Paaang!
The light that forced him to make a choice was created by the angel. The light that blossomed from his hand did not shoot out like a flash, but exploded in front of the fallen King Lecros' chest.
Chaaang!
Glen stepped forward with his left foot without hesitation. In a split second, he moved to the side of King Lecros and cut the exploding light in half.
“I knew it.”
Derus Robert seemed to have predicted Glen's choice, and he waved his hand, which was blurring like fog, downward.
“As expected, the current Glen Ziggart is not the cold-blooded man who was once called the North King.”
He twisted his lips in a mocking smile.
“The sound of my voice announcing the deaths of Raon and Karoon is still echoing in your head, isn't it? Their deaths are merely the harbinger of the great war.”
Derus raised his chin with his eyes gleaming darkly.
“Now that the two of them have come down, there's not much time left.”
He stood to the right, closed his eyes, and looked at the angel, licking his lips.
“The next time we meet, I will take your head...”
“That will not happen.”
Glen aimed his sword at Derus Robert, who was fading away as if he were about to disappear.
“You're going to stab me? Do you have the courage to stab me while leaving the Silent Sword Sovereign's side?”
Derus nodded his chin casually, as if he understood the situation.
“You underestimated the King of Owen.”
As soon as Glen finished speaking, the silent sword, Lecros, rose to his feet on one knee. Despite the wound that tore through his chest, he swung his sword with such force that it seemed to crush the ground.
Kugugugugu!
The transcendent sword that suppressed the enemy's movements. It seemed as though Lecros had been preparing this sword strike since he was captured by the angel, as he unleashed a powerful pressure that could shatter the enemy's flesh and bones with a single gesture.
Kuuuuuung!
The blurry figures of Derus and the angel, which had seemed as though they were about to vanish, regained their light and fell back into this world. It seemed that the movement magic had been broken by the powerful gravity generated by Lecros' sword.
“Kuh...”
Lecros fell backward, spitting blood from his mouth as if he had fulfilled his role.
Sssssss!
Glen aimed his sword at Derus Robert and the angel, who had fallen back to the ground. The red lightning that had been soaking the blade subsided, and the image built up by the old swordsman bloomed with the elegant fragrance of white flowers.
“Ugh...”
Derus Robert swallowed dryly as he looked at Glen's sword technique aimed at him.
“This is dangerous.”
Glen had forged an absolute sword capable of severing the enemy's soul by tempering his own soul.
It was an unprecedented realm he had not yet reached himself. The noble killing intent emanating from the sword made his heart feel like it was being squeezed.
“Is he really going to cut me down?”
Since using the completed sword would cause him to leave this world, Glen had decided not to use it until Raon's safety was confirmed.
But now, Glen seemed to be genuinely intent on severing his own soul.
“Raguel!”
Derus grabbed the angel standing beside him by the shoulder and shouted that they had to leave this place.
“Even if it goes against the rules...”
The angel called Raguel lifted his closed eyelids. As his blue eyes, which seemed to contain the sea, flickered, his and Derus's bodies began to disappear, enveloped in white light.
“I won't let you go like this.”
Glenn closed his eyes and swung the Heavenly Tremor downward. The slow sword strike, so quiet it didn't even make the sound of cutting through the wind, passed by Derus and Raguel, who were enveloped in white light.
Though they were too far away for the blade to reach, what the Heavenly Tremor cut through was not the enemy's blood and flesh.
It severed the soul and spirit hidden deep within the flesh, the most important values that allow a person to exist as a human being.
“Guh!”
As soon as Glen’s sword fell, Derus bent over and vomited black, dead blood.
“This is…”
He trembled, his eyes bloodshot.
“How can a human sword...”
Raguel also dropped his white wings and knelt on one knee. His blue eyes revealed his horror at the old swordsman.
Swoosh!
As if it weren't over yet, Glen raised the Heavenly Tremor again and thrust it toward Derus and Raguel's necks.
“The Scales of Justice!”
Raguel bit his lip and reached out his hand, and from the sky descended a beautiful shape resembling angel feathers, the Scales of Justice.
The scales trembled as if hit by a wave, and Derus and Raguel vanished as if erased from the world.
“Hmm...”
Glen couldn't bring himself to thrust the sword all the way in and lowered his hand.
Even though he had only swung the sword once, he was mentally exhausted and sweating profusely.
“Um, what happened?”
