episode_0187

A brief silence followed.

Everyone but me expected Isis’s death after she was swallowed by the waves.

However, their anxiety ended with an intense light that burst forth from within the waves.

At its center stood a single Valkyrie.

The Valkyrie Suit, possessing both feminine beauty and a warrior’s demeanor, further accentuated Isis’s charm.

Isis, moving with fluttering wings, faced Remian, keeping a certain distance.

The confrontation between Remian, holding a demonic sword, and Valkyrie Isis appeared like a contrast between light and darkness.

“You… what is that?”

“It’s an artifact I accidentally obtained recently. Are you very surprised?”

“…A little. But I prefer it this way. It’s no fun if it ends too easily.”

Remian answered with feigned composure, but her eyes were shaking precariously.

She had an intuition.

That against Isis in the Valkyrie Suit, she might be defeated.

Remian, gritting her teeth, suddenly gripped the blade of the demonic sword with her hand and roughly flung it away.

Slash!

Her palm was deeply cut, and blood splattered.

But the blood scattered in droplets in the air, as the demonic sword resonated red, all gathered on the blade and was absorbed.

And the demonic sword began to flicker with an even more ominous red light.

The amount of demonic energy felt also amplified.

“As long as I have this, I won’t lose. Never!!”

Boom!

Remian stomped her foot firmly and shot forward.

She was so fast that every time her body passed, the air would belatedly burst with loud pops, creating a roar.

The demonic sword fiercely aimed for Isis’s neck.

Clang!

But due to the Valkyrie Suit, Isis, whose physical abilities had all increased, managed to block it with remarkable skill.

The Valkyrie’s spear, enveloped in the divine power of the War God, was not pushed back even in collision with the demonic sword.

As if there was no stamina absorption, which she experienced every time it clashed with the demonic sword, Isis’s expression was serene.

The more this happened, the more anxious Remian grew.

“Die! Die! Diiiiiiiie!”

She unleashed murderous intent wildly and swung her sword like a madwoman.

Bang! Crash! Boom!

As she lost her reason, her technique became increasingly blurred, leaving only brute force, and now it was closer to mere violence than swordsmanship.

Thanks to that, it was easier to block, but still, as if she couldn’t match the raw strength, Isis focused entirely on deflecting.

How long did such a fight continue?

Isis, who had been consistently on the defensive, finally seized an opportunity and launched a counterattack.

“Haa!”

Between attacks, the thrust, aimed at the moment her breath faltered, perfectly caught her off guard.

“Gasp!”

Remian was startled, stopped her breath, and hastily blocked the spear.

That was the beginning.

Clang! Clash! Clang!

With her breath shortened, Remian, unable to put proper strength into her sword, was swayed here and there by the ensuing wave of attacks.

If she barely parried one, another would fly in immediately, giving her no respite.

Ultimately, she was forced to follow Isis’s tempo as if being chased, fell for a feint, and completely exposed an opening.

“Hyaaa!”

Isis’s strike aimed for Remian’s heart.

The power of Indomitable Extremity met the divine power of the War God and blazed brilliantly.

Finally, just before the spearhead pierced her chest.

“How pathetic.”

Ethan, who had been watching their fight, launched a sphere of space at Isis.

Isis hastily twisted her spear to defend.

Blast!

At the moment of impact, immense pressure was released from the sphere of space, sending Isis flying.

She couldn’t fully defend, and the impact seemed significant; she couldn’t easily get up.

In the meantime, Ethan landed next to Remian.

“How disappointing. To be pushed back even with a demonic sword.”

“……”

“Take this.”

What Ethan took from his pocket was a syringe he remembered seeing once.

Remian’s face stiffened as she took it.

“This is…”

“Don’t you know? It’s the serum of a high-ranking demon. Use it.”

“But if I use this…”

“Are you afraid of becoming a monster? Then give it back. To think your vengeance only amounts to this, I misjudged you.”

Ethan reached out to retrieve the syringe without hesitation. Remian, who had been contemplating, hastily stepped back.

“No, it’s fine. I’ll use it.”

“You’ve thought well. Then… please show me an interesting fight.”

Boom!

By launching another sphere of space, Ethan, who stopped Isis from trying to snatch the syringe, flew up into the air.

And Remian, after a moment of hesitation, injected the syringe into her arm.

Whir!

Demonic energy surged throughout her entire body.

Red veins protruded and wildly thrashed across her body, then moved to her shoulder blades and erupted into large demonic wings.

On Remian’s forehead, a pair of horns had already sprouted.

“Haa… This is it. This is the power!”

Remian, now in the complete form of a demon, clenched and unclenched her hand, and wore an expression of ecstasy.

Her gaze soon turned towards Isis.

“Now… I’ll truly kill you.”

“…You’ve fallen.”

“Whatever you say is useless. Die quietly!”

Whoosh!

With a shout, she flapped her wings and charged at a speed exceeding the speed of sound.

The sphere of space followed behind her as if guarding her.

Soon, Isis was helplessly exposed to Remian and Ethan’s combined attack.

Around that time, I scanned my surroundings.

‘Is there no way?’

I wanted to intervene in the arena immediately, but there was absolutely no opening.

Dark Church members were thoroughly monitoring the surroundings, and in the sky, Ethan was keenly observing the situation.

No matter how excellent Roxana’s camouflage magic tool was, it was difficult to use in this situation.

No matter what function I used, I would eventually expose my identity to Ethan.

I needed to divert his attention, even if just for a moment.

‘It would have been good if Deborah were here.’

Originally, we planned to come together, but she said she had something urgent, so we couldn’t.

-Ruan.

If I had known this would happen, I should have dragged her along, even by force.

