Barbarian in a Failed Game

330. God of Victory (1)

“This is insane…!”

He swallowed the curse that almost escaped his lips.

There was no time to dwell on the grievance of his cherished Draupnir disappearing without a trace. Instead, Khan focused on pulling his right side, which had brushed against the aura of death, while unleashing condensed holy power in the form of lightning.

Boom—!!

It was a lightning bolt powerful enough to dismantle even the highest-tier divine being’s body. However, before the black sword that embodied the concept of death, it was but a brief flash.

But that was enough.

Boom!

When the thunder echoed once more, Khan’s body transformed into lightning itself. He launched forward at a speed that approached the essence of light. Yet, an actual ‘light’ obstructed him.

『────!』

One of the Executor’s wings, which were paired together, shed feathers over Karyan. And the other half, a fairy made of light—the God of Light—blocked Khan and extended its palm.

Shwaa!

Pure light converged on that palm. Merely looking at the light was enough to paralyze the ‘sight’ of a transcendent being, prompting Khan to mask his senses and strike with his indomitable will.

Crack—!!

The indomitable force that pressed through the dimension split the air. Amid the quick exchanges and intense battles, the God of Light leisurely widened the distance, almost as if toying with his opponent.

『This must be familiar to you.』

The Executor’s prepared spell was completed. The Sorceress, the apostle of truth, and the Goddess of Magic. The pinnacle and extreme of magic slowly lowered his hand, which had been reaching towards the sky. The left arm of Desegonos.

An ethereal voice carried a spiritual resonance, putting a final mark on the Executor’s grand spell.

Crack.

A gigantic ‘finger’, larger than an ogre, pried open the space, tearing a rift. Following that, with an overwhelming mass, it forcibly expanded the crack and pulled out its palm….

Crack, crack, crack, boom—!!

The giant’s left arm, having sufficiently widened the rift, completely revealed itself. The sense of kinship felt from that left arm made the giant’s blood boil, as if they had long since become one.

“I never thought I would encounter that wretched thing here again…!”

Karyan seemed to already know the identity of the entity. While stepping forward, crushing the rain of feathers falling like a storm, Karyan warned aloud.

“Its power is enough to completely control the gravity of the area! Having been resurrected by the power of law, its potential might be even greater—damn it!”

However, Karyan had no time to talk leisurely either. The black sword, having swiftly changed its target, rushed behind him.

Khan had experienced firsthand how threatening the black sword was, losing two fingers and a long relationship with his magic sword. However, just like him, Karyan wasn’t in a situation where he could afford to pay much attention either.

『In Paradise, you faced an incomplete spell, but this time, it would be different.』

He didn’t need to say it out loud. He understood. The left arm of the giant that had just emerged was imbued with a power that made the right hand of Desegonos, which Khan had encountered in Paradise, seem like a mere child’s toy.

‘So, she intends to seal our advantages, is that it?’

The giant’s arm not only resurrected in a complete form but also exerted power beyond its prime—it might have been challenging before he attained God-like status. But now…

Crackle…!

Khan’s entire body was enveloped in ash-gray lightning at that moment. The giant’s fully emerged left arm clenched its fist as if to crush the very air.

Boom─!

It was as if Khan was being gripped by the terrifying strength of an actual giant’s hand.

This was a trick he had experienced before. It felt like an invisible wall was closing in from all sides. Khan mirrored the giant’s left arm and also clenched the air. As if attempting to compete with the giant, capable of parting seas with a kick and forming mountain ranges with a punch.

Crrrrunch──!

The moment he clenched the air, the giant’s left arm, far in the distance, began to falter. The space between the two beings groaned, bent under pressure, and distorted.

Seizing that opportunity, the God of Light took position behind Khan.

『────!』

The unique psychic waves emitted by the devoured beings of chaos screamed. Whether it was joy or sorrow, it was hard to tell due to the passionate intensity of these psychic waves, which surged together with a flash of light.

At that moment, Khan’s eyes flashed as if to declare that the tense standoff until now had all been a facade. He smashed through the wall that had imprisoned him in one swift move.

『────?』

The confused psychic wave of the God of light retreated swiftly.

Just before his divine body was about to explode, he released the compressed lightning from beneath his feet.

