eurekapd Chapter 178 : Chapter 178
Chapter 178 : Chapter 178
Chapter 178. Grand Demonic Secret Sword
The aura around Ifreles changed.
If he had been a dormant volcano just moments ago, then now that volcano had erupted.
“Although using this kind of power against a few insects is beneath me, and the others would probably laugh at me for it...” Ifreles raised his sword, its tip pointing straight at the heavens, his voice turning lofty and majestic. “But if it helps wake you up, then getting a little serious is no great matter.”
“My name is Ifreles!”
His voice was not loud, yet it echoed across the entire sky above Winter City, carrying an ancient and overwhelming majesty.
“One of the Seven Grand Dukes of Hell, and the one who wields the authority of 【Wrath】!”
Rumble—!!
The night sky, black only a moment ago, suddenly turned crimson. Countless clouds of fire gathered overhead, as though the entire firmament itself had caught fire.
As the clouds churned, a colossal flaming greatsword hundreds of meters long slowly took shape. Its tip was aimed directly at the central district of Winter City behind Logaris.
“Come, then! Let me see the real you!” A cruel smile curved across Ifreles’s lips as he brought his arm slashing down.
“Grand Demonic Secret Sword · Infernal Heavenfall!”
That flaming giant sword, carrying enough force to annihilate everything in its path, came crashing down with a shriek of tearing air.
Its target was not any of the people standing among the ruins.
It was the city behind them—that brightly lit stretch of Winter City, steeped in peaceful stillness and home to hundreds of thousands of people.
If this strike landed, half the city would be reduced to scorched wasteland.
Dodge?
Logaris could dodge. He had a hundred ways to ensure he came through this attack completely unharmed.
But the city behind him could not.
“You lunatic!”
Logaris cursed aloud, his hands moving so quickly they nearly left afterimages. The three strongest defensive spells he could cast instantly unfolded one after another.
【Ninefold Celestial Ring Shield】!
【Spatial Deflection Field】!
【Aether Siphon Shield】!
Three radiant layers of light burst into existence above the city, carrying all of Logaris’s magic and will.
And yet before that flaming giant sword, which seemed capable of burning all things to ash, they were as fragile as soap bubbles in a hurricane.
The first layer, the Ninefold Celestial Ring Shield, vaporized the instant it touched the descending blade.
“Puh!”
Logaris, whose mind was linked to the shield, was struck as if by a thunderbolt. A muffled explosion burst from inside his chest, and a mouthful of blood sprayed violently across the snow before him.
Then came the second layer, the spatial field. It managed only to deflect the giant sword by the tiniest fraction before it shattered as well.
The collapse of space triggered a horrifying backlash. Logaris felt as though his brain were being churned by a red-hot iron spike. Blood began seeping from the corners of his eyes, his nostrils, and his ears all at once, and his vision was instantly drowned in red.
Last came the third layer, the Aether Siphon Shield. It frantically absorbed the sword’s fiery energy, but it was like trying to empty the ocean with a teacup. In the blink of an eye, it overloaded and exploded.
BOOM—!
A violent reverse surge of magic flooded back through the circuit and into Logaris’s body. Countless capillaries across his body burst open at that moment. It was as if the spine had been ripped out of him. He dropped to one knee, limp and powerless. The agony was so overwhelming that he could not even scream. All he could do was wheeze like a broken bellows.
It was over.
Logaris’s consciousness blurred, his body swaying on the verge of collapse. He could only watch helplessly as those crimson infernal flames of destruction continued to descend.
But within that scarlet blaze, bright enough to burn away one’s vision, he saw a streak of cold silver.
It was Sylvia.
At that moment, there was no fear in the eyes of the ruler of the Northern Territory. There was only that same steady calm she always carried, the kind that made others feel safe just by looking at her.
She knew very well that Logaris had reached his limit.
Now it was the knight’s turn to fulfill her oath to protect.
“Don’t look down... on the Astrelia family!”
Sylvia’s figure became a silver comet streaking upward against the flow, plunging without the slightest hesitation into that sea of falling fire.
Faced with this godlike strike, she held nothing back. The peak fifth-tier battle aura within her erupted like a flood bursting through a broken dam. In the air, Moonfall and Starfall wove together into the most intricate defensive sword-net she could muster.
“Moonphase Secret Sword · Thousand Silver Ridges!”
Layer upon layer of silver sword aura formed a barrier in the sky as solid and massive as a mountain range, trying to halt the advance of the flaming giant sword. At the same time, the custom silver armor she wore burst with blinding light, activating every defensive spell engraved within it.
【Elemental Resistance Field】! 【Physical Impact Deflection】! 【Shield of the Bright Moon】!
But the gulf in power between them was a heavenly chasm.
Before that hellfire, powerful enough to burn a city to the ground, the silver barrier of sword aura lasted only an instant before melting away like snow and ice.
Then came the defensive spells on her armor. The moment they made contact, they overloaded and burst into countless motes of light.
Crack.
Sylvia heard the sound of her own bones breaking.
The extreme heat scorched her skin. The twin swords in her hands let out wails of unbearable strain, their blades beginning to soften and fracture.
She could not stop it...
She simply could not stop it.
Then I’ll use my bones. My blood.
The instant all her defensive measures were exhausted, Sylvia did not retreat. Instead, she forced herself one step farther forward. Gathering the last of her battle aura into the broken remains of her swords, she used her own body as the final wedge and slammed herself into the edge of the flaming giant sword in a nearly suicidal attempt to force its trajectory aside.
Ssssh—!
A horrifying sound followed—the sound of flesh melting.
The flaming giant sword was indeed diverted slightly, just enough to miss the city’s core district.
But the price was catastrophic.
It tore through Sylvia’s last layer of protective battle aura with ease, slashing diagonally in from her left shoulder, piercing through her chest, and bursting out through her right abdomen.
The remaining sword aura then crashed into the earth, carving open a terrifying trench so deep its bottom could not be seen, its edges glowing with molten lava.
And Sylvia, like a kite with its string cut, was sent flying helplessly away, trailing a rain of scalding blood as she crashed into the snow in the distance.
Time itself seemed to freeze at that moment.
Logaris stared at the figure lying in a pool of blood, and his mind went blank.
He could not feel the wind. He could not hear the falling snow.
The whole world was reduced to the pounding heartbeat in his chest.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
His blood surged wildly. Everything before his eyes turned red.
Slowly, he turned his head and looked at the one responsible.
Ifreles was watching him with great interest, a smile on his face like that of a man admiring a work of art.
“Are you angry? Good. That is exactly how it should be. To feel rage at the passing of the weak—this is the first step on the path to power.”
Logaris did not speak. A beastlike rasp came from his throat as he slowly raised one hand. In his palm, wild and unstable magic began to gather.
But he was too slow.
A blurred shadow flashed past. Logaris felt a sudden chill in his chest.
Thud—
It was the dull, wet sound of metal piercing flesh.
He lowered his head and saw a crimson sword tip protruding cleanly through his chest. The anguished faces engraved upon the blade seemed to come alive, greedily sucking away his life.
Warm blood splattered outward with the trembling of the blade, spraying across the back of Ifreles’s pale, slender hand. The contrast of red against white was blindingly vivid.
Only then did the pain finally travel through his nerves and arrive in full.