Chapter 529

Thump...

Ignoring the distinct echo of chaos that pulsed for a moment, Ian swung his arm through to the very end.

Slice—

The arc of the brilliant yellow Light Sword sliced completely through Nehat. Ian completed his spin, moving past Nehat before finally lowering his stance and sliding to a halt.

Screech—

He didn’t forget to slam his Platinum Barrier into the ground to maintain his balance. Of course, Nehat could not do the same.

Gush—

Her upper body, diagonally severed from waist to chest, was separated from her lower half, spinning with the momentum of her charge. It was torn away along with the arm she had been swinging.

Crash—

Nehat’s torso landed among the rubble, tumbling grotesquely as it spewed blood and severed organs from the cross-section.

Thud… scrape…

Her lower body, meanwhile, continued to run a few more steps on its own before belatedly collapsing forward and sliding across the ground, spilling a bouquet of blood and entrails from above the waist.

"------!"

It was only then that Nehat, her head thrown back against the ground, began to let out a piercing shriek. Like many demons or corrupted beings who had accumulated great power, she did not die even after being sliced in two.

Swoosh—

An ash-gray mist poured out from Nehat’s torso like a flood.

So damn loud..

He stood up, retracting his Platinum Barrier. He had stopped as quickly as possible, but Nehat’s upper body was a fair distance away. Her lower half, of course, was even farther.

Thump… Thump…

As the essence bead resonated, Ian started walking, his eyes locked on Nehat's screaming torso, which continued to spew the gray mist.

"----!"

All reason had vanished from the crimson, cross-shaped glint in Nehat’s eyes. Her upper and lower body parts, along with the exposed, twitching organs that looked disturbingly alive, crawled slowly toward each other through the billowing mist.

It was clear that, given enough time, they would eventually merge back into one. Feral madness would likely overwhelm her, though her physical body would be repaired.

"-----!"

"----!"

Realizing something was wrong with Nehat, roars echoed chaotically from beyond the Glacier Wall. The reddish silhouettes reflected on the wall were still moving violently.

Ian, however, didn’t spare them a single glance.

He instead strode into the thick, cloying gray mist. He didn’t know when it might explode again, but he didn’t care. Killing Nehat for good was more important. Besides, it wasn’t as if the explosion would be powerful enough to kill him.

Thump… Thump…

More grating than Nehat’s screams or the sticky mist was the thrumming of the essence bead, which was growing clearer and more rhythmic. A faint red divinity still flickered around Ian, but the bead of chaos essence pulsed on as if it didn’t matter.

Well, it’s not like Karha would care either.

Of course, that didn’t mean he had any intention of absorbing Nehat’s chaos. Perhaps when his level was higher, but until then, he would not accept any more power from the void. One experience of being consumed by chaos was enough.

As he walked without stopping, Ian’s brow suddenly furrowed.

He realized that Nehat’s upper and lower bodies were now converging at an accelerating rate. It wasn’t just because she was clawing her way forward with her newly regenerated left arm and her freshly severed right. The more the mist billowed and spread, the stronger the pull between the two halves seemed to become.

Rumble…

Just then, Nehat’s torso stopped dead. Then, it was dragged backward, her lower half flailing helplessly.

"-----!" Nehat let out a convulsive scream, her severed arms flailing.

The pull on her suddenly snapped like a thread, and she collapsed again. She had shaken off the Willful Grasp. However, it no longer mattered. Ian had already reached her.

Nehat’s cross-shaped glint instinctively turned toward him. Looking down at her with sunken eyes, Ian raised his Light Sword.

Just as the blade was about to descend upon her neck, it paused, and a deep line formed between Ian’s brows.

This is…

A quest window had appeared before his eyes. In fact, there was more than one. Frowning, Ian quickly scanned the contents of the quests that had popped up in succession.

Fwoosh—

The tar-like gray mist erupted like a fountain, swallowing Ian whole.

However, there was no impact or pain. Instead, a strange sense of weightlessness enveloped him, along with the sticky chill unique to chaos. The quest windows that had filled his vision vanished on their own.

So this is why the essence bead was making such a noise.

Ian wasn’t confused. On the contrary, he gave a silent, dry laugh and stared blankly at the endless waves of mist before him. He had immediately realized this was an event cut scene. The quests he had just received made it obvious.

Woosh…

The waves of gray mist churned like an ocean. Beyond them, a deeper, shadow-like glint of light faintly emerged, forming a cross.

Swoosh—

The moment he recognized the source of that gaze, Ian’s consciousness was flung out, as if shot past the mist.

The sound of wind rushed past his ears, and the chaotic tomb village spread out below him. He felt like a bird flying over the battlefield. The first thing that came into focus was the thick, curving wall of ice.

"-----!"

"------!"

As his perspective soared over the wall, he saw the beastfolk warriors, heads thrown back, howling. The gray mist wreathed all of them as their feral nature consumed them. They were scattered in various positions; some were pinning down other blood-soaked warriors.

They must have gone berserk the moment Ian received the quests.

"Ian?"

Thesaya’s voice brushed past his ear. It was a small, murmured whisper, but to Ian, it was clear. The mere act of acknowledging her brought her form into sharp focus.

