C910
Raon slowly lowered his gaze.
'It's starting to gradually spread.'
He could feel the energy of Chamber's necklace Rensia was wearing flowing towards the artifacts that formed the Five-Star Formation.
"Hmm..."
Rensia blinked her green eyes after examining her own body.
"The pain isn't too severe! I can handle it!"
She smiled while touching the black heart protruding from her waist.
"It's fine now, but it will soon get worse."
Raon shook his head with a bitter expression. Although it was bearable now as the mana was still spreading, Rensia would experience extreme pain once the Five-Star Formation connected.
"It's okay! I can withstand anything! Because we're together."
Rensia held his hand tightly and smiled weakly. She seemed to be steeling herself thinking of her siblings.
"Rensia..."
Runaan pressed his lips together after hearing Rensia's words.
"That girl is making me cry."
Martha frowned as she looked at Rensia.
- This king henceforth shall refer to that little one as the elder young lady!
Wrath declared that he had decided that "elder young lady" would be Rensia's nickname and clicked his lips.
'It feels good, but she'll hate it.'
Raon shook his head, saying that it was not good.
-Hmph. Once this king has decided, that's final.
Wrath snorted, saying that the decision had already been made.
-However, the movement of the mana is quite fast.
Wrath rolled his eyes, saying that the mana was moving faster than expected.
-For a spell created hastily, it's of high quality.
'Well, it's a spell created by the Archmage and his disciples working all night.'
Montiro is a great city suitable for a tourist destination. To envelop this vast land and sea with a magic circle as quickly as possible, the mages of Chamber and Balkar developed the spell without even sleeping.
- I'm looking forward to it.
Wrath briefly clicked his lips as he looked up at the air.
- The sight of those ugly things that insult demonic energy crumbling, that is.
He flashed his blue eyes, apparently still harboring anger towards the Black Tower.
'Me too.'
Raon nodded with calm eyes.
'I want to crush everything without leaving a trace.'
He thought that there were people with integrity in the Five Demons, like the Axe King of the South-North Union or the grandfather of the Holy Sword Alliance. However, the Black Tower and Derus Robert were exceptions. Those two factions were evil spirits who had abandoned humanity and were stained with the word 'demon'. It was right to eliminate them all without sparing anyone.
-It seems your anger has matured now.
Wrath said that it was an anger he liked and drew a slight smile.
'My anger has been there all along...'
Raon was about to mention Derus's name, but he stopped and turned his gaze to the right.
'It has reached the edges now.'
He could feel that Chamber's mana flowing from the center of Montiro had reached the artifacts that formed the Five-Star Formation. This is where it truly began.
"Ugh..."
Rensia bit her lip with her head down, apparently starting to feel the pain now.
"Hold on a little longer."
Raon passed the coldness of Glacier to Rensia. He used the cold energy to alleviate her pain while compressing the black heart.
'This isn't easy either.'
He couldn't move a step from this source as he had to keep the core of the magic circle stable while taking care of Rensia. If anyone interrupted, he would cough blood and collapse.
- Are you really okay?
Wrath narrowed his eyes as if he were worried.
'Yes.'
Raon nodded without hesitation. He smiled weakly as he looked at Runaan and Martha sitting in front of him.
'The ice cream girl and the meat girl you like so much will protect us.'
* * *
"Rensia..."
Martha bit her lips as she watched Rensia endure the unbearable pain.
'Every time I see that girl, I remember my younger days.'
When her village was massacred by the White Blood Religion and her mother was kidnapped, she thought she was alone in this world. At that time, being young and weak, she thought desperately and killed even the lowest-ranking Blood Demons while gritting her teeth.
If she hadn't met her father when she was in mortal danger, she would have already been a Blood Demon or died as food for them.
'No, Rensia has it worse than me.'
She had entered Zieghart at a younger age than Rensia when she was saved. Although she worried about her mother, her life itself was prosperous and comfortable. But Rensia had lived until now enduring only pain without receiving help from anyone.
Thinking about her life, forcing smiles while taking care of non-blood siblings, made Martha's heart ache as if it were being torn apart.
"Hey."
Martha sat on the bench next to the fountain and gestured to Runaan.
"You're thinking the same thing as me, right?"
"Probably..."
Runaan nodded heavily as he watched Rensia trembling all over.
'She's a brave girl...'
Much braver than me.
I was trapped in a cage for over 10 years, trapped in Syria's clutches, unable to even think about flying.
If Raon, a savior, hadn't appeared to open the cage door and let me fly into the sky, I still wouldn't be able to think about getting out of the cage. Rensia, too, had lived in pain her whole life, trapped in the Black Tower's clutches from birth, similar to me.
But she didn't give up, and she didn't lose her kind nature of protecting her siblings and thinking of others first.
She was a much braver girl than me, who had given up everything and remained trapped.
'I will protect her.'
