Chapter 88
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 88
Chapter Title: Shattering Dimensions
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Three squadrons of Keltoros VTOL transport aircraft glided swiftly over the mountain peaks.
[New Region: Southern Acrad Continent.]
- The Twisted Mountains (formerly the Red Mountains).
- Cosmic Era, 4th Generation, Year 635, April 19th.
They called it the Twisted Mountains, and true to its name, the very space-time of the range was bizarrely wavering.
Within that shimmer, even the sound of the wind warped into a dreamlike melody, inducing hypnotic suggestions in the mind.
It felt less like a mountain range and more like confronting a mirage in the shape of one.
[Tervel: Just as Karenden said, space-time is warping in the skies above these coordinates. The advance fleet cannot enter.]
Ordinary people would go mad just by looking up at these mountains, muttering all sorts of primitive myths.
The closer the mountains were to the coast, the steeper their terrain became, like a fortress, and the more intense the distortion waves were.
Alkaios pointed to the peaks, where light and form were distorted into ambiguity.
[Logistics Monitor: Warning, current route is dangerous. Recommend changing to a detour.]
[Alkaios: Maintain navigation trajectory. Kaduel, handle it.]
Kaduel's True Holy Sword, Hisgivid, was by default a pair of curved swords laid one on top of the other.
When swung to transform, one curved sword would drop down, forming a double-bladed sword.
From there, twisting the hilt would reveal its true form: a bow-sword.
Kaduel climbed onto the transport's fuselage and unleashed Hisgivid.
[Kaduel: Yes, Captain. I'll blow the dimension away.]
An orange flash of light formed on Hisgivid's bowstring, so immense and powerful it made the air currents churn.
A tale of light that cleaves the darkness.
The authority of the True Scene Psalms.
The moment the ancient mountain range was pierced by that flash, the point of impact began to warp and twist, and in the next instant, it vanished without a trace.
[Water Dragon Yeriserika: His Holiness Tervel's Golden Fleet is engaging the enemy at sea to secure a continental landing point.]
As the mountains disappeared, the space-time rift subsided, allowing the transports to pass through the area with ease.
[Water Dragon Yeriserika: Because the terrain is mountainous and space-time is being warped by the power of the Abyss, the fleet is still unable to enter.]
[Ryukael: The Lord's coordinates?]
[Kaduel: They haven't been pinpointed, but Abyss concentration readings seem to confirm its presence in the southeastern part of the range.]
[Light Dragon Haraderiman: Yes, to find it, Her Holiness Jyeannir and Your Excellency Kaduel have ordered a change to the terrain itself.]
[Alkaios: You all heard that. This operation's objective is to protect Lady Jyeannir and Kaduel.]
[Ryukael: What about Master Karenden?]
[Alkaios: He is accompanied by Asura.]
The Keltoros transports began to ascend. They reached the edge of the mountain range overlooking the sea.
[Alkaios: Enuel, go with Kaduel and pave the way for the Golden Fleet. Ryukael and I will cover Her Holiness Jyeannir and clear a path for the Moonlight Fleet.]
Finally, the transports turned their noses and split into two groups.
One headed east (the present-day Blade Peninsula).
One headed southeast (present-day Tervenople).
The south was Karenden's sole responsibility, so it was not under the purview of the Eldia.
[Alkaios: We've already confirmed the appearance of vassals throughout the mountains. Our forces are spread thin, so stay sharp.]
Kaduel, having changed Hisgivid back into its dual-sword form, descended from the fuselage roof to the ramp of the entrance.
They wore the same Primoa Armor, but the exterior plating differed slightly, and the trim color varied according to their unique hues.
For example, Enuel's was the silver of Sharrilion, Kaduel's the orange of Hisgivid, and Shurviel's the gold of Aizaiya.
[Kaduel: Let's go, Enuel.]
This was the moment the curtain rose on the subjugation of the very Lord of the Abyss who had fatally wounded Akirea of Crimson Flame: 'Anridal, Who Walks on Time'.
Mythological Era,
Tarhye Rondel · Eldia · Rebirth (9)
The Red Mountains are the core of the present-day Acrad Continent.
This mountain range, which today serves as the border between the Holy Human Empire and the Old Republic, originally covered the entire southern part of the continent.
In the Age of Origin, it is said that this range was called Ansyurnab (the Twisted Mountains).
[Karenden: Anridal, the Lord of Time's domain. The entire mountain range is riddled with space-time rifts, making it impossible for the fleet to even approach.]
[Tervel: What happens if we approach?]
