Chapter 237

Chapter 237: No Compromise

Chapter 237. No Compromise

Ruri, who had entered the inner fortress, saw a dark room.
No matter how foolish one might be, stepping forward a little further would make anyone realize that this space had been created by magic.
Her silver pupils, like cat eyes, looked forward.
Ruri stepped briefly on the ground and rested her axe on her shoulder.
It did not seem that continuing in a single direction would reveal an end.
If she were only walking on the ground, she surely would have said so.
— Storm.
— Yes.
The high-grade wind spirit, capable of speaking like a human, responded to her words obediently.
It was a rare sight that not even spirit contractors could witness.
In preparation for a possible rupture of the spirit’s connection, it had wrapped itself around her body.
— This place seems to have distorted space.
— That is correct. It appears to be a zone created by death.
— Can you find the source?
Spirits are mysterious organisms made of magic.
They can sense things that not only humans, but even dragons, find difficult to perceive.
— I will gladly serve as your eyes.
Upon hearing those words, Ruri soared into the air once again.
— Do not delay.
Silverwind Mobile Brigade.
They were not only the strongest, but also the fastest.
Right now, in this very instant, Ruri became a silver comet, a wind that severed everything in sight.
She did not simply cut everything indiscriminately.
She possessed the reaction speed and dynamic visual acuity to distinguish between allied forces and demons.
Countless royal soldiers and stragglers could only stare at the demonic beasts and demons that had turned into corpses, without even knowing they had been saved.
“That is……”
Even so, there was a group that caught Ruri’s judgment.
Two women walking through this space with indifference.
One wore tattered robes, while the other had ambiguous, half-closed eyes, making it unclear whether they were open or shut.
“Were there people like that?”
Ever since she had guarded Ferda’s side, she had seen many people,
And, above all, she sensed they were strong.
Are those things enemies or allies?
Ruri, who hesitated briefly, ultimately decided to bypass them.
The silver comet moved relentlessly.
At a speed where 5 minutes from the Far East to the Empire was sufficient.
Maintaining that speed, she turned corners endlessly until she finally arrived at the source.
Time spent finding it: 3 hours.
Mages who spun Red Circles had gathered in a single place and were extracting mana.
All of them were concentrated on a single point.
Seeing their reaction, Ruri closed her eyes reflexively.
“The trauma is here.”
As an experienced warrior, even with her eyes closed, the surrounding landscape was as clear as if they were open.
She recalled the point where the gazes converged and swung her axe fiercely toward it once.
It burst with a juicy sound.
Ruri avoided the baptism of bodily fluids and landed on the ground.
Then, an immediate reaction occurred.
— Aaaaaah!!
— Your Majesty!
— It hurts! It hurts so much, aaaaah!
Their joy was crumbling, humans screaming in agony.
Screams as if they had fallen into hell itself.
Ruri could feel it.
The mana burning in their circles grew fainter and shattered.
Those who had let out screams and wails coughed up blood and collapsed one by one.
Among them, reluctant to die a dog’s death, some ignited their own bodies and threw themselves at Ruri.
— May the King have the Void!!
Emitting a red light from their eyes, they turned their own bodies into bombs.
Of course, to Ruri these were meaningless gestures, and they were quickly eliminated.
Shortly after, she felt the space collapsing.
Ruri opened her eyes.
Inside the red space, a sickening tragedy met her eyes.
Her heart was not light.
Yet it was something that had to be done.
“Ferda-nim.”
I must find Ferda.
Ruri had made a promise to Valdrova.
That she would send him back home safe and sound.
As Valdrova’s attendant, she could not let her down.
Although she thought that, she was not driven purely by a sense of duty.
Ruri was genuinely worried about Ferda.
She did not want to lose him.
“I have to move.”
Ruri hardened her heart and advanced.
However, as always, an obstacle blocked her path.
— As expected of someone from Silverwind. To think you would attempt to break through that with your own body.
It was Gokma.
He tore through space and appeared before Ruri.
At that moment, her body moved reflexively.
An action that occurred before she could even comprehend it.
Because she had no will to converse with Gokma, and had resolved to kill him the moment she saw his form, leaving no opening whatsoever.
That unyielding resolve moved her incredibly fast, yet she could not cut Gokma.
She sliced accurately, but his body was replaced by another human.
Gokma was also a member of the Legion and had acquired an immortal body.
— I understand well that you have no desire to talk. In any case, it is not a matter that requires dialogue.
