Book 19 Chapter 29
Episode 165
The fierce battle was racing towards a climax for immortal beings, and a limit for mortal beings.
"Overstepping mortals…"
Traces of the clash between a miracle that brought primordial recovery to everything and a curse that laid the bonds of eternal destruction upon everything permeated the world, causing grotesque mutations everywhere.
"Bark your last. Even that sound, more trivial than sand, will only wither in vain!"
Dozens of ten-foot-long spears were cut down or turned into sand, scattering across the sandy field.
The severed corpses instantly mummified, unable to even shed blood.
Paladin Riven wildly thrust his holy spear against the Annihilation Squad, but the mortal spear-tip never reached their bodies.
"You bastard, old noble… How dare you, how dare you do this to my subordinates!"
Holtranks' faction collapsed!
Only about 80 survivors managed to form a defensive formation around Sasa Simian, barely enduring the offensive.
"Tes ku Shutak!"
But could all those deaths be considered in vain?
No!
While the fairy soldiers of Holtranks' faction held the vanguard, Friede and Kies, who assisted the Mad Dragon Haraderiman, vanquished nine units of the Annihilation Squad.
"The cycle of nature is but a fleeting moment; only the truth of time dwelling in sand is eternal! Light cannot save you!"
And the Annihilation Squad, unable to withstand the pressure, finally merged back into one!
A swirling sandstorm and ancient reptilian bone armor covering it… and atop it, spewing forth the darkness of fear, was the crown of the Annihilation Squad's captain!
The Annihilation Squad was capable of dividing or integrating like this, under the captain's initiative.
"Let's go, Sval!"
That was the moment Archmage Rin entered the battle!
A magic circle appearing on the boy's palm shattered into particles of light, weaving itself into a deep blue greatbow so radiant it made one's chest ache.
5-star, Bingryunapcheongung (Ice Wheel Crushing River Bow).
'Kies told me that this magic played a huge role in the last battle, didn't he?'
Rin simply replied with a "Hmph," as if it was all intentional, but he himself was quite surprised.
'Even though they're categorized as the same abyss, their attributes are diverse.'
That fellow's attribute is sand.
The secret of its power must surely be to completely absorb moisture with the blade of that scythe.
Perhaps it just appears to absorb vitality.
"Kies!"
Kies, who was supporting the fairy soldiers, clearly grasped Rin's intention from that short shout alone.
Twelve shots.
Twelve shots of Cheonaengsal (Thousand Nightingale Kill), handed down as the ultimate secret technique of the [Drunken Archer] school in later generations, were forged atop the White Spear Bow Serebon!
[☞(★◇☆)☜]
The World Tree is like an avatar of the Water Dragon Yeriserika. Therefore, its elemental attribute is naturally water.
'No, how could there be twelve shots…!'
Those twelve shots of Cheonaengsal flew, aiming at Rin.
They weren't aimed at the front!
They twisted their trajectories in mid-air and settled onto the bowstring of the Bingryunapcheongung! A mad master!
Though the transfer of power was so obliging, cold sweat poured like rain from Rin's entire body.
'If magic control goes even slightly awry, it'll explode…!'
Could one thread a needle through a thousand pinholes in one second? The difficulty of magic control Rin had to perform at that moment was similar to that.
But the boy!
The genius archmage!
He handled all of it perfectly, so what else could be the proof but that power roaring in a fierce form atop the Bingryunapcheongung?
"GoOOOOOOOOOOOOO────!"
That power, soaring through dimensions, embroidering contradictory forces of verdant life and frigid cold, was truly the ultimate!
"That!"
Friede instinctively knew. The fate of this battle would be decided by whether that attack hit or not.
Therefore, behold!
The number of Psalm scrolls rotating around her was an astonishing two!
Could simultaneous chanting of Psalms even be possible?! Reading Psalms is communication with the providence of creation, and all its processes must be performed 'without a single mistake' to receive the mark of holiness.
