Chapter 279 |
Only then did Oren, realizing everything, stagger back with a shocked expression.
"So that's how it was... That's what it was...."
The Ilwon Family's actions, after they had lost their power and fallen completely under the Ibon Family Head's control.
The utterly powerless appearance of the Ilwon Family Head Taeo, and the strangely confident attitude of Ibon.
All of it had resulted from a deal to revive his father's body.
The Ibon Family Head had joined hands with the Gido Order, conspired, and used the previous Citadel Lord's corpse as leverage.
Walter's combat ability had been extremely low, probably because he had used a body that had been dead for a long time.
To the bishop in charge of proselytization within the order, a real physical body had not even existed.
Unfortunately, there had been no time to verify Renok's speculations one by one.
"This is truly impressive. Without any evidence, just piecing together superficial phenomena with intuition—isn't that what your deduction is?"
"......"
"But you're all correct. I have been acting as the proxy for the Ilwon Family Head all this time, using the previous Citadel Lord's body."
"Walter. What nonsense are you spouting right now!!"
The Ibon Family Head shouted irritably, but Walter shook his head.
"Ibon Family Head. Just stay quiet for a bit. After waiting so long, shouldn't I at least have a friendly chat with these hardworking folks?"
"Wh-what...."
Ibon stared at him with a dumbfounded expression, her words failing her in response to Walter's leisurely outpouring.
The situation had grown chaotic, but the overall structure of the opposing forces had not changed much.
With the Ibon Family Head stepping forward to sacrifice the citadel's residents and Oren moving to stop her, the others had simply been pushed to the back.
The key issue had been which way the balance of power between the two sides would tip.
Only the Ibon Family Head and her retainers could actually wield force at that moment; Walter had been practically useless in his state.
On the other side, Renok, Oren, Manson, and others had gradually encircled them.
Rather than killing them outright to end the situation, the intent had been to capture them alive and extract information about their actions.
If they had not planned to settle it with a direct clash to determine superiority, pulling back immediately would have been the rational choice.
But Walter had chatted away with a relaxed face, as if such calculations meant nothing to him.
"Originally, the moment I took over the previous Citadel Lord's body, it should have ended. The fact that it's dragged on this far is really due to the Ibon Family Head's personal greed."
"Th-that's...!!"
"If you don't want to be bound by lifespan, you could just accept the same missionary role as me. But clinging desperately to your own body and trying to devour the citadel's lives—that misjudgment is what dragged things out to this point, isn't it?"
Walter's face had smiled brightly. But everyone present had instinctively sensed the faint anger lurking behind that expression.
"Because of the suspicions from the Samyeong Family Head, we couldn't unify opinions at the family heads' meeting, and in the end, we had to proceed with the proxy battle. What could have ended easily had to take a long detour. To be honest, this whole situation... doesn't feel very pleasant."
Silence fell.
Renok quickly glanced at Oren.
"The situation?"
"The evacuation of the residents is almost complete. A little longer, and my warriors will all return."
Oren replied.
"Thank you for keeping your promise."
Oren's promise not to start the fight rashly until the citadel residents' safety was assured.
Renok shook his head.
"At this point, it wasn't difficult. If the other side had yielded the advantage in this proxy battle, that would be one thing."
With the other family heads aligned with Ibon realizing the situation, the justification for protecting the citadel had now been on their side.
The moment the evenly balanced power tipped for the first time.
If they could capture Ibon and Walter there, the matter would end quickly.
"There's no reason to listen to any more of that nonsense."
Oren shouted.
"I will hold you strictly accountable for the sins of these fanatics who worship the monsters of the outer sea and reach for this citadel."
Chwararararak!!
At that moment, the shadows that had covered the compound and been used to evacuate the residents surged upward all at once, forming a massive shadow veil in the sky.
Oren, floating in the air and spreading his wings, darkened the entire sky visible from the compound's VIP seats in an instant.
Flutter!
"Pay the price for your greed, Ibon Family Head!!"
"The mutt who was just guarding the house on the outskirts of the citadel sure talks big."
Ibon retorted coldly, drawing up her mana with a frosty expression.
"I'll verify today if you have the skill to back up that mouth!!"
Kwaaaang!!
With those words, thick roots erupted from beneath her feet and shot toward the sky.
