episode_0141

141. Victory.

Sarah lowered her sword and stared at the corpse of the Divine Seung. More precisely, at the area around it.

‘Black King.’

He was dead. Divine Seung’s struggle was pathetic and persistent.

He did his best to reduce the Black King Castle’s forces until his death. It was superhuman willpower.

Sarah turned her head and looked at the Castle Lord fighting the Faction Leader.

‘If I kill only that person.’

The end of the war was near.

Tadaht-

She kicked off the ground.

***

Clanggggg!

“How long are you going to keep running away? Faction Leader!”

“My specialty is light footwork, so that’s a funny thing to point out.”

The Faction Leader was sweating profusely.

‘Tsk, Divine Seung was defeated. This battle is ruined. I have to escape when I get the chance.’

Thanks to him, the White Path’s forces were greatly reduced, but it was important to maintain the lineage somehow.

‘There’s still a slight chance of winning. I’ll go back and start over from the beginning.’

The Faction Leader swung his sword mightily. The Black King, with his arms crossed, slid across the ground, leaving a long trail.

The Faction Leader bent forward and kicked the ground violently.

“Heeup!”

The Black King heightened all his senses. The Faction Leader’s movements were too fast. He couldn’t take his eyes off him for even a moment.

However, the Faction Leader was no longer interested in the Black King. He pretended to aim for the Black King, then turned and left the battlefield.

The Black King’s eyebrows twitched. Anger boiled over.

“Are you running away again!!”

The Black King’s roar echoed loudly. The morale of the White Path warriors plummeted helplessly.

“What, what? The Faction Leader is running away?”

“That can’t be! Don’t be fooled by the enemy’s words! The Faction Leader is with us!”

They were too busy fighting the enemies in front of them to have enough of a view to look around. Some warriors didn’t even know that Divine Seung was dead.

On the other hand, the situation of the White Path players was a little different. Most of them were archers or mages, so they had a clear view of the battlefield.

“Divine Seung is dead. The Faction Leader is also leaving the battlefield.”

“Tsk, this trial is ruined.”

Soon, the White Path players scattered. They didn’t gather under the flag of the Martial Arts Alliance with grand causes.

They just wanted to pass the trial and climb the tower, they didn’t care about winning or losing.

They recalled the goal of the trial.

‘You can move on to the next floor even if you don’t fight to the death.’

‘Don’t overdo it. You only have one life.’

It was truly the mindset of outsiders. They looked similar to the people of the Central Plains, but their origin was still Earth.

They didn’t care if an unknown world was destroyed or not.

“What, what are you doing! Are you going to run away with the treacherous Black Path forces in front of you! Come back! Come back!”

One of the White Path warriors shouted at the fleeing players.

The players lightly laughed. One of the players shouted.

“Fight hard! You have to buy us time to escape! Kkahahahahaha!”

The White Path warriors were furious. They felt like they were about to suffer from inner demon possession.

It was a good thing for the Black King Castle warriors. Enemies with low morale couldn’t show their original martial prowess.

Clangg!

The Black King Castle warrior, who had crossed swords, smiled bitterly.

“Hey there. Why don’t you run away too? You’ll only die a dog’s death if you stay here. Keu keu.”

“Ugh, ugh…”

The interdimensional beings mocked them, and even the Faction Leader abandoned them and ran away.

‘Am I going to die here?’

Something, something was wrong. The warrior swung his sword with resentment.

“Ike, dangerous. It’s dangerous.”

The Black King Castle warrior gently avoided the sword. Perhaps because he was excited, the sword path was clearly visible.

His chest was wide open. The Black King Castle warrior licked his tongue and stretched out his sword strike.

Pshuk!

Another White Path warrior met his end.

***

The Faction Leader ran without hesitation. His back was stinging.

The murderous intent the Black King was emitting tormented the Faction Leader like sharp fangs.

“Persistent.”

As the Faction Leader muttered, the Black King, who fortunately heard his words, replied.

“How long are you going to keep running away!”

The Faction Leader didn’t answer. He just kept stretching his legs.

‘That guy can’t catch up to me anyway.’

The spirit he gives off isn’t ordinary, but fighting isn’t done with spirit.

Just because you have good momentum doesn’t mean you suddenly gain light footwork that you didn’t have before.

Tadaht- Crack!

“What!”

He heard the sound of a branch breaking. The Faction Leader hurriedly turned his head. A young man holding a fan was rushing towards him.

“Keueut!”

Fan and sword collided. Because he was concentrating on light footwork, his defense wasn’t perfect. His stomach was churning.

‘Hoseon! When did he?’

Dangerous. The Faction Leader bit his lip.

“Wasn’t he guarding the Religious Leader!”

