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Chapter 43: Illusionary Army (8)
Chapter 43: Illusionary Army (8)
Chapter 43: Illusionary Army (8)
TL/Editor: Rungir
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The deity spoke to the king, who had brought down his own temple and slain his believers.
From this day forward, you'll be trapped in a cycle of the war you cherish so much.
Never to die, never to live, until only one person remains.
Trapped in regret, forever dwelling on past mistakes in the heart of the battlefield.
As the god decreed, the king and his soldiers were trapped in a never-ending war in a forgotten world under a rising blue moon.
In the infinite loop of battles.
The god-forsaken king of the army waited.
Hoping one day, someone would appear to break this endless curse.
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Raei Translations
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Darkness shattered the blue moon, the barrier's core, as it plunged towards the earth.
That darkness was Zion.
He quickly dived into the barrier, using the 'coordinates' he gained from Cainliss, whom he had killed.
Zion's decision to make Cainliss call forth the phantom army and directly dive into it was simple.
'This is the only way to get Kronos's tool.'
Specifically, someone with the 'coordinates' to summon the army must directly engage in the eternal battle.
That was the first requirement to obtain Kronos's tool.
'Incredible...'
Zion appeared intrigued, watching the swiftly approaching ground and phantom army.
Despite the distance, he could sense the phantom army's immense energy.
Its majesty justified being named one of the seven greatest disasters.
In the Chronicles of Frosimar, the hero Frosimar and his allies obliterated the phantom army.
Zion lacked such allies, but he had something else.
Kraaaaah!
The boundless army of wicked spirits lunged at the phantom army, screaming chillingly.
Liushina Bloodwalker, the thousand-year-old witch who summoned this army, was Zion's secret weapon against the phantom army.
"Kahahahaha! Wipe them out, all of them!"
Her manic laughter echoed through the barrier.
Swoosh-
With her laughter still ringing, Zion touched down in the battlefield's center.
Despite the great fall, his landing was eerily silent.
As the otherworldly darkness fell heavily around Zion.
Kwagwagwagwang!
At last, the cursed army from the past clashed with the army of evil spirits, consumed by an insatiable bloodlust, and a full-scale war commenced.
Kraaaaah!
Creak, creak!
Evil spirits, their cries filled with a killing urge, and phantom soldiers mechanically brandishing their swords devoid of emotion.
The battlefield rapidly transformed into a nightmare, with both sides locked in mutual slaughter.
'Where is it?'
Zion didn't join the fight, instead, he silently surveyed the phantom army's horizon.
A smile spread across Zion's face.
'I've found it.'
In the army's rear, he spotted a figure. A knight in black armor, standing atop a skeletal horse, looking down upon the battlefield.
His aura was distinctly different from the other soldiers and knights.
Even while standing still, his presence was formidable, distorting the surrounding space bit by bit.
His presence was compelling, even from a distance.
This black knight was the commander of the phantom army, the king cursed by the ancient god, Kronos.
And he was Zion's current target.
Suddenly.
Kwadududuk!
"Kahahaha! This is fantastic! I think I'm going mad with joy! I'm so glad I followed you!"
Liushina, having torn through dozens of phantom soldiers, appeared beside Zion, her face alight with ecstasy.
To the phantom army, trapped in a loop of time, death had yet to come.
This battlefield was paradise for her.
Perhaps it was a chance to vent her long-repressed desire to kill?
Zion glanced briefly at Liushina, who was on the brink of madness, and spoke in a quiet voice.
"We need to reach the king."
"Ah, understood."
Without questioning his instruction, the witch summoned a horse-shaped spirit for Zion.
Without a moment's hesitation, Zion climbed onto its back.
"I'll lead the way."
Spotting Zion, Liushina flashed a cunning smile and extended her hand towards the phantom army.
Kudududuk!
Blood from the ground around her began to be drawn into her hand, forming a small sphere.
The surrounding atmosphere screamed, unable to bear the force.
And finally, when the sphere reached its peak condensation.
-------------!
A red flash shot out from the witch's hand, drawing a straight line forward.
Immediately after.
Jejejejejeok!
The phantom soldiers standing in the path of the flash disappeared, creating a temporary opening on the battlefield.
Tadadat!
Zion didn't waste the opportunity.
Zion spurred the spirit horse into a run, charging along the path that had opened up.
Kigigik!
Phantom soldiers filled the gap instantly, their armor creaking, and began to charge to block Zion.
Despite seeing the rushing soldiers, Zion didn't slow down; instead, he increased his pace.
Hesitation when breaching enemy lines was fatal.
'Because that's when they'll surround me.'
Sugagagak!
Zion, wielding Eclaxia, beheaded a knight blocking his path and pressed forward.
Unlike his battle against demons earlier, Zion did not summon the remaining half of the Sword of Extinction using the Black Star.
Zion had to conserve as much power as possible for his confrontation with the cursed king.
Myung-an.
His eyes turned pitch black, processing every movement in his surroundings, converting it into important information.
Suddenly.
Shuaaak!
A volley of arrows came flying at Zion from one side.
'Only deflect those aimed at important points, take the rest.'
With this realization, Zion enveloped himself in a thick veil of darkness while maintaining his pace.
Tadadadang!
The arrows ricocheted off Zion's dark shield, unable to penetrate.
