Chapter 867

The crack swirling with fog and dust rushed toward him at terrifying speed.

Blackish-blue darkness swallowed Ian’s vision, and a cold, crushing pressure engulfed his body.

It even felt as though he had plunged into some vast sea of viscous slime.

Whoosh…

Yet Ian continued piercing straight through the center of it without slowing down.

The tentacles extending between his wings writhed, generating propulsion as they pushed through the viscous medium.

Merely thinking about moving forward was enough to make it happen, perhaps due to Yog’s assistance.

Before long, violet light spreading from his entire body left behind long shimmering trails like heat haze.

—Interesting, it is the material realm, yet not entirely so… Ah, I see.

Yog’s amused whisper echoed lazily through his mind.

—After being sealed for so long and stagnating endlessly, everything must have fused.

Which likely meant this place was the interior of the seal hidden in the deepest depths of the Black Sea.

Despite acknowledging the logic of that conclusion, Ian never took his eyes off the space ahead.

At the center of the enormous crack stretching across the heavens, a gigantic pillar of blackish-blue light twisted violently, illuminating the cold, viscous darkness around it as it slowly rose upward through the fissure.

—As expected, forcing its way out does not seem easy. It probably hasn’t even fully completed its preparations yet. Reconstructing a vessel alone must already be pushing it to the limit.

Yog added with a mocking chuckle, having immediately realized that the enormous pillar of light was Raskagin’s spiritual form and understood why it still had not fully escaped the seal.

—Still, it seems we don’t need to worry about getting trapped here. So let’s hurry and break through to the other side, my friend. You can probably feel it too, but maintaining our existence here isn’t exactly easy for us either.

Even while continuing toward the crack without pause, Ian merely glanced downward instead of replying.

He raised the elongated black sword fused into his right arm before his face.

Swoosh—

Like Ian himself, the black sword had transformed into something resembling a mass of chaos, exhaling violet haze.

Yet despite that, it had not lost the form of a sword.

The eye embedded within the crossguard flickered even more ominously than before.

—Ah, I see…. So you’re not planning to simply escape through the crack after all....

Realizing Ian’s intentions, Yog laughed a moment later.

Can this really work?

Ian stared at the rapidly approaching pillar of light. It resembled a gigantic dark-blue tornado rotating slowly in place.

—Who knows? Honestly, even I cannot be certain, but if it is dangerous for you, then surely it is dangerous for that thing as well, wouldn’t you say?

The answer was utterly irresponsible. And yet, there was anticipation hidden within Yog’s tone.

Yeah. That’s enough for me.

Ian thrust the wings folded behind him sharply forward. The jagged horns protruding from the wing joints gleamed while violet fog drifted from the membranes like smoke.

Swish—

Ian violently snapped his wings backward. His already tremendous speed exploded further as he tore through the sticky darkness like a streak of light.

The pillar of dark-blue radiance rushed toward him instantly. It was becoming absurdly massive.

Swoosh…

As the tentacles shot downward all at once, Ian began spiraling upward diagonally.

Looking toward the crack covering the heavens above, he thrust the right arm, fused with the black sword, out to the side with all his strength.

Rumble…

The eye within the crossguard blazed fiercely for an instant. Then violet darkness began erupting from the blade like spilled ink.

The thick purple trajectory trailing behind it carved directly into the surface of the blackish-blue vortex.

Violet and blue intertwined like mixing paints for a brief moment, followed by explosions erupting one after another like detonating torpedoes.

Boom, boom, boom!

Ian narrowly avoided being swallowed by the shockwaves and continued ascending.

Partly because the blade met almost no resistance and partly because the tentacles convulsed wildly while shoving him forward.

—It’s practically defenseless, but even this alone is quite dangerous.

Just as Yog snickered, the tip of Ian’s wing was caught by the shockwave.

He spun violently through the air after being blasted away.

Whoosh—

Flapping the half-destroyed wing, Ian surged upward once more. He glanced down briefly at the pillar of dark-blue light collapsing beneath the chain of explosions.

There was no way to know whether the spiritual form itself was truly disintegrating completely.

After all, even his own shattered wings were already regenerating as though newly growing back into existence.

Still, one thing was certain. He had inflicted pain upon Raskagin.

-------!

From far above, a faint wave of psychic malice echoed through the void. It spread across the trembling surface of the fissure itself.

Ian finally lifted his head and fixed his eyes on the crack rapidly approaching overhead."

Though he was somewhat off-center from its core, it still appeared more than large enough for him to pass through.

—I’ll help you, but don’t lose consciousness.

The whisper sounded at the same moment his wings flapped violently on their own once more.

Ian shot straight upward through the opening in the fissure.

Whoosh—

Ian realized almost immediately why Yog had warned him not to lose consciousness. His vision melted ‌chaotically, and his entire body suddenly burned as though being consumed by fire.

At the same time, a pulse like a beating heartbeat spread through every inch of him.

He could not tell if it was the aftereffect of passing through multiple fractures in succession or if his fused body was reconstructing itself into its true form.

Nor did it matter.

Swoosh—

The spinning blur of his vision rapidly sharpened again. Only then did Ian realize that even amidst all this, he was still soaring upward through the sky.

Yog had likely assisted him.

Ian let his wings hang limply, their structure seeming to melt and burn apart.

—Look at you.

Yog’s mocking whisper followed.

Ian did not even need to think about what Yog was referring to.

------------!

To one side of his spinning vision stood a colossal existence screaming toward the heavens like a towering pillar.

It was Raskagin, in the midst of manifesting. Just like its spiritual form, it resembled an unimaginably gigantic sea serpent.

