Chapter 178

Chapter 179. The Big Shot of Sephira (4)

In this world, there are many religious sects, but the Lilian Kingdom only allows worship of two gods.

The God of Luck, Nika.

The God of Abundance, Frey.

All other sects are forbidden from establishing churches within the Lilian Kingdom, and proselytizing is also prohibited.

Thus, the Sun God Church, which worships the Sun God Parath, cannot operate within the Lilian Kingdom.

‘But why are they here now?’

Ayrus couldn’t believe it.

Not just one or two. Sun God Priests began to shine from various parts of the spectator seats.

The darkness recedes. To humans, it’s warm, but to the undead, it’s a light that melts flesh and bone.

The Sun God Priests, who had become sources of light themselves, simply stood with their arms spread, but that alone gave people hope and comfort.

“I can see them, those monster bastards!”

“In this light, they can’t even regenerate!”

The morale of the knights, who had been fighting the undead relying only on senses other than sight, soared. The undead’s seemingly invincible immortality also vanished before the sunlight.

Ayrus turned his gaze back to Keter.

“So you were so arrogant because you trusted the Sun God Priests. But even so, it’s just a feeble light.”

As Ayrus said, the darkness had indeed been illuminated, but not the entire arena. No, some areas had even grown darker.

This was partly because there were only twenty Sun God Priests, but also because the darkness pushed away by the light had concentrated in the center of the arena, deepening further.

Swish.

Ayrus, who had momentarily halted a skeleton knight with a gesture, smiled.

Though he was startled by the appearance of the Sun God Priests, it was clear that it wasn’t enough to turn the tide of battle.

“Hahaha, Keter! If you have eyes, you can see it too. Sunlight is indeed poison to low-level undead. But to high-level undead, it’s just a bit irritating. Even without immortality, there’s no problem sweeping you all away!”

Don’t hope, despair, Ayrus seemed to shout—but Keter’s smile only deepened.

“Ayrus. You act like you know me well. So let me ask you, why do you think I’m just talking to you instead of attacking?”

“……?!”

“I needed some time to prepare. To set up the formation.”

Thud! Crash!

Dull sounds echoed from various parts of the arena. It was the sound of something hard being struck and shattered by a blunt weapon.

Ayrus’s head turned quickly again. He could feel that the undead he had summoned were being destroyed at a rapid pace.

“Those guys…….”

There was a group of people fighting on the frontlines against the undead who stood out.

They were clearly not knights. A group of people wielding maces and shields, or two-handed hammers, were smashing the undead to pieces.

A knight who recognized them shouted in an emotional voice.

“The Death Eater Mercenary Band? Why are you here?”

“The Death Eater Mercenary Band?!”

The faces of the spectators who recognized the Death Eater Mercenary Band lit up.

This wasn’t just because they were a top-tier mercenary band composed entirely of Diamond-rank or higher members.

“An undead-specialized mercenary band just happened to be here?!”

“But where have they been all this time?”

“That’s not important right now. Let’s join them!”

The Death Eater Mercenary Band is a specialized undead-extermination mercenary group. Legends say that the number of dark mages and undead killed by their hands exceeds thousands.

However, they do not operate within the Lilian Kingdom. The Lilian Kingdom is, after all, a clean state when it comes to dark mages.

Thus, their main area of operation is the neighboring Adeus Kingdom. Their appearance here in the Lilian Kingdom was supposed to be impossible.

“…….”

Ayrus’s lips trembled.

The impossible had happened twice. The intrusion of the Sun God Priests, and the appearance of the Death Eater Mercenary Band.

He didn’t want to believe it. But Keter’s expression explained everything.

“Keter. Did you bring them all here? The Sun God Priests, the Death Eater Mercenary Band?”

“If you have eyes, look again. There’s still one more left.”

“What?!”

Ayrus didn’t even need to turn his eyes back to the battlefield. The cheers of the people reached him first.

“The alchemists of the Saint Zarbella Foundation are here too!”

“The undead are melting away!”

