Chapter 571: Sword Emperor (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 571: Sword Emperor (3)
In the darkest and deepest abyss on earth, a cry echoed—a sound that could brighten any human heart. Ron’s transparent tears shimmered with light.
“Because of me… because I was deceived.”
Dante repeated the same words, his eyes vacant.
He was overwhelmed by guilt, not joy, that the two people more precious to him than his own life—his grandfather and Jin—had come all this way to save him.
He simply could not stop blaming himself.
While trapped in Gliek’s subconscious, Dante had felt everything happening outside. Bound in the abyss, he couldn't observe every detail, but he clearly perceived Gliek’s intent: to kill Ron, destroy Hairan, defile this land, and consume his friend. He knew those horrific ambitions were becoming a reality.
Dante believed it was all the price for his failure to overcome Gliek.
If only he had held on more firmly, if he hadn't lost, if he hadn't been deceived at the very end—if only he hadn't been so foolish and weak for that one critical moment…!
He loathed himself. It was all his fault, yet he was powerless to fix anything, unable even to stand on his own two feet. The frustration was maddening.
“Do not say such things, Dante. No one could have done as well as you. It is thanks to you that your friend and I were able to make it this far…” Ron said, wiping away Dante’s tears.
“So, it’s alright. You can lean on your grandfather and your friend now. No one could have endured what you did.”
Dante lost consciousness before he could respond.
His breathing was a labored wheeze, his pulse was faint, and his body was covered in the black marks left by chaos.
However, his life was not in danger. Like Jin, some traces of the chaos would remain, but he had no fatal internal injuries or wounds. With treatment and rest, he would recover his vitality.
To ensure that, one task remained.
They had to finish Gliek, the Fifth King of Chaos.
Ron placed Dante onto Jin’s back. He could feel it. The final battle of this war was about to begin.
By reaching the depths of the abyss, Ron and Jin had accelerated the creature's awakening. Originally, Gliek should have naturally seized control of the subconscious as the transformation into the Black Sea progressed. But because the two of them had ravaged the abyss, he was waking faster than planned.
“The attack will begin soon. Take Dante and find a way out, no matter what.”
The edges of the abyss began to fluctuate. An energy even more massive and ferocious than the storms of chaos they had faced on their way here shook the space around them.
Even after reaching the Realm of Creation and rescuing Dante, the fight wasn't over. To end the war, Gliek had to be dealt with. Jin felt a pang of pity for the fate of Ron and Hairan, who still had to struggle against death after overcoming so many hardships.
Kigigigigik—!
Chaos seethed like a plague throughout the abyss. It formed into swords and spears, stabbing downward in a torrent, but they were all deflected by Ron’s barrier.
Ron raised his sword, took his stance, and stared into the center of the abyss.
The White Stone, its barrier now gone, vibrated intensely. For a moment, Ron couldn't take his eyes off it.
“From this moment on, I face you not as Dante’s grandfather, but as the Sword Emperor of Hairan…”
Ron spoke, then slowly swung Rashid.
Judging by its speed alone, the descending blade looked as if it couldn't cut a thing. But just like the sword of Cyron that Jin had once faced, it contained the immense weight and mastery of the Realm of Creation.
Jin felt as if he could see the expression of the White Stone—of Gliek—as it faced that sword. It was a look distorted by both rage and terror.
In contrast, not a single trace of madness remained in Ron. He now possessed the absolute gaze unique to those who have reached the Realm of Creation—the look of one who could not be broken, and whom none could defy.
Crack!
As Ron’s sword made contact, a fissure appeared on the White Stone. It began to splinter and scatter like a cheap, shattering gem. The blade continued its slow, inexorable path through the stone.
Gwaaaaaah…!
Gliek’s distant scream echoed once more. The creature let out a horrific shriek, as if the blade slowly burrowing into the White Stone was causing it unbearable agony.
The more Ron focused his power into Rashid, the more violently the spears and blades of chaos hammered against his barrier. The protective sphere gradually shrank, but not a single attack managed to pierce it. Gliek seemed to be concentrating all its remaining power into the abyss.
Jin felt a wave of nausea, sickened by the fact that the creature still had this much strength left.
Gliek felt the same way about Ron.
“Lord Ron!” Jin shouted.
He had suddenly seen Ron cough up a mouthful of blood. The toll of sharing ten percent of his light with Jin right after reaching the Realm of Creation, combined with the energy he had just spent breaking into the abyss, was weighing on his physical body.
Ron nodded as if to say he was fine.
Physical limits are no obstacle for a Creation Knight. Just as chaos was merely one form that constituted a King of the Black Sea, a Creation Knight’s body was merely a vessel for their enlightenment.
