Book 1 Chapter 513
513
Luna, who had unleashed a barrage of Annihilation, watched where the Lich King was.
‘He wouldn't fall from just this, would he?’
The current Luna was the Luna from the era when the Great Heroes embarked on their final expedition.
By the standards of that time, the individual might of each Great Hero overwhelmed the Legion Commanders, who were Erebus's closest subordinates.
The same was true for the Lich King Hel Kaiser, the supreme commander of Tartarus.
‘But that's only when I was in my complete state.’
Currently, Luna was in spirit form.
And what sustained her was her own magical power, which resided in Kometes, combined with Seyrun's magical power.
Under such circumstances, there were significant restrictions on using magic.
‘And that dog-boned bastard. He's stronger than 5000 years ago.’
Luna could easily predict the reason for his increased strength.
‘It must be because of the fragment of Erebus that bastard possesses.’
She assessed her current power against the Lich King's.
‘Going head-to-head and crushing him might be a bit difficult.’
While Luna stroked her chin.
Goooooooh-!
An ominous dark magic surged.
Seeing this, Luna narrowed her eyes.
‘It seems he devoured that Legion Commander.’
Luna, who easily noticed the Lich King's power had grown even stronger, lightly clicked her tongue.
Hwarrruruk-!
Luna spoke, looking at the Lich King, who appeared with the black flames that Eljenie had just been emitting wrapped around one hand.
“A tragedy of kin-slaying, isn't it? Well, that's just the level of you demon bastards, isn't it?”
“That foul mouth of yours doesn't seem to improve even after death.”
“A person destined for great things must always be consistent, whether alive or dead.”
Luna smiled faintly and snapped her fingers.
Whiririririring-!
A strange resonance echoed, and soon hundreds of swords made of magic were generated around them.
Demon-Slaying Sword.
It was magic Luna had created to counter the Lich King.
It was magic that was the natural enemy of the power of the dead.
Seeing Luna, the Lich King raised his hand.
Goooooh-!
Black mist poured from his hand.
As Luna gestured, hundreds of swords rained down on the Lich King like a downpour.
Pububububububububung-!
Instantly, the Demon-Slaying Swords collided with the Lich King's mist and were blocked.
“Did you think the tactics from 5000 years ago would work on me?”
“Yeah, it seems they don't.”
Tak-
Luna calmly grabbed the one remaining Demon-Slaying Sword in her hand and unleashed magic.
Blink-!
The Lich King's eyes twitched as he saw Luna disappear in an instant.
‘Spatial movement magic?’
He quickly deployed a magic power scan.
In a flash.
Feeling a murderous intent from behind, the Lich King used spatial movement magic.
Sk-ak-!
The Demon-Slaying Sword sliced through the empty air.
“Too bad~”
Luna swung the Demon-Slaying Sword back and forth, clicking her tongue.
Seeing her, the Lich King's eyes narrowed.
‘Did she cast acceleration magic on her own magic?’
It wasn't merely raising the speed of her body.
It was literally magic that made Luna's own time flow faster.
For an instant, Luna had controlled her own time.
‘A concept of magic that didn't exist 5000 years ago.’
The magical concept related to time acceleration was properly established only recently.
And it was magic born from a single mage with special mana characteristics.
Even now, mages who can apply magic like that are rare.
‘As expected, I suppose.’
It was unknown how many there were in this world.
But the magic she used was distinctly different from 5000 years ago.
‘I had anticipated it, but most of the countermeasures I made in preparation for Luna Rubynance appearing in the present world will be useless.’
Last winter.
Ever since the Lich King heard the catastrophic news that the invasion plan to destroy Seyrun had been thwarted by the appearance of the Hero of the Beginning and the Primeval Ancestor of the Nebula, he had considered countermeasures against them.
It was a clear fact that the Great Heroes appeared in the current era through the Hero Record.
Literally a miraculous event.
‘But what has happened once can happen again.’
As the Lich King predicted, Great Heroes continued to appear in the current era.
Arion the Brave even defeated one of Erebus's fragments and disappeared.
And now.
Before him stood Luna, the Primeval Ancestor of the Nebula.
‘It would be correct to say that her level of magic has advanced one step beyond what I knew.’
The Lich King used dark magic.
Kwagagagagagagaga-!
Smoke made of dark energy enveloped Luna at tremendous speed.
Seeing this, Luna quickly used acceleration magic to escape the Lich King's attack.
