The Northern Annihilation King
Red lightning swallowed the darkened sky. The world flared crimson, as if a thunder dragon that had been roaming the heavens had descended upon the earth. Lightning ki that had been spreading like a spider's web condensed above the barrier, gathering into a single colossal line.
A thunderclap that shook the continent had not even faded when a bolt of lightning, twisted like an iron chain, punched straight through the Supreme Yin Barrier.
The barrier once spoken of as invincible tore apart like a sheet of paper. The moon-and-star sigils that had withstood even Wrath's frost shattered into fragments and slammed into the ground.
A man descended through the collapsing barrier. Crimson eyes that looked down upon the world crushed everything around them.
The moon, which had hidden in fear of the darkness, raised an auspicious light at his back, and the warped starlight found its place again, falling in shimmering motes. The balance of the world, which demonic energy had thrown into disarray, was being set right by the mere presence of a single man.
"Glenn Zieghart..."
The White Blood Cult Leader ground her teeth as she looked at the man who, alone, overwhelmed the world.
"To appear without even a trace of presence... did you alter Heavenly Fate itself?"
Tatcheon looked up at the still-flashing crimson sky, his eyes trembling.
"I-insane..."
"Glenn Zieghart!"
"Th-the Northern Annihilation King came in person?"
"We never even considered..."
The executives of the White Blood Cult and Eden were crushed by the dominating aura blooming from Glenn; they couldn't even straighten their backs.
"You vermin have crossed the line."
Glenn's low voice swept the darkness that had risen over the earth.
His voice became a declaration that shook the ground.
"Ah..."
The 5th Apostle, unable to endure the pain in his chest from the Requiem Sword, let out a thin groan — and in that instant, a red line rose down the center of his face.
The line thickened and spread, and the 5th Apostle's body split in two. Even his regenerative ability failed to activate. Instant death.
There was no swinging of a sword, no process of circulating aura. There was only the result: the 5th Apostle had been cut down.
Raon swallowed dryly as he looked at Glenn's back. This is the Northern Annihilation King... The man who had dominated the Continental War, who had been called the Thunder God. The name of the swordsman closest to being the greatest under heaven in this era was no lie. Is he even stronger than that bastard? It had been twenty years since he'd last seen Derus Robert, but he couldn't imagine that Derus had grown stronger than the Glenn standing before him now.
"As expected of This King's rival."
Wrath nodded in a drained voice.
"If only This King could have brought his true body, it would have been a fine match."
He frowned, regretting that he couldn't draw out his true form.
"Raon Zieghart."
As Raon was ignoring Wrath's bluster, Glenn's voice reached him.
"To wear the name of Zieghart and get yourself kidnapped... pathetic. Even so..."
He continued without looking back. It might have been a trick of the mind, but his voice seemed to tremble slightly.
That single sentence sank into his chest. Perhaps it was because it was the first warmth he'd ever felt from the man — his nose stung. He bit his lip to keep his vision from blurring with moisture.
"A geezer who doesn't even have the strength to lift a sword crawled all the way out here?"
The White Blood Cult Leader raised her upper body. An intangible energy bloomed from the woman who until now had been nothing but mysterious presence.
"To come all this way in person... your grandson must be quite precious to you. However..."
Tatcheon raised a hand, narrowing his eyes. In a single instant, his aura covered the entire region.
"It appears you came alone?"
Realizing that no one else was present besides Glenn, the corner of Tatcheon's mouth curled into a thin smile.
"And?"
Glenn lifted his chin slightly. The arrogance on his face was absolute. It looked as if the Demon King of Pride had passed his power not to Tatcheon, but to Glenn.
"Since you've come looking for your own grave, we ought to give you a fitting reception."
Tatcheon spread both hands and glanced toward the White Blood Cult Leader's palanquin.
"Fine. Just this once, I'll join hands with you."
The palanquin's curtain was drawn back smoothly, and the White Blood Cult Leader's face was revealed.
She was a peerless beauty of black hair and black eyes, her skin as translucent as first snow. She wore a blood-red dress that traced every curve of her body, and a sweet fragrance drifted from her that tickled the nose. So that's the White Blood Cult Leader. Despite the way she carried herself, she looked no older than her mid-twenties. Just looking at her made his head go hazy, as if her existence itself were a charm spell. But... Where had he seen her before? He couldn't place it exactly, yet her appearance felt strangely familiar.
