Chapter 350. Pieces (2)
Prihi incarcerated Puharen overnight and killed the princesses and princes who killed her mother. She executed most of their servants and knights or sent them to exile. The reformation she prepared for a long time was carried out swiftly and cruelly.
When the storm-like day passed, Eren was left alone. The knights who taught him swordsmanship were gone as they had supported Puharen without abandoning him.
However, Eren was different. Because he swore an oath to serve Prihi, he couldn’t be with Puharen. In other words, he had become a traitor.
Of course, he had excuses to tell himself. He was young, an orphan who didn’t know the way of the world, and he wanted to save his master. The knights he read about in fairytales had no experience in war, and most importantly, he never thought a young princess like Prihi would be capable of such cruelty.
Eren spent the first night tormented by worries and guilt.
But on the next day, he was visited by Prihi.
Prihi tapped on his shoulder and spoke, “This kingdom is now mine, so practice your sword without worry….”
Eren had already become Prihi’s knight.
That was the start of Eren’s troubles. After acquiring the crown, Prihi held a swordsmanship tournament to encourage her knights, and Eren participated in it and became the winner. Prihi’s most loyal servant, Kindspring, praised him greatly for this result and even rewarded him with a luxury set of armor and sword.
Eren wanted to tell his master about his achievements. However, when he returned to his master, he witnessed something unexpected. He found his master dead with a dagger sticking out of his chest. Clearly, he had been murdered.
The dagger was inscribed with Puharen’s insignia. Puharen’s supporters had punished Eren for his betrayal.
Eren fell to his knees. His legs went numb, and sorrow crept up from the bottom of his heart. Eren embraced his master’s body and cried until he fell asleep from exhaustion.
Meanwhile, Prihi watched this scene from the distance.
—Heroes all over the world are fighting Djinns and devils. They need your support-!
“…!”
Jin Sahyuk opened her eyes as an anchorwoman’s voice rang out from the TV. A severe headache stunned her as memories of her past continuously emerged. She pressed her temples and let out a sigh.
“…What a shitty dream.”
She was seeing Prihi’s memories. It was the story of Akatrina and Kim Suho.
“Huu.”
Jin Sahyuk shook her head and raised her body. Then, the anchorwoman’s voice rang out again.
—We have an update! Chae Joochul and Heynckes are supposedly fighting the rank 1 devil, Baal….
She turned her head towards the source of the sound and saw a TV.
“What?”
It was then that Jin Sahyuk realized what situation she was in. She was lying on the asphalt in the middle of an empty, abandoned street.
“Tsk….”
‘Something big must have happened…’ Jin Sahyuk clicked her tongue. Kwang—! The moment she stood up, she turned her attention to the thunderous noises ringing out in the distance.
“…!”
She froze in surprise.
In front of her eyes was Morax, the giant devil that had destroyed Akatrina.
It was the devil wearing the mask of Puharen. With its huge hands and feet, it was stomping on the world once again.
**
[Korean Border]
Baal stared at Kim Suho, who was charging towards him. The youth’s eyes were unshaking, and a golden sword shone in his hand. Baal recognized him. He was a special existence even in Bell’s memories.
The man beloved by the world, the so-called ‘main character’.
Baal reached out towards Kim Suho.
“Uuk!”
Kim Suho was forced to stop. Baal’s Authority constrained his movements. Kim Suho was bound by pressure no ordinary human could withstand.
“Keuk….”
Even the ‘main character’ couldn’t do anything about it. Kim Suho unleashed his magic power and twisted his body, but he couldn’t free himself from the invisible shackles that bound him.
Meanwhile, Baal laughed as he watched Kim Suho squirm like a worm.
“Everything will be torn to shreds-!”
At that moment, Aileen’s Spirit Speech rang out. Baal turned his gaze to the tiny woman.
“Die-! Die-!”
Aileen’s Spirit Speech was directed at the large group of demons on the ground, not Baal. It wasn’t just Aileen either. Other famous Heroes were fighting the demons with all their effort.
Wolf of Valhalla Yoo Sihyuk, Immortal Chae Joochul, Steel Spirit Heynckes, Blitzkrieg Yoo Jinwoong, Conqueror Shin Jonghak, Hellfire Yi Yongha, Elementalist Rachel…
Baal recognized them all. Thanks to Bell’s memories, he knew everything about these ‘characters’.
Baal found the entire thing funny. He looked at their futile struggles condescendingly, but he also found them pitiful.
Knowing that his feelings and the Heroes’ wills were all made-up, Baal felt anger boiling up inside him.
Baal clenched his fists. It was then.
Kwaaaaaa-!
A huge sword of magic power shot up to the sky, almost reaching Baal’s feet. The sword couldn’t cut Baal, but it succeeded in cutting the hem of his clothes.
Baal furrowed his brows and looked down.
“Get down from there, you bastard!”
A girl was waving her fist around angrily. He instantly recognized her as Chae Nayun. Seeing her, a chuckle escaped his mouth.
Baal tried to constrain Chae Nayun, just like he did with Kim Suho. However…
Tzzzt—
A fierce frictional sound rang out as two magic powers clashed with each other. Sparks crackled into the air before a clear sword strike cut across Baal’s chest.
“….!”
A pang of pain rose up to Baal’s head. Baal looked down at his chest, now bloodied, then turned to the direction the sword strike came from.
There, he saw Kim Suho aiming his sword at him. He had escaped Baal’s shackles before he noticed. Misteltein was glowing gold. By the looks of it, Kim Suho had cut Baal’s Authority with only his sword.
“…How?”
Baal became curious. But he soon arrived at his answer. In truth, he didn’t even need to think. It was too obvious. Baal knew Kim Suho was the main character and that he himself was just a ‘final villain’ to be defeated by him.
