#228
The Undying King vs. The Hero Party (3)
Heinrich… No, Han Seonghyeon’s primary emotion toward Gios had been pity and a sense of kinship.
Because he himself had been in a similar situation.
And though he hadn’t shown it all this time, he had also felt a bit of admiration.
Unlike himself, who had required two years and the ability known as "Avatar" to make his comeback, hadn’t Gios risen back up and shaken off his predicament with nothing but pure, single-minded resolve?
Of course, their circumstances differed in terms of the martial strength they possessed and whether they had clear targets for revenge, but before that lofty will that seemed to render even his own soul undying, those felt like nothing more than trivial matters.
Kwadudududuk—
But such thoughts were merely personal sentiments.
Having learned the limits of the Refracted Spear in the process of acquiring "Spatial Cleave," Heinrich had not expected anything more than support from Gios from the very beginning.
[Kuk, what is this now?!]
That was why—the spatial distortion occurring in the Undying King’s chest right now was something even he had not foreseen.
As if the one who had taken the attack directly with his body would be any less bewildered.
‘An opening!’
But Heinrich, already deeply immersed in battle, pushed aside all stray thoughts for now and swung his Holy Sword toward the fleeting gap before his eyes.
Honing its edge into an amplified blade of light, he unleashed "Spatial Cleave" filled to the brim with the martial principles he had painstakingly cultivated.
[Kuu… Not a chance!]
Kugugung—
But at that moment, the immense abyss that erupted from the Undying King’s body like a death throe, even as it melted away under the light enveloping the Holy Sword, nevertheless succeeded in shaking the blade’s tip.
Swoosh! Fwoosh—!
[Kuk! You vermin—!]
Thanks to that, he was slashed from one shoulder to the opposite hip, and even as he was engulfed in holy flames erupting from the wound, he somehow managed to avoid a direct strike to his heart.
“Keuhk—!”
And at a short distance from him.
Gios, vomiting blood in the posture of having thrust his spear, gazed at Heinrich being sent flying by the Undying King’s momentum and muttered in regret.
“…Too shallow.”
Naturally, since this was his first time using this power.
Since it had only been established in theory, errors were inevitable in the process of actual application.
‘Still, I think I’m getting the hang of it. If only I had one more opportunity…’
Fortunately, he still had the strength left for that.
If he used this, he felt he could land a much more decisive blow this time…
[How dare you! You vermin—!]
Unfortunately, it seemed there would be no more chances.
[Die!]
The Undying King, who had maintained a leisurely demeanor throughout the battle, vented his fury and reached out his hand toward him.
Though he had allowed consecutive attacks and even the Holy Fire was gnawing at his body, he prioritized harming Gios over dealing with it.
“Wait…!”
“Lord Gios!”
Puhwak—!
Before his comrades could even act.
Thorns of the abyss surging from the ground pierced his defenseless entire body.
***
‘…That was close. To think he could pull off such tricks!’
It was only because the enemy’s attack had been slightly shallow, and he had immediately detected the crisis through transcendent perception and overwhelming temporal advantage, reinforcing the subspace around his heart, that he had survived.
If that attack had been even slightly more threatening, he wouldn’t have been able to properly block Heinrich’s subsequent follow-up and would have been forced to retire on the spot.
‘Because of that vermin! This body…!’
Naturally, he too was well aware of Gios.
Thanks to the usefulness of the secret technique he possessed, he was displaying performance beyond his realm, but strictly speaking, he was merely at the level of barely scraping the upper-intermediate ranks even within the Extreme Realm.
An opponent whose caliber was distinctly inferior compared not only to Heinrich, Halli, and the Saintess, but also to the other two.
In other words, from the Undying King’s standpoint, he had allowed a blow from an extra he had never even paid attention to.
‘Hastening his own death! …Though I was planning to kill them all here anyway.’
As those words implied.
In truth, from the very beginning, he had intended to eliminate everyone here except Heinrich and Halli.
If he killed the Saintess of the Church of the Lord God, the High Elf of the Elven Kingdom, and even the Archmage who was a friend of the next Emperor, just how much Karma would he gain?
The aftermath, combined with the heightened terror of the Undying King, would soon return as overwhelming points!
‘Cooperation? Coordination? Unnecessary! As long as this body earns more Karma than all the others combined!’
Ever since erecting barriers in his mind and severing the connection, his already unstable thoughts had been racing toward extremity moment by moment.
The fundamental premise of gathering points for power remained unchanged, but every other aspect had twisted toward thinking only of himself.
[Kekekek— Indeed, it wouldn’t be fun if it were too easy.]
The Undying King deflected the pouring spirit arrows and Iseah’s magic, suppressing the holy flames consuming his body with the abyss.
He had believed his strength alone would suffice, but now that things had come to this, he had no intention of being stubborn any longer.
