mynovelweb Chapter 485
Chapter 485
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
Chapter 485
“WAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!”
The cheers filling every direction belonged to the soldiers.
Thankful to God that they had survived yet another day, they embraced their comrades and shared in their joy.
Their opponents were not humans capable of conversation.
They were monsters that killed anything alive.
And the joy of surviving against such monsters was impossible to put into words.
Alsad Gellion, the admiral of the western port city of Gellion, stared blankly at the enormous lifeform collapsed along the coast.
The monster, now slowly crumbling away into powder from the tail onward, was dead now, but when it had first revealed itself… it had been strong enough to inspire despair.
And of all times, it happened when every single Star guarding the area had begun the infiltration operation into the deserted island.
Had even one or two remained behind, perhaps things would have been different, but that had not been possible.
That was why Gellion had been bewildered.
If they all left like that, then who exactly was supposed to help here?
Those worries only intensified after the monster’s appearance.
The soldiers wet themselves in terror, while some dropped their weapons and trembled as though they had given in to despair.
The grotesque monster, whose size reached dozens of meters, was barely affected by ordinary attacks.
However, that fear did not last long.
It began the moment Luna, Isna, and Lispa descended from the floating sky island, R’lyeh.
The three women landed on the ground in an instant and casually advanced toward the monster marching forward with its gigantic body.
And in the blink of an eye, they exterminated it.
At a glance, they still looked like young girls.
Even giving them the benefit of the doubt, they looked barely in their twenties.
The first to attack was Luna.
The moment her fist, descending directly from R’lyeh, slammed into the crown of the monster’s head, an enormous shockwave overturned the entire surrounding area.
If even the shockwave was that powerful, then there was no need to mention the attack’s actual might.
Alsad had thought she was a priest capable of using somewhat unusual healing magic.
Her attire did not resemble that of a priest, but priests often wore different kinds of clothing, and if she was a former priest who had even gotten married, then perhaps strict dress codes no longer applied.
But then.
Was she not a priest, but a monk instead?
And an unbelievably powerful one at that?
The next to descend was the young lady of Mielephon.
Isna.
Even Alsad recognized the bear costume she was wearing.
After all, the rumors about the young lady of Mielephon being eccentric were fairly famous.
What was absurd was her martial prowess.
According to what he had heard, Isna Mielephon’s strength was supposedly only at the level of an Expert.
Yet the power contained within her single sword strike was enough to make even Sword Masters question how such a thing was possible.
Had she been hiding her strength?
No, even then, did any of this make sense?
Alsad became increasingly confused.
Leon Cascadia’s monstrous talent was shocking enough already, so what exactly were those two?
As for the blue-haired woman who slowly descended while gliding through the sky after them, there was no need to even mention her.
The monster struggled desperately against the support of those three monstrous women, but the suppression itself ended quickly.
The monsters that had flooded in alongside it were not very numerous either, allowing everyone to survive without major casualties.
Accompanied by several knights, Alsad approached Luna, who lightly jumped down from atop the monster’s head.
“Truly… you are incredible. The martial prowess of the three of you is astonishing indeed. Especially Young Lady Isna…”
“Isna? I don’t know anyone by that name though.”
Isna pretended ignorance while wearing the mascot suit over herself, but Alsad bitterly smiled inwardly.
Who else could there possibly be among noble young ladies wandering around dressed in such a ridiculous appearance?
Naturally, he did not say it aloud.
“Thank you so very much. Had it not been for all of you, who knows how many sacrifices there would have been…”
“We stayed behind for that exact reason in the first place.”
Alsad thought Luna’s way of speaking was a little unusual.
It was as though conversation itself was unfamiliar to her.
Yet considering the conversation itself flowed normally… perhaps it was merely a habit or mannerism.
Of course, that was not important.
“Still… if even monsters like that are appearing now… the battles ahead may become difficult. Not only here, but elsewhere as well…”
This was not the only battlefield.
The same situation applied everywhere else.
Alsad’s expression darkened.
“It’s okay. Things will be decided before too much time passes.”
At that moment, Isna, still wearing the mascot suit, spoke with certainty.
“Young Lady Isna. How can you be so certain…?”
“I said I’m not Isna.”
“……”
Right.
Let’s just go with that.
