Chapter 1289: Realm of Demonic Beasts (12)
A colossal shadow rose above the hazy sky, covering the firmament.
The head of a Fire Dragon opened its maw wide, swallowing a corner of the distant sky.
Its overwhelming size was infinitely sluggish and heavy, at times resembling a turtle’s head or a beast’s gaping maw.
The hull of the flaming vessel, shimmering and billowing like burning flames, slowly revealed itself.
[Sun Ship Megiddo] [Exploration, Landing, Assault Battleship Form Activated]
KRA-WHAAAAAAAAM!!!
The shadow of the warship, obscuring the sky, entirely swallowed the light and heat that should have fallen to the ground.
The colossal warship, forged from blazing red flames, rose into the Demonic Realm’s sky, an overwhelming presence looking down upon the land.
“Sun Ship summoned. Completion.”
Lennok spoke, leaving Aileen, who stood gaping blankly at the sky, behind him.
“Field effect deployment initiated.”
Megiddo, the colossal vessel, drew its power from the sun, temporarily replacing its function with a unique summoning effect.
A formidable authority that, immediately after summoning and for a single instance, controlled the flow of heat across the land.
KUOOOOOOO!!!!
Crimson flames, engulfing the several-hundred-meter-long colossal ship, spun explosively, distorting the spellcraft and bombardment surging from all directions.
Thousands of streams of Conflagration Spellcraft and Prayer Spellcraft, fired by Order Alliance spellcasters and Guido Cult priests, broke free of control, spinning and changing direction.
They mingled with Megiddo’s blazing red flames and rained down like a bombardment onto the battlefield where the Grand Spell Master and the Seventh Apostle were fighting.
KWA-GWA-GWA-GWA-GWA-GWA-GWA!!!!!
“KRA-AAAAARGH!!!”
“Run, run for your lives!!!!”
The aftermath alone caused the jungle at the entrance of the Demonic Realm to heat up, catching fire on all sides, blazing, and beginning to die.
Spellcasters and priests, consumed by flames and burning to death, screamed hysterically, unable to bear the pain.
In the instant hellfire that had become an inferno, superhumans who confirmed the colossal ship’s form in the sky stared wide-eyed.
“Th-the Sun Ship…!!! Is that the symbol that appeared at the military parade!!!”
“No way, that ship being in the Demonic Realm means…!!!!”
HWA-REUREUREUK!!!!
Before an answer could follow, the colossal ship’s bow rotated, and Megiddo’s flames rained down like a bombardment.
Amidst the rain of flames falling like massive meteors, spellcasters screamed as they died off frantically.
“It’s Evan Martinez!!! Evan Martinez has appeared!!!!”
“The Order Alliance’s adversary has arrived in the Demonic Realm—!!!!”
KWA-GWA-GWA-GWANG!!!!
Even the screams of superhumans, roaring amidst the bombardment unleashed by the warship in the sky, were swept away and vanished.
As Megiddo, having fully started its engines, rotated its hull, dozens of pillars of flame surged consecutively from the ground.
Amidst them, hundreds of spellcasters and priests were flung about like toys, their limbs broken, burning, and dying.
“AAAAARGH!!!”
“Retreat!! Retreat!!!”
“Keep your distance from the Sun Ship!!! Don’t make eye contact!!!”
“W-what is this….”
Aileen, watching the overwhelming massacre from Lennok’s side, murmured with a stunned expression.
“It wasn’t this level of firepower even at the military parade, was it…?”
As the events of the military parade were well-known, a deep analysis had been conducted on Cheonbeon’s abilities and spellcraft as well.
Among these, the existence of the Sun Ship Megiddo was undeniably one of the biggest topics for those observing Cheonbeon.
As Evan Martinez had never used it before, and it was a powerful medium, extensive analysis led to the estimation of the Sun Ship’s abilities, roughly categorized into three.
First: The ability to control the flow of heat in the surrounding area immediately after summoning, altering its direction and trajectory.
Second: The ability to forcibly impose a solar system-like field effect on the battlefield, acting as a summoned entity replacing the sun.
