Arcane: The Gods Want Me to Pick a Route-Chapter 175: I Am Zaun’s God

Draw Slash—the most lethal strike in Wind Swordsmanship.

It was a technique that gathered the user's entire strength into a single point, then released it after charging, producing a terrifying burst of power.

To Logan, this move wasn't the same as the "quick-draw slash" people always talk about in movies and dojo stories.

The classic quick-draw cut people think of—like old cavalry saber draw-cuts, and the flashy Hollywood "one-swipe" quick-draw—leans heavily on reacting second and winning with speed.

But the Wind School's Draw Slash was different.

The motion looked similar, sure, but the spirit was the opposite: no retreat, no hesitation—one decisive blow, heavy enough to end it.

Speed was a hallmark of Wind Swordsmanship…

Yet explosive force was also one of the Wind School's defining traits.

And Bilgewater was proving that right now.

The green tendrils shattered completely, leaving only Illaoi's figure—knocked back hundreds of meters—standing there with the Idol raised.

If, at the critical moment, Illaoi hadn't called on Nagakabouros, she could have taken Logan's strike.

But what about Gangplank and the others?

That chaotic storm of blade pressure would've pulverized them all.

Not far away, Akali—arms folded—still couldn't quite steady herself. She stared at the destruction Logan had caused and felt her calves twitch.

That power… could anyone in the Wind School create something like that now?

Could Yasuo?

Akali didn't think so.

Shen had said the Wind School had fallen into decline—not only because their lineage had broken and the disciples were lacking, but also because as time passed, the true essence of Wind Swordsmanship had been left behind in history, diluted through generations.

Even Elder Souma couldn't truly command the wind anymore.

Akali believed Elder Souma might be far stronger than Logan overall, but in the way of the wind… he might genuinely be worse than Logan.

Because in Ionia today, Wind Swordsmanship—

Forget Shen. Even her mother had said it:

What the Wind School practiced now was basically borrowing the wind, not commanding it.

And wind wasn't always gentle. It could be violent. Frenzied.

Borrowing the wind and commanding the wind were not the same thing.

So where the hell had Logan learned a sword art like this?

Akali was completely baffled.

Of course, if Logan heard what Akali was thinking, he'd just laugh and tell her she didn't understand what "having cheats enabled" really meant.

Back in the center of the plaza, Logan's slash had burned through most of his spiritual power, and the Spirit Blossom energy inside him was actively repairing his soul.

Kindred's blessing made him stronger the longer he fought. In only a short time, his stamina and spirit returned to around seventy or eighty percent.

He looked at Illaoi in the distance—still stunned—and lifted the cutlass, resting it behind his back.

"Illaoi. Let's end it here. What do you say?"

"You've got Nagakabouros protecting you. I'll admit it—I can't do much to you. I can't beat you," Logan said with a grin. "But you beating me… isn't easy either. Don't let the vibe fool you—I can fight."

His hand dropped, and he pointed the cutlass straight at Illaoi a hundred meters away.

Up on the airship, Jinx watched Logan like that—eyes shining—unable to stop herself from squirming with excitement.

Damn… he was so hot.

She loved this version of Logan.

Confident. Powerful. Completely different from his usual lazy, gentle, laid-back self.

Not that she didn't like that Logan too—but yeah…

She definitely liked confident Logan more.

Beside Illaoi, Gangplank had been blown onto the ground by the wind. He grit his teeth and glared at Logan, rage boiling in his eyes.

He'd been this close.

This close to killing Sarah.

But now, with this lunatic appearing out of nowhere to protect her, Gangplank couldn't touch her at all.

That one slash…

It was enough to cleave his warship—the Syren—straight in half.

One strike that could cut a hundred-meter battleship.

What kind of concept was that?

That wasn't human strength.

Illaoi could destroy the Syren too, but that was by borrowing Nagakabouros's power on the open sea.

This guy?

One sword.

No comparison.

Why?

Why did Sarah get to know someone this strong?

Gangplank didn't understand. He genuinely couldn't wrap his head around it.

In his mind, yes—Sarah had beaten him before.

But that had been more about his own men betraying him, not because Sarah was overwhelmingly stronger than him.

