Chapter 735: Beyond Destiny (7)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 735: Beyond Destiny (7)
Clatter!
Fragments of chain fell to the floor.
With his face finally revealed, Alphen stared blankly ahead, his eyes wide. He looked much younger than Jin had anticipated.
Jin instinctively felt it—Rosa's energy, which had been controlling Alphen, had vanished.
"It is an honor to meet you, Ancestor. I am Jin Runcandel, the 12th Flagbearer of the 59th Patriarch, Cyron Runcandel."
Jin dropped to one knee, formally paying his respects.
Alphen glanced back and forth between Jin and the ongoing battle behind him before nodding in satisfaction.
[So, one who shines exists even in this generation. The situation is dire. First, let us slaughter these traitors!]
"As you wish."
Alphen’s longsword, murky with the stain of chaos just a moment ago, now shimmered with a pure white heat. Befitting his title as the Knight of Light, his aura radiated a light far stronger and brighter than any ordinary warrior's.
[Traitors, you are unworthy of wearing the helmets of the Black Knights…]
Alphen charged into the center of the battlefield, thrusting his longsword forward.
The strike disrupted the footwork of the Black Knight Captain, who had been trading blows with Bianca. Jin seized the opening and brought his sword down upon the captain's head.
The helmet shattered, revealing a face twisted into a monstrous form, stained black by chaos.
The Sen family, the Black Knights gathered here… they had all once been honored figures who served the clan, laid to rest in the Mausoleum. Now, they were nothing more than rotting, wretched monsters.
The clarity on Alphen’s face stood in stark contrast to the captain's twisted features.
Just as the Black Knight Captain tried to leap away, the swords of Jin and Bianca pinned him in place. A moment later, Alphen’s thrust pierced straight through the captain's face.
Boom!
With a shockwave like a cannon blast, the Black Knight Captain’s head vanished without a trace.
[Now, you may lay down your unseemly burden.]
With their captain dead, the remaining Black Knights lost their focal point. They had already failed to gain the upper hand before Jin joined the fray. Now, with the alliance and Alphen united against them, they were utterly helpless.
Escape was impossible. In this desolate space, there was no path for them to flee.
Though corrupted by chaos, they were still Black Knights and managed to hold their ground for a short while. But that was all. They were no match for warriors who ranked among the strongest in human history.
Crunch!
The battle finally ended when Hedo crushed the torso of the last remaining Black Knight.
"I’d appreciate an explanation of what’s going on, 12th Flagbearer. Why did a Knight of Chaos suddenly become an ally?"
"Why? Do you think I’ve conspired with the Evil God?"
"I wouldn't go that far, but the situation is certainly prone to misunderstanding."
"I... didn't... misunderstand... More allies... is good. The Evil God... is... too strong."
"As you can see, my ancestor was simply released from the Evil God's control, Octavia Zipple. As Bianca said, more allies are a good thing. There will likely be others like my ancestor. Isn't that right, Ancestor?"
[Since I died at a young age, being called 'Ancestor' feels a bit awkward. Just call me Sir Alphen, 12th Flagbearer.]
"Understood."
"Alphen Runcandel? From the Holy Kingdom Defense War?" Octavia asked, sounding surprised.
[Indeed. You, Octavia… you must be a descendant of Hanel Zipple. He fought alongside me in that war. Though he was the patriarch of the wicked Zipple clan, Hanel was a man of considerable dignity. That is why I did not doubt him when he spared a surrendering demon, unlike how you doubt me now.]
"Sir Alphen, I wasn't doubting you, I was merely—"
Alphen cut Octavia off. [While bound by the Evil God's control, I grasped the general situation through his thoughts. 12th Flagbearer, only you can defeat him and end this catastrophe. I, Alphen Runcandel, shall henceforth devote myself to following you and reclaiming our clan.]
Jin felt a surge of heat in his chest. There was still hope for the Runcandel clan. He wasn't the only one desperately clinging to it.
"Thank you, Sir Alphen."
Now, they needed to call down the allies from above, inform them of the situation, and resume their advance. However, Alphen brought up something the alliance had never expected.
[This foul castle is structured so that once you descend, you cannot go back up, 12th Flagbearer.]
"You say it's impossible to go back up?"
[Yes. Each floor of this castle is a strictly separated subspace. To be precise, it is not merely a subspace but the inner world of the Evil God.]
An inner world.
Not long ago, Jin had fought a decisive battle against Rosa within his own inner world. This castle, however, was the Evil God’s inner world manifested in reality.
That explained why the lower-ranked forces on the upper floors had been hit with mental attacks. The weaker one was, the harder it was to traverse this inner world.
[Therefore, it is also impossible to send a signal to the allies remaining on the floors above.]
If it were an ordinary subspace, Jin could have simply cut through it with his Spirit Sword, but that did not apply to the Evil God's inner world.
