Book 20 Chapter 19
Chapter 187
Beyond the sky, a symphony of heavenly lightning (天雷) and thunder (霹閃) that even tears apart the veil of the world.
Its light stole all colors from the world except black and white, and when the colors returned, the explosion of light tearing through the principle of the speed of sound stole all sound.
When all of it ended, a silence so profound that even the rustling of grass and the rolling of sand could be clearly heard settled over the battlefield where the two archmages stood at their peak.
“D-Did he win…?”
“A-Archmage Lyn…!”
“H-He defeated the Crystallization Mage…!”
The opponent’s identity was none other than [The Strongest Archmage], who single-handedly swept away the demon army in the golden age of magic. The Fourth Archmage, whose power remained unchanged and had now become the nightmare of the Allied Forces.
His name itself was a prestige (威名).
His name itself was despair (絶望).
It was the moment when the Eleventh Archmage, a rising prodigy, shattered both that prestige and despair. It was the fleeting moment when the tide of victory in the final phase shifted.
“That kid, he really did it… a former Archmage all by himself! And even supported us to deliver the final blow!”
Friede, who was tending to Lista's injury, felt surprise, bewilderment, and pride intertwine into a wry smile.
“Yes, Lyn did it…!”
“Just bear with it a little longer! Sir Inrahit’s emergency treatment seems to be finished before Shuan left. I’ll go get a little dragon’s blood with an empty syringe!”
Lista was smiling, but she couldn't truly smile.
‘Did he completely give up on defense? Or did he abandon his connection with the abyss himself…? There’s no trace of Senior Sarandis’s body at all.’
Only a tiny amount of [King’s Flesh] was squirming next to the Ultimate Holy Sword Naiseimon, which lay all alone, trying to escape somewhere else.
‘But the amount of [King’s Flesh]… it's only about the same level as the small fry I met in the north before? Does this mean he almost beat all of us with just that much?’
If Sarandis had stopped time again at the last moment, Lyn's support would also have been neutralized… Furthermore, the war situation was such that it wouldn't have been strange even if the entire Hero Party had been wiped out.
‘But why?’
Why didn’t he use that power?
Although he looked like he was pushed to his limits, he must have been in a more complete state than me, with my hands cut off.
“Kkyut, Kkyut, Kkyuut!”
As the ice dragon Asruba rubbed its face in victorious excitement, the young Archmage… was crying!
No one but Sval could see his tears, but the boy was clearly weeping.
Using the Golden Staff as a cane, he crawled with difficulty to stand at the head of the senior Archmage, and then spoke.
“I-I… lost…?”
“…”
“Hah… I was confident… that I would never lose to anyone in magic…”
His robe and clothes were already burned away, and only magic circle bandages grotesquely covered his burning body.
“But… to lose to a junior who isn't even twenty… the future of magic is truly bright…”
When magic power is sealed, one feels a fear and sense of disconnection like a child thrown into darkness.
How much more intense must have been the surge of emotion that occurred the moment he was exposed to that talented junior’s ultimate magic!
However, in the face of the thunder (霹閃) that arrived, painting the heavens and earth white, the emotion that colored Julak’s mind was not fear or disconnection, but perhaps a joy akin to liberation.
“Am I… going to die… like this?”
Lyn, his lips trembling for a long time, finally opened his mouth. His tears streamed down his cheeks and fell onto Julak’s face.
“We… won’t be able to see each other again… will we?”
If this boy had a living biological father and had to be separated from him, he might have cried like this.
“Don’t cry, Lyn. You are an Archmage. All mages watch you. To learn truth from your actions and words. You must not become a negative example like me.”
Julak Kepel, feeling the warmth of the endlessly falling tears on his face, gave a hollow laugh.
The lightning amplified by the Golden Staff took on the form of light, temporarily neutralizing even the regeneration of the abyss.
As his body burned, melted, and crumbled, the [King’s Flesh] the size of a speck of dust appeared.
“In the first place, I was never meant to be alive in this world. Just let me go.”
This was enough.
Time that was originally not allowed.
The time he could accompany her again, having died alone in old age but resurrected in his youth.
‘I thought that was enough…’
But then, to meet such a remarkable junior and experience a battle that glimpsed beyond the horizon of magic itself, what more could he wish for?
“This kind of ending… isn’t bad either…”
He had no intention of repenting or regretting in a pathetic and cowardly way.
“No… I should apologize for one thing. The fact is, my actions had no meaning…”
He knew it himself, in fact.
Even though he had shouted that to Lyn.
That his actions had no grand cause, significance, or meaning like Sarandis's.
“I just… wanted to walk the same path with her again… that was enough…”
And yet…
Even though he was miraculously resurrected…
In the end, he couldn’t honestly convey the most important feeling…
“Eleventh Archmage, Lyn. If you hold the same heart as me, I hope you don't make the same mistakes as me…”
The clear sky, which had been cleared by the lightning, began to be covered in a yellow hue again by the swirling winds.
In that gust of wind, Julak’s corpse crumbled into ashes and scattered.
Everything returned to nothingness, and only the [King’s Flesh] wriggled helplessly on the ground.
“Ah…”
A hollow sense of exhaustion covered Lyn's entire body like a numbing spell.
Lyn’s body swayed helplessly from side to side, then collapsed as if falling.
“Lyn!”
Lista threw herself forward.
Just before Lyn’s head hit the grand plaza floor, she barely managed to catch him with her armless stumps.
“Hey! You’re injured right now! What are you doing in that state?!”
Friede, who had extracted dragon’s blood from Inrahit, immediately ran over, plunged the syringe into Lista’s arm, and then checked Lyn’s pulse.
“He fainted. Magic is raging inside his body, but there are no major injuries.”
“That’s a relief…”
“It’s not surprising. This idiot, he caught four of those Kaditpol guys by himself today! No, if you count the finishing blows, is it five?”
Sval and Pipi bit and pecked at Lyn’s cheeks from both sides, but Lyn was so deeply asleep that he didn't even stir.
‘But why does he look like he was crying?’
As Lista pondered this question, Friede said,
“Sir Inrahit says Shuan went underground alone! We have to hurry and go too.”
“Friede.”
“Even if it’s just us, we have to go down there. Lyn would want that too. The fight isn’t over yet. Isn’t that right, Lista Alter Surpien!”
Friede deliberately called Lista by her full name to imprint her mission upon her.
“Volcanoes are erupting from all six peaks. The geothermal activity of this <Shuriganaqus> is also abnormal. There’s really not much time left. We have to go, Lista. Right now.”
It would be a lie to say she didn't hesitate for a moment to leave Lyn behind, but Lista soon nodded resolutely.
“Yes, let’s hurry.”