abcnovels
Chapter 394:
Chapter 394:
Chapter 394:
Countless flashes of light blurred my vision. I couldn’t tell whether the ground beneath me was solid or if I was floating in the sky.
In the slow-moving passage of time, I twisted my upper body in midair.
A beam cannon, radiating intense heat, grazed past my shoulder. I extended my fingers.
The will I imbued into my sword manifested as a multitude of sharp blades, shooting down the floating magical devices.
*Boom!*
Red flames erupted in a violent explosion. The smoke dissipated as it was washed away by the torrential rain pouring from the sky. Cutting through the downpour, a spear hurled toward me.
The soldiers of the Salio Empire, clad in armor with futuristic designs, were no ordinary troops; they were elite magic soldiers, trained extensively in combat.
With gleaming wings, they darted freely between the crevices of enormous plants, hunting my life like dragonflies.
*Click.*
From a distance, a soldier aimed a massive cannon at me, preparing to snipe. How dare you. I transformed Baekryeon into the form of a spear and hurled it toward the enemy.Baekryeon tore through the air, piercing the man’s chest.
“His weapon is gone!”
“This is our chance!”
The moment I threw Baekryeon and lost my weapon, the magic soldiers took the opportunity to stab at me from both sides. With a flick of my hands, I lightly deflected their spears.
The spear tips aimed at me lost their direction and stabbed into the bodies of their comrades instead.
“Die!”
Using the death of their comrades as a stepping stone, a spear thrust at me from behind.
I quickly spun around. My toes struck the spear shaft from below. With a snap, the spear tip broke, spinning through the air. I flicked it away lightly with my fingertips.
The spearhead, now flying like a bullet, pierced the forehead of the soldier who had been holding it.
However, the death of one was merely a part of the process. Immediately, another wave of attacks rained down. Explosions filled the air, and the smoke enveloped the surroundings.
“Did… did we get him?”
Amid someone’s murmuring, a scream erupted from elsewhere.
Having already retrieved Baekryeon, I moved among the magic soldiers like a wolf among sheep.
“Try stopping this!”
With a distorted mechanical sound, a massive Magic Golem fell from the sky. Standing over 20 meters tall, the machine weighed several thousand tons—nothing short of a colossal weapon in itself.
*Boom!*
The golem crashed to the ground with me. But immediately, its upper and lower halves split apart and crumbled. As expected. Did they think they could crush someone as strong as an Executor just with the golem’s sheer weight? It was almost laughable.
Countless beam cannons swallowed me in the golem’s place. Simultaneously, the overloaded golem erupted in a massive explosion, forming a mushroom cloud.
“Not yet! Keep pushing him!”
Amid a shout, the magic soldiers unleashed a relentless barrage of attacks. Deolraka wasn’t idle either. Grasping his sword with both hands, he summoned his full power.
He intended to split me in half with a single, decisive strike.
As I defended inside, having transformed Baekryeon into a shield, I began summoning the energy of the Seven Demonic Black Sky Divine Art.
From the perspective of the magic corps, it looked as though black mist suddenly billowed out from under my pristine white shield.
“What the hell is that?!”
“Everyone, fall back!”
The Fifth Demon Art of the Seven Demonic Black Sky Divine Art, Yuhamyeolgeop (Silent Mist Annihilation).
The black mist expanded its reach, undisturbed by the storm raging around it.
Unlucky soldiers caught within the mist vanished without even a scream. The magical devices targeting me suffered the same fate.
With a fierce gleam in his eyes, Deolraka raised his sword high and brought it down in a vertical slash.
*Slash!*
The black mist split in half. From within, four glowing red orbs shot out, speeding toward Deolraka.
‘This madman!’
Instead of dodging or blocking, he charged at me like a beast.
Seeing me, barreling toward him, Deolraka felt a chill.
How many magical devices had been unleashed, how many magic soldiers had sacrificed their lives, all while never ceasing their relentless attacks?
Yet, I dodged or countered most of the attacks as if I were immortal, rendering everything they had prepared utterly useless.
Even while enduring such intense attacks, I remained unfazed, my breath steady and unlabored. Was I incapable of fatigue? Deolraka began to doubt if I was truly just an equal Executor.
‘Equal?’
He shook his head and erased the thought. No, he admitted. I was much stronger than him. Executor? Could that title even begin to encompass my strength?
‘The only other time I found the title of Executor lacking was just once.’
That was with Choi Do-yoon. When the man, once called the Sword Lord, was granted the title of Executor, Deolraka had personally witnessed his battle with Piren and thought it made no sense.
