house.
"Where am I?"
"Get up! There's no time for this!"
"Wait a moment! Are you by any chance Sir Roger?"
"Roger?"
The man looked at me again.
"Are you Sir Roger?"
"That's right."
The man's eyes widened.
So did those of the other Holy Knights nearby.
"Inform our liege! Sir Roger has returned!"
The knights helped me up off the ground.
I was currently in the form of a Holy Knight.
I had no shield, just a greatsword.
"Move out!"
About a hundred Holy Knights were pushing or guarding a large wagon. I was among those at the front. Fierce combat was taking place ahead of us.
Giant eagles soared in the sky, while Hader wolves and winged lions fought devils on the ground. There were also stone golems.
Explosions sounded on the snowy mountain, and extremely fast new broadswords were flying in the sky, fighting one another. Two figures could be seen holding off the devils at the front.
"Where is Rod?"
"Over there!"
Rod was one of the two blocking the devils at the front. Behind him, a mage was turning the area into a sea of flames—his wife, iren.
"Who are the ones fighting in the sky?"
"The Apostles! The one in white armor is Lord Risin, who protects us! The other two are Apostles who betrayed us!"
The Apostle of Yan is Risin.
He was fighting the two by himself.
"What about Hanuk?"
"He was defeated by the combined assault of Lord Risin and Lord Rod! If we lose this battle, the world will fall!"
As the man shouted, he glanced back.
"Hurry!"
"Yes, sir!"
The Holy Knights energetically pushed the wagon. There were boxes strapped to it, probably containing the Demon King. The devils were rushing in to rescue the Demon King.
"Did you capture the Demon King?"
"It's the devil! The human Apostle became a god of darkness! Unlike the other Apostles, he's nearly a god!"
My body was loosening up.
Surprisingly, the person I had possessed had a spirit and also access to most of the skills I used.
"Was this young man's name Hon?"
"Yes! Sir Roger, you always possessed Hon's body! You even trained rigorously back then! The armor and weapons we use were all made by you at that time!"
For them, it was the past. But for me, it was something I had yet to accomplish. It seemed when I used a one-year bead, I had trained in the body of this Holy Knight named Hon.
"Is Hon strong?"
"Second only to our liege!"
I focused to sense Hon's magic power. While not at the level of the Sword of Light, it was considerable. His holy power was even greater than his mana.
The box containing the devil had a magic pattern on it, which seemed to be a holy seal. The Holy Knights took turns infusing holy power into it as they pushed.
Our current location was the continent of Gadisil.
Near the icy cliff of the snowy mountain. It was the place with multiple layers of fortress walls and an abundance of devils.
The wagon was well-guarded by the Holy Knights, but there were just too many devils surging in from the front. Only Rod and Iren were clearing the way.
"I'll support Rod!"
I grabbed my greatsword and ran.
A man shouted.
"Twenty men, follow our liege!"
Rod was fending off the onrushing devils, commanding many guardian beasts and stone golems. As he held them back, iren unleashed a field of flames.
I closed in behind Rod.
He looked to be in his late twenties.
Even now, his presence was overwhelming.
"You're here!"
"Is Risin okay?"
"He's badly injured! I haven't told him yet!"
I didn't know when the Apostle of Yan was supposed to die. It seemed he was to die in this battle, and I had told Rod about it.
"What about the Apostle of Elin?"
"In the land of Tak! Iren, get back!"
Kukwakwakwang—
A gravitational wave came crashing down from above. It was a mass of power thrown by the Apostle Dran, who was fighting against Risin.
He tried to target us again, but Risin showered him with countless blades of light, blocking him. It was a remarkable summoning authority—not troops, but streaks of light.
"Long time no see, Roger!"
"Nice to meet you, iren!"
Iren approached quickly, greeted with a bright smile, then returned to her original position. It was teleportation.
Rod shouted.
"All guardian beasts, surround the wagon!"
The guardian beasts, which had been blocking the devils, retreated as one, encircling the Holy Knights and the wagon. Now, only about thirty stone golems remained in front of us.
"Are you ready?"
"Of course!"
"Holy Knights, forward!"
Standing at the very front with Rod, we cut through swarms of devils, forging a path. The Holy Knights followed in wedge formation. The focus was on swift transport, not battle.
Kwakwakwakwang—
Rod's feats with his bow were also astounding. Every time he drew and released, dozens of arrows flew forth at once.
There were homing arrows, too, and when he added strength, explosions occurred. Dozens of Arrows of Light were loosed in a fan shape.
Swinging Whirlwind, I cleaved through the devils as I went. This Hon I possessed had mastered most of the Berserker's swordsmanship, only lacking elemental power.
Rod and Iren's area attacks greatly reduced the advancing devils. Thanks to it, fewer devils reached the wagon. The guardian beasts were also protecting it.
"I see the ice wall!"
It was the same icy cliff we'd entered before.
From the cave, swarms of monsters were pouring out. As we headed straight in, that's when—
A new broadsword crashed down from above.
It was Risin, the Apostle of Yan. Immediately after, the Apostle Dran hurled another gravitational wave, causing an explosion.
Kukwakwakwang—
A storm raged, and a burst of gravity swelled. Risin, who had been slammed into the ground, was thrown back up.
"Risin!"
As Dran tried to drive down on Risin, rod fired a powerful arrow. The Apostle dodged via teleportation, then moved to attack Rod.
