Despite its body being covered in anti-corrosion coating and riddled with cracks, the black sword managed to graze through the black knight’s armor.
Instantly, the actions of the two had surprisingly entered into a unanimous stalemate.
‘This is…’
Ji Bai was shocked by an unending stream of information surging into his mind, which consisted of scenes from someone’s memories and knowledge about the underlying structure of this world.
He could clearly sense that the transmitter of these memories was the black knight before him.
一一一一一一
[Brandt]. This was the name of this primary plane. When translated into Deepspeak, it meant ‘Desolate Land’.
It had been created by the Gods during the [First Epoch].
As living creatures gradually began to populate the plane, they disseminated their various teachings and cultures to them. Through this dissemination, they gained faith from their followers, further strengthening their powers.
As time passed, the worshipers on [Brandt] began to differ, with their respective appearances gradually becoming closer to the God they worshiped.
As a result of constant conflicts caused by their differing beliefs, the [First Epoch] gave rise to the battle of Gods, with tribal battles forming its core.
Eventually, the over-consumption of their power made it impossible for the Gods to continue meddling in [Brandt]. In a state of helplessness, they could only withdraw their presence from [Brandt] and pull out from the battle.
Thus, the first epoch ended.
And the second epoch began.
Before the Gods disappeared, they had each chosen the strongest tribe amongst their believers and copulated with the chieftain’s daughter.
As the continuation of the [Gods’] bloodline, their [divine descendants] which were born after their disappearance would continue to take control of the tribes.
As time passed, the various tribes gradually formed their own forces, while the power of faith drove them as they developed into different races.
The ancient vampire race had once been known as the strongest hegemons of [Brandt], their existence a taboo topic for many major races.
In the end, history had lost track of exactly who started the dispute or united the races on the continent for the fierce and overwhelming attack on the ancient vampire race.
This included the massacre on the path to the ancient vampire’s capital, which was conducted by the allied army under the lead of the Guran Race.
The ancient vampire race suffered a large-scale slaughter, resulting in a sharp decline in their numbers. In a state of hopelessness, they could only retreat to the exiled lands and conduct large-scale intermarriage with the foreign natives there, causing their bloodlines to dilute repeatedly until they ultimately withdrew from history.
Still fearing that the ancient vampire race would return and seek revenge, the allied forces ruthlessly ordered the continued slaughter of vampire royalty.
With their diluted bloodlines reduced to those of a second-tier species, the ancient vampire race lacked any power to resist. Their hearts filled with hatred, they fled to a different plane and swore to repay this back a hundredfold in the future.
After the ancient vampire race was banished from this plane, [Brandt] enjoyed a moment of peace.
However, the peace was short-lived, as the tribes, who had previously lived a leisurely and carefree lifestyle, had been unaware that they had already been engulfed in the shadow of ‘conspiracy’.”
Not long after, a [Great Calamity] descended, shaking the entire plane.
A foreign God known as the [Evil God] had invaded and stretched his claws towards the plane, in order to break the fetters the various Gods had on [Brandt].
Soon after, the royalty of the Guran’s race were subjected to large-scale assassinations, but were unable to find even a trace of the perpetrators.
It was later revealed that the Evil God had infiltrated the Guran empire and the suppression of the vampire race had been single handedly orchestrated by its puppet chancellor.
His intention had been to pave the way for a future invasion of the plane.
The ancient vampires, who had been able to completely transfer their bloodlines through an embrace, posed a significant threat to him. By exploiting the suspicions and jealousy that the other major races harbored towards the ancient vampire race, he was able to achieve his objectives.
As a result, he had successfully crippled the ancient vampire race, whose [God Bloodline] inheritance was the closest to perfection.
The darkest moment for the plane had arrived. The Guran race at the center of the catastrophe was incapable of avoiding it and was annihilated in its entirety.
