Chapter 341
Chapter 341
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 341
Chapter Title: Black Sky (5)
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“Wh-what is this…?”
An army of thousands appeared with a brilliant golden legion.
The faces of the Majin, who had been wearing sneering smiles, hardened.
They looked around at the heavily armed Beastkin and Dragonian warriors, who held their weapons with grim expressions.
One of them spoke, his voice trembling in disbelief.
“Don't tell me…”
“Are you invading Niflheim?”
Ha.
Starting with a single scoff, the entire ritual hall erupted into a sea of laughter.
The Majin clutched their stomachs, their shoulders shaking as they bent over like shrimp.
“Hahahaha!”
“The mongrels and lizards dare to invade Niflheim?”
“These bastards are adorable!”
The Majin looked at the Beastkin and Dragonian warriors with expressions of utter contempt.
“You lived like insects, crushed under our feet. Did you think the world was yours just because we lifted our foot for a moment?”
The Khan Kingdom had been under the rule of the Majin for the past hundred years, and while the Dragonian Kingdom wasn't directly ruled, they had hidden like rats in narrow, rugged canyons to avoid them.
“Where do these mongrels get off baring their teeth at their masters?”
A red-haired Majin strode toward the group of Beastkin warriors.
His name was Caldene.
He was the Majin who had ruled the Khan Kingdom before Calike.
A powerful Majin who had massacred countless Beastkin warriors and trampled them a hundred years ago.
He saw the Beastkin staring at him with trembling eyes and curled his lips into a smirk.
“You remember me, don't you, mutts?”
Flinch.
The shoulders of several Beastkin trembled.
Caldene's infamy from his time as viceroy was so great that it was still spoken of, even decades after he had stepped down.
Caldene read the fear in the eyes of the few Beastkin warriors who remembered him and let out a cackle.
“To think these mongrels who don't know their place couldn't wait to run at their master the moment their leash was loosened. How touching.”
He walked toward the Beastkin, a sneer on his face.
“You seem to be mistaken about something.”
Just then, a Beastkin with silver fur blocked his path.
Caldene's brow furrowed.
“Liak…? No, that bastard is already dead.”
Tilting his head, Caldene clicked his tongue.
“Tsk, you mongrels all look so similar, I can't tell your faces apart.”
Shaking his head, he tapped the cheek of the Beastkin blocking his path.
“So, what am I mistaken about?”
“…”
*Tap.*
Liak grabbed Caldene's arm as it tapped his cheek.
An immense pressure crushed Caldene's arm, as if it were caught in a high-pressure press.
“Kuh… y-you bastard?”
Caldene tried to pull his arm free with a panicked expression, but it didn't budge an inch from Liak's grip.
Liak's deep-set eyes stared at Caldene.
“Listen carefully, brat.”
*Grin.*
His snow-white teeth were fiercely bared.
“We are not dogs. We are wolves.”
*Riiip!*
Caldene's arm was torn from its socket.
Dark red blood gushed out like a fountain.
“Aaaaaaaargh!”
A scream erupted.
Through the shower of blood, the silver wolf's eyes shone ferociously.
*Crunch!*
Liak grabbed Caldene by the neck and threw him like a shot put.
Caldene flew like a cannonball and rolled wretchedly across the floor.
“Wolves! The time has come to repay the humiliation of a hundred years ago!”
Following Liak, the shout of Leoru, the new ‘Khan’, echoed thunderously.
The cowering Beastkin warriors let out savage roars and transformed into their half-beast forms.
“Grrrrrr!”
“Kill the Majin!”
The Beastkin warriors began to charge violently toward the Majin.
The ritual hall, which had the gloomy atmosphere of a cult gathering, instantly descended into chaos.
“Let's give them a taste of our own fire!”
“Yes, Priestess!”
While the Beastkin charged in for a frontal assault, the Dragonians also began a long-range bombardment using magic.
Hot flames swept across the area, incinerating the Majin.
“Kraaaaaah!”
“Kuh, kill the lizard bastards first!”
“You're not going anywhere!”
The combination of the Beastkin, skilled in close combat, and the Dragonians, who could pour down powerful long-range firepower with the Draco Stigma.
Although they had little experience coordinating with each other, the combination itself was so well-balanced that it displayed immense power.
“Kuh!”
“Keuk! Priestess…”
Of course, no matter how good the balance was, they couldn't unilaterally overwhelm the Majin.
Even if their numbers were similar, the skill difference between individuals was too stark.
“Sir!”
“Yeah, I'll teach these bad guys a lesson!”
Of course, they never thought they could defeat the Majin with just the strength of the Dragonians and Beastkin from the start.
Baek Mu-gang drew his holy sword and jumped into the midst of the Majin.
His sword strikes were like a rampaging beast.
Unlike Allen, whose swordsmanship was as precise as if measured with a ruler, Baek Mu-gang's attacks were so violent and savage it was as if he had been born a Beastkin in a past life.
*Crack-crack-crack-crack!*
Every time the holy sword was swung, pure white snowflakes scattered fiercely.
They were snowflakes so beautiful one might be entranced, but if you knew that the moment those white petals touched your skin, it would freeze and crumble away, flesh and all, you would hardly dare to call them ‘beautiful’.
“Aaaaaargh!”
“Where did a monster like that come from…!”
