Book 19 Chapter 30
Langbard Workshop,
Subjugation of the Old Aristocrats (7)
「Hukos Sugia Altibi Ta r Ron Hë Ventas!」
Of course, the Mad Dragon Haraderman is one who served alongside the <Ones Who Came> in the First Tarhe Rondel War.
In short, he is a veteran of war.
He pushed this tremor in his heart to one side of his chest and unleashed a bolt of lightning with maximum power into the opening created by the boy who resembled his father.
「────────!」
The power of annihilation residing in the scythe of the Annihilation Corps and that bolt of lightning clashed in the air, entering a tug-of-war!
“Rivien!”
Friede urgently cried out, but Rivien, who had been pushing off the ground, lost strength in his knees and couldn't complete his leap.
‘As the first descendant, such a pathetic… Is this body at its limit?’
The opponent is an immortal being!
If this momentary gap, the opening created by the boy archmage and the mad dragon, is missed, all damage will return to nothing (無)!
Is the door of opportunity closing like this, just like this? Is the color of defeat deepening?
───────CLANG!
Not so! The next moment, a curtain of light shattered above Haraderman…!
Noble white hair, fluttering!
A dazzlingly flickering holy sword!
Don't you see that the Hero (勇士) has returned to the battlefield! The time needed for the Hero, Lister Alter Shirping, to understand this battle situation is a mere 0.3 seconds!
“Boundary Setting (誌界-設定).”
Lister pointed at the Annihilation Corps with his palm, just as Elida Alma (01), Arcaius, had done.
‘The maximum length of the boundary I can set is, at most, about my height.’
This power, which forms a translucent cube in the domain of existence itself, poses no threat on its own.
In the first place, that is a quarantine zone.
It is an area that restricts the ‘zone where power is applied’ to interfere with providence, or rather, to prevent providence from collapsing before ultimate power, in short, to protect the foundation of the world.
‘It's okay. Rather than blaming my shortcomings and despairing, it's important to think about what I can do with them.’
However, if the Rune of Creation is carved onto that cube, the story inevitably changes.
“Providence Engraving (攝理-刻印).”
Time splitting into hundreds.
What if we omit all actions that occurred in that time and just state the result?
It could be explained that, in an instant, the character ‘Benekom’ was carved onto the cube.
【Benekom】.
The meaning of that character, which began to emit a brilliant light, is 'breakthrough'.
The command of Creation descends.
For those who accept the light, it is a blessing; for those who refuse, it forcibly applies the meaning of that character as a curse itself.
「MuuuuuuAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH────!」
The collapse of space-time is, in the end, an attack limited by providence.
But this power commands the annihilation of everything belonging to that space!
It is a command of destruction issued by the power of creation that spread the land, set the boundaries of water, and draped the firmament over the world!
‘The sandstorm is completely swept away…!’
‘The core, the core is exposed…!’
‘What, what on earth is that power…?’
It was a moment when the core, which had almost completely hidden its location within the amorphous sandstorm, was exposed with astonishing clarity and distinctness.
“Friede────!”
It looked like the heart of the sand.
“─────Now!”
The command of annihilation applied to the dimension itself had completely swept away the sand, but within the throbbing of that heart, ancient sand was trying to whip up again.
“Oh, leave it to me!”
Amidst the brilliant flow of light, the light from the scroll of the Hymn of Creation, which had been floating in the air, immediately began to reach its zenith!
‘It'll be about one beat late! I need to buy more time!’
Lister launched himself forward.
The scythe of the Annihilation Corps, which had constructed a new hand of power with the sandstorm, lunged at Lister.
「These lowly… mortals, whose decaying flesh is worth less than a grain of sand────!」
Striking that blow away, deflecting it, letting it pass, and then digging in to deliver a direct hit…!
「───Do you dare bring that filthy light to the avatar of eternal death, personally bestowed by Him!」
He stretched out his hand, forming a new boundary. A space (界) to record (誌) the command of Creation!
“Eternity, I don't envy it one bit────!”
Simultaneously with gripping Shirping in reverse, the flow of time vanished from Lister's perceptual field.
“───Because the beginning and end of life are set, we can cherish each day!”
Rather than vanishing, it would be more accurate to say that it completely slowed down, to the point where the flow of time ceased altogether.
“Because within it, we can cherish the connections we meet───!”
In that time, what he engraved upon that boundary was the second command of Creation.
Its spelling, Bakhu.
If we interpret the character of Creation in modern language, it means ‘Quarantine (隔離)’.
“───Do not underestimate mortality!”
The boundary had been formed at the coordinates where the Annihilation Corps' core was located! Therefore, those coordinates were instantly quarantined dimensionally, completely blocking movement!
