Chapter 554: Omen (23)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 554: Omen (23)
Ron’s aura turned the color of ash.
A foul sensation of dark power encroached upon him, and his vision began to dim. His powerful physique, forged through a lifetime of righteous training, now radiated a turbid and ominous energy.
Even his Invisible Sword lost its characteristic transparency, beginning to emit a murky gray light. This stripped it of its primary advantage, but the sheer power it now held meant this was hardly a weakness.
It was only when the Overlord Sword forced the Invisible Sword to become visible that the Zipple mages truly understood the crushing pressure they had been under.
Gray sword energy filled the sky and earth. As the Overlord Sword was fully unleashed, that power surged, filling their vision with nothing but gray blades.
However, the Zipple mages no longer feared him.
The power of the unleashed Demon God Stone was strengthening not only Kelliark Zipple but also the other mages and the entire fleet.
The dragons roared incessantly. Though they had lost their reason to the Demon God Stone’s energy, they did not attack their allies. Like well-trained hounds, they simply waited for a command—the command to tear the enemy apart.
Gaaaaaaah—!
Aside from Kelliark, the one with the most overwhelming presence was undoubtedly Belot. Fueled by the Demon God Stone's energy, Belot spat black flames whose heat—far beyond anything it had produced before—pushed back the encroaching gray sword energy.
Huuu...
Ron slowly steadied his breathing and adjusted his stance. The newly etched patterns of the Overlord Sword partially covered his gaunt frame.
His body was far from its peak. As a result, his Overlord Sword couldn't be maintained for as long as a Sword Saint's, but that didn't matter.
The fight likely wouldn't last that long anyway.
Suddenly, a thought occurred to Ron Hairan.
He sensed a commonality between the Demon God Stone, which shrieked hideously, and the "White Stone."
The White Stone—the greatest nemesis of the Hairan Patriarchs.
An ominous pebble, a harbinger of the end—the successive Patriarchs of Hairan had given the White Stone many such names. No one knew the stone's true name, and no one had ever been able to cut it.
The stone's significance, a secret passed from one Patriarch to the next, lay in the challenge of "cutting" it. Only a Patriarch who could cut the stone would stand at the absolute pinnacle of Hairan's history.
And as of yet, no Patriarch of Hairan had succeeded.
Ultimately, that stone was what had driven Hairan into this crisis. Even now, it held Dante captive, whispering of their doom.
The Demon God Stone was the same.
Both the White Stone and the Demon God Stone—if he could not cut them, Hairan would vanish from the world this day.
"Come, you shameless monsters."
Swaaaaak—!
As Ron raised Rashid, it was as if a gray mountain erupted before the Sword Emperor Castle. Sword energy formed a new rampart where the walls had crumbled.
Black flashes shot from Hrotti once more, the pitch-black power piercing through the layers of the gray rampart without hesitation.
But before Kelliark could confirm his attack had landed, sharp sword energy shot back through the cracks in the gray barrier.
The sword energy vanished abruptly before it reached Kelliark's face, like dust incinerated by a flame. The power of the Demon God Stone was protecting Kelliark and the fleet. Hundreds of streaks of sword energy, fired in rapid succession, were neutralized in the same way.
Kelliark slowly reached out toward the afterimage left by the vanished sword energy. He felt only a faint heat generated by the Demon God Stone as it nullified the attack.
He had done nothing to actively defend or evade. Kelliark had merely willed himself not to be hit, and the stone had perfectly blocked Ron’s sword energy.
‘...Cyron. Did he always feel this way when looking at those who opposed him?’ Kelliark wondered as he swung Hrotti again.
The gray sword energy Ron had manifested with his Overlord Sword was ruthlessly torn apart each time Kelliark extended Hrotti. The attacks from the mages, dragons, and the fleet—which his Invisible Sword had previously nullified—were now far more effective.
Until the Demon God Stone was unleashed, Ron had never once dodged their attacks. He had either annihilated them with the Invisible Sword Wind before they could reach him or blocked them while standing his ground.
But now, Ron was forced to weave between the walls and voids of his own gray sword energy, a thin sheen of sweat on his brow.
He didn't dwell on it. He simply gripped his sword in silence, observing the battlefield and counterattacking whenever an opportunity arose.
With every passing second, new wounds appeared across the Overlord Sword patterns etched into his skin.
[Giaaaaaak!]
Belot’s black flames surged toward the Sword Emperor Castle like a tsunami. The gray barrier burst, and thirty percent of the left wall was obliterated. Ron stepped forward to block Belot from entering through the gap.
As Belot charged, space distorted with shockwaves and a thunderous roar. Ron met it head-on, swinging Rashid at Belot’s head, but the blade failed to cleave it. It was like two swords clashing in a contest of strength.
When the collision ended, Belot retreated first, but it was Ron who was bleeding. A mouthful of hot, thick blood surged up his throat.
"Cough...!"
He spat out the blood, but before it could even hit the ground, black flames and dark flashes overwhelmed him. The flames scorched his chest, and a flash pierced his shoulder.
