I’m the Madman of This Family

Chapter 392. If You Want to Live, You Die (2)

A sword pierced through his back and came out through his solar plexus. A strike that pierced his heart. He should have died instantly, but Rukan was fine. He didn’t even make a pained expression. Instead, he looked utterly baffled.

“Baiga. You dare attack me?”

The one who ambushed him from behind was Baiga of the Mejai family. Baiga muttered with a shocked expression.

“Damn it. You know my name? I thought you wouldn’t recognize me!”

Seeing Rukan unharmed, Baiga dropped his sword and retreated.

Rukan didn’t attack him. A more pressing question had arisen.

‘How did that guy deceive my senses?’

This terrain doesn’t have many places to hide. It’s a pit created by his own attack moments ago. Though there are many uneven areas, one would still have to descend from above to get here.

Yet, no matter how engrossed he was in his fight with Keter, there’s no way he wouldn’t have sensed such a presence.

‘Could it be that he was waiting here all along?’

An absurd assumption. After all, Keter had been fighting him without any opportunity to communicate or give orders to anyone on the ground.

‘It’s also ridiculous to think this was a premeditated plan.’

How could they have known he would come here and prepared such a scheme in advance?

Moreover, there was another strange thing.

‘Why did he stop running?’

Baiga pretended to flee but stopped midway. He must have realized there was no chance of winning since his attack didn’t work at all.

At that moment, a spear suddenly appeared out of thin air, radiating a dazzling silver light.

The silver light curved gracefully, aiming for Rukan’s neck and calf simultaneously, but Rukan, already sensing something amiss, caught the spear with his bare hands.

“I don’t know what’s going on, but…”

Rukan pulled the spear. A person suddenly emerged from the empty air.

Dragon Spear Jordic. Caught holding the spear, he immediately countered with a kick, but Rukan didn’t even bother to block it.

Thud!

A full-powered kick landed on his head, yet Rukan didn’t even flinch.

Jordic, realizing his spear and martial arts were ineffective, dropped the spear and retreated.

“Seems like there are rats hiding everywhere.”

Rukan spread his arms and opened his palms. An ether storm erupted from his body.

A simple, brute-force technique of releasing ether in all directions, but it was highly effective.

Those hiding in the space began to reveal themselves, blocking the ether storm.

However, as if to show this was within expectations, those hiding in the space moved in perfect unison.

The first to step forward was the Lord of the West, Krona. She stretched out her hands and clenched them, bending the space. The ether storm reflected off the curved space, scattering in all directions.

Before the scattered ether fragments could settle, four figures leaped toward Rukan from behind her.

The Sword Witch, Henya Eslow.

The Eastern Shield, Minerva Aegis.

The Head of the Mercenary Association, Burgundy.

The Master of the Demon Sword Obelisk, Jairo Shubil.

Four unrelated individuals unleashed their ultimate techniques in perfect harmony.

Twin Swords Hundred Paths: Left Sword Shadow Slash, Right Sword Soul Split.

Aegis-style Shield Art: Charge of Trust.

Wolf Wave Sword Dance: 108 Continuous Strikes.

Refreshing Sword: Blue Sky Voyage.

The lifelong secret techniques, essence of the soul, and full power of six-star Grandmasters combined to strike Rukan.

Rukan’s reaction wasn’t vigilance but a sneer.

“Insects.”

Boom!

Hundreds of ether shields, created instantly without preparation, easily nullified the four’s secret techniques.

No matter how deep or diverse their techniques, they were powerless before absolute strength.

But Rukan saw it. In their eyes wasn’t despair, but fighting spirit.

It wasn’t over yet. Their coordinated attack was just beginning.

Whoosh!

A heavy sound of something falling rapidly. Rukan looked up to see a nearly naked man pulling his shoulders back to their limit.

Kwonhwang Hyperion.

Through his fists, which had reached the eight-star realm before Keter, his authority manifested.

Clear Sky Thunder Fist: Blood Fear Ten Thousand Waves.

The twin fists shattered the ether shields mercilessly. Hundreds, thousands of layers were pierced in the blink of an eye.

The destructive power in Hyperion’s fists was beyond imagination. For the first time, Rukan’s eyes widened, and he hastily extended his palms to counter.

Rukan, ignoring the six-star ants, poured all his power into countering Hyperion.

Hyperion’s fists, capable of destroying everything, clashed fiercely with Rukan’s ether waves, which could annihilate anything.

The shockwave was so intense that nothing material could maintain its form. Everything was broken down to the atomic level and pushed away.

The ether beam Rukan fired not only countered Blood Fear Ten Thousand Waves but also attacked Hyperion himself. Yet, Hyperion didn’t defend at all.

Even with his Iron Blood Divine Technique, he couldn’t completely neutralize ether’s power.

Flesh tore, bones and muscles were exposed. Rukan gritted his teeth. In a contest of strength, he was only slightly at risk, but Hyperion would surely die.

Yet, Hyperion showed no intention of retreating. Instead, he smiled so widely his gums showed, as if enjoying himself.

‘Another freak like Keter exists in this world!’

An eight-star irregular risking his life in a single strike. And the two had never met before.

“Tch!”

In the end, it was Rukan who withdrew first.

He calls himself a ‘god.’ But even he couldn’t be sure if he could remain unscathed after taking a strike of such authority.

Withdrawing didn’t put him at a disadvantage. In fact, it gave him the upper hand. Hyperion was now severely injured.

Of course, this dealt a heavy blow to Rukan’s pride…

‘I’ll just kill them all.’

He wasn’t curious about where or why they appeared. He just wanted to kill them all.

The emotion of ‘killing’ immediately materialized into ether, spreading in all directions.

But that was precisely the moment everyone here had been waiting for.

