Book 1 Chapter 301
301
Swaak-!
A chilling sound that tore through the air echoed.
Driana’s body froze as the sword aimed for her neck.
‘I can’t block this!’
Driana was a smith, but more importantly, she was an outstanding warrior, a hero candidate.
She had always stood at the front, faithfully serving as the party’s shield.
She had been cut by the monster’s sword before her eyes countless times, but she endured and steadfastly defended the front.
However, her warrior’s instincts now clearly told her.
She would die from this attack.
But it was too late to evade.
The moment she thought that.
Chaaeng-!
An iridescent armor blocked the sword.
It was Eiran, clad in the Animus Armor, who had thrown himself in front of Driana.
“……Beautiful.”
Forgetting the situation, Driana marveled.
Meanwhile, Ar’s kick rained down towards Erebus’s thought.
Kwagaagagagaang-!
Pook-!
With an immense shockwave, Erebus’s thought’s foot dug deep into the ground.
But that was it.
There was no further damage.
Ar’s face hardened.
“This doesn’t work either…!”
Ar, looking anxious, quickly distanced himself from Erebus’s thought.
At that moment, Berkia, also clad in the Animus Armor, charged into Erebus’s thought’s embrace.
Powerful magic engulfed Berkia, but she broke through the magic head-on with the armor’s power and swung her sword.
Chaaeng-!
Erebus’s thought blocked Berkia’s attack.
“It’s exactly like Master Kyle’s movements!”
Berkia gritted her teeth.
Just then.
“Now! Everyone retreat!”
With Kal’s shout, the four people blocking Erebus’s thought simultaneously distanced themselves.
Hwarrrrk-!
The flames of a crimson phoenix surged.
Puh-uhng-! Kugugugu-!
A colossal flame of magic swirled.
Chiiiik-!
Even from a distance, the heat felt like it would cook flesh, and the front row swallowed dryly.
Kal gritted his teeth, watching the scene.
“Please, fall.”
Kal’s desperate murmur.
Not just Kal, but all party members felt the same.
Under Kal’s command, they had succeeded in several attacks against the monster before them.
But each time, Erebus’s thought resurrected intact.
And each time, it displayed even greater power.
The front row was now struggling just to endure.
Luna gritted her teeth.
‘If I don’t fall here… what else can I possibly do?’
Luna’s entire body was burned.
It was the price of pushing her firepower beyond its limit.
Hwarrrrk-!
Black flames surged.
Seeing Erebus’s thought, which had revived in its most distinct form, everyone wore expressions of despair.
Seuuk-!
At that moment, Erebus’s thought extended its hand.
Woong-!
In an instant, a magic circle was woven in the air.
The magic of the stars.
In an instant.
Luna’s face turned pale.
“Everyone, get away!”
Hwaak-!
A sphere of black, despairing light was generated on Erebus’s thought’s hand.
Luna pierced through what it was precisely.
“It’s the End!”
Beonjjeok-!
The light of annihilation scattered in all directions.
There wasn’t even a sound.
The light of the End evaporated everything.
Amidst all this…
“B-Berkia-nim…”
Eiran, his face pale, looked up at Berkia, who was looking down at him.
“Are you alright?”
Berkia asked with her usual expressionless face.
“I… I’m okay, but… Berki-nim…”
“……It hurts.”
Berkia collapsed to her knees.
“Why, why did you….”
Eiran, looking like he was about to cry, urgently examined Berkia’s wound.
“Well… why do you think?”
Berkia smiled faintly and stroked Eiran’s cheek.
“Perhaps it’s because you’re my bloodline?”
“H-How could you….”
Eiran was surprised.
“When I used my unique magic, the Animus Armor, I was sure.”
Berkia smiled faintly.
“That you are my… descendant.”
“Ah… ah…”
“It’s natural for an adult to save a child… Master Kyle… said so. That’s why I saved you.”
Berkia’s voice grew thin.
“Berkia… nim.”
“Eiran.”
“Yes?”
“Shall I teach you my ultimate magic…?”
Berkia gave a benevolent smile.
That smile was the same as the records in the documents Eiran knew.
“Hey… you silly cat.”
Luna’s voice trembled.
“Why didn’t you dodge and save me?”
“You’re the only one who can inflict even a little damage on that damned black flame…”
Luna gritted her teeth, looking at Ar who was wrapping her.
“Fortunately, our leader seems to have been saved by that perverted dwarf… Now, let’s gather our strength and… that fake black rabbit…”
Ar tried to get up but fell.
