Ch.55Ep.55 The Betrayer and the Betrayed

“Ugh… nngh…”

Pain shot through every joint in my body. If I had detected it even a moment later…

I might have died on the spot after being hit by the Flashing Heavenly Sword.

Serena recalled what Radios had told her.

That he possessed a weapon more powerful than the Twilight Sword. That no one who had seen it was still alive.

Though Serena had wondered what this skill might be, she never asked directly.

Whenever he returned after using that skill, his physical condition was never normal.

She had carelessly assumed it was merely the recoil from using such a skill.

“Radios… so it’s come to this after all…”

Serena spat out a mouthful of blood as she struggled to her feet.

A murderous intent so vicious it made her skin crawl had been emanating from nearby.

It was Radios. The long-awaited reunion with the traitor he’d been anticipating had finally come to pass.

The killing intent drew closer by the second, along with an increasingly stinging, ominous magical energy.

Serena forced a smile as she realized Radios was approaching.

BOOM!

At last, he landed on the ground from the sky, filled with rage.

“Serena… good to see you…”

“…Captain.”

What should she say? How should she respond?

A painful and cruel reunion between betrayer and betrayed.

Radios was twitching, looking like he wanted to attack her immediately.

Serena pretended to observe him while actually refining her magical energy to activate the Shining Trapezohedron.

“I didn’t expect you to come looking for me voluntarily. And bringing a gift, no less.”

“Sorry, but that’s not a gift. So… would you mind returning it?”

“I see you’ve decided to be completely shameless now.”

“Captain, you know what? I’m not Veichel. I don’t foolishly draw on Orders used by Outer Gods with just my life force!”

WHIRR!

Serena thrust the activated Shining Trapezohedron toward Radios.

The command was to seal all of Radios’s magical power.

Unlike Namgung Ihyun who possessed an Order, Radios did not have one, so—

[How unpleasant. Disappear.]

“..!”

Crack. Crack crack.

Just then, the voice of an absolute being that defied comprehension rang out.

CRASH!

“The, the Shining Trapezohedron broke?!”

The Shining Trapezohedron, known as Nyarlathotep’s divine artifact, was completely shattered on the spot.

As a result, the signal was transmitted to Nyarlathotep residing in the palace of Olympus.

[Oh my..!]

He could sense it.

The one who had destroyed his Shining Trapezohedron was the Blind Idiot God.

Having once served as his subordinate, the Crawling Chaos knew well.

If he tried anything more here, the clutches of the Blind Idiot God would extend to him as well.

If that happened, he would face inevitable annihilation.

Naturally, Nyarlathotep said nothing to Serena.

As he had always been. To him, people from other worlds or Kadinant were merely toys.

The perspective returns to Kadinant.

Serena was shocked beyond words as she watched the Shining Trapezohedron shatter before her eyes.

Conversely, Radios had no idea what had just happened.

He felt something trying to bind him, but it suddenly disappeared.

There was only one explanation for this. Something from a higher dimension had intervened.

And in this situation, there was only one higher-dimensional being who would intervene.

‘The Blind Idiot God… is his goal truly to bring down the forces of the Outer Gods?’

Though he had become his apostle and broken the fourth seal by devouring Yog-Sothoth’s power with the Outer Devouring ability…

Honestly, he couldn’t fully trust him.

Although becoming an apostle was Radios’s own decision, he had never even had a conversation with him.

The Cthuga incident was an exception since it happened before he became an apostle.

Anyway, Radios couldn’t hide his smile when he saw Serena’s dumbfounded expression.

Although she was a being who possessed an Order, Radios had been killing such beings all this time.

Starting with Patrick, then Cthuga, and then Veichel.

As his opponents grew stronger, Radios’s skills improved accordingly.

Serena wasn’t yet capable of facing Radios.

She had rushed in thinking she had the Shining Trapezohedron as backup.

But now that things had turned out this way, what could she do?

“Ca-Captain… can’t we just talk for a moment? I have something important to say—”

“Talk? Sure. Let’s talk with our bodies. Put your guard up.”

“Ugh! So it comes to this after all!”

WHOOSH.

Seeing no other option, Serena stepped into her stance and soared into the sky.

This wasn’t an escape. She knew that even if she fled, Radios would pursue her to the end.

Radios Magnum was a wolf who never retreated until he had torn apart his marked prey.

“All forces of the Order! Kill the Guardian Spirit Captain, Radios Magnum!”

So she chose to overwhelm him with numbers.

No matter how powerful Radios was, he still had physical limits.

