Chapter 92: Spirit's Territory (4)
TL/Editor: Rungir
Schedule: 5/Week Wed-Sun
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Evil Beings.
Among the types of monsters, they're the ones closest to being anomalies.
The records stated that they wield a vast array of peculiar powers, making them the most troublesome kind to confront among monsters.
Zion somewhat agreed with this.
"Kahaha! I never expected someone to hunt us down instead!"
Perhaps confronting them might be troublesome, but their appearance was undeniably odd.
Emerging from the wall to strike Zion was none other than Raksitia, an elite Evil Being, wearing the robes that once belonged to the Lady of the Spirits.
Bones, sharpened and mutated like blades, protruded from all over her body.
"Who are you, and what do you want?"
As Zion asked, the bony blade touching his hand began vibrating at a frenzied speed, progressively breaking through the darkness covering his hand.
Then,
"Why would you need to know?"
Zion, with a smirk, did not pull his hand away but grasped Raksitia's bony blade even tighter.
From Zion's hand, black flames erupted, consuming the bony blade with its fierce heat.
Yet, the flames didn't stop there; they spread towards Raksitia's body.
"It makes sense, doesn't it? You'll die here anyway."
However, even as the flames approached her, Raksitia laughed.
She tore off every part of her body where the flames touched.
Almost simultaneously, Raksitia charged at Zion, swinging her massive bony blade-arm horizontally.
Swinging just an inch below his head.
As Zion slightly ducked and bent his knees,
The sharp aura from the bony blade that just missed Zion's head slashed across the entire corridor of the first floor.
The huge movement exposed a vulnerability in her stance.
Zion did not miss this chance and lunged at her.
"Kyaha! I've been waiting for you to make a move!"
Raksitia cheerfully shouted as she watched Zion.
Almost instantly, dozens of bone spears sprouted from her body, covering her vulnerabilities and aiming at Zion.
With threats closing in from all directions, there seemed to be no escape.
Yet, Zion didn't retreat.
"I feel the same way."
Instead, he accelerated even faster towards her.
Just as the bone spears were about to pierce Zion,
Darkness, like flames, surged around Zion, enveloping and burning him.
The bone spears that touched Zion's armor lost their momentum and shattered instantly.
"…!"
Raksitia's eyes widened in surprise at the sight.
The scene where all energy seemed to vanish was something she had never witnessed in her life.
Inside the fog of lost souls, Zion, with bright white eyes, was just about to reach out and strike at her head.
"Ah, I knew it the moment you recklessly charged in alone."
A new voice echoed from behind.
With it, dozens of hands sprouted from the ground, binding Zion from all sides.
"I told you, we should've observed for a bit before engaging."
Emerging from the shadows while murmuring those words was Geron, dressed in the garb of the heir to the lordship.
The irritation was clear on Geron’s face as he strengthened the binds.
The presence of the man with black hair meant that Kiral had met his end.
He had intended to observe a little longer, but due to Lakshita's premature assault, he had been forced to join the fray.
"Exactly, Geron! I knew you’d sync up perfectly!"
Lakshita grinned, quickly adjusting her stance, and aimed her blade straight at Zion’s head.
But just as she did, the binding hands around Zion cracked like a spiderweb,
and from within, a shadow burst out explosively.
The corridors vibrated with a deafening roar from the impact.
"Hahaha! Why is he so strong? It makes me want to kill him even more!"
Lakshita, uncharacteristically reveling in the thrill of battle, let out a maniacal laugh. She then pierced through the thick dust and charged at Zion once again.
It seemed like the same attack as before.
But there was one difference this time.
"Don't charge in blindly!"
This time, she had Geron's support.
His fighting style, inherently specialized in sorcery, poured out a series of hexes, hindering Zion.
Binding, illusions, sight obstruction, lethargy, and more.
In a blink, Geron unleashed a barrage of debilitating spells on Zion.
The moment these spells took effect on Zion, Lakshita's strike landed perfectly, as if they had timed it.
A flawless, precise blow.
Was this her final, decisive strike?
The whole building trembled with a much larger explosion than before, causing the corridor they were in to start collapsing.
"It’s over."
Geron muttered, watching the gradually subsiding explosion.
Considering that Lakshita's full-powered strike had hit its mark, it would be surprising if Zion survived. Geron's only worry was that, in their fervor, they might bring down the entire lord's mansion.
But then,
"...?!"
Geron’s eyes widened in shock.
"Aaargh!"
A scream pierced the aftermath.
The scream belonged to Lakshita.
Lying on the ground, writhing in pain, was her right arm. In front of such a sight, Prince Zion held Eclaxia, which now absorbed all surrounding light.
"I didn't want to use this yet."
With a voice devoid of emotion, Zion mumbled, swinging his sword once more at Lakshita.
"Ugh!"
Despite her pain, with all the strength left in her bone blade, Lakshita tried to block Zion's oncoming strike.
But when the two swords clashed, the anticipated explosion did not happen.
Whoosh-
Differently from before, Zion's Eclaxia effortlessly sliced through Lakshita's bone blade as if it were merely cutting through thin air. Following through, it then drew a line across her neck.
Thud!
Lakshita's head cleanly separated from her body and fell to the ground. Until the very end, disbelief shone in her eyes. But even before her head hit the ground, Zion had already used a dark flow technique.
