CHAPTER 184
As soon as we started running, I spotted Inferno in the distance right on time.
He was sitting coiled up next to the exploded corpse of Colonel Bagel.
The flow of mana radiating from his body was clearly suppressing the intrusion of the wraiths.

He was in no condition to move even an inch.
If he could move, he would have run to the barrier a long time ago.
First, I need to resolve this closest one.

"Lieutenant General Inferno! May I collect your life for a moment?!"

I shouted out of nowhere.
It was obvious Inferno would be bewildered, but there was no other way.
Time was tight, so I had to choose the best option.

I placed my hand on his body and pushed Divine Power into him.
Then, Inferno accepted the Divine Power without resisting.

A moment later, the instant it reached his heart, I stopped it without hesitation using my Divine Power.
Inferno's breathing stopped.

At that very moment, the wraiths tried to push their way in.

"Hey, you sons of bitches."

A massive Holy Mana began to spread from my grasp.

"This is my territory."

Along with the declaration of my domain, Resurrection magic was granted to Inferno's body.

Now, I am capable of activating Resurrection magic slowly.
I intentionally left the Resurrection magic lingering on Inferno's body and quickly hoisted him onto my back.

Then, I reached out to Colonel Bagel's corpse, which was already smashed to pieces.
Even in its shattered state, Bagel's corpse was twitching, as if a soul was trying to crawl inside.

But what could they do?
As soon as I activated the Resurrection magic, his flesh was restored, and the wraiths were immediately evicted.

Aranseol picked up Colonel Bagel.
As we immediately ran back, I saw the expanded Soul Barrier.
Lululio and Aigis were guarding the two inside.
A reliable crew.

I quickly shoved Inferno and Colonel Bagel into the barrier and immediately turned my body around.

"I'll be right back!"

I started running frantically without even time to chat.
Aranseol also chose to run alongside me instead of speaking.

The other Lieutenant Generals had also entered from the east, west, south, and north entrances respectively. So, if we keep going straight down this path, we're bound to run into them eventually.

'We can't even grasp how far the wraiths have advanced.'

We have no choice but to grab everyone we can see.
After running for a long time, I saw a person in the distance.
A man fully armed, with both arms hanging limply down.
It was someone from the deployed Regular Army.

"Hey."

When I called out to him, the soldier's shoulders flinched.
Then, his head slowly lifted toward us.

Drool dripping from his mouth.
Unfocused eyes.
Arms moving erratically.

Anyone could instantly tell what state he was in.
Possessed by the wraiths.

The Regular Army soldier immediately tried to draw his weapon to respond to us.
But my hand moved faster than his.

A bullet of divinity formed at my fingertip.
I fired it without hesitation, shooting down his body.

Baaang!

His body was blown to pieces by the explosive power of the divine bullet.
I ran straight over and grabbed his wrist, the largest chunk of his shattered flesh.

There was no time to grapple with the wraiths.
I had to kill them and use Resurrection magic anyway.
There was no more efficient judgment than this.

At that moment, hearing the commotion, several more possessed Regular Army soldiers swarmed in this direction.

"Aranseol."

At the call of her name, Aranseol charged straight ahead, swinging without hesitation.
Sweeping through in an instant, Aranseol smashed their bodies to pieces.

Then, Aranseol also immediately collected their hands.
It was the condition for me to resurrect them at any time.
I took those hands and packed them safely into my bag.

Before we knew it, Aranseol and I had reached a point where we could make these kinds of decisions without even exchanging a word.

If someone saw us, they might be horrified and call us crazy.
They'd point fingers, asking how we could attack our own allies so ruthlessly. Some might say we lacked basic human decency. Or they might criticize me, saying I couldn't possibly be called a Saint.

But this is reality.
The best judgment we can make at the point where we've chosen the best option.

What we are doing right now isn't playing house.
It's a war against Black Dawn, and specifically, a situation where we are dismantling a trap set by Black Dawn.
There is no sympathy in war.
I felt that truth to my bones living through the days past.

Perhaps both Aranseol and I have simply become too accustomed to war.
We've changed to the point where doing things like this feels natural.

But as long as I have Resurrection magic...
Not using the best available option would be a dereliction of duty.

We ran once again.

The number of Regular Army soldiers wandering aimlessly inside the Sky Castle was steadily increasing. The specters coveted their bodies, toying with them and moving them around as they pleased.

The only silver lining was that too many specters had crammed into single bodies. With multiple specters tangled together and demanding different things, the bodies couldn't form a proper will or coordinate their movements. Because of that, they couldn't react to Aranseol or my attacks and were shot down one by one.

The severed hands piling up in my bag were steadily increasing. Anyone looking would think I was some weird hand collector.