Yet Friede!
But Friede!
At that moment, the Priestess of the Fire Dragon!
She was achieving the impossible, something that sounded impossible just by explanation! It is said that no priestess before her, nor any after her, was capable of this.
'I must blind his eyes, even if only for a moment!'
The power to apply fundamental brakes to a being deviating from the providence of creation, the chains of deceleration from the Myungse Sipeyon, appeared from all directions, targeting the Annihilation Squad!
"Time is a tyrant that ages all things; despair and kneel in worship before eternal annihilation!"
Though these were powers that were originally invisible, the Annihilation Squad, dodging and parrying them as it charged forward, indeed displayed a martial prowess befitting an ancient ruler.
However! At that moment!
There was a force that pierced the Annihilation Squad's chest. Its speed was truly lightspeed! The only speed capable of aiming at blind spots from beyond the perceptual domain!
"Do you think you can erase my existence? Hahahahaha, I hear the cries of mortal palpitations."
Even with a giant hole punched through its chest, the Annihilation Squad sneered.
It didn't fail to dodge; it chose not to dodge.
To simply crush the mortals' last struggle with sheer force and instill profound despair!
"As long as the core of the soul is not destroyed, immortal power is eternal within time, which is fate."
As if to mock that sneer in return, the next moment the boy archmage formed a hand seal towards the point of impact.
Clap──!
Was it a misconception that the hand seal, simply clasped together as if clapping, looked exactly like a praying gesture in that fleeting moment?
"Rune Etching Alteration."
Bingryunapcheongung is a magic that aims to enhance its power through moisture cooling, normal water flow, and water pressure.
Its attribute, he twisted.
He changed the normal flow into a backflow, no, into a turbulent flow. To explain simply, it was creating a water vortex.
'It's a gamble, if you call it that.'
But I have conviction.
'A conviction in the completeness of mathematics, that everything can be interpreted mathematically!'
When performing ultra-high-speed regeneration, the acceleration of the sandstorm that seemed like its body increased.
Stopping regeneration is impossible. In that case, let's aim to slow it down.
Soil turns into mud when it comes into contact with moisture. It absorbs the mass of water as is, and this mud is immediately cooled through Bingryunapcheongung's runes.
'So that moisture, even if just a tiny bit, can endure longer in that extreme heat.'
Explained in words, it might seem incredibly simple.
However, if one could translate what was happening in the boy's brain at that moment into the movement of a quill on paper… one would see hundreds of blank sheets filled black with thousands of mathematical equations in just one second.
That changed providence itself anew. It enabled touching an area not originally permitted to mortal perception, namely, the realm of immortality.
"Hmm…?"
The dust composing the old noble's sandstorm turned into mud, and further, into permafrost, thereby applying a significant brake to its speed!
"…What?"
Of course, that braking was too brief and might have seemed insignificant at first glance.
But immortality is perfection itself. A realm of flawless harmony created by thousands of cogs interlocking perfectly. If even one of them misaligns, a fatal dissonance occurs.
A momentary deceleration in the ultra-high-speed regeneration immediately created a disruption in the evasion trajectory calculated within its perfect perception.
"It worked, it hit!"
Behold! A direct hit on the Myungse Sipeyon! The chains of deceleration began to bind that immortal body, one by one!
'Ah.'
Mad Dragon Haraderiman's eyes trembled.
In that instant, overlaid upon the image of the boy with clasped hands, was… the revered countenance of his father, Black Sun Karenden.
And superimposed on the image of Asrva barking excitedly next to him was his own childhood.
"- Hurry and grow up, you useless things."
"- Yes, Father!"
"- Understood, Daddy!"
"- Papa, papa, papa."
"- I told you not to call me that. Our relationship is not like that. You should call it a relationship between weapons and a weaponsmith. Yeriserika, since you, the eldest, aren't setting an example, the younger ones are imitating you."
Ah, Father….