#118

The time that had seemed to stop began to flow again. As the slowly scattered images gathered one by one, Cullen regained his senses. His stomach churned, but moving was the priority.

Drawing his sword, he rushed towards Ulli and Ruena. Blood began to spurt from the severed neck, splashing everywhere. With a thud, the fallen head rolled once and stopped at Cullen’s feet.

Such was the immense power that bone and flesh were cleanly separated. Despite having seen countless corpses, this scene made Cullen struggle in an unusually difficult way. He suppressed his rising emotions and tried to retrieve Ruena’s head. But the woman did not let him.

A sharp chill from behind pierced Cullen’s nape. He quickly twisted his body away from the encroaching killing intent. The circular blade that had instantly sliced through Ruena returned to the woman’s hand. It was like a magically imbued weapon, similar to the one Tito carried.

“You don’t have time for that while I’m in front of you, Larkan.”

This speed was unprecedented. An instinctive shiver ran down Cullen’s spine. If he had been even a moment slower, he would have surely been sent flying somewhere.

Slowly, Cullen raised his head and examined his opponent. A tall figure, similar to Kihelene, black gloves covering her wrists, and finally, her tied-up green hair were familiar. It was the woman he had found in the salon.

At a glance, he had thought she was his equal or even weaker. But that moving blade was a variable. Was the rapier she wore at her waist not her main weapon?

Thinking so, he checked her waist, and the rapier was still there.

“You said you were a master!”

As Cullen created distance and faced her, Ulli shouted. Red patterns blazed on the wrist holding the greatsword. She was drenched in Ruena’s blood. Shock and anger were etched across her pale face.

“You…”

The woman, who was undoubtedly Junon, observed Ulli calmly. More precisely, her gaze was fixed on Pantel, which Ulli was holding.

“Where did you get that? I thought Pantel had disappeared.”

She even knew Pantel’s name. But instead of answering, Ulli tightened his grip on his left arm, carrying Ruena, and shouted.

“How could you kill your master like this!”

He didn’t want Ulli to exert himself, but given the situation, there was no other way for now. Cullen glanced at Kiyen. He stood there, holding his hand, with the same dazed expression as before.

“Lord Kiyen.”

He called out to him cautiously, but there was no response. Cullen gritted his teeth and looked at Lasano, who was beside him.

“Lasano, I need your help for a moment.”

Lasano, who had been observing Junon and Ulli, nodded. Cullen approached Ulli from behind, intending to take Ruena.

“Ulli, you can put him down.”

Ulli shook his head while remaining wary of Junon. The shock seemed to be too great.

“It’s alright. Lasano and I need to heal him. So, Ulli.”

Only after hearing the word ‘heal’ did Ulli loosen his grip. Cullen took Ruena and laid him down.

Lasano picked up Ruena’s head from where it lay at Cullen’s feet. He looked skeptical, but he approached Cullen and brought the head to the brutally separated torso. Silver light began to flow from Lasano’s hand. But nothing changed. As Lasano had expected, he shook his head.

“As I told you before, even the High Priest cannot survive this situation. I am no different.”

Then, Junon, who had been watching them, said indifferently.

“That’s right. It’s useless. If the head is severed, even the High Priest dies.”

She pulled up her leather gloves and began to walk slowly towards Ulli.

“Besides, Master used a lot of her strength. She’s no longer the goddess’s favored High Priest, so she wouldn’t have that much healing power. You’d be better off paying more attention to me than wasting your time.”

Then Junon glanced at Kiyen. A look of curiosity flickered in her eyes.

“Is that a Dragon? It looks weaker than I heard? And what’s with its condition?”

Even though she spoke as if it were amusing, Kiyen showed no reaction. Cullen realized she was a little different from the others. Tito had become enraged the moment he recognized Kiyen’s identity, but Junon did not.

“You must be Junon.”

As Junon approached, Cullen stood up. He pushed Lasano next to Ruena, then stood in front of Kiyen, beside Ulli. Seeing the two with their swords drawn, Junon laughed.

“Master must have told you quite a bit. Yes, I am Junon.”

Ulli seemed unable to tolerate Junon calling Ruena her master. She drew Pantel and stepped past Cullen. The corners of her eyes flickered red, as if Pantel’s power was gradually taking hold of her.

“How can you call him master after killing him so brutally?”

“Because he is my master. Even though he abandoned Iris and us, and did all sorts of things to interfere with us, that fact doesn’t change.”

Junon, who had been speaking calmly, changed her demeanor the moment she finished speaking. Her gaze sharpened instantly, and she threw the circular sword towards Ulli.

“But you, rat, you’re not answering me!”

With a shout, she lunged at Ulli. As the sword moved erratically, grazing Ulli, Junon drew her rapier. Before Cullen could intervene, Ulli moved. She kicked off the ground powerfully, deflected the moving sword with Pantel, and charged straight at Junon.

Clang!

A loud noise echoed. Junon blocked Ulli’s massive greatsword with her thin rapier. A gust of wind erupted from where they collided.

