Chapter 200: Left Shield, Right Sword
He was too reckless.
He should have prepared more.
And he should have heeded Jaganata’s words not to be swayed.
Korax, mulling over his belated regret, tried to cool his boiling head, but his anger had already become uncontrollable.
“Ugh!”
Breathing heavily, Korax swung his hammer. Just a few seconds ago, there were a few effective hits, but now, nothing even grazed his opponent.
He was ten times the size and twice the height of his opponent. Was that the problem? No, Korax was sure it wasn’t. The speed of his polearm swings was certainly faster, and the range was four times longer than that of Sirius.
No matter how clouded his mind was with anger, out of thousands, tens of thousands of swings, at least one should have been a solid hit. That was the logic of the world and the causality that should naturally follow.
However, Korax overlooked something crucial.
Lucia Prient, the girl wielding the sword, was a reincarnator far removed from the world’s order. The manipulated fate, twisted by the orchestrator, placed a monster in front of Korax—a monster that had torn apart a deity with a human body.Unless the devil himself descended, there was no way Korax could prevail.
In the end, Korax had to block Lucia’s sword strikes with his armor instead of his weapon. Unlike the previous exchanges, Lucia’s strikes began to carry composure and thought. She deflected wild attacks with flowing movements and persistently targeted the only exposed part, his face.
‘It’s only a matter of time.’
Shhhhh!
There was no need to rush. Instead of severing his neck entirely, Lucia pricked and scraped his skin.
Naturally, Korax could no longer see ahead. That wasn’t all. The face, which had endured thousands of cuts, was now unrecognizable.
Thud-
A lot of blood was shed. The front of the golden armor was stained with thick black blood, and the entire floor of the coliseum was filled with dark magic.
If he were an ordinary human, he would have died from losing so much blood, but Korax was no ordinary human; he was an apostle. Despite his eyes no longer functioning and his throat filled with sticky blood, Korax showed no sign of stopping his relentless hammering.
“Ugh.”
Korax himself didn’t understand why this was possible. No, he knew but didn’t want to admit it.
‘…Erosion of Reason.’
Korax’s reason was fading. His body, swinging the hammer, had long since slipped from his control. It was not something granted by the devil to be used solely for the master’s purpose but rather a transcendental interference, twisting Korax’s fate to save him from certain death.
-Rest now.
…A voice resonating in his head. It was the revelation of the god Korax had sworn to follow.
But Korax could not comply.
The master’s goal was not just to rescue Verian but first, to kill the hero and second, to retrieve Korax.
‘I am Korax the dwarf. A friend of the hot-blooded elf, Verian…’
Korax tried to hold onto his sanity by reminding himself of who he was. It was an act that would have terrified other apostles, but Korax became an apostle solely for his friend Verian.
To Korax, Verian was a greater salvation than the devil. He was willing to betray even the god and make everyone in the world his enemy for Verian’s sake.
‘Knowing how to feel and extend kindness…’
Korax barely moved his legs. Though his arm continued to swing the hammer at Lucia, he was walking toward Verian in the stands.
Stagger-
However,
His mind became muddled.
It wasn’t dizziness making his head spin. As the murky aura dyed his once clear consciousness black, his mind darkened.
Thud-
‘…’
Creak!
The sound from the joints of the armor. The first to notice the anomaly was Seira. A stream of blood flowed from Seira’s nose.
“…Huh?”
Seira hastily wiped her nose, but the blood kept flowing. Next to her, Shiron poured holy power into Seira, but even then, the nosebleed wouldn’t stop.
“What’s going on, why are you like this?”
“Don’t stop.”
Seira briefly responded, then began to inspect various parts of the colosseum.
The sky and the ground.
The passage to the sky, sealed long ago, was intact. The colosseum, now a barrier to prevent damage to the surroundings…
“It’s not fine.”
Seira narrowed her eyes, focusing on the battlefield where thick demonic energy swirled. The ochre soil was obscured, completely covered by the scattered blood of the apostle.
But it was only blood. Seira’s barrier, strong enough to withstand impacts that could shake the heavens and earth, was still holding, though it was under strain. However, Seira’s barrier was being eroded.
“My mana is being eroded.”
Her superior magical insight quickly identified the cause.