As they continued their conversation, a pillar of pure white radiance rose in the far distance.
KUUUNG!!!
A deafening roar echoed belatedly, followed by a faint tremor that spread across the entire city.
Those who had been cheering flinched in surprise at the sudden vibration.
“E-everyone!! Defensive posi—”
“It’s okay. That’s just an archangel.”
As the startled Alsad tried to command the soldiers, Lispa interrupted him.
“An archangel, you say?”
“Yes. There’s one bastard who doesn’t know moderation. Judging by this, it’d probably be best to erase that deserted island from the map now.”
And it was exactly as she said.
Not long after, Leon and all the Stars returned.
No wounded could be seen, but the appearance of the previously missing Fist Saint, the Heaven-Shattering Immortal Yoo Sowon, looked quite haggard.
And then.
“I’m sorry. We couldn’t save the others. We were one step too late.”
At Leon’s words, Alsad shook his head with a bitter expression.
“No. Saving even one person would already be a miracle.”
With sorrowful eyes, he looked at the unconscious girl being held in Yoo Sowon’s arms.
“This child will be taken in by the marquis hou—”
“No. I will take this child.”
At that moment, the silent Yoo Sowon spoke.
“Fist Saint… sir? You mean to say that you will?”
“That’s right. I failed to save this child’s parents because of my own shortcomings. So… I intend to take responsibility for this child.”
That makes no sense.
Weren’t you trying to save people?
Though those thoughts repeated endlessly in his mind, Alsad said nothing further.
Because Yoo Sowon’s expression was dark.
“For now, we have stopped the monsters from advancing. It will probably remain safe for some time.”
“What exactly happened over there…?”
Leon briefly explained the situation on the island.
A monster that had established itself in the Pinas Archipelago had occupied the deserted island and was conducting a grotesque ritual to spread its influence further.
Though now that the ritual had been destroyed and the island itself erased, such a thing was no longer possible.
“Young Master Leon. And Stars. On behalf of everyone in the Gellion territory… thank you.”
At his expression of gratitude, the other Stars burst into hearty laughter.
“What did we even do? We merely cleaned up the nearby pests. That brat over there did most of the work.”
At Radiant Saint’s words, Alsad laughed aloud.
“Can you hear them, Young Master Leon? The voices of those calling you a hero and cheering your name?”
At those words, everyone stepped outside the tent.
The soldiers were loudly chanting the name of the hero who had prevented the crisis before it could begin.
“These are your achievements. Our Gellion territory will never forget your efforts.”
At those words, Leon merely smiled quietly and brushed it off.
“Don’t worry about it too much. Isn’t this a time when everyone should be joining hands and fighting together?”
Alsad found himself truly liking the person called Leon Cascadia.
Someone with achievements worthy of arrogance, yet so humble.
Soon after, Leon left the area together with Luna, Lispa, and Isna.
Outwardly, he claimed they were going to rest, but it seemed there was another reason behind it.
* * *
R’lyeh floated high in the sky.
Everyone gathered within the mansion there.
It was to reveal the detailed truth about what had happened on the island.
Lispa.
Luna.
Isna.
Myself.
And even the archangel Michael.
Though I felt somewhat sorry for Marquis Alsad Gellion, there was no benefit in spreading this matter widely.
The first to speak was Michael.
“Leon Cascadia.”
“What?”
“You have surpassed your limits.”
“Yeah. I fulfilled all the conditions.”
“Do you think you can defeat that monster if you fought it?”
“With my current state, the odds are still low. But that thing won’t be able to attack recklessly either.”
This was something I had understood from the start.
However, just because the total amount of power was lacking did not mean there were no ways to win.
If your power fell short, then using different means was wisdom.
“I see.”
“More importantly, there’s something important. An outer-dimensional boundary had formed on the island.”
“As expected.”
“I met Sullivan there. He told me there’s a traitor on this side. More importantly, this invasion wasn’t something the Outer God Yog intended. Apparently, it just got dragged into the mess and started wreaking havoc along the way.”
Someone had opened the path, and the Outer God had taken advantage of it.
The implications were enormous.
First, the existence of the traitor, which had only been in the suspicion stage, was now confirmed.
Second, the traitor possessed considerable capability.
