Ch.123Chapter 123. Into the Light (4)

“Remember.”

“Y-yes, sir!”

Arte instinctively bowed her head lower and responded to the deep, weighty voice.

The Founder who had finally awakened—no, the resurrected Demon—wanted Arte to report on everything that had happened during his absence.

Arte provided a detailed report of everything that had occurred from the moment the Founder entered his meditative state until now.

The remnants of the Third Elder’s forces had been captured, followed by the First Elder being exposed and captured as well.

The western continental war that Arte had been leading didn’t end as planned either.

At the center of all these incidents was a single organization.

The Black Shadow Corps—a group that the Nameless Organization had initially dismissed as mere thieves and hadn’t investigated thoroughly.

It was the Black Shadow Corps who had eliminated the Third Elder’s remaining forces, captured the First Elder, interfered with the war, and injured Arte.

And it was after Arte began speaking about the leader of the Black Shadow Corps that the Demon, who had been silently listening, spoke for the first time.

He told her to recall the battle with the Black Shadow Corps leader in as much detail as possible.

Arte felt a hand placed on her bowed head and instinctively trembled.

Though the Demon had taken human form, he emitted an aura that could never be felt from a human.

The hand touching her head was proof of that.

Just a simple touch, yet it filled her with such dread and terror.

“Continue. Remember.”

“Y-yes!”

Arte answered in a tense voice and, as the Demon instructed, recalled that day in as much detail as possible.

The battle with the Black Shadow Corps leader in the center of the Flora Kingdom, at the royal palace.

**

‘Can he really ignore everything created with mana?’

Though Arte maintained a calm exterior, she was utterly shocked by the Black Shadow Corps leader’s impossible ability.

She hadn’t believed it when she heard it from Erika, the infiltrated prisoner, but seeing it firsthand left no room for doubt.

The Black Shadow Corps leader truly possessed a movement technique that allowed him to move freely without being affected by mana.

And if this ability was real, it meant that everything Erika had revealed earlier was likely true as well.

‘A technique that utilizes space itself.’

“You’re dead.”

Arte instinctively swallowed as she watched Ryuyeong, the Black Shadow Corps leader, draw his sword while muttering in a low voice.

Though his voice came from behind his mask, Arte could sense the profound anger in Ryuyeong’s voice.

Not just his voice, but his sword also revealed how furious he was.

The blade of the sword Ryuyeong drew was surrounded by black mana that seemed to billow up from it.

At first she thought it might be Black Magic, but it wasn’t.

It seemed the mana had turned black due to the influence of the blade.

“How much alone…”

Whoosh—

“Aah!”

Before Arte could finish speaking, Ryuyeong swung his sword without hesitation and charged toward her.

Instinctively screaming, Arte hurriedly sprinkled something from her pocket toward Ryuyeong.

Clang!

What Arte threw from her pocket was a white powder.

The white powder gathered together as if magnetically attracted, taking the shape of Ryuyeong’s sword, and blocked his strike.

The sound of metal striking metal rang out briefly, then Ryuyeong vanished from that spot.

‘What the—!’

Whoosh—

Having confirmed Ryuyeong’s disappearance, Arte hurriedly took out more white powder from her pocket and scattered it widely around her.

To an outside observer, it might look like ordinary white powder, but what Arte scattered in the air was actually a living organism.

This creature, too small to be identified with the naked eye, was optimized for physical attack defense.

It floats in the air and, when a sword enters its range, gathers in the shape of the blade to block the attack.

It boasted nearly absolute defensive power against physical attacks.

Clang!

“Ugh!”

‘The powder… died?’

Until now, the “powder” that had reliably protected Arte from physical attacks had never been destroyed.

Not only did it block swords, but if the sword was surrounded by mana, it would devour that mana and replenish its strength.

This creature was one of Arte’s trump cards that had never been broken before.

Yet these powders lost their power and fell to the ground after blocking just two sword strikes.

Slash— Swoosh—

“Kyaaah!”

While Arte was bewildered by the powder’s destruction, something even more unexpected happened.

Ryuyeong’s sharp sword strike penetrated through the remaining powder, which was clearly still present despite partial destruction.

Arte, who had momentarily let her guard down, was cut without a chance to resist.

She was fortunate that the cut wasn’t deep.

If the sword had gone even slightly deeper, she would have suffered a fatal wound.

