The Mountains Covered By Lie…
The Chrisom Knights emerged from the portal that led to Mt. Dekka and the spiraling cities below, glimmering like an endless stream of light.
Kael the Unbroken. Selene the Riven. Macabre of the Hollow Flame. Thornis the Gale-Horned. Mirael of Many Eyes. Vael the Crimson Judge.
Led by Macabre, the six swiftly approached the mountain's entrance.
However, as Macabre moved to enter, a forcefield repelled him with fierce resistance. Kael the Unbroken, the first in command of the Chrisom Knights, tried next, only to be similarly hurled back.
"Forcefields," Selene muttered as she watched both Kael and Macabre recoil.
"Yeah, I expected at least this much," Kael said, stepping back with a resigned sigh.
"You plan to bring it down?" Macabre asked as Kael drew his golden flame sword.
"Is that even possible?" Mirael of Many Eyes questioned, his voice laced with doubt.
"Normally, it shouldn't be—" Vael began, but Kael moved into a combat stance.
"—if the Legend Carpathia were present, it would truly be an impossible feat—"
"Enough talk! Kael, get it done already! I'm itching to show those bastards below the wrath of the Chrisom Knights!" Thornis growled, cutting him off and silencing the group.
"You know we're only attempting this because he isn't here—" Vael tried to add, but the dead looks from the others shut him up.
Kael swung his flaming longsword down onto the barrier, muttering an incantation as he did.
Boom!!
A massive shockwave rippled outward, powerful enough to threaten their footing and sweep them back.
'Damn! This rebound force… It's enough to knock six Denkei heroes off their feet!' Vael thought, raising his hand to shield himself from the debris swirling around them.
---
Meanwhile…
Somewhere in Rosa Town…
The Mayor's Office.
Dr. VonShmit, an ex-hero and the current mayor of Rosa Town, sat behind his desk. Once a humble healer, he was among the few Carpathia trusted implicitly.
Carpathia had taken him in as a child during the Great War nearly fifty years ago. At just six years old, VonShmit had grown up alongside the five legends, witnessing their feats as they adventured across the world.
When the group disbanded nearly twenty years ago, VonShmit chose to follow Carpathia to the Dekka mountains. Together, they founded Rosa Town.
In time, Carpathia withdrew from public affairs, leaving VonShmit to manage the town. Yet Carpathia never truly left. Whenever demonic beasts threatened, he would appear, wiping them out before they could cause significant harm.
Eventually, even the sentient demon beasts learned to avoid the Mountains of Dekka.
As more townsfolk gathered at the foot of the mountain for refuge, Carpathia never drove them away or interfered. All responsibility for the settlements below was left to VonShmit.
Though he had never achieved the Denkei form and remained a healer, within these mountains, VonShmit's strength was second only to Carpathia's.
He sensed the moment they arrived—the earth itself whispered of their presence.
Carpathia had foreseen this, warning him that the Chrisom Knights might return in his absence, driven by wounded pride.
VonShmit rested his head on his clasped hands, his gaze firm and resolute.
He knew what he had to do.
---
Kael struck the barrier repeatedly, each blow more forceful than the last.
The other knights had taken to the skies, avoiding the direct rebound force. Only Kael remained, his power great enough to withstand the energy that could flatten hills and level valleys.
Vael watched from above, his attention divided. With his secret technique—the Golden Eye, a lesser form of the Eye of Creation—he scanned the mountain's spiritual fluctuations, detecting SE ripples rivaling the red spirit's perception.
Moments ago, he had sensed a spike in SE signatures across the mountain, as though someone had just cast a spell or skill of great power. Yet nothing had materialized, and he wondered if it had merely been a fluctuation.
The SE purity in these mountains was unlike anything he'd felt before—ideal for cultivation. If he'd come for another purpose, he might have spent days here, enriching his Spiritual Sea.
After all, a literal legend lived here.
Suddenly, a large crack appeared in the barrier. Compressed gas burst out, far surpassing the previous shockwaves. Even Kael had to retreat into the skies.
As the gas pressure subsided, the six knights regrouped at the base of the mountain. Thornis gripped the cracked barrier, his muscles bulging with exertion.
If Kael was the strongest in power, Thornis was the mightiest physically—capable of flattening hills and piercing small mountains with sheer force. A single punch from him could down any Denkei-level hero.
"Arghhh!" Thornis roared, prying the cracked barrier open just enough for them to pass through.
"Move!!" he bellowed. Kael, Selene, Macabre, Mirael, and Vael sprinted inside, followed by Thornis, who released the barrier with a final heave before slipping through.
What lay beyond confirmed all of Vael's earlier suspicions.
---
It was all wrong. Keel Kun knew they had angered a dragon. He teleported away from a beam of compressed matter just before it would have torn through his flesh.
He'd been forced to use his halo technique again, despite Headmaster Kime's warning: never use it more than three times a day. Today, he'd already used it six times—his brain was nearing its limit.
Itekan's shadow moved like a phantom. In an instant, he was behind Zain, his shadow daggers shooting for Zain's ribs—or where they should have been.
But they found only air. Zain had dodged just before the daggers struck.
'This kid's stealth is on par with Denkei-level heroes… I couldn't even sense him. If he hadn't moved, I wouldn't have noticed at all,' Zain thought, twisting to smack Itekan square in the chest and sending him tumbling into a floating boulder.
Avery lagged behind no longer. He squared off with Zain, unleashing a flurry of punches, each enhanced by his SE and his special technique, Hollow Dreams, which tripled the impact.
Yet what good was an overwhelming blow that never landed?
Each strike seemed to pass through empty air. Bored, Zain casually smacked Avery across the face, shattering his resistance.
Keel Kun reappeared above Zain alongside Itekan. Imbuing his foot with so much SE it became tangible, Itekan landed a roundhouse kick on Zain's shoulder.
Zain didn't budge. His hand shot for the foot on his shoulder, but before he could crush it, Keel Kun's halberd pierced his back. Even then, it didn't break his skin.
Assaulted from both sides, Zain turned to face Keel Kun, recognizing the halberd's gradual penetration as the greater threat.
He brought his hand down to end the assault, but what he saw next stopped him cold.
A surge of shadow energy erupted from Itekan—far beyond anything he'd expected. The shadow tentacles writhed like living weapons, bursting from the ground in a maelstrom of darkness.
Zain realized too late that he had underestimated the boy. One of the tentacles tore through his skin as if it were paper.
The ground and everything around Itekan turned to mush under the rampaging shadows. To Zain, it looked like an advanced Blue Eyes hero on the cusp of breaking into Denkei form—an unstoppable fury.
Zain roared, releasing his own Aura to match.
"I don't know how you're suddenly emitting the SE of an advanced Blue Eyes hero, but it won't change anything!!" he thundered.
If Aitken had been here, he would have been shocked at how many words Zain had just spoken in one breath.
Itekan growled, more condensed SE and shadow energy steaming off his body. He roared, and a storm of tentacles shot at Zain with an absurd speed—like a beast finally unleashed.
Spiritual Energy (SE)
Spiritual Sea (SS)
Spiritual Signature (SST)