These forces had been hastily gathered to pursue Namgung Ihyun.

They were elites from each Order, equivalent to vice-commanders of the Guardian Spirits.

Of course, the current Radios was on a completely different level from them.

But if 500 vice-commander-level Guardian Spirits rushed at him, even he would—

“Kynee’s Concealment.”

“..! He disappeared?”

Her thoughts were interrupted in an instant.

Serena, unaware that Radios was wielding Kynee, one of the three great divine artifacts of Olympus…

“AAAAARGH!”

“GAAAAHHHH!!”

“Behind! Watch behind— GACK!”

“I can’t see him! Back-to-back— AAAAHHHH!!”

Her legs trembled as she watched the Order’s elites falling in confusion.

The word “strong” didn’t begin to define it. The difference in level was simply enormous.

“DAMN IIIIIIT!!”

WHIRR.

Finally, judging herself to be in crisis, Serena drew upon the Order of Chaos provided by Nyarlathotep.

The faint outline of Radios became visible to her.

Without hesitation, Serena swung her sword at that figure.

Radios, as if he had been waiting for this, pulled out Astrape and parried her attack.

CLANG!

“How unlike you, Captain! Are you planning to fight so dishonorably?!”

“Even fighting dishonorably, the one who survives wins. You bitch who stabbed my heart so treacherously.”

“Eek!”

Serena stepped back and created a chaos field where nothing could be seen.

“Die in darkness! Someone like you—”

“Goblin Mask.”

RUMBLE.

But what she didn’t know was…

How much hell Radios had endured during the past month.

GRRRRRR.

“Wh-what… this doesn’t make sense…”

The ground trembled. No, more precisely, the air itself… the very atmosphere was trembling with fear.

“How did you get so strong?!”

Originally, Goblin Mask was a skill that transformed the user’s body into that of a goblin.

However, during the past month, Radios had “forged” a body that transcended human limitations.

The training Brina had given him was at an extreme level.

Radios had absorbed it all, achieving remarkable growth.

The Goblin Mask activated after a month had the effect of enhancing his power more than tenfold.

“Who knows? Do you really need to know?”

“DIE!!”

Serena, overcome with fear, charged forward recklessly without regard for her safety.

And where she was advancing, Radios stood motionless, completely transformed into a goblin’s form.

Then.

“Ugh, ungh?!”

Serena noticed that the Order of Chaos enveloping her was gradually being drained away and stopped her charge.

But.

“AAAAARGH!”

She couldn’t control the Order flowing into Radios.

[Authority: Outer Devouring activated.]

[Devouring the Order of Crawling Chaos, ‘Chaos’.]

This was because Radios’s authority, Outer Devouring, had activated.

She was being robbed. Everything she had built up until now was being absorbed by him.

“St-stop—”

“Divine Bullet.”

BANG!

“AAAAAAHHHHH! GAAAAAAHHHHH!!”

Radios then fired a Divine Bullet at Serena’s abdomen, where the Order hadn’t completely disappeared.

This time he had changed it from a sniper rifle to a pistol form, so she wouldn’t die immediately.

Moreover, thanks to becoming remarkably stronger over the month, using the Divine Bullet caused him no strain.

“You’ve certainly… become stronger.”

Perhaps this was the natural result of enduring such insane training without any doping.

But what did it matter?

All that remained was…

“To drag you down to hell.”

“Ah..! AAAH!”

“Don’t think you’ll die easily.”

BOOM!

Radios approached Serena and punched her with all his might.

“WAAAAAHHH!!”

With a massive hole in her abdomen, she vomited blood with an expression of unbearable pain.

Radios grabbed the back of her head and…

BANG! BANG! BAAAAANG!

Began mercilessly smashing her face into the ground.

“Ugh, ugghhh…”

“Shut your mouth, bitch. You’ll lose all your teeth.”

“Pl-please—”

CRASH!

Before Serena could beg for her life, Radios emotionlessly slammed her head into the ground.

Until his anger was satisfied.

Yet he kept infusing her with just enough magical energy to heal her wounds so she wouldn’t die.

“Ugghhh…”

Wouldn’t this actually cause her even greater suffering?

As Radios’s face contorted like that of an evil spirit, just as he was about to completely destroy Serena…

[My lord. Namgung Ihyun’s pulse is starting to drop! She can’t take any more!]

[…Understood.]

After receiving Elysse’s telepathic message that Namgung Ihyun might soon die, he tossed Serena aside.

He could take his revenge anytime now.

So…

“First, I’ll extract information.”

For now, let’s focus a little more on Namgung Ihyun.