How could that man be an Executor? His strength exceeded the level of an Executor; he could have been called the Sword Spirit, and no one would have found it strange.
Now, Deolraka found himself having the same thoughts as he faced me.
Both of us were strong, but the direction of our strength was the complete opposite. Choi Do-yoon was clean, polished—like a flawless sword. He seemed capable of cutting through anything, yet he wasn’t flashy, just incredibly practical.
But I was different. My presence felt like it was crafted from the errors of the world, evoking an indescribable terror.
At first glance, I looked like a gentleman in a crisp suit, but the nature lurking within was far from that. Look at me even now: wearing a mask of a demon with four blazing red eyes, black energy pouring from me as I charged at him.
A demon? No. If a demon could inspire such awe, it would be called a god by all.
So, was I a god? Where in the world would you find a god so terrifying?
My existence defied all definitions.
Terror.
For the first time in a long while, Deolraka recalled the emotion he had forgotten while reigning as the supreme Executor.
“This cannot be!”
Deolraka and I clashed once more.
The wreckage of shattered magical devices fell around us. It hadn’t even been long since the battle had begun, yet every magical device had already been destroyed.
In terms of time, it was no more than the span of a few blinks. But to those who transcended the ordinary, even that brief period felt stretched out.
Deolraka locked eyes with me. He tried to see through the mask to pierce my gaze. But soon, he realized it was futile. The red eyes of the mask were, after all, no different from my own.
“Monster. You… you’re a monster.”
“No.”
*Flash!* The red glow in his eyes exploded fiercely.
“I am human.”
Human? Calling himself human after taking on such a monstrous form? Now *that* was a ridiculous statement.
Humans are weak. That’s why they put forth every effort to become stronger. The Salio Empire was founded precisely to maximize and overcome that human frailty.
No matter how strong a human becomes, they can never be sturdier than steel, nor generate energy stronger than a machine.
The Salio Empire believed that what could make humans stronger was greater power—namely, magic and science.
If a human couldn’t obtain the toughness of steel, they could wear armor made of steel.
If they couldn’t move faster than sound, they could attach wings that would let them fly faster than sound.
If their brain couldn’t keep up, they could use high-performance computers to handle all the calculations.
Since there are limits to human potential, it’s only natural to compensate with external forces. That was common sense.
But as Deolraka witnessed that narrow mindset collapsing in the face of true strength, he could no longer bear it.
He, too, had tried to grow stronger without relying on machines or magical devices. He had even advised his disciple, Piren, not to depend too much on such tools and was obsessed with achieving something through sheer physical capability.
‘I thought I had already achieved it all. But was that still not enough?’
Deolraka realized how narrow-minded he had been. Yet he didn’t want to accept that truth. The reason he called Yu-hyun a monster was a manifestation of his jealousy toward someone who, as a human, had worked far harder than he ever had.
“I… I…!”
“What are you getting all sentimental about?”
Yu-hyun coldly rebuked Deolraka, who was gnashing his teeth, unable to overcome his frustration.
“If you don’t want to die, you’d better give it everything you’ve got.”
“……”
Deolraka gritted his teeth and gripped his sword firmly. As for the magical devices that were supposed to support him… they were all destroyed. The 300 magic soldiers who had come to his aid were now nothing but cold corpses, vanished into the cracks of the earth.
So what was left to him?
His sword in hand and a body still capable of wielding it.
Wasn’t that enough?
“Don’t underestimate my years of experience.”
With strength surging through his arms, Deolraka infused his sword with technique. Yu-hyun smirked as their blades clashed.
*Slash!*
The surrounding earth, the massive trees, and even the raindrops falling from the sky were sliced apart.
The aftermath was so overwhelming that even the other lords and transcendents, fighting from a distance, backed away in shock.
At the eye of this razor-sharp storm, Deolraka prepared his final strike. His sword pointed toward the sky, and all of his willpower concentrated at the tip of the blade.
Hmm. This might actually be dangerous, even for me.
Yu-hyun prepared for a serious offensive. This was not something he could avoid or block. He had to break it—head-on—with an even stronger blow.
At the tip of Yu-hyun’s sword, his powerful inner energy combined with his will. The sheer force twisted the space around him, cracking it like shattered glass.
At that moment, both men plunged into their own world.
“First move,”
As all the noise of the world disappeared, leaving only the two of them,
Yu-hyun spoke first.
“I’ll let you have it.”
Deolraka didn’t refuse. He exhaled deeply and unleashed his full-power strike. It was the culmination of his martial mastery, honed through sheer human effort, without relying on any magical devices.