“Holy water, the alchemists have created holy water!”

“Look over there! They can’t regenerate! It’s definitely holy water!”

The undead struck by the potions thrown by the alchemists of the Saint Zarbella Foundation sizzled and melted away, emitting smoke.

Keter chuckled as he watched the scene.

‘Holy water, my foot. It’s just acid strong enough to melt steel.’

The alchemists of the Saint Zarbella Foundation, who operate in the darkest corners of the alchemy world, are infamous for conducting inhumane experiments and creating bizarre artifacts, even having bounties on their heads. But when they’re on your side, they’re more reliable than anyone.

Their alchemy ignores affinities. Even darkness, which resists all attributes, is consumed.

The alchemists, with their hands clasped together, struck the ground, and the orichalcon floor transformed, entangling the legs of the undead.

The knights and the Death Eater Mercenary Band didn’t miss the opportunity and quickly smashed the undead.

“Push all the regenerating undead toward the Sun God Priests!”

At the shout of the Death Eater mercenary, the knights threw the shattered undead closer to the sunlight.

Sizzle!

The undead, struck directly by the intense sunlight, turned to ash without being able to resurrect.

Even high-level undead were no different. In their normal state, they might have resisted the sunlight, but while regenerating, even they would vanish under its rays.

The tide of battle had clearly turned.

The Sun God Church manifested sunlight to drive away the darkness—

The Death Eater Mercenary Band formed a wall at the forefront—

And the alchemists of the Saint Zarbella Foundation provided support.

The citizens, who had been fleeing indiscriminately, also regained their composure. Not on their own, but thanks to the nobles who had been forewarned by Sephira and had deployed knights.

“Th-this……!”

Ayrus’s fists trembled. The faces of Sephira’s Triad, which had been filled with despair, now showed determination once more.

“Keter! You……!”

Whoosh!

Ayrus ordered the skeleton knights to attack. He also summoned banshees.

“Do you think you can kill me with just that pathetic force?”

Click, Keter released the bowstring. The Milky Way, already loaded, fired and split apart.

Celestial Infinity Technique, 5th Form: Scatter Shot.

Skill activation, Acceleration Gateway.

The Milky Way, split into hundreds of fragments, passed through the Acceleration Gateway and accelerated to a transcendent level.

Boom! Crash! Bang!

With overwhelming speed and power, the skeleton knights and banshees were swept away like grains of sand on a beach.

But even if they were shattered, they couldn’t be killed. This was the terror of the undead!

However, they couldn’t resurrect. The bones clattered as they tried to reattach, but collapsed weakly.

It wasn’t because of the sunlight. They were quite far from the sunlight.

Sizzle.

Black smoke rose from the bones. Ayrus’s expression twisted further.

“Mana Arrow……!”

“I can’t kill them, but I can stop them from resurrecting.”

The Mana Arrow of the Demon Bow Amaranth carries the power of decay. Even this couldn’t kill the undead.

But it could prevent them from resurrecting. The forces of regeneration and destruction clashed.

“Grrr……!”

Ayrus, biting his lip, glared at Keter and the Triad behind him. He glanced around at the battlefield.

It wasn’t good. But if he stepped in, he could turn the tide. The Sun God Priests, the Death Eater Mercenary Band, the alchemists of the Saint Zarbella Foundation? They were nothing more than a minor nuisance.

He could even kill Keter. It wasn’t a bluff. Here in the Deep Dark Fantasy, he possessed Prime-level power.

But that wasn’t the goal. He hadn’t set this stage to kill Keter. Killing those who offered no benefit wasn’t worth years of preparation.

‘This isn’t the time for this. I need to head to the palace now.’

Ayrus suppressed his anger and remembered his original objective.

He needed to seize ‘that thing’ in Eslow’s Palace. That’s why he had Eslow detained here in the first place.

‘Tch, one of the Fallen Angels has already fallen.’

Not just the Fallen Angel, but hundreds of undead were also joining the attack on Eslow.

‘It’s not ten minutes. Eight, no, seven minutes.’