As if transcending space, he appeared right in front of a wide-eyed Geron. Having used Eclaxia, Zion had no intention of prolonging this battle.
"How did you...?"
Geron, though taken aback, swiftly summoned his magic to counter. Bizarre illusions arose, threatening to twist all of Zion's senses.
However,
"That won't work twice."
The souls that surrounded Zion, seemingly alive, began to absorb all the illusions that Geron had summoned.
"!!!!!!"
Geron's eyes shifted from shock to sheer terror. Without hesitation, Zion drew his Eclaxia towards Geron's throat. As Zion honed his skills and reached the pinnacle of the Black Star, his proficiency with the sword and its versatile applications also grew exponentially.
The Black Blade now entwined with Eclaxia was one such application, not consuming energy in a single strike but preserving it like a Sword Qi.
Its effectiveness was truly remarkable.
"You damned..."
Geron frantically used even his own human barrier, but just like with Lakshita, the Eclaxia effortlessly cut through, not stopping till it perfectly bisected Geron himself.
The strike had destroyed even his core, preventing any form of regeneration. Geron met his end. The battle, which seemed to intensify in mere moments, had ended. Confirming Geron's demise, Zion turned to Lakshita's severed head still twitching on the ground.
"It's always fascinating to see someone still 'alive' after beheading."
Her head lay motionless, appearing lifeless, but through Zion's eyes, the faint movement of her life force was clearly visible.
"Ah, no! Spare me...!"
Laxitia, having abandoned her feigned death, pleaded desperately.
Zion decisively crushed her head underfoot, bringing an end to her completely.
He then shifted his gaze towards the garden of the lordship's castle.
From that direction, faint disturbances and noises were felt.
There must still be other mercenaries alive.
‘Could there be hidden warriors?’
He had presumed they would die immediately, yet they seemed to endure longer than anticipated.
A trace of surprise passed over Zion's face when,
The tracker connected to Elysis was tugged tightly.
"Is it finally moving?"
Zion looked at the thread and subtly smiled.
In his mind, Elysis's location was clearly transmitted, being dragged somewhere by the Signs.
---
---
"Heuk!"
Elysis gasped and opened her eyes in a hurry.
Then what she saw was a pitch-black ceiling.
'What happened?'
Elysis sat up and recalled what happened earlier.
Surely, ghosts poured out from the paintings hanging in the hallway and she lost consciousness while being caught running away from them.
And when she opened her eyes again, she was here.
"Was there such a place in the lord's castle?"
A cave.
This was a cave.
And on the walls of the cave, ancient characters, which could not be recognized, were densely engraved.
"It's like a shrine...."
Although she couldn't find a statue of the worshipped god, the atmosphere was similar.
And crucially, there was something like an altar in the middle of the cave.
"Huh?"
Then something floating above the altar caught Elysis's eye.
"What is this?"
Even while looking at it, she could not identify what it was.
It was something like a fog, sometimes looking like a liquid, endlessly wavering, forming and dispersing.
The sacred energy that could be felt from it was immeasurable.
The light that illuminated the entire cave was also emanating from this object.
"What on earth is this...."
It was when Elysis was captivated and approached it.
-Bleed.
A quiet voice echoing in the cave from the bottom up.
The entire atmosphere of the cave changed completely at that moment.
The atmosphere, which had been soft and warm, became chilly and ominous.
Along with this, Elysis's body hardened against her will.
"I can't move...!"
She couldn't turn her head or move her fingers.
Her eyes were filled with confusion and fear.
Then, a figure approached her, entering her sight.
'The lord?'
No, that was not the lord.
It was impossible for a lord who ruled over a small rural territory to emit such a massive charisma.
Monster.
It was a monster wearing the skin of the lord.
-And you are a sacrifice to obtain that blood.
The monster that had slowly approached her during that time spoke slowly.
The suffocating, chilling energy felt from it.
Just looking at it made goosebumps rise all over her body and made her tremble.
"Oh, the eternal God of Light, please...."
The words seeking the gods flowed out of Elysis's mouth for the first time as her fear reached its peak in the face of that dense charisma.
-There is no god you serve here.
But the monster looked into her eyes, cutting off her words indifferently.
The red light shining in the eyes of such a monster.
The moment she saw that light, Elysis felt her consciousness fading.
-Give your body to me.
It was an order.
-Read the prayer under the altar with all your soul.
An order to her psyche.
-When you offer your blood lastly, it will be complete.
With that, Elysis's eyes turned dull.
Step by step.
With that, she slowly approached the altar and began to recite the prayer in a monotone voice.
'Ah, no!'
But her consciousness was still alive.
She just couldn't move her body at will.
She didn't know what would happen when she recited this prayer.
But instinctively, she knew that the object on the altar should not go into the hands of that monster.
'I must stop!'
She desperately tried to somehow close her mouth, but it was in vain.
Whaaaaak!
The altar began to emit light gradually as the prayer progressed.
-It's working.
At this, the eyes of the monster Kesarus were filled with surprise and joy.
'Please someone....'
It was the moment when Elysis, who had finally recited all the prayers, was about to slash her wrist with a dagger.
"You should not covet what belongs to others."
The quiet voice ringing in both her and Kesarus's ears.
-...!
The moment Kesarus hastily turned his head towards where the voice was coming from, as he didn't sense any signs of it at all,
The darkness, bursting up from the ground with a brilliant white light,
Slammed Kesarus's entire body down onto the ground.
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