Chapter 247: Episode 247

I crossed over into Finland.

The country with the most forests in Europe.

I had heard that trees covered 74% of its land, and sure enough, a lush forest greeted me the moment I arrived.

The trees were so dense that the otherworldly flora that had sprouted after the Overlay couldn’t even spread their branches properly.

’If the situation weren’t so urgent, this would be the perfect place for a leisurely vacation,’ Yusin thought.

’Alright, focus. Focus.’

Yusin activated his earpiece.

“This is Kim Yusin. Marie, where are you?”

A moment later, Marie replied, and Yusin walked in the direction she indicated.

“Kim Yusin!”

It didn’t take long for him to find her. She was sitting on a tree stump, watching fish swim in the lake.

A few of the Ghost Corps hunters, including Marques, stood nearby, guarding her.

After greeting Marques, Yusin turned to Marie.

“How are you feeling?”

“Much better.”

Yusin nodded and glanced around.

“Where is the rest of your crew?”

“They’re all on the Ghost Ship.”

The Ghost Corps’s Unique Ability, Ghost Form, made them ideal for infiltrating the Sky Castle and retrieving the antidote.

Marie had drawn up a plan to pierce straight through the Sky Castle in one go using a special vehicle called the “Ghost Ship.”

Of course, Yusin’s goal was to take advantage of the chaos once the fighting started and transfer the Tower right into the heart of the Sky Castle. The plan hinged on the Tower and the Ghost Ship breaking through at the same time.

“hunter Kim Yusin.”

Marques approached him.

“We’re almost at the appointed time. Where are the other World Guilds?”

“Ah, about that…”

Yusin gave a wry laugh and scratched the side of his head.

“It’s just us.”

“…What?”

Marie blinked blankly, and the color drained from Marques’s face.

“E-Excuse me, what did you just say…?”

Yusin sighed softly and explained everything that had happened.

Two days ago, Han Yoonjeong had contacted him. The catastrophe unfolding in Egypt had devolved into a prolonged war of attrition, and in the end, the Council of Elders had forbidden any attempt to attack the Sky Castle.

Han Yoonjeong had insisted she would go alone if she had to, but no matter how powerful the Pharaoh was, she could not defy the solemn duty that “the Gravekeepers protects Egypt.”

Before she was the leader of a World Guild, the Pharaoh was the sovereign responsible for protecting over 100 million citizens.

—“I’m sorry. I’m really, really sorry.”

In the end, Han Yoonjeong had no choice but to remain in Egypt. It was a catastrophe, not some minor issue, so there was nothing to be done.

Then there was the other person who had expressed a desire to join the fight: Marcello of the Holy Knights, with whom Yusin had been exchanging messages. At some point, all contact from him had abruptly stopped.

“We tried every possible way to reach the Vatican, but we couldn’t get through to Marcello. I think we have to assume he’s deliberately avoiding us.”

“Th-Then…”

Marques’s body trembled.

“Are you saying the Holy Knights have sided with the Sky Castle?”

“Well, in the worst-case scenario, yes.”

“This is madness! You’re telling us to face the combined forces of the Sky Castle, the Lion Fleet, and the Holy Knights with just the Ghost Corps and the Tower? Have you lost your mind?”

Marques exploded, his voice rising, then turned desperate eyes toward Marie.

“Marie! You have to turn back while you still can! This is a suicide mission! This isn’t the time for stubborn pride—you’re the leader of an organization! You have to make a wise choice for your people!”

Marie looked at Marques.

“We already died a pointless death.”

“…What?”

“If it weren’t for Kim Yusin, I mean.”

Marques opened his mouth, at a loss for words. Before he could speak again, Marie cut him off with a firm gesture.

“A promise is a promise. And this is the right thing to do. I’m not backing down just because the situation has changed.”

“I’m grateful for the Tower’s help, but that’s a separate issue! This is just sending your people to the slaughter! There’s no way we can beat the Sky Castle!”

“We’re not trying to win a war. We just have to follow the plan and steal the antidote.”

She looked over at Yusin, who smiled back at her.

“Let’s go, Kim Yusin.”

“Thanks.”

In the end, regardless of the change in circumstances, the Ghost Corps decided to carry out the operation alongside the Tower.

“I’ll be back, Marques.”

Marques handled most of the Ghost Corps’s affairs, but when Marie dug in her heels, not even he could sway her.

Perhaps realizing this, he let out a resigned sigh.

“Please… come back safely.”

And so, Yusin and Marie set off alone, heading toward the Sky Castle’s last known location.

The cries of monsters echoed through the forest. Predatory eyes gleamed from the undergrowth, but they only watched from a distance. Not a single monster dared to approach the two of them.

“Why did you take my side back there? It’s not like Marques was wrong.”

She looked up at Yusin as she answered.

“Because you don’t have the look of a man heading to his death.”

Yusin only responded with a faint curl of his lips.

At last, they emerged from the forest and reached the Sky Castle’s perimeter.

In the distance, the Sky Castle loomed, and next to it, the Lion Fleet’s shelter was parked. The sight of the two World Guilds’ headquarters side by side was deeply intimidating.

Surrounding the two bases like a ring of steel were lines of hunters on guard, a mix of forces from the Sky Castle and the Lion Fleet.

’So the Holy Knights really are here.’

He spotted hunters clad in silver armor with swords at their hips. There was no mistaking them; they were the knights.

“What’s the plan?” Marie asked.

“A frontal assault,” Yusin replied.

Marie nodded.

The two of them stepped out of the treeline and began walking forward. The hunters on perimeter watch stared, their eyes wide with shock.

“Th-They’re here! They really came!”

“It’s the Tower Master and the Spirit King!”

