Chapter 151 : Chapter 151

Chapter 151

Shaaaaa.

A cool wind blew in the green space overgrown with trees and shrubs.

“……”

Serena belatedly realized that this was the forest she had seen in her childhood.

The space she had wanted to manifest with Carpe Illusion but had never fully managed to create.

The space she had tried to etch into her mind and draw was now perfectly spread out before her eyes.

The green mana surging in the domain was clearly her own.

She raised herself up.

Killian Eurasia, in his familiar attire, was watching ahead with his back turned to her.

“Commander.”

He turned his body at her call.

Cuts and tears were visible here and there.

Nevertheless, his two eyes shone with a brilliant light.

“We almost died trying to save Hazard.”

Unlike his somewhat reproachful voice, his lips were smiling.

“I’m sorry. Where is this…?”

“It’s a Mind Image world.”

“…?”

“I tried to wake you with Carpe Illusion, but Silvana resisted.”

Carpe Illusion, which had absorbed Serena’s Aether as a medium.

He said he had failed in his attempt to use that formula in reverse to pull her out of the Mind Image.

“I can’t believe the Grotesquery’s curse activated at that exact moment.”

Killian let out a hollow laugh, as if finding it absurd.

“Then we are…?”

“Trapped inside the Mind Image world of a knight named Serena Constantine.”

Serena’s face turned ashen.

“I’m sorry. Because of me…”

“No. You successfully cut through the barrier, and coming in alone was an excellent decision.”

After all, if Id and Rundel had also been taken over, there would have been nothing the current Killian could have done.

Besides.

“Because she was parasitizing your body, Silvana must have ended up showing a weakness too.”

Killian pointed to the blonde-haired elf girl visible in the distance.

Her appearance, clutching her head with both hands, suggested that something was wrong.

“Yggdrasil’s main body. To be precise, it’s a part of the ‘will’ she had hidden in Yggdrasil.”

“Silvana…!!”

Serena immediately took a guarded stance.

The moment when she could do nothing against the surging Divine Power was still vivid.

“Don’t bother. At your level, you’ll just get the same result no matter how many times you face her.”

Hwoong.

Killian swung his sword and fired off sword energy.

Psssss.

The green sword energy, which flew like a razor-sharp wind, failed to reach Silvana and scattered around her.

“She’s defending instinctively. To break through, I’ll have to make direct contact.”

He said it was a concept similar to synchronizing with a Divine Object.

“No need to think too hard. In the form she’s maintaining in this Mind Image world, there’s a limit to how much power she can release.”

Killian continued speaking in a relaxed manner.

His tone was as if he had experienced such things many times before.

‘How does the Commander know all this when he’s an atheist?’

Although she was also an atheist, she could guess that one would have to be at least a first-class priest to know this much about the gods.

No, that probably wasn’t what was important right now.

“To get my body back, do I have to extinguish this will of a god?”

Killian shook his head.

“It would be nice if we could, but there are three problems.”

“Please tell me.”

“First, this is your Mind Image world. I came in using Aether as a medium, but this isn't a place outsiders can just enter and exit.”

“But you did, Commander.”

“Because I’m special. And I know you well.”

“……”

I know you well.

Why did those words sound so pleasant?

Serena’s lips unknowingly formed a brief arc.

“I understand very well that the Commander is special.”

“Right. I’m very, very special, so let’s set me aside as an exception.”

“In other words, since two outsiders have entered, it means I’ll be in danger if this Mind Image world collapses.”

Killian nodded.

“Good that you’re a quick learner. We should avoid combat as much as possible.”

“The second?”

“My mana is at rock bottom. I was almost killed by you before coming in here.”

He said he had to use a somewhat reckless method to enter the Mind Image world.

He added that in the process, he had to exhaust all the mana he had saved up to confront Silvana.

“I apologize for not remembering.”

“That’s not an apologetic face.”

“What is the last one?”

“There aren’t just two outsiders here.”

“…?”

Killian spoke while looking at the still-immobile Silvana.

“That thing is currently being consumed by the Grotesquery’s curse.”

Grotesquery.

The transcendent existence that led Eurasia to its ruin 200 years ago.

An ill-fated connection with Eurasia, inseparable, much like the Empire.

Silvana was a transcendent being who currently held ownership of Serena’s body, yet such a being was being contaminated and consumed by another existence.

It was not a good situation by any means.

“It depends on the type of curse, but if it’s one that affects the nature of a species…”

“If it is…?”

“It would be a relief if you just became a Death Knight. You might even become a four-legged monster.”

The Death Knight in the basement of Brussels’ main castle and the fusion of a goblin and a human in the Flask Mountain Range.

Killian mentioned the two Pieces he had encountered.

“……”

She closed her mouth at the shocking answer.

Either way, it was an unwelcome future.

“Well, that’s the worst-case scenario assuming the curse fully activates. Her situation isn’t good either, so we have no choice but to try to talk to her as much as possible.”

“Will you be alright? Didn’t you say your mana is at its limit?”

“That’s why you have to hold on well.”

“…?”

“Here.”

Killian held out the sword he was holding.

The sword used by the former Annihilation Squad Leader, Bastian Constantine.

“There’s no stored mana. But your mana should still be full.”

The reason Silvana could use mana continuously.

It was because she continuously drew upon the mana being generated by Elvenheim's nature.

Right now, her Mana Heart must be fuller than ever before.

“Maintain the formula and protect your body with a Sword Membrane.”

“And you, Commander?”

