The Indomitable Martial King

Chapter 161

The atmosphere shifted, and Siris sheathed her sword, distancing herself from Christine. The outcome of the battle was already clear, and there was no need to continue fighting Christine. After all, did she really need to kill Christine? She was just a maiden blinded by love. (Though the extent of her blindness was indeed a problem.)

Freed, Christine retreated to Philena’s side and cast a holy spell on Stefan and Eusus. Unlike Sillan, her divine power wasn’t very strong, so she could only manage emergency treatment. Proper healing would require moving them to a quiet place and providing long-term care.

‘Of course, in the current situation, such luxury seemed out of reach.’

Philena watched Repenhardt’s group with tense eyes.

They had already lost. That was certain. The question was whether their opponents would spare them. If they were taken prisoner, they might be able to pay a ransom or find some other way to secure their future, but judging by those murderous looks, that seemed highly unlikely.

It was then that Teslon suddenly burst into laughter.

“Hahaha!”

Grinning, he shouted towards Repenhardt.

“Fine, we’ll have to give up for today! But it won’t be the same next time!”

Repenhardt let out a laugh of disbelief.

“Ridiculous. Do you think we’ll let you go just like that?”

“You’ll have no choice!”

Teslon smirked. Repenhardt frowned at the ominous feeling.

‘What is this? Could it be a trap?’

No matter how he considered the situation, he couldn’t think of a way for Teslon to escape.

‘Could it be that Teslon thought of something I couldn’t? Impossible.’

Just as Repenhardt was convinced it was all bluster, Teslon shouted.

“Gym Unbreakable! Cursed be that name!”

For a moment, Repenhardt wore a dumbfounded expression. What kind of nonsense was this? Why invoke the sins of the knight’s extinction out of nowhere in this situation?

Then it happened.

Uuuuuuung!

A surge of malevolent energy filled the cave. Ominous voices echoed from all directions.

“Gym Unbreakable……”

“Gym Unbreakable!”

“We will avenge our grudges!”

Seeing the waves of muscle-bound spirits approaching from all sides, Repenhardt bit his tongue.

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“Damn it! Not these guys again?”

“We followed you!”

“We believed in you!”

From all directions, countless muscular spirits surged forward. With fists glowing gold, they charged at Repenhardt.

“Is this the reward we get?”

“Is this itttttttttt!”

Deflecting the spirits’ attacks, Repenhardt shouted in frustration.

“Did I beat you? Huh? Did I kill you guys? Why are you coming at me?”

However, the deranged spirits couldn’t distinguish between the Fist Emperor of the past and the current Repenhardt. Faced with the onslaught of spirits, Russ and Tassid also began to unleash Blade Aura. Siris, protecting Sillan, leapt into the air. Explosions erupted throughout the cave, and dust clouds billowed.

“Haap!”

After delivering a long kick to the side of a charging spirit, Repenhardt quickly turned his head. In the distance, he saw Teslon supporting the fallen Eusus and Stefan. Despite the spirits rampaging around them, Teslon’s group seemed entirely unconcerned. The spirits didn’t even seem to notice Teslon’s party as they passed by.

‘Why aren’t they attacking that side?’

Seeing Sillan standing idly a bit further away, the answer became clear. Normally, spirits would target someone with divine power like Sillan first. But none of the spirits were going after Sillan. Siris was fighting hard to protect Sillan, but from his vantage point, Repenhardt could clearly see the situation.

The spirits were only attacking Siris because she had struck first. If she hadn’t attacked, the spirits wouldn’t have retaliated.

The same went for Russ and Tassid. They were only fighting because they had retaliated after Repenhardt was attacked. The spirits weren’t attacking them first.

All the spirits here had one target for their burning hostility: Repenhardt, the rightful successor of Gym Unbreakable.

“Damn it! If I had known, I would have told them not to attack first!”

Russ, having understood the situation, clicked his tongue and swung his sword continuously.

“Well, we couldn’t just stand by and watch while you were fighting, could we?”

Once the battle had started, there was no way to back out. Since Russ and Tassid had already attacked, even if they tried to withdraw now, they wouldn’t stop being targets for the spirits.

While Repenhardt’s group was locked in a fierce battle with the spirits, Teslon’s group leisurely carried the fallen ones and made their way out of the cave. Repenhardt’s expression twisted in frustration.

‘To just watch the enemy leisurely escape right before my eyes!’

Teslon, who had just reached the entrance, glanced back and shouted in a cold voice.

“Just you wait! Demon King! Next time, I will take your head for sure!”

Repenhardt clenched his teeth, striking down the muscular spirits charging from both sides. The saying that there’s nothing scarier than someone who says, “Just you wait,” was commonly known, but…

‘Historically, there was never anyone who wasn’t scary after saying, “Just you wait.”’

However, with Repenhardt’s group tied down by the spirits, there was nothing they could do immediately. Teslon’s group eventually disappeared out of the cave.

Tassid, who had been fighting fiercely, shouted in frustration.

“Why won’t these spirits get cut down even with Aura?”

He had awakened his Aura, thinking there was nothing left to fear in the world. That arrogance had been shattered just ten minutes into his awakening. Considering Tassid’s future as a warrior, this was a favorable development, but for now, it was just infuriating.

“Seriously, they’re disgustingly tough!”

Russ also let out his frustration. Each ghost’s durability was almost on par with Eldrad’s armor, so even when struck with a Gigantic Blade, they would only be pushed back without being properly cut. So now, Russ was dealing with the muscle ghosts by repeatedly stabbing them, leaving traces of aura in various spots and then causing chain explosions.

Boom!

