Chapter 311: Episode 311

With a sharp crack, the frost barrier, which held the biting chill of the north wind, shattered. Unlike fighting other entities, facing a mage-type meant he had to constantly close the distance, which was proving to be incredibly difficult.

“Seriously, frozen again?”

He must have been exposed to the freezing energy the moment he broke the barrier; his left leg was already beginning to freeze over once more. Repilder clicked his tongue and circulated his mana. As the ice crystals gradually melted, a barrage of frost swords shot straight at him. This exchange had already repeated dozens of times. Repilder lightly swung his Sword of Annihilation and prepared to charge in again. Just then, a voice echoed in his mind.

—”Return.”

It was an order from Leon van Noah, the mastermind behind these events and the instigator of the war. He, too, must have realized they had lost the upper hand. Perhaps he was making other preparations from within the Royal Castle. Repilder scratched his head, thinking of Mihye trapped in the basement.

“What is the matter?” Yuslan asked. “It ruins the fun if you lose your will to fight so soon.”

“Will to fight or not, a crazy bastard is calling me back,” Repilder replied. “I should get going. Go play with the others.”

“Do you think I will let you escape?!”

Yuslan’s eyes turned fierce. She had finally met someone on the continent capable of piquing her interest, and she had absolutely no intention of letting him leave so easily. She summoned a massive cluster of frost crystals and sent them flying toward her target. The crystals, capable of freezing an opponent the moment they made contact, shot in a straight line, aiming precisely for his forehead. However, Repilder already knew their effect from their repeated exchanges. He preemptively countered them with his Swords of Annihilation and vanished through a dimensional portal.

“…How dare you!”

Losing the enemy right before her eyes filled her with immense rage. Yuslan emitted an intense chill as she glared at the dimensional portal lingering between the broken castle walls. The passage installed by the Centrix Duke remained even after his death, but its form was gradually blurring, as if its duration was finally running out.

’It is highly unpleasant to use a passage created by a mere human, but I suppose I will find him if I pass through there.’

The Main Forces of the Aneis Kingdom had all appeared through the dimensional portal. It was undoubtedly connected to the inside of the Royal Castle. To kill the incredibly arrogant Sword Saint, she would have to make an exception and use it. Although the Archbishop, who wielded the energy of the earth, still remained, she could deal with her later. Yuslan immediately moved to pass through the dimensional portal. At that moment, the energy of the commander she had so painstakingly created in the Northern Region vanished.

[The commander of the Frost Army, Baphunreiter, has died.]

[The Great Elder of the Silent Forest, Hamolton, has suffered a fatal injury.]

[The SS-rank Hero Keeper, Celestial Strike Ragbolt, has suffered a fatal injury.]

Before she knew it, the numbers of her hundreds of thousands of Frost Army soldiers had also noticeably decreased. Yuslan harbored uncontrollable killing intent as she glared at the three figures panting near the entrance of the north gate.

—

“Haah… To think you possessed such a formidable Celestial Strike. You are no ordinary fellow.”

“Ugh. To think there was magic capable of blocking my Celestial Strike. As expected of the Great Elder of the elves who guarded the ancient temple.”

The branch containing the mana of the World Tree snapped and shattered. In terms of rank, Ragbolt was a Keeper easily on par with Witch Yuslan, but the power of his Celestial Strike was far greater than expected. However, that didn’t mean Hamolton was being pushed back one-sidedly. Even now, the paladin who had manifested Behel’s Advent was instantly shattering the Celestial Strike shield that had firmly blocked the spells. Having continuously blocked ancient magic, it was only natural that the shield’s durability had dropped to its absolute minimum.

Now, they had each exchanged a devastating blow. Ragbolt coughed up a mouthful of blood and forced himself to stand.

“Cough, cough… For His Highness Leon van Noah, I must definitely kill you!”

“Heh heh heh. Just how many times are you going to declare that you’ll kill this old man? Let’s bring this to an end… Cough, cough!”

