Book 11 Chapter 28
Episode 8 of Side Story.
The Forgotten War, Exterminating the Spider Lord (8)
‘He doesn’t have the form of a dragon. Does he not know how?’
Shar'Khas thought.
‘Though he has grown close to an adult, he is still merely a juvenile.’
I defeated his mother, the adult. This opponent is much easier.
「Do you think you can achieve anything you babble about? Hehehe, I shall personally raise you and teach you manners, just as I did your mother!」
And then, a leg, raised as if to fill heaven and earth, plowed the ground, and spiderwebs dominated the air.
“24.”
But…
He's fast. How can he be this fast?
What’s with this abnormal speed?
“45.”
He’s dodging all my attacks by a hair’s breadth? The moment my attack lands, he vanishes in a puff of smoke.
Even so, he’s in a human body; he can’t have much power.
Ridiculous.
Did he sacrifice power for mobility?
“67.”
No, that’s not it. This guy is… his very specifications seem different from his mother’s.
What is the identity of this oppressive feeling that makes my whole body tremble?
I can't admit it. Does this guy possess a higher status than me?
“72.”
While dodging, Akirea touched Shar'Khas’s body, which he used for attacks, with her palm.
What was etched onto that contact surface was a brand of power.
A faint but clearly burning power, like a candle flame, but Shar'Khas couldn't deal with it.
Because Akirea had protectors.
“If anyone stands by and watches him flirt with that girl, I’ll be six feet under. Thanks to some crazy daddy’s girl!”
Spiderwebs spreading in all directions to capture the Red Dragon were severed by wind blades that tore through dimensions.
「These…」
But the spider leg that was about to strike Valensidis had its trajectory twisted by a telekinetic bubble.
Though they couldn't completely overwhelm him.
Though they couldn't completely block him.
They could certainly provide this level of assistance. Valensidis and Casena thought so.
“Chairman, quickly, this way!”
These insignificant…
Pests, individually no threat at all, hiding behind the dragon’s shadow.
“100.”
Just then, the number of brands etched onto Shar'Khas’s massive body reached 100.
Akirea stopped dodging.
She planted her feet firmly on the ground, took a deep breath, twisted her ankles, twisted her waist, and moved all the external and internal forces rotating within and outside her body into her right fist.
“Aki, what are you doing! Get out of the way!”
That brand is a mark of magic amplification.
Upon impact, it amplifies and explodes condensed power, blowing away everything in front of it.
A secret technique developed by the Cheonhwapa, designed to deliver a perfect finishing blow in close-range combat.
That secret technique has now been perfected beyond its limits in Akirea’s hands.
Even masters of the Cheonhwapa could only use one of these brands. But Akirea was a being that transcended humans from birth.
Extreme Dragon Transformation Martial Arts.
Multiple Extreme Points.
* * *
“Nen, how did you…?”
As soon as Setsunen fell into Rain's arms, Mir's magnetic field spell activated, emitting a dazzling light.
The dimensional rift, closing as a wound on a living creature heals. Before it completely closed, the magnetic force pulled them in.
As if determined not to let them escape, tentacles relentlessly pursued them at furious speed and grabbed Miria's ankle.
A tentacle pierced the flesh of her ankle and entered her body.
A grotesque feeling, as if returning to the primordial state, Miria let out a scream that sounded like both a happy laugh and a moan.
“Shyrpen!”
Rain cried out urgently.
Before it could travel further up her bloodstream, Shyrpen’s blade trembled violently and flashed.
The moment it severed Miria's ankle, the three entered the dimensional rift, the rift closed, and the tentacles were cut off at the waist.
“Nen…”
To escape the unpleasant resonance that had just invaded her reason, Miria hugged Nen tightly.
Nen, tilting her head, patted Miria’s back.
During this time, the magnetic force carried them beyond, into a space illuminated by the light of creation…
Soon, a familiar and beautiful scent, warmth, and dazzling moonlight poured into their vision, filling it.
