Chapter 129
Chapter 129
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 129
Chapter Title: Suspicious Movements (4)
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After testing with a few attacks, it became clear that the Void Path outpost had almost no living personnel stationed there.
They used Undying beings and golems that required no sleep or rest as guard dogs for the base.
But someone was needed to manage them, so there were still some living people deployed.
And...
[Damn. One of those cursed devices has activated.]
Lambda said, looking deeper into the passageway.
A powerful magical device had activated from within.
It had to be the Void Path.
"Someone's coming from the Dark Snowfields. That's good news for us."
Iota smiled instead.
She didn't know who the Dark Snowfields had sent, but it was sure to be a formidable being.
The chance to crush such an existence was a delight.
Soon, they entered the chamber housing the Void Path.
In the center of the artificially expanded cavern stood a circular metallic structure—the Void Path—surrounded by connected magical devices.
From the abyss-like darkness packed into the heart of the Void Path, three figures emerged.
Iota twisted her lips into a smile upon seeing them.
"Ho, three executives at once. This will be a fine feast."
She too had lost everything to the Dragon Demon Worshippers and become a Prophecy Guardian.
The fact that she could inflict even more damage on them filled her with joy.
"You lowly scum dare defile the great king's sacred relic!"
The man who emerged from the Void Path roared in fury.
A fierce wave of dragon demon energy responded to his rage.
Amid his long black hair shimmering with a blue sheen rose horns reminiscent of a black ox.
He was Jephers Almaric, a descendant of Almaric, one of the Four Great Dragon Demon Generals immortalized in the legends of the Dragon Demon War.
Those who followed him were also high-ranking Dragon Demon Hybrids.
Though lower in status than Jephers, both were formidable warriors.
Due to limits on how many could travel via the Void Path at once, the Dark Snowfields side had committed their elites.
Iota laughed.
"How foolish. You're so short on manpower, yet you waste precious lives clinging to a mere tool..."
If she were in their position, Iota would have abandoned the Void Path.
The wise choice was to destroy it utterly to keep its secrets from the Guardian Shadows and bide time for another opportunity.
But as in the previous outpost attack, they couldn't let go of their foolish obsession.
The Void Path was a legacy of Dragon Demon King Atein, impossible to recreate with current magic.
'The unbelievers cannot be allowed to defile the great king's legacy!'
Fanaticism toward the dead forced this irrational obsession on them.
Iota mocked their foolishness.
Of course, that very foolishness was a golden opportunity for her.
"The nearby Dragon Demon Worshippers must be mobilizing too. Shall we enjoy the feast before they arrive?"
They wouldn't be satisfied with just sending Jephers.
The nearby combatants were probably already en route.
Perhaps another executive would arrive through a nearby Void Path outpost.
"In the name of the great one, I command you—return from the eternal battlefield! Dragon Demon Armament, Blade of the Storm!"
Whooooosh!
Aware of the disadvantageous situation, Jephers immediately summoned his Dragon Demon Armament.
Using a Dragon Demon Armament against lowly unbelievers was humiliating for him, but personal pride was trivial before the sacred duty of protecting the great king's relic.
As blue flames erupted from the sword of transparent, glass-like material, Iota spoke.
"That magic tool... a Dragon Demon Armament, was it? A fascinating item. Just knowing you lot's lineage ends with this makes me want to kill you all the more."
Hatred blazed in her eyes.
She said,
"Lambda, Mu. Take them down."
[Understood.]
Lambda and Mu split left and right, charging at the executives.
Jephers rushed forward to meet them, swinging the Blade of the Storm.
Kaang!
But Mu blocked it with his shield.
Then the Guardian Shadows around Iota swarmed like waves, engulfing them.
"You bastards!"
Blue flames swirled, blanketing the area.
These were extraordinary magical flames that could whirl in all directions, targeting only designated foes, incinerating mana with scarcely any physical heat.
Even Lambda, Mu, and the Guardian Shadows couldn't penetrate the flames.
As the Dragon Demon Hybrid executives attacked the repelled foes, it happened.
Paaaaang!
A violent mana repulsion erupted.
A thunderous explosion rang out, accompanied by a flash.
The blue flames from Jephers's Dragon Demon Armament rapidly died down.
Jephers was stunned.
"What?!"
"Impressive performance, but easy enough to counter."
Iota sneered.
A faint golden light shimmered around her hand.
Seeing it, Jephers was aghast.
"That dragon demon energy..."
Waves of dragon demon energy rivaling his own emanated from Iota.
