Chapter 394
Kyaaaaang!
Chaeaaeng!
Sillage and Simon clashed repeatedly, their swords striking with explosive force, sparks flying across the World of Sand, distorting the very ground they stood on.
After exchanging ten blows, the two leapt back simultaneously, sending a fountain of sand erupting into the air.
“Go!”
At Simon’s shout, the mummy squad charged toward Sillage like a pack of wild beasts.
“The power of a legion commander is hard to believe, even when witnessed.”
Sillage released the Blood Sword in his hand and drew a new magic circle. It descended to the ground and transformed into two mirrors.
“I’ll show you the real way to use Blood Zombies.”
As the Blood Zombies passed through the mirrors, light returned to their dull eyes, and blood surged furiously through their entire bodies.
—Uooooooooh!
They burst forward at speeds unfathomable for zombies, taking down mummies in a single strike and plunging deep into the formation.
The more they fought, the redder their bodies became, until—
BOOM!
It wasn’t just corpse explosion—it was a blood explosion.
The mummies caught in it were obliterated, not even a shred of bandage left behind.
As the Blood Zombies charged in straight lines through the mirrors and exploded one after another, even the overwhelming numbers and bulk of the mummy squad were helplessly crushed.
Simon’s expression hardened.
‘As expected of a Keyzen-level professor… Still.’
Seeing Sillage clutching his chest, it was clear he too was struggling. The fact he hadn’t stepped forward himself and was relying on Blood Zombies proved it.
‘Of course, we’re just as short on time.’
Connected through thought with Herseba, Simon knew she was reaching her limit.
Her dungeon would collapse before Sillage’s heart stopped.
Which meant he had to create a turning point, even if it cost him his life.
At the frontlines where the Blood Zombies and mummies clashed, Simon quietly flanked around and concealed himself behind a sand dune, moving toward Sillage’s side.
“Useless.”
Sillage’s voice echoed.
“Centuries have passed. I’ve seen and gained far more than you.”
His tone, cold and frosty, chilled the air.
“Even if you were lucky enough to gain a legion commander’s power, a mere first-year student like you has no chance of defeating me.”
CRACK!
Simon stomped the ground and charged.
“That’s not for you to decide!”
He swung his greatsword midair. The deep blue slash tore through everything in front of it, but Sillage sidestepped to evade it.
Tap!
Simon landed on the ground and rushed right to Sillage’s face. Before him stood the wily old fox wearing the face of young Walter.
‘If I can just cut him directly with the Greatsword of Destruction…!’
Simon’s eyes hardened as he prepared to strike, but then he quickly stepped back, driving force into his heels. In the empty air he had just left, a series of blood explosions erupted.
“You’ve got good instincts.”
Sillage sneered. Around him, droplets of blood floated like aerial mines, having condensed into smaller particles.
“It’s time to die.”
Sillage stirred the wind, sending the blood droplets flying.
Simon braced his right leg against the ground, gritting his teeth.
SHHAAAAA!
As the sword slash met the droplets head-on, they all exploded into bursts of blood. Sillage then skillfully gathered the remaining droplets into the air.
The droplets merged into a massive 10-meter-wide sphere of blood that plummeted toward Simon.
Simon gripped the hilt of his greatsword so tightly it seemed it might burst.
‘Once more!’
CRAAAANG!
He split the falling blood sphere in two, twisting his waist.
‘Again!’
A triple slash through space.
The blood sphere was slashed into a cross shape and exploded into fragments.
“You continue learning even mid-battle. A fine student indeed.”
“Student, professor—cut the nonsense!”
Simon charged, madness flashing in his eyes.
“Before you stand a legion commander!”
Clunk.
Suddenly, strength drained from his legs. Simon’s pupils shook wildly.
“Pushing yourself that hard, no wonder your Darkness is depleted.”
Sillage snapped his fingers as he stepped back. Blood droplets hidden in the sand rose up, painting the space around Simon crimson.
“It’s a matter of experience.”
Every droplet exploded.
BOOOOM!
And a roaring aftershock followed.
KUGUGUGUGU―!
As explosions painted the desert night red, Sillage closed his eyes.
Survival rate: 0%.
He had confirmed that Simon’s Darkness was depleted. Certain of his conclusion, he finally turned his back.
“Preserve full power.”
He sent a message to his disciples using blood flow magic.
“The summoner is down, so the barrier will soon collapse. Begin the Apostle Revival Plan im—”
PUUK!
“……!”
