Chapter 557: The King of the Black Sea, Gliek (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 557: The King of the Black Sea, Gliek (1)
“Fall back!”
Talaris urgently corrected her stance.
In place of the inner castle, a massive barrier of ice surged up in all directions. It was a display of Talaris’s full power, save for the strength currently tied up in maintaining Elona Zipple’s seal.
However, the energy of Chaos tore through it as if it were nothing. She managed to slightly slow the advance of the Chaos sweeping toward her and Jin’s group, but that was all.
“Cough!”
Talaris spat out a mouthful of clotted blood, her eyes wide. Her eyelids twitched, and the hand gripping her sword trembled.
It wasn't a tremor born of cowardice, but she was undeniably afraid.
The tidal wave of Chaos currently pouring from the White Stone was on a scale so vast that even she could not begin to fathom it.
—It may be hard to believe, but if that White Stone can be refined and utilized, it possesses enough power to sustain all the magical equipment in the Empire and make the nation several times wealthier and more powerful in an instant.
The testimony of the traitor, Tion Hairan.
—The fact that large-scale reinforcements are arriving even now is proof enough. The White Stone is an indispensable item to them. Yet, we still do not even know what it is.
Rosa’s assessment.
—The former Palace Masters left records stating that Hairan possessed a single object that could pose a threat to the world. Our Secret Palace presumes that the object in Hairan’s possession belongs to the witch Heluram.
—…It is a seal that remains unshaken even by the absolute power of Ten Thousand Ice. Do you know what this implies? It means a Chaos that even I cannot handle lurks within.
Talaris’s own speculation.
Those accounts were all either wrong or insufficient. What had been slumbering inside the White Stone was an existence that far exceeded their every expectation.
The King of the Black Sea, Gliek.
The fifth ruler of Chaos.
Only Kinzelo knew its true identity. Even Kelliark had not anticipated that the thing sealed within the White Stone would be Gliek.
The Ten Thousand Ice Sword emitted a blinding radiance. Ordinarily, its light could illuminate an entire region, but before Gliek’s Chaos, it was as feeble as a flickering candle.
The Ten Thousand Ice Sword was unleashed. If she hesitated for even a moment, neither she nor Jin’s party would survive.
3rd Form: Avalanche. 4th Form: Frost Drive. 10th Form: Glacier Split. Talaris poured her essence into her ghostly white blade as it thrust toward the encroaching Chaos.
The Chaos absorbed her techniques as if mocking her efforts.
To think the White Stone was the King of the Black Sea…!
Sssssss—!
The Ten Thousand Ice Sword synchronized further with Talaris, emitting a harsh, resonant roar.
Only then did the rushing Chaos show a momentary hesitation.
Ten Thousand Ice Sword Profound Technique: White.
As Talaris slammed the Ten Thousand Ice Sword into the ground, ice flowers as massive as great mountains bloomed in every direction. The impossibly sharp and sturdy ice flowers blossomed in an instant, encroaching upon the space at a speed nearing that of light.
Black blood flowed incessantly from Talaris’s mouth and nose. Having single-handedly contained the White Stone’s rampage while also maintaining Elona’s seal, even someone of her caliber was reaching her limit.
“Huff, huff…” Talaris exhaled raggedly, amplifying the power of her Profound Technique: White.
It was a literal tug-of-war against the Chaos. She desperately held back the tide as it tried to crush the ice flowers and breach the domain of White.
“D-damn it… Why is that thing here and not in the Black Sea?”
Talaris’s face was deathly pale as she spoke. Her hair was disheveled, sweat poured from her entire body, and the sword forming the Profound Technique: White shook precariously, as if it might be ripped from the ground at any moment.
Talaris Endorma, the Master of the Secret Palace and a peerless powerhouse recognized even by Cyron, had been completely overwhelmed the moment the Chaos awakened.
“Lady Talaris!”
“Jin, listen well. That is the King of the Black Sea. Perhaps even if everyone on this battlefield joined forces… Dammit, haven't the ones outside arrived yet?!”
The space Talaris was defending was only a tiny fraction of the whole.
Though it had not yet broken through the Profound Technique: White, the Chaos was already spreading beyond the ice flowers and across the entire battlefield.
Talaris was merely buying time.
Time for Ron and Kelliark, for Runcandel and Zipple, to push back the Chaos from the outside. If her Profound Technique was shattered before then, it was the end.
“And that thing… ugh… it wants you…!”
The rancor the King of the Black Sea held for the Shadows.
Talaris felt that hatred vividly as she stood against the Chaos. The hatred was directed not at her, the one struggling so hard to block it, but at Jin.
Jin felt it too.
He instinctively realized that the Chaos was targeting him the moment it awakened. A hatred so thick it felt almost physical weighed down on his entire body. It was a pressure that felt like his body was being turned to stone, similar to when his father directed his fighting spirit solely at him.
Without Talaris, Jin would have been helpless.
It was a power he could not possibly handle alone. His comrades were exhausted, and the guardian dragons who should have protected him were either weakened or completely drained of strength.
