Chapter 43: Illusionary Army (8)

Chapter 43: Illusionary Army (8)

TL/Editor: Rungir

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The deity spoke to the king, who had brought down his own temple and slain his believers.

From this day forward, you'll be trapped in a cycle of the war you cherish so much.

Never to die, never to live, until only one person remains.

Trapped in regret, forever dwelling on past mistakes in the heart of the battlefield.

As the god decreed, the king and his soldiers were trapped in a never-ending war in a forgotten world under a rising blue moon.

In the infinite loop of battles.

The god-forsaken king of the army waited.

Hoping one day, someone would appear to break this endless curse.

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Raei Translations

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Darkness shattered the blue moon, the barrier's core, as it plunged towards the earth.

That darkness was Zion.

He quickly dived into the barrier, using the 'coordinates' he gained from Cainliss, whom he had killed.

Zion's decision to make Cainliss call forth the phantom army and directly dive into it was simple.

'This is the only way to get Kronos's tool.'

Specifically, someone with the 'coordinates' to summon the army must directly engage in the eternal battle.

That was the first requirement to obtain Kronos's tool.

'Incredible...'

Zion appeared intrigued, watching the swiftly approaching ground and phantom army.

Despite the distance, he could sense the phantom army's immense energy.

Its majesty justified being named one of the seven greatest disasters.

In the Chronicles of Frosimar, the hero Frosimar and his allies obliterated the phantom army.

Zion lacked such allies, but he had something else.

Kraaaaah!

The boundless army of wicked spirits lunged at the phantom army, screaming chillingly.

Liushina Bloodwalker, the thousand-year-old witch who summoned this army, was Zion's secret weapon against the phantom army.

"Kahahahaha! Wipe them out, all of them!"

Her manic laughter echoed through the barrier.

Swoosh-

With her laughter still ringing, Zion touched down in the battlefield's center.

Despite the great fall, his landing was eerily silent.

As the otherworldly darkness fell heavily around Zion.

Kwagwagwagwang!

At last, the cursed army from the past clashed with the army of evil spirits, consumed by an insatiable bloodlust, and a full-scale war commenced.

Kraaaaah!

Creak, creak!

Evil spirits, their cries filled with a killing urge, and phantom soldiers mechanically brandishing their swords devoid of emotion.

The battlefield rapidly transformed into a nightmare, with both sides locked in mutual slaughter.

'Where is it?'

Zion didn't join the fight, instead, he silently surveyed the phantom army's horizon.

A smile spread across Zion's face.

'I've found it.'

In the army's rear, he spotted a figure. A knight in black armor, standing atop a skeletal horse, looking down upon the battlefield.

His aura was distinctly different from the other soldiers and knights.

Even while standing still, his presence was formidable, distorting the surrounding space bit by bit.

His presence was compelling, even from a distance.

This black knight was the commander of the phantom army, the king cursed by the ancient god, Kronos.

And he was Zion's current target.

Suddenly.

Kwadududuk!

"Kahahaha! This is fantastic! I think I'm going mad with joy! I'm so glad I followed you!"

Liushina, having torn through dozens of phantom soldiers, appeared beside Zion, her face alight with ecstasy.

To the phantom army, trapped in a loop of time, death had yet to come.

This battlefield was paradise for her.

Perhaps it was a chance to vent her long-repressed desire to kill?

Zion glanced briefly at Liushina, who was on the brink of madness, and spoke in a quiet voice.

"We need to reach the king."

"Ah, understood."

Without questioning his instruction, the witch summoned a horse-shaped spirit for Zion.

Without a moment's hesitation, Zion climbed onto its back.

"I'll lead the way."

Spotting Zion, Liushina flashed a cunning smile and extended her hand towards the phantom army.

Thick dust spread in the wake of the explosion.

Just as the knights, who had arrived within striking distance, prepared to swing their weapons.

In that moment.

“......!”

The knights caught sight of him.

Unscathed, Zion emerged from the dust.

Kiiiiing!

His hand clutched a dark sword, now in its perfect form, a beacon absorbing all light.

Black Flash.

Zion's Eclaxia, wielded to its full extent, swept horizontally, casting a solitary black line across the battlefield.

Immediately after.

Kwadedudududuk!

Every object in the path of that black line began to warp and vanish.

The charging trio of knights suffered the same fate.

The knights, unable to utter a sound, were consumed by the black line and disappeared.

Taking advantage of the vacant space, Zion, who had deactivated his Extinction Sword, hastened forward.

Kiaaaaaak!

Spirits began a rampant massacre of the phantom army charging at Zion, along the path that he had opened.

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Raei Translations

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"...Is that Prince Zion?"

A low murmur spilled from Liam, who had been watching from a distance.

From Liushina's summoning of the spirit army to Prince Zion's arrival, and his unbelievable breakthrough.

All these events had occurred so rapidly that Liam hadn't had the opportunity to fully engage in the fight.

"I knew the rumors were inaccurate when I first witnessed it, but I didn't anticipate the discrepancy to be this great......."

Zion's display of combat skill, effortlessly penetrating the enemy line while astride a spirit, was so remarkable that it took Liam, the battlefield's celebrated hero, aback.

While Liam could traverse enemy lines at a speed comparable to or even greater than Zion, it wasn't such a straightforward matter.

'That combat sense and judgment.'

The ability to anticipate the movements of all charging enemies, identify their centers of force, and subsequently destroy them was astounding. Yet, Zion's decision-making skills in each moment were enough to give Liam goosebumps.

Striking accurately when necessary, evading when needed, and slicing through when called for.

The maximum efficiency naturally resulting from this.

Even a veteran who has spent decades on the battlefield couldn't achieve this. Prince Zion, however, wielded it as naturally as breathing.

'I could replicate the same outcomes, but...'

Liam admitted he couldn't do it in Zion's manner.

'That's... a direct descendant of Agnes.'

While Liam marveled at Zion.

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Raei Translations

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'If this is all...'

Zion, in the process of felling the phantom soldiers in his path, tightened his grip on Eclaxia, gauging the significantly reduced distance between him and the king.

'I'll break through in one move.'

With that resolve, the Extinction Sword morphed into its perfect blade form once more.

Kiiiiing!

At the point of Eclaxia, every bit of Black Star energy that Zion could muster began to condense into one point, spinning at a petrifying speed.

Simultaneously, Zion drew back his sword-wielding arm as though pulling back a powerful bowstring.

Soon, Zion's body echoed that arm, bending as if it were a bow under tension.

Paaaang!

With the sound of air exploding, Zion vanished from sight.

And then.

Huuuk!

Zion rematerialized, right in front of the king, situated at the rear of the army.

In that instant.

Chejejejejejeok!

Everything in the trajectory from Zion's initial position to his reappearance began to split.

"Kept you waiting, have I?"

Zion, not bothering to glance at the spectacle he had unleashed, offered the cursed king a thin smile.

In that moment, the king's eyes, hollow lights from beneath his helmet, swiveled towards Zion.

Cheoooong!

As if it were a predestined dance, their swords clashed in unison.

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