Episode 92: Life-or-Death Situation #3
Gray mana spread around Yohan at its center.
A pitch-black shadow surged forward like waves, gradually engulfing the area.
The blue sky was slowly devoured by the shadow, disappearing bit by bit.
The world was submerged in a chilling stillness, consumed by an unbearable silence.
***
“Haah!”
Fedelian gasped as he opened his eyes. He found himself in darkness so deep that he couldn’t see even an inch ahead.
No sound reached his ears. Was that all? Even with the heightened senses of a Special-Class knight, he couldn’t feel anything.
Realizing this, anxiety and fear surged within him. If he were attacked now, he wouldn’t even be able to respond.
‘Stay calm.’
Suppressing his rapidly pounding heart and trembling fingertips, Fedelian bit his lip and clenched his fists. His nails dug into his palms.
The pain helped push back the fear and anxiety. Only then could Fedelian properly assess his situation.
‘…It really is Mindscape Manifestation.’
Mindscape Manifestation (Simsaeng Gaemun).
As the term suggests, it refers to opening one’s inner world and manifesting it in reality.
A miracle that only a very small number of those who have reached the realm of transcendence could achieve.
By creating a barrier with their mana, they could control every law and principle within it.
If someone were drawn into it, it was practically the end. Unless one was also a transcendent, the user could kill them with the flick of a finger.
‘But it’s still okay. The Duke Aegis is out there.’
Fedelian took a deep breath, his face cold and resolute as he surveyed his surroundings.
As expected, he could see nothing. Enhancing his senses with mana didn’t help either.
─At that moment.
Rumble!
“…!”
The ground beneath his feet twisted suddenly, and a massive tremor caused him to stagger. Slowly, his dulled senses began to return.
‘Is it starting?’
At the center of the sky, a crimson sun began to blaze, and the pitch-black world gradually grew brighter.
On the left, jet-black clouds gathered, casting a shroud of darkness, while on the right, a bright blue sky stretched endlessly.
Beneath it, a massive golden magic circle spread across the earth, radiating a mysterious brilliance.
It was a scene where day, night, and dawn seemed to coexist.
A miracle that only a handful of transcendent beings could create.
“So this is Mindscape Manifestation…”
At that moment, Fedelian heard a voice nearby. It was Cassis.
“…Your Highness.”
When Fedelian called out softly, Cassis stared back at him with an impassive expression.
Though his face appeared unchanged, the turbulent amethyst hue in his eyes revealed his inner turmoil.
It was evident that fear and anxiety were not Fedelian’s alone; Cassis was equally overwhelmed by those emotions.
“What do we do?”
Cassis asked. From the moment they were drawn into the Mindscape Manifestation, their defeat was certain.
Even two special-ranked sword masters couldn’t stand against a transcendent being.
“It seems the Duke Aegis wasn’t pulled in. Whether that’s because that man didn’t bring him in or because the Duke resisted, I’m not sure.”
Whoosh!
Fedelian drew in his mana, and golden energy swirled around him, enveloping his body and blade.
“Our objective is to endure. The Duke Aegis will destroy this barrier.”
Even a Mindscape Manifestation wasn’t without weaknesses. If it sustained enough damage, whether from within or outside, the barrier could be broken.
Of course, it required much greater power than the user’s to destroy it, but the Duke Aegis could manage it.
“Do you think he can destroy this barrier?”
Cassis’s voice was laced with tension.
“The Duke Aegis is one of the most powerful individuals on the continent. He’s among the highest tier of transcendents. On the other hand, Yohan Lahart is in a tattered state and opened his Mindscape in that condition. The Duke should be able to destroy it.”
Given that the Mindscape Manifestation didn’t fully activate the moment they entered, it was likely that Yohan Lahart wasn’t in a normal state either.
“Then─”
Rumble!
Before Cassis could finish his sentence, the ground shook violently once again. The golden magic circle engraved on the floor rippled with a brilliant light.
