Chapter 48
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 48
Chapter Title: The True God, Divine Bow
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The absolute martial arts of a supreme warrior.
Magic that transcended circles.
When they combined, the Divine Bow became a god in the truest sense.
Kwarrrung.
His figure, commanding lightning like some being from myth, was divine in its holiness.
Even after the bombardment ended, lightning continued to strike sporadically.
Standing tall at its center, Ruyan slowly lowered his bow and gazed arrogantly down at the ground.
Tzztzt.
The shadow struck by the barrage was riddled with holes throughout its body, rippling pitifully.
It could no longer regenerate, merely twitching and crumbling away.
'No more of these impure beings must be created.'
Ruyan indifferently withdrew his gaze and turned to look at Juler.
"Y-You're insane! How can you wield such power?!"
Juler's eyes bulged wide as she alternated her stare between Ruyan and the shadow.
'This... this is real magic?'
It was unbelievable, even after seeing it with her own eyes.
Lightning Arrow?
No flimsy spell like that could achieve this. Not even a 7th Circle spell like 'Thunderstorm' could match it.
"Who are you?! What the hell are you?!"
Unable to accept the situation, Juler shrieked like a banshee.
At first, she'd thought Ruyan might be a Sword Master.
Losing a precious test subject to him was tragic, but there were ways to make up for the loss.
An unaffiliated Sword Master unknown to the world!
If she could get her hands on that fresh flesh and talent, she could create the world's most powerful chimera.
Regrettable, but she'd have to console herself with that. But...
Ruyan was no mere Sword Master. Hell, he might not even be human.
'To think a monster like this exists... I need to retreat for now.'
Juler was a grand mage herself, but she couldn't even fathom facing Ruyan alone.
'Next time, I'll make you my slave!'
Grinding her teeth, Juler glared venomously at Ruyan.
"We'll meet again. Blink!"
Juler's form scattered in an instant, vanishing smoothly.
A short-range teleportation spell!
This was why mages of 6th Circle and above were called grand mages.
Who was the greatest assassin?
Someone who could easily kill their foe?
No. The opposite.
The one hardest to catch was the supreme assassin.
In that sense, a mage who could manipulate space was more lethal than any assassin.
'That spell again?'
Ruyan watched Juler vanish, shaking his head slowly.
'What a pathetic trick.'
She strutted around like it was some grand feat, but it was laughable to him.
This was a space where the Divine Bow had descended. No one could leave without his permission.
Hadn't the orc lich tried the same futile ploy and been obliterated?
'I had no intention of killing her, though...'
Simply eliminating Juler would have been easy.
If Ruyan had willed it, her brow would have been pierced before she could even cast Blink.
No, she would've been a corpse long before deploying her chimeras.
It wasn't that he couldn't—he simply chose not to.
'Still, she should take a lesson home.'
Ruyan swiftly raised his bow and drew the string taut.
Paddeuk.
The claw-sharp arrow belatedly targeted the spot where Juler had vanished.
Ruyan aimed carefully, then whipped around and loosed the arrow.
Shiiik.
The opposite direction. Empty air, just like before.
But the moment the arrow tore through the void, Juler reappeared.
'Knew it.'
Right beside the pitifully crumpled, rippling shadow.
A chimera surpassing a Sword Master!
Even in her final desperate moment, Juler couldn't abandon her greed.
"Heok!"
Spotting the arrow barreling toward her as she reached for the shadow, Juler screamed.
"Mana Shield!"
She hastily summoned mana for a defensive spell.
Utterly futile, of course.
Jjeeng.
The barrier didn't last a second, shattering upon impact with the arrow.
"Blink!"
In the end, Juler couldn't even touch the shadow before casting teleport again.
Sruruk.
In that split second as her form blurred once more, Ruyan's arrow pierced her shoulder.
Kwaddeuk.
The furiously spinning arrow pulverized her entire shoulder.
Scarlet blood erupted like fireworks, spraying everywhere.
Pa-at.
And with that, Juler's presence completely vanished from the lab.
'One arm is a bargain price. Consider it cheap.'
Ruyan watched the glittering droplets fall, then lowered his bow.
No trace of Juler lingered nearby. She'd fled far beyond his detection range.
'We'll meet again, you said? I'll look forward to it.'
He'd spared her because there were still things to uncover.
How many more of these abominations had she made?
Was her target the Alize Mercenary Corps, or Ruyan himself?
Juler would have to return alive, answers bundled up tight.
'I'll know soon enough.'
With a smirk, Ruyan scooped up Gerard and laid him gently on a relatively clean patch of floor.
"You did well."
Gerard was unconscious and limp, bleeding heavily, but timely treatment would save him.
Ruyan then gathered Alize and the twins, laying them side by side, and finished tidying up.
"Handle the rest."
The only one still conscious, Cloyang, snapped to attention at Ruyan's impassive voice.