It was the power of the Demon God’s authority… the power of destruction. The black blood saturating the ground was spreading the energy of destruction, affecting not just the barrier but also Seira, who was connected to it.
Mana erosion.
Shiron knew who was capable of this. The Demon God and his first apostle, Jaganata, who had been granted his power.
Understanding the situation, Shiron withdrew his hand and made a decisive gesture.
“Shift the barrier’s range to the outermost edge. If erosion continues, remove it entirely.”
“Then the mansion will collapse.”
“You’re more important than the mansion.”
With those words, Shiron leaped toward the battle.
Lucia also sensed something amiss.
She couldn’t pinpoint when, as the intense movements blurred together, but the power that had caused her jaw to clench and the monotonous groans that had escaped her were no longer present.
“Erosion…”
The issues she had been ignoring resurfaced. She couldn’t excuse her delayed realization due to the unrecognizable face. The demonic energy Korax had been emitting was too vast for an apostle blessed with the power of a god to contain.
The erosion didn’t stop with Korax’s body.
“Frustrating.”
Lucia furrowed her brows and exhaled heavily.
Despite having battled the Demon God several times and historically tearing him apart, the power of destruction was something that ordinary humans couldn’t face, no matter their strength.
Aware of her heavy body, Lucia stepped back. Screech! The spot where her red hair had just been was swept by a huge hammer. Even though consciousness was lost, was the function to kill the enemy still working properly?
Ignoring the goosebumps that rose on her skin, Lucia heated her lower abdomen more intensely than before. Her lower belly tingled. Her heart pounded. Her head…
“Phew.”
Lucia opened her golden eyes, half-lidded. She forcibly increased the size of the white aura. Not only was the power of destruction eroding the surroundings, but it was also gnawing away at Lucia’s mind…
Grinding her teeth, Lucia questioned herself.
“…Why is this happening?”
She swung her sword endlessly and racked her brain. Lucia was Kyrie, and Kyrie was the hero who had single-handedly defeated the Demon God. So, the fact that she was struggling against this mere thing was an unreasonable outcome for Lucia.
However, Lucia’s judgment was far off.
Lucia was not Kyrie.
Blink-
Boom!
“Annoying.”
A headless angel.
The tip of her sword, which had been swung millions of times, wavered. It was because she became conscious of the master of the power of destruction. Lucia possessed immense power, but ultimately, she was human. Humans, no matter how much they tried to forget, ended up being conscious of what they shouldn’t.
A feeling of melancholy.
Heavy breathing.
The miracle that transformed sadness into anger and added to her power did not occur.
Lucia was Kyrie, but she wasn’t the hero, so she couldn’t create a miracle that defied logic.
Boom!
A huge hammer rushed towards her heavy body. Lucia swung her sword diagonally. Her skill didn’t vanish just because she swallowed her fear, so she narrowly avoided the direct hit.
However, she couldn’t completely avoid it. Her small body spun several times in place, the unabsorbed impact causing sparks to fly around her.
She was dizzy. It made her nauseous.
Once again, a huge hammer approached. She needed to quickly step on the ground to avoid it. Could she avoid it again this time?
Full Bloom.
Flowing Water.
Breaking the Sky.
Piercing the Center.
The Path of the Invisible.
‘How should I respond…’
Her thoughts were abruptly interrupted. Without even thinking of avoiding the oncoming attack, Lucia’s small body was suddenly yanked back.
“Ugh!”
Lucia felt a shock as if she was being choked.
“Ugh!”
The breath she had swallowed was forced out. The unavoidable attack grazed her nose. Tss- Her nose stung with heat, the recoil from the shattered defensive aura. If Shiron hadn’t pulled her back, Lucia would have taken a direct hit from that massive weight.
Sway-
“…What are you doing?”
A sharp question. It was not an appropriate thing to say to the benefactor who saved her life. However, at this moment, Lucia couldn’t help but feel annoyed at Shiron.
“Shut up.”
Shiron gripped the nape of Lucia’s neck with his right hand.
“Just focus on swinging your sword.”
In Shiron’s left hand was a cross.
“Remove all unnecessary things and optimize it well.”
He wasn’t speaking to Lucia, but to his guardian angel. Latera invested all of Shiron’s three blessings to increase speed and agility.
Whack-
A massive amount of divine power burst out from his hands, the power of the hero. The white light pushed away the thick, sticky demonic energy. Lucia immediately felt her breath return to normal… and experienced a strange sensation of her body’s center shifting against her will.