This was the Lake of the World Tree.
The most serene and beautiful land in this world.
As the three burst out of the rift and tumbled haphazardly across the grass, Mir quickly closed the rift.
“Mir?”
“Are you okay?”
“Nen unnie succeeded like this! You saw it, Mir Mir?”
When Rain regenerated Miria's ankle, Nen and Mir clapped their hands together.
At that moment, Rain and Miria hugged Nen and Mir tightly.
With their faces pressed against the two children, they just stayed that way for a very long time.
The relief of escaping an extreme crisis was only momentary.
The emotion that filled their hearts with warmth was…
Nen and Mir had grown up so suddenly, it was so admirable and precious…
However, they couldn't linger long in that joyful yet peaceful silence. They were currently in a war for the fate of humanity.
“Mir, that dimensional spell just now, did you create it?”
“Yes. Nen unnie's brain isn't likely to be able to do such a thing.”
“Nen is an envoy of justice, strong even without using such things!”
“Can you teach me?”
And just now.
He had just realized the one and only way to end that war.
* * *
Extreme Dragon Transformation Martial Arts.
Multiple Extreme Points.
With a violent explosion, the iron fist collided with the attacking spider leg.
At that instant.
The first brand exploded.
And transmitted its amplified power to the second brand.
The second brand exploded with the power of the first, transmitting its enhanced explosive force to the third brand, and so on, amplifying through a hundred layers…
This explosive force was amplified a hundred times in total.
A light of creation and destruction snatched away all brightness, saturation, and hue from the world.
An intense explosion that made the retinas of those watching burn white, and a ringing in their ears.
That explosive flame brilliantly and massively enveloped the entire body of the monster that once held a high rank, and even the frigid land beyond it.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
With that immense heat, the nearby blizzard completely subsided, and the snow-covered ground instantly melted into mud.
‘What is this…?’
Valensidis blinked.
In terms of flame, did it not far surpass the flame magic wielded by Rain Ludwig…?
‘He said he received two additional Yeouiju…’
He was truly moved.
Could that young dragon now draw out the power of a true dragon to such an extent?
To be able to overwhelm an ancient noble like this, it was unbelievable.
“Aki, it’s not over yet!”
Did he abandon his main body at the moment of the explosion?
Shar'Khas, in his human body, emerged from the smoke, spreading a net from heaven and earth.
The barrage of spiderwebs struck Akirea, making her tumble in the melted muddy ground.
「This, this, it's absolutely impossible, what on earth, how did this…!」
His body was also nearing its limit.
He was even more mangled than when he was caught off guard by Rain Ludwig.
Aside from his left arm and head, there were no remaining body parts.
‘The flames clinging to his body.’
A shiver ran through Casena’s heart.
‘They’ve been gnawing away at his body repeatedly until the rest burned out.’
That’s why Shar'Khas had to cut off parts of his own body like that.
“Now is the chance…!”
Casena untied her hair ribbon.
Etched on that ribbon was a series of runes, which she then traced into the air.
At that moment, Shar'Khas’s body was enveloped by a bubble of light.
「…?!」
This was the Black Sun Kalenden sealing spell, traditionally passed down in the Page family since the time of the first Emissary Page.
Casena combined it with knowledge she received from Alakish and Rain Ludwig to create a stronger combination.
So that, at moments like this, something like what happened with Alakish wouldn't occur.
And so that she wouldn't have to sacrifice anyone with a goodbye.
“Shar'Khas! You’ll stuff me?”
Inside the bubble, a steel framework appeared and began to engulf Shar'Khas’s body.
Just as it had once done to Alakish’s body.
When Shar'Khas tried to struggle, concentrating strength somewhere in his body, an invisible wedge formed inside the bubble pierced that joint.
“I’ll return your words. I’ll seal you away!”