He could've avoided or deflected each arrow, but his priority was to press forward, making this the most efficient approach.
'Faster.'
Kiaaak!
As if responding to his thoughts, the spirit he was riding accelerated.
Kiririk!
A knight clad in full plate armor, who seemed like a commander, blocked Zion's path on a horse that was half-skeletal.
Huk!
The knight, breathing heavily through his helmet, launched a hefty swing of his greatsword at Zion.
A swing powerful enough to cleave a hill.
Even anticipating the impending strike, Zion didn't slow down, instead he leisurely pulled back his Sword of Extinction.
Dudududuk!
Black Star energy condensed at the end of Zion's blunted blade.
Just as the knight's greatsword was poised to strike Zion's upper body.
Black Point.
Zion thrusted his sword forward.
To be precise, the tip of Eclaxia met the greatsword's point of force.
In that instant.
Kwajijijijik!
The knight's mana-imbued, steel greatsword shattered like glass.
……?
The knight tilted his helmet in disbelief.
Shortly thereafter, the knight's neck too.
Seogeuk!
It fell cleanly under Zion's subsequent sword strike.
"Stop him!"
Witnessing this, the phantom knights understood a single soldier couldn't stop Zion.
Three phantom knights, preoccupied with other spirits, charged at Zion in unison.
Their voices, rusty as though unused for decades, cracked harshly.
Simultaneously, nearby phantom mages, recognizing Zion, began to unleash powerful magic.
Their spells reached Zion ahead of the charging knights.
"Keep moving forward."
Watching the incoming spells with a calm gaze, Zion softly instructed the spirit, once more wrapping them both in a curtain of darkness.
If that had been his only action, the curtain would've been torn, but Zion added another layer of protection.
Dark Scales Turn.
In that instant, the curtain of darkness began to spin at a terrifying speed.
Kwagwagwagwagwang!
Immediately afterwards, dozens of spells collided with it, triggering a massive explosion.
Thick dust spread in the wake of the explosion.
Just as the knights, who had arrived within striking distance, prepared to swing their weapons.
In that moment.
“……!”
The knights caught sight of him.
Unscathed, Zion emerged from the dust.
Kiiiiing!
His hand clutched a dark sword, now in its perfect form, a beacon absorbing all light.
Black Flash.
Zion's Eclaxia, wielded to its full extent, swept horizontally, casting a solitary black line across the battlefield.
Immediately after.
Kwadedudududuk!
Every object in the path of that black line began to warp and vanish.
The charging trio of knights suffered the same fate.
The knights, unable to utter a sound, were consumed by the black line and disappeared.
Taking advantage of the vacant space, Zion, who had deactivated his Extinction Sword, hastened forward.
Kiaaaaaak!
Spirits began a rampant massacre of the phantom army charging at Zion, along the path that he had opened.
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Raei Translations
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"…Is that Prince Zion?"
A low murmur spilled from Liam, who had been watching from a distance.
From Liushina's summoning of the spirit army to Prince Zion's arrival, and his unbelievable breakthrough.
All these events had occurred so rapidly that Liam hadn't had the opportunity to fully engage in the fight.
"I knew the rumors were inaccurate when I first witnessed it, but I didn't anticipate the discrepancy to be this great……."
Zion's display of combat skill, effortlessly penetrating the enemy line while astride a spirit, was so remarkable that it took Liam, the battlefield's celebrated hero, aback.
While Liam could traverse enemy lines at a speed comparable to or even greater than Zion, it wasn't such a straightforward matter.
'That combat sense and judgment.'
The ability to anticipate the movements of all charging enemies, identify their centers of force, and subsequently destroy them was astounding. Yet, Zion's decision-making skills in each moment were enough to give Liam goosebumps.
Striking accurately when necessary, evading when needed, and slicing through when called for.
The maximum efficiency naturally resulting from this.
Even a veteran who has spent decades on the battlefield couldn't achieve this. Prince Zion, however, wielded it as naturally as breathing.
'I could replicate the same outcomes, but...'
Liam admitted he couldn't do it in Zion's manner.
'That's... a direct descendant of Agnes.'
While Liam marveled at Zion.
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Raei Translations
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'If this is all...'
Zion, in the process of felling the phantom soldiers in his path, tightened his grip on Eclaxia, gauging the significantly reduced distance between him and the king.
'I'll break through in one move.'
With that resolve, the Extinction Sword morphed into its perfect blade form once more.
Kiiiiing!
At the point of Eclaxia, every bit of Black Star energy that Zion could muster began to condense into one point, spinning at a petrifying speed.
Simultaneously, Zion drew back his sword-wielding arm as though pulling back a powerful bowstring.
Soon, Zion's body echoed that arm, bending as if it were a bow under tension.
Paaaang!
With the sound of air exploding, Zion vanished from sight.
And then.
Huuuk!
Zion rematerialized, right in front of the king, situated at the rear of the army.
In that instant.
Chejejejejejeok!
Everything in the trajectory from Zion's initial position to his reappearance began to split.
"Kept you waiting, have I?"
Zion, not bothering to glance at the spectacle he had unleashed, offered the cursed king a thin smile.
In that moment, the king's eyes, hollow lights from beneath his helmet, swiveled towards Zion.
Cheoooong!
As if it were a predestined dance, their swords clashed in unison.
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