"Losing a branch is a painful blow, but if we take the Northern Annihilation King's life, the profit will more than make up for it."
Killing intent dripped from Tatcheon's low voice. Light and darkness seethed up from both of his hands.
"If you'd stayed buried in that northern corner, you might have lived out your natural lifespan."
A pure white energy rose around the White Blood Cult Leader. Blood aura at its absolute peak — a purity denser than even the mana of nature itself — blazed all the way to the heavens. Ghk! Raon clutched his chest and dropped to his knees. Even circulating the Ring of Fire, he couldn't breathe under the terrifying energy the White Blood Cult Leader and Tatcheon were raising. It felt as if his throat had been packed shut with wet paper.
The presence they had shown before wasn't even a speck compared to this.
Glenn bore the energy of the White Blood Cult Leader and Tatcheon alone, and yet he was calm. He simply looked down on everything before him, the same way he did when seated on the throne in the Audience Chamber.
"Hah..."
Raon forced his mouth open and kept a thin thread of breath going. I have to watch this fight even if it kills me. Glenn Zieghart, the White Blood Cult Leader, Tatcheon. A clash between the heads of the Six Kings and Five Demons — those who stood at the pinnacle of the continent.
If he could take it in from beginning to end and digest it, he would be able to advance even further.
"Stay back."
Glenn spoke with his chin tilted slightly.
"And watch closely."
The moment his words landed, the presence of the White Blood Cult Leader and Tatcheon receded, and breathing became far easier. Is he helping me? The Glenn he knew would have left him to endure it on his own — but this was different. It felt like he was looking at a slightly different man from the one who sat in the Audience Chamber.
"Two of the Five Demons."
Glenn jerked his chin toward the White Blood Cult Leader and Tatcheon with eyes as cold as a sheet of ice.
"Not a bad way to loosen up. Come."
"This old man..."
"Hmph!"
At Glenn's arrogant tone, the White Blood Cult Leader and Tatcheon twisted their faces.
"You haven't changed."
Tatcheon smiled thinly. Murderous intent overflowed from that pride-laced smile. Manifested killing intent stained the ground pitch black.
"Don't think this is the same as thirty years ago. You've grown old, and we've grown stronger."
White blood spread around the White Blood Cult Leader. The earth melted, and the sky screamed.
The energies of three Absolutes clashed, and heaven and earth heaved as if they would collapse.
The White Blood Cult Leader moved first. The instant her hands met, flames of blood aura erupted from the ground. Fire of a heat he had never seen before wrapped around Glenn's entire body.
Tatcheon thrust both hands forward. Divinity and demonic nature — light and darkness — crossed and stretched out, aiming for Glenn's upper body.
The attacks of the White Blood Cult Leader and Tatcheon activated in a single instant, like Wrath's Frozen World. The moment they raised their energy, it already felt as if it were touching Glenn's body.
Glenn's expression did not change even as he faced the assault of two monsters targeting his upper and lower body at once. He stamped his foot with a plain, unadorned gaze, as if emotion itself were a luxury.
The axis of the earth twisted under that lightly extended step, and red lightning rose. The empty air warped under the violent thunderbolts, and the flames and light raised by the White Blood Cult Leader and Tatcheon melted away.
"There's no need for a warm-up."
Glenn looked down at the White Blood Cult Leader and Tatcheon and gestured with his hand.
"Come at me with everything you have."
The White Blood Cult Leader brought both hands together once more. The blood aura blazing around her swelled and transformed.
The earth split, and a pure white tidal wave rose, covering the entire territory of the branch. Each wave of blood aura carried more power than even Ganghwan.
He had never imagined blood aura could produce a phenomenon like this. She was an enemy, and still the martial power drew a gasp of admiration.
Tatcheon raised a hand. The white sphere that surged in his grip spread, and a thousand swords of light manifested.
Sacred Swords. Each one was both a sword art of extreme killing power and a spell.
A thousand blades poured down, and a tidal wave of blood aura crashed in. There was nowhere to dodge.
Glenn slowly raised his sword even in the face of that terrifying offensive, something that had already left reality behind.
Crimson light that seemed to hold lightning itself flickered along the Heavenly True Sword as it split heaven and earth.
