“Haa… Haa… Haa…”
Facing the giant Devil with such enormous height, Airn took a second to catch his breath.
He was lucky.
This is a battle of the mind and heart.
If this was a battle between the corruptor and the endurer, then he might have been defeated. Because right now he wasn’t his normal self.
Forget the five energies, right now, he couldn’t even properly deal with a single energy. He could feel the strong flames within him already consuming his body and mind.
But it was fine.
At least, for the current fight, he was fine.
Ching…!
Anger.
Enmity.
Hatred.
The current aura that Airn was using came from all kinds of negative emotions and was clearly different from the path he took.
And this was the unwelcomed result of his fear of the completely different future that might come… the future that was nothing like what he had initially imagined.
But it was necessary.
For this moment, he desperately needed this energy.
Tah!
Airn Pareira, who leapt into the sky, swung his sword. In order to cut down the devil, he used the Red Aura instead of his golden one.
What he was using wasn’t the Five Spirits Divine Technique.
It wasn’t harmonious, nor did it have any goodwill towards him or others. On the contrary, even before he realized the Sword of Water, his heart wasn’t as bad as it was now.
But.
His technique was more powerful and violent.
The sword of Airn Pareira right now, in terms of strength alone, was the best he had shown ever in his life.
… after a while, an intense light shone.
—!
Tah!
“Uh, huh, haa…”
He landed on the ground as he continued to breathe heavily.
But the gigantic devil still didn’t budge. Its very form was nightmarish.
It looked so terrifying and desperate to win this fight that any normal human would back away from the fight.
But not Airn.
Despite his state of exhaustion, he continued to stare at the opponent. To be precise, he looked at the top of its head.
On it there were cracks so small that even a single sheet of paper couldn’t fit into them.
Suddenly, a breeze blew through.
And a miracle happened.
An unfamiliar sound came from the gigantic devil which had been silent till now.
…crack.
Jjkkk, jjjkkkk.
The sound became bigger and bigger, and soon it was loud enough for anyone to hear.
The sound continued thundering around the hall, and it was as if it had the power to destroy the world. Nevertheless, Airn didn’t use his Aura to protect his ears.
It was because he didn’t have any energy left to do it, but even if he could, he wouldn’t have done it.
Die.
Fall down.
The cry that came from Airn’s heart became his will and it went for the giant devil. It hit the devil which was still trying to recover its body.
But it couldn’t stand the sound any longer.
Kwaaang!
Kwaaang!
Finally, the gigantic evil fell down defeated. It was split into half and it couldn’t move. The corpse which had completely lost all its strength and power, collapsed around the tower as if it was a mountain that was created to bring about the destruction of the tower.
The entire scenario was truly an scene that was worthy of being written down in the history of the continent!
Had there been a singer or a historian present to witness the scene, they would have said this:
He has surpassed Ignet Crescentia. The reason he lost in the Warrior’s Festival had to be because he was young. If the tournament had been held a month later, the outcome of the match would have been completely different.
… but Airn couldn’t smile.
Because he couldn’t find out the whereabouts of Ignet or the clown.
That was just one of the reasons he couldn’t relax.
A bigger problem remained.
Right. The fight wasn’t over.
Clench!
“Huk, huk…”
He thrust his sword into the ground and leaned on one knee.
It was good, but not good enough. Thinking that, he looked up at the sky.
The evil was gone. It was absurd to even think about, but he really did overcome it.
But if he had completely won against the evil, then the sky which was being covered by the clouds and the dark shadows should have disappeared.
But he still couldn’t see the light. The sky was still dark. The dark barrier that had formed around the tower seemed to be working fine even now.
Rather, it looked like it was even stronger.
The curses that kept attacking Airn mocked his vision. Moreover, his nose was still picking up on the disgusting stench.
He couldn’t help it.
Two devils, both larger than the other demon he had defeated a while ago were looking down at him and walking towards him.
And at their feet, there were over 50 demons.
They didn’t seem to be rushing towards Airn, but each of them possessed a strength that was similar to the Hammer Devil and Octopus Devil he had faced before.
‘… how can this be? Even with the power of the Clown, this shouldn’t be possible… perhaps, it is the power of the existence which confronted Ignet.’
Despair began to sneak into Airn’s heart.
But he immediately stopped it. In this situation, he relied on his anger to help him.
Even if it was going to burn him down, it would help him shine in front of this darkness.
From among the devils who were watching this, an unpleasant sound came.
Clap, clap, clap.
“Woah, amazing. Really amazing. I admit it. I made make a mistake. We shouldn’t have given you time. It has been a while since I saw you, so I forgot it.”
“…”
“And apart from that, you got incredibly strong didn’t you? I was constantly watching you on the magic screens during the Warrior’s Festival, and I prepared all of this, but it seems like you are much stronger than that time. How can this be?”
Yprene Slick, with a smile on his face, stepped ahead, boasting his new body.
This was only a small distance between where they stood glaring at each other despite being exhausted.
But Airn didn’t move.
He wasn’t giving up. He knew it. He knew the fact that the body Yprene was using to talk to him right now was not a real one.
As if it read his thoughts, the demon continued to speak.
“Anyway, I made a mistake. But there is something else I had forgotten too. It is unreasonable to go head-on-head against you. It is stupid to go alone against you as well. You are someone who goes beyond the expectations, so it is always possible for things to change in your favor again. Which is why I have to do my best.”
“…”
“That is why I prepared all this. The devils of this world… I have collected all of them. Just for you. In order to not disappoint Young Lord Airn Pareira, who will be one of the heroes responsible for the future of the continent.”
