Chapter 1069
“We, we won! The White Blood Cult has fallen!”
“It’s finally over….”
“Now I can finally rest easy.”
“Whew, I thought I was going to die.”
The Zieghart swordsmen gathered in the training grounds finally sent cheers and shouts of victory toward the martial artists of the Five Kings who had brought them triumph.
“…But what happened to Denier?”
“I, I don’t know. He stabbed King Lecross, and then why did he target the White Blood Lord….”
“Come to think of it, it was a betrayal after betrayal, wasn’t it? But why?”
“Even though we won, the questions are still unanswered.”
Since they could not hear what had been said, many of the swordsmen were also curious about Denier’s betrayal.
However, Glenn had already left the training grounds where cheers and questions were spreading and was heading toward the foothills of Northgaze Mountain.
As if he had transcended even the realm of Transcendence, he moved his Physical Body toward where his heart led him, advancing toward the peak where Fighting Spirit blazed.
Whoooosh!
Glenn climbed to the highest peak of Northgaze Mountain and faced a man clad in a crimson robe.
The snowflakes falling as if unaware of the depth of the earth melted into clear droplets before they could even touch him.
The master of the demon who had reached the heavens was gazing down upon the world from within the helm of the Demon Dragon that had sought to destroy it.
“You’re late.”
The Heavenly Demon slowly lowered and raised his eyelids again, as if he had expected Glenn’s arrival.
“Was your purpose to hold me back?”
Glenn frowned as he met the Heavenly Demon’s serene gaze.
“Coming all the way here has become meaningless. The White Blood Lord is dead.”
“…….”
The Heavenly Demon said nothing and merely stared at Glenn in silence. Seeing his calm eyes, it seemed he had already known the White Blood Lord was dead.
“You haven’t changed.”
The Heavenly Demon remarked that Glenn had not changed at all since the last time they met, stroking his chin.
“You’re still holding yourself back, aren’t you.”
“…….”
This time, Glenn did not answer either and only looked at the Heavenly Demon.
‘He’s grown stronger.’
When they had met before, the Heavenly Demon had said that while the Heart Sword was dangerous, Glenn could endure it if he nurtured his own Soul.
As if he had kept that promise, he was now revealing a Soul Rank clearly stronger than before.
“You fear ascending to the heavens.”
The Heavenly Demon revealed a sharp gaze, as if he had read all of Glenn’s thoughts.
“With such a wretched will, you’ll die by my hand.”
He clenched his fist with absolute certainty.
Goooooo!
The crimson Fighting Spirit blazing at the Heavenly Demon’s feet called forth a jade-green vitality upon a peak that had not melted for ten thousand years. A Fighting Spirit that evoked not death, but life. His martial prowess had already touched the heavens.
“What is your goal?”
Glenn met the Heavenly Demon’s gaze and tilted his chin slightly.
“Why did you stop me?”
“Return to Origin. We are all merely walking that path. And besides….”
The Heavenly Demon started to say more, then closed his mouth.
“The next time we meet, one of us will die.”
His low voice carried certainty. Even without reading the Celestial Omen, it felt as if he could already see the future.
“Of course, as things stand now, you will be the one who dies.”
After leaving those words behind, the Heavenly Demon vanished like a phantom, turning into crimson smoke.
“…….”
After the Heavenly Demon disappeared, Glenn bit the inside of his lip as he looked at the peak where sprouts were pushing through.
“Head Of House!”
As he let out a heavy sigh, Roenn ran up with an urgent expression.
“Darkhan’s condition is terrible!”
Roenn furrowed his brow, saying the tide of battle had sharply turned.
“I see. Then I must go.”
Glenn nodded briefly and turned.
“But the means to get there….”
He frowned, mentioning that Chamber, who needed to control the long-distance Teleportation Magic, was unconscious.
“No.”
Glenn calmly shook his head and stamped down on the peak where vitality was blooming.
“There is definitely someone. Someone who can take Chamber’s place.”
===
‘This is….’
Darkhan bit his lip so hard it seemed he might tear it.
‘Does this even make sense?’
In the Mental World created by the Heart Sword, one could see the opponent’s Soul with one’s own eyes.
He had dragged swordsmen like Raon, who seemed to possess solid cores, into this space and fought them a few times, but not once had their Soul Rank gone beyond his predictions.
However, Derus Robert, standing before him now, was releasing an immeasurably vast Soul, as if even his current Soul, which had reached the pinnacle of the Transcendents, was merely an outer shell.
Kugugugugu!
Shadowy things like spilled sewage rose endlessly, and within them, countless eyes dripped with mocking sneers. A chilling shiver ran down his spine.
‘That is absolutely not a Soul a human can possess.’
