Book 1 Chapter 612
612.
Clang- Clang-
On the city walls of Guardsron.
Kyle drew his sword, looking at the endless army of the dead surging from afar.
“Ky, Kyle. Shouldn’t we run away now?”
Arion, hiding behind Kyle, asked in a trembling voice.
“Don’t talk nonsense, Arion.”
Dwenno, with a giant battle axe slung over his shoulder, sighed softly and stood beside Kyle.
“Where on earth are we supposed to run from here?”
“Ugh…”
Arion groaned at Dwenno’s words.
Guardsron, the world’s last fortress.
Its collapse meant the destruction of the world.
Literally, there was nowhere to run.
Dwenno sighed softly, looking at the trembling beastman, and asked Kyle.
“How do you think this battle will go, Kyle?”
“Well.”
Kyle narrowed his eyes, looking at the army of the dead stretching beyond the horizon.
“This time, even Guardsron might find it difficult.”
Kyle’s hand holding the sword was trembling slightly.
It wasn't just Kyle.
Dwenno was the same.
Though they didn't show it, both of them felt fear.
The Undead King’s army, known as Tartaros’ strongest legion.
In this era where the world was hurtling towards destruction, there were more dead than living.
All those corpses were the Undead King’s army.
“It’s been a long time. Seeing those disgusting things. Honestly, they could disappear from my sight forever.”
Kyle glanced behind him.
Lysinath and Luna were walking there.
“Why haven’t the bone-dog army been seen for a while?”
Luna showed a bewildered expression, looking at the most fearsome legion appearing after a year.
“Because the world was on the brink of destruction anyway.”
Lysinath’s eyes narrowed.
“It’s a world that would be destroyed soon even if he didn’t step forward. The Undead King probably enjoyed the amusement of watching a world close to its demise.”
“Th-Then why did such an Undead King suddenly attack?”
When Arion asked with a tearful face, Lysinath crossed her arms.
“It’s probably because of the death of the Glutton King.”
The subjugation of the Glutton King Jormungand.
An unprecedented event that couldn’t happen in a dying world.
“So that incident gave the Undead King a sense of alarm?”
Luna crossed her arms and glared at the army of the dead.
“Hmph! Let them come as much as they want! I’ll sweep them all away!”
“R-Really? Can we just trust Luna?”
“Of course! Just trust me, Arion!”
Luna enthusiastically declared, punching her chest with a bang-!
“You just have to hold them off until I take care of everything!”
“So, in the end, I have to fight too.”
Arion made a tearful face.
“Get ready soon. They will attack any…”
Dwenno’s eyes sharpened as he spoke.
Not just Dwenno.
Kyle also reacted to the killing intent and unleashed his magic.
At that moment.
Kwagagagagagak-!
A rain of gigantic corpses fell from the sky.
It wasn't just simple bones.
It was dark magic made from the corpses of powerful mages.
It was a rain of death that destroyed everything it touched.
“It’s the Undead King’s magic!”
“Quickly, protective magic!”
The mages waiting on Guardsron’s wall unleashed their magic to block the Undead King’s spell.
Luna also hastily prepared her magic.
‘Too late!’
A powerful spell cast without any warning.
Luna was slower to notice than Kyle, but her magic was completed faster than Kyle’s.
Even so, it was already too late to block it perfectly.
‘Damage to the city wall is inevitable!’
The moment Luna gritted her teeth.
Paat-!
A golden flash surged.
Arion, soaring into the sky, drew his sword.
The moment a storm of golden aura painted the sky.
Kwagagagagagagang-!
With the golden sword energy, a tremendous explosion shook the earth.
In the not-too-distant future.
The Undead King’s magic was thwarted by a single sword strike from a great beastman, who would later be called a hero.
Thud-!
Everyone held their breath, watching Arion land on the ground.
An overwhelming aura radiated from Arion’s body as he got up.
“Kyle! I was scared!”
Kyle sighed, looking at Arion, who ran to him with a tearful expression, and patted his friend's back, who still hadn't shed his boyishness.
“How could he think of rushing forward first when he’s so cowardly?”
Luna said, as if fascinated.
Watching them, Dwenno spoke.
“Lysinath.”
“Yes.”
“Kyle said this time would be difficult to stop. What do you think?”
“……”
Lysinath glanced at Kyle, then looked around.
Unbeknownst to them, heroes protecting Guardsron had gathered around the five of them.
‘Difficult to stop, huh… For Kyle, that’s quite an optimistic outlook.’
Dwenno wasn't unaware of that either.
But the reason he still asked was simple.
Kyle’s and Lysinath’s words carried different weight.
Lysinath, who had been mocked as foolish, achieved everything she claimed, one by one.
Eventually, she emerged as a symbol of hope in Guardsron.
Dwenno asked because he wanted to hear Lysinath’s lie.
“We can stop it.”
Lysinath said.
‘How hard will I have to work to make this lie a truth?’
She smiled bitterly to herself.
“The Undead King’s army is the core of Tartaros.”
Lysinath climbed onto the city wall and raised her hand.
Hwaruru-!
The Flame Emperor, who incinerates all impurities, appeared.
“If we win this battle, the scales will tip in our favor.”
She didn’t lie.
If they annihilated that almost infinite army of the dead, they could inflict immense damage on Tartaros.
The heavily tipped scales would surely lean a little towards them.
‘Even if it’s ever so slight.’
