novelraw Chapter 149 : Mission 10: The Hunters of Old (22)
Chapter 149 : Mission 10: The Hunters of Old (22)
Fifteen minutes ago.
Ground level, in front of the main barracks.
CRASH!
Ghost and Iron Knight clashed.
The collision between the two S-Rank heroes of the Gate War was terrifying in its aftershock alone. A mere meeting of sword and fist, yet it kicked up a gale that whipped everyone’s hair back.
Ch-ch-ch-clang!
Ghost swung her black sword in a blur, lashing at Iron Knight from every angle, but he paid her strikes no mind, pressing a relentless assault with his fists.
KRAKOOM!
Iron Knight’s fist slammed into the ground, which caved in, leaving a small crater.
Just as I expected.
Dodging Iron Knight’s fist by a paper-thin margin, Ghost’s eyes narrowed.
Conventional weapons can’t even scratch him, let alone leave a wound.
Iron Knight’s durability was truly indestructible.
Not just ordinary blades and bullets—no Awakened ability or Gate Gear could damage him. Inflicting a meaningful blow through conventional means was impossible.
Thirty years ago, he had been the most reassuring shield one could ask for. But now, standing on the other side, he was a colossal mountain range.
“I came prepared.” Ghost gestured behind her. “With plenty of ‘Sherpas’ to conquer the mountain that you are.”
At her signal, the convicts in ponchos who had been on standby joined her in unison.
The Black Parade’s Deck 0 team.
Cleaner, Poison Centipede, Puppeteer, Firestarter, and Ghost.
All five were selected for the sole purpose of killing Iron Knight.
“Go. As planned.”
As Ghost extended her hand, the convicts descended on Iron Knight from all sides.
Iron Knight grew wary and moved to stop them, but Ghost tenaciously engaged him, pinning his attention.
In that opening, the first convict to charge in was Cleaner.
He swung the mop in his hands toward Iron Knight.
The mop head didn’t touch him, merely grazing the air before his face, but that was enough.
“…?!”
For an instant, Iron Knight’s consciousness blanked.
Cleaner’s ability was ‘Bleach.’
With a ‘cleaning tool’ in hand, he could temporarily nullify the function of a targeted area.
Seizing the moment Iron Knight’s mind went dark, Poison Centipede rushed in from the side.
Poison Centipede’s ability was ‘Paralysis.’
Upon physical contact, the ability infiltrated a target’s nerves, immobilizing them.
The duration varied depending on the opponent’s power, but against an S-Rank like Iron Knight, the paralysis was estimated to last about three seconds.
And three seconds was enough time to turn the world upside down.
The moment Iron Knight was paralyzed, Puppeteer yanked on the silver threads in his hands.
Puppeteer’s ability was ‘Control.’
He could manipulate the body of any opponent who had lost physical control or had died.
The tension in Iron Knight’s steel-like body slackened. His arms spread wide, defenselessly exposing every weak point.
Now, it was Cleaner’s turn again.
He swung his mop like a paintbrush, targeting Iron Knight’s vulnerabilities—major arteries and every other exposed point.
Every power and equipment effect protecting Iron Knight’s body was ‘bleached.’
And then, the next in line.
Firestarter stepped in, inhaling deeply.
His ability was, quite literally, ‘Firepower.’
“Time for a cleansing.”
Having already shed his fireproof suit to the forearms, Firestarter pressed his arms—now pillars of flame—against Iron Knight.
FWOOOOSH!
A colossal pillar of fire erupted.
Firestarter unleashed his flames with enough force to incinerate the entire world.
I’ll end it here!
He would fell the legendary hero himself before this went to the ‘next stage.’ With that resolve, Firestarter poured every ounce of his strength into the inferno.
But a hand shot out from within the flames and seized Firestarter’s blazing arm.
“…?!”
“Are the party tricks over?”
From within the pillar of fire, Iron Knight emerged unscathed.
More than unscathed—he didn’t have so much as a soot mark on him. Only the thin, metallic film surrounding his body glowed a furious red.
WHOOSH!
Iron Knight violently threw them off, and the convicts scrambled back.
“Tch…!”
Firestarter, too, had to retreat, trembling with frustration.
It was a shame he couldn’t finish it himself, but it couldn’t be helped.
In any case, their part of the operation—the ‘preparatory work’—was now complete.
“…?”
Distracted by the four convicts, Iron Knight had momentarily lost track of his most important opponent.
Ghost is…
He frantically scanned the area for the woman who had slipped from his sight—and found her.
She was holding her black sword with both hands, raised high above her head, deep in concentration.
Ghost’s ability was ‘Severance.’
Her power was simple: to cut and sever.
At full focus and power, a single strike during the Gate War thirty years ago had been enough to slice a bridge over the Han River in two.
“Huuu…”
Her eyelids lifted, revealing piercing blue eyes that met the world like a drawn blade.
Then, like a hammer striking a purely forged piece of steel…
She brought the sword down on Iron Knight’s neck.
CLANG!
The sound was not one a blade makes against flesh.
Sparks flew, and a blinding light pulsed like a drill biting into a steel plate.
Seize control of his body, expose his weak points, strip away every power except his final defense. Then, heat that defense to the point of softening with a furnace-like blaze.
And finally, strike with the sharpest blade.
Every step of the plan had been executed in sequence, and Ghost had brought her sword down in peak condition.
