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The land where the Holy Queen Palace once stood was rapidly transforming into what looked like a pile of crushed bones. Sharp purple demonic energy that looked like a band emerged through the gruesome wide gaps.
There were hundreds of bands, and they moved like fingers and violently tore through the now-broken ground. Kikigigi, gigigigi! They made chilling sounds, as if misaligned bone joints were forcibly aligning.
It seemed like a purple sea had spread out beneath the surface. It looked like a sea of pain and it felt as if your very soul could be torn apart just looking at it.
'Religious zealot...!'
It was evident that even the place where the Eternal storage had been was entirely consumed by this demonic energy. This meant that Lani's chances of survival were extremely slim.
The Holy Kingdom was on the brink of destruction.
More than 70% of its territory was under indiscriminate attack, and the Holy Queen Palace had vanished without a trace.
So even if this war ended in favor of the Vamel Alliance, the irreparable damage had already been done.
"Black Dragon Murakan, you also live up to your name, don't you? I never thought you'd block my destructive fist like this. But in the end, the Holy Queen Palace has turned to dust, and even the eye of Lord Zito that you humans dared to capture has awakened."
Now was not the time to lament Lani's death.
Murakan's pupils became colder and fiercer than ever before. There were still many people alive in the Holy Kingdom.
He needs to protect at least one more person. Murakan's mission remained unchanged. The only reason he had flown to the Holy Queen Palace was for that purpose alone.
Talaris watched as Murakan unfurled his curtain in the sky with his resolve. She took a deep breath and gently held her sword.
She decided not to use any techniques that would strain her exhausted body too much. She also decided not to directly block the enemy's attacks while trusting that Murakan would protect her.
Murakan did not attack Videluce with dragon breath nor did he use Manifestation of Shadows or Black chain. He was solely focused on protecting his comrades and the people.
"Oh my, the demonor of the master of the Hidden Palace has changed a bit. Well, is it some kind of hidden card?"
"If it's pure close combat rather than a fight that is determined by the magnitude of power or authorities, there's only one person in this world who can defeat me."
"What?"
"So, Videluce, you should have given me a fatal blow before Murakan arrived."
Whoosh, whooosh-!
All the purple rays aimed at Talaris were blocked by the shadow force curtain. Talaris began to rush forward without even considering Videluce's long-range attacks.
'What, Murakan can protect the master of the Hidden Palace so perfectly?'
This was an entirely unexpected turn of events for Videluce. She had firmly believed that Murakan would provide a decent cover at best.
While Talaris closed the gap by more than a hundred steps, Videluce's beams and fist energy never once posed a threat to Talaris.
Videluce was not the Genesis Knight.
Thus, to cut through Murakan's shadow force that he released with full resolve, she needed to wager something as well. Arrogant attitude and gaze alone would never undermine Murakan's resolve.
Swosh-!
In an instant, Talaris' sword closed in on Videluce and pierced her chest. Videluce immediately retaliated by delivering a fist and unleashing her demonic energy in all directions.
She was trying to push Talaris away. However, Talaris didn't even need to evade the explosive demonic energy that surrounded her. The shadow force was protecting her.
"Ha!"
Videluce exhaled sharply. She should have kept a distance from Talaris, but instead, Talaris had drawn closer and swung her sword.
The Myriad ice contained a chilling aura, so feeble that it was almost unbelievable. Therefore, it could not cause much damage, but the sword itself made Videluce feel profoundly uneasy.
'Her sword keeps digging deeper than I expected. It seems to reach me even when I think I've avoided it, it's like an illusion.'
Videluce keenly felt Talaris' sword as Incredibly sharp. Despite being far from having the power to tear through her flesh, the force contained in the sword was such that Videluce couldn't fight while willingly taking the blows directly.
Hence, now it was Videluce who needed to create distance. It felt like she would sustain deep wounds if she stayed too close, and Murakan was blocking all her long-range attacks which made the battle frustrating.
'But her tired body will only deteriorate further over time. Besides, Murakan won't be able to focus on protecting her indefinitely.'
However, time was undoubtedly on the side of the True Demon World.
Zito's newly awakened eye was not attacking them yet, as it was still taking shape. But the moment the eye was complete, it would surely tear through Murakan's curtains.
'Moreover, Paellito will soon kill them and join me, so there's no need to be too cautious.'
In Videluce's view, Murakan and Talaris could maintain a slight advantage for barely five minutes. There was absolutely no chance of her suffering a fatal blow or dying within that time.
"You have good instincts. I thought you were just an arrogant fool."
"Yeah, are you angry? It feels like something might happen if I confront you head-on, but I am not letting that happen. By the way, your Black Dragon is quite patient."
Talaris looked around.
Zito's energy that released after the destruction of the Holy Queen Palace, was growing denser. Purple bands appeared to be scattered throughout the vast expanse of Murakan's shadow force curtain.