King Lecros, unable to steady himself, raised his head and asked about the situation.
“It's dangerous, so don't say anything.”
Glen approached King Lecros and stopped the blood flowing from the wounds on his chest and shoulders.
“…Are they dead?”
“No, I couldn’t kill them all.”
He shook his head as he sheathed the Heavenly Tremor Sword.
‘I’m sorry, but I can’t leave this place yet.’
Having completed the Divine Sword, he could kill any enemy, but the moment he used it, his soul would not remain on this continent but would ascend to a higher realm.
Though it was the ascension he had longed for his entire life, he could not leave this continent now, not knowing the fate of Raon and the other children.
No, beyond that, there was still so much he had yet to teach Raon and Karoon. For now, he wanted to stay on this land at all costs.
Therefore, he deliberately used the unfinished Heart Sword to split Derus’s soul in half.
Even this alone made his soul tremble as if it were about to shatter, but it was a decent outcome since he had managed to steal the enemy’s time.
“I understand…”
King Lecros nodded as if he understood the meaning behind his words.
“Your Majesty!”
“Are you all right?”
As the barrier created by Raguel disappeared, Owen's knights rushed toward King Lecros.
“Your Majesty?”
“The wound is too severe...”
“Quickly, move the king! Hurry!”
The knights saw King Lecros with a hole in his chest and let out a deep groan as they carefully picked him up.
“Hurry…”
King Lecros stopped the knights and waved his hand at Glen.
“Go.”
He smiled weakly, telling them to go somewhere else without thinking about himself.
“Thank you.”
When Glen nodded, King Lecros closed his eyes, seeming to feel at ease as he entrusted himself to the knights.
“Larian.”
At Glen’s call, the air rippled like a spring, and the face of Larian, who had taken off her robe, appeared.
[Yes.]
The Tower Master nodded with a clear voice, unlike her usual blurry and slurred tone. She looked like a completely different person.
“What about the situation elsewhere?”
[Contrary to expectations, there have been no attacks on us, Balcar, or the Beast Alliance.]
She narrowed her eyes, stating that only Owen had been attacked.
“Hmm...”
Glenn let out a low groan. It was too strange that only Owen had been attacked, when he had expected attacks everywhere.
“I have no idea what he's thinking.”
He couldn't read Derus's intentions, which made him feel uneasy.
However, there was something more important than that right now.
He let out a short sigh and raised his head.
“Have you been able to contact Montiro?”
[We are still unable to contact them. We have not heard from the black market either, and the dimensional gate is closed.]
He frowned, thinking that communication network itself seemed to be down.
“Then take me to the place closest to Montiro.”
Glen forced himself to calm his trembling heart and nodded.
“I think this trembling will stop once I go there myself.”
***
Hwaaah!
A sacred light appeared in the dim study, where only a small lamp was lit.
“Kuh...”
Derus Robert, who had jumped out of the white sphere, sat down on the luxurious carpet and coughed up black blood.
“Ugh...”
Raguel also lost his balance, knocked over the bookshelf, and fell backward. His hand, which was holding the feather-made scales, trembled.
“Lord Derus?”
Kubara, who had been waiting in the study, approached Derus with wide eyes.
“What on earth happened….”
Even in her panic, she took out a black pill and put it in Derus's mouth.
“Kuh….”
After taking the medicine, Derus seemed to feel less pain and managed to lift his upper body, exhaling a breath mixed with the smell of blood.
“What happened? Could it be Glen Zighart...?”
“Yes. It's the Heart Sword.”
Derus placed his hand on his chest and nodded with difficulty.
“My soul was almost severed.”
He clenched his lips tightly, realizing how dangerous it had been this time.
“Is this really a human sword…?”
Raguel wiped the blood from his mouth and let out a sigh.
“It's too dangerous a power to be granted to a mere human. It goes against discipline and justice.”
He, who had been calmly closing his eyes even on the battlefield, now seemed genuinely angry, his blue eyes flashing with a chilling murderous intent.
“If that sword had been completed, both you and I would have died. It is a power that must be eliminated.”
Raguel said that the sword was a power that should not be given to humans, and tightened his grip on the scales.
“No...”
Derus shook his head slowly as he looked at Raguel.
“It's not that it's incomplete; it's been deliberately adjusted.”
He frowned as if he had noticed Glen's thoughts.
