Episode 1156

Episode 1156

“What the hell happened!”

One of the remnants gasped as he shouted at Lee Han.

It was understandable that they were confused, as their leader Halenken was transforming into a hideous monster.

If judged rationally, the most likely culprit was the priest of Prahgal, so it was right to cooperate with the wizard and act together, but it was not easy to stay calm in this kind of situation.

Instead, the remnants were wary of and suspicious toward Lee Han. They acted as if he had done something to Halenken.

Lee Han nodded.

“The command has been released. …Once again, follow my command!”

“Graaah!”

The remnants cried out the same screams that they had just made.

The agony felt from the soul.

It was the agony caused by the burrowing worm desperately struggling.

Lee Han didn’t waste time trying to persuade or explain to these suspicious figures.

Instead, he made the best choice for the current situation where every second counted.

Those who might turn into enemies at any moment must be completely subdued first!

“Get down, Wardanaz!”

Giselle made Lee Han duck, then pressed a hand on his shoulder and leaped up. While stealing and commanding the evil god’s power, Halenken lunged at Lee Han.

Bang!

The swords clashed, and an explosive sound rang out. Giselle clicked her tongue low.

Skilled swordsmen can gauge each other’s skill by just crossing swords. She could feel the opponent’s prowess in that blow.

‘Aura, and skilled at that.’

Currently, Giselle could only use aura in a limited way. Since the aura could dissipate or her focus could break in the middle, she couldn’t say she had mastered it fully.

For swordsmen, a single mistake can return as a fatal wound.

Normally, she wouldn’t have forced herself to use aura, but this was not the time for leisure. Until Wardanaz could support with magic, she had to push back the enemy.

Aura emitting jade light intertwined with the twin swords, unfolding into the Moradi family’s swordsmanship, Jaun Sword. The changes were so extreme that even space seemed warped.

However, Halenken was formidable as well. He gripped a longsword tightly like a staff and unleashed an explosion of aura mixed with curses and plague.

No matter how unpredictable the swordsmanship, he knew (even in madness) that brute force could be enough to win.

Though she quickly lost the ground she had seized, Giselle’s gaze only grew colder.

There was no reason to panic, knowing from the start how strong her opponent was. And she was no ordinary swordsman.

“?!”

Halenken, having lost his reason, flinched. His instincts sensed something wrong.

Crackle—

Magic-made cold seeped into the muscles and bones of his arms and legs.

Had Halenken not lost his reason, he probably would have realized much sooner.

Sword magicians who could use magic in combat were always tricky opponents. And they were even more infuriating for anti-magic fanatics.

The spell Giselle just used was an enhancement magic, -Axen’s Frosty Touch-.

When you hear enhancement magic, it’s easy to just think of increasing strength or agility, but outstanding enhancement mages could utilize all sorts of magic in combat.

-Axen’s Frosty Touch- was one such spell. The first time you were hit, you might not even realize how it happened.

“Ugh… urgh.”

The spell’s great strength was that stealth.

It continuously emitted intangible cold around the caster and kept stacking it. Until it reached a certain threshold, the opponent hardly noticed it.

It was a magic perfectly suited for sword magicians from the White Tiger Tower, and especially for someone like Giselle with ever-changing swordsmanship.

Round two began. This time, Giselle took the initiative. Even if she was overwhelmed in pure swordplay, she planned to further inflict cold on her opponent.

The powerful family heirloom magic swords, Icy Light and Ice Flower, helped Giselle’s strategy.

These two swords scattered tangible cold on the surface while simultaneously amplifying the invisible cold magic of -Axen’s Frosty Touch-.

Realizing he was deeply stuck in a mire of ice, Halenken launched a counterattack. The aura on his sword diminished, then suddenly blood spurted from various parts of his body.

He had materialized mana to inflict wounds all over himself.

At a glance, it looked like foolish self-harm, but with his body full of the evil god’s curse, it was different.

The wounds quickly healed, and his muscles swelled grotesquely. It was as if he was trying to evolve into a new species.

‘This bastard…!’

To think he’d remove the cold clinging to his flesh in such a way.

She wanted to check what Wardanaz was doing, but everything was so urgent she had no time. She had to trust he was handling things himself.

At this point, she had no choice but to break him again with swordsmanship.

The size of the aura flickering on Giselle’s sword shrank. But the light grew even deeper.

It felt as if the weapon was now an extension of her limbs, with mana flowing naturally. At the extreme edge of sharp focus, Giselle realized she now controlled her aura completely.

‘……’

They say fighting a formidable foe makes a swordsman grow, but why must it always be at such unpleasant moments?

Personal feelings aside, her hands and feet were now unleashing sword forms she had practiced tens of thousands of times.

Being able to wield aura meant to deeply imbue will into the sword, and that signified gaining the qualification to approach the world’s principles.

Though it was far rougher and more limited than a mage’s -Small World-, a swordsman’s swordsmanship could also approach the world.

If mages change the world, swordsmen tear it apart.

As the Jaun Sword’s secret technique from the Moradi family unfolded, the space subtly warped. Halenken’s sword moved in an impossible trajectory, plunging into the ground.