His steps halted.
A shock flooded his mind, and his mouth dropped open in disbelief. His expression was a mix of surprise and confusion.
A pure white spear had pierced through Sillage’s back.
“Th… this…!”
Drip.
Blood streamed from his mouth. As he coughed, chunks of blood splattered from his lips.
‘No way…!’
Even with his back turned, the blood shield and Meat Armor he always kept active had been pierced in a single strike.
He turned his head.
As the red explosion cleared, he saw a boy concealed within a white barrier.
“All that talk about time, experience… People like you always face the same issue.”
Though blood streamed from his forehead, Simon grinned.
“First, you jump to conclusions.”
“You little…!”
“Second, lack of imagination.”
<Lete Original – La Escrime & Divine Barrier>
Sillage’s eyes trembled in disbelief.
“A necromancer with a Core… using holiness? What kind of trick is this?!”
“I get that it’s hard to accept.”
Simon dispelled the Divine Barrier and opened a holy subspace using an artifact.
“But it’s happening right now!”
From within, a divine beast in the shape of a bear—Akallion—emerged.
“Let’s go, Akallion!”
—RUOOOH!
As Simon imbued it with holiness, Akallion rapidly grew into a monstrous bear. Simon mounted it and, leading with the Greatsword of Destruction, charged.
Sillage tried to use black magic immediately, but—
Cough!
He continued to cough blood. The earlier attack had infused his body with holiness, sending his Core into shock.
“Stop him!!”
Sillage screamed. The rampaging Blood Zombies fighting mummies gathered in front of him.
“Akallion, charge!”
Simon gripped the Greatsword of Destruction, imbued it with holiness, and began to swing.
CHAAAANG!
CLANG!
CHAAANG!
With every flash of the brilliant white Greatsword of Destruction, undead were cleaved apart.
Before the Blood Zombies could explode, Simon cut them down whole. Akallion smartly avoided attacks and calculated its movements, striking with holy-clad forepaws or biting undead bodies to prevent explosions.
“Lack of imagination, huh?”
Barely stopping the bleeding, Sillage let out a hollow laugh.
A mere first-year Keyzen brat, calling himself a legion commander.
And now that legion commander was using holiness.
Most of all, that Ancient Undead wearing Bone Armor…
‘How is an Ancient Undead using holiness?!’
[Kuhuhuhuh!]
Since Simon had begun using holiness, Feer’s entire body glowed white. He accepted holiness into his body and used it as power to assist Simon.
No one could have imagined this.
“Even irregulars have their limits!!”
Sillage opened his own subspace and unleashed his personal Blood Zombies. Blood-red beings swarmed in.
“Out of the way!”
Simon raised his left hand, not holding the greatsword.
In his palm appeared a sleek, pure white spear. Bands of holiness coiled around it, forming a drill-like shape.
<Lete Original – La Escrime>
KIIIIIIIIIIIIING!
The holy spear shot forth like a white pillar, blasting away Blood Zombies with its sheer pressure. Sillage stopped it head-on using blood flow magic.
“Jump!”
BOOM!
In that moment, Akallion leapt into the air. Simon let go of the greatsword and thrust both hands downward.
<Exorcism>
KRRRRRRRRRASH!
A white bolt of lightning struck from above Sillage’s head, but he swiftly blocked it with a blood flow shield.
He was a seasoned warrior. He had been caught off guard earlier, but if he treated his opponent like a priest, he could respond with high-priest-level tactics.
SHLAAK!
From midair, Akallion came down, raking its claws across Sillage’s chest.
‘So close!’
Simon’s face tensed.
Blood splattered from Sillage’s chest, but the wound was shallow. He immediately struck Akallion’s abdomen, sending it flying.
KUGUGUGUNG!
Akallion crashed. Simon activated his pendant to retrieve Akallion and summoned the Greatsword of Destruction back to his hand.
“Grr!”
Simon’s hand trembled.
His holiness was nearly depleted.
Especially La Escrime, Lete’s technique—it devoured holiness at a terrifying rate.
‘Even before becoming a saint, you just casually threw these out, huh? Lete.’
[H-Hey, kid!]
Then came Herseba’s voice. She spoke directly to Simon’s thoughts, so no one else could hear.
[At most 10 minutes! I can maintain the dungeon for only 10 more minutes!]
‘…Okay.’
They had landed a serious blow by catching Sillage off guard.
But this was it.
Both Darkness and holiness were depleted.
To finish him, Simon needed one decisive power.