'What the hell did I just witness?'
The sole witness to Ruyan's divine might, Cloyang felt like she was dreaming.
A mage raining lightning with a single bow.
Would anyone believe her? Could she even describe it?
'How is a man like this in our mercenary corps...'
Cloyang shot Ruyan a sidelong glance, her eyes a mix of confusion and fear.
When their gazes met, she flinched and bowed her head.
"Cloyang?"
"Y-Yes! N-No..."
"Gerard and Alize need treatment."
Ruyan's voice was as steady as ever.
No trace of excitement after such a colossal battle.
Cloyang struggled to meet his eyes and nodded faintly.
"Got it..."
Now wasn't the time to question things—priorities were the wounded.
Confirming Cloyang preparing her holy magic, Ruyan turned away.
Not just her— he had unfinished business too.
Tzztzt.
Perhaps finally recovering, the shadow chimera was slowly regrowing its bulk.
'Heh, what a monster.'
Surviving his magic-infused ultimate technique and regenerating.
A grotesque entity unlike any he'd seen.
"Enough. Your stubbornness ends here."
An unjustly created being.
Life was precious to all, but this hardly qualified as 'life.'
"I shall end you."
Ruyan approached the shadow and thrust out his hand.
But in that instant, the still-unrecovered shadow lashed out.
Taat.
It raised a blurry arm and swatted Ruyan's with all its might.
Where did that strength come from?
The force in the shadow's arm made even Ruyan frown.
"Still unbroken, eh?"
Ruyan hardened his expression and kicked the shadow away.
Kwaang.
A light kick sent it flying into the wall.
The shadow finally went limp, ceasing even to ripple.
No more resistance.
Ruyan gripped its head and surged his mana in one breath.
"Ignis..."
Ignition spell.
He planned to reduce the shadow to nothingness, just like the orc lich.
But as his mana flickered into flames, it twitched and halted.
'No, wait!'
The monster's mere-shadow form began revealing contours.
Even its pitch-black face, once just gleaming eyes, started forming features.
'What now...'
Startled, Ruyan canceled the spell and stared blankly.
Not just the appearance—something deeper shocked him.
'Its energy changed.'
Was that even possible?
Mana, inner force—living things had unique signatures.
Ruyan's was pure inner energy from the Return Heart Technique.
Altering it arbitrarily was impossible, even for him.
'And into its polar opposite. Unbelievable.'
Before, it reeked of sticky filth. Now, utterly different.
Pristine and solemn energy. Akin to nature itself, yet subtly distinct.
'This energy...'
A familiar sensation to Ruyan.
'Holy power!'
A profound contradiction.
A human-made chimera harboring divine might.
Ruyan held back, observing the transformation.
Suaak.
Finally, the mists cleared, revealing the monster's true form.
It was... a person. A boy, seemingly around thirteen.
The lad stared up at Ruyan with clear, innocent eyes, then collapsed unconscious.
'Heavens! How can this be...'
Juler's forbidden domain extended beyond mere monster life.
Nothing remained in Juler's lab.
The chimeras were all eliminated by Ruyan, and valuable magic items lay shattered.
He'd searched personally, but found no useful intel.
Just that they called themselves the 'Reverse School.'
Reverse School.
Knowing the name changed nothing. Neither Alize nor Cloyang had heard of it.
"Let's head back to the village for now. Everyone needs time to recover."
Thus ending the operation, the mercenary corps returned to base and collapsed into bed without a word.
Gerard had the worst injuries, but Cloyang was the most exhausted.
"Haa... what a horrific day."
After treating Gerard and Alize, she didn't stop—pouring holy power even into the merely fainted twins.
Thanks to her, they walked back to the village, but Cloyang herself had to be carried by Ruyan.
The next morning, the corps finally gathered their heads.
But the venue was different from usual.
Not the lobby, but Ruyan's room.
"Haa, Ruyan. Why'd you bring this kid along?"
Alize sighed lightly, gazing at the boy sleeping soundly on Ruyan's bed.
"Couldn't just leave him."
Ruyan shrugged nonchalantly.
"We don't even know what he is."
Alize pouted, shooting Ruyan a mock glare.
It seemed calm now, but that wasn't her initial reaction.
'No matter how I look, he's just a kid...'
Hearing this little one was a horrific chimera, Alize had foamed at the mouth in hysterics.
Gerard's reaction was no different; it took ages to calm them.
"So, what's the plan?"
"Wait for him to wake. Hear his story."
Ruyan spoke flatly, but Alize and Gerard's faces stiffened.
'If this kid wakes...'
Would it be okay?
Would he revert to chimera and attack?
Even the twins, unaware of the details due to fainting, looked uneasy.
Only Cloyang remained expressionless. For good reason.
She'd glimpsed Ruyan's true form, if only a little.
The thunder god standing tall, commanding heaven and earth—it wasn't a memory easily forgotten.