While he staggered, a bombardment from the fleet and dragons followed. Since gaining the title of Sword Emperor, this was the first time he had been subjected to such a one-sided assault.
Kiiiiiiii...!
The Demon God Stone seemed to be mocking Ron. The Zipple mages, the dragons, and Belot felt it too, already drunk on victory and madness.
But Kelliark thought differently.
‘The Demon God Stone… is anxious. Does it still judge Ron to be a threat?’
Kelliark couldn't immediately discern the reason. The battle was flowing overwhelmingly in his favor. Even if Ron had some hidden strength, Kelliark himself was only using a fraction of the Demon God Stone’s power.
However, even if he didn't understand, there was no room for doubt. More than thirty gods resided within the Demon God Stone, and the conclusion reached by the sum of their wills was absolute.
Kelliark’s gaze shifted to the ground. He saw Jin’s party, who had just entered the castle to escape the battle’s aftermath, and Octavia and the Wraith Squad pursuing them.
Ron couldn't exert his full strength because he was simultaneously shielding them from the shockwaves of the battle.
‘Perhaps it is because of the Authority of Shadow residing within Jin Runcandel.’
Though far superior to what Andrei had possessed, the Demon God Stone was not yet complete.
Shadow.
Unless they obtained Solderet’s power, the Demon God Stone could never be perfected—not even if they combined the powers of all other gods, including those who had already died or vanished.
"Where are you looking, Kelliark!"
Ron’s sword energy tore through the bombardment and appeared right before Kelliark’s nose.
This was sword energy that couldn't be neutralized with a mere thought. As Kelliark swung Hrotti to deflect it, a sharp pain shot through his wrist. It was a surprisingly fresh sensation—to feel pain even while synchronized with the Demon God Stone.
He thought that perhaps the race that had vanished long ago while opposing the gods had provoked their wrath in a similar fashion.
"Don't worry. Killing you is still my first priority."
Kruuuuuu...!
Like tumors, spheres of black flame began to form in the sky.
Five Annihilation Flame Orbs, modified by Kelliark and enhanced by the Demon God Stone, were aimed at Ron. In terms of pure destructive power, they were superior even to the 2nd Form of Riol’s Legacy.
Even seeing this, Ron did not withdraw the power he was using to defend the ground. Kelliark narrowed his eyes in disapproval.
"Did you think I was lying?"
At a gesture from Kelliark’s staff, one black flame orb dropped toward the Sword Emperor Castle. Belot continued to pressure Ron, ensuring he could not dodge it.
However, Ron had no intention of dodging in the first place.
Shiiiiiii...!
The ash-gray Rashid let out a low thrum, and the Overlord Sword patterns on Ron’s body grew even darker. Ron’s gray eyes, looking up at Belot and the black flame orb, were firm and unwavering.
Overlord Sword 1st Decisive Technique
Rashid erupted with a gray brilliance.
A colossal energy—so great that even the enhanced Belot reflexively retreated—swallowed the scattered black flames. The gray light erupting endlessly along the blade reasserted the dignity of an Overlord. In that moment, the expression of the Demon God Stone, hanging like an ominous moon, distorted.
‘This sword is almost like…’
From that sight, Kelliark could not help but recall a certain sword he had faced long ago.
The Overlord Sword was originally created to counter Runcandel, modeled after Runcandel’s own blades. Thus, while every strike of the Overlord Sword resembled a Runcandel technique, it was no clumsy imitation performed by one lacking their innate gifts.
The Overlord Sword was forged to defeat Runcandel.
Meteor Breaker
Runcandel 3rd Decisive Technique: Meteor Shower.
The sword Kelliark recalled was the 3rd Decisive Technique of Runcandel, performed by Cyron himself. And the 1st Decisive Technique of the Overlord Sword…
Was the very blade forged to overcome it. To overcome Runcandel’s Meteor Shower.
Following Rashid's trajectory, the void itself seemed to split apart. Gray sword energy surged from the cracks, reclaiming the space held by the black flames and seizing control of the battlefield once more.
Kaaaa, aaaaah!
A deeper sense of anxiety and rage was embedded in the Demon God Stone’s shriek. It seemed to ask how a mere human dared to possess such power.
Belot let out a cry as it pulled back, unable to withstand the surging gray aura of the Meteor Breaker.
As soon as Belot evaded, Kelliark dropped the remaining four black flame orbs at once, but they couldn't gain speed against the technique's repulsive force. Worse, they began to scatter before they could even reach the walls. The five flame orbs had already become disorganized masses that could no longer be called spheres, their power bleeding away into nothing.
"You said a moment ago that you never thought you'd have to use the Demon God Stone's power against me… The feeling is mutual."
"This isn't just hidden potential… Are you growing stronger even as you face me?" Kelliark asked, narrowing his eyes, certain of his conclusion.
Ron caught a handful of the crumbling black flames and extinguished them by clenching his fist.
"No matter how this fight ends today, both you and I will lose much. And the true winners will be neither of us. It will be the children."