‘I don’t need many anyway.’
Except for a few executives left to guard the Undying Fortress, the rest were busy, having finished war preparations and begun their southern advance.
But he had a lovely pet he could summon at any time.
[Come forth, Heratos.]
The instant those words ended.
[Kyaaraaack——!]
A massive and ferocious bone dragon tore through space and revealed itself.
***
Thanks to Riesta’s belated intervention, Gios avoided instant death and could be evacuated to the rear.
Of course, with his entire body pierced and contaminated by the abyss, he was in a state where dying at any moment would not be strange.
Moreover, this was a situation where they couldn’t even devote themselves fully to healing.
[Kyaaraa—!]
The essence of destruction spewed from the mouth of the bone dragon Heratos, soaring through the air, crashed down below.
“Intensive Barrier!”
“O Lord God!”
Kwaaaang—!
With the magic of Iseah, who had succeeded in controlling his mana from the moment the Undying King showed an opening, and Riesta, who had maintained the barrier while keeping Gios alive, they defended against the breath.
“Horia, Equistin, Mayru, Dimanta!”
Lydia’s arrow, mingled with the four great attributes of fire, wind, water, and earth, sniped at Heratos in midair.
The bone dragon’s addition to a situation that was already barely holding.
Naturally, even amid this, the Undying King’s offensive toward the rear continued without cease.
[Kekekek— What are you doing, Hero Heinrich? If you wish to save your comrades, defeating me would be for the best, would it not?]
“You…!”
And Heinrich realized.
That Hans… Undying King Hannibal Strauss, truly intended to kill all of his comrades here.
“Why…!”
He had opened his mouth without thinking, but he couldn’t bring himself to finish and gritted his teeth.
He had suspected the other’s condition wasn’t good from the start, but words would never reach one who had now truly become the Undying King.
‘Halli is…’
Halli, engaging in a fierce battle with numerous demons outside the building’s barrier.
Having already annihilated most of the lower-class demons and slain one Great Warrior-class, he had maintained superiority throughout, but shaking off the remaining enemies to come help did not look easy.
Then what method could be used now?
‘There is… no way.’
Blood flowed from his lips as he bit down hard.
Despair spread through his body like poison at the helplessness of being unable to resolve things himself and having to rely on other means.
‘…What saint, what hero. Without a staged performance, I can’t do anything!’
The image of Gios, his entire body pierced by abyssal thorns, came to mind.
The reason he had accepted him into the hero party was partly greed for his secret technique, but mainly because of his precarious appearance, as if he would shatter at any moment.
He had wanted him, who bore a pain similar to his own, to live on, even if fueled by anger.
In that process, he had also arranged things so that Gios could personally kill the black magicians belonging to the Reverse Heaven Pact, his ‘true enemies,’ especially those involved in opening the continental-scale sacrificial ritual.
The remaining associates were probably only the Balteon faction who had personally opened the rift here in the south, and the revolutionary behind them.
‘…I had tried to let him steady his heart as much as possible before facing the final goal, the Undying King.’
Heinrich squeezed his eyes shut against the crushing anguish.
[Have you given up? Hero. Keuheuheu— That would be amusing too. Let us enjoy watching your comrades die together. My nemesis, Heinrich. I shall show you mercy.]
Not only Gios, who was hovering between life and death, but the lives of the others were in danger as well.
Saintess Riesta, whom he had encountered when he first set foot in the Roselia Grand Temple, before he even became a Holy Knight.
Iseah, a fellow Awakener from Korea, an early member of the hero party, and also Hesperon’s teacher.
Lydia, who hadn’t been with them long but had volunteered willingly for this dangerous task, and who was also acquainted with Harris.
But his current self was so utterly powerless.
‘O Lord God…’
Gwaak—
As he gripped the sword hilt with both hands in surging fury.
At a suddenly arising doubt, he slowly opened his eyes and stared blankly at the Holy Sword in his grasp.
A divine artifact that had elevated him, who in terms of realm hadn’t even reached Transcendence, to the pinnacle of humanity.
That’s right.
He still hadn’t reached Transcendence.
Why?
He acknowledged his shortcomings as a martial artist.
But wasn’t he also a cleric at the same time?
Moreover, the pinnacle of clerics who had received even the Great Blessing and was called a ‘Saint.’
Then why had he still been unable to surpass the wall?
‘The first condition of a cleric and the foundation of divine power.’
Faith in God.
‘Is my faith worthy of reaching Transcendence?’
With fake faith injected through "Mind Hub" and "Persona," and divine power bestowed by the mercy of the Lord God.
Could the existence called Heinrich truly be called a Saint?
‘…The title of Saint, too, was merely obtained because he received the Great Blessing from God.’
In other words, it was merely a promise among humans.
