Chapter 353: Ragnarok (5)

Knight Ragnarok.

The place where his head fell sank as if struck by a giant hammer.

───────!

Boom!

A deafening explosion rang out. Humans, undead, and demons alike looked up in shock.

They reacted as though a meteorite had crashed into the earth.

After a prolonged stalemate, the expressions of the insectoid demons began to dim, while the faces of the living and undead slowly regained their color.

Rumble.

Coincidentally, the colossal 50-meter-tall golem also collapsed. The ground trembled. Sand and debris rose up to the ankles.

At a glance, everything suggested the battle was over. But the insectoid demons didn’t retreat. The atmosphere remained charged with tension.

Still, the enemy commander had fallen.

Since ancient times, when a general falls, surrender follows.

Whether that logic applied to insectoid demons was unknown, but the signs of defeat were unmistakable among them.

“…Finally…”

And then someone uttered those words—the ones that must never be spoken.

“…Have we… won?”

We won’t reveal their identity—for their own safety.

Rustle.

An arm emerged from the dust. It stretched like taffy, with multiple joints like a giraffe’s legs.

Slide.

Another arm appeared. Equally long and thin, but white this time.

Whoosh!

Both arms, colored differently, swept through the air on a massive scale. The dust was completely blown away.

=Haa…=

An elongated skull raised its head. The burning gaze from its empty eye sockets pierced through the heroes.

=My power… has been depleted…=

Ragnarok knelt as if collapsing. His shadow spread over the battlefield again and again.

He wasn’t as large as the golem, but his presence far surpassed it.

Bubbles swirled around his body. His limbs were made of a semi-transparent liquid.

=…Children of the earth…=

From the jaw of his skull-shaped helmet, a greenish toxic vapor escaped. Ragnarok wasn’t speaking to the humans, but to the demons.

=It is time to return to the Father=

He opened his chest and extended his arms.

The demons tilted their heads in confusion, and then.

“Kyeeeeeeek!”

“Kueh, eeeeh, eeeek!”

Screaming inhumanly, they were sucked into the interior of Ragnarok’s body.

One reached out an arm as if pleading, only to be consumed by the green liquid.

There was no consent. The demons suffered.

It was less a father’s embrace and more like hell itself.

Zzzzzchh.

Claw marks were carved into the earth as they were dragged in, disappearing beneath Ragnarok’s feet.

=Hmph=

In an instant, he absorbed them all.

His size remained the same. But—

“Th-those… inside his body…!”

Michelan pointed with a trembling finger.

Inside Ragnarok’s form, the demons intertwined, forming bones, muscles, tissues.

As his skeletal structure grew denser, the demons shriveled, reduced to specks drifting within him, like cells.

Crunch, crack.

A giant with grotesquely long limbs emerged. Ragnarok moved his fingers like spider legs—unnervingly.

=…Guess I’ll move like this for now…=

Ragnarok turned his head, shrouded in darkness.

=Pay the price for defying natural order.=

Before he could finish his sentence—

Fwooooosh!

A rain of blades fell.

Countless.

Thin and sharp like a storm of needles.

【Mental Sword Domination: Thousand Li Reach】

Ragnarok swung his green arm like a whip, deflecting the blades before their sound could even arrive.

“Everyone…! Plant your weapons in the ground and hold your ground!”

In the middle of the tempest, Orion von Nibelung shouted. If they stood still, they’d be swept away.

Thud, thud, thud!

The undead, in unison, stabbed their weapon tips into the earth. Michelan was among them.

“Aaaaaah! A human! No, an undead! No, a dead…! Aaah, just save me!! Ah! But I’m already dead?! Hahahaha!”

But since he wasn’t a real fighter, he ended up flying away with a banner.

=That a physical attack like this worked… This is a humiliation for an Apostle of Suppression…=

The skull’s teeth clattered.

=This world… must receive its final punctuation! Why do you resist, Apostle of Destruction?=

Boom! Rumbleeeee!