From beyond the horizon, something enormous began to rise. Its towering size was overwhelming, akin to a mountain. Its sheer presence made it hard to breathe.
Cassis tried to speak, but his words caught in his throat.
Finally, a deep shadow loomed over their faces.
“That’s…”
It was a gear.
And beneath it, footsteps echoed.
Step. Step.
A pitch-black figure was approaching.
“…Get ready.”
Fedelian and Cassis immediately lowered their stances, channeling their mana. The energies intertwined and surged around them.
Step.
Yohan stopped walking. His condition was visibly poor. Blood trickled from his nose, and his eyes were bloodshot, glowing a vivid red.
“As expected.”
“He forced himself to open the Mindscape.”
A faint smile played on both Fedelian and Cassis’s lips. This likely meant Yohan wouldn’t be able to fully utilize the Mindscape.
But-
Rumble!
The massive gear turned once.
“…”
Before the two could even react, Yohan endured the pain tearing through his body and quietly muttered:
“Mujeobigyeong (Boundless Abyss).”
The space around them warped. The world twisted, and the boundaries of everything collapsed with a resounding crash.
“What the hell…!”
“This is insane!”
Even their senses were distorted.
“Gah!”
“Huh!”
They were breathing through their eyes.
Cold air brushed past their pupils as they inhaled, and through their noses, they saw a world distorted like a broken painting.
The taste of air flooded their ears, sweet and bitter, while every time they opened their lips, it felt as though a sound was ripping their eardrums apart.
This wasn’t mere distortion.
The very fundamentals of their understanding were shattering.
What they had taken for granted was falling apart completely.
“I will rewrite the laws.”
Yohan formed another seal with his hands, and Rumble! The colossal gear cloaked in shadows turned once more.
“Bend and twist until you lose your way between reality and illusion.”
As his declaration ended-
Vrooom!
“!!!”
The space trembled, and cracks formed on Cassis’s body. No, more accurately, the void itself was splitting. The distortion in the space began twisting his entire form.
“Ugh…!”
Cassis was gripped by unspeakable pain, but escape was impossible. His ability to move had been inverted-he had forgotten how to control his hands and feet, and even breathing felt unbearable.
‘Damn it!’
Fedelian, adapting slightly faster, forced his arm to move. His hand gripped Cassis’s clothing desperately, trying to pull him back.
But it was too late. The space connecting Cassis’s arm and shoulder had been completely severed, erasing the connection and leaving nothing behind.
Splurt!
Blood gushed from the gap between Cassis’s severed shoulder and arm. The color drained from his previously unyielding face in an instant.
“Argh!!”
Cassis clutched his torn shoulder with unnatural movements. This wasn’t just a physical injury caused by something cutting him.
It had been erased.
‘…This is madness.’
Fedelian stared at the collapsed and groaning Cassis with a tense, rigid face.
Just by speaking and muttering, Yohan had rewritten reality itself.
‘Damn it.’
He wasn’t sure if they could hold out until the Duke Aegis arrived.
The only consolation was that the spatial distortion that had severed Cassis’s arm wasn’t moving too quickly. Yohan’s poor condition might have prevented him from using other spells as well.
Or perhaps he wasn’t yet skilled at using it. Whatever the reason, Fedelian was thankful for even this small mercy.
“Twist.”
At that moment- Yohan’s cold voice resonated once more, and excruciating pain surged through Fedelian’s entire body.
“Gaaah…!”
The agony struck both his body and mind simultaneously. Fedelian clenched his teeth hard. The goal was right in front of him. He couldn't die here.
His thighs bulged momentarily as he kicked off the ground with force. Boom! Darting to the side, he managed to escape the spatial distortion.
‘This madman…!’
Overwhelmed with shock, Fedelian glared at Yohan. Blood was streaming from Yohan’s nose, and he was coughing up blood from his mouth.
‘And yet he’s still forcing himself to maintain the Mindscape?’
Fedelian clicked his tongue. What kind of mental fortitude did this man have? To endure such pain while maintaining this level of focus-it was beyond comprehension.