She wanted to make Rensia smile not with a fake smile, but with the innocent smile of a girl her age. Of course, she herself was still clumsy at smiling.
"Let's do it."
Runaan clenched his fist, turning his back on Raon and Rensia.
"No matter what."
"Of course."
Martha raised her fist, saying there was no need to even say it. Thud. Runaan nodded and extended his fist towards Martha's.
"I win..."
"You're a bastard!"
* * *
Raon slowly opened his eyes.
'It's going well.'
With Rensia as the core, the magic circle of the Five-Star Formation began to change the flow of mana in Montiro.
-I'm starting to feel the demonic energy.
Wrath nodded, saying that the demonic energy was finally emerging in Montiro.
'Yes. The energy of death is also moving.'
The energy of death that had not existed in Montiro until now was emerging from beneath the earth. It meant that cracks had appeared in the magic circle connecting Montiro to the Black Tower. Looking at Rensia's necklace, one-third of the transparent jewel was filled with flames.
In 40 minutes, a dimensional gate leading to the Black Tower would open here.
"Hnngh..."
Rensia seemed to be in more pain, biting her lip deeply.
'It must be hard, but you have to hold on.'
If even Chamber said it was very painful, it must have been unbearable pain for a girl who had not received any training. He added Garunua's wind to the cold energy of Glacier to reduce Rensia's pain a little more.
"Haa..."
Rensia leaned forward, exhaling a low breath as if the pain had subsided a little.
"You've done well. Now... Hm?"
Raon was about to praise Rensia for holding on well, but he quickly averted his gaze.
-They're moving.
'Already...?'
Although only 26 minutes had passed, busy movements could be felt all over Montiro.
It seemed that those with sharp senses or strong demonized humans had begun to move.
'This means they are stronger than we predicted.'
Chamber had predicted that the Black Tower's demonized humans would discover the problem with the magic circle in about 30 minutes.
But the fact that they noticed it 4 minutes earlier than that meant it was right to think they were stronger than we had thought.
'Then they will try to contact the Black Tower, and when they can't connect, it will be around 28 minutes. The battle itself will begin at 30 minutes.'
When about half of the flames in Rensia's necklace had emerged, shock waves and explosions could be felt happening here and there in Montiro. It was the beginning of the battle. No, of the war. Martha and Runaan seemed to feel it too, as they drew subspace swords and stood in front and behind Raon and Rensia.
"¡Urgh!"
"¿¡Qué está pasando!?"
"¿¡Es guerra!?"
"¿¡Qué está sucediendo de repente!?"
Residents and tourists were confused by the sudden situation and rolled their eyes, not knowing what to do.
"You better leave this place."
"Go to the mountains..."
Martha and Runaan raised their fingers to inform residents and tourists about the prepared evacuation sites. Raon watched Runaan and Martha helping others evacuate and frowned.
'It has begun.'
He could feel the warriors guarding the Five-Star Formation starting to fight with the Black Tower's demonized humans. They were all at least Master level, and it seemed there were also some Grand Master-level demonized humans.
'Fortunately, they're not coming here.'
After the magic circle was activated, the energy of the artifacts that formed the Five-Star Formation was stronger than the core, so all the demonized humans seemed to have rushed towards where the Five-Star Formation was.
'It's faster than expected, but there doesn't seem to be a big problem.'
He could feel the swordsmen of the Wind Light Palace and the Central Martial Palace ambushing the demonized humans while mingling with the tourists. Although the Black Tower's demonized humans were moving faster than expected, thanks to thorough preparation, our side was dominating in the small-scale battles.
'Only if we buy time like this...'
-It doesn't seem like it's going to be that easy.
Wrath snorted and raised his hand. In the direction he pointed, a white-haired man with a large sword over his shoulder and a tall man leaning on a long spear were approaching them.
"So this place. No, Rensia was the core."
Calob, one of Montiro's heroes wielding the large sword, smiled with disdain.
"What fools to do such a thing even after seeing your sister melt and die from demonic energy."
Felix, another hero who implanted black hearts in people, shook his chin while looking down at Rensia.
"Ugh..."
Rensia trembled in her small shoulders, apparently scared by Calob and Felix.
"It's okay."
Raon shook his head, holding Rensia's trembling hand more tightly.
"Let's trust the pretty sisters."
* * *
Martha narrowed her eyes as she watched Felix and Calob slowly approach.
'They're strong as rumored.'
She confirmed the strength of these two through information from the black market. Master-level Pinnacle. They were strong who had reached the same realm as her. However, that was only the strength that could be seen on the surface. She couldn't tell how much energy these guys were actually hiding.
"As usual..."
Runaan nodded slightly, as if saying not to be discouraged and fight her own battle.
"I know!"
Martha snorted at Runaan. Normally, she was frustrating, but when she was behind, there was nothing more reassuring.
"Long words are unnecessary when it's so obvious. Kill them."
