Ch.679Did You Think I Wouldn’t Know?

The insidious voice digging into his mind startled Ragnar Lokan, but he quickly realized it was the effect of Ka’har magic—sorcery. He immediately recognized the woman speaking to him through the spell.

The Third Apostle. The woman who had incited him and ultimately driven him into this predicament was now extending him a lifeline.

‘She’ll help me…?’

Could she possibly be inside Edriksa?

‘No, that can’t be right.’

Ragnar denied his own speculation.

If the Third Apostle had been hiding in Edriksa from the beginning, she wouldn’t be stepping in now—she would have joined the fierce battle earlier and attempted to subdue Haschal Median Aishan-Gioro together with himself, the Eighth Apostle.

She was likely speaking to him remotely while hiding in her own lair. So her offer of help probably didn’t mean she would fight Haschal in his place.

That was Ragnar’s assessment.

– I can numb that monster’s senses for a brief moment, giving you a chance to escape.

The Third Apostle’s voice whispered again, confirming Ragnar’s judgment.

‘I can survive. If I can just escape from here and reach a place where I can use rune magic…!’

Ragnar felt hope.

Even if he regained his rune magic, he couldn’t fight the superhuman before him again. Having used the power that converts life force into holy light, “Einherjar,” he would struggle to even move properly, let alone fight.

However, while a rematch was impossible, escape was entirely feasible.

‘If I awaken the Rúnadýrið, those beasts…’

Ragnar recalled his final card that he had buried throughout the city as a contingency.

The Beasts of Runes, Rúnadýrið.

They were the product of knowledge bestowed upon him as an apostle of the ancient god Alfodhr.

Monsters created by engraving all manner of runes on beasts rather than humans. They were killing machines no different from magical beasts—perhaps even the origin of magical beasts.

Since aligning with the Third Apostle, Ragnar had buried his created Rúnadýrið in various underground locations throughout Edriksa.

His intention was to awaken them to hinder enemy pursuit should he be forced to flee.

But when actually facing Haschal, he had no opportunity to awaken them.

If he paused his magical bombardment even briefly, she would charge at incredible speed and swing her sword—and Ragnar had only one way to avoid those sword strikes.

Simultaneously activating five runes to explosively enhance his physical abilities, accepting massive recoil. It felt like his entire body was shattering each time, but that was better than having his head severed while unable to move properly.

Still, believing Haschal’s power wasn’t infinite, he fought on for quite some time, and the result…

To his genuine astonishment, the mana in the atmosphere was completely depleted before Haschal’s strength gave out.

Ragnar learned for the first time that atmospheric mana could be depleted.

It was unbelievable. How much karma had she accumulated to endure until mana depletion occurred?

Ragnar was certain: the strength of Aishan-Gioro Haschal, the variable of fate, had already reached the terrestrial limit.

It would have been admirable if she weren’t his enemy.

Reaching the terrestrial limit meant that the woman before him was the strongest being on earth until the next Holy Grail was destroyed.

For Ragnar, who was fighting such a being, it was cause for lamentation.

In any case, after dozens of minutes of battle, the surrounding mana was completely depleted, and Ragnar, having lost his magical power, sensed he would die without even properly using his emergency measures.

Awakening and controlling the Rúnadýrið also required rune power, so he couldn’t even awaken them in this place where atmospheric mana was completely depleted.

‘But if I can just escape from here, I can use the runes of domination and communication. If I can just awaken the Rúnadýrið, I can escape!’

Ragnar’s escape plan was straightforward.

Awaken the monsters buried throughout the city, have them slaughter all visible kingdom citizens while charging toward Haschal… and slip away among the confused city residents while they bought him time.

It was an extremely simple plan, but in Ragnar’s current state, it was his best option.

‘Ten Rúnadýrið should be enough to buy time.’

Ragnar didn’t even expect the Beasts of Runes to defeat the exhausted Haschal.

The Rúnadýrið weren’t weak. Beasts strengthened by rune power were powerful monsters that could overwhelm even Crusaders of Seals.

Just as a bare-handed person cannot defeat a bear, a person strengthened by runes cannot defeat a bear strengthened by runes.