Though he spat blood, the momentum of Ron’s sword never wavered. The spilled blood evaporated into his energy, vanishing without a trace.
By then, only a single step of space remained between the barrier and the spears of chaos. Either the White Stone would split first, or the barrier would break. Jin didn't worry about the latter for a second.
As if to reward that trust, Rashid’s blade finally split the White Stone in two. Where the stone had floated, only the glowing trajectory Ron had slowly drawn remained.
For over a thousand years, Hairan had silently and lonely protected it.
At that moment, the White Stone was finally cut.
Then, Ron and Jin felt the light of the world, not the darkness of chaos, grace their eyes.
They had stepped out of the abyss and returned to the mortal realm. But the light that pierced their eyes was not as bright and brilliant as they had expected.
The sky that should have been pouring down light was still obscured by the Veil of Chaos. The light was faint, like sparse blades of grass sprouting in a wasteland. The wall of chaos that had formed when Gliek first awoke was even more solid than before, and Jin noticed the air was thick with heat and acrid fumes.
‘Just as I thought. The battle has been raging on outside.’
A full day had passed in the outside world since Jin and Ron entered Gliek’s subspace. Those fighting outside had no way of knowing what had happened to them. They couldn't know if the two had been captured or simply annihilated.
“Huff, huff! The 12th Flagbearer! Huff! We have confirmation of the 12th Flagbearer’s survival!” a Black Knight shouted, gasping for breath.
Runcandel had not given up on Jin. Still, most of the knights couldn't help but assume his chances of being alive were as low as Dante’s, who had been absorbed by Gliek. Besides, even if he were alive, he would be inside Gliek, and with no one on the battlefield at the Realm of Creation, they had no way to break in. No matter how much they cut and slashed, they couldn't even scratch the barrier of chaos protecting the creature.
But then, that barrier had suddenly crumbled on its own, and Jin had appeared. Even Rosa’s eyes widened as she inwardly breathed a sigh of relief.
[Kid…!] Murakan roared, rushing toward Jin.
He couldn't reach him, however. Spikes of chaos erupted from the ground, blocking his path and driving him mad with frustration. Murakan’s only thought was to grab Jin and escape, regardless of what happened afterward.
Kelliark was thinking along the same lines. Even if it meant negotiating with Kinzelo later to resolve the Gliek situation—even if it meant risking the world’s destruction—they had to secure Jin and leave the battlefield first.
“12th Flagbearer…!”
Rosa also threw herself forward, unleashing her sword energy, with Kelliark following close behind. The corpses of knights and mages were trampled under their feet.
However, Talaris, who had worried about Jin just as much as they had, seemed unable to approach. She was barely holding herself together, her entire body stained with blood. This was the price for holding back the power of Elona Zipple, whose seal she had delayed breaking. Talaris had been fighting while unable to use most of her original strength.
The reason Talaris had reversed her decision was simple.
Ron Hairan.
He had disappeared along with Jin. If it was Ron, if that stubborn old man could just regain his senses… she had clung to the hope that a miracle might happen once more. Talaris believed that as long as there was even a sliver of hope, she had to postpone unsealing Elona Zipple.
“Youngest!” Rosa shrieked.
Though she was still a hundred paces away, she had seen a tsunami of chaos sweeping toward Jin. It was not an energy Jin could possibly handle. If he failed to block it, his entire body would be torn to shreds.
As despair washed over everyone trying to save Jin, they saw it.
Swaaaaak…!
A single streak of glowing sword energy split the chaos tsunami in half.
Then, as the waves of chaos cleared, everyone saw him: Jin, carrying Dante on his back, with Ron Hairan standing tall beside him.
At that sight, they all froze, doubting their own eyes.
The giants—Rosa, Kelliark, and Talaris—were especially struck with awe as they stared at Ron, so much so that they momentarily forgot their desperate urge to reach Jin.
‘Ron Hairan has reached the Realm of Creation!’
‘Truly, the Realm of Creation… and he even saved Dante Hairan…!’
The giants’ pulses quickened as if they would burst.
Across all of human history, there were fewer than ten individuals who had attained the power of the Realm of Creation—even counting those whose records had been erased by the Zipples. The giants of this era had believed another Creation-level being could not emerge, for they had the clear benchmark of Cyron. They were certain the gap between him and themselves was one they could never bridge, even if they sacrificed the rest of their lives. Even Cyron himself had predicted that Ron was more likely to become a monster than to reach the Realm of Creation.
Though thwarted, the chaos lashed out at Jin several more times, but each attempt was effortlessly parried by Ron’s sword.
As he watched the fragments of chaos fall like scraps of flesh, Ron spoke.
“Gliek… there is nothing left for you to take here. Not even your own life.”