Capítulo 160

Thump. His heart pounded. Rise. From that single word, a massive shockwave spread at terrifying speed, raising the shadows. Where the battlefield had turned red with the blood of beasts, a black tide now surged. Yaaaah! Shadow soldiers bursting from the floor let out cries—whether war cries or screams, no one could tell—and turned their darkened eyes upon the enemy. There was no longer a trace of fear toward the enemy in those gazes. A chilling sight, indeed, for the heavenly soldiers who had to face them. But the Monarch's power did not stop there.

[Groooaaar—!]

The Monarch unleashed a heavy roar toward the sky. It did not shake eardrums—it shook hearts. A cry that made hearts tremble, legs buckle, and the very earth quake. The ground was wailing. It did not take long to understand what the roar was for. The shadow soldiers who heard it raised their weapons and resonated with it. Grooooooaaaaaar! With a single roar, the shadow soldiers had become entirely different beings. From one end of the battlefield to the other, the beasts were reorganized into shadow soldiers. Jin-Woo, who had watched the whole process from the beginning with bated breath, felt a thrill run through him at the shadow soldiers' roar. Thump. His heart pounded again. If this was what the pinnacle of the Shadow Monarch class looked like, he could truly feel how far he still had to go. At last. The heavenly soldiers, who had paused briefly, began moving again. The silver soldiers that had risen into the sky bunched together, then surged toward the black soldiers like swarms of bees. But the beasts, reborn as shadow soldiers, no longer fell so easily. Weapon clashing against weapon. Soldier against soldier. The silver legion and the black legion tangled on the ground. Thunderous impacts erupted and the earth shook. A battle that should have ended in one-sided slaughter had turned back into a war. A single individual's arrival had reversed everything. It was terrifying power. Though he couldn't understand why this scene was being shown to him, Jin-Woo could not look away for even a moment. The clash. A fight far more ferocious than the first battle unfolded. The beasts, who in life could not handle a single heavenly soldier, now showed no signs of yielding after becoming shadows. But. The truly terrifying thing about the shadow soldiers was not their morale or their combat power. The heavenly soldiers pushed the shadow soldiers back with powerful force and superior arms. The shadow soldiers' fearlessness in the face of death could not bridge the gap in strength. The advantage in battle seemed, at first glance, to favor the heavenly soldiers. But the shadow soldiers were restored to their original form the instant they were destroyed. Aaargh! A shadow soldier pierced through the body by a spear wielded by a heavenly soldier writhes and screams. Sensing victory, the heavenly soldier let go of the spear shaft and drew the sword at his waist, slicing the shadow soldier's head clean off. Shlk! But the moment after the head was severed— '...!' The shadow soldier's head and everything below the neck, tumbling toward the ground, dissolved into smoke—then reassembled two steps behind. While the heavenly soldier flinched, the shadow soldier drove its sword into the enemy's chest. Crunch! The blade smashed through armor, penetrated deep inside, and burst out through the back. The heavenly soldier collapsed, lifeless. Thud. Into the ear of the one whose eyes were losing focus came a commanding voice.

—Rise.

In an instant. The heavenly soldier found a black spear gripped in his own hand. What had come to him was not death but a new beginning. The blackened eyes turned toward the heavenly soldiers who had been his comrades just moments ago. Startled. He could see his fellows' shoulders trembling when their eyes met. But he knew what he had to do.

"Grooooooar!"

He joyfully embraced the new destiny that had found him. Jin-Woo looked away from the soldiers and surveyed the overall state of the battlefield. The fight between the heavenly soldiers pouring endlessly from the Gate and the shadow soldiers born by the Monarch's command was dead even. As many fell as poured from the Gate; as many rose from the shadows as were killed. If war broke out in hell, wouldn't it look something like this? A horrific battle that no human prediction could see even a single step ahead unfolded across the broad plain without a moment's rest. But the balance between the two formations, which had seemed equal, collapsed in an instant. The moment the Monarch, who had been hanging back to command his legions, stepped onto the battlefield himself, the tide shifted dramatically. The black steed carrying the Monarch began galloping across the field. Where he swung his sword, thousands of enemies fell and a path was carved open; the fallen enemies invariably rose as shadow soldiers. Enemies trying to fly away and escape had their wings snapped by a single gesture and crashed to the ground.

'The Ruler's authority...' The ground swept by the Monarch's passage was left like a storm had hit. For the first time—since the two formations had first locked swords—the heavenly soldiers were being pushed back. Tens of thousands, no, hundreds of thousands of soldiers that filled sky and earth were forced to retreat, unable to handle a single enemy. Jin-Woo let out a gasp of pure wonder at the breathtaking spectacle. He thought the war might end just like this. But then. Just as the shadow soldiers were beginning to push the heavenly legions back, an indescribable, chilling wind blew in from behind. An aura that sent shivers down the spine surged forward. With enemies before him, the Monarch turned to look behind. Two massive Gates had materialized at his back. Their size was comparable to those hanging in the sky. From those two Gates, two groups of beasts poured out. From one came beast-type monsters led by wolves the size of mountains. From the other came knights and soldiers advancing under the banners of countless noble houses. Jin-Woo's eyes widened.

