159th Episode
“Hmph, I figured this might happen when I fled from the Godless Festival… Controlling this power isn’t easy, but that is to be expected…”
Hector, standing near Zenon, muttered in a strained voice.
So that’s why he’s been staying still – sustaining silence magic while bringing the unruly Zenon over here. Your focus was scattered, weren’t you? I cursed under my breath.
“Whh… whh…”
Zenon could be seen staggering like a puppet with its strings cut, moving toward Adrang.
Adrang had lost one arm already. It was clear he was about to finish off Adrang in the same manner I experienced before.
‘I have to help!’
I couldn’t just let this happen.
Even with teaming up against Adrang, defeating the corrupted Zenon seems doubtful at best. If we’re picked off one by one, it’ll lead to the same future as my past life!
‘Then again, leaving Carhalas be…’
But Carhalas’ situation was dire as well.
She was sure to be mercilessly slaughtered by the many henchmen surrounding her. If I let her die, even if we defeat Cassas, I’d fall to Adrang’s hands.
It was a predicament. I bit my lips hard.
“Jung Yong! Are you alright?! My side is all clear!”
“Bisille! Mine as well!”
At that moment, voices came to my aid – it was Seseona and Grenade.
Whoosh! Seseona, gliding through the air as if on ice, came to rest beside me. I immediately brightened at the sight of her.
However, my vision went fuzzy and I froze in place.
“Seseona… Your arm…?”
Seseona’s left arm was cleanly severed from the upper arm down.
Sizzle, crackle. Small sparks emitted as red blood flowed from the cut. I stared blankly at her for a moment.
“Guh…”
Despite being covered in blood, her calm expression reminded me distinctly of Seseona’s bloodied corpse I saw in the fires of my past life.
An unbearable urge to vomit washed over me, but I swallowed it back.
“Oops.”
Only then did Seseona notice my reaction and let out a soft gasp. She quickly hid her severed arm behind her back.
“Hehe. I’m fine! Just an arm. This much can be self-repaired later.”
“Don’t give me that crap! What happened to your arm? Did you just leave it behind? Let me see!”
I ignored her nonchalant remarks entirely and hurried to her side to examine the wound.
But Seseona twisted her body around, holding her cheek with her remaining hand.
“I, I’m telling you I’m fine! I’ve already injected bio-morphine so there’s no pain… Urk, your concern is making me feel a bit embarrassed!”
What embarrassment? For crying out loud.
Talking with her was causing reality to evaporate even in this serious situation.
“The woman’s injured!”
“Target the woman!”
Before I could respond, Cassas’ followers charged toward us.
I was getting annoyed by the Resurrection Sect’s silence. Their annoying chatter seems to be still going strong despite that. Who the hell do they think they’re targeting?
“You bastards can’t focus, huh.”
I clenched my teeth and released all sorts of skills in every direction.
“Get lost!!”
This wasn’t the time to conserve mana. I unleashed all my skills.
Swinging Vestark like a madman, I continuously fired off Seven Sword Pierces. Fatal Thorns activated simultaneously. Countless thorns and mana swords flew at the henchmen.
“Guurk!”
“Kyyaaah!”
Some of them died instantly, but most skillfully dodged or blocked.
Good. Their expected skill level made this outcome predictable. While distracted by the thorns and mana swords, Vestark was already speeding toward them.
“Aaaaah!”
Pow pow pow! The Vestark spinning like a fearsome boomerang tore through them. Some got hit in the neck, others in the chest.
And some got impaled in a certain place, ending their lives as women.
“Haaab!”
Clang! Instead of the usual sound of flesh being torn, a piercing metallic sound rang out.
I glanced where the battle cry came from. Seems like they somehow managed to block my kenjutsu. Well, there’s always ways around that.
I immediately surged the mana into Vestark.
“Stinger!!”
BOOM! A massive shockwave erupted from the Vestark they blocked. It obliterated both the weapon and the lackey.
“Urgh…!”
The lackey didn’t even have time to scream before being blown away like a piece of paper. By the time he regained his senses, Vestark had already pierced through his cervical vertebrae.
“Jung Yong, you’re truly… far stronger than I imagined.”
Seseona said this to me, looking dazed. I responded with a smirk.
“Bisille! I’ve arrived… What? They’re all gone?”
Kranaide arrived late, ready for battle.
However, by the time Kranaide arrived, the number of lackeys surrounding us had dropped to countable digits.
“Phewaaa…”
I took my usual motion to bring out the Ether flask and drank from it.
A bright blue energy enveloped me. My depleted mana and the already shaky stamina were instantly restored.
“Remaining Ethers…”
I used Mimir’s Eye to examine the Ether flask.
Of the two pairs each of fire, earth, and wind Ethers, only one remains for each. Of the four recovery water Ethers, I just consumed one, leaving three.
“…”
I closed my mouth and quickly assessed the situation.
Seseona with one arm cut off. Carhalas who seemed about to collapse at any moment. Espada who had passed out from mana exhaustion. And… Adrang with his right arm gone against Zenon.
“To use this most efficiently…”
I tightly gripped the Ether flask I had been fiddling with and made my decision.
Think only of efficiency. Discard compassion. Choose the direction that saves the most lives.