Kwaang—
Rod also-nimbly dodged the gravity wave, releasing Arrows of Light without rest. So, amid the mass of devils, a battle of offense and defense erupted between Dran and Rod.
Juh-juh-juh-jung—
Meanwhile, the Gadisil Apostle was targeting the wagon. The Holy Knights raised a barrier of light, but his power of frost froze them in an instant.
Iren fired fireballs to block the Gadisil Apostle rushing toward the wagon. She also spread a field of flames, melting the frozen Knights.
Kwakwakwakwang—
But the Holy Knights guarding the wagon were blasted away at once. Even Iren, who was defending against Gadisil, was thrown back.
There was a huge gap in power between Apostles and heroes.
How had this been overcome?
With just a gesture, the Gadisil Apostle blasted away even the Knights trying to stand up and approached the wagon. He had to be stopped. With Hon's skills alone, it seemed hopeless.
The Gadisil Apostle started unchaining the box tied to the wagon. I rushed at him, and he turned to look at me—an expression like, "What now?"
As he was about to launch me away—
Suddenly, a powerful fire arrow shot toward him. The Apostle leapt up to evade.
"Kainel! Not a chance!"
A fireball was launched at the airborne Gadisil Apostle. Up in the sky was an Apostle I'd never seen before. Red hair, crimson armor. It was Amir, the Apostle.
"Iren! Are you all right?"
"I'm fine!"
"Leave him to me, go help Rod!"
Then, a battle broke out in the sky between Gadisil and Amir. Frost and flame exploded, red light raging. It really looked like a battle between gods.
Was this the outcome of the battle? The Apostle of Yan died, the Apostle of Elin perished, and Amir went into hiding. It seemed Amir hadn't hidden from the start.
"Push the wagon again!"
Most of the Holy Knights were injured. Even so, they desperately pushed and blocked the devils. I also continued to fend off the surging devils as we advanced.
Risin, who'd been slammed down, was already back in the air. Blood dripped from beneath his feet.
"Rod! Iren! Get into the cave!"
"Will you be all right?"
"I won't die! I'll stop them, so make sure you get to Tak's land! Garil will protect you there! Apeon's blessing be with you!"
Risin teleported toward Dran, who was attacking Rod. As we'd reached the cave entrance, iren unleashed flames and opened the entrance.
She went in, followed by the ones pushing the wagon. The cave was packed with devils. The way ahead, up to the mountainside, was quite far.
Iren, together with the stone giants, led at the front, blocking devils. The rest of us fought frantically to fend off the devils swarming the wagon.
Rod and the guardian beasts also entered the cave, blocking the devils pursuing from behind. If even a single Apostle entered the cave, we'd be wiped out.
The Holy Knights silently struck down the devils that Iren missed. There'd been about a hundred of us, but now only around sixty remained. Originally, there must have been three hundred.
It was truly a grueling operation.
This was how the world had been saved.
Through the hardship and death of countless people.
"I'm out of mana!"
"Rest for a bit! We'll take over!"
Iren, who had been holding off the devils with flame, stepped back, and the other Knights and I went forward. The battle inside the cave was at least better than outside.
We forged ahead, opening a path. The other Knights fervently pushed and dragged the wagon. Rod and the guardian beasts guarded the rear almost perfectly.
The Knights were running low on mana but continued to cut down devils using holy power. They were all seasoned veterans.
I asked the knight who had woken me.
"Why did Amir the Apostle arrive just now?"
"He went to Tak's land to summon the beams of light for sealing the devil! He left for Tak's land twelve days ago, but there, it couldn't have taken even ten minutes!"
"Is the Apostle of Elin there too?"
"She's probably fighting the Apostle of Tak right now!"
Krrrhaaa—
As devils surged in, conversation ceased.
While cutting them down, we marched ever onward.
Did it take about six hours?
Getting to the temple halfway up the mountain was incredibly hard. Luckily, there were no devils in the temple.
"Make haste!"
We headed straight for the seven doors at the other end of the temple. Unlike our era, all the doors here were open. Iren went right through the fourth door.
Swaaa—
We came out in that black land. Everything was pitch dark. In the distance, light flashed like thunder.
Garil, apostle of Elin, and the Apostle of Tak were fighting. Their fight was just beginning, but on Rac's side, twelve days had already passed.
Garil appeared via teleportation.
Emitting a bright light.
"This way!"
"Move to the lake!"
Bzzzt—Kukwakwakwang—
As the Apostle of Tak targeted us, garil put up a barrier to block him. The Elin Apostle was far from weak—she was handily blocking even the strongest Apostle, Tak.
We pierced through a storm of crystal shards.
The place we emerged from was also a temple. Yet the lake where they intended to seal the devil was still quite far.
"Hanuk is coming! Everyone, be careful!"
"He should be badly wounded!"
"While we're moving to the lake, he'll gain ten days in the land of the devil! Plenty of time to recover!"
Everyone combined their strength to push the wagon.
A ray of light was visible in the darkness.
There was the lake with the rising light.
We moved toward the lake, confirming its location. The temple we'd emerged from was on the same mountain as the door of light. At full speed, you could cross it in less than a minute.
The lake drew closer and closer.
The airborne battle between the Apostle of Tak and Garil grew even fiercer. At that moment—
"Garil! Watch out!"
Rod cried out!
Garil was struck by something and crashed into the lake.
And in front of us—
Someone with pitch-black wings of light appeared.
A Holy Knight with the holy power of darkness.
It was Hanuk.
RelatedRelatedRelated