The exchange felt both instantaneous and eternal.
When it was over…
“…”
“…”
A clear gash now marred the defensive barrier around Iron Knight’s neck. A long cut was etched into his skin, and a line of blood began to well.
Iron Knight silently raised a hand and wiped the blood away.
Ghost stepped back, slowly sheathing her black sword.
She clicked her tongue. “All that fuss for a single scratch.”
Knowing Iron Knight better than anyone, this was the strategy Ghost had devised to defeat him.
But in the end, this was its limit.
“No… that was truly incredible.”
Iron Knight, on the other hand, was impressed.
“Only a Demon Lord–level monster should be able to scratch my body… To think you reached this far with just a combination of abilities, without even using your Domain Break.”
“…”
“If I hadn’t kept up my training, that last blow might have taken my head clean off.”
Iron Knight straightened his clothes and continued in a heavy tone.
“But Ghost, while you spent thirty years serving this country… I, too, have spent thirty years here, fighting without end.”
“…”
“Did you think I’d let myself gather moss or rust?”
Ghost clicked her tongue again. “So it comes to this.”
She slowly bent her knees and settled into a stance.
Recognizing the technique she was preparing, Iron Knight shook his head.
“Ghost, you know that using a Domain Break accelerates Realm Erosion.”
“…”
“Using it to kill me… the cost far outweighs the benefit.”
“I told you. I don’t give a damn about anything but the mission.”
She had come here to kill her closest friend. What line was there left for her to cross for the sake of this mission?
She had already given up too much to get this far.
“If you’re so worried about erosion, then stop my Domain Break. Quickly.”
Iron Knight glanced at the ruins where the Demon Lord was buried, then at his men—the old soldiers of The Knights.
Finally, he gritted his teeth and stepped forward. “I have no choice.”
Ghost didn’t answer.
Exhaling a white mist, she was already focusing on her ultimate technique.
Iron Knight faced her, concentrating on his own soulscape—the ultimate technique within his heart.
“Domain Break.”
“Domain Break.”
The two S-Rank Awakened, facing each other, spoke in unison.
“Advent.”
“Ignition.”
Summoning their respective worlds into this one, the two fallen heroes uttered the words.
“—Winter’s Edge.”
“—Twilight Fortress.”
In the next instant, this was no longer the Cheongnyangni Gate.
It was a blue-tinged ice field where blades rained down.
It was a sunset beach lined with castle walls.
It was the inflection point where two worlds collided head-on.
Where the ice field met the beach, the two landscapes failed to merge, instead pouring endlessly down a bottomless cliff. Ice, sand, and seawater formed a long waterfall, scattering as they fell.
Standing upon their respective worlds, the two S-Rankers silently charged their abilities.
As Ghost raised her black sword above her head, the blizzard of blades whipping across her world swirled and converged.
A storm-forged sword, cleaving the sky, honed its edge above the ice field.
Clank, clank, clank!
Opposite her, countless castle walls rose in formation on the sunset-drenched beach.
Staring down the invincible fortress Iron Knight was erecting, Ghost slowly lowered her stance, drew her black sword back—and assumed a piercing posture.
There were no more words.
Ghost lunged forward with all her might, thrusting her black sword. The massive storm of blades mirrored her movement, driving toward Iron Knight’s fortress.
FLASH!
The tornado of countless blades was fired like a cannonball from a warship.
Reflecting the sunset, the storm of blades scattered a dazzling afterglow as it struck the castle walls head-on.
CRACK…!
The first wall shattered.
Then the second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth.
In an instant, more than a dozen walls were torn to shreds.
But Iron Knight did not panic. He continued to summon new walls, endlessly deploying them.
Ghost, too, maintained her forward thrust, and every blade that fell upon the ice field was conscripted into the vortex, unleashing them upon the summer beach.
The walls continued to be destroyed, but Ghost’s storm of blades was also being consumed, scattering in all directions.
Tearing and clawing at the world, blocking and enduring, the two S-Rank Awakened continued to clash.
With a collision that shook heaven and earth, their two domains mixed and spread.
And at the same time… corruption burst forth.
RUMBLE-RUMBLE-RUMBLE!
From the abyss below the cliff where their worlds collided and fell, a current of red and black corruption suddenly surged upward, as if in reverse.
“…?!”
“…?!”
The smoldering showdown between the two Awakened shattered. They spun around, alarm written across their faces.
“Ahhh…”
The winter ice field, the summer beach—both were instantly contaminated.
Infecting the two worlds with a dark decay, the monster that had risen from the abyss murmured, “What a beautiful landscape.”
The fully resurrected Demon Lord, Deyana Ludens, smiled with its eyes.
“Well, friends. I suppose it’s my turn to show you mine?”
WHOOOOOSH!
A dark, murky torrent poured out in all directions.
***
Cheongnyangni Gate, entrance to the main building’s sewer.
RUMBLE-RUMBLE-RUMBLE!
The entire area shook violently.
Unable to withstand the tremor, the building’s floor collapsed, cracking open like the maw of hell.
And…
“…?”
As luck would have it, Chevalier was standing right on top of it.
Locked in a fierce swordfight with Jae-hee, he barely noticed the floor beneath him give way.
“Uh?” he gasped, disbelief freezing him.
Then he plummeted, helpless, into the pitch-black swamp of corruption revealed through the shattered floor.