“Seseona, drink this. Quickly!”
“What? Whaaargh.”
I shoved the Ether flask into Seseona’s mouth before she could react. Her silver eyes widened in surprise.
As soon as I judged the Ether to have taken effect, I immediately passed the flask to Kranaide.
“You too, Kranaide!”
“Huh? Oh, alright…”
Blue energy surged through both Kranaide and Seseona’s bodies, and soon their wounds began to heal.
Good. Even with the cyborg and turtle human, the Ether worked. I let out a bitter smile.
“Woah. Whaaat is this? My wounds are all healed!”
“There’s no time to explain. Right now… Just do your best to protect as many people as possible. Understand?”
I made a request that was closer to an order. Recognizing my urgency, Seseona nodded seriously.
Vvvvrrrr! The chainsaw in her remaining hand began to rotate furiously.
“Alright! Leave the rest to me!”
“Good, leave it to you. Kranaide, let’s go!”
As soon as Seseona replied, I took off like a bullet.
Kranaide hurriedly followed behind me. His panicked voice quickly faded away.
“What the hell, Bisille! Too fast!”
“Just keep up! No, hurry as much as possible!”
“Wha- What the hell do you want me to do, you crazy Bisille!”
He probably wouldn’t catch up for a while. I began running at full speed.
The target was Adrang. And Zenon standing before him, wielding the Extinguishing Sword!
“Stop riiiight there!!”
Even at my speed, I was too late. Quickly imbuing mana, I hurled the Vestark.
SSSSHHHAIIIING! The Vestark using kenjutsu clashed with the curved sword swung by Zenon.
SNNNGGG! A burst of flames and a shockwave rippled out. Adrang, who had been lying there, was pushed toward me by the shockwave’s repulsion.
“Ugh… How….”
Adrang knelt, groaning in pain.
I glanced at his right arm’s amputated stump and froze in shock.
“Damn. What the hell is this?”
Not only was the amputated stump charred black like coal, but fiery red flames were still swirling across the flesh’s surface.
Just looking at the severed arm stump, one might believe it belonged to a living lump of coal rather than a human.
“Amaterasu’s flames my ass…”
Whatever the source, flames that burn until their target becomes a lump of coal. This was why even I got well-done in my previous life. An unpleasant and chilling sense of kinship formed.
Zzzzzt. Every time blood from the wound touched the flames, a nauseating smell arose. I couldn’t bear to watch and turned away.
“Here, take this quickly, Adrang!”
“Jung Yong… Urgh.”
Once again, I poured the Ether down Adrang’s throat, and the blue light of Ether swirled around his body.
The pitch-black soot on the wound gradually healed. The bleeding stopped. The flames diminished as they touched the blue light, eventually disappearing completely.
“Phew. Th, thank you. Jung Yong.”
Adrang soon regained his senses, slowly stood up, and prepared for battle beside me with his one remaining arm.
Then, Hector Cassas who’d been watching from behind called out.
“…Surely you didn’t eliminate all those apostles?”
I retrieved the Vestark that had been floating through the air and summoned the Espada I’d left with Lucy.
With both swords targeted at Zenon and Hector respectively, I quietly muttered.
“Yes. Now it’s your turn.”
Hector frowned. He repeatedly shook his head side to side.
“Unbelievable. I clearly measured your precise power at this moment, calculated carefully, and planned our ambush.”
“Whatever. You didn’t ask. Stupid.”
“What new skills did you manage to acquire that I failed to detect? And how did you accurately locate and bring over the Dragon Empire’s envoy, someone I’ve never met? I truly can’t comprehend it. It’s frightening. I’m genuinely now fearing you, whose every move is unpredictable.”
“…”
“Guiding Raven. You’re far too dangerous as always. Whatever it takes, you need to die here.”
The eyes visible through the mask pierced into me.
Those eyes. Damn it all. You too are looking at me like some sort of monster?
You? Me? You dare to look at me like that?
“…Lower your eyes, you son of a bitch.”
My heart pounds.
Hot blood surges through my body with anger.
An overwhelming impulse to gouge out those eyes races from my toes to my scalp.
I curled the corners of my mouth upward in a smirk.
All the passionate emotions I’ve clenched my teeth and held back until now surge upward like wildfire, threatening to burn out my entire brain in an instant.
“No. Son of a bitch, just stand still. I’ll gouge them out for you.”
I immediately charged at Hector.
From the side, I barely noticed a crimson flame rushing toward me.
KAAAAAAAAANG!
I came to an abrupt stop and deflected it. Glancing sideways with eyes wide open.
Zenon was thrusting a katana at me. A crimson storm rushed toward. The mask covering his face was blown off, fluttering away.
“Hnh. Hahahahaha!”
Faced with his grotesque, writhing face, I burst out laughing like a madman for a moment.
Zenon’s twisted face filled my vision, causing me to feel incredibly elated.
What is this? My mind is a mess of rage and excitement, and the fact that I have to fight Zenon feels absurd.
Why. Why does this situation feel so damn great?
“I told you. I won’t forgive you.”
With that as my final words, I entered serious combat with Zenon.
KUGUGUGU! The area was engulfed in flames from the heat emanating from Zenon’s sword.
The world is blood red.