Third: The ability to grant the spellcaster the judgment of having deployed a Flame-Heat Domain around the hull.
While each of these was a transcendentally powerful effect and enhancement, Aileen knew that, conversely, the combat capability of the Sun Ship itself had never been a topic of discussion.
Despite Megiddo’s overwhelming presence at the military parade, its firepower was limited to withstanding legion bombardments and destroying the production facilities of the 2nd Command.
Hadn’t the meticulous analysis of Cheonbeon concluded that the Sun Ship’s firepower was ineffective against high-level superhumans?
However, the firepower of the Sun Ship Lennok had now summoned far surpassed Aileen’s previous analyses and assumptions.
It wasn’t just a level that didn’t fall behind the elite forces of the Order Alliance and Guido Cult; it was an overwhelming firepower that instantly crushed the battlefield immediately after summoning.
For a brief moment, it had the output to simultaneously overwhelm the Grand Spell Master and the Seventh Apostle who had descended onto the battlefield, temporarily neutralizing even their resistance.
With this level of power, it might even be possible to literally trample over the Guido Cult and the Order Alliance and head straight into the Demonic Realm.
As Aileen, sensing this fact, watched the burning entrance to the Demonic Realm, Lennok approached and placed a hand on her shoulder.
“Let’s go up.”
Lennok said, looking at the sky.
“We’ll move immediately.”
“…Huh?”
WHOOSH!!
At that moment, Aileen realized with a start that she was already hundreds of meters up in the sky.
From atop the Sun Ship Megiddo’s vast hull, the entrance to the Four Archangel Demonic Mirrors stretched out below.
Beyond the thick flower mist drifting inwards into the Demonic Realm, the hazy form of the jungle shimmered.
Aileen, understanding the situation a moment too late, turned to Lennok with a surprised expression.
“Th-that’s impossible…!!! Was this something a person could ride?!!”
[Demonic Realm Exploration Vessel: Route Pioneering Ready] [Guiding to destination initiated]
KUGUGUGUGUGU!!!
With a sharp resonance, Megiddo’s hull, carrying the two, slowly began to move.
The several-hundred-meter-long warship moved, incinerating the drifting mist and pollen from all sides and tearing open the view.
The colossal ship began to slowly accelerate, ignoring the murky air of the Demonic Realm and the shrieking carnivorous plants on the ground.
The colossal ship, which had been slowly trembling with the engine’s ignition, instantly surged its output and began to advance forward.
KWA-GWA-GWA-GWA-GWA-GWA!!!!!
The bombardment pouring from beneath the flame-wreathed hull swept over the ground like a continuous barrage.
Every time it boosted its output to increase speed, the entire canyon became a sea of fire, blazing red.
An overwhelming spectacle: it traversed the rugged canyon at the entrance of the Demonic Realm in a straight line, incinerating the ground vertically.
“The Sun Ship isn’t a power I learned or acquired directly, so there’s still much I don’t know about its performance.”
As Aileen stared blankly at the sight from atop the warship, Lennok, standing beside her, spoke.
“But by chance, an opportunity arose, and I was able to understand at least how to use this ship within the Demonic Realm.”
“…….”
“The original form of this ship was an Immortal Body created to wander beyond the Outer Sea… a type of bio-battleship capable of enduring the extreme environment of the Sea of Darkness.”
KUGUGUGUGU!!!!!
Lennok glanced down at the Demonic Realm Travelogue as he looked down at Megiddo’s hull, which had begun moving into the Demonic Realm.
“Then wouldn’t it be possible to operate it in a similar way within the Demonic Realm’s environment?”
“…That.”
What the Director gave Lennok wasn’t the bio-battleship Megiddo itself, but Megiddo’s Core.
While it was impossible to fully unleash Megiddo’s performance immediately, it was possible to draw out and use some of its functions.
The result was the ability to open the pioneer ship’s form and unleash its full potential, using the Demonic Realm Travelogue as a navigational guide.