-Ruan!

I, who had been lost in my own thoughts, was startled by the call echoing in my mind.

As I flinched, someone poked me in the back!

I turned my head and found Deborah wearing a hooded robe.

“Wait, when did you get here?”

“…I just happened to come. More importantly, you’re in trouble now, right? I’ll obstruct their vision. Go then.”

“You…”

Honestly, I was a little moved.

Honestly, lately, I felt like we were subtly growing distant again, but as expected, it was Deborah who helped me in times like this.

When I looked at her as if I was about to shower her with kisses, Deborah’s face reddened and she turned her gaze away.

-Don’t look at me like that. I’ll give you the signal, then go. …And don’t forget the ‘Rape Declaration’.

Even while blushing, she said she’d willingly offer herself. How could I not love a woman like this?

But I couldn’t happily accept her goodwill.

-Sorry. I don’t think I can do that.

-Huh? Why not?

-…Because that guy knows my abilities.

I looked at Ethan.

Through the last Alisa kidnapping incident, the guy who roughly grasped my abilities, wouldn’t he have thought of countermeasures for it?

More than anything, there’s no guarantee that the fight with Ethan will end within an hour.

If the fight goes over an hour and I can’t meet the conditions, that day I’ll fall into an irreversible state.

Of course, before that even happens, I’d probably die by Ethan’s hand.

Anyway, that’s why I can’t use the Rape Declaration.

Deborah, who heard my explanation, understood but couldn’t hide her worry.

-But are you really okay? Can you win without the Rape Declaration?

-I don’t know. But I have no choice but to do it.

-Ruan….

-Since it’s come to this, just buy me a little time. Okay?

-Yes. Leave it to me.

We, who had planned the strategy, immediately put it into action as soon as preparations were complete.

Click!

Clicked button number 1 of the camouflage magic tool.

Activating stealth mode, at the same time, Deborah created a dummy of me through illusion magic.

Then, after transforming into Eunrang, I used Photonization and blocked Isis’s path.

Ethan, who found me, burst into maniacal laughter and landed next to Remian.

“Ahahahahaha! You’ve finally appeared, Eunrang!”

“…Were you waiting for me?”

“Yes. I was waiting for you. I believed you would definitely appear.”

No wonder he set up such a grand event and just watched; it must have been his intention to lure me out from the start.

This situation has turned bad.

‘What is he planning?’

While contemplating his scheme, I turned my head and checked on Isis.

Currently, she was a wreck.

Not only was the Valkyrie Suit’s armor broken in various places, but as if she had suffered internal injuries, a thin stream of blood flowed from her mouth.

Unlike Remian, who still boasted immense demonic energy, Isis’s magical power seemed quite depleted as well.

I gazed forward again.

“I’ll take care of that guy, so you hold on. You can do it, right?”

“You, what in the world…”

“Stop talking nonsense and answer. Can you hold on?”

“…Yes. I think I can hold on for about 5 minutes.”

“Good. Just wait a little longer.”

Having heard Isis’s affirmative answer, I immediately activated Incarnation.

As the Taegeuk opened, endless torrents of flame dominated my entire body. Furthermore, by using Divine Demon Extremity, I raised my physical capabilities to their limit.

I took a step.

Flash!

My body, transformed into a photon, in the blink of an eye, got behind Ethan.

Boom!

A fist, charging with almost no delay, struck his back. A fiery explosion swirled and incinerated the area.

Ethan was directly smashed into the arena.

I clenched and unclenched my fist, recalling the sensation from just now.

‘It missed.’

When I struck him, I felt no impact. It wasn’t just blocked by a wall; it felt like I had punched empty air.

I’d been thinking about it since earlier, and as expected, this bastard has grown stronger.

I thought he had been quiet all this time, but it seems he’s been focused on developing his realm.

As if to prove it, as the dust settled, Ethan, without a single scratch, reappeared.

“Aren’t you in too much of a hurry? This is our first meeting since summer break.”

“……”

“How about we possessors get along?”

The moment those words spread, a murmur rose from the audience seats.

Cameras from all directions were zoomed in on this side, broadcasting all conversations nationwide.

I realized his purpose.

“Was this your goal from the start?”

“Well? Isn’t this too boring with just this much?”

“……”

“If you want to know, how about making me open my mouth yourself?”

At his provocations, delivered with a nasty smile, I readily nodded.

“…I’ll do that.”

Boom!

I unleashed a fiery blast from my feet and used that propulsion to move like a flash of light.

Bang! Pop! Crash!

Several attacks were in vain.

Only the familiar sensation of hitting empty air, an empty impact, repeated.

Ethan scoffed.

“Puhahaha! What are you doing? With this, do you think you can save that woman in 5 minutes?”

Blast!

The guy, who had acquired an invincible shield, didn’t care about defense and counterattacked.

Space would fold entirely or suddenly explode, with attacks that had no warning, inflicting minor damage.

Crack!

My elbow was caught in a spatial distortion and broke.

A searing pain spread, but I didn’t care in the slightest and focused only on the fight.

And after a few more minutes passed, I grasped the mechanism of that invincible defense.

‘He overlaid space.’

By layering multiple spaces together, he had cast magic, making the actual distance much farther than it appeared.

With this, even if it seemed like I hit him, the effect was like hitting empty air.

‘Is there a way to counter it?’

Fortunately, that immediately came to mind.

I decided to test it immediately.

“Hmph!”

Boom! Bang! Crash!

Once again, the fist of fiery explosion erupted, and the familiar sensation was felt.

From here, without lingering on it, I immediately used Photonization to get behind him and slammed down with the Heavenly Dragon Piercing Strike.