48. Kevin: Friend or Foe? Xiling: Surrender or Be Conquered?
The deep night sky resembled a vast black velvet curtain, dotted with billions of cold stars.
However, at this moment, this boundless night sky could not conceal two figures speeding past.
Radahn, manipulating gravity magic, his massive body compressed into a blurry streak of light in a delicate balance of gravity and repulsion. Like a meteor tearing through the night sky, he hurtled toward the Volcano Manor at a speed beyond mortal imagination.
The mountains and rivers beneath his feet were reduced to fleeting shadows at the speed.
But Kevin felt a little awkward.
It's for no other reason; he was sitting in Radahn's bent arms, in a perfectly ladylike posture.
"How awkward..." Kevin silently cried in his heart, his muscles stiffening.
"This position... can't we really try to change to another one? Like... shoulder to shoulder? Or even carrying me on your back would be fine!"
The two of them were heading towards the Volcano Manor.
Silence dominated the journey.
There was the subtle hiss of gravity magic tearing through the air, and the distant, muffled sound of wind from the earth below.
Kevin felt the atmosphere was a bit heavy.
After all, no matter what, the person he was about to face was Radahn's younger brother. Even if Xiling said it wasn't his brother anymore, but some other monster, he would definitely take it seriously.
Kevin opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but in the end, all his words seemed to get stuck in his throat.
"Forget it..."
Kevin sighed inwardly. He was so clumsy, he'd better keep quiet. He might say something wrong and end up hurting someone. It was better to remain silent. Kevin gave up struggling, gave up even the thought of adjusting his posture. He forced himself to relax his tense body, his gaze fixed on the shadow-swallowed earth that raced past below.
Just when Kevin thought the suffocating silence would last until the Volcano Manor, Radahn's deep voice pierced through the whistling wind:
"I believe in the King." Radahn's voice was unusually calm, yet it carried a tremendous weight, as if he were trying to convince himself, as well as to declare to Kevin.
"My intuition... it tells me the King isn't lying. He wouldn't have to weave a lie to deceive me... especially about my family."
Radahn paused slightly, the night wind ruffling his thick red hair.
"Ever since the Shattering War tore everything apart... It's been so, so long since I've seen my family. Everything has changed."
Kevin didn't know how to respond, but Radahn continued. Radahn's voice continued, a vow forged in steel.
"Whatever 'that thing' now lurking in the Volcano Manor is... regardless of whether he still retains a shred of my brother's consciousness... the Great Rune within him must be returned to the Silver King! It is the cornerstone of law, the key to restoring the Ring."
Radahn's words were like a sharp blade unsheathed.
"If he dares stand before us, attempting to prevent the King from restoring order... then he will be an enemy of me, Radahn!"
This declaration boomed like thunder in the night sky. Kevin sensed the unquestionable resolve within it.
But then, Radahn's tone shifted, a subtle wavering... in his steely voice. "Kevin..." Radahn called Kevin's name. "I want to ask you something... just a hypothetical."
Kevin whispered, "You say..."
Radahn was silent for a moment, then finally uttered the heavy question: "What if... I mean, what if... what if the king made a mistake? What if... Rykard can still be saved?"
"Then... can I... ask the king for a pardon? Ask him... to spare Rykard's life? Even if it means imprisoning him forever..."
Kevin fell into a long silence. The night wind whimpered as they passed. The outline of the volcano beneath their feet grew clearer, and the smell of sulfur seemed to penetrate his nostrils. After a long moment, Kevin slowly spoke, his voice low and measured:
"If... such a misjudgment really occurs, Xiling... he won't let you do it. He won't force you to... end your own blood relatives with your own hands."
Kevin could clearly feel Radahn's tense muscles relax a little, and the heaviness that lingered around him seemed to dissipate a little.
However, Kevin held a colder, more certain judgment in his heart, unspoken:
But the possibility of such a misjudgment... simply doesn't exist.
Kevin's gaze pierced the night, as if he had already seen the Profaned Throne deep within the volcano.
When Xiling said he would kill him, it meant he truly intended to do so.
