Surviving as a Barbarian in a Fantasy World-Chapter 366: Authority (1)
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Chapter 366: Authority (1)
"Go. You bastards."
Ketal spat out the words.
The barbarians, who had barely held back their itching bodies, burst into laughter.
"Ha! Ha! Ha!"
"This time, I'll kill them for sure!"
In an instant, they dashed toward the imperial capital.
Ketal spoke to Helia, who remained behind.
"Take care of those apostles that slip past those bastards. You and your group should be more than capable of handling them."
"Understood."
Helia replied with a resolute expression.
Behind her stood dozens of people—strong warriors quickly gathered in response to an urgent call.
"...Ketal, I wish you victory."
"Don't worry."
Ketal smiled faintly.
"I'll finish this. I've made my decision now."
* * *
Crack.
The imperial capital.
Deep within, the twisted one was quietly regaining its strength.
It was refining itself, shaping itself into a more complete and perfect form.
At that moment, the twisted one realized something.
A multitude of beings was approaching the capital.
Extending its senses, the twisted one immediately understood what they were.
[The barbarians of the White Snowfield? So, you returned to bring those creatures.]
The voice of the twisted one carried a tone of disgust.
[Those wretched things. I didn’t think I’d see them again here.]
The barbarians of the White Snowfield were beings that even the twisted one found tiresome.
It was grateful to them for ending an eternal battle but had no desire to be entangled with them again.
The twisted one had no intention of directly confronting the barbarians.
It wasn't a matter of strength—it was their relentless persistence that made them intolerable.
Thus, it issued a command.
[Move. Kill them.]
Boom! Boom! Boom!
From underground, apostles who had been awaiting orders began to move all at once.
Breaking through the ground, they charged at the invading barbarians.
"Ha ha ha ha!"
"You've come out! I'll kill you!"
Boom!
Power clashed against power.
Hecate burst into wild laughter and stepped forward, raising her axe high before bringing it down.
Boom!
The ground split in half.
Even an apostle of the hero class, rushing forward, couldn't withstand the blow and was split in two.
Crack!
However, the split body reattached itself, forming a grotesque shape.
The twisted one’s authority attempted to engulf Hecate.
Hecate bared her teeth and threw a punch.
Boom!
A powerful shockwave reverberated through the world.
The barbarians and apostles tangled in combat.
Neither side seemed to have a clear advantage, locked in an equilibrium.
And then—
Step. Step.
Amidst the chaos, a lone figure walked forward.
The intense battle seemed to have no effect on him, his steps as calm as a stroll.
Ketal advanced and stood before the twisted one.
"We meet again."
[So, you used the time I gave you to summon the barbarians.]
The twisted one sneered.
[A foolish move.]
In that moment, the world warped.
Around Ketal, the axis of space and time twisted and crumpled.
This was the authority of the twisted one—to distort the world.
Ketal immediately drew his axe and unleashed his aura, striking the twisted world.
Boom!
The aura imbued with the monstrosity’s authority—death—resonated with Ketal's presence and killed the warped world.
Ketal pushed off the ground and charged.
Crack.
At the same time, the twisted one manifested its authority, crushing the world.
But this wasn’t the authority of distortion.
It was something else.
All matter and concepts in the world merged together, compressed into a dreadful form, and hurtled toward Ketal.
Ketal quickly raised his axe to defend.
The dreadful entity collided with the axe.
And then—
Boom!
Ketal's body was flung backward.
His form, which was on the verge of being hurled to the world's edge, was barely stabilized by his mystery.
Ketal frowned.
His arm throbbed from the intense impact.
He trembled, unable to fully withstand the force.
Compressing the very essence of the world into a monstrous form—
This was not the authority of distortion.
"The authority of monstrosity."
[I defeated the other two and claimed their powers.]
The ancient being was not alone.
The monstrous one.
The twisted one.
The grotesque.
In their battle of three, the twisted one emerged victorious, claiming the rights and rewards of the winner.
[Before, I couldn’t wield this power properly due to the loss of strength from emerging into the outside world… but not now. I can wield it as if it had always been mine.]
With those words, a thick mist surged toward Ketal.
As soon as the mist touched anything, it corroded and dissolved the very essence of the world.
It was a power that defiled and dissolved the world itself—a far greater force than mere destruction.
This was the authority of the grotesque one, the first creature born from the filth of the swamp.
"You’re really pulling out all the stops."
Ketal clicked his tongue and gripped his axe tightly.
He poured all his strength into his arm and swung.
The fierce wind generated by his attack obliterated the mist.
But the twisted one’s assault didn’t end there.
Spikes rained down on Ketal like ballista bolts.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
Ketal narrowly twisted his body to evade, but in that moment, a grotesque orb shot toward him.
He swiftly raised his axe to block.
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Boom!
Unable to fully withstand the impact, he was flung backward.
A spike came charging toward him.
His grip on his axe faltered, leaving him momentarily immobile.
Ketal quickly crouched low.
Crack!
The spike grazed past his shoulder, missing him by a hair's breadth.
Even with just that, his muscles twisted and writhed in agony.
“Ridiculously strong, huh.”
Ketal muttered with a grimace.
The powers of the Elders weren’t particularly unique, but they had reached the pinnacle of their distinctiveness.
It was akin to raw, unbridled violence, and its level surpassed even Ketal’s strength.
Wielding three such powers simultaneously made them hard to deal with.