Murakan hadn't made a sound of pain yet, but Videluce was well aware of how terrible the agony must be.
"Lord Zito's true energy is penetrating his entire body and causing unimaginable pain. Lord Zito will certainly enjoy his pain for quite some time."
Murakan remained silent and continued to concentrate.
If he wanted to avoid Zito's true energy, he had to do that much. However, wherever he lost focus, the purple bands would head toward the people he had to protect.
He had no choice but to fight while protecting when facing those who sought destruction, conquest, and trample the weak.
Unless he was overwhelmingly stronger than the enemy, he would continually be at a disadvantage.
Murakan's scales were shaking and falling away one by one. The fallen scales all turned purple and flowed into the source of the bands.
Zito's eye was taking Murakan's power. If this continued, he would sustain permanent damage within ten minutes.
He wasn't afraid of that. Even if he lost his power again like before, he could gradually recover. Besides, Jin was not so weak that he couldn't defend himself now, even without his protection.
What made Murakan uneasy was that Zito's eye was taking shape. Despite not knowing the exact strength and abilities of Zito's eye, his instincts told him that it was dangerous.
'I only have one chance. I have to release all of my shadow force and unleash True Manifestation of Shadows. Even if it succeeds, I'll probably need about five hundred years to recuperate."
Murakan made his decision.
Maybe he would fall into a long slumber lasting more than a thousand years. However, he thought it was better than losing everything Jin had been protecting.
'It might be difficult to say goodbye to Strawberry pie…'
Just as Murakan had thought this far,
Suddenly, the purple bands that shot up into the sky were cut off and fell to the ground. The thing that cut off the bands was Charles, a rapier.
"Sorry for being late, Lord Murakan."
Luntia had just broken through Paellito's demonic energy and arrived in the Holy Kingdom. She cut off the bands surrounding the shadow force curtain as soon as she appeared above the Holy Kingdom.
Are you okay, what about the youngest?
Luntia didn't ask anything else.
She could see that Jin and Murakan were separated but there was only one reason why Murakan didn't shout to save Jin first.
"It seems that the young patriarch has ordered you to protect the Holy Kingdom. I will help you."
Luna's request, "Please protect Jin," was not above the young patriarch's absolute command.
[It was already difficult to handle everything. Did you come alone?]
"Yes, but many transcendents, including the First Flagbearer, will join as soon as they deal with their assigned areas. What I should cut is probably that."
Luntia aimed Charles at the ground where Zito's energy was surging.
"Hey there, friend? Do you even know what you're trying to cut? Ugh!"
Myriad Ice grazed Videluce's neck.
"It seems like you've forgotten who you're dealing with. Let me remind you, and it will be your last memory."
Luntia didn't even look at Videluce and Talaris.
It wasn't because she was ignoring them but because she trusted Talaris. In a close combat situation like this, she believed that there was no way Talaris would lose to Videluce.
She also didn't have the luxury to observe them. From the moment she faced Zito's eye head-on, Luntia too began to be engulfed in a similar pain to Murakan.
[I will recover my stamina for a moment and focus on the master of the hidden palace , so don't push yourself until then.]
"Understood, Lord Murakan."
***
"Earlier, did you say you felt the sense of getting stronger after a long time?"
Paellito approached Jin, who was lying down.
Jin hastily got up, but Paellito had no intention of killing him immediately. There had been several opportunities to finish off Jin and Dante, but Paellito had kept them alive for the sake of giving them a more painful death.
"You won't feel that way forever. This is the inherent gap of fate, Jin Runcandel."
Paellito turned his head momentarily to the far left. Dante had been blown away to a distant forest by the third Heavenly Destruction Slash and fainted.
"Your friend seems to be running out of strength slowly. You don't have much time left either."
Paellito fired his energy toward the forest where Dante had fallen. Jin had no room to stop him. The energy swept through the entire forest like a typhoon and disappeared like dots.
"Dante... Sir Hedo, they won't die that easily."
"Think whatever you want. But despite what you are saying, you have a pretty nice expression. I can sense sorrow; you know that they're dead."
Indeed, Dante's faint aura, which had been felt after the sword energy that attacked the forest, disappeared. All the subjects hiding in the forest had lost their lives. Jin could vividly feel all of it unfolding before his eyes.
Jin was shedding tears unknowingly.
"I haven't heard a single answer from you yet. Why are you so deeply saddened? Even if you know Dante Hairan or the fragment of the old order, the other humans I've killed today aren't that precious to you. You've been shivering at their deaths since earlier."
"It's because I have a responsibility."
"Responsibility? Ah, I've heard that answer before, that there's no reason for insignificant bugs to be sacrificed in the fights of powerful individuals. That's not enough. There must be something else, a deeper reason."
Paellito clearly saw through Jin's emotions.
The heavy emotion tormenting Jin was the guilt of being a "regressor."
"So, tell me the truth now. If you do, I won't kill any more helpless bugs today."
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