SWNOVELXO Chapter 340
Chapter 341. The River of Blood, The Mountain of Screams (4)
The vassals who saw Endymion for the first time were utterly stunned.
Was it because he was an Elf, a rare race?
Or because the legendary elder they thought was a myth actually existed?
These were trivial reasons. They were stunned because they were overwhelmed.
His calm and deep eyes, his relaxed posture… There was nothing threatening about him, but the martial artists who saw Endymion thought of one word.
Perfection.
No gaps. No weaknesses. They were certain that no matter what they did, it wouldn’t work on Endymion. The civil officials, who only exercised by breathing, even forgot to breathe.
It was as if the space itself had been consumed by Endymion. They were like butterflies caught in a spider’s web, unable to move.
Thud.
Endymion entered the Conference Hall. Then, those who were stunned regained their senses.
“Huff, huff.”
“Whew.”
What they felt wasn’t just “coming back from the dead.” It was more like they had died, chatted with the Grim Reaper, and then returned.
“Greetings, Elder.”
At that moment, Hisop bowed his head toward Endymion. The current master of Sephira acknowledged Endymion as an elder. It wasn’t a submission out of fear.
Hisop had learned about Endymion’s existence through the family head’s lessons. Even without that, he instinctively felt that Endymion and he, though of different races, were of the same bloodline.
As Hisop bowed first, the elders followed, and then the vassals deeply bent their waists.
“Greetings, Elder.”
All those responsible for Sephira bowed their heads to Endymion.
Endymion nodded slightly in acknowledgment.
“I am Endymion El Sephira. The guardian of Sephira.”
Gulp.
The vassals tensed at Endymion’s introduction. The overwhelming sensation from before had disappeared, but they couldn’t guess what the elder Endymion would say next.
Why had he suddenly appeared? Judging by the emotions on their faces, the ratio of negativity far outweighed positivity.
Endymion paid no attention to the vassals’ reactions or expressions and continued speaking.
“I will protect Sephira.”
“Ahem.”
“Uhm.”
Panir and Leganon coughed simultaneously. Though they had forgotten it now, they too had once said the same thing. Under the pretext of “protecting Sephira,” they had ignored the family head and caused internal division.
If it weren’t for Keter finding out and giving them a chance to make amends, the two elders wouldn’t be here today.
The vassals were somewhat aware of this, so their toes instinctively curled at Endymion’s words.
“Family Head Hisop.”
“Yes, Elder.”
Hisop tried not to show it, but his body stiffened, and his voice trembled.
“My power is on par with the lords of the Lilian Kingdom. Keep that in mind.”
“…!”
Endymion declared, “I am strong enough to fight a lord.” This meant that Endymion was either an 8-star or a Transcendent Being close to it.
“Elder. May I ask what you mean by keeping that in mind?”
“It means to wisely decide where to use me.”
“…Huh?”
Hisop blinked rapidly. It was an unexpected statement, and it took him a while to understand.
Endymion drove the point home to Hisop.
“You, as the family head, are the bow. And I am the arrow. You just need to shoot me. But deciding when and where to shoot is your responsibility. Understood?”
“Ah, I understand.”
Hisop was bewildered. It was understandable—he now had the power to send a Transcendent Being, possibly an 8-star, to the battlefield with a single word. Just five minutes ago, he had been lamenting that Sephira didn’t even have a single 7-star.
The vassals were equally bewildered.
Endymion was an elder of Sephira and an Elf. At the same time, he was a Transcendent Being beyond 7-stars. If Endymion wished, he could kill or subdue everyone here as easily as flipping his hand.
Yet, Endymion was saying, “Use me like a tool.” It was an utterly unrealistic statement.
But there was more to be surprised about.
“Basil and Gasilious have reached 7-stars.”
Endymion skipped the process and went straight to the conclusion.
Everyone’s jaws dropped. Basil and Gasilious had become 7-stars? This was tremendous news.
Hisop, forgetting his dignity as the family head in the joy of hearing that the two were safe and had become Primes, asked, “Are they also on their way back?”
