Chapter 145
Chapter 145
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 145
Chapter Title: The Sword Ghost's Arrival
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‘B-Ban Slein?’
No, why was that guy here of all places?
“No way!”
Even Ronaine hadn’t known about the reinforcements.
‘The Guardians said they couldn’t send help because of some issue…’
Seo Woojin let out a hollow laugh.
Ban Slein was more than enough.
No, he was overkill.
It was something he’d only realized after coming to the Academy, but Ban Slein was a powerhouse who didn’t fall short of the Guardians in the slightest.
Reina?
He could say with certainty that she couldn’t block even a single strike from him right now.
Her condition was that dire.
The problem was the newcomer, the lion who wielded the ashen wind.
But Seo Woojin wasn’t worried.
He trusted that a Guardian-level powerhouse like Ban Slein wouldn’t lose.
The only regret was that he wouldn’t get to see the outcome of the fight.
His vision was blurring.
The horrific pain from the recoil of using ‘Celestial Wing’ engulfed his entire body.
In the hellish agony that wouldn’t even allow a groan, Seo Woojin finally blacked out.
The last thing he heard was…
“You did well. Leave the rest to me and get some rest.”
It was Ban Slein’s encouragement, laced with amusement.
* * *
He’d driven one of the Apostles, Reina, to the brink of death.
And the one who’d done it was the hero he himself had trained.
Ban Slein felt extremely pleased as a result.
“A kid who struggled against a single Snowl has grown this much.”
He chuckled despite himself and glanced to the side.
The other heroes, just like Seo Woojin.
Ban Slein beckoned to the group, who looked utterly exhausted.
“Could you watch over this kid for me? As you can see, I’ve got some unfinished business.”
At those words, Kim Taejin swallowed hard.
The young man had appeared out of nowhere, saved Seo Woojin, and now seemed intent on facing the enemies alone.
For someone who didn’t know who Ban Slein was, it was only natural to be flustered.
But he nodded soon enough.
From the way he’d treated Seo Woojin, he didn’t seem like an enemy.
“Understood.”
He felt Sung Yura glaring daggers from the side but ignored it as he moved the collapsed Seo Woojin aside.
“Then I’ll leave him in your hands.”
Ban Slein spoke politely once more before turning his gaze to the man before him.
“You must be the Lion? Your aura is as wicked as they say.”
“The Northern Sword Ghost. They said you’d gotten younger, but it’s true.”
He’d heard that Ban Slein had reached a new realm and reconstructed his body.
But he didn’t pay it much mind.
Northern Sword Ghost.
True to his epithet, Ban Slein was someone who rarely left the North.
And yet, here he was, in a desert city at the Empire’s southernmost tip.
“This is no place for you.”
The Lion spoke to Ban Slein in a deeply sunken voice.
“What a ridiculous thing to say. I decide where I belong. It’s not for a Demon King’s lackey like you to interfere.”
He made a show of stroking a nonexistent beard.
It was a provocation.
But disappointingly, the Lion showed no particular agitation.
He merely fixed him with a chilling glare.
“It’s strange that we’re even talking like this. Come on. Let me see that famed strength of yours for myself.”
Ban Slein smiled as he drew his beloved sword.
A battered blade.
A crude thing that couldn’t compare to Seo Woojin’s ‘Karaniell.’
Yet the energy emanating from it was so immense that even the Lion couldn’t dismiss it lightly.
“…This isn’t the time.”
But the Lion shook his head.
Fighting Ban Slein here would bring far more losses than gains.
There was no reason to expose his full power in a battle with the Sword Ghost.
“Sooner or later, the day will come when we must clash whether we like it or not. Bide your time.”
Shwoooo—
An ashen wind blew in.
The Lion entrusted his body to it.
He seemed intent on fleeing the scene, taking the near-dead Reina and the unconscious Baek Siwoo with him.
But Ban Slein wasn’t about to let that happen.
“Ha! Where do you think you’re going?”
He burst into incredulous laughter and swung his sword.
Slash—!
It wasn’t a simple slash.
An immense, boundless mana swept across the front.
“Urk!”
The ashen wind coiling around the Lion’s body scattered.
“You dare!”
The Lion roared in fury and thrust out his hand.
Woooong—!
The atmosphere, laced with demonic energy, formed a vortex.
A wind with clearly extraordinary power at a glance.
Ban Slein laughed upon seeing it.
“Good! Let’s have a proper fight!”
Crack—With that sound, the Lion’s wind, the atmosphere, and even space itself were cleaved in one stroke.
A miraculous sword.
The Sword Ghost’s strike, honed from a lifetime obsessed with the blade, was sharp enough to cut through anything in its path.
So sharp that even the Lion couldn’t hope to counter it.
“How long do you plan to keep running?”
Like the ashen wind he wielded, the Lion moved in eerie patterns, barely dodging Ban Slein’s sword.
‘Was the Sword Ghost always this strong?’
The Lion had no choice but to readjust his estimate of Ban Slein’s power.
Guardian-level.
Incredibly, the Sword Ghost had reached the level of a Guardian.
