C736
Hee, hee…!
As the Demon God Orb activated, a massive blaze spread across the battlefield, accompanied by an ominous resonance.
The knights advancing like a swarm were swept away by the flames, forming a river of burning corpses.
With a dry expression on his face, Beradin incinerated the enemies as if they were mere trash.
'In the end, even my friend has resorted to using this ominous power… And that appearance isn’t so different from Kelliark Zipple’s!'
Dante suppressed the bitter feeling swelling in his chest and charged through the enemy lines.
He couldn’t accept Beradin's transformed appearance.
The Demon God Orb, an evil god, and other terrifying powers beyond reason and common sense were destroying the clans, the land, and the friends.
They were pushing them towards death.Jin, are you alright?
Dante fiercely swung his sword, as if venting his anger.
The sight of the chaos knights scattering in all directions like a swarm continued relentlessly.
Among the three vanguards, Kadun and Bale were slightly slower in their advance due to avoiding the main cannons and allied magic while flying, but Dante pierced through the enemy lines without any obstacles.
The pure white glow of Rashid seemed like a halo.
What first made Dante falter was Lionel's sword.
Swish!
Clang!
Dante blocked the straight thrust, creating a large arc on the ground.
The feeling of his lower body and waist stiffening made Dante’s eyes widen.
[You seem filled with rage, young Sword Emperor.]
Lionel's aura, having reached the pinnacle of swordsmanship, left a trace and inflicted superficial wounds all over Dante's body.
"Aren’t you angry? Seeing the fallen state of the Family you once led."
Lionel smiled in satisfaction and glanced at Rashid.
[Depravity to become stronger is just another name for struggle. Whether it’s the matriarch or the Twelfth Flagbearer, which side is right will be perfectly demonstrated once this war ends.] 𝙍ÁΝƟʙÊ𝘴
Hiss!
This time, an invisible energy blade grazed Lionel's cheek.
[An invisible sword… Interesting. Is this the sword your grandfather mastered first? I can’t understand what this era has become. How many absolute rulers were there in my time? Now, it's such a bright era!]
Lionel burst into laughter, truly enjoying himself like a madman.
The clash of their swords dispersed his laughter.
However, Dante couldn’t fully concentrate on the battle.
The reasons for Jin’s separation from the allied forces, Beradin’s deteriorated state, the ever-increasing chaos army despite the thousands already dead, and Dante's difficulty in controlling his emotions at this moment—all these elements combined to create an indescribable sense of unease.
Is it because I’m worried about Jin?
Or is it because there are too many enemies?
'I need to focus, why suddenly…'
Until now, Dante had charged through the enemy lines driven by intense hatred, but now, even with a formidable opponent right in front of him, his thoughts were scattered.
Since reaching the pinnacle, or even before, Dante had never experienced such a state of mental confusion.
Especially at such a crucial moment.
Lionel didn’t overlook that fact.
[Thinking about something else in front of me, that’s a first. Snap out of it, young Sword Emperor! Unlike me, you only have one life!]
Swoosh!
Thud!
Dante blocked Lionel's horizontal strike but was pushed back several dozen steps to the left and rolled on the ground.
His delayed reaction caused his stance to collapse.
And it wasn’t just Dante who fell near that spot.
Another vanguard, a former patriarch of a different division who had engaged in battle with Bale moments ago, was pinned down next to Dante.
He immediately stood up, swung his dual swords at Bale, who was about to charge again, and Dante adjusted his stance to evade Lionel’s follow-up attack.
[Hey, Dante! Why are you being pushed around by some random guy? Fight properly, will you? Why do your eyes look so vacant?]
Even Bale, who spoke like this, seemed to lack the capacity to assist Dante at this moment.
Once again, Dante's gaze was drawn to the former patriarch on the other side, against whom Bale was fighting.
[Why do they have chains on their face?]
That former patriarch also had chains wrapped around their face, a clear sign of resistance to Rosa.
However, the allied forces on this side were still unaware of this fact.
The reason Bale couldn’t easily dominate his opponent was because Rosa was the one controlling them.
Bale was more accustomed to battles where he overwhelmed his opponents with sheer destructive force than with the finesse of swordsmanship, so the confrontation wasn’t favorable.
However, Dante found himself shouting to Bale without even realizing it.
"Bale-nim, before killing that person, remove the chains from their face!"
He didn’t know the reason.
Somehow, Dante had a strong intuition that if Bale cut the chains from that former patriarch’s face, it would relieve the oppressive feeling weighing him down, like a latent burden.
[What did you say? Why the chains? And most importantly, who are you to give me orders?]
"Please, do it! It’s not an order, it’s a request."
[You’re noisy. I’ll just kill them.]
Meanwhile, Dante also looked at the former patriarch beside Kadun.
He didn’t have chains on his face.
Once again, Bale turned towards the former patriarch bound by chains and headed to the left side of the battlefield, while Dante fended off Lionel’s relentless sword strikes and moved towards the center of the battlefield.