'Wh...at?' The crests on the banners were all familiar. Ricardo, Phaetos, Rokan, Ingreas, and Radis.

'...Essil.' They were the crests of the demon noble houses he had encountered all the way to the summit of the Demon Castle. The question of why demons had appeared here lasted only a moment. The beasts and the demons attacked the shadow soldiers in coordinated assault as if they had prearranged it. The shadow soldiers began to be torn apart from the rear by the combined assault of the two beast legions. And that was not the end. Ahead, the heavenly soldiers remained unbroken. They had turned to the offensive once more. From the front, the heavenly soldiers; from the rear, two beast legions—the shadow soldiers were surrounded and charged from both sides. The tide of battle reversed yet again. Thump. Jin-Woo clutched his chest. This time, his heart actually hurt. Jin-Woo's gaze slowly shifted to the Monarch standing beside him. Why was that? He could feel the Monarch's emotions. As vivid as when he read the hearts of the shadow soldiers, the feelings were transmitted to him. The thick, boiling emotion welling up from deep within was rage. No—it was wrath itself, far beyond rage. Surrounded on all sides, the shadow soldiers endlessly repeated destruction and regeneration. It might seem like infinite recovery at first glance, but Jin-Woo, who shared the same ability, knew well the weakness of that power.

'Only as far as the mana allows...' Once the mana ran out, the soldiers would not regenerate. No more soldiers could be used. He could feel the Monarch's vast mana—so deep it seemed bottomless—slowly beginning to run dry. The Monarch, who had been facing the heavenly legions, turned his steed around. His warhorse kicked off the ground and charged. The battle was fierce. Corpses piled into mountains, and blood formed seas. The "war"—the inferno created by more soldiers than could be counted—burned grotesquely, swallowing every living thing that stood upon the earth. But. Even that brutal fight was slowly approaching its end. Few remained standing on the battlefield. The Monarch, having lost his horse in the fighting, cut down two knights blocking his path and stood before a demon leaning against a tall rock, gasping for breath. His face was hidden behind a helmet, but the Monarch seemed to know exactly who he was, and looked down at him.

[Today, the fight with those bastards could have been ended.] "..." [Why did you betray me?]

The demon, whose head had been hanging limply, slowly raised his face. His body was already so gravely wounded that further recovery seemed impossible. The voice leaking from inside the helmet trailed on, barely holding together.

"Truly... a shame. Today of all days, I could have finished you off."

The Monarch's voice was colder than ice as he repeated his question.

[I asked you why.]

Heh heh. The demon's shoulders shook with laughter as he lifted his head once more. And he answered.

"$#%#^#%#%@#."

For some reason, the demon's words did not come through clearly. Had he simply missed them by accident? No.

"#@$^$##."

Even as the demon spoke again, he could not understand a single word. But it must have sounded different to the Monarch's ears, for the moment he heard the answer, he reached out and pulled the demon toward him. The demon, his throat seized, let out a pained groan.

"Kghk."

Crack! The armor around the throat crumpled. Yet even so, the demon continued to say what he wanted to say until the very end.

"...%^&#$@%^&."

Thk. The Monarch's thumb sank into the demon's throat. Gulp. The demon coughed up blood. It was at that very moment that his eyes met those staring at him from inside the helmet. How! Jin-Woo jolted in shock and released the demon's throat. Thud. The demon, already dead, let his limbs go limp upon the ground.

'Impossible.' That look in his eyes. He had definitely seen it once before. But that was something that could never be. Thump. His heart pounded violently. Jin-Woo, who had been shaking his head, approached the demon and carefully removed the helmet. Even at the moment of death, the demon had worn the same expression he had before dying. How could he forget those eyes? The helmet slipped from Jin-Woo's hand. Plop. In the wide-open eyes burned a fierce hatred. It was the very same look he had seen at the summit of the Demon Castle.

'Demon King... Baran?' When he realized that, Jin-Woo suddenly noticed one more strange thing. Hands sheathed in black armor. Fingertips, legs, chest. At some point, he had been moving the Shadow Monarch's body of his own will. Thump, thump, thump. The increasingly violent pounding of his heart grew louder and louder, hammering against his eardrums. Jin-Woo placed a hand over his chest where his heart was. Thump, thump, thump. Jin-Woo's eyes widened.

'Why... why didn't I notice until now?' Ever since he survived that temple, he had been conscious of the sound of his heart. But he had not realized it at all. Jin-Woo moved his trembling hand to his right chest. He felt a vibration. One on the left. And one on the right. Thump. Two hearts were beating in unison. Just as his startled eyes turned downward, he noticed four shadows growing larger and larger. They were approaching from above. His downward gaze snapped upward. Overhead. Four angels, each with six wings, were slowly descending. His memory ended there. Ding. Along with a mechanical chime, darkness fell. In his receding consciousness, he heard the System's cool, clear voice.

[Loaded data has ended.]

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