Chapter 86: Incarnation of War (5)
Kudududud…
As the ground began to crack and collapse, Vladimir’s massive form lost all footing.
Kwaduk— Kuoong!
On top of that, the war machine continued its relentless assault.
“Huu…”
Vladimir’s entire body was torn to shreds, blood pouring from countless wounds, bones broken to the point where standing properly was nearly impossible.
Mentally exhausted, he could have fainted at any moment.
Of course, the war machine was also dented and cracked in places, but compared to Vladimir, it was still in relatively good condition.
It was a robot—lacking stamina or mental fatigue.
Moreover, with its flight capability, it held an overwhelmingly advantageous high ground in this collapsing terrain.
Shuuuu—
The war machine ascended into the air and extended its fist toward Vladimir.
Pishuuung!
The fist detached and rocketed forward like a missile.
Kwaang!
Even in his exhausted state, Vladimir swung his fist in counterattack, but the shaking ground threw off his balance.
Pueok!
It toyed with him like a fly buzzing around, striking from every angle.
Vladimir kept his head lowered in a defensive stance, enduring blow after blow.
Then, just as the ground seemed ready to explode at any second, everything suddenly stopped.
It felt as though time itself had frozen—yet he could still move.
The war machine, however, appeared affected by whatever force had halted time; it could barely move.
Even the rocket fist that had been tormenting him hung motionless in midair.
A thought flashed through Vladimir’s mind: this was the last chance granted by the heavens.
Tz-tz-tz-tz—
He had always saved mana for the final moment out of sheer habit.
Gathering every last drop remaining in his mana vessel, along with the residual mana flowing through his veins—
Shusss… Kwaaaaa—
Blue mana enveloped his entire body as he exploded upward like a missile toward the war machine.
The war machine tried to resist the unknown force pressing down on it.
Dududuk— Dudud…
Its arms trembled violently but refused to lift. Even detaching its remaining fist proved impossible.
In an instant, Vladimir’s fist reached the war machine’s face.
Kwaaaaaang!
A spherical burst of blue light exploded outward in midair.
Ku-hwaaaaa—
The surrounding air vibrated violently. Ruins shattered, and stone fragments flew everywhere.
As the blue smoke rapidly cleared, the war machine’s chest was revealed—blown open with a massive hole.
Pababang! Tudududu…
Chain explosions erupted across its body, scattering parts and wreckage to the ground.
Having poured every last bit of mana into that strike, Vladimir’s giantification released instantly, returning him to his normal size.
Kuoong!
He crashed to the ground, sprawling flat on his back.
Though Vladimir was 1.5 to 2 times larger than an average adult male, at this moment he looked utterly small and frail.
Yet as he watched the war machine explode in the sky, a faint smile crept across his lips.
Defeating the Red Knight would have been more meaningful, but taking down even one war machine was deeply satisfying.
The Creep still clung to the ground, but he had no energy left to care.
He didn’t even have the strength to twitch a finger.
As his eyelids grew heavy and he thought that dying like this would be fine—
Kwarrrrr—
A pure white bolt of lightning struck right between his legs.
“……!”
The sharp jolt to his groin snapped his eyes wide open.
Tilting his head slightly, he saw a sword embedded between his thighs.
His vision was blurry, but it looked familiar—something he had seen before.
―How pathetic. Get up already. Do you plan to lie there helplessly even as your world falls to ruin?
Hearing the chattering voice, he realized it was indeed the sword the Korean hunter had summoned before the battle began.
―In this world, aside from the wandering swordsman who accompanies me and that lovely lady, everyone else is just weak humans.
Stung by the word “weak,” Vladimir gritted his teeth and forced his upper body upright.
He carelessly grabbed the Creep clinging to his body.
Pukwaak—
And ripped it off, tossing it aside.
The Heavenly Thunder Divine Sword flew off somewhere with a whoosh.
Following it with his eyes, Vladimir saw something unfolding before him.
Jin-young carefully examined the silver sword now brimming with demonic energy.
The red energy that had once protected the Red Knight was completely absent.
Ever since he shattered the energy barrier surrounding the Red Knight, no additional energy reactions had appeared.
In other words, the Red Knight could not regenerate that red energy on his own.
Jin-young had briefly considered extracting the energy and treating it like Cyclic energy, but it seemed impossible.
“At least this one doesn’t talk.”
Jin-young muttered while inspecting the Red Knight’s silver sword.
Of course, the Heavenly Thunder Divine Sword had also kept its ego hidden until Shin Soo-jeong reinforced it, so he couldn’t be too hasty in judgment.
Still, after thoroughly probing it with psionic energy, he found nothing particularly unusual.
『I agree. That unpleasant force I felt from that damned Demonic Sword is nowhere to be found here.』
The tentacle remarked.
It used to describe it differently—not quite so harshly—but its opinion seemed to have soured over time.
Jin-young applied pressure to the silver sword with psionic energy, much like squeezing divine power out of the gray orb.
Kwadududud… Pu-hwaaaaak!
The sword trembled violently, spewing demonic energy.
Jjeoeoeok—
A spatial rift tore open before him, and a massive gray barrier materialized.
It was the exact same barrier the Red Knight had summoned earlier when Jin-young redirected the missiles.
“This is…”
Jin-young felt a sense of déjà vu.
“It looks like the same color and material as the ships in the space fleet the Red Knight summoned.”
Shin Soo-jeong nodded at her own words.
“Seems like it’s probably a fragment of one of those massive ships.”
A colossal vessel capable of shrugging off the mana explosions from missiles.
Likely the strongest among the space fleet the Red Knight could summon.
Shupat!
The massive ship barrier appeared only briefly before the rift closed again and it vanished.
Probably because he had forcibly squeezed it out of the silver sword.
The sword itself was still saturated with demonic energy, much like the Black Knight’s artifact, the Golden Scale—requiring a purification process.
Just as he was about to store it in subspace—
Tz-tz-tz—
The Red Knight emitted demonic energy and tried to move.
Kwaduduk!
Jin-young immediately pinned him to the ground with psychokinesis.
“Stay still. I still have things to do.”
『How… How can an ordinary human possess this level of power…?』
The Red Knight muttered, overwhelmed by the sheer gap in strength.
Jin-young turned to Shin Soo-jeong.
“Can you reinforce the Red Knight for me?”
“Got it.”
Shin Soo-jeong cautiously approached the immobilized Red Knight.
Even though Jin-young had him bound, the unease was natural.
The restraint wasn’t visible like ropes, and being physically bound didn’t prevent mana release.
Still, she trusted that any attack would be stopped by Jin-young.
Reaching the Red Knight, Shin Soo-jeong activated her All Things Enhancement ability.
Shuuu— Pat!
Blue mana enveloped his body and was instantly absorbed inward.
The red energy barrier had previously blocked reinforcement, but now, defenseless, it took hold perfectly.
The reason Jin-young wanted the Red Knight reinforced was simple.
Mana stone enhancement.
Normally, All Things Enhancement couldn’t strengthen completed mana stones or the brains and hearts of already-dead monsters.
But if a monster was reinforced before being killed, the enhanced parts could be obtained as loot.
Tz-tz-tz-tz…
The Red Knight’s appearance didn’t change dramatically, but the demonic energy within him grew denser, radiating an even more menacing aura.
The moment Shin Soo-jeong stepped back—
Ku-hwaaaaak—
The demonic energy the Red Knight exhaled transformed into a pitch-black spear aimed straight at her.
But—
Kwarrrrrr!
A sword streaked in like a beam of light, tearing the demonic spear apart as it passed.
Pssss…
The spear dissolved into smoke and scattered.
―I came to save you, my lady.
“Ah, thank you.”
Shin Soo-jeong gave an awkward smile and thanked the Heavenly Thunder Divine Sword.
“No need to thank me. As one of the finest swords among famous blades, I merely did what was expected of me. Once today’s business is concluded, perhaps a cup of white wine together…”
“Take the bear and get out of the contaminated zone. I still have some business with the Red Knight.”