Normally, with her immature power, she wouldn't have been able to seal Shar'Khas. He would have torn through it long ago.
“This is revenge for ten years ago!”
But now she could.
Now that this arrogant fellow has suffered such significant damage, enough to be bewildered.
She used to be utterly powerless, but now!
「──────!」
Shar'Khas shouted something, but it didn't carry through the elasticity inside the bubble.
“What? I can’t hear you!”
At that moment, the bubble exploded.
Shar'Khas’s body and soul, covered in wedges of light, steel, and fire, were driven into the ground.
His fingertips seemed to twitch for the last time, but after a little more time passed, all movement ceased.
The overwhelming presence around them also disappeared, and the surroundings instantly became quiet.
“…”
Akirea approached and quietly looked down at Shar'Khas’s new grave.
The brilliant flames burning around her body slowly began to subside. Her horns and tail also retracted.
What could that tender heart be thinking right now? Is she telling Alakish that she has finished what he couldn’t?
Casena hesitated, not knowing how to speak, and finally opened her lips.
“Aki…”
“I’m not sad.”
“Huh?”
“My memories have become clearer. Mom was always by Aki’s side. In every moment with Dad, and even when adventuring with Casena.”
The young dragon spoke calmly and smiled gently, but perhaps because she hadn't become an adult yet, she didn't know how to hide her tears.
“So I’m not sad at all.”
Tears flowed from her smiling face. Even after her smile disappeared, only tears continued to fall.
At that moment.
A mirage of hot air caused a momentary hallucination in Casena's vision.
Don't cry, Aki.
Casena is worried.
On Aki’s bowed forehead.
Alakish pressed his forehead against hers and whispered, with a gentle smile, a hallucination that…
* * *
“Rain, what are you going to do?”
“I found a way to finish off the Spider Lord.”
The odds are fifty-fifty.
It depends on who strikes first, but this method is the best.
No, there is no other way. To defeat an ancient god, I too must reach the same level.
“Truly a way to end everything… the struggle of my life.”
* * *
「Yeriserica, where have you left your pitiful brethren and come alone?」
Ashron spoke with leisure, as if the threat of the Water Dragon was negligible. His younger companion, Alkyuta, reported:
「Having read the memories of humans, the Fire Dragon is said to have died as a curtain in the southern continent, and the Mad Dragon is severely wounded from confronting the Lord of Time, making movement impossible.」
All around was a pit of madness.
Above the rampart, a massacre was unfolding with spiders that had crawled up the collapsed outer wall.
As one knight severed a spider’s leg, another spider pierced his heart and bit his neck, exposing his cervical vertebrae.
The battle was taking place not only on the rampart but also south of the collapsed rampart, where the main imperial forces were stationed.
Ashron burst into laughter.
「These are exceedingly pleasant words to hear. What can you truly achieve against me? You, the most powerless among your contemptible brethren.」
Heaven and earth trembled at his laughter.
The darkness imbued in the sound rushed forward with a clear form, gnawing at Yeriserica’s light.
Yeriserica flapped her wings powerfully, as if to shake off that darkness.
「The only reason I preserved my strength until today was for this very moment, the moment I first saw the future, the moment my path ends!」
「What is this babbling?」
「Has ku bu aldem! Arise, my children!」
To that pure blue roar, the pure white legion responded.
Inside the fractured and collapsed rampart, from its base, echoes responding to their mother’s roar gradually grew louder.
There was the sound of pure white wings beating, shaking the rampart. And the next moment, countless white dragons soared beyond the rampart.
「What…?」
The eyes of the younger companion, Alkyuta, trembled.
What is with this number?
He heard that the White Dragon Legion had the smallest numbers among the Dragon Legions…
「Surely, when creating the rampart, the majority of the legion was used as the foundation for the base?」
Was that it?
If thought of that way, the truth behind the rampart’s construction, which is not recorded anywhere in human history, its unrealistic construction speed, is instantly understood.
