Episode 23: A Mere Few Seconds

Flames flicker before my eyes.

To cut to the chase, I’m not dead yet.

Right after the Crimson Lord fired her flames.

Babiyeon, whom I was holding hostage, reflexively swung her staff.

Accordingly, the magic of the blooming flames barely managed to offset some of the incoming fire.

But it was only a small portion.

Babiyeon’s flames were quickly devoured again by the Crimson Lord.

So, I hurriedly tripped Babiyeon and rolled across the floor.

The neutralized flames passed over our heads and collided with a pillar.

The rock pillar melted as if it had touched lava.

I could immediately tell how high the temperature of the flames handled by the Crimson Lord was.

“Hmm.”

The Crimson Lord stroked her chin while looking at us.

Then, she nonchalantly aimed her hand again.

Just now, we survived by luck because Babiyeon handled the same kind of flames as her.

There won’t be a second time.

The other disciples’ faces were already frozen.

The sudden appearance of the Crimson Lord and her attacking even her own disciple.

She was clearly an enemy to anyone who looked at her.

With the Lord turning into an enemy, there was zero chance of winning.

“S-Suseung-nim!”

At that moment, Babiyeon got up from the floor and shouted.

“D-Did you use magic to save me? If so, please stop! I and this person are only cooperating temporarily to stop the Black Dawn!”

Earnestness dwelled in Babiyeon’s eyes.

She pleaded that I wasn’t really a kidnapper holding her hostage.

But the Crimson Lord’s expression didn’t change.

That fact shook Babiyeon’s eyes.

Babiyeon must have read the current situation as well.

She wanted to deny it, but reality was cruel.

Babiyeon’s lips trembled.

“Why, why are you doing this? I am your 11th disciple, Suseung-nim.”

She asked with bitterness.

The Black Dawn is a globally famous terrorist group.

For a Lord to side with such a Black Dawn, it was impossible to understand.

Moreover, the Crimson Lord is Babiyeon’s Suseung-nim.

Even though it was a relationship made with money, the Suseung-nim was trying to kill even her own disciple.

It was clearly an act that abandoned morality.

“I received money.”

And the Crimson Lord gave a simple answer.

“More money than when I was a Lord.”

She received so much money that she gave up the merit of being a Lord.

Black Dawn, did these bastards’ capital rot away?

“So, it has to go according to plan.”

The Crimson Lord was originally a person who didn’t distinguish between good and evil.

Her good and evil are only made of money.

This time as well, she simply became evil following the money.

“You are.”

Babiyeon staggered and got up.

Anger seethed in her eyes.

“Not human.”

Babiyeon, feeling utter disappointment towards her who had gone crazy for money, aimed her staff at her.

I could feel her desperate fighting spirit to fight the Crimson Lord.

What a wonderful fighting spirit.

That is, until the Crimson Lord fired another beam of fire.

Hwareureureureuk!

Babiyeon turned pitch black and collapsed as she was.

It seemed she used magic right before, preventing complete combustion, but that was it.

The gap between the Crimson Lord and her is vast.

Even if the weak are angry, nothing changes.

“Is that it?”

The Crimson Lord turned around, lifting her shoe heel as if she had finished her business.

The Black Dawn once again drew their weapons all at once.

“Take care of the rest.”

Her steps head towards the exit.

As soon as I saw that, I realized where she was trying to go.

Sohan and Aranseol.

It’s to chase the two people who escaped from here.

I threw off the mask I had wrapped around my face.

“Hey you, you fucking bitch.”

And I opened my mouth.

Even if it’s just a little bit.

I need to buy more time.

So, I’ll do anything.

Now, everyone in this place realized who my statement was directed at.

The disciples, as well as the Black Dawn, turned around to look at me with dumbfounded faces.

The Crimson Lord stopped in her tracks.

In the chilling atmosphere where everyone was frozen.

Only I didn’t stop my cursed mouth.

“If you do anything for money, I’ll give you money too, so why don’t you burn that head of yours that you don’t even need to carry around?”

Her gaze slowly reached me.

It was a look that asked if I was seriously talking to her.

The Crimson Lord has reigned as a strong person.

Even if it was behind her back, there had never been anyone who dared to speak out in front of her like this.

It’s a natural story.

Because no one would do such a thing unless they didn’t value their own life.

So, the Crimson Lord didn’t know if I was really talking to her at this moment.

“Why, does it not seem like I’m talking to you? Even a whore has more conviction than you.”

The Crimson Lord, who was as high as the sky, fell below a whore in an instant.

It was a fall worthy of an uncivilized otherworlder.

“Wow.”

The Crimson Lord exclaimed.

“It’s been a while since I’ve seen a viper.”

The venomous fangs reached her.

So now is the time for retribution.

The Crimson Lord flicked her finger.

That was the end.

The flying beam of fire covered my body in an instant, just like with Babiyeon.

The heat of the flames burned the skin and muscles, melted the bones, and even burned the brain.

The last remaining eyeballs disappeared while capturing the world being burned in their eyes.

As expected, this other world is consistently fucked up.

* * *

Kung-

One more corpse fell next to Babiyeon.

Unlike Babiyeon, it was a corpse that had turned completely black, even into ashes.

It was clear that not even a corpse would remain.

The Crimson Lord looked at the fallen corpse.

It had been a long time since she had heard such blatantly contemptuous words.

That’s why she doesn’t understand.

What reason did that guy have for spouting such words?

She thought he might have something, so she had thought about the next move, but he really burned to death without anything.

From the moment he took Babiyeon hostage in this situation, she thought he was someone with something.

But all he does are bizarre things.

‘Which disciple is he from?’

She’s the Crimson Lord.