Both had suffered deep internal injuries in the midst of their tense battle. The Holy Sword owner, Dropin, was relatively better off, but even he couldn’t avoid moderate injuries.

“Phew. I tried to save this if possible, but it can’t be helped,” Dropin muttered.

He had received prior instructions from Taehyun for a situation exactly like this. Although the branch of the World Tree was broken, the mana of the Elf Great Elder himself could not be ignored.

[S-rank Attacker Dropin’s Special Ability ’Salvation’ has been activated.]

[All of Hamolton’s injuries are recovered.]

[All of Hamolton’s status effects are recovered.]

[All of Hamolton’s mana is recovered.]

[Salvation Usage Limit: 1/1]

The Divine Power of the Holy Sword instantly surged toward Hamolton. Having been coughing up blood just moments prior, he was amazed as he checked his recovering body.

“H-How fascinating. Is this the power of the Holy Sword?”

“It’s a special ability Taehyun instructed me to save for you. I can’t handle that guy alone, so you’ll have to help me out again.”

“Tsk, so he intends to work me to the bone until the very end. I don’t exactly like it, but I’ll at least say thank you for now.”

His Life Force and mana were both fully restored. Even without the branch of the World Tree, the fact that he could cast ancient magic remained unchanged. Ragbolt, facing them from the front, stared at the ancient magic being cast with a look of despair.

“This is practically cheating.”

The tide of the battle was reversed by a single special ability. He still had enough mana left to use Celestial Strike, but it was impossible to gauge how much longer he could hold out. Ragbolt endured the subsequent barrage of spells with his entire body while simultaneously blocking the Sword of Behel with his Celestial Strike. Just then, a mighty surge of mana began to strike down across the surrounding area.

[Valpurgis has activated Neutralization.]

[Valpurgis has activated Neutralization.]

[Valpurgis has activated Neutralization.]

“Hey, hey, you should have shot a bit more to the left. You idiot!”

—”According to my calculations, it was the exact angle. Therefore, Valpurgis is only guilty of firing at the location instructed by Taehyun.”

The ancient artifact appeared in the sky. Before long, Valpurgis was neutralizing the movements of the enemies, focusing its blasts on the Undead Soldiers and the forces of the Holy Kingdom.

“How dare you target the commander I cherished. I will make you live trapped in frost crystals for the rest of your life!”

Soon, Yuslan, who had been fighting the Sword Saint, returned to her spot. Ragbolt let out a sigh of relief and tried to approach her. At that moment, Valpurgis activated once more and struck Yuslan.

[Neutralization Failed]

[Frost Queen Yuslan has resisted the Neutralization Artifact.]

Fortunately, unlike the other soldiers, she resisted the neutralization. However, it was still too early for them to be relieved. Her movement had momentarily stopped, and the magic she was casting had been canceled. Ragbolt shouted as he looked at the steles falling from the sky.

“Queen Yuslan, Your Maj… Ugh!”

“You can die now.”

“W-When did you?!”

Suddenly, he saw flames bursting out, piercing straight through his abdomen. The mage standing behind him drew flames throughout his entire body and thrust the spear blade upward. With a sickening squelch, the blade tore through him. His consciousness gradually blurred. The inside of his body burned up in an instant, and his bodily functions ceased. Ragbolt ultimately breathed his last without ever confirming the mage’s identity.

[SS-rank Guardian, Demonic Spearman of the Fire Dragon Randus has appeared.]

[SS-rank Hero Keeper, Celestial Strike Ragbolt has died.]

“How dare you, how dare you, how dare you! My prized child, Ragbolt!”

Yuslan pushed her frost energy to the absolute limit as she glared at Randus, who was holding up his spear.

[S-rank Hero Guardian, Silver Magician Pluton has cast Infinite Cube.]

[An infinite number of square cubes will drop onto the designated location.]

[Infinite Cube Usage Limit: 1/1]

However, this time, square cubes were falling from the sky, interfering with her magic casting once again.

“Do you think you can stop me with something like this?!”

“Of course, it’ll only serve to buy time.”

“You are?!”