‘This is bad.’
The Lion’s expression twisted slightly.
It wasn’t fear of Ban Slein.
He was strong, but the Lion wasn’t weak either.
The problem was Reina and Baek Siwoo.
If he went all-out against Ban Slein, he couldn’t guarantee their safety.
‘I can’t let that happen.’
The two were invaluable.
Reina was one of the Apostles, the focal point for their followers, and Baek Siwoo was the one she’d brought back, believing he might be the new king.
He couldn’t lose them here.
But…
He had to choose.
Ban Slein’s sword wasn’t lenient enough to protect both while he fended it off.
In the end, he’d have to abandon one.
Only then could he save the other.
The Lion barely dodged the sword flying toward his neck as he agonized.
Who to save?
The answer came surprisingly easily.
‘Abandon Reina.’
She was irreplaceable in the organization.
Not just her power, but as the leader of the night-dominating blood clan.
A superior race incomparable to mere Dark Elves.
Her power was essential to harness theirs.
But even all that paled before the king.
He hadn’t confirmed if Baek Siwoo was truly the new king yet.
But if there was even a 1% chance, he had to verify it, even if it meant discarding Reina.
The Lion glanced back slightly.
He saw Reina, wrapped in the ashen wind, nodding.
[Do what you must.]
She’d sensed his decision and made her own resolution first.
The Lion hesitated no longer.
With his choice made, only action remained.
“Wilderness Wind.”
A chilling, distant gale surged forth.
Ban Slein’s brow furrowed at the sight.
The Lion, who’d only dodged until now, had finally launched an attack.
And its power was no joke.
It carried such overwhelming demonic energy that goosebumps prickled his skin.
With this much force, he could level this little desert city entirely.
“No tricks!”
Ban Slein drew up his mana.
‘Just blocking it won’t do.’
The aftermath of the clash would sweep through and cause countless casualties.
What was needed now was a force to utterly crush that damned wind.
The sky began to gather in his sword.
A vast, expansive sky that could blanket the wilderness and more.
Rumble rumble rumble—!
The world shook.
The two absolute powers resonated, making the earth quake.
‘A little more.’
Enough to quell the wind, sever the Lion’s head, and even take out Reina in one go.
The endlessly draining mana was released through his sword.
KABOOM—!
Everything in front disintegrated at the molecular level and shattered.
There was no substance here capable of withstanding that sword strike.
Not the Lion’s Wilderness Wind, not the mansion, not the magic barrier enveloping the area.
With that one strike, it all vanished.
Ban Slein’s mana, which seemed poised to sweep the world endlessly, extended precisely to his intended range before halting on its own.
The space warped momentarily from the mana’s intensity, then cleared to reveal the surrounding ruins.
Yet Ban Slein’s expression, having unleashed a strike beyond awe-inspiring into terrifying, twisted slightly.
“…Did I miss?”
He’d thought it was enough, but he’d underestimated the enemy.
The Lion had fled.
Taking the hero named Baek Siwoo, he’d desperately escaped.
Ban Slein pursued belatedly, but to no avail.
Thanks to that, the sword had claimed only one life.
Step—
Ban Slein walked forward slowly and looked down at the woman collapsed on the ground, bleeding profusely.
A being with silver hair like his own.
Reina.
“Dark Spirit.”
Her epithet slipped from Ban Slein’s lips.
[Kekeke—]
Laughter leaked from her mouth.
An empty laugh devoid of any vitality.
[Obsessed with the sword, are you?]
Reina looked up at Ban Slein and opened her bloodied mouth.
“Speak. I’ll at least hear your final words.”
He didn’t behead her immediately.
She was going to die anyway.
Better to extract some information before finishing her.
Reina seemed to read his intent, baring her fangs in a eerie smile.
[With respect for your sword, I shall prophesy what is to come.]
She closed her eyes and continued.
[When hope loses its light and faith shatters. Despair shall rise on its own and sing the song of the end. The world shall divide before the coming terror, and in belated regret, the king shall descend without fail.]
It was like a Zen koan.
“What does that mean?”
He tilted his head.
But Reina smiled as if she had nothing more to say, closing her eyes.
No, she lacked even the strength to continue.
Her arms and legs severed, spine snapped, body melted by flame and holy power.
It was miraculous she’d lasted this long.
If she weren’t a noble of the night, she’d have died a hundred times over from such wounds.
But even her endurance had reached its limit.
Her breathing grew faint, shallower.
Not even a demon god descending could save her now.
Ban Slein looked upon Reina with pity.
“I’ll remember your words.”
He couldn’t understand them, but they were the last words of one who’d left a massive mark on the world.
Enemy or not, he wouldn’t dismiss them.
Ban Slein raised his sword to grant her peace.
“Rest easy now. May you live an ordinary life in your next one.”
Slice—
The blade swiftly severed Reina’s neck.
Not a drop of blood spilled.
Roll—
Her closed-eyed head tumbled across the ground.
And as if she’d never existed to begin with.
She turned to ash and scattered.
Ban Slein watched silently before sheathing his sword and turning away.