Chapter 119: Giant Slayer (4)

Screams and shouts rang out endlessly.

All that Allan could see were those on the brink of death.

In their hands, they gripped spears and swords, their mouths roaring defiance.

But before the savage giant, they were nothing more than insects.

“Kuheuk—!”

Allan spat blood.

The Plague gnawed at his body.

Even holding out by faith had its limits.

The Plague of Kalgos was wicked and relentless.

“Allan, young master! The situation is spiraling into catastrophe!”

The Deputy spoke in a panicked voice.

“…For now, we should retreat and plan for later. This is not where the Wizards must make their stand!”

The elite Wizards of the Marks Family looked to Allan.

Their eyes had long since lost their fighting spirit.

“…If we can’t stop that giant here, the Southern Continent will never escape the ravages of the Plague. You all know this, don’t you?”

A cold shadow settled over Allan’s face.

To think they would dare suggest retreat while bearing the crest of the Marks Family.

Seeing these Wizards, paralyzed by fear, made his insides churn.

Allan turned his head.

The Northern Continent’s forces were pouring their last strength into holding the giant at bay.

Though they were cut down by the sword of Kalgos, not a single soldier—though only common men—turned to flee.

“…Am I really less than a mere soldier?”

Wizards with no mission, no faith.

Allan muttered with a sigh of despair.

Magic gathered at the tip of his staff.

From his hand, the faint light of faith spread, boosting the spirits of the soldiers and knights.

‘If only he were here…’

Over and over, in the depths of his mind, the Saint of the North appeared.

If he were still alive, would things be different now—

It was a useless fantasy.

The dead do not return.

So Allan thought—when—

Thump.

Suddenly, his heart pounded loudly.

The light passed down from Richard shot up to the sky.

A sky thick with Demonic Energy and the aura of the Plague.

That darkness began to brighten, bit by bit.

“Hor… Ann—”

Someone who had been desperately swinging their sword uttered in a dazed voice.

Everyone on the battlefield paused, gazes fixed on the sky.

Thump—Thump—

A sacred presence throbbed in their hearts.

They knew it instinctively.

“Father…”

The World Tree, which had only called for vengeance, now trembled with joy.

[Father!]

Kalgos reached toward the sky as if to seize it.

From his red, filthy fingertips, tendrils of Plague energy stretched up, trying to grasp the sky.

And then—

An overwhelming light exploded forth.

***

Gradually, sensation returned.

A body, where none had been, began to form.

Richard opened his closed eyes.

Within the light wrapping the sky, he ‘existed.’

Clad in a body made of pure light.

[Father!]

The giant’s monstrous cry rang out.

Immediately, a massive hand clawed through the light toward him.

The hand of a patricidal child, desperate to seize his father and drag him down.

[Four-Blade Sword Saint—Activate]

A single blade of starlight formed.

Then, two, three, four blades spun together.

Crack—!

The hand, blocked by the star, trembled violently.

The brutal beast that had tried to strike up could not withstand the Divine Grace.

“Even so.”

A holy voice echoed through the heavens.

Black smoke curled from Kalgos’s ear.

“I meant to come down. I have to finish you.”

From the white-drenched sky, a single figure dropped.

It was like the Sun falling from the heavens.

“Keuk, keuaaaah—!”

Kalgos grabbed his one remaining eye.

Blood-tears streamed down, more smoke billowing from the wound.

“Ah…”

Moritz’s mouth fell open.

All the soldiers of Riot Castle wept tears of relief.

O Hor, please, save him—

At last, what they had prayed for so desperately had come to pass.

Slowly, Richard descended from the sky and set foot on the ground.

His form was holy beyond compare.

Could even angels of legend be so splendid?

Could even the image of a god be so divine?

All those sullied by the Plague watched in awe at the myth unfolding before them.

Then, a brilliant light surged and covered the earth.

On soil scorched by blood and Demonic Energy, grass and flowers abruptly sprang up.

The light swept the sky again.

The stubborn, writhing black clouds cleared, and the Demonic Energy receded.

The Sun stood alone, shining upon the Saint.

“So cold…”

The Saint let out a thin sigh.

Even that sigh was breathtaking and beautiful, as if the gentle rays of the Sun were pouring down.

This Richard von Bartenberg was so different from before.

No, the appearance was the same, but the very aura about him had changed.

The Saint ‘Richard,’ born through the Holy Name ‘Hor’ and the Spirit ‘Lee Ji-hoon.’

Adele, witnessing this legend, shed tears of joy.

“Ri-Richard!”

Moritz, half-collapsed, struggled to stand.

Yet his trembling steps could not easily move forward.

Could he dare approach this presence? An inexplicable sense of awe bound his feet.

Richard’s gaze fell on Moritz, then slowly swept over the entire battlefield, his eyes gleaming with mysterious light.

Then, he spoke.

“Sorry to have made you worry.”

***

I looked down at my own body.

The boundary between flesh and the flickering light above it was faint.