The true meaning of the Sun Ship lay in its very purpose: a means of transportation capable of traversing the Demonic Realm.
Aileen, listening to the explanation, cast her gaze towards the Demonic Realm Travelogue in Lennok’s hand.
“And you learned that through the guidebook you acquired?”
“Well… it’s always been this way, but the information conveyed to me through the travelogue is extremely limited.”
Lennok replied, looking down at the travelogue.
“I can’t see the entire journal; it appears in fragments, so there isn’t much I can learn if it’s not directly related to my current situation.”
“…….”
“But at least I definitely learned why I needed to summon the Sun Ship through the travelogue. It would be ideal if I could ride this ship all the way to the end of the Demonic Realm, but…”
Saying that, Lennok put away his notebook and swiftly turned his body around.
“As expected, it won’t be that easy.”
[AHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!!]
Amidst the jungle, where pillars of flame surged and blazed, a chilling crimson light flashed.
With a shrill, mad cackle, something accelerated, bouncing off the shattered trees and rocks of the battlefield.
Something that had explosively ascended struck the underside of the Sun Ship’s hull at immense speed, shaking its belly violently.
KWA-AAAAAANG!!!!!
The Seventh Apostle landed on the flame-strewn hull of the warship and aggressively pressed her greatsword down on Lennok.
“EVAN MARTINEZ!!!!”
Lariata, appearing with blood dripping from her entire body, smiled brightly and thrust her face forward between the greatsword.
A monster who had taken Megiddo’s bombardment head-on, covered in blood, yet pursued the Sun Ship like a fiend.
“It really was you, you damned bastard!!!!!”
“Long time no see, Lariata Armush.”
Lennok, holding a spear of flame, parried the Apostle’s greatsword and replied.
“I thought you would have died somewhere on the battlefield by now, but unfortunately, you’re perfectly fine.”
“That’s what I should be saying, Martinez.”
The Seventh Apostle cackled, her mouth stretched wide like a ghost, and spoke.
“I heard you tucked your tail and ran after fighting The Legion, so I thought you’d be quietly holed up somewhere, dead. But you crawled all the way here? What are you doing, exactly?”
SCREEECH……!!
With those words, Lariata pressed her greatsword down harder, and Lennok’s body slowly tilted under her brute strength.
Lariata Armush, a hybrid of a True Ancestor Vampire and an Apostle, possessed uniquely bizarre physical abilities.
But Lennok, even as his balance slowly crumbled under Lariata’s power, maintained his composure and replied.
“No different from you. I came to conquer the Four Archangel Demonic Mirrors and obtain the secrets hidden within.”
“Ehhhhh?”
“A hell on earth ruled by a dead Grand General. The origin of the Demonic Realm where life and death cycle, being born and dying.”
Lennok spoke, staring directly into Lariata’s gleaming eyes.
“Because the way to the Central City will be there.”
KWA-AAAAAANG!!!
At that moment, Lariata raised her leg like a flash of lightning and kicked Lennok in the stomach.
As Lennok’s body was flung backward across the colossal ship, the Seventh Apostle smiled eerily and said.
“Ah, what a pity. That’s the wrong answer.”
“…….”
“Of all answers, you chose one that ensures you can’t leave this place alive. So, you must die, correct?”
“You talk as if you’d let me live if I just pretended not to know.”
SHOOOOOOO……!!
Lennok, rising to his feet with a hand on his knee, replied.
Lennok, who had risen, restoring the dozens of shattered defensive barriers with a single gesture, lit a cigar.
CHIIIK!!
“Even when we met at the First Gate, you had no intention of letting anyone live, did you?”
“Kee-hee-heet, you pretended to fight, then ran away, and now you’re being so brazen.”
Lariata’s lips stretched into a long, ripped smile.
As she gripped the double-edged greatsword diagonally with one hand, her bat wings expanded as if they would tear apart.
Gripping the greatsword so hard her veins bulged, Lariata cackled as she drew a Blood Magic Circle with her other hand.
“This time, there’s no Nether King to run wild as he pleases, so is it really okay to talk so arrogantly?”