A heavy silence settled after my explanation.
“A traitor… I had hoped otherwise.”
“Before that, who exactly is Sullivan?”
At Michael’s question, I briefly considered before answering.
The only being still alive and resisting within the outer dimension.
A special case who had been consumed by madness after being corrupted by the Outer God, but regained sanity thanks to Luna.
“Can he be trusted?”
“Probably more trustworthy than you.”
Honestly, if not for Elpiria, there would never have been any reason for me to exchange information with this bastard in the first place.
Now that I think about it, it pisses me off.
Why the hell is this bastard acting so shamelessly confident?
“To think there were still living beings in the outer dimension. That is unexpected.”
Though he spoke calmly, his eyes visibly shook.
“Was there no information regarding the traitor?”
“There’s no way humans were the ones conducting the ritual, and that bastard Nyarlathotep doesn’t have the capability for something like this either. At minimum, there’s something at the level of an archangel involved.”
To begin with, I had no idea where that bastard Nyarlathotep even was right now or what he was doing.
His master was running wild, yet he remained hidden.
Was he even truly acting as a subordinate of the Outer God in the first place?
“The possibility that it is one of Yog’s subordinates?”
“It’s not him. Seems like someone else.”
“Given the current situation… that would mean only an archangel-level existence could accomplish this.”
“Probably.”
At those words, Lispa frowned and spoke.
“But that’s impossible too. Archangels cannot commit actions harmful to this dimension.”
“Remiel’s words are also correct. However, I do not believe it to be entirely impossible.”
“Don’t casually say my name, you son of a bitch. Are you suspecting me right now?”
“I did not say that, Remiel.”
“If anyone betrayed us, it’d be you, you cold-blooded bastard.”
Lispa snarled viciously.
Well, naturally.
The archangel she most wanted to kill was standing right in front of her, so enduring it must have already been torture.
In the end, Lispa could no longer hold back and stormed out.
“Sorry, Leon. It’s really hard being in the same place as that bastard… I’m going to get some air.”
After she left, curiosity arose within me.
“Your shamelessness really is top-tier.”
“Her anger is justified. However, that does not change my decisions.”
Yeah.
That’s exactly the kind of bastard you are.
Luna’s expression was not particularly good either.
“Leon Cascadia.”
At last, Michael stared directly at me.
“What?”
“Come outside with me.”
He did not bother with complicated explanations.
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
Above R’lyeh, on a vast plain large enough to be ten times the size of a soccer field, Michael and I stood facing each other.
In the silence, he spoke first.
“How much stronger have you become?”
“Enough.”
Previously, fighting against an archangel—especially Michael—generally meant suffering disadvantages from the outset.
In truth, if I had not gained the power concerning hierarchical restrictions through the Sword of Creation, saving Elpiria would have been tremendously difficult.
But now that my very existence had risen upon reaching the Ultimate Realm, such assumptions had become meaningless.
Michael held a spear in one hand.
And I too held the Demon Sword in one hand.
Because I instantly understood the principle behind what he intended to do.
“If you have not met the minimum standard, I cannot bring you along in the assault on the Pinas Archipelago.”
It seemed Michael intended not merely to block the enemy, but to use this opportunity to leave an enormous scar upon Yog.
And I shared the same thought.
Considering this situation was not something that bastard had intended, and considering its current state…
While maintaining the defenses as they were, this was the perfect chance to infiltrate Pinas with minimal personnel and inflict a fatal wound upon it.
“Mind if I ask one thing before we start?”
“Speak.”
“Fate Lord. What happened to that so-called key?”
“Raguel will soon bring word.”
At those words, I quietly closed my eyes and circulated the stabilized energies within my body.
Looking at it now, it’s pretty strange.
I only moved my aura, yet mana, spirit mana, and other powers all activated the aura’s operation as though assisting it.
At the same time, an invisible world of mental imagery spread outward centered around my body.
Only then did I see it clearly.
Michael had already permanently secured his own unique divine domain through his divinity.
No wonder I couldn’t beat him even if I died and came back to life.
Back in Heaven, there had been a precedent where I managed to stab my spear into his heart while fighting both him and Gabriel simultaneously.
But there was no way not to realize that he had merely been holding back appropriately at the time.
“Let’s stop hiding things from each other.”