Luna urgently supported him.
And she looked around.
Kal was urgently applying emergency treatment to Driana with a potion.
Eiran was urgently supporting Berkia.
Tuk- tuk-
Erebus’s thought approached.
Seeing that, Luna stood up.
‘I have to fight.’
Luna gritted her teeth and moved forward.
‘If it were Leo… he would have fought without giving up.’
As she recalled the boy she had fought with countless times and tried to ignite her flames.
“You’re quite persistent.”
A voice came from behind.
Luna flinched and turned her head.
There, a haughty woman clad in white flames floated in the air, legs crossed.
“Kataru-nim.”
“Luna El Lundar.”
Kataru smiled faintly.
“What do you think is the essence of flame?”
To Kataru’s question, Luna looked at the black flames.
The eternally burning flames that turn everything to ash.
Is that the essence of flame?
‘No.’
Dweino said the essence of flame is creation.
‘The essence of flame… depends on the person.’
There is no right answer.
Therefore.
For Luna, who had longed for a phoenix for a long time, the essence of flame was one thing.
“Purification.”
The phoenix’s flames burn themselves endlessly.
The reason the phoenix’s flames feel eternally immortal is thanks to their immense life force.
Phoenixes, who were originally promised a time close to immortality, burn their own lives to ignite flames.
The reason they burn their lives is simple.
To burn and purify evil.
Kataru laughed heartily at Luna’s answer.
“Do you know, Luna? The royal bloodline is not inherited through lineage.”
“What?”
“The phoenix chosen by the previous king inherits the white flames, which symbolize purification, and becomes the Flame Emperor.”
Hwarrrrk-
Kataru brought the white flames close to Luna’s nose.
“The blood of a phoenix flows in your body.”
“……”
“Would you like to eat it?”
Luna looked at Kataru.
“However, it will be different from Dweino’s flame essence. If you fail to accept it, you will die. You are not a pure phoenix.”
“Do I have a choice?”
Luna swallowed Kataru’s flames without hesitation.
Hwarrrrk-
Pure white flames erupted from Luna’s body.
***
Dweino, who had been blocking Giase’s rage-induced attacks, hardened his face.
‘This is…….’
Hwarrrrk-!
Black flames spewed from Giase’s body.
‘Erebus’s flames!’
Golden flames surged from Dweino’s body.
Kwagaagagagang-!
The black flames swallowed Dweino’s flames.
And they burned Dweino as well.
At that moment-
Beonjjeok-! Kwagaagagagang!
Jormungandr’s corpse sword was swung to cut Dweino.
Jjeok-!
Dweino barely blocked the corpse sword’s slash with his Battle Axe.
‘Even stronger now!’
Dweino gritted his teeth and endured.
Jjejejeok-!
“……!”
In an instant, cracks appeared on the Battle Axe.
Kwuuung-!
Unable to endure any longer, Dweino was thrown back.
Kwagaagagang-!
As if a meteorite had struck-
Dweino’s body, creating a massive crater, was embedded deep in the ground.
“Cough!”
Dweino coughed up blood.
He barely shook off the black flames.
However, his body had taken a significant blow.
Kung-! Kung-!
Giase walked towards Dweino.
-You look pathetic.
Giase scoffed at Dweino.
“You don’t look so great yourself, do you?”
Dweino used his Battle Axe as a handhold to get up.
Pajik-!
A tooth chipped off the axe blade and fell to the ground.
It looked like it would break at any moment.
Just like Dweino’s weapons, Giase’s body was also tattered.
His berserker state had been released, and his incredible healing power couldn’t keep up with his wounds.
He had exhausted all his strength with the attack that squeezed out all his power just a moment ago.
-Heh. But unlike you, I am blessed by the gods.
Hwarrrrk-!
The black flames burning on Giase’s body grew stronger.
-And! In the end, I have won!
“I’m not dead yet, you know?”
Dweino smiled serenely.
“Until the moment this life ends, you cannot claim to have defeated me.”
-Kuh-huh-huh…… Kuh-huh-huh-huh-huh! Kuhahahaaha!
Giase burst into laughter at Dweino’s words.
-It seems you’re seriously mistaken, Dweino. I didn’t come here to end your pathetic life.
Cheok-!
Giase gripped Jormungandr’s corpse sword again.
-It is important that the work I, Giase, have created! Has broken your crudely made weapons!
Giase looked at Dweino with his emotionless eyes.
-Your life, which was extinguished long ago, has no value whatsoever. I, King Giase, live in the present and am destined to destroy the world according to the will of the gods!
Kung-!
-You are merely a ghost of the past. Whether you die here or live, you will have no influence on the future. Because you are nothing but a false illusion.
“I… am a fake?”
Dweino’s face hardened.
Seeing that face, Giase laughed heartily.
-Hmm, yes. Just a fake, but an illusion close to the real thing. I’m curious what expression you’ll have when you hear how the rest of you met your end.
Giase chuckled.
-The first among you to die was Aryon. He died receiving divine judgment while acting as your shield. He ultimately trusted that insignificant sword you gave him. Kuh-huh-huh. You all talk of that death as a noble sacrifice… but he merely fled to death, afraid of fighting the great gods.
Giase looked down at Dweino, whose face had lost all expression.
Joy flickered across Giase’s face.
-The second to die was you, Dweino. You foolishly challenged the divine flames and burned to death without even being able to act as a shield!
Dweino’s body trembled.
-Next was that foul-mouthed elf woman, Luna. She died from mana depletion after unleashing her brilliant magic! She must have despaired! At her own powerlessness!
Kkuiik-!
Dweino’s grip tightened.
-The fourth to die was a lizard who foolishly thought of resisting the gods! It’s fun just thinking about it! I can vividly picture her face as she died, chasing an unattainable dream! Hahahahaha!
Dweino lowered his head.
Then, taking a deep breath, Dweino raised his head.
“What about Kyle?”
-What did you say…?
“I asked how Kyle died.”
Dweino was smiling.
Giase’s face contorted as he saw Dweino asking about Kyle’s death.
“Let me correct you.”
Dweino’s expression vanished.
“Aryon, that fool, acted as my shield not because he was afraid of fighting Erebus. It was probably because he was more afraid of us dying than himself dying.”
Dweino’s face darkened.
“That fool is that kind of person.”
Dweino, biting his lip tightly, continued.
“I don’t think Luna despaired. That friend is also a fool. He probably believed in a bright future.”
Hwarrrrk-
Golden flames surged from Dweino’s body.
“Rysinas, that friend must have worn a sad expression.”
Dweino wore a bitter expression.
“After all, I must have left her alone.”
Finally, Dweino smiled faintly.
“The fool who couldn’t even act as a shield and died a dog’s death has nothing to say.”
Dweino was laughing.
Like looking at the bright sun.
“What’s important is, King Giase. None of us despaired.”
Hwarrrrk-
Dweino’s body blazed like a bright sun.
“Because we knew there was one fool who wouldn’t give up until the end. He probably believed in that friend without question.”
-This guy…!
“He probably just resented himself! For his own limitations that forced him to pass on the burden!”
Goooh-!
Dweino’s Battle Axe emitted a powerful force.
“I’ll ask again, King Giase!”
Chwak-!
Dweino lowered his stance.
“What was the end of the surviving hero… Kyle!”
-Kwoooooooo!
“You tried to mock me with your insignificant tongue, but too bad for you! Your mockery is my greatest hope! In the end, we!”
Kkkkwang-!
Giase roared and charged to finish Dweino, unable to tolerate any more words from Dweino’s mouth.
He charged with the bragging corpse sword raised, as if he couldn’t let Dweino speak anymore.
“Saved the world!”
-Shut up! You ghost of the past!
Jjeeng-!
The corpse sword and Dweino’s Battle Axe collided.
The colossal corpse sword bared its teeth to crush the Battle Axe.
The cracks on the Battle Axe spread throughout.
“Hngh!”
Dweino shouted, putting strength into his raised Battle Axe.
“If it’s a weapon made for fighting!”
As Dweino roared, the Battle Axe let out a resonant hum as if responding to the call.
“Fulfill your duty! I created you to annihilate Tartarus!”
Dweino’s eyes flashed.
“I created you!”
Jjejeok-!
-Nngh!
Giase’s eyes widened.
Cracks began to appear on the corpse sword.
Kwak-!
-Impossible!
Kwak-!
-Khuk!
Dweino’s body soared into the sky.
His battered, nameless Battle Axe, which had cut the corpse sword in half, emitted a golden light.
Dweino, the divine blacksmith.
The weapon that held his will shone without damage.
Dweino, who had risen to Giase’s head, smiled coldly.
“I don’t know how much time has passed since I died.”
Seuuk-! Hwaruurururruk-!
A colossal golden axe blade was generated.
“You were defeated by a mere phantom.”
-Dweinoooooooooo!
Peogok-!
Dweino’s axe severed Giase’s head.