The true Soul Derus held beneath his heart was not one being, but a vast resonance as if hundreds, perhaps thousands, of Souls had been gathered together. And every single one of them bore the same sinister hue.
Kugugugugu!
Derus’s Soul spread wider and wider, causing the Mental World to tremble and warp as if it were about to collapse.
This space he had created was about to shatter beneath the weight of a Soul too vast and too powerful.
‘To think such a Soul existed….’
Even when facing Glenn’s Heart Sword, he had only thought he would die. He had never felt fear. This was the first time his own Soul had shriveled like this. It was not a difference in martial prowess, but the instinctive terror inherent to a human.
“Human, you ask?”
Derus twisted his lips upward as he looked at the black shadow covering the Mental World.
“Mad for the sword, enough to create a space like this, yet worrying over trivial matters.”
He shook his head as if such things were utterly meaningless now.
“Why are you just standing there watching?”
As Derus smiled, the thousands of eyes behind him blinked all at once. It was a sight beyond eerie, something grotesque.
“I revealed my Soul just as you wanted, didn’t I? Come at me as you did before.”
Derus crooked his finger, inviting him to attack as he wished. His Soul was still surging without end, dyeing Darkhan’s Mental World in darkness.
Goooooo!
He could feel black cracks forming along the massive sword that had taken shape as his Mental World.
‘This is bad.’
A dreadful sensation told him that if he got close to that black existence, his Soul would be swallowed into Derus and turned into one of those eyes before he could even swing his sword.
No, it felt as if Derus was already devouring his Mental World at this very moment and growing stronger.
“Having eyes in here really does have its uses.”
Derus sneered as he looked at Darkhan.
“If you had rushed in mindlessly like before, I would’ve swallowed you whole.”
He smacked his lips as if regretful. At the same time, the eyes also cast eerie sidelong glances.
‘If I got close…?’
Darkhan narrowed his eyes at Derus’s words.
‘Then does that mean he can’t fully control that Soul yet?’
Thinking about it, there was no reason for someone with a Soul that massive to have stayed hidden until now.
If he could fully wield the power of that Soul, he could defeat even Glenn or the Heavenly Demon.
Yet Derus had blatantly avoided fighting Glenn. That meant he had not fully made that massive cluster of Souls his own.
‘I’ll target that gap.’
If Derus could not fully control that immense Soul, then Darkhan still had a chance. If he attacked from a distance where his own Soul would not be swallowed, an opening would appear.
“Hoo.”
Darkhan gripped the Black Sword and bent his upper body.
“Seems you’ve figured it out.”
Derus lifted his chin as if amused.
“Though you’re mad for the sword, you’re not a fool without a brain.”
He nodded as if confirming that his judgment had been correct.
“However….”
Derus’s right eye began to stain itself with a black aura of death.
Kugugugugu!
The thousands of eyes surging behind Derus followed suit, their eyeballs burning black.
Kyaaaaang!
At that moment, the gray sword forming his Mental World finally could no longer endure Derus’s Soul and shattered apart like a spiderweb splitting open.
Kugugugugu!
Since his Heart Sword was his Mental World itself, the moment the sword collapsed, the Heart Sword also had no choice but to shatter.
Kuuuuuung!
Darkhan opened his eyes with difficulty as a deafening roar burst against his ears.
Derus was still standing before him, but the black Soul and the countless eyes that had spread out behind him were no longer visible. It seemed they had returned to reality.
Goooooo!
Derus, as if he had undergone an Awakening in the meantime, emitted a Soul Rank and a domineering Energy Wave even greater than before.
“You… cough!”
Darkhan tried to approach Derus, but black blood poured from his mouth. The backlash from having his Mental World shattered into pieces had inflicted severe internal injuries.
But the biggest problem was not the internal injuries. It was the damage to his Upper Dantian. The Upper Dantian, most heavily used in battles between Transcendents, had collapsed together with his Heart Sword, creating the worst possible situation.
“Creating a Heart Sword merely as a place to fight in. How utterly foolish.”
Derus snorted and wagged a finger.
“Of course, even if you had wielded a proper Heart Sword like Glenn Zieghart, you still could not have cut through our Soul.”
He lifted his blue eyes as he looked at Darkhan, who continued coughing blood.
“That’s how it must look to someone with no romance for the sword.”
Darkhan swept his hair back and curled his bloodstained lips.
“My nature is to grow stronger the deeper I’m pushed into crisis. I’m already looking forward to how I’ll overcome this filthy situation.”
Even cornered, he lifted his chin as if he truly intended to defeat Derus.
“I will defeat you and make you tell me about that Soul.”
“Good. If you defeat me, I’ll tell you everything.”
The moment Derus nodded calmly, his body vanished like smoke.
Huuuuung!