“As you said, that power goes against the law of causality. If you use the completed Heart Sword to transcend the limits, you won't be able to stay on this continent, so you set your own limits.”
Derus sighed, saying that Glen's realm had already transcended the limits.
“Of course, this power alone is absurd...”
The wounds of the soul cannot be healed by someone else, like the wounds of the body.
Only through one's own efforts can the wounds and pain be reduced, but Glen's sword had penetrated deeper than before, so it would take quite a long time to recover.
“He's a human being who goes against the rules in many ways. We can't just leave him like this.”
Raguel frowned, saying that it would be right to kill Glen himself. It seemed that getting angry like this was his true nature, rather than his usual calm demeanor.
“No, it's okay.”
Derus shook his head calmly.
“It's true that he's strong enough to transcend humanity, but thanks to that, we know his definite weakness.”
“Weakness...?”
Kubara narrowed his eyes as he looked at Derus.
“That old man. His affection for his family has grown beyond what I felt before. This will definitely be a dagger we can use to our advantage.”
Derus chuckled as he looked at the blood flowing from his palm. He licked the blood on his hand with his tongue and smiled with his lips stretched into a long line.
“Raon Zieghart. No, Raon. There's not much time left now.”
***
“Calm down and tell me again.”
Raon raised his hand to calm the excited Jayna.
“What do you mean there's a problem with communication? Was Owen attack?”
“Huu...”
Jayna exhaled and organized her thoughts.
"It's not necessarily a problem, but there are two possibilities. Either the magic flowing from the Black Tower caused a communication failure, or Owen was attacked and blocked communications. Or it could be both. ”
She furrowed her brows, certain that Owen was involved in either case.
“Owen….”
Raon frowned as he looked up at the sky, where magic energy was still flowing.
‘I won’t be much help right now.’
He was on the verge of fainting, having fought with every ounce of her physical and spiritual strength.
He was barely holding on to convey the message to the demon kings, so it was impossible for him to go elsewhere to fight.
“No, not just me, but everyone.”
The Allied Forces of the Holy Kingdom of Schper, including Light Wind Palace, True Martial Palace, Owen, and Balkar, had also exhausted all their strength and could no longer fight.
“If communication is cut off, can’t we use the dimensional gate either?”
“No. We can’t come or go now. We’d have to use a separate teleportation spell, but unless you’re someone like Chamber, long-distance teleportation is nearly impossible…”
“I see.”
Raon lowered his gaze and furrowed his brow.
‘What should I do?’
If it were the Derus Robert he knew, he was more likely to go to fight the Five Kings than to come here for support.
He had made various preparations, but since the battle here was so fierce, he was also worried about other places.
-What are you hesitating about?
Wrath frowned and pointed at Lust and Gluttony inside the store.
“There's that fool you roasted over there! Use her when you need to!”
“I guess I have no choice but to ask her again.”
At this point, there was only one option left.
“Hmph.”
Raon let out a short sigh and entered the ice cream shop.
“Thank you for coming here first.”
He bowed his head slightly to Lust, whose eyes were glazed over, and Gluttony, who was chewing on an iron bar.
“What’s there to thank? You can ask me anything!”
“It’s about money…”
Lust and Gluttony shook their heads as if it were no big deal.
“It’s embarrassing to say now, but can I ask one more favor?”
Raon nodded to the two.
“Sure! Anything!”
“Ice cream, or money…”
Lust and Gluttony nodded as if to say it was fine.
“Thank you. We need to move to another location first…”
Raon gave the two demons a rough explanation.
“We’ll come back after we’re ready, so please wait here.”
He left the ice cream shop to take those who were in good condition with him.
Kwaaang!
As they were about to move to the temporary treatment center, a huge explosion sounded from the direction of the central fountain.
“What is it?”
Raon ran toward the fountain where the explosion had occurred, his eyes wide open.
Goooo.
The ground was covered in white dust from the violent movement, and in the center of it all was a familiar face.
“G-Grandpa?”
Glen, who was supposed to be staying in Zighardt to prepare for attacks from other places, was standing on top of the destroyed fountain, looking at him.
“Raon...”
Glenn exhaled a deep sigh as if his chest were blocked, gazing at him. He approached with a weary expression, his eyes softening.
“I knew you’d manage it. And…”
Glenn spoke with a voice tinged with moisture, embracing Raon tightly with trembling arms.
“It’s truly a relief.”