Ka-boom!

The belated roar chased after the lingering afterimage, and as his right foot exploded from the shock, he regenerated it instantaneously and stepped into the air once more.

Tap.

In contrast to his previous rough leaps, his steps now were extremely light.

Crackle. Boom─!!

A gray lightning bolt split the sky. Desegonos’ left arm burst into a spray of blood, and Khan reached out his hand toward the God of light, who had swiftly maneuvered to the rear.

Crunch.

One could not catch ‘light’. However, the God of light was certainly a tangible and real existence. He had already ‘seen’ the method with his own eyes. A strange giant’s ability to leap across space and apply force precisely where desired–to mimic this, one’s physical output had to nearly match that of the giant itself.

“Still floundering-!”

HeFor Khan, the conditions were too easy.

*Flash! Boom!*

With a sudden spark, the God of Light, who had been trying to widen the distance again, collided with an invisible wall and let out a scream.

『────!』

*Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!*

The God thrashed like a beast trapped in a cage. It ran wildly in all directions, slamming its body against the walls. However, the transparent prison that confined it did not waver even the slightest.

*Crack!*

Gradually, the invisible wall began to close in as if to swallow the God. The more it did, the more frantically the God thrashed…

‘It’s useless.’

It was a move infused with a significant amount of holy power. While Khan’s holy power could not be termed as insignificant, it certainly wasn’t infinite. Thus, he had unleashed a decisive blow to ensure the end of the God of Light.

“One wing torn off -.”

『Meaningless.』

Contrary to its words, however, the Executor seemed to sense a greater threat, and swiftly began to cast a spell.

『Experience the breath of the ancient Dragon King.』

At the delicate fingertips that could be described as slender and jade-like, a small flame formed. It was no ordinary flame. It was a blaze kindled by the power of origin, one that would burn and consume everything upon contact.

Chi-iik—

Red and blue flickering flames spread around the Executor, as if flowing along an invisible fuse.

First, the outer wall of the cathedral, which served as the battlefield’s backdrop, melted away. Revealed beyond it was the barren red land, seen once before.

『─────.』

At that moment, Khan frowned at the intense psychic wave felt from below.

“Damn it…!”

Khan, the Avatar of Lightning, spat out words as if chewing them in the realm of an instant.

It was incomparable to the psychic waves experienced before. It was evidence that the seal on the creature was weakening. Most notably, the connection between the red land and the Executor was evident. Whatever the intention, it must have had something to do with the fact that the creature was fixed in place and had not moved since its initial position.

‘The revival of the Arch Demon is a deceit.’

No, more precisely, the red land below— It was merely a plot to awaken the monster Karyan had arduously sealed!

『By the time you realize it, it will be too late.』

As if reading Khan’s thoughts, the Executor smirked and completed an incantation. The flames, which had swollen ever larger by consuming the world’s will, began to take the shape of a gigantic beast.

It was a spell reminiscent of ‘Firebird of Aelos’, which the mages of the Red Tower favored, but it was on another level since it was wielded by a being who had constructed divinity through magic.

『You madman─!』

The dragon was modeled after an ancient dragon king.

Though the angry Spirit of Resentment’s thoughts of frustration echoed loudly in his mind, he had no energy left to worry about the mental health of that creature. The fiery dragon, endowed with primordial power, was already in the process of opening its huge maw.

‘Countering it….’

It was impossible.

The moment he was even slightly affected by the breath’s aftermath, his body would undoubtedly melt away, just like when it had touched the black sword. Yet, evading was not an option either; it would mean losing the distance he had painstakingly closed.

Khan’s hesitation lasted only a fraction of a second in real-world time, but in the battle between transcendent beings, it was a fatal hesitation.

Gurgle.

The throat of the dragon, already prepared to unleash its breath, rippled violently. There was no room left for hesitation. Khan immediately transformed most of his holy power into ash-gray lightning, leaving only a minimal amount of holy power intact.

He resembled a Thunder God descending from the sky. Enveloped by lightning as if it were an ancient fortress, Khan chose to pierce through at one point.

‘If only I can reach…!’

A method would reveal itself. As if mocking Khan’s thoughts, the ancient dragon’s breath was unleashed.

