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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
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Chapter 117
The clash between the two was so fast that even those with average eyesight could only see thin streaks of light splitting dozens of times per second and colliding.
Leon simultaneously wielded the Heavenly Demon Sword and the Nameless Sword, enhancing his speed while slowing his opponent.
Meanwhile, Sullivan relied on his signature swiftness.
"How... How can a human be this fast...?"
Compared to the weakened Kraken he had fought before, Leon's swordplay was sharp and swift, making that previous battle seem like child's play.
Although Leon had grown stronger, it was undeniable that Kraken and Sullivan were completely different in both physique and fighting style.
Clang!!!
After multiple collisions, Leon let out a short breath and casually glanced at his slightly torn sleeve before giving a wry smile.
"Not bad."
In contrast, Sullivan’s condition was visibly worse.
His body was covered in wounds.
“Gasp... Huff...”
His armor was shattered in various places, and blood oozed from the exposed areas.
Staggering for a moment, he stomped the ground with all his might.
The resulting shockwave, caused by his massive build, attempted to break Leon’s slow-time magic, but Leon launched additional spells that surpassed the one Sullivan had just dispelled.
"This is impossible. He’s still so young... How can he hold such power within his body?"
"Good question. I’m curious about that too."
Realistically, Leon should not have been able to hold the aura and necromantic mana he wielded.
This wasn’t an issue of rank or experience.
It was a physical impossibility, like trying to fit an ocean into a small vessel.
And there was something else Sullivan couldn’t comprehend.
At first, Leon’s attacks were cautious, as if he was trying to read Sullivan.
Initially, Sullivan’s strength and speed had the upper hand.
But with each clash of their swords, Leon adapted.
After fifty rapid exchanges, Leon had completely changed.
He had deciphered Sullivan’s sword techniques down to the smallest detail.
"What in the world?!"
Clang!!
Before Sullivan could even take an offensive stance, Leon was already responding.
Leon’s sword cut off Sullivan’s path of attack and deflected it as if parrying.
It was a level of combat impossible without foresight.
Crunch!!!
His speed increased.
His strength increased.
It was as if Leon’s body was adapting with each strike.
Real-time evolution was an impossible feat for any lifeform.
Even Sullivan’s naturally powerful race couldn’t achieve such a thing.
But Leon...
Was he really a lifeform like the others?
Sullivan shook off the confusion.
Or rather, he forced himself to.
The terrible madness crawling through his mind was driving him insane again.
Simultaneously, an explosive force surged through his body.
‘With this, I can overwhelm him.’’
Thinking that, Sullivan charged.
Crash!!!!
But again, his attack was deflected.
Crack!!
His shoulder guard shattered, and blood spilled out as a consequence of his overconfidence.
This wasn’t just about physical prowess.
His opponent knew everything.
Even in his madness, Sullivan felt a chill run down his spine.
"How dare... How DARE!!!"
Sullivan pulled back and extended his hand.
The space around him distorted, and lightning spears forged from the souls of a long-extinct kingdom appeared in formation, all aimed at Leon.
However, Leon seemed to have been waiting for this.
He spun his sword and plunged it into the ground before clapping his hands together forcefully.
Smack!!
With that sound, a black magic circle rippled beneath Leon’s feet.
For a brief moment, Sullivan’s dimensional space was disrupted.
And in that fleeting opening, something astonishing happened.
"I'm quite the expert in dimensional spaces."
A pink-haired girl had somehow appeared and forced her hand into Sullivan’s dimensional space.
Crackle!!!
The subspace, which should have existed solely under Sullivan’s control, began to erode as her mysterious power overpowered his resistance.
As the corrupted dimensional space spiraled out of control, the lightning spears forged from the kingdom’s souls disintegrated, no longer obeying Sullivan’s will.
Now there was no choice but to cut her down directly.
As he shifted his focus to the girl, something happened.
“Sullivan.”
Sullivan froze.
“Are you out of your mind?”
‘Damn it! What a foolish mistake!’
Leon had already closed the distance.
His chilling sky-blue eyes locked solely on Sullivan.
Leon...
He was strong.
Losing focus against him was suicidal.
And yet, Sullivan had split his attention to focus on the girl, even if just for a moment.
The cost of that mistake would be severe.
It was too late to defend fully, and he might suffer a fatal wound.
‘Me? A king? Taken down by this young outsider?’
Even though Sullivan didn’t want to admit it, Leon was undeniably strong.
This wasn’t about rank or level.
Leon’s inner world was built on an entirely different foundation.
At best, Sullivan could only trade injuries to gain some advantage.