“Of course.”
Lennok also activated the Array Device on his left arm, smiling coldly.
“Because this time, I came prepared for exactly that.”
PAT!
As Lariata leaned back fully, Lennok lowered his stance diagonally.
As her bat wings flapped, whipping the air, eight layers of flames exploded from Lennok’s back, scattering like wings.
On the Sun Ship’s hull, the two Transcendent beings clashed at invisible speeds.
KWA-AAAAAANG!!!!!
Hundreds of shockwaves erupted as the Apostle and the wizard’s forms crisscrossed.
Lennok’s flames, wreathed in the Jeongryun Barrier and engaging in close combat, intersected with Lariata’s Blood Magic, which she wielded with a mad cackle.
With a tearing sound that ripped through the air, they burst and scattered the surging, murky pollen in the Demonic Realm’s sky.
[Fire Construction] [Shadow Capture]
The compressed flames in Lennok’s hand and the vampire’s palm strike, clawing at the void, clashed in a moment of offense and defense.
Unleashing heavy shockwaves, they simultaneously pushed both individuals in opposite directions.
KWA-AAAAAANG!!!
“Ugh……!!! Oh, seriously!!”
Aileen, unable to withstand the recoil, was pushed back and barely managed to stop at the stern of the warship, where she turned around.
“Over there!!!”
“Kill Evan Martinez!!”
“Revenge against the abominable Apostle-Slayer……!!”
The surviving spellcasters and priests were rapidly pursuing the Sun Ship, tearing through the burning jungle from different directions.
A situation where a few skilled individuals who had survived the sudden bombardment relentlessly clung to Megiddo.
TWAANG!!
Aileen, seizing her gunblade and raising it, fired at a priest who was flying, pursuing from the stern.
Aileen, leaving the falling corpse with a hole in its forehead behind, checked her magazine and averted her gaze.
“I’ll clear the obstacles, but if you fight like that, I can’t even help!!!”
KWA-GWA-GWA-GWANG!!!!
As if in reply, flames and blood raged violently from the center of the Sun Ship, unleashing consecutive shockwaves.
Even as they were pushed in opposite directions, Lennok and the Apostle’s hands painted the air, chanting and unleashing dozens of kinds of Flame-Heat magic and Blood Magic.
[Corpse Mountain Flame River] [Flame Jade Piercer] [Blood Style: Sixth Realm] [Blood-Shattering Spurt]
Stars of flame exploded, pushing waves of heat over the Sun Ship, and the blood-soaked vampire spat them out at supersonic speed.
Behind Lennok, who made hand signs and swung his hands, and Lariata, who manipulated blood flow, thousands of spellcraft fragments and blood crossed and scattered.
Spellcrafts, unable to withstand the high-speed chanting and projection, collided and twisted their trajectories, scattering in all directions and dyeing the Sun Ship’s surroundings red.
[Night Demon] [Stabbing Torture Kill] [Flame Soul Dispersion] [Crimson Rakshasa]
PAPA-BA-BA-BA-BA-BANG!!!!
An intense battle, where they exchanged killing blows at close range, yet projected spellcrafts with increased power by completing chants the moment distance was created.
This was possible because Lariata Armush simultaneously wielded the physical abilities of an Apostle and the Blood Magic of a True Ancestor Vampire.
It would be no exaggeration to say that because this particular vampire had fallen so uniquely and monstrously among the Apostles, a monster capable of simultaneously performing close combat and spellcraft battles had been born.
But it seemed Lennok wasn’t the only one with similar thoughts.
POO-HWA-AAAK!!
“Kya-hahahahaha!!! What, Martinez. Why are you fighting so well?!!!”
The Seventh Apostle cackled, gripping the flaming spearhead that had pierced her left shoulder with her right hand.
Her hand, gripping the spear shaft, rapidly burned away, but Lariata ignored the brain-piercing agony and pulled out the spear of flame.
CHIIIK!!
The severed area was seared and stuck by the heat, but ignoring it, she plunged the flaming spear violently into the hull’s deck and cackled.
