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Chapter 378: The Story After (10). [Side Story 10]

The air grew scorching hot.

A thick, crimson breath poured toward Ketal.

“Oooh!”

It was incomparable to any breath he had seen before.

Ketal clenched his fist in admiration.

Aura wrapped around it.

He struck forward with force.

Kwooooom!

The air exploded.

The breath was pushed back and instead engulfed Ignisia herself.

[Khhuuuuk!]

The breath was her own power.

Even if it struck her, it would not harm her.

But the shockwave that followed hurled her body up into the sky.

[…An hour’s worth of compressed breath, erased with a single punch.]

Ignisia let out a hollow laugh.

[[ᛅᛞᚱᛖᚢ ᛅᛃᚦᛖᚴ ᛗᚢᚱ]]

O space, become chains.

Kagagagak!

Space itself turned into chains to bind Ketal.

He bared his teeth.

“Dragon tongue!”

The mighty inherent magic of dragons—their authority.

The power to command the world itself.

Ignisia invoked dragon tongue once more.

[[ᛗᚢᚲᛟᚱᚨ]]

Bind.

Chwararararak!

Chains coiled around Ketal’s entire body.

He tensed his muscles.

Jjeojeojeojeojeok!

Cracks spread rapidly through the chains of space that bound him.

Sheer physical strength sought to shatter the dragon’s authority.

Ignisia cried out in disbelief.

“Karin!”

“Come forth! Spirit King of Wind—Minerva!”

From hiding, Karin shouted.

The very concept of wind took form.

A beautiful woman with azure hair appeared.

[Ahaha. Karin. I thought you called me after so long for this…?]

“Please, Minerva. Bind him.”

[U-uh, fine!]

Minerva cried out as she rushed Ketal.

Winds surged and clutched at him.

Ketal greeted her warmly.

“Minerva! It’s been a while! Have you been well?”

[Hiiik!]

Minerva shrieked and tried to hide.

Kuugugugugung!

Dragon tongue and the Spirit King’s winds intertwined, holding Ketal down.

Hero-class powers at their peak, gathered and prepared over an hour.

Even a great hero-class warrior would neither escape nor move a step.

But—

“How delightful!”

Ketal roared joyfully, stamping his foot.

Kuwoooong!

The earth rippled.

The physical shockwave shook the world.

The chains of space and the wind’s fetters trembled.

“Khhuuuk!”

[Uuuhmm!]

Karin and Ignisia staggered in shock.

Ketal bared his teeth.

“Not bad, but insufficient to bind me!”

“…I know that!”

Dragon tongue and spirits alone could not restrain Ketal.

Physical force was still needed.

That’s why Karin cried out.

“Now!”

“Oh?”

Ketal’s eyes widened.

From afar, something like the sun shot toward him.

Ketal quickly grasped his axe.

Kaaaaaaang!

The incoming object collided with his axe.

It was a spear—shining so brightly one could hardly keep their eyes open.

The intense heat turned desert sand into glass.

Ketal’s skin seared.

Hotter even than a red dragon’s breath.

Ketal tightened his grip.

Aura surged into the axe.

Kaaaaaang!

The spear of light shattered against Ketal’s weapon.

He turned his gaze, delighted.

“The Sun God’s Saintess—Helia, is it!”

“…I knew you’d block it, but to break it so easily…”

Helia muttered in disbelief, appearing at last.

The weapon she had thrown was one of the Sun God’s relics—the Spear of Radiance, imbued with faint power of the sun itself.

That he crushed it so simply rekindled her awe.

Helia drew a sharp breath.

“Exalted radiance of the heavens, encircle me!”

Ki-iing!

A massive veil of divinity cloaked her like armor.

She extended her hand.

“Shield embodying the sun, protect me!”

Ki-iing!

The Shield of the Sun formed in her left hand.

“Brilliant spear of heat, pierce my foe!”

In her right hand appeared a blazing spear.

Three relics manifested into the world.

The arid desert lost even its last trace of moisture.

The world began to shine bright.

Had it been night, distant people would have mistaken it for the sunrise.

Such was its brilliance.

Helia spoke softly.

“I’m coming.”

Ketal opened his arms gladly.

“As much as you like!”

Helia closed the distance in an instant.

The sharp spearpoint clashed against his axe.

His downward strike was blocked by the Shield of the Sun.

Kuugugugugung!

Helia matched Ketal head-on, holding him in place.

Ignisia and Karin reinforced her with dragon tongue and spirit magic.

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“Oooh!”

Ketal exclaimed.

Dragon tongue.

Spirit.