Baal was filled with rage again. Everything happening at this moment and the next… he couldn’t help but wonder if everything was just following a script.
—!
Baal roared and drew another pentagram in the air.
As the second pentagram formed itself, more and more demons appeared. A large army thus descended from the Demon Realm.
**
[Essence of the Strait, Underground Bunker]
Members of the Chameleon Troupe gathered in an instant. Looking at them, I shrugged somewhat proudly. I spent many years of my life with them, but this was the first time I called them all personally.
“Where are we?”
Kaita and Yoo Kyunghwan looked around the bunker curiously.
“Ah~ That must be that Dimensional Entropy~”
“Looks like it.”
Jain and Setryn walked towards the [Dimensional Entropy]. The Chameleon Troupe’s sole magician, Hirano Arashi, showed interest in it as well.
“….”
On the other hand, I kept my eyes on Boss. I met her eyes, hidden deep underneath her hoodie, and asked, “Are you okay?”
Boss nodded silently and glanced at Yoo Yeonha who was standing by me. She looked somewhat bothered. Yoo Yeonha must have felt it too as she let out a dry cough.
“Kuhum, hello, I’m Yoo Yeonha.”
Yoo Yeonha introduced herself. Boss looked back and forth between Yoo Yeonha and me. But we didn’t really have time to waste. The black water droplets that had been falling from the ceiling bubbled up and came together to form a figure.
—Crayoghoak-!
A 5-meter-tall human-like thing appeared. Its body was muscular, but its face was oval with only eyes and a mouth. It opened its mouth and roared.
—Craaaaaa-!
The Chameleon Troupe eyed the creature curiously. It let out another roar, its black teeth glistening.
I smirked and murmured.
“It must be some kind of a liquid monster.”
At the same time, I checked what it was using [Observation and Reading].
[Rank 72 Devil – Andromalius]
My smile disappeared immediately. Rank 72. Although it was ranked last among the 72 devils, it was still a devil nonetheless.
“I guess so~ This guy’s teeth are kinda pretty, don’t you think~? Almost like obsidian. I can have them, right~? Can you make me a necklace with them~?”
Jain took out a dagger with a grin. Setryn also hopped in.
“Give me half. I want one too.”
—Drgonak Kazhack-!
The liquid monster shouted again.
“I’ll make whatever you want. Just make sure to capture it for me.”
“Okay~”
I left it to the Chameleon Troupe and used [Constraints and Amplications] on the Dimensional Entropy.
*Koooong—!”
The second amplification made the celestial bodies shake.
—Craaaaa-!
At that moment, the liquid monster charged forward. However, Boss and Jin Yohan quickly stepped forward and stopped it. While they tied it down, Jain and Setryn’s daggers flew out.
[Dimensional Entropy] activated amidst this chaos.
**
[Korean Borders]
“…Oi, Chae Joochul.”
Heynckes spoke from behind Chae Joochul.
Chae Joochul focused on circulating his magic power without looking back. Morax was still alive and kicking, quite literally as it stomped from one corner of the Korean peninsula to another.
“Joochul, that’s enough.”
Heynckes smiled bitterly and looked up at the sky burning with a dark red hue.
‘That’s enough.’ These two words could be interpreted in two ways. One was that they performed well. The other was that they could no longer stop Morax’s advance.
Over 30,000 Heroes had participated in this sudden battle, and its end was now clear.
Heynckes had lost and so had Chae Joochul. They stood a chance when Baal and Morax first descended. But when Baal’s second summoning completed, everything changed. The tide of battle turned, and they weren’t in a place where they could freely fight.
—Uaaak!
—Kuaaa!
A massacre was breaking out around them. The Heroes couldn’t withstand the onslaught of Baal’s army. Overwhelmed in sheer number and strength, the Heroes couldn’t do anything about it.
“I’ll buy as much time as I can.”
Heynckes raised his sword and walked forward. Chae Joochul finally took a look at Heynckes, who was imbuing his steel armor with more magic power.
“You deal with the army however you can. At the very least, you have to save your granddaughter.”
—Kuaaak!
Meanwhile, screams of Heroes continued to break out. Fresh blood dyed the ground red, and severed limbs lay everywhere like rocks.
Chae Joochul gave Heynckes a solemn look.
“This isn’t a matter that can be resolved just by us retreating.”
Heynckes shook his head in response, “But that doesn’t mean we can all die. If we retreat, a time will come when we can fight back.”
Click— A metallic ringing resounded, and Heynckes equipped a helmet. It was part of the Steel Armor Heynckes was so proud of. Looking at this, Chae Joochul muttered quietly.
“…Are you not worried about the side-effects?”
Heynckes smirked from hearing Chae Joochul’s show of worry. He then gathered up his magic power.
Chae Joochul furrowed his brows. He could tell Heynckes was using every bit of his remaining lifeforce in this moment’s ‘Steel Spirit’.
“I’ll take care of my matters myself. You retreat with the warriors who are still alive…?”
At that moment, a strange, mystifying happening occurred.
Jiiing—!
A beam of light shot up from the ground. Soon, even more beams shot up.
Shooooo….
The brilliant lights broke through the battlefield and traveled upwards into the sky.
“What’s….”
Both the demons and the Heroes paused momentarily, curious about the unknown light.
For a split moment, everyone was staring at the beams of light. And a few seconds later, something else appeared from within the light.
Guooo….
The sound of an engine erupted from the sky. A huge shadow was cast over one end of the battlefield to the other. The shadow soon covered the entire wilderness where the battle was taking place, and the Heroes all tilted their heads upwards.
—This is Genkelope. We have arrived on the orders of the Ship Commander. We will now commence supporting fire.
[Genkelope Vessel], a spacecraft created by science several levels above that of Earth, appeared through the clouds.