Strikes landed on the body of the maddened foe. There was no spray of blood. With each stab and graze by the aura, ice burrowed deeper inside.

“Krrrrrrk!”

Halenken threw aside the now-cumbersome sword and created an aura around his arms. Though they grew ragged in the burning aura, it didn’t matter since the evil god’s power protected him.

Giselle felt cold sweat trickling as she exhaled heavily. Although she had prepared spells like -Axen’s Frosty Touch- in advance, using her swordsmanship’s secret as well meant her mana was running dangerously low.

‘He’s tougher than I thought…!’

Suddenly, an idea popped into her mind.

Would that work?

Icy Light stabbed into his left arm. Giselle spun and plunged Ice Flower into his right arm.

The sound of cracking ice spread out from where the swords struck. It was a powerful attack, yet Halenken seemed only more energized.

He sensed intuitively that his opponent had resorted to desperate measures because the tide was against them.

Halenken, as if to rip off his own arms, tore at them as he charged again.

Thunk!

The fight’s end was disappointingly anticlimactic.

A bullet of compressed wind blew off Halenken’s head, and he crumpled to his knees. Giselle let out a deep breath.

“…It worked.”

She couldn’t believe she had to rely on that.

The battle had ended not by sword or magic, but by a concealed artifact. The magical artifact with a spell embedded, a gift from Wardanaz last time.

This artifact, a favorite of famous duelist mages, would fire a bullet of compressed wind from the sword hilt for a lethal blow when drawn deceptively.

It was a bit embarrassing that such a high-level swordsman duel had ended with such a humble means…

“Sorry, Moradi.”

Lee Han, having barely succeeded in controlling the stolen evil god’s power, spoke up to apologize.

“It’s fine. Is it really over?”

“Yeah.”

Giselle let out a sigh of relief.

Her whole body was so fatigued she doubted she could act as a shield one more time.

‘How did I end up doing this…’

“Next time, bring Senior Jahan with you.”

“I thought about it too, but Senior can’t control his expression. If he saw any suspicious people, his ears would perk up right away.”

‘That’s probably true.’

“Kraaa… kraaak!”

The remaining remnants glared at Lee Han, letting out beastly cries.

They wanted to escape immediately, but the worms nestled in their souls bound them tight.

“Stay still. Unless you want more pain.”

Lee Han warned them.

Unlike before when the command was released, now that he was controlling the power, they had no opportunity to escape.

He realized he could steal this evil god’s power when he grasped the worm extracted from the opponent’s soul.

Unlike Imperial magic, divine magic—the powers of the order—were closer to innate instincts. Just as you don’t calculate with your head before swinging your arms, powers worked the same way.

Lee Han, who by chance had already learned the divine magic of another order, adapted even faster.

The evil god’s power amplified the soul’s vitality and created infectious curse-bearing worms that spewed plague.

He could control the worms and the curses they carried.

It was only natural that the remnants with soul-embedded worms eventually surrendered and obeyed.

“An Imperial… An Imperial mage is allowed… to use such an evil power?!”

“A sharp point.”

As Giselle muttered, Lee Han glared at his friend.

You could at least help!

“I’m only using it this once. Just this once. You have to know the enemy’s power well to counter it properly.”

“Don’t you know it a little too well? Are you sure you should really be using that power?”

This time, she wasn’t being sarcastic—she was genuinely worried.

She wondered if Lee Han might already be affected by that power.

No matter how confident he was in his resistance, his actions seemed reckless.

“The Order’s powers are just a kind of strength. As long as you don’t blindly worship them, there’s no real issue. …Of course, I get it might look odd that I picked it up so fast.”

‘Ah.’

Giselle realized belatedly.

She’d thought Wardanaz wouldn’t care because he had such a shameless personality, but obviously he did care a bit.

Of course, Wardanaz had easily mastered divine powers before, but people’s feelings aren’t so simple.

“However, my magical skills improved in the meantime, and I picked up similar powers last year. Also, I clashed with the Sanguiros Order a lot in a short period, so I probably sensed the structure of their power instinctively.”

Lee Han rambled on about information she wasn’t really curious about.

Giselle just wanted to hear a short answer, whether it was really okay to use that power, but now it was a bit awkward to say “I wasn’t interested,” so she just listened.

And honestly, it was a somewhat interesting subject.

In fact, whether order’s power or evil god’s order’s power, neither was impossible to replicate through magic.

After all, both existed within the boundaries of magic.

Though the former was called things like primal magic or divine magic, there was definitely an intersection between the two.

If one was truly an exceptional mage, one could instinctively understand the structure of such power and steal it.

As mentioned, this divine magic was closer to innate instinct.

…Of course, she’d never heard of anyone instinctively understanding and stealing even the powers of an evil god order, but…

“Are you listening, Moradi?”

“Uh? Oh. But shouldn’t you focus on the ones behind you?”

Lee Han turned around. The remnants were trembling in agony. He had forgotten about them after ordering the worm to cause them pain earlier.

“Sorry. I’ll stop now. Now. Tell me what you know about the Sanguiros Order.”

“Sa-, Sanguiros? We have nothing to do with them…”

Lee Han’s expression hardened. Another scream erupted from the remnants.

“Aaaaagh!”