Book 10 Chapter 5

Chapter 230

"Heading to the central spire?"

Time is pressing.

At Miria's question, Ovin nodded his head vigorously.

"Th-there, if we go there, everything can be undone. The barrier."

Valensidis, whose entire body was battered and whose facial skin had half melted away, nodded, letting out a labored breath.

"I will provide support. You all, handle Elamas."

"But the city center is teeming with primitives right now. I wonder if you can go in your condition…"

"Teeming, teeming, teeming."

"Bart, Pipi, you two help Valensidis and Ovin. Clear the way to the Clock Tower. Rem, provide covering fire from here until they reach the spire."

There's no time. At Rain's command, Bart immediately nodded.

The city streets had long since turned into a pandemonium; whirlpools of vengeful spirits acridly covered the city, and eerie screams echoed from everywhere.

Several primitives clung to Bart, who was running ahead through the streets, like leeches. Their grotesque teeth could not penetrate his black iron armor.

"Haa!"

A dragonbone spear, plunged into the heads of the primitives thrown onto the paving stones of the road, crushed their skulls.

That wasn't the end of it.

What echoed was the primitives' rending cries, and what rushed from all directions were the primitives' shadows.

Running behind, Ovin sniffled at the tragic sight of the city, but Valensidis shook his head resolutely.

"Don't cry. Don't stop. For now, only think about winning."

How long can the city hold out?

This is the final moment.

Whether Ovin can reach the spire before the city is completely destroyed, and whether he can perform something only passed down to royalty…

'But even if Ovin succeeds, it means nothing if Elamas survives.'

A head-on confrontation with a pillar of the Black Church…

For Valensidis, it was unimaginable, merely a battle in an ambiguous realm.

Originally, Tureina's or Elamas's plan should have successfully begun, plunging the entire world into chaos.

'But Rain Ludwig, that guy's appearance is causing cracks in the gears the Black Church has built over hundreds of years.'

Just as the hero's party crushed the Black Church's schemes 300 years ago.

Wearing the same conical hat and using the same spell formula as Archmage Rin, who appeared in the heroic tales his father read to him when he was young.

Ah, right.

So that's how it turned out after all. It went against common sense, so he had been denying it in a corner of his mind, but now denying it would be strange.

'The Archmage of the hero's party has returned.'

If so, is the battle unfolding there a fight between the youngest ever Arbiter of the fairy race and the youngest ever Archmage of humanity?

* * *

Boom!

With a fierce explosion, torrents of red flame and black flame intertwined in mid-air.

Blinding smoke surging in, the atmosphere raging as oxygen evaporated making it impossible to breathe, the feast of transcendent beings' power begins.

"Construct magic circle, Cremation Blood Release."

Push forward.

Don't give them a break, push them back.

Though it was being controlled by necromancy, its body was that of a True Dragon… its fire resistance was on an absurd level.

'In that case, all I have to do is pour in enough power that even its resistance can't withstand it.'

Make him think that's what I'm thinking.

Remember.

The decisive factor in this battle is not me. Rain steadied his mind.

"……!"

Seven bolts of lightning tore through the sky, rushing in red.

'What is this?'

The membrane of the True Dragon's wings, which enveloped Elamas, scorched and glowed red. The heat of the flames leaked downwards.

'It generates such power at that speed?'

Elamas, who confirmed his ceremonial robes burning and the skin on his right shoulder beneath them scorching, widened his eyes in disbelief.

'It works. Even if the opponent is a True Dragon, if it's the flame of a True Dragon itself…!'

At the moment Rain was considering his next move, Elamas brought his hands together and chanted a dark hymn.

[Aruu!]

Indeed, a chanting speed that could only be explained by him being an ancient Arbiter.

The moment the attack was perceived, the chanting of the prayer was complete.

From the end of that language, the power of the abyss manifested, a wave of vengeful spirits surging forward with chilling high-frequency sound.

'Ah, damn, did I focus too much on the True Dragon…!'

Thread-Iron Halberd.

Wedges of lightning falling from the sky stacked up, deflecting the wave, but this too was one of the ancient youngest Arbiter's tactical maneuvers.

The moment Rain Ludwig went into a defensive posture, a mighty power stirred in the True Dragon's throat.

"!"

The atmosphere trembled at the prelude to that power. Rain Ludwig's consciousness swayed with fear.

A power Rain Ludwig, a half-dragon, could never use; a power only the Dragon race, who wield the power of language, could use.

The Dragon race's unique power, Lion's Roar, which could subjugate heaven and earth with a single command and make all creatures tremble.

When hit directly by that power, a human's internal organs would explode within their body, leading to immediate death.

The sound.

Everything.

It couldn't── swallow.

The sound that burst forth from the dragon's massive maw, shaking its throat, collided with something in mid-air, creating a powerful shockwave.

With 'another sound'.

A sound different from the True Dragon's heavy and intimidating roar; a sound as delicate as a candle flame and as quiet as firewood on a winter's day.

Yet, it was a Lion's Roar.

And it was the power of Dragon Language, manifested from an identical True Dragon.

"──!"

The sounds violently intertwining in the air vanished with a silent boom.

Only the afterglow of that power swept past their feet like a tide.

"Aki Punch."

And then, the young dragon's fist, which had rapidly closed in beneath the True Dragon's body, leaving the sound of flames flaring up, struck Elamas in the abdomen.

"Cough."

No sooner had Elamas coughed up blood than the True Dragon slammed its foreleg down, but the young dragon had already retreated far back.

As Elamas glared at the young dragon as if he couldn't understand, the young dragon adjusted its martial arts stance, and a momentary silence fell.

In that silence, the emotion that powerfully resonated in Rain's chest, along with a fierce heartbeat, was…

'Aki.'

How much has his skill improved by leaps and bounds?

It was exactly as Cheonhwailryong Celine had said. His talent for martial arts was overwhelmingly outstanding, acquiring everything at once.

Celine, I wish you could have seen this just now.

'He was so young back then.'

He was just a little one who could only toddle around and cling to my back.

'I thought he might just keep clinging to my side like that until we reached <Flame Myriad Miles>.'

So I judged that I would have to continue protecting him with all my heart and soul.

And you, who was like that.

Now you're fighting for someone else. To protect their lives.

'Just as Alakish did in the land of death.'

He wondered if the Dean, his aunt, had felt a similar emotion 300 years ago, seeing the reports of victory arriving from the front lines.

He recalled what kind of expression the Dean must have made back then, by looking at his own face now.

To suppress the tears that burned and welled in his eyes, Rain had to squeeze his eyes shut.

"Where have I seen you before? Those techniques, I definitely saw them somewhere, but I can't quite recall."

Elamas, as if seized by a headache, briefly squeezed his brow and let out a groan, then soon raised his head with an annoyed sigh.

"I don't know why, but you're unpleasant. Your very existence. So much so that my stomach turns with irritation."

Elamas clasped his hands together.

A linear formation unfolded around his feet, ancient characters filling it. The True Dragon's veins, resonating with the profundity of necromancy, blazed with a purple light.

"I'll show you something special. The true power of a dragon."

An oppressive aura, overwhelming the very atmosphere, felt as heavy as if two boulders were pressing down on his shoulders.

"World of Wonders, Heaven-Bridging Darkness."

It's dangerous. This situation is dangerous.

A World of Wonders, known to be accessible only by a very few among the Arbiters… a realm that maximizes divine abilities.

I understand that I need to buy time before an uncontrollable situation occurs.

"Suppressing Evil, Breaking Chains, Thunder Style!"

Numerous chains lashed like lightning, coiling around the True Dragon's body, but failed to pierce the soul beyond its flesh.

Was it because there was no soul within the body, or because the soul's caliber was inferior?

As if mocking such a disparity, black flames poured from the True Dragon's maw, which had severed the chains with a single flap of its wings.

"Flame-Crimson Realm!"

There's no time to inscribe the origin rune.