Even now, Gangplank still didn't consider Sarah some destined nemesis.

At most…

She was a worthy enemy—someone who could trade blows with him.

"Let's give each other a way out, yeah?" Logan called to Illaoi again. "I'll take Sarah and leave. After that, whatever blood feud she has with Gangplank, they settle it themselves."

"You don't interfere. I don't interfere."

Logan had realized something: in raw power, he and Illaoi were roughly a 60/40 split—barely in his favor.

At a glance, it looked like Logan had dominated—Draw Slash creating that massive storm, suppressing Illaoi.

But the truth was: Illaoi wasn't injured at all.

Her physical defense matched her presence—like a steel tower, absurdly tough.

The tradeoff was that her damage output wasn't that high.

If you boiled it down into a crude stat sheet, Logan would rate it like this:

[Logan]

Power: 8

Speed: 6

Defense: 4

And Illaoi:

[Illaoi]

Power: 6

Speed: 5

Defense: 9

At first glance, Illaoi's numbers looked better than Logan's.

But as Logan had said before—real combat wasn't just numbers. Real life was full of "weak beats strong" outcomes.

And Logan had a bug-level ability: Lamb's Respite.

That made it impossible to measure him by raw stats alone.

Mechanics. Do you understand mechanics?

Lamb's Respite gave Logan terrifying recovery, and on top of that he cultivated the soul-path—his soul was far stronger than a normal person's.

Illaoi's damage was already low, and her main method was soul-targeting.

But against Logan?

That meant she was completely countered.

She wasn't faster than him.

Even if she could break his defense, his soul strength could resist her strikes—plus Lamb's Respite would keep restoring him.

So Logan couldn't kill Illaoi…

And Illaoi couldn't do anything to him, either.

Logan had come to Bilgewater to save Sarah and take her away. He hadn't come to make an enemy of Illaoi.

So if it could end here, that was perfect.

Logan thought that.

Illaoi didn't.

A massive tentacle lifted her body again. The color shifted—no longer the pale green from before, but a deeper, darker green.

The size didn't change, but the tentacles became sharper, clearer, more "real."

Illaoi looked at Logan calmly and said in a low voice, "You're right. With only my own strength and what I've learned, I can't defeat you."

"My original intent was simply to save Gangplank—to make sure he lived."

"Then—" Logan started, ready to accept the agreement.

But Illaoi cut him off.

"However… this is no longer about Gangplank and Sarah."

Illaoi's orange-yellow eyes turned green—glowing, eerie—and she stared straight at Logan.

The green light behind her gathered into a shape.

A colossal head covered in eyes.

Below it, countless tentacles swayed like a beard.

Nagakabouros.

"Now," Illaoi said, voice heavy, "Nagakabouros wants you."

From the Idol, a massive tentacle shot out—flashing to Logan's position in an instant.

It wasn't green anymore.

It was gray-black… like ink-dark seaweed.

Logan didn't even have time to process the color.

He raised the cutlass to block.

Clang—

And then—

Crack.

The wind wrapping the cutlass shattered, and the blade itself shattered too.

Logan was hurled backward, slamming hard into a wall.

"Logan!" Jinx cried out. She panicked, jerking the airship controls to lower altitude toward the rubble.

But the next second, a figure stepped out of the debris.

Logan lifted his hand and wiped blood from the corner of his mouth with the back of his wrist.

His shirt was torn open, exposing his abdomen—red and mangled, a horrifying crater torn through his stomach.

You could actually see organs moving inside.

It was grotesque. Nightmarish.

Jinx, up high, couldn't see the details—if she could, she wouldn't be lowering the ship. She'd be jumping off it.

But the most unsettling part was what happened next.

Around the wound, Logan's flesh was regenerating at a visible speed.

Pink muscle and tissue writhed and grew, strands knitting together like living threads.

Then pale skin spread across it.

In only a few breaths, the hole in Logan's stomach was almost gone.

But his face had turned deathly white.

He looked at the Idol in Illaoi's hands and saw her standing there with eyes closed, holding it up with absolute devotion.

That strike hadn't been Illaoi's attack.