It meant that the body and the light shared the same essence.

How did this happen?

Such questions hardly mattered now.

“Temple Knights.”

I spoke quietly.

The true Temple Knights and the forces of Riot Castle looked to me.

“All units, prepare for battle.”

With that single order, they all gathered behind me.

I drew forth my power.

Upon this body of light, I revealed without hesitation the Divine Power of Hor.

Fwaaa—!

A Sacred Aura swept across the entire battlefield in white.

From the bodies of those lined up behind me, flames of light blazed forth.

[Temple Knights…]

“Despicable insects!”

Kalgos shrieked.

Even then, he still clutched at his eye with one hand.

The heretic among heretics.

The fallen legion commander of a corrupted king.

“What a pity.”

I pitied him.

Perhaps it was a feeling I could only have as a ‘Saint.’

“The one you waited for is here before you.”

Four blades of starlight sharpened.

Like arrows nocked on a bowstring, their tips aimed at him.

“And yet, you can’t even properly look at me.”

He screamed.

With his ruined eye, he glared at me.

Eyes filled with resentment, hatred, and a faint glimmer of longing.

Kuum!

Kuungsi—

That massive body took one lumbering step after another.

The Plague-forged greatsword bulged in his arm, as if it might burst.

[Allan.]

A voice infused with Divine Power spread far and wide.

Indeed, the Southern Saint understood my will.

Kwaaa—!

White Flame swallowed Kalgos’s body.

An explosion of fire, with power and scale far beyond anything before, erupted.

Not only the Temple Knights received strength from the Divine Power.

Kwaang, kwaaang—!

The Wizards, who had lost their will to fight, now clenched their teeth and cast their Magic.

The giant’s fierce body shook without mercy.

“You dying worms—!”

Kalgos, having lost his reason, turned his body.

He aimed to first deal with the Wizards launching barrages from afar.

Foolishly.

He forgot the simple truth that to face Wizards, he must first deal with the knights.

Crack—

Adele and the wood of the World Tree intertwined, binding Kalgos.

Though the giant thrashed in a frenzy, the tendrils of the World Tree would not be broken.

“This moment—”

The Temple Knights sang the Holy Song.

Marching in, they raised voices like thunder.

As I walked forward, I wove the four blades of starlight into one.

A massive star formed.

***

The star and the Great Sword exchanged blows.

Sacred energy and foul energy clashed dozens of times.

Kalgos could not comprehend this situation.

Nor could the Temple Knights who dyed their backs and legs in blood.

Nor the Wizards who struck at the perfect moment.

None of them had been his match.

But at some point, everything changed.

[You have fallen.]

[The Divine Grace that once illuminated the world is now but a handful.]

[And yet, how can you unleash such light!]

His father, whom he had killed, had returned.

Even after resurrection, his father’s Divine Grace was pitifully small.

The only difference was that the Divine Power once hidden in a meager body now shone forth.

That difference struck Kalgos with a heavy shock.

[Can I not even surpass you, fallen as you are!]

He cried out in grief.

The corrupted legion commander swung his Great Sword.

Clang! Through the crossed lights and darkness, he glimpsed the hateful face of his father.

His eyes burned.

“That meager Divine Grace will take you as nourishment and ascend.”

His father spoke.

At the holy voice, blood dripped from his ears.

“Please, stop calling me father. It’s disgusting.”

From his one remaining eye, tears fell.

They were not blood tears.

“I should never have created wretches like you, who betray everything.”

Truly harsh words.

They stung Kalgos more deeply than any light.

Kwaaang—

Sig and Moritz’s combined strike sliced deeply into the giant’s left knee.

Allan and the Magic Alliance’s assault shook the giant to its core.

Swaying, Kalgos soon dropped to his knees, looking around at the Temple Knights who surrounded him.

Compared to the Temple Knights of the Great Holy War, these men were still lacking.

If only his father were not here, these insects would have been nothing.

But now, his father stood with them.

Not as before.

Not like them.

“Kuh…”

Kalgos burst out laughing.

He silently watched Richard, preparing his final strike.

Kiiiii—

The four blades of starlight, gathered as one, shot into the sky.

Soon, the star grew larger than even Kalgos’s Great Sword.

At last, had his fighting spirit faded?

He laid down his sword and slowly brought his hands together.

Like a supplicant offering up a prayer.

***

The star fell.

The giant’s head, caught in its path, fell with it.

Thud—

Kalgos’s head rolled across the ground with a heavy sound.

His lips, drawn back in a ghastly smile, were the very embodiment of disgrace.

Silence fell over the battlefield.

The forces of Riot Castle, the Magic Alliance—everyone swallowed their breath.

It felt as if the giant might spring back to life at any moment.

But even that fear faded quickly.

“The Plague War is over.”

Richard’s voice rang in their ears.

“We have won.”

Then, light signaling the end of the war burst forth from Richard.

[You have defeated the Plague Legion Commander.]

[Remarkable achievement accomplished 2/2]

[Divine Power ascends.]