The Dark Snowfields knew little of the Prophecy Guardians but recognized them as special even among the Guardian Shadows.
They also knew these humans somehow possessed dragon demon energy, as if having undergone the Dragon Slaying Ritual.
But what Iota had done was shocking.
Child-fist-sized transparent mana aggregates floated around her—not mere magical constructs.
The dragon demon energy Iota emitted assembled under a special image, nullifying all colliding magic, even the power of a Dragon Demon Armament.
"Magic is powerless before me, who has awakened the power of prophecy."
Iota declared arrogantly.
The power of prophecy.
It was the latent power of the Prophecy Guardians.
Yet among them, only three had awakened the prophecy power within themselves.
Awakening it was that difficult.
"Impossible! Gahk!"
Jephers vomited blood.
Iota's mana aggregates triggered violent mana repulsion on contact with magic—only the magic of enemies she designated!
Jephers was a Dragon Spirit Art practitioner, but his gear was infused with magic.
As he clashed with Lambda, Mu, and the Guardian Shadows, mere contact with the incoming aggregates delivered organ-rupturing shocks.
His Dragon Demon Armament was a problem too.
The Blade of the Storm itself didn't react to the aggregates.
Only the curse-like blue flames manifested by magic did—and sealing them crippled most of its functions.
Puuung!
"Argh!"
Jephers finally collapsed, covered in blood.
Of the Dragon Demon Hybrids with him, the mage's head was smashed by Mu's mace, and the warrior gasped with a broken arm.
'This... this absurd power...'
It had been a losing battle from the start.
The Guardian Shadows held numerical superiority, and they feared damaging the Void Path, limiting their attacks, while the enemy cared not.
Still, he thought he could at least buy time.
As Iota predicted, the Dragon Demon Worshippers were gathering outside, so hunkering down would turn the tide...
A complete miscalculation.
To die so pathetically...
As despair gripped Jephers,
"Hmm. A descendant of Almaric, as expected? Guess I should save you."
A nonchalant voice rang out.
Everyone whipped around in shock toward the source.
A Dragon Demon Hybrid strode in from the passageway.
Iota was bewildered.
'He evaded my detection magic?'
She had deployed detection magic to monitor outside.
Yet this Dragon Demon Hybrid hadn't triggered it at all.
He was a young Dragon Demon Hybrid with unkempt black hair.
His eyes and Dragon Demon Stone were green, his horns a pale blue-gray like a goat's.
His relaxed face looked kindly, his loose clothes like something rummaged from home—utterly unarmed.
'Why didn't the Guardian Shadows react?'
It wasn't just evading detection magic.
Even the Guardian Shadows hadn't sensed the youth.
The moment that thought crossed her mind, one Guardian Shadow attacked.
Gliding like a ghost, it thrust its sword.
[What?]
Lambda was startled.
The Dragon Demon Hybrid youth took the Guardian Shadow's sword strike head-on.
Yet somehow, he had stepped back exactly the length of the blade's thrust, dodging it.
The youth smiled.
"Wow, you're aggressive. You just attack first and ask questions never? Perfect way to make enemies out of non-enemies."
His presence shifted as he casually slipped past the sword, finally registering on her detection magic...
'Immense dragon demon energy!'
It made her hair stand on end.
An unfathomable wave of dragon demon energy flowed from the seemingly carefree youth.
Even a brief sense revealed it dwarfed Jephers's—outstanding in its own right, but like a stream to this one's ocean.
'On a level beyond any Dragon Demon Hybrid I've seen. He might even surpass a true Dragon...!'
As a Prophecy Guardian, Iota had slain countless Dragon Demon Worshippers.
None possessed dragon demon energy comparable to this one.
The youth gestured for calm.
"Relax. I'm not a Dragon Demon Worshipper. I don't really want to fight you all."
"What do you mean by that?"
"I just came to borrow the Void Path. But things are like this now... so how about I just take that descendant of Almaric and leave? Then I won't care what you do with the rest."
"Negotiations failed."
At once, Iota attacked.
Transparent mana aggregates inducing repulsion swarmed the youth, as the Guardian Shadows struck simultaneously.
Paaaaang!
A flash exploded.
But the result was nothing like what Iota expected.
All the Guardian Shadows were repelled.
A transparent dragon of light coiled around the youth's body.
Seeing it, Iota, Lambda, and Mu were stunned.
'What is that?'
A type of power none had ever seen.
A semi-transparent red dragon of light growled around the youth, radiating intense will as if truly alive.
The youth scratched his cheek awkwardly.
