Chapter 248 - Unending Threat

Clang!!

The clear sound of metal echoed through the surroundings. A powerful shock was sent through Kim Si-Hun's hand from the holy sword.

"Kuh!"

Si-Hun was pushed back, his feet embedded deep into the ground.

"Haaa, haaa."

His hands trembled while gripping the sword.

"Ludwig…"

He raised his head and looked at Ludwig.

Ludwig's skin was as pale as a corpse's, and he was covered in green tentacles and demonic energy. He was too different from the Ludwig he remembered.

"Shit."

Si-Hun bit his lip. His hands trembled, and he was so tired that he felt he was about to faint at any moment. He'd used too much Qi to stop the second landslide caused by Satan's attack.

'No.'

Si-Hun held on to his fading consciousness.

'I can't collapse yet.'

He couldn't feel any human emotion in Ludwig's eyes anymore. Leaving his former friend in such a state would be wrong.

'I have to end it with my own hands.'

He had to finish what he had not been able to do. It had no meaning if he wasn't able to end it himself.

"Fuuu."

He took a deep breath and squeezed out more Qi from his dantian.

"G-Grarrgghh."

"…"

Ludwig was grunting like a monster. Si-Hun's friend resembled a zombie pulled straight from a B-list horror film.

'I always thought such scenes were too common.'

There was a reason why some things were cliche.

The corrupted Ludwig was imprinted in Si-Hun's mind.

"Graaaahhhh!!"

Ludwig charged forward.

Si-Hun pressed his lips together and raised his sword. A white light shone from Holy Sword Ludwig, the sword named after his dear friend.

'Azure Dragon Dance.'

White sword energy shot out from the holy sword and swept the area like a storm.

Ludwig held a greatsword he had gotten from somewhere and charged toward the storm of sword energy.

Claaaaaang!!!

Sparks poured in all directions. The sound of a hammer hitting steel resounded many times a second.

"Grrr!"

Ludwig stomped on the ground violently and swung his greatsword horizontally. He didn't use any special techniques or complex principles—it was just an attack that used overwhelming power.

"Kuh!"

Si-Hun lowered his head, and Ludwig's sword grazed his hair. Just the wind pressure generated from the swing of Ludwig's sword was enough to split his skin and make him bleed.

'I can't win in a head-on battle.'

Ludwig was far faster and stronger than him. On top of that, demonic energy continuously poured out of him, increasing his destructive power even more.

A head-on battle in such a situation was suicidal.

"…"

Si-Hun remained silent and took a deep breath. If a head-on battle was impossible, then he had only one choice…

'Sword Control.'

He raised his hand, and the weapons scattered over the battlefield rose into the sky. His already-low Qi stores rapidly decreased.

"G-Gaah."

Si-Hun started to tremble. His head hurt, and he felt like vomiting.

Riiing.

[Warning.]

[Insufficient Qi. Further usage of Qi will result in 'Qi deviation.']

"Kuh…"

His vision blurred, and his fingers trembled as powerlessness weighed him down.

'I don't… give a shit.'

He raised his head while clenching his fists. He didn't have time to worry about having a Qi deviation.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

He shot the floating weapons at Ludwig as if they were bullets.

"Graaaaaaaaahh!!"

Ludwig brutishly swung his greatsword, relying only on instincts.

Clang.

The greatsword shattered a spear, an iron mace, a scythe, and an axe. Weapons were split, warped, and sliced.

"Cough."

Si-Hun vomited blood. He was experiencing a Qi deviation due to squeezing out too much Qi. He felt his insides churning, and his blood was burning like lava as it circulated through his body.

"A-Arrgghh."

He spread his hands and tried to pick up his holy sword from the ground.

Clatter.

He dropped it. He couldn't put strength into his hands anymore.

"…"

The memory of when he had become unable to hold a sword after Mammon had destroyed his two arms came back to him naturally.

Fear rushed in.

"H-Hyung…" Si-Hun called out to Oh Kang-Woo.

He desperately looked around for him.

'At times like this, I always…'

Kang-Woo's face had always popped up ever since Kang-Woo had become more precious than his own flesh and blood.

Kang-Woo would always appear and help Si-Hun in such situations: when he was being corrupted by the seed Satan had sown within him, when he'd collapsed after losing both arms to Mammon, when Lucifer's subordinates brought him to the verge of death, and…

'When Kim Yeong-Hun almost killed me.'

Kang-Woo always helped him in his times of greatest need.

"Ha… haha," Si-Hun laughed. He lowered his head. "I'm such… a dumbass."

He was a pathetic piece of trash, a cowardly idiot. He knew it from the beginning—he had just ignored it. He'd just turned his eyes from what he didn't want to see.

'I…'

Not even once had he ever stood up on his own. He'd always received help. His talent, effort, beliefs, and will… he knew they would have meant nothing if it hadn't been for Kang-Woo.

"…"

Si-Hun reached out to grab the holy sword again.

'Get up.'

He stuck his sword into the ground and used it as a cane as he stood up with trembling legs.

'If not now…'

When would he ever be able to stand on his own?