Furthermore, the enemy was incomparably stronger and more massive than anything Jin and his companions had ever faced, and the time Talaris could hold out was not long. For her to fight properly again after the Profound Technique: White ended, she would need a gap to steady her energy and recover the power being used for Elona Zipple’s seal.
If the Emperor had not made a deal with Zipple, if Zipple had not shown such excessive greed, if the world had not pushed Hairan and the Sword Emperor Castle into a corner…
That horrific entity would never have awakened in the human world.
Drip, drip.
Blood from Talaris’s face splattered across the white, frozen ground.
And within the domain of White she had formed, another problem was surfacing.
[Kaaaaah—! Kuaaaaah!]
Suddenly, Amela’s eyes rolled back as she collapsed into a fit. The Chaos dwelling within her was rampaging in response to Gliek’s energy.
If Yona had not suppressed that Chaos once before, Amela would have lost her mind and attacked her comrades within seconds.
[S-someone, help me, aaaaagh!]
Even Rata and Fey collapsed with groans alongside her. The faint traces of Chaos they had inherited from Smarion were reacting to Gliek’s power.
“My Lord, if I should attack our comrades, do not hesitate to cut me down. Right now… my sanity… ugh!”
Stab!
Rata exercised extreme self-control, stabbing his own thigh and Fey’s shoulder to barely maintain consciousness, but he could no longer continue the battle.
“Ghost Captain!”
“Rata, Fey!”
The domain of White was breaking.
Jin had to decide what he could do.
At this rate, Lady Talaris and all my comrades are in danger. I have to think of a way, somehow…!
He still couldn't use the Spirit Sword Special Technique: Call of the Black Light.
Instead, Sir Stam and the Black Knights are behind us.
Just outside the destroyed inner castle, Stam and the Black Knights would now be responding to the Chaos, not the Wraith Squad. They had no leisure to point swords and staves at each other.
Sir Stam received orders from the family to keep me alive. Moreover, given his position, Sir Stam has also received help from Lady Talaris.
As expected, Stam was currently struggling with all his might to enter the domain of White. He had judged that, as things stood, none of Jin’s allies could protect him the moment the Profound Technique: White was breached.
“Lady Talaris, is it possible to withdraw some of the power spread to the rear?”
Talaris understood his meaning immediately. She, too, had sensed the presence of Stam and the Black Knights before Gliek awakened. She had simply been too preoccupied with holding back the Chaos to consider it.
“Stam and the Black Knights… But Jin, it’s a gamble. The moment the ice flowers in the rear vanish, the Chaos will rush in there as well.”
Before answering, Jin formed a summoning circle, praying desperately.
He was calling his phoenix, which had been focusing on recovery ever since infusing a portion of its true power into Bradamante last year.
It wasn't an act of blind luck.
The Azure Fire within Bradamante has been reacting intensely ever since the Chaos awakened. Just like when Tess forcibly manifested using my power in Old Oterium.
Jin’s desperate prayer was answered in seconds.
In truth, Tess had been preparing to manifest from the moment Gliek was released from the White Stone. Though the phoenix had not yet fully recovered its strength, now was not the time to be picky.
Gyaaaaaah—!
Tess emerged from the summoning circle, radiating the dignity of the Master of the Fire Realm.
Furthermore, unlike in Old Oterium, the phoenix did not draw upon its true abilities by using Jin’s strength as collateral. Instead, it used its authority as the Master of the Fire Realm to purify a portion of the surrounding Chaos and use it as a medium.
It couldn't use Chaos as a medium indefinitely. Even for Tess, exposing itself to Chaos in this manner was clearly dangerous, but the phoenix judged it a better alternative than risking its contractor’s life.
“Tess!”
“Lord Tess?!”
“Oh, I’ve never been so glad to see this fellow!”
Jin, Misha, and Murakan shouted simultaneously. As Tess appeared, the Chaos that had been crushing the ice flowers showed signs of retreating once more.
At the same time, Talaris withdrew some of the ice flowers at the rear, and Stam and the Black Knights rushed in.
Octavia and the Wraith Squad were nowhere to be seen. They were retreating toward their main force to escape the Chaos.
“12th Flagbearer!”
“I am safe!”
Cr-crack—!
Immediately after, the ice flowers at the front exploded and shattered, and the momentarily stalled Chaos poured inside.
Stam and the Black Knights stepped forward without hesitation, swinging their swords in Talaris’s stead. It wasn't an act to save her or the other comrades; it was simply because the situation made it impossible to extract Jin alone.
Regardless, thanks to them, Talaris was able to catch her breath for a moment, and Jin and his companions could hear two people screaming orders from outside.
“All Runcandel knights, protect the 12th Flagbearer at all costs!”
“Secure Jin Runcandel! He must not be consumed by the Chaos!”
Rosa Runcandel and Kelliark Zipple.
Following the orders of their respective leaders, every member of Runcandel and Zipple was throwing themselves forward to save Jin.