The numbers of that legion were so vast that they covered the night sky visible in both directions, and they were still emerging.
Not only wyverns.
But also the pure white true dragons whose whereabouts had been unclear…
On the face of the monstrous entity with twelve hundred spider eyes, the leisure finally vanished from Ashron’s human form, which possessed a radiant creamy complexion.
How should he deal with this outrageous situation…?
Perhaps he could not willingly hold a feast until he had eradicated all these mongrels who did not submit to the authority of the abyss…?
This, too, must be a task entrusted to him by the Lord of the Abyss, Yotos Yole Yotiatos…
「I, Yeriserica, shall complete the path entrusted to me today. My father, Kalenden. Guide me in this final journey!」
Thus began the White Dragon Legion’s final war.
The dragons spewed water to push the spiders off the rampart or to suffocate them with water pressure.
When the younger companion, Alkyuta, pulled down the misty spiderwebs, the ancient spiders severed their breath and devoured their hearts and entrails.
Then, from the eastern side of the rampart, fire arrows flew.
The fire arrows burned the bodies of the spiders devouring the dragons’ hearts. The 20,000 strong army of Dark Elves had joined the fray.
The Silver-Blue Sage led them.
Dazzling flowers twisted the spiders’ bodies, wrung them out like dry rags, and then hurled them over the rampart.
It was a miracle of Maxentia, the Pale Moon, one of the <Ones Who Came>.
- What is this child’s name?
- Yeriserica. Don't grow attached. She's a weapon of war.
- A weapon, you say.
Long ago, in the age of gods.
The scene of Maxentia embracing her tightly flashed before Yeriserica’s eyes.
Maxentia, always pale and gaunt due to poor health, was a woman of few words but in fact more considerate than anyone.
Maxentia whispered softly into Yeriserica’s ear.
- Kalenden isn't honest, so try to understand. In truth, he probably loves you all more than anyone.
A fierce battle had also begun below the rampart.
With the sound of war trumpets, heavy cavalry led by knights charged into the flank of the surging spiders.
Either the cavalry trampled over the spiders, or the spiders killed the horses and devoured the cavalry. It was one or the other.
- You are weapons of war. I created you for war. Monsters modeled after the Lord of the Abyss.
Catapults and archers from armies airlifted from various parts of the empire rained down projectiles, but still, the spider hordes were endless.
Not only that.
When the colossal spider, Jaryun, the Post-Nerve, appeared, breaking through the cavalry, many soldiers tried to flee in fear but quickly regained their composure.
Thanks to Yeriserica’s light.
- A dark blue dragon with seven heads… its name is Yotos Yole Yotiatos.
Masters representing each sword school of the Ilseongchilgeom charged towards Jaryun.
However, they were caught in the disgusting webs Jaryun spewed from his maw and soon melted away, leaving only bones.
It was Changseong, Gungseong, and four Faequerriors who stopped the ancient noble, who possessed power beyond that of Baekdoryeong.
- Father, I wish to ask why you intend to leave us behind.
The lead Faequerrior, Milone Alter Gaumris, took the vanguard with Changseong Bat.
Three new Faequerriors scattered in perfect order, aiming for effective blows whenever an opening appeared.
Rem’s Serwebon shot arrows of the World Tree, blocking Jaryun’s offensives at crucial moments.
And the lightning from the Yellow Dragon Legion, flying across the sky, mercilessly fell, obliterating the spiders.
- You always said you created us as weapons of war, yet why do you intend to leave us behind in the final battle against Yotos?
At that moment, Yeriserica, who was flying across the sky, commanding the white dragons and keeping Ashron in check, was caught by Ashron’s hand.
- That was a lie.
Beyond the eons of origin.
She was caught by a hand composed of the bodies of the dead from that distant ancient era.
- Yes?
The lingering thoughts, lost souls, malevolent thoughts, and abyss imbued in that grip…
Immediately, her body began to blacken and decay, emitting a putrid stench.