Riiing.

[Warning, warning.]

[Entering a state of Qi deviation.]

"Shut up."

He cast aside the message windows and pointed his sword at Ludwig.

'Kang-Woo hyung.'

He saw Kang-Woo's lonely back as Kang-Woo walked ahead down a solitary road while carrying an immeasurable burden on his shoulders.

"From now on…"

For how long was he going to simply follow and watch Kang-Woo's back?

Si-Hun stood up while exerting more strength with his legs.

There would be no help from Kang-Woo or the Martial God.

For the first time…

Amidst the failure that he was sick and tired of…

He stood up on his own.

"… I will walk alongside you."

He took the first heavy step and ran toward Kang-Woo, who was walking far ahead of him.

* * *

"Cough! Cough!"

Red blood poured out in all directions. Si-Hun's legs trembled, and he felt like his eyes were about to close.

"A-Arrgghh."

"…"

He held onto his consciousness and raised his head. Ludwig had collapsed and was clenching his chest. The pure-white sword that had pierced his chest happened to have the same name as him.

"Kim… Si-Hun…?"

It seemed that his consciousness had returned for a brief moment. Ludwig raised his trembling hand toward Si-Hun.

"Be… careful of… he has… planned everything…"

𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Ludwig was trying to say something.

Si-Hun silently laid Ludwig down on the ground. It wasn't hard to predict what he wanted to say.

"I know, Ludwig."

"…"

"I will kill Satan with my own hands."

"No… that… is not…"

"Rest in peace."

He didn't want Ludwig to suffer any longer—Si-Hun twisted the holy sword that had pierced his heart.

Ludwig turned into black dust and scattered in the air.

"Kuh…"

He exerted more strength with his legs and stood up as he looked around the battlefield.

'Is it almost over?'

The war had entered its final stage. The combined forces of angels, Watchers of Light, and Guardians had managed to drive the forces of the Demon Cult into a corner. Even the demons who had resisted until the end were starting to collapse one by one, spewing black blood.

"…"

The long fight against the Demon Cult was reaching an end.

Si-Hun let go of the holy sword, which scattered into particles of light and entered his body. He climbed up the mountain with trembling legs. He saw Shalgiel, the angel with short, silver hair, running somewhere.

"Lord Raphael! Please wake up, Lord Raphael!!" Shalgiel shouted while holding Raphael, collapsed on the ground.

Si-Hun walked toward him.

"Did Satan do this?"

"… Yes."

Shalgiel nodded while biting his lips.

Si-Hun clenched his fists.

"What happened to Satan?"

"He created a black Rift and escaped. Also… the apostle of the God of Heroes Tirion chased after him."

"Wh-what?"

Si-Hun's eyes widened. The news struck him like lightning.

"H-Hyung-nim chased after Satan by himself?!"

"Yes."

Si-Hun felt as if the world was collapsing. He trembled. Even if Kang-Woo were strong, chasing after Satan alone was suicidal.

"Shit, shit!!"

He quickly looked around, but he couldn't see the black Rift.

"Where did that black Rift appear?!"

"It is already g—"

"Where?!" Si-Hun exclaimed while grabbing Shalgiel's collar.

Although his condition was worse than that of a rag after his battle with Ludwig, he couldn't stand still and do nothing.

'I have to save him.'

Exhaustion? Qi deviation? It didn't matter. If it were for Kang-Woo, he wouldn't mind if his body shattered.

"It appeared over th—"

Just as Shalgiel pointed somewhere while looking at Si-Hun's desperate expression…

Crack!

A black Rift appeared in thin air as if a glass pane were breaking.

Si-Hun, Shalgiel, and the nearby angels and Guardians members all looked toward the Rift.

"Kuh!"

"I-It's still not over yet?"

Everyone's expressions fell into despair.

"Hyung-nim!!"

Si-Hun rushed toward the Rift and gathered white light to form a sword. He looked at the black Rift anxiously.

Crack!

The Rift became bigger.

From inside it…

"Cough! Cough!"

"H-Hyung-nim?!"

Kang-Woo appeared, covered in wounds.

Si-Hun hurriedly supported Kang-Woo, who looked as if he were about to collapse at any moment.

Shalgiel also quickly walked toward Kang-Woo.

"Are you okay, hyung-nim?!"

"Kurgh… Yeah, I'm fine."

Kang-Woo's expression crumpled. Although he said he was okay, he didn't look to be. His clothes had become rags, and 'red' blood was pouring from all over his body.

"Did you… kill Satan?" Shalgiel asked while making a hard expression.

Angels and Players alike flinched.

The war's primary goal…

The Demon of Prophecy, Satan.

"…"

Kang-Woo's mouth remained closed. There was a heavy silence on the battlefield that had been noisy until then.

"Satan has"—Kang-Woo clenched his fists and bit his lip—"escaped."

He lowered his head as if he could not bear to have said the words.

"A-Aaaah."

Everyone around them let out exclamations of surprise.

After so much bloodshed and so many sacrifices…

Satan hadn't died.

The Demon of Prophecy was still alive. The threat had not ended yet.