episode_0150

150 – Sibling Love

Boom boom boom!

Arrows, released from the bowstring, mercilessly struck the monsters hovering in the air. The magic, strengthened by Isis’s feather spear, unleashed an even greater explosive force. Those caught in the chain explosions were reduced to dust.

Regina bit her lip tightly as she looked in the direction the spear had flown from.

‘Is she really okay?’

This ability was Isis’s strongest move for a counterattack. If she used it here, her own battle would become even more difficult. In an already unfavorable situation, this was too fatal.

Nevertheless, Isis made this choice for only one reason. It was solely because of Ruan.

It was infuriating, but she couldn’t believe Isis would sacrifice herself for her or Abel. “How irritating.”

It was heartbreaking for the person she loved to have a priority other than herself. Especially since that person was the man who had raped her.

Even now, her entire body was itching to shoot an arrow into that hateful face, but she couldn’t bring herself to make that choice. Even if she risked Isis’s hatred, the chances of victory would be too low if Ruan died.

No matter how much she disliked Ruan, his life was insignificant compared to Isis’s, so she had no choice but to endure.

One minute passed in patience.

Aided by Isis’s feather spear, the group that had been dealing with the monsters regained some breathing room.

Ruan, who had just finished off a monster, spoke.

“Princess Royal. I’m going to go help my older sister now. Please take care of things here.” “…”

She wanted to go herself right away. But she knew. Ruan going was far better than her going. That guy inexplicably possessed strength that transcended his realm.

Of course, there was a way for them to go together, but then the other two wouldn’t be able to hold out. It didn’t particularly matter if they died or not, but the problem was that if the two of them fell, the monsters would eventually come for them.

If they made a single mistake, the worst-case scenario of being attacked from both sides could occur.

Regina silently aimed her bowstring at the barrier.

Whoosh!

Flames gathered and burned fiercely. She gathered all her magic and focused it into a single strike.

Soon, the arrow left the bowstring. ─A phoenix’s cry!

A phoenix let out a cry and incinerated everything in front of it. The monsters melted away, and a path to the barrier was opened in an instant.

Regina looked at Ruan.

“Go.”

She didn’t want to exchange long conversations with that guy. It was truly a harsh reply, but Ruan didn’t point it out.

“Thank you.”

He simply expressed his gratitude and ran towards the barrier, leaving her behind.

Regina struggled not to shoot an arrow into that hateful back of his head, while holding back the monsters rushing at Ruan.

‘Isis. Please be alive.’

*

Finally, he arrived at the barrier.

An immense amount of vines, too many to count, were densely intertwined, forming a sturdy wall. The part where Isis’s spear had pierced through seemed to have already been restored, as no hole could be found.

‘I can’t break it just like this.’

If it came to this, the only method left was to use Incarnation. I looked around.

As expected, Ethan Gloucester would surely be secretly watching this place too. If I used Incarnation, my identity would be exposed instantly.

It was something I wanted to avoid if possible…

‘I can’t let Isis die.’

More importantly, not just Isis, but Regina and Abel, and I would also die next, so there was no other choice.

It was the moment I made my decision.

Rustle!

Suddenly, the vines in front of me scattered, and a space just big enough for me to enter appeared.

At the same time, a mature voice was heard.

“Come in.”

Selina was seen at the source of the voice. Sitting on a chair made of vines, she floated in the air with a relaxed smile.

And in front of her, a little distance away, a battered Isis was barely supporting herself with a single spear.

With an utterly exhausted expression, she looked at me and whispered faintly, as if her voice would break.

“Ruan… run.”

“Older sister.”

“Quickly… This place is dan-dangerous… Ugh!”

Isis, who had been speaking, seemed to have lost even the strength to stand, as she staggered and then collapsed.

“Isis!”

Without hesitation, I called her name and rushed over. As I got closer, her physical state became even clearer. One arm was completely shredded, and countless small lacerations and bruises covered her entire body.

Along with sorrow, fury blazed fiercely.

Then, Isis raised a trembling hand and caressed my cheek.

“I told you to run. Why did you come?”

Even in this situation, this foolishly kind woman worried about me. I smiled gently and took out a potion.

“Older sister. Drink this first.” “Ruan…”

“I’ll take care of things here. So, drink the potion first, and get some rest.” “But…”

“Trust me. I’ll take care of everything.”

As if confirming my firm resolve, Isis hesitated but obediently drank the potion.

After emptying the entire bottle of potion, she let out a sigh of relief, and as if her tension had eased, she slowly blinked and murmured.

“You absolutely mustn’t get hurt. Understand?”

“Of course.” “It’s my wish. So… you mustn’t… get hurt.”

With those words, Isis completely fell into a deep sleep.

After gently laying her down, I stood up and met Selina’s gaze.

“What will you do if you put her to sleep on your own? She has something to do. Should I wake her up later?” “…”

“Are you curious what it is? Hehehe! But it wouldn’t be fun if I told you now, would it? I’ll tell you later. You’ll have no choice but to know, even if you don’t want to.”

What kind of scheme was she concocting? I couldn’t guess, but one thing was certain: things wouldn’t go according to her intentions.

I turned my head and confirmed that the entrance I had come through had completely disappeared.

‘How lucky.’

No matter who Ethan was, he wouldn’t be able to peek inside this barrier. Now, there was nothing to hold me back.

“I’ll rape you.”

“If you’re really curious, I’ll tell you… What? What did you just say?”

