Chapter 192: A War That Had Already Begun (2)

If he had been human, his arm would have already been broken, but Valam was not human.

Valam endured by pouring strength into his massively swollen arm, then tore himself free.

Kuuung—!

As his heavy body landed on the ground, thick dust billowed up.

“You use a strange technique! But it won’t work on me!”

Valam’s pitch-black flames, now even more savage, raged violently around him.

They surrounded Raion on all sides, then surged toward him at terrifying speed.

Hwarururuk!

Raion split the flames with his sword coated in the aura of White Lightning Flash.

Though cut horizontally, the roots of the flames continued to stretch toward him.

Papak—!

Then Valam was struck by something and toppled forward.

“Keugh! What did you do…….”

True Martial Art (眞武道)

White Strike (白打)

Fist Bow (拳弓)

At the same time Raion swung his sword, an aura-laden attack had been fired from the tip of his left fist.

The impact must have been tremendous, as Valam could not rise easily. Of course, that only lasted for a moment.

“To think there was a human who could push me this far……. I can somewhat understand how Falkahn-nim was defeated.”

A cold analysis flowed from Valam’s mouth, even as he nearly lost his reason.

Moreover, that name—Raion knew it as well.

“…Decarsen Falkahn?”

“Do not utter that honored name so carelessly!”

“A loyal right-hand man, huh.”

There was something stubbornly earnest about him.

Then Valam’s gaze shot straight at Raion.

“For his sake, I will kill you here—no matter what.”

Valam unleashed even more intense flames. The fire melted the frozen ground as it spread in all directions.

Hwarurururuk!

“Everyone, get back!”

The heat even affected the castle walls.

The knights moved first, sending the troops as far back as possible.

Still, the screams of those who could not escape in time rang out.

“Save me!”

“Aaaaaaagh!”

Even though Raion urgently deployed a magical shield, there was a limit.

The danger of the flames surpassed magic itself, making it difficult even for Caldein Flavan.

“Are you sacrificing people just for our fight?”

“Humans are beings destined to die anyway. Only we will exist on this land.”

“I figured. That was the goal from the beginning.”

“Agares, help me. I will offer everything here to him!”

Agares, who had only provided brief assistance, had been staying back.

At Valam’s proposal, she frowned and stepped forward.

“There’s no turning back now. If there’s something to offer…, that would be even better. Especially if it’s a Messenger of Grace, it couldn’t be better.”

Agares spoke while looking at Raion.

The meaning of her words was difficult to grasp, but the intent was clearer than anything.

“I’ll handle that one, so kill…… everyone else.”

“Good. Looks like you finally understand what needs to be done.”

After saying that, Valam charged straight at Raion.

Pitch-black flames condensed around both fists and were fired off.

Where the trajectories passed, the ground melted black from the intense heat.

‘He’s smarter than I expected.’

Facing two demons at once, that had been Raion’s biggest concern.

Of course, the immediate problem was the pitch-black flames flying straight toward him.

Chwaaaaak!

Raion instantly split the flames with white aura.

At the same time, Valam burst out from behind them.

“Try cutting me too, then!”

A massive fist flew toward him.

Shwaaaak!

Raion attempted to cut Valam down along with the incoming punch.

However, the aura-bound sword passed through Valam’s fist without touching it, futilely slipping through.

“What?”

“You underestimated my power!”

Puk—!

Raion failed to block the other fist and was struck directly in the face.

His body lifted into the air and was hurled backward at tremendous speed.

Kwaang! Kururur!

He crashed straight into a thick mound of earth.

“Ptooey! Ptooey! What is this dirt?”

The shock left him briefly dizzy, but he quickly regained his senses.

As Raion stood up, he saw an overwhelming wave of earth surging violently from behind.

“So it started over there too.”

Caldein Flavan and Duke Bladio were blocking the attack together with magic, struggling to hold on.

But the gap between magic and demonic power was vast.

It wasn’t complex formulas or chants, but authority-like power being used, creating a decisive difference in speed.

“Fighting me, yet you have the leisure to look elsewhere?”

At some point, Valam had drawn close and smiled darkly.

Of course, Raion had already sensed his presence. He traced a trajectory with the aura he had drawn out in advance.

Shwaaaak! Shwaak!

True Martial Art (眞武道)

Sword Form (劍格)

Slash Bow (斬弓)

Now that he understood his opponent’s full strength, there was no reason to hold anything back.

Moreover, unlike Deraksen and Malphas, Valam could not be dealt with using ordinary attacks.

The heavy aura riding the sword’s trajectory split Valam’s torso.

Just like before, instead of an impact, the torso turned into flames in midair, split apart, then reattached itself.

“It’s useless!”

‘Wasn’t the aura of White Lightning Flash supposed to have an effect similar to holy power against demons?’

It had worked even when Malphas’s summoned creature had an opposing attribute.

Then it should have worked on Valam as well, who held a lower rank than them.

“I told you it’s useless!”

The flames surged even more wildly. Scorching air devoured everything around them, closing in at frightening speed along with the melting ground.

It was a terrifying velocity.

True Martial Art (眞武道)

Absolute Step (絶步)

Cloud Steal (雲竊)

Raion poured strength into his legs and leapt into the air.