[You should never have returned.]
The Twisted One spoke gleefully.
[Back then, I was weak. Most of my strength had been lost when I emerged, and I expended considerable effort creating apostles. At that time, you might have defeated me. But for some reason, you wasted your opportunity just to summon some barbarians.]
The barbarians of the white snowfields were undoubtedly strong—perhaps capable of holding back his apostles.
But that was all.
To the Twisted One, who could wield the full extent of the Elder's powers, they were merely an annoyance, not a threat.
[Die here, regretting your choices, outsider.]
“I don’t deny it.”
Ketal didn’t refute the truth—the Twisted One was stronger than him now.
Allowing him time had likely been a misstep, as the Twisted One claimed.
But it didn’t matter.
The reason was simple.
Because strength didn’t matter.
“If you don’t want to be erased, stay quietly hidden.”
[……!]
The abomination recoiled in terror at Ketal’s low words, retreating into Ketal’s depths.
The aura wrapped around his axe and the mystic power that enhanced his body vanished completely.
As Ketal gathered his strength inward, the Twisted One grew perplexed.
[…You. Wait.]
But that confusion was fleeting.
Soon, the Twisted One realized something, and for the first time, showed an expression of shock.
[You!]
The Twisted One lashed out with thorns, bending the world itself—a truly overwhelming power even Ketal found hard to counter.
However.
Swish.
The thorns that approached Ketal disappeared.
Quite literally, they vanished without a trace, leaving nothing behind.
“It took a bit of time to control the range. If I’m careless, it could spread to the entire world, and we can’t have that. Catching fleas isn’t worth burning down the house.”
The world around Ketal began to change.
Air, trees, the ground, decorations, patterns, powers—
All of it was erased.
The Twisted One groaned.
[…Your power!]
* * *
“Hmm…”
From a place quite far from the capital, Helia anxiously observed its interior.
Inside, waves of enormous power were clashing repeatedly.
The collision of dozens of hero-class entities was an extraordinary sight that could not be witnessed from the outside.
The mighty warriors she had summoned were left speechless in shock.
But she knew better than anyone that such things didn’t matter.
“…I hope Ketal will win.”
She had fled before she could get a clear look at the Twisted One.
Yet even then, the grotesque presence had made her shudder.
She had pretended to stay calm outwardly, but she hadn’t slept properly since.
That’s how horrifying it was.
Could Ketal really win against such a being?
Even Helia, who thought she knew Ketal’s power, couldn’t be sure.
As she groaned in worry—
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“Hm?”
“What?”
Her head snapped up suddenly.
She wasn’t the only one.
Everyone outside the capital did the same, looking toward its interior.
“…What?”
Helia’s voice trembled.
Something had occurred inside.
But it wasn’t an overwhelming force or something alien.
Rather, there was nothing.
It felt as though an endless abyss had suddenly appeared.
It surpassed the concepts of the strange, grotesque, or alien.
Literally, everything was being erased.
“…Wha…?”
She barely managed to utter a word, her eyes filled with confusion.
* * *
Why had the battle among the three Elders lasted from the dawn of creation until now?
It was partly because their powers counterbalanced each other, but also because their danger-sensing abilities were unparalleled.
They avoided crossing the line and always sought to maintain their advantage, leading to an eternal stalemate.
And now, the Twisted One’s instincts screamed—
This was dangerous.
The Twisted One quickly decided and retreated, putting a great distance between them.
Ketal murmured in amazement.
“As expected, your instincts are sharp. This is my first time showing this, yet you noticed immediately. Impressive.”
[…You… have unleashed your power.]
The Twisted One had faced Ketal many times before.
Even though Ketal’s strength was undeniably below his, the Twisted One had never won.
The reason was Ketal’s power.
[The power of erasure.]
The Twisted One muttered softly.
It erased all things.
Quite literally, as though they had never existed.
That, in the Twisted One’s judgment, was Ketal’s power.
[Truly bizarre. It’s on such a high level that it can even erase our powers. …But not anymore!]
The Twisted One had defeated two Elders and taken their powers.
Now, he had the level to break through that power.
[This time, I’ll kill you!]
Crack!
The Twisted One combined his powers—his own, along with those of the Monstrous and the Grotesque.
All of them intertwined, distorting the world into a grotesque form.
And he unleashed it upon Ketal.
Surely this would pierce through that power.
The Twisted One was certain.
But Ketal’s expression didn’t change.
Swish.
As soon as the attack reached a certain distance from Ketal, it disappeared.
Just like before, without any noticeable difference.
[…What?]
“It’s not about levels or ranks. That’s not the issue here, Twisted One. This is a more fundamental problem.”
Ketal hummed as he stepped forward.
The world itself was erased—its concepts, order, and laws all vanished.
And over that, a new order was imposed.
Stone was simply a solid.
Water was merely a liquid.
Air was just a gas.
Each thing retained only the characteristics it inherently possessed.
“Your power is indeed formidable. It tears apart the world and disrupts its order. You could say it reigns supreme in this world. But that’s the issue—it’s bound to this world.”
The Twisted One was one of the first beings born after the creation of the universe.
Which meant, in the end, it belonged to this universe.
Ketal smiled faintly.
“You called me an outsider, didn’t you? Now I’ll give you the answer. This is what the world I come from looks like.”
Standing atop an empty, meaningless world, Ketal spread his arms wide.
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