Chapter 82
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 82
Chapter Title: The Mythical Era War
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[Kaduel: It’s just as the satellite scan data showed.]
The Ones Who Came had also established a wide-area communication network on par with the Thunderous Fragrance Resonance Array.
Perhaps it was even more intuitive.
It didn't just transmit voices; it could also display a real-time video feed of the sender.
[Kaduel: A Grade 1 Abyss is stationed on the west coast of the Idea Peninsula, and its sphere of activity encompasses the entire planetary ocean, including the peninsula's waters. Per the general assault order, all fleets of the Golden Fleet, the Blood-red Fleet, and the Moonlight Fleet are advancing to the designated coordinates.]
[Rayulpart (The old Mediterranean Sea).]
- Olduras Coast.
- Space Century Generation 4, Year 635, April 4th.
[Shurviel: L-Lord Karenden just identified the Grade 1 Abyss entity… The Whispering Madness, Shu'Yulkulla.]
[Ryukael: Who's that?]
[Kaduel: Third in rank among the Lords of the Abyss. Its exact location has not yet been confirmed.]
How could one even begin to describe the technology of The Ones Who Came…?
I was so lost in the wonders of this world that I could hardly focus on their conversation.
Steel warships, with their massive hulls, were flying through the sky. How in the world could something like that fly?
[Alkaios: The Master has designated this peninsula as the primary forward base. We must drive the Abyss out from here to open the sea lanes.]
Hundreds of vertical takeoff and landing transports, Keltoros, were gliding swiftly over the mudflats corrupted by the Abyss.
The sea, thick with an unidentifiable stench, was sinister and grim.
The old sea, with waves of dark green slime washing ashore, looked less like an ocean and more like a colossal swamp.
[Ryukael: Put it simply, Commander. We just have to kill that Star King bastard, Cola-something, right?]
In this era, The Forgotten Kings were called the Star Kings.
The seven lords who received power from the great monarch of the Abyss, Yotos.
Five of them were the beings known today as The Forgotten Kings.
[Alkaios: It'll be harder than drinking a cola. We advance as the vanguard after Lord Tervel's thunderous bombardment. Kaduel, what's the time for the strike?]
That was the first time.
The first time I saw and understood.
Why the power of The Ones Who Came had been passed down to this day as a miracle.
[Kaduel: Um… now.]
A Slender River of Lightning.
In a single flash, all the world's darkness vanished for a moment, leaving only pure white.
That single bolt of lightning incinerated all the abyssal storm clouds that had blanketed the firmament and unleashed a torrent of rain, clearing the sky.
[Power of Creation: Azure Sky Halberd.]
- The spear of light that parts the darkness to craft the azure sky becomes a flash of light, piercing the Abyss.
- The power of creation that Tervel was said to have used when hunting the Abyss.
- This is the story of Tervel, the Lord of Light who brought dawn to the world.
I understood in a single moment.
Tervel, the Sun of the Azure Sky.
Why he, who had left behind more brilliant achievements in martial valor than even Tersia, the leader of The Ones Who Came, had earned the name Azure Sky.
[Karenden: Tervel, thanks to you, I was able to pinpoint the coordinates of the Abyss nest. Let's begin in earnest.]
A banquet of light commenced.
Lightning bolts, so intense they felt like they would sear my retinas, endlessly struck the sea's surface. They burned, tore, and split the dark, decaying abyssal mudflats and the sea.
Until the ancient undersea kingdom sleeping below, ‘Shuyulkellis,’ was fully unearthed.
[Ryukael: This is awesome. I want to record this.]
[Kaduel: A massive surge of abyssal energy has been detected! Six Grade 2, and an uncountable number of Grade 3 and 4 Abyss entities!]
The guardians of the undersea kingdom began their counterattack.
[Madness Level: 55%.]
The Whispering Madness, the vassals of Shu'Yulkulla, ruler of the old sea, awoke from their deep slumber…
[Madness Level: 67%.]