She could have evaded it more easily by using spatial movement magic, but Luna used acceleration magic.
Luna, who approached the Lich King at tremendous speed, clapped her hands once.
As her hands separated, particles of light poured out like shotgun pellets between them.
Kwagagagagang-!
A powerful explosion occurred.
But it was blocked by the Lich King's reddish-black barrier magic.
Hwarrruruk-!
At that moment, the Lich King's hand transformed into the bone of a giant monster.
The monster, ablaze with black flames, opened its maw wide, trying to devour Luna.
Hwaak-!
Luna quickly widened the distance again.
“Annoying.”
The Lich King clicked his tongue.
Monster Queen Shilathuna, Giant King Gias, and others.
They were Legion Commanders specialized in close combat.
To compare them to heroes, they were Knight and Warrior classes.
In contrast, the Lich King was a Summoner and Mage class, specialized in summoning and magic.
Luna had continuously engaged the Lich King in close combat.
The reason was simple.
Luna displayed immense power even in close combat.
She was capable of easily overwhelming the Lich King, who used traditional mage combat methods.
In evasion maneuvers, spatial magic exerted the most powerful force.
However, Luna did not use spatial movement magic.
The same was true for the Lich King.
It wasn't that chaotic battle using spatial movement magic was difficult.
It was simple magic for both Luna and the Lich King.
But spatial movement has a fatal flaw.
Short-range spatial movement is magic that folds space.
As such, the destination of spatial movement can inevitably be predicted.
Of course, it's logically an impossible feat in a fight, but Luna was called the strongest mage in the history of magic, and the Lich King had existed for thousands of years, notorious as the most powerful user of magic and curses in Tartarus.
In Luna's case, she avoided using spatial movement magic, wary of having her position discovered and being counterattacked, while the Lich King chose to establish defensive magic in his spot.
“Are you planning to continue this annoying war of attrition?”
“Yep.”
Luna smiled faintly.
Luna was in a situation where she would disappear once her magic power was exhausted.
The Lich King also saw through that.
‘If there were no restrictions, she would have appeared from the beginning.’
But sadly, time was on Luna's side.
‘The surviving hero.’
Jjeojeok-! Jjeojeojeojeojeok-!
Leo, trapped in the Mirror Queen's world, was trying to escape.
“Do you know the critical difference between us, who seek to destroy the world, and you, who seek to protect it? Luna Rubynance.”
“Why should I care, you dog-bone!”
Luna's eyes flashed.
For an instant, a pentagram appeared in Luna's pupils.
Pachijijijijijij-!
The barrier magic surrounding the Lich King was dispelled.
She had understood the structure of the magic spell formula and reverse-engineered it to destroy it.
Luna tried to approach again.
Seeing this, the Lich King curled the corners of his mouth.
Goooooooh-!
A massive dark magic power flowed from the Lich King.
Kugugugugugugung-!
As the Lich King raised his hand, debris from all over Lumeria City rose into the sky.
Luna flinched.
“Destroyers just have to break what they see, but guardians must protect what they see.”
Tookwagagagak-!
“Eek!”
Luna cast magic to protect the people.
The falling debris was halted by the telekinetic magic Luna used.
Luna flung all the debris far away.
Seeing this, the Lich King raised his hand.
Goooooooh-!
Black flames enveloped Luna.
Just as the black flames were about to turn Luna to ashes.
Flash-
A giant magic circle generated from Luna's hand.
“Stella Radius.”
As Luna's unique magic was completed, a flash of light drew a long trajectory and flew towards the Lich King.
Kwakwagagagak-!
Half of the Lich King's body was blown away.
Kkwadeuk- Kkwadeuddeudeuk-!
However, the Lich King's body returned to normal.
Seeing this, Luna frowned.
“Wow, it's always disgusting to see. He just won't die.”
“You should know well, Luna Rubynance. That I am a dead being.”
The Lich King curled the corners of his mouth.
“As long as my core isn't destroyed, I am immortal.”
“Yeah, the same structure as those low-grade liches.”
Luna scoffed.
The Lich King always kept his core on him.
But destroying it was not easy.
‘As the core of his magical power, it's incredibly tough beyond imagination, and he can move its position at will at any moment.’
Luna's brow furrowed.
Seeing Luna, the Lich King smiled.
“The same applies to you, Luna Rubynance.”
“What?”
“Have you forgotten? That you are also a dead being.”
Kkwadeuk-! Kkwadeuddeudeuk-!
