Swordmaster's Youngest Son Novel - Chapter 818
Chapter 818
***
Satrin headed to the Tower’s basement. In the Tower’s basement, the Demon God Orb was located.
Meanwhile, on the flagship of the Red Fleet, Vilka Hon was assessing the Zipple fleet.
“As expected, except for that Kozec warship, the rest are simply mediocre. They are even inferior to the warships used by the Blue Legend Tribe.”
Vilka Hon said.
Since there was no Great King of Battle in the fleet that attacked the Tower of Stories, he, a First-Class King of Battle, was in command.
“I agree. Compatriot Vilka. Firepower, maneuverability, defense. They are no match for our fleet in any aspect.”
“It’s a pity. If you had been selected as the Great King of Battle, you could have led more warships and dealt them a considerable blow before retreating. But now, the number difference is too great, and there’s nothing we can do.”
The Red Legend Tribe’s technological superiority was a fact, but seventy couldn’t defeat five hundred.
Since their purpose was reconnaissance, Vilka was preparing to retreat.
“I will open the dimensional portal. Some of our compatriots have warned that there are also monstrous humans in Zipple. They could move suddenly, so we must remain vigilant until the end.”
Since Vilka’s fleet lacked a Great King of Battle, it would take much longer to open the dimensional portal.
“Red Legend!”
Zipple’s warships couldn’t easily penetrate the Red Fleet’s shields.
Their maneuverability was insufficient to surround the Red Fleet.
Therefore, Vilka and his crew felt a sense of superiority, but at the same time, a strange unease was creeping up on them.
‘But this is strange. Why haven’t the so-called “superhumans” joined the front lines until now? Did they plan to distribute the superhumans to other first-class Magic Towers, letting only the fleet defend the Tower of Stories? If that’s the case, it’s even more unfortunate that there isn’t any Compatriot Great King of Battle here.”
Vilka still didn’t know that Beradin, Satrin, and numerous members of the Spectre Corps and the Phantom Corps were inside the Tower.
Since they hadn’t joined the battle, there was no way he could know.
The unease Vilka felt turned into a terrible sense of crisis after about ten minutes had passed.
“The dimensional portal will open soon!”
“Prepare the fleet for retreat.”
“The dimensional portal is open! Oh, wait. Compatriot Vilka! Something is strange!”
“What are you talking about?”
“T-The dimensional portal is distorting…!”
Hearing those words, Vilka doubted his own ears, and in the next moment, he immediately checked the dimensional portal and had to doubt his own eyes.
Squeak, crack-!
Some unknown force was bending the dimensional portal open at the rear of the fleet.
The portal could only maintain a perfect circular shape for a very brief moment.
“What’s happening!”
“I don’t know. Both the configuration and the required power seem to be fine, but what the hell is this…!”
Among the Red Legend Tribe members who attacked the Tower of Stories, no one had experienced such a phenomenon before.
‘I’ve heard that some of our compatriots have seen the Blue Legend Tribe’s God of Battle blocking a dimensional portal, but it certainly wasn’t like that. Distorting it is one thing, but tearing it apart?’
The dimensional portal was already tearing apart into several pieces, disrupting the airspace. The torn portal looked as if it was mocking them.
[Red Legend Tribe, are you ready to pay the price for daring to attack Zipple?]
A voice came from the torn dimensional portal.
It was Beradin’s voice.
Vilka could feel his entire body trembling with fear, and reflexively, he checked the Tower of Stories.
“W-When did it change like that?”
Unlike before, the Tower was now split in two vertically.
In the center, there was a massive round object that resembled an eye.
It was the Demon God Orb.
Hiyee…
In an instant, the Demon God Orb’s black face contorted, emitting unsettling breathing sounds.
Unlike during the Sword Emperor Castle War or the Evil God War, the Demon God Orb only had an empty eye socket this time.
As the Red Legend Tribe members made eye contact with the Demon God Orb’s single eye, they froze in place, like beasts facing their mortal enemy.
Vilka scratched his neck, barely managing to produce a voice.
Even though a piece of flesh was torn from his neck, he couldn’t feel any pain due to the overwhelming fear.
“Spe, speed up! We must retreat from the battlefield by flying at maximum speed!”
If the Red Fleet retreated at full speed, the Zipple fleet could never catch them.
Therefore, Vilka decided they needed to escape to a place where the Demon God Orb wasn’t visible.
However, even as he gave the order, Vilka couldn’t have any certainty.
Valka didn’t know about the fleet, but that terrible entity seemed unlikely to leave them alone.
The Demon God Orb’s abilities and dangers were unknown, but Vilka knew one thing for sure: it wasn’t an object his fleet could handle.
The Red Legends urgently supplied lightning energy to the power source.
They felt that if they didn’t get away from the Demon God Orb at this moment, death was the only fate that awaited them.
Or perhaps, they feared the terror of paying a price even worse than death.
They couldn’t become the Immortal warriors, of course, but they could become experimental subjects and suffer unspeakable horrors.