“Unexpected. Pantel accepted you? To give its heart to a weakling like you, Akesis will be disappointed.”

Junon spoke as if she hadn’t expected it. Her tone, as if she knew Akesis, was irritating, but Cullen didn’t have a chance to ask. Junon evaded Ulli’s heavy attack and plunged straight inside. The long blade seemed poised to pierce Ulli’s abdomen at any moment.

“Ulli!”

At Cullen’s call, Ulli quickly retreated backward and stabbed Pantel into the ground. The ground cracked under the immense force, creating a fissure all the way to where Junon stood. The floor trembled for a moment.

“Lord Cullen, the ground might collapse. Considering the explosion underground earlier, if the foundation of the castle crumbles like this…”

Lasano, who was assessing the situation, spoke. Cullen replied.

“We can’t leave until we kill her.”

Saying so, he joined the fight to help Ulli. Ulli was relentlessly pursuing Junon, who had retreated. At first glance, Junon seemed to be on the defensive, but she was merely deflecting Ulli’s strength, not meeting it head-on. While Ulli might have been stronger, Junon was more skilled.

While Ulli was solely focused on Junon, the forgotten circular sword flew towards Ulli. The moment he spotted Junon smiling, Cullen leaped into the fray.

Then, he quickly swung his sword, deflecting the circular blade. With a ‘clang!’ sound, the circular sword veered off course.

“Ulli, you have to watch out for the other sword too!”

Cullen shouted. Then Ulli cried out.

“It’s impossible! Pantel, it’s not… listening to me!”

“Of course. I’m here.”

Junon cackled. The circular sword flew towards Ulli again, and Cullen quickly deflected it. After deflecting it twice in a row, Cullen’s longsword cracked. Whatever material it was made of, it wasn’t something Cullen’s sword could withstand.

“Unlike you, who have lived comfortably in this land, we had to survive in a scorching land with only the sun. You, who enjoyed peace in the goddess’s embrace, have no right to wield that!”

Her words were nonsensical. The moment Cullen frowned, the circular sword flew towards him. He twisted his body to dodge, but the sword tenaciously changed direction. It followed him as if alive, and he struck it with all his might. At the same time, Cullen’s sword finally broke.

“What the hell are you talking about!”

Ulli struggled, trying to control Pantel. Junon laughed, looking at Cullen holding his broken sword and Ulli struggling. Then she widened the distance and removed her gloves.

“Humans of this land, you truly know nothing. Did you think no one lived on the island where Akesis was sealed?”

“What…”

He tried to ask what she meant, but the circular sword surged. He had no way to block the blade that grazed his nape and had no choice but to dodge. A thin line of blood appeared on his neck.

“If you said something I could understand, I’d answer, damn it!”

Ulli touched Pantel’s blade with his hand, feeding it more blood. However, instead of listening to her, Pantel began to hum.

Then, something strange happened. Pantel, which only moved for Ulli, flew towards Junon. She reached out as if she had been waiting and snatched the greatsword. Ulli’s eyes widened as he looked at her.

“Pantel, what are you doing?”

Junon answered her, as if greatly surprised.

“Do you know what weapons from Dark Island look like? Have you ever thought about it? It’s strange. The way it acts as if it has a will.”

Junon, holding Pantel, stroked the greatsword tenderly. A deep longing appeared on her face.

“Pantel is my brother’s name. The weapons we use, scattered everywhere, were once people.”

Cullen frowned at the unbelievable words.

“…What do you mean?”

Junon gazed at Cullen. Following her gaze, the circular sword that had been pursuing Cullen flew towards Junon. In the process, it aimed for Cullen’s neck, forcing him to roll.

“The land where Akesis’s creations were confined originally had people living there. My ancestors, my mother’s parents, and the villagers who lived there….”

She affectionately stroked the returned circular sword with her hand.

“One day, the sun that never set was buried, and the island’s people faced an untimely disaster. They were torn apart and eaten by those who followed Akesis, and the surviving humans hid, eating only their flesh, struggling to survive… Everyone died except me. I was left alone and went to Akesis, begging him to save my family somehow.”

Junon gestured with the weapons. Then she wiped the smile from her face.

“Well, there’s no point in hearing more. You’ll all die here anyway. And after that, everyone on this land will suffer. The goddess who abandoned us to save the selfish and greedy humans of this land will also eventually die.”

As if her recollection was over, Junon moved. With a wave of her hand, the weapons soared into the air as if they had a will of their own. Ulli stared blankly at Pantel, stained with his blood, unable to believe Pantel’s betrayal.

“Farewell.”

With Junon’s farewell, Pantel lunged at Ulli. The circular sword also flew towards Cullen.

“Ulli!”

Despite Cullen’s shout, she didn’t move. She shook her head, muttering, ‘Without you, I, I…’. Cold sweat trickled down her face. If he dodged, he would live, but Ulli wouldn’t.

Knowing that, Cullen had only one course of action.

He threw himself towards Ulli. Extending his arm, he pulled Ulli towards him and enveloped her with his entire body. At the same time, a heavy, sharp, and agonizing pain sliced through Cullen’s right back.