Of course, normally, once one reached the level to receive the Great Blessing, they would also possess the appropriate faith… but wasn’t his case a bit special?
‘…O Lord God.’
Heinrich gripped the Holy Sword tightly once more.
And once again repeated the reckless challenge he had failed countless times before.
[…Hoo? You intend to fight again? That is fine too. Kehah! Struggle as you will, Hero!]
Ignoring the Undying King’s mockery and ridicule, he launched an attack by leaping through space.
But as expected, he was lightly parried, and the distance he had closed instantly widened again.
‘To think such thoughts at this point is shameless, but.’
He charged without giving up, but accumulating damage from the pouring black magic and abyssal power, he gradually became drenched in blood.
‘Faith isn’t something that forms so easily, is it?’
His body was further elevated by the divine power transmitted from Riesta.
Maintaining barriers, healing, watching the situation here, and even adding buffs.
Lacking only offensive aspects, he smiled bitterly at a sight truly worthy of being called a ‘Saintess.’
‘But I believe.’
No matter how much Heinrich was an ego infused with faith and conviction, lacking proper piety inevitably lowered the quality of that purity.
Yet under the Lord God’s tacit approval, he had been permitted sufficient divine power with that alone.
How had that been possible?
‘That I can be of help to this world, to this Auteurica that the Lord God cherishes.’
The answer was simple.
Simply because the Lord God permitted it.
Then why had the Lord God granted him such preferential treatment?
‘I believe. That I can do what the Lord God desires.’
That too was a simple matter.
A special existence from another world, who could contact the Lord God even through trickery—there must be something expected of him.
And that was probably something related to the Abyss.
‘I believe in myself… in my potential. And I believe in you, who believes in me.’
It was not pure reverence toward God, but slightly twisted faith….
But this was the best he could do right now.
‘Does not the Lord God also believe in me, having permitted this power?’
His side burst open from the abyss that flew in.
The pure-white armor he had received upon becoming a saint, the “Guardian of Glory,” which was no different from a moving fortress, had already gone beyond being tattered—holes had been punched through it here and there.
‘So please!’
It was a repetition of a process that had already played out countless times.
Even after enduring all manner of damage to close the distance, the situation did not improve; it only worsened.
The Abyss that had accumulated excessively within his body had now reached the point where it was interfering even with the circulation of his divine power.
‘If You’re going to believe in me anyway, don’t test the waters—believe in me properly! We’ve built up some affection between us, haven’t we? I’m asking for a little advance!’
I’ll do my utmost to keep believing in You from here on as well, so for now, please trust me first.
Forcing through that unreasonable demand, he ignored the stamina that had reached its limit and swung his sword as he pressed forward to the very end.
As if to say that, so long as he had that faith, he would never come to a halt.
[Kahahaha— You are like a moth to a flame, Hero... Hm?]
However, the first to answer that will was—
An unexpected phenomenon he had experienced once before.
Kwadudududuk—
Space warped around the Immortal King’s chest.
Geos, battered beyond recognition, had finally risen to his feet, shaken off those trying to stop him, and burned away the last of his life to unleash it—a secret art that destroyed space.
But.
[Khuh! You wretch, not a chance! Did you think this Hannibal Strauss would fall for the same trick twice!]
Yes, the Immortal King was that kind of unreasonable existence.
No matter how much one had staked their life on a strike... perhaps if it had been the very first surprise attack, when he had never expected it at all, but there was no way he would fail to respond to an attack he had already experienced once.
Based on perception that had reached transcendence and an overwhelming understanding of space, he applied force in the opposite direction of the distortion, forcibly stitching the splitting space back together.
‘Its degree of completion is far higher than the first strike. If I had taken this for the first time while defenseless...’
He likely would have failed to properly respond to the holy sword that followed and been forced to flee in disgrace after suffering a fatal blow.
But that was already a thing of the past.
Now, he had safely defended against the attack, and at Heinrich’s level, there was no way he could exploit the opening in his response that had occurred within that transcendent perception—
“I told you, Hans.”
Yet once again, his calculations were wrong.
Heinrich, who until now had only been toyed with by him, stepped casually into his “time”—
Puk—
“That I would be sure to drive the holy sword into that heart.”
[Keuk?! You, don’t tell me...!]
Heinrich’s holy sword, shining more brilliantly than ever before,
pierced into the chest of the Immortal King, Hannibal Strauss.
***
Swoosh—
I raised myself from the bed.
An avatar was, in the end, myself.
No matter that it had happened in a separate body, there was no way an affair as significant as transcending the limits of one’s existence would have no effect whatsoever on the main body.
And yet such a major event had occurred three times in succession.
It was no wonder I had awakened earlier than planned.
“Haa—.”
But even so, all that escaped me was a sigh.
“...What a mess.”
And at the same time,
the will that had been scattered into countless fragments until now gathered into one place.