But Lysinath didn’t care.
She would do anything if this lie could give hope.
“This world will not be destroyed. So, everyone, trust me and follow me.”
“Waaah!”
“The Dragon of Wisdom is with us!”
“Guardsron will never fall!”
“To the treacherous Undead King, destruction!”
The heroes’ morale soared.
They firmly believed that today was not the end.
Gworeoeoeoeoeoeo-!
The army of the dead began to charge.
A battle for the fate of the world began.
Beastmen and Dwarf warriors took the lead.
Elf mages chanted spells from the rear.
The Dragons summoned the Great Spirits.
Five Great Spirits were summoned.
“Elsie.”
Elsie responded to Kyle’s call.
“Please support us.”
-…Understood.
Kyle headed to the front lines to hold back the army of the dead.
The Shadow Spirit merely stood silently, watching the back of her contractor.
-Today will be the last.
“That won’t happen.”
-…
Only the Black Dragon and the Great Spirit of Darkness stood on the city wall.
Elsie merely looked at Lysinath, who smiled gently at her, with an expressionless face.
-We cannot defeat the Undead King.
“No, we can win.”
Lysinath’s eyes sparkled.
In that sight, Elsie saw her past self.
There was a time when her black eyes sparkled like that.
-How?
“Because you are here.”
-Me?
At Lysinath’s words, Elsie showed a rare expression of bewilderment.
“You are a special spirit, Elsie. Shadow is another me. And there is no being in this world that doesn’t have a shadow.”
-What does that mean?
“You are a Shadow Spirit, aren’t you? Shadow is what you control.”
-…
“When I first learned of your existence, I wanted to contract with you. But I couldn’t heal your wounds. Only Kyle could be your sanctuary.”
The being who could maximize Elsie’s power was none other than Lysinath.
Because Lysinath, a Black Dragon, and Elsie, a Spirit of Darkness, would have had the best compatibility with anyone.
However, Lysinath, who gazed at the light, was an uncomfortable presence for Elsie, who was deeply stained by darkness.
That’s why Elsie was drawn to Kyle, who harbored a darkness not inferior to her own.
“So, help Kyle with that power.”
Lysinath smiled gently.
“You will surely find your potential shining in the darkness.”
***
“What are you doing, Alsia!”
Despite Istal’s shouting, Alsia didn’t budge.
She merely looked at Elsie with bewildered eyes.
‘What on earth is this?’
Alsia was a Fire Spirit and had existed as a subordinate spirit to Istal for a long time.
That’s why she could notice the changes happening to her.
-I am…
Alsia, who released Elsie’s hand, stepped back with a troubled expression.
Then, the shadow flowing from Elsie’s body slowly crept up Alsia’s feet.
Flustered-! Alsia, trembling, tried to pull away from Elsie.
But she was caught by the shadow and couldn’t move.
-Ah…!
Alsia’s eyes were filled with terror.
Elsie smiled softly.
“Don’t be scared.”
Whoosh-!
The shadow swallowed Alsia.
Seeing that, Istal, as well as the other High-Grade Fire Spirits, flinched.
“Attack!”
Simultaneously with Istal’s shout, the High-Grade Fire Spirits attacked Elsie.
Elsie, standing there, smiled and raised her hand.
Whoosh-!
The shadow covered the Fire Spirits like a tsunami.
In an instant, the Fire Spirits were swallowed, and only the two Great Spirits remained in the space.
Istal’s face hardened.
“What did you do to my subordinates?”
“I embraced them in my shadow.”
“What does that mean?”
“It’s hard to explain in words. It would be faster to show you directly, wouldn’t it?”
Elsie smiled and raised her hand.
At that moment.
Hwaruru-!
The High-Grade Fire Spirits, including Alsia, who had disappeared, reappeared from Elsie’s shadow.
The moment Istal saw that, her eyes widened.
‘My control?’
Her control over the spirits that had been under her command just moments ago was gone.
The High-Grade Fire Spirits also looked bewilderedly between Elsie and Istal.
They, too, felt that their master had suddenly changed.
“What trick did you use?!”
“This is my power of dominion. I’m sorry for taking your spirits. But you also tried to harm me, so let’s call it even.”
Elsie’s face turned cold.
“Ugh, listen to me! I am the master of you Fire Spirits! I am Istal, the Spirit of Purification! Why are you listening to the Great Spirit of Darkness?!”
Istal desperately tried to regain control.
But she simply couldn’t break Elsie’s dominion.
The High-Grade Spirits, having understood the situation, looked at each other.
-I don’t really understand the situation.
Alsia blinked.
-But our master has changed to this person, right?
-It seems so.
One spirit nodded at Alsia’s words.
-So that means we can legally beat up that narcissistic spirit who only cares about herself?
A ferocious temperament rose in the eyes of the fiery High-Grade Fire Spirits.
“Th-This is a rebellion! How dare you attack your master?!”
-Mess that bastard up!
-You got what was coming to you today!
-At this very moment! Like magic! My lifelong wish has come true today!
“Kkyaaaak!”
Kwagagagagang-! Hwaruru!
Istal, subdued by Elsie, began to be tormented by the flames of the High-Grade Spirits.
Elsie, seeing this, widened her eyes and covered her cheeks, saying with a troubled expression.
“Oh dear. Everyone. Don’t be too harsh.”
“Ughhh!”
The desperate scream of Istal, the Spirit of Purification, echoed.