That had been Nagakabouros.

Logan smiled faintly.

He'd survived it.

But he wasn't arrogant enough to think that was Nagakabouros's full power.

To a demigod, supernatural beings were ants.

The attack launched from the Idol was clearly just a small fraction of Nagakabouros's power.

Not its true body.

Behind Illaoi, the monstrous head watched Logan with countless eyes—eyes filled with pleased delight.

And a hollow, raspy voice rolled across the plaza:

"Serve me. Believe in me."

"I will grant you power."

Nagakabouros's voice poured into Logan's ears.

Logan shrugged, smiling.

"Sorry. I already have a god I believe in."

"And I'm not interested in serving some ugly freak."

"You don't have a choice—" Nagakabouros murmured, and another tentacle shot out from the Idol.

Logan's expression tightened.

Yeah—he was panicking.

One tentacle had nearly ended him. He couldn't handle it. He couldn't tank it. He'd almost been hit so hard his guts literally tried to spill out of him.

And don't tell him to "be polite" about it—

His stomach had been opened. His intestines had been visible. What did that mean if not his insides almost getting blasted out?

So the moment he saw the next tentacles coming, Logan immediately prepared to call for backup.

He pulled up the system panel, ready to enter Spirit Blossom and have Ahri come out—so she could take him, Jinx, Sarah, and the others and get them out of Bilgewater.

Ahri's time outside wasn't long. A few dozen seconds at most—she definitely couldn't "solve" Nagakabouros.

And who knew if that sea monster would decide to manifest its true body.

But just as Logan summoned the panel—

A gentle breeze brushed his neck.

He suddenly felt warm, soft arms wrap around the back of his neck.

Logan lifted his head in shock.

White hair.

And a woman extending her left hand toward the incoming tentacles—long, pale fingers lightly tapping the air.

Buzz—buzz—buzz!

In an instant, a vast cyan barrier appeared in front of Logan—hundreds of meters wide, like an iron wall.

The tentacles slammed into it and were violently knocked away.

And then, an ethereal, holy voice rang across the sky above Bilgewater:

"Nagakabouros… what do you think you're doing to my person?"

"Janna?" Logan blurted.

"Jan'ahrem… you dare stand in my way…" Nagakabouros hissed.

Several voices overlapped in the moment—

Logan's.

Nagakabouros's.

Jinx's.

And Janna's.

The wind spirit floated behind Logan, facing the colossal sea horror.

Her face was breathtakingly beautiful, and her pale cyan eyes were filled with stubborn resolve.

"I don't want to provoke you," Janna said in a low voice. "But you forced me."

Was she afraid?

Of course she was afraid.

Compared to the Mother Serpent of Bilgewater, Janna—the god of Zaun—was practically "young."

And after what happened in Shurima, after the catastrophe that shattered false gods, Janna had grown wary of dealing with beings like this.

She didn't like conflict.

Call it timid. Call it whatever you want.

She just didn't like fighting.

And her strength hadn't fully recovered. Even if it had…

She still wasn't a match for a long-established god like Nagakabouros.

But she still stepped forward.

Janna knew what she was best at: healing, protection.

In her divine life, she'd hardly ever fought anyone. You could even say she didn't know how.

But she had to appear.

Because she was Zaun's god.

Zaun wasn't far from Bilgewater. The moment she sensed the Mother Serpent's presence, Janna flew here immediately—only a few breaths, and she arrived.

"This has nothing to do with you. Leave Bilgewater."

Nagakabouros's countless eyes filled with disdain and anger.

Zaun and Bilgewater were neighbors—Nagakabouros knew Janna.

But in Nagakabouros's eyes, Janna was just a little bird.

In the past, when Nagakabouros leaked even a hint of its aura, that little bird would hide.

So Nagakabouros had never taken her seriously.

But hearing that—

Janna raised her hand and gently clenched it.

A pure white staff appeared in her grasp.

She looked directly at Nagakabouros and said, clearly and firmly:

"I am Zaun's god."

"Mother Serpent— I will not let you harm Zaunites."

Countless cyan wind blades formed behind Logan.

Janna lifted her staff high and whispered:

"Come on."

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