SWNOVELXO Chapter 356
[Translator - Night]
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Chapter 356: Peace - Aftermath (4)
The man grimaced at the utterly arrogant words.
“There's no need to waste that power on a mere barbarian. Die!”
The man swiftly drew his sword and charged.
His blade, brimming with a shimmering aura, lashed out.
It was fast and powerful—his raw strength alone placed him at the pinnacle of the superhuman class.
In this world, few could rival such a force.
Ketal frowned and extended his hand.
The sharp edge of the oncoming sword was caught in Ketal's grasp.
“What?”
The man's eyes widened in shock.
Ketal's fist moved, and the man's chest caved in.
Crunch.
The heart, which supplied blood throughout his body, was literally crushed.
His body was hurled through the air like a ragdoll and slammed into the ground.
Without any change in expression, Ketal muttered,
“So, this is what they call superhuman pinnacle.”
A figure among the strongest in the world—if so, this man should have been on the frontlines during the assault on hell.
But Ketal had never seen such a person before.
Likewise, the man had no knowledge of Ketal.
“Where did this one come from?”
“Grraaah!”
Amid the scattered remains of twisted debris, the man reappeared, his body seemingly unharmed despite having had his heart crushed.
He glared at Ketal with a distorted expression.
“…I don’t know what kind of barbarian you are, but you’re strong. Fine. Then let me show you the glorious power of the mighty!”
The man raised his sword high.
The aura that had enveloped it disappeared, replaced by a strange energy.
“Receive the blessing!”
Laughing maniacally, the man charged again.
Ketal watched him for a moment, then stepped back to evade instead of blocking or countering.
The man’s sword struck the ground.
In that instant, the earth twisted.
Creak, crack!
The very ground warped and writhed as though forcibly twisted into spirals, soon transforming into something desiccated and lifeless.
It was identical to the phenomena spreading throughout Magnarein.
As I thought, Ketal’s gaze grew heavy.
This confirmed it.
The man before him was using the power of the Elder.
And Ketal knew exactly which of the three Elders’ powers it was.
The twisted one.
The corrupted one.
The grotesque one.
Among them, this was the power of the Twisted One.
But—
‘How is this possible?’
How had this man come to wield the Elder’s power?
Ketal wondered as he continued to evade.
Boom!
The sword struck the ground again, and the earth spiraled into chaos, leaving irreversible scars behind.
The Twisted One’s power—it distorted all things.
Strength, concepts, even the world itself could be twisted beyond recognition by this power.
The sheer magnitude of it crushed most forces like dried wood.
It was sufficient to defeat the Archmage of Magnarein, an individual of Hero-class, and even claim their life.
Seeing Ketal dodge, the man laughed maniacally once more.
“How long do you think you can keep running?”
“It’s not that I can’t block it.”
Ketal reached out and grabbed the sword once more.
The man sneered and unleashed the power of the blessing.
Intense energy rippled outward.
“…Huh?”
The man’s eyes wavered.
Ketal’s hand, which had caught the blade, remained unscathed—untouched, as if the twisting power hadn’t affected it.
The blessing didn’t activate?
No, it had activated.
The power the man invoked was working perfectly.
The world itself was warping.
It simply couldn’t penetrate Ketal’s body.
Ketal tightened his grip on the sword.
Crunch.
The blade shattered.
Ketal reached out, grabbed the man’s head, and slammed it into the ground.
Boom!
The earth quaked and crumbled.
Even the chaos unleashed by Magnarein was obliterated by a stronger force.
Ketal, having subdued the man, murmured quietly,
“Unfortunately for you, your alien nature doesn’t work on me.”
The inherent superiority, hierarchy, and affinity of the Elder’s power—it all meant nothing to Ketal.
He hadn’t dodged earlier because he couldn’t block the attacks but to observe the nature of the power.
“Judging by your weak presence, you must be the lowest of the Elder’s apostles. So, where did you crawl out from?”
“Grrraaah!”
The man writhed, scattering the Elder’s power in his frenzy.
Though it distorted the world around them, Ketal stood still, unmoved, not even a hair out of place.
The man’s eyes trembled.
“You… You’re strong.”
“Stronger than you, at least.”
“But you can’t kill me! I’ve inherited the Elder’s power! I am immortal!”
The man declared boldly.
And he wasn’t entirely wrong.
The blessing of the Elder made him impervious to normal methods of death.
But Ketal was no ordinary case.
“Is that what you think?”
Ketal drew out an axe.
Its aura glimmered, taking shape.
The man’s expression froze upon seeing it.
“…W-what?”
Fear began to seep into his eyes.
The man realized—this weapon could extinguish his very existence.
The Monstrosity spoke proudly:
[Even the Elder himself could be slain by me. And you’re just a pitiful pawn daring to speak of death in my presence? Laughable.]
“I can kill you anytime I want. But right now, that’s not what I’m after.”
What he sought was information.
“Where did you come from?”
“Ugh…”
The man groaned but offered no answer.
Ketal wasn’t particularly expecting one and instead began scrutinizing the man’s body.
“…No symbols or markings.”
Clad in simple leather garb, there were no signs or emblems to reveal his identity or background.
This meant the man’s identity had been meticulously concealed.
Which likely meant he wasn’t acting alone but as part of a larger group.
“Where could someone like you and your ilk be hiding?”
“Kill me!”
“I don’t actually need your cooperation.”
Forcing the truth out would suffice. Ketal began unleashing his full presence.