The Sacred Swords that ruled the sky and the Blood Burst that crushed the earth collided head-on with a blade that would cut down every last thing under heaven.
In the clash of force against force, Eden's buildings were pulverized to dust, and the earth's skin peeled back to expose its flesh.
A magnificent shockwave swallowed the world. Lightning spreading like wildfire erased the waves of blood aura and smashed the swords of light to pieces.
Absolute martial power, holding two of the Five Demons at bay alone. The title of the continent's greatest was not the slightest exaggeration for Glenn.
"Was that the level of skill you were swaggering around with?"
Glenn narrowed his eyes as if he found them pathetic.
"You've grown impatient."
"This is only the beginning."
Tatcheon and the White Blood Cult Leader smiled coldly and drew up black light and blood aura. The energy amplified further and further. Neither of them had unleashed their full power yet either.
"This time, I'll go."
The instant Glenn's left foot crushed the ground, his body surged up in front of Tatcheon. Footwork that crossed space itself. The completed form of the Supreme Harmony Footwork.
Glenn swept the Heavenly True Sword down as if brushing aside something that annoyed him. A simple, fast sword strike — and for that reason, more powerful than anything. The moment the blade that shot out like a ray of light touched Tatcheon's neck, darkness rose.
The darkness bit down on the Heavenly True Sword like a living creature and would not let go.
"Hold him well."
A massive whip like a dragon's tail filled the White Blood Cult Leader's grip. A blood lash formed of White Blood Aura.
The falling whip split into hundreds of strands and wrapped around Glenn's entire body.
Even in that moment of crisis, Glenn's sunken gaze did not waver. A crimson light as deep as the sun settled into the Heavenly True Sword and began to push the darkness back.
"The demonic path is being forced back?"
The instant Tatcheon frowned and retreated, Glenn's sword traced a long circle.
The mighty thunderbolts unleashed with the sword form stretched out like a horizon.
The lightning-ki sword strike split hundreds of blood lashes and cut through even Tatcheon's darkness.
Under the aftermath of that enormous power, Eden's entire branch collapsed, and the earth cracked like a drought-stricken rice paddy.
Glenn clicked his tongue as he looked at the crumbling ground.
"Cramped."
He stepped his right foot forward and swept the Heavenly True Sword upward. Thunderbolts and a storm raged, shoving the White Blood Cult Leader and Tatcheon back.
Glenn stepped the Supreme Harmony Footwork again and drove in toward the White Blood Cult Leader.
She read it and formed a sword of blood aura to block. Tatcheon licked his lips and raised darkness, driving it into the gap between them.
White light, crimson light, and black light collided endlessly, forming a vast cluster of radiance.
The three Absolutes, who had already left humanity behind, gradually drew away from the branch and began pouring out their martial power in the sky over an empty field.
Even at a considerable distance, the aftermath of the three of them stretched out until it was hard to even stay on his feet.
An explosion rang out from the direction of the collapsed great hall.
Raon turned, breathing hard. Merlin was staring this way with her eyes wide open.
"Wh-what is this..."
"The brat you kidnapped brought the Northern Annihilation King here in person. Khh..."
Gold Masked Snake, free of the frost pillar and staunching his bleeding, ground his teeth.
"And the reason you kidnapped him is shot too."
He raised a finger and pointed at Raon's face.
"That bastard ate your dragon instead."
"What...?"
Merlin's head turned as stiffly as a machine. Her pupils twisted as if they would burst the moment she saw Raon without a mask.
"Roc... ta?"
"Sorry about that."
Raon clutched his churning stomach and frowned. I can't lie to her. If he used Merlin well, he might have gotten out of this situation more easily — but perhaps because he had absorbed Rocta's soul, he couldn't tell her a lie.
"I won the battle in the mental world."
"Ah..."
Merlin sank to the ground where she stood. The gaze behind her mask went dull and vacant. She looked as if her soul had left her.
"Khh!"
The 10th Apostle, who had been crushed under Glenn's pressure, snapped back to his senses thanks to Merlin's scream and rose to his feet.
"Now. Secure Raon Zieghart."
At his command, the men and women of all ages who had been carrying the White Blood Cult Leader's palanquin moved as one.
On the opposite side, the Soul-Severing Sword stretched out a hand, and Eden's executives began to charge as well.
"Damn it..."