[Karenden: We'd be flung into another dimension, or the dimension itself would be shattered.]
Anridal was a Lord bestowed with the most primordial power of the Abyss: the power of space-time.
Therefore, Anridal's vassals also wielded fragments of this power, a force that would surely prove most devastating in one-versus-many combat.
Having pioneered a land route through the northern Acrad, the current Imperial territory, to reach the mountains, [The Ones Who Came] were now able to pressure the range from both land and sea.
[Karenden: But if we can neutralize the dimensional fields along the coast, it won't be that difficult an opponent.]
[Meian: Coast? It's all mountains. How are we supposed to make a landing?]
[Karenden: We just have to change even that.]
Karenden devised an extraordinary plan to reshape the very terrain to suit a landing operation.
Thus, the core of this operation was Karenden, Kaduel, and Jyeannir, who possessed the power to manipulate dimensions.
To protect these key personnel, the assault force was divided into three groups.
Karenden took the southern coast.
Jyeannir, the eastern coast.
And Kaduel, the southeastern coast.
At this time, Enuel was assigned as part of Kaduel's protection detail.
This place, where the Old Republic's capital, Tervenople, now stands, was known in the Mythological Era as the fiercest battleground of the Anridal campaign.
[Karenden: The operation begins in two hours.]
The fleets exchanged signals and assembled. The Golden Fleet, the Blood-red Fleet, and the Moonlight Fleet gathered once more to join forces.
Of course, their strength was not what it once was.
Shurigan, having suffered grievous wounds in the Neigallas campaign, remained on the Adrion continent, and Eldia Del (03) Shurviel had fallen in battle.
The clone soldiers had been largely wiped out, and by this point, the ratio of clones to the liberated (the current fairy soldiers) had reached 3:7.
Among those selected, only the most elite soldiers were assigned to Enuel's assault squad, granted the honor of receiving the same top-tier equipment as the clones.
* * *
[Alkaios: Enuel, this True King's wraiths are hounds that travel through dimensions. Kaduel needs to focus on altering the terrain. Make sure you protect her.]
It might be more fitting to record the Anridal subjugation as a simultaneous nightmare.
Everything...
Everything in that moment...
Was a succession of confusion and chaos. The entire natural landscape shimmered like an eerie, luminous mirage, causing unending vertigo.
[Enuel: Leave it to me. Assault squad, follow me.]
The battle against Anridal and his minions was different from all the fights before.
Until now, they had at least fought enemies who abided by common sense. Anridal wielded the very primordial power of the Abyss: the power of space-time.
And so, even his blessed vassals and wraiths could manipulate fragments of space-time.
Current Objective: Protect Kaduel.
Anridal's wraiths, the 'Hounds of Andalos', were few in number.
Compared to other True Kings, their numbers were about one for every hundred.
But each one was as threatening as a hundred combined, perhaps even more so.
[Varaniye: A hound!]
[Olen: To the right!]
[Matara: Ugh, uwaaaah!]
[Griffisorn: Watch all directions! Stay sharp!]
The Hounds of 'Andalos' were hunters of silence.
They would tear through the space-time field and appear without a sound, aiming for their target's neck.
They didn't just bite the neck; they tore away 'the space-time where the neck was located', rendering armor useless as it was ripped apart like paper.
The only solution was to pierce their snouts with a spear before they could snap their jaws.
Such creatures would appear suddenly, without sound or presence, take the lives of his men, and then vanish again.
[Tervel: Eldia, I've detected a Class 2 Abyss reaction to the northeast. I'm heading that way. The dimensional field is unstable, so I need assistance.]
[Kaduel: Moving to the rendezvous point. I will clear a path to make your arrival easier.]
From the very start, the mission was pushed to its limits.
According to the plan, after the terrain modification was complete, the three fleets were to attack the True King in unison.
That was why Karenden chose the regions where the vassals were located as the breakthrough points for each unit. The locations of Anridal's three vassals, the Three Sages of Time.
New Region: Sacrificial Passage.
I—that is, Enuel—was one of the lucky ones.
Because I was able to face a vassal in cooperation with Tervel, the First War God of [The Ones Who Came], and Kaduel.
The Golden Fleet, approaching the coast in a brilliant formation, clashed with the vassal that controlled the area, Shumgos, the First Wheel of Time.
[Phase 1 Boss: Shumgos, the First Wheel.]
- As the master of the Sacrificial Passage, Shumgos was the administrator in charge of inspecting the quality of human souls and offering them to the king.
Shumgos, ruler of the past.