“What’s this? You were just cooing ’child, child’ a moment ago, and now I’m just ’you’? I’m a little disappointed.”

Taehyun, holding a sword in each hand, leisurely revealed himself. The surroundings were already completely filled with Balak’s Main Forces. Including Hamolton and Dropin who were already there, it was a fighting force she couldn’t easily handle. However, the true ability of the Frost Queen was not merely raising an army and casting magic. Yuslan smashed the incessantly falling cubes and aimed for Taehyun.

“If you thought this was enough to stop me, you are gravely mistaken…!”

“That won’t do. I have something specially prepared just for you.”

He pulled the Demonic Orb from his inner pocket. Taehyun pointed to the twenty steles planted around them and asked.

“Don’t those look familiar?”

“T-Those are the Sealing Steles?!”

“No, to be exact, they’re Control Steles. They were created to control you on the continent in the past. Although they failed back then, I’m different.”

Gradually, a mighty surge of mana began to flow out from the Demonic Orb.

—

’We also do not know the details of the sealed Demonic Orb’s final ability. It will certainly have a far superior effect than Gate Open.’

The Demonic Orb had unlocked up to its third ability while absorbing the mana of the dungeon Atlantis. Up until then, the fourth ability had remained a mystery, but it was roughly predictable. If mana could be absorbed through the Demonic Orb, then conversely, emitting mana should also be possible. And by the time he realized that, the Demonic Orb’s fourth ability had already been unsealed.

[The effect of the Demonic Orb has been activated.]

[A certain amount of the stored mana is absorbed into the Control Steles.]

’Seonghwi might throw a fit, but I can just gather the mana again.’

He had even intercepted the Centrix Duke for the sake of the Control Steles, maintaining the duration of the contract. Although Larkan, who was inside the dungeon, weighed on his mind, he had no intention of making the Frost Queen an ally in the first place. Yuslan was merely a card to be discarded once her utility dropped. Nothing more, nothing less.

[The Control Steles have started operating.]

[Synchronization Rate: 27%]

[The mana of the twenty installed steles is resonating.]

[The Synchronization Rate has begun to rise.]

Soon, the steles began to operate using the mana of the Demonic Orb. Having poured in a mana value of over a million all at once, the speed of the Synchronization Rate’s increase would also be forcibly accelerated. Taehyun looked satisfied as he watched the Synchronization Rate shoot up in an instant. Just then, streaks of mana light shot out from the Royal Castle inside Ashlan.

[S-rank Hero Guardian, Spirit Master of Mana Dien has cast Mana Drain.]

[Absorbs mana from all allies around the capital Ashlan.]

[Mana Drain Usage Limit: 1/1]

It was the Main Force hiding inside the Royal Castle. Through Mana Drain, Dien was sucking up the mana of the Undead Soldiers, the kingdom’s army, Attackers, dungeon Main Forces, and Dungeon Masters, concentrating an enormous amount of mana into the Royal Castle.

“…Is this a last-ditch effort? To render all remaining forces incapable of combat. In a way, you could say he’s given up in despair.”

“Just how much mana is that?”

“Roughly estimating, it’s an amount similar to what’s stored in the Demonic Orb.”

“Don’t tell me that bastard Leon?!”

Suddenly, he thought of the faction members remaining inside the Royal Castle. According to Hamolton’s explanation, it meant a gate could also be opened using the mana gathered by Mana Drain. Narae, who was standing nearby, tilted her head and asked.

“What are you talking about? Gathering this much mana is completely useless anyway.”

“No, right now, members of the Tarantula Faction remain by Leon van Noah’s side. If he’s sacrificing even his allies in the middle of a war to gather mana, it has to be that.”

“What exactly is ’that’ you keep talking about?”

Opening a gate through mana wasn’t information known only to the Resistance. Especially since the Tarantula Faction members had known the Resistance’s plans from before, they would undoubtedly know the method. In that case, there was only one answer.

“Right now, that bastard Leon intends to turn the capital into a dungeon using a dungeon’s Crystal Sphere.”

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