He had even less time to stay here. Frustrated and disgusted, Ayrus had no choice but to leave.

Before leaving, Ayrus sneered at Sephira’s Triad.

“Keter must really cherish his toys. I’ll admit, you’re lucky.”

Ayrus turned his back and rose high into the air.

Mail and Anis felt relieved as they watched Ayrus leave, but Taragon didn’t. Taragon shouted at Ayrus.

“Don’t run away, you coward!”

Flinch.

“Huh?”

Ayrus’s brow furrowed. He couldn’t believe what that foolish human was saying.

“We fought even in the darkness that favored you! We fought without running away! We fought without being able to regenerate or resurrect like the undead! And now you’re running away just because things got a little tough? You coward! You despicable trash!”

Ayrus’s chest burned upon hearing those words. Even when he was alive, he had never been this angry.

‘I’m not running away. I’m leaving because I have a purpose. If it weren’t for Keter, you’d have died without even defeating a single skeleton knight, you insect!’

He wanted to descend immediately and kill Taragon, but Keter made it difficult. Ayrus simply lowered his head and scrutinized Taragon’s face.

‘Taragon… I’ll remember your name and face.’

Ayrus vowed that the next time they met, he would personally turn Taragon into an undead and torment him for eternity.

* * *

Even though Ayrus, the master of darkness and undead, had left, the darkness didn’t dissipate, nor did the undead weaken.

Instead, the undead, having lost their master, went berserk and began attacking people even more ferociously.

The Sun God Priests, Death Eater Mercenary Band, and alchemists Keter had brought were clearly making a difference, but they couldn’t stop the increasing number of casualties.

Mail, noticing the situation, spoke to Keter.

“Keter. Right now, we have no commander. Someone needs to step up and lead the battle. I think you’re the right person for it.”

The knights gathered in the arena were fighting together, but there was no command structure. As a result, the wounded were being neglected, and some knights were just idly waiting in the back.

Mail’s judgment was accurate. This battlefield needed a commander.

But Keter didn’t know about such things. No, he had no interest in them and no desire to learn. Keter, placing a hand on Mail’s shoulder, shook his head.

“Brother. I’m the type to fight on the frontlines, not a leader who commands from the rear.”

“Even so, if it’s you, people will listen. Even if you’re not confident, you have to do it.”

“It’s not about confidence. More importantly, my lover is waiting.”

“Lover……?”

Keter gestured with his chin toward a certain direction.

Mail’s expression turned serious upon seeing it. There, Norman, or rather, the monster slime, was slaughtering both knights and undead simultaneously.

Rajis and the 4-Star Knights were trying to stop Norman’s advance, but the undead were attacking from both sides, putting them in a precarious situation.

“The guys I brought are certainly capable, but only against undead. I’m the only one who can deal with Norman.”

“I’ll go too, Keter.”

As Anis stepped forward, Taragon also stepped up without fail.

“It’s not ‘I’ll go,’ brother. It’s ‘we’ll go.’”

But Keter refused outright.

“No.”

“Is it because we’re not strong enough?”

Anis, whose emotions fluctuated wildly when with Keter, asked in an unintentionally sharp tone. But Keter just smiled and tapped Anis’s chest.

“If you and Taragon follow me, who will lead the Lunar Knight Order?”

Currently, the Lunar Knights were far from here, protecting the citizens.

The Lunar Knights were anxious. They didn’t know if Sephira’s bloodline was alive, or if they were doing well.

So someone needed to show themselves. To comfort them. To tell them they were doing well, that they were safe.

“That’s for Mail to……”

“Mail needs to command the people.”

“……!”

“Taragon, you help Anis. You know how he gets, right? A bit hot-headed?”

“Yeah. That’s true.”

As Taragon immediately agreed, Anis glared at him. Mail spoke with a resigned expression.

“You’re planning to go alone again, aren’t you?”

“Am I hogging all the glory by going alone?”

“No. It’s just that it seems like we’re nothing but obstacles to you, and I feel sorry for that. Once again, we’ve only been a burden to you.”