The flames clung tightly to the traces he left behind.

Papak! Papapak! Papak! Pak!

Raion began stepping on empty air and shook off the flames that clung to him like fire trailing through darkness.

“Running away like that, you look just like a filthy rat!”

“Have you ever seen a rat that flies?”

“You’re all mouth! I’ll burn you to a crisp!”

Valam’s body, blazing with flames, grew even larger.

It was big enough to grab Raion with a single hand.

“Let’s see how long you can dodge! The moment I catch you, your life is over! Ardentem gigantis hastam (Spear of the Blazing Giant).”

The moment he finished speaking, massive spears of flame formed above Valam’s head and poured straight down toward Raion.

There were dozens of pitch-black spears.

Bang! Kwa-bang! Bang! Kwa-kwa-kwa-bang!

As the spears shattered and overturned the ground, Raion swiftly evaded using Absolute Step (絶步) Cloud Steal (雲竊).

Of course, he did not forget to fire the aura of White Lightning Flash whenever an opening appeared.

But just like before, Valam’s form only collapsed momentarily.

Pasak! Pasasak!

He even tried making the sword trajectories denser.

‘Is attacking him completely impossible?’

The flaming spears embedded in the ground did not disappear.

Valam leapt into the air, dove toward Raion, and grabbed one of those spears.

Kwa-bang! Jjeojeok—!

The ground split open everywhere as if an earthquake had struck.

Raion hurriedly dragged himself along the ground and came to a stop.

‘I have to think fast. Otherwise…….’

The castle of the Mineta Kingdom was being ravaged by the female demon Agares.

Waves of piled earth swallowed the castle walls and the horses within. From beyond the walls, the screams of people could be heard, chilling to the bone.

She seemed to feel not even a shred of emotion when killing humans.

“I can’t let this continue!”

“And what exactly can you do?”

Kwa-kwa-kwa-bang!

Valam, who had already closed the distance, slammed down at Raion with a hand made of flames.

The intense heat of the fire was transmitted directly to his skin.

Of course, Raion barely managed to deploy a 2nd Circle ‘Energy Shield’ and poured an enormous amount of mana into it.

Thanks to that, he was able to endure without being burned by the heat.

“Damn it……! Is he a cut above them in pure power?”

He couldn’t stay pinned down like this forever.

Then, amid the heat, a sharp sensation was transmitted rapidly.

Puuk—!

Valam had thrust in a spear of flame.

“Keup!”

The spear of flame, now sharpened, slowly pushed in as if it were about to tear through the ‘Energy Shield’.

It was a truly critical situation, since he couldn’t easily escape.

‘I thought the aura of White Lightning Flash would handle it, but for something like this to show up now.’

Even as the attack pressed in, his thoughts did not stop.

If he couldn’t block or evade here, he might be pierced and killed by the spear of flame.

The distance between him and the sharply advancing spear grew closer and closer.

At this rate, it was truly dangerous.

Raion wracked his brain as much as possible.

‘If attacking specific parts doesn’t work, then I’ll have to blow it away whole.’

Having finished his decision, Raion quickly drew a spell formula with fingers that were difficult to spread.

The moment the formula was completed, Raion opened his mouth.

“Concrete Shell!”

A 6th Circle fusion spell he had also used on Malphas.

But this time, instead of being hollow in the middle, it closed while being completely filled.

Kwaaang—!

He had thought Valam’s entire body would scatter into flames and regroup elsewhere.

However, for some reason, Valam formed new arms and blocked the lid of the Concrete Shell.

“Did you really think an attack like this would work on me?”

“No, but it did achieve something.”

“……What?”

“Concrete Wall!”

The shout rang out at the same time the prepared spell formula was completed.

The ground writhed, and the ground Valam was standing on surged high into the air.

Kwa-bang!

Valam floated up as if he had lost his balance.

Since it was difficult to maintain balance in midair, the spear of flame that had been thrusting in also stopped for a moment.

“Limit Frozen Wave.”

The magical assault did not stop.

Just like before, the sky opened, and an immense cold crashed down toward Valam, who was lingering in midair.

Shwaaaaaaaak!

With the distance now closer to the sky, the impact would be far greater than when on the ground.

‘This is insane……! It’s freezing!’

Naturally, that cold was transmitted to Raion as well, who was held in Valam’s grasp.

For a moment, Raion was reminded of the ‘extreme cold training’ he had experienced during his time in the military.

‘This should be enough!’

He felt Valam’s hand, made of flames, hardening.

In that situation, Raion focused ‘Fire Storm’ into the ‘Energy Shield’ and manifested it.

Thanks to that, he was able to endure his own ‘Limit Frozen Wave’ a little as well.

“Concrete Shell!”

The ‘Concrete Shell’ that had been constricting Valam earlier did not disappear.

With the spell shouted again in that state, mana was forcefully injected into it.

Kwajijik!

Valam’s expression, which had been freezing over from the cold, turned flustered for the first time.

“You’re playing clever tricks! Do you think something like this can deal with me!”

Even Valam enduring both the ‘Limit Frozen Wave’ and the ‘Concrete Shell’ was no easy feat.

But if power was being poured into that side, then naturally the other side would weaken.

Shwaaaak! Jjaenggeurang!

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep