Chapter 763

Chapter 763

I Told You Back Then. (1)

The mere aftermath of Grondal swinging his halberd sent Tagmah’s body sliding backward.

Even though it hadn’t struck Tagmah directly, the force of Grondal’s attack was so terrifying that it shattered Tagmah’s balance.

However, Grondal didn’t have the ability to move freely in the air. After delivering a blow midair, he soon plummeted to the ground.

Thud!

As he landed, the ground split open, and the shockwave spread far and wide.

Standing on the cracked floor, Grondal let out a ferocious grin.

“Not bad. What the hell are you supposed to be?”

“I am the hand preparing for the advent of the Black Revelation, the one proclaiming the Covenant, the one who has received the Fourth Blessing of His will and spreads it far and wide. I am the Prophet, Tagmah.”

“You really do have a damn grand introduction. A prophet, no less. Bastards like you cult lunatics sure find all sorts of ways to spew nonsense.”

“Your mouth is foul. Do you have no dignity as a king?”

“There’s no dignity to show garbage like you.”

Grondal gripped his halberd tightly again. A group of dwarves approached him.

They were the same ones who had been clinking mugs and laughing with Grondal just moments before. They were the six dwarf captains known as the Ironhearts.

Ironheart was a title granted only to the finest warriors and generals of Valskrum.

With furious determination, they raised their weapons and shouted.

“Looks like dealing with that bastard is going to be a hassle. Let’s fight together!”

“He must be the leader! If we kill him, this ends, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah! Let’s just gang up on him and beat him to death!”

The six dwarf captains instinctively sensed the strength of Tagmah.

He was an opponent who would not be easily defeated, even when clashing with Grondal, the dwarf known as the mightiest of all. For that reason, they believed even more that a joint assault was the answer.

Grondal didn’t think the idea of a joint assault itself was wrong. But in the current situation, it wasn’t the right move.

He looked around.

Graaaaah!

Monsters were pouring in from every direction.

All over the city, countless black magic spells were erupting, and even the high priests of the Salvation Church had appeared.

If this Tagmah bastard chose to defend himself, then even with the Ironhearts joining in, killing him wouldn’t be easy. If they wasted time like that…

“That won’t do. No, it won’t.”

Grondal shook his head. The Ironhearts needed to stop the creatures that were swarming in.

“I’ll hold him off. You take care of the others.”

“Will you be alright?”

“I’ll keep him busy and buy time. Take out the rest first. That’s the better way.”

At Grondal’s firm order, the dwarf captains nodded.

On the front lines, casualties among the dwarves were already surging. Only by stepping in themselves could they face the enemy’s Transcendents.

It was an unavoidable choice. They gripped their weapons and scattered in all directions.

In the end, only Grondal and Tagmah remained in that place.

Left alone, Grondal bit his lip. Tagmah floated in the air, wearing an unpleasant smile.

“Ha, these bastards...”

It was obvious why he was laughing.

This wasn’t a fair fight. Grondal had to think of the safety of the dwarves. But those bastards had no such shackles, no obligation to protect any allies.

They could sacrifice all the undead and chimeras they wanted without consequence. Even if every monster was annihilated, the Salvation Church wouldn’t suffer a single real loss.

Therefore...

He had to eliminate that so-called prophet to deal a real blow to the Salvation Church.

Boom!

Grondal kicked off the ground and shot upward once more. His halberd struck Tagmah’s body like lightning.

Crash!

Black energy burst from Tagmah’s body to absorb the impact. But Grondal didn’t stop.

Instead, he used the recoil to leap again and unleashed a relentless barrage of attacks.

Bang! Bang! Boom!

Grondal kept springing upward, as though climbing the sky itself by riding the shockwaves. It was a fighting style that seemed to defy gravity.

It required monstrous strength, stamina, and even meticulous control, a supremely advanced technique.

Tagmah tried to force distance by releasing a powerful surge of energy. But Grondal met that energy head-on and refused to let him escape.

Grondal absorbed the force of every shock with his solid body. Without extraordinary resilience, it would have been impossible to endure such a feat.

Seeing this, Tagmah wore an expression of genuine admiration, as though he hadn’t anticipated this approach.

“You’re truly strong.”

“Shut up. I’ll fry you in molten steel, you bastard.”

Bang! Bang! Boom!

No matter how freely Tagmah could fly, there was no way fighting in the air was easier than on the ground.

Going all out was only possible when standing on solid earth.

Eventually, Tagmah descended to the ground. Seeing this, Grondal bared his teeth and let out a short laugh.

“You arrogant bastard. The earth itself is where a dwarf can unleash his full power.”

“You’re very confident.”

“See it for yourself. Feel it.”

Grondal brought his halberd down toward Tagmah’s head. Tagmah also stomped the ground forcefully and stretched out his hand.

Kraaaash!

Crack!

With a single clash, the earth split open, and the surrounding buildings began to collapse.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The two clashed without rest. Black darkness and burning steel slashed, smashed, and hacked at each other.

Strength against strength, will against will, colliding head-on.

Neither of them dodged, and neither retreated.

A fierce exchange with no step given, a savage battle without pause.

It was a fight that would end only when one of them finally broke.

Rumble!

The ground they stood on was already shattered and caving in. Every wall and tower nearby had crumbled to dust and scattered.

The sky darkened, and even the air itself quaked.

Craaack!

It felt as though the fight would never end. But Grondal knew.

‘The longer this drags on, the more we’ll suffer.’

So, he decided to push himself a little further.

Grondal clenched his teeth. Gripping his halberd with both hands, he lifted it high overhead.

The attacks wielded by the King of the Dwarves were, in truth, extremely simple.

Nothing but straightforward, linear strikes.

But when those strikes carried overwhelming power, it became a different story.

Grondal’s eyes blazed red. And when he swung his halberd with all his might—

It felt as if the world itself split apart.

Kraaaaaaaaaash!

The blow sent Tagmah staggering backward, his body swaying.

The ground beneath his feet burst open, and a deep trench formed as if a colossal boulder had been shoved aside.

But Grondal’s assault did not stop.

Bang! Bang! Boom!

Like hammering a nail, he kept bringing the halberd down on Tagmah. Each time he struck, Tagmah’s body jolted and retreated further.

Every single impact left deep scars carved into the earth.

Tagmah quietly stared at Grondal.

‘…Impressive.’

Stronger than expected. No, inevitably strong.

The King of the Dwarves was throwing himself into nothing but pure offense, holding nothing back.

It wasn’t merely impatience to end the fight quickly. It was an action driven by a murderous intent to kill his enemy with every ounce of strength.

Bang! Bang! Boom!

Grondal did not stop, his face twisted in a savage expression. It was clear Tagmah intended to endure whatever counterattacks came, simply by taking them head-on.

Tagmah dealt with Grondal calmly.

‘When the flames rage hottest, sometimes the best method is to wait until they cool.’

After all, there was no urgency on his side.

The monsters and black mages they’d brought here were all expendable.

As long as the high priests survived, their victory was inevitable in the end.

Bang! Bang! Boom!

Grondal knew the bastard was buying time. Even so, he no longer cared.

Steel was not forged by one or two hammer strikes.

Tempering was the repetition of striking and quenching hundreds, thousands of times. Only when all those cycles accumulated did a true weapon emerge.

And so, the most vital virtue for any craftsman was patience.

He was ready to keep striking the enemy until he died. He would hammer away until that impurity called Tagmah was erased.

Bang! Bang! Boom!

Tagmah’s body kept being driven back. After spending a long time focused solely on defense, he finally opened his mouth.

“Grondal, ruler of Valskrum and King of the Great Dwarves. I offer my deepest respect for your astonishing strength.”

“Save your worthless words. All your flattery won’t keep your bones from being ground to dust. You’d better start getting ready to be flattened.”

“But your struggle ends here. We have prepared for a long time to trample this place.”

“You bastard, still got that mouth working, huh? So, you think you’ll succeed?”

“That is the will of God.”

Tagmah showed a sly smile. In that instant, Grondal felt an alien energy surging at his flank.

‘Damn.’

It was too late to block or dodge. He was using every last bit of his strength just to face Tagmah.

Kraaaaaaash!

“Guh!”

The sudden attack sent Grondal flying to the side.

Grondal clenched his teeth, drove his halberd into the ground, and forced himself back onto his feet.

Beside Tagmah, a middle-aged man in the same black robes was standing.

Grondal growled as he asked.

“And what are you supposed to be?”

“I am the hand preparing for the advent of the Black Revelation, the one proclaiming the Covenant, the one who has received the Third Blessing of His will and spreads it far and wide. I am the Prophet, Rahmod.”

Grondal shook with laughter. For a bunch of cult lunatics, they sure were absurdly self-important.

But one thing was clear, this new bastard was strong as well.