“Tsk, why do you underestimate yourselves so much? It’s because you guys distracted Ayrus that I could bring those people here secretly. If you think about it, I’m the bad guy who used you.”

“No. You’re not bad. I know you acted according to our level. …Thank you, Keter.”

Keter made a strange expression.

‘My chest feels ticklish again.’

It was an indescribable feeling. A tickling in his heart, an unpleasant but not entirely bad sensation.

“Let’s save the sentiment for later. You want to protect people, right? Go protect them. I’ll do what I want to do.”

“Come back safely, Keter. We’ll do our best too.”

The Triad didn’t try to hold Keter back any longer. They weren’t that shameless.

After Keter headed toward Norman, the Triad also began their tasks without delay.

* * *

“Gah!”

A 4-Star Knight fighting one of Norman’s clones lost his left leg and collapsed.

As the clone was about to strike the knight’s neck, Rajis intervened and protected him.

“Take the wounded to the rear!”

In a critical situation, there’s no time for formalities. Orders must be delivered quickly and clearly.

The knights following Rajis swiftly protected the wounded and retreated. Rajis, who had protected the wounded, rolled his eyes rapidly.

‘Four knights were lost protecting the wounded. On the right, skeleton soldiers; on the left, zombies. And in front, Norman and his clones are charging endlessly.’

They were facing monsters. If one of their limbs was lost, their combat power would vanish, but the enemies would regenerate and resurrect even if their heads were cut off.

It was a horrifying imbalance. The funny thing was, this was still a much-improved situation.

Originally, they had been surrounded by undead while fighting Norman. If it weren’t for the three groups Keter had brought, they would have been annihilated long ago.

‘If we can just deal with Norman, we might be able to handle the undead somehow…….’

Norman was as troublesome as the undead, if not more.

If it were a slime, destroying its core would prevent it from regenerating and kill it, but Norman’s core wasn’t fixed in one place. It kept moving, so unless you aimed precisely, you’d only end up increasing your own casualties.

Rajis had also suffered significant injuries. Protecting people while fighting Norman’s clones was unavoidable.

‘We’ve killed four, but… there are still over thirty left.’

To kill four of Norman’s clones, twelve knights had died, and over thirty were injured. To move the wounded to the rear, over thirty more knights were lost.

‘…Am I going to die here?’

Negative thoughts naturally arose, but Rajis’s sword and spirit didn’t dull. He simply thought calmly about his impending end.

‘I always thought I could die at any time to uphold justice, but I never thought I’d die during the Southern Sword Tournament.’

He had vowed to live a life without regrets and had always been proud of living that way… but now that death was imminent, regrets surfaced.

‘I could have done… a little better.’

Rajis vowed. If he somehow survived, he would never overlook even the smallest injustice again.

“Ah.”

That moment of resolve was also the moment Rajis was most off guard. Norman, though a monster, thought like a human. He read his opponent’s openings.

Soon, four of Norman’s blade tentacles stabbed at Rajis’s openings.

The blade tentacles weren’t just sharp appendages. Each was wielded with a high level of swordsmanship.

The tentacles aiming for Rajis’s life were imbued with the essence of swordsmanship. The same techniques that had instantly killed Pasian.

Torrential Wave.

Falling Petal Strike.

Decisive Slash.

And, the technique gained from killing Pasian.

Extreme Light Gale Sword.

Four techniques in total, targeting all of Rajis’s vital points in his exhausted and off-guard state.

Rajis thought he couldn’t block this attack. At the very least, both his arms would be severed. And if his arms were cut off, he wouldn’t be able to block the follow-up attacks and would die.

But he didn’t despair. He didn’t tremble. He didn’t cry. He simply and calmly executed his best swordsmanship.

Thousand Veils, Blunt Sword.

Just as Rajis was about to bring his sword down from above his head, something fell before his eyes.

“Don’t lower that sword yet.”

Keter, descending from the sky, faced the four techniques in Rajis’s place.