Shumgos ruled the space-time known as the past.
「This path is only for tributes to be offered to the King. How dare you lowly beings set your profane feet here!」
For instance, it could erase the past moment in which it 'was cut'.
He had surely slashed that hideous wolf's snout with Sharrilion. An arrow from Hisgivid had surely pierced those crow wings. Tervel's lightning spear had surely incinerated that disgusting soul.
With its ability to completely alter any past unfavorable to itself, Shumgos seemed invincible.
「My will shall cleave even space-time!」
Combat synchronization. Replicating Enuel's combat.
Leaping up, cracking the ground.
He instantly got behind Shumgos, who was flying erratically through the sky on six pairs of crow wings, scattering black feathers.
「All pasts shall kneel before me!」
Altering the past.
Sizzle— The dimension where Shumgos was located flickered like an aurora, emitting an incomprehensible static.
Attacking now would just be another meaningless attempt.
[Kaduel: Hmph, target hit!]
However.
[Tervel: Pin it down, Eldia! It's possible with the power of the Heavenly Mandate Psalms!]
Combat synchronization didn't slash Shumgos, but instead carved a Genesis Rune into the space-time it occupied.
The sensation of the slash was strange.
He had clearly cut nothing, yet it felt as if he'd sliced through a massive, solid rock.
Bakhu.
Isolation.
An application of rune-slashing. The Genesis Rune extended its authority not only to a single object, organic or inorganic, but even to a specific dimension.
*This is insane.*
Shumgos was momentarily neutralized.
Have you ever seen a taxidermied animal inside a glass case? It was just like that.
To be precise, the difference was that the glass case wasn't simple glass, but a severed dimension.
*'Is something like this possible with a single sword?'*
Thus, the power of isolation...
Isolated the dimension Shumgos occupied from the laws of providence, rendering any alteration of the past ineffective.
At that very moment.
[Tervel: 『I offer my faith to this light. This is the story of creation that Your servant shines upon this land!』]
The Azure Sky's Thunderbolt, Socheongeuk—the ultimate miracle that had earned Tervel the epithet 'Sun of the Azure Sky'—gathered in his hand, crackling with an insane current.
Just as Shumgos tried to escape the isolated dimension, its wings were pierced and warped by an arrow from Hisgivid.
The moment its flight path twisted, a spear of light that incinerated and sealed both body and soul in pure white superheat pierced the creature's heart.
[Kaduel: Well done, Enuel. You're truly incredible.]
[Griffisorn: Captain, the appearance of the hounds is decreasing noticeably!]
[Tervel: Karenden, this is Tervel. We've suppressed the vassal rampaging in the southeast, thanks to the efforts of Eldia Enuel. The Golden Fleet is beginning landing procedures.]
[Karenden: Acknowledged. I'm engaging the Third Wheel, Nariaduk, with Asura. Kaduel, assist Tervel.]
The place once called the Sacrificial Passage was transformed into a beautiful cape under the power of Hisgivid.
In the near future, a city of brilliant light called <Tervenople> would be built upon it.
The ships of the Golden Fleet, flying at low altitude, dropped their fully automated anchors one by one and poured out army units.
[Tersia: I'm in front of the entrance to the King's abode. I need support.]
There was no time to celebrate the victory over Shumgos.
The 'Shrine of the Rending Valley', located in the present-day Blade Peninsula.
Because Tersia, along with Meian, had defeated Runan, the Second Wheel of Time, and discovered the King's chambers there.
[Alkaios: Kaduel, Enuel, hurry. We're engaged with a vassal while protecting Her Holiness Jyeannir.]
[Kaduel: But Anridal should only have three vassals, Captain? Master Karenden is fighting the Third Wheel, and we and Her Holiness Tersia have sealed the First and Second Wheels, respectively. Which vassal are you fighting now?]
[Ryukael: Exactly! Dammit, something's weird! It's not one, but two of them! Both are Class 2 Abyss! But they're surprisingly weak! Just annoying!]
There was no time to ask anyone what was going on.
There was only a vague awareness that something was terribly wrong.
That confusion was compounded when contact with Tersia was suddenly lost on the communication channel.
[Meian: This is Meian of the Moonlight Fleet. The dimension closed as soon as she went inside! Karenden, what should I do?]
[Karenden: What are you talking about?]
[Fire Dragon Bel'dakidun: Father! Be careful!]
[Karenden: Urk... This is nothing. Hurry and tell me, Meian.]
[Meian: The door, it was like a gate leading to another dimension, and as soon as she went through, the gate just vanished!]