Chapter 1315  Knight of Ragnar

The aircraft arrived on time, finding him within the forest. Oren sought a clearing where it could land, and he met with the soldiers who allowed him to board without asking questions. In the next instant, the aircraft began to levitate into the air.

Inside the cabin, Oren sat with two soldiers, a man and a woman. "When are we reaching the destination?" he asked.

"In thirty minutes."

"It shouldn"t be that far," said Oren with confusion. The aircraft"s base was farther than the storm was from his location. "We might not get there in time."

"Although our aircraft is not runes-based, the storm itself could throw our navigation off because of the instability it is causing. Therefore, we must take a roundabout route to avoid the worst of it," explained the man. "Miss Selena asked us to drop you in a safe spot, after all."

"Take the direct route and throw me straight into the black dome," said Oren with a frown. "I know that I"m being selfish and childish, but please understand that I don"t have that much time to waste."

"With all due respect, sir," said the woman, shaking her head. "The aircraft will not be able to survive being so close to the anomaly. If we fly close enough for you to jump, we would be swept away ourselves. Please understand that—"

"Then throw me from the safest distance for you, no matter how high it would be," said Oren as he rose from his seat, choosing to stand beside the door. "How long would it take if you did that?"

"…only three minutes."

"Works just fine for me."

"Our orders state…"

"Your orders are yours. If you don"t let me do as I please, then I would think you kidnapped me. Do you have any siblings, dear soldiers? If you do, then you would understand my desire to get there as soon as possible. Please grant me this request."

The two soldiers were silent, then sighed and nodded. They informed the pilot of the change in plans. Oren waited by the door, marveling at the state of the current world. Before, technology was useless. At the moment, it was their only lifeline.

Three minutes pa.s.sed, and they reached their destination. The doors opened as Oren steeled himself. If not for their stats being far above normal humans, they would have already been sucked out of the plane by the pressure. Oren looked down and saw the crackling dome beneath them, with the storm still covering the entirety of Sourna.

The night sky allowed very little chance for him to see anything more than the dark clouds. It should be a few thousand meters until he reached the ground, and his lungs were already starving for air because of the lack of oxygen at this alt.i.tude.

"Thank you for getting me here, everyone," said Oren as he took off his cloak and released it, letting it fly into the wind. Underneath his cloak were tattered clothes with numerous scars beneath them. The two soldiers were horrified to see someone this young having so many scars. "And I apologize for being unreasonable."

"The only way to protect your family," said the woman with a smile. "Stay safe, Oren Silvera," she said, giving him a salute. Oren nodded and turned toward the door, walking out of the aircraft. Tucked inside his pocket was the small fairy that peeked out.

"Don"t be scared, Nule," said Oren with a smile as he rubbed her head. Ever since he met her back in the forest of Ilios, she had been his companion. He first met her when he met the Children of the Forest. "Nothing will hurt you."

"I"m scared about you, Oren," said Nule with teary eyes as she stared at him. "You have been pushing yourself too hard. And now, you are walking straight into disaster."

"This is not a disaster," said Oren with a smile as he stepped out into the sky, letting gravity do its work. Nule held on to his pocket as he fell. Oren dove through the sky, approaching the storm of black lightning. Beneath the lunar eclipse, no runes could work, but Oren had something different. "But what I have been training for."

Armor began to cover his body, protecting him against the storm. Lancelot, the spirit, was not governed by runes. It was a creature like Nule, made solely from spiritual energy. That was the only way for him to survive the approaching storm.

"This wrath is dangerous, Oren," said Lancelot, who manifested behind him, once known as the strongest knight in the universe, but having been banished into the abyss because he fought against Devaheim. "I once stood next to its master, but even then, it was not this unforgiving."

Lancelot had already told Oren about its past. It was once the knight of Ragnar Netherborne himself, fighting alongside him against Devaheim. However, when Ragnar was betrayed by his people, Lancelot was among the few who died with him. Instead of undergoing reincarnation, Lancelot was sealed into the abyss, to be forever tormented.

"No matter what happens, I have to stop this," said Oren while covered in armor. "If I knew how to manifest your wings, this would have been a lot easier. I"m still weak."

"Someone who became an Astra-ranker at eighteen cannot call themselves weak," protested Nule from within his pocket. Oren smiled silently when Lancelot agreed with her statement. These two had been his companions throughout his training and harnessing of mana.

The storm engulfed them, and the night sky disappeared from around them. There was nothing but darkness and the thundering lightning around them. Oren managed to persevere thanks to his armor until he pa.s.sed the storm. The next instant, he left the clouds to see the black dome beneath them. Its crackling lightning killed anything that got close to it, but Oren had a way to enter.

"Sword of Tranquility," muttered Oren as he grabbed the greatsword strapped to his back, making it transform. This was the higher form of the Sword of Benevolence, which he used against his brother once. As the black lightning burst toward them, Oren slashed it apart with his sword, creating a path to enter the dome of darkness.