"Then we have no choice but to wait for our allies to arrive here."
[That is also unlikely to go as planned. The Zipple mage… and that slow-speaking demon must be the princess of the Caligo family. In any case, the fact that a mage, a demon princess, and a knight managed to meet here was pure luck. The structure of this inner world is constantly shifting.]
Above all, despite appearances, the inner world was a maze. Even if one tried to return the way they came, they would not end up in the same space. As Alphen said, Hedo, Octavia, and Bianca had only been able to regroup because the structure hadn't changed until just then.
"...If Sir Alphen’s words are true, this is a disaster," Hedo remarked.
"If no allies arrive within ten minutes, we move to the next floor," Jin decided.
There was no reason to wait longer. If more allies didn't join them by then, their paths had already diverged.
While they waited, Alphen shared what he knew about the Evil God's forces.
[12th Flagbearer, from what I know, thirteen patriarchs have been resurrected from the Mausoleum.]
That number included Alphen and Lionel. The group felt a strange sensation, noting that the number of resurrected patriarchs matched the number of pure-blooded second-generation Runcandels.
[The patriarchs stationed on each floor act as gatekeepers. However, I do not know how many among them have resisted the Evil God's will as I have. As for the other forces, I have no exact details, but the former Black Knights we just killed are only a small fraction.]
If that was the case, the general flow of battle would likely involve the heroes of each faction in the temporary alliance facing off against the resurrected patriarchs, while the fleets and lower-ranked forces dealt with the Knights of Chaos.
[The mental attacks and the elements interfering with the generation of aura and mana will also intensify the further down we go. It shouldn't be a major problem for those of us here, but it will be fatal for those of lesser caliber.]
"We brought the entire fleet because we anticipated an aerial battle with the ship Ram… but it seems that may have been the wrong choice," Jin mused.
Just as Jin began to wonder if they should have fought this final battle with a minimal force, Alphen shook his head.
[During the Holy Kingdom Defense War, I grappled with the same dilemma. Contrary to the legends, the rank-and-file elites were slaughtered like flies. Yet, had they not been there, we would have ultimately lost. The Evil God will surely use everything at his disposal. He will want to whittle down the alliance's strength as much as possible before the final confrontation.]
Ten minutes passed.
No more allies descended to the basement. In the meantime, the group tried several times to see if it was truly impossible to return to the upper floors, but to no avail.
Ultimately, the destination Jin and the temporary alliance had to reach was the abyss of this inner world where the Evil God resided. They had no choice but to keep moving forward, hoping to reunite safely with their allies there.
The march resumed.
After a long while, the group encountered an impossibly deep and massive cliff, just like the one they had seen on the floor above.
"Let's go down."
Jin, Alphen, Hedo, Bianca, and Octavia—the five of them began their descent into the abyss simultaneously.
*
Meanwhile, the remaining alliance forces on the floor above had boarded their ships and were descending the same cliff Jin had.
However, what they encountered upon reaching the ground was not Jin’s group, but three former patriarchs resurrected from the Mausoleum and an innumerable army of chaos.
At their center stood the Lion King, Lionel, tall and imposing.
[Strike.]
As Lionel spoke in a dry voice, the army of chaos surged forward like a tsunami. In the sky were Chaos Dragons and Black Ships; on the ground were knights and unidentified monsters resembling the Colossal Divine Tree.
‘There are no traces of battle from Jin and those who went ahead. I don't know why, but it seems we've been separated… Is the internal structure of the castle inconsistent?’
Veradin did not panic, making a swift judgment.
"Commence battle! Fire Dragon Kadun, Knight Dante, and Vail will handle the enemy commanders. Orgal and Zephyrin, focus entirely on protecting the fleet!"
Veradin issued his orders, and the counterattack began.
The problem was that the power of the main cannons of the fleet, including the Kozec, had significantly diminished. The Evil God's energy was suppressing the generation of aura and mana.
Furthermore, as the inner world deepened, the mental attacks grew more intense. Mid- and low-ranked soldiers within the fleet were collapsing, screaming in agony.
A ship is not operated by one person alone. As more mages lost consciousness, the fleet's operations inevitably grew sluggish.
"Ronil, take command. I am going down as well."
"Yes, Young Lord."
"Return all dragons to the ships except for Kadun, Tuyan, and Pinia. Announce the release of the Demon God Stone."
The Kozec was emitting an ominous resonance from its power core.
As the Demon God Stone began to activate, Veradin’s body, currently in the process of descending, began to age rapidly.
Soon, having become a white-haired old man like Kelliark Zipple, he thrust the Patriarch's staff, 'Hrotti,' forward.
[You are not the only ones who can wield such monstrous, absurd power.]
From Hrotti, the Annihilation Flame Orb—a technique modified by Kelliark—began to unfurl.