If she had been human, she would have instantly oxidized into a slimy mass.
- My first and last lie to you all.
Even struggling, even flapping her wings.
There was no escape from the ancient king’s touch that caressed and trembled all the light in heaven and earth, turning it into darkness.
A touch that rots all creatures on this land and causes pus to erupt, now imbued beyond the flesh, into the soul.
- I wish for your happiness. Because no matter what anyone says, you are my greatest masterpieces.
Ashron brought Yeriserica, held in his grip, close to his face.
「Now, do you feel fear in your heart as well? Who will come to save you? Kalenden, who tucked his tail and disappeared?」
Her bones were rotting and melting away.
The corroded bones began to break with alarming ease.
「It’s all over now. Take one last look at this world. Now all traces of you will disappear, and it will be painted in my colors once more…!」
At that moment, the dimension split as if the first dawn was breaking.
The dazzling radiance pouring from that rift was pitch black.
For a moment, one could only think it was black. Because the beams of light were enveloped in a pitch-black mist.
「This mist… Kalenden?」
And then, a being leapt from that rift, and both Yeriserica and Ashron looked up in bewilderment at the all-too-familiar presence.
“Come out, Asura.”
Light converged, forming a noble shape.
A fierce dragon with three heads and three pairs of arms scattered light across the three-thousand-great-thousand worlds, a light that oxidized ancient beings just by touching it.
A sacred flash, for a moment, not even a shadow remained on the ground.
The kings of the abyss called dragons impious beings, for they dared to imitate their master.
Asura’s arms gripped Ashron’s hand. He tore the hand holding Yeriserica from Ashron’s main body.
「Your Majesty!」
Asura carefully lowered Yeriserica onto the rampart, where she could receive the protection of the white dragons.
In Yeriserica's vision, as she gasped in painful breaths, the face of her beloved father momentarily overlaid the back of Asura's master.
Beyond that face was Rain Ludwig. He offered a bitter smile.
“You have suffered for a long time. Now, please rest easy.”
And then he looked up at Ashron again and said:
“Let’s change locations, Ashron.”
Ashron merely looked down at Asura, and then at his impertinent sorcerer, for a moment.
How did this fellow escape from outer space…?
Even the <Ones Who Came> couldn’t leave without the help of a companion.
「Are you ordering me now? How can a king listen to the words of an insect?」
Then Rain snapped his fingers.
What the…
In that instant, the scenery reversed. The world’s sensory perceptions, its colors, everything that touched his skin and antennae, changed in an alien way.
「…What is it?」
Light dominated the space.
In that light, which illuminated heaven and earth without a single shadow, the dead who formed Ashron’s body began to ascend, weeping.
Ashron felt the pain of his skin and soul burning.
「You should have fought me in that secret room back then. Then you would have had a much higher chance of winning. Instead, you just gave me advice.」
「…?」
「This is a world I created. My dimension. And your new grave. I hope you like it.」
Ancient kings who received divinity from an absolute being are not affected by dimensional magic.
So, what happened?
There was only one possible thought, and for the first time in a very long time since receiving the king’s divinity, he felt a shiver down his spine.
「You, surely not.」
You didn’t pull Ashron, who belongs to this dimension, into another dimension, but swapped the positions of the two dimensions?
A mere human?
How did a human with only a half-baked divinity manage to manipulate the laws in the domain of an absolute god?
To shake off that ominous premonition, he spewed out a poisonous gas that could melt dimensions themselves, but it was powerlessly incinerated by the radiance illuminating the world.
「Why are you asking when you already know?」
Ashron’s power.
The power of the ancient abyss had weakened, while.
「In this world, I am king.」
As if protecting Rain.
The form of Asura that surged and shimmered behind him was larger, more dazzling, and more majestic than in its original world.
The light of creation, unapproachable even by the power of an ancient king.
「I am God.」