Raon bit his lip. I don't have the strength to hold out. His entire body was wrecked from exhausting Wrath's energy. He didn't even have the strength to lift the Heavenly Sky Sword. Even so, I can't become a burden. Glenn was fighting two heads of the Five Demons right now. He could not become dead weight.
He resonated the Ring of Fire. Enduring the throbbing pain in his heart, he raised both swords. Even if I die, I won't go down easy! He was about to force his blades down toward the old man charging from the right and the black orc helmet approaching from the left when the wind blew.
A tall elf appeared before his eyes, carried on an emerald wind that brushed his hair.
A familiar sword aura stretched from the elf's hand and became a blue storm, striking the old man and the black orc helmet at the same time.
"Ah..."
Raon's eyes flew wide as he looked at the scattering red hair.
"You look like hell."
Rimer turned and smiled faintly. It was a smile that held both worry and anger.
"Zieghart's Gale Sword!"
The 10th Apostle and the Soul-Severing Sword moved at the same time, locking onto Rimer.
"I'm not the only one who came, though?"
The moment Rimer shrugged, a sword as thin as an awl stabbed toward the 10th Apostle's throat.
"Ghk!"
The 10th Apostle spun his spear shaft in a desperate block, but a thin thread of blood still ran from his Adam's apple.
"I was hoping to finish it in one stroke."
A man holding a slender blue sword flipped through the air and landed. It was Roen, the old butler with his hair neatly combed back.
"It seems my skills have gotten a little rusty."
"The King of Slaughter..."
The 10th Apostle clutched his throat and ground his teeth.
At the sound of rock shattering, Raon turned his head to the right.
A woman with violet hair, dual swords of different colors in her hands, had blocked the Soul-Severing Sword head-on.
The swordswoman displayed astonishing martial power, forcing back the Soul-Severing Sword despite his frame being more than twice her size.
"Raon."
Sheryl, Leader of the Heavenly Sword Squad, lowered both swords and turned her head.
"I'm glad you're safe."
She lifted the corner of her mouth in a faint smile.
Raon's chin trembled as he looked at the three of them. His heart pounded roughly. The emotion he had held down after hearing Glenn's voice surged up as if it would explode.
"Raon Zieghart can't move a single finger! Capture him no matter what it takes!"
The 10th Apostle issued orders to everyone, then wrapped his hands around his spear shaft and charged at Roen.
The Soul-Severing Sword narrowed his eyes slightly, then drew up death energy and Battle Qi and brought his sword down on Sheryl.
"I misspoke."
Rimer snorted a laugh and pointed at the sky.
"I should've said we weren't the only ones who came."
At his mocking laugh, more than a dozen dimensional gates opened in the empty air.
From every split dimension, swordsmen bearing the crest of Zieghart burst forth.
Not only the martial groups they had often encountered — the Heavenly Sword Squad, the White Lotus Squad, the Hollow Sword Squad, the Crimson Binding Squad, the Fierce Tiger Squad — but even swordsmen who had been carrying out missions abroad had gathered in one place.
The swordsmen surrounded Eden's branch, their eyes holding a cold, cutting frost.
Before anyone realized it, an encirclement had formed that not even a single rat could slip through.
From the last dimension to open, familiar faces appeared.
Burren, Marta, Runaan. The Light Wind Squad, whose eyes had grown more adult in the time they had been apart, came running out.
"Light Wind Squad! Protect the Vice Leader!"
At Rimer's shout, the Light Wind Squad raised the Light Wind Formation and stood in front of Raon.
They did not open their mouths to say they had suffered, that they had been worried, that they were glad. Their unyielding backs, promising they would protect him no matter what happened, spoke in their place.
The sword ki raised by hundreds of Zieghart swordsmen became a military spirit and surged. A unified aura swept heaven and earth.
Raon wrapped his hand around the sword hilt until it bled. I'm not alone, am I? Unlike his previous life, when his neck had been cut along with his leash, there were people at his side now.
His sword. His life. He was living them together with these people.
"Raon."
Rimer took his still-trembling right hand and made him point it at the enemy.
"You've had it rough, so I won't hog the tastiest part."
He grinned. Sheryl, Roen, and every other swordsman looked this way and tightened their grips on their swords.
"Zieghart's..."
Raon swallowed dryly. He poured the soaring pride in his chest into his voice and shouted.
At Raon's ringing voice, House Zieghart moved.