Yeon-woo opened his eyes after a while once his turbulent mind had calmed. Without any hesitation, he put his mask back on and used Bathory’s Vampiric Sword on both Leonte and Bahal. The energy turned into his stats, and he absorbed their souls into the Soul Collection.

The Black Bracelet shook violently now that it contained not only Bahal and Leonte, but also all the members of Flame Beast and the Sword God’s guards. The huge number of skilled players made his collection feel full, and it felt like they were fighting among themselves, but Yeon-woo didn’t care. They wouldn’t be able to escape the Black Bracelet no matter what they did. ‘Besides, I have a lot of questions to ask later.’

He was planning to ask Bahal and Leonte about the catalyst of the war, to see if there was anything he’d missed. ‘I should also learn more about the stone.’

At first, Yeon-woo hadn’t been interested in the stone. The fact that the lives of so many players had been sacrificed to create it turned him off, and he wasn’t confident that he could even control it. However, if it was special enough that Red Dragon would go to war for it, he had to find out what it was, even if he had no intentions of using it.

Right now, it was Chirpy’s resting area, and perhaps after that, he could use it as a powerful supplement for Shanon or Boo; he could even give it to the Guai. Yeon-woo slowly straightened up.

He had already reached some of his goals. He’d killed Bahal and Leonte, and he’d worsened the conflict between Red Dragon and the Cheonghwado. It didn’t matter which side lost; they both sustained colossal damage. Yeon-woo didn’t need to stay involved anymore. In fact, if he lingered much longer, he would become the object of suspicion. There were a lot of people in the two clans that he hadn’t been able to deal with yet, but being too avaricious could put him in danger. It wasn’t time to reveal himself yet.

Yeon-woo pulled out two Guai and sent them to Phante and Edora, along with a message: “We’re pulling out.”

***

『Is it possible…?』 Instead of unleashing another round of Breath at the Sword God, who dared wave a weapon at her, the Summer Queen narrowed her eyes. Since she was in her dragon form, her expression wasn’t noticeable, but in fact, she was extremely surprised at the moment. Through Draconic Contact, she could feel the emotions of each of her Eighty-One Oculus, and she knew exactly where they were at each moment. However, one of the connections had suddenly been cut off—the one to Bahal.

A contractor of the Draconic Contract wouldn’t be able to cut off the connection on their own, and the Eighty-One Oculus were practically Apostles, in that sense. If the connection were severed, it meant only one thing: Bahal was dead. Flame Beast had vanished, as well. She didn’t know what happened aside from the fact that Bahal and Flame Beast were chasing after Leonte. The location of the stone was also gone, and it was a huge blow since her Dragon Heart was already on the verge of breaking.

The Summer Queen was infuriated. She’d forced herself to appear using magic power that she no longer truly possessed. She’d gambled everything and won nothing.

The Sword God was also surprised. As he’d wielded his four swords, a white bracelet had appeared and wrapped itself around his right arm. It was Gungnir, the sword he’d lent to Leonte. The artifact would always return to its owner, but the Sword God had been hoping that it would be a while before it returned. Its appearance on his arm meant that Leonte was dead, and the location of the stone was lost to him.

『These bastards! Until the very end…!』 The Sword God’s eyes were bloodshot behind his lion mask. To him, the bastards of Red Dragon were lives that could be ended at any time. They’d declared war, manipulated the Saber God to waste the Neidan of the Legendary beasts, and now they’d taken the stone.

The Cheonghwado was suffering too much; half of their forces were gone, and two of the Martial Gods were dead. It was the same kind of damage they’d sustained during the war with Arthia. Thinking of his suffering then and how much worse the damage was now made him feel enraged and frustrated. He couldn’t hold back now that the stone had gone over to the other side. The Sword God decided to use Gungnir to capture the Summer Queen. At the very least, he had to figure out a way to get the stone again.

『I will release Gungnir now. Please assist me.』 The Sword God expressed his thoughts to the Spear God and the Bow God. Unlike the time Leonte used it, he would need a lot of preparation to use Gungnir properly since it took a lot of time to summon up magic power and interfere with the laws. He needed the Spear God and the Bow God to buy him some time.

They didn’t respond, but they quickly acted. Already holding a long spear in his right hand, the Spear God pulled out a short spear with his left and ran towards the Summer Queen, showing his extraordinary spear work as he attacked her relentlessly. The Bow God provided cover for the Spear God and the Sword God, shooting arrows at the Summer Queen’s chest so that she couldn’t attack.

