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The Third Return of the Necrotic Magic Swordsman

Chapter 197 — Battle for the Broken Promise · Oct 16, 2026

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Chapter List (233)

Page number / 5

151 Chapter 148: Ashes of Battle, Gifts of the Fallen 2026-10-16
152 Chapter 149: The Final Clash - Battle of Fate 2026-10-16
153 Chapter 150: Relic Awakened: Judgment of Fate 2026-10-16
154 Chapter 151: Truth, Lies, and a Wand in Hand 2026-10-16
155 Chapter 152: Truth Behind the Lies, Death of Raven 2026-10-16
156 Chapter 153 – Into the Abyss of Nexus 2026-10-16
157 Chapter 154 – The Truth Revealed 2026-10-16
158 Chapter 155: The Monarch of Infinite Ends 2026-10-16
159 Chapter 156 – Veil of Fangs and Fate 2026-10-16
160 Chapter 157: Requiem of the Nine Dead 2026-10-16
161 Chapter 158 – Ashes of Rebirth, Chains of Sovereignty 2026-10-16
162 Chapter 159: Ashes of the Phoenix, Chains of the Abyss 2026-10-16
163 Chapter 160: Flames, Shadows, and Threads of Fate 2026-10-16
164 Chapter 161: Forged in Ash and Ambition 2026-10-16
165 Chapter 162: The Mask of Humiliation 2026-10-16
166 Chapter 163: Weight of Flames, Broken Spark 2026-10-16
167 Chapter 164: Life of Misunderstood, Buried Smithy 2026-10-16
168 Chapter 165: Anomaly’s Secret, Hidden Forge 2026-10-16
169 Chapter 166: Enchanted for War, Cliff of Death. 2026-10-16
170 Chapter 167: Surging Strength, Bloom Before the Clash 2026-10-16
171 Chapter 168: Battle with the Guardian & The Awakened Terror 2026-10-16
172 Chapter 169: Remnants of Fire, Secrets of the Loot 2026-10-16
173 Chapter 170: Beyond Limit & Unwanted Trouble 2026-10-16
174 Chapter 171: A Spar and the Forbidden Mist 2026-10-16
175 Chapter 172: Legacy of the Mist Zone: Into the Unknown 2026-10-16
176 Chapter 173: Awakening in the Abyss — The True Ruler’s Successor 2026-10-16
177 Chapter 174: The Monolith’s Gift: Legacy War Begins 2026-10-16
178 Chapter 175: The Past Blurs, the Raid Begins 2026-10-16
179 Chapter 176: The False Veil & Beast Lord 2026-10-16
180 Chapter 177: Against the Lord: Beneath the Black Moon 2026-10-16
181 Chapter 178: Against the Lord – The Unexpected Arrival 2026-10-16
182 Chapter 179: Against the Lord: Descent of the Masked Predator 2026-10-16
183 Chapter 180: Against the Lord – Death Descends 2026-10-16
184 Chapter 181: Against the Lord – Undead and Clone Despair 2026-10-16
185 Chapter 182: Against the Lord – Clash of Anomalies 2026-10-16
186 Chapter 183: Against the Lord — The Strongest Falls & A Heart Left Burning 2026-10-16
187 Chapter 184 — Hidden Depths and the Lord’s End 2026-10-16
188 Chapter 185: Buried Before Time, Karma Returned 2026-10-16
189 Chapter 186 — The Last Gift of the Fallen Knight 2026-10-16
190 Chapter 187 — Feast of Flames, Seed of Doubt 2026-10-16
191 Chapter 188 — The Flame That Was Framed 2026-10-16
192 Chapter 189 — The Weight of Authority 2026-10-16
193 Chapter 190 — The Quiet Hand Above 2026-10-16
194 Chapter 191 — When the Mask Stares Back 2026-10-16
195 Chapter 192 — Hailcrown vs Eternal Flames 2026-10-16
196 Chapter 193 — Authority Unbound: Cinder of the Last Dawn 2026-10-16
197 Chapter 194 — The Day the Flames Bowed 2026-10-16
198 Chapter 195 — A Bargain Forged in Fear and Flame 2026-10-16
199 Chapter 196 — Birth of the Ego Blade 2026-10-16
200 Chapter 197 — Battle for the Broken Promise 2026-10-16

Evan summoned the Tide Halberd.

A weapon abandoned in the depths of a dungeon.

A tool he never cared to master.

A relic that had never tasted true battle.

Now, it felt heavier than a mountain.

He tightened his grip and stopped just before the collapsing void.

The world went mute.

Wind died mid-motion.

The trees no longer rustled.

Even the void seemed to hesitate.

His eyes sharpened.

His breath slowed.

The air turned still.

”Soul Core Release — Requiem Blade.”

The halberd erupted in white ashen fire, not ordinary flame, but living soul-ash that crawled like a breathing creature.