- Remember, Lister.
Neither the sandstorm, nor the authority of annihilation, nor the scythe that obliterates all things can escape!
- Interfering with providence with a mortal body demands a powerful price.
As a recoil from that power, excruciating pain, as if his bones were being crushed, surged through him.
- Therefore, never use this power unless it is a crucial moment.
Lister, who had dropped the holy sword, barely supported his body, which had been rolling on the sand, with both hands, but blood repeatedly gushed from his mouth.
- Each time you use it, your already limited lifespan will rapidly deplete.
Lord Caduel, I'm sorry.
But I had no choice but to use it.
For me… every moment I can live and breathe is a moment of utmost importance.
「You, you mortals born of savage and ignorant essence────!」
The effort, which largely sacrificed a lifespan extended even slightly by the mad dragon, bears fruit!
Finally!
The light of Creation, residing in the atmosphere centered around Friede, had reached its zenith!
「───You must be subjugated!」
Surging forth from all directions, the power that pierces and grips that immortal heart is none other than chains of light! The power of the Hymn of Creation!
「You should be enlightened through us, the great beings who have been gifted with wisdom and knowledge that penetrate the universe────!」
Though certainly pierced by the chains of the Hymn of Creation, the old aristocrat's power and stubbornness, attempting to reconstruct its sand body even in that state, was truly nightmarish.
“Damn it, shut your blabbering and get to the museum already, you antique!”
In that tug-of-war with a cosmic being, Friede cried out, spewing congested blood.
“My life is hard enough to die right now, what the hell is this cosmic nonsense! Go eat shit!”
The sandstorm began to rage violently again, and the chains of light were pulled taut, screaming a rupture as if about to break.
「──────────GuuuAAAAAaaaHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!」
The clash of battle cries is precisely the clash of mental power! How many times did battle cries, close to screams, exchange back and forth!
Finally! Now! At last!
In the saturation of light, the sand of annihilation began to recede. The immortal spirit was being banished through a rift in dimensions, to the other side of space-time where it would semi-permanently sleep!
“──!”
“──!”
“──!”
Silence, silence, silence! As if all the commotion until now had been a nightmare, a truly fierce silence descended.
Everyone was silent.
In fear that even a small breath of their own might break this silence and conjure the nightmare once more.
“…….”
“…….”
“…….”
Thus, 1 second, 2 seconds, 3 seconds… they realized that the presence which had been pressing down on their entire bodies like a giant rock had completely vanished.
Only then did the members of the hero's party, one by one, exhale the heavy lump of breath caught in their throats.
Breath is clearly gas, yet they felt a sense of liberation as if they had expelled a solid mass.
“Linn! Friede!”
Linn was already unconscious from the recoil of ‘Rune Engraving Alteration’ of the Ice Wheel Pressure Heaven Bow, which controlled its twelve Heaven Cherry Shots.
Friede also collapsed, spewing blood!
Lister immediately tried to run to their side, but his legs gave way, and he tumbled onto the sand.
No strength entered his entire body.
‘Engraving Slash. If I hadn't received the Mad Dragon Saint's power, the burden on my entire body would have been tens of times that of a space-time island…’
Kies was also not in good condition, but he first checked Linn's pulse, then slung her over his shoulder, and then checked Friede's pulse.
[♣(ㅇ=ㅇ)♧]
Only after Kies gave a hand gesture could Lister stop struggling, who had been crawling on the ground towards his companions until then.
‘Everyone is safe…’
Alone…
A path that can never be reached…
- What exactly is a hero? Can I also become a true hero?
In his final moments, Lister asked the pioneers of courage he met within the fragments of his soul.
- A hero is one who is stronger than anyone, but also weaker than anyone.
Elida Alma (01), Arcaius, who could be called the first hero, answered thus.
- It means incomplete.
Elida Beta (02), Caduel, easily elucidated those words with his intelligent gaze.
- According to the Hymn, humans were created as ‘interstitial beings’. Time, space, and human (人間).
- Interstitial beings…?
- A hero is also human. Because they are incomplete, they need and meet connections that will make each other complete.
Caduel said this with a benevolent smile that was somehow overflowing with kindness.
- In short, a hero does not exist alone. They are created together. In the blessing of connections given more miraculously than miracles.
Arcaius placed a hand on Lister's shoulder and showed a grave yet infinitely benevolent smile.
- So do not fear. On the path of the hero you will walk, the love of Creation will never leave you alone.
I see. Ah, it truly is as you say…
More miraculously than a miracle…
The gifts that came into my life…
Together with these connections gifted by the light of Creation, I was being forged into a Hero (勇士)…