Chapter 414. Sky Bridge (4)
As soon as the Sky Castle came to a sudden halt, signs of change started to emerge in Shalyh. Or to be more precise, at the temple of the White Horse General. Currently, the White Horse General was in a bad mood. Tentacles that looked like tree trunks had appeared one by one from who-knows-where and gone after the temple in droves while multiplying. Shaking in wrath, the White Horse General had tried to drive them away with his guandao, but there were too many of them. He couldn’t handle the waves of tentacles that were increasing exponentially in numbers, and he ended up getting thoroughly tied up. And that was only the start.
The tentacles dared to initialize territorialization at his temple and forcibly neutralized the sanctuary. As if that was not enough, they began to steal the White Horse General’s power little by little like a mosquito sucking out blood. The White Horse General was furious, but couldn’t do anything about it; all he could do was resist by pulling back the strength that was getting sucked out. He endured as much as he could like this, but eventually reached his limit. After even his last power to resist was taken away, the White Horse General’s head and limbs drooped; he only barely managed to maintain a faint consciousness.
Then the tentacles, which had been sucking the White Horse General’s power greedily as if they were going to take every last drop, suddenly stopped. It was as if they had all suddenly broken down, and they even vomited back out the nutrients that they had devoured so far. The White Horse General felt some of his power return, and he opened his eyes with difficulty. With a clearer consciousness, he felt the tentacles restraining his whole body loosen somewhat. He wasn’t mistaken. When he put more strength into his body, the tentacles that had been so persistent and tough burst into shreds. He had no idea what was going on, but he didn’t even want to know right now.
There was only one thought in his mind. The White Horse General went down on one knee and raised his head slightly. Although he looked like he was under great strain, his eyes were blazing.
—You parasites…
He growled and quickly searched the ground.
—How dare you…!
He found the guangdao he had dropped and lifted his head. Then he rose up indignantly and let out a lion’s roar as if he was unleas.h.i.+ng all his wrath.
Fla.s.ssssss.h.!.+ A tremendous light burst out of Shalyh from the temple of the White Horse General. With the revival of the guard general of the Jade Emperor who protected humans by eradicating evil, the White Horse General’s sanctuary was restored.
* * *
The moment Yunael made a wish, she felt a wide range of feelings surge inside her. She also thought she heard a giggling and slightly teasing voice and wondered what the result would be. Come to think of it, all the chaos and clamor around her seemed to have quieted. Yunael, who had been praying with both hands tightly clasped together, looked around, and then her eyes opened wide. Less than two meters away, she saw a legion soldier.
Originally, the soldier should have already rushed up to her and swung their weapon, but for some reason, they stopped mid-run. The soldier wasn’t completely still. Judging by how they kept twitching and wriggling, it seemed like they were trying to move—no, they looked like they were desperately trying to move. After some struggle, the soldier collapsed as if pressed down by a heavy weight. And this wasn’t happening to only the legion soldier Yunael was staring at.
The enemy troops had seemed ready to destroy their formation and lunge at them at any moment, yet their momentum was suddenly extinguished. On the contrary, humanity and the Ca.s.siubia League felt a familiar and welcoming energy that they had felt before the Sky Castle landed.
“This energy…” Sensing the strong holy energy pouring out like rising water, the Last Dragon began to slowly smile. By contrast, the Abyss King faltered. There was no need to even mention the Demon Empire, and the same was happening to the Abyss. Since the Abyss originated from endless darkness and also stood in the opposite of light, they were likewise affected by the White Horse General’s sanctuary, which eradicated evil.
The Abyss King sighed in deep contemplation. He had no idea what had happened, but the sanctuary had been revived, and its effect seemed to be even more powerful than before. As a result, his strength was weakened much more than he expected, and the Last Dragon was not the type to miss such an opportunity.