[They must have thought they could escape at any time using the dimensional portal. However, this is the Tower of Stories. Unless I allow it, no one can do anything here.]
As the Red Fleet attempted to increase its speed, a human figure emerged from the torn dimensional portal at the front of the flagship.
It was Beradin Zippel, the Patriarch of Zipple.
Hroti was surrounded by flames.
Those flames instantly spread, creating a massive wall of fire, preventing the Red Fleet from advancing any further.
It was evident that the entire warship would melt.
Beradin remained suspended in the air with an expressionless face.
With a single movement of Hroti, the firepower focused and incinerated the Red Fleet’s flagship.
Around twenty crew members turned to ash, and almost half of the warship’s structure disappeared, but the flagship remained fixed in place due to Beradin’s mana, preventing it from crashing.
After Beradin put away Hroti, the front of the command bridge was completely obliterated.
The crew members sitting in front of Vilka were reduced to ash or melted, meeting their demise.
He wasn’t human.
Or, he wasn’t mortal.
Only beings endowed with the power of the sun’s immortality could wield such authority.
Vilka thought so and could barely look at Beradin’s face.
Beradin walked confidently through the air, entering the command bridge.
[What is your name?]
“Vilka… Hon. A First-Class King of Battle of the Red Legend Tribe.”
[What is your purpose for coming here?]
“Ugh… reconnaissance…”
[What do you have to do from now on?]
“Return… and report the situation…”
Vilka trembled with agony and drooled.
With each question from Beradin, his fear-filled eyes gradually turned white.
[I will ask you again. What do you have to do from now on?]
“Return… No, deliver information to Zipple… about us. What are you doing to me, aaargh?!”
Crack!
Suddenly, Vilka’s right arm twisted in a grotesque way.
This wasn’t what Beradin intended.
[Oh, no. Did I go too far?]
Beradin was manipulating Vilka’s memories, will, and even history as “Vilka Hon” using the Demon God Orb.
However, his manipulation wasn’t as precise as he wanted, causing an overload.
Beradin gritted his teeth and sighed.
‘I see, he resisted the manipulation to the point of contorting his body. If I hadn’t lost my father and Sheenu, I might have been more successful.’
When Beradin released the “manipulation” he was applying, Vilka slumped forward, gasping for air.
He had no memory of what he had just said, or why his right arm was twisted.
Moreover, there was severe damage to his memories and the depths of his mind.
‘Why am I here? What’s happening right now… I was in a battle? Who is this human? Did I really get defeated by a human? Why do I feel this overwhelming fear?’
Beradin immediately noticed Vilka’s horrified state and sighed.
[What is your name?]
“Vilka… Hon…”
[Are you the First-Class King of Battle of the Red Legend Tribe?]
Vilka nodded slowly.
‘He remembers his name, affiliation, and rank. Luckily, the damage isn’t too severe. I almost ruined a valuable resource. While he may not be a Great King of Battle, as the commanding officer, he should still have access to valuable information.’
It seemed that Beradin was testing him.
Beradin applied manipulation to the ordinary warrior who was kneeling next to Vilka.
The warrior responded with his name, but before he could answer more, his neck was twisted, and he died.
On the other side, the Second-Class King of Battle managed to resist a little longer before showing signs of resistance.
‘It seems that First-Class Kings of Battle or a similar rank are capable of resisting the pressure of manipulation to a certain extent. It seems that the Red Legend Tribe members have some level of resistance… “
In that case, he would need to take his time and carefully manipulate the First-Class King of Battle to gather information, while the others could be subjected to interrogation.
With this conclusion, Beradin turned around.
[Confine everyone in the Tower’s basement. Isolate the Kings of Battle separately. The warships should have devices installed to prevent technology leaks. Self-destruction is the most likely scenario, so keep them waiting on the Theia Plains until the best engineers arrive.]
“Understood.”
Each fleet commander responded from inside their respective warships. Beradin could hear all their voices.
[And the second and third fleets immediately retreat and provide support to the Spectre Captain as quickly as possible.]
After giving the orders, Beradin staggered for a moment and spat blood.
‘I guess I overexerted myself. I put on a pathetic appearance.’
Then, he turned and looked at the rocky area far from the Tower of Stories.
After opening the Demon God Orb, Beradin had made sure there was a group observing him from there.
Among that group, Jin was clearly present.
“…Sir Owal. Beradin just noticed us.”
“Under these conditions and at this distance, even if it were Cyron-nim, he shouldn’t be able to detect my stealth. But I felt chills… Is it the Demon God Orb’s power?”
Unlike Owal, Jin wasn’t particularly surprised by the fact that Beradin had noticed them.
After all, not much was known about the Demon God Orb’s abilities and limitations.
The same went for when the tower opened and the Red Legend Tribe was subdued.
It was simply bitter to see his friend gradually drifting away from humanity.
“Well, I want to go there and beat him up until he comes to his senses, but for now, it would be better to retreat.”
“Understood. I prepare to retreat.”
As Owal made the preparations, Jin and Beradin looked at each other without averting their gaze.