[Number One!]

Arte desperately called for Number One in her mind, but there was no response.

The reason for Number One’s lack of response was clear.

It had already been defeated.

‘Defeated…?’

“Y-you!”

Arte extended her hand toward Ryuyeong while trying to stop the bleeding from her right arm, letting out an enraged cry.

Immediately, black energy gathered and creatures began to emerge from that spot.

Not just one or two creatures.

Numerous creatures of various appearances emerged all at once.

There were creatures resembling animals found on the Arcaria Continent like wolves and butterflies, as well as bizarre geometric shapes and creatures that seemed to be mixtures of various animal types.

These were the numerous creatures Arte had created through her Black Magic research.

And every single one was created for the purpose of killing—her strongest creatures.

“You bastard!!”

Arte screamed in rage as she felt the warm blood flowing from her right arm.

With her scream, the numerous creatures that had emerged simultaneously began charging toward Ryuyeong.

From the air, ground, and underground.

Despite being swarmed by countless creatures, Ryuyeong stood still without moving an inch.

It wasn’t that he was frightened by the sudden appearance of the creatures or that he had given up the fight.

If that were the case, he wouldn’t have such a look in his eyes.

‘I need to heal first!’

Arte summoned a healing-type creature she had created for situations like this while retreating with her arm tightly gripped.

A snail-like creature attached itself to Arte’s wound, and she immediately felt the pain subsiding.

As soon as the pain lessened, Arte turned her gaze toward Ryuyeong, who was fighting her creatures.

As expected, Ryuyeong had not given up the fight.

“What on earth is that…”

Arte couldn’t close her mouth in shock as she watched Ryuyeong battle the creatures.

First of all, she couldn’t sense any mana from Ryuyeong.

The only mana presence she could feel was the black mana surrounding his black sword.

Surely that sword energy must be the extent of his mana-utilizing techniques.

‘Why aren’t the attacks working?’

The creatures were relentlessly attacking, but they couldn’t reach Ryuyeong.

It was as if an invisible, powerful barrier surrounded him.

To describe it more precisely, it wasn’t simply a barrier.

It felt like space itself was being distorted around Ryuyeong.

Neither the viper’s sharp fangs, the centipede’s attacks surging from underground, nor the wolf’s charge had any effect on Ryuyeong.

While the attacks disappeared into the distorted space, Ryuyeong’s attacks unfailingly struck the creatures.

Each time he elegantly swung his sword wrapped in black energy, at least one creature was annihilated.

Arte could feel her fighting spirit crumbling in real time as she watched the scene.

Number One, the strongest creature Arte had created, had been defeated not by Ryuyeong but by others.

In this situation, Ryuyeong was facing dozens of creatures and, far from being pushed back, was overwhelming them while steadily approaching her.

The battle that had begun in the royal palace basement was growing larger and more violent.

The surroundings had already been devastated, and the Flora Kingdom soldiers who had gathered after sensing the commotion were being killed not by Ryuyeong but by other creatures.

Woong—

“S-such a madman…!”

Arte was already unable to close her mouth in shock, but what she saw next left her even more astonished.

An incredible sight accompanied by the sound of space itself trembling.

The blue wolf, one of Arte’s masterpieces, had been swiftly moving around and attacking Ryuyeong.

Without any warning signs, the blue wolf’s front paws simply vanished.

They weren’t cut by a sword or severed by magic.

They literally “disappeared” as if they had never been there.

The blue wolf, having lost the front paws it had been using for balance, tumbled forward.

Thunk—

Then Ryuyeong’s black blade pierced through the wolf’s neck.

Seeing this, Arte immediately realized.

That she had no chance of winning.

‘I-I need to escape.’

The reliable creatures that had filled the surroundings were now all lying cold and lifeless around her.

Ryuyeong was barely staggering, without a single wound.

“N-no!!”

Woong—

As Arte extended her hand once more to gather black energy, space trembled.

Slash—

“Aaaah!!”

With a hot, burning sensation, Arte clearly saw her arm flying upward before her eyes.

A bizarre and horrific scene.

By a hair’s breadth, a few creatures emerged from the magic circle Arte had activated, while she clutched her severed right arm and frantically jumped backward.

‘I-I must survive!’

Tearing the spatial movement scroll she had created for emergencies, Arte closed her eyes, overwhelmed with fear.