The Abyss King suddenly heard a strong flap of wings and stepped back for now. It seemed that they would have to concentrate on defense until they finished a.s.sessing the situation. However, a great shadow cast over him and lengthened, prompting him to look up at the source. The Last Dragon, who he had subdued with great effort, was flying back into the air. It was too late by the time he noticed her. The Last Dragon soared to the top and became fat like a pig in an instant before immediately opening her mouth.
Baaaaaaaaam! Her body reverted back to its original size, and the breath that came out of her mouth shot down at an angle and penetrated the center of the Sky Castle with such force that it tilted. Then countless magic circles were created all over the Sky Castle’s walls and started indiscriminately bombing the structure.
“Ugh…!” The Abyss King clenched his teeth as various magical attacks pierced through the Sky Castle, turning it into a slice of swiss cheese full of holes. Normally, it wouldn’t break and crumble like crackers, but none of the systems that usually put up an ironclad defense were working. Seeing that it was only staying still while getting pierced all over, there seemed to be some kind of problem with the Sky Castle. The restoration of the sanctuary was also proof of this.
Of course, the Sernitas were probably in the midst of restoring the Sky Castle. As soon as their restoration was completed, the sanctuary would disappear again. However, it would be meaningless at this rate since the restoration would take longer the more damage the Sky Castle took. And more importantly, they were in no position to worry about anyone right now. At the shocking turn of events, the Abyss King got fl.u.s.tered and couldn’t hide his hostility.
“The sanctuary…! The sanctuary has returned…!”
“Our enemies haven’t gotten used to it yet! This is the time! Kill them!”
Flying in the air, the Last Dragon looked down and exclaimed briefly in admiration. The humanity and the Ca.s.siubia League, which had been surrounded by enemies on all sides and driven back with no place to retreat—
Woahhhhhhhh! Were finally beginning to push back all across the battlefield with a loud shout. At last, their great counterattack had begun. The Sky Castle was in the same boat as the rest of the coalition.
After almost getting pierced—no, after their formation was pierced, the detachment unit immediately reorganized and launched a counterattack. At the center of it all, Yunael slumped to the ground. Her trembling legs gave out once she saw the results. It was a mission equivalent to holding all of her allies’ lives in her hands; she couldn’t help but feel the enormous pressure of it all. As someone said, she had carried out the operation with intense pressure on her shoulders—and she did it.
No, it was not time to lie on the ground like this. She needed to cut down one more enemy before they could adapt to the sanctuary. Yunael staggered up by using her spear as her cane.
“It’s all right.” Suddenly, Yunael heard a familiar voice. A woman who was usually all white—now stained with spots of dark red in various parts of her body—came up to her and put her hand on Yunael’s shoulder. It was Aida. “It’s all right now, Yunael.” She spoke in a calm voice and tilted her head to look up. “The sky is becoming his color.”
Yunael lifted her chin and blinked; darkness was slowly being cleared from the sky, and at last, the sun was rising and recovering its light. Frankly, Yunael couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary, but she didn’t say anything because Aida often said mysterious words out of the blue.
Still, she couldn’t help but ask out of concern, “Well, this side is going well, but…I wonder if that guy is all right?”
Aida immediately caught on to who Yunael was talking about and gave her a meaningful smile. “Do you know this?” She looked at Yunael for a moment and continued, “It is said that heaven builds a bridge of chance for those who work hard.”
“What?”
“We all put in a lot of effort. We worked hard. Yunael.” Aida shrugged and tilted her head back again. “So I’m sure a bridge will be built for us too.” She looked up at the sky and continued, “A sky bridge that will lead us to a miraculous fate.”
* * *
When Chi-Woo was about to rush in with his club raised high—
—…Uh?
Philip, who had been watching excitedly, suddenly gasped. It felt like he was watching a train that had been going well suddenly creak and show signs of derailment. He wasn’t mistaken. Chi-Woo stopped running and shook his head once before collapsing.
—What? What’s wrong?