A single, pulsing core bead formed at the weapon’s heart.

And then it burst.

Fragments of the core were swallowed into the blade.

The weapon screamed.

A pressure unlike anything in this Expanse slammed down.

The ground beneath Evan’s feet fractured across dozens of meters.

Cracks spider-webbed outward as his legs were driven into the earth.

His bones cried.

Muscles locked.

The blood vessels felt like they were being pulled apart, thread by thread.

But there was no time to care.

The chains were pulling his sword away.

He moved.

One step.

The world cracked.

He swung.

The halberd carved through space itself.

Thin rifts of torn reality opened along the edge of his strike.

His hands ruptured at the joints.

Skin split.

Ligaments strained to their breaking point.

But the blade met the first chain.

It snapped.

The second chain.

Severed.

The third.

Shattered.

The last chain stood before him, thicker than the rest.

A pillar of the Expanse’s will.

The halberd struck.

Bit into it.

Stopped.

Reality howled.

Friction ignited the air.

The void pushed back.

Evan stepped forward.

Half his foot crossed into the open rupture of nothingness.

”JUSTBREAKFORMEEEEEEE!”

He forced his soul into the swing.

Blood sprayed.

Bones cracked.

And the final chain split.

The Crimson Edge fell.

Straight into the void.

And Evan could not move.

His fingers were torn open.

The halberd was seconds from shattering.

The flames peeled away.

His body was locked in place.

Paralyzed.

Useless.

He could only watch his sword fall.

”...Maybe… it wasn’t meant to be mine.”

He closed his eyes.

Then—

”You really are insane.”

Arven manifested before him.

”So desperate… to defy the rules of a World… for a mere sword with an ego.”

The chains of Veyr’Zhal erupted from Evan’s existence.

They pierced the void itself.

Wrapped around the falling blade.

And dragged it back.

Evan felt the pull in his bones.

The void screamed as it tried to close.

Arven yanked him backwards.

He slammed into the ground.

The world lurched.

His talent activated automatically.

Healing surged through cracked bones and shredded muscle.

His talent, Supreme Adaptation, twisted his flesh, forcing it to recover faster than it should.

The blade landed in his hands.

Still burning.

Still alive.

It hissed against his skin, burning through flesh.

He didn’t flinch.

He laughed.

”I got it back.”

Burning metal pressed against his chest.

It hurt.

But he didn’t care.

Arven’s voice turned sharp.

”Don’t celebrate yet.”

Evan looked up.

The sky distorted.

Spectral chains descended again in silence.

This time, dozens.

The Expanse wasn’t finished.

Evan raised the sword, ready even in his broken state.

And then—

Nothing happened.

No impact.

No crash.

No scream.

He lowered the blade slowly.

The chains hovered centimeters from his face.

Shaking.

Trembling.

Crushed.

By pressure.

He felt it.

It wasn’t the air.

It wasn’t the sword.

It was from within him.

The chains warped inward, bent, snapped apart under invisible strain.

”…Did you do this, Arven?”

Silence.

Then laughter.

Real laughter.

Not controlled.

Not fake.

Unrestrained madness.

”Hahahahaha!”

Arven floated above him, almost rolling in the air.

”Idiot… idiot… idiot…”

”Did you really think you were fighting a World’s Rule alone without anyone’s help?”

The chains shrivelled.

Collapsed.

Turned silent.

”No… this isn’t just me if you think so. You’re also one of the major factors in this.”

Arven pointed at Evan’s chest.

”You forgot what you are.”

Evan’s eyes widened.

”The Proof of Authority.”

”The Proof of Ruler.”

”You are the successor of the Abyss.”

”A fragment like this pathetic Expanse can’t devour its own master.”

His laughter cracked through the ruined air.

”I let you struggle. I let you suffer.”

”I wanted to know.”

”Would you kneel?

Would you cry?

Would you promise to come back later like a coward?

Or…

Would you take what was yours by force?”

Evan clenched his fists.

”...You absolute monster.”

”If you could do this… why let me suffer like that?”

Arven wiped imaginary tears of laughter.

”Because strength born through safety is worthless.”

”Fear sharpens resolve.”

”You needed to feel the World trying to take something from you.”

Evan flexed his shaking fingers.

”...I almost lost my hands.”

”That part surprised even me,” Arven admitted, glancing at Evan’s mangled palms.

”You used souls wrong this time; you were lucky otherwise your whole hand may have been turned into pieces.”

”Before, you distributed the soul pressure through your body using both abilities as a medium.

This time, you concentrated it into a single conduit.

It nearly erased you.”

”Soul is not power.”

”It is a mystery.”

”And mystery bites back.”

”Even my master chased its truth and never fully grasped it, even on that peak.

And yet…

You’re here, swinging it like a weapon.”

Evan stared at his hands.