Divinity.

Three different powers harmonized, complementing each other.

A sight of sheer beauty.

And as beautiful as it was, it was equally powerful.

Even Ketal could not easily slip free.

“Magnificent! A worthy fight!”

Ketal was truly impressed.

But Helia had no such room for admiration.

‘How…!’

She was now clad in three relics of the Sun God.

And not ordinary relics either.

These were special-grade relics, once wielded by the Sun God himself.

With such artifacts, even a Demon King’s general could be withstood.

Moreover, two hero-class allies—Ignisia and Karin—were aiding her, pressing Ketal.

By all logic, they held every advantage.

Yet it was still hard.

No, even holding him back was nearly impossible.

Each swing of his aura could split worlds and shatter divinity.

The slightest lapse, and her relics would break.

“Khhuuuk!”

Helia barely managed to block with her shield.

She should have been leading the assault while the others attacked, but there was no chance.

Karin and Ignisia, too, looked panicked, forced only to defend her.

‘How should I respond?’

As he parried their defense, Ketal pondered.

The simplest answer was to draw upon his aura.

With its overwhelming superiority, it would be trivial.

But how boring would that be?

To counter earnest warriors with a cheat—he was no such childish adult.

After brief thought, Ketal chose.

Mystery with mystery.

He began to chant.

“I summon thee! Bearer of primeval purity! I summon thee! Burner of deepest darkness!”

“…What?”

Karin’s eyes widened.

Ketal continued.

“Come forth! Horned one of pure flames—Piego!”

Flames formed a gate.

From it, a blazing bull emerged.

The highest flame spirit—Piego.

He had summoned his contracted spirit.

Piego flailed in shock.

[Wait! What—Spirit King? And a Holy Dragon?]

“Piego! I ask of you!”

Ketal grinned.

“Hold off the Spirit King of Wind for a while!”

[You, you, you!]

Piego panicked.

But Ketal was still his contractor.

Flames surged at Minerva.

Minerva waved in alarm to deflect them.

[Piego, what are you doing?]

[…I’m sorry, Lady Minerva!]

Piego wept as he unleashed his power.

Minerva was a Spirit King.

Piego was a high spirit.

Their power gap was overwhelming.

In moments, Piego’s body was torn apart.

But the time he bought was enough.

With Minerva’s support gone, Helia was overwhelmed. Ignisia shouted in alarm.

[[ᛊᛖᚷᛃᛖᛃᛖᛟᛃᛁᛏᚾᚢᛚᛚᛖᛟᚱᚨ]]

O world, crush him.

The great authority of dragon tongue manifested.

The world itself sought to press Ketal down.

Ketal laughed in response and spoke.

[[ᛖᚷᛃᛖᛃᛖᛟᛗᛁᛚᛟᚾᚨᛖᚱᚨ]]

O world, rise.

Dragon tongue issued from Ketal’s lips, colliding with Ignisia’s.

The world fractured like glass.

[Khhuuuuk! H-how!]

Ignisia was aghast.

How could Ketal use dragon tongue?!

But then she recalled.

Long ago, when they had first met, she had taught him the words.

“Pardon me a moment!”

“Uhhk!”

Ketal stepped on Helia’s shoulder and leapt skyward.

In an instant, he was at Ignisia’s face.

[Uhht!]

“Not another word.”

As she tried to chant, his hand clamped her jaw shut.

Her massive maw crushed by his small hand.

“First, you.”

Whud.

His fist struck her stomach.

Her belly caved.

A strangled scream never escaped her sealed jaws.

He struck her head, twisted her neck, stomped her heart.

Her huge body crashed to the earth.

Kwooooom!

Sand burst outward.

Helia rushed forward in panic.

Ignisia lay belly-up, limp.

She had been knocked out.

Ketal grinned.

“Flying around was a nuisance.”

“……”

A dragon—near immune to harm—felled with just a few punches.

Helia shuddered.

“Then next—!”

Ketal bared his teeth and dashed toward Minerva, who was pushing Piego to forced dismissal.

She tried to respond, but his fist was faster.

Puuuung!

Minerva’s wind body burst apart.

She was a spirit—physical blows could not harm her.

But Ketal’s fists carried mystic power.

Reforming her body would take time.

By then, he was already upon Karin.

“M-Min—”

“Sleep.”

He lightly struck her head.

Her body crumpled like a puppet with cut strings.

“……”

Helia gaped.

Within minutes, two hero-classes had been subdued.

Ketal smiled at her.

“Now it’s just you, then.”

The beastlike gleam in his eyes made Helia’s skin crawl.

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