The space around Ruri distorts.
Shockwaves from that area, tightening and loosening, attempted to blow away parts of Ruri’s body.
Yet she possessed the dynamic visual acuity and judgment to perceive such things, along with the speed to dodge them.
Even so, the aggressiveness of the first encounter did not manifest.
“Trauma.”
The anxiety of not knowing when or where that eyeball might appear was lodged in her mind.
She had resolved that, even if she faced it, she would definitely escape, but actually confronting it was no different from exposing her neck on a scaffold.
She had to avoid it somehow.
Nevertheless, faithfully, Gokma kept being severed by Ruri’s axe.
Each time, he reappeared, and Ruri repeated the slashing and cutting.
The battle was overwhelmingly advantageous for Gokma.
Gokma already knew the weakness that could break Ruri.
And he was skilled in tricks to ensnare her.
By the time Ruri grew tired of cutting down human forms,
When she thought that the one she was cutting was just another of the many sacrificial lambs, Gokma delved into Ruri’s weakness.
— Ugh!
Where a head should have been, there was a large eye.
It pierced Ruri’s spirit, dragging her instantly into memories of regret.
“Damn it, again……!”
Ruri staggered.
Yet unlike the first time, she attempts to resist.
Since there is something precious in this moment, she attempts to discard the past.
However, the past is inescapable.
It seemed to whisper it like that.
Soon, countless eyes surrounded Ruri, encircling her so she could not escape.
An explosion resounded.
All the illusions shown to Ruri vanished, leaving behind only liquid and fragments.
Visible by her side was an object resembling two intertwined barrel tubes.
Magitech Shotgun.
That shotgun also gleamed golden, unlike those used by the knights.
Only one person could wield the Golden Shotgun.
Mobile Fortress, Alberto.
— So it is you, Alberto. I almost didn’t recognize you without that armor.
— …..
What he wore was heavy cavalry armor different from his usual attire, but the massive club he held was like his alter ego.
— I have cast countless humans and creatures into my space. When I do that, nine out of ten, no, ninety-nine out of a hundred feel helplessness and surrender.
— …..
— However, it is truly ironic that you, no matter how many times I throw you in, shake off that which cannot be shaken off.
— …..
— What is the reason you are so obsessed with me?
He did not speak.
Instead, he raised the shotgun he was holding.
Kwa-ang!
Human flesh collapsing into bright red blood and chunks of meat.
Gokma emerged from where he fell.
— Since you have come this far, you too will need a reward.
Gokma’s eyes changed.
His leisurely, dispersed aura was absorbed toward Gokma’s center as if entering a state of void.
His red pupils emitted a strange light, and the air grew cold.
Inside Ruri’s head, judgment continued.
At first she thought of leaving it to Alberto and going to search for Ferda.
Yet upon seeing those eyes, she had no choice but to change her mind.
“I must hold this man here somehow.”
Therefore, she readjusted the grip on her axe and unleashed Dragon Fear upon him.
Gokma was no longer smiling.
— I shall keep you company especially.

Ureas resurrected.
In Gamigin’s domain, he regained his form through the necromancer’s power.
After death, his body had been liberated.
His form could no longer be called human.
Where legs should be, tentacles writhed, extending freely to manipulate his opponents.
Kuaaaak!
Green flames possessed a vicious power.
Not only skin, but even brushing against armor caused the green flames to grow uncontrollably, devouring everything.
The battle situation that had been overwhelmingly favorable to Count Rooster was reversed in an instant.
After turning to ashes and losing his flesh, his body would not die even after being slashed multiple times by silver blades.
A knight risked death to charge and plunge the Order’s holy relic into his heart once more.
— In the name of Alte, I shall purify you, foul monster… ah?
Ureas’s body seemed to scatter into ashes, but unlike before, it did not collapse and regained its form.
— Kuhahahaha!! What a pathetic trick!
Ureas burst into a mocking laugh as if ridiculing the knight.
And, brazenly grabbing the holy relic, he drove it inversely into the man’s heart.
— Th-the holy relic of the Order…!?
— What kind of bastard is he…!?
Even Count Rooster’s previously unconcerned eyes were no longer the same.
Now he had to risk his life to face that bastard.
Now was the opportunity.
Ferda attempted to escape from his position using that opening.
— Do not let the Regent escape!
Even amidst that, Count Rooster did not leave Ferda alone.