Fwoooosh──!!

Along the trajectory of the crimson line, the world’s will vanished without a trace. It was a flame of annihilation, capable of obliterating even the same source of power.

In contrast, the ash-gray line that soared in reverse, relying on the armor of thunderbolt, seemed so pitiful. It looked as if the red breath would engulf Khan at any moment.

『Get out of the way─!』

At that moment, from below, Karyan’s voice directly pierced Khan’s mind.

Something must have happened to him, insisting on his mortal body. But this time, Khan did not hesitate. The moment he heard the voice, he twisted his trajectory in a large zigzag, and something pierced through the spot where he had just been.

Khan’s eyes widened when he identified what it was.

‘Black Sword…?!’

Indeed, it was the Black Sword that had rushed toward Karyan. Given the situation, it seemed clear that Karyan had shot it towards the breath. But how? The hideous thing that could turn the flesh of a God into dust just upon contact…?

『Just look ahead!』

Karyan’s voice rang again, trembling heavily. It seemed as if its very essence was about to collapse.

Khan gritted his teeth.

He decided not to ponder over Karyan’s condition after launching the Black Sword. He only focused on making the most of the opportunity Karyan had created.

The clash between the breath, forged from the power of origin, and the Black Sword, made of death itself, seemed to end in breath’s favor at last. It was an expected outcome, given that the Executor was continuously infusing the breath with the power of origin.

But.

Because of that, an opportunity arose.

‘Now……!’

Even if his entire body were to explode, Khan didn’t care. He forced the lightning he had spread outside back into his body. He abandoned both power and precision. His sole aim was to reach the opponent as quickly as possible, so he kicked off the ground.

Boom—!

The Executor, who had been imbuing energy into her breath, rolled her eyes toward Khan. It was a reaction speed unimaginable for a mere mage. In an instant, a curtain of flames enveloped the Executor. There was also a mix of primordial energy in it. It was a fatal move, silently warning, “If you attack recklessly, you’ll suffer instead.”

‘It doesn’t matter.’

Boom!!

Khan rammed his body into the curtain of flames. For a brief moment, the resistance halted him. The ash-gray lightning that had spread through his body melted into the primordial flames.

But he broke through.

As a consequence, he lost all his momentum and even the ash-gray lightning. Khan, now devoid of power, made it through the curtain of flames. A familiar yet alien woman’s face was right in front of him. However, the strength to finish her off no longer existed in him.

『The primordial energy bestowed upon you, I shall take it back.』

With a smile that seemed devoid of emotion, the Executor reached out his hand toward Khan.

“I’ve got you.”

With a smile akin to that of a predatory beast, Khan allowed himself to be caught by the Executor’s hand. At that moment, just as the Executor flinched and tried to extract the primordial energy from Khan, “Let’s see this through to the end.”

A light from deep within Khan enveloped both figures.

***

The Executor—once known as Mortalia—squinted his eyes.

“Where is this…?”

Breathing felt somewhat difficult. The sensation in her hands and feet was dull, and there was a disconnect between her thoughts and actions when she tried to move her body. When had she last felt like this?

The Executor couldn’t recall, but there was a strange sense of déjà vu. It was as if she had experienced this feeling multiple times before and had even responded to it. She cast a spell she had devised in the past to adjust the sensation in her body.

“Wait a moment…!”

She belatedly realized something strange. She was a being who had grasped the power of origin. How could someone like her be swayed by mere physical sensations? Such things should be inconsequential to mortals…

Snap.

That was when it happened.

“This is my authority, my sanctuary. Maybe it’s because I survived so desperately without even knowing why, but it turned out like this. At first, I thought, ‘What kind of absurd authority is this?'”

Barbarian Khan emerged from the snow-covered forest and explained with a wry smile. Khan’s authority didn’t possess an outrageous function like “Always ensuring victory”. Rather, his authority was a bizarre kind that consumed his own strength.

The fortunate aspect was that the power of the authority applied equally to his opponent as well. The place that left the most horrifying and painful memories for him. While facing the wind of the sanctuary that perfectly mimicked Hoarfrost Gorge, Khan gripped his hand axe tightly.

“Well then, let’s get started.”