As Calob pointed his large sword, jet-black demonic beasts emerged behind him like shadows. The demonic beasts flashed ruby red eyes and lunged towards Raon and Rensia. Just when their yellow teeth were about to reach Raon, the tourists around the fountain simultaneously drew their swords.
The Wind Light Squadron 1 swordsmen. They leaped as if they had been waiting and completely cut down the demonic beasts that were aiming for Raon and Rensia.
The demonic beasts melted away without leaving a single piece before the Masters' brilliant Astral Energy.
"The Wind Light Palace of Zieghart? You've prepared quite well."
Calob frowned as he saw the emblem engraved on the swordsmen's swords.
"Do you know what you're doing now? You're no different from calling the Black Tower. No, the Underworld here."
He sneered, saying that they were digging their own graves.
"Calob. Don't waste words."
Felix shook his head, scraping the ground with the shaft of his spear.
"Miss Rensia. I thought you were a person who knew about gratitude, but you're worse than pigs and dogs."
He directed a sharp gaze at Rensia, who was squinting, trying to endure the pain.
"Since you want to follow the same path as your sister, I have no choice. I will melt your bones and flesh into demonic energy like her."
Felix raised a horrifying killing intent as if trying to scare Rensia into stopping the magic activation.
"Hnng..."
Rensia shed tears, trembling more than before as if remembering when her sister died.
"It's okay."
Raon smiled, holding Rensia's hand more tightly.
"Don't cry! These sisters will crush that skinny bastard."
Martha ran out, crushing the ground, and lowered her sword towards Felix. The firmness of the Titan Aura imbued her blade with a weight like the sky. Felix couldn't help but have his ankles sink into the ground, although he managed to defend himself from Martha's sword strike.
"Lord Calob."
Felix called Calob's name, his hand trembling as he gripped the shaft of the spear.
"I know!"
Calob nodded and charged towards the fountain. Just when his large sword was about to fall on Rensia's head, a wall of ice rose. Calob's sword couldn't pierce the silver frost wall and got stuck halfway, unable to move.
"If you aim for that girl, your head will be broken..."
As Runaan stamped her foot, the ground turned silver and began to freeze Calob's lower body.
"So, it's Miss Rakshasa and the Blue Moon Sword of the Zieghart family."
Calob nodded, saying he understood now.
"This is tough, isn't it? These kids are at the peak of Master level."
He gestured towards Felix.
"I agree. Their martial prowess is beyond what we've heard..."
Felix let out a low groan as he was pushed back by Martha's sword strike.
"Release the demonic energy."
"You should have done it from the beginning!"
As soon as the order to release the demonic energy was given, black wings sprouted from Felix's back, and black horns emerged above Calob's forehead. With the appearance of wings and horns, the two's energy amplified drastically, burning the surrounding mana black. It was the aura of a Grand Master.
Martha was thrown back by the shaft of Felix's spear, and the silver frost that was pressing on Calob crumbled like dry leaves.
"Let's finish this quickly, it's annoying."
The demonic energy condensed at the tip of Calob's large sword, forming a massive sphere. It was an Astral Ring, proof of a Grand Master.
"Hmm..."
Runaan tried to defend with a wall of ice, but she had to retreat, overwhelmed by the destructive power of the Astral Ring. Felix also wrapped the shaft of his spear in black flames made of demonic energy and pressed Martha.
"Tch!"
Martha could only focus on defense, deflecting the approaching black flame.
"Aren't you going to get up?"
Felix gestured to Raon.
"Why should I?"
Raon slowly opened his eyes and sneered.
"If you stay like that, your precious subordinates will die."
Felix frowned as he finely cut Martha's waist.
"No, they absolutely won't die."
Raon finalized his words firmly, as if he had seen the future.
"Ah, so you can't get up."
Felix clicked his long lips, as if he had just realized.
"To think that an opportunity to kill a Transcendent would come like this."
He extended an even darker black flame with a chilling gaze.
"Even if I could get up, I would have entrusted this fight to those two."
Raon shook his chin, still maintaining his composure.
"The experience those kids have accumulated is too valuable to waste on people like you."
He smiled weakly as he looked at Martha and Runaan's backs.
"Do you trust those women enough to bet your life?"
Calob let out a hollow laugh as if it were absurd.
"It's not about trust."
Raon shook his head calmly.
"It's simply the truth."
"¡Seguro que tienes una forma de hablar!"
Martha rejected the shaft of Felix's spear forcefully, apparently moved by Raon's words that conveyed a confidence beyond simple faith.
"My heart is moved..."
Runaan also raised an octagonal shield of cold energy capable of resisting Calob's Astral Ring. Martha and Runaan's eyes emitted an increasingly serene light, unwavering even in the face of the strong.
As if they felt their master's desire to win, a radiant glow began to burn on the swords wielded by the two.
-
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