Still shaking.

Still numb.

”...At least they’re still here.”

He slipped the sword into his inventory without looking at it.

The land was ruined.

Void fractures lingered.

Bone forests cracked and warped.

The sky felt heavier.

And at the center—

Kael.

Still unconscious.

Still breathing.

Evan walked toward him slowly.

His legs dragged.

Nerves screamed.

And the world fell silent again.

”Hah… look at this idiot.”

Evan looked down, staring at Kael’s unconscious face.

”Still sleeping like he owns the world, after what just happened here.”

”What if I just punch him straight into his face.” He stepped forward to do so.

”Stop joking around,” Arven muttered. ”I can feel groups moving in. Multiple signatures. Armed.”

Evan’s Edge Sense flared.

Dozens of hostile presences crawled across his awareness.

”Yeah… I feel them.”

He snapped his fingers.

Chains wrapped tighter around Kael.

The Great Eagle screeched and shot into the clouds.

Below, the battlefield faded into distance.

Minutes later, the sound of hooves shattered the silence.

A group of riders burst into the ruined forest.

At the front sat a man wrapped head to toe in blackened armor.

His name was Aldwin.

A man whose eyes burned with quiet madness.

”Halt.”

The horses skidded to a stop.

”Scan this area,” he commanded. ”Check the mana residue. If Kael was here, I want to know.”

Three mages stepped forward.

Their hands glowed.

Circles spread across the ground.

Runes flickered in the air.

Minutes passed.

A man ran back.

”Sir,” he said, lowering his head. ”Two signatures remain. One is definitely Kael. The second… unknown. But strong. Possibly a headhunter.”

Aldwin’s jaw tightened.

”So others are hunting him too.”

His killing intent swelled.

”Good,” he muttered. ”That traitor won’t escape forever.”

The group moved on.

The hunt continued.

...

Miles away.

Above jagged peaks far from town.

Evan was still flying.

Kael dangled from the chains like discarded luggage.

Evan’s body was healing.

But his mind was not.

His HP had recovered.

His bones had reformed. But something deeper felt… worn thin.

His limbs trembled.

The pain now lived inside memory.

He didn’t understand.

Why go this far?

Why strain his body?

Why burn his soul?

And then… it surfaced.

A fragmented memory.

A broken oath.

A promise he once failed to keep.

Something his soul remembered even when he refused to.

That was why.

His soul wouldn’t allow him to break another one.

”…Damn it.”

He ordered the Great Eagle to descend.

A nameless mountain.

Silent.

Isolated.

Hidden from the world.

They landed.

Kael fell first, face-down toward the stone.

Evan reacted instantly, grabbing him before he smashed the ground.

He laid him gently.

He hesitated.

Then activated his talent.

The healing drained his mind more than his body.

But he didn’t stop.

He watched Kael breathe.

Still alive.

Still warm.

”Sorry, kid,” Evan muttered softly.

”You’re alive, but the world won’t be kind to you anymore.”

He glanced at the sky.

”Your luck… yeah… that’s mine now.”

He opened the system.

And it answered.

Cold.

Silent.

Unfeeling.

[Through Host Relic, Host has devoured the Luck of the Destined One {Blue – Deep}.]

[Host has gained 439 Luck.]

[Luck: ? (Self) + 1,797 (Plundered) {+439↑}]

Evan frowned.

”…That’s it?”

Arven chuckled.

”Sylen devoured a third of his fate. You shattered the rest by dragging him into this mess.”

He paused.

”And be grateful. Without me, you’d only get scraps.”

Evan exhaled.

”…Even dead, Sylen keeps haunting me.”

But he didn’t care.

Now came the real moment.

He turned toward his inventory.

He summoned the blade.

The one he nearly lost to the World itself.

”Come forth… Crimson Edge.”

Silence.

Nothing happened.

He froze.

”…Crap.”

He cleared his throat and manually pulled it out.

The moment it appeared—

The mountain shook.

The air screamed.

Mana detonated outward like a newborn star tearing reality.

The ground cracked.

The sky trembled.

The weapon hovered before him.

And it was no longer the original.

The blade was etched with ancient runes glowing faintly like breathing veins.

The hilt had transformed into a divine bird’s wings, forming a guard around the grip.

The metal didn’t look forged.

It looked alive.

A thin membrane of semi-condensed flame drifted along the edge, moving like liquid consciousness.

Evan reached to touch it.

Pain.

Heat.

Danger.

He pulled back instinctively.

”That’s… not normal.”

Even the mountain groaned beneath its weight.

He let out a shaky breath.

”Looks good.”

Then forced a laugh.

”But looks don’t win battles.”

He opened the system.

The panel appeared.

Cold.

Merciless.

And when he saw it…

Only one word left his mouth.

Quiet.

Honest.

Terrified.

”…Damn.”

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