Baek Mu-gang's martial prowess was so powerful that even the Majin were horrified.
Although he was slightly inferior to Allen Oskar, Baek Mu-gang was skilled enough to be a member of the Seven Stars.
And now, with the divine relic, the Holy Sword of Deneb, in his hands, he began to sweep through the Majin like a fish back in water.
‘Good.’
So far, things were going smoothly.
Of course, once the Majin, thrown into confusion by the surprise attack, regained their senses and deployed their executive-level members, there was no telling how the tide of battle would turn.
‘I just need to stop the ritual.’
The purpose of coming here wasn't to kill every Majin in Niflheim.
The ultimate goal was to prevent the Heavenly Demon's seal from being broken.
‘I have to destroy the magic circle.’
He approached the magic circle where the Majin had been prostrating themselves.
A magic circle emitting light in a geometric pattern.
Hundreds, thousands of magic circles interlocked and spun like an intricately crafted machine.
“Hup!”
*Bzzzzzt!*
Condensing lightning at the tip of his spear, Oh-jin held it in a reverse grip and slammed it down on the magic circle engraved on the floor.
*Ruuuuuumble!*
The ground split open for dozens of meters, starting from where he struck with his spear.
As the ground cracked, a part of the magic circle engraved on the floor was damaged, but…
“What?”
Despite a part of it being destroyed and disappearing, the magic circle continued to glow and rotate as if nothing had happened.
‘Destroying a part of it doesn't stop the ritual, huh.’
I thought that since they were interlocked and rotating like gears, breaking even a small part would affect the whole thing, but it seems that's not the case.
‘Then where the hell do I need to break…’
With no knowledge of magic circles, he had no idea where or how to strike to stop its operation.
As he was frowning at the magic circle.
[My child! There you are!]
Vega, who had been searching for Oh-jin amidst the chaos of battle, heard the explosion and flew to him.
[This is…]
As Vega flew toward Oh-jin, her eyes fell upon the interlocking magic circles, spinning and emitting an ominous light.
A magic circle that exuded an energy so profound that it sent a chill down the spine of even her, the Polaris Constellation.
[What in the world… is this?]
“I don't know either.”
He couldn't tell what the magic circle was.
But.
“That magic circle is probably the key to breaking the Heavenly Demon's seal.”
[Then we must stop that magic circle as quickly as possible.]
“That's true, but…”
Oh-jin's expression darkened.
He knew he had to stop it, but he had no idea what it would take to stop the massive magic circle that spanned several kilometers.
[Wait a moment.]
Vega flew into the air and spread her arms wide.
Blue lightning spread out in all directions, coursing through the magic circle that stretched for kilometers.
[…The Great Triangle.]
Vega's eyes lit up as if she had discovered something.
She flew back toward Oh-jin and exclaimed.
[I have found a way to stop the magic circle!]
“How?”
[There are a total of three cores within that magic circle.]
She marked the locations of the cores with blue lightning.
The Great Triangle.
Just as she had muttered, the three cores of the magic circle were located near the vertices of a large triangle.
“So we just have to break those?”
[That is correct. However, all three must be destroyed simultaneously for it to be completely deactivated.]
Three cores at the same time.
Oh-jin bit his lip, annoyed.
“I'll destroy the core over there, Mr. Oh-jin!”
Had she been fighting nearby and overheard his conversation with Vega?
Isabella, covered in the blood of the Majin, approached Oh-jin.
“Alright.”
If he and Isabella each destroyed a core, that left one.
Oh-jin nodded and turned his head toward Vega.
“Can you destroy the last one?”
[That is…]
Vega's expression darkened.
[It seems it will be difficult with my current power.]
Destroying the core of the magic circle required a single, powerful blow, but in her current manifested vessel, she couldn't use enough power to do so.
“Ha-eun and Liak are…”
He turned his head toward Ha-eun and Liak, but both were busy leading the Dragonians and Beastkin respectively against the Majin, and it looked difficult for them to break away.
Baek Mu-gang was in the same situation.
He was surrounded by dozens of what appeared to be executive-level Majin, engaged in a bloody battle where every second counted.
‘Dammit.’
If Ha-eun, Liak, and Baek Mu-gang were all unable to move, there was no one left who could destroy the final core.
[I shall use my Sanctuary.]
Vega, who had been deep in thought, opened her mouth as if she had made a decision.
“That's…”
Oh-jin's expression hardened.
The ‘Sanctuary’ she was about to use was different from the simplified version she had used before to block out surrounding sounds.
To use enough power to destroy the core of a magic circle that spanned several kilometers, she would have to accept a restriction far harsher than any she had faced before.
In the worst-case scenario, the constellation ‘Vega’ herself could be extinguished.
“You can't… do that.”
[There is no other way.]
“I'll go get Sir Baek.”
[My child.]
Vega blocked Oh-jin's path.
She gave a faint smile and caressed Oh-jin's cheek.
[It is alright. Do not worry.]
“…Vega.”
Oh-jin bit his lip and clenched his fists tightly.
Just one person.
If only there was just one more person with enough power to help him.
“Oh my, does that mean I don't need to destroy the last one?”
*Sssssss.*
With an eerie sound like a snake slithering across the floor, a shadow spread wide across the ground.
Perched on a chair made of hundreds of snakes, Cassia looked down at Oh-jin and smiled mischievously.