Each time the Spear God swung his spear, the air split around him, and soon, the Summer Queen’s body turned into a mess of bloody flesh, even though she managed to block some strikes with her feet and tail. The Bow God continued to shoot arrows of light, which split into thousands of streams of light that attacked her from all directions, swirling around the Summer Queen and making her dizzy.

As the Spear God gathered the energy to attack the Summer Queen’s throat, the Bow God’s skill seemed to him just like the one he’d shown in the legend where he brought the nine suns down: the Sun-Shooting Archery. The attack was powerful enough to make a hole in the back of the Summer Queen’s head even before Gungnir was released. The light began to condense and emit heat, as though a new sun were rising in the sky. At the Bow God’s command, it exploded, and a tall column of light split the sky, bright enough to blind everyone.

The column of light approached the Summer Queen and passed her, heading straight to the Sword God. The Sword God was so focused on releasing Gungnir that he didn’t have the ability to block the column of light. He never even expected that it would head to him. The Bow God’s betrayal was completely unexpected, even for the Sword God who could envision several probabilities in his head at the same time.

Luckily, the Sword God turned his body instinctively and avoided most of the light—except for his left arm, which melted away. The Sword God’s lion mask crumbled away, revealing a handsome, middle-aged face filled with shock.

The magic power the Sword God had been gathering for Gungnir scattered, and he screamed. “Bow God!” He was belatedly realizing the truth, and all the questions in his head were being answered. Now he understood why the Saber God had become so angry. The person who had told the Saber God about Leonte and the stone, who had sent him his son’s finger and eyeball—it had all been the Bow God’s doing.

But just because the pieces of the puzzle had fallen into place didn’t mean that anything changed. When the Spear God looked away from the Summer Queen and turned to the Bow God, he inadvertently showed a vulnerable area, which the Summer Queen didn’t hesitate to take advantage of. She swung her tail out like a whip—boom!

The Spear God flew off, blood pouring from his mouth. His body was twisted, and his internal organs had been damaged. The Summer Queen stretched her head back and gathered strength. Breath was the fifth step of the Power of the Dragon, and she gathered the special element and breathed out the purest and most destructive energy over the Spear and the Sword God.

At the last minute, the Spear God squeezed out magic power to divert the Breath, but he was still burned all the way to his intestines. His body felt as though it were being torn apart. He threw his body over to the Sword God, who had collapsed coughing blood from the effects of the Sun-Shooting Archery, Breath, and the failure to gather magic power for Gungnir. He was suffering a lot of internal damage from his magic power circulation, and he felt as though it would explode. He’d lost control over his magic power, and it roiled inside him.

He had used all his strength to block Breath with his four swords, and he was in a critical condition, liable to lose consciousness any moment. One more round of Breath would end him.

‘No. Not you!’ The Spear God couldn’t let that happen. The Sword God was the Cheonghwado’s center and king. He was also the savior who had taken him from his tiny net into the big world. They were inseparable friends, and even though others thought him cruel and indifferent, the Spear God wouldn’t stand still and watch his friend die, even if he had to die as well.

The Spear God clenched his teeth. All of his bones had broken into pieces, including his spine. It was a wonder he could even move. However, he used every bit of strength he had to support the Sword God and told him they had to escape.

If the Sword God survived, the Cheonghwado could rise again. When he’d made the decision to leave the One-horned tribe with the Sword God, the Spear God thought they would achieve their dreams. He still believed in that, and he used all his remaining life force to make sure it would happen. “Stop them with any means possible!”

At the Spear God’s desperate shout, the Cheonghwado’s players all ran to the Summer Queen, regardless of whether they were already engaged in battle with someone or about to collapse from the depletion of their magic power. They used their skills on the Summer Queen, challenging her like moths drawn to a flame just to earn time so that the Spear God and the Sword God could somehow escape.

『You dare? You microbes dare?』 The Summer Queen was enraged and sprayed Breath again. She couldn’t let the location of the stone disappear with the two Martial Gods. She had no other way of finding it.

She melted hundreds of players, including rankers. 『Move aside! I said move aside!』

The Summer Queen tried to chase after the two Martial Gods, but the moths managed to hold her back, and she couldn’t move forward.

The Spear God continued to run and run, holding up the Sword God.