It’s the Black Dawn’s job to recognize the disciples, there was no reason for her to bother recognizing them one by one.

“Who is that guy’s disciple?”

So, she casually threw a question to one of the Black Dawn.

“He is Raphael Baniola.”

The Black Dawn answered faithfully.

Raphael Baniola, the daughter of the Grace Magic Tower Lord.

As such, she was also quite knowledgeable in Holy Magic.

‘A Holy Magic user?’

If so, was his bizarre behavior just now an act based on his belief in his own Holy Magic?

He had just seen with his own eyes the flames melting Babiyeon.

But he trusts in Holy Magic and provokes her?

That also doesn’t make sense.

Then that means he had some kind of intention until he died.

The Crimson Lord was thinking of catching the people who were trying to escape from here just now.

Immediately after that, Raphael’s disciple slandered the Crimson Lord.

So, could it be that it was to buy time for the two guys who escaped from here?

The time he bought was only a few seconds.

For those few seconds, Raphael’s disciple sacrificed his life.

Is that even possible?

People value their own lives the most.

No matter what, you can’t just risk your life so readily.

“Heo.”

A hollow laugh flowed from the Crimson Lord’s mouth.

“I’m seeing another madman like the Supreme Commander.”

If that was really his intention, then his intention was successful.

Because the two guys managed to escape.

And soon, he’ll bring all of his disciples’ Suseung-nims along with the regular army.

The Crimson Lord slowly swept up her hair.

“Only take the guys you need to take care of. If you take them all, you’ll get caught.”

“Are you sure you’ll be okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. I’m going to erase the rest anyway.”

There’s no reason to keep the disciples alive.

The disciples showed startled faces at the Crimson Lord’s words.

She was the one who erased two disciples in an instant just now.

There was no problem erasing the remaining personnel as well.

“Follow me quietly.”

The Crimson Lord smiled eerily.

“Who says I will.”

Until a voice was heard from behind her.

Ossaek!

The Crimson Lord’s head quickly turned back.

The moment the flames stretching out from her grasp seized the rear.

She realized that she had been tricked.

Her back was empty.

Instead, a man appeared in front of her and swung his sword.

The Crimson Lord’s flame protection magic is cut off without hesitation.

The level of the sharp aura surrounding the sword was not something that could be blocked with magic.

It is a sword that cuts anything.

Whatever he holds becomes a masterpiece and the strongest sword.

Even if it’s just a tree branch.

Because the man himself was already a sword.

Sword Lord

Soun

The man who reached the pinnacle of the sword arrived here.

Just before the Crimson Lord’s neck was cut off.

Someone jumped out and blocked him.

Blind swordsman, Tears of Rain.

Only she, whose other senses were maximized instead of her eyes, noticed Soun’s appearance.

That’s why she swung her sword to protect the Crimson Lord and blocked Soun’s path.

But Tears of Rain quickly realized how wrong her choice was.

Soun’s sword cut her sword.

He cut it really lightly without any resistance.

The sharpness lingering on the sword caused a fear that was on a different level.

She, who felt Soun’s presence more because she couldn’t see, let out a terrible scream.

The imminent death didn’t even give her time to see her life flashing before her eyes.

Tears of Rain’s body was cut off and severed.

Soun’s sword didn’t stop there and reached out to the Crimson Lord.

But Tears of Rain’s death was not worthless.

A slight gap created by Tears of Rain’s intervention.

Using this gap, the explosion that erupted from her grasp blew her away.

Kwaaaaaaaaang!

The Crimson Lord barely evaded Soun’s sword.

But two of her fingers were cut off as they were.

It was the result of touching the tip of Soun’s sword while wielding the explosion.

The Crimson Lord gasped for breath in the blood dripping down.

If it hadn’t been for Tears of Rain’s intervention, she would have had her neck cut off.

“You monster bastard.”

Even though they reached the same Lord level, there was an absurd gap.

Soun was an existence on a different level even among Lords.

So, he was also the one she least wanted to appear in this place.

‘……How could he be this fast?’

The two disciples who left just now.

Even though those two disciples contacted him, there was no way Soun could have come this quickly.

‘At this speed, it must be Space Magic.’

There is only one person in the world who can operate Space Magic to this extent.

The master of Space Magic, Ririran.

But she was said to have died together with the Great Sinner of Sloth, Cosmic Jack.

‘……Could it be that she was alive?’

Something is flowing strangely.

A warning bell rings that she needs to work more than what she received money for.

She didn’t realize that it stemmed from a man’s contemptuous remarks just now.

“Crimson Lord, you’ve become blinded by greed.”

“Hehe, what are you talking about? Greed is the most valuable thing in life.”

The Crimson Lord was sweating coldly.

She clenched and unclenched her hand.

Just as she was wondering what to do.

“Ahheuheu, shall I help you?”

A man suddenly poked his head out from the shadows beneath her feet.

He was a bizarre-looking man with nails hammered into his head.

“Immediately!”

As soon as she saw that, the Crimson Lord shouted, and Soun was already moving.

As his sword rushed towards the Crimson Lord, she melted into the shadows.

Soun’s sword, which cut through the air, cut the inner wall of the hall in half.

The wall didn’t even collapse because it was cut so cleanly.

At the same time, the Black Dawn gathered around him all at once.

They surrounded him with faces already prepared for death.

Eudeuk-

Soun gritted his teeth.

“The Great Sinner of Envy.”

That was the identity of the guy who took the Crimson Lord away with shadows just now.

“Ririran, chase after them.”

Soun shouted and turned his sword at the same time.

“I’ll clean these up and follow you right away.”

It was a death sentence for the Black Dawn.