Maximizing destructive power with the Flame rune, reinforcing the power of the Flame rune with the primary color rune Crimson.

Then, deploying that maximized power broadly with the Realm rune. Maximizing power with the Venerable of Youlyangsejon.

"Hmm, that's a magic I haven't seen before?"

The barrier of flame and black flame clashed; even if it couldn't completely extinguish the power, merely diverting its trajectory was enough.

"Did you make that up on the spot? You're incredibly strong."

Elamas spoke casually to Rain, who was wiping away cold sweat; was it his intention to make Rain keenly feel the gap in their abilities?

Taking advantage of Elamas's momentary lapse, Aki charged forward once again.

The fist that accurately exploited the opening and struck the target… only created a fierce blaze in mid-air, failing to land an effective hit on the enemy.

"……?!"

What just happened?

The True Dragon's body split into several parts, only to recombine some distance away.

As if it were a doll rather than a living creature, purple currents pulsed at the severed points, connecting each part.

What is that?

How could that happen?

"Do you think I'd fall for that kind of surprise attack twice?"

Before the flames cleared from his vision, an object more akin to a battering ram than a tail flew in.

"Construct magic circle."

A strike delivered before he could fully register the dodge, a combination so fast that even a dragon's reflexes would struggle to follow.

"5-Star, Flash Thunder Heaven-Strike Cannon."

Before that tail could strike Aki, a bolt of lightning flew in from the other side with a terrifying flash, pushing the tail away.

"Aki, don't go to the front, stay back!"

[Aruru!]

"Aki is on standby!"

Elamas gave Rain an intrigued look.

"I've never seen a human wield magic so quickly like you. No, should I say you use it as quickly as Zernix? But that old man has already surpassed the bounds of humanity."

Despite being so far away, it was as threatening as if he were whispering right next to him.

And it was true, as even while speaking like that, the dragon's vocal cords were already violently trembling with the sound of power.

The Lion's Roar is coming… but its countermeasure has already been devised thanks to Aki.

"Rune Creation, Magic Construction, Thunder-Spinning Discipline."

Sound blocks sound.

The Thunder Resonation clashed with the dragon's roar, crackling, and electricity spread throughout the entire area.

Was that all? Even though it seemed to have offset almost 90% of the power, his muscles and bones trembled with a tingling sensation amidst the incoming aftershock of the force.

As if to praise such a desperate struggle, Elamas clapped his hands together.

"That's a very good move. Which makes it hard to understand. Why are you fighting for such mere insects with that kind of power?"

"What are you trying to say?"

"Don't you find the weak and pathetic disgusting? How selfish they are, heh heh, look even now. The way they all leave everything to an outsider like you and run away."

"……"

"Why don't you accept this power too? You'd become several times stronger than your current level. Perhaps even as strong as Zernix."

"Oh, really?"

"Let the weak ones be filtered out naturally by the currents of the era. It's a new world! There, you won't be exploited and will naturally reign. Why on earth are you fighting against it?"

If I had longed for power, would I have listened to that whisper?

There's no way.

Because each time, the Dean's face, filling his sight, would have prevented him from going down the wrong path.

"I was originally a weakling. An orphan in the slums, just waiting to die."

He wasn't an Archmage from the beginning.

Originally, there was nothing.

He truly had nothing, but she came and gave him everything.

"That person, who was a parent, a benefactor, and a teacher to me, asked me. To become an adult who could share the light of magic with others."

That's why he's fighting now.

That's why he has fought his entire life.

"Because if I don't, someday when I see the Dean again in the world beyond, I'll be too ashamed to even speak."

As she gave to me without price, so will I act.

"What I learned during my journey with her and my comrades is that power is not for ruling, but for serving."

That dedication doesn't vanish meaninglessly but is passed on to the next generation, bearing fruit.

Just as I, who once only knew myself, stand here now, and just as Aki has grown so admirably.

And perhaps, Shalessaroom might have also wanted Elamas to become like that.

"Elamas, the battle between you and me is a battle of convictions. There will be no compromise whatsoever. Your acting so arbitrarily ends today."