Jin-young brushed aside the chattering Heavenly Thunder Divine Sword and spoke to Shin Soo-jeong.
“I really don’t want to touch Zhukov, but there’s no helping it. I’ll go ahead and wait.”
After Shin Soo-jeong left, only the Heavenly Thunder Divine Sword and the variant remained by Jin-young’s side.
The variant had no choice but to endure the Heavenly Thunder Divine Sword’s endless chatter, while Jin-young faced the Red Knight alone.
The Red Knight still radiated fierce demonic energy, staring at Jin-young with eyes full of fighting spirit.
Truly worthy of being called the Incarnation of War.
Tz-tz-tz…
He continuously emitted demonic energy, attempting something, but each time it was extinguished by Jin-young’s psychokinesis.
Thanks to his psionic energy having advanced another stage, Jin-young barely needed to exert himself.
With just a slight flick of his finger—exaggerating only a little—he could crush the Red Knight.
But he kept him alive for now because there was information to be gained.
Jin-young immediately extended his hand and activated Black Thunder.
Kwarrrrrr!
Black lightning pierced straight through the Red Knight’s head, violently scrambling his mind.
At the same time, the tentacle stretched out and removed the dense demonic energy filling the Red Knight’s mental world.
It was the same method used on the Black Knight, but this time—without Legacy energy protecting him—it was far easier.
The red light in the Red Knight’s eyes faded, replaced by a faint blue glow.
『How strange. To think a human like you exists even in a dimension such as this.』
The Red Knight still retained his belligerence, but his mind had cleared somewhat.
His words were sincere.
According to the information obtained from the Black Knight earlier, the Red Knight must have been the strongest being in his destroyed dimension.
“Why did your dimension fall?”
At Jin-young’s question, the Red Knight seemed to recall the past.
『I was the admiral of the strongest fleet in the universe.』
And suddenly he began introducing himself.
Since Jin-young hadn’t placed him under mental domination, he started speaking freely.
To summarize: he had been a human from a dimension filled with countless planets, civilizations, and species.
He had commanded the most powerful fleet in that universe—the very reason he could summon missiles and space ships.
The super-massive ship used as a barrier had been his flagship; summoning it to Earth would require an astronomical amount of power.
“I have more than enough power, so all that’s left is taming the sword. But you still haven’t answered how the destruction began.”
When Jin-young pressed again, the Red Knight replied.
『We were arrogant and foolish. We never considered that there were things we should never touch. We believed we could handle anything. And we paid a harsh price for it.』
“What did you touch?”
Jin-young finally focused intently, sensing the long-awaited answer.
『A planet that perished long, long ago. There lies a cursed ruin left behind by an ultra-ancient civilization. And idle humans who thought themselves clever began exploring that ruin.』
At the word “ruin,” Jin-young suddenly recalled his memories from Renard.
The ancient temple where he first discovered Legacy energy.
He had touched that ruin as well, yet nothing happened.
It was probably a different kind from the one in the Red Knight’s dimension.
『After that…』
The Red Knight trailed off, as if he couldn’t quite remember. His eyes gradually grew vacant—perhaps his memories had been forcibly erased.
Like how the Black Knight had lost his mind when trying to recall the entity behind the destruction.
Jin-young sensed that this was as far as the Red Knight could go.
At that moment.
―Have you, too, encountered the Heavenly Demon?
The Heavenly Thunder Divine Sword, which had flown over unnoticed, spoke to the Red Knight.
『Heavenly… Demon…?』
The next instant.
Bureuk— Burururuk—
The Red Knight’s head began to swell grotesquely, as though it would burst.
But instead of exploding, it transformed into a massive eyeball.
_____________________________________________
TL Note:
Want 54 extra chapters ahead + 9 chapters/week? Join My Patreon for early access:
Link: https://www.patreon.com/cw/Vritratls
For this novel specifically, check the collection under “Transcendent Psychic Regressor (TPR)”
Also all my other translated novels additional chapters are available on Premium Tier.
Appreciate all the support! ❤️
_____________________________________________