The reason was simple. Chi-Woo had only been moving with Asha invoking the will of the World. However, he had used up all of his Blessed Luck just now. Not knowing that Deterrence required Blessed Luck, Philip was flabbergasted.
On the contrary, Bael’s eyes shone; perhaps this would be her opportunity. Bael immediately rose from the ground and flung herself toward Chi-Woo. At the very moment she was about to crush Chi-Woo’s head as he lay flat on the ground like he was dead—
“Uh?” Her body, which had been dropping with great velocity, suddenly came to a halt in the air; it creaked as if it had broken down, and she fell headlong onto the ground, rolling helplessly. “What…why…” Bael s.h.i.+vered, lying face down like a frog. Her whole body had stopped listening to her. The information that made up her body seemed to have been completely disrupted. Bael soon realized why.
—Error. Error. Er…
The Sernitas had been silent no matter how many times she called them, but their voice now rang more intensely than ever in her mind. Bael had asked the Sernitas to give her strength but also told them she didn’t want to become one with them. That hadn’t been a lie, and the Sernitas had accepted her request. Bael had thrown away everything after a thorough a.n.a.lysis and got filled up with new information. In short, she had undergone some sort of programming, and programs could run only when the computer was turned on.
Since the Sky Castle, the main body of the Sernitas, was not working properly, Bael naturally broke down. Coincidentally, a problem had occurred with the Sky Castle the very moment Bael was going to seize her golden opportunity to kill Chi-Woo. If she had even one more second, she could have fulfilled her objective. But the opportunity that might never come again was now lost in vain.
“Ugh…!” Bael clenched her teeth. It wasn’t over yet. Although it was true that the Sky Castle had been indirectly affected, its power remained somewhat intact. Thanks to this, the Sernitas within Bael managed to execute the recovery program before it was too late. Basic information that was previously discarded replaced the current broken-down system. Then Bael’s skin began to turn dark again. The destructive dark energy she once possessed gathered like water acc.u.mulating and gradually overflowing. Shaking just a moment ago, Bael’s eyes widened. Now? After all this time? They hadn’t even pretended to hear her when she had shouted so fiercely before.
It was a bit sudden, but Bael had returned as a great demon. She didn’t care either way as long as she could kill her opponent in this state. Bael checked that her body was moving again and jumped to her feet. Just in time, a huge light exploded in Shalyh. It was right after the Sky Castle broke down and the White Horse General raised himself with an angry lion’s roar. The burst of light swept past Bael.
“Aghhhhhh!” Bael fell to her knees with a scream. A powerful energy completely opposite of her element as a great demon began to push her down and inflict her with all sorts of harmful effects. “The sanctuary…is back…?” Bael shook like an aspen tree and barely managed to spit out the words, “What the h.e.l.l is hap…?” However, she couldn’t finish because she saw Chi-Woo, who had been immobile for a while, tightened his fists on the ground. The closer they were to the sanctuary’s center, the more powerful its effect was, and the temple of the White Horse General was right beside them.
Gurgle, gurgle. In the seething, fluctuating feast of light, Bael clearly saw Chi-Woo slowly rise up inside the boiling glow. Before they knew it, dawn had broken out. The dark sky had cleared up, and the sun shone upon Shalyh.
“What…” Bael stared at the pouring light, speechless; she saw a general standing near Chi-Woo with a huge guandao in his hand. It wasn’t just the White Horse General. He saw a girl who was all white with her hands clasped, a twin hugging each other tightly, and a woman holding a scale. And covering her mouth and sneering coldly, there was even a great being that Bael didn’t even dare to measure.
“What the h.e.l.l…” Just how many G.o.ds were attached to this one human being? However, this thought was erased as soon as Chi-Woo got to his feet. Bael’s head tilted back to the fullest extent that it couldn’t go further. Her eyes gazed up at the sky, and what Bael saw was not a mere human being that many G.o.ds were looking after, but a being that commanded countless G.o.ds—a giant at whom even the sky dropped to their knees and looked up at.