“Everyone converge on Point A! This is not a drill!”

Blue wings of light burst from Yusin’s shoulders as the Wing Golem deployed. Marie entered her Spiritualized state, floating into the air.

Two hunters, both with aggressive, all-in combat styles, prepared to charge.

“Stop them!”

The Sky Castle hunters activated their Icarus abilities and shot into the sky.

On the ground, the Fleet hunters hardened their arms into chitinous armor and readied long-range attacks, while the Paladins hefted cannons powered by holy energy.

“Marie, drift a little farther away. You’re going to burn up all my mana,” Yusin grumbled.

“Right back at you,” Marie replied as she steadily increased the number of spirits around her.

Then, the two of them shot straight forward.

“They’re coming! Fire!”

Water cannons and holy-energy shells roared up from the ground, but the two of them weaved through the air, effortlessly dodging the projectiles.

They were too fast.

The projectiles simply couldn’t keep up.

“Take them down in the air!”

The Icarus users streaked toward them like missiles. Instead of slowing, Yusin and Marie accelerated.

Dozens of hunters collided with the pair head-on.

A violent shockwave erupted, blasting the hunters away. Yusin and Marie punched straight through the gap.

Yusin couldn’t help but be impressed.

’She really is incredible!’

Right before impact, Yusin had pulled back slightly, letting Marie take the lead. She had unleashed a condensed wave of Soul Aura, sending the hunters flying.

“Don’t just stand there gawking!”

“Get them!”

The Icarus users scattered, coming at them in small groups.

Yusin lashed out with a kick, slamming his foot into a hunter’s head, then rapidly summoned Fire Cannons inscribed with Acceleration formations and hurled them in all directions.

Even the Icarus users flying at high speed couldn’t dodge them all and were knocked out of the sky one after another.

A chilling sensation brushed past him, and Yusin twisted around. One of his wings had vanished without him even noticing.

’This ability…!’

With only one wing left, Yusin’s body lost its lift and drifted toward the ground.

Standing before him was a man in a hunter suit that resembled priestly robes, a cheerful smile on his face.

“…Marcello!”

“It has been a while, hunter Kim Yusin.”

Marie, who had been keeping the Icarus users in check, descended to Yusin’s side. When the surrounding hunters tried to rush in, Marcello held out an arm, signaling them to halt.

Grinding his teeth, Yusin spoke.

“Archbishop, don’t you have something you should be saying to me?”

“Yes. I apologize for betraying you,” Marcello answered with that same infuriating smile.

“hunter Kim Yusin, I do not dislike you. The courage and resolve you showed in Korea left a deep impression on me. You even eliminated Armin Walter, the serial killer who had shackled my life. You are, without a doubt, a dear friend to me. However…”

Marcello’s fingers brushed the cross hanging from his neck.

“This time, the lives of the people who trust and follow me are at stake. I cannot yield.”

“…So you caved for the antidote?”

“I made a safe deal for the sake of my comrades. In any case, I consider the debt I owed you repaid when I cast my vote in your favor at the Alliance meeting.”

Marcello tightened his grip on his weapon.

“Unlike Sham, I did not prove my loyalty by attacking the Ghost Corps. So, I will have to work a bit harder in this fight.”

“…Unbelievable.”

Yusin powered up Devastar and dropped into a low stance.

“You and Sham… whatever your priorities are, I’m not in a position to judge. But this is about the lives of hundreds of millions of people. You don’t deserve to call yourselves a World Guild.”

“All qualifications in this world are decided by the victor, hunter Kim Yusin.”

Marcello drew up his holy power. The hem of his suit fluttered as his body was enveloped in white light.

“And my qualifications will remain intact.”

“Marie! Above us!”

At Yusin’s shout, Marie quickly raised both arms over her head. A massive, pure-white cross came crashing down upon the Soul Aura she spread out to defend them.

RUMBLE!

“Whoa!”

“Ghh!”

The shockwave from the clash of powers blasted outward, sending the surrounding hunters flying like scraps of paper.

“Urgh…!”

Marie’s arms trembled violently, cold sweat dripping from her forehead. In contrast, Marcello’s face was a mask of composure as he maintained his ability.

“I’m sorry, but I cannot step aside.”

Marcello widened his stance, lowering his center of gravity.

The cross’s power suddenly flared, and Marie’s arms bent under the pressure. It pressed down as if it would crush the two of them at any moment.

“…Hm.”

Marcello’s eyes shifted as he continued pouring power into the cross.

“The difference between my strength and the Spirit King’s shouldn’t be this great.”

Marie, holding her arms up, and Yusin, lying on the ground, both dissolved into water.

The real two were already sprinting far away, with Marie in Yusin’s arms, her own arms still extended forward.

“I suppose you got me with that one.”

As Marcello released his grip on the cross pendant, the holy-energy cross exploded, scattering a blinding white flash across the area.

Yusin and Marie used the blast as cover and ran.

“We’re almost there!” Yusin shouted.

The Sky Castle’s main gate was in sight, guarded by seven hunters.

’Take them out in one shot.’

Yusin’s eyes gleamed. The process he had practiced thousands of times flashed through his mind like a streak of light.

<Fire Cannon – Acceleration, Amplification>

The number of “processes” required to produce seven of these enhanced fireballs was ninety-six. But with his concentration pushed to its absolute limit, Yusin completed the entire sequence in just a few seconds.

The fire cannons struck the hunters before they could even react.

[The Combo Casting trait has reached Lv.3.]

“Haa… haa…”

Breathing hard, Yusin pressed his hand against the gate. Marie came up beside him and placed her hand on the other side.

They exchanged a nod, then pushed together.

The Sky Castle’s main gate began to open.

* * *

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