Chapter 705

Whir!

Spells of various colors burst from the magic circles drawn by Merlin. The multi-casting allowed her to control hundreds of spells with a single incantation. It was her specialty, magic bombardment.

Hundreds of spells rained down upon the Specter and his undead army, not just of the four main elements—fire, water, wind, and earth—but also of light and darkness.

Rumble!

Even though Merlin was severely wounded, she still didn’t lose her focus. She exploded all of her spells exactly where she wanted without even the smallest error.

Wham! Whaam!

Explosions erupted one after another in the sky and river, rending the heavens like a blade, vaporizing the water below and sending steam surging up like a towering wall.

“Haa...”

Merlin bit her lip while watching the wall of steam reach all the way to the sky.

‘I landed the hit, but it wasn’t powerful enough.’

Because her heart, the core around which the magic circles were anchored, had been severely damaged, the output of her spells had been weakened pitifully. It didn’t even reach half of her usual strength.

“Damn it!”

The pain made her feel like her entire body was burning up, but it wasn’t even an issue. She could endure the physical pain as much as she needed to.

‘The real issue is...’

The mental pain. She was so worried that Raon might be unable to escape, and the despair was twisting her stomach.

‘I was an idiot.’

The Fallen had declared that he wouldn’t interfere with the duel to the death between Raon and the Axe King at all.

Since he wasn’t doing anything on the day of the duel, she was relieved. It was when she tried to get some information that she was suddenly attacked by the Fallen. She took a huge amount of damage, enough to make her faint in a single strike, but she managed to escape by transferring herself to a clone that she’d prepared in advance.

If Raon hadn’t told her to prepare an escape route in advance, she would’ve died or been captured right there.

‘I still ended up like this though, even after I escaped...’

The Specter was fully aware that she wouldn’t be able to betray Raon. Even knowing it was a trap, she had no choice but to come out of hiding.

Whoosh!

The steam and dust were swept away by the powerful wind rushing over her head, revealing the Specter’s figure.

“Even a mosquito’s bite would be more painful than this.”

The Specter curled his lips into a smile while shaking off his spotless robe. He must’ve blocked the magic bombardment with Bone Wall, black magic consisting of summoning a sturdy wall of bones.

At least the magic bombardment had destroyed about half of his undead army. Merlin thought that it would help Raon’s escape if she could get rid of his undead army.

“Don’t be so nervous.” The Specter smiled while looking at Merlin’s trembling eyes. “I have no intention of leaving you behind and chasing after Raon Zieghart. You are the only one I want right now.”

He shook his hand, his gaze filled with desire and hatred. “I’m not going to kill you right away, either. I’ll make you feel the same pain as me, a hell even worse than what I've experienced!”

“Too bad for you. I can’t feel anything like pain—” Merlin bent forward, crimson blood gushing from her mouth as she let out a cough.

‘I’m not going to last for long at this rate...’

The crushing pain in her chest made it feel like her ribs were caving in. That implied that her body and mind had reached their limits and that she could perish at any moment.

She could endure the pain as much as she needed to, but she was going to lose consciousness regardless of her will.

‘But I can’t just die like this.’

It wasn’t because she was afraid of dying. It was because the Specter’s malice would be directed at Raon after her death. That was why she couldn’t allow herself to die here, not like that. She had to kill the Specter, even if she had to use her last resort.

“You can’t feel the pain, huh? Then I just need to capture Raon Zieghart and torture him.” The Specter twisted his lips while looking in the direction where Raon’s ship had left his vision. “I’m sure you’ll feel pain if you see him suffer.”

“Shut up!” Merlin opened her hands with a pale face. The magic circles unleashed behind her started to shine brilliantly once again.

“Can you even shoot a fireball in your state?” The Specter sneered at her, and the undead army started to move. The monsters filled her entire field of vision, closing in from all directions.

Rumble!

Bone gargoyles and wraiths rained down from the sky, and bone mantakurns and bone shark moles surged from the river.

Even the bone dragon's breath, made of dark mana, was flying toward her amidst the undead army, and there seemed to be no escape in sight.

However, that dangerous situation was the scene she wanted.

Whir!

Merlin folded the wings of the expanded magic circles while watching the approaching army of undead. Hundreds of magic circles overlapped on her hand, forming intricate geometric shapes.

A dazzling white light radiated from it. It was the spear of God, capable of entirely wiping out the darkness.

The Great Annihilation Spell, Gungnir.

The absolute magic, solely focused on her will of destruction through the clash between yin and yang, destroyed the army of undead and advanced toward the Specter.

Whaaam!

The moment Gungnir exploded in front of the Specter, the darkness faded away and the world became bright enough for the day to return. The undead filling the entire area around the river were annihilated at once.

Whoosh!