Her form, riding up the roots, closed the distance to Oren in the sky in an instant.
The heads of the eight families. Two saint-class ability users, who could easily be counted on one hand in the Eightfold Star Citadel in terms of personal combat prowess, clashed with full force.
Peobeobeobeobung!!
Shadow blades poured down like an aerial bombardment from the sky. In response, dozens of vines sprouted near the roots, rotating and scattering wooden shards.
Separate from the clash of the two family heads' incantations above the compound's sky, the two themselves charged at each other without hesitation.
Dududududu!!
The Eightfold Star Citadel had been the premier cradle among the triad rulers for raising warriors.
The two at its pinnacle had been equally outstanding warriors, just like their incantations.
Oren and Ibon's limbs intertwined chaotically, instantly probing each other's vital points.
Refined and seasoned bare-hand combat techniques.
A direct confrontation between two superhumans unafraid to engage in physical combat.
While deploying incantations in all directions to claim space and seize the initiative, they filled their fists with mana and struck the enemy before them with all their might.
A meticulously monstrous battle where the combat of sorcerers and the melee of warriors intersected dozens of times in a single instant.
Where could the gazes of superhumans who had lived for over decades with completed hierarchies reach?
In an instant, pitch-black clouds and mists spread thickly, and ceaseless flashes flickered within.
Kwaagagaga!!
[These mad freaks...]
Manson, looking up at the scene, muttered with a dismayed expression.
With Manson's level of skill, he could roughly sense the direction of the battle unfolding above the shadowed sky.
[To have waited with that much power until now—what kind of meticulous personality is that?]
"Let's hurry. They might not hold out for long."
[...What?]
Instead of replying, Renok immediately drew up his mana.
The amount of mana Oren had consumed to evacuate thousands of residents had been considerable.
He had charged at the Ibon Family Head first, leading his depleted body in mana and mental strength, because he judged Renok more suitable to handle Walter.
It had been preferable to entrust the bishop's capture to Renok, who had far superior insight and authority, rather than himself, who had failed to see through Walter's secret.
The judgment to restrain the Ibon Family Head's movements until Renok subdued Walter and joined in.
In that brief interval, Oren had gauged the balance of power there and thrown himself into the fray.
Renok instantly understood the series of judgments and moved to act.
His gaze turned to Ibon's retainers and Walter Martinez smirking between them.
He needed to finish quickly and join Oren against Ibon. There had been no time to hesitate.
As he stepped forward, he flicked his finger.
Piiing!!
At that moment, a strand of mana thread extended from beneath Renok's feet and was pulled taut.
From that strand as the starting point, hundreds of dense threads surged from the ground, pouring straight toward Walter.
Chwararararak!!
The number of mana threads indiscriminately assaulting from all sides had been no joke.
Ibon's retainers were helplessly swept up in the visible wave of threads.
"Uh, uwaaak!!"
"When did he set up such a trap...!!"
In the midst of it, Renok spotted Walter's form and quickly reached out toward his wrist.
The mana threads whipped from all directions like a lash, forming a sharp spinning ring and binding Walter's body.
Whiriric!!
"Ugh!! So you weren't just sitting idle...?"
Walter, tightly bound by the mana threads from all sides, laughed.
"I didn't expect you'd lay out this many mana threads while we were chatting."
"Talk all you want."
With that retort, Renok yanked something from his wrist.
The spatial restraint artifact he had obtained as a reward for helping with the autonomous region's affairs: Pure Land Binding Mantra.
Last time, he had not been able to use it due to expending energy searching for Walter's true body, but this time had been different.
If he could just fit the artifact around the guy's neck, he could end all these events at once.
"I don't know how you took over the dead previous Citadel Lord's body, but you can't keep running forever."
Contrary to popular belief, techniques that interfered with the world's laws, like magic or incantations, had not been that convenient.
The costs paid to achieve desired results often missed the sorcerer's expectations, and precisely fitting those conditions had been impossible without accurately gauging the gap between oneself and the laws.
How much more so if the body of the sorcerer using the incantation had already been dead.
It had definitely been different from Lavaton, who had seized Lanfei's body as a receptacle.
"Wh-what are you thinking! I, I know."
Walter, bound by Renok's mana threads and swung around, said.
Even with his whole body restrained and his head upside down, his face looked calm.