The Lich King tore off his own other arm with a hand imbued with Erebus's will.
The arm soon took the form of a spear.
Gooooooh-!
An immense dark magic power surged.
‘Hit magic!’
Luna's face hardened.
It was magic that absolutely hit its target.
The moment Luna tried to dispel the magic.
Kwak-!
“Cough?”
In an instant, the Lich King's magic pierced Luna's heart.
“You bastard…”
Luna's face contorted.
Seeing Luna, the Lich King spoke.
“That magic contains all of Lord Erebus's power, which blazed up using Eljenie as fuel.”
The Lich King spoke coldly.
“Originally, it was power meant to kill the surviving hero, but the moment your existence intervened, that became a lost cause. Besides, the divine will that used Eljenie as fuel also held a greater grudge against you from the start.”
Luna spat-! out blood.
“I consumed a Legion Commander-level being. So I must at least definitively break something.”
Luna's head was bowed, and her hand trembled.
“Right now, you, who will advance the magic of this era by several stages, are a more threatening existence than the surviving hero, Luna Rubynance.”
If the plan was messed up, he had to choose to gain the maximum benefit from the situation.
In the Lich King's eyes, that was Luna Rubynance's desperate death.
Whomp-!
At that moment, the bone spear disappeared.
He had poured all of Erebus's black flames into a single spell.
However, Luna did not die.
“You won't disappear immediately, Luna Rubynance.”
The Lich King smiled coldly.
“Even if your heart is pierced, your limbs are torn off, and your head explodes, you can still exist in this world. Because you are a dead being like me. I wish for you to show a truly ugly appearance and die in despair.”
“You son of a bitch…!”
“Because I hate you Great Heroes.”
The Lich King swung his palm.
KWAANG-!
“Kuh-eok!”
Luna's body was slammed into the ground by the immense impact.
Kwagagagagang-!
“Lady Luna!”
Lunia approached Luna with a pale face.
The heroes who had been defending against the Lich King and the Blood Queen's legions also looked desperate, seeing Luna bleeding with her heart pierced.
“Don't come!”
Luna shouted, spitting blood.
And she got up as if it were nothing.
An immense pain that felt like it would shatter her sanity was squeezing her entire body.
Every time she moved, it felt like a scream would burst out.
Erebus's power and the Lich King's curse.
Anyone else would have gone insane from mental collapse.
But Luna smiled.
“Great! It means I can fight as much as I want without caring!”
There was no despair visible on Luna's face as she smiled belligerently, spitting blood.
Tak-
The Lich King, who had landed on the ground, shook his head at the sight.
“Truly a Great Hero. Stubborn. To be able to smile even through pain that would shatter one's mind.”
The Lich King, who had a fed-up expression, opened his mouth.
“Luna Rubynance. If you exist as a spirit, what would be your lingering regret?”
“Not being able to chew you all up.”
“That might be true. But I don't think you would make that a lingering regret, having entrusted the future to the surviving hero who doesn't know how to give up, yes.”
The Lich King let out a small laugh and said.
“Then this might be your lingering regret.”
The Lich King opened his palm.
It was a Lich's Contract Array.
Luna, who had been frowning, checked the contents of the Contract Array and slowly began to stiffen.
A moment later, Luna's face turned pale blue.
“Hoohoohoo. Hoohohohohoho- Khuhuhuhuhuh!”
The Lich King suppressed his bursting laughter as much as possible, ridiculing Luna.
Luna looked down at the ground with a disgusted expression.
“It seems this is the answer.”
The Lich King hid the Contract Array.
“Berkia, whom you worried about so much, has been resurrected as an undead. Did you teach your disciple wrong?”
Kwagagagagang-!
As the Lich King swung his arm, Luna was flung helplessly and slammed into the ground.
Kwaang-! Jjeojeojeojeok-!
At that moment, the entire space violently rippled and began to crack.
Seeing this, the Lich King's eyes narrowed.
‘The surviving hero is coming soon.’
Before that, he had to crush Luna.
The moment he thought that.
Runes began to be heard.
Blink-!
A colossal magic circle was embroidered in the sky.
Seeing it, the Lich King's face hardened.
“Annihilation?”
He looked towards where Luna had been flung.
There stood Luna, gazing at him with her usual shining eyes, giving him the middle finger.
“You see your disciple resurrected as an undead, and you suffer no mental impact?”
Luna smiled faintly and replied to the Lich King's question.
“Like hell I don't, you son of a bitch.”