Deep-sea demons… Kyulryun, surged from the surface of the water, their countless arms reaching for the warships. Over two thousand of them appeared on the visual UI radar alone.
[Logistics Monitor: Enemy positions identified. Updating 3D map data.]
The Kyulryun were nightmares that would be recorded in later ages as the highest rank of the Old Ones. Two thousand of them could have driven humanity to extinction within three days.
[Ryukael: Enemies ahead!]
[Logistics Monitor: Warning, fuselage damage. Flight capability lost. Warning, fuselage damage, unable to maintain altitude and switch to emergency flight systems.]
[Alkaios: Jump! Eldia, now! I'll re-designate the rally point with a beacon!]
I leaped out as the transport, its left wing melted away by a Kyulryun, spun madly, the horizon flipping chaotically.
The old abyssal mudflats…
The living mud writhed, grabbing and licking at my crash-landed ankles. Before I could even pull free, minions of the Abyss swarmed in.
[New Enemy: Rutlewe.]
- The Rutlewe are the dead who have received the blessing of the old sea from Shu'Yulkulla.
- Possessing fish-like eyes, fins, and webbed feet, they were collectively called Rutlewe (Fishmen).
- Abyss Threat Level: Grade 5.
The Mythical Era,
Tarhye RondelㆍEldiaㆍRebirth (3)
It was a horrifying sight. A horde of the dead, hopping and leaping forward, their deformed gills gasping.
And…
Octopus-like tentacles, the very body of the lord Shu'Yulkulla, shot up from the sea surface and mudflats, reaching for the sky, indiscriminately crushing ships and soldiers.
“Tear them apart, Yoniullan!”
The special ability of the True Holy Sword Yoniullan, which tears apart all things with a spiritual body, was unleashed.
Yoniullan, the most aggressive and violent of the six True Holy Swords.
The spine of Yoniullan elongated, and the metal fragments that had been concentrated in the form of a blade danced a dance of slaughter.
Soul Shatter.
In truth, it was only because I possessed the vision of a transcendent that I could see it in such detail.
To the eyes of an ordinary person, it would have appeared as nothing more than a flash of violet light tearing through a vast space.
A dozen tentacles and hundreds of Rutlewe were instantly shredded to pieces within that violet light.
‘Strong.’
I had already experienced its strength firsthand, but now I felt anew that it was on a completely different level.
It was enough to make me laugh in disbelief.
To think an enemy that had been so threatening could be this reassuring as an ally.
[Ryukael: Enuel, you okay? This isn't a walk in the park. Hold your sword properly!]
For a moment, I saw an illusion of a brilliant aura flaring from the blade of Sharrilion in Enuel's hand.
Action Synchronization.
I had to follow it immediately.
Following the example, I used that blade of light to cut down over a hundred Rutlewe that had leaped behind Ryukael in a single strike.
[Ryukael: Not the type to stay indebted, are you? Haha, this is fun!]
The combined front of the two Warriors was utterly unstoppable. The Grade 5 Abyss entities, the Rutlewe, were no match for them at all.
[Alkaios: Ryukael, I'm getting a shared bio-signal from you and Enuel. What's the current situation?]
[Ryukael: Enuel and I have wiped out the fish-men and secured a landing zone! The fleet is advancing above us!]
[Alkaios: The Golden Fleet has confirmed the appearance of three Grade 2 Abyss entities guarding the eastern entrance of the undersea temple. It's a subjugation mission. Let's rendezvous there.]
[Ryukael: Finally a good warm-up, Commander. Well then, Enuel, shall we see what the latest model can do?]
Advancing was not easy.
With a gurgling sound, the mudflats would split open, and Shu'Yulkulla's tentacles would shoot out.
The clone soldiers who touched them instantly rotted and collapsed—steel, skin, hair, bone, and brain, all at once.
We had to proceed by sensing the flow of killing intent, which demanded extreme caution.
After breaking through the mudflats, we experienced a fall of nearly forty seconds before landing on the outskirts of the Shuyulkellis temple.