Selina, who had been chatting excitedly, widened her eyes at the sudden declaration. She soon let out a hollow laugh.

“Hmph! Are you serious? You were a bad boy, weren’t you? You’re going to rape me in front of your sister, who cares for you so terribly? Your sister would be so sad, wouldn’t she?”

“…”

I placed my hand over my chest. As I opened the closed Taegeuk, blazing flames split into two streams, sweeping through the mana roads of my entire body like a typhoon and connecting to my lower Dantian.

Flames too difficult to handle surged, bestowing immense power. “Hoo…”

Taking a small deep breath and adapting to the change, I lightly stepped forward.

Whoosh!

At that moment, I became a photon. My body, transcending physical limits and turning into light, instantly appeared behind Selina.

Spreading my senses and quickly grasping her position, I rotated using my left foot as an axis and unleashed a punch with all my might.

Spiraling flames were released, creating a massive vortex of fire. Boom!

Unfortunately, that attack couldn’t harm Selina. The brief moment when the photon transformation dissipated and I grasped her position gave her time to react.

My fist struck a shield made of vines. Crackling!

[Strength: 1274 (+1092)]

An astonishing strength of nearly 1300 brutally tore apart the vine shield, but that was all. My fist, its entire force absorbed by the vine shield, merely grazed Selina’s cheek. Yet, even that was enough to leave a long scar on her fair cheek.

Selina quickly retreated. “Th-this is…”

She was clearly surprised by the power of an attack that exceeded my limits, yet she raised her hand to caress her cheek. Blood stained her fingers.

Upon confirming the wound, Selina’s face twisted like a malevolent demon.

“How dare you, how dare you wound me? The plan has changed. I’ll cut off all your limbs and then torture you horribly in front of that woman!”

Snap!

With an angry snap of her fingers, the trees glowed brightly and simultaneously unleashed hundreds of branches emitting green light.

I used Moon Shadow Steps to create distance while punching away the encroaching branches. Bang!

The branches exploded. Each fragment of the broken branches, like a hidden weapon, emitted sharp energy and flew in, lacerating my skin.

My arms were instantly covered in blood.

“Ahahahah! You shouldn’t punch those away. You have to evade all of them. Understand? Go on, struggle!”

I had no time to respond to Selina’s words. As I punched away dozens of branches pouring down every second, I was becoming more and more battered.

The Flame of Purity healed and regenerated my wounds, but it was of little significance. At this rate, I would endlessly punch away attacks until I collapsed from exhaustion.

I calmly assessed the situation.

‘I can’t use photon transformation frequently.’

Photon transformation had no cooldown relative to its power, allowing for continuous activation if desired, but its mana consumption was extremely severe. Even if my mana reserves were exceptionally vast compared to my realm, I couldn’t overuse it.

Moreover, since my attack had already failed once, Selina would surely be wary of photon transformation. In the end, I couldn’t rely on luck.

‘I need a new technique.’

Coincidentally, I had one incredible technique that was no less powerful than photon transformation.

‘Divine Demon Extreme Shadow.’

If it was that technique, which could be called Bruno’s signature move, I could break through the current situation.

The problem was that I hadn’t yet mastered it.

‘I’ll learn it now.’

From now on, I had to withstand Selina’s onslaught while comprehending Divine Demon Extreme Shadow.

Boom boom boom boom!

“Puhahahah! You said you’d rape me, and that’s all you’ve got? Work harder!”

Selina, who quickly recovered her arrogance and rampaged. I completely ignored her and split my consciousness into two, observing both the outside and inside simultaneously.

While punching away the green-glowing branches, I simultaneously condensed mana within my body. I hadn’t yet awakened Ki, so I couldn’t exert the full power of Divine Demon Extreme Shadow, but it was still enough.

However, as Bruno had advised, Divine Demon Extreme Shadow couldn’t be fully resolved by just the incantation.

Thump!

An explosion occurred within my body. While condensing mana, it clashed with other mana naturally flowing within my body.

A choked cough!

Blood flowed from my mouth.

I roughly wiped the corner of my mouth and tried to condense the mana again. In any case, internal injuries would all heal with regeneration.

In that manner, I attempted it hundreds, thousands of times in less than five minutes.

At that moment, when my body, both inside and out, was battered beyond what my regeneration could keep up with, and my mental strength had reached its limit.

Hum!

Finally, mana condensed within my body. The mana, obeying my will, took shape, compressing and forming a distinct outline. Its effects were directly visible.

Swish!

The green-glowing branches rushed in at least twice as slowly as before.

Instead of directly punching them away, I cleverly deflected them, causing them to collide with other branches. Crash!

They canceled out each other’s explosive force and turned to dust.

‘Incredible.’

The reason for this was simple. As mana condensed and its density increased, its output also rose, further enhancing the body’s performance.

With this, I could break through Selina’s defense.

“Good. Shall we give it a try?”

Gaining confidence, I immediately threw a punch. Booming crash!

The intangible energy accumulated in the Infinite Threads was released in the form of a wave, shattering the branches that were in front of me.

As a result, a path towards Selina appeared for just an instant. I took a step forward.

Flash!

My body, transformed into a photon, instantly bypassed all the branches and appeared directly in front of Selina.

I confidently delivered a blow to her, who was wrapping herself in vines.

Ruan Style.

Third Stance.

Fire Dragon Piercing Heaven Strike.

The flame of destruction concentrated into a single point, rotating fiercely as it moved towards the target.