"I said I don't want to fight, but you're so belligerent. Well, I haven't decided what to do with you yet, so I'll just handle my business first."
"Lambda! Mu!"
Iota shouted.
Lambda and Mu surged toward the youth like gales.
They hadn't fully subdued Jephers and the executives yet, but this man was far more dangerous!
Shiiish!
Lambda's sword traced dazzling arcs—swift enough to slay ordinary humans before they could even see.
But the youth dodged every strike.
Without even a defensive stance, he slipped away by a hair's breadth with subtle shifts.
[Kuh!]
As Lambda grew irritated, Mu thrust his shield obliquely from the side.
The broad surface forced the youth into a major dodge.
That was Mu's aim.
Mu's mace targeted the inescapable spot.
"Ucha!"
The youth blocked the mace barehanded.
Mu was aghast.
[What kind of nonsense...!]
The mace held enough power to shatter a house.
Yet the youth not only blocked it barehanded but without any recoil.
The instant palm met mace head, he deftly pulled and twisted, perfectly nullifying the force.
An impossible feat.
The youth then vanished from sight.
Thung!
Something struck Mu's torso and passed.
The youth had circled and landed a blow.
But the impact was light—perhaps diminished by the speed.
As Mu turned, thinking that,
Kwajik!
[Kuh...?]
Mu's armor shattered, ribs pulverized, and he crumpled.
It had seemed a glancing blow—what technique was that?
Armor-piercing? But magical armor should block such.
Whoooosh!
A gale then howled.
Lambda attacked a beat late, only for the youth to vanish before his eyes.
For an instant, Lambda doubted his senses.
Despite lacking eyelids, it felt as if the youth had blinked out like eyes closed too long—flickering in and out.
He walked leisurely, yet each step teleported him meters away...
Kukukukwa!
Explosions rang as he, Mu, and the charging Guardian Shadows—regardless of direction—were all blasted away.
[This... impossible technique...!]
The fallen Lambda shuddered, realizing the truth.
Continuous Flash Steps at short range, each off-beat, utterly disrupting their senses.
Even more astonishing...
[Not just for movement, but applying Flash Steps separately to body parts? Impossible!]
The youth didn't limit Flash Steps to locomotion but to specific motions too.
His physical prowess was elite, but accelerating limbs independently with Flash Steps? No one could follow.
Yet impossible.
Even an Undying body would shatter doing that—mere skeleton left.
For a living body? The strain alone should pulverize it; halting acceleration at precise points would explode the whole body.
"Oh, you saw through it at a glance? Sharp eyes. Must've been quite skilled in life."
The youth grinned amusedly and asked,
"By the way... do you know where this lady got that from? It looks exactly like something I saw before."
As a Dragon Spirit Art practitioner with no magical items, the youth's mana aggregates didn't react to Iota's.
Iota replied tensely,
"No reason to tell you."
"Quite cold. Box of Hatred."
Iota flinched.
The out-of-context phrase felt like a spell trigger; she braced.
Seeing it, the youth gave a wry smile.
"Your reaction says you use it but know little. Hmm. Guardian Shadows..."
He tilted his head, then approached Jephers...
"Uwak! Wh-what are you doing?!"
And began stripping him.
Rip! Tear! Clank!
He tore off the armor like peeling, shredded clothes, and tossed them.
Jephers flailed in panic, but the youth mercilessly chopped his neck.
"Keuk!"
Jephers went limp, unconscious.
The youth stripped him bare in seconds.
"..."
Everyone stared dumbfounded.
What in the world?
The youth slung the naked Jephers over his shoulder.
"Then I'll be off. Handle your business."
"Wait!"
Iota snapped to and shouted, but the youth ignored her.
He kicked off the ground and vanished with Flash Step.
Iota's floating mana aggregates ignored him entirely.
Stripping Jephers was to bypass them.
"Kuh!"
The Guardian Shadows pursued, but no chance.
He was so fast they couldn't even react before he blew past.
"...Unbelievable."
[Feels like a nightmare.]
[This defies logic.]
Though battered, the two Undying weren't fatally wounded.
Restoration was just slowed by the will infused in the dragon demon energy.
[He could've annihilated us but held back... what was he thinking?]
And as he said initially, he rescued only Jephers, leaving one executive behind.
Iota broke the heavy silence with a sigh-tinged voice.
"Fine. No time to gawk—finish the job, then think slowly."
[Understood.]
As their stunned voices rang, the lone remaining Dragon Demon Hybrid executive paled.
He realized his fate.
Soon, agonized screams echoed, and their task ended.