“Swing your sword.”
Shiron swung his right hand toward Korax. Lucia and Korax grew closer. Lucia couldn’t understand the situation, but to avoid death, she reawakened Sirius.
Crunch! Crack!
The blessing of the god that destroys corruption swept through. With the unholy energy repelled, Lucia felt her body lighter than ever as she swung her sword.
Thousands of sword strikes surged. Unlike a few seconds ago, when she merely deflected the enemy’s attacks, Lucia’s slashes now tore Korax’s armor to shreds.
Raging sword strikes.
The turmoil of dirty blood.
Had it been like before, the blood imbued with the power of destruction would have dulled and weighed down Lucia, but she had immense divine power backing her up. Even though she was covered in blood, she only felt a refreshing sensation.
‘…I’m grateful, but.’
She felt uncomfortable.
However, Lucia’s feelings were entirely unimportant.
“The turn has come back.”
She needed to focus on the enemy in front of her. Shiron pulled his right hand back and extended his left hand toward Korax. The cross had the unconscious Verian bound to it.
“Can you kill your precious friend with your own hands?”
Shiron boldly spoke to the incoming hammer. Lucia was flabbergasted.
‘What nonsense is he spouting?’
Did he not know the opponent was unconscious? That thought crossed her mind, but soon, Lucia heard a chilling sound. Screech! Shiron clicked his tongue and took a step back.
“Hey, won’t you stop? This is your friend!”
Hesitation entered the attack, but the hammer did not stop. Shiron quickly withdrew his left hand and spat out a curse.
He extended his right hand toward Korax. He stepped forward, forcing Lucia to pressurize Korax.
“Again.”
Shiron pulled Lucia back and pushed Verian forward. The crimson hammer rushed toward the unconscious Verian.
However,
It was noticeably slower than before. Lucia felt the subtle difference, and Shiron, with his sharpened senses, could also infer it.
Shiron’s mouth twisted into a sly smile. He chuckled as he repeatedly controlled the flow of the battle.
“It’s about time to wrap things up.”
“…”
“I said it’s time to wrap things up.”
“So what, what do you want me to do about it?”
Lucia replied while dangling in mid-air.
Even though it was an unavoidable strategy to save her life and overcome the situation, her predicament was comical, too comical. While feeling a mix of gratitude and annoyance, she heard a shocking command in her ear.
“It’s Nakseom.”
“…!”
A dull thud resonated from Shiron’s outstretched right hand.
Nakseom, the descending flash of light aimed at the enemy.
Lucia couldn’t possibly not know its name. It was none other than the ultimate sword skill of Kyrie, which Lucia herself had devised, where the sword energy becomes pure light and cleaves the opponent in half.
From top to bottom, Shiron swung his right hand.
“Nakseom.”
He quietly recited the skill’s name. He threw the large cross backward and drew the holy sword from his bosom, gripping it with his left hand.
“…”
Feeling an unbearable sense of shame, Lucia gritted her teeth and heated her lower abdomen. The sword energy extending from Sirius turned into a bright light, tearing through the air to kill the enemy before her.
Crack! A crack appeared in the giant armor. It was a fleeting moment, but Shiron did not miss it.
Shiron leaped from behind Lucia.
Right now.
Having thrown Lucia aside, Shiron gripped the holy sword with both hands. He exploded forward, blasting the ground beneath him. Moving at a speed nearly equal to Lucia’s strike, Shiron was determined to kill the enemy.
Whoosh!
He squeezed out all the power he had been holding back until now, releasing it at this moment.
“Great Slash.”
…Shhhhh!
The light of the holy sword exploded, cutting through the crack in the armor. It was a meticulously precise strike. Even though the world was bathed in dazzling light, only Shiron could see the truth clearly.
Thus, against the bright backdrop, a heavy thud shook the ground.
“…Verian.”
A wistful voice. The sorrowful murmur emanated from the point closest to the ground. Shiron’s gaze alternated between Korax, who began to crumble into dust, and Verian, who was also turning to dust while bound to the cross.
“Disappear…”
Shiron muttered.
Blocking his ears, Shiron drove the holy sword into Korax’s head.
Lucia covered her face with both hands, feeling as though she would die of embarrassment.