CHAPTER 196
The resurrection of Commander-in-Chief Rapha Hastel.
His mountainous aura instantly blanketed the area.
For a brief moment, the instant he vanished from sight.

KABOOOOOM!

Along with a massive explosion, Asheria Eve was slammed into the ground.
Furthermore, the heads of all the Dimension Eaters were completely smashed to pieces.
A speed that the eyes couldn't possibly follow.

Rapha Hastel's Ability, Acceleration.
An absurd Ability that granted acceleration to everything, including himself.
It was clear why Rapha Hastel reigned supreme as the strongest in this world.

Rapha Hastel, trampling on Asheria Eve, radiated a ferocious killing intent without a single shirt on.
Even though it was clearly the body of an old man, his physique was at the absolute peak of what a human could achieve.
It was a form that one couldn't deny even if they said a god had sculpted it.

"Rapha Hastel."

In the distance, I saw Ririran biting her lip, her face stained with tears.
But right now, the situation was far too urgent for a happy reunion.

"Lady Ririran!"

At my shout, Ririran appeared via space magic.
With a single wave of her hand, she tossed me clothes, and she threw some on herself as well.

Crrraaaack!

Meanwhile, beneath Rapha Hastel, Asheria Eve was somehow pushing her body up.

"Rapha Hastel...!"

For the first time, a voice laced with pure rage flowed from her mouth.
She, who had always been consistently relaxed.
She was baring deep, dense fury for the very first time.

The Transcendent of Wrath.
It was a rage that made it clear why she was called that.
Pitch-black air currents swirled around.
Asheria Eve's mighty magic power had materialized.
If I got swept up in that, my neck wouldn't survive.

It was effectively a battle between the strongest beings in this world.
With nothing more than Resurrection Magic, this wasn't a fight I could endure.

"Let's leave this to Lord Rapha Hastel for now and get out of here."

BANG! CRASH! BOOM!

At that moment, Rapha Hastel stomped on Asheria Eve consecutively.
The accelerated stomps crashed down so violently that the earth shook.
It was a situation where a normal person's body wouldn't just be crushed, but pulverized into dust.
Even Asheria Eve couldn't remain unscathed.

KABOOOOOM!

At that moment, a black shadow surged up from beneath Rapha Hastel's feet.
The Transcendent of Envy, Morbid Geryusika.
He had intervened.

But even that was meaningless.
The moment Rapha Hastel gripped the empty air, his arm swung with Acceleration.

BAM!

The shadows that had shot up around him were struck by a sonic boom, instantly shattering into pieces and scattering away.
It was a sight that made even me unconsciously drop my jaw.

Wow, he's seriously so fucking strong.

An overwhelming majesty that couldn't even be described with cheap curses radiated from him.

Crrraaaack! BOOM!

In the end, Morbid gave up on trying to subdue Rapha Hastel with his shadows.
Instead, he collapsed the floor with shadows, instantly launching both Rapha Hastel and Asheria Eve into the air.

Asheria Eve, swallowing the blood in her mouth from Rapha Hastel's relentless attacks, gripped two pitch-black blades in her hands and swung them at Rapha Hastel.
Rapha Hastel didn't use weapons.
His body was already perfected as a weapon itself.
Thus, using only his accelerated knife-hands, he deflected all of Asheria Eve's sword strikes.
Then, before she could even react, he drove his knee right into her chest.

Asheria Eve's body folded in half like a 'V' as she was sent flying.
Rapha Hastel didn't miss this opening, continuously landing attacks on her even while she was mid-air.

Watching that spectacle, I finally understood why Asheria Eve had tried so hard to avoid fighting Rapha Hastel.
Commander-in-Chief Rapha Hastel was not a being a person could defeat.
It was the same for the Regular Army.
The reason they had no choice but to trust, believe in, and follow him as their Commander-in-Chief.
Seeing the sheer majesty of that monster, who wouldn't look up to him?
Rapha Hastel wasn't praised as the hero who ended the Great War for nothing.

"Morbid!"

Just then, Asheria Eve's scream rang out.
Asheria Eve knew full well she couldn't beat Rapha Hastel in his prime.
So it was obvious she had decided to use every means at her disposal to tie him down.
She knew perfectly well that Rapha Hastel's lifespan wouldn't last long anyway.

There was only one thing Morbid would target.
Us.
The shadows instantly bypassed the shattered battlefield and reached out toward us.

"Harua, my boy."
"No. I won't go."

Morbid was the most troublesome Transcendent, always making situations annoying.
It was the same this time.
If he managed to take Asheria Eve and run away again, we really wouldn't be able to catch her next time.

'Whatever Asheria Eve's goal is...'

Sky Castle was trying to pierce the sky hole and reach the Transcendents' realm.
The reality was that I couldn't do anything about that right now.
I wasn't in perfect condition due to the shock of receiving the Transcendent's power.
Even if I went up there, I'd be of no help.

In that case, I had no choice but to trust the people up there.

"I'll do something about Morbid! Lady Ririran, please relay the situation to the ones up top!"

Then what I had to do here was catch Morbid.
To stop Asheria Eve's next plan, I had to pin this bastard down no matter what.