With a death-or-glory resolve, he swung his massive sword at Leon, aiming to sever his neck in one blow.
A desperate sword path.
There were countless variables, making it difficult to counter.
However.
Leon slightly twisted his body in that fleeting moment, dodging Sullivan’s sword as if he had anticipated it.
It was as if he already knew the trajectory.
How does he know this?!
And then, his already accelerating body sped up once more.
Faster from here?
In a world where everything felt frozen as if time had stopped, only he was moving.
Time hadn’t stopped.
Only Sullivan’s consciousness was reacting to Leon’s speed.
Crash!!
Leon’s sword mercilessly slashed across Sullivan’s heart.
It inflicted a massive wound, tearing apart the fragments of his armor.
Sullivan instinctively retaliated, leaving a wound on Leon’s right upper arm.
However, it was a superficial injury.
The ironic part was that it was the first wound Sullivan had inflicted on Leon.
This confirmed it.
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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
Join our Discord for release updates!
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He had grown far stronger compared to when they first fought.
As if his body was adapting to something.
Like a living being exposed to the cold adapting to endure it, or one exposed to heat adapting to survive it.
A brutal transformation resembling evolution beyond mere physical activity.
Leon, who had snatched up the shattered heart protector embedded with a demon core, glared coldly and spoke.
“Undeath.”
Sullivan’s expression turned puzzled at his words.
The aura spreading around him was a common magic he recognized.
A spell to turn the dead into the undead.
Was he trying to turn him into an undead while he was still alive?
This mockery was too much.
Enraged, he tried to move again.
But he couldn’t.
His body wouldn’t respond.
And then he realized.
His body had already stopped breathing.
Since his true form was in another dimension, he couldn’t truly die.
But even his real form might not be enough to win.
‘Why does my mind feel so clear?’
It was then he realized.
The madness that had driven Sullivan insane had vanished as if it had never existed.
The colossal catastrophe that had devastated his kingdom.
The fear that drove people mad just by looking at it.
The madness etched into his mind was gone, as if wiped clean.
Was the cause the small being before him?
Or was it due to the girl pulling a strange box from his subspace after forcibly invading it?
Whatever the truth, one thing was certain.
“The noise… is gone.”
He could now feel the peace that had replaced the long-standing chaos in his mind.
Sullivan wordlessly looked down at Leon and soon his body disintegrated into dust.
“If the opportunity comes, I’ll be back.”
But he couldn’t fully articulate those words.
“Damn it. Can’t turn into an undead since that wasn’t his real body?”
Of course, Sullivan couldn’t hear Leon’s annoyed mutterings.
* * *
‘Librarian.’
I called the Librarian as I watched Sullivan turn to dust.
[Confirmed.]
‘The enemies I met in the Labyrinth. What’s the criterion for them?’
I didn’t ask with high expectations.
But for the first time, the Librarian gave me a meaningful answer.
[They are branches of possibilities. The entities you encountered in the Labyrinth were those driven entirely mad by their madness.]
In other words, it meant “at a time when they had grown even more insane and powerful.”
‘No wonder. He was much weaker than the Sullivan I knew. So, was the Labyrinth I experienced like a twisted future?’
[Not exactly, but it’s possible.]
‘So, were all of those just illusions?’
Could it have all been events that hadn’t happened?
The Librarian didn’t answer my question.
[This is not information I can currently disclose. Your information clearance is insufficient.]
A crimson moon hung in the sky.
Grotesque monsters filled that place—things no one would ever want to see in reality.
There were considerable differences between the Sullivan I met there and the one I encountered now.
It felt like fighting a boss in a game with all the instant-kill patterns removed.
I calmed the wildly spinning necromantic mana circle and steadied my aura.
My whole body felt dry and tense, as if I had just run a long marathon.
Sullivan had been dealt with for now, and I had the catalyst, my original goal.
But there was something more pressing than these two objectives.
“Ah… a-ah…”
The small jewelry box Luna held close to her chest.
Its existence.
Fatelord.
A plain ring with no special powers, yet it was the item the fallen angel had desperately sought.
Honestly, I hadn’t expected to find it so easily here.
Still, finding it must be a good thing, right?
Even though I had a bad feeling about it.
I didn’t know why Sullivan had it, but according to Luna, it had been thrown across space, so it likely ended up with him during that process.
Ignoring the others staring at me blankly, I slowly approached Luna.
That was when it happened.
Her eyes widened as she opened the box to confirm the ring.
“N-no, it can’t!”
The ring in her hand began to rise and emit light.
That… was spatial transfer.
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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
Join our Discord for release updates!
https://discord.com/invite/dbdMDhzWa2
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