Whoosh!

Everyone around him retreated. The ether waves Rukan emitted were an area attack with no gaps. Retreating wouldn’t help them escape.

Rukan intuitively sensed something was wrong with their unnatural actions, followed by a massive physical pressure closing in from both sides.

Even Rukan, who could emit infinite energy without weakness, had one flaw.

Lack of real combat experience.

And proficiency in battle.

Already emitting ether widely, Rukan needed to shift his power’s direction to the sides, but his movements were clumsy and slow.

Though slow by human standards, his superhuman body only delayed him by less than 0.5 seconds.

Moreover, even with this temporal loss, Rukan had no problem. His body was always surrounded by thick ether shields.

But—

Now, those thick ether shields were as thin as paper. They had all been shattered blocking Hyperion’s Blood Fear Ten Thousand Waves and were in the process of reforming.

Prioritizing attack over shield restoration was only natural.

Cornered, Rukan looked left and right. Then he gritted his teeth.

Approaching from the left was none other than the Lord of the West and Time Mage, Krona, unleashing an eight-circle calamity spell: Space Storm.

From the right came the Lord of the East and Sky Cleaver, Dayal, with his ultimate sword technique: Sky Cleave.

“Servants who should be serving me dare attack me!”

Rukan roared, stretching his arms to both sides.

Individually, Rukan was superior in every way. The ability to wield near-infinite ether without side effects made him invincible.

But he had grown complacent. Who could have expected that transcendent beings, willing to risk their lives for pride, would unite for an ‘ambush’?

Moreover, the bait was too tempting. He couldn’t resist. How could he not bite when Keter was the bait?

Boom!

The space around Rukan shattered as the power of chaos, ether, was about to explode—but the two lords’ attacks struck first, tearing through Rukan’s body. The surrounding area became a vacuum, silencing all sound.

The displaced air became a storm, sweeping everything away, revealing the battlefield.

Rukan’s body was torn apart in multiple places. It was a mess. Not just cut, but chunks were gouged out. He looked like a half-finished sculpture.

Ether flowed from the gouges, and crucially, Dayal’s sword, which had cut halfway through his shoulder, was lodged in his chest.

This seemed to be the end of the plan, as everyone watched.

“Attack!”

At Maknun’s shout from somewhere, everyone rushed at Rukan, stabbing him.

Thud, crack!

Spears and swords pierced Rukan’s entire body.

But he didn’t die. Abandoning his physical form, his spirit body emitted ether, trying to push the weapons away.

With Dayal leading, four Grandmasters barely managed to suppress Rukan—when someone walked up.

“Is it my turn now?”

Keter, whose arms had been severed, stood before Rukan, completely unharmed.

*

For Keter, losing his arms was no constraint. It only hurt like hell.

His left arm was Eslow’s Prosthetic Arm, and his right arm was the Blood Sword Dracula. They weren’t truly severed, and even if they were, Keter, having absorbed the Book of Creation, could regenerate them anytime.

Missing with Misteltein was also intentional. Misteltein’s self-destruct function only activates upon hitting the target.

Meaning, as long as it doesn’t hit, Keter is safe.

By losing his arms and missing with Misteltein, Keter aimed to enable the transcendent beings’ ambush.

So, when did this become possible?

Keter only realized it moments ago.

The original plan was to awaken Eslow and Dracula, sacrifice them, and finish Rukan. But while fighting Rukan, Keter received a ‘signal’ from the ground.

He saw a flash of light inside the pit he and Rukan had created, which then disappeared.

It wasn’t a prearranged phenomenon. It might have been a random light.

But Keter didn’t doubt it.

‘It’s Maknun.’

After returning from Ruquer, Keter heard Maknun had left long ago. But he didn’t seek him out, believing there was a reason for his departure.

Even when he formed an army and gained public attention, Maknun didn’t come.

Yet, Keter never doubted Maknun. He firmly believed Maknun was working somewhere to help him.

But this was beyond even Keter’s expectations.

‘To get even Hyperion and the lords to help…’

How did he do it? Keter wanted to pat his head in admiration, but there was no time. Rukan, like a rabid dog, was glaring at him, ready to kill.

“Looking good?”

Keter didn’t attack Rukan. He taunted him. Rukan, with swords and spears stuck all over his body, spoke.

“Born a commoner, you have no pride. A transcendent being setting traps? You should be ashamed.”

“Now, now, don’t get excited. Look at my hand.”

Keter’s hand was empty, but with a clench, Misteltein appeared.

Seeing Misteltein, Rukan’s expression twisted. Just holding it caused wounds, but Keter acted nonchalant.

“This arrow is called Misteltein. They say it’s an arrow that kills gods. I didn’t believe it at first. How could a twig like this kill a god? Right?”

Keter waved Misteltein near Rukan’s face. Rukan’s expression showed realization.

“Misteltein… Yes. I’ve heard of it. The late king ordered Sephira to retrieve it at all costs. That’s it.”

“Yes, that’s it. Lilian gave it to Sephira. You got scared, didn’t you? You went through all that trouble to get it back.”

“Heh. Bluffing won’t work, Keter. If you could really kill me with that arrow, you would have stabbed me already. You’re not doing it because there’s some restriction, right?”

“Of course there’s a restriction. But that’s not why I’m not killing you.”

“Keep talking. This restraint will end soon.”

Though Keter and Rukan were calmly conversing, it was only because Krona and Dayal were straining to maintain the restraint.

But they couldn’t hold it forever. The restraint could break any moment, and with Keter chatting leisurely, everyone was anxious and tense.

“Join me in killing Grand Duke Alkione, Rukan.”

At Keter’s sudden proposal, Rukan’s eyes twitched.

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