With Endymion’s addition alone, Sephira had become significantly stronger. But now, Basil and Gasilious, who had become 7-stars, were joining as well?
Even if two great swordsmanship families combined their strength, they wouldn’t be afraid. What were swordsmanship families compared to this? They wouldn’t fear even a lord.
But Endymion shook his head.
“They won’t be coming. They reached 7-stars through shortcuts and are now unable to control their Authority. If they don’t resolve this issue, their Authority will become poison.”
“Ah…”
Seeing Hisop’s disappointment, Endymion felt the need to comfort him.
“Don’t worry. I guided them until the end, so they’ll be back soon.”
At the word “soon,” Hisop’s expression brightened immediately.
“Excuse me, but roughly how many days do you think it will take? I’d like to strategize accordingly.”
“Hmm.”
After a moment of thought, Endymion held up his hand. It clearly represented the number “5.”
“Ah, five days!”
Though “soon” was a bit of an exaggeration, five days was still manageable.
But Endymion shook his head as if to say, “What are you talking about?” Hisop was flustered.
“Then, five hours?”
He debated between fifty days and five hours, but fifty days seemed too long for “soon.”
Endymion, with a slightly exasperated expression, said, “Five years.”
In the treatment room where Keter was.
The security wasn’t tight. In fact, it seemed lax. There was only a boy standing there, motionless.
But that boy was a Homunculus. Not even a typical 7-star Prime could easily handle him.
Moreover, the entire space of the treatment room was twisted like a maze. Without Daat’s permission, who designed the maze, even a Transcendent Being couldn’t easily enter.
Into such a space, one person naturally opened the door and entered. It was Elder Endymion.
He had come to deliver the good news that Basil and Gasilious had become 7-stars, along with the message that it would take five years for them to return.
Regardless, he was an uninvited guest. An intruder without Daat’s permission. He unraveled the maze-like space in an instant and entered the treatment room.
In response, the Homunculus Decameron immediately attacked. Daat had given permission to attack anyone who approached through abnormal means.
Decameron had evolved. Though he hadn’t been active, he had grown alongside Keter through trials. What he had learned from Keter was to go all out from the start.
Kwaaaaaaaah!
A deafening roar erupted as light burst forth.
Decameron unleashed his ultimate technique from the beginning.
7-Circle Fusion Magic, Phoenix Blade.
Originally, the Phoenix Blade was a magic that sent forth an unquenchable flame sword.
But Decameron wielded the Phoenix Blade with his hands, displaying swordsmanship.
The ultimate technique of the Ten Thousand Waves Sword, Genesis.
The swordsmanship of the strongest among the Empire’s Eight Great Swordsmen, the Ten Thousand Waves Sword. Moreover, the ultimate technique was being unleashed through the Phoenix Blade in Decameron’s hands.
It was both a “line” and an “area” attack. An unavoidable, irrational strike. There was no space to dodge.
Area attacks that cover a wide range are usually less powerful due to lower density. That was common sense.
But Genesis was different.
A “plane” formed by “lines.”
The ultimate technique, Genesis, eliminated the weaknesses of both lines and planes. Moreover, it was unleashed with a flame sword that could even melt Orichalcon, causing the space itself to warp.
At the terrifying power of this combined technique, Endymion frowned.
“A copied soul using a copied technique. The pinnacle of displeasure.”
Tsk.
As if tossing away trash, an arrow flew from Endymion’s hand.
The arrow was small. About the size of a finger segment.
No matter how powerful the arrow was, compared to Decameron’s “Phoenix Blade and Genesis,” it seemed as meaningless as an ant fighting an elephant.
Decameron also predicted his victory. It wasn’t an emotional judgment but a thoroughly rational one.
‘Attack range, power, speed, heat, follow-up attacks. I’m ahead in everything.’
-That was the moment he was certain.
Decameron’s upper and lower body separated.
“…?”
Decameron couldn’t comprehend what had just happened to him.
Humans waste time blinking, but he didn’t have such wasteful moments.