Even the Specter wasn’t safe from it. The left side of his upper body was severed, as if it had been cut away by scissors.

However, he was regenerating his body while coughing up blood, as expected of a demon with the abilities of the undead.

“Huff...” Merlin raised her hand while biting her lip.

‘I need to finish him off right now.’

Since her skill, Gungnir, was still incomplete, she should’ve been glad that she managed to damage him that much. What she needed to do was to finish him off while he was severely injured.

“Die—!”

Merlin coughed up black, dead blood while trying to control her mana. Her entire body trembled as the blood gushed from her mouth, and even from her nose and eyes.

“What an idiot.” The Specter curled his bloody lips into a smile. “Did you believe that your condition was still fine?”

He extended his right hand while shouting.

Whack!

Merlin's body swayed violently, and the old woman's mask she had been wearing cracked in half.

A young woman's face was revealed. Her skin was so pale that the blood vessels beneath were visible. She was beautiful enough to be described as an unparalleled beauty, and the red crosses appearing on her partially closed eyes were quite peculiar.

“I’m sorry, Raon...” She fell into the river, murmuring Raon’s name until the last moment.

“You won’t be able to escape even after your death—Kuh!” The Specter tried to pick Merlin up through psychokinesis but furrowed his brow, implying that he was running out of strength. “Bring her out right now!”

He waved his hand behind him instead of using his power, and a gargoyle swooped down, extending its sharp claws toward Merlin.

Whoosh!

When the gargoyle’s claws were about to pierce through Merlin’s shoulder, the river suddenly surged on its own like a living creature, creating a thick fog and translucent bubbles that completely obscured the vision.

“Wh-what?!”

The Specter unleashed the wind while biting his lip, but the fog remained immobile, as if it were fixated on the air.

“Damn it!”

He personally descended toward the river while riding the bone dragon. However, all he could find was the gargoyle that was floating on the river. Merlin, whom the gargoyle was trying to catch, was nowhere to be seen.

‘Did she escape? It can’t be! She was definitely unconscious!’

Merlin cherished Raon even more than her own life. There was no way a lunatic like her would run away.

‘And this isn't magic.’

The fog and bubbles enveloping the river weren’t magical in nature. The smooth flow looked like it was formed by nature itself. It was clear that this wasn’t done by Merlin’s magic.

“Die!”

The Specter violently ground his teeth, summoning all of his remaining undead.

“Find her no matter what, even if you have to search this entire river!” His golden eyes shimmered in madness. “I’ll never, ever let you escape!”

Whaaam!

Dorian’s ship, riding Merlin’s wind touched the river, drastically decreasing its speed. However, it didn’t look like there were any enemies following them. They seemed to have all gathered around Merlin.

“It looks like there are at least a thousand undead, by my rough estimation. Is she going to be alright?” Krein’s chin trembled as he looked back. “Ah! It’s not like I’m worried about Merlin...” He lowered his shoulders as if he were apologizing for a mistake.

“It’s true that Merlin saved us. Worrying about her won’t cause any problems.” Rimmer shook his head while letting out a sigh.

“Sh-she seemed to be in a bad condition, and I’m even more worried because of that.” Dorian swallowed, expressing his anxiety.

“She is a magician. She should be able to escape after putting up some fight.” Burren bit his lip while disheveling his own hair. Despite his words, he looked anxious.

“That’s not true.” Martha clenched her fist while looking back.

“What?”

“Merlin will never run away.”

“Mhm...” Runaan nodded in agreement with Martha. “The masked woman is going to fight to death.”

“......”

They bit their lips, agreeing with each other for once.

“Haa...” Rimmer massaged the back of his neck while letting out a sigh. “We have to believe in her for now. That’s the only thing we can do. We should count on Raon’s words, too.”

“O-our division leader’s words?”

“What did he say?”

Dorian and Krein pushed their chins forward with widened eyes.

The other Light Wind swordsmen leaned forward as well, showing their curiosity.

“He said that we are highly unlikely to die as long as we stay on the river. Help will be coming from somewhere we can’t see, or something like that.”

Rimmer narrowed his eyes while pointing at the Rable River.

“Help from somewhere we can’t see?”

“Yes.” He shook his head, saying that he didn’t know the details either. “Let’s keep going for now. We’re almost at the meeting point.”

“Yes. By the way...” Dorian sighed while touching the helm. “The speed decreased because the ship is a bit broken. I have the materials for the repair, though...”

“Just keep going.” Rimmer shook his head while looking around. “The river is going to widen again after this valley. We are almost there.”

“Yes!” Dorian nodded and clenched his hand on the helm.

The team leaders and the Light Wind Division remained on guard while surrounding Raon. After about ten minutes, the valley ended, revealing the Rable River’s original vastness, stretching out like an ocean.