Ririran chased after me as I ran, hesitating for a moment, but soon swallowed her breath and turned around.

"One person."

Ririran's figure began to disappear via space magic.

"I'll bring that child, so hold on."

With that, Ririran vanished, and shadows surged up in her place.
As soon as I saw the shadows, I infused myself with Holy Magic and sped up.
At the same time, my gouged-out eye slowly began to heal.
Since my vision was dizzying, it was absolutely necessary if I wanted to run.

'It's mostly healed.'

I had already run away from Morbid's shadows countless times.
Moreover, I had trained my Holy Magic and my body much more than before.
This time, I was even more confident I wouldn't be caught.

RUMBLE—

That was until I saw a tidal wave of shadows surging up above my head.
Haa, shit.

"My legs are gonna break today."

I have to run like hell.

Sprinting down the Regular Army's corridors.
Shadows lashed out from all directions.
I dodged them, pushing my speed to the absolute limit as I dashed like crazy.

I ran into Regular Army soldiers here and there, but most of them were currently out on the battlefield.
Those guarding the headquarters were mostly the wounded or general administrative staff.
Because of that, while I saw a few movements to counter the shadows, I couldn't expect them to win.

Not to mention, the biggest commotion right now was over by Asheria Eve and Rapha Hastel.
If combat personnel were dispatched, they'd go there; it would be too much to expect them to check on this side right away.

'If I keep running like this, more people will just get swept up in the shadows.'

Dashing down the hallway, I saw a massive amount of shadows chasing me from outside the windows as well.

Morbid's shadow was a mutation that even his own race, the Geryusika, couldn't block.
Because of that, it was difficult for ordinary magic, which could normally damage shadows, to properly inflict harm.
But that didn't necessarily mean it was completely immune to damage.

'Besides, shadows aren't infinite.'

It was true that Morbid had a massive amount of magic power, but that didn't mean it was limitless.
In the end, to manipulate such a massive volume of shadows, his magic power had to be draining rapidly.

'If I can just accumulate damage.'

That meant the area of shadows he could control would significantly decrease.
My gaze flicked rapidly out the window.
Before long, my eyes locked onto one specific spot.
Standing there was a tall tower.

That tower was a defensive structure set up to block outside attacks.
But conversely, it was also a magical structure designed to prevent things from escaping the inside to the outside.
If I use that...

The moment I realized a method, I smashed through the window and leapt outside.
Then, I began sprinting at full speed toward the tower.
The shadows immediately changed direction and chased after me.

A swamp of shadows pursuing me, blanketing various parts of the buildings.
It was a trap that would lead to irreversible consequences the moment I fell in.
With the single-minded determination to never get caught, I poured Holy Magic into my legs and dashed furiously.

Before I knew it, I arrived at the tower.
The entrance was tightly locked with a padlock.
Moreover, I could spot protective magic on it.

"Mimyung-ryung!"

I summoned the Unnamed Spirit and squeezed out my last bit of Holy Power to create a Holy Bullet.
Then, I fired it at the door without hesitation, blasting it into miserable pieces.

As soon as I stepped inside, dust briefly irritated my throat.
At the same time, I saw a staircase spiraling up the tower.
A dizzyingly high, endless staircase.
But I had no time to hesitate, so I immediately started bounding up the stairs.

KABOOOOOM!

The bottom of the tower smashed open as the shadows flooded in.
Fortunately, the tower didn't collapse, but the shadows instantly began climbing the stairs after me.

A desperate chase.
I didn't know why they made the stairs so endlessly long, but trying to sprint up them at full speed was driving me crazy.
Still, my legs didn't stop.
As a result of stubbornly climbing and climbing...
Finally, the top came into view.

RUUUUMBLE!

Until suddenly, the bottom of the tower collapsed, and the whole structure began to tilt.
Looking down through the window, I saw that the shadows had finally pushed the tower over, bringing it down.
They had been destroying the tower while chasing me at the same time.
Morbid was using his head, which was unlike him.

It was all or nothing.
I threw myself toward the window and simultaneously formed my Sacred Weapon.
Then, I hooked the golden grapple onto the outer wall of the tilting tower and forcefully vaulted up.

Grab!

The moment my hand barely reached the top of the tower.
I desperately climbed up in the opposite direction of the tilt.
And when I finally reached the center of the tower's peak, I saw a round sphere.
A sphere wrapped in pure white light.
I could feel the massive amount of magic power contained within it.

CRRRRRASH!

At that exact moment, the shadows surged all the way up to the top of the tower.
The tower was already tilting and collapsing.
In effect, the shadows had blocked every single escape route I had.

Staring at the encroaching shadows, a savage grin spread across my lips.
Even if I couldn't pull off flashy combat like Rapha Hastel or the others...
There's one thing I do better than anyone else.

I condensed my Holy Magic and shoved it forcefully into the magic sphere.
Immediately, the magic sphere reacted, bursting with pure white sparks as light dyed the surroundings.

"My ultimate move."

In tandem, Mimyung-ryung wrapped around my body, transforming into a suit of armor.

"Self-destruct."

Soon after, a blinding white flash swallowed the shadows.