Yet, he couldn’t comprehend. What had happened to him.
‘I’ve been cut.’
Only after 0.2 seconds did Decameron realize. The Phoenix Blade and Genesis he had unleashed had vanished.
But it wasn’t because they had clashed and shattered.
Area attacks lose to line attacks, and line attacks lose to point attacks. And an arrow is a point attack.
But that doesn’t mean there’s an absolute advantage. Even if a point beats a line, it’s just a slight advantage.
Moreover, even if one line is cut by a point, countless other lines remain. Cutting one line can eliminate a plane, but the rest remain.
So how could Endymion cut all the lines with a single arrow?
‘He precisely targeted the link between the techniques. Is that even possible?’
If Decameron had used the Phoenix Blade and the Ten Thousand Waves Sword’s Genesis separately, it might have been different. But he had used the two techniques as one. Thus, he inevitably created a link between the two techniques. Otherwise, the powers wouldn’t harmonize.
This was a clear weakness. But even so, how could one know where the link was and how to target it?
‘If it’s a coincidence, it’s like lightning striking the same spot 17 times in a row.’
Moreover, Endymion not only countered the ultimate technique but also inflicted a fatal wound on Decameron.
Of course, Decameron, being a Homunculus, could recover endlessly, but—
“Stay still. Or I’ll have no choice but to shatter you into pieces.”
The second piece of advice he learned from Keter: don’t yield to threats.
Decameron ignored it and continued to recover. Then, Endymion shot another arrow, piercing Decameron’s forehead.
“The head will take a bit longer to recover.”
Decameron’s movements stopped, and only then did Endymion stand before Keter.
Keter was still lying there as if dead. But when Endymion lifted the blanket, a shocking sight was revealed.
His exposed chest. A dragon’s heart embedded in his chest. Blood vessels extending from it clung to Keter’s body like parasites.
Endymion looked down at it indifferently and muttered, “Now I finally understand everything.”
He had seen the “future” through Keter.
Just a single scene, but in that scene, Keter was smiling, and Sephira’s mansion was burning.
Clearly, Keter had set the fire. How else could he smile while watching Sephira burn?
Endymion didn’t want to believe it. From what he had seen, Keter had only helped Sephira and never seemed to have any intention of destroying it.
But at this moment, Endymion realized.
“That wasn’t Keter’s doing. It was the dragon that had taken over Keter’s body.”
Endymion knew about the dragon’s heart. He also knew that Keter was fighting the dragon in the Mental World.
And the fact that no human could have a stronger will than a dragon.
“Holding out for four days is already a historic event.”
From what Endymion knew, those who took the dragon’s heart woke up within a day at most, becoming entirely different people. Their bodies had been taken over by the dragon.
In the process, even their memories and skills were stolen, making dragons a vile race that sometimes pretended to be their original hosts.
“If time passes like this, you’ll burn Sephira as prophesied.”
When Keter opens his eyes, it won’t be Keter. Just a dragon to whom this life is nothing but a “game.”
Whoosh.
An arrow appeared in Endymion’s hand. It was purple, symbolizing Ain, but something was slightly different.
The color wasn’t uniform. The outer part was purple, but there was a white stripe.
Ain Soph (Unlimited).
The next stage of Ain, the power leading to godhood.
Endymion’s Ain Soph was unstable. Like dough with the wrong consistency, it seemed like it would flow away at any moment.
But it wasn’t insufficient. Enough to kill a dragon before it fully awakens.
“This is something only I can do.”
Endymion, without hesitation, brought the arrow down toward Keter’s heart—
Thud.*
His wrist was caught.
“…!”
It wasn’t a third party. Keter, still lying down, had grabbed Endymion’s wrist to stop him.
Slowly, Keter’s eyes opened.
Endymion’s expression hardened.
The purple pupils unique to the Sephira bloodline, the golden irises, remained. But the pupils were different. A small universe shone within them. Endymion bit his lower lip.
“I was too late.”
Those were the eyes of a dragon.