“I heard you were completely crippled at the military parade, but this is totally different. Did all those Legion bastards go blind or something?”
It was surprising enough that a wizard would engage in close combat, but even stranger was that his magic’s power didn’t diminish at all during it.
Each spell, unleashed like a bombardment the moment distance was created, was ridiculously heavy, enough to make one’s bones ache.
Compared to the firepower immediately after warm-up, it momentarily surpassed the True Ancestor Vampire’s Blood Magic wielded by Lariata.
She had felt it ever since being crushed by Megiddo’s bombardment earlier, but contrary to rumors, his skill hadn’t diminished at all.
The Sun Ship’s overwhelming firepower, Lennok’s undeniably formidable personal martial prowess. His Flame-Heat magic, which Lariata couldn’t even dismiss.
In fact, he was far more dangerous than when they’d met at the First Gate—
“Hmm… interesting.”
Lariata’s expression, having instantly discerned her opponent’s skill, turned chilling, contrary to her words.
“I was going to play with you and then kill you, but now I have to get serious. I don’t really like using Apostle Spellcraft.”
“Oh? But you’ll have to get serious now.”
Lennok smiled.
“Because from now on, it’s a three-way battle.”
“…Huh?”
KUGUGUGUGU……!!!
At that moment, the clouds pushed away from the Sun Ship gathered in the sky, transforming into the shape of a colossal hammer.
An enormous scale, gathering smoke and vapor from all directions to form a several-hundred-meter-sized blunt weapon.
“Cheonbeon Evan Martinez.”
The Yeonri Spell Master, perched atop the massive hammer made of smoke, spoke coldly, his face charred by the bombardment.
“A ruffian who murdered Chapman dares to invade the Order Alliance’s territory. Repay your sins with death.”
Yeonri Hierarchy Unique Spellcraft [Giant Cruel Siege Ram]
KRA-WHAAAAAAAAM!!!!
A colossal hammer, comparable in size to the Sun Ship, plummeted directly towards the hull from the sky.
A large-scale siege spellcraft falling, targeting Lennok and Lariata, who were clashing on the hull, simultaneously.
The siege ram, plummeting onto Megiddo’s hull, exploded with a roar, crushing the space and spreading a thick mist across the entire area.
KWA-AAAAAAAANG!!!!!
“Martinez!!!”
The vast expanse of mist and clouds spun, wrapping around the Sun Ship as if exploding from its center.
Aileen, who had been intercepting the spellcasters and priests pursuing from the stern, felt an ominous sense of déjà vu and sharply turned her gaze.
The reason the Yeonri Spell Master appeared only after some time, unlike the Seventh Apostle. The reason why, despite using spellcraft of such a scale, the Sun Ship merely shook.
If he had been preparing from the beginning to spread and ‘fix’ the clouds and mist he controlled around the Sun Ship, then his purpose was probably—
“Ahahahah! No way, from the very beginning?!!”
Lariata also understood the spell master’s true intentions and cackled madly, slashing her own wrist with her fingernails.
Spreading her bleeding hand as if scattering blood into the air, she pulled up her mana and shouted.
“Oh no, you don’t. How dare you do as you please!!!!”
Lennok and the Seventh Apostle, flung to opposite sides of the hull by the shockwave, and the shadow of the Yeonri Spell Master, descending from the sky, intersected.
The three Transcendent beings, accelerating in the distant sky, unleashed and overlapped achromatic ripples almost simultaneously.
PA-AAAAAAAAT!!!!!
A vast sphere of smoke, connecting the clouds in the sky and the mist on the ground, coiled around Megiddo.
Between the clouds, sticky pillars of blood dripped like tears, constructing crimson blood temples on both sides of Megiddo.
In the central area where the Root Mindscapes of the Grand Spell Master and the Seventh Apostle collided and overlapped, altering reality, Lennok pressed his hands together.
From far above the battlefield, three chants overlapped and echoed almost simultaneously.
[“Domain deployment…!!”]