If they didn't kill Rykard this time, Xiling would definitely personally take up the Holy Sword and set foot on this volcano. Kevin exhaled, feeling the heat wash over him. He looked ahead—
Destination—Volcano Manor
When they reached the top of Volcano Manor, they were noticed by several people. Among them were the Tarnisheds and a few marginalized individuals who had retained their twisted sanity after the Ring shattered. They all looked up.
Fear spread like a plague!
"That...that's...!"
"The Starscourge, Radahn!"
"Impossible! Isn't he not in Redmane Castle...and he..."
The whispers of disbelief were quickly drowned out by gasps of fear.
A name that is like a tree's shadow. "Starscourge" Radahn, a name symbolizing the pinnacle of military power during the Shattering War, was enough to make the heart of anyone who knew of his deeds tremble.
The mistress of Volcano Manor, Tanith, stood on the terrace in her lavish attire.
The moment she caught sight of the figure in the air, her face was filled with unconcealable horror and panic!
"W-why?!" Her voice trembled with a rare tremor.
"Why would that lord come here?" Her intelligence was severely delayed. She had no idea that Radahn had broken free from the shackles of Scarlet Rot, much less that he had sworn fealty to the new Silver King! But none of that mattered now. The only thing that mattered was this: Radahn had come! To his brother, Rykard's territory!
Whether Radahn's intentions were good or ill, as a brother, he owed it to himself to meet his brother, Rykard, the master of the Volcano Manor.
But the question was—could Rykard even meet anyone now?
Deep within that magnificent manor, perched atop the altar, was no longer the Justice of the past, but a blasphemous serpent that devoured the flesh of gods and desecrated the very essence of life! How could that twisted, monstrous, ominous monster be allowed to see Radahn?
"Absolutely! Absolutely couldn't let Radahn see the lord!" Tanith's heart rang with alarm, her fear nearly suffocating her. She must stop it at all costs!
But just as Tanith was thinking this,
Radahn, in mid-air, suddenly paused! It wasn't his own initiative, but a vast, sticky, malevolent gaze, filled with endless greed and blasphemy, like a cold, foul tentacle, that suddenly penetrated the thick volcanic rock wall and locked onto him!
That gaze came from the deepest part of the manor, from that blasphemous throne!
The moment it was locked onto him, Radahn's eyes suddenly became as sharp as a knife!
"I've found you... God-Devouring Serpent!"
His low roar rolled like thunder through the crater. Without any guidance, the naked evil aura instantly pinpointed its source—right beneath his feet, deep within the volcano!
"Then I'll leave this here to you. I'm not that strong at night," Kevin gave Radahn a thumbs-up, then leaped from his arms.
No more words were needed. Buzz! The magical radiance emanating from Radahn's body instantly reached its peak! The violent gravitational field distorted space, and the air trembled with strain under the weight! The two massive swords on his back, symbols of Starscourge's prowess, were manipulated by the surging gravity. With a clang, they automatically detached from their clasps, as if grasped by invisible giant hands, and fell securely into Radahn's grasp!
The ends of the two massive blades, drawn by the magical force, instantly and precisely connected like magnets, meshing with each other! With a heavy metallic clang, an even more terrifying, colossal, double-headed gravity blade, nearly as long as Radahn's height, materialized!
Radahn's wiry muscles bulged like mountains, and a violent force surged from his feet to his waist and abdomen, finally converging in his arms! Radahn roared!
"Hah--!!!"
The accumulated power erupted with a roar! He hurled the double-headed blade at a speed exceeding the speed of sound! The spinning blade sliced through the air, emitting a shrill roar! Carrying the force of mountain-shattering gravity, it instantly pierced through the thick rock walls and layers of the Volcano Manor like a falling comet!
Puff!!!! A dull, heart-pounding sound of flesh being pierced, clearly piercing the roar of shattering rock, echoed from the depths of the volcano!
"Hiss!!!!!" Immediately, an indescribable, shrill, serpentine wail, a mixture of endless pain and overwhelming rage, erupted from the volcano's interior!
The sound seemed to come from the depths of hell, shaking the entire Volcano Manor! The God-Devouring Serpent had been struck! Radahn's thundering strike, condensed with the power of a Starscourge, precisely pierced its massive, twisted body!