“Ugh… Our unresolved grudge…”

Even when he barely managed to concentrate and take one down, over a dozen more ghosts followed with their chests heaving, making it truly overwhelming. Watching his struggling comrades, Repenhardt clicked his tongue.

‘Ugh, my body is a mess, I can’t even use Calamity Horn…’

Fortunately, his ligaments and tendons hadn’t snapped, but thanks to Teslon, his joints were all swollen. He could move his limbs to some extent, but each movement brought extreme pain and restricted his actions. Gym Unbreakable’s secret technique, Calamity Horn, was such a high-level technique that he needed to be in perfect condition to use it; it was impossible to execute in his current injured state.

In fact, Repenhardt had used so much aura that even techniques like Spiral Guard were difficult to use now, let alone Calamity Horn. Eventually, all the party members’ gazes focused on one point. The only savior who could resolve this situation!

‘Sillan!’

‘Mr. Sillan!’

‘What are you doing? Do something about this!’

Of course, Sillan had been gathering his divine power and preparing a prayer since earlier. However, the number of muscle ghosts filling the cave was well over a hundred. It was taking time to gather enough power to blow away all these ghosts.

“Ah, seriously, you should’ve stopped killing them! How many are there?”

“I told you, I didn’t kill them! Why are you blaming me?”

Ignoring Repenhardt’s exasperated shout, Sillan raised his hands above his head. His hands began to glow pink. Closing his eyes, Sillan solemnly recited his prayer.

“Philanence! Grant rest to these wretched beings, release their bound grudges, free them from the earth’s shackles, and let them dissolve into the ordained order!”

Swoosh!

A tremendous holy light filled the vast cave. The storm of pink holy light swept through the cave, engulfing the muscle ghosts. The ghosts screamed in unison.

“Aaah!”

“We cannot allow this!”

“There is no rest for us…”

“Without the resolution of our grudges, there can be no rest!”

The ghosts screamed as they began to melt away, but they didn’t vanish easily. Their grudges were so deep and the curses so powerful that even within the holy light summoned by Sillan, they managed to hold on for quite a while.

However, Sillan was one of the top five powerful priests within the Philanence Order, and thanks to the hardships he had endured in the past few months, his divine power had grown even stronger. At his current level, Sillan’s skills had surpassed those of a bishop, reaching the level of an archbishop or high priest.

Once again, Sillan unleashed all his divine power, shouting with determination.

“Philanence! I believe in youuuuu!”

Boom!

A second wave of tremendous holy light, powerful enough to shake the air in the cave, swept over. This overwhelming power was too much for the ghosts, whose forms had already become faint, and they were ultimately obliterated all at once.

☆ ☆ ☆

“Pant, pant… Ugh, I feel like I’m dying…”

Sillan gasped for breath as he collapsed onto the ground. Having exhausted all his strength, his legs trembled, making it hard to stand. His head throbbed, and his concentration was so depleted that everything seemed doubled.

“Wow, since I became a priest, it’s the first time I’ve completely drained my divine power. That was an incredible experience.”

The others wore similar expressions. Looking around the empty cave, Russ murmured in a fearful tone.

“Is it over? Have they all ascended now?”

“No, for most ordinary ghosts, they would have ascended, but…”

Sillan shook his head, clicking his tongue.

“Their grudges are so strong that even after all this, their presence is just momentarily dispersed from this world. They’ll probably reappear soon.”

Everyone’s jaws dropped in astonishment. The power Sillan had displayed was truly extraordinary. Such a feat could have wiped out a demon army from another world in one blow. Despite unleashing such a miracle, the ghosts had not ascended; they had merely lost their momentum?

Siris let out a dry laugh, unable to believe it.

“Are these lingering spirits all on par with legendary demons?”

Repenhardt, rubbing his sore back, nodded in agreement.

“In a legendarily simple-minded martial sect, they gathered a bunch of equally simple-minded individuals and brutally beat them to death. As they say, the simpler the grudge, the stronger it is. And considering that Gym Unbreakable’s disciples are as simple-minded as orcs…”

Repenhardt chuckled as he glanced up at the cave ceiling. Thanks to Sillan’s prayer, the distorted energy that had been swirling around the cave had disappeared.

“There was a theory that extreme concentration of dark magic could warp reality and twist space, but I never thought I’d see it with my own eyes.”

Even Repenhardt, a 10th-circle archmage, had only completed the theory of spatial distortion in theory, never actualizing it in reality. Yet these ghosts had managed to achieve it solely through their grudges. Truly impressive ‘seniors’. Shaking his head in amazement at Gym Unbreakable’s potential, Repenhardt looked at the others.

“Is everyone alright?”

“I’m fine, brother.”

“I can still move, benefactor.”

“I’m okay too, Mr. Repenhardt.”

Repenhardt frowned. Though they all said they were fine, exhaustion was evident on their faces. Especially Tassid, who still bore wounds inflicted by Stefan. Although his aura had awakened and his body had somewhat healed, he was far from being in perfect condition.

“Hmm, Sillan. Could you heal them…?”

Repenhardt turned to Sillan, but then awkwardly closed his mouth.

“…I guess you can’t. Sorry.”

Sillan was already dozing off where he sat, overwhelmed by extreme fatigue from using too much power.

‘Ugh, with all this delay, we can’t even chase after Teslon…’

“Mumble, mumble… Blood. I’m muscular now. Christine, go away, go away…”

Repenhardt hoisted the now sleep-talking Sillan onto his shoulder and looked at the group.

“Anyway, let’s get out of here. Those things might come back.”

Despite their exhaustion, everyone agreed wholeheartedly. The thought of those ghosts returning filled them with a sudden burst of energy. They quickly gathered their weapons and hurriedly began to leave the cave.