“…”
“Oh, you can’t think of an answer? Or are you gathering your energy to strike me? That crazy one strike? Do you want to show off your power which will wipe out all the people in here?”
“But that is impossible”
“Right. It cannot be done.”
The two devils reacted to Yprene’s words.
Boasting huge bodies, one of them was red and the other was blue.
Their colors, red and blue… they were very similar to Judith and Bratt. Of course, the atmosphere that the two devils gave out was completely different from his friends.
The one on left just had blood and organs on it figure while the one on right looked like disease and poison.
Both of the devils looked terrible.
It was like a collection of the most horrible things in the world. It was the same even the demons below Yprene Slick. They were all made up of evil.
But apart from their appearance, they didn’t feel dangerous and ferocious like devils normally did.
They were weird enemies who couldn’t be compared to the normal demons… it was as if they were of a higher level.
To them, the old magicians said.
“Thank you, great people. Thanks to you I was able to carry out the orders of the King.”
“There is nothing to be thankful for. The Demon King’s longing is no different from ours.”
“I don’t want to say much, but this is better than not doing anything.”
“Right. The fall of Ignet Crescentia is the best way to turn the human world into Devildom.”
“Aside from that, it is also exciting to taste the blood and fear of a young hero.”
Fwoop
The giant on the left took a deep breath. And a few demons along with Yprene stumbled.
Yprene managed to balance himself, but three weak demons were sucked into the mouth of the devil.
Ahhhhh….
And the sound vanished immediately afterwards.
But nobody cared.
In the darkness that descended on the Eastern part of the continent, Airn tightly shut his eyes.
‘…what should I do…’
He had to think of a way to break through the current crisis and find Ignet.
But it was tough.
The seething rage helped to keep him away from the darkness of the demons, but it wasn’t helping him think rationally.
No, maybe such a thing was useless in the current situation. It might have been better to swing his sword without another thought. He exhaled and extended the sword which was in his hand.
Intense eyes.
The energy of his greatsword was much stronger than that.
His power burned again, despite him using it a lot previously. Some of the demons coughed at it. Although they were enemies, they showed respect to Airn for standing up.
But not a single one feared him.
The heat was so intense that it should have melted them the moment it touched them.
But the demons present there were the darkest beings on the continent.
Even compared to the devils of 400 years and 1,000 years ago, these ones could be called real devils.
And it wasn’t just that.
Godara’s malice
The Clown’s mask.
And the Demon King’s hope.
It was impossible to deal with these demons. These demonic creatures had become incredibly strong because of such advantages, and no matter how much he was considered as the future of the continent on par with Ignet, it was not possible.
Even if he was dragged to the Demon King now, he wouldn’t have had the power to fight the devils off. But he didn’t give up.
He didn’t sit down.
He kept holding his sword and manifested his Aura.
The scene was comparable to the flame on a candle wick in a night sky, and the devils all laughed as they saw his futile attempts.
Even those who acknowledged Airn couldn’t help but get bored at this sight.
The blue and red devils looked down and nodded. There was no reason to watch anymore however.
One of them was about to trample the young hero with its feet…
Ching!
“…”
“…”
“….”
In the darkness of Godara, a portal opened.
Shimmering golden waves.
All the devils’ eyes were focused there. Depending on who came out, it was something they had to be wary about.
The one who appeared there, gave out an old fashioned and sacred feeling as if he had popped out of a sculpture in a temple which was a hundred years old.
And that wasn’t all.
The devil mumbled with an unwavering glare.
“Julius Hul…”
Julius Hul.
Avilius, the Holy Kingdom, the strongest power on the continent and the eternal rival of the devils. And this man was the one who stood at the top of that place.
At the same time, he was one of the three strongest swordsmen on the continent and the devil was bewildered.
“This…”
Wheing!
Wheing!
Wheeing!
And that wasn’t the end.
Heroes kept coming out of the portal. It wasn’t the heroes who were considered the future of the continent, but rather, the heroes of the present. The people who were widely known for their swordsmanship and personality.
Living legends began to appear and they kept coming out of the portal.
There were other strong swordsmen of the continent, and even Joshua Lindsay was there too. Along with him, the most elite swordsmanship teachers of Lation stood there.
The southern swordsmen, who were criticized for being selfish were now standing there for the protection of the world and the swordsmen of the east who were also present were not speaking down on them.
Jia Runtel, the Queen of magicians, and Karakum along with the orc warriors under him were all there.
And in the eyes of Jia Runtel appeared the sorry sight of Yprene Slick who immediately went stiff.
Wheing!
Whing!
And more human powers continued to pour out.
The members of the young generation who were sure to shine in the coming times.
Ilya Lindsay, Bratt Lloyd and Judith.
Jet Frost and the other Sword Masters who were inspired by the Warrior’s Festival.
The Holy Knights including Quincy Myers and the highest priests of Avilius were there too.
And finally.
Wheeeing!
Shhh!
“…”
“Huhu. We are here. There is no need to be scared anymore.”
The headmaster of Krono, who was famous for being the best in swordsmanship in the whole continent had appeared.
The expressions of the devils distorted at this sight, and the two great huge devils showed signs of shock.
Shh
Shhhh
And two swordsmen disappeared immediately and appeared in the sky the next moment. To be precise they were aiming for the red and blue devils.
Woong!
Jingggg!
Ian.
And Julius Hul.
The strongest swords of the Continent, comparable to the heroes of legend, splendidly brought on the start of the Great War.