‘Only one option left!’
—In the most desperate moment, when your life is in danger, when all options are exhausted and all you can do is pray to the heavens, believe in me and use Compellonia.
Now.
Only now.
The moment for a final move, saved until the very end.
Simon released the holiness from his body, reactivated his Core, and returned to necromancer mode.
“Mummy squad!”
Sillage had sent most of his force against Simon, leaving his flanks exposed. The mummy squad surged again to attack Sillage.
Sillage had no choice but to burn through black magic for area suppression.
As the mummies bought time, Simon calmly prepared his ultimate technique.
‘No Darkness left. I must succeed!’
He first drew the Four Great Curses swiftly.
Then, transferring the core formulas of the curses with his fingers, he assembled them.
Extracting part of one ecosystem and merging it into another, seeing how perfectly the pieces fit, Simon could sense how brilliant Bahil was.
Once all four formulas aligned, the curse was complete.
<Compellonia>
Simon held the magic circle and took a deep breath.
No more hesitation.
He boldly cast the Compellonia circle on himself.
FWOOOOSH!
“……!”
And it was…an indescribable sensation.
It was far beyond normal thought.
A tsunami of information crashed into his mind. His head filled with countless numbers and languages.
‘Ah.’
In mere seconds, he surpassed the amount of knowledge learned at Keyzen.
In mere minutes, he surpassed everything he’d ever learned in his life.
But he could not possess it.
He could only gape at the vast sea of information pouring past him.
‘!’
Simon’s soul transcended its shell in an instant.
The sight of undead and Blood Heaven Cultists fighting to the death grew distant.
The image of his dear friends and all the first-years becoming “sacrifices” faded into the distance as well.
Outside the dungeon, the professors and assistants desperately trying to break the Ring of Blood became distant.
Keyzen, too.
The sight of his hometown, Leshill.
The Dark Alliance and the Holy Federation.
The continent.
Eventually, Simon surpassed it all and crossed the gate.
“………”
It was an entirely black mental realm.
Even now, that world, the continent, was receding further and further away. The planet that had held it now looked like nothing more than a speck of dust.
[Don’t you find it laughable?]
In the suffocating darkness, a voice burrowed into Simon’s ear.
[That everything you’ve fought for, struggled for, and tried so hard to achieve, came from inside that tiny little dot.]
Next to Simon stood a presence just as black as the space it was in.
[Your answer?]
“……”
[Ah, sorry. It's hard, isn’t it, with all that information flooding in?]
The being changed something.
Only then was Simon granted the ability to ignore the barrage of information in his head, to “look away” for a moment.
First, he looked at the being with his eyes.
It had the silhouette of a person, with a head and limbs, but it was clearly not human.
It had simply taken a form similar to Simon’s, likely for familiarity.
“Who are you?”
Simon asked.
[You people always try to define everything with language. Fine. Then I’ll lower myself tremendously just for you—]
The being smirked and answered.
[I’m everything in this world, and at the same time, I’m nothing. Nice to meet you!]
“……”
That wasn’t an answer at all.
[Thanks for coming to see me beyond the gate. It gets lonely here by myself.]
Simon nodded slightly at its words and looked around.
It was endless darkness.
Within it were countless sparkling dots, like a vast canvas peppered with stardust.
“Hey.”
Simon turned his head.
“I want to go back. Can you help me?”
[Why bother?]
The being shrugged and slung an arm over Simon’s shoulder.
[Take a good look.]
Then it forced one of Simon’s eyes open with its fingers.
[This is what you’ve really been.]
There it was.
A tiny dot, smaller than a speck, marked somewhere within the vast dark space.
Zooming in.
More, more, more, and more.
Diving into a corner of that cluster of tiny dots, into another corner, and inside, a single tiny dot.
There lay the continent.
[Funny, isn’t it? Everything you thought was “everything”… was smaller than a speck of dust.]
“……”
Indeed.
Looking at this scale, anyone would feel the same.
[Your history is meaningless. Just a grain of dust within a particle so small it’s barely distinguishable. What meaning do your blood and tears have, spilled over that pathetic land?]
“But I…”
[It’s the same. All your actions to save a speck within a speck within a speck… What meaning is there? Nothing. That’s why I can do everything, yet choose to do nothing.]
Simon could feel his thoughts and will rapidly bending. The being spread its arms.
[Let’s contemplate.]
A being that could do everything, yet chose to do nothing.
[Stay here with me, and contemplate.]