The Order’s holy relic was not just the one lodged in his chest.
He took out, one by one, the items prepared for another plan.
It was oil, holy oil blessed by Alte.
When the torch wrapped in holy oil burned, golden flames surged forth.
Ferda’s shadow completely lost its power.
“Damn it.”
That is why Barbatos’s Shadow Arts are a problem.
They exert great power when used in secret, but are far too weak in frontal combat.
If they are not used in secret and countermeasures are prepared, they become endlessly useless.
Yet Ferda was a mage.
If he could move his fingers and his mouth, they were a race with means of escape.
Furthermore, he had survived until the end while receiving all the malice.
Ferda concentrated the Magic Aura wrapping his body toward the front, forming a sort of shield.
And Ferda molded the mana gathered in his staff into the shape of a large bomb.
And struck it forcefully toward himself.
Puh-ung!
As a result, Ferda’s body was propelled backward, allowing him to shake off the soldiers pursuing him.
Using one’s own attack magic as propulsive force is a reckless act.
A mage’s body is not sturdy like that of knights, and just rolling three times would mean breaking a bone somewhere.
Yet Ferda had no need to do that.
As soon as he escaped the holy oil’s flames, Ferda’s body melted into the shadow.
— Regent Ferda used black magic!!
— Regent Valdrova is a demon follower! Show no mercy!
In front of everyone watching, but now it could not be helped.
With the situation neutralized by the holy oil fire, the only remaining path was to flee.
Ferda had to move while evading their pursuit.
“In a moment like this, what is needed is…”
What reflexively came to mind was Ruri.
What was she doing?
Her young eyes asserting themselves with fighting spirit came to mind.
If she was dependable, she was dependable, but he worried she might be crushed under that weight.
“Jed and Arwen…”
Those two also possessed decent swordsmanship and skill.
Especially Jed, with the unique eyes of the Red Eye Tribe, exerted the greatest effect when breaking through this situation.
It would be good if those two were here.
“I too have grown weak.”
He wondered if this was truly Ferda, who used to believe there was nothing in the world to rely on.
Ferda hardened his heart.
Only he himself could overcome this situation, and he had to believe it.
Relying on luck led to death.
Ferda moved.
“If I escape this place, where should I go?”
Should I kill those sacrifices to weaken King Hinkel?
Or should I charge straight into the audience chamber and attack?
“The latter is suicide.”
Only when Ruri, Jed, and Arwen were there would a breakthrough barely be visible.
Weakening King Hinkel’s power as much as possible was the priority.
Thinking that and trying to depart,
— Re-Regent Ferda…?
Someone recognized Ferda and called out to him.
Turning his head, a knight leaning against a wall with his breath nearly cut short was there.
— Who are you?
— Allied forces… knight of the kingdom…
— Your comrades?
— All dead… And I too soon… will join them…
— I see.
Ferda attempted to leave again, but the knight grabbed Ferda’s wrist.
He cried out with a desperate voice.
— King Hinkel died… Using all the holy relics… We were able to obtain victory. But… but the problem is…! It did not end with that death!
— What does that mean?
— Save the King… In the audience chamber… They… If it gets any later…
The knight ultimately could not finish all his words and met his death.
Ferda placed the symbol of the Order that the corpse possessed into its mouth so it could not resurrect.
“King Hinkel died?”
Did he truly die?
He did not believe a bastard who turned all the people of his territory into batteries would die so easily.
“Yet he said something happens after death…”
Could King Hinkel be bait?
Just like Ureas, Gamigin’s black magic becomes stronger and more vicious after death.
“I must not be complacent.”
I must take the risk.
Ferda moved toward where the audience chamber was.
Demonic beasts and demons moved to block Ferda, but they were no match for him.
Finally reaching the audience chamber, Ferda opened the door.
The audience chamber was filled with traces of a fierce battle, just as the knight had said.
Those once called elite soldiers were embedded into the walls, mangled, lying cold upon the floor.
All of them must have been people who rushed here for the King, for the King’s ideals.
Did they know?
That their deaths were fading in vain upon that discolored carpet.
— Die!
— The book is mine!
— Do you think I will hand it over to pathetic things like you?!
The kings who survived until the end were stabbing one another with daggers.
There was no swordsmanship or combat technique to exploit the opponent’s opening.
They simply repeated the act of thrusting daggers into each other’s bodies with wild eyes.
The primary kings are four.
The distance between them is one space.
No compromise.