[Oh, is it because you couldn’t focus due to the effect of the chains? I’m curious how you figured that out.]
Instead of responding, Dante scattered his invisible sword techniques.
His senses were duller than usual, and he engaged in a clumsy battle to buy time and regain his composure.
[It’s obvious what you’re trying to do. Besides, something like that doesn’t suit your straightforward sword.]
Lionel's words burst into chaos as he dispelled the invisible swords filling the air.
Dante found himself in a position where he had to chase Lionel's movements.
Moreover, due to Lionel’s mention of the “effect of the chains,” Dante's attention was even more drawn in that direction.
While being overwhelmed by the enemy, Dante had reached the point where he couldn’t help but constantly look towards Bale.
Certainly, it seemed that witnessing the chains being cut would pierce his heart and allow him to fight properly.
[Sword Emperor, why have you been acting like this since earlier… It seems you’ve fallen into madness.]
As Lionel said, Dante's current state was no different from being immersed in madness.
In a situation where a single moment of carelessness could cost him his life, he couldn’t focus on the center.
The residual wounds on Dante's body deepened.
However, Dante remained more aware of the chains on the former patriarch on the other side, still fighting Bale, than of Lionel’s sword.
Even Beradin, who was wreaking havoc in the sky and unleashing magic across the battlefield, couldn’t understand Dante's behavior while looking at him with contempt.
Dante Hairan, what are you doing? The enemy is right in front of you.
'Please, cut them… quickly!'
Clang!
In a moment of intense yearning, Bale cut the chains of the former patriarch.
Like Alpen, a strong and clear face was revealed, untainted by chaos.
As soon as the chains were cut, he—or rather, she—sheathed her sword, and her gaze met Bale's.
[I, Tasha Runcandel, the descendant who committed sins out of weakness, express my gratitude, Sir Bale. I am the 21st Matriarch of the Runcandel Family, Tasha Runcandel… thanks to my ancestors who freed me from slavery, I can finally wield my sword not as support for the evil god, but by my own will.]
Tasha Runcandel.
She was Alpen’s daughter and the twenty-first matriarch of Runcandel. Like her father, she refused to succumb to the powers of the evil god.
Bale looked at Tasha in amazement.
She had a face very similar to Sarah’s.
[Uh… Y-yes. So those chains were a form of restraint?]
[Yes, Ancestor. I apologize for my disrespectful behavior under the control of the evil god. Moreover, may I have permission to fight alongside the Twelfth Flagbearer of the current Runcandel?]
While she was bound by the power of the evil god, Tasha had been able to assess the current situation through Rosa’s influence.
[Well, I don’t have the authority to grant that… But I’m sure that guy would be eager to welcome you with open arms.]
[I take it as an honor.]
Chilling determination and fierce resolve mixed in Tasha’s eyes.
Those eyes weren’t directed towards the temporary alliance but towards the chaos army.
Ah!
At that moment, Dante finally realized what had been driving him to madness all this time.
‘You can return…! Beradin! It’s that simple, you can return!’
Just as Tasha Runcandel had freed herself from her chains and reignited the will of the Runcandel.
The idea that Beradin, his friend turned monster, could return at any moment also brought peace to Dante's troubled mind.
The pressure of manifesting as the Sword Emperor and proving his worth in this war against the endless chaos army wasn’t a problem.
Dante firmly believed that in the end, he would triumph and that the army of the evil god would be eradicated from this world forever, a conviction that had never wavered from the start.
His only concern was that after the final battle, Beradin might not be able to return to his original self and become another evil god.
Lionel’s sword flew towards Dante's head.
Without turning his body, Dante formed a whirlwind with his invisible sword.
Unlike before, when it vanished without a trace, Lionel was unable to break through the whirlwind this time.
“You were right, Lion King. I momentarily fell into madness.”
[Finally trying to regain your composure, huh?]
“But you have been falling deeper and deeper into darkness since the day you were resurrected. That’s why you, who once stood at the pinnacle of swordsmen, couldn’t defeat me. And you probably didn’t even realize that death was closing in on you.”
[What nonsense… Ha!]
Unexpectedly, Lionel let out a choked cry and looked to his side.
Death, a sword symbolizing Yona, was piercing his side.
“Hehe.”
Yona avoided Lionel’s rough attempt and disappeared into the chaos of the battlefield in an instant.
“You warned me that I only have one life, unlike you, Lion King. It was your unwavering belief in continuous resurrection and the power of the evil god that dulled your sword. After awakening from the mausoleum, how many times have you died this time?”
Dante closed the distance in an instant.
“I sincerely hope this is the true end for you. I pray that you escape from the evil god’s swamp, even if it means dying.”
Slash!
Rashid sliced through Lionel’s neck.
A dull thud, the fleeting sound of a head falling.
When Dante turned his head to search for the remaining former patriarchs, he spotted Tasha and Beradin.
‘Even if we’ve been separated, if we keep advancing towards the evil god’s fortress, we will soon meet again, Jin. I believe that vision will also give you strength.’
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