Simon took a deep breath.
Cooling his overheated mind, he regained his composure.
“Sorry. I’ll pass.”
[Why?]
The being’s voice was startled, as if genuinely surprised.
[Why? Why? Why? Everything is here!]
“And at the same time, nothing is, right?”
[…]
The being fell silent.
“What I want…”
Simon pointed with his fingertip.
“…is that speck of dust.”
The being waved its hand as if unable to understand.
[Why? You know everything now. You know how insignificant what you desire truly is!]
“Humans are insignificant, just like you said. And simple too.”
Simon said.
“And simplicity is a blessing. Even a pebble on the roadside—while someone might kick it away, for someone else, it might be a cherished memory. To another, it could be an artifact of archaeological value. Size doesn’t matter. What’s trivial and what’s not…”
Simon poked his chest with his thumb.
“…is decided by the heart.”
[Ha. Hahaha……!]
The being burst into laughter.
[What you people call the ‘heart’ is nothing more than autonomic nervous excitement, and electrical signals from the brain. The very symbol of triviality!]
“I’m human too.”
[No! You can now stand equal to me! At the very threshold of what you call a ‘god’...!]
“If I really am that god now,”
Simon said calmly,
“I’ll gladly break my wings and fall back to the insignificant earth. Because all that I cherish is down there.”
[…]
“You’ll help me, right?”
Heh.
Heh heh heh heh.
The being laughed.
[Can’t beat you. What a shame. It’s been a while since a friend came up here.]
“……”
[Now’s your last chance. Your first time crossing the gate is also your last. So let me ask one final time. Are you sure?]
“Yeah.”
Simon smiled.
“I’m sure.”
[Alright.]
The being rubbed its palms together.
[Sorry, but all this information will be erased when you return. If you remembered it, your brain would literally fry.]
“Okay.”
[But since you came all this way, I’ve got to send you back with a gift. What do you want?]
“Power.”
Simon’s eyes flared.
“The power to overcome the hardship I’m facing right now.”
[Got it.]
He spread his arms.
[It was truly a pleasure meeting you. Friend!]
“……Haaah!”
Simon’s eyes flew open.
Sweat poured from his entire body, and he gasped like a man gone mad. His eyes trembled as if refusing to believe what he’d just seen.
[Boy!!]
The roar of explosions, a voice, and the acrid scent of sand.
Simon realized he was back on the battlefield.
[What are you doing?! Get a hold of yourself!]
Feer, no longer in Bone Armor form, was directly blocking attacks from the Blood Heaven Cultists.
“Feer, how much time has passed?”
[A few minutes! There’s only about 5 minutes left before the dungeon collapses!]
Good. That was lucky. He had to end this now.
“Fall back, Feer.”
[Right, I’ll return to Bone Armor—!]
“No, I mean, far back.”
The memories and sensations, the feeling in his body and brain, were still there.
Simon began walking forward.
“You seemed to be trying something pretty hard there.”
Sillage saw Simon approaching.
“Didn’t work out, did i—”
Sillage stopped mid-sentence.
Something instinctively silenced him.
Simon’s eyes weren’t normal.
They were deep, sunken like the ocean’s depths—hollow, oppressive. Without a word, Simon raised both arms.
‘Darkness in the right hand.’
Dark energy flared violently in his palm.
‘Holiness in the left.’
Blinding light of holiness rose in his left.
Both powers surged, exuding overwhelming presence. Sillage’s expression tensed.
“…What are you trying to do this time?”
“Well.”
Simon brought the darkness and holiness face to face.
“This.”
“?!”
And he slammed darkness and holiness together.
BOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMM!
The two powers began intertwining. Sillage looked utterly horrified.
“Are you insane?!”
[Boy! You can’t just force those two powers togeth—Hm?]
Instead of repelling, fighting, or exploding…
The opposing powers began to fuse.
Black and white energies spiraled into a circle, converging at the center.
“Thanks, friend.”
Simon whispered to the sky.
FWOOSH!
With blinding brilliance, something new was born from the fusion of darkness and holiness.
“This is!”
It was—
A light of dark blue, mixed from black and blue.
Identical to Simon’s darkness in color.
It twisted and pulsed, as if sucking in everything around it, distorting the surrounding space. A sphere hovered in Simon’s hand.
“Void.”
Simon clenched the orb, and even the dimension around him began to distort.
“A power of the void that transcends this world.”
Superb.
When are we getting more free chapters?
Thanks for the new chapters