“That is my intention as well. You are no longer an opponent against whom I can afford to conserve strength.”
The moment those words were spoken, the boundary between his world and mine collided.
And the instant he tried to regrip his spear of light—
My figure had already approached directly into his immediate range.
It felt as though the light in his eyes wavered greatly.
Though only for a fleeting moment, I clearly recognized that he had lost track of my movement.
His surprise at my speed being far beyond expectations was practically visible even through his helmet.
For now, let’s start by pulling a simple move.
[Nameless Sword]
[Hundred Blossoms]
A gigantic sword aura resembling one hundred flower petals blooming simultaneously descended upon him.
KAGAGAGAK!!!
Michael reflexively twisted his spear with both hands and blocked my sword aura.
Until now, he had generally received my attacks with one hand if possible. Seems he no longer had that luxury.
“……”
Silently counterattacking, the tip of his spear flew toward me.
However, the spear he thrust pierced only my afterimage.
I can see it.
I can see and feel it.
Instantly widening the distance by dozens of meters, I lightly drew my sword through empty air.
[Nameless Sword]
[Thousand Blossoms]
Though my sword swung beside me, the sword aura ignored the laws of reality and unfolded around him.
A thousand flowers bloomed at once as though they would cover the heavens.
In response, Michael spread all four pairs of his wings simultaneously and erected a massive barrier that blocked the attack.
The spear of light held in his hand moved so naturally it seemed part of his very body, pressing in toward me.
The spear of light imbued with pure white divinity viciously thrust toward my vital points.
Previously, I would have stopped everything I was doing and dodged.
But this time, I did not stop and instead raised the Demon Sword upward.
[Bloom]
PAAANG!!!
The thousand flowers I had unleashed gathered into one point and exploded simultaneously.
An incredibly quiet shockwave burst outward once.
However, despite the lack of sound or scale, portions of Michael’s armor exposed to that shockwave were directly torn apart and crushed.
Ignoring compatibility and achieving this much without the divine weapon Pragarach, which possessed overwhelming affinity against angels.
This alone showed just how high my basic level had risen.
Judging by Michael’s martial strength… it meant that aside from Yog, there were no longer any beings capable of threatening me.
My world of mental imagery visibly devoured Michael’s divine domain.
I had brought the balance of power over to my side.
Outwardly, it did not look especially impressive for someone who had reached the Ultimate Realm, but concentrating every ounce of energy that would normally leak outward meant focusing all of that power entirely onto the opponent.
No matter how I looked at it, that single attack just now had clearly exceeded the total firepower I had poured out while fighting him in Heaven.
I could see masses of pure white light flying toward me while cutting off my retreat paths.
The moment even one hit connected, terrifyingly powerful holy flames would completely engulf me.
Previously, even a single shot would have been dangerous enough that I absolutely had to evade.
But now—
“Tch.”
PAAANG!!
Violet lightning gathered at the ends of every joint in my fingers, elegantly spreading outward along my fingertips and forming a gigantic lightning bolt.
If I infused it with the power of the stars, then the only answer was to manipulate it down to the atomic level through electrical activity.
KWAAAAANG!!!
A ferocious explosion spread outward before compressing into a single point and dispersing instantly.
The phenomenon was no different from the moment just before a heavenly body collapsed inward.
Which meant…
That bastard truly was not holding back even the slightest bit of power.
The fact that Michael, who had always absolutely restrained his power until now, was attacking without any restraint was simple in meaning.
“You altered the fundamental molecular structure of the power created by an archangel? Truly absurd control.”
Michael rarely revealed emotion, but even he looked genuinely shocked this time.
The struggle between the divine domain he had created and the mental imagery domain I was overlaying upon it was already slowly tilting toward my side.
Even so, Michael did not stop and took another step forward.
What meaning was there in complicated conversation?
After everything I’d suffered at his hands, it was only right to vent it thoroughly now that I had the chance.
For both Michael and me, the battlefield was not restricted by ground or sky.
Michael unleashed power he had never shown before without reservation.
The utmost respect given to someone recognized as a powerful enemy.
Meanwhile, I employed every means available within the range of fully grasping my regained power.
The Ultimate Realm I reached in Labyrinthos and the Ultimate Realm I had attained now were both the same and different.