“…Twist.”
Then, once again, Yohan murmured, and space began to warp. Fighting through the incoming pain, Fedelian launched himself off the ground.
Whirr!
In an instant, the space twisted and was severed.
‘This is…!’
Cold sweat trickled down Fedelian’s forehead. As Yohan grew more accustomed to controlling the Mindscape, the rate of spatial distortion was accelerating.
‘Damn it, what is the Duke Aegis doing?!’
Time was running out. At this rate, he’d be dead before he could even react-just like Cassis, who now lay crumpled on the ground.
“Damn it…!”
As Fedelian bit his lip and widened his eyes in desperation, Boom! A massive tremor resonated through the space. It wasn’t just an earthquake.
‘The Duke Aegis?!’
He was breaking the Mindscape. It was good news. If they could hold on a little longer, the Duke would take care of Yohan.
‘Though it’s a shame I can’t kill him myself…
No matter. In the face of death, such pride was a luxury. What mattered most was survival. Fedelian had to focus on his ultimate goal: seizing the throne.
“Twist.”
At Yohan’s low command, the space began to distort once more. Fedelian hurriedly propelled himself off the ground.
But-
“Gaaaah!”
The distortion was faster than before. His right ankle was severed before he could react.
“Grrr…!”
Blood gushed from the cleanly severed ankle. The pain of losing a limb was beyond anything he could imagine. Tears and snot poured uncontrollably from his face.
“Yohan Lahart… you bastard…!”
As Fedelian crawled on the ground, smearing his blood along the surface, Yohan exhaled labored breaths, mixed with flecks of blood.
“Haaah…”
His entire body felt as though it was collapsing. Though his mana remained intact, the strain on his body had set his circuits ablaze.
From the start, he had opened the Mindscape in a battered and incomplete state. To expect to emerge unscathed was nothing short of arrogance.
“Distort-”
Just as Yohan, swallowing his pain, tried to sever space once more-
Crack! Crack!
Spiderweb-like fractures spread across the void. The Mindscape was breaking.
Only one person could cause such a phenomenon.
‘Dragonian…!’
Shatter!
With the sound of glass breaking, Yohan’s Mindscape collapsed. Beyond the fractured void, blue skies seeped through, and the space began to disintegrate.
Rustle! His Mindscape vanished into debris.
“To think he’d open the Mindscape… I didn’t expect him to use the Seven Blades here.”
Step. Dragonian, his face rigid, surveyed the magic circle on the ground. He spotted Fedelian crawling on the floor and Cassis lying unconscious, missing a shoulder.
“You fools.”
Click.
He clicked his tongue and shook his head, his gaze filled with disdain. Then, Dragonian turned his sharp eyes to Yohan.
“Yohan Lahart, you did everything you could. You can rest now.”
“Resting peacefully was never an option, so how am I supposed to do that?”
“It’s just a figure of speech. Don’t try to stall for time by nitpicking.”
Whoosh!
Black mana wrapped around Dragonian’s blade, surging wildly. The sheer force of the mana cut into the ground like a fierce storm.
Dragonian narrowed his eyes.
‘If he had used this against me from the start, I wouldn’t have survived either.’
Judging by the density and flow of mana that composed the Mindscape, survival, let alone victory, would have been impossible.
‘What a shame.’
It was tragic to kill someone so overflowing with talent and strength.
“Consider it unlucky that your opponent was me, Yohan Lahart.”
“…”
Just as Dragonian aimed the tip of his blade at Yohan-
[Let the light of the heavens descend and judge you. May its radiant glory deliver punishment.]
A serene female voice rang out, accompanied by an overwhelming presence from the sky. The force exceeded even transcendental magic.
Dragonian’s senses screamed-this was dangerous. He had to escape.
“Who the hell…!”
A stunned Dragonian widened his eyes, looking to the heavens. Something golden and radiant was descending.
Once again, his transcendent senses rang out.
Run-
Boom!
The dazzling golden light engulfed the Duke Aegis.