Still, the situation was favorable. At this rate, it seemed we could save everyone without much difficulty.

Just as I was thinking that and moving forward.
It happened when I aimed my hand at a man in front of me and fired a Holy Bullet.

Just before the fading light of the Holy Bullet could reach him...
The man instantly drew his sword and cleaved the bullet in half.

It happened in a flash.
Before I even had time to panic, he charged at me, swinging his blade.

Clllaaaang!

Aranseol blocked his path.
With a fierce, glowing light in her eyes, she deflected the man's sword and launched a counterattack. However, the man reacted flawlessly, parrying Aranseol's strike before stepping back.

He then quietly pulled his sword back and took a stance.
The fact that he took Aranseol's strike head-on meant he was a master swordsman. Furthermore, there was a subtle energy flowing from his body.

It was an Ability.

"...Lieutenant General Meiran."

I recognized him and muttered his name.
He was a Lieutenant General and a Transferee who had been transferred to Wol-un. Having lived as a kendo instructor on Earth, he had trained relentlessly in Wol-un to become a true master of the sword.

Looking at the various stab and slash wounds carved into his body, it seemed he had fought a long, grueling battle against the possessed Regular Army soldiers before finally succumbing to the specters himself.

"...He's moving perfectly fine."

All the other possessed Regular Army soldiers were creaking and failing to properly control their physical functions. Yet, for some reason, Lieutenant General Meiran was moving with perfect, unhindered form.

That clean stance.
It was proof that the body was being perfectly controlled.

And in that moment, a thought flashed through my mind.

"Could it be... is there only one specter occupying that body right now?"

Even among specters, there are tiers.
Unlike the low-level ones that only know how to wail, there are specters that retained their memories from life. Such specters would naturally have a preferred vessel. And they certainly wouldn't want to share that vessel with a bunch of other mindless ghosts.

So, after taking over the body, this specter must have driven all the others out. Just so it could monopolize the vessel for itself.

Wooooong~

Damn it.
A specter had taken over the body of a powerhouse at the Lieutenant General level. I didn't even need to think about how dangerous that was.

But we couldn't just leave a possessed body alone, either. If the specter ran off with his body, there would be no situation worse than that.

Just then, Aranseol stepped in front of me and lowered Danmyung to her side.
She had already made her decision to fight.

Wooooong—

At the same time, for some reason, Aranseol's sword, Danmyung, let out a quiet hum. It felt almost as if it were glad to see an old friend, exchanging greetings.

Aranseol gripped Danmyung and stared at Meiran with calm eyes.
Her willingness to fight seemed to carry another meaning as well.

Soon, a certain fact crossed my mind.
The specters gathered here weren't just randomly collected by Black Dawn. They were definitely gathered with a clear, malicious intent.

A specter strong enough to push out all others and claim a body for itself.
Naturally, it had to be an entity on a completely different level from regular ghosts.

"Aranseol."

I quietly called her name, tensing up.

"Don't tell me the specter inside Lieutenant General Meiran's body is... one of the Sword Lords?"

Instead of answering, Aranseol quietly nodded.

I knew it.
Why are bad premonitions never wrong?
I felt a surge of unfairness, but what could I do? Whining about something that had already happened wouldn't change a thing. I just had to step up and fix it myself.

"Can you win?"

One of the past Sword Lords had possessed the body of a sword master. I knew all too well how threatening such an opponent was.

At my question, Aranseol answered by raising Danmyung and gripping it tightly.
It was a declaration that she was the current master of Danmyung, and that she was the one who had inherited the era of the sword.

Her answer was conveyed loud and clear.
I was the one who had watched her grueling efforts from the closest vantage point. Above all, she had Danmyung. Aranseol must have already looked back on the life this opposing Sword Lord had lived.

"I'll trust you with this."

I left Lieutenant General Meiran to Aranseol.
With that, Aranseol ended the standoff and leaped forward explosively.
Red sparks erupted from her blade as it clashed against Meiran's sword, sending a deafening shockwave echoing through the air.

Drawn by the sound of the explosion, other possessed Regular Army soldiers began swarming in from the distance. Since Meiran had been fighting here, there were bound to be many soldiers nearby.

They lumbered toward us like zombies. Though their movements were stiff and creaky, they were filled with a murderous hostility toward the living.
At this point, it was safe to just call them undead.

And historically, Holy Magic was the absolute best cure for the undead.

Watching them approach, I manifested another bullet in my hand.
I left Meiran to Aranseol. So, I needed to do what I did best.

"You guys remember I'm the Saint, right?"

I didn't know if any of their consciousness remained, but I shouted with a grin to give them some strength.

"I'll heal you right up, so let's all get a shot, one by one."

It'll just be a little prick.