It looked like these bastards really had come here fully prepared.

“Kah! Ptoo!”

Spitting out a mouthful of blood, Grondal straightened his back with pride.

Nothing had changed. He has already been fighting with his life on the line. There was no reason to cower just because his enemies had doubled.

“Fine. Let’s fight until one of us dies today.”

The moment he finished speaking, the darkness emanating from Rahmod and Tagmah engulfed Grondal.

Kraaaaaaaaaash!

A massive shockwave like an explosion shook the heart of Valskrum.

Dust shot into the sky, and the earth screamed in protest.

But even within that chaos—

One dwarf, gripping his halberd, did not retreat.

* * *

“Hoo...”

Ghislain’s body descended to the ground.

As he opened his eyes, the storm of surging magical energy around him subsided.

He had expended every bit of mana he had gathered over several days with the Mana Concentration Array. Now he had to stop transferring mana to his comrades.

If he kept using mana, he wouldn’t be able to fight in the battles that truly mattered.

“Is everyone safe?”

— Julien, Ereneth, and Lionel have evacuated and are coming this way! They’ve put enough distance, so there’s no problem!

But in Dark’s report, one name was missing. Ghislain asked again.

“Kyle?”

— Well... the situation’s not good right now. The dwarves weren’t able to retreat properly, so he’s probably going to be caught.

Ghislain frowned. He couldn’t know the exact details, but it seemed things had gotten a bit more tangled than expected.

Right now, he wasn’t in any position to go help them. Already, formidable forces were clashing nearby.

‘It’s probably those so-called Prophets who showed up.’

He wasn’t certain if that Rahmod bastard he’d met before was among them. But he felt two presences strong enough to match.

And the one fighting them was likely the Dwarf King, Grondal.

Ghislain let out a quiet sigh and spoke.

“Tell Kyle to get out of there right away.”

He had planned to save and regroup as many people as possible, but perfection was never an option. From the start, he’d prepared without the dwarves’ cooperation.

No matter what happened, he couldn’t afford to lose Kyle here. If that happened, everything would be turned upside down.

They had bought at least some time, so he had to hope the dwarves could escape safely.

— Got it! I’m telling him now! He’ll be retreating any moment!

Ghislain grasped his staff. He turned to Deneb beside him and said,

“Let’s go.”

There was no time to hesitate. He had to join the battle now.

Wrapping an arm around Deneb, he soared high into the sky. He used scrying magic to quickly survey the situation.

Bang! Bang! Boom!

Near the royal fortress, Grondal was fighting two of the prophets.

Ghislain examined the two facing Grondal and identified one of them.

‘Rahmod.’

So that bastard really had come here. No doubt he intended to see this through no matter what.

Crash!

Even as he fought, Grondal was hurled backward over and over.

His body was already drenched in blood. The ground around him was turning red with all he had spilled.

But in his eyes, the fire still burned. If anything, he was more determined than ever, fighting on with unrelenting spirit.

Yet no matter how strong Grondal was, he couldn’t keep handling two Prophets alone.

He was already badly wounded and exhausted.

Watching the situation, Ghislain set Deneb down at some distance.

His figure then spread apart like black mist, dissolving into the air.

Pop.

He didn’t have to worry about making noise. The battlefield was already a sea of deafening sounds.

Suppressing his presence as much as possible, he began to move slowly.

Grondal was in danger, but acting recklessly would do no good.

Ssssh...

Ghislain quietly melted into the world itself.

He rode the currents of air and walked the spaces between light and shadow.

Slowly, like a hunter never stopping he closed in on his prey.

Like a wind drifting in so naturally that no one could guess where it came from...only realizing it was already there beside them.

Crash!

Grondal was knocked backward yet again. This time, he struggled to rise, coughing blood.

Tagmah and Rahmod stood before him.

The two were slightly weary, their clothes disheveled, but they showed no serious wounds.

“It’s over now. Dwarf King, Grondal.”

Tagmah and Rahmod reached out at the same time.

Powerful energy gathered in their hands.

All they had to do was release it and reduce Grondal to pieces. Then the war would be finished.

Just as they prepared to deliver the final blow—

Rahmod suddenly felt a chill run down his spine.

The back of his neck prickled, and every hair on his body stood on end.

He reflexively spun around.

Tagmah also sensed something unnatural and quickly turned his head.

And the two of them saw it.

From out of empty air, a sword suddenly emerged.

With no warning, that blade swung straight for them.

Slice!