A bolt of lightning struck Ragnarok precisely. Moments later, the light took human form.

A figure with black hair.

“If anyone should destroy…”

The tips of his hair began to turn white.

Kang Geom-Ma pressed Ragnarok with his two sashimi knives, murmuring under his breath.

“…It’s you. You and that thing backing you.”

=Do you not know your fate…? How tragic… how pitiful… If not for the constraints of plausibility, I would have told you…=

“Too long for a few last words.”

Whoosh!

He spun Murasame in reverse and swung. The blade stung the green arm like a bee’s sting.

Slash!

The arm was cleanly severed. Even though it was made from an entire demon army. Thick, lava-like blood burst from the cut.

Drip, drip, drip.

Wherever it fell, the earth melted.

That’s why the heroes couldn’t approach.

Even the undead knew that clumsy interference would only hinder their king—and they’d be erased without a trace.

They weren’t afraid of dying. They were already dead. But they feared becoming a burden to the Heavenly Sword.

They might become a stone in the path of humanity’s hope.

Besides, a battle between transcendent beings completely excluded the common folk.

Both combatants fought on a divine plane.

Crack-crack-crack!

Two new arms sprouted from the stump.

At the same time, Ragnarok launched one of his white arms to the side.

The white arm extended at lightning speed. In an instant, it reached the collapsed golem’s chest.

Swish!

Kang Geom-Ma twisted his torso to the side. The sharp edge only grazed his chest.

“……!!”

By the time he realized it, the monstrous fingers had already snatched up Gáe Bolg.

Kang Geom-Ma raised his blade to cut them.

But it was just a feint. The arm retracted swiftly, leaving only a trail.

As Ragnarok came into range, he pointed the spear skyward and slashed it fiercely.

Gwooooooooh.

The sky opened as if its eyelids were lifted. A dark hole, an abyss.

A blackness so oppressive it squeezed the chest just by looking at it, began devouring the sky.

Everyone looked up, their gazes lost—if only for a moment.

And within that black hole, “something” opened its eyes. A colossal eye that pushed away clouds and filled the entire sky.

Thud. Thud.

The warriors who had been fighting with all their might just seconds ago collapsed.

Fear, helplessness, self-loathing.

All sorts of negative emotions swirled on their skin like black smoke.

=Disgusting…=

Ragnarok screamed in desperation as he defended himself from Kang Geom-Ma’s attacks.

=Don’t be enraged by the distortion of suppression! One of your apostles made an even greater mistake by breaking a more important plausibility!=

The eye listened in silence.

=So please… grant me your power…!=

Kang Geom-Ma’s sashimi blade cut those words off at the root.

“How touching. The villain begging for time to transform.”

Dozens of sashimi blades rained down on Ragnarok once again. Seizing the opening, Kang Geom-Ma soared like a dragon of light.

“You’re the one who started all this mess, aren’t you?”

「……」

The eye looked melancholic.

“Not just today. Everything that’s happened to me up to now.”

「……」

“The god of the sword. My father, Lyan. All were manipulated by you—”

“Watch out!”

Then, Ryozo’s voice broke in sharply.

Even in chaos, she remained the most grounded.

“Below!”

She shouted it for Kang Geom-Ma.

“Look down!”

Just like in the tragedy of Joaquin.

“…Below.”

Thanks to Ryozo’s warning, Kang Geom-Ma finally looked down.

His ankle was gripped by Ragnarok’s transparent arm.

=No one can approach the King! He who was to be deified has rebelled! That goes against the logic of suppression…!=

Crunch!

A sword tip burst through the back of the skull.

Ragnarok whipped his gaze around.

“Before our king…”

Orion, sword extended, shouted with force.

“How dare you—!!”

The sword pierced through the skull. Blood burst out.

And almost instantly, Orion’s body disintegrated into the air.

At the same time, the black smoke the living had been exhaling ceased.

They shook their heads, trying to recollect the scattered fragments of their souls.

“Dad!”