The problem was that the humanoid monster before him possessed a body that could dispatch bears like snacks even without karma power. And with a single blow at that.

So even beasts strengthened by rune power would be miraculous to last ten minutes.

Of course, for the current Ragnar, those ten minutes of respite were more desperate than anything else in the world.

– I’ll help you if you swear to your god that you’ll obey me. No need to answer, just nod.

The whisper came at the perfect moment. The Third Apostle explicitly revealed her intentions.

While making a show with a simple spell, she wanted to redefine their relationship from an ambiguous cooperation to that of master and servant.

Ragnar hesitated very briefly, knowing what it meant to submit to a sorcerer.

It was literally like a slave contract—bark when told to bark, roll on the ground when told to roll.

Ragnar sensed that the moment he accepted this offer, he would become a hunting dog used against the Third Apostle’s enemies, with a high probability of eventually being boiled alive.

But he had no other options. Nor did he have time for lengthy deliberation.

If he rejected the Third Apostle’s offer, his remaining fate seemed to be either having his head severed right here, or being tortured until he spilled all information after being completely subdued.

‘…Better than dying.’

He nodded.

Perhaps watching through the far-seeing spell, the Third Apostle began to whisper like a snake with a cackle.

– You’ve made the right choice. Now, the ‘Fog of Confusion’…

Crack.

And that whisper was cut off abruptly.

By a black iron dagger thrown by Haschal after glancing up at the sky.

Feathers mixed with flesh scattered in all directions.

======[ Haschal ]======

“What…?!”

Ragnar exclaimed in shock, eyes wide. I turned my gaze from the falcon falling in pieces back to him. Judging by his reaction, my suspicion seemed to have hit the mark.

As expected, the Third Apostle had been up to something. Good thing I checked.

Just moments ago, when an emotion other than fear began to mix into Ragnar’s expression, I fixed my eyes on him while heightening my senses to their limit to examine the surroundings. There had to be a reason he was escaping his fear.

Thanks to that, I was able to detect a falcon circling in the air.

As soon as I spotted the falcon, I could be certain of why Ragnar’s expression had changed.

I don’t know the true identities of the Apostles.

Even in the game, they attacked while concealing their identities and names until death.

However, even if I don’t know their identities, that doesn’t mean I don’t know their methods. In fact, I know them better than anyone, having experienced them firsthand, even if it was in-game.

That’s why I could immediately recognize the nature of the falcon circling in the air.

That was precisely the Third Apostle’s specialty.

The far-seeing eye. A method of subduing the consciousness of a lower-ranked being and using it as a reconnaissance drone.

With that method, she could see a thousand li from where she sat, gathering information and occasionally launching attacks—that was the Third Apostle’s specialty.

So as soon as I sensed the falcon’s gaze directed at us, I threw a dagger to block that gaze.

The far-seeing eye is only frightening when undetected; once you’re aware of it, it’s not particularly difficult to counter.

Just killing the medium watching me makes it impossible for that woman, the Third Apostle, to see us or remotely activate magic.

“Damn it…!”

I was actually somewhat skeptical, but seeing Ragnar drop his head and curse, it seemed to have worked perfectly.

He must feel like a lifeline suddenly snapped.

“Are you ready to die?”

“W-wait! If you spare me…”

Begging for his life now?

“I can’t spare you.”

I looked down at Ragnar with a smirk.

I desperately wanted to keep him alive for torture and extract information, but unfortunately, that was impossible.

To neutralize Volberg’s power, Einherjar, I had no choice but to pour the curse of Frosting into him, eroding his life force itself.

Unless he met a saint of Elpinel like Knut, he wouldn’t survive thirty minutes even if left alone.

So what could I do? I had to kill him.

However, the one to kill him wouldn’t be me but someone else. Originally, I planned to kill him myself to increase my karma, but with things taking this turn, Knut needed to become stronger.

Besides, killing him wouldn’t increase my karma any further.

I realized it while killing the palace knights. At some point, I stopped feeling the distinctive sensation of accumulating karma. As if blocked by an invisible wall.

The constraint of Heaven’s Wall.

I had reached the limit of strength permitted by the world.