The heights of the realms were clearly identical, yet at that time I had focused solely on a single path, whereas now I handled numerous powers simultaneously.
The moment I broke through into the Ultimate Realm, the level of every combat method I possessed shattered past its limits, causing magic, swordsmanship, spirit magic, and every other field to gain a completely different level of versatility compared to before.
My fist flew in instantly, avoiding Michael’s spear before slamming into his abdomen and generating a massive shockwave, which I then applied to manifest magic.
Using spirit magic debuffs together with the buff magic from the Hall of Communion, I momentarily weakened his power while amplifying mine, then infused my swordsmanship with an even greater level of destructive force.
Honestly speaking, I was so satisfied with the sheer scope of applications possible now that I found myself wondering if I had truly become capable of this much.
Things that had been utterly impossible before breaking through the Ultimate Realm now unfolded as naturally as breathing.
Not only could I withstand his attacks head-on, but I also penetrated divine defenses I previously could not breach and struck directly through them.
The aftereffects partially destroyed various sections of R’lyeh, while the sky we had risen into burned and twisted violently, yet the absurd thing was that even this was the result of both of us concentrating as much as possible on minimizing the impact on the surroundings and focusing solely on each other.
At some point, perhaps Michael judged that ordinary methods would no longer suffice to suppress me.
The purest light gathered at the tip of his spear.
If that thing hits me, I’m dead.
Even as that thought crossed my mind, a grin spread across my lips.
It felt like the battle-crazed nature I had during my days in Labyrinthos was resurfacing.
JJJEOEOEOOK!!!
The sword that appeared while crushing space itself brutally sliced deeply through his arm, and at almost the same instant, his spear pierced directly toward the center of my forehead.
[Nameless Sword]
[Late Strike First Arrival]
For a moment, it felt as though time itself had stopped.
In the past, Michael had invaded this domain as casually as walking into his own house, nullifying my counterattacks.
But now, he would not be able to enter.
A flash narrowly tore through the sky beside my head and shot across the heavens.
Then, as my shoulder knocked his spear shaft upward, the pure white light fired from the spear tip ripped apart the sky, split the clouds, and soared upward.
A gap had appeared because Michael had not yet fully grasped the extent of my capabilities.
And so, without hesitation, I released the Demon Sword from my hand and grabbed his helmet with both hands.
Then I stomped on his abdomen and drove him rapidly down toward the ground.
KWAAAAAAANG!!!
With a tremendous explosion, the sky island R’lyeh tilted violently once before stabilizing again.
Despite R’lyeh being a place whose very existence enforced unique laws, it proved that both Michael’s power and mine transcended even such domains.
Perhaps because we had caused such chaos above the western port city, we attracted attention accordingly.
Luna, Lispa, and even Isna, who had been staying on R’lyeh, came out to watch our battle, and only then did I realize that even the Stars from the city side had noticed the anomaly and flown up on wyverns, staring at the battle between Michael and me with dumbfounded expressions.
Feels like we fought for quite a while.
Wonder when they started watching.
Among them, the expression of Marquis Alsad especially caught my attention.
“Good grief… what kind of battle is that…?”
“If you got caught in there, you wouldn’t survive even one second.”
“Every attack looks unimpressive on the surface, but each one seems capable of making our ultimate techniques look laughable.”
“So what do we do? Stop them?”
“Those two? An archangel and that monstrous bastard? Count me out.”
“Ahem.”
“M-my territory?!”
I cleanly ignored the marquis’s scream.
More importantly, I was incredibly curious about the face hidden beneath that bastard’s helmet!
Sensing the strange emotion in my eyes, he flinched and flew backward as though trying to create distance from me.
But I also lowered my posture and pursued him with explosive acceleration.
KAAANG!!
After knocking away the spear he thrust with the Demon Sword, my hand grabbed hold of his helmet.
“What are you doing?!”
“No, I’m just genuinely curious.”
No matter the situation, he never removed his helmet?
It’s not like he’s some king who has to wear one at all times.
“Stop! This has absolutely nothing to do with our spar—”
Cutting him off, I grinned.
“I know.”
And then, I removed his helmet.
It’s not like you’re some king destined to guard his throne forever while wearing a helmet anyway.
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]