The man’s face instantly turned pale.
"...Ah, ah?"
The man had been imbued with the authority of an old one.
No longer a being of this world, he was closer to a creature of the Forbidden Lands.
As such, he understood far better than ordinary beings what Ketal’s power signified.
His body began trembling uncontrollably.
“Ugh, ugh, aaah!”
He shook like a leaf, his eyes darting wildly, and drool dripped from his mouth.
“Your reaction is rather undignified,”
Ketal remarked.
[He’s already broken. That might help you grasp his essence even more deeply.]
“Perfect.”
Ketal engulfed the man with his aura.
“Where are you from?”
“Ugh, ah, ah…”
[Translator - Night]
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The man’s mind crumbled, leaving him little more than a puppet, entirely subservient to Ketal’s commands.
“I, I am…”
Just as he stammered to respond, a mechanism within him activated.
“Ugh, aaaagh—!”
Those were his final words.
Crack.
The man’s body twisted grotesquely, warping and breaking apart.
Ketal’s expression shifted.
“This is—”
Realizing what was happening, Ketal swiftly leapt back to create distance.
From the center of the man’s distorted body, a massive spike began to take shape.
CRACK-CRACK-CRACK!
The spike expanded into a single, massive flower.
At its heart, it began to twist and absorb everything around it, pulling the world into its vortex.
Crunch.
CRUNCH.
Finally, a single flower bloomed, devouring everything within the boundaries of Magnarein.
Standing just outside the range, Ketal clicked his tongue.
“The Flower of Distortion.”
It was one of the authorities of the Twisted One—a self-destructive technique their apostles used in desperation.
The power compressed everything into the form of a flower, twisting all around it.
Ketal frowned momentarily as he observed the grotesque bloom, then turned and exited the area.
Outside, Kasan and Cassandra were trembling and collapsed on the ground.
“Ketal?”
“It’s over. We can’t enter Magnarein anymore, though.”
“A-Ah, ah…”
“For now... I’ll take you to the Kingdom of Denian.”
No notification of quest completion appeared.
It meant there was still something unresolved.
It had become clear beyond a doubt—one of the old ones, the Twisted One, had emerged into this world.
Ketal sighed.
“One thing ends, and another begins. This is such a hassle.”
* * *
Ketal took the group to Milena.
When she, who had been waiting calmly, saw Kasan and Cassandra, she gasped.
To be precise, her shock was directed at Cassandra.
“Cassandra!”
“Someone you know?”
“How could I not know her?”
The underground city of Magnarein had been ruled by three factions.
Cassandra was the daughter of one of those faction leaders.
With her interest in the outside world, she often ventured out, causing chaos wherever she went—a notorious troublemaker.
Ketal let out a soft chuckle.
“So that’s who she was. Now that I think about it, she had an escort tailing her the entire time when we first met.”
“...Not anymore,”
Cassandra murmured, her tone tinged with melancholy.
Milena’s expression turned grave.
“What happened?”
“Magnarein has fallen.”
“...What?”
Milena’s eyes widened.
Ketal continued.
“For details, ask these two. Shouldn’t this also be reported to the king? I’ll explain the rest afterward.”
“Ah, yes. Understood.”
Milena hurriedly moved to gather information from Kasan and Cassandra, then relayed the news to the king of Denian, Barbosa.
The royal palace descended into chaos.
Later, Milena sought out Ketal again.
“Have you heard the full story?”
“Yes. Something attacked Magnarein and destroyed it… Ketal, do you know what it was?”
“I do. I know what it was, where it came from, and how powerful it is.”
“Was it… an entity of the Forbidden Lands?”
“Yes.”
Ketal nodded. Milena swallowed hard.
“...Was it like Nanno, who swallowed a kingdom whole?”
“No. It’s far beyond that.”
“Th-then… was it like the rat that ravaged the northern territories?”
“Even beyond that. If it set its mind to it, it could destroy the entire world. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say it’s on par with the Demon King.”
“Wh-what?”
Milena let out a shrill cry.
On par with a Demon King?
The world had yet to recover from the aftermath of the war with Hell, and now a being of such caliber had emerged?
“A-Ah…”
“But there are many questions.”
How had an old one, perpetually locked in their endless internal struggles, come to interfere in this world?
How had such a powerful being suddenly appeared?
And why had it targeted Magnarein first?
More information was needed.
Ketal turned to Milena and asked,
“Has the Tower Master returned yet?”
“No, not yet.”
“Then it can’t be helped. Where is Helia, the Saintess of the Sun?”
“...She is currently at the Sun God’s Holy Sanctuary.”
“Tell me its location. I plan to head there immediately.”
“Yes.”
Milena nodded with a tense expression.
“I’ll make the necessary preparations right away. Only those granted permission can enter the sanctuary, but for you, Ketal, it should not be an issue. Still, the sanctuary strictly forbids outsiders from approaching.”
Anyone not granted access would be automatically expelled by the sanctuary’s protective barrier.
It was for this reason that even demons had never dared to attack it.
To disable the barrier, one needed the Sun God’s emblem.
“His Majesty Barbosa possesses one. I will inform him immediately to have it prepared for you…”
“No need. Just tell me the location.”
“...Pardon?”
“I don’t have time to waste. I’ll handle the barrier myself. You don’t need to worry.”
“O-Oh… yes.”
Milena, at a loss for words, nodded hesitantly.
[Translator - Night]
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