"Because you're such an outstanding mage, you can easily gauge others' incantation capabilities."
"And?"
"But faith in the divine can't be measured by such calculations!"
Walter suddenly screamed.
"Behold!! The miracle of the divine descending even on a body whose life has long ended!!"
Whoooooung!!
At that instant, a vortex of intense spirit energy from behind Renok was sucked toward Walter, and his body began to glow pale.
'This...!!'
The source of the spirit energy flowing in had been none other than the family heads of the factions aligned with Ibon: Ilwon, Yukryeong, Chilhyeon, and others.
Not only Ilwon and Ibon, but it seemed he had already tampered with their bodies in advance.
The observers, who had stepped back to watch, instantly had their energy drained and rolled their eyes back.
Though the life had ended, it had been the powerful body of the previous Citadel Lord, once among the top in the citadel.
There had been no need to explain the meaning of siphoning energy to temporarily regain some of his former physical abilities.
Tudududuk!!
Walter, having drained the family heads' energy, lightly tensed, and all the binding mana threads snapped.
As if waiting, his body dropped to the ground and shot toward Renok.
The distance to Renok, approaching to use the artifact, had been within arm's reach.
Before Renok could blink, Walter closed the gap like slicing through space, raising his hand, the pale essence light gathered in his fist spinning and drawing a chilling aura.
Wiiiiiing!!
"Die-!!"
[Hey, you cult bastard!!]
Kwang!!
Just as the essence light charged straight for Renok's heart.
Manson and Suryeon, who had charged from Walter's side, simultaneously thrust their blades and crescent blades into his body.
They too had been waiting for the moment to intervene in Renok's place instead of just watching.
Woodududuk!!
"Hold. Him down...!!"
Suryeon shouted, gripping the crescent blade with both hands and pressing down hard.
"His strength is no joke... We might not hold out long!!"
The power of the previous Citadel Lord's body, partially restored through some method to its former physical capabilities, had been evident.
Renok focused on quickly activating the prayer beads.
"...5 seconds until preheating is complete. Hold on!!"
It had not been for nothing that he had not placed the prayer beads around Walter's neck until now.
As an item once used by the Celestial Hound, it devoured mana and preheating time like mad.
Moreover, the restraint activation time had not been long, so timing had to be precise.
Wiiiiing!!
The prayer beads in his hand slowly glowed as they absorbed Renok's mana, forming a circular ring.
The very moment he intended to transfer the artifact directly to Walter's neck using Archangel's Compassion.
Something broke through the dark shadow veil from the sky and plummeted down.
Kwaaaang!!!
Due to the impact, Suryeon and Manson, barely holding Walter's body, lost their balance and released him.
"Ugh!!"
"Everyone, fall back."
The voice echoing through the fierce storm of flashing mana was not Oren's.
"If you don't want to see this old man die."
The black-haired woman who had landed between Renok and Walter glared around while gripping the bloodied collar of Oren.
His head hung limply, unconscious and unresponsive, a pitiful sight.
The decisive battle between the family heads that would determine the citadel's fate.
The victor had been decided far quicker than anyone had anticipated.
"Damn it..."
It went without saying that Oren had been at a disadvantage.
The difference in forces between Ibon, who had preserved her condition, and Oren, who had expended a massive amount of mana evacuating the citadel residents outside the compound.
But even accounting for that, Ibon's victory had come too swiftly.
Proof that Ibon's capabilities, gained by trading the blood and flesh of others for youth, had exceeded Oren's expectations.
It did not take long for despair to cloud the faces of those who realized this.
The unscathed Ibon Family Head and Walter Martinez, who had absorbed the family heads' energy to adjust his body.
An overwhelming victory. A blatantly lopsided balance of power.
The fate of everyone gathered there, and even the citadel's residents, had all but been sealed.
But Renok ignored the chilled atmosphere and continued moving his hand.
"I don't know what nonsense you're spouting."
Wiiiiing!!
"It's not over yet."
With a calm retort, Archangel's Compassion glowed from inside Renok's coat, activating its transfer ability.
The prayer beads in his hand vanished.
Click!!
The place where the prayer beads reappeared via spatial transfer was not Walter's neck, as intended.
Renok had transferred the fully preheated restraint artifact, Pure Land Binding Mantra, to the right forearm of the Ibon Family Head, who was gripping Oren's collar.