‘Shuyulkellis…’
This ancient, unholy palace seemed to have been built to the scale of the entire ocean. To think such a vast city existed beneath the sea…
[Tervel: Eldia Alma (01), this is the Golden Fleet flagship, Teritos. The vanguard's losses are severe because of those Grade 2 Abyss entities.]
Tervel, the Sun of the Azure Sky, was a handsome young man with blond hair and golden eyes. Had it not been for his voice, I might have mistaken him for a woman.
[Synchronization Mission Updated.]
- The Golden Fleet's 1st vanguard is unable to advance due to obstruction by Grade 2 Abyss entities.
- Grade 2 Entity Data List:
ㆍJardin, the Traveler of Despair.
ㆍSholyuryu, the Flower of the Old Sea.
ㆍHyerte-rion, the Hymn of Ruin.
Next to the text, an image of Alkaios in his helmet appeared.
[Alkaios: Your Holiness, we will commence engagement now.]
[Tervel: I'll give you thirty seconds. Can you do it?]
[Alkaios: Yes. Ryukael, I'll set the stage, you just finish it. We need to take care of them to receive fire support from the Golden Fleet.]
How to describe a battle from the Mythical Era?
In the modern era, a fight against a Vassal was something that would risk the very survival of a unit. But in the Mythical Era, they were merely obstacles to be stepped over.
After all, unlike the modern era where warfare against the Abyss was entirely ‘defensive,’ the nature of war in the Mythical Era was ‘offensive.’
[Ryukael: Mu (04) and Kata (05) have just arrived, Commander!]
The Eldia, the AuthenticWarriors, are different from the FakeWarriors. No modern power can quantify their strength.
The colossal fishman, Jardin, the Traveler of Despair, was said to be a being that could make the ocean tremble with a single punch.
Sholyuryu, the Flower of the Old Sea, was said to bloom flowers of death in the sea, its thorns piercing even the ancient sperm whales.
Hyerte-rion, the Hymn of Ruin, was said to be a being that could tear apart even the deep sea with its ancient sea monster, the bone sword.
If these three beings were to form a joint front, modern humanity would suffer immense damage.
But those same Vassals were faltering against the coordinated attack of three Eldia, unable to even properly utilize their high-speed regeneration.
[Ryukael: Weapon Release! Tear them apart, Yoniullan!]
Flaws writhed all over the limbs of the Vassals.
The spine of Yoniullan, its spinal circuit, slithered like a snake through the gaps between those flaws.
The 44 fragments of steel that had split from it instantly dismantled the Vassals' limbs from their bodies.
[Ryukael: Finish them, Enuel!]
The scattered flaws merged into a single one, opening a moment for the kill.
Sharrilion let out a fierce roar.
Just as I was about to rush forward, feeling the pulsating thrill of the sword, the world froze, and an old illusion overlaid reality.
[Swordsmanship Synchronization: Engraving Slash.]
- A unique swordsmanship of Eldia Kata, Enuel, passed down in legend as the ‘Rune Slash.’
- By engraving the strokes of the Psalm onto the target's body, the Celestial Psalm manifests at its maximum power.
Enuel swung Sharrilion's hilt behind his shoulder while leaning his body forward.
*Crack…* Cracks spread across the entire temple outskirts, centering on the ground where Enuel's feet touched.
An ultra-high-speed enhancement of leg strength.
Enuel's movement, closing the distance to Jardin's face in an instant, was nothing short of miraculous.
‘I can't believe it.’
Even as I moved in perfect sync with Enuel, I doubted my own senses.
An instant that not even a Vassal could react to.
A single slash produced multiple blades of wind, and the streams of that wind carved the letters ‘Karit’ onto the Vassals’ bodies.
‘To be able to use sword qi so beautifully, so meticulously, as if writing calligraphy?’
Climax, transcendence—such words could not dare to describe it… the final realm of sword qi usage. There couldn't possibly be a realm beyond this.
And the next moment.
The power of the Celestial Psalm, where language bestows its meaning upon a target as a ‘curse,’ was unleashed.