The wailing hadn't yet ceased! BOOM!!!! Following the vast passage opened by the spinning blade, another, even more ferocious figure descended like a meteorite! Radahn himself! His massive body, accelerated to the limit by gravity magic, carried an immense force, and with the most violent and direct force possible, he descended from the sky, landing heavily on the center of the giant serpent's hideous head!
Bang!!! Crack! Rocks shattered! Flesh and blood flew everywhere! This single strike contained all of Radahn's fury, a Starscourge trampling! Piercing through the stars!
—
Seeing Radahn's direct attack and the serpent's wailing echoing from within the volcano,
Tanith's shrill, almost voice-crushing scream rang out:
"Stop him! Absolutely—absolutely not let Radahn harm Lord Rykard!!!"
The command fell.
But an eerie silence descended.
The Tarnisheds, the servants of Volcano Manor, and everyone else stared at each other, their eyes beneath their helmets or hoods conveying silent fear and absurdity.
Were they really going to attack Radahn—that Starscourge General?
Will they win?
Guaranteed death.
Not to mention... From the depths of the volcano rose another inhuman wail! Hoarse, twisted, filled with endless pain and blasphemous rage!
"What is that wail...?" Countless eyes cast horrified glances at the vast breach deep within the manor, pierced by a tremendous force and billowing with smoke and dust.
What... lurked within?
No one knew.
But after a brief silence, the crowd stirred.
They resolutely took up arms, some for their own so-called ideals, others out of blind loyalty.
Some, even worse, lacked any will, simply blindly following orders.
However, as they tried to advance, they encountered an obstacle.
Ahead of the road, armor as dark as night covered the entire body, even the face hidden beneath the shadow of the helmet.
Only in the cold slits of the helmet's eyepieces did two pinpricks of light flicker like cold embers. He leaned one hand on a black greatsword, emitting a suffocating heaviness and a chilling cold of death. The tip of the sword pierced the volcanic rock beneath his feet, cracks spreading like spiderwebs.
That was Kevin, after separating from Radahn.
Facing the oncoming crowd, Kevin calmly drew his black blade and pointed it at them.
A voice, muffled and cold, emerged from his helmet, without a trace of emotion:
"Friend..."
"Or foe?"
"Choose."
...
At almost the same moment, in the distant lake region, atop the spire of The Academy of Raya Lucaria's massive pyroxene tower, symbolizing the academy's supreme power center, stood a figure, and sat another.
"How did you get up here?" The Tarnished looked behind him, as if he couldn't understand how he'd gotten there.
"You don't know how to accelerate in a straight line? Find a curved slope, increase your speed, and you're up!" Xiling gave a thumbs-up.
The Tarnished didn't want to mention that he'd arrived at this place in the blink of an eye, and this wasn't the time to bring it up...
Countless gazes converged upward—magician apprentices, pyroxene lecturers, Carian Knights, and stargazers—all stunned by the intruder who had breached the academy's core defenses.
How outrageous! Without a single shroud of pretense, the intruder had breached the academy's barriers in a flash.
Xiling, in his wheelchair, hovered steadily at the highest point. His lips curled slightly at the chaos, the exclamations, and the rapidly gathering magical aura below.
Swish! Like the dawn breaking through the night, Xiling unsheathed the Holy Sword! He raised it high, the tip pointing directly at the cold, bright moon overhead!
At that moment, silvery-white magic surged into the Holy Sword, its radiance instantly surging! Pure, majestic, and unquestionable power swept down like a tangible tidal wave, instantly suppressing the rising aura of pyroxene magic from across the academy, as if declaring the true ruler of this world!
At the moment the holy sword's radiance reached its peak, Xiling's voice, like an oracle, reverberated throughout the entire Academy of Raya Lucaria, piercing every tower and echoing in every corner:
"I am Xiling, the King of the Silver Rule!"
The voice resonated like a resounding bell, shaking the soul! After a brief silence, deeper shock and panic ensued.
Xiling's voice continued, clear yet carrying an unyielding will, offering this ancient school of magic a final choice—or rather, a command:
"At this moment, I offer the Academy of Raya Lucaria two choices—"
The holy sword's radiance suddenly intensified, like a rising second moon!
"Surrender..."
The pressure descended like a mountain, causing countless mages to feel their magic stagnate and their knees weaken!
"Or—"
"Be conquered!"