Abel tried to run toward him, but the Swordmaster stopped her.

On the verge of tears, her expression collapsed, but he only shook his head.

“…Yes…”

She couldn’t say anything more.

Though his eyes were cold, the grandfather looked more sorrowful than ever.

As if that scene were a signal, the dead and the entire army hurled themselves at Ragnarok all at once.

They threw down their weapons and covered him with their bodies.

Insect-like limbs protruded from the pile.

The hand gripping Kang Geom-Ma’s feet quickly lost strength.

Ragnarok roared in rage, struggling.

Ruuumble…!

The mound of corpses quaked like an earthquake.

But that army, clinging to one another—just for a brief moment—

Touched the divine realm.

“Heave-ho, heave-ho.”

Michelan, using bodies as steps, clumsily climbed. Finally, he managed to plant a flag at the summit.

“Heavenly Sword.”

Two characters written with sincerity fluttered in the wind.

“Lord Heavenly Sword! It has been an honor to stand by your side. Never before, nor ever again, have I felt something so overwhelming.”

Michelan shouted at the top of his lungs.

He stomped the hill with his feet as he spoke.

“That “Suppression” he talks about is just the final punctuation of a story! That means your story doesn’t have to end!”

=From where…!=

The shattered skull emerged forcefully from the crowd. Crunch! It bit deeply into Michelan’s collarbone.

“Guh… Aahh… Lord Heavenly Sword…!”

Biting his lower lip in pain, Michelan raised his voice one last time.

“It’s time to finish this!”

“…Michelan…”

“The sacrifice for the future is the duty of those who came before! Please, let us fulfill our role!”

“….”

A long silence.

Kang Geom-Ma finally had to nod.

Slide.

He sealed his entire body.

Kang Geom-Ma raised Murasame.

Fine cords wrapped around him like wild thistles, coiling over his body.

Like a mummy, he had to suppress his existence for a moment to unleash a power that exceeded the limits of the world.

His hair, now entirely white, billowed down to his waist.

Everyone’s mouths fell open in awe at the sight of Kang Geom-Ma with such long hair.

“Hea…ven…ly… Sword…”

Even his wife, Ryozo, and his other wife, Abel, had never seen him like this.

Ryozo’s lower lip trembled violently.

‘Wh-why…? No way… Is she… afraid of her own husband…?’

No. More than that…

Only a fragment of his eyes could be seen through the bandages.

The space around him distorted; dark columns spiraled around Kang Geom-Ma.

“I am the wheel of order… and also the sword that cuts through order.”

Chakra.

The wheel of fate. To draw out that innate power, he had to recite his true name.

“My true name is…”

In that moment of hesitation, Michelan smiled at him with his eyes, as if to say everything would be alright.

“The world will understand.”

Kang Geom-Ma closed his eyes tightly.

“…..”

As if uncorking a lid, he swung his sashimi blade in a devastating fall.

【True Decapitation – New Fortress】

A red line passed through Michelan’s eyes, which reflected the eye in the sky.

That line extended beyond the horizon.

One, two, ten, a hundred, a thousand countless branches of that red line spread.

He erased the existence called “Heavenly Sword” and summoned the demon god into the world.

With it, absolute Zen was dragged into reality—an inversion of the heavens.

=Apostle of Destruction…!=

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The Rider of Conquest and Plague: Ragnarok.

“Cut it.”

■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■

Ra/g/na/ro/k.

He was destroyed along with the golden tower built by the symphonies.

▨▨▨▨▨▨▨▨▨▨▨▨▨▨▨▨▨▨▨

At the molecular level.

Ra/g/na/ro/k

■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■

The eye that had filled the sky also closed at some point.

…
…
…
…

That was the moment when the concepts of “conquest” and “plague” were erased from the universe.

“That is……”

And at the same time, it was the moment the world understood.

That long-forgotten fear, buried under layers of dust but no less terrifying for it.

Because he had shown it with his own body.

“…The Demon King.”

A being of pure evil that could destroy the world on his own.