At this point, maybe calling it a sea dragon or an Imoogi would fit better…

Either way, it was obvious at a glance that the creature’s appearance was far from normal.

Its enormous body glistened with exposed dark-red flesh, while chunks of mangled meat bulged outward like tumors across its surface.

The blackish-blue scales that should have blanketed its body instead sprouted randomly here and there as though carelessly scattered across it.

At that moment, the storm clouds blanketing the sky flashed with deafening thunder.

Rumble! Boom!

As countless bolts of lightning crashed down around the creature, the head of Raskagin, towering overhead, finally became clearly visible.

Inside its gaping maw, only two pairs of enormous fangs had formed. Multiple eyes embedded asymmetrically across its head flashed wildly.

The crooked horns jutting out at random and the mane sprawling unevenly along it were no different.

—That probably was not the form it originally desired. What a shame.

Despite the words themselves, its tone was filled with nothing but ridicule.

Of course, Ian’s thoughts were entirely different.

How the hell did they even manage to seal something like that?

Imagining Raskagin’s true original form was not difficult at all. It even carried a massive storm cloud filled with lightning above its head.

Naturally, Ian concluded that the dragon that had disguised itself as a human must have helped subdue it. Perhaps they still hadn’t been able to kill it even then, leaving sealing as the only option.

Swoosh—

Of course, now that it had only incompletely resurrected, it was likely weaker than before.

However, that changed nothing about the fact that it remained a transcendent being.

As his ascent noticeably slowed, Ian’s gaze naturally traveled downward along Raskagin’s colossal body/

Rumble…

Beneath the violently surging sea illuminated by endless lightning strikes, Raskagin’s colossal body rose through a vast lake-like glow of dark-blue light.

The unstable mass that continued bubbling without fully forming was likely the result of Ian carving through it with the black sword during his ascent.

So it resurrected directly from the sanctuary itself.

Only after sweeping his gaze across the shattered rocky islands scattered nearby did Ian finally conclude.

They looked like the remnants of Rizdan Island. When the fissure opened and Raskagin manifested, the island must have been completely crushed apart and submerged.

—Unlike that thing, we returned perfectly intact, my friend.

Yog added at that moment.

The pulsing resonance throughout Ian’s body and even the sensation of burning alive had already vanished completely.

At last, Ian lifted his head again and spread his wings wide.

Swish!

His spinning motion halted instantly, and his body stopped abruptly in midair as though suspended in the heavens themselves.

Cold power flooded through him once more.

For the first time, Ian truly understood just how much chaos the essence bead had accumulated all this time.

Reflexively checking his skill window, Ian widened his pitch-black slit eyes the next instant.

The mouth filled with jagged, protruding teeth, split open into a broad grin on its own.

Rumble…

Blue flames suddenly began igniting across his fully spread wings. It was the Azure Flame of Heaven Defier.

Maybe these wings aren’t from Akihatara.

 Ian violently snapped his wings backward. He instantly shot forward like an arrow.

Behind him, the azure flames spread across the membrane wings and carved blazing trails through the sky.

As though finally noticing Ian’s presence, the creature’s shriek began fading away.

—Now that is quite the dramatic introduction.

Ignoring it completely, Ian kept his eyes fixed only on the colossal body rushing closer and closer.

Then, at last, he spread his wings wide and swept them powerfully forward.

His speed dropped in an instant, drawing a soaring arc through the air before halting in place.

Swoosh—

The torrent of azure flame unleashed with the beat of his wings crashed across the center of Raskagin’s slime-covered dark-red flesh.

The trails of fire surging behind it spread outward as well, splashing across the surrounding flesh like scattered wildfire.

The very next instant, Ian slammed his wings downward and launched himself skyward once more.

Even then, he did not forget to glance down briefly at the inferno spreading below.

--------!

A scream violent enough to tear apart the sky erupted.

Ian’s ascending body was hurled sideways as though shoved away by sheer force. The torrent of psychic malice crashing into him was enough to make his vision blur.

Just this much?

If even someone fused with chaos felt it this strongly, an ordinary human’s heart would likely stop from merely hearing it.

Rumble!

A bolt of lightning pierced straight through him the very next moment.

Ian frowned at the numbing jolt as Yog’s whisper echoed through his mind.

—Would you mind if I helped a little, my friend? Getting hit by that looks rather painful.

The reason Yog was speaking faster than usual was obvious. An enormous shadow had loomed over Ian’s head.

Raskagin’s colossal body, now shrouded in dark-blue fog, was tilting toward him. The only reason it appeared slow was its overwhelming size.

Do it. Let’s get all the way to its head.

The instant Ian answered, his wings immediately began flapping on their own as though waiting for permission. His body, which had nearly gone limp, spiraled sharply upward like an acrobat.

Rumble, rumble—

Raskagin’s immense body swept past him at terrifying proximity, leaving behind a trail of dark-blue haze.

Just as Yog altered their trajectory diagonally by riding the storm winds created by the creature’s movement, countless violet arcs exploded outward with every flap of his wings.

It was the Blizzard Wind of the Snowy Mountains, a skill gained after absorbing Akihatara’s chaos.

Swoosh!

The arcs sliced through the dark-blue fog surrounding Raskagin and carved deep into the flesh beneath it, one after another.

Even the scattered dark-blue scales protruding randomly across its body were left gouged with deep scars.

At last, Ian raised the black sword he had been holding low at his side. By now, the eye writhing within the center of the crossguard had filled with chaos.

Whoosh!

The next instant, violet haze erupted explosively from the sticky black blade.