“I have these, so I’ll manage somehow.”

Tuk, tuk.

Pyrope’s scabbard and Cornelia’s pendant.

Pointing to the two Magic Tools, Killian walked through the forest toward Silvana.

***

A blonde-haired elf girl.

Three different powers were leaking from the body of the elf kneeling in the middle of the forest.

Divine Power, mana, and Radiance.

The surrounding plants were withering away from the uncontrolled powers.

Killian gripped the scabbard.

Instead of the green mana he could no longer use because he had passed his Aether to Serena, the little remaining blue mana surged from the scabbard.

Pajijijijik.

Silvana’s barrier sparked where it touched the scabbard.

‘If it’s like this.’

Killian wrapped Haki over the scabbard’s mana.

Kugugugu.

The scabbard, enhanced by the dwarf's hands, was like a fine sword in itself.

Lowering his stance.

‘First Flash.’

He thrust the scabbard like a sword.

Kwajik.

Eurasia Style.

‘Yeokhae.’

Mana and Haki were released from the scabbard that had pierced into the barrier.

Kwazijijijijik.

For a moment, the colliding energies shook the barrier.

Soon, a space large enough for one person to enter was created.

Seueuk.

Killian stepped forward without hesitation.

The moment he entered, the barrier closed.

“What a pathetic sight.”

“Sh…ut… up…”

Silvana muttered as if shouting, covering her ears.

‘She can’t even control her own body properly?’

Her condition was more serious than he had thought.

He could feel an evil energy that a monster might emit, and half of her once-pale skin was now stained yellow.

Radiance seeped out from the cracks in the yellow-stained skin.

Her presence was wavering as her physical body could not handle it.

“It can’t be helped. I’ll be in a difficult position if you get eaten.”

Tuk.

When he placed the scabbard on Silvana’s shoulder, the leaking Radiance flowed into it.

‘It’s a relief Pyrope enhanced it.’

There was no need to absorb all of the curse.

It was enough to be able to converse with the arrogant god before him.

“Take away… that filthy… object…”

“Bluffing when you were about to be devoured.”

“I’ll kill you first.”

Kwang.

Her condition having improved, Silvana flicked the scabbard away.

As the Radiance subsided and her condition improved, she showed her fighting spirit with her remaining Divine Power.

Killian once again emitted the curse contained in the scabbard.

“……!!”

A terrible sound burst from Silvana’s mouth.

A shriek echoed throughout the area, and the surrounding trees and plants withered all at once.

The yellow skin covering her body cracked, and Radiance burst forth from the gaps.

That light emitted a grotesque energy, as if trying to forcibly stitch her torn body back together.

Killian carefully watched Silvana’s movements.

‘A curse that incapacitates even a god…?’

The Piece of Grotesquery was acting as a fatal poison even to a god.

“You can’t handle it either.”

Killian continued speaking as he gripped the scabbard once more.

As his voice echoed through the space, Silvana glared at him like a madwoman.

Her eyes were filled with pure hatred, with no trace of intellect or divinity to be found.

“Shut up… Human…!!”

Silvana shouted with a growl.

The image of a beast that had lost its divine dignity, captured by instinct.

Sreureuk.

The tree branch held in Silvana’s hand took the form of a blade.

The difference was that it was a sword imbued with Divine Power, not mana.

“Reckless.”

Killian calmly raised the scabbard.

Blue mana flickered from his body and began to surround the scabbard.

Kwang!

A loud roar echoed as Silvana’s sword and Killian’s scabbard clashed.

The sound of the air tearing could be heard as the two forces collided.

“You cannot defeat me.”

Silvana shouted in a frenzied voice.

Kwaang! Kwang!!

Her attacks grew fiercer, and her rampaging Divine Power devastated the surroundings.

Trees burned, the ground cracked, and life force drained away.

“This forest is mine!! It is the domain I rule!!!”

Killian took a step back from the bombardment-like attack.

“It probably was. Not that it matters now.”

Even as he was pushed back by Silvana’s Divine Power, he did not let go of the scabbard in his hand.

“The Piece of Grotesquery has broken your will. It’s no longer at a level you can control.”

Silvana, her face filled with rage, stared at him.

“I… am a god!!”

Her hands trembled.

As her Divine Power raged, the collapse of her physical body was accelerating.

“I will not submit to a mere mortal!!”

As her Divine Power concentrated on the blade, Silvana unleashed it even more fiercely and attacked again.

It was the moment Killian had been waiting for.

“Yes.”

He calmly swung the scabbard.

Hwaaaaaa.

The empty scabbard absorbed the Divine Power.

The two Magic Tools, created to accept mana, absorbed Divine Power according to their master’s will.

“Kuh…”

Silvana staggered from exhaustion.

Not missing the opening, Killian swung the scabbard once more.

Peok!!

The sound of the scabbard striking her body.

Silvana twisted her body, about to scream.

“There’s no way you can defeat a god…”

A strained voice.

But even those words seemed powerless.

“You have already lost.”

Killian continued as he looked down at her.

“When it comes to curses, I’m more of an expert than you.”

He raised the scabbard high.

Tuuk.

He lightly struck her on the head.

The scabbard and pendant, filled with Divine Power, spewed out the two types of mana.

“Ada…mas… someone… like you…”

Teolseok.

Unable to finish her words, Silvana’s body collapsed.

In the place where the Divine Power had completely vanished.

“Come out, Grotesquery.”

At Killian’s words.

[…….]

Silvana’s body twitched.