Derus reappeared directly in front of Darkhan. Without any preparatory motion, he simply thrust his sword toward Darkhan’s heart.
It seemed like an ordinary thrust, but it was imbued with a terrifying level of Subtle Principle in swordsmanship.
Kyararararang!
Darkhan set the Black Sword diagonally and deflected the blade probing toward his heart to the left.
But even that seemed to strain him, as black Blood Essence leaked from the corners of his mouth.
“You’ve weakened.”
Derus chuckled softly and shook his head.
“Even from a sickbed, I could defeat someone like you.”
Darkhan muttered that there was no need to worry and knocked aside Derus’s sword as it came from the left.
“Your spirit is worthy of acknowledgment, I suppose.”
Derus smirked and stepped into Darkhan’s range, unleashing a succession of heavy sword techniques.
Jjeeeoong!
The hand holding Darkhan’s Black Sword trembled violently as he was pushed back ten steps.
‘…This is bad.’
It was true that Derus had grown stronger than before, but if his body had been in normal condition, Darkhan could have dealt with him without issue. The reason he was being pushed back now was the backlash from his shattered Heart Sword.
‘It’s difficult to use the Upper Dantian.’
If he had not used the Heart Sword, he could have cornered Derus or driven him away. He regretted using the Heart Sword so lightly against that mysterious being.
‘Still….’
He could not break here.
What he had said about turning crisis into opportunity and overcoming it had not been a lie.
He had always grown stronger through adversity, so he raised his sinking concentration and analyzed Derus’s swordsmanship.
‘I can still see it somehow.’
Darkhan minimized his losses as he blocked Derus’s Sword Strikes, while simultaneously healing the injuries to his organs and Upper Dantian. Not relying on his eyes and instead sensing with instinct was actually proving more helpful.
“You truly are worthy of the name Dark Night Sword Saint.”
Derus twisted his lips as if he had read Darkhan’s movements.
“From here on, let’s proceed a little differently.”
The moment those words ended, Derus’s swordsmanship changed drastically. Fast, then slow. Light, then heavy.
Invisible to the eye, his sword was now pursuing the flow of the Thousands Sword, much like Glenn or Raon.
Kyakyakyakyakyak!
Darkhan spewed blood from his mouth like a fountain and staggered backward like a drunkard.
‘Damn it….’
As he struggled to grasp the changed sword, the damage to his Upper Dantian worsened. Now even his vision was blurring, making everything difficult.
“Tired already, after I just said you lived up to your name, Dark Night Sword Saint Darkhan?”
Derus spoke mockingly, as if already certain of his victory.
“I am not the Dark Night Sword Saint. I am merely a swordsman. As long as this sword does not break, I will not break.”
Darkhan shouted for Derus to come at him as much as he wished, blocking the roughly flying blade and even counterattacking.
Though blood was flowing from his eyes, nose, and mouth, he still smiled as he swung his sword. It was the will to overcome a collapsing Physical Body.
“Merely a swordsman….”
Derus slightly furrowed his brows as he brought his sword down upon Darkhan.
Kuuuuung!
Darkhan raised the Black Sword and simply blocked the descending strike.
But Derus, as if deciding to rely on force rather than the Subtle Principle of swordsmanship, continuously layered his Aura.
Kugugugugu!
Darkhan began to collapse, unable to withstand the weight and power packed into Derus’s sword.
“Ugh….”
Darkhan bit his lip as he watched the Black Sword, pressed down by Derus’s blade, fall toward his own forehead.
“Since you are mad for the sword, I’ll let you die by your own sword.”
Derus muttered that it would be a fitting death as he poured still more strength into his sword.
Huuuuung!
Just as Darkhan’s forehead was about to be split open by the Black Sword and Blood Essence was about to spill—
a powerful Aura shot toward Derus’s face.
“Hmph!”
Derus snorted and erected a wall of Deathly Energy to block the Aura rushing toward his face.
Puuuuuek!
But the white Aura pierced through Derus’s Deathly Energy and struck the inside of his chin.
“Kgh….”
Derus, seemingly caught off guard, was forced back along with the sword that had been pressing down on Darkhan.
“Haaa….”
Darkhan bent at the waist and exhaled a muddy breath, as if he had just been saved from death itself.
“Are you alright?”
Ogram shook off the Deathly Energy clinging to his fist and stood beside Darkhan.
“Why….”
Darkhan let out a sigh laced with the scent of blood and frowned.
“Why did you interfere? I was just about to cut that bastard down.”
Instead of thanking him, he glared at Ogram and demanded to know why he had stepped into the fight.
“Anyway….”
Ogram clicked his tongue as if he had expected that answer.
“You saved me, so of course I save you too!”
He shook his head as if the question itself made no sense.
“I had no intention of saving you. I simply wanted to fight.”