The clan members fortunate to survive relocated to what land they had left and were later defeated by the indigenous barbarians who had migrated there. A small number of bloodlines infiltrated that group, forming the human race of the third epoch.
After vanquishing the Guran empire, the [Evil God] successfully invaded [Brandt].
In his endless compulsion to destroy, he raised armies, gathered generals and declared war on the various, disunified races of every continent.
However, the best warriors of various races had long died in the battle to suppress the ancient vampire race.
With the hastily assembled allied army routed in one move, the whole world was dyed in the color of ‘despair’.
Death and injury became common in Brandt, with some races even being completely exterminated.
The dragon race escaped to an unknown location. Meanwhile, the genie, ghost, devil, and angel races fled to the void to escape the battle and vowed to never reappear in [Brandt].
By that time, the continent had fallen into a state of panic.
An endless stretch of darkness had enveloped the world.
The Evil God, a [5th-Tier Species] distinguished by its countless tentacles, had finally reached the climax of their plans.
However, just as the continent had fallen into peril…
A legendary hero from the Guran tribe appeared.
He was wearing a pitch-black armor, holding a God Vanquishing Sword in his hand and was burning with the fire of vengeance in his heart.
Raising his longsword high up into the air, he fought in the Evil God’s territory before issuing a challenge to his opponent, who held the status of a God.
A decisive battle which darkened both the skies and earth began.
In the end, the black knight pierced the [Evil God]’s heart with his longsword.
Thus, the curtain finally fell on the [Great Calamity] which had lasted more than a decade. The dawn of hope had broken through the black fog and illuminated the plane once more.
And so, the Second Epoch came to a close.
一一一一一一一
“You’re the first one besides that large octopus to be able to directly pierce me with a sword strike. That’s an impressive feat.”
A deep male voice pulled Ji Bai back from the midst of the huge memory transfer.
He was flabbergasted to discover that he was actually able to understand the words of the creature before him.
“Your willpower must truly be extraordinary to be able to withstand such a complicated memory inheritance.” The black knight nodded his head imperceptibly.
“…Senior.” Ji Bai bowed respectfully to the black knight. It was impossible for memories to be falsified.
“Does the Guran tribe still exist in this age?”
“…” Ji Bai was silent.
“As I thought.”
The black knight slightly turned towards Lin at the side. “She’s a descendent of the ancient vampire race, right?”
“Yes.” Ji Bai nodded.
“It’s truly a pity that they returned now, as their enemies were already one step ahead of them.”
For some reason, Ji Bai could hear a trace of lament inside the black knight’s words.
“It seems you still have some questions.”
After a moment of silence, Ji Bai asked, ‘Do third-tier and fourth-tier species really exist?’
“Of course. The vampires of yesteryears and the Guran race were all third-tier species. It’s truly a shame…” The black knight’s words came to a stop as he arrived at that topic.
“Has the vampire royal family been exterminated?” For some reason, Ji Bai’s instincts compelled him to ask that question.
“I’m not sure, this lowly self hadn’t been born in that era.” The black knight shook his head.
“But I can clearly recall the vampires’ [Primordial Vein] being extremely strong. As long as one was tainted with a trace of the God’s Bloodline, they would be able to use the ability to embrace.”
“I understand…”
“I couldn’t tell that the vampire before me was royalty until I saw those long-lost silver strands of hair. The sensation given off by her [Primordial Vein] is too weak.” The black knight silently stared at Lin, who was sitting down leaning against something in a corner.
“Even though you and I aren’t of the same race, this humble self has a request for you, junior.”
“Please speak your mind, senior.” Just his courage and commitment to challenge a [God] by himself was enough for Ji Bai to shower him with respect.
“My soul is long dead. What’s left currently is merely a wisp of its remnant.”
“So, I would like you to kill me.” The black knight spoke each word with a pause.
“May your excellency grant me the honor.”
“This humble self is capable of looking deep into the hearts of people. I can tell your excellency is an upstanding person.”