“Hehe, one must take care of their own body, see!”

Sima Han persistently followed and swung his fan. Each one’s power wasn’t outstanding, but it was enough to interfere with deploying light footwork.

In the meantime, the Black King quickly closed the distance. His right hand, resembling a tiger’s paw, aimed for the Faction Leader’s neck.

“Got you! You bastard!”

“Heup!”

Teop, the Faction Leader took a short breath. That was his last breath. His breath was gradually being tightened.

The Black King put strength into his grip. The Faction Leader’s eyeballs swelled as if they were about to pop out. He was about to go blind before his neck bones broke.

At that moment, the Faction Leader’s body swayed strangely. Would that be what a snail looks like when it throws away its shell? The Faction Leader escaped the Black King’s grasp with a wriggling motion.

It was a movement of a mollusk that a human couldn’t show. The Black King’s eyes widened.

“No way!”

It was only for a moment, but the Faction Leader was able to avoid Sima Han and the Black King’s joint attack. That was enough. He grabbed his dangling head and kicked the ground.

The distance between the Faction Leader and the two warriors rapidly widened.

“Huk, hueok!”

The Faction Leader felt like he was dying. The secret skill he just used put a considerable backlash on his body. The joints all over his body creaked as if they were screaming.

He’ll probably have to rest for a few weeks. But it was better than dying.

‘If I don’t die, an opportunity will surely come!’

That phrase was the Faction Leader’s belief and life. That’s how he survived and came to this position.

‘Uh?’

Suddenly, the Faction Leader thought that the ground in front of him was swelling.

It was strange. There was no way that a perfectly fine ground could suddenly expand.

Unless something, a strange sorcery, intervened…

“Ah.”

Kwaaaaaang!

A huge explosion occurred. At the same time, red flames covered the Faction Leader.

Terrible pain struck the Faction Leader. It would be okay if it were normal times, but his current condition wasn’t normal.

“Kuaaaack!”

The Faction Leader screamed and was thrown to the ground. He tried to get up, wriggling all over his body. Only for a moment, two long shadows invaded the Faction Leader.

“Heu, heu heu heu.”

The Faction Leader raised his head with trembling eyes.

Puoook!

That was his last memory.

***

Sima Han roughly shook off the fan dripping with blood. Bloodstains spread over the face of the dead Faction Leader.

“Amazing. Just by sending out a handful of inner energy, he can cause such a huge explosion.”

“Keuk, so that’s why he’s called a Sorcerer. He’s a dangerous man, the Religious Leader.”

“Well, did you ever have only safe guys under your command?”

Sima Han made a bold decision after seeing the Faction Leader running away. He sensed that now was the perfect opportunity to kill the Faction Leader.

A great warrior must trust his intuition. Before running, Yohan gave Sima Han a seed of fire.

‘I was grasping at straws. But it was definitely right.’

Yohan didn’t disappoint him. If it hadn’t been for Yohan, he would have missed the Faction Leader again this time.

Scratch-

The Black King sharpened his nails and cut off the Faction Leader’s neck. Blood dripped from the severed surface. The Black King lifted the Faction Leader’s head with his left hand and moved his steps.

“Let’s go. Hoseon.”

“Okay.”

Not much is left. It’s time to end the long-standing war. The Central Plains will kneel under the feet of the Black Path.

Tadaht-

The Black King and Sima Han quickly arrived at the battlefield. The warriors of the two camps were still fighting in a mess.

The Black King puffed up his chest and shouted loudly.

“Hey- you White Path mongrels-! The head of the Faction Leader who abandoned you is in my hands-ah!”

After saying that, the Black King threw the Faction Leader’s head high into the sky. The White Path warriors reflexively looked up. As excellent warriors, they quickly identified the features of the severed head.

“Faction Leader, it’s really the Faction Leader…”

Clang, rattle!

One by one, the White Path warriors dropped their swords. They couldn’t muster the will to fight.

“He, he really did it. Our Castle Lord.”

The Black King Castle warriors also laughed fiercely and sheathed their swords. The battle was over. A tacit agreement spread like a wave across the battlefield.

Yohan, who was panting in the distance, also realized this fact.

‘Fi, finally!’

The joy of victory filled Yohan’s heart abundantly. He closed his eyes with a satisfied smile. Yohan’s consciousness sank deeply.

“Waaaaaaaah!!!”

“We won! Damn it! Daaaamn!”

The Black King Castle warriors cheered. They were even happier because it was a hard-won victory.

The battle scenes from just now flashed through their minds. The betrayal of the enemies, themselves almost becoming water ghosts, and the ice ship.

They would never have won if it hadn’t been for the Religious Leader. The Black King Castle warriors held great respect for Yohan.