Darkhan raised the Black Sword, showing that his mindset had not changed even now.
“Same here. My strength has come back, so I need to test it.”
Ogram said he too just wanted to fight Derus, just like Darkhan, as he clenched both fists and drew up his Aura.
“You came here seeking your own path to death. If you had stayed still, I would’ve killed you cleanly.”
Derus wiped the Blood Essence on his lips with the back of his hand and smiled.
“Since it’s come to this, I’ll send both of you off at once.”
Even with Ogram’s interference, he was still certain of victory.
Paaaaang!
Derus exploded forward with a fierce tearing sound and cut in between Ogram and Darkhan.
Huuung! Puuuueong!
Darkhan swung his sword down, and Ogram threw his fist, but Derus’s sword met their combined force head-on, drove it back, and pressed inward.
“Hold on just a little!”
Ogram left the defense to Darkhan and unleashed the Bursting Lotus Fist. The spiraling airstream infused into his fist pierced through the Deathly Energy and flew toward Derus’s heart.
Paaaaang!
But the Fist Strike wrapped in the Bursting Lotus Fist vanished, pushed away by black mist before it could reach Derus.
“It won’t work a second time.”
Derus twisted his lips as if he knew everything about the Bursting Lotus Fist and swung his sword. It seemed like a technique that relied purely on speed, yet strangely, Ogram’s body would not move.
Puuuek!
The moment Ogram’s right arm was about to be severed, Darkhan kicked him away, allowing him to barely slip out of Derus’s range.
Chiiiiik!
However, he had not fully escaped, and a black, burning sword wound appeared on Ogram’s shoulder. Darkhan also had a crimson wound bloom across his chest where Derus’s sword had struck.
“Not bad for people coordinating for the first time. However….”
Derus gathered Deathly Energy into his Sword energy and unleashed a fierce thrust.
Paaaaang!
At the first Sword Strike, Darkhan vomited blood and fell back, and Ogram reacted late, failed to defend properly, and was also sent flying.
Though he was on a similar level, Derus overwhelmed the internally injured Darkhan with the sheer volume and power of his Aura, while unleashing a high-level Martial Arts against Ogram, who was on a different level.
It was the perfect strategy to suppress their Combined Attack Technique.
“The same picture gets boring, so let’s end this now.”
Derus stood before Darkhan and raised his sword.
“This is how much I’ve gained just by consuming your mental world. I wonder what kind of power I’ll obtain once I kill you.”
He licked his lips as if in genuine anticipation.
“Your sword… is not beautiful.”
Darkhan scoffed as he looked at Derus’s sword.
“What?”
“Glenn Zieghart’s sword is noble and magnificent. Raon Zigheart’s sword is aggressive and free. But from your sword…”
He shook his head and let out a sneer.
“I feel nothing at all. It’s certainly strong, but it’s completely empty.”
Darkhan blew his nose, calling it an uninteresting sword.
“I’ve felt this for a while now, but you certainly know how to provoke people. Of course, it won’t work on me.”
Derus shook his head as if the words of a loser weren’t worth listening to.
“Besides, my empty space will be filled with your Soul and power, so don’t you worry.”
He declared that his sword would soon have a will of its own and swung the blade, which blazed with the aura of death, down at Darkhan’s head.
Fwoooosh!
Just as Darkhan was watching Derus’s sword fall fiercely, as if he intended to witness his own death—
Kaaaaang!
A blue Dimension opened, and a silver blade shot out, blocking Derus’s Slash.
Rumble!
Derus’s sword, which had been overwhelming Darkhan and Ogram, began to tremble and get pushed back, overpowered.
“This is…”
Derus’s eyes widened in genuine shock as he stared at the sword coursing with red Lightning.
“That’s it!”
Darkhan clapped as he watched the sword push Derus back.
“That’s a real sword!”
He cheered as if he knew who the sword’s owner was.
Crackle!
The blue Dimension opened completely, and from within, Glenn Zieghart, a black robe draped over his shoulders, walked out.
His sword, grasped in his hand, let out a ferocious cry.
“Chamber and Larian have fallen! How are you here?!”
Derus, who had been reading the entire situation, trembled, his jaw slack, as if he couldn’t believe Glenn’s sudden appearance.
“You, too, are looking down on the children’s growth.”
Glenn’s gaze, filled with pride, turned behind him.
“Haaahk…”
Jaina, the princess of Balkan, once renowned more for her arrogance and insolence than her skill in Magic, had succeeded in casting Long-Distance Teleportation Magic, even as blood streamed from her nose and mouth. She was following in her master’s footsteps to inherit the name of Shadow Spirit.
“Today, your plan…”
Glenn stood before Derus, his eyes flashing with Lightning.
“Has been shattered by the very children you ignored.”