Thesaya was standing at the rear, looking up at the sky beyond the wall. The worm-like veins twitching around her eyes showed she was continuously channeling magic into the spell. Reflected in her shimmering blue eyes was the towering gray vortex in the sky.

So that’s what it looks like from the outside.

As the thought crossed his mind, Ian’s perspective moved past Thesaya. Next came Palmer, Idris, and the other tail-severed beastfolks.

They all bore injuries, large and small, and clutched blood-stained weapons, clear signs they had been fighting. Now, however, they had stopped and were staring blankly in the same direction as Thesaya.

"Phew…Phew…"

The same was true for Charlotte, who was panting heavily, wreathed in a blazing red divinity. Standing alone on two feet amidst the screaming beastfolks, her condition was incomparably worse than anyone else’s. Her armor was almost completely shredded, revealing the black-furred skin, which was covered in countless new bite marks, scratches, and gashes.

Swoosh…

A faint golden light still shimmered around her, but it didn’t seem capable of healing all her wounds at once. Of course, it was also possible that the elixir’s effects were simply wearing off.

She’s so damn stubborn.

Ian swallowed a laugh. There was no winning against sheer numbers, but if she had simply killed the feral beastfolks, she wouldn’t have ended up in such a state. She was currently blessed by the God of Battle, after all.

She must have been trying to subdue them without killing them, cutting off their tails instead. Indeed, there were beastfolks scattered about with their tails severed, likely knocked unconscious from the shock, just as Charlotte herself had once been. Their faces were beaten to a pulp, but that was certainly better than being dead.

"Ian," Charlotte murmured, her red eyes blazing.

At that moment, Ian’s vision was sucked back into the heart of the mist. The deep gray glint of light, darker than the mist itself, still shimmered like a mirage in the distance. It was Kruxica, without a doubt.

Just then, the quest windows reappeared.

It’s been a while since I've had a choice…

[Domination] and [Seclusion].

Ian carefully read through the two quests. Just as when he had killed the Twisted Ancient Tree, he was being given a choice.

Did I gain the qualification by killing Inaskurgl and absorbing its chaos?

Choosing the first option, Domination, would allow Ian to command Nehat’s minions. He would also receive an additional reward called Grace of the Wild, though it was unclear if it was a skill or an item. There was, of course, a question mark as well.

It might mean forming a domain with Nehat as a sacrifice.

Choosing the second option, Seclusion, would return all the chaos in the area to the void and, in turn, completely seal away Kruxica. This would likely prevent her from ever influencing the beastfolks again.

The reward was one skill point and an additional boost to stats that couldn’t be quantified on the status window, like natural recovery and various resistances. This option, too, had a question mark.

If I do as I please, you might be very disappointed, Kruxica.

Even though he had already decided, Ian glanced back at the glint of light shimmering beyond the waves of mist.

Of course, there was no reply. Only a very faint, almost weary-sounding breath tickled his consciousness, as if telling him to get it over with so they could rest.

If that’s what you want.

Ian’s gaze returned to the quest window. The choice had been made from the start—Seclusion.

Thump, thump—

The moment he accepted the quest, the thrumming of the essence bead became deafeningly clear. Almost simultaneously, the churning sea of mist rotated in a spiral centered on him. Threads of purple light unraveled and mixed into it—his chaos, likely released by the bead of chaos essence.

Whoosh—

The vortex of mist, now mixed with purple, instantly intensified into a violent storm. However, beyond it, the shimmering glint of Kruxica’s presence remained unchanged. It flickered serenely, as if accepting the situation, before being swept away and scattered by the vortex.

Sorry about this.

Unlike the other ancient gods of the void, he didn’t hold much of a grudge against Kruxica. In fact, he felt a little sorry for them and even a slight sense of kinship.

Just then, a low, purring breath shook his consciousness.

Roar—

Ian realized the swirling vortex was rising like a waterspout. And above him, a great abyss had opened up, like the eye of the storm. From beyond it, he could feel a massive presence whose exact size and nature he couldn’t discern. Of course, Ian already knew what it was.

The faint, ash-gray glint flickered in the center of the abyss for a moment.

Rumble, rumble, rumble…

The hole shrank at an incredible speed from its edges, the rising purple vortex filling the gap. It felt as if it were being paved over with purple-tinged asphalt.

The next moment, sensation returned to his body. Ian realized he had been staring up at the sky. The storm clouds, which had been swirling in a pattern identical to the vortex of mist, were now losing their shape and calming, like a storm subsiding.

In the center of it all, a quest completion window floated.

Whoosh—

A cool wind brushed against his face. Closing the window, Ian finally lowered his head.

Swaaaa…

Before him, the Glacier Wall was dissolving from the top down, as if evaporating. The area beyond it was submerged in a silence that belied the earlier chaos.

It was only then that Ian realized he was standing on a small hill. It was a mound formed from the village debris. The vortex of mist that had swallowed him must have sucked in all the nearby rubble.

The details, of course, didn’t matter.

What mattered was that, thanks to the hill, he now had a clear, unobstructed view of the scene beyond the wall.