Karit.
Its meaning was annihilation.
The letters carved into their flesh exploded in a brilliant light. Beyond the tearing screams of the Vassals, their bodies burned, and their soul cores were exposed.
[Alkaios: Kaduel.]
I let out a hollow laugh, simply dumbfounded.
Not even an instant had passed since the cores were exposed before an arrow from the True Holy Sword Hisgibeed flew in.
An orange flash, more like a pillar than an arrow, twisted and turned, neatly piercing the Vassals' cores in a line.
The cores shrieked and began to reconstruct their bodies, but all they could manage was physical regeneration.
Their bodies regenerated, but their souls were sealed, so the three Vassals hardened into blackened statues.
[Alkaios: Well done, Enuel.]
[Kaduel: That was incredible, Eldia Kata.]
[Ryukael: I guess it's because his base specs are insane that he can do something like that so easily.]
It was staggering.
Even after experiencing that move, that power, directly through synchronization, I couldn't believe it.
‘The power to engrave the letters of creation as a curse…?’
Strong, far too strong.
All the Eldia were monstrously powerful… but Enuel's strength, with his unique swordsmanship alone, seemed to surpass the other Eldia.
‘And now I can use this?’
I see why this era is called the Mythical Era… this is a power straight out of a myth.
[Alkaios: Golden Fleet, this is Eldia Alma. There should be nothing in your way now.]
[Blaston: Fleet Commander, this is the Blaston vanguard. Thanks to the Eldia's efforts, we are ready to commence bombardment on the old temple's corridors and main hall.]
[Tervel: Don't report every little thing, Blaston. Just wipe them out.]
Tervel's Golden Fleet was blessed by Tervel, allowing it to borrow his authority.
The light erupting from the cannons was, in essence, Tervel's lightning.
As lightning surged, billowed, and raged from the vanguard fleet's cannons, the outskirts of Shuyulkellis began to shatter into pieces.
Boulders flew, dust rose, and light flashed without cease.
Alkaios sheathed his two holy swords into the scabbards on his hips and turned to face me.
[Alkaios: We split up here. Kaduel, you stay here and support the fleet's advance.]
[Kaduel: Yes, Commander.]
[Alkaios: Ryukael, you're with me. We'll assist Lady Tersia in breaking through the center.]
[Ryukael: It's been a while since we paired up, Commander.]
[Alkaios: The Blood-red Fleet is reportedly transporting excavators. Take the shortcut the excavators are drilling, Enuel.]
“Yes, understood.”
[Alkaios: Shurviel, go with Enuel. Keep communications open and report immediately if you're about to enter a dead zone.]
[Shurviel: Y-Yes, I-I will.]
Soon, the Blood-red Fleet entered through the route opened by the Golden Fleet.
The bottoms of the ships in the sky opened in unison, dropping dozens of massive spiral drills.
The drills let out an eardrum-shattering roar as they broke through the surface of Shuyulkellis, boring shortcuts down into its depths.
[Shurviel: E-Enuel… our top p-priority objective has been updated… There's a strange biological train blocking the army units' advance… They say we have to take care of it.]
Shurviel was an Eldia who was shy even over combat communications.
So different from the young man who appeared next, whose impression was full of vigor and benevolence.
A sense of awe-filled familiarity rose within me at his features. They were the spitting image of Eos.
[Shurigan: Eldia Omek, we've located a cave where a grotesque lifeform is endlessly spawning. They're blocking the army's path to the palace. Could you take care of it?]
The Blood-red Sun, Shurigan.
The kind-hearted Lord of Light who was said to have wept tears of blood out of pity for the people living in the old world. I never dreamed I would meet him like this.
Shurigan never gave commands.
When he spoke like that, his eyes would only hold a sadness, as if apologizing for assigning such a difficult task.
If Tervel possessed the dignity of martial might, Shurigan possessed the grace of love.
And to such a being, Enuel, in the Mythical Era, had apparently answered simply this:
“Yes. Give me three minutes.”