“It might be impossible for others, but If it’s you, you’ll definitely be able to do it.” The black knight fixed his gaze on the silvery-gray knight before him.
“Give me a reason.” Ji Bai calmly replied after a momentary silence.
“This humble self hasn’t escaped unscathed after vanquishing the Evil God. Before the big octopus died, it had laid a curse on me and prevented my soul from departing peacefully.”
“If someone were to disturb the peace of my tomb after my death, this body of mine would turn into a zombie puppet. When that time comes, it would bring an endless catastrophe to the world, even though its power is less than a tenth of my former strength.” After he finished his words, the black knight silently stared at Ji Bai with its scarlet eyes.
“Alright, I got it.” Ji Bai grasped his sword and deeply bowed to him.
“Very good.” The black knight solemnly nodded and adopted a fighting stance once more.
The gazes radiating out of their helmets clashed against each other.
The black knight could feel that the aura of the dark-silvery knight before him was vastly different from before.
Instantly, the two greatswords clashed once more. The tomb shook intensely in the collision, causing countless bricks to fall while stirring up a cloud of dust and sand.
During the brief moment of trembling, the shockwaves of the battle impacted several stone bodies in the spectator’s stand, causing cracks to appear on them.
A swift and fierce sword tip streaked across the entire colosseum, as if wishing to tear it all into pieces.
Instead of retreating in the face of the black knight’s unbridled offensive, Ji Bai chose to advance. He faced the attack without a hint of fear, his speed surprisingly close to that of the black knight.
“Cling!! Clank!!” The ferocious sound of metal colliding exploded outwards. The evenly matched pair retreated to both ends of the colosseum.
“An outstanding attack.” The black knight straightened out the large sword in his hands.
“Let’s see if you can block this one.”
“Rumble!!” Traces of collapse suddenly appeared on the indestructible ceiling of the ruins, as if something was affecting it.
Like eye-dazzling lightning, his longsword was ignited in golden light.
‘Is he going to use his trump card now?’
Ji Bai adopted a firm horse stance, supported his sword on his elbow and aimed its tip directly towards the black knight before stopping his movements.
“Tssss!!!!” The trembling in the ruins grew even more intense.
The longsword in the black knight’s hands was like the daybreak at dawn, dyeing the surroundings with color.
He sent out a powerful sword strike.
[Demon Slayer Skill— Cleansing of The Original Sin]
“Booom!!!” The radiant gold ripples emitted by the sword seemed as if they were about to cut the indestructible ruins in two.
The pressure made the wind howl in agony, as they cut through the spectators’ stands on both ends with incredible ease and swept towards Ji Bai with irresistible force.
Ji Bai continued to support his sword with his elbow, the complexion in his eyes remaining unperturbed despite all the turmoil.
“Boom!!! …Swoosh…!” When the golden ripples came into contact with the tip of Ji Bai’s sword, their form instantly dissipated.
His blade didn’t miss a single one. After the scattered golden-yellow ripples were completely absorbed, they coalesced and wrapped around the body of his sword.
[Void Class— Domain Assimilation]
Ji Bai raised his sword, around which golden ripples danced, high up into the air before abruptly swinging it outwards. With one move, he returned the black knight’s attack in full.
“Boom!!”
The blinding light made Lin uncomfortable and forced her to cover her eyes.
The roof, which was on the verge of collapsing, instinctively gave rise to the desire to flee, but for some reason, she couldn’t take a step forward no matter what.
“An outstanding and marvelous strike, truly remarkable…”
In a vast expense of whiteness, a man’s voice entered Ji Bai’s brain.
“I will let you serve as the vessel for [Tranquility], so that you can continue to pass it down to later generations. Take good care of the sword in your hand, it is truly a sword capable of slaying Gods.
“I have a feeling that he will descend once more.”
“Everything will depend on you.”
“To be defeated by my own skill, this humble self had no regrets.”