“We are almost there. Just hold on a bit long—”

It was when Rimmer was trying to encourage the Light Wind Division, who were getting tired, that it happened.

Swaaaa!

Along with a splash rising high enough to reach the sky, a huge warship emerged from the river. It was the first warship of the South-North Union, the Blue Wolf, a vessel capable of submersion.

Whaaam!

Dorian’s ship was violently shaken upon colliding with the Blue Wolf.

“Kuh...” Rimmer bit his lip while pushing Dorian’s ship backward.

‘Are we really encountering the Blue Wolf now...?’

An ominous creaking sound could be heard from the ship after colliding with the Blue Wolf. The ship would’ve been shattered into pieces, making everyone fall into the river, if he hadn’t covered it with aura.

“We finally caught you!” The South-North Union’s vice leader, Hellgrum, was standing on the Blue Wolf’s bow, a huge grin nearly splitting his face.

“H-how...?” Dorian’s hand holding the helm trembled in disbelief.

“We went around to avoid your monster.” Hellgrum sharply raised his chin, saying that he’d taken a different path in order to avoid Glenn. “It was obvious where you were going to go.”

An intense bloodlust emanated from him, as if he was telling them that it was impossible to escape from the South-North Union on the river.

“The battle over there should’ve been intense enough. Why would you follow us instead?” Rimmer tried to sneer.

“He takes priority.” Hellgrum furrowed his brow while pointing at Raon, who was held in Federick’s arms. “Raon Zieghart is the most dangerous person on this battlefield.” He bit his lip, saying that he needed to be killed at all costs.

“It must be nice to be you. You’re popular with everyone, men and women alike.” Rimmer furrowed his brow while holding Raon’s shoulder.

‘Damn it! We were almost there.’

They only needed to pass through that waterway since the troops stationed to block the path and a fast warship were waiting for them. The fact that they got caught at that location was a painful setback.

‘Fighting is our only choice.’

A fight was their only path forward. Hoping that the stationed troops would arrive while fighting was the best course of action.

“Prepare for battle!” Rimmer shouted, and the Light Wind Division raised their swords. The deadly sharpness dwelling in their eyes made it look like they were wrapped in the river’s wind.

“Ram them!” Hellgrum ordered the destruction of Dorian’s ship, intending to take full advantage of the river as the battlefield.

Rumble!

As the Blue Wolf charged, attempting to devour Dorian's ship, a dark shadow surfaced on the river. Everyone instinctively turned their gazes towards the sky in awe.

“Huh...?”

“Wh-what is that?!”

“A ship! It’s a ship!”

A dark warship was falling from the sky as if it were laughing at the Blue Wolf that had surfaced from below. The dark warship descended in front of Dorian’s ship, blocking the Blue Wolf’s path.

Whaam!

The Blue Wolf and the dark ship collided against each other, making their bows bend away like dry kindling.

“That ship...” Rimmer’s lips trembled upon seeing the starry sword emblem engraved at the center of the dark ship. “The Holy Sword Alliance!”

Hellgrum also widened his eyes in surprise upon seeing the Holy Sword Alliance’s emblem.

“What do you think you are doing?! I believe you said you weren’t going to interfere in this matter!” He shook his hand, gesturing at them to leave right away.

“Do you know the meaning of the name, Holy Sword Alliance?”

A striking young man came forward from the bow. It was Mustan, the Sword Demon’s disciple, and the one who was recently appointed as a Master of the Sword.

“What?”

“We don’t worship a sharp blade nor absolute swordsmanship.” Mustan shook his head, while facing Hellgrum. “A holy sword is a tribute and praise for the true swordsman. I’d rather gouge my eyes out than watch some filthy pirates reach out their dirty hands to a swordsman who is about to achieve the holy sword.”

His eyes weren’t smeared in arrogance and jealousy anymore. He looked down upon Hellgrum with a serene light radiating from his eyes, just like Raon.

“Haa...” Hellgrum violently ground his teeth. “So many annoying pests are gathering today!”

He gripped his spear like a harpoon and threw it at him while grinding his teeth. His astral sphere blazed like a storm at the spearhead, advancing with enough power to erase Mustan from existence.

Crack!

However, his spear was shot down by a single white sword, hitting the river instead.

Whaaam!

The river surged into the air and subsided, revealing an old white-haired swordsman.

It was the Sword Demon Rector, the Holy Sword Alliance’s Master of the Bloody Sword.

“Rector...” Hellgrum’s chin trembled. “E-even you are getting in my way...”

“You were the one to attack my disciple first.”

The wave of his energy burst from beneath his feet like a heat haze. The terrifying bloodlust made it feel as if his name, the Sword Demon, didn’t even begin to capture the full extent of his presence.

"This is self-defense, you filthy South-North Union scoundrel."

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