As it struck the air, Yu-hyun retaliated.
For a moment, space seemed to fold in on itself and then unfold in a brilliant display between the two of them. Immediately after, their bodies crossed, just barely brushing past each other.
The world, which had been momentarily bleached white, slowly returned to its original state. In the pouring rain, Deolraka lowered his sword. A thin stream of blood trickled from his lips.
“In the end… I couldn’t reach you.”
“No. You did.”
Yu-hyun showed him the frayed edge of his sleeve.
Just the sleeve. For a blow in which he had poured his all, it seemed a pitiful result. But it wasn’t completely in vain.
Though he hadn’t avenged his disciple’s death…
At least he hadn’t missed entirely.
With that thought, Deolraka’s body collapsed onto the ground.
—
“What… Deolraka has… lost?”
“No way.”
With Deolraka’s death, the battle was flipped on its head. One of the only two pillars had fallen, and it was only natural that the other transcendents and lords were affected.
The lords of the Salio Empire stared at Yu-hyun, still standing unharmed, and tried their best to deny reality.
He may seem unscathed on the outside, but surely he’s not like that on the inside. Thinking back to his fight with Deolraka, Yu-hyun must be running on fumes.
As they exchanged glances, one of the lords rushed at Yu-hyun.
‘We have to kill him now, while he’s weakened!’
Even though Deolraka had died, if they could kill Yu-hyun, they might still turn the tide of the battle.
With that thought, the lord charged toward Yu-hyun, but the moment their eyes met, his mind went blank.
“Huh?”
At the same time, Yu-hyun moved. The lord instinctively tried to counter, but it was already too late. The movement Yu-hyun displayed was no different from the techniques Deolraka had shown in the past.
How was it possible for Yu-hyun to know Deolraka’s swordsmanship? As the thought crossed his mind, his defeat was already decided.
*Slash.*
His severed head rolled across the ground. The other Salio Empire lords, witnessing the scene, swallowed their breaths.
—
“Move quickly.”
Patrick led the magic corps, swiftly advancing into the underground base of the alliance. The moment they broke in, their plan was to eliminate the enemy leadership as fast as possible.
But the further they ventured inside, the stranger things felt.
“Where is everyone? Where are they?”
“There aren’t any life signs. Could they have noticed and escaped?”
“No. Wait. They’re all gathered below.”
They hadn’t fled. The enemy had merely gathered in a safe place, anticipating the attack.
In a way, this made things easier. They wouldn’t have to waste time hunting them down individually.
The fact that the enemies were hiding so thoroughly also meant they hadn’t prepared combatants to defend the base.
This made Patrick feel more confident as he headed toward the source of the life signs.
“They’re beyond this point.”
Just as Patrick moved to take the lead, one of the magic soldiers stopped him.
“Your Highness. Something’s wrong.”
“What is?”
“There’s… something on the other side of that corridor.”
“What? What do you mean?”
Patrick squinted, but he couldn’t see anything worth worrying about. However, the magic soldier wasn’t basing this on mere sight.
Specifically, a single person among them—the leader of Alpha Team—had received extensive enhancements. Among the equipment he possessed was the Eye of Laplace.
Though it was a prototype, inferior to the one Piren had used, it was still the best device for detecting enemies.
And that Eye of Laplace was telling him there was an enemy hiding just beyond.
Strange. He couldn’t see or sense anyone, yet the eye insisted there was someone there.
[Well now, this is interesting.]
At that moment, the air tore apart, and two figures appeared.
Could they even be called people? They had the shape of humans, but their clothes were pitch black, and they wore eerie masks on their faces. The atmosphere around them was equally unsettling.
They weren’t human. But what were they? It was impossible to tell. One thing was certain: they were far from ordinary.
As the magic soldiers tensed up, Laplace, watching from the back, chuckled at the familiar aura emanating from the newcomers.
[To think there’d be those who would try to imitate me. I thought they were just machines relying on power, but it seems I shouldn’t have underestimated them.]
“What are you rambling about? And who are they?”
Patrick, still unaware of the situation, questioned Laplace. But Laplace didn’t bother answering.
They wouldn’t understand even if he explained.
Besides, his lord had already issued the command: enemies would invade, and they were to protect the people of the base.
As for how to protect them? There was no need to ask.
Laplace drew his sword, and Descartes spread the wings on his back.
Red light gleamed in the eyes of the two demons.
[Come. You who bear a false imitation of me. In the name of my lord, I will show you what the real thing is.]